Dude, that Mountain Dew is Jacked UP!!!

It has been the craziest 36 hours. Sunday night Mom made a spaghetti dinner and it was pretty good. However about 9 pm that night I started to feel funny. I just felt "woozy" all night and I didn't know what was going on. I figured it out at about 3 am. I was sick.

Here are the reasons I think I was sick with the flu:
1. I had a fever
2. I had cold sweats
3. I was vomiting

Here are the reasons I think it might've just been some food poisoning:
1. I was vomiting, VIOLENTLY
2. I had diarrhea
3. It's gone now

So now you have a picture of what my night looked like. My poor husband. First listening to me vomit and then having to smell me as I crawled back into bed with him. (Some of you will say, "why not poor you?" Well, I'm getting there. ) So I got vomit on my daughter's head. She heard me and woke up and I tried to pull her out of her crib but I was too weak to get her up all the way, but not too weak to smear vomit on the back of her head. So poor EVERYONE!!

Anyway I wasn't feeling too well. The morning was bad. I was shaky, weak, continually nauseated. I could barely stand up to go pee. So I DEFINITELY didn't feel good enough going to church and I asked Marcelo to stay home with me. I know, it was selfish of me. But because he stayed home, he watched the baby for me while I got some much needed sleep. (Thanks Angel Loaf!!)

Even with the naps, the whole morning and most of the afternoon I had a SPLITTING headache. The vomiting had stopped by then so I decided to go get a caffeinated soda to drink. I chose to get a Mountain Dew because I've been told that Mountain Dew has the highest level of caffeine of all the caffeinated beverages. And I needed the caffeine for the headache.

I know. How many sins can I commit on Sunday? Let's count them up, shall we?
1. Not going to church
2. Asking ANOTHER person to also miss church
3. Buying a soda
4. The soda is a MOUNTAIN DEW!!

So I'm walking home from the Taco Bell (where I purchase my SIN SODA) and I'm taking small sips of the drink. And it's horrible. It has a nasty aftertaste that tastes like a lemon Halls cough drop. Very medicinal. No joke. I'm thinking to myself "Who likes this drink? This tastes like ass. Ass soda. I hate this stuff. No wonder I never drink it" I had already decided then that I would give the rest of my soda to MaxKyle, because he loves soda and I know it had probably been a couple hours since he had had some, so he would be jonesing for it big time.

So when I get home, I had probably finished 1/3rd of it. I talked about how horrible the soda was and then offered it to MaxKyle. He JUMPED at it. I got him another straw, and he started drinking. And then he stopped. "There is something wrong with that Mountain Dew". Ha!!! I knew I wasn't crazy! Marcelo also confirmed the same thing MK said: There was a horrible aftertaste to my drink. MaxKyle said that someone at the Taco Bell was playing some joke on me. Whatever the case, It confirmed to me one thing: If you buy a Sin Soda on Sunday, as a punishment your Mountain Dew will taste like Halls medicine.

Moving on. As we prepared for bed, we had to do a little bedtime shuffle. Jules and her friend Kristen (who is only in town until tomorrow) are sleeping on the twin bed in the second bedroom. That means my mom is on the couch. This becomes a problem when Marcelo needs to wake up early and do some drafting homework. But he just kicks her to my bed, so she still can sleep.

But that wasn't the worst part of it. See, Marcelo and I silently decided last night that we should start making Evi try to sleep more at night again. She's back in the habit of waking up at 2, 4 and 6 and then finally getting up at 8:30. And she's playing at those times. We were being kind to her for a while because she was sick. But we are done with that. Because last night she was up at 10:30, 11:30, 2:30, 3:30 6:00 and then at 8:30 for good. I know, I know. She must be stopped.

So last night we silently made a pact to just let her cry. The first time she woke up wasn't so bad: I got a burp out of her and she went back down again. But the 11:30 time? Oh man!!! She screamed for more then an hour.

My mom later told me that she heard her from the other room and she felt awful!! She said she thought that maybe through my sickness I couldn't hear her or I couldn't get up and get her. And she was worried that my baby was going to be permanently scarred from being left to scream. (And my baby WAS screaming. Freaking screaming for her life! She was PISSED that she was being left alone. Turns out my baby is a little crap-head) So in the middle of the night my mom got out the computer and started to look up the book "Solve Your Child's Sleep problems" so she could see what it said about crying it out.

She only did this for herself. She didn't tell me she did this until the next morning. But she said she was really worried that we were just letting our child scream until she hear Marcelo's voice in there comforting the baby. So she at least knew that we were soothing and being attentive to the baby's needs and not just letting her suffer unknowingly.

And the final straw? At 3:30 am the smoke alarm RIGHT over our bed started going off. Was there any smoke around? NOOOOO!!! Why then is this horrible beeping machine going off right above my head? Nearly in my ear?UGGH!!! The perfect end to the perfect day. Here's to a million more just like it!

Oh, just so you know, the Sin Soda totally worked. My headache started letting up after I drank it. So I guess there was SOME good that came from it.

6 More Things

So Beth Tagged me for this again. And she's right. I could do these all day. But this time I'll actually FOLLOW all the rules and tag 6 people after I finish.

Here's a little rules refresher:

1) Link to the person who tagged you. (Beth's link is HERE)
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself.
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Thing #1: I hate missing the beginning of movies. I HAAAAATE that. I mean, I don't go to the movies all that often. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year going to the theater. So when I go, I want to enjoy every last cent of my $8.25. If I miss the first 2 minutes, I feel like I am missing out on something. And lots of times they have like explanations about the history of the story, etc. I would rather sit and watch 15 minutes of the lame previews at the beginning of the movie then miss 1 minute of the actual movie. I seriously hate missing the beginning of movies.

Random Thing #2: I miss Ecuador. A LOT. And when I miss it, I usually miss Judd A LOT. Some of my best memories of Ecuador I had with her. Like when we watched this GIANT moon rise while we were on the roof of the ZL's apartment in the middle of a blackout. She was sure we would get jumped walking in that neighborhood. And the Magnum ice cream bars that basically defined our companionship. And all the ladies we taught to read. And how we would walk so close together that we would have to synchronize our feet and walk on the same foot so that our hips didn't bump each other.Those were my favorite moments from my whole mission. I wish we could go back together.

Random Thing #3: I hate things on my fingers. Especially greasy, sticky or wet things. Like eggs. If i crack an egg, and some of it is on my fingers, I have to wash my hands immediately. The funny thing is that I love to touch things. I touch EVERYTHING to a fault. People are always telling me to stop touching things, but I still do it. But then when things get on my hands, I have to clean them immediately. That's why I eat popcorn and Cheetos with a spoon. I hate the residue that is left on your fingers after multiple grabs of both popcorn and Cheetos. Basically, I do anything I can to keep my hands as clean as possible. Until i touch something unasked, that is.

Random Thing #4: I love infomercials. However the new trend in infomercials is that they shout at us. You know, it all started with the Oxy Clean guy. Screaming at me about how it gets out stains in things even as delicate as lace. But now that guy as started purveying everything from steaming machines to plastic storage lids. But the shouting still remains. Does he think that the volume button on my remote is broken? Because I promise, if i am intrigued by a food dehydrator, then I will pick up the remote and turn it up.

And on a related note, what is with the guy in the "Sham-WOW" commercial? What is with the microphone he wears? Are you kidding me? In their crappy infomercial production crew, can they not afford a boom man? I mean, you can mic him under his shirt, or on the table. The head set is SO NOT NECESSARY. Maybe he feels like he "can't perform" without it. Clearly he's used to doing this little show on the carnival circuit. You know, cause he tells the camera guy to "follow him" he's used to telling the carnies and hot dog frier's to do the same. But still, what's with the headset? I don't know. But it looks ridiculous in the commercial. But I can't turn away. It's like a dear in headlights thing I got going on whenever I see it.

If you don't know what I'm talking about. Here it is.



Random Thing #5: I got Julie a "sex book" for her shower. (she asked for "naughty" gifts!!) I told her she couldn't open it till she gets married. Because it's inappropriate before then, right? Well, the pictures are like "sketch" drawings so they aren't real photo pictures. But still, they are quite disturbing to anyone who isn't married. Actually, they were pretty disturbing for Marcelo and I. And hilarious. We laughed for hours over the names of some of them. The "Tornado" the "Bird in a Cage" and the "Peephole". Actually, I don't think that last one was real. But the others are. Is seems pretty crass when you really think about it, but don't really think about it, ok? Just laugh about the hilarity of those names. And I got lots more if you want it. Which you probably don't.

Random Thing #6: I wish that I had dated more in college so I could have wild and crazy stories to share. I think Judd and Reagan are holding back on me when it comes to wild and crazy stories. I mean, I know about some of their stories, but I want more!! I have to live vicariously through you! Please tell me more stories. And if any of you have wild and crazy stories, please leave them in my comments section. Feel free to make them anonymous if you don't want everyone to know your misdeeds.

And now I tag. . .
1. Judd. I know that she doesn't have a blog. So she can just post her 6 things in my bog comments!! or she can email them to me and I'll post them where everyone can see them. Or not see them. You know, whatever.
2. Haley. My new BFF (Email style. Not Paris Hilton Style). Anyone loved by Judd is immediately loved by me.
3. Kim. Or did you already do this? Oh well. Please again!
4. Lisa. I want more posts from you!!
5. MT. you know, 6 BORING things
6. Georgia. You Rock!

Thanks Best-ies!!

It's official

I am sorry about what I'm about to say: I don't like Cafe Rio. There is nothing on the menu that I can eat that doesn't make me feel nasty in my stomach in 12 hours. Which is to say, I hate the way I feel 1-12 hours after I eat anything from there.

I was sort of feeling this way for a while before I was pregnant, but pregnancy really solidified it. Other restaurants that fall into this EXACT category (i.e. leaves a nasty flavor in my mouth and belly hours after I finish it's food) are: Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Subway and anything on the menu at Panda Express.

I think I already mentioned it, but when I was pregnant that's how I would choose my food. I would think about the food and then imagine how I would feel a few hours after eating it and imagine the aftertaste of the burps that would inevitably come up. If I thought the burps wouldn't be too nasty, then I would eat that food. But every time, Cafe Rio made me regret my choice.

I think it's the choice of spices. And the fact that the flavors aren't subtle. They like jam flavors all down your throat and smear them on your face just so you know that this pork is MARINATED!! I don't need full-frontal flavor. Just a little is enough for me.

I think I just got deleted from some of your RSS feeds. I'm sorry. I just had to come clean and let you know how I really feel. Will you please still be my friends? There's lots of other places we can still eat, I promise.

Just so you know. . .

If you try to answer your phone with one hand while you are feeding your child with the other, it's very possible that you will not be able to do it with lots of finesse. So it's possible that you will flip open your phone and it will falter in your hands. But you will be lifting it up to your ear so quickly that you won't be able to stop the flow of motion. The phone will be open and the thinnest part of it just might knock you right at the outer corner of your right eye.

Just so you know, if this happens, it will cause so so much pain that you will literally see stars. And leave a bruise on the side of your eye. It will be lovely. And will smart like a bee-yotch whenever you blink. Which you only do about 1o times a minute, right? And you will feel like an idiot whenever you tell anyone about it.

Just so you know.

Jealous?

Marcelo has the gift. The gift of putting our baby to bed. He's done it 3 times already just today. There is something about his singing that knocks her right out. It's a combo of being off key and a falsetto/vibrato that I can most accurately compare to the 1930's version of Snow White. You know all breathy and warbling. Let's just say it does the trick every time.

He's awesome. The third time that he did it, he came out and said "Does it make you upset? That I can put her to sleep when you can't?"

Does it make me UPSET? Are you kidding me? Upset that you can now take a very active role in the raising of our child? The fact that you can provide me with much needed relief when she's been screaming for 45 minutes? The fact that you now have a "thing" with your daughter and it makes you a better father? Am I upset about all of this. HELL YES I AM!!!

Kidding, of course. I love the fact that he can do this and help me out. So I just have one word for all of you. . . Jealous?

Apology and Pictures of Evita

Judd said I should write the full story about why I'm apologizing to Reagan. It's because I'm a horrible person. See Reagan worked her butt off and got accepted to an orchestra. So not only is she a full time mom, a part time sleep institute worker, and a part time orchestra member. She works herself to the bone and every time she tells me about a performance, I promise her that I'll be there.

And I have now missed two of them. Behold the horrible friend that I am. I missed her first one, and then she told me about the second performance last night. I PROMISED that I would be there, no matter what. And then my baby got sick and I didn't go. I'm a HORRIBLE person. Feel free to ignore me every time I make a promise to you. Especially if we are friends. Because apparently I am the most un-trustworthy person and friend on the planet. Boo, boo on me.

So after that self-flogging, I will move on. Well, Evita is getting more and more fun every day. She loves her high chair, and she loves all the different fruits and veggies we give her. We haven't started with the rice cereal yet. Maybe for Thanksgiving, I'll give her a special rice treat!! Yum.

But here are some pictures of her:

This is her in her high chair. She loves it. I can just put her in it and she'll watch me make dinner, or do the dishes or just clean up the rest of the house. See, here she is getting ready to eat
















And here she is playing with her new favorite toy: any water bottle.
















And here she is on Halloween. I didn't get any pictures of her costume. I need to get some of those soon. But here is the onsie she wore all day:






And here she is the day we went voting. It was raining a lot that day, and then it ended up sleeting a little bit. We got wet, but she didn't care. She loves being outside no matter what the weather. Notice that she's wearing my "I voted" sticker. And she's wearing the awesome hat that Lisa gave me. She LOVES that hat. And I love how warm it keeps her little head. Please notice all the rain on the stroller. But she does a good job of keeping her hands inside all warm.















Just look at that smile!! Have you ever seen a smile like that? She must REALLY love the democratic process. Or she must really love me. I hope its the later.

I think dad took this picture while he was changing her. He was trying to show how she puts her feet into her mouth during changing time. It's awesome.

And finally, this is my favorite picture these days. My two girls. Just enjoying the view.
















So that's my life these days. I hope you are all having a good day. And I'm sorry again, Reagan. Why can't I be a better friend? Curse me!!

(Oh, and maybe my next blog will be about how 3 people think I'm a whore who deserves to burn in Hell!! Hello?!?!?)

Sick

Sick. Sick. Everyone is sick. Marcelo is sick. And so of course that means that Evita is sick. Sick babies are the worst. Running nose, congestion, the whole works. Naps were a nightmare today. My boobs are ready to explode because she doesn't want to eat. Did I mention that I hate sick babies?

Oh man, my life sucks right now. She wasn't sleeping too well anyway before that, and then the sickness is making things so horrible. I think that maybe that's why nighttime has been so terrible for the last few days: because she was getting sick for a while now. And when she can't sleep, I can't sleep (we share a bedroom, of course). She's been having some rough days. And so have I.

Oh, and I'm a bad friend to Reagan. I'm sorry Reagan. I really really don't deserve your friendship.

So basically, I feel lame because I have nothing to post, and no energy to post my nothing. Should I just post something lame, or should I wait until I have something "interesting" to say? Please let me know.

6 Weird Things About Me

So Reagan Tagged me with this little game. Here are the rules:

1. Link the Person who Tagged you
2. Mention rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same
5. Leave a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

So here you go. In no particular order, 6 quirks about me.

1. I'm addicted to TV. Becuase of that, I bought a TiVo. I love it. I don't love any appliance more then I love my TiVo. But the quirk about me is the way I watch my shows. I like to "hoard" them and then spend all day watching a bunch of one type of show. This is especially true with "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" I will wait till Friday and then watch all 4 days of both shows. I don't know why. I just like to do it that way.

2. I love to put my nose close to my baby's head and suck her hair up my nose. It tickles and then I pull her away and it comes out. And then I do it again. Freakish, right?

3. I get really anxious when I bake things for a party or a get together or make something to take to someone or if someone is coming over to eat at my house. REALLY anxious when I think that people might judge my cooking skills or this will be the only thing to eat. I usually end up sabotaging myself and ruining whatever I'm cooking. Case in point: the situation with the cinnamon rolls today. I made THREE different batches of bread & rolls until I finally got them right. Marcelo asked me to make them so he can take them to his friend who lives up the street. THREE TIMES I had to make them. Ughh. This experience today will do nothing to lessen my anxiety in the future.

4. I have feet issues. I HATE my feet to be dirty. I walk around in socks at home. And then if I forget to put them on, I have to wash my feet before I put them in socks. But I won't wear the same socks to work out that I've been wearing around the house. Like if I walk around in them, I must change them before I put those nasty dirty socks into shoes.

A second foot issue is that I always flip rocks into my shoes. This was ESPECIALLY true on my mission, living in the "Polvo." I don't know what it was, but just ask Judd how many times I would make her stop to clear out my shoes. I had to stop sometimes every 2 minutes. I know it was an issue because she would NEVER clean out her rocks and so I was the freak tat was always slowing us down. She would just leave them and walk around with them all day. I have NO idea how she did that.

5. I don't like soda. I would rather drink anything else besides soda. I'm not used to the carbonation and it burns my throat. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I NEVER drink it. I will have sip or too if I have the urge. And I will drink it if that's the only choice, but it's not my first choice. I would take a class of water any And if I go through the drive through, I get upset when I get a soda with my meal because I don't really want it: I just want water.

6. I think I missed my calling as a ballerina. I was the youngest girl accepted into the advanced class at our ballet school. My mom took me out of classes so we could start piano lessons. She couldn't afford both piano and ballet and she was paying the bill so she chose piano. But that's why I have a daughter:to fulfill my own goals and dreams so I can live vicariously through her. They still allow parents to do that, right?

I'm not making this stuff up

Now that I'm poor and destitute and living in abject poverty, you should know that I live really close to BYU campus. It's fun to sometimes get the Daily Universe and laugh at all the things in it. I haven't done this in a while, but I decided to do it today as I was on campus.

My absolute favorite was always the Police Beat. You always had people noticing "suspicious" people who ended up being just their roommate coming in the house really late.

Oh, funny tangent story. Jules lived in King Henry Apts and this summer she locked herself out of the apartment. She decided to see if her bedroom window (she lived on the bottom floor) was still open. It was. So she sneaked in and proceeded to knock over a WHOLE bunch of stuff on her window sill. She made quite the ruckus, but she didn't think it was THAT bad because her roommate slept peacefully on. She started getting ready for bed and washing her face and stuff and then all of a sudden there is LOUD BANGING on the front door. She opens it to find a police officer there saying that someone from their apartment called about the possibility of someone breaking in. Apparently her room roommate sleeps like a rock, but the other roommates heard her and called the cops. Funny stuff.

Anyway, I got some good laughs by reading the "Police Beat" today. I mean, this stuff is 100% true. I'm not making any of this up. So let's see what's been going on up at BYU campus. . .

Suspicious activity
October 28-Police received a delayed report about a man claiming to be Joesph Smith reincarnated engaging people in religious conversations . Police are waiting to see if the man shows up again.

So basically, at sometime in the past, some kook was talking about the articles of faith and trying to get someone to sing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" to him. That describes all the boys in my freshman ward! The reincarnating thing is strange, I'll give you that. But if this person can indeed reincarnate himself, I'm sure that we will see the man show up again. Moving on

November 1-Police received a call concerning screams and pounding coming from a room in the Maeser Building. Police investigated and discovered the screaming man was a custodial worker watching the game between Texas and Texas Tech and was upset about his team's loss.
Who let a Texas fan into BYU?

And finally this is my favorite.

November 2-A female student called police to report a stolen vehicle. She called later that day to inform police that her car had indeed NOT been stolen, but she had forgotten where she parked it.

I'm willing to put down money that:
#1 This girls was blond
#2 This girl was driving a car owned by her parents
#3 This girl was a freshman.
#4 This girl lives close enough to walk to school, but she decided that now that the price of gas has gone down she would bring the convertible out for a spin. You know, to make sure the top still goes down and everything.
#5 This girl hails from either Utah or Southern California

So that's in my friends. Tell the truth BYU alumni, reading this makes you miss the Daily Universe just a Little bit, huh?

My "big" decision

Wanna know a secret? I still don't know if I'm going to vote for Obama or McCain.

I would think it would be an easy decision. I mean Republicans are "God's Party" right? (I'm totally kidding about that, of course) But I come from a long line of GOPs. (Remember my past post where I talk about how my family it SUPER republican?) Well after talking to my mom about this, she told me that she really doesn't like McCain. I was shocked to hear that. I thought she would definitely be all for McCain. But she really doesn't like him.

But I agree with her!! I don't like McCain either. I don't know if it's his age or his past policies. I just don't trust him. I think that he's old, and not really organized and I worry that he would rely too much on his staff members to tell him what to think and how to act. (Which actually is exactly how I feel about Bush. I don't think he's a bad guy. I just think he's not very intelligent and he surrounded himself with selfish, conniving bad people. So I guess I DO worry that McCain will be another Bush.)

But I'm just not convinced that McCain would be the best choice for this country right now.

Also, I don't like Palin. I think that she's a "Mean Girl" and every time I see her talking to a crowd of people, she's always like, GOSSIPING. "Did you hear that Barack has terrorist friends? Did you know that he said hello to a Muslim one day, so that *may* make him a Muslim supporter? Did you know his Aunt is here illegally? Did you hear that Joe Biden is a woman? Did you hear that?" I just think that she's a gossiping girl and thinks that by tearing down others, that people will automatically want to be on her side. Actually it just makes me think you have no good qualities of your own to report, so you just bring up the faults of others.

But she does have a good sense of humor!

But on the other hand, I don't like Biden. I don't think he's ready to be VP. I think that he's just like going with the flow and really isn't ready for what's about to happen. But maybe that's good because he's a blank slate and will deal with problems as they arise. He doesn't come pre-determined and pre-biased.

And finally, I don't know if I want Obama as a president. Do I think he's a socialist? No. I think that everyone has a little socialism in them. Do I think he's a secret Muslim or a terrorist? No, and you are an idiot for even asking. But do I think he's a little naive? Yes. I think that he's taken a bigger bite then he can chew. I think that he totes around the word "change" but when he really gets into office (if he gets into office) he won't really be able to do all the things he's planning on doing. And then everyone will think he is a liar.

But luckily for me, I don't really have to make the decision. I live in Utah, and Utah ALWAYS votes republican. There's no way this state will vote for Obama. So I'm a little thankful that my vote doesn't really count and I don't have the pressure of deciding the fate of this nation.

Does that mean that I won't vote? Of course not. I still need to vote for my local officials. And I still need to get in the habit of voting. Because one day I think my vote WILL matter. That will be a good day.

And finally, Marcelo is ALL over me about voting. He can't vote yet because he's not a citizen yet. He's just a "Permanent Resident" and as such he can't vote. But he's REALLY into CNN and Headline News and all the shows. I know he will be watching the elections with rapt attention Tuesday night. And he's called me TWICE and asked me when I'm voting. He says that there are lines and do I need the car so I can come down and vote? And when am I voting again?

So if anything, please vote tomorrow for Marcelo. He'll be happy that at least someone can.

A question for all my fellow BYU grads

So you know that part of the HBLL (That's Harold B. Lee Library) on the south side where there is an overhang? When I first went to BYU, that was the entrance to the library, but very quickly after I started they closed it up and started the underground construction. Eventually, they turned that whole area into classrooms.

(Funny tangent story about that. One of the only times I went into that entrance was to meet up with my sister Sarah. And when I got there, she was being accosted by some crazy nut who heard that she was a dietetics major and wanted her to taste this new Powerbar knock off he was trying to produce. He was going on and on about how those "other" bars were full of preservatives but how his were great and MUCH BETTER because they were all natural and had lots of veggies and even parsley in it. And you could SEE the parsley big chunks in it. And he made her taste it right in front of him. Well, she finally got rid of him and as we were walking home, she had a part of a bar in a plastic baggie-cause he had forced her to take it with her, of course-and she was looking for the nearest trash can to throw it away. I asked her what it tasted like and she said, "It tasted like Parsley." Good HBLL memories)

Great story, Axel!

But anyway, on that MOST south side, there is an overhang and a walkway underneath. It's frequently used by students especially in the winter to get out of the snow. So with all the rain that's been falling here recently, this made me think about something and I wanted to pose a question to all of you.

If you are walking from, say the Wilk to the Kimball Tower, the most natural pathway is that "covered" walkway. And if you are walking from, say your freshman dorm Fox Hall (WHOO!! FOX HALL!!! FOXY LADIES!!!) you will have been carrying an umbrella and using it against the rain/snow for quite a while. There will be some drippage coming off the sides.

So here's my question: When you go under the overhang walkway, do you collapse your umbrella and then re-expand it 20 seconds later as you come back out from under the overhang? I mean, you are literally going to put it back up in 20 seconds after you come out from under the overhang. And if you do collapse it, how do you hold it so as to keep it from dripping on you, others and your shoes? All the while still keeping it close so that you can re-expand it quickly once you walk out again? Because if you don't do it fast enough, you are just the idiot who can't work your umbrella and you are standing in the rain and HOLDIN' UP THE LANE, DANG IT!!!

Or do you keep it up (cuase you know that you will just have to re-expand it in 20 seconds, right?) but then feel stupid because you are carrying an umbrella where there is no possibility of getting wet? Almost feeling like you are carrying an umbrella indoors. And you are trying to dodge people with your full umbrella and they are giving you crusty looks because you almost poked their eye out! And THEY didn't keep up their umbrella, and why don't you put that thing down!! It's not raining under here, idiot!

Or do you keep it expanded, but like put it down to the side so that you aren't looking idiotic protecting yourself from nothing, nor are you threatening others with the sharp pointy ends of your dagger like umbrella? But keeping it expanded so you can quickly put it back up above your head as soon as you walk out from under cover. But also keeping in mind that while still expanded on it's side there is the chance you will drip on someone or brush your super moist umbrella top on some unsuspecting student? Also know that if you put it to the side, you will be taking up more space in the always crowded passage. And people might get mad at you. And hit your umbrella on purpose, and ruin it. Or give you a crusty look when you touch them with it and get them all wet.

Or do you try to do all of these things at one time or another and then just give up and decide to take the path north of the Library? Cause this is just too much stress for a Freshman.