A few thoughts + Day 19

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!'" -Robin Williams


First thought: Happy Spring! Today is the first day of Spring, and I hope your day was grand.

Second thought: I was driving around the other day by myself, just running a quick errand while Jason watched the boys at home. I had the windows rolled down, the radio turned up... and it took me back to when I was in high school. It was kinda a strange feeling, because it reminded me of how I felt at the end of my senior year, where the weather was warming up, school was winding down, and the future was exciting, bright, and full of promise. I hadn't thought about that kind of stuff for a long time, and I wondered why. Well, this is my first spring away from Rexburg, and as much as I loved it there, they don't have a real spring! Their "spring" weather lasts for two weeks in June and then it goes straight to summer. It was slightly depressing, because spring is one of my favorite seasons. It's nice to be back somewhere where they experience a long spring that starts on time, because it's a reminder of the fact that I can have a fresh start, and that there's a lot of wonderful things in life to look forward to.

Third thought: We're this close to making a decision as to what school Jason will attend to receive his masters in public health. We're actually going to Dallas, Texas, this week so that Jason and I can attend the University of Texas - Dallas School of Public Health's open house. I'm really excited to be going on a sort-of-vacation! We'll be driving a lot more this week than we'll actually be vacationing, so I'm a little worried about the drive, but looking forward to the weather, taking a look around at our potentially new home, and spending lots of time with my family. Yay!

Day 19 - Nicknames you have and why you have them

I have only a few, most of them embarrassing ones given to me by my dad, the most creative- and odd-nickname-giver of all time... Well, here goes.

Mel - I hope this one's obvious. It's just my name, but shortened.

Meltez/Meltoy - these were given to me while I was in high school, and I actually haven't been called these by anyone but my older sister since. I'm not sure why they were given to me, but they were.

Lila - This one was given to me from my dad. This one's not embarrassing, thank goodness. My dad tends to give nicknames to me and my sisters all at once with a common theme, this one being that they all started with the letter "L". My sisters are Lulu and Lonnie. I think I got the best one of the bunch.

Alright, here are the embarrassing ones given to me by my dad:

Melodica - Ok, this one isn't so bad, by itself. But it's not the whole nickname. The whole thing is Melodica Harmonica Faye. Yes. Isn't it wonderful? That's a typical dad nickname! Ahhh!

and Horn Lips - All I can say is, yep. It's from my dad. Special, huh? This was another nickname group with a theme - animals. My sisters are Pork Snout and Eagle Ears. Hahahahahaha. I know. It's crazy. I told you it was embarrassing!!!!

Jason wants to put his nicknames on here for fun as well, so here are his (in his own words):

McFly - This, of course, is a reference to the nerdy George McFly from the movie Back to the Future. This nickname is from elementary school. I guess McBride sounds a lot like it, and maybe they thought I was a nerd, too, who knows.

Steve - In middle school, two new basketball-playing friends of mine couldn't remember my name, but I wore my Steve Young football jersey weekly (Steve Young is a Mormon who was a quarterback on the San Francisco 49ers in the 90s. He and wide receiver Jerry Rice were excellent athletes and a famous duo.) They couldn't remember my real name, so they just called me Steve, and soon everyone started calling me that. I got that Steve Young jersey for Christmas from my older sister and her husband, and I thought it was the best clothing I had by far.

Raunchy - Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds! OK, maybe it is. I did Cross Country (X-C) in high  school to get in shape for church basketball, and this nickname came from X-C. As you can imagine, right  before running a 5K race, people get very nervous. By getting nervous, people would often need to pay a friendly visit to the restroom to "lose ten pounds", to put it delicately. On one particular meet, there were dozens of schools, and the restroom was crowded. The team captain heard me say in there "Ugh, it smells so raunchy in here", and he busted up laughing so hard! Then, of course he told everyone else, and they started calling me raunchy from then on. Sorry if that was a bit too graphic.

Big guns - Also a X-C nickname, 'nuff said.

Mickey - I served a church mission in El Salvador. While there, Gringos and Latinos alike all seemed to agree that calling me Mickey was so much easier to say than saying my last name. Some would call me Mick or Mick Mick, too.

Teaspoon - For one summer and fall while we lived in Rexburg (as a BYU-Idaho student), I worked as a landscaper up by Driggs, ID, very close to the Wyoming border. Though I wouldn't say I consider myself particularly cut out for that type of work, I worked very hard nonetheless. One day, we were planting a grown tree into a new spot on a ranch, and after placing the tree into a hole, we surrounded the tree with dirt. I was working in an area where there wasn't much dirt. One coworker noticed that I hardly had any dirt on my shovel, and he made sure everyone around knew I was putting a teaspoon of dirt in the ground. So they started calling me teaspoon. All I could do was just laugh it off.

(Back to Melody) Now, wasn't that entertaining?

Secret: I used to eat an entire box of Mac 'n Cheese by myself. Pretty gross, huh?