BEST! DATE! EVER!

!!!GEEK ALERT!!!

Non-geeks beware! 

You may not want to read this post if you:

A. Hate libraries

B. Hate books

C. Hate reading

D. Hate geeks

E. Hate my blog

If none of the above apply to you, proceed...

Now, you may be asking yourself "Why am I still reading this?" "What does THAT have to do with a date?" 

Nothing.

Unless you are me:  

Wait, that's not me...but while I have her here, I have been told on numerous occasions I look like her (only she's skinny and wears make up!).

Here I am:

Note to self: Lose some weight, put on some make up, dye your hair, AND smile with mouth closed if you'd really like people to make the connection to you and Jennifer Connelly.

OK...back to the topic at hand.  Where was I?  Oh yes...books/reading and DATES have everything to do with everything if you are me AND...

You're married to this guy:

Man he's hot!  

But I digress...

Tonight Kris and I were afforded an opportunity to go on a date.  Grandma was taking the kids straight to VBS, so we didn't need to get them after work, which also meant they wouldn't be home until 9:15pm.  So after work, Kris and I had dinner at Pappy's Smokehouse...YUM!  Great little place downtown that I totally think Guy Fieri should check out for Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

It started storming, which meant the anxious one (hmm...me or Kris? You decide.) started to experience some moments of panic.  The driver was NOT helping the situation, and the anxious one kept yelling "Stop light!" and "Slow down!" and "Be careful!" and "Don't kill us!".  I'm sure the driver would have liked to have hauled off and smacked me in the face to get me to shut up, but me and nerves and storms and driving DO NOT MIX.  Well...let's be honest.  Me + pretty much anything else do not mix!

Kris and I had both driven separately to work today, since we went in at different times, and had two vehicles downtown.  So, we were faced with crazy, anxious me driving home in the storm to meet Kris before going to do something OR finding something to do near work.  We thought about going to see a movie.  We had a few choices: Inception, Karate Kid, The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  But when we looked at showtimes, none of them would work within our allotted time frame.  So we thought, let's rent a movie.  Off to the nearest Redbox we went, seeing mostly movies that we have come across at the library recently.  That's when WE (he tried to say it was his suggestion, though it was really mine!) thought "Hey, let's go to the library.  We can get a movie there."

Because we're geeks.  And that is what geeks do.  For dates.  Because it's the new cool.

We knew there was a library near work, though unsure whether it was part of the St. Louis County Library.  That "library" has several (14 or more I think) branches throughout the St. Louis area.  We were thinking that maybe the branch we had driven by from time to time was possibly Headquarters.  We discovered later tonight that it wasn't Headquarters after all, but that's not important.  And I know this is bordering on boring, if it hasn't already leapt across that line, but that part was important because it leads up to our discovery of the St. Louis PUBLIC library.  There IS a difference.  And the public library has several branches as well.  We went to not one...not two, but THREE different public libraries tonight.  From what I can tell, the ONLY thing that the St. Louis County Library has on the St. Lous Public Library is movies.  You can get fairly new releases at the county, while in the city their selection is much, MUCH older.  But beyond that, I was really impressed with the public libraries...all three that we visited.  They have some unique things that you can't find in the county.  

Like book boxes.  This is basically a large tub full of books, puzzles, games, CDs, etc...all on one theme.  We saw one on the human body that we wanted to get because Kaleb LOVES anatomy and all things relating to how the body functions but it was on the third floor of the particular library we were at and everything had to be checked out on the first floor, which we hadn't even looked at yet.  So maybe next time on the book box.

They also have toys.  We didn't get a lot of info on this, but one lady at the second library we visited told us that they have slides and sandboxes, as well as smaller toys.  Basically, they  have toys you can check out, for the littlest kids, as well as older ones.  We'll look into this further once summer winds down.

The other thing they had that we really liked was what they called a book bag.  Yes, it is kind of what it sounds like.  Basically it is a large bag, full of books, geared towards a specific age.  So, for instance, the one we chose had about 25 books in it.  Books like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, I-never-remember-the-rest-Very-Bad-Day, an Amelia Bedilia book (oh how I LOVED her!), a joke book, chapter books, non-chapter books, all geared towards 2nd grade.  When we showed the kids, it was a free for all!  They all made a mad dash to pick one out to read before bed.  I just thought this was a great concept...and the kids loved it.

Oh, and the public library has some sort of online resource where you can watch movies or read e-books, but I haven't checked that out yet.  And you don't have to be a resident of just St. Louis city.  You can live in St. Louis County.

Check out some of the things we saw on display tonight:

Though (no offense to anyone), I think this book could be helpful to a lot of people over the age of 35.

Really?  There weren't any books on this shelf that seemed "totally NOT Oprah worthy" but I found it interesting.

Vampires are real?  I've always wondered!  There was also a book about how Harry Potter was a REAL BOY...totally NOT vampire-related.  I should add that the vampire book was in the NON-FICTION section...

Um...OK.

A 10-step reality test for your marriage...good to know that if I am thinking about leaving, the library has books to help me figure out if it is the right decision.

I love this!  It was a mural on the wall in one of the libraries, in the children's section.  It says "The Library.  A child's garden of wonder and imagination"