July BAMC: Ender's Game

My dad is a huge Orson Scott Card fan. Huge. Ender is also a big name in my house. It's a long story, but it's safe to say that if I had a brother, his name, or middle name, or nickname, would have been Ender.
When I was 11 or 12, I read Ender's Game. Besides being shocked that and LDS author would use swear words in his book, I remember not liking the book because of how mean they were to Ender. I have read one or two Card books since then, but have never been excited about his writing.
My mother picked me up from the airport when I arrived home from Texas, and in the back seat of the car was First Meeting in the Enderverse. I read it. I loved it. It made me want to read Ender's Game again. So I did.

July's word was Independence. Yet again, a predictable and unoriginal topic for the month. BAMC, you are disappointing me. Never-the-less, Ender's game fits perfectly with this topic. The book is about Mankind's war against "evil" aliens. They are not so much fighting for Independence as survival, but the methods the human government goes through to win, strip mankind of their independence; The government imposes a rule that only two children are allowed per family, as well as other laws.
Ender is found to be an exceptional child and taken to Battle school, where, similar to all military situations, he has no independence. Later we learn in the book that the aliens communicate with one mind, one thought, one being, and thus, have no individual independence.
This time through, I loved the book. I loved it so much I am now intrigued to keep reading. I think I'll read the rest of the Ender Chronicles. After that, I may just read all of the Card books my dad has in his closet. I'll add them to my book list, right under Phantom and the new Stephanie Meyers book that comes out TOMORROW. Kris and I are going to a midnight party for the book. Hooray!!! Go reading.

Pictures of You, Pictures of Me

Drek went Canyoneering over the weekend. He came home alive, which made me very happy. He also bought me a little unexpected present: a little skunk finger puppet and a little raccoon finger puppet. He is the raccoon and I am the skunk, now we can always be together. Awwwwwwww.
Today, Kris, Toby, Acouchi, Drek and I were all watching the mole. I decided to take a picture:

Life is going great! Drek's Graduation pary is all aken care of, and the Saboteur game is coming along. A few hitches have been hit, but things are still going great.

My husband is a genius. Look What he made:

http://www.stormhorse.com/mole/index.html

Work the Whole Day Through, Work is What I Like to Do.

Work got very scary over the weekend, but everything worked out. Thank goodness for Cherie.

Today I have been trying to arrange my business trip. My boss is flying me out to California to attend two different classes that are supposed to make me a better salesperson. I have spent most of the trying to talk to cooperate, who is in charge of the seminars, and the only people who know what is going. Alas, there was an earthquake in Southern California today and cooperate is in chaos. Every time I call I am answered: Oh. I'm not sure. There was an earthquake here today, you know. I survived an earthquake. An EARTHQUAKE, you know.
Yeah. I know. A 5.3. I shake my head in sadness.

I got the information I needed anyway. I finally got as hold of the women in charge of the seminars. She is not in California, and was getting the same responces I was but she was better at saying "suck it up, people" than I was.

I arrive in California at 9:30am on August 10th; a Sunday. I'm staying at crazy expensive Hotel. Class starts that same day at noon and doesn't get out until 9pm. The next day, class ends at 1pm. I change cities and go to even more crazy expensive Hotel.
On Aug 12, class starts at 8:00am and ends at 5pm, same for Aug 13. On Aug 13 My plane leaves at 7:15pm.

I am looking forward to this a lot. Not only is it an adventure, but Bonnie says she'll bring the kids up to visit so I get to see my babies!! Hooray!!! Even if it is only for an hour or so, I can't wait to see them!!!

More The Mole

Clay is not the mole. On the one hand, I was wrong, on the other, it makes me feel better. I was slightly upset that I had "missed my chance". I wrote in to ABC telling them to bring the Mole back and to put me on, and they brought it back, but I was not on it. I felt if I had just been a little bit more diligent, I would have gotten on the show and won the money. Alas, now I know I would have lost, and not won the money, so it makes me feel better.
My the Mole game is coming along great!! I got cooperate sponsorship, so now we get to do challenges in really cool places, where we can get in for FREE!! Also, I am trying to get the dinner for free. We will see how this goes.

While doing research, I came across a "race through the night" game, which was a small scale version of the amazing race here in this city. It happened in May, and they had cooperate sponsorship and lots of free food. Also, their prize was a vacation to Cancun. I am thinking my game needs a cooler prize. Anyway, Kris and I signed up for next year!! Our team is the Thoroughbreds of Sin, and we need two ore teammates, maybe our husbands? And we will win. Bwhahaha.

Who is the Mole?

A small-scale version of The Mole is in the works. This will be a huge event and enormous fun!! You should play with us. Think of this as a large-scale Werewolf game, but a million times more fun. We need people to be players, but we also need people to take pictures, point and laugh and just have fun while not really being in the game. The facts of these:

-The Mole we are playing is based on the reality show The Mole on ABC. You can go to ABC.com to watch it, or to read about it.

-You do not need to have seen The Mole to play, or even to win. However, watching the show will give you an idea about the types of challenges the players will face and might even give you some ideas for strategies.

-Players complete challenges to earn candy. They must work together as a team to complete these challenges.

-One randomly selected player is the mole; a saboteur trying to stop the players from earning candy.

-In order to win the game and the candy, a player must determine who is the mole, and watch their actions carefully, to answer the quizzes correctly.

-Players are wanted. You should be a player. We need 5-20 players for this to work, one of which will be the mole.

-Everyone is invited to play or to watch. The more the merrier!


GAME RULES:

The game starts at 5:00pm on Friday, Aug 8th 2008. After introductions the first challenge will begin. All players (and one mole) will participate in a challenge. The challenge will either be physical, mental, or a combination of both. Players will not know beforehand what the challenge will be. The mole knows what all upcoming challenges will be. Before the challenge, the host will explain the rules, and the reward. Whatever reward the players win goes into the Final Pot. Whatever reward the players do not win will be put into the Mole's Pot. Players generally try to add the reward to the final pot, while the mole generally tries to sabotage the game and keep the reward all to him or herself.



After each challenge, players will be given a one question quiz. The question will ask something about the mole (what color shirt is the mole wearing? What did the mole do during the last challenge?). Players will not be able to discuss the questions at any time during the game. Players will not know other players' answers. At the end of each quiz, the answers will be collected. They will not be looked at until the end of the game. The last quiz will ask: Who is the mole?

During some of the challenges, exemptions may be offered. The host will give instructions on if an exemption is being offered and how to obtain it. An exemption means you get the next quiz answer correct automatically.

Finally, the quizzes are scored. The mole is revealed! The player with the most correct answers wins the game and the final pot! The mole gets his pot. On the last quiz, if 90% of the players answer "who is the mole?" correctly, the mole has not been sneaky enough and his pot is divided among the players who answered the last question correctly.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE WATCHED THE SHOW: THE MOLE

In this version, players are not executed. All players will stay in the game up through the end.

Quizzes are on paper, not the computer, and they are only one question long.

If the mole is too obvious, he can lose the game.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PLAYER FORM


Name:

Phone number:

Email Address:

Who are you and why do you want to play?



By submitting this form I promise the following:

1) I will devote Friday, Aug 8th 2008 from 5:00pm-9:00pm to playing the above game. I will be there, play the games, and will not flake out at the last minute. I acknowledge a lot of planning is going into this, and a set number of players is crucial to that planning.

2) I will donate a bag of individually wrapped candy or a few candy bars to the game so they can be used as the rewards.

3) I acknowledge that any of the players could be the mole, including me. I am fine with being a player, or the mole.

4) I will not sue if I die playing this game.


______________________________________________________________________________

The World is A Mess and I Just Need To...Rule It.

Working 11 hour days without a break=not so fun.
But I do love my job. A lot. So it's not so bad.

Yesterday was Tetris of the human kind part 2. It was not the spectacular event I was expecting, but we still had fun. Afterward I was introduced to Dr. Horrible and SQUEE!!!!!!!! It is so freakin funny. Watch it fast; Tomorrow it will be gone.

Texas Aught 8

This post will continue to grow as I get more pictures and more time to blog about them.

The trip started at 4:00am. That is freakishly early. Much too early. Drek and I met the family, loaded into the van and were off on a 22 hour drive. For most of it I immersed myself in Stephanie Meyer's The Host, which I LOVED!! I finished it on day 2. Drek entertained the group by playing a game called Even or Odd, which is quite simple: get a bag of individually wrapped candies (in this case, we used Starbursts) and divvy them out evenly. Next, players grab a handful of candy in their fist, hold it up to another player and ask "Even or odd?" the player answers if the number of candies in the fist is even or odd. If he is correct, he gets the candy. If he is wrong, he owes the player that many candies. I was no good at this game.
We stopped at Las Cruces to spend the night. New Mexico is gorgeous and I am in love with it. While there, I convinced Drek to take me to a restaurant to get real New Mexican food. NOM!!!! It was so good! At that made that part of the trip worth it.

We finally made it to our destination and the reunion began!! Right away was dinner; Texas brisket and green salad and fruit salad. Apparently, the brisket was phenomenal, as people could not stop talking about it, and snacked on it for the rest of the reunion. After dinner I stood on the front porch and talked to Drek's cousin, whom I came to adore. She is the most remarkable women and I learned so so so much from her. She has five beautiful children, all of whom I also adore.
We got out t-shirts (mine ended up as a small. hmm....) and finally called it a night.

Day three was spent mostly lazying about and playing in the pool. The older kids finally got in and the younger kids swarmed around them. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew there were some pretty fancy formations going on. This is one of my favorites:
Just look at the girl on top. Isn't she gorgeous? And that pose! A natural performer.

Back in Cell Phone Range

Texas is wonderful. This vacation has been wonderful. Drek is wonderful. The car ride down here: Not so wonderful. Alas, it was worth it. Drek and I have had such an amazing time and now we have new life goals/plans.

Our plan includes Money amd children. The big question is: How do we have both? It's a conundrum.

I'll post about the vacation when it is over (i.e. Thursday). This has been my only exposure to the interwebs since we left and I thought I would take advantage of it (oh glorious highway of information, I have missed yooooou).

I Had Hoped It Was You

In May, The #1 Massage Chair company in he United States started a campaign: Test Drive a 7450 (a zero gravity massage chair, retail value $3,999) and enter a drawing to win one! One massage chair will be given away every week, from May till August. Also, the sales associate who showed the chair, will win the one (this means the more people I show the chair, the more I increase my chances of winning a chair) Only 150 stores will be participating, and the average entries each week have been 400-500. Not bad odds.
Of course, I get all of my family to enter, all of Drek's family to enter, and all my friends who I can convince to come into the store. Week after week: No luck. This was my last week. I showed the chair to a bunch of customers, faxed in the entries and hoped. I leave tomorrow and won't be back until the campaign is almost over, so this was it!!
I finish up work, say good-bye to everyone and Drek and I head off to run errands. A few minutes later my boss calls:
"K la?"
"Yeah?"
"Michael Hamm is on the phone, he has something to tell you." (Micheal Hamm is he president of the massage chair company) I grab Drek's arm.
"K la? This is Michael Hamm. I have a present for you!"

Of course I screamed!! I JUST WON THE MASSAGE CHAIR!!!!! THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING NEWS!!!!!

So amazing. The only thing more amazing would be if someone I knew won the chair with me. Alas, it went to some guy I can't even remember showing the chair to. I hope he liked it.
I for one, love that chair. I'm so excited!!! It will be waiting for me when we get back from Texas. Hooray!!

If I Were to Tell You I Adore, Would You Have Me Do So...Stintingly?

07/07/08: Our one year anniversary. I can now officially say that I have been married for over a year. Weird, huh? On the one hand, it seems like the wedding was just a few days ago, on the other hand, now I can't imagine my life without Drek.
So, being married is the best thing ever. I am quite aware that Drek and I are still in our honeymoon phase, and most of this post will have you rolling your eyes, but this is actually how we are and I love it!

Saturday Kris picked me up from work. When we got to my house, Drek was not there. Just then, I received a text message from that said: If you get home before I do, there is a present for you on the table.
I went into the kitchen and found a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses on the table.

The day of our anniversary started out with Drek making me the most wonderful breakfast. He put it all into our Scarlet Pimpernel picnic basket and we went on a breakfast picnic. Afterword, he went off to work and I spent the day cleaning the house (like a fiend, getting ready for our trip to Texas) and setting up for his return.

Dinner was Lasagna, garlic bread and steamed broccoli. It was the most romantic thing I could think of that we had ingredients for.

After dinner Drek took me to play Frisbee golf. He, of course, is stellar at the game, but I do think I am improving.
We got home, had a dessert with a fudge brownie base, with cherries and homemade whip cream on top. YUM! This was accompanied by Sparkling Cider in wine glasses. I then presented him with the decorations:



I has set scented tea candles all over the bathroom and the bedroom and decorated the bed with the roses (very romantic). I then gave Drek a massage, and he gave me a small, blue box. Inside, was a small white box, and inside that was this:

Isn't it beautiful??!! It's two hearts, both made out of diamonds. The picture doesn't catch the sparkle, so I'll just tell you: It is amazing!!

To end our day, we ventured into the freezer to retrieve our wedding cake. On our wedding day, the cake was DELICIOUS!! It was made by Drek's mom, and never was a more delicious cake ever made. It was so good, that on our one month anniversary, Drek and I took it out of the freezer and ate some slices. Afterward, we wrapped up the remaining slices in tinfoil, and decorated it. She has been the steward of our freezer ever since.
It was disgusting. Year-old cake is not yummy. It tastes like spongy freezer.

Happy anniversary, Drek. You are the love of my life. I love you with all my heart and I always will.

Congratulations! Your Team Has Successfully Completed the WOMAN Challenge!

Today marks the end of the WOMAN Challenge. My mom, my sister and I were all on a team. We worked hard, and together we completed the route! I'm so proud of us!

I really got into the habit of working out! I've done Tao Bo, Palates, Jogging, Swimming, Biking, and I feel that I now have a more active lifestyle.

I'm definitely more in shape (evident by the fact that I can play whole games of Ultimate Frisbee with out walking for most of the game, and that I biked all over my city yesterday for the 4th of July) but my goal when I started was to lose weight. I have not. Well, I've lost around three pounds, which puts me right under the "overweight" category. I am now officially, a good weight for my body size, but it's still no where near what I want to weigh. I do feel like the goal is attainable though, and I know if I stay active I'll be able to reach it.

Overall, I'm so glad my sister got me into this, and I'm so glad I participated on such a great team!!

YAY! It's Fireworks Day!

Yesterday I made a patriotic breakfast for us. My original idea was to make the entire pancake in the shape of a star using cookie cutters, but I discovered the night before that the Cookie cutters were plastic. That would be a bad idea. The only metal star was very small. So, I made circle pancakes and cut a star out of the middle of them. That shape was then filled with whipped cream, and topped with Strawberries and Blueberries. It was the most 4th of July-y breakfast I've ever had!
I even used blue plates and silverware, and red cups.



Drek and I ate breakfast and then glanced around...Now what? We didn't wasn't to go to the parade, or the Freedom Festival, we wanted to play games, but no one was available to play with us. Drek wanted to have a waterfight, but it's no fun with only two people. So we did...nothing!! We lounged around the whole day. Mostly, we just stayed in bed and played on our laptops. It was great!!

At five we went up to Drek's parent's house for a 4th of July dinner and a Birthday party for Drek's youngest brother. It was here that Rissy called, and we drover over to her house, played a game of Elixer, drove to our house, watched The Mole and then biked to stadium to sit with Drek's family to watch the fireworks. Yes, we biked. It was so cool!! It was dark, and there were hundreds of people everywhere, over two miles!!

Our spot was perfect. It was across the street from the stadium, so you could hear the Blue Man Group and Miley Cyrus perform, but you could also see it on the huge screens inside the stadium. It was amazing!

We bike a few blocks to say hi to Kris and her very cute Toby, and then booked it back so we wouldn't miss the firework show.The firework show was spectacular and we had such a great view. We were so close we could see what was happening inside the stadium and hear the movie music they were playing to go along with it. When the huge fireworks exploded inside the sky it seemed they would rain down on us. In fact, I do think a few ashes came down on us.

And then it was over, the mass exodus of thousands of people began, and Rissy, Drek and I biked home. It was a very exhilarating ride. On the way to and from the event, We discussed the rules of our own versonion of the Mole, and came up with some brilliant ideas. Ideas still forming, game will be announced later.

We ate Nachos, watched LOST and the Rissy slept over. It was so much fun!! Happy July 4th!!

If I Had Actually Used Alchohol, Would My Trifle Have Caught On Fire?

I love Independence day. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. I have many found memories throughout the years. Independence day has always revolved around a huge community breakfast, an American dinner, fireworks when it got dark and, of course, camping out to watch the spectacular firework display that is such a famous occurrence here. Independence Day has always been spent with my family. On extra special years, the 4th was spent with my family and my cousins from Texas. That was always a blast. This year, sadly, will be different.
My parents left for California today, they will be there over the 4th of July. My older sister and her little family headed out for Washington DC today. They too, will be gone over the 4th of July.
So, we celebrated early. Yesterday my mom threw an early Independence Day celebration. She made fruit salad, my dad made potato salad, my Aunt brought watermelon, we had hot dogs, and I brought dessert.
I wanted to do a red, whit and blue dessert, and after looking through Internet recipes, I found the one I likes: Trifle. I have never attempted trifle before. In fact, I have never even tasted trifle before. Thus, I wanted it it to be both delicious and look AMAZING. I think it worked:
Instead of soaking the fruit in Sherry, I soaked in in orange juice. It worked really well. Drek and I took my masterpiece over to my parent's house and had dinner! When it came time for dessert I added the finishing touch: Sparklers!!!

Very Patriotic, no? It was also delicious. And there you have it, my very first Trifle was a success. I think I shall attempt to make this again.
The celebration was perfect. There were no fireworks (besides the one on the dessert) but it still felt like Independence Day.
Tomorrow Drek and I are supposed to celebrate most of the 4th with his family. I've planned a big breakfast with just the two of us (supposing, of course, I can't convince Rissy to invite drek and I to a her old ward's breakfast) and I suppose we'll take it from there. I have it off of work, so that's good.

For Who Could Hate or Bare a Grudge Against a Luscious Bit of Fudge?

Next week Drek and I will drive down to Texas to attend his family reunion (hopefully. If we go, this will be the first vacation this year that was planned, but not canceled.) Yesterday, over IM, Drek informed me that we will be earing matching t-shirts at the reunion, and he needed to know my T-shirt size. I answered that in women's sizes I am small or medium, in normal t-shirt size I am extra small. After a while he sent me this:

Drek: Dad is asking if you're sure an XS is right for you. Are you sure you're not a S?

I take a deep breathe. Before I go on, let me explain: I love Drek's dad. I adore Drek's dad. But at this moment it is apparent where Drek inherited his tact.

me: get me a large
Drek: Are you sure?
me: get me an extra large if you want. Tell your dad I'm planning on gaining a lot of weight.
I need room to grow from all the donuts I plan on gorging myself on. Now that you have a salary, I plan on spending the entirety of it on French pastries and a Segway, so I never have to move.

I'm not sure what part of th conversation Drek passed onto his dad, but a little while later he emailed Drek saying that Drek's mom had sizd up the family as soon as she heard we needed Tshirts, and informed him that I was, indeed, an XS.

Alas, now I'm thinking that large might be a better idea. I do like French pastries...

New Hobbies

Did you know there is a movie of the Kon-Tiki? The film is actual footage they shot on the raft with Thor talking about what you're seeing. Since he speaks Norwegian, you hear a British guy doing the voice over. It won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1954. That was before Hawaii was declared a state. Weird.
Anyway, Drek and I discovered the movie last night and went to the library to check it out. While there, I noticed that the summer reading program is full of awesome prizes: Gift certificates to The Quarry, Eisenstein Bagels, CLAS ropes course...and a million other places I would like to frequent. This also being a great way to recover the non-reading-ness of June, Drek and I signed up. Thus, Hobby #1: Reading and doing book reports
On Sunday (our last Sunday in the dreaded married student ward, Thank. Goodness.) our ward was challenged to start doing indexing. I looked over the web site at work (http://www.familysearch.org) and for Family Home Evening I presented it to Drek. I am now strangely addicted. I started doing Illinois Birth certificates from 1909, Drek started Louisiana Death certificates in the 1930's. The only part we got confused on was color/race. Some put down American (what color is that?) and a few of Drek's put down colored (can we put that in the report? it that politically correct? What do we do???).
You can volunteer too, btw, it's really easy and highly intriguing. Thus, Hobby #2: Indexing.
I'm doing much better at biking to work everyday. Somedays I still make Drek drive me, but overall I think I'm doing pretty good. Megan gave me a gym pass to 24 hour fitness (I love that place) and I really need to go. I've had the pass for two weeks and I've gone once. I need to start going everyday after work. Hobby #3: Working out
So this summer should be very busy. My hobbies should keep me busy enough. Maybe a little too busy. :)