Book of Mormon Stories That My Teacher Tells to Me.

Our calling in our new ward is to teach the six-year-olds. Ah, back in primary, where I don't ever have to go to Relief Society. Drek is less pleased about missing Elders Quorum, but oh well.

This week our lesson was on the Book of Mormon, it's history and things like that. I decided to make little gold plates. This is how I did it:

I cut out same-size cardboard pieces, using flaps from same-sized boxes.
I then spray painted them gold. "Antique Gold" actually.
We would be using both sides, so I made sure to spray paint all the sides. The next step was to find little rings and pray paint them:

Drek punched two holes in all the "plates". I printed off little pictures and then we took them to Primary! While Drek told the history of the Gold Plates and explained the pictures the children assembled the plates using glue sticks.
Cover:Second Page:
Third page:
The last plate (back and front) was colored on by the children. One girl drew a picture of the Gold Plates, another boy copied words straight out of the Book of Mormon.
And here they are:

I Must Find Out Today. What Makes Jim Dear and Darling Act This Way?

Do you know how many posts I start out with the word "yesterday"? A lot.

Yesterday was mostly spent with Brittany. Brittany is our neighbor from two doors down. She's about my age and, like me, was also in a beauty pageant and was also a lifeguard for three seasons. She is married and has two little girls.

You know how sometimes you think that your life is hard and then you meet someone who's life is just so much harder and you secretly feel better about your own life? Yeah.

We went and played in the morning. Her daughter is oh-so-cute and Brittany and I had a wonderful time talking. That night I babysat the youngest daughter while her parents went to a seminar. They told me she was really easy to watch. They were not kidding. The kid was an angel. She was perfectly content to entertain herself. We read books, played with toys, and colored. Acouchi even helped look after her:

At first, she chased Acouchi around the kitchen island. Acouchi made sure to stay far enough ahead of her that she didn't touch her, but close enough to keep her motivated to keep crawling. In the end, she even let her pet her. It was so cute!!

But at the end of the day Acouchi still likes to be an only child:

Such An Untimely Death

Yesterday I made a delicious dessert: Graham cracker crust, cream cheese and whip cram layer, followed by chocolate pudding layer, followed by whip cream layer, sprinkled with mint chips on top. All of this was done is a glass dish, covered, and set into the back of our car. We drove to Drek's parent's house and picked up two wooden benches (for our garden, I'm sure Drek will post about them) and Drek's original birth certificate. Hooray!! We then drove to my work, where I has an hour long meeting while Drek cleaned out the car. He even vacuumed!! We then drove down the hill just in time to see a guy on a motorcycle flip over the median. Drek slammed on the brakes, the benches slid, hit our dessert and dessert guts went flying all over us. I had it in my hair and my shirt, Drek had it all over his shoulder, and poor clean Jasmine got dessert guts and glass splattered all over the seats, the windshield, the dashboard, and of course, the whole back seat.

Anyway, we ran to help motorcycle guy. Someone was already on the phone with 911, someone was already talking to him, so I checked him quickly over for blood and a spinal injury (negative on both, although I'm sure he broke a bone) while Drek dragged his motorcycle to the side of the road, out of traffic. We waited until the cops showed up, by then ten people were milling around trying to help, so we left.

There is no news story today, so I assume everything ended up just fine. Pretty lucky for a guy not wearing a helmet. It seems the only casualty, was my glass dish and our dessert.

Rissy got her mission call!! I guessed the language, and was only half the world away on the location.

Congratulations, Rissy!!

Acouchi Went Potty in the Chair

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is it. Hold your breath, cross your fingers. This is the (second to) last stage in Acouchi's potty training. It is the hardest step. So far, she has been flawless. If she takes this next step, I think we're home free!!

In case you are wondering, I'm using this to teach me how to potty train a cat. Notice how I have stacked cinder blocks next to the toilet. That was the first step, it took a month. Then we moved the litter box into the toilet, and now we have taken the litter box away, and duct taped a bowl inside the toilet, holding her kitty litter. The next step is to take the litter away, then the bowl. So, hopefully that will be easy!!

If all goes well, Acouchi will be potty trained by June!! And everyone knows how important it is to potty train the first kid before the second one comes. :)

And here is my baby:
On a beanbag, resting on two pillows.

So, Why Did You Decide To Be A Vegetarian?

Oh, how I loathe that question. I once wrote a paper trying to describe why, but it failed. I think now I can finally put it into words:

My choice to be a vegetarian was exactly that; My. Choice. It was not one thing, one event, or one thought that made me give up meat, it was many things, many thought processes, a lot of research and little events from my whole life combining to convince that becoming a vegetarian was the right choice for me. Notice how I don't say the right choice period. Or the best thing for all of humanity, or that everyone should be a vegetarian. It's a personal choice, if it's not the right choice for you, don't be a vegetarian! I don't mind; I don't like you less or more just because of your eating habits. I do what I want, you do what you want, and we'll all be happy!

And yet, when I tell people I'm vegetarian, there will be a polite nod, a pause and then, sometime later they will ask: So, why did you decide to be a vegetarian? When they ask this question, I have always interpreted to mean: Why should I become a vegetarian? That is why I hate the question. I have always understood that they are asking me to justify to them why they should make the same choice I did. I don't know!! I'm not them!! I don't know their experiences, their life, their thought process. I don't even know if they should be a vegetarian. That's their choice.

Drek and I had a long talk last night (on a different subject entirely) and I had an epiphany. After bringing up the vegetarian issue Drek suggested that when people ask: So, why did you decide to be a vegetarian? They are asking: What are you accusing me of?

People are, in general, defensive. I blame this on the fact that some people have a superior attitude. When someone says they have made a choice that differs from yours, like "oh, I never go outside on Sunday, it detracts from the spirit." or "oh, I don't eat dead animals, it's just so cruel." People assume they are looking down on them for not making the same choice. Usually, because the people are looking down on them for not making the same choice. And with PETA out there, screaming that meat-eaters are devils for murdering animals, who can blame people?

This came as a huge eye-opener to me. All this time I've been answering: "oh, a lot of reasons." AHHH!!! Very wrong thing to say!!!!!!!! I think a much better answer would be "because I want to." which is both true, and non-accusatory. Drek thinks I should go with "I'm protein-intolerant." which is not true, but very non-accusatory.

So, to those who read this blog, who thought I was accusing of them of not making the same choice I have, I apologize. Really, I had no idea I was accusing you. It was not my intent, nor do I think that my food choices are in anyway superior to yours.

Sincerely, K La

No One Mourns the Wicked

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's really all I can say. It was SO GOOD!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

As Opposed to Hundreds of Years Later, When You're Younger.

The celebrating of my birthday started off a little early. On Saturday when Drek and I went down to his parent's house they had made a birthday cake for me! Unfortunately, Drek and I couldn't stay long, I had to go pick up Jessi from the airport, but he had fun while we were there!

Jessi was my first present. I picked her up on Saturday and didn't have to give her back until the day after my birthday. We had a lot of fun while she was here. On Monday we went to the Aviary and while there my twin cousin called and wished me a happy birthday. It was so good to hear from her!

On Wednesday Drek made a big deal out of my birthday. He kept saying "happy birthday" and kissing me and such. He asked if I wanted me present now or later (later ) and kept asking if I knew what it was. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed!! That morning Jessi gave me Guillotine and we even played it a few times. That afternoon we were supposed to go out to dinner with Rissy and Ismail, then I had to go to a meeting at work, and then we would get back together and watch LOST!! Work called around two pm and asked if I wouldn't come in earlier. It had been dead at the store and they wanted to get the meeting over with. So we changed plans. I made it to work at four, thinking the meeting would take thirty minutes and then we could go out to dinner and then watch LOST. Of course, as soon as I walked into the store, the customers came. The store had been dead for three hours, but once we try to start the meeting, the people won't leave us alone. At least we sold a bunch of stuff. The meeting didn't actually start until five-thirty. Poor Ben and Jessi were bored out of their minds by this point. Anyway, Cherie surprised me with balloons and cupcakes and the funniest birthday card. They all say to me and we had a very short meeting. We were out at six. Alas, it was too late to eat out, so we got take out and headed back to Rissy's house where she had made the most amazing cake (with fresh fruit and fresh whipped cream) and homemade chocolate dipped strawberries, complete with "23" written on each one in icing. Not only did they look amazing, they tasted delicious. It was amazing. Rissy also gave me a present: the DVDs of A Beautiful Mind and Romeo+Juliet, plus The Magic Sword which I cannot wait to watch, with Rissy of course. It was also here that Drek gave me his present. Oh? Did I already mention that he got me Wicked tickets. Oh well. He got me tickets to see Wicked. Squee!! Anyway, the party was wonderful. I had such a great time.

Thursday I had to drop Jessi off at the airport. :( When I returned home I found a bag hanging on my door. Krisling had dropped off my birthday present: The Chronicles of Narnia; both Prince Caspian and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. Oh, and the most delicious chocolate truffle ever. The truffle was a gift all by itself. Even though it was supposed to be Turkish delight (For the movie. You have seen the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, right? Anyway, when Krisling and I went to go see it in the theatre we made sure we had a king size Turkish Delight) I actually liked the truffle more. It was that good.

That night Ilya and Lexi came by to play games. They brought me the most hilarious gifts. I love it when people buy things for Acouchi. Ilya got her this...um...pink thing that um...bounces? Well, it's pink, and it's made out of stretchy things, and when you shake it it goes all blinky with different colored lights. Acouchi is terrified of it. Terrified. This is great news for me and Drek. We hung it on our bedroom door and she is so scared of it that she won't sit outside and meow all night. Brilliant. It works like a charm.

Friday my family came up to have a party. We had a barbecue in the park across the street from our house. I made shishkabobs, they turned out wonderfully!

My dad can't have sugar, so I made baked whole-wheat sugar-free hamburger and hot dog buns. My cake was fresh fruit with whipped whipping cream on top:
We had a blast!! Lani and Megan made me Andes Candies Cookies that I am pretty sure are the best darn cookies on the planet. Oh, they are so good. The party was wonderful!! I had so much fun.

Can I Keep You?

Oh, the adventures!!

Saturday was conference. I dropped Drek off at the Priesthood session just a little before six and then did something I have never done before: go to the airport alone. I was very anxious about getting lost on the way there, especially since I was already behind schedule, I was supposed to start my journey fifteen minutes before six, not five minutes before six. Oh well.

I make it and parked with no problems. I went into the terminal and at once became confused. Nothing looked familiar. And where was Jet Blue? Not only did everything look foreign, the place was deserted. No travelers, no one waiting for family members, no one at the Delta check-in desks. The only person in sight was the security guy waiting to check IDs. There wasn't even anyone in the security line. After ten minutes of going around this corner and looking around over there, I decided to ask him where Jet Blue was. He informed me I was in Terminal two, and Jet Blue was in Terminal one. I had no idea out airport had more than one terminal.

I quickly fixed my mistake. Terminal one was just as deserted. No one in the security line, no one eating at the restaurants. And then I round the corner. Oh! That's where all the people are; in the line for Jet Blue. Curses. As the clock ticks on the line barely moves. I get more and more nervous. Her flight lands in twenty minutes. Her flight lands in ten minutes. Her flight is landing in five minutes and I am not even at the front of this stupid line!! Finally, it was my turn. I informed the girl that I was picking up an UNMIN (that's airport slang for unaccompanied minor) and needed a gate pass. She was super-efficient, filled out the paperwork and gave me the pass. The plane was landing in two minutes.

I zipped through security in record time. No waiting due to the fact that there were no lines and no one else to check. I raced to the terminal just in time to see the first people come off the plane. I made it!! Jessica, of course, was the last one off (she had to be escorted by a flight attendant). Hooray!! I finally had my Jessi!!

We got her luggage, called her mom and made it out of the airport with no problems. We stopped by MacDonald's to get her dinner (still her favorite. So is Mac and Cheese. Both of these things have been her favorite since she was two). We picked up Drek just as he got out of his session and made it home!! We introduced Acouchi to Jessica and Jessica to her room.

The next day was conference: pretty boring for a twelve-year-old who hasn't had the church as a major part of her life. I tried to make up for it on Monday. We went to the State Library (Oh my goodness amazing!!) and to a most delicious and unique restaurant for lunch. We went to the bird aviary and fed ducks and peacocks (we fed and petted the peacocks a lot. They loved Jessi!!) talked to the eagles and the condors and a magpie played keep-away with Jessi (seriously, those birds loved her. It was odd). Everything went great until we fed the pelicans. We threw them fish from the trainers cart. Also in the trainers cart were rats to feed to the raptors. Jessi could not handle this. Especially since they were baby rats and they had been separated from their mom two weeks too early. We left in a hurry after that.

We discovered this crazy garden place that I can't talk too much about (classified information for the next Saboteur game) but we had a blast there.

We went to get her hair cut (anyway she wanted it cut) and were both disappointed that the place we went wouldn't dye "off colors". We spent the rest of her time here trying to get aqua-marine streaks in here hair, but never succeeded.

We made a Mexican Dinner; I made enchiladas and she made fresh guacamole. Delicious!! The night ended with games and movies.

Tuesday morning was spent lazying around, watching movies and playing games, until I had to go to work. That night was more games and more movies and a trip to the hardware store. Drek stayed home while Jessi and I went out shopping. We found her a new shirt and two new dresses. Wednesday started off great!! We had breakfast and Jessi gave me Guillotine for my birthday. We played it (Drek won) and then we were off on our trip to Liberty Land!! We were excited to go, Liberty Land has a roller coaster and bumper boats and rock climbing and things like that. The Internet said they opened at ten so after being delayed for twenty minutes trying to get a hold of someone that said they were coming we left on our own and made it there at eleven. They were closed. The door said they didn't open until noon. The door lied. They don't actually open until...well, they never opened that day. I'm not sure if they have already gone out of business or just aren't opening until May.

Disappointed, we drove back home. We convinced Drek to go swimming with us and we all changed into swimsuits. We were off to the indoor water park!! Online they said they would be closed April 6th and 7th so I wasn't worried at all. I should have been. They were closed. So, we drove all the way back home and at this point I am highly disappointed, highly irritated (why do people use the Internet everyone lies about when they are open?) and highly emotional. We dropped Drek off at home, changed out of our swimsuits and decided to go somewhere I knew FOR SURE would be open: Ikea. That's right. My big trip on my birthday and Jessi's last day here, was to Ikea. Lame. Actually, we make it really fun, but still. Lame. We also spent a good portion of the building Acouchi a playground, but that's another story.

Then it was off to work. A thirty minute meeting turned into a two and a half hour meeting and we were FINALLY free to go party with Rissy and Ismail. We had delicious Chinese food and Rissy had made the most amazing cake and cupcakes and chocolate dipped strawberries. We watched Dr. Horrible (Rissy was horrified that Jessi had never seen it) and then it was time for LOST!!!! What a good episode. We came home and collapsed.

Thursday Jessi and I went up to Temple Square. We toured the conference center (a personal tour!!) and walked through the art exhibit. We walked around the temple and talked about church-stuff and finally it was time to go to the airport. The line was much more manageable this time Although there were a lot of people. We wen through security and guess what? They confiscated my pocket knife.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have traveled with that pocket knife since I was fifteen. I have always taken on the plane with me. I have had it in my pocket, in my carry-on bag, and out in plain sight in the bucket. My bags have been searched and my make-up confiscated, but they have never once caught my pocket knife with three blades, scissors and a screw-cork thing. Once, when my bags were searched, I even had a security guy hand me my keys with my pocket knife attached. I was sure I had been caught that time, but no. When I went to pick up Jessi, I had it in my purse.
When I went to drop off Jessie, I had it in my purse again, but this time, they guy caught. I was stunned. Give that guy a medal. I can't believe he found it. I was beginning to think it was invisible to X-ray machines.

Anyway, Jessi got on the plane all safe and sound. I will see her again when she comes out during the summer, but I still miss her. I wish I could keep her.

Unusual and Exceedingly Peculiar and All Together Quite Impossible to Describe

I bet you can't guess what my wonderful husband got me for my birthday from the title of this blog.

What? "That's impossible." You say? "Those tickets have been sold out for months." You say? "They were only on sale for twelve minutes before every last seat was sold." You say? I myself was frantically pushing redial on my phone and refresh on my computer trying to get those precious tickets to no avail. In fact, I had a horde of people (nine, to be exact) frantically pushing redial on phones and refresh on computers trying to get tickets. None of us got even a single ticket. We did this twice. Once for the pre-sale and once for the sale. The task was impossible.

Alas, nothing is too impossible for my most amazing super-husband. After screaming and doing a happy dance over and over again, I finally realized they were tickets for THIS WEEK. That's right, for my birthday, my amazing husband is taking me to go see Wicked. Because he is the best husband in the entire world.

At Last, We Can Retire And Give Up This Life Of Crime

SQUEE!!!!!!

I got the raise!! He didn't even argue. I presented my numbers, asked for the raise, and was like "ok. It's yours." And I was like: "??????????"

So either he agrees with my numbers, or he's planning on firing me.

Alternate Wriggling your Fins and Your Tail.

I love clever April Fools Day jokes. I dare say 04/01 is the Internet's best day. Sadly, by the time I think of a good joke, it is already 4pm on April 1st, and I will have forgotten by the next year. Oh well.

Just as a side note, since BAMC isn't really up and running this year, I have switched to GoodReads. It's a site where you can rate and review books, get suggestions for new reads and recommend books to other people. My sister introduced me to it and I love it!!! You can add books to your "To Read" shelf and then print out that page. I take that page with me to the Library since my worst habit is to have hundreds of books I want to read, but as soon as I get to the library I can't think of one.

Today I went swimming with my sister and my niece. It was so nice to be in the water!! It was also really fun to hang out with my sister. My niece is talking up a storm. I am stunned at how well she can talk!!

Tonight I Drek and I are having some neighbors over for dinner. I am also taking dessert to a couple in our ward who just had a baby. Look at me; being all homemake-y

If You Build It

Above the stairs in our house there is a ledge for...plants? Tapestries? I'm not sure. When we moved in, we thought Acouchi would like to play up there, but it is too far for her to jump. My wonderful husband came up with a genius solution. He built it and Acouchi loves it!!



It is her new favorite place.

Hare Krishna, Hara Hara

The Festival of Colors, or Holi, is really big around here. I've wanted to go every year but I have never been able to. This year I was super excited to go!! Drek and I went together. We meant to be there at 4:00, but due to some extra-errand running and the ridiculous amounts of traffic, we parked the car at 4:45, and walked for 30 minutes before being greeted by this sight:
So many people!! We got there and the music was blaring, people were everywhere and right as we joined the crowd (before we had time to buy our own colors) it was time for the throwing of the colors!! Drek and I were right in the middle of it:


After we were covered in color, we went up to the second story balcony of the Temple to watch the crowd. Here is a video so you can feel like you were there:


We went and found the llamas, the zebus and the parrots.
This is me feeding a llama. Look how colored my hair is!!

Only then did we get food. 100% Indian, 100% vegetarian (I love religions that encourage vegetarianism, their food is the best).
What? You say it doesn't look very good? Indian food isn't pretty anyway, but there is just no pretty way to mix spinach and tofu.

We had so much fun!! The best part was just being with my wonderful husband. Even though it was a long walk to and from the car (again, traffic was ridiculous) it was wonderful to go on walks with him.

Drek's favorite part was the shower at the end of the day. He thought the amount of color in the water was really funny:

Also The Anniversary of The Day Drek Proposed

Yesterday was Drek's mom's birthday!! The family came up to our little townhouse to celebrate. I made homemade spinach and mushroom manicotti and bought some fancy Italian bread to go with it. For the cake we had cherry cream cake, it turned out better than I thought it would. As I was making it the thought occur ed to me that this was the second birthday cake I ever made. Really. I make Drek pies on his birthday, I made Josh green jello for his birthday, and the only other time I made a birthday cake, so did someone else so mine wasn't the birthday cake. I've bought a lot of birthday cakes, but the only other one I've ever made was Krisling's Star Wars Birthday cake. Weird.
Mom opened presents, including a digital picture frame from the family that took some work to put together:
We played a bunch of games. This was a very intense game of spoons:
It was so much fun! It was nice to have visitors to out little place, we don't get them very often.

8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009

Don't forget about Earth Hour!

Games

Yesterday Drek and I drove up to the capitol to visit my parents, who were staying overnight close to hospital where my dad received his chemo treatment. We went up to visit, to talk, and to play Robo Rally. My dad was doing remarkably well and it was nice to play with him. We had to be back so Drek could interview someone at his work. There were several delays (that's what happens when your husband trusts a mechanical women over you) but we did manage to make it back in time.

Yesterday night Drek, my sister and her husband and I had a game night. They introduced a game called St Petersburg. It's a fun game. I lost horribly, but I am intrigued to play again. The best part of the night was the socializing.

This morning was a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Hopefully, it will be a weekly tradition this spring and summer. It was so much fun to play but I am so sore now. I am very out of shape.

Raise Your Level of Communication

Stories like this amaze me. My goal is to change world, but so far I have only changed myself. This kid has already changed the world, and he's not even sixteen.

I looked at his website, and while it's not pretty, it is amazing. I joined the No Cussing Club immediately.

I think he's right. Words change the world. Do you want to change the world in a negative way by cussing? Or uplift the world by being positive?

I Heard in Health Class That Pregnancy Can Often Lead to Infants

Not that you have to care, but in order to give understanding the people who read this blog, if I make a reference to a new baby or my pregnancy, it's because I am pregnant; Three months along, due in September. I've been keeping a blog of the adventures of pregnancy. It's a private blog so if you are interested just email me and I'll send you an invitation. Don't worry, I won't be going into detail on this blog.

3.14

I made Pie Cups. Just like I said I would last year. Sorry the pictures are fuzzy.

First: Apple pie cups. I made the crust and the filling and used cupcake tins to bake them. I used every other hole so the crusts wouldn't get ruined. I think this was an unnecessary precaution.

I criss-crossed the tops (it took forever!!) and the did the cherry pies. The cherry pies had normal tops, I also did them every other hole. I glazed the tops and baked them for 15 minutes on 425. Here was the result:
Deliciousness!!! Perfect with home made whip cream on top.

Say Hello to iPhone

My phone is broken. Again. Sigh.

I was driving home on the freeway when traffic came to a sudden halt due to a tire in the road. I called 911 on my cell phone ("It's not an emergency, I just need to report a tire in the middle of the freeway"). I was transferred to Highway Patrol and my phone hung up on itself. I didn't want to call 911 again, so I called Goog411 to get the number for highway patrol. Goog411 hung up on me because it thought I was talking because my phone was making so much noise.

Later that day my friend from Philadelphia called. I had to end the call early, even though we only talk every few months and we had a lot to catch up on, because my phone was cutting in and out and I couldn't understand what he was saying and I was afraid it was something important.

I decide to have a talk with Drek. The problem is this: I don't want to buy an expensive phone. I will lose it. I don't want T-mobile to give me a phone, or they will me sign a contract. I can't buy another $24 phone from Wal Mart, this is my third one in five months.

When I broke my first T-mobile phone, I bought a $24 phone from Wal Mart. It was a brick, analog, and it is Super-Phone. After using it for a year, I gave it to Drek-my-boyfriend, so he could have a cell phone (or, make him use a cell phone. Mostly I gave it to him so I could call him.) That was three years ago. He is still using Super-Phone. It still works (so much better than my two-month-old phone). It picks up signals where digital phones cannot. It could survive the holocaust. I need another phone like this. Alas, they do not make them anymore.

I tell all this to Drek, and suggest getting a landline. I hate landlines, but it would be cheaper. We could lower our cell phone bill and you know I would never lose it. If there was an emergency, I couldn't call anyone if I was out and about, but I couldn't anyway, so why not?

Drek is quiet, and then says, "Well, my work is buying me an iPhone, so you can have Super-Phone."

I freak out. "When did you find this out?!"

"I wasn't going to tell you until it arrived."

Allow me to reiterate the important parts of this post. DREK HAS AN IPHONE!!

Always Forever

I love my husband. To me, he is perfect.

Saturday was the first time in a while that we both could just be together without needing to do or be anywhere. We played board games and card games and talked and laughed and had a wonderful time.

Sunday my wonderful husband and I snuggled in bed after church reading books and watching shows on my laptop. He even made Peach Crisp for us to munch on. We went for a long walk on one of the many trails we now live by. I love exploring with my husband.

Guests is What I was About to Say But Now That You Mention it I Happen to Quite Like the Women of the Outback.

I finally watched Australia. It was good, it just wasn't Baz Luhrmann good. I liked it, but it wasn't stunningly brilliant and mesmerisingly beautiful and incredibly flawless like his other movies. Also, I still can't get over that she drowned in a water tower. How do you do that?

I was stunned at how much history it taught me. I knew nothing of Australia history, NOTHING. So it was educational. If not appalling. 1973? Really? And they only apologized in 2008? As in, when the film came out? Really? Australia, after that green New Year's party, you were #1 on my national list. Now you are #4. Shame on you.

What Is It? It's a Compass. What Does It Do? It Points North, John.

Today I volunteered at the temple. When Drek and I went to our new ward on Sunday, the stake was asking for volunteers to be ushers during the open house of the Temple (LDS temples have "open houses" before they are dedicated and functioning. Anyone can attend the open house, it's basically a tour of the inside of a temple). I volunteered, hoping to get some inside information (how long it took to build, how much it cost, why they chose that location, etc).

The hour meeting prepping you for assignment was just the supervisor checking and rechecking list, looking around, saying hi to friends and asking what every one's names were. Five minutes before we loaded on the bus he turned to me and said "You are number thirty-two, and you will be in the celestial room." Sweet! (The Celestial Room in an LDS Temple is always a beautiful room with white and flowers and such. It is supposed to represent heaven). The best spot, sure to be a wealth of information.

We arrived at the Temple, I was taken upstairs and handed off to the person I was replacing. She smiled at me, handed me her "Usher" name tag and turned to leave. "Wait!" I said; "What do I do?" She smiled and whispered; "Just smile and make sure people don't take pictures or talk on cell phones." And then she left. As she walked away I wanted to ask if someone did take a picture, was I supposed to confiscate their camera, but it was too late. Apparently, there would be no inside-information-giving. I smiled at the people already in the room and leaving the room ( I was at the exit, there was another usher at the entrance) and tried to figure out the situation. I realized that when everyone came into the room, they looked up. Curios, I, too, looked up. HOLY AMAZING!! Hanging from the ceiling was the most beautiful three-story chandelier I have ever seen. It was lighted, it sparkled, it was gorgeous. I looked back down. I didn't want to seem "touristy". People like their ushers act like they have seen the room before (and I had not).

Soon, a person walking by stopped and asked my my first question. "Is it made of diamonds or crystal?" Meaning the chandelier. I did not know. This was just the sort of inside information I was hoping that as an usher, I would be told. Alas, I was not told anything. However, given the choice between diamonds and crystal, I would pick crystal, and since people want their ushers to be knowledgeable, I answered "Crystal. Isn't it beautiful?" And smiled.

From then on I must have been asked twenty times what the chandelier was made out of, every time I would say crystal. On the bus going back to the parking lot at the end, I asked the supervisor what the answer was and he said Austrian crystal, and went off on how heavy it was.

My second question of the day came when a women asked me "What kind of flower is it?" "Which one?" I asked, thinking she meant the beautiful bouquets of flowers set in stunning crystal vases around the room. She gestured up to the ceiling. I gazed up and noticed that at the top of the chandelier was an elegant pattern resembling a flower. The same design is on the ceiling of the Provo Temple. I was pretty sure this was just a design, and not a particular flower, so I smiled apologetically and admitted that I didn't know.

Twenty minutes later a women asked me if my religion worshiped pansies. She could tell I was confused and added "Or is there some sort of pansy symbol?" Again, she gestured up and I supposed she was referring to the design on the ceiling. "Oh, they are just pretty flowers." I smiled at her (I had the smiling thing down pat).

Two hours later a man came by and said: "Are those Sego-Lilies?" and pointed upward. I followed his gaze and to my astonishment realized that bordering the ceiling were designs of flowers. This must have been what everyone was referring to. They resembled pansies, but I was sure the man was correct. "Yes, they are Sego-Lilies." I said. Which makes so much more sense, as the Sego-Lily is the Utah state flower. At the end I asked the supervisor and he confirmed they were, in fact, Sego-Lilies.

Little kids liked to ask questions too. They asked much better questions like "How do you now if there are mice in the temple?" and "How many shiny things are on the chandelier?" and "Did it cost more than gum to make it?" As he and his mom passed me one kid said "Mom, I want to live in this room."

Awwwww

All Those Months of Doing a Stunningly Boring Chore

I'm doing laundry. Ask me where!! Ask me where!!!!!!!!!!

Where?

AT HOME!!!!!!

I have never done laundry at home before.

Everything's Cool as Long as I’m Getting Thinner

So glad February is over. What a horrid month.

March was looking better; Drek and I are out of the old apartment and enjoying our new one. We are slowly unpacking and settling in.

My dad was released from the hospital yesterday, but was rushed to the ER again today. Not good.

Hating work. Seriously, if this keeps up I'm taking my chances with the economy. I am not going to keep dealing with this stuff.

I'm not getting thinner, BTW. Quite the opposite. It is scary. My newest idea is to have a small "Biggest Loser" competition. But not right now. Right now I have more urgent issues.

You Could Do a Lot When You Got Such a Happy Little Tune to Hum

I am so stressed. Today is the day we are supposed to be out of the old apartment. I've gone over to clean before and after work for the last two days, but there just enough time! I've painted, vacuumed, scrubbed and polished, but I still need to clean the walls, the bathroom and clean the carpets. I work today (I was over there cleaning before work) and when I get off I'll go clean for two hours before I go to the hospital to see my dad (you can't visit between five and seven). I know cleaning the carpets is going to take more than two hours. Sigh.

Yesterday I got off of work an hour later so I only cleaned for an hour before going and seeing my dad. I didn't get back home to Draper until nine pm, I had a leftover enchiladas for dinner, glanced over and delighted in my new washer and dryer and then went to bed. My new house isn't unpacked at all. Life is killing me right now.

Lost and Insecure, You Found Me, You Found Me

Last night Drek and I went up to our new Townhouse and started unpacking. I unpacked the dishes that have been in storage for...four years now? Every little piece I unwrapped was like a Christmas present. After all they've been through, only one bowl was broken. I lamented that loss in full. It was very therapeutic. I ran them through the dishwasher and that was nice too.

Drek and I went grocery shopping and we held hands the whole time. I decided I was going to cook dinner so we got all the fixings for enchiladas. I made it when we got home and set up our table and then we had dinner at our table. We just pretended that everything was ok and things were normal. It helped a lot with my stress levels. It was a nice night.

Acouchi is adjusting well. We moved her up on Wednesday. She was really freaked out on the car ride up, even though I told her a million times that we were moving, we were all moving together and that she would love the new house. In the car she hid under my leg and we just snuggled.
We left her alone for the first night and when we got to the house she seemed to have adjusted quite well.

I started potty training her and so far so good!! Hopefully she'll be full trained in a few weeks!!

We decided Acouchi couldn't sleep with us anymore, so we have been keeping our bedroom door closed in hopes that she won't know that room exists. Last night was out first night at the townhouse and Acouchi figured out where we were. She cried at the door all night. ALL NIGHT.
That better stop. I think I'm going to tie a balloon to the door. She is terrified of balloons.

I really like our new place. I think it will work out great. Our new Washer and Dryer are being delivered today, I'm super excited about that. We should have Internet by next week and hopefully our landlord will approve the garage door opener. It will be nice to have Jasmine in the garage, in her own little room.

I go to working part-time in March. That will be a switch. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping to really get my infant massage business going. When the Temple is finished I want to volunteer there once a week. That would be really nice.

Things not good...no sleep...dad in hospital.

Don't ask.

Higitus Figitus Migitus Mum, Prestidigitonium!

We're moving tomorrow! So excited! Our new house has a dishwasher and three bathrooms and a backyard and smells like pickles! I'm so happy.

My dad starts chemo-therapy tomorrow. He is so much braver than I ever could be. I hope he knows how brave he is, and how much we are praying for him.

Please Won't You Be My Neighbor

In our really old four-plex that likes to sing, we have three neighbors: Smoker lady, living diagonal from us, single lady, living next door to us, and crazy lady, living under us. I could write novels about crazy lady. She is crazy. She is also number three on our list of "why we are moving."

A surprising plot twist happened today. This story is not about crazy lady, it is about smoker lady. I know; weird.

This morning Drek came out of the house to find smoker lady outside, smoking. She does this a lot. Thus, her name.
This time her hand was splinted and bandaged to an ice pack. "Hey! How are you?" Drek politely asks. Then he noticed her car. It looked like this:

The pictures make it hard to see, but every window on this car is shattered. This included the windshield. The tires are also slashed.

"What happened to your car?" Drek asked.

"Frustration." Smoker lady answered.

...Ok...reason number two on our list of "why we are moving."

I'll Really, REALLY Be Using Amazon From Now On

Toby's present came!! I'm in shock! I ordered it, it came! And it came in perfect condition, just like it said it would. Amazon, Belle's Books, you make my heart happy.

Sweetheart Saboteur...

...was amazing! It was so great! Best game play yet! If I can talk my husband into it, I will give a full recount on the website. Until then, here are some of my favorite pictures:





e
http://saboteur.stormhorse.com/

Happy Valentine's Day!!

My husband is the best husband in the world!! For Valentine's Day he bought be these:




Aren't they beautiful!? He is so great.

I got him a new digital camera. That is what I took these pictures with. Hooray for new cameras!!

I'll Really Be Using Amazon From Now On

Continuation:

Last e-bay mess resolved, except I still don't have Toby's present. So I ordered it again, from another seller. I ashamed to say it was off of e-bay. It was "buy it now" deal, so I bought it then. I pay, and get an email the next day saying the item is back ordered, and they won't be mailing it to me anytime soon. In the end, they wrote another email saying the product wasn't coming in, please pick another item from our selection. Grrrrrrr.

Never fear! I then ordered the product on Amazon! I am so hopeful! I am full of hope! Hopefully Toby will get his birthday present before Christmas.

May The Odds Ever Be In Your Favor

I read the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's a YA book, easy read, and intensely gripping. It's one of those books that sucks you in and you just can't put down. That is, if you can get passed the fact that the idea of the Hunger Games is ludicrous and after 74 years no one has even attempted to manipulate them? Ever? Really?

I would classify it as science fiction, I don't think it actually is though. I think it's classified as action. It's about the future of our world, in the ruins of North America, there are 12 districts and one capitol city. Every year, the capitol makes each district offer two teenagers to play in Hunger Games, which are televised and quite popular. The teenager basically fight to the death, last one standing wins.

It's basically an out-of-control reality show. While I was reading the book I could really see how easy it would be for our culture to become so desensitized to what's on TV that we enjoy watching children kill each other.

I really, really enjoyed the book. I highly recommend it. It's not to graphic or anything and is actually quite deep. It does have a cliffhanger, the next book is called Catching Fire and is released September 1.

Looking Forward To That Dishwasher

We got both the barracks and the townhouse. After much deliberation, we went with the townhouse. One less bedroom, but one more bathroom. It's not our own building, but we do get our own garage. The rent is more, but the utilities the townhouse is much less. We signed the contract on Saturday and Drek and I went to PF Changs to celebrate.

The townhouse is ours starting Feb 15th, we have to be out out of our apartment by March 1. We can make that work.

Why Pie Is Not The Answer

We saw the townhouse. I love it! It's very bright and well put-together. We like both the townhouse and the bunker, we applied for both and we'll be happy with either.

I finished reading the book I was reading: Such A Pretty Fat by Jan Lancaster. It was hilarious. I was dying with laughter. The book is a memoir about this women trying to lose weight. It's a book not about being crazy skinny so you'll be accepted into society, nor is the book about hating yourself, the book is about loving yourself no mater what and that includes loving yourself enough to make you healthy. Not skinny, healthy. I liked it. I can't recommend it though, Jen has a dirty mouth.

Really Bad Jet Lag Doesn't Make You Hemorrhage

I'm not really sore, proving the accident wasn't bad at all. I don't have any residual effects (besides Jasmine being banged up, but we'll fix that) that I know of. Well, I did have a nose bleed last night, and this morning, and then again this morning, and then one at lunch, but I think that might be because of the dry air and the fact I'm finally over my cold. Either that or I'm time traveling.

Speaking of which, LOST last night was fantastic. I don't want to give any spoilers, so let me just say that when a room burst into chants, cheers and then applause, it's a great episode.

My husband happens to be the best husband in the world. Yesterday for breakfast me, Drek, Kara and Jim went to the Bakery and then to Macey's for juice. My wonderful husband bought me three different containers of juice. They are delicious.

Most of yesterday was spent looking at a new apartment. We found a house we liked (it used to be an Army Bunker) and we'll see if that turns out. We have an appointment to see a Townhouse on Friday that I'm really hopeful about. We'll see.

Just Wait Until After Lunch

I was so productive this morning. Before 10am I had already gotten dressed, fed and out the door, clocked in to work, wrote and mailed four "thank you for your referral" cards, found a doctor's office I have spent three months trying to find, met the staff of the doctor's office and dropped of literature to them and catalogs to the office, visited another doctor, scheduled an in service, called 911, filed a auto insurance claim, persuaded a cop not to give a women a ticket, and sold an office chair.

Busy morning.

I'll Be Using Amazon From Now On

The first week in January I decided we had better order Toby's birthday present. This was a hassle because I don't have an ebay account (actually I can't have an ebay account, I shared once with the devil and after we broke up he ran the account into the ground a a few months after I open up any ebay account ebay contacts me and informs me that they know it's me, and I am on their "bad" list, and am not welcome on ebay ever.)

Drek will not give me access to his account, so buying things on ebay contains finding an item, IMing Drek, justifying the purchase with him (this warrants a fifteen page report on the subject complete with financial reports, graphs of account activity and the worth of the person I am purchasing for) and waiting two days because Drek cannot remember his PayPal password. Finally, we have purchased Toby's present. We bought from oddbanana, a power seller with a 99.2% positive rating out of almost 100,000 ratings and I am sure it will get here on time since we ordered it January 5th, and his birthday is not until Jan 27th.

Wrong.
On the night of Toby's birthday, we check the mail and it has still not arrived. I had to show up to the party with a card that matches an empty bag and promise that it is coming. While I don't think Toby minded (he turned one) I know it bothers Krisling since her present was also late. Late, as in, I haven't given it to her yet and her birthday was in November. I bought her a gift certificate to a yarn store than Drek threw away the before I could give it to her and I am currently in negotiation with the owner for a replacement.

So Drek emailed the seller and two days later we had no present, and no email. A few days and emails later Drek opened a PayPal dispute for "non-receipt of item". It took a couple days, but oddbanana refunded the money through PayPal with no comment or message or email.

One minute later they opened an eBay "Unpaid Item case" for the same item.

Sigh.

And now it is February and I have to start the whole ordering process over again. By the time Toby gets his birthday present he just might be turning two.

And the Oscars Are Only A Few Weeks Away...

A man from cooperate came to the store yesterday to film us doing product presentations. He is going around to almost every single store and filming how different salespeople sell different products. He edits the tapes and them posts them on a website where all the franchises can watch them. The idea is that we can learn from each other and improve as a whole. 70% of the presentation we might know, but that extra 20% of the information can be invaluable.

At our weekly meeting we picked which products w4e would show and then practiced them with everyone critiquing and offering their opinions. Yesterday I went I got all gussied up and went into work and hour early so we could film when no clients were in the store.

I was up first, I presented a Therasage table with my boss as the client. It was nerve-wracking at first, but it was a lot of fun. The guy from cooperate is apparently a professional director; he's taught at Art colleges in San Fransisco and things like that. He was really good at telling me exactly what I needed to do without telling me exactly what I needed to do. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but he was great. He filmed the presentation and then he had me do certain things over again so he could get close-ups.

Next up was me doing a presentation of a Sanyo massage chair, which went really well, and then he wanted me to do a Theracane. I panicked because although I love Theracanes, I had not practiced that presentation. Josh decided he would be the client this time, which don't work out too well because we kept joking and laughing and not really giving a lot to the film. The guy from cooperate finally coaxed out of me what he needed and I was done.

I'm excited to see the videos, I want to know how they turn out. I've already watched some of the videos the other stores did and I have already learned so much! This project was a great idea and it's already been a lot of fun. I felt like a real movie star. For a few seconds anyway.

If You Haven't Got Your Health, You Haven't Got Anything.

I'm getting over my sickness. I hate being sick. I really, really do. On the the plus side, Tuesday I only worked a half day, I didn't work at all on Wednesday and today I only wen in for an hour and a half meeting. Tomorrow will also be a half day, and then it's back in the thivk of things on Saturday.

Being sick in bed has given me ample time to watch Jericho (A TV show about how a little town in Kansas deals with the end of the world as we know it, with no fuel, no electricity, and no food). I've also been reading Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer (yeah, that really is her last name. Put in it all caps and it's even better: PFEFFER. I can't imagine what she went through as a young child trying to write her name). This was a great book. A nail-biting page-turner you hate to put down, but you have to, becasue reading the book makes you hungry and weak and think that you have no food and will never have food ever again, so you have to put the book down to raid the kitchen and eat a lot of food, just to prove you can.
The only thing I didn't like was the ending. I know when authors end books with loose ends teachers will tell you it's becasue they purposly left it up to your imagnation, but I think they just get lazy and decide to stop writing. It's so annoying.

Anyway, the book is about how a family deals with world as we know it, with no fuel, no electricity, and no food. Yeah, so, basically, I have been sucked into the Apocalypse. I find myself thinking about food rationing, medical supplies and such. How bad is it? Let me give you an example:

Yesterday Kara's boyfriend, Jim, stayed over the night at our house. In the morning, Drek got up and I awoke to him and Jim having breakfast. "OH NO!!" I thought shooting straight out bed, "They can't have breakfast! We have to ration the food!" . . . yeah.

Both of the stories have a few things in common: Food is a huge problem, especially since no one has even put a single can away for food storage. The only way people get food is through the charity of the government. As big as a problem as food is, the cold is a bigger problem. Winter is apparently the thing to fear. Chocolate is the ultimate luxury and object to dream about and lust after. All pregnant women die. There are no exceptions.

We have a year's supply of basic food storage. I am slowly collecting other things for our food storage that aren't so basic but still needed. I am still apprehensive. I will feel much better when we live down South and live off the grid, with our own electricity and our own garden.

If the world ended tomorrow I think we could survive for a year, maybe. We could at least survive longer than the people in the book. Come on, two months after the asteroid people have starved to death? Really? In the fall? Two months?

So. Very. Sick. I despise being sick. This sickness does not appear to be going away. I woke up sick on Monday, and I have improved by...um...say 15% since then. I stayed in bed all day Monday, well, no. I went to Rissy's house on Monday to have a LOST marathon, but got too tired three episodes in and then went home and spent all day in bed. I spent all day in bed on Tuesday. I spent most of the day in bed on Wednesday, but come on, it was the season premiere of LOST and we don't get TV, so what did you expect me to do? It was amazing, by the way. Thursday I spent the first half of the day in bed, then I went to work. Today will be the same thing. So sick of being sick.

Mostly, the annoying part is the stuffy nose. It's no fun when you can't breathe. I don't think the inversion is helping either. Air quality outside right now is appantly more deadly than ciggarette smoke. Great. Just great. When are we moving, again?

Sweetheart Saboteur

This one is set for Valentine's Day. Saturday, Feb. 14th from 4-7pm. The games are planned and they promise to be the best yet! So excited!

Prizes include a huge back of candy, as usual, but also some gift certificates and a few other surprises.

Price is $10 per couple, that covers dinner, hot chocolate, donuts and other things. Want to play? Just email me. Only the first eight couples to sign up can participate.

Yesterday I decided being cold was the worst thing in the world. Today I am sick, and decided that being sick is the worst thing in the world. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

P.S. My husband is, without a doubt, the best husband in the world.

Skewered. One Sympathises

I found my calling in life. Apparently, I am supposed to open up a Vegetarian Thai restaurant. Too much of a niche? Hmmm...Maybe. UNTIL YOU TASTE THIS FOOD!!!!

Yesterday's lunch:

Thai Satay Kabobs
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 10 oz pkg tofu, rained and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups (about 4 oz) mushrooms. Sliced, whole, whatever you like
3/4 cups coconut milk
1 tsp red curry paste
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 Tbs vegan sugar (Brown sugar is easier and works better in this recipe)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt

Whisk together soy sauce, mushrooms and tofu in a large bowl. Cover and marinate 30 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 400F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Drain tofu and mushrooms and thread onto 6 skewers. Bake 15 minutes. Turn and bake 15 minutes more.
Whisk coconut milk and red curry paste in saucepan. whisk in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in sugar, salt and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook 5 minutes stirring often.
Place skewers on serving plate and drizzle with sauce. Remaining sauce can be used for dip.


And my own special, most delicious concoction:

Pineapple Curry!!!!!!

1 can coconut milk (I've found the best coconut milk brand is Thai Kitchen, but any will work)
1 can pineapple chunks (drain pineapple juice into a bowl to use separately)
1 can bamboo shoots (drained)
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
2 Tbs fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbs red curry (I used red curry from Thai Kitchen, it comes in a small jar)
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 10 oz container tofu
Rice

Drain and cut tofu in 1 inch cubes. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan. Add tofu, cook on High. The point is to brown the sides of the tofu. Combine soy sauce, garlic and ginger in saucepan over med heat. Stir, for 3 minutes. Add pineapple chunks, coconut milk, and red curry. Bring to a boil, then simmer. Once the tofu is browned on all sides, add tofu, continue to simmer. In frying pan, add green bell pepper, carrots, bamboo shoots and pineapple juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once vegetables are slightly tender, add them (and the pineapple juice) to simmering curry. Simmer for 5 more minutes and serve over rice!

We Applied the Cortical Electrodes but Were Unable to Get a Neural Reaction From Either Patient

On Wednesday I go over to a little eight year old little girl's house. This little girl was born with half of her body paralyzed. Ever since she was born she has been surrounded by Doctors and specialists and therapists and such. I go over once a week to giver her a quick massage because her muscles get really really tight.

She is a very smart little girl. She's always the first kid to pick up on things and is always the smartest in her class. Today while I was giving her a massage I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be a doctor. I smiled to myself. Of course a kid surrounded by doctors her whole life would want to be a doctor. She probably has more training already than a second year med student. I asked her what kind of doctor she wanted to be. "I don't know," She answered. "Like a nurse-y doctor or something."

It's good to know that no matter how much a child has gone through, they're still just a kid.

And the Winning Numbers Are...

So, the St. George Marathon is not something you can just show up and run. You have to send in a running resume of sorts, and if it passes, it is entered into a lottery. If you are drawn from the lottery, you get to run. The winners of this lottery have already been announced for this year. Sigh.

However, if you are entered three times into the lottery, the third year you automatically win. So I might shoot for that. A 2013 New Year Resolution. I should see if there is another marathon I can enter...

Not the Smell, Not the Look, But the Sound of the Crust

I. Made. Bread. I MADE it. Myself. BREAD. So great.

I have never made bread before. This is so very exciting. Oh! I am just so proud of myself. I will never have to buy bread again!!

Krisling gave me a bread maker for Christmas. It came with a small manual. The manual explained all these settings and how it worked and said is included recipes. The only recipes were one for a chocolate cake and one for jam. There were no bread recipes. I soon discovered that if you put too much ingredients into the bread maker, it could explode, and since I didn't know how much ingredients to put in, I did not make bread.

Yesterday I used the bread maker to make the chocolate cake. It was...not exactly delicious. It was cake, but it was...um, not the best cake ever. So I decided this was a BREAD maker, and would make extra-delicious bread!! This morning I googled images of bread makers, found one that matched mine, got the model number and found the complete manual for my model of bread maker online. Hooray for Google!! This manual had recipes. I tried the recipe this morning and this was the result:

DELICIOUSNESS!!

I have wheat. It came with our food storage we got for Christmas. Now all I need is a wheat grinder and I will be set!!

A Lot of People Like Snow. I Find It to be an Unnecessary Freezing of Water

It is snowing like crazy here. It has been since mid-December. Two days ago it snowed for fifteen hours. Have you ever seen a wall of snow? I have.

At the beginning of the year, Krisling and I went skiing. It was my Christmas present to her. When we went two years ago, we went in March. I remember thinking I had worn too many layers. Krisling ended up in jeans and a T shirt. Skiing, after all, is hard work. You warm yourself up. This year, it was not like that. It was FREEZING. I suppose skiing in January will do that. It was ok coming down the mountain, but riding on the ski lift was very painful. We got through it by throwing Krisling's bag full of cameras, wallets, keys and such off the ski lift and trying to catch it with our skis and ski poles. A feat made difficult when you can't breathe because you are laughing so hard.

And if you think flying down a snow-covered mountain on two small sticks is dangerous, you should try riding on a bus driven by a guy who openly admits he is drunk.

Anyways. This year I have also had two major snow fights, built a huge and awesome snow fort with Meimei and Drek, been extreme sledding, shoveled snow, gotten my car stuck in the snow twice, been a passenger when another car got stuck in the snow, and I've had to walk through piles of snow in snow boots, boots, high heals, work shoes, tennis shoes, and barefoot.

Ok, I've had my fun. No more snow. Or cold. ok?

Alcohol: The Cause Of, And Solution To, All Of Life's Problems

Aaron came over last night. He brought his wii and all his lovely games. It was my...3rd? time ever playing the wii so it's still new and exciting to me. We played Mario Cart, which is so much more difficult when you don't know what you are doing, or which buttons do what. We had a blast. I even managed to win a few races.

During the transition between races the screen told us it couldn't read the disc and and that we couldn't play that level. We rebooted and tried again; Same thing. We rebooted and tried a different level; same thing. Aaron was distraught. And that's when the genius of Xirax came to me for a moment. I got out my most-awesome-teeny-tiny-bottle of 100%, entirely Russian vodka and cleaned the disc with it. We put it back in the wii and we didn't even have to reboot, the game started in three seconds flat. We even went back and played the level that caused the problem. Bwhahaha.

After this highly successful escapade I had to think to myself; Vodka is expensive and yet, so useful. You can clean/repair discs, make your hair shiny, make air fresheners that have a shelf life of two years and so on. Why would you waste this precious commodity by drinking it? Also, it smells disgusting.

2008 Review

On a personal level, 2008 meant progress. Drek Graduated with his Master's Degree, He got a job, he learned how to play the stock market and together we started investing in our retirement. We started saving money for a down payment on a house, we saved money for emergency funds. We got health insurance. And so forth.

Alas, all this is ridiculously boring. I understand that this year was necessary for the rest of our lives, and that certain things have to be done, but I feel that this year was just...working and doing nothing. Maybe because all the progress made this year was made by Drek. What did I do? I worked. A lot. Yeah.

I went on my very first business trip. I learned how to knit and completed three projects. I started running and did research so I can run a marathon. I got in a car accident. I learned Tao Bo. I bought a bed that I love. I planned and carried out two successful Saboteurs, played one more game and won! I ate and fell in love with sushi. I won a massage chair in a contest. I completed the Women's Challenge. I registered on facebook. I took a pregnancy test for the first time ever (Negative. Thank heavens. Calm down) I started writing a new novel. I touched and shot a gun for the first (and second) time. I completed the Book a Month Challenge. I expanded my cooking skills by leaps and bounds. I met my nephew, Toby, whom I adore. I planned and cancelled four vacations. I planned and actually went on two vacations. I drove on the freeways of California. I fell madly in love with my husband (again).

It should have gone something like this:
Went to Ireland. Went to Mexico and actually carried on a conversation in Spanish. Went sky diving. Went on a cruise and went Scuba diving. Ran a marathon and lost 500 pounds. Randomly earned a million dollars. I now own my own house and a skunk.

Sigh. Oh well. That's what 2009 is for.

Even When You Have a Bottom the Size of Two Bowling Balls

Ah 2008, you were a crappy year. I will not miss you.

2009 came in with...noise. Drek and I celebrated up at his family's house. We played lots of games and ate yummy appetizers and talked and set goals and then did the whole count down thing. Yeah!
And then I went home and slept, woke up and went skiing with Krisling. The skier guy there thought I was Kris's mom. Apparently 2008 was not a good year for me.

Goals:
Spiritual:
-Write in my gratitude journal everyday, right before I get out of bed in the morning. If I do, I will be grateful for more things!
-Index 1,000 documents. If I do, I get to find and book a trip to Ireland to find my family history.
Physical:
-Run a Marathon. So, train for a fast 5k, then train for a 10K, then train for a marathon. If I do, I will be really proud of myself.
Mental:
-Work on Spanish everyday. If I do, Drek and I are going to spend May 5th in Mexico, speaking with the locals
Financial:
-Have enough money saved for a down payment on a house. If I do, we can put a down payment on a house (some of these rewards are really easy to come up with)

Side notes:
Travel more. You only live once.
I hate the cold. I hate it. Next winter, I will not be here. I am moving even if it kills me, and if it kills me at least I will be warm.

Some of You are Going to be Burgled

Yesterday I went back to work. Not for a real work day, but because the floors needed to be vacuumed before the carpet cleaners came in today. The doors stayed locked, the lights turned off, the computer system off, the music blaring as loud as it would go. I had to move all the furniture around and vacuum and it took longer than expected. Drek went to go play badminton and I was left alone. When I was almost done, a person came and knocked on the door. I knew she could see me, but apparently she couldn't see that the open sign was not lit, and that the sign on the door said closed until Jan 2. She wouldn't leave, so I went and opened the door.
"Do you work here?" She asked.
"No," I answered,"I'm robbing the place."
"Ok." She said and got back in her car.

Ok. That works.

Indoor Plumbing; It's Gonna Be Big

Our bathroom sink works!! It's the best Christmas present ever!! Our landlord came over yesterday to fix our furnace (good thing we didn't go out of town; Acouchi would have been a catsicle) and while he was at it he fixed our leaky toilet and our sink. I didn't think it could be fixed. It's been broken ever since we moved in a year and a half ago. Do you have any idea how great it is to have a bathroom sink that work?!! It is amazing.

Also yesterday Krisling gave me a breadmaker. I am so freakin excited to make bread. It was all I could think about today. Alas, I have no yeast, so bread will have to wait until tomorrow. SO EXCITED!!!!