Baby Shower of Doom

I am most upset about not throwing a baby shower for Krisface, or even Kirsa. Not some girl who I do not know and I do not care to know.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

March 2008 is stuffed full of holidays. Almost to the point of me asploding. Almost.

Saturday was the celebration of St. Patrick's day. After the rest of the world celebrated it due to the holy days, but before the actual 17. It evens out. The party was a huge success. My mom did the most amazing job of decorating and everyone brought yummy and festive food. 17 people showed up, an amazing turnout considering only 18 were invited. We played a short round of killer bunnies, which morphed into pirates dice, then turned into two separate games of pirates dice once all the guests showed up. We then ate yummy food and played a huge game of werewolf using the IRA as werewolves, the Irish as villagers, and we even added a role of the leprechaun. That was followed by a game of Elixir. I'm hoping Xirax will post some of the photos he took.

Today I ate my traditional Irish breakfast: Lucky charms. Tonight I will try and make Champ for dinner.

Wednesday is the birthday of one of the married friends. We are taking her out to breakfast at IHOP. i am looking forward to this.

Also Wednesday, I am going over to my sister's house to make Easter cookies. I'm not sure how Drek and I will celebrate Easter, we will have to see. The fact that Easter falls on the 23rd of March (Liberation Day) complicates things. Perhaps now that I am married Liberation Day should be a thing of the past?

The 20th is the first day of spring. If the weather is nice I am thinking a picnic would be nice.


The 26th is Drek's mother's birthday. I have no ideas for this. It also happens to be the 1 year anniversary of when Drek proposed. Perhaps a hike up to the spot where he proposed? Maybe even a campfire with marshmallows. hmmm...

And, of course, the I am throwing a baby shower on the 29th. This has been a long and complicated ordeal. I will explain the ordeal later.

Happy St. Patrick's day!!

My Hands are Delicious!!

On Pi Day Drek and invited over his cousins for pie after work. His cousin introduced us to the "pi song" which is quite interesting. The pies were pecan and cherry from Village Inn. I think next year I will make fresh fruit pie cups instead of having huge pies that aren’t very tasty. Eating pie just because it is Pi day is fine, but turning Pi day into an opportunity to make delicious pie cups is even better.

That night was girl’s night out. Married friends are always fun to hang out with because most of the problems you're going through are so similar, and you can't really talk to someone who isn't married yet, or is already onto the next phase of life. The other great reason married girls night out is so great is because at the end, I realize how lucky I am with my marriage, and my perfect husband. It makes me step back and appreciate how good he is to me.
There were four of us. We met at a yummy restaurant and had dinner. Afterward we went to the mall. We picked out prom dresses for each other and then tried them on because it seemed like something you do on a girl’s night out. Margaret needed a new outfit for a huge interview so we went around finding her a nice top and shoes that went with her skirt. I think we did a great job. I guess we'll find out on Friday.
Our wanderings took us into Victoria's Secret (of course). Megan grabbed my hand and sprayed something called "whipped body moisturizer" on it. It acted just like whipped cream, but was green, because it was "Appletini". I rubbed it over my hands to make them smell good and she did the same to her hands. A few minutes later she gasped and yelled out "lick your hands!!" as it turns out, this stuff is delicious. VERY delicious. We went back to investigate and were relieved to find out that is is, indeed, edible. Yummy.
Also yummy was later that night when Megan and I went shopping for ingredients to make caramel popcorn, which turned out amazing. I will have to make it another time.

On the Subject of Food

It seems that lately a lot of my energy has gone into food, rather than getting my energy from food.

Sunday morning I made chocolate mousse for my visiting teachee. It turned out amazing. I didn't have fresh raspberries to top it with, so I used maraschino cherries instead. The presentation itself was delicious.
My visiting teacher loved the mousse, and in return gave me something called "friendship bread". Apparently, some bread (like sourdough and the aforementioned friendship) need something called a "starter" to make. "Starter" apparently, means fermented. Who knew? Anyway, this liquid mix is inside a plastic bag. I have to mush it everyday for ten days, then add a bunch of stuff, cook it, and I guess it will be delicious. It will also make 4 other bags of this "starter" mess that I am supposed to pass on. The sheet of instructions that came with the bag had been copied about 50 times. It had been spilled on, torn and such in-between these copies. It was a mess. So I took it to work and typed up a fresh copy. While I was doing this, a customer around my age came in. She has been in before, and I have gotten to know her quite well. She noticed what I was working on, and commented "instead of using vanilla pudding, use chocolate, and also add shredded zucchini." Apparently this friendship bread really gets around.

Tuesday night Drek wanted crepes for dinner. Crepes meaning fresh made crepes filled with pie fruit filling and cool whip. He also suggested that instead of using cool whip, I use the yummy crème cheese stuffing his sister uses in crepes. He called her, got the recipe, we went to the store to get the ingredients, and I made him his yummy dinner. I was not content with such a dinner. I had already made the crepes, so why not go one step further? I sautéed the mushrooms, steamed the spinach cooked the eggs and expertly made hollandaise sauce. Voila!! 30 minutes later I had one of my favorite foods in the whole world: a spinach and mushroom stuffed crepe. Oh, I am telling you, it was amazing. AMAZING!!

Saturday is the Irish party, and I am making Irish scones and Potato Farls. I have never made either of these before, but from looking at the recipe I gather it will be much easier than hollandaise sauce or chocolate mousse. I am not anticipating problems. While looking through the World Wide Web for delicious Irish recipes, I also came across something called Champ, which I think I will make for dinner on the 17th. Yum.

The next dessert for my Visiting teacher is No Bake Lime Mousse Torte. It is the same dessert my sister made for her birthday. If I can make it half as well, it will be heaven for all taste buds.

Considering I didn't cook anything until 4 years ago, and I am teaching myself how to cook, I think I am doing well.

Fish funeral

Our front door is missing. Missing; As in: gone; Taken off the hinges. Drek informs me that he thinks the landlord took it to clean it. It might be returned before the weekend.

Saturday at work, we had a fish emergency. Our store has an enormous 125 gallon salt water tank. The boss has owned it for 26 years. He collects fish and anemones, and has the biggest Elegance in Utah. An anemone had died during the night, poisoning the tank. When we opened the store in the morning two fish were already dead, and the two blue tangs (aka Dorie fish) were on the bottom of the tank, lying on their sides, gasping ads hard as they could. The purple tank had white spots on it, and the fox face fish had turned brown. We frantically call the boss and the fish guy that cleans the tank. Finally, they both came over and began emergency procedures. I'm not really sure what they did, but there was a lot of running in and out of the store. They decided to put in a device that will prevent such things in the future, and began sawing the cabinet with an electric saw. This was very noisy, and some of the customers were very confused. In the end, there were eight casualties. Included in this was my favorite yellow tang, and co-workers favorite fish, a Mandarin Gobi. Also, one of the Dorie fish didn't make it. :(

Rest in peace, yellow tang. You are the only fish I have seen swim backwards. Your antics will be missed.

1 Month

I have exactly one month to lose 21 pounds. For the past few weeks I have been dieting and exercising, and I haven't lost anything. This is very frustrating. I'm thinking more drastic measures may be needed.

Come One, Come All

There will be a Happy St. Patrick’s Day party on the 15th of March. I will be making an Irish dinner. Everyone is invited; just bring something yummy that relates to St. Patrick’s day (green cupcakes, shamrock cookies, root beer).

The smoke smell is gone from our house. I think the key was the ceiling, after I mopped it with vinegar and baking soda the smell slowly faded. Thank goodness.

The sun has decided to come out again. Despite the sunshine yesterday, it was very cold. Today it is a little warmer.

On Tuesday Drek took me to see I am Legend. I highly enjoyed it, but I think there was more to it. It never explained how that Zombie guy was so smart...smart enough to set a trap? It is intriguing enough to read the book. Does surviving as the last man on earth count as a craft? Then I could use it toward BAMC. Drek and I are going to the Library tomorrow, I will see if they have it. Thus far, I am not impressed with the Library's new HOLD system. I have had three different books on hold for six weeks. I was supposed to be next in line on all three of them. Something has gone wrong.

On the subject of visiting teaching . . . One girl I visit teach realizes she needs to be visit taught and is very good about it. The other girl needs to be bribed. I started this last month, by bribing her with desserts, which she loves. Last month the dessert she requested for this month was chocolate mousse. I have never made this before, so I attempted to practice with the recipe last night. Half-way through, I realized instead of buying heavy whipping cream, I got half and half. It turned out tasty, but more chocolate milk than chocolate mousse. Oh well, I will try again on Saturday. I have to have it right by Sunday.

Catch-Up

Saturday after work my Manager and her friend took me shopping. We went all over the mall and bought jewelry, a pair of wonderful pants that are so amazing they make my butt look small, a skirt and a dress. When I wore these to work, everyone commented. Ah, so this is why people spend a fortune on clothes: the attention.
After the mall closed we went to PF Changs for dinner (on the Boss's dime of course). Crab Wantons with Plum sauce are amazing!! The vegetarian entrees there are still not worth it, the Great Wall of Chocolate is still the most amazing dessert at a restaurant.
We finished eating and talking around midnight, I got home around 12:30. Right before I walked in the door I realized Drek had called me 4 times. Uh-oh. I was in trouble. When I got home he said he even called my manager to see if I was alright, she didn't answer her phone either. He thought we were dead.
Work has been going great. March is going to be the best month ever. I'm expecting a raise, we're already way ahead in sales, and I've earned $300 in spiffs in three working days. Wahoo!
Today I got to go shopping with my sister. We went cloths shopping for my niece, (her daughter) who is almost a year old. Clothes shopping for a baby girl is so much more fun than clothes shopping for a baby boy. The Easter dress my sister bought her is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Also, http://bamchallenge.wordpress.com/
I am very excited for this. I'll keep you posted.

I'm Nordstrom Barbie

My boss keeps telling me that I need to look professional at work. When I ask for more details, he simply answers "the Nordstrom look". I have no idea what this is, and he will not offer any more information, so for the last 6 months I have tried a few different looks to get his approval. These have all failed. Finally, my wonderful manager talked him into getting uniforms for everyone. The uniform consists of three or four really cute shirts that we are supposed to wear. She also convinced him to give her money to take me shopping to give me the "Nordstrom look". Last night, after work, we headed to the mall. She got me shoes, socks, a pair of pants, jewelery, headbands, and even got me free samples of this new makeup that is supposed to be really good for your skin. I had a blast, and she loved dressing me up like barbie. The best part was, we were spending the store's money, not ours. Shopping is always so much better that way. She wants to get me more pants, so we will be off shopping again tonight. I'm so excited!

This morning Drek and I and a friend from Quark went out and played Frisbee golf at a Rotary park. The weather was wonderful. It was fun to throw a Frisbee around again. We're hoping the weather stays nice so we can organize an ultimate Frisbee game soon.

The smoke smell is still not gone. I am running out of options.

And There I Was, Mopping the Ceiling

The rain turned into snow. It did not take away the smoke smell. Well, it took away the smoke smell in the bedroom, and after a another cleaning, the smell in the kitchen was gone. Unfortunately, the smoke smell was still alive and well in the living room. I practically bathed the carpet in Fabreeze. It was time for another plan. I looked online, and discovered that vinegar and baking soda work well. Therefore, I produced a mixture of baking powder and white vinegar and wiped down all the surfaces. I then fabreezed yet again and placed boxes of baking powder around the room. I set an air purifier in the corner and got that working. In the opposite corner, I placed an air freshener that is supposed to absorb odors. Two hours later I could still smell smoke. This led Drek and I to sniff around our living trying to find out exactly where the smoke smell was coming from. The beanbag smelled like fabreeze. The carpet smelled like fabreeze. The counter tops and bookshelves smelled like vinegar. The curtains smelled...well, bad. Not like smoke, but bad. I want new curtains. So why did the room smell like smoke?
In the afternoon Drek and I went over to my parent's house to play games. we discussed the issue with them, and my dad suggested that the smell was coming from the ceiling. Brilliant!! That's where the smoke would have gone, right? That's where we haven't cleaned and we haven't smelled! It had to be! So I came home, made up another mixture of baking soda and vinegar, doused a rag with it, stuck it to the end of a stick and there you go!
I hope it works. If it doesn't, we might have to look into the possibility that Acouchi is stealing cigarettes from our neighbor and smoking them in the living room while we are gone.

Is Something Burning?

Last night Drek and I went up to his parents house to attend a surprise party for his cousin, Aaron. I was going to take the camera to take pictures, but I forgot. I forgot a lot of things, apparently.
When we came back to the house, three hours later, we opened the front door to discover our entire house filled with smoke. I had left the stove on.
Because it was freaking cold last night, we could not air out the house. When we went to Church this morning I noted with disdain that we smelled like smoke. The people that sat behind us noticed it too. Thus, we did not stay for the other two meetings.
Instead, I came home and took the opportunity to do some spring cleaning. We haven't been able to air out the house from painting or re-carpeting, and the sunshine today provides a good opportunity. Every window in the house is open, and the front door is open too. Fabreeze has been sprayed and re0sprayed over every surface.
My depression has peaked. It hasn't been this bad since before I was married. I'm really not sure what's wrong-except I know I have seasonal depression. Last night was very bad. This morning was not much better.
There is still snow on the ground, but it's melting. While cleaning I went outside to take out the trash and clean up outside the house. I went out without a coat. I went out without shoes. That made me feel a lot better. It also reminded me that I hate shoes.
It's raining now. It's not the winter rain that has been on and off over the last month, the kind that wants to be snow, but just didn't make it. This rain is different. This rain wants to be rain. This rain smells like spring rain. It reminds me of the condo. I hope this is a sign that spring is coming. I hope the rain cleans out the smoke smell.

Weather Crisis

I haven't seen the sun in months. The snow keeps coming down. The wind is still bitter cold. The only change is this dreadful Inversion that has settles down upon the valley, adding a deadly fog to the depressing climate.
I suppose this can't last forever, but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

Yesterday I booked a flight out of this cursed state. Drek and I are flying down to Texas to visit family and a very large water park. With any luck, the thought of being warm, in the sun, and in water will keep me going until this doleful weather moves on.

Before and After

On Tuesday I worked all day. As soon as I got off work Drek and I came home, moved all furniture from the living room to the kitchen, hallway and bedroom, unscrewed outlet covers, taped up what we didn't want painted, cleaned the walls, painted the walls and ceilings, ripped up the carpet, swept away the dust that 20 years ago must have padding, spent three hours pulling up cursed staples from the floor and then fell asleep exhausted. Wednesday morning the carpet guy showed up, stayed much too long, finished installing the carpet and left. Drek and I painted again, perfecting and re-touching, screwed the outlet covers back in, and moved most of the furniture back into the living room. It was was about this time that a can of paint was dumped over...ONTO OUR BRAND NEW CARPET. I could have died. I was already so exhausted from all the work, and not having eaten anything since Sunday night did not help. Luckily, most of it came up after an hour of scrubbing. You can't even tell anymore.

Before:
Acouchi is ready to start

Our poor kitchen.

Drek painted this wall
I painted this wall

The old carpet did not do to well while we were painting.
painting mostely finished. time to rip up the carpet

Uck.

Ready for the new carpet
After

Winter is Over, Why is There Still Snow?

Once again, I have become fat. I am getting to the point where people see you for the first time since you've been married, and they feel sorry for the husband. It is not unusual to put on weight after you are married, but I cannot stand this. This is a big problem, because there is still snow outside. You see, when wanting to lose weight, you have three options:
1) Exercise like crazy and no diet. This brings happiness because you can eat whatever you want, and more happiness because working out releases endorphins.
Alas, this is not an option because I cannot exercise. I can't afford a gym membership and it is too cold to do anything outside.
2) Exercise and diet. This brings happiness because when you make it through a day successfully dieting, you are very happy with yourself. And exercising releases endorphins
Alas, I cannot do this either, because I cannot exercise.
3) Just diet. This is not so fun, because you are only happy when you have the energy to be, and when you are not thinking about food.
And this is the only one I can do, thus, the one I started Monday. However, i found a diet that gives me quite a lot of energy, I does not make me obsessed with food. I am very impressed with this diet. I do not know if it works,because my scale broke, but I can pretend it is working. I am doing very well, and will continue to do this well until Friday or Saturday, when I plan to change diets and hope that it is warmer outside.
And this is the only one I can do, thus, the one I started monday. I am doing very well, and will continue to do this well until Friday or Saturday, when I plan to change diets and hope that it is warmer outside.

Acouchy Species?

Last night Drek and I went to library. This was a historic occasion. When we were dating, I discovered that Drek did not have a library card. He did read a lot, but he borrowed or bought books to read. He did not utilize Benjamin Franklin's brilliant idea. There have been a few times when we have gone to the Library and he has borrowed my card. The other day, he went to the Library without me and he got his own Library card. Thus, last night we went to the Library armed with our own individual cards. We checked out books, came home, cozied up on our oh-so-comfy bed, and read for about four hours. Breaking the silence he suddenly announced: "Hey! Acouchies!" I looked up from my book in confusion to find my cat, but then realized he was pointing to his book. The book was referencing small South American mammals named Acouchies. This morning I looked it up on Wiki. Yep, there is such a thing. 

Green Acouchi, Myoprocta pratti is a South American acouchy species from the Dasyproctidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Writer's Strike is Over!!

This morning I was awoke to the news that my long-anticipated bed was being delivered in an hour. Huzzah!! The bed came, we set it up, and on my lunch break Drek's wonderful siblings came over to break in the bed (Tempur-Pedic material has a cover over each cell that needs to be broken off before the bed is soft). We put the mattress on the living room floor so they could jump on it, wrestle, and do whatever they wanted. They came up with a pretty good game.
My bed is amazing!!



Over the last week there has been a four inch needle being stabbed into my left temple (I am hoping my new bed will cure this). On Sunday, the headache finally caught up with me and I decided to stay home from church. I spent a good part of the morning online at ABC, NBC, and CBS .com watching shows (My Name Is Earl, Notes From The Underbelly, and Eli Stone). This was a new experience for me. By the time I was twelve I had was too busy to watch T.V., and never sat down in front of one without an specific show in mind, and that show was starting in less than four minutes. So on Sunday I got online and was trying to find something good. I came to the conclusion that I reached over two years ago: There is nothing good on T.V., and if there is, someone in Quark will have watched it, bought the DVDs, and lent them to me. If that show, by some miracle, had not been canceled by that point (Arrested Development, Miracles, Firefly), I would watch episodes online (Heroes) or even make it a ritual to watch it every week, even with the commercials (LOST).
Alas, there is no new good shows (Although it was to have a GodSpell flash back when Victor Garber started singing and dancing). Having discovered this, I fell asleep. Later, I was awakened by a friend who also skipped church, felt bad, and decided to drag me to her brothers ward. we never found it, but we did sit through a random Sacrament meeting.
At work, there was nothing to do, so once again I was online, looking for a good show.
And then...Success! I became mildly interested in a show. (Pushing Daisies) The plot was interesting, the material was new and exciting, the banter witty and comical. And the colors!! So very vivid! I haven't finished a whole episode yet, but at least I found a show that is promising!

I have been so productive. In the last few days I have done the following:
I talked to the landlords about carpet choices and painting. I set up the appointment with the carpet guy to have the carpet done. I finally got the "Preach My Gospel" book we're supposed to have because we are taking a "Preach My Gospel" Sunday School class. I set up visiting teaching for Sunday. I went shopping for my little Preemie nephew (Kris, I need a mailing address). I went Valentine's day shopping. I went to an enrichment night for the ward and was social. I did laundry. I cleaned my house. I cleaned my mother's house (a little). I helped set up for my sister's birthday party (which was a blast and I have never had a better cheesecake). I worked out credit-card confusion with my new bed. I watched Fight Club for the first time. I set up the Baby shower for this girl...oh dear. I am not going into that story right now. Let's just say how I got put in charge of this shower I will never know, as I don't even know this girl. This will be a very long ordeal.

Now, I want to be warm and eat chocolate. I am so sick of the cold. I am so sick of the snow. I just want to be warm! Why am I still in this stupid state?

Super Tuesday

Today was Super-fly for three reasons

1) I ordered my Tempur-Pedic bed
2) My Shutterfly Calender came in the mail! Huzzah! Now I can schedule things again!!
3) Quark Werewolf started!!

Today was not-so-Super-fly for 3 reasons

1) I didn't actually earn my bed, Drek just let me cheat. The last spiff I earned was supposed to be $100, but the check I got today was only for $50. This cannot be corrected.
2) The carpet guy that was supposed to come over today and measure our room, and give us a quote, never showed up.
3) Lunch with Drek's family turned out to be not so fun. This resulted in an argument between Drek and I, and it's not even Sunday.

After work Drek and I drove over to the polls so we (well, he. I didn't have ID, or any intention of voting, actually) could vote. The line went down a very long hallway, then curved back on itself and went continued on. The wait turned out to be around 2 hours long, so I left Drek there and went to a relief society activity. Soon, I started to get these text messages:

Lonely...I'm so lonely...

Day 3 it seems like I've been stranded here for months. The fluorescent lights are beating down...No water food. No sign of rescue, but I am building a fire.

Can feel myself going crazy. Am contemplating voting Huckabee. Another survivor slaps sense into me...signal fire unsuccessful. Eat leg.

Reached end of hallway! Line curves and goes back up other wall. Am standing next to fire alarm. Temptation is strong. Relize evacuation would reset line. Bad.

Discovery: Shouting "vote Huckabee!" at a Mormon polling station equivelent to "fire!" in crowded theater. Also bad

End of texts.

As it turns out, he did yell "Vote Huckabee!" in the hallway. Someone yelled back "Vote Romny!"

It's Great! Enjoy Japan, Hero of this Movie!

This morning I dragged myself out of bed extra early for a work meeting. I was in charge so I dropped by the bakery to pickup some fresh-out-of-the-oven orange rolls that I miss so much. mmmmmmmm. Who should be there? But Stefanie, my old boss. I asked how everything was going and discovered that Mark, also my old boss, is not doing well. He hasn't been into work since the beginning of December because he is hurting so bad. This is not good. Mark is an awesome guy, and really quite young. I am very worried.

The work meeting was a lot of fun. The best announcement was that three items in the store now have spiffs on them. Huzzah!! Also, today marks the six months I have been working here. I love my job!!

As much as I love my job however, I did take a two and a half hour lunch break to eun some "errands". This was actually my opportunity to watch Cloverfield with Drek, Rissy and Xirax. It was actually a great movie. I loved it. The only not-good part was at the very end, when I though the movie was over (but it actually continued on for ten more minutes). It was supposed to be a very sad scene, and the whole theater was dead silent. It stuck me as a hilarious way to end the movie, so I started laughing, which I felt bad about because of the people in front of us, so I put my hand over my mouth and tried to giggle quietly.

After work it was off to the Quark game night!! An entire room filled with nerds and geeks playing board games of every kind!! We brought Pirates Dice (thanks again Xirax!!) and taught a group how to play. Once taught, I abandoned the group to join a game of Ticket To Ride Europe. It was most exciting. I tied for first place with another player.
The best art of activities like that is not the activity, but rather, knowing that no matter what you do, you can be yourself, because everyone in the room will except you for who you are. I forgot how much I liked Quark for that reason.
At the end, Xirax was happily taking pictures. As I came up to him he pointed the camera at me and said "I'm documenting this. What do you think of this party?" Giggle giggle.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Acouchi likes Spaghetti noodles. I now have the film to prove this.

Of Course, That is Exactely What Heroes Are For!!

No, I did not get enough spiffs to buy my bed. And nothing else in the store has a spiff on it now. curses!!

Yesterday I went to Film Forum to see The Last Unicorn, which I haven't seen in ages. it was pretty good, I'll watch it in another ten years. Bradley stopped by the film forum to drop of the memory protectors I ordered from him, or from Close To My Heart, in October. Now I can finally finish my wedding Album!!

Acouchi likes Sphagetti Noodles.

LOST in 57 minutes!!