Year In Review - 2007

In the final hours of 2007, it seems fitting to look back on the year and mention some of the events that shaped my year.

Places Visited: (new places in italics)
Denver, CO
Kanab, UT
Mesa, AZ
Salt Lake City, UT (several times)
Puerto Rico
St. Thomas, VI
St. Lucia
Dominica
Barbados

Guys Dated: 3 - one was even a blind date! This is certainly a record for me. There have been years when I haven't gone on a single date, so to have gone on dates with 3 separate guys in one year is pretty amazing.

Guys Kissed: 2!!!!!!!

Number of Jobs Turned Down: Zero - sometimes I still can't believe I decided to stay at this job. I love it and have had no regrets so far, but it's still kind of surprising.

Favorite Book Read: Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
Runners Up: The Confessor by Daniel Silva, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling, Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, Othello by William Shakespear

Fun Activities with Friends: making cinnamon- and sugar cookie-scented candles, reading Shakespear plays out loud, going on a cruise, making cookies, Laughing Stock.
(I'm sure there are so many other things I've done with my friends this year, but I can't think of more at this moment. However, if you, my dear friends, remember the things that I don't, let me know!)

Happiest Moment: When Adam told me he loved me.

Saddest Moment: When Adam and I broke up. "Moment" is an understatement. However, life went on, and I know we're both in good places.

Biggest Reliefs: A Tie. 1) When Adam and I broke up. We were both miserable at the end. 2) When I decided to stay. Now I don't have to worry about making that decision again for 2 years.

Regrets: I can't think of any. I know I haven't always made the best decisions this year, but each time I made "mistake", it turned out okay and/or I learned from it.

Hopes for the new year: Stay tuned...my next post will be about my new years resolutions and plans.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wrapping Up Christmas

So, did everyone have a nice Christmas?

I did. Thankfully!

Honestly, I usually don’t enjoy Christmas. In fact, I tend to dislike Christmas because of the stress of trying to balance the time I spend with my mom and the time I spend with my dad. Ideally, I would be able to spend all day with both of them (because they’d be married), but that’s not reality, so I end up making myself miserable trying to make everyone happy. Throw in my brothers’ in-laws and arranging schedules so that my brothers and I are at my parents’ houses at the same time, and I usually feel like a general making battle plans. And, I’m just as grumpy.

This year, I realized that I can only do the best I can to make things fair and equal and to show my parents that I love them, and then it’s up to them to be adults and be happy with what time I’m able to spend with them. No, it won’t always be perfect for everyone, but that’s life, right? Every night since Thanksgiving, I’ve prayed to feel the Christmas spirit and to find joy in celebrating Christmas again, and it worked! Yes, there were still some tense moments, but not nearly as many as in past years! And yes, last night I thanked my Maker that Christmas was over for another year, but not nearly as fervently as I did last year! Hooray for improvement!

Some highlights of the five-day (Friday through Tuesday) celebration that is Christmas chez moi: (in no particular order)

1. A date with Anthony on Friday night.

2. Anthony giving me a Christmas present Sunday evening.

3. Getting a guitar for Christmas.

4. Watching my nephews and niece open their presents.

5. Getting the complete works of Shakespeare from Santa Claus.

6. Playing lots of games with my family.

7. Staying home from work on Monday and getting paid for it. I’m now officially salaried!

8. Speaking about Christmas traditions in church on Sunday.

9. Going to Milford to hear Rachel sing “O Holy Night” at her church. She sang it amazingly!

10. Good food. Lots of candy, ham, cheesy potatoes, veggies and dip, poppy seed cake, and other delicious items.

11. Spending Christmas Eve night at my mom’s and not getting much sleep because I was excited for Christmas and because I was thinking of someone too much.

12. Playing air hockey at my brother’s house and having my imminent victory snatched from me when my sister-in-law started playing really good.

13. My apartment being a mess. It still is, in fact. I have all the presents I received stacked on my table, my couch, and my easy chair. And, I have pots and dishes that need to be washed. Unfortunately, I have no immediate availability to clean my apartment like it so desperately needs to be cleaned.

14. Going to “I Am Legend” with my youngest brother and my mom. It was pretty good. Not great, but good. A little scarier than I prefer, but quite interesting.

There are other things I could mention, and I could certainly go into greater detail, but I’m not going to. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll be writing a post about numbers 1 and 2 fairly soon, but you’ll have to wait a bit for that; I’m still figuring out a few things.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

C-A-N-D-Y

Every year, for the past few years, my sisters-in-law and I have gathered together before Christmas to make candy. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Saturday morning, at the crack of dawn (9 am), Rachel, Audree, and I gathered at Audree's to continue the tradition. Acutally, I was late because I decided to shower before heading out, so I didn't get there 'til 9:15, but that's irrelevant. I was pleasantly surprised that my mother had decided to go, too, since we invite her every year, but she has never joined us. She says she doesn't like making candy. It was nice to chat with her while we made candy, and she helped us A LOT by helping form the centers of one of the candies and especially by periodically washing our pots and pans for us. After she left, we had to interrupt our candy making to wash dishes, and it was such a pain. So...THANKS, MOM! I hope you come again next year!

This year, we decided that each of us should just make two items and make lots of those two items. It worked out so much better than previous years. For example: last year we started at noon and ended after 9 pm, and Rachel and I didn't stay to help Audree clean up (she sent us home and cleaned up by herself the next day). In comparison, this time, we started around 9:30 am (once we got everything ready to go) and finished around 5:30 pm, AND we helped Audree clean up. Much, much better. We made:

Almond joys (Mom helped form these centers)
Peanut butter "cups"
Peanut brittle
Chocolate covered pretzels
Fudge
Divinity

I made the divinity. Years and years ago, when I first began to get into cooking (while living in SLC), I decided to try making divinity. Aly, were you living with me when I made my first ever batch? It was horrible. I used a hand mixer and thought it couldn't possibly need to be mixed this long! It did, and even longer. The divinity ended up settling into little mud puddles instead of being yummy cloud puffs. To make things worse, my roommate's cat, Mickey, got on the counter over night and stepped in the divinity, and we awoke to divinity paw prints throughout the apartment. The next time I attempted divinity, I over-beat the mixture and it was dry and crumbly. Thankfully, the third time was the charm, and the divinity was...well... divine. I've been great (humbly) at making it ever since. Don't get me wrong, I still over- or under- beat the mixture on occassion, but when I get it right, I get it really right.

Please forgive the blatant boasting. I have so few things to boast about that I feel a compulsion to boast whenever I can actually get away with it.

Anyhoo, last night I took around plates of candy to my friends. This is my favorite part of candy making. I started a little before 7 pm and made it home a little before 1 am. I chatted with friends I haven't chatted with for awhile and found out that one friend recently broke up with her boyfriend, another friend's husband thinks his wife is beautiful (heart melting), and that no matter how often I see one friend, I still enjoy talking to her 'til the wee hours of the morning.

I have amazing people in my life; it is the blessing for which I am the most grateful. No matter what else happens in life, if you have good people surrounding you, everything will be okay eventually. Yes, I recently watched "It's A Wonderful Life", and I love it every time I see it. I just pray that I can bless the people around me as much as they bless me.

Okay, this is turning a little sappy, so I'm nipping it in the bud. (What an expression!)

May your days and nights be filled to the brim with yummy, miraculously calorie-free candy!

Ce Que Je Mange

By request, here is what one can normally find in my grocery cart:

• A loaf of bread - I prefer Granny Whosit's with sunflowers. No, I can't remember the name, but I know exactly where it is on the shelf and what the package looks like.
• Milk - skim, usually 1/2 gallon unless I'm planning on cooking lots of recipes that require lots of milk.
• Eggs - lately, I try to eat one egg a day; usually at breakfast, and usually hard-boiled.
• Cereal - during the warmer months, I tend to eat a lot of cold cereal; Frosted Cheerios and Vanilla Mini Shredded Wheat are the two most common purchases. During colder months, I may buy the fruit variety pack of instant oatmeal. In fact, it's in my cupboard right now.
• Hot chocolate - this is a colder months purchase, too. Last year, Cardine got me hooked on Stephen's Dark Chocolate, so that's what I have now. Yummy!
• Spaghetti - I like to make the whole bag of spaghetti at once so I can easily heat up the leftovers on subsequent nights. (I love leftovers!) I also make my own sauce, since I've never found a brand that I really love. Every time I make the sauce, I put in different spices, sometimes with meat, sometimes without. Mmmm. It's what I'm having for dinner tonight. Can't wait!
• Baguette and chevre - my french teacher once offered this treat as an hors d'oeuvre at a party she threw for my class, and I've been hooked ever since. (chevre = goat cheese, baguette = long, thin loaf of bread - just in case you didn't know) What you do is slice the baguette any way you like, then spread a bit of chevre on each slice. Place under the broiler for a few minutes - watch carefully so you don't burn the cheese/bread. I've also tried topping the cheese with slices of avocado or green olives, and both turned out quite yummy.
• Hummus and pita chips - got hooked on this treat on my mission and must buy it at least once a month. Tomorrow, some friends and I are having a dip party. We'll be enjoying homemade pumpkin hummus (Cardine), tzatziki (Warnser), and baba ghanoush (me) with homemade pita chips. Mmmmm. Can't wait!
• Chicken - I know a lot of chicken recipes, so I tend to buy/eat a lot of chicken. I love Booklogged's Ritz cracker recipe, and I make it often. I also enjoy my sister-in-law's chicken and pasta salad.
• Fruit - I buy lots of fruits; apples, bananas, kiwis, pears, plums, grapes, and clementines (not oranges), and will sometimes experiment with new fruits, like star fruit. When I'm feeling in a particularly splurgy mood, and when they're in season, I buy fresh strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries.
• Vegetables - I lack variety in my veggies; I buy baby carrots every week, no matter what. I'll also buy one of the following, depending on the mood I'm in: basket of grape tomatoes, English cucumbers, or green/red bell peppers. Every so often, I'll get asparagus or corn on the cob or something else, but rarely. I like a lot of veggies, but I'm often too lazy to prepare them, so baby carrots are really handy.
• Hot dogs - yes, I admit it. The family I lived with in New York introduced me to all-beef hot dogs that actually taste pretty good. I don't buy hot dog buns; I just slather mustard (not ketchup!) on a slice of the aforementioned bread. I freeze the hot dogs, because I can only handle one every so often.
• Popsicles - not just for warmer months, these tasty frozen treats satisfy my sweet tooth all year round! I like the bag of popsicles (can't remember the brand) that has apricot, lime, cherry, and purple grape. In a pinch, I like the box (brand???) with root beer, lime, and banana.
• Chocolate - my latest chocolate fix comes in the form of dark chocolate plain M&M's. A small handful will cure even the most severe chocolate craving.

Wow, this list is getting long, so I'm going to stop it. There are other things I buy on occasion, and I don't always buy the items on the above list, but they tend to be in my cart on a fairly regular basis. I probably missed fairly significant items, but I'm getting hungry (go figure!) and need to go home and make spaghetti!

Random Facts About ME!

My superhero name is Static. Can you guess what my superhero power is??? Several of you already knew that about me, but did you know about my “superhero” boyfriend? Obe Wan Kenobi. Yep, that’s right; my nephew (a Jedi who works with Obe Wan) set us up a couple years ago. And, before you ask, I’m talking about the Obe Wan from Episodes I – III, since that is the Obe Wan my nephew thinks of when he thinks of Obe Wan.

I’m getting laugh lines around my eyes. I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad thing. I really don’t mind getting older, nor do I really mind looking older, but I can certainly sense in me the social influences that say smooth = pretty, and lines = not so pretty. I do like that the laugh lines seem to indicate that I smile and laugh a lot. :)

I don’t like eating oranges. I like the flavor of oranges, but I hate the white stuff that surrounds the yummy orange stuff. I end up spending 4 hours (or more) trying to pick off as much white stuff as I can get off the orange stuff before eating it. So, I definitely prefer clementines to oranges. They have the same-ish flavor, but very little to no white stuff. It usually takes me only a few minutes to eat a Clementine! I’m writing this while eating clementines, by the way.

Miracle of all Christmas miracles - I have my Christmas shopping done! D-O-N-E. It was even done before November even ended! (*Pause* while you recover from your faint.) Yes, I usually espouse waiting ‘til December 20th to start my shopping, but I decided to buck tradition and tried shopping a little earlier. Mom and I braved the crowds the Saturday after Thanksgiving (I was going to tell you all about this in the post about Thanksgiving that I ended up not writing), and discovered that there weren’t really that many crowds to brave. I found some good deals and bought almost everything I needed to buy. Then, last Wednesday night, I bought the remaining presents I needed to purchase and can now put away my debit card ‘til January. Aaahhh, if only it worked that way.

Last Thursday night, I went to the Oakridge Boys concert with my dad, his wife, and my little sister. I’ve loved this group since I was a young girl exulting in the fact that I, too, was “American-made, born and bred in the USA”. They performed their classic hits and some new songs for about 45 minutes, and then took a 20-minute intermission before singing Christmas songs for over an hour. These songs included traditional carols mixed in with songs they had written. The group was entertaining, energetic, and engaging, and I really enjoyed myself!

In an attempt to ward off Alzheimer’s, I’m learning something new – the numbers at the top of the keyboard. For over a decade, I’ve used the keypad whenever I want to type numbers. Now I’m trying to use the numbers above the letters more often, especially when I’m printing insurance envelopes. Honestly, I’m an old dog learning a new trick, so it’s taking awhile, but lately I’ve noticed a pretty decent improvement in my precision and speed.

Okay, one last thing – my coworker, boss, and I were destined to work together. We all celebrate our birthdays in May; mine is the 15th, my boss’s is the 19th, and my coworker’s is the 29th. Our birthdays go in order of youngest in the office (me) to oldest (my coworker). My boss, the only guy and the middle in age and birthdays, shares the 1 in his date with me and the 9 with my coworker. Also, we live in a line. We live in the same neighborhood, a few streets from each other, and yes, we’re in a line. My coworker’s house number is 236 W, my house number is 236 W, and my boss’s house number is 235 W (he lives on the south side of the street). Pretty cool, huh. Or…pathetic that we’ve figured all this out? I vote cool.

And...Exhale.

Don't you hate liars?

Please don't hate me for lying about posting about Thanksgiving.

I probably won't post about it at all.

I hope you weren't holding your breath.

My rule of thumb: if it's been a week since the event/idea/thing that I was going to post about, I'm not going to post about it.

Sorry. I know you had your heart set on reading all about my lovely Thanksgiving day and weekend.

Anyway, I may not post about Thanksgiving, but I do have a few ideas of other posts that aren't time-sensitive. So...

Probably best not to hold your breath, though. I've been busy this week.

Confused

I'm confused.

I keep getting signals from this guy (yes, Anthony) that make me wonder if he likes me, but then he doesn't ever ask me out. We went on a date this past summer, and he made all these comments that made me think he liked me, but he hasn't asked me out since then. Every time I see him, I think he's going to ask me out because of the things he says and how he acts, but then he doesn't. He also text messages me out-of-the blue. Example: on Thanksgiving he tm'ed me "Happy Thanksgiving, Julie!". I hadn't seen him since the last time he came into my office, then he wishes me a happy holiday out of nowhere???

I'm confused.

I wonder if he just thinks of me as a friend, then my boss and other people (okay, just one other person - the exboyfriend of one of my friends) tell me that guys don't do things like that unless they like a girl. Is this true? My boss was right before. When Adam started calling me this past spring, I said it was just because he wanted to be friends. My boss said guys don't call girls unless they like them. He was right, at least that time, and I was wrong.

Sigh. Don't even get me started about whether or not I want Anthony to ask me out! I do, but I don't.

Anyway, I'm planning on posting about Thanksgiving soon, so stayed tuned!

Quick Bits

I cut my hair. To be exact, Pete cut my hair. I love Pete. He's the perfect man for me. The perfect man to cut my hair, that is. I had him cut about 4" off and had him angle it a bit so the front is a tad longer than the back. I've wanted this haircut for ages, but every time the stylist cuts it a little different than what I had wanted. When Pete finished, I looked in the mirror and saw exactly what I had envisioned. I love Pete. I love my haircut. Life is good.

Last weekend, my youngest brother, K, came for a visit and brought his new girlfriend. So, I spent a lot of time with my family, which is always nice. Saturday afternoon, just after lunch, we took the three little kids to the park by the high school. Us big kids played "baseball". Really, we had one pitcher, one catcher, one batter, and the rest of us were outfielders. No bases, no running, no keeping score. We took turns being batter, catcher, and pitcher and each batter hit the ball a few times before we changed. Well, one time I decided to try pitching to my brother J. This was incredibly foolish on my part because I can't throw worth a darn. I felt bad for J because he had to suffer through a lot of wild pitches. I also felt bad for the catcher who had to chase a lot of wild pitches and for the outfielders who basically had nothing to do while waiting for me to get the ball across the "plate". I finally scooted up 'til I was fairly close to the plate (a few feet or so, I'm a horrible judge of distance) and started giving J some pitches he could hit. Well, one time he hit the ball right into my stomach. Boy, did that sting! Fortunately, my stomach is well-padded, so there was no lasting damage done, I hope, but I have a nasty-looking bruise the size of a softball (quite the misnomer I discovered) on my stomach. It's sad because it hurts and because it's in a place I don't want to show anyone, so no one can see how horrible it looks and pity me as much as I want to be pitied. J felt really bad, but it wasn't his fault; a) he didn't aim the ball at me, and b) I was really close. On the plus side, the two times I was at bat I actually had several really good hits! I've always been horrible at baseball and used to strike out every time up to bat, so I was very pleased.

I had a dream last night that I got shot while walking on my lastest walking route. It was so realistic - the streets, the houses, everything looked just like they do when I go for my walk. In my dream, I was walking along and felt a pinch in my thigh, then I heard the gunshot, then I felt the pain. I blacked out (in my dream) and came to in a hospital room. The ER nurse had recognized me and had called my mom. The doctor was explaining to her that the surgery had gone okay, but it may take awhile for me to walk again, if ever, since the bullet had done a lot of damage. I thought a lot about how I was going to work and get around and just live my life if I couldn't walk. It was so vivid that when I woke up I was extremely relieved that I could walk.

That's it. Everything in my life is going well... the same, but well.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Just a little pathetic

Don't get me wrong, I'm quite content with my life, but it occurred to me today that my life is a just a little pathetic, and because I LOVE lists, I decided to list for you why this is so. Enjoy.

You know my life is pathetic when...

...my hot Friday night date is with a fictional vampire on CBS named Mick St. John. At least he's a hot vampire.

...I check Pioneer Woman's blog a million times a day to see if she's written another installment of "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story". So far, there's 20 (yes 20!!!) installments and she's not finished! I almost feel like I'm reading a trashy romance novel except there hasn't been anything trashy, unless you count Malboro Man suggesting they go back to his place (they didn't), AND it's a true story. Sigh. It's my romance fix and I'm addicted. Thanks, Tearese. (Seriously, no sarcasm, I'm loving it and appreciate you telling me about it.)

...I chose to stay here instead of moving to France. The Julie of 10 years ago would have chosen France. Now, this could be construed as maturity...your call.

...I can no longer stay up 'til 1 or 2 am without dire consequences. Dire consequences = moody.

...one of the things I like most about my jobs is cleaning hearing aids. There's something really satisfying about sucking out (with a special vacuum) all the gunk and moisture that is causing the hearing aid to not work. It never gets old. Or, it hasn't yet.

...the only guy who hits on me consistently is my 100 year-old neighbor who in the summer goes out for a smoke in just his slippers and boxers. Whenever he sees me he says, "Hey there, sexy!" (giggle)

...I cried during the Primary's sacrament meeting program. Just a couple tears. They had a couple dads sing with their sons, and it really touched me.

...comfy sweats + a soft blanket + a good book + a treat (preferrably chocolate) = a perfect night. Perfect day = all the above + PBS cooking shows. BBQ U and New Scandinavian Cooking are my favorites.

...there are so many things that I could put on a list like this, but it's quitting time and I don't want to stay longer.

So, though LIFE is good, it's also just a little pathetic. I'm okay with that, though.

I hope I know what I'm doing

Today, I told my boss that I'm staying.

Can you believe it? If I weren't me, and I didn't know all that I had put into making this decision, I wouldn't believe that I actually decided to stay and not move away. Cuz, I was pretty set on leaving. I remember thinking that there was nothing my boss could say to get me to stay. I was wrong.

That doesn't mean my life has to stay at a stand-still the next two years. I'm looking into an online masters degree and am making sure that an online degree won't hurt my chances of getting into a PhD program when I finally leave here. Cuz, I'm thinking that I'd like to be a college professor someday. When I told my boss this, he was very supportive...then smirked and said that in two years he'll make me another offer I can't refuse. I've gotta say that I'm extremely relieved that I won't have to go through this process again for two more years!

And, no, my decision doesn't have anything to do with Anthony coming in to the office recently! (My boss actually asked me this!) I made my decision to stay earlier this week, before Anthony showed up, and waited to tell my boss today just to be mean. Yes, I'm a brat. He deserved it, though. (smirk)

And, yes, my decision had a lot to do with the monthly stack of homemade tortillas my boss promised. I mean, really, you have to try these someday! Yummy!

In other news: I have a new cell phone. It's red and really cool. Oh, and it's a picture phone. I like it a lot. I hated my old phone and have put off upgrading it until I knew what I was doing with my life. My phone number is, of course, the same. :)

That's it really. Thanks, everyone, for your support and well-wishes!

Woe Is Me

Sigh. I'm pathetic.

Anthony came into my work tonight. Sigh.

I haven't seen or heard from him in a few weeks, so I was surprised when the office door opened and he walked in. My boss was just leaving (of course!!!), and gave me a smirk before saying hi to Anthony and goodbye to me.

Sigh. I had almost forgotten how good-looking Anthony is.

He needed to buy hearing aid batteries and needed a new earmold tube. When that was taken care of, we talked for an hour and a half. At one point, he mentioned that he has a new phone and I walked around the counter (so we were on the same side of it), and he showed me all the cool features of his phone. We stood reallyreallyclose, our arms were touching - almost my entire arm was against almost his entire arm.

He smelled really good. Sigh.

Then he wanted to show me something on the internet, so we sat in front of the computer reallyreallyclose, our legs were touching - almost my entire leg was touching almost his entire leg. I was controlling the mouse, so my hand was up on the desk. So were both of his, for some reason. At one point, his hand was reallyreallyclose to my hand, but wasn't touching it. Then his hand moved and his fingers rested on my hand for a split-second.

I was dying. I think he is so attractive! I so want him to ask me out! Yet, I don't because I'm really not sure we're compatible. Heavens, though, I want him to kiss me. I love that we were touching almost the entire time he was in my office. He asked me if I'm busy on the weekends, and I said that some weekends I am, some I'm not. I tried to tell him about last weekend, but I think he thought I was telling him my plans for this weekend! Curses! I tried to correct him, but sometimes our communication abilities are less than perfect. Double curses!

I finally needed to leave work (it was well after the time I get off), so we said goodbye. He said that it was really good to see me and that I was looking good (there go my knees!), then he hugged me. Sigh.

A friend and I talked recently about how great it feels to have a guy's arms around you, and I remember thinking that I was beginning to forget how it felt (since it's been a little while). Aaaahhhh. This was a nice reminder. As we stepped apart, one of his hands slid across my back and over the top of my arm. Sigh.

It's probably a good thing he doesn't know the effect he has on me. He's my Achilles heel.

I told you I'm pathetic.

Keeping Busy

Was it only last week that I was saying I need a hobby??

I certainly didn't need one this weekend. Saturday was especially busy - I was on the go ALL DAY! It was fun, though, so I'm going to tell you about it.

6:30-8:00 am (YES - A.M.!!!) - woke up at this unheavenly hour in order to get showered and dressed for work. Yes, work! (I don't normally work Saturdays, in case you didn't know.)

8:00 am - drove to the hospital.

8:03-8:37 am - set up my booth for the hospital's annual(?) health fair.

8:37-11:15 am - looked in approximately 50 pairs of ears with a video otoscope (so the inside of the ear showed up on a monitor) and explained at least 50 times what we were looking at. Fortunately, most of these ears had normal ear drums and normal amounts of wax (because who wants to see excessive ear wax this early on a Saturday??).

11:15-11:45 am - finally able to take a lunch and get off my feet. I wore the wrong shoes. My feet hurt.

11:45 am-1:00 pm - looked in more ears and explained more times. Feet = pain. Oh, and the hospital had provided shirts for all the providers to wear. Long-sleeved. I was rather toasty. Good news, though, is that I saw a lot of people and got my boss's name out there. Publicity, publicity, publicity.

1:00-1:15 pm - took down my booth and drove home.

1:20 pm - changed into grubbies and started watching an episode of "As Time Goes By", planned to nap for a couple hours. I watched it for twenty minutes when...

1:40 pm - Mom called and invited me to a movie. I said no. Then I called her back and told her yes. Who needs sleep anyway?? The movie didn't start for 40 minutes, so I thought I could sit and relax, maybe nap a little, but...

1:45 pm - brother called. Brother had important things to say that I wanted to hear. So, eventually changed back into street clothes while talking to brother and finally had to tell him goodbye because...

2:05 pm - Mom picked me up for movie.

2:20-4:20 (ish) pm - watched "Elizabeth: The Golden Years". I really enjoyed it, more than the first movie, in fact. Queen Elizabeth I is one of my heroines; she totally fascinates me. I can recommend an excellent biography of her, if you're interested! And, if you like historical films, or movies with Clive Owen, you may like this movie!

4:30 pm - rested a bit and played a couple games of Yahtzee on my cell phone (I'm a little addicted.)

4:40 pm - rushed to Deseret Book to buy a present for my sister. I bought her a journal and a pen that lights up. The journal is funky and cute. My sister is 9.

4:43 pm - Dad called wondering where I was. I protested, "The party isn't 'til 5!" He responded, "I said between 4 and 5." I said I'd get there a.s.a.p., but not before 5.

5:08-7:00 pm - Sister's birthday party. We had pizza, salad, cake, ice cream, and ice cream cake. She opened presents and seemed to like everything she got. We watched college football - they were cheering for Alabama, but I had to leave before it ended, so I don't know who won.

7:00-8:30 pm - party at Celeste's. She just moved in to a new place and wanted to break it in with a party. For the first time, girls outnumbered guys at one of her parties. Seriously, it's usually me and her and then 2-4 guys. One of the guys is her ex, at least one guy is usually gay, and the others tend to be guys she's interested in. All of them are really nice and we have a lot of fun playing games. This time, her ex was the only guy and I finally got to meet two of Celeste's female friends that she keeps talking about. They are super nice and we got along really well.

8:30-11:30 pm - made candles at Cardine's with Cardine and Shiree. It was our first time making candles, and I think we did a great job! We colored them blue, gree, and orangy-red and scented them with cinnamon and sugar cookie scents. Seriously, I was impressed with us. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot and now we have nice gifts to give away. Of course, one of the best things about doing things with Cardine and Shiree is talking with them. We always have such interesting conversations. However, I was beat so I probably didn't contribute anything too intellectual to the conversation, and I left fairly early by our standards.

12:00 am - after driving home, washing my face and etc., and reading my scriptures, I finally was able to turn off the light and go to sleep. It felt great to snuggle under my covers and close my eyes and know that I didn't have to wake up for nine hours instead of eight because of the time change. Aaaahhhh.

Sunday was a little better, but still quite hectic. Did you see that the Lions beat the Broncos 44 to 7??? I was so pleased! The Lions are my favorite team and the Broncos are my least favorite team. Sweet! Unfortunately, the Colts lost to the Patriots. Before the game started, I guessed the Pats would win, but then the Colts put forth a tremendous effort and made me believe they'd actually pull off a win. With less than 5 minutes to play, they were up 20 to 10! Then they either let the Pats have the game, or the Pats dug deep inside and pulled up something so amazing that the Colts couldn't do anything to stop 'em, but the Pats made two really great plays that put them up 24 to 20. Even worse, their defense was able to stop P. Manning from being his awesome self and the Colts were unable to convert their last possessions into points. Sigh. Too bad. At least the Lions won. And, getting to watch football always = good times.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all have a safe, fun-filled day!

Crochet vs. Puzzles vs. ???

I need a hobby.

Last night, I watched "As Time Goes By", my favorite British comedy, and the main guy, Lionel, was bored, so he bought a model ship to put together. It occurred to me that I should be bored - I don't really do anything most evenings, except go for a walk, cook, read, and watch TV. Nothing very stimulating. Of course, there are evenings that I hang out with friends or family - these are exceptions to the non-stimulating comment, of course. However, I'm talking about the evenings I don't spend time with other people, which is 4-5 evenings a week.

So, what hobby would be good for me? Mind you, winter is fast approaching, and I certainly don't want to start something that is going to require my nose to freeze and fall off - that will probably be accomplished by the walking. And, as I'm in money-saving mode, it shouldn't cost a lot.

I've narrowed it down to the following:

Crossword puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles
Crocheting scarves (for Christmas presents???)
Origami
Drawing (I wouldn't be very good, but who would see it?)
Building an elaborate dominos course

I had thought of writing, but I've learned that when I get home from work, I really don't want to spend much time on the computer. AND, writing short stories/novels/poetry with pen and paper = too time-consuming. Hmm. I guess that's the point, though, isn't it? Maybe writing will go back on the list. Maybe.

Any ideas???

To Tell The Truth

This is another how-well-do-you-know-me posts. I know you love 'em!

Here's how you play - I'm going to give you a group of statements and you have to guess which one is a LIE. I'll give you the answers in the comments, so don't cheat!

a. I once had a rabbit named Snuffles.
b. I once had a doll named Sally.
c. I once had a teddy bear named Gus.

d. My first kiss was when I was 18.
e. I first held a boy's hand when I was 14.
f. My first boyfriend was when I was 15.

g. I'm thinking of moving to France.
h. I'm thinking of moving to Portland.
i. I'm thinking of moving to Salt Lake.

For Halloween, I've dressed up as:
j. a raisin
k. a pumpkin
l. an angel

m. Someday I want to go bungee jumping
n. Someday I want to go hang gliding.
o. Someday I want to jump out of a plane.

p. I don't like the sound of nails on a chalkboard.
q. I don't like the color combination of purple and orange.
r. I don't like the feel of cotton balls.

s. One of my three favorite books is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
t. One of my three favorite books is And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
u. One of my three favorite books is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

At some point in my lengthy college career:
v. I majored in French.
w. I majored in Nutrition.
x. I majored in Mathmatics.

y. I would rather sit than stand.
z. I would rather lie down than sit.

Looking back, some of these are rather obvious, but that's okay, right???

The Next Big Adventure - 3

My boss and I met today.

We discussed my "fate", as he puts it.

Really, he put forth his argument for me staying put; including salary and commissions, health insurance, retirement, vacations, and how I can achieve some of my goals while staying here.

I must admit, it's tempting. Here's why:

1. I'm feeling lazy. I don't want to look for another job. I have no desire to start working on my resume. I don't look forward to sending out my resume to numerous jobs and hoping that I get a bite. It seems like such a hassle. I told you I'm feeling lazy!

2. Money. Quite frankly, his offer wasn't too shabby. It was less than what he originally said (months ago - in a wild attempt to tempt me to even consider the possibility of staying) but I knew that was pie in the sky and not a bona fide, do-able amount. The real offer would strain the business a little, at least at first, but not so much that I'd feel worried (afterall, I do the bookkeeping and tend to worry when things get tight). I asked my boss if he felt it was too much to pay me but was worried that if he offered less I would say no-way-jose faster than he could blink. He laughed. He feels good about the amount; though he'd like to pay me more, it's not feasible right now - "maybe later", he said with a sly grin (he'd like me to stay for the rest of my life). I'd like him to pay me more, too (who wouldn't???), but this amount would provide me with enough money to accomplish a lot of my financial goals. And, honestly, his offer is fairly comparable to the salaries of the jobs I've looked at (which hasn't been a lot as I've been feeling lazy - refer back to #1).

3. I like my job, I like my boss, and I like my co-worker. Seriously, I've got a good thing going right now. What I worry about is getting to the point where I don't like my job, that I get bored or tired of it. That would be miserable, because my boss is asking for a two-year minimum committment from me.

I told him I'd make a decision in the next 2-4 weeks. It will be nice when I finally make this decision because it'll be made. I'll either decide to leave and my boss will accept it because he knows it's what I really want and that he did everything he could to get me to stay or I'll decide to stay and will be committed to staying for 2 years. No more having to make this decision every few months.

Sigh. That will be nice.

Wish me luck and clear-thinking!

Recipe for a Nice Weekend

Whip:
1 fantasy football victory over older brother who was picked to win by ESPN.
1 matinee movie with mom. We saw “Stardust”; it was my second time, her first.
1 amusing party at Celeste’s – at one point I had to sing “I’m a little teapot…”
3 sessions of general conference (I recorded the 4th as I was watching football at Cordell’s Sunday afternoon)
5-7 rounds of frisbee golf – my dad won every round, but once I actually took second! I’m usually dead last, so this was quite an achievement for me.
12-24 hours of watching football – I’m only slightly exaggerating.

Cream together:
a pinch of rain
a dash of wind
patches of blue sky
bunches of clouds
cool temperatures
2 added blankets on the bed at night

Topping - Mix the following ingredients together:
generous amounts of candy corn, caramels, and other Halloween candy
Mom’s roast beef
Audree’s mashed potatoes
pistachio nuts – on sale!!
a slice each of chocolate pie AND chocolate cake (with chocolate frosting, of course)

Gently combine the whipped and creamed ingredients. Bake at 55-60°F for 2 days.

Top with topping.

Best if enjoyed with family and friends.

A Few of My Favorite Things

My favorite…

…Cary Grant movie: Bringing Up Baby (with Katherine Hepburn)

…CSI guy: Gil Grissom from the original CSI

…ice cream flavor: Haagen Dazs Cherry Fudge Truffle

…toe nail polish color: dark red

…pizza topping: spinach

…month: May

…date activity: star gazing

…shoes that I own: black knee-high boots

…dessert: dark chocolate truffles

…literary spy: Gabriel Allon – a creation of Daniel Silva

…way to eat Reese’s peanut butter cups: nibble the chocolate around half the edge, eat all the middle, and then finish with the remaining half of chocolate edge.

…football player: Peyton Manning (you should know this already)

…word to dislike saying: birthday

…current TV program: America’s Next Top Model

…PBS cooking show: BBQ University

…late night snack: buttered toast

…time to wake up: 8 am

…time to go to bed: 11:30 pm

…musical instrument: cello

…sound: wind in trees

…female name: Elizabeth

…letter to write: B (upper- and lower-case)

…beverage: water

…Garden House Soup: corn pablano

…male physical attribute: nice hands

…word to type: power

'Art'

Last night Cardine, Shiree, and I attended the USF production of ‘Art’. I enjoyed myself thoroughly because…

A) I love live theatre. There’s a vitality that comes with watching the actors perform right in front of you that you can’t get while watching movies or TV.

B) It was an exceptional play.

C) I was in the company of two really good friends.

Honestly, the two friends with whom I attended the play heightened the enjoyment of the show. Here’s why:

The three of us really like to discuss various topics about which we have differing opinions and thoughts. Often, we get quite passionate about our views. Even more often, our discussions result because of slight, sometimes quite nuanced, differences in viewpoints. We almost believe the same thing, but we spend a lot of time discussing the minute reason(s) our opinions differ. However, we always maintain a high level of respect for our fellow discussers; no name calling, no personal attacks, etc. In short, we’re friends during and after our discussions. It’s a lot of fun, and I cherish these discussions.

‘Art’ begins with Serge buying a painting that has a white background with a few white vertical stripes and a white horizontal line at the bottom. It cost him 200,000 francs. His friend Marc flips out and calls the painting garbage (or something like that). The third friend, Yvan, when talking to Mark agrees that it’s a ridiculous purchase, but when talking to Serge later, tells Serge that he is moved by the painting. The three proceed to argue a lot. My two friends and I shared mirth-filled glances when the three men on stage would argue semantics, just like us. However, they didn’t always show respect for the other’s opinion, and some mean things were said, unlike us.

Four highlights of the play:

1) When Yvan arrives 45 minutes late for their evening out, making them late for the movie, and goes into a lengthy and passionate diatribe about his fiancée, mother, and stepmother. When he finished, the audience erupted with amazed and appreciative applause.

2) The olive scene. For several minutes, after arguing heatedly for quite awhile, the three men sit down and eat olives without saying a single word. It was so funny. (Yes, you had to be there.)

3) Yvan quotes his psychiatrist:

If I am who I am, and you are who you are,
Then I am who I am, and you are who you are.
However, if I am who I am because you are who you are,
Then I am not who I am and you are not who you are.

4) Spoiler Alert! Don’t read if you plan to see this play! When Serge hands Marc a blue felt-tipped pen and Marc proceeds to draw on the white painting (worth 200,000 francs!). It was a turning point in their relationship, for the better, if you can believe it.

I had expected a serious play that delved into the argument “what is art”. This topic certainly came up a little throughout the play, but mostly it was a statement about the men’s relationship; how it used to be, what it is now, and how it’s developing. I was surprised that it was so funny – I laughed so much! The play and especially the character of Yvan made me consider my relationships with other people. I tend to try to placate others and not say what I’m really thinking or feeling. I try to be tactful but am sometimes dishonest in my tact. I’m not saying I’m Yvan exactly, but it gave me something to think about and evaluate about myself.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the show; it was thought-provoking, intelligent, funny, and Serge was quite attractive. Oh, and Cardine sat next to one of the USF actors from a few of this summer’s productions – he’s the understudy for Yvan, so he wanted to see the play. We intentionally sat there because of him. Bonus. And a little pathetic, yes. My only issue with the play was the excessive use of a certain curse word (not the curse word of all curse words, thankfully). Actually, it’s the word I tend to use on those ever-decreasing times that I curse.

So, if you have a chance to see it, don’t mind a bit of cussing, and want an intelligent, funny play – GO SEE ‘ART’!

(photo courtesy of USF's photo album for 'Art'.)

Guys, Grafton, and a Green Dragon

To update you a little on the guy front, I ended up not going on a blind date this weekend. My boss’s father-in-law didn’t get a hold of Aaron until Thursday night, and Aaron already had plans for Friday night. However, Aaron said he’s totally open to going on the blind date another day. My boss and his wife are going out of town this weekend and her dad is traveling a lot for business starting the 15th, so we’ll see if this ever happens. If it does, so be it, if not, that’s okay, too.

Anthony and I text-messaged a few times on Friday, but it didn’t go anywhere – meaning he didn’t ask me out and I didn’t ask him out. I ask myself, he text-messages me-out-of blue two weekends in a row, does that mean he likes me? Or, is he bored and just wants to “talk” to someone? Sometimes I think men interpreters would be handy.

Cardine and I spent an interesting Saturday in southern Utah. We had made plans to go to St. George for a little Thai and sushi, but then I was invited by Lincoln and his sister to attend their family reunion in Grafton, UT (near Zion National Park). I told both of them that I couldn’t because of my plans with Cardine, so Natalie, Lincoln’s sister, said Cardine could come, too. I asked Cardine and she was willing to go, so we went to their family reunion!

What was I thinking?? Sigh. Not that it wasn’t fun, because it was, but it was also a little weird. It was a good time to meet Lincoln, though, with Cardine and his family there. It reduced the initial awkwardness of meeting him for the first time, though there were still a couple awkward moments later, like when Cardine and I walked into the group of his family and he wasn’t there – I knew everyone was thinking who are these girls and why are they here? Lincoln introduced me to his grandma, some aunts and uncles, and finally his mom (I saw his dad, but we were never introduced, nor did we say a word to each other – he was busy cooking). His mom said I’ve heard so much about you! Hmmm, what has she heard? I also met Lincoln’s 12-year old son, and he is a really cute kid. Nice smile.

Although I enjoyed the 90 minutes we were in Grafton (really neat cemetery and old buildings), I kind of regret going. I’m afraid it could be misinterpreted to mean that I like Lincoln more than I do. I mean, really, what girl goes to a guy’s family reunion if she isn’t interested in him? And, I’m not interested in him. Cardine can back me up that he just isn’t my type. Nice, but not for me.

When it was time for us to leave, Lincoln, his son, Natalie, and Natalie’s roommate walked us to my car. Lincoln told me he’ll come up again soon and we can go out together, like on a date. Sigh. I didn’t know what to say – especially with an audience! So, I said that sounded nice. Double sigh.

Anyhoo, Cardine and I ate an enjoyable meal at Benja in St. George. It’s a Thai/sushi restaurant that we’ve been talking about going to for a long time – hooray for accomplishing something on our to-do list! On Natalie’s recommendation, we ordered a green dragon sushi roll and were so pleased! It has raw tuna and cucumber (or something a little crunchy) wrapped in rice, seaweed, and avocado, topped with flying fish eggs, and drizzled with eel sauce. Oh, it was divine! I loved how the fish eggs popped in my mouth when I bit down on them. Our Thai dishes were also very delicious, but my favorite part was the green dragon roll. Seriously, if you’re in St. George and hankering for good food – try Benja in Ancestor Square.

The Next Big Adventure - 2

To be completely forthright, this post will not detail what I’ve been doing lately to get ready to move.

I haven’t done anything.

Seriously. Remember how I said last time that I was going to work on resumés? I didn’t. I haven’t even taken the time to ponder places I’d like to live. I’ve done nothing.

Nope, this post is devoted to my boss. That man is bound and determined to make it extremely difficult for me to leave. Darn him!

Last week we painted our lobby and front office. When my coworker left at 2pm on Friday (she leaves at that time every day), my boss decided it was the perfect time to discuss my “fate”, as he put it. I couldn’t escape it, but I certainly dragged my feet. To be fair, he’s been really concerned about me lately. He’s a good friend, almost like a brother. He wanted to discuss why I’d been unhappy for so long. He wanted to talk about my feelings, my goals, my dreams, my hopes, etc. I know, how totally un-stereotypical of a man! He’s good at having deep conversations. We’ve had a lot of them while I’ve worked for him. He told me his wife had chewed him out a bit because he had never taken the time to ask me why I want to move away. So, he asked.

I gave him a few of my reasons; adventures, new experiences, new places, new people, growth, see the world, make a difference, having no regrets. For each reason I gave, he tried to come up with a way for me to accomplish them while staying here. Sigh. He actually came up with some good ideas, but a) I seriously wonder if he’d ever implement them (like going to 3rd world countries and fitting the less-fortunate with hearing aids) and b) I’m not asking him to help me accomplish my goals and dreams. Again, he has good intentions, but having him say that’s he willing to do almost anything to get me to stay really makes it hard to leave.

Today, he admitted that he’s hoping that things work out with Aaron so I’ll stay. It’s the main reason he’s setting us up. Of course, he added, he wants me to be happy, but that’s secondary to getting me to stay.

See what I’m dealing with???

Don’t get me wrong; I’m tickled pink that he thinks so highly of me as a person, as a friend, as an employee, and as a potential partner (his idea, not mine). Though it’d make leaving easier, I certainly don’t want him to think good riddance! when I leave. I’m just asking for a little middle ground.

The problem is, it’s going to be hard to leave even without his pestering. I have a good life here; a good job, good friends, a good family, a good apartment, a good thesaurus; I’m content. As I get older, I find that it’s harder to leave, to dare to take those adventures, to pursue my dreams. That makes me want to leave even more because I don’t want to stay here because it’s easier to stay. I’d only want to stay if it’s the right thing for me to do. And I’m not sure it is.

And, I’m never going to move if I don’t get cracking on those resumés!! Sigh.

Windows

Last night, my dad called me, totally out of the blue. He never calls me! He wanted to check how I’m doing since the break-up with Adam. Sweet, eh? And, very uncharacteristic of my dad. I am glad to say that I was able to tell him that I’m doing well. Of course, I’m not totally over it (it’s too soon), but I’m over the worst part. Yeah for me! Dad was a good listener and at the end of the call he quoted that oft-quoted phrase, “When God shuts a door, he opens a window”. I got thinking about it and realized that there actually are a few windows in my life. Let me tell you about them - just keep in mind that things with each “window” are at the very earliest beginning stages. In fact, I probably shouldn’t mention any of these guys unless something substantial develops with them, but I’m going to anyway. Because I can.

Lincoln: His sister is one of our FedEx drivers. She came in the day after Adam and I broke up and noticed that I wasn’t very happy. When I told her why, she wanted to set me up with her brother, Lincoln. I ended up giving her my phone number and she gave it to him; he’s called several times in the past couple weeks. He lives in Las Vegas and works in construction. He likes to hunt and fish and owns his own home. He doesn’t like to read. I’m not sure if he’s LDS. He seems like a sincerely nice guy. That said, I’m not feeling anything. Mom says it’s too soon after Adam and that I’m comparing talking to Lincoln with talking to Adam. And, there’s really no comparison; talking to Adam was better. On Mom’s advice, I’m trying not to be too quick to judge him and his potential, but I’m really not feeling anything.

Aaron: My boss has wanted to set me up with Aaron since April, but I didn’t want to for two reasons – 1) Adam and 2) I don’t really like blind dates. However, my last blind date was actually quite fun and I’m really open to possibilities right now, so I said okay. Aaron is a co-founder of Infowest, a local internet provider, and lives about 30 miles away. My boss says he’s really shy and backwards when it comes to women. Great. Good thing I’m talkative and outgoing. Supposedly, we’re going out (on a triple date!) this weekend, but my boss hasn’t given me definite details yet.

Adam: No, not that Adam, a different Adam. I met him last weekend at my friend Celeste’s house. He’s only here for this school year, getting a Master’s in Communication, and then he’ll return to BYU Idaho where he’s been teaching for two years. He seems like a very smart guy, generally cheerful and easy-going, and Celeste said it seemed like he liked me. We did flirt a little, lightly. However, I really doubt anything will come of it. I honestly just included him in this list because his name starts with A, as did the names of my former guy, the last guy, AND the next guy… (I like patterns)

Anthony: Yes, my ex work crush. Two weeks ago, I tested all the employees at his work and, of course, saw him. We talked a bit and he told everyone in the place that he knows me. I know this because almost all of them said to me, “So, you know Anthony?” with a knowing look on their faces. One guy even added, “He’s a really great guy, you know.” Before you accuse me of reading too much into this, let me add that the safety coordinator started the day off with telling me that Anthony has a crush on me. Startled, I asked why she thinks this. She said he spent 30 minutes telling her how great I am and all the reasons why I’m great. Then last Friday he texted me and asked how I was doing and if I had any plans for that night. I did. So, he asked if I had plans for Saturday night. I did. Then I asked him over to my house to watch a movie on Sunday (don’t be disappointed in me, Cardine, I told you I’m weak when it comes to him!). He couldn’t. Sigh. Haven’t heard from him since. Who knows what will happen – if anything.

The chances that things with any of these guys will progress are slim to none, but it is nice to have windows to distract me. We’ll see if any of them actually get opened.

Middle Name Meme

Booklogged tagged me for this meme. I rarely do memes, but I thought, What the heck! and now I’m a memer. Here are the rules:

Post these rules before you give the facts. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.) When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post and then choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't' forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Beth. I know my mom once told me why she chose this as my middle name, but I can’t remember now (they always say the memory is the first to go). I like it, whatever the reason, even though it only gets used when my mom is mad at or exasperated with me and as a middle initial when I sign my name.

B – Balanced. At least, I work on being balanced. Many years ago, I struggled with the concept of being content with my life while striving to accomplish my dreams. I realized then, and many times since then, that life requires a certain amount of balance in order to find happiness. For example, too much sleep = sluggish, too little sleep = ornery, just enough = happy and productive. I continually try to realign aspects of my life to ensure that I’m maintaining a healthy balance. Maybe it’s the economist in me – economics deals a lot with equilibriums. True equilibrium is never actually reached, but forces are constantly changing so the economy moves towards the ideal. Yes, that’s my life. I’m sure I’m never perfectly balanced, but I’m trying to be.

E – Early. I would rather be early than on-time. Being late is unacceptable. Sometimes I realize that I take this to a bit of an extreme (see above paragraph), so I try to relax a little. That said, I really don’t like being late, so I tend to be early. Sometimes really early. For example, I like showing up at the movie theater a good 20 minutes early, at least.

T – Talkative. I learned a few years ago that one of the main ways I bond with people is through talking. I can also talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, about anything. Of course, a lot of this is contingent on the other person being somewhat responsive. I find that the amount I’m willing to share with someone is directly proportionate (with a lag) to what they are willing to share with me.

H – Happy. Generally speaking, I’m a naturally happy person. Of course, there are times when I’m sad, but I tend to bounce back from those times rather quickly and easily. It’s just easier for me to be cheerful and happy than otherwise. I smile a lot and I love to laugh.

I tag Alyson, Cardine, and Cassie.

The Next Big Adventure - Part 1

I'm moving.

Not any time in the very soon future, but I am moving.

Probably in January.

I've decided to make The Next Big Adventure a series of posts, so you'll get to follow the progress of my move, inch by inch (figuratively speaking). Lucky you!

Tonight I'm working on resumes. I'm going to have a resume that focuses on my audiology experience and skills, another that highlights my economics background, and another resume that is for basic business jobs.

I'm also going to ponder where I would want to move. Portland, OR is still the front-runner, and I'll be doing most of my job hunting around that area, but why limit myself? Really, at this point I just want to go somewhere!!!

Not that it won't be hard to leave. This past weekend I had a sleepover with Porter and Brooke. Before he fell asleep, Porter asked me why I want to move away. He was staring up at me with puppy dog eyes and I wanted to just hug him and say I'd never leave. Instead, I told him that I need an adventure. He asked if I was just going to go for a little while then come back. I said probably not, that I'd live there like I live here now. Then he shot the fatal arrow, Won't you miss me, though. Deep sigh from me. Did my boss put you up to this?

I wouldn't put it past him.

Stay tuned...

Rainy Days and Mondays...

...always get me down.

Then there days like today, Monday AND rainy. It's hard not to feel a little blue.

It doesn't help that Adam and I broke up last night.

I'm okay, really.

I'm sad, of course. Very, very sad. But relieved, too. I've been so unhappy; it was time to end our relationship. Yes, we maybe could have worked things out, but as I thought more about it last night, I realized that it would have probably only been a temporary fix and we'd end up back in this spot at a later date. Fortunately, I feel like we ended things mutually and amicably.

That's why I'm sad. Adam became one of my best and closest friends. Whenever something happened in my life, I immediately thought about telling him. I trusted him enough to truly be myself, even my sometimes unpleasant self. He made me laugh when I was feeling blue and understood me when I needed to feel understood. He's a good man and I'll always love him.

Cardine asked me if I regretted giving a relationship with Adam a second chance. No, I don't. Not at all. He still ended up not being the man for me, but it was worth figuring that out again. There are several reasons we aren't compatible, but they aren't important now. Here are the reasons I'm glad Adam and I gave it a go a second time:

1. I never believed I could love a man. I learned that I can. Good to know. Very good.

2. I also never believed that I could trust a man. Don't get me wrong, I know very many wonderful men that I believe to be very trustworthy. I just never thought I could trust a man to be honest with me, to not cheat on me, to mean it when he said nice things to me, to really love me. I trusted Adam. And, he still hasn't given me a reason to not trust him.

3. At one point in our relationship, I actually could picture spending the rest of my life with him. This is MONUMENTAL!! Marriage has never been something I could see happening for me. I was no longer violently opposed to the idea of getting married, but I wasn't actually wanting it. I liked being single. Now, I realize that being in a relationship is kind of nice and someday, when the timing and man are right, I can see myself being in an eternal relationship.

4. Practice. I realized lately that I've spent 11 of the last 12 years being not in a relationship (juliespeak for "being single"). No wonder I'm better at being single than being with someone! So, this was good practice. Not that I thought of it as practice at the time, I was really committed to the relationship. However, now that it's over, I can see what I did that was good and what I did that wasn't so good. Hmmm. This isn't coming out right. Adam, if you ever read this, I hope you know what I mean. You probably do. You always did.

5. Firefly and Good Omens. He introduced me to the enjoyable series Firefly and the absolutely delightful book Good Omens. In fact, he gave me the DVDs for the series AND the book! Isn't he nice?

6. Love and friendship. It's always nice when someone loves you and thinks you're special. And, it's nice to love someone else. I do believe that he really loved me and I certainly loved him. Like I mentioned earlier, we became very good friends and I'll cherish that friendship forever, even though we'll never be able to be such good friends again. That's the truly horrible part of ending a relationship. Understandable, but sad.

So, it's over, but it's been quite a ride. Ups and downs, twists and turns. I stuck with it to the end of the ride, and I'm proud of myself. And I had a lot of fun.

Adam, thank you. For everything.

Introducing...

...a new member of my blogging family! He's also a member of my actual family!

Anyway, check out Jason's blog! (Even though he only has one real post - you can at least see what he looks like!)

Hello September! and Other Things

In my book, September 1st marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. I realize it’s officially September 21st, but what do they know? Already I’ve noticed the days getting a little cooler and last night I actually got cold! It was heavenly.

A couple nights ago I went for a walk and ended up passing the ballpark. There were a couple games being played, so I stopped to watch one of them. I sat there basking in the glow of the lights, a cool breeze tickling my cheeks, and thoroughly enjoyed watching a bunch of men I don’t know run around the bases. They were actually quite good. Anyway, as I sat there I thought, Boy, I love this time of year.

I really love the in-between seasons (spring and fall), but I think I may like fall just thismuch more. Why?, you ask. Let me tell you.

Football. Really, that’s the main reason I like fall more than spring. Spring has some great qualities, but football season is over in the spring. Tonight is opening night, and the Colts are playing the Saints. I’m so excited! (I love Peyton Manning.)

Hmmm. Maybe when I go grocery shopping tonight I’ll buy some extra-favorite food stuff and throw myself a mini football-watching party! Good idea!

I like other things about this time of year, too. I like that I’m not back in school. I like when the leaves change colors. I love wearing sweaters and jackets. I love apple cider, fresh produce from other peoples’ gardens that they so kindly give me, soup, and hot chocolate. I like early snow that melts quickly. Two words: carving pumpkins! Yes, fall has many great offerings.

In unrelated news, I’m beginning to wonder if I broke my nose this weekend. Is there a way to tell without making a trip to the hospital/doctor? Does it even matter if I broke it or just hurt it? Will it not heal properly if left unattended? I hate going to the doctor, especially since I am without insurance, but I start to worry that if I don’t go something bad will happen, like my nose falling off. I’m a bit of a hypochondriac but with a healthy dose of loathing for doctors' offices and hospitals. So, I probably won’t do anything about it, unless you tell me I really, really should.

What? You want to know how I hurt my nose? Hmmm. I probably shouldn’t tell you, but I’m getting used to the humiliation involved when I tell people, so here goes:

I fell in the shower. Yes, face forward. I was shaving my legs, one of my legs was precariously resting on the back of the tub (so I could reach all the angles better), my alarm went off (that’s what I get for waking up before my alarm), I was startled, my other leg slipped, then the leg on the tub slipped, and I face-planted right into the back of the tub. My nose hit first, then my forehead. Can you imagine this? Never mind, please don’t try.

Anyway, I wondered for a moment if I was going to blackout, I didn’t. I stood up and checked to see if there was any blood. There wasn’t. My face throbbed with pain and I managed to stop myself from swearing. Adam was flying into town in a couple hours, and I figured I would have two black eyes, a swollen nose, and a big bump on my forehead - not exactly my best look. I started thinking up stories I could tell him to explain that didn't come anywhere close to the truth. Fortunately, I only had a little bump on my head, which my bangs effectively covered, and a little swelling at the top of my nose. I could have gotten away without telling anyone about my stupidity, but I’m too much of a baby and I always enjoy telling a good story.

The problem is it still hurts! Shouldn’t it stop hurting sometime soon? See, I told you I’m a baby.

In shower-related news, I’ve been taking cold ones the last few days. A few weeks ago, when I returned from my cruise, I realized that I wasn’t getting any hot water, so I eventually (after a few days of cold showers) let my apartment manager know and the problem was supposedly dealt with. Well, it wasn’t. Turns out my water heater needs a new element, which is being replaced sometime today. So, hot shower here I come!!

That’s it.

Go Colts!!!

My Cruise

As some of you know, I recently went on a cruise with three of my friends; Cardine, Sarah, and Joy. We flew out of SLC just before midnight on the 11th, had a 6 hour layover in Atlanta, and arrived in San Juan around 3:30 EST. Our ports for this cruise were St. Thomas on Monday, Dominica on Tuesday, Barbados on Wednesday, and St. Lucia on Thursday. We were supposed to go to Antigua on Friday, but Hurricane Dean got in the way. Instead, Carnival tried to let us go to Tortola on Saturday to make up for missing Antigua, but once again Dean got in the way, and we ended up having two days at sea.

It was a great vacation. On our last cruise, I didn’t spend much time relaxing, but I made up for it this time. Granted, last time (four years ago), I was working part-time and was on summer break from school. Life was easy! Now, I’m a lot more stressed and lots less relaxed.

Anyway, here are the best parts of my cruise: (in no particular order)

1. Nodding off every time I opened my book. I really needed to catch up on my sleep, so this felt wonderful! Took forever to finish the book, though.

2. Compliments about my eyes. Multiple men told me how beautiful my eyes are. It’s always nice to hear people say nice things about you, though the last guy, Henry in St. Lucia, was a little overboard in his praises.

3. Winning a print of a beautiful painting. The print is worth several hundred dollars, so can you imagine what the painting must be worth? The print I won is entitled “D’or et de rêve” and is painted by Emile Bellet. I fell in love with some of his other works displayed on board, so I was thrilled to win this!

4. Getting kissed by our head waiter, Sunil. Please don’t read too much into this. He was an extraordinary flirt – just ask my friends! One day I was eating lunch alone, and we ended up talking for a long time, and at one point he kissed me right above my jaw, right by my ear. He held it for a few seconds! What a flirt! He probably just hoped for a better tip.

5. Hanging out with friends. I have wonderful friends. We get along amazingly well considering how different we are. Maybe because of how different? Anyway, life is leading us along different paths (sorry for the cliché), so it was good to spend a week together, just playing.

6. Someone else making my bed. I love having my bed made. I really love having someone else do it for me. Pampered. That’s how I felt.

7. Great food. Four years ago I stayed so active that I actually lost weight. Not this time! I gained 4 pounds, but considering how lovely the food was and how little I did, this isn’t horrible. Seriously, the food was fantastic! My favorite meal was the Indian platter with the curried chick pea mash. Sigh. Divine. Absolutely divine. My one complaint would be that I felt there wasn’t enough time in-between meals. I was rarely hungry or even ready to eat once dinner came along. That didn’t stop me, of course, but I would have preferred to have the later dinner sitting.

8. St. Thomas. This was my favorite port; not necessarily my favorite island, but my favorite port. That’s because I feel like we were able to see a good deal of the island (very important), see something specific on the island (Blackbeard’s Castle and several old homes), do a little shopping, and eat at a local restaurant. The complete experience. I like the other ports, too, just not as much.

9. Hurricane Dean. Though it cost me a trip to Antigua and to Tortola, I’m grateful to Dean for providing me with some really good moments. Friday night Cardine and I spent several hours on deck getting blown away. I slept a little, read a little, thought a lot, and enjoyed the solitude that major gusts can afford. Saturday afternoon I was on deck, basking in the sun (the only guest there not wearing a swimsuit – yes, I got funny looks) when it started to rain. The decks cleared, leaving just a handful of people, none of them even close to me. Again, solitude. I got to have the wonderful experience of watching the rain hit the ocean water (which was the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen).

10. Enjoying my job again. I admit it; I had major burn-out at work. It feels great to enjoy being at work again. I really needed a vacation.

That’s the quick highlight-version of my cruise. I probably won’t ever go into further details because a) I don’t want to (it took me 5 ½ hours to write the details in my journal and I don’t want a repeat) and b) you’d get bored. Trust me, you would.

However, you may want to check Cardine’s blog for added details, once she posts about the cruise.

GO ON A CRUISE!!

It’s lot’s of fun.

My First Date

Last night, I had a date with my mom. She was bribing me to water her plants this week while she attends a conference in Denver. She’s probably hoping that a really nice dinner will inspire me to do my best to keep those darn plants alive. Last year, she went on a trip and most of her plants died – mainly because I forgot to water them for four days. A few weeks ago, I attempted to make up for this disaster by fastidiously watering them while she was away for some reason or another. Somehow, the plants not only survived but flourished! Pleased with those results, Mom asked me to care for them again and so we went to dinner last night.

While Mom talked to one of her former students, now a waitress, I looked around at the other restaurant patrons. I love people-watching and there were some interesting people seated near us. My gaze fell on a table across the room where a man sat with a little girl, presumably his daughter. She was dressed up in a pretty pink outfit with her hair styled all cute, and he wore a dress shirt and tie.

It reminded me of the daddy-daughter dates my dad used to take me on when I was younger. I think I was 6 for our first date. I got to wear my favorite Sunday dress – it was blue and a little frilly (I wasn’t a total tomboy). Mom even let me wear a little blush and lipstick. Dad came to the door wearing a suit and actually rang the doorbell. He gave me a flower and then, after “meeting” my mom, escorted me to the truck. I don’t remember where we ate but I remember thinking it was fancy. Dad told me stories from his childhood – like the time he was punished for blowing up a mailbox that he didn’t blow up – and listened to me talk about my hopes and dreams. After dinner he took me for an ice cream cone, and we drove around town a bit. He made sure to get me home at a decent hour and kissed me goodnight.

Dad taught me important dating lessons on those dates that I use to this day whenever I go on a date.

1) Let him open the door for you. Dad may disagree with me, but I don’t think less of a guy who doesn’t open the door for me. However, I’m really impressed, and thrilled, when a guy does. The one exception is when I’m getting out of a car. I dated a guy, Josh, who insisted I let him open the door when I got out of the car – I hated sitting there while he walked around the car to get my door. It seemed so illogical.

2) Let him order first. Dad said that some guys may take issue with this – you know, the whole “let the girl go first” principle – but he said to insist on ordering second. He taught me to select different items on the menu that I might like; one that’s low-priced, one mid-priced, and one that’s a little more expensive. According to Dad, what the guy orders, and specifically how much it costs, will give me an idea of how expensive my order can be.

3) I inherited the gift of gab from my dad, and it was Dad that taught me how to hone it. I learned how to ask questions, how to listen, how to talk about myself, how to talk about basically anything and everything. I learned to place a lot of importance on talking, maybe too much, but for the most part, it’s been a really good thing.

4) Dad told me that a true gentleman will always walk me to the front door. He also warned that this can lead to an awkward moment or two, but that the sign of respect is worth the possible discomfort. I didn’t really understand what he meant until my first date with Josh when I wondered if he was going to kiss me or not. I don’t know if he would have; I decided I didn’t want him to so I didn’t give him a chance. It was a little awkward. However, I really appreciate it, a lot, when my date walks me to the door. Fortunately, Dad also taught me ways to cope with the awkwardness of the front door scenario.

5) Dad always ended our dates with a kiss, but thankfully I didn’t pick up the idea that every date should end with one. Instead, he managed to instill in me that holding hands and kissing should be accompanied by deeper feelings than usually felt on a first date.

I really enjoyed those dates with my dad. I was such a daddy’s girl.

Okay.

I still am.

Me and Blogging

Hello!!

Have you noticed my recent quasi-absence from the world of blogging?

It's been kind of hard to blog lately - for two reasons:

1) I'm really trying to keep personal computer time down to a minimum while at work. I've gotten pretty good at not emailing or blogging at work, but I'm horrible at doing it after work. I rarely have the desire to stay after 5pm (or later) to email or blog.

2) I'm in the unusual-for-me position of having a lot of things to blog about that concerns someone else. I don't want to destroy his privacy just because I want to shout some things from the rooftop for all the world to hear. Does that make sense?

So, I'm a little behind in my blogging. I'd like to say that I'll try to stay a little more current, but I can't really make that promise.

However, I really want to say one thing (Madman, please forgive me):

I'm in love!!

Whew. That felt good.

And, that pretty much catches you up with the gist of my life right now.