I'm Wishing

This time of year, I really wish I lived somewhere that had a garage.

Oh, well. Count your blessings. At least I've got a snow scraper. And a faithful car that continues to start for me. Hooray!

-Me

"The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it." -Dudley Moore

I Don't Remember Growing Older

Despite what my sister might think, I can cook. (more on that comment later) I was in charge of dinner group on Thursday evening, and I made a delicious chicken caesar pasta salad that was met with rave reviews from all who partook. My sis-in-law is the one responsible for introducing the recipe to my family, and my mother is the one responsible for sending me the recipe (like she does with so many recipes she enjoys), so it was like a family effort . . . except the other two didn't know I was making the dinner. Anyway, it was quite delicious. I sure enjoy food. I went out for Thai food on Wednesday for lunch with Bethany, and it's always a hit. (it better be, considering i'm going out again for thai food tonight.) Monday night's FHE was based around a potato bar. We humans sure live to eat. Mmm, food.

Now to the comment regarding Kelly's opinion of my cooking skills, I showed up yesterday at her house to find that she had already prepared dinner so that I would not have to once she and Nate left. Now, in all seriousness, Kelly does know that I am capable of preparing a meal, but it was pretty funny that she went through that effort when the whole point of me coming up was to give her a break from her mommy duties for a night. :) Not that it was a huge effort: it was tacos. But pretty funny.

Fortunately, after an evening/morning of taking care of the kids, I still love them. And I'm pretty sure they still love me. At least, they all hugged me goodbye today when I left. It's still crazy that Nicole is ten (when did that happen?), but she sure came in handy a couple times when I had a random question. But I still managed to keep things under control by myself. Yay! I guess giving piggy-back rides around the top floor, reading There's a Monster at the End of This Book in a Grover voice (well, an attempt at the voice, really), and dancing around like a goof to Michael Buble is enough to keep secure my role as the favorite aunt. And the favorite sister, of course. But that was already a given. Right, Kelly? ... Kelly? ... Right?

Tonight I go to the car show in Salt Lake with my roomies and some other pals in the ward. Totally not something I would think to go to, which many people know about me, considering Kelly laughed when I told her what I was doing, but I think it'll be fun. I may not know much about cars, but I appreciate good-looking ones. So it better be worth my time, Betsey!

-Me

"Ted needs someone to be there 100% of the time. He thinks that's love. It's not love - it's babysitting." -Jane Fonda

'Cuz I'm Free . . . Free Falling!

This week marked a momentous occasion for me. And with that kind of preface, you know it's not really a big deal. But I'm quite proud of myself. I deactivated my facebook account. There were a myriad of reasons that went into this decision, but the most obvious was that it's a pretty big time-waster. And I'm trying not to waste so much time. It is a valuable thing. I have been surprised at the reaction of friends and family to this news, with some responding with admiration, others with curiosity, and still others with outright dislike. Oh, well. So if any of you have been wondering why you suddenly are no longer friends with me on facebook (because i'm sure all my friends noted the loss of me), it's not because I decided I didn't like you.

The biggest challenge regarding this decision has been the habitual pressing of ctrl + T on my browser to go to facebook (especially when i'm bored at work), considering it's been a habit for the last three years of my life . . . maybe longer. Wow! But once I suppress that particular urge, I find myself not missing it at all. After five facebook-free days, I feel completely liberated! I don't think that facebook is the root of all evil, so if you wish to continue with it, I will not blame you in the least. I just will not be joining you. You'll just have to find more creative ways to find me on cyberspace . . . email, for example. Radical option, I know. I wish you luck.

-Me

"Technology is a way of organizing the universe so that man doesn't have to experience it." -Max Frisch