Sunday, February 28, 2010

Yes, We Have No Bananas

You learn something new every day, apparently. Let me tell you what I learned last Sunday from my mother. Traditionally, you don't frost the sides of a German chocolate cake! I couldn't believe my ears when she informed me of this, and then I thought, "Well, too late now," because I had already put together Lisa's birthday cake, which was a German chocolate cake, all covered in pecan coconut frosting. Fortunately, I was not the only one ignorant of this "tradition", and Lisa didn't mind one bit that the cake was the way she wanted it. I don't think anybody else that partook was particularly miffed about my oversight, either.

Mmm, time for cake. Katie helps me dish it out.

Just trying to prove that Trevor was there, phone and all.

Happy birthday to Lisa!

Freddy and Sadie

Me and Sharalyn

Julia likes to goof off

I know I already got Lisa, but I thought this was a good pic

And let me tell you what I learned today: food is important. Valuable lesson to learn. The last two Sundays have ended up being kind of crazy days for me because of my two choirs and the things I am doing between them and all. Last Sunday, however, I still made the time to eat a couple of good, decent, square meals. Today . . . not so much. I ate a banana before church (and i have church at 1:30, so that ended up being my breakfast and lunch . . . bad!), and then between choir times when I was trying to figure out some fun ideas for "The Spirit of God", I ate a handful of chips and drank some water. Not exactly healthy. Bad decision. Totally felt gross. It wasn't until I got home from ward prayer with Lisa around nine o'clock that I ate something even resembling a full meal, and that was a bowl of oatmeal squares. (mmm . . .) So, yes. Food is important. Do not neglect your meals, people. You will be miserable if you do.

-Me

"Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water." -W.C. Fields

Saturday, February 20, 2010

What I Like About You, Me, and Today

There are lots of things I like today. Well, I like them pretty much every day, but today I got reminders of these specific things I like: (and since i used numbering in my last post, i'm going to branch out and use letters... maybe next time i make a list, it'll be bullet points ... oh, the possibilities)

a. Getting out of bed when I want to. It's next to impossible for me to sleep in to the degree I used to, thanks to my work time habits, but I am able to squeeze in a couple of extra hours on the weekends when I don't have an early-morning appointment. No 5:30 wake-up time today!

b. As the Wizard of Oz would say, "Good deed doing." I'm hardly anonymous, considering the nature of my recent good deeds require some face-to-face contact and physical presence, but just the little things I can do for people make me happy. I'm pretty lucky that I have the capability and resources to do them, no matter how small they may seem. I like that good feeling.

c. Eating. Oh, Outback Steakhouse, how I love thee. And how I adore thy bloomin' onion. Delectable.

d. Seeing old friends. Today marked a reunion of sorts for the Megai (for you uninformed, that of course is the plural of Megan). A few years ago, Megan and I were pretty much peas in a pod (hence the creation of the nickname "the megai" by dear bishop hunt), but I haven't seen her in a few months, much less had a good conversation. So I was pretty excited when she texted me the other day, having noticed my departure from facebook and wondering what I was up to. So we went out for lunch and had a good catch-up session. As ever, we discovered that we still seem to lead parallel lives, although I'm grateful that I'm not working 60-hour weeks like she told me she's done a few times the last couple of months. Phew!
An old pic of me and Meg (2006!)

e. Blankets. Living in the basement gets a bit chilly during the winter (thanks again for the rice bag, becky!), but fortunately I've got a stockpile of good blankets down here when it's particularly frigid. (my favorite is grover, so named because he is fuzzy and blue.)
No, this is not my blanket. But isn't his namesake super awesome?

-Me

"My favorite animal is steak." -Fran Lebowitz

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Haven't Been Here For the Longest Time

Man, a while since I've updated. Can't say as I've been extremely exciting, though, so you all haven't missed much since I last wrote. Hmm. What have I been up to? Inquiring minds want to know, I'm certain. So, in no specific order, here goes:

1. Exercising. I've taken up running again since it's a bit warmer out. I hate exercise. At least, I do today. I don't always after I've come home from a run, but I'm afraid that today is a day of abhorrence of exercise. Maybe I should try something fun so I'm not such a hater.

2. Working. Last week I sat in on nine interviews for a paralegal editor to join our team. There's still not a final decision on who's actually getting the job, but it was an interesting variation to break up the monotony of QC.

3. Cleaning. I went to Stansbury Park with Esther last weekend (it's been quite a while since i've done that) to help her clean out her old bedroom closet. It was fun being the unsentimental, toss-this-or-so-help-me task master. Fortunately, except for one item, Esther was compliant with all my suggestions of what to get rid of. Her mother backed her up on the exception, so I think I lost the battle.

4. Reading. I finished Flatland last week. It's pretty short, only about 80 pages, but it took me a bit of extra time to get through it because I had to keep on adjusting my perception while reading to keep in mind what a two-dimensional world would look like. Amazing that this guy wrote it during the nineteenth century.

5. Partying. I had a movie night at the beginning of the month, using Groundhog day as an excuse, so we watched, quite appropriately, Groundhog Day to commemorate the occasion. I still have a ton of ice cream left over from that, too. Have to get rid of it in some other way than eating it all myself. Hmm...

6. Singing/Playing. Started up ward choir again a few weeks ago, so hopefully people will continue coming. Fingers crossed. And as of today, I'm directing the choir for stake conference. According to Jenny, she doesn't "trust" anyone else to substitute for her while she goes to her brother's sealing. Flattering, quite flattering. Hope the stake choir keeps coming, even if it's me directing.

Well, that's a slightly good overview of me and my latest escapades. Sorry, no pictures. For some bizarre reason, I totally blanked on getting out my camera for my party. Too bad, really, considering Jeremie and Sabra came all the way from Bountiful and I was totally psyched to see them and should have collected more souvenirs of their presence than just the bruise on my toe where Jeremie stepped on it. (had to include that little tidbit, considering the incident drew blood, but i just laughed through the pain . . . go me.)

-Me

"Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternatives." -Maurice Chevalier