Just Keep Swimming

As we near the end of summer (can't believe it's the last day of august!), I'm glad that I finally got to go swimming. That's right, everyone. I didn't go swimming all summer! Whenever I tried to make plans to do it, they always fell through or the weather wasn't cooperating. So it was a slightly big deal when Saturday came around and I finally got in a pool!

Friday evening ended up being a girls' night in with Sharalyn. We made dinner, got some goodies, made cookies, and watched chick flicks. I haven't had a girls' night in like that in quite some time, and it was a nice, relaxing evening before the on-the-go nature of Saturday.

Lest you misunderstand my description of the day, allow me to clarify. Saturday was dang fun. After a pretty standard morning of errands and chores, I met up with some cousins and my aunt Vicki to go swimming at a family friend's in Orem. Thanks to my fair skin, I left three hours later with a sunburned back, but I didn't mind that much. Could have been worse. At least I put some sunscreen on when I first arrived, or it really would have been worse.

 Me and Alicia at the ward activity

Sharalyn enjoys some pizza

After swimming, I went home and immediately changed and left again for our ward activity. Swimming was a part of that activity, as well, but I was done being in my swimming suit by then. Among other things, we enjoyed some really delicious pizza, talked, and played volleyball. Betsey and I even sustained some injuries during a calamitous play in which Bro. Itri simultaneously collided with me while spiking the ball into Betsey's face. Nothing life-threatening, of course, but enough to make him feel guilty and sheepish when he greeted us Sunday morning. cue evil grin

 Julia, Katie, and Melinda look cute while Brady just looks like himself

Upon arrival at the ol' homestead from the ward activity, I got all "dolled up" to go for a girls' night out with Megan and Mashell. My hair wasn't too pleased with me, seeing as how I hadn't washed it for far too long and then had gone swimming and was then attempting to curl it and make it cute before going out. But it cooperated for the most part, and the three of us were looking mighty fine as we blasted Mariah Carey and Abba from the car during our ride to and from Spark.

 My reaction to Mashell's crazy online dating stories.

And I thought my dating life was messed up.

Needless to say, I had no trouble falling asleep on Saturday night.

-Me

"Leave it to a girl to take the fun out of sex discrimination." -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Don't Drink the Water

Remember how you learn something new every day? Well, last Friday I officially learned how to throw a football. Twenty-six years and I never really knew how to do it. Naturally, I was simply excellent from the instant I began (ha!), but hey, practice is important. And it got me out of the ongoing show of how terrible I still am at tossing a frisbee. So thanks go out to Danny for teaching me and even going so far as to compliment me whenever I miraculously threw a decent spiral. And thanks go out to the friends who came to my park party Friday night. It was a lovely night, and I enjoyed seeing who came and played.

Saturday I learned the rate of speed at which I fill water balloons. I went up to Kelly's to help out with Jake's 9th (!) birthday party, and we filled up 200 water balloons in an hour. We spent the following two hours trying to keep the boys entertained and happy while playing the various water-based games. I got soaked in the process as I was the lucky one holding the target that the boys shot at with their water guns (i'm convinced that a couple of boys thought my face, not the dartboard, was the target) and then during their all-out water war (once the organized games were over), I dragged Jake out into the middle of the backyard so everybody could get him. Okay, yes, I knew the risk that I would get attacked, too, as I held him in place, but I chose to take that risk for the fun of it. Not being used to running around with a bunch of boys for a couple of hours in the sun, I was exhausted by the time I reached home that evening.

On a slightly more serious note, I'd just like to give a shout-out to my wonderful friends who do a lot more for me than I probably deserve. It's been an interesting month or so, and I'm grateful to all of you for putting up with me as I've talked (and occasionally cried) through some difficult issues. At the risk of publicly embarrassing some of my pals, here's a small list, and you all know how you've been there for me: Jay, Lisa, Glen, Sylvia ... Maybe some day I'll return the favor.

-Me

"Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody." -Mark Twain

War! What is It Good For?

Who knew that marshmallows could be used as weapons? Not deadly weapons, of course. Not even serious-injury weapons. But weapons, nevertheless. I never knew. Until Monday night.

No, in our war we did not use marshmallow "shooters", something I had never heard of before Monday night. We just used the might of our arms to hurl confectionary sweets at each other. But to know that you had actually hit someone, the marshmallows were covered in flour. Yum.

Needless to say, any "rules" we were attempting to play by went out the window after about five minutes, at which time we just went after each other with the marshmallows, picking up stray ammunition on the ground and re-dipping them in the plastic bags of flour we all carried. And when unable to find marshmallows (or at least unwilling to stoop down to the ground to pick them up), we made exceptionally good use of our left-over flour.

What an attractive crew we all were by the end of the hour.

-Me

"The only winner in the War of 1812 was Tchaikovsky." -Solomon Short

For Old Friends Who've Just Met

Unfortunately, I wasn't very diligent about taking pictures while in Oregon last week. So you'll just have to use your imagination when it comes to picturing the settings of my various activities. Believe it or not, I didn't just cry at the gas station. Here are some good things I did:

1. Hanging with Mutter and Vater. They're awesome and fantastic, and I'm sure lucky that I have parents who love and support me, despite all my crazy antics.

2. Kate's bachelorette party at the rose gardens, complete with garden party theme. Helping contribute to the atmosphere was the opera in the park playing in the ampitheater below us. Also the funny hats.

3. Day trip to Cannon Beach with Melissa. The weather wasn't too kind to us, but I didn't mind much, even if my hair did get more-than-slightly untidy from walking in the rain and wind at Hug Point.

4. Kate's wedding. The sun came out just in time to make the entire afternoon just beautiful (and hot!), as if Kate wasn't lighting up the whole day with her beauty already.

5. Family dinners. Food is important.

6. Visited my brothers' places and hung out with my sisters-in-law. Hope they didn't hate the intrusion, because I had fun seeing them.

7. Karen's reception. Such fun. I saw quite a few people I wasn't expecting to see, but it was great talking to them. (also true for kate's wedding.) Karen was gorgeous, as well.

8. Bought new shoes. Quite possibly the highlight of my trip.

At the two weddings, I got to catch up with plenty of people, many of whom I haven't seen since ... I don't know ... high school graduation? I had oodles of fun talking to everybody and I didn't really mind answering the same questions multiple times, but I did decide that I should create a nametag that answers at least the standard questions, so as to prevent the necessity of repeating yourself and skip ahead to the individual conversation topics. Maybe it would be a bit large and unattractive as an accessory, but it sure would come in handy in those situations when you're updating people on years of your life. I believe mine would include this information:

Name (necessity? not sure, considering people usually know your name, but this is a nametag)
Residence Area ("area" because people will not have always heard of orem)
Occupation (including your enjoyment of said occupation)
Relationship Status (be brief, even if it's complicated)
How much you participate in activities that people remember you doing ten years ago

Of course, this is an entirely subjective list, and you may supplement or elide as you see fit, but I think it gives a fairly good overview of the questions I was frequently (if not constantly) answering when seeing old friends.

-Me

"It is a sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information." -Oscar Wilde

Lonely Teardrops

I cry easily. I know this, and basically everyone who knows me knows this (and if you didn't know before, now you do). It's not because I'm generally sad (at least, i don't think i am); it's just how I operate. However, the last two weeks or so, it's been different. I've been crying even more!

Who knows what has triggered this emotional state I've been in? I sure don't know. Even when the tears haven't spilled over, I've still teetered dangerously close to that edge, and the frequency and timing of these occurrences is just weird. I mean, who cries at the gas station? But I did yesterday, when my mom and I were stopped at Costco.

I have great hopes that my emotions will soon bury themselves a little deeper, but in the meantime, I'd better avoid any person, place, or thing that contains anything remotely sentimental or sad. This includes certain movies (Up), tv shows (Little House on the Prairie), and books (To Kill a Mockingbird). Historically, the contents of a hypothetical list entitled "Things that Make Megan Cry" have never surprised me. The addition of gas stations is odd, though.

What next? Collapsing into tears over a discount at Winco? Heaven forbid.

-Me

"After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles.'" -Ronnie Shakes

I Want Candy

Gotta say ... I love desserts. I eat too many for my own good. In fact, I made myself sick on Monday after consuming ice cream not only by myself in the afternoon, but with Megan and Mashell that evening at Rock Canyon Park. (in my defense, the ice cream that night was practically forced upon me ... i just couldn't say no ... yeah, that's the truth.) (do you believe me?)

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa, Sharalyn, and I had a blast concocting some yummy ice cream treats, what with the four flavors of ice cream in our freezer, the multitude of toppings at hand, and the oreo's I'd bought earlier that week on a whim.

Didn't stop there. Crepes were the norm a few times. Lisa made dessert crepes two evenings in a row (the two evenings in a row directly following the ice cream night, in fact), and I managed to deny them the second evening, miraculously (but most definitely not the first). Then the next week, which was last week, Lisa, Betsey, and I headed to IHOP and all three of us got crepes ... plus some fun stories from our waiter about him getting into a pub brawl in Dublin.

You'd think I'd be sick of the sweets, but I guess I'm not. Last night I went to Cheesecake Factory with Jay. And you can't go to the Cheesecake Factory without getting dessert! Okay, you can, and I have before, but very rarely. (almost as rarely as i've gone to the cheesecake factory.)

I'm sure there are other sweets I've consumed in the last couple of weeks, but these are the most noteworthy. I'd like to make a vow and abstain (courteously) from sweets for a while, but I'm going on vacation and attending two weddings in Oregon in the next week, and I know I would just break my vow while there. Maybe I'll make the vow once I'm back.

-Me

"It's important to begin a search on a full stomach." -Henry Bromel