full post to come....
the view from our patio.santorini, greece
Monday, November 16, 2009
preview
just a sneak peek of where i spent a little bit of my november.... these are 2 pictures of where we stayed.
full post to come....
the view from our patio.
santorini, greece
full post to come....
the view from our patio.santorini, greece
Friday, September 18, 2009
fish tales
And so, it’s another retrieval from the archives. Bear with me as I pull this one out of 1999.
That summer, while I was attending school, I was working for an emergency preparedness company. That meant I spent many hours in the middle of the mall at a kiosk, explaining water filter bottles and flint and steel fire starters to any and all who would listen. As the token college student on the roster of employees, I quickly learned that I would be scheduled for every holiday that particular summer. It then came as no surprise that I would be missing the first bbq of the season on Memorial day. All of my roommates and a good sized group of very fun people headed over to the park for a little Frisbee time and some potato salad while I took off for the mall.
When I walked in the door later that day, the roommates downloaded all the good times had at the bbq. Sweet. I don’t know about you, but I loved hearing about all the fun that I miss out on. I went upstairs to change my clothes and noticed something on my pillow. As I got closer, I could tell it was a Ziploc bag. Thinking that someone had brought me a treat, I reached out for it. And stopped. Mid reach. And yelled out one word. “sick.” On my pillow, sure enough in a ziploc bag, were 2 fish heads.
Gross.
On my pillow.
I realize they were in a plastic bag, but who knew what sort of fish guts were contaminating the outside of the bag… Not cool.
So I gingerly pick up the bag by the corner and walk it downstairs to PEALS of laughter from my roommates. (Jodi in particular). They go on to tell me that Danny and Soren thought it would be fun to put the 2 fish heads in the bag and leave it on my pillow.
I was so not impressed.
Neither was I convinced that Danny and Soren were the only 2 involved. Nonetheless, these girls were my roommates and that meant (in situations such as these) we needed to band together to conquer the enemy. Or it just meant that we needed to leave the boys with a little treat. (Because we were 21 years old and this is what you do at that age). We devised some plan to put the fish heads in a jar and leave them in their house. (Things like this weren’t hard because all of us often left our doors unlocked….)
If I remember right, it was me and Jodi who smuggled the fish heads into their house and left them on the kitchen table.
End of story.
Or so we thought.
A few days later, the manager of our condo came over to have us all sign new contracts for the upcoming year. As we are all hanging out around the table, Darby was on the phone that hung on the wall by the kitchen. Mid-conversation, Darby lets out a blood curdling scream. Once the scream had tapered off, she was speechless. She stood there pointing to the phone cord draped down by the wall.
2 fish heads. STRUNG ON THE CORD.
EW.
Now WE were speechless. Talk about awkward. Not to mention disgusting. Try explaining THAT one to the property manager. And keep in mind, by this time, those fish heads were a week old. And then there was that whole perplexity thing on exactly HOW those boys had time to get into our house and string them on the cord without our knowledge.
Whatever. This was war.
How were we going to top that one? A couple of weeks later, Jamie invited me to go to
Right before we headed home, we get this idea to commandeer a cat fish and keep it alive in a cooler all the way back to
So we did. And that big ugly cat fish stayed alive and well in that cooler all the way home. Once we were home, we needed to get the guys out of their house. Ward prayer proved the perfect decoy. (Ward prayer… now there’s a blast from the past.)
Once the guys were all out of the house, Jamie and one of our other roommates went in. With the fish. The idea was to put it in the bathtub (you know, more comfortable for the thing.) But as it would turn out, there was no bathtub in the whole joint. They settled on the kitchen sink. Alas, it would have to do.
We wished there was a way to be able to see their reaction. But, as you can imagine, there was not. Instead, the anticipation nearly killed us.
Later that night, Danny came over to tell us that
Or so we thought. Again.
About a week or so later, I was out and about (visiting some lame boy, no doubt) when I get a call on my phone. From Jodi. Asking me where I was. I told her and then she asked if I could come home and let her out of the house. My next question? “Let you OUT of the house?”
What?!?!
Apparently, Danny had come over and asked Jodi if she had any Neosporin or some other medical thing. Jodi replied that she didn’t but that if anyone had something like that it would be Andrea. So down the stairs she goes to find whatever it is Danny asked for.
When she came upstairs Danny was gone. And in his place? A duck. A real live (scared spitless) duck. It began running around pooing all over the carpet until it found the main floor bathroom and hid itself as best it could behind the toilet. The poor thing was scared out of it’s mind. Jodi went to the door to go after Danny only to find herself locked in. The guys had tied the door handle to the railing so she couldn’t get out. On both doors.
I was dying.
By the time I got home, the neighbors had been enlisted to free Jodi and she was outside on the front steps. The duck still behind the toilet. What on earth were we going to do with it? We emptied the newspaper basket and converged on the duck. After a lot of running back and forth, we managed to get the thing into the basket. We drove it to the BYU pond and let it go. There’s no real way of knowing if that duck was ever the same after that…
In any case, we surmised that the guys had won this war. Aside from staging a horse on their front lawn, we were fresh out of ideas.
Can you blame us?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
love bug
Just a little collection of things I love… And things that bug.
Love:
my Ipod.
Bug:
when said Ipod isn’t workingand I have to enlist my much younger
nieces and nephewsto show me how to fix it.
Love:
desserts
Bug:
subsequent weight gain
Love:
a good book
(most recent love: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society…
a must read. It was fantastic.)
Bug:
when the library doesn’t even have one copy of the book AT ALL.
Love:
being able to drive. What freedom.
Bug:
when some moron pulls out in front you on the road.
And then they flip YOU off.
Love:
my cell phone
Bug:
my work cell phone
Love:
a French manicure painted on my toes
Bug:
having a gift card to a spa that charges $65 for a pedicure
only to find out that a French manicure isn’t even an option.
Love:
updated blogs
Bug:
when people don’t update their blogs very often. Ok, ok, that’s me.
Love:
summer
Bug:
when summer is cut short because of cold rain
for an entire month at the onset.
Love:
my feather duvet
Bug:
only being able to sleep for 3 hours straight at night
and then waking up at least 6 more times thereafter.
Love:
not having to work as much
Bug:
not having enough hours at work to pay all the bills
Love:
my new silver glitter nail polish
Bug:
my new hair cut (I’m getting it fixed)
Love:
a good movie with a good friend
Bug:
when the person behind me continues to kick my chair throughout the movie.
Love:
everything British
Bug:
not being able to afford a flat in
Thursday, September 03, 2009
13.1
5:30 am. Running shoes tied. 5:45 am. Meet the girls. 6:00 Ipod set to shuffle. 6:01 am. Me, Erin, Ann. Fresh morning air and spectacular canyon views. It’s an amazing feeling to run 3 miles and at the end feel as though you have just walked out to get the mail. An even better feeling knowing that you aren’t stopping at 3 (you are actually going for 8 on this particular morning) and feel like another 5 could be done in relative comfort. And I’ll tell ya, I’ve never been there before in my life.
Gear up. This post is sure to be long.
Back in the day (highschool) I ran sprints in track for one year. Yeah, not my strong suit. There were plenty of short girls running those sprints and I’ll be honest, they were faster. They have shorter legs. Doesn’t take as much time to lift them off the ground and put them back down. Their legs don’t have as far to go. As for me, I have a 35” inseam. There’s a lot more to lift off the ground as it were. People typically think that a longer stride means a faster runner. That, my friends, is a lie. Just sayin. But it may be more true for distance than sprints. And I’m thinkin I may be built more for distance. Even though, (all jokes aside here) I actually don’t really enjoy running. It’s better outside, to be sure. But it took everything I had to commit to the training for the Provo River Trail Half Marathon.
A half marathon. Who would have thought.
Certainly not me. I’m one of those people who has never had a goal of even running a 5k, not to mention a half marathon. And a full marathon? Asinine. Hats off to those who do them, but it aint my scene.
In April, Erin asked me if I would run this half with her. And I told her yes. Before I had any time to think it through. (It’s better sometimes to just commit before questioning one’s ability to follow through). Now that I was committed, I was in it to win it. (ok, well maybe I was just in it to finish it, as the case was.)
Training started in May. In July, Erin and I ran our 10 mile, 11 mile, and 12 mile goals. Once we got to 11 and 12, the fun really started to wear off. And fast. But we finished.
During our 11 mile run, Erin turned to me and said, “During the race, if you feel like you need to go faster, just go.” I said, “Ok.” I told her that I could only go faster for about a minute and then I would be dead by the side of the road. She has a fantastic pace, that one. A few minutes later, I looked at her and said, “During the race, I’m not leaving you. We have trained together. We will finish together.”
During our runs, I am not a fan of stopping for long. We only stop 2 (maybe 3) times during those long runs and then only for long enough to eat a gu, drink some water, and walk for 2 minutes or so. We finished our 12 mile in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. (Which isn’t iron woman speed, I know, but for us, that’s a quick little pace.)
August 8, 2009. Morning of. Cold front moved through, so it was colder than it typically is. Arrive at the finish line to be bussed up to the start. Excitement on the bus: bus driver missed the turn off and we went 10 minutes out of our way only to have to turn around and retrace our steps. On a positive note, we got to stay on the warm bus longer. Also, as we were going up to the start, the bus pulled off the side of the road to make room for a retreating bus and we all thought we were going to tip over and fall into the river. That was real fun.
Once at the start we got to hang out in the FREEZING cold (no fires) for at least an hour. Standing around praying for the gun to go off. I was wearing a little running skirt and a sweater. I hate being cold. At 7:05, the gun went off.
And I gotta say, I’m more a fan of the open air and a solitary trail. It’s not easy running with 1000 other people, speeding up to pass, dodging other people’s feet. Those are the things that other racers live for. Again, not my scene. Too many people. That isn’t invigorating to me. It actually sucks my energy.
I let Erin set the pace. I turned on my new midgi green ipod shuffle and tried to keep up. Erin has the best pace of anyone I’ve ever run with. She’s constant and she keeps moving. She’s not too fast, she’s not too slow and she’s willing to push herself. I love it. She keeps me going. And this particular morning, she was cruising. After a half mile on the road, my body temperature began to heat up so I took off the sweater I was wearing and chucked it into the bushes. Couldn’t have cared less if I ever saw it again. (To kill the anticipation… I never did see that sweater again. Hopefully it’s blessing someone else’s life.)
Anyone who is a runner knows that there are good days and bad days. Days you feel like you could go for hours and days you just can’t seem to get your body to move… This particular day was a hard one for me. By mile 4 I was struggling. But I pushed and kept up with Erin’s rock star pace. Usually I was the one to not let us walk very much. But that morning I was praying that Erin would want to walk. I could have easily been happy walking a mile or so. After all, I just intended to finish the race, not win it. But Erin wasn’t having any of that. She kept me and Ann moving. Even on the uphill. It was only a mile, (and we walked the first 1/3 of it) but Erin picked up the pace again and we were back in business. By this time we were on mile 9. How was I going to make it?
On the last mile, I started to have trouble breathing. It seemed hard to get air into my lungs. And I couldn’t find a song that was motivating enough. Honestly, where is “Eye of the Tiger” when you need it. A small distance after the mile 12 marker (though I wasn’t certain of our exact point), as I was running along side Erin, I told her (in between many short breaths) that she would just have to leave me behind. That I didn’t think I was going to make it. She looked at me and said, “You can do this.”
I told myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We were almost there. I hoped more than believed. We had to be. I really didn’t know if I was going to make it. And then we turned a corner and suddenly the trail was lined with people. I heard Chris on the sidelines cheering us on. (Thanks Chris… you’re cheering couldn’t have come at a more welcome time.) And then I could see the finish line….
I grabbed Erin’s hand, we sped up and crossed the line. Together.
Nearly in tears, I turned to her and said, “Thank you. I could never have done that without you.”
A person could go their whole lives and not ever find a friend like her….
The time on the clock said: 2 hours 22 minutes. But our actual time (verified by the chips on our shoes) said 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Hey, I’ll take it.
Me and Erin
Finishing never felt so good. And the good news? I never have to do that again. But I’m a girl. Don’t be surprised if I change my mind….
Gear up. This post is sure to be long.
Back in the day (highschool) I ran sprints in track for one year. Yeah, not my strong suit. There were plenty of short girls running those sprints and I’ll be honest, they were faster. They have shorter legs. Doesn’t take as much time to lift them off the ground and put them back down. Their legs don’t have as far to go. As for me, I have a 35” inseam. There’s a lot more to lift off the ground as it were. People typically think that a longer stride means a faster runner. That, my friends, is a lie. Just sayin. But it may be more true for distance than sprints. And I’m thinkin I may be built more for distance. Even though, (all jokes aside here) I actually don’t really enjoy running. It’s better outside, to be sure. But it took everything I had to commit to the training for the Provo River Trail Half Marathon.
A half marathon. Who would have thought.
Certainly not me. I’m one of those people who has never had a goal of even running a 5k, not to mention a half marathon. And a full marathon? Asinine. Hats off to those who do them, but it aint my scene.
In April, Erin asked me if I would run this half with her. And I told her yes. Before I had any time to think it through. (It’s better sometimes to just commit before questioning one’s ability to follow through). Now that I was committed, I was in it to win it. (ok, well maybe I was just in it to finish it, as the case was.)
Training started in May. In July, Erin and I ran our 10 mile, 11 mile, and 12 mile goals. Once we got to 11 and 12, the fun really started to wear off. And fast. But we finished.
During our 11 mile run, Erin turned to me and said, “During the race, if you feel like you need to go faster, just go.” I said, “Ok.” I told her that I could only go faster for about a minute and then I would be dead by the side of the road. She has a fantastic pace, that one. A few minutes later, I looked at her and said, “During the race, I’m not leaving you. We have trained together. We will finish together.”
During our runs, I am not a fan of stopping for long. We only stop 2 (maybe 3) times during those long runs and then only for long enough to eat a gu, drink some water, and walk for 2 minutes or so. We finished our 12 mile in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. (Which isn’t iron woman speed, I know, but for us, that’s a quick little pace.)
August 8, 2009. Morning of. Cold front moved through, so it was colder than it typically is. Arrive at the finish line to be bussed up to the start. Excitement on the bus: bus driver missed the turn off and we went 10 minutes out of our way only to have to turn around and retrace our steps. On a positive note, we got to stay on the warm bus longer. Also, as we were going up to the start, the bus pulled off the side of the road to make room for a retreating bus and we all thought we were going to tip over and fall into the river. That was real fun.
Once at the start we got to hang out in the FREEZING cold (no fires) for at least an hour. Standing around praying for the gun to go off. I was wearing a little running skirt and a sweater. I hate being cold. At 7:05, the gun went off.
And I gotta say, I’m more a fan of the open air and a solitary trail. It’s not easy running with 1000 other people, speeding up to pass, dodging other people’s feet. Those are the things that other racers live for. Again, not my scene. Too many people. That isn’t invigorating to me. It actually sucks my energy.
I let Erin set the pace. I turned on my new midgi green ipod shuffle and tried to keep up. Erin has the best pace of anyone I’ve ever run with. She’s constant and she keeps moving. She’s not too fast, she’s not too slow and she’s willing to push herself. I love it. She keeps me going. And this particular morning, she was cruising. After a half mile on the road, my body temperature began to heat up so I took off the sweater I was wearing and chucked it into the bushes. Couldn’t have cared less if I ever saw it again. (To kill the anticipation… I never did see that sweater again. Hopefully it’s blessing someone else’s life.)
Anyone who is a runner knows that there are good days and bad days. Days you feel like you could go for hours and days you just can’t seem to get your body to move… This particular day was a hard one for me. By mile 4 I was struggling. But I pushed and kept up with Erin’s rock star pace. Usually I was the one to not let us walk very much. But that morning I was praying that Erin would want to walk. I could have easily been happy walking a mile or so. After all, I just intended to finish the race, not win it. But Erin wasn’t having any of that. She kept me and Ann moving. Even on the uphill. It was only a mile, (and we walked the first 1/3 of it) but Erin picked up the pace again and we were back in business. By this time we were on mile 9. How was I going to make it?
On the last mile, I started to have trouble breathing. It seemed hard to get air into my lungs. And I couldn’t find a song that was motivating enough. Honestly, where is “Eye of the Tiger” when you need it. A small distance after the mile 12 marker (though I wasn’t certain of our exact point), as I was running along side Erin, I told her (in between many short breaths) that she would just have to leave me behind. That I didn’t think I was going to make it. She looked at me and said, “You can do this.”
I told myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We were almost there. I hoped more than believed. We had to be. I really didn’t know if I was going to make it. And then we turned a corner and suddenly the trail was lined with people. I heard Chris on the sidelines cheering us on. (Thanks Chris… you’re cheering couldn’t have come at a more welcome time.) And then I could see the finish line….
I grabbed Erin’s hand, we sped up and crossed the line. Together.
Nearly in tears, I turned to her and said, “Thank you. I could never have done that without you.”
A person could go their whole lives and not ever find a friend like her….
The time on the clock said: 2 hours 22 minutes. But our actual time (verified by the chips on our shoes) said 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Hey, I’ll take it.
Me and ErinFinishing never felt so good. And the good news? I never have to do that again. But I’m a girl. Don’t be surprised if I change my mind….
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
for annabelle . . .
... here's to wishing you many happy adventures in Miami. I have always loved this... because it applies to so many facets of life... personally, geographically, and spiritually.
"We shall not cease from exploration,
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time."
The Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot
Friday, June 26, 2009
peals of laughter
While in Idaho, my Mom asked me to trim the back of her hair as it was getting too long for her to deal with. She just wanted me to cut it straight across. I (being no beautician) said I would do my best.
I mean, really, how hard could it be?
We went outside so as not to have little trimmings all over the bathroom. Gonna go ahead and relay our conversation as I proceeded to trim...
Me: "You know, Angela won't let me near the scissors after what I did to our barbie's hair back in the day."
Mom: (trying not to laugh) "You know, you probably shouldn't tell jokes while your cutting my hair." (She steps away from me so that I can't cut anything and starts laughing.
Me: (laughing so hard I can hardly stand up straight) "That wasn't a joke."
Peals of laughter from the both of us....
Man, I do love me a good chuckle. What a fun mom I have.
I mean, really, how hard could it be?
We went outside so as not to have little trimmings all over the bathroom. Gonna go ahead and relay our conversation as I proceeded to trim...
Me: "You know, Angela won't let me near the scissors after what I did to our barbie's hair back in the day."
Mom: (trying not to laugh) "You know, you probably shouldn't tell jokes while your cutting my hair." (She steps away from me so that I can't cut anything and starts laughing.
Me: (laughing so hard I can hardly stand up straight) "That wasn't a joke."
Peals of laughter from the both of us....
Man, I do love me a good chuckle. What a fun mom I have.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
50 Shades of Green and a Peony
Went to visit my grand parents this weekend. In
I love visiting my grandparents. I have loved getting to know them now that I am all grown up and I feel like I can really appreciate them, the experiences they have lived, the stories they have told, and the legacies they will leave behind. Isn’t it inspiring to realize that one’s personality traits and interests can parallel that of one’s grandparents for so many aspects of life. Half the fun of getting to know them is realizing how much of myself I owe to them... For instance, my love of music, apple pie, and everything western. Not to mention the phenomenal sense of humor that both Grandma and Grandpa have… there are many times when we just sit and laugh.
My Grandpa has always loved music, in fact, he’s in a band. Oh yeah. There are times when I’m pretty sure that HE thinks he’s Johnny Cash, and to be honest, I aint gonna take that away from him. Who else gets to jam with their grandpa? I, on the violin, and grandpa on the guitar… singing his heart out to “Walk the Line”. And it’s not only country music that he loves, Grandpa digs western movies, fried corn, and his impressive collection of belt buckles. Never a dull moment.
Then there’s grandma. Both grandparents grew up without much luxury and still don’t even have a dishwasher. And Grandma is a pack rat. She loves to keep things and find other uses for them. Waste not, want not. That was how it was back then and it’s something she has always held onto, and to be honest, it’s something I adore about her. Packrat… that would be something that I’ve been accused of as well. In an effort to explain myself, I’ll just say that I hate to waste things if they can be used for something else. I love to make things with my hands, create things, learn things… there’s just too little time. Everything is destined for a finished product, but most of the time the project just doesn’t get done. In that way, Grandma and I are similar. Her love is sewing. And she’s darn good at it. (That’s the
Then there’s the food. I’m a sucker for down home cookin. (It only seems appropriate to leave off the g). Potatoes fresh from the garden, fried corn, lima beans and ham, strawberry jam and the aforementioned apple pie. Great weekend. Enjoyed some good food, good company, and some great laughs… all the while catching the scent of one pretty pink peony as it graced the plastic vase on the dining table….
Peonies are my favorite.
Monday, June 01, 2009
battle of the bulge
Recently I’ve been figuring out just how much my metabolism is slowing down. I think we’ve all been there… And if you haven’t, get your seat belt on because your time is coming. That magical age where you start noticing if you don’t run a couple of miles for every cookie you want to eat, you’ll pay for it by muffin-topping (can that be a verb?) out of your pants.
It’s no secret… You get older and your metabolism slows down. And sometimes? It feels like it just goes ahead and stops altogether.
Total bummer. Gone are the days of the daily breakfast donuts. I have slowly tried to wrap my mind around the fact that I will have to work out for the rest of my life if I don’t want to buy a new wardrobe. And I’ll tell ya, it’s been a rough acquiescence. But I have found what works for me. My own little 30 day slim down. And when I’m on the 30 day slim down, I’m in the zone and I’m in it to win it. And that means no treats. The problem is, if I give myself an inch (and have some treats), I lose control and take 3 feet (and have LOTS of treats). I’m still trying to master portion control. Give me a break… sweets are my weakness…. It takes time to master these things.
But I’m not giving up. Even though sometimes I give in. And fall of the wagon, as it were. That happened a few weeks ago. Every week we have vendor meetings where we see new product. A great concept… and we end up seeing some amazing things. But the most amazing things we saw a couple of weeks ago were the donuts that one of the reps brought in.
I hate when they bring us treats.
Yes, I know, I love me a good donut. That’s the problem. Remember that time I was still trying to master that whole self control thing? Baby steps, people. And I did so well until about 12:30. Then the afternoon lull started to set in and those donuts were yelling at me from the box.
So I had 3. Yeah, I know. 3. Most people have a sweet sensor that kicks in after they’ve had 1 or 2. That same sweet sensor tells them that they will be sick if they eat any more (if they aren’t sick already).
See, now, I don’t have that.
It would seem that I have a stomach of iron and when it comes to sweets? I can definitely hold my own.
My mom told me that I need to get to the point where I can eat one donut and be ok. I told her that at no time in my life have I ever been ok with one donut. Then again, at no time in my life have I worried about my pants ever fitting this tight.
It’s time for change.
But recently I have been so enamored with baking. I have never been like this. Don’t even know where it came from, to be honest. There’s just something about creating a yummy dish and tasting it to see just how well it turned out….
The most recent recipe I had been wanting to try was my Aunt’s pan cookie delight. It had been years since I’d had it and I wanted to give it a go just to remember how yummy they were. So of course, when I got home (on donut Wednesday) I decided that since I was off the wagon, I may as well be really off the wagon and I whipped up a batch of pan cookies.
Yep, just as good as I remember.
And the dough was amazing. After I made them, I ate about 4 of the cookies. And then I stopped. (Even though I could have eaten that whole pan, I stopped.) I decided that eating the entire pan would be so not ok. So I dumped them into the garbage. Now, I know what’s in my garbage. On this particular night it was fairly clean (just some tortilla wrappers and things.) No nasty chicken or gross food… just some wrappers. And though I can’t recall a time when I have actually ever rescued a cookie from the trash and eaten it, the thought did cross my mind that I just MAY be tempted the next morning. (And I didn’t want to fill the cookie pan with water because that would have created a bigger mess). So I brought out the big guns.
I pulled out the bottle of 409 and sprayed the cookies in the trash.
There. Problem solved. Because now there was NO WAY I was going to even think about them after that.
Moral of the story? I’m thinkin I need a travel size bottle of 409…
It’s no secret… You get older and your metabolism slows down. And sometimes? It feels like it just goes ahead and stops altogether.
Total bummer. Gone are the days of the daily breakfast donuts. I have slowly tried to wrap my mind around the fact that I will have to work out for the rest of my life if I don’t want to buy a new wardrobe. And I’ll tell ya, it’s been a rough acquiescence. But I have found what works for me. My own little 30 day slim down. And when I’m on the 30 day slim down, I’m in the zone and I’m in it to win it. And that means no treats. The problem is, if I give myself an inch (and have some treats), I lose control and take 3 feet (and have LOTS of treats). I’m still trying to master portion control. Give me a break… sweets are my weakness…. It takes time to master these things.
But I’m not giving up. Even though sometimes I give in. And fall of the wagon, as it were. That happened a few weeks ago. Every week we have vendor meetings where we see new product. A great concept… and we end up seeing some amazing things. But the most amazing things we saw a couple of weeks ago were the donuts that one of the reps brought in.
I hate when they bring us treats.
Yes, I know, I love me a good donut. That’s the problem. Remember that time I was still trying to master that whole self control thing? Baby steps, people. And I did so well until about 12:30. Then the afternoon lull started to set in and those donuts were yelling at me from the box.
So I had 3. Yeah, I know. 3. Most people have a sweet sensor that kicks in after they’ve had 1 or 2. That same sweet sensor tells them that they will be sick if they eat any more (if they aren’t sick already).
See, now, I don’t have that.
It would seem that I have a stomach of iron and when it comes to sweets? I can definitely hold my own.
My mom told me that I need to get to the point where I can eat one donut and be ok. I told her that at no time in my life have I ever been ok with one donut. Then again, at no time in my life have I worried about my pants ever fitting this tight.
It’s time for change.
But recently I have been so enamored with baking. I have never been like this. Don’t even know where it came from, to be honest. There’s just something about creating a yummy dish and tasting it to see just how well it turned out….
The most recent recipe I had been wanting to try was my Aunt’s pan cookie delight. It had been years since I’d had it and I wanted to give it a go just to remember how yummy they were. So of course, when I got home (on donut Wednesday) I decided that since I was off the wagon, I may as well be really off the wagon and I whipped up a batch of pan cookies.
Yep, just as good as I remember.
And the dough was amazing. After I made them, I ate about 4 of the cookies. And then I stopped. (Even though I could have eaten that whole pan, I stopped.) I decided that eating the entire pan would be so not ok. So I dumped them into the garbage. Now, I know what’s in my garbage. On this particular night it was fairly clean (just some tortilla wrappers and things.) No nasty chicken or gross food… just some wrappers. And though I can’t recall a time when I have actually ever rescued a cookie from the trash and eaten it, the thought did cross my mind that I just MAY be tempted the next morning. (And I didn’t want to fill the cookie pan with water because that would have created a bigger mess). So I brought out the big guns.
I pulled out the bottle of 409 and sprayed the cookies in the trash.
There. Problem solved. Because now there was NO WAY I was going to even think about them after that.
Moral of the story? I’m thinkin I need a travel size bottle of 409…
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
fever
Never been much of a TV watcher. What can I say, there are too many other things to do.
Like take classes. To learn new stuff.
Back in the day I played the viola, took sewing lessons, swim lessons and jewelry making classes in school. College? There were so many options and so little time (ok, ok, so maybe there was plenty of time and that’s why it took me 7 years to get my bachelors…but just so’s you know, I had the best education experience ever… I’m just sayin). Those college elective classes included floral design, country dancing, photography, guitar and making that walnut dresser from rough-hewn 2 x 4…. And then there was that welding class….
A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. So I found a class and learned. Wanted to learn how to ride English style on a horse (posting, cantering, tacking, and all), so I found a place that offered lessons and I signed up.
Told you. I’m what we’d call a class-taking nerd. Go ahead, laugh it up.
Recently has been no exception. In the last 2 years there’s been golf lessons, tennis lessons, harmonica lessons, water color, and an international cooking class.
So is it any surprise that a tap class was next?
You heard me. And it is hee-lar-i-ous. Barb, our 80-ish year old teacher, has the best freakin legs I’ve ever seen. She keeps us focused and we have fun. But don’t you dare try and get a sloppy shuffle ball change past her, or else she stops the class and you all get to do it by yourselves one by one. Talk about pressure.
So a couple of weeks ago, there were sign up sheets circulating around our ward for the ‘talent show’. Who signs up for those things anyway? Except Brooke. Who simply wrote on the sheet:
Who: A bunch of fun girls.
Talent: Something really neat.
That ought to bring out the crowds. Our ward Family Home Evening didn't know what was about to hit them. And with an introduction like that, what more could you ask for than a little performance by the “Girls On Tap”…
The performance, my friends, was a dang riot. Toe-tappin good times had by all, especially those of us sporting the fishnets and boas….
Monday, April 20, 2009
published-ish
It’s sometimes hard to explain what I do for a living. I know… it would seem a self-explanatory profession. And for the most part it is. But there is a side of it (and more often than not, this is the more prominent side) that isn’t as glamorous as my profession would sometimes appear. To be honest, I would gather that most people think all I do everyday is pick out expensive silk fabrics and arrange little piles of books on coffee tables with obscure accessories used for accent. This would not be the case. Yes, there are definitely times when I do pick out expensive silks and arrange little piles of books on coffee tables … but to paint a somewhat more realistic picture of what I do, I’ll go ahead and break it down. 85% paperwork, 15% design, 100% problem solving. As with any job, it has it’s highs and lows….
But at the end of the day, it’s the little things that make it all worth it…. Little things like great clients, the chance to use unique products, the joy of seeing your creation become reality and this:
This is our company ad in the style and design magazine here. It’s no Glamour, but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?
And hey, I’ll admit, it’s kinda fun to see your work in circulated print…
But at the end of the day, it’s the little things that make it all worth it…. Little things like great clients, the chance to use unique products, the joy of seeing your creation become reality and this:
This is our company ad in the style and design magazine here. It’s no Glamour, but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?
And hey, I’ll admit, it’s kinda fun to see your work in circulated print…
Monday, March 23, 2009
in the market, as it were....
... for a bosch or a kitchenaid mixer. i don't know which one to get and would love to hear what you all think. i would like to make bread with it for sure, cookies, etc. a friend of mine posted this on her blog and i thought it was such a good idea, i decided to throw it out there and see what you all have to say. please comment and let me know, even if you don't know me or haven't commented before...
so, which one is better?
thank you in advance for helping a girl out!!
so, which one is better?
thank you in advance for helping a girl out!!
Saturday, March 07, 2009
life's little soundtrack
http://www.brendanandnikkiburke.blogspot.com/1. Christmas 1987. Playing the board game “Fun City” with my sister and eating endless amounts of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The song in the background? Tiffany’s “I think We’re Alone Now”. Life didn’t get much better than that.
2. For a few years, I spent a couple of weeks in the summer with my cousin Shannon in Utah. Even though we were 2 years apart, she was definitely my best friend growing up. This was me at 13 trying to be as cool as she was at 15. And while she taught me everything I know about eyeliner and Girbaud jeans, Def Leopard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was rocking out in the background.
3. This one isn’t a single song, this little moment on the soundtrack is an entire album. Erasure’s “Pop Hits” CD was what I listened to every morning getting ready for school the second semester of my sophomore year of high school. “There once was a time had you hear by my side, You said I wasn’t your kind only here for the ride. Oh L’amour…” Oh yeah.
4. May 1995, standing in a CD store on Queensway in London with my cousin Shannon, watching all of the passersby in their Doc Marten boots and Spice Girl-esque attire. The little shop had ear phones that played a few of the hits from that time and this one was the reason we stopped in to listen almost every day on our way around the town. Take That’s “Back for good”.
5. How about a burgundy Camero, your high school best friend, Becky, and a little Goo Goo Dolls “Name” on your way to institute at the MCC. Oh, those were the days. And while the topics discussed will not be brought out of the archives and retold here, the song still brings back the memories of those early college days and cruising around in the camero.
6. There’s nothing quite like being able to actually live for 3 months in the tallest existing residence in Nauvoo, Illinois. A home built in 1843 and sported turn of the century wall paper on the fabled 3rd floor. The scene from my window looked something like this: prairie grass, snow covered flats, and the occasional red brick house off in the distance. It just LOOKED quiet. What more could you ask for with a picture that serene? Oh, I don’t know, how about a little Collective Soul and “The World I know.”
7. When I lived in London, I had 11 roommates. And by roommates, I mean we all slept in the same room, all the while sharing 3 showers. We also shared 3 toilets with 14 others and had 1 classroom. The experience changed my life on MANY levels, but the one thing it didn’t change was my need for occasional solitude. On Sunday nights, while everyone else was in the one classroom attending a fireside, one could find me sitting outside on the 2 foot wide balcony taking in the yellow harvest moon and listening to my favorite band at the time: U2. The song I chose to accompany me on my balcony retreat? The song “Bad”.
8. Sleek silver “designer” architectural scale: $12. Sassy orange satin asian style dress from D.I.: $6. Set of 120 rendering markers by Prismacolor: $300. Getting K. Sholz (your intense space planning teacher) to actually start grooving out in front of the class to the song “Rollin” by the Young MC: Priceless.
9. Spring Semester 1999 was full of adventure. The apartment fish war, a trip to Lake Powell, trying to reproduce a plaster relief the size of a parking stall from the 3-D lab on campus, having said plaster relief being driven over by the next door neighbor despite it’s obvious size, working at a 72 hour kit booth in Provo Towne Center Mall, wishing I had signed up for the Irish dance class INSTEAD of being talked into a boring design lecture class with my roommate, and doing drive by’s in Jamie’s white jeep. Of course there is no way one can drive around in a jeep trying to go, what we would call, unnoticed without blaring a little “Livin La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin. And yes, the seat belts were definitely on…. Oh, the memories.
10. Graduation from BYU April 2002. After packing up all of my belongings and sending it home to Arizona in a Uhaul with my dad, my mom and I loaded the last little bit into the white 1993 Accord and drove home. Had a lot of time on that drive to think about life and, most predominantly, my imminent future. To keep us company (and to the utter toleration of my mom) Puddle of Mud’s “Blurry” provided the backdrop to the long stretches of distant blue-gray mountains and straw colored grass that eventually turned into the familiar sand and sage brush of the Arizona desert.
11. In March of 2003, my friend Mona and I planned a little European vacay. On the last leg of our adventure, we ended up on a train from Rome to Brindisi, Italy. The thing is, we were just trying to get to Greece. Knowing that we had no idea what time the ferry left, or how much it was going to cost, or even where to buy the tickets (as the Italians couldn’t have cared less about offering any sort of helpful information on the subject), all we could do was sit back, put up our feet, and take in the scenery. Out came the CD player and with it the song “Con Te Partiro” by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Boccelli. That song always makes me feel like I’ve got a gelato in one hand, a camera in the other and I’m passing an old European cathedral…..
12. September of 2004. Final destination: Nashville, Tennessee for a 4 day install on a design technology school that I had designed. (Anyone who has ever worked in my profession knows EXACTLY what the word “install” entails.) After getting through security with 2 mannequin heads in her carryon, Annie (my work buddy) showed up to help me with the fancification of the aforementioned school. Even before we had stayed up for 19 hours straight (buying, making, placing, arranging, hanging, and rigging), we were singing along with this particular country music gem: Rascal Flatts “I Melt”. Hey, you can’t be that close to the Grand Ole Opry and not pretend that you may be the next to take the stage, glittery belt buckle and all.
13. And of course, there are those songs where recognition hits after the first couple of notes and you involuntarily reach for the volume control. You know the kind I’m speaking of, you all have them. Where rocking out in your car not only feels totally natural, but it’s just the right thing to do. My rock out song from 2008 is “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. And if I’m lucky, I’ll catch it on the radio, if not, this is a song I listen to with my iPod earphones because the CD player in my car is broken and I’m too cheap to have it fixed. So if you thought you looked nerdy rocking out to your favorite song in the car, just think, it could be worse. You could be the geek rocking out in her car with EARPHONES. Sweet.
14. This last one is a very recent addition…. Let’s just say 10 fabulous single ladies, hours of laughter, an outrageous smattering of desserts, an iPod complete with remote, a couple of church references, and a 10 part karaoke sing along to Wilson Phillips “Hold On.” What more could you ask for on a Saturday night. Ok, well, I can think of just a FEW things…. But until then, let the good times roll. Or rock, as the case may be….
Thursday, March 05, 2009
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
Dr. Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) of Love Worth Finding Ministries, Pastor Emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church.
Dr. Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) of Love Worth Finding Ministries, Pastor Emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
breakfast of champions
This is my breakfast of choice. Vanilla or strawberry yogurt mixed together with Just Bunches. I love it. Can’t get enough of it. My sister thought I was nuts until she tried it herself and now she’s totally converted. Of course she is. Because it’s freaking amazing.
But because I had what we would call ‘treat night’ at my house on Saturday night, Sunday morning I didn’t eat that for breakfast. Why? Because I had THIS instead.
Let me just give you a tour of that plate, as you may be wondering what all that goodness is. We'll start with the caramel infused rice krispie treats, next to that we have the amazing pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting (that thing is a friend magnet… kind of like pool tables), then we've got an Oh Henry bar (peanut butter rice krispie treats with a milk chocolate/butterscotch chip “frosting”), and to finish it all off, a couple of pieces of orange blondies.
Wow. What can I say. I may or may not have actually licked my fingers after the last bite....
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
special
My friend Kristy did this on Facebook, so of course I had to play along....
1. Put your iTunes/Ruckus/Napster/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Heaven – DJ Sammy
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Hysteria – Def Leopard
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Name – Goo Goo Dolls
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Wanna Get to Know You – Shania Twain
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Slow – Collective Soul
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Feels Like Today – Rascal Flatts
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Photograph - Nickelback
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
In Da Club – 50 Cent
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Wicked Games – Chris Isaak
WHAT IS 2+2?
This Way - Jewel
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
You Lift Me Up – Josh Groban
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Good King Wenceslas – David Tolk
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
White Flag - Dido
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Can’t Tell Me Nothin – Tim McGraw
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Forbidden Love – Madonna
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Colin Raye
WHAT WAS THE THEME OF YOUR WEDDING? (I’ve never had a wedding…)
Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away – Chicago
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Love Bites – Def Leopard
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
And I Think Of You – Peter Cetera
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Escape – Enrique Iglesias
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fear – Sarah McLachlan
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Slow Dancing – U2
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Nobody Wants to be Lonely – Ricky Martin
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Say It Aint So - Weezer
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
The Woman in Me – Shania Twain
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Loser – Beck
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Acrobat – U2
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
La Capitana – Kurt Bestor
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Freedom For My People – U2
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
What’s Left For Me – Days of the New
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Special – Garbage
1. Put your iTunes/Ruckus/Napster/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Heaven – DJ Sammy
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Hysteria – Def Leopard
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Name – Goo Goo Dolls
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Wanna Get to Know You – Shania Twain
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Slow – Collective Soul
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Feels Like Today – Rascal Flatts
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Photograph - Nickelback
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
In Da Club – 50 Cent
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Wicked Games – Chris Isaak
WHAT IS 2+2?
This Way - Jewel
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
You Lift Me Up – Josh Groban
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Good King Wenceslas – David Tolk
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
White Flag - Dido
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Can’t Tell Me Nothin – Tim McGraw
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Forbidden Love – Madonna
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Colin Raye
WHAT WAS THE THEME OF YOUR WEDDING? (I’ve never had a wedding…)
Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away – Chicago
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Love Bites – Def Leopard
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
And I Think Of You – Peter Cetera
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Escape – Enrique Iglesias
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fear – Sarah McLachlan
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Slow Dancing – U2
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Nobody Wants to be Lonely – Ricky Martin
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Say It Aint So - Weezer
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
The Woman in Me – Shania Twain
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Loser – Beck
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Acrobat – U2
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
La Capitana – Kurt Bestor
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Freedom For My People – U2
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
What’s Left For Me – Days of the New
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Special – Garbage
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Looking Forward
www.abundantlivingcoach.com/goal-sm.jpg So lately I’ve been thinking a lot about goal setting. I’ve never been one to make a bunch of New Year’s resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I make resolutions all the time, it’s just that the new year rarely has anything to do with them. This year is different. I’ve got a list of goals for myself… some spiritual, some physical, some personal, some financial, and as it turns out, none will be posted here. But I do have them and I have written them all down.
In church, we’ve started to have a Sunday School class devoted to life lessons and things. The first Sunday, the lesson was on setting goals and food storage. (Side note: One of the geekiest things about me is that I am an avid advocate of 72 hour kits and food storage). Anyway, it was a great lesson and so far I’m a huge fan of the class.
Well a couple of weeks ago, I ended up in that class again and the lesson was fully dedicated to goals and goal setting. The teacher was talking about if you have a goal, you need to write it down and make it realistic. Later on in the lesson he brought out 2 cinderblocks and what looked like one side of a cinderblock. He set out the 2 cinderblocks and then laid the single side cinderblock across the top. As if he was going to karate chop this piece.
Which he did.
He told us that he was going to break that piece laying across the top. Naturally, all of us were a little bit hesitant. Who knew if he was going to break his hand or not. And if he did? Awkward. So he takes a piece of paper and writes GOAL on it and lays it underneath the brick. That is what he’s shooting for. The blanket underneath, not the brick. He told us that in order to break through this brick, he couldn’t focus on it. If he was going to break it, he needed to focus on getting to a point at least 6 inches beyond it.
Loved the entire analogy.
He ended up breaking the brick and setting out another one, which someone else was able to break. (We did have a girl try to break one as well and unfortunately, she didn’t have any luck.) But I loved the parallel between getting beyond the obstacles to reach our goals. The girl who had tried to break the brick would stand huddled over it with one hand resting on it while she got up the necessary courage and motivation. Then she would lift her hand and try to break through the cinderblock brick. The teacher, after her few attempts proved no results, said that at first, he had tried the same thing. Which was resting his hand on the obstacle. After it didn’t work for him, he said he had to stand back and not even look at the brick at all, just focus on the blanket underneath and aim for that. That’s when he broke right through.
Richard G. Scott said in the 1990 April General Conference:
“To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done.”
So in the spirit of January, New Year’s resolutions, and new beginnings, I am going to try to focus on the end result and hope to overcome the obstacles in the way.
Go 2009.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Memory Lane Sunday of the Month....
In January of 1999, after my first year at BYU, I moved into a town house just south of campus. It had it all: my own room, green vinyl sofas, walls that weren’t white, a red kitchen with a black and white floor, laundry facilities that were inside the condo, and a fish.
Who lived in a gumball machine aquarium the size of a large cantaloupe.
The fish’s name was New Anus. Yes, I’m serious. (No, I did not name the fish.) Here’s a little background… There had been a girl living in this condo who had moved out the Christmas before I moved in. Her name was Nikki. And she was the owner (and the namer) of New Anus.
And so, the story goes something like this…. The Christmas before this (1997), Nikki had gone home for the holidays. At this time, she had two feeder gold fish in the tank. One fish was named I.C. and the other one was named Uranus. (Don’t ask... there is an OBVIOUS theme.) Anyway, knowing she was going to be out of town, she asked a couple of guys in the ward if they would feed the fish. They told her they would, and with that, everyone enjoyed the holidays.
Until Nikki got home.
Apparently, something went horribly wrong while she was away. Either the guys forgot to feed the fish or some other tragic event happened, because when Nikki returned, she found the fish dead.
So, in an attempt not to let the gumball fish aquarium go to waste, she went out and bought more fish. She bought 2 feeder goldfish, one she named New Anus and one she named More Anus and she also bought about 8 other fish.
By the time I moved in a year later, there was only one fish in the tank. New Anus. That’s because… now get your seat belts on…. New Anus ATE More Anus and all the other 8 fish!! True story.
So a year and a half later, (April 2000) it came time for some of us to graduate and some of us to say good bye to South Downs #2 and move on. The big question at that cross roads in our lives was, “What are we going to do with the fish?”
Andrea decided to take it with her to Las Vegas. The only other option was to flush it down the toilet. Ok, maybe that wasn’t the ONLY other option, but so what if it was my suggestion. When Andrea moved into her condo, the fish was left behind at her parent’s house. Her parents have a pond in their backyard and were able to give New Anus a larger, more luxurious home.
I bet New Anus loved having more space to swim around in (even though I’m pretty sure that goldfish only have a 3 second memory span, so the fish would forget he was living in a tank the size of a large cantaloupe). And because they moved her from the gumball machine to the pond, she grew larger. And larger. And still larger. Until she was 9 inches long. (During her gumball days she was about 2 inches long.)
And then, on July 24, 2006, tragedy struck and New Anus was laid to rest. Andrea’s dad had come home from work to find the fish in the pond stuck between 2 rocks. It appeared as though the fish was trying to free itself, but to no avail.
Who knew a feeder goldfish could live 9 years.
Maybe it’s better it has gone to a better place. I’m just sayin. I mean with her cannibalistic history, and her exponential growth in size, who knows, she may have tried to eat Andreas parents....
Who lived in a gumball machine aquarium the size of a large cantaloupe.
The fish’s name was New Anus. Yes, I’m serious. (No, I did not name the fish.) Here’s a little background… There had been a girl living in this condo who had moved out the Christmas before I moved in. Her name was Nikki. And she was the owner (and the namer) of New Anus.
And so, the story goes something like this…. The Christmas before this (1997), Nikki had gone home for the holidays. At this time, she had two feeder gold fish in the tank. One fish was named I.C. and the other one was named Uranus. (Don’t ask... there is an OBVIOUS theme.) Anyway, knowing she was going to be out of town, she asked a couple of guys in the ward if they would feed the fish. They told her they would, and with that, everyone enjoyed the holidays.
Until Nikki got home.
Apparently, something went horribly wrong while she was away. Either the guys forgot to feed the fish or some other tragic event happened, because when Nikki returned, she found the fish dead.
So, in an attempt not to let the gumball fish aquarium go to waste, she went out and bought more fish. She bought 2 feeder goldfish, one she named New Anus and one she named More Anus and she also bought about 8 other fish.
By the time I moved in a year later, there was only one fish in the tank. New Anus. That’s because… now get your seat belts on…. New Anus ATE More Anus and all the other 8 fish!! True story.
So a year and a half later, (April 2000) it came time for some of us to graduate and some of us to say good bye to South Downs #2 and move on. The big question at that cross roads in our lives was, “What are we going to do with the fish?”
Andrea decided to take it with her to Las Vegas. The only other option was to flush it down the toilet. Ok, maybe that wasn’t the ONLY other option, but so what if it was my suggestion. When Andrea moved into her condo, the fish was left behind at her parent’s house. Her parents have a pond in their backyard and were able to give New Anus a larger, more luxurious home.
I bet New Anus loved having more space to swim around in (even though I’m pretty sure that goldfish only have a 3 second memory span, so the fish would forget he was living in a tank the size of a large cantaloupe). And because they moved her from the gumball machine to the pond, she grew larger. And larger. And still larger. Until she was 9 inches long. (During her gumball days she was about 2 inches long.)
And then, on July 24, 2006, tragedy struck and New Anus was laid to rest. Andrea’s dad had come home from work to find the fish in the pond stuck between 2 rocks. It appeared as though the fish was trying to free itself, but to no avail.
Who knew a feeder goldfish could live 9 years.
Maybe it’s better it has gone to a better place. I’m just sayin. I mean with her cannibalistic history, and her exponential growth in size, who knows, she may have tried to eat Andreas parents....
Sunday, January 25, 2009
into january . . .
Ok, so I’m just going to say it… January is the worst month out of the year. Just is. For those of us not living in the tropics, it’s cold. Really cold. And long. Yeah, and boring. And all seems sleepy and tired. Even the snow outside looks like it can’t wait for the spring melt. Sigh.
But the good news is that it’s almost February (an equally dull month) and that means one more month closer to rising temperatures and more daylight. Yay.
Anyway, just a little update as to what I’ve been doing…
My oldest brother lives about 25 minutes away from me with his wife, Mary, and 6 children (ages 5-15). He and Mary were lucky enough to head out on a little vacay to the Mexican Riviera so I told him I would baby sit if he needed me to. 2 years ago, I had watched all 6 by myself for a full weekend and we had a blast.
So, he took me up on it. I was going to watch them Saturday and Sunday and then Mary’s mom was going to come into town on Monday to watch them until the next Saturday morning.
My mom came over to hang out with us and we played Sorry and Monopoly, went bowling, watched some movie named Flubber, spent some serious time on the Dance Dance Revolution, and had a great time. On Sunday, they had stake conference which I was totally nervous about…. The 2 youngest are 5 and 7 and the thoughts of keeping them entertained for 2 hours instead of just 1 sounded exhausting, but it worked out. The last time I had watched them, they had 9:00 am church and I wasn’t sure how we were going to get everyone up and ready. But when I got up, got mostly ready, and came out to check on everyone at 8:15, they were almost finished getting ready and eating breakfast. As it turned out, we were 10 minutes early to church. Me and 6 kids. And I had nothing to do with it… those kids are a well-oiled machine. Loved it.
This time was no different, we were again early to church (not because of anything I did) and ready to sit and listen for 2 straight hours. Who are we kidding, sometimes it’s hard for ME to sit and listen for 2 straight hours, but I went ahead and armed myself with coloring books and fruit snacks and it turned out to be ok. I sat and took notes so that I wouldn’t be temped to take the coloring book away from my nephew. Sweet.
All in all, it was great to spend some time with the kids. It’s fun to watch them grow up and be ‘people’. And they amaze me with what they observe and what they know…
So thanks, kids, for the good times and for the little bright spot in January…
But the good news is that it’s almost February (an equally dull month) and that means one more month closer to rising temperatures and more daylight. Yay.
Anyway, just a little update as to what I’ve been doing…
My oldest brother lives about 25 minutes away from me with his wife, Mary, and 6 children (ages 5-15). He and Mary were lucky enough to head out on a little vacay to the Mexican Riviera so I told him I would baby sit if he needed me to. 2 years ago, I had watched all 6 by myself for a full weekend and we had a blast.
So, he took me up on it. I was going to watch them Saturday and Sunday and then Mary’s mom was going to come into town on Monday to watch them until the next Saturday morning.
My mom came over to hang out with us and we played Sorry and Monopoly, went bowling, watched some movie named Flubber, spent some serious time on the Dance Dance Revolution, and had a great time. On Sunday, they had stake conference which I was totally nervous about…. The 2 youngest are 5 and 7 and the thoughts of keeping them entertained for 2 hours instead of just 1 sounded exhausting, but it worked out. The last time I had watched them, they had 9:00 am church and I wasn’t sure how we were going to get everyone up and ready. But when I got up, got mostly ready, and came out to check on everyone at 8:15, they were almost finished getting ready and eating breakfast. As it turned out, we were 10 minutes early to church. Me and 6 kids. And I had nothing to do with it… those kids are a well-oiled machine. Loved it.
This time was no different, we were again early to church (not because of anything I did) and ready to sit and listen for 2 straight hours. Who are we kidding, sometimes it’s hard for ME to sit and listen for 2 straight hours, but I went ahead and armed myself with coloring books and fruit snacks and it turned out to be ok. I sat and took notes so that I wouldn’t be temped to take the coloring book away from my nephew. Sweet.
All in all, it was great to spend some time with the kids. It’s fun to watch them grow up and be ‘people’. And they amaze me with what they observe and what they know…
So thanks, kids, for the good times and for the little bright spot in January…
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