Excitement in My Life

Yes. There was indeed excitement in my life today. So exciting, in fact, that I told my family about it before I came home. So exciting that my Mom, who was listening to my Dad and brother's conversation on the phone with me thought I got a raise. What is as exciting as a raise, you ask? The answer: A new toilet at work. The toilet has been leaking for a couple of months now and I haven't gotten around to calling someone to fix it. I called the plumber, who at first thought it was a gasket that was the problem, but upon further inspection, he found...


...a crack in the tank! I know what excitement in my life. Even more exciting--he left the old toilet as he couldn't fit it on his truck. So, now I have two toilets at work. I hope someone doesn't use the one that isn't hooked up. I better make a sign for it. You would think it would be obvious with it being out in the hall, but you never know. Tomorrow's excitement will consist of trying out the new toilet out and taking off the sticker. Apparently toilets have a sticker that is the equivalent to the mattress "do not remove unless you are the owner tag". Who knew? I didn't. The things I am learning at my job.

The other excitement--I know your brain can hardly handle even more excitement--the plumber also insulated my furnace pipe, so that it hopefully won't freeze and then I won't have to remember to empty the "drain" bucket every couple of days.

Yeah for me! Well, I wish you all many happy flushes.

Ballerinas and Swans and pink happiness

For many years of my life I was not a fan of pink. As a matter of fact, I was anti-pink. I just did not own pink items. Clothes, cute little doo-dads, crayons. To understand this you must understand my grandma. Grandma loooooooooooooooooved pink. The following items in her house were pink: Walls, floors, refrigerator, oven, sink, bathtub, and toilet. My dad's baby announcements--yup, pink. I now live in my grandma's house, which is not quite as pink as it once was. The floors and some walls have changed, but the bathroom remains the same. My mom once told me that I couldn't change the wallpaper in the bathroom as the plaster walls would come down with the paper. As if I could commit such heresy. You would think that I would want to change the bathroom, but I don't for one reason and one reason only, and it has nothing to do with the fact that a bucket is sometimes needed to flush the toilet. It is the wallpaper. The wallpaper is pink with goldish-silver ballerinas and swans. Everytime I go into the bathroom, it makes me happy to see the wallpaper.

I have overcome this anti-pink stage in my life and you will now find a respectable amount of pink in my wardrobe. I post the photos above so that you, too, may have a happy day and dream of golden ballerinas dancing on a pink stage.

The Singles Life

So, my Mom kept telling me that I should go to a singles activity down here. I have lived here a year, so I decided that I should make it out to see if my suspicions were true that it was 18-year-olds and octegenarians. (sp?) Following a crappy day at work, I stuck to my decision to go to a singles activity that was announced as a Young Single Adult activity in my ward. I did make my little sister Roo go along with me for moral support, which may have been my downfall in the end. We arrived at the church and peeked in the door, seeing only old people. I decided to walk around a bit and investigate further, as I did not want to be the only one not collecting Social Security. This was me stalling. We came back and peeked in the door again. Still, I saw only old people. Roo and I stood in the parking lot deciding what to do. Roo kept saying that we might as well go in and look. I gave in. Bad decision. It was indeed all old people, but we were in too deep. They had seen us and knew that we were there. Yes, it was a typical singles activity in town. I think the person that was next youngest besides my sister and I was a member of the stake presidency and his wife who were in their fifties. I think young meant 65 or 70! (Coo, I bet this is bringing back memories of firesides at the Sands apartments for retired people.) Yes, that's right, I gave it a try, and I'm never going back, though I did laugh most of the way home. I hope you enjoy the picture above that I took at the activity (I took it with the permission of the stake presidency member, so it was o.k., though I did take it while the people weren't looking and with no flash. Yes, I was chicken. Roo and I snuck out after dinner and decided to skip the program for some odd reason.

It's about time

I've had several people comment on the infrequency of my blog posts. I know. I'm a big slacker. First off, I'd like to offer my condolences to Strongpants, previously known as Pansy, on the loss of the Green Bay Packers. A moment of silence please.



Lately, my life has consisted of work, work and work. I did go up to Provo this last weekend and had a lovely time shopping with Strongpants. I bought me some new shoes, and my favorite purchase was a package of 12 lists, each having a month written on the bottom. Lists make me very happy, even though I lose them all the time.

Today my rant is on "State of the __________" addresses that happen this time of the year. Do all four of the major networks really need to carry these? Frankly, most of these speeches consist of a lot of clapping interspersed with a few phrases from the President, mayor or governor. Some of us would rather just read it on line the next day. I think if all of the clapping was omitted from the speeches, they would last approximately 7 minutes and 32 seconds. Fine. Cut into my programming for 8 minutes. I might forgive you for this, but no you go on forever. First we have the analysis of what the speaker might say, followed by the elongated speech, which is followed by commentary on what the speaker did say and why it is good and bad, as well as the virtues of all the major political parties. You cut into my T.V. time for two hours! I want to watch something else on T.V. Come on, give me some options. I realize that normal T.V. is slim pickin's right now, but it is better than having the same thing on every channel

The Christmas Horse

Today is my last day of work before Christmas. Yeah for me! I'm excited to have some time off to get something done at home. Last weekend I went to Provo to stay with Pansy. We spent the day intermittently shopping and going to Christmas activities. This is what our day looked like:

1. Eat lunch
2. Go to Target
3. Go to Choir practice/school
4. Go to Barnes & Noble
5. Go to the Ward Christmas Party
6. Go to a Pie Party
7. Go to Wal-Mart

There were way too many people at Wal-Mart. I mean it was 11:30 on a Saturday night. There were a ton of kids there. What were they doing up that late? I shouldn't have been up that late and they definitely should not have been.

I finally have my tree up. Dad and FarmerBoy were kind enough to tangle with all of the wires to get it up for me. I then spent Tuesday night decorating it. The lights are special, but that is because I did them myself. They kind of make a net. They are mostly white, with two strings of colored ones. I think it is a gyp to have only white lights on the Christmas tree. They are so boring. You need a splash of color.

Yesterday, I went over to Moroni and picked up 20 turkey breasts. No, they were not all for me. They were for our employees and apparently not all turkeys are created equal, as I was given very specific instructions on exactly what type of bird to pick up (or part of a bird). I left about 9:45 and got home from work at 8:30. It was a long day for me, and I've even been being productive at work today. I know, it is a little weird for me. As of now, all of the turkeys except one have been delivered. We had a bit of snowstorm yesterday, and apparently a lot of people don't believe in plowing roads. They were pretty icy in a lot of places.

I'd like to send a Hell-o to Roo as she can't come home for Christmas since she hurt her back. Coo, Coo's wife and NooKoo are going up to Washington and Loo and Loo's husband will spend the day in Provo. That leaves Me, Mom, Dad, Da, S.Q. and FarmerBoy home for Christmas. That seems like such a small group to have at home--a true sign we're a big Mormon family. Changing topics, it is now time to tell of a Christmas tradition.

Many years ago, before I was in existence, my Dad set a rule that we could not get up until 7 a.m. on Christmas morning. Mom always thought that this was too late and she believed that we should have negotiated for an earlier time. We had tried to negotiate for an earlier time. This is how those negotiations went.

Dad: You can't get up until seven.
Us: Six.
Dad: Eight
Us: Five
Dad: Ten
Us: O.K. Seven is early enough

As we got older, we began more negotiations--for a later time. Needless to say, we wouldn't wake up at 7 a.m. as had been tradition forever. We all used to sleep in the basement on Christmas eve. Well, one year, we wouldn't wake up and all of a sudden there was loud pounding on the our ceiling--this was about six a.m.--I mean it wasn't even seven, yet. We ignored it a few times, but it wouldn't stop, so we dragged ourselves and went out upstairs to see if Mom was trying to get us out of bed before the appointed hour. Mom wouldn't admit to pounding a stick on the floor, claiming it was the "Christmas Horse" that woke us up. Now, every year the "Christmas Horse" has to wake us up if we don't get out of bed early enough.

The Bold Cold

It's been pretty cold down here in the nether regions of Utah, but still not much snow. It's funny how it doesn't seem like Christmas unless there is snow on the ground. I'm just having a hard time feeling it this year for some reason. Maybe it is because I can't seem to get a Christmas Tree put up at my house. I attempted to put up my parents' castoff, but was reminded it was a castoff for a reason. I'm not really a fan of puzzles, particularly those involving a lot of wire, and so the tree went back in the bag. I then thought I could buy an artificial one and they were all pathetic, at least the ones that were affordable. I also thought for a moment that I could get a real one and have FarmerBoy help me pick one up. There were three left in the town and truthfully, they make me very scratchy, so decorating it would be a problem. How did I overcome this trial, you ask. I haven't. I placed the angel on top of the mantel and left the ornaments in their see-through cannister.

I'm also having a hard time finding a nativity that speaks to me. I found one I liked, but no shepherd. How, I ask, can there be no shepherd? This is just not right. A nativity should include the following figurines.

1. Mary & Baby Jesus
2. Joseph
3. 3 Wise Men
4. A SHEPHERD
5. Various and sundry animals, but probably not a prairie dog, a whale, or a bonobo.
6. Possibly an angel

I'm picky. As a general rule, I like traditional nativities. I like a half-way decent paint job and not that stylistic mumbo-jumbo, and a shepherd is a must. Christmas is about tradition, right after the birth of Christ and before Santa Clause, who as far as I'm concerned is a scary, old man who gives little children complexes into their adulthood.

Other goings on in my life--I have my Christmas cards addressed, but no amusing Christmas letter written. Apparently, people like my Christmas letters for some reason. I cannot guarantee the quality this year as Loo (whew, I had to edit the post, as I put her real name on the blog, as if all of you reading it didn't know her anyway) and I will have separate Christmas letters. Blame her, not me. She's the one that got married and didn't want to become the cat-lady and favorite aunt. I'm not sure if she's aware of the fact that once you get married, not only are you out of the single-people travel club, but you are also out of the running for the favorite aunt. It is just a fact of life that the "fun aunt" is always single, so that they can go and visit the nieces and nephews and spoil them. Once you are married, you no longer have the means to spoil them.

Well, I hope that you are having a more successful time decorating for Christmas than I am.

Thanksgiving