Change

A little change is good, right? Yeah, I came into work today wearing a headband. A way cute one! It's a wide red band with navy and white stripes on it. I've been waiting since Thanksgiving for it to arrive in the mail, and yesterday it finally did. Little did I know that the men in my office are keeping an eye on what I wear. I kid you not, the first two hours I'm here and half of the men have made comments about my headband. Mind you, they are complimentary, but that isn't my point. My point is this: is our office SO boring and uneventful that the mere arrival of my headband in all its hair accessory glory deserves such laud and praise? I didn't think so. Apparently it meant enough for me to blog about it, though...

Onto other topics. Tonight is my workplace Christmas party. Considering that our office is 70% men, we've opted to go to Tucanos for dinner. In case you're not familiar with Tucanos, it's a Brazilian grill where they just keep bringing skewers of meat out until you're fuller than full. The guys are so excited for all the meat. Shhh....I secretly love meat, too. Wait...dang it. Now you all know! I mean, I love their pineapple (I really do!) and their pasta salad...(those are girl things to like, right?) Last year for our party, we went to Magleby's. I liked it well enough, and no one really complained, but I received small hints that this year, we need someplace more manly, with steak or other such red meat(s). I'm a girl, people! And I can be content to eat at pretty much any restaurant you take me. No joke. Take me anywhere, and I'll find something I can eat and most likely enjoy. I don't like many Chinese dishes, but I can always enjoy a good beef and broccoli. I digress... So, Ruby River was on the table for this year's party...I love their potatoes (and I don't really like potatoes that much! It helps when they're covered in cheese and bacon and sour cream, though...wow, is anyone else drooling?), but we just went there to bid adieu to one of our former co-workers who moved to a different company in August. So for this year...I came up with the brilliant idea of Tucanos. I'm not sure how much the wives of my fellow employees love the idea...but I'm fairly stoked. My good friend Scott is going to be coming with me. I really hope that my bosses don't rake him across the coals. But they won't...they'd better not...if they know what side their bread is buttered on. I mean, I'm the controller of the lunches around here every M/W/F...you don't mess with that.

What else do I need to catch up on...? Oh yeah, last weekend was fairly jam-packed as you read in my last post. The Relief Society retreat was a hit (my pizza scones got scarfed!), my mom's chorale concert was amazing (my mom...one of the roots of pretty much anything good about me), the wedding reception was fabulous, and my lasagna served my family who came over for dinner well. (Uh...just as a side note, my life does not necessarily revolve around food...I was just reading through this post before I put it up, and there's a lot of food talk! I'll try to keep a lid on that...)

On Sunday, I was talking to our bishopric at church...I had been pinch-hitting as the music conductor for Sacrament meeting, and they were thanking me and saying that I could never move out of the ward because I'm so helpful and amazing...I'll let them believe that. ;) I told them I wasn't planning on moving out anytime soon...so they told me that there was only one way out of the ward...marriage. Seems like kind of a daunting thing to say to a young girl such as myself. "You want out? Find a guy who can put up with your crap, and then we'll let you go." Singles Ward Prison.

Good news everyone. So good that I want to shout it from the rooftops... I received notice in the mail that my mortgage payment will be lowered by--get this--$12.52/month for the year of 2008. How fantastic is that?! Yep, I'll be rolling in extra cash. Maybe it'll help pay my heating bill...**gulp** that's bound to go up with how warm my sisters and I like being in our house.

I finally got all the fabric for my friend's quilt. She's getting married at the end of this month...and her shower is next Friday night! I want to try to have it finished before then. Cutting it out has to be one of the worst parts, though. I'm about halfway done with that, but I can't really complain. It's going to be pretty great...hot pink, light pink, black, and white. I'm not sure how much her future husband will love it, but I know her affinity for all things pink and all things quilt, so she'll be over the moon about it.

Speaking of gifts...to all the men who read my blog: what in the world do you get a 50-something man who pretty much has everything? Yes, my dad. We joke that he has one of everything and two of most. It used to be just a joke, but more and more, it's reality. Yeah, I'm a typical woman to be worried about it this far in advance, but my dad has offered me so much in my life that I just like to make his gifts special. Moms are easy to shop for...they cry when you give them a book they've wanted. I could just get him a tie, but he's very specific and picky when it comes to tie buying. I guess once you've been wearing them for that long that you've got a preference. I wouldn't know...I've never had to wear a tie. So any advice in this arena would be appreciated muchly.

And, finally, here's a shout out to all my friends who are finishing up the semester. Trust me, I know what it feels like. The memories aren't distant enough for me to forget those late nights of staying up until 4:00am working on a paper or some other sort of ridiculous project that a professor thinks will "build my character" or whatever excuse he/she wants to give me as to why I'm gluing crap on a poster or writing about why some archaic poem has any significance. Not that I'm bitter. Anyway...I wish I could help you, I really do. I've been jonesing for something to edit, so bring it my way and I'll get right on it! That is, if you can handle my scrutiny... OR, I've become extremely apt at quizzing people (even if it means reading upside down...) on things I don't understand. I hear it's the season for giving...and I'm offering.