Watch out!

Found on FAIL Blog:

This morning--indeed, they are...

Sisters (Fair warning: cheesy post!)

Last week, a few of my friends posted links to this blog post on Facebook and their blogs. (Just in case you didn't click on that link, the post is about sisters growing up and becoming friends, even though they experienced the pains of childhood and being teenagers together.) I could completely relate to sharing rooms, sharing secrets, and sharing pain and tears. I emailed the link to my five sisters with the subject line, "I cried reading this..." I got a couple responses back, agreeing that the article made them cry or made them homesick.

My sisters are awesome. Yeah, we've definitely had our scrapes, but ultimately, I know that we are always there for each other. Yesterday, my sister texted me this: "I miss you. :(" Less than two hours later, I was at her house (and using her for her washer and dryer). We just chatted for a bit, and I was sent home with some chocolate and some pie. Seriously, that's usually how it goes when spending time with any of them...you go there hoping to have something to offer--time, a shoulder for crying, whatever--and you end up feeling like you're the one who got the better end of the deal.




It's not all sunshine and flowers, though. Sometimes a sister is the only one who can tell you how it really is. There has been more than one occasion when someone calls me on crap. Or sometimes we get really angry about ridiculous things, and someone ends up excusing themselves to go cry or be mad. You can bet, though, that someone is usually close on her heels as a sounding board.

My sisters do things like painting each other's toenails or dyeing one another's hair. Like visiting one another in the hospital or going to each other's concerts. Like forcing you to go to the all-you-can-eat ice cream and the demolition derby at the state fair the day after you have your heart broken, just so you'll get out of the house. Like taking you to Egypt. Like changing your oil, even though it's a huge pain to get to the oil filter. Like painting your new condo for days upon days. Like pulling pig nose faces at passing cars on the freeway.

Thinking about my sisters also made me remember this song from White Christmas. Enjoy.

Quarters make the world go 'round...

One thing about living the 'urban' lifestyle is that I no longer have my own washer and dryer. There is a laundry room in my apartment building, coin-operated. The problem is that I never have quarters. Who knew they were so difficult to come by?

On my daily walk home from work, I pass a laundromat. I used to pop in there, get a few dollars worth of quarters, and be on my merry way. A few months ago, the owner was by the change machines and stopped me. "Are you a customer? Do you have laundry to do here?" I responded, "Nope, I just need a handful of quarters." He then informed me that the change machines were for customers only. Great. The quarter-well had run dry.

Also, grocery stores are guarding their quarters like they're gold. I ask for a part of my change in quarters, and the cashier starts blathering on about how they can't do it and how there's an ATM right there. Well, I'm glad they've shown me the ATM...will it spit out 22 quarters for my two loads of laundry? Didn't think so.

So last night, as I was trying to figure out a way to get rid of all the dirty laundry piling up around my bedroom, I had a genius idea. Car. Wash. Quarters abound!

Touche, Blog Stalker. Touche.

You found another way to get to my blog. Yes, if you Google the words wikipedia amphibolical, my blog is there at the tip-top of the list. Blog Stalker, you figured out a way to me again. I don't know if you're the same person as before, and I appreciate the attention, but four times visiting my blog in one day? Wow...I know my writing is good, but I didn't think it was THAT good. Plus, the post that comes up when you search with those terms is kinda lame; it's about my Cats experience when the show came to SLC a year and a half ago. Challenge: find another way to my blog. Better yet--BOOKMARK. Just sayin'...it's kind of awesome.

How many roads must a man walk down...?

This weekend, I'm in Vegas. That's right, VEGAS, baby!! And it's gotten me thinking about how insane this city is. So, I wonder how many...

...gallons of alcohol are being consumed at any given second. Found in every shape and size and color and mixture, liquor makes the city go 'round. Ahhh, social lubricant, indeed.

...awesome restaurants there are to try. Basically, you just have to pick something by where you are when hunger hits. So far, I've been impressed. I mean, we're not frequenting the ritzy places, but Vegas knows its food.

...frat boys are out trying to pick up girls on the street. We had some guys who wanted us to "high five" them last night. No thanks, I'll keep my hands to myself, thank you.

...sequins are strutting down the street in the form of 'clothing.' Girls, being sparkly doesn't necessarily make you more attractive. Unless guys have the "ooooh, shiny!" complex, of course.

...lawyers are available for hire. Or for that matter, all of the bail bonds out there, waiting for the idiots to be thrown in jail...

...advertisements for strippers are littered on the sidewalk. You want to look at the sidewalk as you're walking because you really wouldn't like to step in some unidentified substance (yikes!), but your eyes will need to be sanitized with alcohol and fire in order for you to not feel so dirty.

...stairs/escalators there are for me to scale. I appreciate the safe street-crossings, but I could be halfway to the top of Mt. Everest by now at this pace.

...towels the hotel will bring to our room. I love having a myriad of towels at my disposal, and they're everywhere I turn.

...horrible dinner shows are being advertised out there, waiting for unsuspecting participants. Thunder From Down Under? Louie Anderson? Defending the Caveman? Yeah, these are just the ones at our hotel. (Although, the Tournament of Kings was freaking fantastic last night...)



...stores there are for me to peruse. H&M and Zara and Banana Republic, oh my! I've been a good girl so far, but when you find a pair of BR pants for 70% off and they fit well, you go for it.

...nightclubs they want me to get into for free. If this were the case, how would the clubs be making their money? Uh...I don't drink. I don't dance (well, can't should be the operative term here...). I don't flirt with strange men. Yeah, you don't want me in your club, but I appreciate the offer.

The impossible dream...

On Tuesday, I went over to Natalie and Mike's house to take them dinner and see the new baby some more. They named him Jared, and after holding him for awhile, I deduced that he's a strong little kid--he almost wiggled off of my lap a couple times.

Here he is in all his baby glory:

(Mike caught this hilarious shot while I was there)

My task was to keep him awake for an hour so he would sleep through the night. This shouldn't have been too hard, huh? Yeah, you try keeping a newborn awake for that long. How are you supposed to distract them? The pig puppet that oinks songs worked for a couple minutes. Poking him kind of helped--but I had to poke cautiously, considering his belly was full from just eating. I tickled him; he squirmed. But his eyes kept closing, ever-so-slowly. I got one thing to work: moving his arms around like he was Tevia from Fiddler On the Roof and singing "If I Were A Rich Man."


After one hour: awake baby.

Endangered species

Oh, this is what's happened...

Things that make it worth it

There are some days when I just want to pull out my hair and scream at the top of my lungs, "GET ME OFF THIS RIDE!" Obviously I never really give into this urge--given the fact that I still have lots of hair (ask my hair stylist...she's swimming in hair by the time she's done with me.) But then, there are the tiny little things that make all the stress and pain and weariness melt away and seem like not a big deal at all. This isn't to say that I've been especially overwhelmed lately or anything... I'm just saying that sometimes it's great to revel in the small joys that make the everyday crap seem much easier to deal with. Like...

...getting to work on a Monday morning to discover a gift of cashews (my favorite!) and a thank you note from a study team I helped a couple weeks ago--hours on the phone, a visit to their office, and countless emails of explanation. But their study did not expire. And I feel good about that.

...letting my niece brush my hair into a 'new style' on Friday night. All of my hair was forward in front of my eyes. When she pushed the curtain of hair aside slowly and saw me looking at her, she piped up and said, "Hello!"

...walking down the hall and seeing a guy with the size sticker still stuck on the back of his new jeans...and then, after he had turned into a room, saying to Lacy in that covert, hush-hush voice, "Please tell me you just saw that." Her: "Of course I did." It's great just knowing that we can spot the same motley characters we see around work.

...having the lady sitting behind me at the play put her hand on my shoulder and say to me, "Whoever put the streaks in your hair did a really good job!" 'Streaks' isn't exactly the word I'd use...but I appreciated the sentiment. She kept saying, "No really, it looks SO nice!"

...receiving my rewards statement from Famous Footwear in the mail. Included in the envelope was a $20 gift card toward a purchase--no strings attached!

Never mind that taxes are still on the horizon and my laundry is a never-ending nightmare (currently living out of the baskets of clean laundry, thank you very much!)...it really is these little occurrences that make me smile and realize that I don't need everything to be perfect right here, right now.

Cutting it close

In two months, I leave for Ireland. Having never been to the British Isles, I'm kind of excited about this venture. I got thinking the other day, "Huh...when does my passport expire?" I got it when I was a junior in high school, so I knew it was coming up quickly for renewal. (Ugh...has it been that long?)

Tonight, I was watching Chuck, and they talked about Chuck traveling to Paris. It jogged my memory about checking my passport expiration date. So, I hit pause and went and found it.

I'm happy to report that I will not have to renew it for my upcoming trip. BUT, I get home from Ireland on April 11th. My passport expires on April 23rd.

Phew.