Joy into your humdrum lives

I love the movie "Singin in the Rain." A lot. So it isn't a surprise that random lines will just pop into my mind, like one of these classic lines from Lina Lamont, the best villanous ditz ever to prance their way across a movie screen: "If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work ain't been in vain for nothin'. Bless you all."

My life has been feeling somewhat humdrum. I enjoy my job (well, most of the time; less lately since I have felt my job move from "intern" to "chief babysitter"), I enjoy living with my family, and all together I don't have all that much I can complain about in my life. And I have had plenty of talks with family, articles read on the internet, and church lessons telling me I need to focus on the positive aspects of my life and not dwell on the negative. Which is true - I have so much to be grateful for that far outweigh the negative.

I just think the last few years of dating (or lack thereof) have been weighing on me and I'm kind of tired of it all. I know I'm a desirable person - I know that SOMEWHERE in this bizarre world of ours there is SOMEBODY who will actually appreciate me, who will be fascinated with the person that I am, and who will be so enthralled by me that he will actually *gasp* ask me on a date. I know all this in my head. I'm just tired of continuing to have to tell myself this, because at some point, I would sort 0f like evidence that what I've been telling myself is true. Because at some point my brain might get tired of telling this to my heart.

That's all. I don't think I want an answer - I'm just sending this thought off into the void. The serious post ends now.

How to Comb your Curly Hair

Yes, that indeed was a "subject o-matique" subject. Combing curly hair is indeed a difficulty. Especially when you are sitting in a car in the midst of a 20-hour car trip (that only was intended to be 12-hours) and realize that your curly hair has suddenly become a mat of snarls. Not fun.

So, the car trip mentioned was leg one of an epic roadtrip up to Portland Oregon. We had tons of fun enjoying the coast, enjoying the absence of sales tax, and getting spoiled with people pumping gas for you. It was absolutely wonderful - until the moment when Idaho decided to close all possible routes leading to our return home Sunday night. So, we stopped in Twin Falls at one of our company's grandma's homes and stayed the night. What did we do to make the most of the situation? We initiated the guys into girl talk. They did quite well, I must say. Idaho finally let us leave their state this afternoon, and I am happy to report that I am back in Utah.

In completely unrelated news, tonight, the UPS man dropped off a package at our doorstep. Lets hypothetically say my address is 100 North 100 East, Cool Town, USA. The package was addressed to Jo Shmo (obviously not matching any name in this home), 115 North 150 West, Bluesville USA. Epic Fail. 5-miles off epic. We live in a grid system - how hard is it to notice that they were not only delivering the package to the wrong home, on the wrong side of town, but the wrong town entirely? Good job, UPS man, good job.

Sound effects sold separately

So, those of you who know me well (or for some reason unknown reason have been reading my blog for a long time without ever having met me) know that I have a weakness: fortune cookies. 95% of the reason I love them is because of the cookie. If you are currently scratching your head, thinking fortune cookies are a sub-par treat, I don't really care. My taste buds are just that unique. The other 5% of my love is because I find great amusement in the fortunes. I currently have 2 hanging inside my closet door that bring me great hope:

"The wheel of good fortune is finally turning in your direction!" (Because the exclamation point makes it really true!)
"Your dearest wish will come true." Wish 1 - be a Jedi for a day (check!!); Wish 2 - infiltrate Stargate Command and go through a wormhole. I'm halfway there.

I also have one more saying hanging up in my closet. It was written at a time when people everywhere were telling me that the reason I don't have a boyfriend is because I'm too intimidating (how can that ever be taken as a compliment?!) Dear E, who had just told me about her first crush, responded with this delightful piece of wisdom:

"The only reason some boy can use the excuse that you are intimidating is because you're not stupid enough to have a crush on someone who just got back from drug rehab."

It is thoughts and fortunes like these that give me inspiration and hope every morning.

Lovin the season

You know what is great about Halloween? You can sleep over at your friends' house after an amazing party, and wake up, look around the room you slept in, and realize you shared your room with a skeleton, stuffed raven, a fake rat, and formaldehyde-ized creatures. And none of that seems weird.

And, as you might be able to tell from the url of my blog, I like pie. Love. Adore. And the best part of November? (other than celebrating my parents anniversary - Happy Anniversary Tomorrow Mom and Dad!!) The best part of November is pie. And turkey. But mostly pie.

Two stories - One post

Last Saturday, my family descended upon the Sprint store to change phone plans. If you happened to be one of the many people who were upset because the only employee in the store was helping us for a few hours, and if you gave us dirty looks because he was helping us instead of you - tough. We got there first. And as a note to my friends, I now have unlimited texting (yes, no more being limited to just 100 texts a month! Don't hold back anymore! Text away!)

In a completely unrelated matter, I decided that I am not one of those girls who wants a romantic "how we met" story with my future spouse. I would take humor over romance. To illustrate - my family is currently remodeling our bathroom. After all the work was done for the day, my mom was chatting with the plumber (named Bubba), and somehow the conversation led to my mother mentioning that I was single (this happens frequently). The plumber said he had a number of single guys in his ward, which led to my mom asking (jokingly, of course), if any of them were single. Bubba (the plumber), said, "Why yes, there is one that is a really great guy. Although, to be honest, he is into weird stuff - he likes Star Wars." Which of course led my mother to explain that Star Wars is not weird to me, that in fact, I'm going as a Jedi for Halloween.

Long story short, there is a high probability that I am going to be set up on a blind date by my plumber to a Star Wars loving man. I actually hope this one works out, because then, forever and ever, when people ask "how did you meet?" I will be able to tell people that a plumber named Bubba set us up. Please universe, let this date actually happen!

big hair for big occasions

I'm the most excited for Halloween that I have ever been in my life. Well, at least since I was a kid. When I was a kid, Halloween generally involved finding a wonderful outfit like a fairy or a princess, and then resorting to a hobo costume the day of trick-or-treating because it was so cold outside that my mom couldn't fit my fairy costume over the snowpants and coat that were required to keep my tiny body warm. So, we resorted to a bowler hat and a funny shirt over the coat, and called it good.

As an adult, Halloween generally sneaks up on me, and I quickly through a costume together that generally involves me ratting my hair to unfathomable heights (never underestimate the power of natural curl + ratting + super-stiff hairspray). This year, however, I actually planned ahead! Probably because I'm on a quest to not hide from anyone my passions (in the past, I used to wait at least a month to figure out if a potential friend was prepared for the full onslaught of the geekdom that is my life. Now, I give them a day, if that), my Halloween costume for this year is from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I was originally going to be Princess Leia, but my desire to run around with a light-saber far exceeded my desire to put my long hair to good use in those massive buns. Yes, I will be a Jedi knight. And don't be surprised if I end up wearing this costume at other times that are not Halloween.

Of Bugs and Men

Gnats have overtaken Centerville. Gnats and In-n-Out customers. The similarities are remarkable - both descended upon our town in droves and only seem to leave late at night. There seems to be nothing we can do about either horde, except deal with it. They both might leave when winter sets in - might. The one difference is that I do not have a windshield plastered with In-n-Out customers. That would be disturbing.

I do wonder how long it will be until I break down and attempt the visit to the In-n-Out. I mean, its super cool that my hometown has one, and the burgers really are good. However, every time I look down that road, I see police cones, cars everywhere, and more people than could possibly have fit into those cars. It makes the claustrophobic within me shudder at the thought of going near.

In related news, I have chosen a poor time to start exercising again. The biggest problem with gnats is that they love to act like they are wandering around aimlessly, but they must have a sixth sense for those people who are exercising because they will go right into joggers mouths or eyes.

Now doesn't this post make you want to visit Centerville?