It's been one of those weeks.! {period, exclamation point}
...so, imagine my delight to open my front door this morning to 3 people I love standing there with this:
and this:
Thank You!
I needed this little "pick me up"...
I love you!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
It's a date! Me, The Mister and Neil
Saturday morning found the Mister and I out running errands bright and early, making final selections for our still not finished kitchen. As we were on our way back from the west side, enjoying the drizzly weather and just being together, CJ starts mumbling/humming what sounds a little bit like Sweet Caroline, but the words are all wrong. He does this sort of thing often... usually he doesn't actually know the words to the songs he sings... he just makes them us as he goes.
"WHAT!?!" I yell, clearly annoyed..."HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW THE WORDS TO SWEET CAROLINE?!?IT'S ONLY THE BEST KARAOKE/SING ALOUD SONG EVER WRITTEN!?!"
My frustation, embarrassment and disappointment was hard to contain. I scrambled quickly with my IPOD to see if I had any Neil Diamond that I may have downloaded at some point for a "mixed tape" and there it was... we blasted Sweet Caroline as loud of the stereo would play. I tried to help him with the words... I needed to ensure that this kind of embarrassing exchange never happened again. So there we were, driving across town in the rain, singing at the top of our lungs... (neither of us any good, mind you) and CJ still making up words as he pleased. We sang and laughed hysterically as I teased and made fun of him for not knowing the words and he teased and made fun of me right back FOR knowing all the words. As we drove, I couldn't help but to think of how much I loved this guy!
End of Story, right?
Wrong!
Last night, as I was getting into bed, I pulled the shams and decorative pillows off the bed (see previous post) and there was a piece of paper laying there on my pillow with a very sweet note from the Mister. As I looked closer, I realized what it was...
A receipt for 2 tickets to see Neil Diamond LIVE in Concert on December 19th!
So, there you have it! We have 2 months to practice all the words and be ready to belt them out!
I never could have imagined that I would ever be going to a Neil Diamond Concert! It's so random and funny that I can't stop smiling!
What on earth will I wear? How about CJ? Is his trademark sweater vest appropriate or does he need a true "Leisure Suit"? What kind of people will be there? Who goes to Neil Diamond concerts anyway, besides the crazy Johnson's? Will he sing all my favorites? Do I know all the words? Will we be prepared and ready? I mean, he is an american icon after all.
No matter what, I have a feeling it's going to be an insanely fun night....just me, the Mister and Neil!
Thanks CJ! I love you!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Mister and I got up early this morning and headed up the canyon for breakfast at one of our favorite places and by the time we got there, the rain had turned to big beautiful flakes of snow. Although I'm not quite ready for the snowy weather...it felt just a little bit like the perfect Saturday morning!
Friday, October 10, 2008
FRIDAY FUNNY
One of my all-time favorites.
Poor Chris...I know he can relate to this insanity.
HOWEVER, after a year and a half, I {almost} have him trained.
(This classic Dave Barry column was originally published July 29, 2001.)
*
"SHAM ON YOU!"
I received a letter from a reader named Dick Demers, who relates a shocking story:
It seems Dick and his wife had driven a long distance to visit his wife's sister. To refresh himself, Dick went into the guest bathroom, took a shower, then dried himself off. That's the story. Pretty shocking, huh?
Dick's wife thought so. She was horrified.
''You used the GOOD TOWELS!'' she said.
And he had. It's a mistake many guys make. A guy will be in a guest bathroom, dripping wet, and he sees a towel, and for some insane reason he thinks it was put there for guests to dry themselves with.
In fact, as Dick's wife angrily pointed out to him, the towels they were supposed to use were NOT in the bathroom; they were (of course!) in the bedroom. The towel Dick used was intended solely as decoration.
Here's a similar bonehead error that guys often commit in guest bathrooms: They see soap on a soap dish, and they use it to WASH THEIR HANDS. This, of course, ruins the guest soap, which is defined as ''soap that guests are not supposed to use.'' Its purpose is to match the guest towels.
In his letter to me, Dick criticized this kind of thinking by comparing it to a hypothetical situation involving guys. Suppose, he wrote, that a guy is working on his car, and he asks you to hand him a 9/16 wrench. You go over to some wrenches hanging on the wall and start to take one, and the guy yells, ``NOT THOSE! THOSE ARE FOR DECORATION!''
Dick, when you put it that way, the concept of purely decorative towels DOES seem silly. But there's actually a very logical explanation for it: Women are insane.
No, I am, of course, just kidding. There really is a good reason. I just don't know what it is. What I do know is that the practice of providing guests with conveniences they cannot use is not limited to the bathroom. The guest bedroom is usually equipped with decorative candles that you must not burn, because that would ruin them. Also you must never throw any waste into the decorative wastebasket, which has never contained any waste and may have been waxed just before your arrival. If, during your visit, you generate waste, you should hide it in your suitcase and take it home.
But the trickiest thing is the guest bed. Oh, it may have attractive pillows on it, and a comfy-looking quilt, but you are NOT supposed to use these. You're supposed to take the pillows-which are called ``shams''-off the bed and replace them with the REAL pillows, which are hidden somewhere, generally in the closet, which is where you're supposed to put the quilt, which is on the bed solely to match the shams and should NOT come into contact with your disgusting oily guest body.
If your hostess subscribes to Martha Stewart Living, the guest bed may be so massively fortified with decorative objects that it can be deconstructed for sleeping use only by a licensed interior designer. I'm talking about a bed that is surrounded by a dust ruffle and buried under a complex, towering arrangement of approximately 46 shams and other decorative pillows, which are on top of the quilt, which may be encased in a ''duvet cover'' and further accessorized by (these are real decorator names) a ''soutache.'' In extreme cases, the entire bed will be surrounded by a giant net, as if to protect it from vampire bats (which will be dyed to match the duvet cover).
If you, as a guest, encounter such a bed, do NOT approach it. Back slowly out of the room and sleep on the lawn.
Of course, you won't encounter these problems if you're a guest in a household run by a guy, because he won't have fancy guest bedding. In fact, he won't have a guest bed. You'll sleep on the sofa under a Batman beach towel with stains dating back to the Reagan administration. In the morning, you can use this towel to dry yourself after your shower. Feel free to use the guest soap, which you can assemble yourself from ancient shards of Dial on the shower floor.
But to get back to Dick Demers' letter: Dick, you make a logical point about the towels. But this is not about logic; this is about etiquette, and too often we males forget the basic underlying principle of all etiquette, which is: We are scum. So I urge you to apologize to your wife's sister, and henceforth show proper respect for her good towels by not treating them as if they were towels.
And for heaven's sake, do NOT blow your nose on the shams.
It seems Dick and his wife had driven a long distance to visit his wife's sister. To refresh himself, Dick went into the guest bathroom, took a shower, then dried himself off. That's the story. Pretty shocking, huh?
Dick's wife thought so. She was horrified.
''You used the GOOD TOWELS!'' she said.
And he had. It's a mistake many guys make. A guy will be in a guest bathroom, dripping wet, and he sees a towel, and for some insane reason he thinks it was put there for guests to dry themselves with.
In fact, as Dick's wife angrily pointed out to him, the towels they were supposed to use were NOT in the bathroom; they were (of course!) in the bedroom. The towel Dick used was intended solely as decoration.
Here's a similar bonehead error that guys often commit in guest bathrooms: They see soap on a soap dish, and they use it to WASH THEIR HANDS. This, of course, ruins the guest soap, which is defined as ''soap that guests are not supposed to use.'' Its purpose is to match the guest towels.
In his letter to me, Dick criticized this kind of thinking by comparing it to a hypothetical situation involving guys. Suppose, he wrote, that a guy is working on his car, and he asks you to hand him a 9/16 wrench. You go over to some wrenches hanging on the wall and start to take one, and the guy yells, ``NOT THOSE! THOSE ARE FOR DECORATION!''
Dick, when you put it that way, the concept of purely decorative towels DOES seem silly. But there's actually a very logical explanation for it: Women are insane.
No, I am, of course, just kidding. There really is a good reason. I just don't know what it is. What I do know is that the practice of providing guests with conveniences they cannot use is not limited to the bathroom. The guest bedroom is usually equipped with decorative candles that you must not burn, because that would ruin them. Also you must never throw any waste into the decorative wastebasket, which has never contained any waste and may have been waxed just before your arrival. If, during your visit, you generate waste, you should hide it in your suitcase and take it home.
But the trickiest thing is the guest bed. Oh, it may have attractive pillows on it, and a comfy-looking quilt, but you are NOT supposed to use these. You're supposed to take the pillows-which are called ``shams''-off the bed and replace them with the REAL pillows, which are hidden somewhere, generally in the closet, which is where you're supposed to put the quilt, which is on the bed solely to match the shams and should NOT come into contact with your disgusting oily guest body.
If your hostess subscribes to Martha Stewart Living, the guest bed may be so massively fortified with decorative objects that it can be deconstructed for sleeping use only by a licensed interior designer. I'm talking about a bed that is surrounded by a dust ruffle and buried under a complex, towering arrangement of approximately 46 shams and other decorative pillows, which are on top of the quilt, which may be encased in a ''duvet cover'' and further accessorized by (these are real decorator names) a ''soutache.'' In extreme cases, the entire bed will be surrounded by a giant net, as if to protect it from vampire bats (which will be dyed to match the duvet cover).
If you, as a guest, encounter such a bed, do NOT approach it. Back slowly out of the room and sleep on the lawn.
Of course, you won't encounter these problems if you're a guest in a household run by a guy, because he won't have fancy guest bedding. In fact, he won't have a guest bed. You'll sleep on the sofa under a Batman beach towel with stains dating back to the Reagan administration. In the morning, you can use this towel to dry yourself after your shower. Feel free to use the guest soap, which you can assemble yourself from ancient shards of Dial on the shower floor.
But to get back to Dick Demers' letter: Dick, you make a logical point about the towels. But this is not about logic; this is about etiquette, and too often we males forget the basic underlying principle of all etiquette, which is: We are scum. So I urge you to apologize to your wife's sister, and henceforth show proper respect for her good towels by not treating them as if they were towels.
And for heaven's sake, do NOT blow your nose on the shams.
*
Saturday, October 4, 2008
GRATEFUL FOR THE RAIN...
Living the gospel does not mean the storms of life will pass us by, but we will be better prepared to face them with serenity and peace. 'Search diligently, pray always, and be believing,' the Lord admonished, 'and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly.'
Joseph B Wirthlin
* Today, I am grateful.
* For many, many things.
* For the fact that there is no one I'd rather be than me.
* For the fact that there is no where I'd rather be than here.
* For the fact that sometimes He lets it rain.
* And most of all... for the faith to know it will always pass.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A good night's sleep and some comfortable shoes.
IS IT JUST ME??
I have never been a good sleeper in my adult life. I don't usually have a hard time falling asleep, but I have a horrible time staying asleep. I wake up easily and once I wake up....my brain starts going a million miles a minute and it's over. (the night, that is)
It seems like it's getting worse...and if this pace keeps up, pretty soon....there will be little point in going to bed at all.
What I wouldn't give for:
a GOOD NIGHT'S {SLEEP}...
and I mean a REALLY good night's sleep
Here's the other deal. I like fashion as much as the next guy. Okay, maybe not quite as much as the next guy (or girl)... but I like to think that I am still hanging onto the fashion train, albeit it's more of a white knuckle cling these days. With Fall upon us, and the need to put away the flip flops and squish my piggies back into shoes... I just can't seem to bear the thought of having to "keep up" with something like this:
...when what I really want...
...is something like this...
some good, SENSIBLE {SHOES}!?
okay, okay, okay... maybe not quite THAT sensible!
But come on...
!Good Sleep and Comfortable Shoes!
THAT is what really floats my boat as a "thirtysomething"
*
*
*
(...admit it though, those little brown beauties ARE pretty sweet, right?)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
"Finding ourselves"
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
Gandhi
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke
Gandhi
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Ann Frank
Ann Frank
Service, to be acceptable to the Savior, must come from willing minds, ready hands, and pledged hearts.
Thomas S Monson
When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.
Mosiah 2:17
Mosiah 2:17
There truly isn't a better way to keep life in perspective than to serve others. I had the great opportunity to take a few of the YW from our ward and spend the day today at the LDS Humanitarian Center doing just a little bit to help make the world a better place. We recieved a call from our Stake President a few days ago that there was a somewhat urgent need to help assemble hygiene kits, based on the huge demand in recent weeks due to the hurricanes and other disasters worldwide. It just so happens that their was no school today for our students and these amazing YW were willing to give up their day off to serve. These girls never cease to amaze me.
Each hygiene kit includes:
2 towels
2 bars of soap
1 tube of toothpaste
4 toothbrushes
2 combs
We had a pretty good little assembly line going...
The familiar primary song certainly seemed to be true today...
when you're helping, you really ARE happy!
We filled kit after kit and box after box...
The shift coordinator told us that most of the kits that we assembled today will be sent to Haiti, Cuba and the Gulf Coast where they are still trying to recover from the recent devastating hurricanes.
We all left pretty humbled to think that our efforts today could be in the sweet, innocent hands of people like this by next week!
For more information on the LDS church and these humanitarian efforts, you can visit here or here
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Mr. J
I {really}, {really} love this guy...
He's been working really hard lately
He's been working really hard lately
and I don't tell him enough just how lucky I feel to be his
{MRS}
Love you, babe! Thanks for all you do!
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