#1078 2013 wasn't so bad after all

It's time to remember the year that was and get ready to move on to a new year. 2013 certainly had it's ups and downs. It's tempting to only think of the things that weren't fun (no big vacation, lots of time at work, MT getting laid off, gaining weight) but when I think about it, there were plenty of good things too.

Although we did not go on a big vacation this year, we did manage to go to a couple of places we've never been. T and I went to Oklahoma City in March on a fantastic trip to watch our beloved Jazz get pummeled by the Oklahoma City Thunder. That trip came courtesy of my work and it really was unforgettable. We really enjoyed going to the Oklahoma City Memorial, staying in a nice hotel, having a very nice meal and of course, going to the basketball game.

The three of us went to Columbia, Missouri in April to attend Kevin and Janet's wedding. None of us had ever been there. We flew into Kansas City and drove to Columbia. MT and I liked seeing the countryside of Missouri. It was a great trip. The wedding was lovely and it was so fun to see some old friends that I hadn't seen for many years.

Another highlight for me was spending Labor Day weekend with my sister. The day the two of us hung out in San Diego is a memory that I treasure. Everything we did that day was superb - I wouldn't change a thing.

With that said, I think my favorite day of the year was earlier this month, December 15, when Lizzie, Dad and I surprised my mom for her 70th birthday. It is so rare when you can truly surprise someone and exceed their expectations. It was such a fun day (except when Lizzie became ill, but she carried on like a pro) and I am so glad to be there!

In 2013, I attended two weddings and a funeral. Actually, one of the weddings was just the reception, but I'll still count it. My brother-in-law, Kevin was married to Janet (the Missouri wedding) and my second cousin Andrew married Kelly. The funeral was for MT's aunt Gerry.

 

 

 

Karl Urban and Chris Pine

MT, T and I watched a lot of movies this year. It is something that all of us enjoy doing and it's pretty easy for us all to agree on the same big movies. A couple of movies really stand out for me as films I especially enjoyed. First, Star Trek Into Darkness. I've never been a big Star Trek fan, but these new ones really entertain me. Maybe it's Chris Pine, or maybe it's Karl Urban, but I think it's the whole package. I like the effects, I like the action, I like the characters, I like it all.

The other movie that comes to mind is Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It was a dang good movie! For the movie that took me most by surprise, I'd have to go with We're the Millers. I did not expect to laugh as hard as I did, but I laughed so loud in the theater that T poked me and told me to be quiet. I could not help it. Kathryn Hahn is so hilarious. She made me laugh every time she was on the screen.

In 2013, I bought a lot of new music, too. I got plenty of singles, but I bought a few full length CDs too. Here's a list of my favorites:

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - The Heist. I didn't actually buy this one, T did and I homeshared from him. I listened to this CD for most of the year. I like every song. It's still in my car's CD player. It's a go-to CD for me. 

Kenny Chesney - Life on a Rock. I'm not a big country music fan and this is the first Kenny Chesney CD I've ever had. I hadn't heard any of the songs on the CD when I decided to buy it off iTunes. There was something about the song titles and the cover art and the CD title itself that made me want to listen. It's really wonderful.

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (both of them). These two CDs are still in my car and I play them at top volume levels and sing along at the top of my lungs. JT is so, so good. Love these CDs.

Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Another homeshare from T, it's a CD that I listened to for most of December. It's genius.

Speaking of music, T and I saw some live music this year and that's always fun! It was a rap kind of year for me; two of my favorite CDs are rap and two of the concerts we went to were rap. We saw Kendrick Lamar (and a few other rappers) in May, then we saw Macklemore in October. We saw Taylor Swift in June and Bruno Mars in August. Macklemore was probably the most fun I've had at a concert in a long time. We were down in the pit close to the stage jumping and singing and waving our hands around in the air like we just didn't care. Bruno Mars is just fantastic and I had a great time at that show, too. Taylor Swift put on a hell of a show with lots of costume changes. The Kendrick Lamar show was hands down the loudest concert I have ever been to in my life.

I had tickets to three other shows, but they were cancelled. We had tickets for Green Day in Las Vegas. The show was supposed to be in February, but Billy Joe went a little crazy and the show was scrapped. MT and I had tickets to see Willie Nelson in August, but he cancelled. T and I were going to see Kanye West in November, but Kanye big-timed SLC and cancelled the show due to low tickets sales, I suppose. I would have been happy to see all of those acts, but I guess maybe it will happen another time (or not).

In 2013 I read about 45 books. I feel pretty good about that number! I love love love to read. There are a couple of books that stood out:

John Green - The Fault in Our Stars. This is the story and the characters that have stayed in my mind since I read the book this summer.  John Green is a brilliant voice - I read a couple more of his books this year also, but The Fault in Our Stars was just the best.

Jojo Moyes - Me Before You. This book also featured unforgettable characters and a beautiful heart-wrenching story. I loved it a lot.

Well, I think that about wraps it up for me. I wish you all a safe and happy new year! <3 br="">

#1077 Saving Mr. Banks

This afternoon MT and I went to see Saving Mr. Banks. It's the story of how Walt Disney tried to convince Mrs. P.L. Travers to make a movie out of her book, Mary Poppins. The story in the film goes between the time that Mrs. Travers is in California, putting up all kinds of objections to the script and songs that would become the film and her life as a child in Australia and the effect that her adored father's alcoholism has on her.

Emma Thompson plays P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks is Walt Disney. They both do a fantastic job. Throughout the movie you think what a great guy Disney is and what a trying bitch Travers is. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle. Disney could not have been the mogul that he was without some ruthlessness that we didn't see. The story only showed Travers' early life; from what we saw, I think it's safe to believe that her life continued to be difficult. Still, this is a Disney movie, so why wouldn't they show Walt as the sweetheart? (He probably really was a sweetheart.)

My favorite part of the film was Mrs. Travers and her driver, played by Paul Giamatti. He was great and they were wonderful together. I also loved the scene where she goes to Disneyland with Walt. Can you imagine?

Colin Farrell played the alcoholic dad. He was tragic and beautiful.

MT said that the movie was not at all what he expected. He thought the film was all right, but he said that in the future, when he is flipping through the TV channels and he sees that Saving Mr. Banks is playing, he wouldn't tune in to watch. I like the movie quite a lot. I wiped away tears pretty frequently. It isn't really a feel-good story. Yes, Mary Poppins did get made and it is a beloved Disney classic, but you can't help feeling that Mrs. Travers did not completely love the film version of her book, so there was still a little bit of a bitter taste at the end.

If you go, stay through the credits. There are some wonderful photos of the real Walt Disney and P.L. Travers at the premier of Mary Poppins. At the very very end is an actual tape of Mrs. Travers reading the script and giving notes with the script writer and the song writers. Nice touch.

I finished a book! Please check the 2013 Reading List page to find out more!

#1076 the day after Christmas

There were 23 people over here for the Christmas meal yesterday afternoon. I can handle groups of 10 or 12, but over that, I get a little overwhelmed. I retreated to the basement for a little while. T was there, too. He and I are the same in that regard. MT loves to be around lots of people. It's just too much for me. Maybe it's because I come from a much smaller family. I even remember as a kid being uncomfortable when we were in large groups of people, like when we were with my mom's family. I just do a lot better in a smaller group.

Anyway, Christmas was very nice. I'm glad it's over.

Today has been nice. T spent the night at his cousin's house, so we went over to pick him up this morning and had a quick visit with MT's brother Kelly and his wife. Of course we saw them yesterday, too, but it was nice to spend some more quiet time with them.

This afternoon, MT and I met our friends Rob and LA for lunch. We went to a Greek restaurant downtown. It was fun to go somewhere different. We used to eat at this restaurant many times when we lived here, but we hadn't been there in a long time. MT and I both enjoyed visiting with our old friends. We really miss them a lot. We don't have much of a social life in SLC. It's something that we would like to change, but we haven't done much to make it happen. Maybe next year we will figure out a way to be a little more socially active.

After lunch, T and I went to see the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. T really likes Leonardo DiCaprio and he was eagerly anticipating this movie. I like movies; I like Leo, so what the heck? We went.

Oh. My. Gosh. There were plenty of times during the three hours of this film that I felt a little embarrassed that I was sitting there with my 15 year old son. There was quite a lot of nudity, sex and drug use. I'm no prude, but it still feels weird to be watching totally nude chicks parade around on screen when you're sitting next to your teenager. And all the snorting of the coke! Oh my god. The first thing I said when we got into the car was, "I hope that movie made it clear that drug use isn't a good thing. It makes you pretty stupid." T nodded. OY.

When I get past all those personal feelings and think about the movie, I would say that Leo was pretty great. The scene at the country club in particular was dang good physical acting. Will this be the role that finally earns the man an Oscar?

Tonight I have been reading, T is petting Osi and MT is playing a card game with his parents. So peaceful!  We'll be heading home in the morning. I don't have to go back to work until a week from today, so I feel pretty happy about that. I have a lot more relaxing to do before I get back to work!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas :)

I finished reading The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani. Check out the 2013 Reading Page for info!

#1075 Christmas Eve 2013

Tonight my little family is in Pocatello to celebrate Christmas with MT's family. They are really my family, too, of course, but they are MT's blood. We got here this afternoon after a really nice drive. The roads were clear, the skies were blue and  the sun was shining. MT drove, so I took advantage of that and had a little nap. I stayed up late last night wrapping gifts and watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, White Christmas.

This evening we went over to my nephew's house for a little Christmas Eve celebration. Chris and his girlfriend, Diedre, are great people. They put on a nice little gathering with yummy food and a silly little white elephant exchange. White elephants are tricky. How do they work? No one is really sure, but it was fun nonetheless. I ended up with a box of chocolate covered blueberries which I shared with everyone. T got a (used) cartoon DVD, but it's a movie that he likes. MT didn't play because he hates white elephants.

My friend Abby told me that her family does a white elephant exchange. Everyone brings a unisex gift of around $25, then they read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Everyone starts with the gift they brought, and each time the word "the" is read, the gifts get passed to the right. She said "the" is read about 37 times during the poem, and there are around 20 - 25 people in their family that participate. At the end of the poem, the gift you end up with is what you get. Sounds fun AND you get to hear the classic Christmas Eve poem.

We didn't do that tonight, but we had a good time anyway.

Now I'm back in Linda's kitchen making the sweet potato casserole. I like to prepare it the night before, then we'll just bake it off tomorrow.

Linda is planning to have 24 people over for lunch tomorrow. Should be quite the festival!

Happy Christmas to every one of you. <3 p="">

#1074 family movie night: American Hustle

Yesterday afternoon, the three of us began our holiday movie viewing by seeing American Hustle. T was extra excited to see the film because Jennifer Lawrence is in it. He has a bit of a crush on her. She's fantastic and wasn't in the movie nearly enough in my opinion. The movie itself was just all right for me. I drifted off a couple of times, but not for long. I don't think I missed too much. Here's what I know from watching the movie: the '70's had bad hair and fashion.

I think Christian Bale is very handsome, but he didn't look so good in this movie. He had an epic comb-over and a huge belly. Not hot.









Many women think Bradley Cooper is good looking. His pointy chin throws me off. I hated his hair in American Hustle. It was almost as off-putting as Christian's hair, but not quite.

Amy Adams looked good. I like her a lot.

Jennifer Lawrence was gorgeous. She was a hot mess in every sense.

Tomorrow T and I will go see Anchorman 2. I'm pretty excited about it. Of course, the first time I saw Anchorman, in the theater, I was underwhelmed. I have seen it a few times since then, though, and I really appreciate the silliness of it now. I hope that Anchorman 2 will tickle my funny bone. 

#1073 still looking for the spirit and some happy thoughts

I'm still frantically searching for some Christmas spirit. Time's running out! Earlier this week, I watched the movie The Santa Clause 2. I really like the film; my favorite scene is when Santa/Scott hands out the vintage toys at the faculty party. At the end of the movie, I mostly just thought, "OK, that's a cute movie." No extra Christmas spirit, though.

I'm giving it another try tonight by watching the Michael Buble's Christmas special on TV. I'm sorry to say that what I'm finding out is that I can't really watch Michael, but I sure do love to listen to him. He's kind of a goofy fella. But maybe...it's been 18 minutes and he might be growing on me.

What has made me feel happy is hearing my mom say that her birthday celebration on Sunday was a memory that she will always treasure. It feels good to know that I played a little part in making the day really special for her.

Here's something else that makes me feel happy: I only have two more days of work this year! I thought 2012 was tough, but this year has been hard, too. I thought my time management and organization skills were good, but my belief in myself was tested this year. In addition, a job that I've been doing for several years was just a lot harder. Things I thought I knew, well, it seems like I didn't know them anymore, even though I really do. I'm looking forward to taking a little break to regroup and figure out how to do/be better next year.

Now I am watching the Barbara Walters Fascinating People show. We just saw Jennifer Lawrence We love her. Michael was growing on me, but I had to check on Barbara.

I came home early tonight because we closed on a refinance on one of our rental properties. It's been great to have a little extra time.  We ate dinner a little earlier than usual and I've just totally been relaxing and watching TV. I don't feel bad about the way I've spent this evening at all.

Well, this has been a super random post. Sorry about that!

I don't know if I have any more Christmas spirit than I did when I started writing, but I can tolerate watching Michael Buble now although I still prefer just to listen to him. Now I'm watching the news. The weather guy is talking about a big snow storm that is coming in tonight which will surely mean a nasty morning commute. Yippee.

#1072 Mom's Day o'Fun and Surprise

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. It's a milestone birthday that ends with a "0". For months, my sister, Dad and I have been planning something special to celebrate the day, and we finally got to put the plan in place yesterday! The whole weekend was fun, and it culminated in a huge Day o'Fun on Sunday. Here's how it went down:

On Saturday night, Lizzie casually mentioned to my mom that she wanted to go shopping at Kohl's on Sunday morning and she wanted to go around 10 AM to avoid the crowds. My mom hates to shop and she told my dad that she wanted to figure out a way to get out of going. YIKES! See, step one of The Plan had a car coming to pick us up at 10 AM to get to the first stop in Day o'Fun. So Lizzie asked my dad to tell my mom that we had planned a spa day and it was going to be a surprise, and we had to leave at 10 to get to the spa in Long Beach by 10:30.

Mom gets up and gets ready and around 10, we head outside where Lizzie is already waiting. My mom is asking me who is going to drive and what car we are going to take. I tell her that we are going to take the black car. We don't have a black car, but there is a beautiful Lincoln Town Car sitting in the driveway with a well-dressed gentleman holding the door open for my mom. First surprise! We get in the Town Car and head down the road, with my mom trying to guess where we are going. This is a woman who reads the end of the story first. Not knowing and not being in control of the situation was a bit unnerving for her. I just started saying YES to everything she guessed. It was a little comical.

Our first stop with the Getty. The Getty is a museum and gardens perched on top of a hill in Malibu with gorgeous views of downtown Los Angeles on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. The most amazing part of this amazing place is that it is free. FREE! If you are ever in LA and you have the opportunity, I really recommend that you try to go to the Getty. It is spectacular. 

Our plan was to walk around the gardens and enjoy the views. We did go into a couple of the buildings, but we didn't spend much time looking at the art. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed being outside. It was warm and sunny and there was the best breeze to cool everything off just a little bit. The place wasn't crowded and we saw what we wanted and enjoyed our time there. We could not have asked for a better experience. We were there for about 90 minutes and we only saw the gardens and a few exhibits. You could spend hours there looking at art. You would probably get tired of the art before you had seen all of it. It's an amazing place.

The next stop on the day of fun was lunch at Gladstone's in Malibu. The restaurant is right on the beach on Pacific Coast Highway and the bottom of Sunset Blvd. My mom had mentioned that she had always wanted to eat there, so my sister made it happen. 

The restaurant isn't really fancy, but the view and being right on the beach is pretty fantastic. We chose to have a table inside because it was a little breezy and pretty warm. We made the wrong choice. Our table inside was right in the sun and there was no breeze or AC in the building. We were roasting! We ended up moving to a different table because we just got too hot. 

We started out with cocktails: strawberry daiquiri for Mom, margarita for Lizzie, coconut pineapple mojito for me. Yum! We had calamari for an appetizer and it was delicious. Sadly, it was downhill after that. The food wasn't that great. Mom had fish and chips. She said the fish wasn't bad, but the fries were soggy and bland. I had a french dip sandwich that was a lot more mushrooms and onions than beef. It was served with house-made potato chips that were super crunchy but had no flavor at all. My sister had the "So Cal Po' Boy" sandwich of which she took about two bites. She didn't like it at all. (Of course, she wasn't feeling well, but I think she wouldn't have liked it even if she felt great.)

For dessert, the server brought out an enormous brownie sundae for all of us to share. It was gigantic. The brownie was a little crispy on the edges. In the middle, where the five scoops of ice cream had kind of sunk in, it was all right. 

At Gladstone's you are definitely paying for the view. If you go there, stick with the appetizers. I read that the clam chowder is pretty good. Should have had that. 

After lunch it was time to head home. I texted T to let him know we were on our way which was critical for the third part of the day - the surprise party! We had invited a bunch of Mom's friends from school to come over (thanks to Jessica!) plus Jennifer and Norbert. We also invited my dad's brother and sisters. In all we had around 24 people come over. The idea was for everyone to be at the house when we arrived. T was the go-between. I would let him know how close we were to the house so he could pass along the info to all the people. 

Before I talk about the surprise party, I just have to say how great it was to have a car and driver. Our driver, David, was excellent. It was such a relief to not have to worry about finding our way and dealing with traffic. We were relaxed and happy. It was decadent and wonderful!

I thought that Mom might mention all the cars parked on our road, but she didn't at all. She kind of suspected that my aunts and uncles would be over, but she was completely surprised by all the friends that were there too! When we walked in everyone yelled SURPRISE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY and she just stood there in shock and awe. It was great!

My dad, T and Norbert had put everything together for the party. They got roasted chicken from Juan Pollo along with tortillas and rice and beans. There was veggie trays and fruit trays and chips and dip. There was punch and there was a dessert tray from Corner Bakery. There was lots of eating and laughter and visiting. It was a great way to end a day that went just right from start to finish. 

Mom was surprised and happy all day. My sister did a masterful job of planning everything; my dad did a great job of pulling it all together for the surprise party. I was glad to get to participate!

Happy birthday Mom! I hope you enjoyed your day!! Love you!!

I finished another book! Check out the 2013 Reading List.

#1071 steak for lunch

The past two days have been so nice, both weather-wise and people-wise. Yesterday, Friday, T went with my dad and I went with my mom and we each did our own thing. Mom and I had lunch at Black Angus. There is something so decadent about having a steak at lunch! Dad took T to Best Buy where T got a bunch of movies. I bet his movie collection is in the hundreds. At night, my sister got here. She brought my mom a chocolate raspberry cake from Extraordinary Desserts. It's my mom's favorite cake. It's a bit too chocolaty for me; I'm more of a a vanilla cake girl.

Today Lizzie and I took Dad to dialysis, then we sat out on the porch swing for a little bit. It was such a gorgeous day. It was hard to believe that Christmas is 11 days away. There was nothing winter-like about the weather here today.

We went to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the area, El Cholo in La Habra. I had one of my most favorite restaurant meals: filet mignon tacos. The steak is so tender and flavorful! The tacos are served on soft corn tortillas along with slices of avocado, salsa and red onion. Seriously delicious. I had steak for lunch two days in a row! I must be livin' right :)

This afternoon we have all just been chillin' out. T has been watching movies on the computer. Lizzie and I thought about napping, but we ended up staring at the TV and zoning out. Dad was hanging out with us. And Mom...well she was making another of my favorite things - her delectable corn beef/roast beef tacos. I've never tried to make them. They look easy and they are worth the time. Maybe I'll put making them on my 2014 to-do list.

And we still have a whole day to hang out together tomorrow. It's supposed to be another beautiful day, so I plant to make the most of it!

Hope you are having a great weekend, too!

#1070 warming up my body and soul

Ahhh...I am starting to thaw out. The thaw began when I stepped off a plane this evening in Long Beach. I lik the Long Beach airport. It's kind of old school - there's no jetway, you just walk out of the plane onto the tarmac.  So I walked out of the plane and the temperature was mild and there was some moisture in the air and it felt wonderful!

I'm here to spend the weekend with my parents. I haven't seen them for a few months and I was missing them. My sister will also be here this weekend, so that's fun. I brought T with me, too. I didn't tell my mom that T was coming, so it was a fun surprise.

We are looking forward to a nice warm weekend. I'm also hoping that I will get a dose of the Christmas spirit this weekend. For whatever reason, I am deeply uninterested in Christmas this year. Even Michael Buble has failed to generate any enthusiasm for the holiday. I watched The Santa Clause the other day and...nothing. MT put up our tree the other day and I was ambivalent. What is wrong with me?!

What can I do to get in the mood for the holiday? Any ideas?

#1069 Record of the Year

Let's talk Grammy, shall we? And I'm not talking about women of a certain age who prefer to be called Grammy. I'm sure we'll get to her later in the week, though. ;)

The 2014 Grammy nominations came out recently and I was surprised by some of them. I've thought in the past that some of the nominees were kind of obscure, but this year the nominees seem to be a little more mainstream - I've heard of all of the nominees in the major categories.

Record of the Year is an award that goes to the artist.
Get Lucky - Daft Punk. I loved this song pretty much from the minute I heard it. I love Pharrell. I don't know much about Daft Punk at all. I only found out they were dudes dressed up like robots when I saw the video for the song. (Video wasn't my favorite.)  This song was a regular on my bike ride playlist. So catchy!

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons. This band is very good with a hook and this song has a good hook. The video is weird, but these are the Grammy awards, not the VMAs :) It seems like this song was always on the radio this summer. Good song.

Royals - Lorde. I first heard this song when I saw the video on VH-1 Top 20 Video Countdown. It was not on the countdown, but it was an up and coming song or something. I like the sound and the words and all of it. One of my friends at work put it best when he said that he didn't want to like the song because all the hipsters were going to like it but you just can't help yourself.

Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars. You know I love me some Bruno Mars!! This song makes me want to wriggle around and sing loudly, which I have done on many occasions, come to think of it. I'm excited for Bruno's nomination!

Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell. This is another song I loved from the moment I saw it. Do you know there are two versions of the video for this song? In one of the videos, the girls are topless. It freaked me out and I didn't watch the whole thing. I like everything about this song, even after the Miley Cyrus craziness at the VMA show.

I hope Bruno wins!

I want to talk about Album of the Year and Song of the Year and a few of the other categories, but I think that will have to wait for another day. It's getting close to my bedtime and I need my rest.

I just added a new book to my 2013 Reading List page. Check it out!

#1068 poor customer service makes me cranky

It must have snowed most of the night because when we woke up this morning, we were living in a winter wonderland. I bet there was at least six inches of snow on top of my car. Fortunately, it stopped snowing and the sun came out and though it was cold, it was really pretty. MT and T both went out and shoveled the driveway and the sidewalks, so I was glad.

Yesterday T and I went out to do a little Christmas shopping. It wasn't really as much fun as I thought it should have been. I didn't really have much that I wanted to buy, but there was one thing in particular that I did want. I bought a similar item at a store last year and the service was so good that I went back to the same store. Unfortunately, the personnel had changed and the service was terrible. I waited for about 20 minutes or so and ended up just walking out. That made me cranky and sort of ruined my jolly mood. I'll go to a similar store tomorrow to look for the gift. Hopefully I'll have better luck!

Poor customer service is one of my biggest pet peeves. I know it's stupid, but it's a pet peeve, right? I mean, you are working at a store and your job is to help people. What's the issue? I'm a people and I need help. Get your ass over there and help me. If you're busy with someone else, please acknowledge my presence and tell me you'll be with me in a minute. I'm not standing there for my damn health. GRRR

The next store I went to was full of excellent customer service and I felt a little better after spending some money there.

Anyway...

Now it's Sunday evening. I've got to get some laundry going. MT started a load of laundry this morning, but he seems to have abandoned it. He's got laundry in both the washer and the dryer. Another pet peeve of mine. Finish your damn laundry!

I think I need to be sweetened up a bit. I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies. I found a recipe on Pinterest (of course) that I really like.  Instead of flour, you use Bisquick  - you know, the pancake mix. The cookies have a delicious flavor. For dinner tonight, we're having meatballs and mashed potatoes. I'm going to attempt to make gravy. I don't have very good gravy-making skills, but I'll try.

#1067 slow-mo Friday

I have been in slow motion today. Maybe the extremely cold temperatures have seeped into my bloodstream, causing everything to slow down. At work, routine things seemed to take twice as long as they should have. I couldn't seem to get focused and stay on task. Maybe it was just that the first four days of the week were so busy and I was really on track and today there were no deadlines and no adrenaline and it was natural to just chill.

I wasn't the only one feeling this way, either. Many of my co-workers told me they were just plain out of go-juice today. It's been a busy year.

So I told my boss that I had nothing left to give and left an hour early. I got home, talked to MT, then crawled under the covers and took a little nap. It felt pretty good.

After an easy dinner and a movie here at home, I'm thinking about putting on some pajamas and some warm socks and going to bed. Reading until I fall asleep and the book hits me in the nose sounds good. Thankfully, I'm reading a paperback!

My plan for tomorrow is to do some Christmas shopping. It's supposed to snow, but it's so damn cold, it might be too frigid for snowflakes.

Stay warm, friends!

#1066 Me Before You

In his beautiful and inspiring "Never Give Up" speech, Jim Valvano said there were three things you should do every day: you should laugh, you should think, and you should have your emotions moved to tears. He said, "If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day." (If you have never heard the speech, please do yourself a favor and click on the link. Watch the video. Jimmy V was an amazing speaker. That speech motivates and inspires me often.)

Laugh. Think. Cry. I definitely do the first two every day, but I actually try to avoid the third. I'm not a pretty cryer.

Anyway, I read a book recently that made me do all three of these actions, and I thought I'd tell you about it. The book is Me Before You by British author Jojo Moyes.  The book was a Reader's Choice selection at the library recently and though I was a little put off by the subject, I decided to give it a shot anyway. Mainly the reason I was put off is because I knew that I would probably cry.

Sometimes my mom will ask me why I read a book when I know that I will cry. I suppose it's because some things are worth the tears and sadness is as much a part of life as anything. This book was worth the tears because you also get to laugh and to think while you're at it.

Me Before You is the story of a lady named Luisa who became abruptly unemployed when the owner of the cafe where she worked decided to close up shop and move home to Australia. Luisa's family: her mother and father, her semi-invalid grandfather, her sister and her nephew, counted on Luisa's income to support the clan. Luisa winds up interviewing for a job as a caretaker for a quadriplegic man. Her job isn't so much medical care as mental care. The quad, Will, was a vibrant young man who had lived a "big life" before being hit by a motorcycle while he was crossing the road. Will no longer wanted to live. Luisa's job was to keep him happy and alive.

What ensues is two people who don't get along so much at first, but then find themselves becoming friends. When Luisa finds out about Will's desire to end his life, it becomes her mission to show him that life is worth living, even though he is confined to a wheelchair with no hope of ever leaving it.

I gobbled up this book like it was sweet potato casserole. I read it in three days and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it. Both Will and Lou are pretty great characters. Their banter and the things they do...it felt natural and right.

I read most of the story while I was in Idaho over the Thanksgiving weekend. I was sitting on the couch next to my father-in-law when I reached a critical and emotional part of the book. I didn't want to get all weepy and sloppy sitting there next to Jake, so I had to flee to the bedroom where there was a box of tissues and some privacy.

When you are looking for the next book to read, I highly recommend Me Before You. Yes, you will cry, but you will also think and laugh. Not only does that make for a heck of a day, but it makes for a heck of a book, as well.

PS: I'm going to be sure to find some more of Moyes' books at the library!

#1065 happy December!

Why do I have the feeling that December is going to fly by in a blur? Thanksgiving was so late this year, I only have three weekends in which to complete my Christmas shopping. Less than that, really, because I have to allow time for package shipment to California. I think I will be able to make a big dent in the shopping I want to do this weekend.

Christmas is on Wednesday this year. That may be my least favorite day of the week for a holiday to fall on. My favorite is if the holiday is on Tuesday or Thursday because then you can squeak out a little extra holiday time from the company, sometimes. I'm hoping that I'll be off this year from the 24th through the first and go back to work on the second. I think that will be just lovely! We'll see how that works out.


Last night I downloaded all my Christmas music onto my iPods. That made me feel happy, but a little gypped because of the afore-mentioned shortened Christmas music listening time due to the lateness of Thanksgiving. Oh well. I made good use of the time today! Songza has an excellent assortment of Christmas music, and I enjoyed their playlist for a couple of hours.

My very most favorite Christmas CD is Michael Buble Christmas. Such a great CD! He has a nice, croon-y voice.

Another favorite thing to do is watch Christmas movies. I have a big list of movies I want to watch this season. Frankly, I'll be lucky to watch two or three. There always seems to be something to do or something else to watch instead of the movies. I'll try to definitely see Love Actually, White Christmas and something else to be named.  I have a confession: sometimes, when I'm at work and I'm really busy, my mind will blank out for a minute and I will think, "If I was home right now, I would definitely be watching _____________." (Fill in a movie in the blank.) I think about the movie for a minute or two, then get back to my work. It's a dumb thing, but it's a good brain relaxer.

One more thing before I go...I just want to mention that my favorite Utah Jazz did something tonight that they have not done this entire season: they won their second consecutive game! That's four wins now! Like I mentioned before, wins are hard to come by this season, so every win is worth noting. :)

It appears that a storm will be rolling in tonight, so I'll probably be looking at a sloppy commute in the morning. Snow and cold weather is certainly my least favorite thing about living in the intermountain west. Oh well.

Good night!