mrsface’s blog

If (and I know that's a very big if) anybody reads this, I am going to try blogging using blogger- I don't particularly like the vox format.  So, come visit me at About Face take 2.

How ridiculous is it that the only reason I haven't blogged in 2 1/2 months is that I didn't have any pictures on this laptop.  Seriously, I'm an idiot.  However, I have pictures and I'm here now.  Sort of.  I'm working on a big post with pictures of my big Christmas Eve party, and another post with all sorts of other little morsels of my life, but it's very late now and I fear for my grammar and coherence.  So this post is to placate you, Becca, and I'll be back in a jiffy (jiffy= a day or two, for those not 'in the know')  Ciao!

Oh, and just for the heck of it this is the birthday cake I made for my little brother. 

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I was reading on a message board the other day, and I was struck by how funny people are, especially when they aren't trying to be.  I'm a terrible person for laughing, but it's just so amusing when someone tries to sound really clever and it ends up being, uh, not so clever.  A girl was making of list of reasons why Jen and not Sadie (I'm pathetic, I know) wins 'The Bachelor'.  To really emphasize the importance of the last item, she called it the "piesta resistonce".  I've laughed for days.

Halloween has come and gone, but the memories linger on.  As does our costume- it lingers in the front room because it's too big to get downstairs.  I am loathe to throw it away- we spent all day Saturday working on it.  But I'm also not thrilled about keeping it in my front room.  It's a conundrum, I tell you...

Halloween tub winning

You see, this is a pretty cool costume.  Admit it!  It's a bathtub- complete with a real faucet!  By the time this picture was taken most of our 'bubbles' had disappeared, but you get the idea.  Please note the strip of accent tiles around the top of the tub and our lovely grout on the rest of it.  We were pretty dang pleased with ourselves.  We won the prize for the funniest costume at our community party.  Woohoo!  I don't know that I've ever made an entrance like that- the whole room (a very large room, btw) stopped and gawked and laughed and clapped.  Coolest thing ever!  Or, maybe the coolest thing ever was walking the 1/3 mile to the party, carrying this thing as it was far too large to fit in any car of ours. 

My life is crazy.  I do nothing, yet I'm always busy!  How on earth do I manage that?  Seriously.

Last Friday I had my roommates from college came to my house for lunch and a visit.  One was in town from Washington, DC so we decided to gather everyone else.  It was so absolutely glorious!  Among the 5 of us, there were 3 1/2 kids, 4 husbands, 3 houses and many, many adventures.  I spent all day Thursday cleaning my house since I had been sick in bed for 4 days prior, but it ended up looking great and the roomies all loved the place.  We've only lived there a few months so it's still *really* fun to show it off.

Kitchen

Living room and kitchen

My sister tagged me for a meme- my very first. 

4 word Meme
Look at these four words and write what they mean to --word association style.

ramble- Anne of Green Gables.  She rambles on and on in such an innocent commentary and it delights me.  My favorite ramble of hers is when she's with Matthew and he tells her to ramble on, that he doesn't mind.  It's just so sweet!

 forgotten- I'm actually a little disturbed by my first though on this one.  One Christmas my brother and sisters went down to our (pretty uninvoled) father's house.  My bro got golf clubs, one sis got a stereo and I don't remember what the other sis got, but I got a picture of shoes, torn out of a catalog, along with the promise that 'sometime soon' we'd go buy them.  Yeah, right...

luminous- First I think of luminousity, then viscocity (because it sort of rhymes), and I see a tar pit.  What does that say about me?  I hear luminous and see tar?!?!?!

butterscotch- I make really yummy rice crispy treats with peanut butter in them, and then butterscotch and chocolate on top.  They are a staple at family gatherings.

If anybody wants to continues this meme, the four words are:  fragile, adventure, blanket, teal

I just wrote a big long update, and it disappeared.  Dangit!  Now you'll never know how witty and insightful I am.  Oh the sadness...

The jist-  My husband is too cool for words.  He just made another glorious batch of bread, and is sitting at the kitchen table soldering my lappy back to life.  We hope.  And he brought me flowers today- stargazer lilies.  And he took clogging in college. 

The Primary President called.  She is cancelling sharing time on Sunday so we can really focus on music.  Hooray and ugh, all at once.  While we have lots and lots to work on, and I really do want the time, I dread it.  I will have up to 200 kids, aged 3-11, for the better part of 2 hours, singing.  It sounds so exhausting... 

My head hurts and I'm going to bed now.  I'll do a real entry soonish.

Well, my laptop is officially dead.  Not dead like Lazurus- this is not coming back to life..  It's currently sitting in about 40 pieces in corner of the bedroom, after our failed attempts to fix the un-fixable.  Sadness.  Much sadness.  So now I'm back to using the stinky old desktop machine at the office, and I steal the hubby's lappy at home whenever I can, but for the most part I am a stranger to the internet after I leave work. 

In other, much more happy and interesting news, I finally got in to the doctor to get bloodwork done.  Yay!  And the nurse got a vein on the first try.  Yay!  (hardly ever happens)...  So we're officially on our way to figuring out why there's no babyface yet.

My MIL turned 60 on Friday, so I threw her a party.  It wasn't a big party, but it was a good one.  I made some really, really good shredded pork & beef with lots of onions and chiles, homemade taco shells, guacamole, beans, mexican rice and all the taco fixins.  It was so good!  I asked MIL if she wanted a lemon birthday cake, and she reponded enthusiastically in the affirmative.  So mrface made the lemon curd while I made the pound cake, and then I did a lemon cream cheese frosting, and I garnished with fresh lemon slices and swirls.  It was beautiful and tasted pretty dang fantastic. 

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I also made a beautiful birthday card for her.

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 I used some paper that I picked up on impulse, just because it was so pretty, and some of the ribbon that my sister brought back from New York.  It was the first time I really 'crafted' in my dedicated craft room in the new house.  I'm so excited to furnish, decorate and organize that room- maybe more than any other room.  Is that bad?  I hope it's not indicative of a widespread selfish streak in me.

Tonight's agenda includes laundry, dishes, and mowing and aerating the lawn.  I ordered some nifty shoes with 2 inch spikes that you where when mowing the lawn to aerate, and they finally arrived.  I blistered my hand screwing all the spikes in, so I sure hope they work.  We'll find out in just a couple of hours.

I feel so unqualified to write about 9-11-01, but how can I not?  Everything changed that day, even here in Salt Lake.  I was not personally acquainted with tragedy that day, I was far removed from the horrible, terrifying situations, butthings changed.  I've been reading the remembering thread on CC and my heart aches for those who were there, in the fray.  I am so appreciative of people sharing their experiences because it lets me feel like I'm a part of something.  That if I read a story and feel their grief, that maybe I can take away some of the pain.  If only...

The days following 9-11 were a strange blend of plain old normal life, mixed with a staggering about of grief, fear, and pride.   I remember the desparate feeling of wanting to do something, to be a part of anything.  I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that I cared and that I grieved too, in my own small way.  I was driving, probably two days later, and saw a roadside stand selling car magnets.  I pulled over and bought several and proudly put them on my car, and suddenly I felt a bit of relief, and I felt connected.  I looked at all the flags and ribbons everywhere and I felt like a part of a solid country.  I was so proud to be American, and proud that people could look at my car and know that.

My heart goes out to all who are grieveing this day.  You are not alone- I remember.

I have decided that my life needs either a live studio audience, or a pre-recorded laugh track.  So often I am alone at the office and something terribly funny happens and I have to laugh all alone.  And what fun is that!  Life is much funnier when someone else is there to witness and laugh along. 

Earlier today mrface and I took a break from our Saturday chores to veg for a bit.  We were sitting on our couch, Dave Matthews playing in the background, and I noticed our reflections in our tv. The light behind us was strong, so the reflections were in silhouette as we bobbed our heads to the tunes.  We head-danced to the entire song while watching in the tv.  It was highly cool.  BUT- think of how much cooler it would have been if the neighbors behind us were watching!  A live studio audience would be a suitable substitution, but it doesn't have the same air of authenticity. 

Maybe I just need a sidekick to follow me around and laugh too loud and too long at everything.  That'd work...  Any volunteers?