Simply ridiculous

In case you can't read this, the "feels like" temp is -29. This is two degrees WARMER from this morning around 7am. Adding insult to injury is the 84 degree weather it's showing in Lorima, FL. That's a 113 degree difference.

And we're supposed to go see some homes this afternoon. We're going to come back looking like smurfs.

Too many deaths in one week

Every minute I blog is a minute I'm not studying. The guilt is overwhelming. The stress is worse.


It was indeed very sad news to hear that President Hinckley passed away last night. Along with everyone else, I will recount a memory of him. It was August 1999, and I had just gotten to Utah to attend BYU as a freshman. I flew out with two other people from my ward and a set of their parents. The older brother of one was graduating from BYU, and we went to the graduation ceremony. Gordy B was the speaker. I remember sitting in the Marriot Center amazed that I was in the very same building as the prophet. It wouldn't be the last time I was able to hear the prophet speak, and I am grateful for all the opportunities I had to listen to him, whether in person or on TV. He really did "favor us" with countless talks and words of counsel, some I felt directed solely at me. He will truly be missed, but just think of the reunion between him and Marjorie! Adorable!

I mourn another death tonite. That of Ike. We were working out tonite, and we were rocking out to Maroon 5, and he would freeze randomly. Well, I pop him into his speaker dock and he freezes while I'm in the shower. Derrick tries to reset him, and gets this sad little image:

Nooooooo! Nothing worse than a depressed iPod! Ike needs Prozac! Anyone know of any remedies for a sick, and possibly terminally ill, iPod? Ike needs your help!

Throw in Heath Ledger, and this week is just one big downer.

Still breathing

Yes, I am still alive. Nothing exciting is happening. I work. I come home. I eat dinner too late. I go to sleep. I repeat.

I was off today, which was nice. I slept in and then had lunch and went shopping with my friend Lindsey.

It's still freezing cold. We are going to Hawaii in 2 1/2 weeks, and it's not coming fast enough. I hope it's 50 below while we're gone and nice and sunny while we're lying on the beach. This trip has snuck up on us, with all the graduation and new job type things going on, I haven't even really had a chance to think about it and get excited. But with this weather lately, I can't wait! I've never been before--does anyone know of or have any favorite things to do? We're doing the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor before the cruise leaves, and then on the cruise we're going to all of the islands. In the meantime, I need to hit the gym hardcore!!

I know I have a huge crush on Tom Brady, but I know some of you guys out there do too. Just like this guy:



Love it. Tom Brady invented the iPhone!

Random!

Someone left me an anonymous comment on an old old post, so I looked at my blog tracker to see if I could figure it out. I didn't, but check out these last 10 keyword searches:

1) "hairy for a girl"
2) Jerry Springer Jerry Beads Pics
3) pooping gallstones
4) jerry springer beads clips
5) "tell if my husband is gay"
6) donkey hump a girl
7) 8 T on a O mensa quiz
8) how long a donkey lives for
9) I'm obsessed with the Beatles
10) david copperfield magic spoiler

I think my favorite is #5. Hahaha! And I'm pretty sure I hold the market for all searches related to donkeys.

This weekend was brutal. Single digit temps, with wind chills down to minus 26. MINUS 26! No human should ever have to live in these conditions. And now it's been snowing all day. Yippee.

The Packers lost yesterday. It's all anyone is talking about today. I'm surprised the flags aren't at half mast today because of it. Even if they were, I wouldn't be surprised. Even these girls couldn't help the Pack. Remember folks, it was about minus 25 at the game last night.

Those tops must be padded, b/c you know they're nippin' out hard core!

We finally saw Live Free or Die Hard. Why are action flicks so unbelieveable? 5 people shooting a guy with automatic weapons and he escapes with nary a scratch? Hanging onto the tail of a fighter jet? Bruce Willis is truly bionic. Still, I liked it. It was funny. Suspenseful at times, and generally enjoyable. Scott, you'd be proud.

Now I've gotta go google how to find out if my husband's gay. :)

Waving the white flag

I admit defeat. I fought it, and lost.

I like that crappy "Tattoo" song by Jordin Sparks. I still maintain that the lyrics are hideous, but it's such a catchy tune.

Dammit.

Gonna have some fun, show you how it's done, TGIF!

I survived my first week of working. The hardest part is keeping a regular feeding schedule. I eat breakfast at like 6am, then I'm starving by nine, so I have a string cheese, then lunch around noon. Another snack around 4, and by the time I leave at 7:3o I'm absolutely starving. Home at 8, finish dinner that Derrick has started, and by the time we finally sit down after the dishes are all done, it's 9! Sheesh!

I got a random email from Whole Foods yesterday with a recipe for ricotta cheese. I don't remember signing up for anything, but it was a nice surprise. So I started looking through the mass of recipes they have on their site. They all look delicious, especially the ones for Spinach Fettucini with Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Fusilli with Feta, Pork Tenderloin with Orange-Chipotle Sauce, and Creamy Pesto Dip. Check it out, they got a ton of stuff on there. Also awesome for me, I work right across the street from Whole Foods! I can see it out patient's windows! Score!

Eminem is getting fat. I used to be a big Eminem fan in college. Weird, I know. This picture made me laugh:
Apparently Slim Fast has approached the not-so-slim Shady and want him to be a spokesperson. That's funny.

The "feels like" temp right now is -8. Yes, MINUS EIGHT. I know what will warm me up. Spicy hot thai food from Singha Thai. I'm meeting a good friend, ex-coworker, of mine for lunch. Should be deeeeelicious.

I'm obsessed with looking at fabric. I love looking at things I could potentially sew. Like a lot of things, I am a pro in my mind. I read a lot about something, and theoretically I know how to do a lot of stuff really well. But actually doing it? Not so much. I see a lot of awesome fabric, but don't know what I'd do with it. This site has beautiful fabrics arranged in sets for you. My favorite is called "Central Park Ebony/Pink", 3rd from the very bottom. I want to use those fabrics in my girls' nursery. No, that was not an announcement.

Time to get ready for thai food!

Nursey things

So I'm finally on the mom/baby floor. Yesterday I pretty much just followed my preceptor around like a little puppy dog. I didn't do too much, but I learned a lot. Today I took 2 patients (1 mom/1 baby) and did fine. Having an OB rotation just last month has really helped. I don't have to learn from the ground up. I know the skills, I just have to learn the hospital-specific stuff.

But check this out: Today a mom wanted us to give her the baby's very first wet diaper. Why, you ask? Because she wanted to rub the urine all over her body. I am NOT making this us. Um....yuck? Must be a cultural thing. She was Mexican. Although...so am I and I've never heard of anything like this. Weird.

The 12 hours went by faster that I thought they would. But I come home completely pooped.

I totally forgot to watch American Gladiators last night. Boo.

Derrick comes home tomorrow. Yay!

Packermania

It goes without saying that everyone in Wisconsin is gaga over the Packers and worships Brett Favre. Seriously. It's like the Church of Brett Favre of Fatter-day Saints. Ha.

Tonite during Dateline, the local network had a TWENTY-MINUTE interruption/press conference to talk about how the Packers are in the playoffs and how they'll play the Giants and how they'll stack up and blah blah blah.

ENOUGH OF THE PACKERS!!!!

Flying solo

Derrick left for NYC this afternoon, so I have been spending a very long and very boring Sunday afternoon on the sofa watching TV. I've been fading in and out of naps, trying to think of something to quiet my loud and rumbly stomach. Living alone would suck.

We went to this really cool restaurant with some friends last night, called The Safe House. It's a totally spy-related place, and lots of secret doorways and tricks and espionage-themed decorations everywhere. It's really fun. The server calls you "agents" and the menu tells you your "secret orders". Super cool. And you need to know a password to get in. If you don't know it, they make you do silly things, which are then played on TVs throughout the place so everyone can laugh at you. We had to do the Itsby Bitsy Spider.

Tomorrow I start on the floor. I'm sure it will be a lot of following someone around like a puppy dog and just nodding all day. Oh, and reading thick manuals and watching outdated videos. FOR 12 HOURS.

But I can't wait.

A pinch of this, a dash of that

Today was the last day of central classroom orientation. Hooray! Now comes the fun orientation, working on the unit. Yikes!

My inside car door handle broke tonite on the way home from work. I have to roll down the window and let myself out using the outside door handle. Um...GHETTO?! Anyone know how to fix something like this? It's like the inside handle just popped out of it's little cove. Boo.

Silvs has written an amazing post about Britney's rise and fall to fame. It's genius...I love it. I will always have a place in my heart for her.

I found out about this quiz that tests your travel IQ. I'm totally addicted to it. It's a great way to learn your world geography. So far my highest IQ is only like a 94, but I'm working on it! Check it out!

Anyone watching Celebrity Apprentice? I love Gene Simmons. I hate Omarosa. She needs to die. Really.

I'm eating Chicago deep dish tonite! I'm a happy girl!

Peace out!

Life-changing event

I played my inaugural game of Guitar Hero tonite. Changed my life. I played one measley song, Jessica by The Allman Brothers. But I rocked it. My Karaoke Revolution skills came back to help me out. Must. Get. Guitar Hero.

You know what else is rockstar awesome? American Gladiators. Back on TV. Truly hideous, and completely AWESOME. Best looking Gladiator? Crush.



I got my sewing machine back today! I asked the lady at the store how to just sew a straight line and she gave me the biggest 'tude. Like, how dare you bore me with your incompetence. Whatever.

Ok, so far Josie, Sam, and Kandace have signed up to Pay it Forward. Or Blog it Forward, which I think is a better name. Any other takers? I'm thinking I'll send out your gifties relatively soon, so be on the lookout! And by relatively soon, I mean in the next two months. :)

Go time

As if on cue to mourn the loss of my freedom, the skies opened up and cried all day. We had a record high of 63, which one absolutely cannot complain about. The rain melted almost all of the snow. I sat for 8 hours and doodled, and got paid good money to do it. All in all, a pretty decent day.

Orientation is probably like Christmas for HR people. They get to stand up and talk about their benefits and time clocks and blah blah blah. Because I have a certified sugar daddy, whose health benefits are way better than mine, I am not signing up for any options, and was thoroughly bored for a good 3 hours. My badge picture turned out decent, although it says I'm a "Nurse Technician" until I pass my state boards. Boo.

My headlight is apparently out, the friendly guys at Scrub-a-dub told me while I was getting my oil changed. So I bought one today with the hopes that I can change it myself. Props to my pops (ha) who forced me to learn "powder puff" mechanics before I could get my license. More than once I have had to change a flat, either for myself or someone else. And I'm pretty sure I could change my own oil if I had ramps. Well, they also told me I needed a new air filter. It was pretty gross, so I told them to change it. And while the hood was up, I watch between the crack of the hood and my dashboard. Never again will I pay 20 bucks for someone to stick something that costs 6 bucks into a little compartment that just snaps up and snaps back. Sheesh. I've changed the side lights to my car, so headlights shouldn't be too bad, right??

Which reminds me, driving home New Years Eve/early morning at like 1 am, I get a flat, or so I think. All I hear is rubber slapping against the road, and the grinding of my rim. Great. So we pull over at a gas station and the tire is completely off the rim. It's about 3 degrees outside, and we don't have any gloves. It takes us about 20 minutes to get the tire changed, and all the while the cop sitting in the parking lot never once comes to see if we need anything. Not that we did....but it's the principle of the thing, you know? Serve and protect...yeah right. Well, I took it to Tires Plus (which I adore...those guys are SO nice) and I didn't have a flat at all! My tire just fell off the rim! I did hit a pothole pretty hard a couple days before and it just took awhile before it took effect. Weird. Since I bought the tire there, it was free for them to unbend the rim and put the tire back on. Sweet.

Wow. That was a really boring story. Sorry. Can you tell my life is pretty boring these days?

Oh, I did finish Eclipse. Reading good books is a paradox for me. I can't wait to finish them and see how they end, but I'm always so sad when it's over. So do I read them fast? Or slow? Usually fast. Anyway, now I can't wait for the 4th book to come out. Such awesome cheesiness. What should I read next? I'm thinking Le Mis, b/c I've never read it or seen the show. Maybe the movie once back in college, but I don't really remember it. Anyone have a copy they want to let me borrow?

Miscellaneous

All the snow is melting now, but before it did, there were TONS of gigantic icicles over my garage. One was so long, I thought it would hit my car, but it didn't.

And this is just another picture of the white craziness we had for a few days.


And here is a picture of the awesome cookies sent to me from Rose's Kitchen. It's a little late, but the box was too cute not to share.

We finally added a texting package to our cell phone plan. Now I won't get yelled at for every text I send and/or receive. Unless I go over my 400 message allotment. So, feel free to text away!

And last but not least, I have joined an internet "pay it forward". My friend Shannon is doing it on her blog, and it goes like this: the first three people to leave a comment saying they want to participate will receive a handmade gift from me within the next year. The only stipulation is that you have to have a blog, so you can do the same, and you have to pay it forward by sending a handmade gift to three other people. Actually, if more than three people want to do it, I will send something to every person that comments and wants to. Heck, why not? I'm all about spreading handmade goodness! So, who wants to pay it forward with me???

To sushi, or not to sushi

There is a new strip mall being built near our place. Having driven by separately, Derrick and I each thought there was a new sushi place in it. So we decided to drive by and check it out and see if it's any good.

So we go, and I'm totally in the mood for sushi at this point. We drive by the place and this is what we see:


I read the sign out loud, excited to find that it was sushi place, "Sociale, mah-kay and tah-kay gourmet! Yay! But what's tah-kay?" And then Derrick reads it out loud and says, "MAKE and TAKE gourmet!" and starts laughing at me. Then we both just died laughing. Guess my subconscience wanted sushi enough to make my brain read what it wanted! And yes, I know it's maki.

Sheesh.

RIP

I've been denying a certain death since Thanksgiving. More of a missing persons case, if you will. I've refused to believe it's really true, to face the reality of it and the impact it will have on my life. Who, or what, is missing and/or dead?

My brush.

The brush I've had since I was 12. Maybe 13. The best brush in the world. It was a wooden paddle brush from The Body Shop. It traveled with me to Phoenix for Thanksgiving and the wedding, and I haven't seen it since. Nobody claims to have seen it or found it, and I know it didn't travel home with me. The only thing I can think of is someone swiped it from my suitcase at the airport. Um...gross?

I held out as long as I could before replacing it. But I couldn't stand using the dinky cheapie Conair brush any longer. So I bought a new one at The Body Shop yesterday.

Sure, it looks like the other one, but it does not feel like it. It feels cheaper, lighter, less durable. My old brush didn't care if I left it sitting in a pool of water, it recovered perfectly. Will this one do the same?

I know I am being overdramatic about something silly. Surely there are some ladies out there who feel equally about their hairbrush? If no ladies, I know Larry the Cucumber feels the same.



Unlike Larry, I do have hair. But perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from Larry? If someone did feel the need to take my brush because they needed it more, then I do hope that my brush offers them the same amount of pleasure that it gave me.

Take care, oh, my hairbrush.

I'm obsessed/addicted/whatever

I saw Across the Universe again today. I loved it even better than the first time. And I'm absolutely smitten with the lead character, Jude, or Jim Sturgess in real life.



Completely adorable, English accent, and he sings. Is there a better combination? I don't think so. The Beatles will always be my all time favorite band. I don't know what it is about their music, but I can't get enough of it. Mostly I think it's comforting. There was a time when I was in 7th and 8th grade when my best friend Melissa Gaskins and I were completely and utterly obsessed with The Beatles. It was ALL we listened to. To this day, I'm not very well versed on popular music during the years from 1994-1995. We had a running list of every Beatles song we knew of, alphabetized. We cut out pictures of Beatles paraphernalia and had a whole collection of all things Beatles. We didn't really have any worries--we were almost teenagers and the only thing we had to be concerned with was surviving gym class and practicing our flutes. So whenever I listen to them, it takes me back to a happy time.

And then I get so sad thinking about how they ended, and how much more music they had in them. I remember thinking when I was younger how I could write a musical using only Beatles songs. Too bad somebody beat me to the punch. I love rock operas, musicals. Some top favorites? Mamma Mia, Hairspray, Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, and now Across the Universe. I would see Across the Universe again right now, and I just watched it this afternoon! It comes out on DVD Feb. 5th...hmm....just in time for my birthday....

I can't believe my last week of "retirement", as Derrick is calling it, is quickly coming to a close. I can't believe I will start working on Monday. Full time. It's been so long! I still have to remind myself that I'm only working 3 days a week, so that's not so bad. What's even scarier is that I scheduled to take my state boards the other day. I now have a month and a day to study my butt off before I take the test that will determine if I get to keep working or not. Yikes!

When I'm not obsessing about Across the Universe, I'm reading Eclipse. I finished New Moon last night and promptly continued right on to Eclipse. I wish I could make myself read faster, and I'm already a pretty fast reader. I find myself always skipping down the page to see what's happening next, then having to go back and fill myself in. I hate it. But I love Edward. Derrick always asks me how Edward is, is he still "dreamy", do I love his "marble body". It's funny. And yes, he is still dreamy, and I do love his marble body. Ha. No doubt I will instantly start reading as soon as I'm done posting this.

Which is right now.