Today I have the burning pink eyes-not the conjuctivitis sort-just the tired type.
My mom asked me on my way out this morning why I did not get home until 3 am when I picked O up from the airport at 1:30 am. That was a long story...
First there was the fact that we got lost-I assume it was due to the dark-and found ourselves in some insane road workers paradise. Seriously, I have never seen more orange barrels in my life. I watched as all the lanes merged into one, and then as that one continued to narrow, rather dangerously, in on itself. Just like Alice, I wondered how we would possibly fit through! But, fit we did. This was followed by an extremely long visit to the Arbys drive-through in some far off land, probably Kearns. I don't think the night shift gets many clients, consequently, they did not know exactly what to do with us. After leaving our wild-eyed friends at Arbys, I pulled out the GPS. Despite the help, we still had to get on and off the freeway a few times when we found ourselves going the wrong direction. Eventually we did make it home, though I then had to finish a chapter in the book I became engrossed in while waiting at the airport and consequently did not get to bed until after 3:30. Unfortunately (for my eyes), I had to leave the house at a time when no one decent person should be out of bed-7:30 am!! It was horrid.
So this morning I got some experiments rolling and napped in my car. It turned out to be a bit awkward, with my coworkers all peering out the window at me. I cannot blame them entirely, I'm sure they thought they are invisible. The windows do normally appear mirrorish from the outside but, it turns out, at certain times of the day, one can see right in. I'm a little mortified recalling the Fedex woman last week-she came knocking at the front door (which I had locked because I was all alone in the lab that day) and, when that failed to elicit a response, she came knocked on the window, about two inches from my face, where I was working on the computer. I just sat there like a dear in the headlights, thinking 'she cannot see me'. After a while she gave up and left the package with the people next door. I really hope it was the time of day when you are invisible behind the windows.
So there I was, trying to get a little sleep, with people peeping at me. I suppose they think I'm homeless of late, haven't done my hair in days, sleeping in my car, and doing my laundry in the sink at work. Although technically I'm not doing laundry, just trying to bleach two of my fav shirts back to their former white glory, before I dyed them purple. I've half a mind to snip up the purple shirt responsible for that catastrophe, except then I'd be out three shirts and I'm not sure that would help things.
Speaking of shirts, I have another one I'm a tad worried about. I had the brilliant idea to have this darling tailor girl put sleeves on this cool flowy tank top. She seemed perfectly competent when I dropped it off. Yesterday I went in to pick it up. I tried it on and thought-oh dear, she has turned this into a shirt for a stick figure, the sleeves were that tiny! I go out to look in the mirror, she watches my reaction anxiously. I was pretty much speechless. I am thinking, well, the shoulders are sticking up, and not in the back-in-fashion shoulder pad sort of manner. Not to mention the fact that my arms look like hotdogs. Struggling, I bent my arms and patted my shoulders, of course, I could not reach that high so I ended up patting my chest. I said, "do these seem to poke up"? She did agree, made some marks, and told me she would fix those. I somehow managed to get out of my shirt and out of the shop. I went and sat in my car, too stunned to move. I thought, well, the sleeves did not seem to work. I rallied myself and went back into the store. I told the girl I thought the sleeves were a bit tight and that I should probably try it on once more. So the second time I came out and was shocked at how dreadful the transformation was. The girl sort of hovered around while I tried vainly to swing my arms about. She did not say anything so I said "well, I guess I don't really need to move my arms" and she just agreed, ya. So I took off the shirt and left on that note. I guess I'll have to find some unique event to wear that top to, perhaps when I have lunch with John McCain.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The image you have all been waiting for...
Well, in case you missed the BYU newspaper (from some day in the spring of 1999), here is a picture of my mouse trap car. (Yes, this is the car that won State, I think it could have competed nationally--unfortunately, no one bothered to put together a national competition. Feel free to copy the ingenious design.)
(I don't know how my dad managed it but somehow he has got one of those Wellsfargo wagons, it sits in a place of honor, right beside the mouse trap car he masterminded)
Since I was taking pictures, I went ahead and took one of Jerry.
Not that this needs any explaining, but Jerry was on the cover of a Cosco magazine last summer. His look says it all. I like to hide Jerry in places O will least expect, such as in his toiletries bag to give him a good jolt in the morning, in his work/church folders, or in his suitcase so that he has a friend when he arrives in China. You never know where Jerry will pop up, but you know that he will....
He reminds me a bit of my friend Chelsea and her summer sausage. I think she also had a rubber chicken that made several appearances :)
As I was downloading the photos, I found a few gems on the camera from Christmas. This year my ambitious sisters started a new tradition-a re-enactment of the Nativity.
Perhaps my favorite-the Concierge of Pizza Sauce (as she proclaimed herself to be last week)- M as a wiseman/shepherd (yes, it took quite a while to figure out the spelling of that). Wearing my Granny E's dress (and her mustache), and bearing a pool stick, she was quite in character (though exactly what character is still undetermined).
One of the three blind sheep-
Confused angels/stars-and an arm valiantly trying to instruct
Obviously the instructions were not well understood
Do note the lovely stable backdrop. Larry really came through on that!
And the finale: Joseph looking perplexed, the Wise shepherd singing "Yo ho, Yo ho", the angel-star people not remotely interested, Mary looking picturesque, the baby quite perfect.
A few more characters, several on the verge of a melt down.
Well, we'll see how next year goes....
Next up: The Changeling and the Firework Show!
(I don't know how my dad managed it but somehow he has got one of those Wellsfargo wagons, it sits in a place of honor, right beside the mouse trap car he masterminded)
Since I was taking pictures, I went ahead and took one of Jerry.
Not that this needs any explaining, but Jerry was on the cover of a Cosco magazine last summer. His look says it all. I like to hide Jerry in places O will least expect, such as in his toiletries bag to give him a good jolt in the morning, in his work/church folders, or in his suitcase so that he has a friend when he arrives in China. You never know where Jerry will pop up, but you know that he will....
He reminds me a bit of my friend Chelsea and her summer sausage. I think she also had a rubber chicken that made several appearances :)
As I was downloading the photos, I found a few gems on the camera from Christmas. This year my ambitious sisters started a new tradition-a re-enactment of the Nativity.
Perhaps my favorite-the Concierge of Pizza Sauce (as she proclaimed herself to be last week)- M as a wiseman/shepherd (yes, it took quite a while to figure out the spelling of that). Wearing my Granny E's dress (and her mustache), and bearing a pool stick, she was quite in character (though exactly what character is still undetermined).
One of the three blind sheep-
Confused angels/stars-and an arm valiantly trying to instruct
Obviously the instructions were not well understood
Do note the lovely stable backdrop. Larry really came through on that!
And the finale: Joseph looking perplexed, the Wise shepherd singing "Yo ho, Yo ho", the angel-star people not remotely interested, Mary looking picturesque, the baby quite perfect.
Next up: The Changeling and the Firework Show!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Popcorn for dinner
Almost 6pm, sitting at work, thinking about making some popcorn. Now, I am actually realizing I've been consuming an awful lot of popcorn lately.
Saturday night O and I headed to the Ho Jo concert (Howard Jones for those of you not in the know)
Howard, rock star of the 80s (and 2011 I suppose)
Still cool though his hair is does not make quite the statement it once did
We had a grand old time and danced away wildly (someone had invited us to the event and we were determined to be excellent concert companions. Consequently, we had a 3 day crash course in Ho Jo and tried to learn at least the chorus to his top 5 songs.)
I had envisioned a grand dinner but, due to some choice words on the part of one person ( :) ), which led to a bit of a verbal wrangle, we found our plans had fallen by the wayside and we were forced to make due with the concession stand. The popcorn there was really terrible, not even palatable. It had the consistency of cardboard and tasted worse than packing peanuts. Despite this, the whole affair was utterly delightful.
Sunday I had popcorn again:
So last Sunday I was melting out in the car-I was an hour and a half early for church and it was at least 97 degrees--so I kept toggling back and forth between the AC, and opening the windows/door. I'd put on the AC for 10 min, then worry that the car would die, so I would shut it off and open the door, hoping to catch a breeze. Well, there was no breeze to be caught and, to make matters worse, the car emitted the most irritating, interminable beeping sound every time the door opened. I thought to myself-how biz-ahh (in Heidi Klum's voice of course), why would a car company make a car that does this? How is a person supposed to open the door for 5 seconds without going batty! And then I'd shut the door and turn on the AC again. After a few rounds of this, I was thinking-there is something wrong with O's car. After all, my car lets me open the door and leave it open, and, as long as the keys are not in the ignition, it voices no complaint at all. I was completely bedeviled. Finally, I surmised that O must have his car on an queer setting that reminds one to close the door by beeping.
Well, church finally did start and I arrived not a little wilted by the heat. After church, I snuck over to my lab (so handy to work/church/practically live on campus) to pop some popcorn (keep in mind, I had left my house 2 1/2 hours before church, spent 3 hours in there, and now had a 45 min drive home, so I absolutely needed some sustenance). I thought it would be the best surprise for O ever! I diddled slowly back to the car, since O was still finishing up his ministerial duties, debating whether I should go sit in the car and deal with the AC/door thing or if I should just wait in the shade somewhere. I decided that 10 min of running the car with the AC on was no biggie and hopped in.
The car was not actually on fire, it just felt like it. When I opened the door the melt your mascara so your eye-lashes stick together sort of wave came at me. I plopped down and turned the key and...nothing. Yes, the beeping meant the lights were on. I cannot imagine why that never occurred to me-oh wait, must be because it was bright as day when I got out of the car that I had not been driving (except around the parking lot, strictly speaking). Fortunately, we got it jumped fairly quickly. I was worried that this episode would ruin the popcorn surprise for O but, it turns out, nothing could distinguish the joy of popcorn on that flaming afternoon.
Monday: the Orem Owlz.
OK, word to the wise, do not eat a hot dog that looks like this
you should also avoid eating a hot dog that is greyish purple (and the green noddles above for that matter).
Yes, poor O ate a terrible looking hot dog at the baseball game and came down with a vicious bought of food poisoning in the wee hours of the morning. I safely chose popcorn for dinner and while it was nothing remarkable, it was, notably, not terrible either.
For today, I've decided to forgo the popcorn. I fancy I'll be better of with cheese crisps and caramels.
Saturday night O and I headed to the Ho Jo concert (Howard Jones for those of you not in the know)
Howard, rock star of the 80s (and 2011 I suppose)
Still cool though his hair is does not make quite the statement it once did
We had a grand old time and danced away wildly (someone had invited us to the event and we were determined to be excellent concert companions. Consequently, we had a 3 day crash course in Ho Jo and tried to learn at least the chorus to his top 5 songs.)
I had envisioned a grand dinner but, due to some choice words on the part of one person ( :) ), which led to a bit of a verbal wrangle, we found our plans had fallen by the wayside and we were forced to make due with the concession stand. The popcorn there was really terrible, not even palatable. It had the consistency of cardboard and tasted worse than packing peanuts. Despite this, the whole affair was utterly delightful.
Sunday I had popcorn again:
So last Sunday I was melting out in the car-I was an hour and a half early for church and it was at least 97 degrees--so I kept toggling back and forth between the AC, and opening the windows/door. I'd put on the AC for 10 min, then worry that the car would die, so I would shut it off and open the door, hoping to catch a breeze. Well, there was no breeze to be caught and, to make matters worse, the car emitted the most irritating, interminable beeping sound every time the door opened. I thought to myself-how biz-ahh (in Heidi Klum's voice of course), why would a car company make a car that does this? How is a person supposed to open the door for 5 seconds without going batty! And then I'd shut the door and turn on the AC again. After a few rounds of this, I was thinking-there is something wrong with O's car. After all, my car lets me open the door and leave it open, and, as long as the keys are not in the ignition, it voices no complaint at all. I was completely bedeviled. Finally, I surmised that O must have his car on an queer setting that reminds one to close the door by beeping.
Well, church finally did start and I arrived not a little wilted by the heat. After church, I snuck over to my lab (so handy to work/church/practically live on campus) to pop some popcorn (keep in mind, I had left my house 2 1/2 hours before church, spent 3 hours in there, and now had a 45 min drive home, so I absolutely needed some sustenance). I thought it would be the best surprise for O ever! I diddled slowly back to the car, since O was still finishing up his ministerial duties, debating whether I should go sit in the car and deal with the AC/door thing or if I should just wait in the shade somewhere. I decided that 10 min of running the car with the AC on was no biggie and hopped in.
The car was not actually on fire, it just felt like it. When I opened the door the melt your mascara so your eye-lashes stick together sort of wave came at me. I plopped down and turned the key and...nothing. Yes, the beeping meant the lights were on. I cannot imagine why that never occurred to me-oh wait, must be because it was bright as day when I got out of the car that I had not been driving (except around the parking lot, strictly speaking). Fortunately, we got it jumped fairly quickly. I was worried that this episode would ruin the popcorn surprise for O but, it turns out, nothing could distinguish the joy of popcorn on that flaming afternoon.
Monday: the Orem Owlz.
OK, word to the wise, do not eat a hot dog that looks like this
you should also avoid eating a hot dog that is greyish purple (and the green noddles above for that matter).
Yes, poor O ate a terrible looking hot dog at the baseball game and came down with a vicious bought of food poisoning in the wee hours of the morning. I safely chose popcorn for dinner and while it was nothing remarkable, it was, notably, not terrible either.
For today, I've decided to forgo the popcorn. I fancy I'll be better of with cheese crisps and caramels.
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