Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Personal Library
"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does."
--Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail
One of the great things about this last trip to LA is that Dale and I were able to take two 35-pound boxes of my things from my Mother's house to our home in Salt Lake. It took us 2.6 years to do this because it is only now that we have a place big enough to store anything other than what is needed right now. In these boxes were keepsakes from 13 years of girl scouting, a decade of journaling, my CD collection, my baby book, and my childhood library.
This isn't just any childhood library. This is the childhood library of a kid whose first chapter book was Gulliver's Travels when she was 6.
I should have felt the stirrings of the universe telling me something when I chose Ender's Game to keep me busy on the plane ride in.
Ender's Game really is the most famous of the books I chose as a child. Other's were called Silver, The Only Alien on the Planet, The entire Anne of Green Gables series, The Face on the Milk Carton (books 1, 2, and 3), anything by Jane Austin, SongMaster, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and StarBridge (Books 1-7). I kept them on a shelf at the head of my bed, and always seemed to be reading one of them or another, regardless of how I was 14 and still reading a book written for a 2nd grade reading level or if I was 9 and reading a book for 30 year olds. The all time favorite was StarBridge, book 1. I re-read it this week. No exaggeration neccessary, I think I've read it at least two dozen times. That's 24 times. And that's a conservative estimate. There's nothing special about this book. Nothing more so than your other run of the mill 300 page science fiction novel written in the 1980s. Nothing special other than the main character became my friend when I was eight and a half.
As I finished reading the last hundred pages late last night, I noticed lines I'd cut into the pages with my nail so I could remember what paragraph I'd left off at. Certian strategically placed dog eared pages for good stopping points. Even bite marks left by my teeth on certian pages from when I had carried it in my mouth while climbing a tree to get to my perfect reading nook. It's crazy to see how small I was just by the size of that bite mark. I had thought I was all grown up, just like my friend in StarBridge. Crazy little imperfections made in THIS book that make all the difference when reading it.
So here's to the awesome blessing it can be to see the evidence of your childhood, and having yourself as a child show up again. And here's to how much richer it will make my home in Salt Lake to have the soul of my childhood belongings in it.
--Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail
One of the great things about this last trip to LA is that Dale and I were able to take two 35-pound boxes of my things from my Mother's house to our home in Salt Lake. It took us 2.6 years to do this because it is only now that we have a place big enough to store anything other than what is needed right now. In these boxes were keepsakes from 13 years of girl scouting, a decade of journaling, my CD collection, my baby book, and my childhood library.
This isn't just any childhood library. This is the childhood library of a kid whose first chapter book was Gulliver's Travels when she was 6.
I should have felt the stirrings of the universe telling me something when I chose Ender's Game to keep me busy on the plane ride in.
As I finished reading the last hundred pages late last night, I noticed lines I'd cut into the pages with my nail so I could remember what paragraph I'd left off at. Certian strategically placed dog eared pages for good stopping points. Even bite marks left by my teeth on certian pages from when I had carried it in my mouth while climbing a tree to get to my perfect reading nook. It's crazy to see how small I was just by the size of that bite mark. I had thought I was all grown up, just like my friend in StarBridge. Crazy little imperfections made in THIS book that make all the difference when reading it.
So here's to the awesome blessing it can be to see the evidence of your childhood, and having yourself as a child show up again. And here's to how much richer it will make my home in Salt Lake to have the soul of my childhood belongings in it.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Complex Household Appliances
When I was 16 my parents found themselves in need of a new refregerator. I noticed that their selection was sufficiently not outdated for my teenage coolness needs, but didn't mark the event futher except to notice one thing. On the day it came in I headed out to see my friends and noticed my parents cuddling, 3 feet out of the open refregerator door, gazing into it. I told my friends about it when I went out and someone came up with the perfect statement to summarize our concerns "Oh, man, I hope I'm never 50."
Well, sad news but you don't have to wait until you're 50 to have a household appliance be the highlight of your week. The week before Thanksgiving, Dale's parents drove these two beauties down from a Montana estate give away:
Well, sad news but you don't have to wait until you're 50 to have a household appliance be the highlight of your week. The week before Thanksgiving, Dale's parents drove these two beauties down from a Montana estate give away:
Just look at them. Not only do we have an apartment that is big enough to house them, and also includes washer/dryer hook ups (Dale and I marvel at our beautiful apartment daily), but this is a significant step toward independence. In my church I often hear our leaders chiding young couples saying statements like:
"Don't expect to have all that your parents have as soon as you get married. It took a lifetime for them to build up the home that you have benefitted from. Avoid unneccessary debt and be patient in accruing a household."
It seems like these laundry machines hold in them all that we are waiting to get but hope for. At least they will for the next few months... This paragraph embodies what my parent's looked like 10 years ago with their new refregerator.
The excitement of the appliances is different from the excitement of getting our first new adult couch. The couch is beautiful and comfortable and can be appreciated with the senses daily. The washer/dryer will save me time and (hopefully) money. That feels awesome!
I used them for the first time on Tuesday, and other than a mishap where the exit hose came out of the wall in the middle of a cycle and spewed several dozen gallons of dirty laundry water out onto the kitchen and dining room floors, it all worked out just fine. :) It seems poetic that one more step toward an independed household should be marked with an incident foreshadowing the perils of home ownership.
Turkey Bowl
feast
When I was a kid, I don't think I ever would have identified Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday, but as an adult, I definately appreciate a day/week of preparation dedicated to making the sensual experience of eating into an art. I'd like to share with you some iconic images of my childhood that are the same every year for thanksgiving.
Every year as a child, the week before thanksgiving would be welcomed in by the baked goods. About 8 dozen rolls are stored on cookie sheets in plastic bags to keep them fresh, and pies of all types and varieties are stored in the utility room off the kitchen where they are least likely to be bothered by little kid's fingers. Something I learned this year about my mother's roll recipie is that she butters the tops before they go into the oven AND after they come out. It keeps them soft for the next day, and flavorful even without butter or jam during the meal itself. This year Nanette and I spent all of Wednesday baking the rolls you see here and polishing my grandmother's silver while my Mother focused on the pies.
Everyone helps out in the kitchen. Mom usually got up at about 5 am to put the turkey she'd prepped the previous night into the oven, then went back to sleep. Later in the morning everyone got up to pull pomegranite seeds, peel and mash potatoes and sweet potatoes, thaw peas, prepare garnishes, fruit salad, prepare crystal serving ware, make gravy out of turkey drippings, carve turkey, prepare any canned or jarred items for presentation on the table or anything else my Mother had in mind for that year. In recent years my mother has gotten cable access to cooking shows, so this year's garnishes included tomato peel rosettes, scalloped citrus fruits, and--my favorite--two peeled out orange skins to bowl the cranberry sauce.
There is also precise artwork included in the setting of the table. Polished silver and china from my grandmother, fancy fall leaf glasses for apple cider, ALWAYS a table cloth with fall themed colors with cloth napkins, placed perfectly so that every table setting is a masterpiece. Nanette was the perfect one to arrange this year. She has an eye for detail that is pretty amazing. Fork on the left, with napkin benieth, spoon and knife on the right with knife blade in toward plate for safety and class, individual butter knives placed horizontally over setting with blade to right and down, glass above right side, roll pate above left side, bowl on dinner plate all set to perfection. On other memories, please appreciate the delicious California sun coming through every window in the house. Green leaves still on trees, you can't see the Santa Ana breeze outside, but it IS breath taking.
And this is what every thanksgiving plate of mine has looked like in my mother's home since I was old enough to sit at the adult table. Only things missing, a roll on the top plate with square of butter on side, cranberries nestled between sweet potatoes and stuffing, and turkey dripping gravy poured over stuffing, turkey, and potatoes. I was too busy eating later to catch the full picture. :)
I'm sure that this post seems a little over the top and corny for some, but it really is a labor of love with people who love eachother, united to create a series of moments. I love my mother's house, and my family all knows how to work together to get this done. All knowing what to do and just how to do it to create excellence. It's a tradition that resonates with what I like about myself at my core.
So Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope that we all get to take part in some culinary art this week.
Every year as a child, the week before thanksgiving would be welcomed in by the baked goods. About 8 dozen rolls are stored on cookie sheets in plastic bags to keep them fresh, and pies of all types and varieties are stored in the utility room off the kitchen where they are least likely to be bothered by little kid's fingers. Something I learned this year about my mother's roll recipie is that she butters the tops before they go into the oven AND after they come out. It keeps them soft for the next day, and flavorful even without butter or jam during the meal itself. This year Nanette and I spent all of Wednesday baking the rolls you see here and polishing my grandmother's silver while my Mother focused on the pies.
There is also precise artwork included in the setting of the table. Polished silver and china from my grandmother, fancy fall leaf glasses for apple cider, ALWAYS a table cloth with fall themed colors with cloth napkins, placed perfectly so that every table setting is a masterpiece. Nanette was the perfect one to arrange this year. She has an eye for detail that is pretty amazing. Fork on the left, with napkin benieth, spoon and knife on the right with knife blade in toward plate for safety and class, individual butter knives placed horizontally over setting with blade to right and down, glass above right side, roll pate above left side, bowl on dinner plate all set to perfection. On other memories, please appreciate the delicious California sun coming through every window in the house. Green leaves still on trees, you can't see the Santa Ana breeze outside, but it IS breath taking. |
| My plate before the meal begins |
And then the experience begins. After a prayer, a cloth napkin is placed in lap as Mom serves the first course. I had never had nor imagined that I would like squash soup before, but it was truly a masterpiece. Imagine, if you can, a creamy goodness with curry spice and pureed pears, cradled in your perfectly shining silver soup spoon. I pause just to think of it. Everyone had seconds if not thirds of this beautiful starter even before the meal began.
Then, thanksgiving is served
I think that this is the only time in my life that the word smorgasboard comes to mind. Before digging in, everyone just looks, appreciates, and feasts their eyes once again on this collected labor of love for the artwork that is thanksgiving meal. Notice the citrus and pomegranite garnishes, each selected to complement the color of the base meal, the tomato rosette in the stuffing, the baby onions in the peas, the individualized jam and special silver spoons for serving them. This meal is the artwork that we all worked to make in the week. Eating it slowly and sumptuously is the tradition of thanksgiving day.
I'm sure that this post seems a little over the top and corny for some, but it really is a labor of love with people who love eachother, united to create a series of moments. I love my mother's house, and my family all knows how to work together to get this done. All knowing what to do and just how to do it to create excellence. It's a tradition that resonates with what I like about myself at my core.
So Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope that we all get to take part in some culinary art this week.
Thanksgiving tree
I really like this new tradition. I like it because it's fun, but also because it's something I thought of while with Dale, and not something that was only ours as a kid and we're trying to make fit into our new life together.
For those of you who didn't see the starting tree I'll re-explain. I put up a trunk and branches then added things I was grateful for on post-it notes as leaves. We ended up cutting the green stickies in half so they might take up less space and look more like leaves. I stuck to my goal of 5 leaves per day, and Dale participated often.
During a month where I was just adjusting to an unexpected bout of renewed unemployment, this was a really nice habit to practice, especially in the holiday month of Thanksgiving. Dale and I really do have a lot! Most posts centered around little services and expressions of love to eachother, the bounty with our apartment, cars, income, family communication, ward support, and of course food that I get to buy, look at, cook, eat, and enjoy in every way. (I really love everything involved with cooking). I kindof wish I got to do it every month with a new holiday...
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
I fly out in less than 6 hours
This year for the first time, I get to bring my husband to my home for thanksgiving. Every year for as long as I can remember my mother's thanksgivings have involved a week of preparation, resulting in ironed tablecloths in fall colors, polished silver, china plates, crystal stemware, a traditional roasted turkey with stuffing, gravy made from the drippings, cranberries, peas, home made rolls, whole sweet potatoes with butter, mashed potatoes, martinellis sparkling cider, and at least 5 different kinds of pies, all enjoyed by a group numbering no less than 20, and often rising to over 30. I guess not everyone enjoys cooking as much as I do, but the preparing for the feast was a huge amount of the fun of the final moments. The feast would spread over about 5 of the final hours hours as guests arrived early to help, eat, visit, digest, and dessert. You dress as if going out to a fine resturaunt. Dinner includes toasting to what you're grateful for with the fancy stemware. Guests and family members stay until 10pm catching up with eachother and dozing on couches to recover from the turkey coma.
Not that either one is better than the other, but can you tell that I'm excited :)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Home Made Commercial
Dale and I made a commercial for Southwest last weekend.
He's been filling out questionnaires online for Southwest for months so we can earn free flights, then got an email inviting him to make a youtube video to enter a competition to win the equivalent of 100 flights on Southwest.
So THIS IS WHAT WE DID and you can click on the link to see it on youtube. I don't know if it'll win anything, but I think it was an awesome Saturday afternoon activity, and I think my husband is awesome!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Stone Soup... or stone chili
White beans
Corn
A pork chop (in leu of chicken)
Salsa (in leu of diced tomatoes, green chilis, green pepper, and onion)
Barbecue sauce
brown mustard
honey (all three of the above were part of the marinade for the pork, whose drippings supplied me with something to replace "a can of chicken broth." Seriously, who buys chicken broth?)
Pineapple juice
cumin
salt
lemon pepper
cilantro
(The only things I had from the original recipie was a can of corn, white beans, and cumin. All other ingredients were creative substitutions or stuff I thought would make it taste better.)
Yup. Sounds like it should have tasted nasty, doesn't it? But in true Stone Soup fashion, what we had ended up tasting AWESOME!!!! My first successful chili, and it was done without a proper recipe!
I just hope I can recreate it some day.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Salt Lake City
With the colder winter season coming on, our marathon run of road trips every other weekend appears to have come to an end. The longer I stay in Salt Lake City, though, the more I realize that it's a LOT bigger than I originally thought.
Having grown up in Los Angeles County, there were different mountain chains and rock formations so no matter how high up you got, there was no way you could see from one side of the city to the other. Even if there weren't those mountains, the curvature of the earth, and--yes--the smog would keep you from being able to see it all.
Salt Lake City is just the opposite.
I live on the East side, closest to the Rockies, and the entire city is on a slight downward slope from east to west. I felt like the fact that I could see it all sprawling out in front of me from one end to the other as I pass point of the mountain meant that it was finite, unlike my hometown. ...Perhaps it is finite, but still not humanly innumerable. I end up staying in my own little part of the city: Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Murray, and occasionally Sandy. For my non-Utah friends, that's like Northridge, Granada Hills, and Mission Hills. Going into Salt Lake City proper happens about as often as you'd go down to Broadway.
Well, a few weeks ago, Dale and I went to worship at the Salt Lake Temple.
We go to the Jordan River Temple every month, even though we're physically closer to the Salt Lake Temple.
The downtown traffic isn't great, but this time we went with a group and they wanted to go here, so here we came. Dale and I walked around for a little bit afterward, which was the first time I'd ever done that after a temple session, rather than as a part of conference or some BYU date.
The temple grounds as a part of the city are really gorgeous
and I just couldn't help feeling awed by Salt Lake the same way I had felt awed by Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, or the Lewis and Clark Caverns.
Here's to going on adventures in your own city! I hope my winter is filled with a lot of them!
Having grown up in Los Angeles County, there were different mountain chains and rock formations so no matter how high up you got, there was no way you could see from one side of the city to the other. Even if there weren't those mountains, the curvature of the earth, and--yes--the smog would keep you from being able to see it all.
Salt Lake City is just the opposite.
I live on the East side, closest to the Rockies, and the entire city is on a slight downward slope from east to west. I felt like the fact that I could see it all sprawling out in front of me from one end to the other as I pass point of the mountain meant that it was finite, unlike my hometown. ...Perhaps it is finite, but still not humanly innumerable. I end up staying in my own little part of the city: Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Murray, and occasionally Sandy. For my non-Utah friends, that's like Northridge, Granada Hills, and Mission Hills. Going into Salt Lake City proper happens about as often as you'd go down to Broadway.
Well, a few weeks ago, Dale and I went to worship at the Salt Lake Temple.
We go to the Jordan River Temple every month, even though we're physically closer to the Salt Lake Temple.
The temple grounds as a part of the city are really gorgeous
and I just couldn't help feeling awed by Salt Lake the same way I had felt awed by Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, or the Lewis and Clark Caverns.
Here's to going on adventures in your own city! I hope my winter is filled with a lot of them!
New Tradition
I got the idea from my cousin Karina.
It's a Thanksgiving tree!
Not to be confused with the Christmas Tree, this tree is more of a reflection of fall leaves that dominate this season, before the snow sets in. It's thankful because the leaves you add all have something you are grateful for written on them. Because I'm ghetto fabulous like that, my leaves are green sticky notes. (It makes it easier so I will actually DO this project.)
My goal is to put up 5 things I'm grateful for every day. It's here in our hall that I pass every day so I won't forget.
Already I have 11 leaves up! I'm encouraging Dale to put up 2 a day, but he says that what he's most grateful for are all parts of my body, and may not be appropriate to write on public display. I tell him I like the fact that people know he's a fan of those parts!
I'll re-post at the end of this month. I think it's a festive, and yet apt way to acknowledge this part of the holiday season. Especially since our little decoration grows in size the closer we get to celebrating the holiday. I hope it takes over the wall!
It's a Thanksgiving tree!
Not to be confused with the Christmas Tree, this tree is more of a reflection of fall leaves that dominate this season, before the snow sets in. It's thankful because the leaves you add all have something you are grateful for written on them. Because I'm ghetto fabulous like that, my leaves are green sticky notes. (It makes it easier so I will actually DO this project.)
My goal is to put up 5 things I'm grateful for every day. It's here in our hall that I pass every day so I won't forget.
Already I have 11 leaves up! I'm encouraging Dale to put up 2 a day, but he says that what he's most grateful for are all parts of my body, and may not be appropriate to write on public display. I tell him I like the fact that people know he's a fan of those parts!
I'll re-post at the end of this month. I think it's a festive, and yet apt way to acknowledge this part of the holiday season. Especially since our little decoration grows in size the closer we get to celebrating the holiday. I hope it takes over the wall!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Peace Offerring
You cannot tell me that you don't love this tree. One of the things I love about our apartment complex is how well landscaped it is. That and the view and the easy access to the freeway, and the local shopping centers... basically, if I could just transport my job to within 5 miles of my complex, I'd never leave.
I am trying really hard to be positive about the changing of the seasons. I usually hate them. Loudly. I am a California girl at heart and I LOVE the sun and a hot ocean sunset. This is the first year I am living in Utah when neither Dale or I are in school full time. We are, if passively, CHOOSING to stay in Utah. I don't have to be outside much (to walk to class, etc), and I have a BEAUTIFUL apartment to appreciate the mountain view from, even if the mountians happen to have snow on them.
So here's to you, changing of the seasons: I hope you like me enough to love me even though I can only do my best to tolerate you.
Halloween
This is the only picture I got of our Halloween. Dale and I are not HUGE halloween people. For one, all of the candy just makes me feel fat, and for another, all of the Halloween activities are usually a huge amount of money ($20 per person to go through a haunted house) that I'd be just as happy to make a salad at home and eat it while learning how to use Dale's old telescope--a holidayless activity.
Seriously, we didn't even by trick or treating candy, carve a pumkin, or drink hot cider.
This picture was taken at our annual church chili cookoff and trunk or treat. Dale and I happened to have shirts that said "SECURITY" on them, so we added dark glasses and handcuffs and became the party security system. It was either that or dress normal and just be "the guy/girl who wears too much calogne/perfume." (I SO would have done that, but we thought of it once we were already on our way. Every time someone would ask about what you've dressed up as, you HAVE to put another spray on. It would have been HILARIOUS!)
Other than this, I forced Dale to watch a scary movie with us on the day of the 31st.
We settled on a 2 star netflicks option "Season of the Witch." I loved how amazingly bad the special effects and plot were. The acting wasn't especially horrible, about at par for Nicolas Cage, and it was sufficiently scary that I felt appropriately festive.
I'm a bit more stoked for Thanksgiving :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Travelouge: Mesa Verde
Last weekend, my husband and I took our last extended road trip of the season down to Mesa Verde, Colorado.
For those of you who were as confused as I was by the name, you can compare the picture of a green mesa with previous posts of trips to see red rock national parks. I LOVE red mesas. I think the rock is SO beautiful in it's bright red shades. I learned on this trip it's just as worth it to see a beautiful green mesa as it is to see a red one.
I had never heard of Mesa Verde before Dale came home with the sales pitch for this trip. Apparently, the location has ruins which were inhabited between 600-1300AD. IN THE UNITED STATES!! I've always been aware of the Mayan ruins down in Mexico, but I never knew that America had architectural history pre-dating the colonies! When I think of native americans, I usually think of tipis. Period. The natural history museum around here has representations of native american homes made out of mamoth bones, but even so, they didn't seem built to last the centuries.
Mesa Verde native americans made cliff dwellings, cities built from stone and mortar in coves hollowed out by the wind. I LOVED it. About 100 people would have lived in the little city you see behind us.
Our great college friends, the Harpers, came with us. With them there, we laughed constantly. They traveled up from Albuquerque, and we traveled down from Salt Lake City, almost 1/2 way for both of us!
We stayed in the lodge inside of the National Park. A great decision on Dale's part, as the views were superb. Apparently the whole park is set on the top of a huge green mesa, with the sea level ground looking like huge canyons benieth us. True to Harper Hangout tradition, we grilled brats in a george foreman grill, brought rice crispie treat snacks, fudge, and veggies on Friday night, and made waffles and bacon for Saturday morning breakfast...all in our rented lodge room. Score for us for being creative, planning ahead, and having a feast even when we don't have a kitchen!
On one of the tours, the park ranger used Dale and I as his object lesson for about an hour as he taught about what family life was like in one of these cities. Apparently I would have been married at 12 years old, had as many children as possible, immediately, with an infant mortality rate of 50%, and died of child birth, osteoporosis, and mineral poisoning by age 25. A full life already ended last year for me. eek!
All in all, a great weekend trip for all those fellow explorers out there! I highly recommend it.
I had never heard of Mesa Verde before Dale came home with the sales pitch for this trip. Apparently, the location has ruins which were inhabited between 600-1300AD. IN THE UNITED STATES!! I've always been aware of the Mayan ruins down in Mexico, but I never knew that America had architectural history pre-dating the colonies! When I think of native americans, I usually think of tipis. Period. The natural history museum around here has representations of native american homes made out of mamoth bones, but even so, they didn't seem built to last the centuries.
Our great college friends, the Harpers, came with us. With them there, we laughed constantly. They traveled up from Albuquerque, and we traveled down from Salt Lake City, almost 1/2 way for both of us!
We stayed in the lodge inside of the National Park. A great decision on Dale's part, as the views were superb. Apparently the whole park is set on the top of a huge green mesa, with the sea level ground looking like huge canyons benieth us. True to Harper Hangout tradition, we grilled brats in a george foreman grill, brought rice crispie treat snacks, fudge, and veggies on Friday night, and made waffles and bacon for Saturday morning breakfast...all in our rented lodge room. Score for us for being creative, planning ahead, and having a feast even when we don't have a kitchen!
On one of the tours, the park ranger used Dale and I as his object lesson for about an hour as he taught about what family life was like in one of these cities. Apparently I would have been married at 12 years old, had as many children as possible, immediately, with an infant mortality rate of 50%, and died of child birth, osteoporosis, and mineral poisoning by age 25. A full life already ended last year for me. eek!
All in all, a great weekend trip for all those fellow explorers out there! I highly recommend it.
Friday, October 14, 2011
It's fall. Do you want to know how I can tell?
Clue 1: It's cold
Classifier: How cold?
Clue 2: Cold enough to wear wool
Classifier: How many layers of wool?
Clue 3: One thick layer of wool.
Classifier: anything else?
Clue 4: And a jacket.
Classifier: A jacket or coat?
Clue 5: A jacket that doesn't need to extend below my hips and is NOT made of wool
Note: Some people wear ski coats instead of wool or leather coats in winter. I find these people less than tasteful. Especially if he or she is a professional. Especially if attatched to their ski coat is any amount of lift tags. Regardless of taste if one is wearing any coat made of more than one layer of jean/canvass/courduroy etc material, it is classified as a winter coat, and you have descended below the depths of winter's icy chill.
Classifier: anything else?
Clue 6: No long johns or second underlayer benieth pants, no scarf and gloves in combination with acceptable jacket, no second or third layer of sweater benieth acceptable jacket, no feeling of pain from cold when leaving the apartment when dressed in such layers.
And finally--irrevocably
Clue 7: NO snow on the ground.
Even though I wore a turtle kneck today for the first time of the season, it is still considered fall.
Classifier: How cold?
Clue 2: Cold enough to wear wool
Classifier: How many layers of wool?
Clue 3: One thick layer of wool.
Classifier: anything else?
Clue 4: And a jacket.
Classifier: A jacket or coat?
Clue 5: A jacket that doesn't need to extend below my hips and is NOT made of wool
Note: Some people wear ski coats instead of wool or leather coats in winter. I find these people less than tasteful. Especially if he or she is a professional. Especially if attatched to their ski coat is any amount of lift tags. Regardless of taste if one is wearing any coat made of more than one layer of jean/canvass/courduroy etc material, it is classified as a winter coat, and you have descended below the depths of winter's icy chill.
Classifier: anything else?
Clue 6: No long johns or second underlayer benieth pants, no scarf and gloves in combination with acceptable jacket, no second or third layer of sweater benieth acceptable jacket, no feeling of pain from cold when leaving the apartment when dressed in such layers.
And finally--irrevocably
Clue 7: NO snow on the ground.
Even though I wore a turtle kneck today for the first time of the season, it is still considered fall.
Friday, October 7, 2011
In support of regular crying.
I somehow stumbled into a work conversation a few weeks ago about crying frequency. One of my male co-workers couldn't comprehend the whys of regular female crying.
"Alana, how often do you just watch a movie to have a good solid cry?"
"Weekly." I answered immediately. (If you ask my husband, he might guage it to be more often.)
The previous female who had been asked had answered "Monthly," so I suddenly became the boob of the group.
Doing what I do and having been trained in emotional health and life balance as I have, I know personally, that crying is just something I often need to do. It's as important to your life as laughter, when you feel it.
It has become a common topic with this co-worker to ask me "did you cry this weekend?" "when was the last time you cried?" and once he told me about a movie he had seen over the weekend with his wife and child about a dolphin whose tail had been amputated, but he was taught how to swim with a prosthetic and his wife had cried. But he hadn't.
It's a silly topic, and we play around with it.
This morning I was reading a blog post about my dear cousin's wife Illana Smith, who has cancer.
http://ilanascancer.blogspot.com/
She had a bad bout this week. Needing a trachiotomy, eye patches on both eyes, IV nutrition, and increasing paralysis on either side. They had a picture up of her eyes covered, tubes in and out, and the little notes she tries to write to communicate. The writer talked about how her mom traveled to come and hold her daughter's hand and feel that "I love you" between them.
Crying is okay. It happens when you feel something human and empathize to support one's self or someone else. I care about my cousin, even though I haven't seen him in years. I care about his mother who is hurting for him, and his little boys who he is trying so hard to raise while their mom is battling. It is important to feel that and to let it out. It provokes action, like letters of support, and hugs when I do see him again. I don't cry because I feel pain for him, but because I recognize the beauty of the experience between his wife and her mother.
We fabricate these kinds of experiences through media, and then it may feel silly sometimes to be "tricked" into such an emotional response to a character. But the fact is, I'd rather know that I am someone who sees beauty and feels that spark of love in herself, rather than someone who lets that beauty pass her by.
"Alana, how often do you just watch a movie to have a good solid cry?"
"Weekly." I answered immediately. (If you ask my husband, he might guage it to be more often.)
The previous female who had been asked had answered "Monthly," so I suddenly became the boob of the group.
Doing what I do and having been trained in emotional health and life balance as I have, I know personally, that crying is just something I often need to do. It's as important to your life as laughter, when you feel it.
It has become a common topic with this co-worker to ask me "did you cry this weekend?" "when was the last time you cried?" and once he told me about a movie he had seen over the weekend with his wife and child about a dolphin whose tail had been amputated, but he was taught how to swim with a prosthetic and his wife had cried. But he hadn't.
It's a silly topic, and we play around with it.
This morning I was reading a blog post about my dear cousin's wife Illana Smith, who has cancer.
http://ilanascancer.blogspot.com/
She had a bad bout this week. Needing a trachiotomy, eye patches on both eyes, IV nutrition, and increasing paralysis on either side. They had a picture up of her eyes covered, tubes in and out, and the little notes she tries to write to communicate. The writer talked about how her mom traveled to come and hold her daughter's hand and feel that "I love you" between them.
Crying is okay. It happens when you feel something human and empathize to support one's self or someone else. I care about my cousin, even though I haven't seen him in years. I care about his mother who is hurting for him, and his little boys who he is trying so hard to raise while their mom is battling. It is important to feel that and to let it out. It provokes action, like letters of support, and hugs when I do see him again. I don't cry because I feel pain for him, but because I recognize the beauty of the experience between his wife and her mother.
We fabricate these kinds of experiences through media, and then it may feel silly sometimes to be "tricked" into such an emotional response to a character. But the fact is, I'd rather know that I am someone who sees beauty and feels that spark of love in herself, rather than someone who lets that beauty pass her by.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
National Park Madness!
Dale and my most recent road trip was to Yellowstone park! Only 5.5 hours away from our apartment, Dale's parents had arranged to meet us in the mansion/cabin of a family friend. It looks like this:
What you do see is a two story log cabin with vaulted ceilings, well furnished, decorated, and nicknacked to appear welcoming and comfortable. What you don't see are the 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, supply stocked garage, and all conveniences exactly where they might be easily found. Example: I was being a girl scout and lighting a fire in the fireplace--with kindling and tinder and everything!--and matches could be found exactly where one might expect them, in a nicknack jar on the mantlepiece. The place was AMAZING. |
| Buffalo (20 feet away!) |
The next morning we headed out to Yellowstone (a mere 15 minute drive up the highway!). We saw:
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| GEORGEOUS VISTAS |
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| Elk (25 feet away!) |
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| Hot pits that appear to go to the center of the earth |
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| Constantly erupting geysers and little puddles that boil from lava |
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| Cool geological features that form due to the constantly flowing water |
 |
| And me and Dale, of course |
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| And this amazing waterfall you can't quite see in the back ground of the picture Dale and I are posing in. |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Zoo
Have you been to the zoo recently? I think I went once to the San Diego Zoo with my Junior Girl Scout troop in elementary school. If you, like me, have forgotten the awesomeness that is the zoo, I highly recommend that you take a refresher course.
Salt Lake may not have everything I'd like in a city, but the Hogle Zoo is--in a word--freaking-awesome-fantastic! (I couldn't choose just one, so I strung a whole bunch of them together. Pretty proud of myself for that solution.) Dale and I had been intending to go to the zoo for an afternoon ever since we moved up to Salt Lake a year or so ago. We finally got the gumption to do it when one of our friends from BYU invited us to their son's 1st birthday party there. After the party, Dale and I broke off and saw EVERYTHING the place had to offer.
I loved the groupings of "wild" animals that looked a lot like common household pets, including:
A sand cat, ie: fluffy kitten,
A wolf, ie. "sleeping puppy,"
I was, seriously THAT far away from that thing. A real crocodle, just waiting with it's mouth open, as if a bird would just fly between his jaws and he could catch a lunch real quick. It was TOTALLY real. I could see it's tounge move as it breathed.
Yet again, THAT far away. There were 4 tigers that we saw, but this one was pacing at the edge of it's territory, warning all of us onlookers that we weren't to cross the chain-link fense!
Girraffes are always cool too. In real life, their knecks are SO WEIRD!! WAY skinny, and they actually have antlers! Little nubby, furry ones!
But I must say, my favorite was the large primate exhibit. I had gone through the small primate/reptile/mammal/amphibian exhibit with EXACTLY what feels like child-like glee! I was absolutely IN LOVE with every new creature I met, unless I was severely disturbed by the creepy ones, and therefore bizzarely drawn to stare (bats, snakes, turantulas, etc). Dale loved how I ran from glass to glass, staring at the creatures inside. Each one was absolutely amazing.
This guy was the dad of a little orangutang family. When he walked he looked like a sasquach! There was a mom and a little daughter too, and it was totally gross, but the daughter kept throwing up and playing with it until the mother would take the piles of canvass laying around the exhibit and whipe up her mess. It was comically humanesque!
The one that Dale couldn't wat to see was the apes, and we got to spend the most time there. This fellow is a large silver back ape and he is SO SMART!!! His movements were so human, and when he grabbed that orange ball, he leaned back on his knees and his eyes had THOUGHTS in them! With others, the tiger and giraffe, etc, their eyes had instinct in them, but not intelligent thought. This fellow sat back on his haunches and looked absolutely bored. He made eye contact with the people behind the glass (us), as if to say "Seriously, guys? This is what you do for fun?" He then looked around his room and the lady next to me spoke his thoughts alloud "I really need to paint that wall." It was AWESOME.
Salt Lake may not have everything I'd like in a city, but the Hogle Zoo is--in a word--freaking-awesome-fantastic! (I couldn't choose just one, so I strung a whole bunch of them together. Pretty proud of myself for that solution.) Dale and I had been intending to go to the zoo for an afternoon ever since we moved up to Salt Lake a year or so ago. We finally got the gumption to do it when one of our friends from BYU invited us to their son's 1st birthday party there. After the party, Dale and I broke off and saw EVERYTHING the place had to offer.
I loved the groupings of "wild" animals that looked a lot like common household pets, including:
A sand cat, ie: fluffy kitten,
A wolf, ie. "sleeping puppy,"And rock cavy, ie "wild guinea pig." (these were pretty sweet, though. They mate for life.)
We also saw reptiles
I was, seriously THAT far away from that thing. A real crocodle, just waiting with it's mouth open, as if a bird would just fly between his jaws and he could catch a lunch real quick. It was TOTALLY real. I could see it's tounge move as it breathed.
Yet again, THAT far away. There were 4 tigers that we saw, but this one was pacing at the edge of it's territory, warning all of us onlookers that we weren't to cross the chain-link fense!Girraffes are always cool too. In real life, their knecks are SO WEIRD!! WAY skinny, and they actually have antlers! Little nubby, furry ones!But I must say, my favorite was the large primate exhibit. I had gone through the small primate/reptile/mammal/amphibian exhibit with EXACTLY what feels like child-like glee! I was absolutely IN LOVE with every new creature I met, unless I was severely disturbed by the creepy ones, and therefore bizzarely drawn to stare (bats, snakes, turantulas, etc). Dale loved how I ran from glass to glass, staring at the creatures inside. Each one was absolutely amazing.
This guy was the dad of a little orangutang family. When he walked he looked like a sasquach! There was a mom and a little daughter too, and it was totally gross, but the daughter kept throwing up and playing with it until the mother would take the piles of canvass laying around the exhibit and whipe up her mess. It was comically humanesque!
The one that Dale couldn't wat to see was the apes, and we got to spend the most time there. This fellow is a large silver back ape and he is SO SMART!!! His movements were so human, and when he grabbed that orange ball, he leaned back on his knees and his eyes had THOUGHTS in them! With others, the tiger and giraffe, etc, their eyes had instinct in them, but not intelligent thought. This fellow sat back on his haunches and looked absolutely bored. He made eye contact with the people behind the glass (us), as if to say "Seriously, guys? This is what you do for fun?" He then looked around his room and the lady next to me spoke his thoughts alloud "I really need to paint that wall." It was AWESOME.Thursday, September 15, 2011
Home making peer pressure
So, apparently being one of 2 social workers in my building means I'm a "co-department head." And apparently being a "co-department head" means I am part of an "executive team." As a member of the "executive team" I get lots of perks like free breakfast on Mondays and Thursdays, and I am privy to the financial performance of our facility.
This last month marked 13 months of profitability, "in the black," or "not spending more than we earn," which for a hospital is pretty amazing.
In order to celebrate and say "thank you" to the staff for all of their hard work in contribution to this success, we had a salmon barbecque for lunch yesterday. The "executive team" brought all of the food. I'm the youngest person on the team, and as we all volunteered to bring things, there were entries like "50 lbs of sea salmon," "shrimp and maccaroni salad" etc. By the time I realized that I was expected to bring something to this event, someone had already signed up for "chinese chicken salad"--the most economical mass quantity dinner one can possibly make.
PAUSE: I have a problem with bringing things to events with people who are richer than me. I like my cooking. My husband likes my cooking. People who we invite to eat at our home tend to enjoy my cooking. After that point, I've had bad experiences. The last time I volunteered to bring a family who had requested help with meals a dinner, I reached their door (in a millionare neighborhood) and all the host could say when he saw my offering was "Well, I guess that works."
I now have performance anxiety.
The only thing I could think to make was a tuna noodle salad that I LOVE but haven't been able to make in the last 2 years because Dale hates both onions and tuna, which this is ripe full of. It feeds me about 8 times. And I eat a LOT of this stuff. As my last experience's poor reception could have been signed off as bad presentation, I decided to break out the fancy presentation ware dishes that I got as a wedding gift and had not yet used, hoping that would make the difference.
I got to work, hoping to put my dish in the fridge somewhere before having to carry it through the building, open to the scrutiny of all who would judge my home making. I approached our catering manager:
"So it's a cold dish?"
"yup"
"And that's it?" sizing up my blue kitchen bowl and mentally calculating how many people we had to feed.
I held back my blush and pushed out a "yup" before I could feel too embarassed for not making enough and she showed me which fridge was State approved for staff dishes.
My greatest fear was that no one would eat it, and I would have the shame of being rejected by everyone who came by for the more fancy, expensive ingredient dishes. I even watched people who dished it up onto their plates to see if they would actually eat it, or just have a taste and then throw it away with the rest of their plate whiped clean.
I definately don't have it in me to be a cateror.
This last month marked 13 months of profitability, "in the black," or "not spending more than we earn," which for a hospital is pretty amazing.
In order to celebrate and say "thank you" to the staff for all of their hard work in contribution to this success, we had a salmon barbecque for lunch yesterday. The "executive team" brought all of the food. I'm the youngest person on the team, and as we all volunteered to bring things, there were entries like "50 lbs of sea salmon," "shrimp and maccaroni salad" etc. By the time I realized that I was expected to bring something to this event, someone had already signed up for "chinese chicken salad"--the most economical mass quantity dinner one can possibly make.
PAUSE: I have a problem with bringing things to events with people who are richer than me. I like my cooking. My husband likes my cooking. People who we invite to eat at our home tend to enjoy my cooking. After that point, I've had bad experiences. The last time I volunteered to bring a family who had requested help with meals a dinner, I reached their door (in a millionare neighborhood) and all the host could say when he saw my offering was "Well, I guess that works."
I now have performance anxiety.
The only thing I could think to make was a tuna noodle salad that I LOVE but haven't been able to make in the last 2 years because Dale hates both onions and tuna, which this is ripe full of. It feeds me about 8 times. And I eat a LOT of this stuff. As my last experience's poor reception could have been signed off as bad presentation, I decided to break out the fancy presentation ware dishes that I got as a wedding gift and had not yet used, hoping that would make the difference.
I got to work, hoping to put my dish in the fridge somewhere before having to carry it through the building, open to the scrutiny of all who would judge my home making. I approached our catering manager:
"So it's a cold dish?"
"yup"
"And that's it?" sizing up my blue kitchen bowl and mentally calculating how many people we had to feed.
I held back my blush and pushed out a "yup" before I could feel too embarassed for not making enough and she showed me which fridge was State approved for staff dishes.
My greatest fear was that no one would eat it, and I would have the shame of being rejected by everyone who came by for the more fancy, expensive ingredient dishes. I even watched people who dished it up onto their plates to see if they would actually eat it, or just have a taste and then throw it away with the rest of their plate whiped clean.
I definately don't have it in me to be a cateror.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Social Work: on communication
Here is a common complaint I hear at work:
"I am unhappy with my physcial therapy: (details...details...complaint...complaint). I might as well just go home!"
My usual response:
"Yeah, I could understand how that would be frustrating. Have you spoken to your physical therapist about it?"
Answer:
"No."
Me:
(waits for elaboration)..."Well, you should do that then."
"I am unhappy with my physcial therapy: (details...details...complaint...complaint). I might as well just go home!"
My usual response:
"Yeah, I could understand how that would be frustrating. Have you spoken to your physical therapist about it?"
Answer:
"No."
Me:
(waits for elaboration)..."Well, you should do that then."
A weekend away
We drove on Friday.
Saturday was exploring the Strip, focusing specifically on Caesar's Palace, the Bellagio, and a short tour of Paris.
Sunday was a trip to Hoover Dam. I'd never been there before, so the walk across the Dam and the newly built bridge diverting traffic were pretty marvelous to behold.
"There were 112 deaths associated with the construction of the dam.[68] Included in that total was J. G. Tierney, a surveyor who drowned on December 20, 1922, while looking for an ideal spot for the dam. He is generally counted as the first man to die in the construction of Hoover Dam. His son, Patrick W. Tierney, was the last man to die working on the dam's construction, 13 years to the day later.["
and
I have a hazy memory of a video in high school talking about how men died from falling into the concrete while it was being poured, as there was no way to stop it once it had started due to the drying rate--if the pouring was stopped, the dam would be ruined. I wanted to learn more about these haunting details, but opted against spending $30 per person for a tour of the power plant which may have continued to propogate the cover up! Still awesome to see.
On Sunday evening, we hit Fremont Street, which was even nicer on my second time around. The first time we went, there had been a protest parade scheduled for the evening, so it was overcrowded and Dale had been uncomfortable. This time, we had lots of space, and it just seemed like we walked into a really great party! There were 3 bands performing, one for each block that the Fremont Street Experience covered, in addition to other street performers and shops. We had a great time watching one of those spraypaint artists, who was really the best one I'd ever seen. I'm glad Dale liked his work so much that it gave us an excuse to buy one!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Lewis and Clark Caverns
...to which Lewis and Clark never really traversed.
Just one of the many interesting facts that I learned last weekend! Dale and I have all too late realized that summer is ending, and are trying to store up summer fun for the dreary winter months like so much blubber in a bear's belly. This week it was a 6 hour drive north to Butte, MT to camp with the in-laws!
Dale's parents had just bought a new trailer and wanted to try it out, so they invited us to attend at a half-way point between us and them. The total attendees included Dale, myself, Dallin (bro-in-law), Warren and Wendy. 5 people snug up in a trailer as wide as a street lane and about 20 feet long. It ended up being a really good time.
The camping ground was nestled in a stone quiet valley with a view of the stars like I haven't seen in years. At Dale's encouragement, I saw three shooting stars just by staring into the same spot for two minutes at a time. I had the presence of mind to make a wish on one of them. (Grant my wish, Universe!!!)
We came on Friday night, toured the caverns on Saturday, and left after a Sunday morning hang out. It was quite awesome. Great food each day, an excuse to be outside in warm weather, and a campfire each night.
Here is a picture:
Just one of the many interesting facts that I learned last weekend! Dale and I have all too late realized that summer is ending, and are trying to store up summer fun for the dreary winter months like so much blubber in a bear's belly. This week it was a 6 hour drive north to Butte, MT to camp with the in-laws!
The camping ground was nestled in a stone quiet valley with a view of the stars like I haven't seen in years. At Dale's encouragement, I saw three shooting stars just by staring into the same spot for two minutes at a time. I had the presence of mind to make a wish on one of them. (Grant my wish, Universe!!!)
We came on Friday night, toured the caverns on Saturday, and left after a Sunday morning hang out. It was quite awesome. Great food each day, an excuse to be outside in warm weather, and a campfire each night.
Here is a picture:
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