Sam and Tofu

This isn't as good as spontaneous combustion, but I don't know if I can top that one. Anyway, a few people from our department went to a Mongolian barbeque for lunch one day. While in line we talked about what we would be putting in our stir fries. I mentioned that I like mine without meat but that I really didn't like tofu either. Sam agreed that tofu was gross and didn't know who would want to eat it.

When it was my turn I requested a heaping helping portion of this:

Sam raised her eyebrows and accused, "I thought you said you didn't like tofu." "By the way," she added while pointing, "I hate that stuff too." That =

.

It wouldn't have been so funny except that she said it with such genuine conviction. A better person than myself would've kept her mouth shut. Not me. Maybe she'd just called me "kid" too many times, but I promptly laughed and corrected her. What a jerk I am.

Muffins

I go through phases with my breakfast foods. All of elementary school I would eat nothing but pancakes in the morning. Flat, undercooked, whitish-yellow pancakes because that's how I like them best. Gross, right?

Anyway, I am currently on a muffin kick. Here are the recipes I've tried so far and quite enjoyed:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Both were excellent although I subbed buttermilk for milk in the blueberry muffins. I would love to have more recipes to try. So if you have a good one, please share in a comment.

Bad Luck or Paranoia

Apparently P's were a difficult letter for me in elementary school. In 3rd grade I got a ^ on my handwriting assignment. I think that translates to a D. I was horrified. I did the only thing I could think to do: throw it away. But then it occurred to me, what if the janitor sees it and knows that I threw it away so I didn't have to tell my mom? I decided to put it at the very bottom of the trashcan. No, better yet, fold it into a tiny square so you can't see what it is! So that's what I did. Spent ten minutes folding and folding and folding again until it wouldn't fold anymore. Remember this is only an assignment. ONE assignment. Not even a test, much less a final grade. Sounds like paranoia, right?

Well, I ditched school twice in high school. Yes, only twice. [Unless you count senior ditch day, when I got special permission from my mom. And still went to seminary anyway.] As evidenced by the above story, I have a morbid fear of getting in trouble. [Plus, I kind of liked school; just don't tell anyone.] Anyway, the two times I ditched were for a boy. Shocking, right? Well, I had a glorious day of washing his truck together and hanging out with his mom. So obviously nothing scandalous except that I should've been in class. When I got home (about the right time, I might add) my mom asked me how school went. Another one of my faults is that I'm a terrible liar. So I don't do it. I said, "It seemed very short." She dropped what she was doing and blurted out, "You ditched??!!"

Now, some of you may be thinking that my friend's mom called her or somehow she'd known before I walked in the door. If that were the case, she would've said so because that's how our family operates. We're just not sneaky people. So if she says nobody told her, nobody told her. SHE JUST KNEW.

See how bad my luck is? I guess I can't really take credit for doing the right thing anymore. It's only because I know I'll never get away with it. By the way, I ended up telling my mom about the P handwriting assignment within 0.5 seconds of walking through the door. I am so lame.

Sigh

Today was just one of those days. One of those days where nothing really sounded good to eat, the staples littered around the copier desk particularly annoyed me, and I feel awfully tired. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will bring good news. In the mean time, here is a song to brighten a Monday night.



P.S. That wasn't sarcasm. I think the song is very comforting. I mean, who wouldn't want to see my family's parade?

2010 Goals

I think I've got my goals together enough to write them down. So here comes another dry post.

1 - Write my grandma monthly.
2 - Transfer CD's to my Ipod.
3 - Visit teach
at least one of my sisters per month.
4 - Finish the Book of Mormon, studying not just reading.
5 - Get our guest bathroom remodeled.
6 - Replace the front screen door.
7 - Clean out the remaining closets.
8 - Fix our yard (and maintain it!).
9 - Do Temple work for my father.
10 - Visit my grammie's farm.
11 - Keep my journal up to date.
12 - Learn to bake loaves of bread as well as artisan bread.
13 - Plan and have one date night a week.
14 - Change the water filters in the kitchen.
15 - Wash all of the baseboards.
16 - Clean out the garage.
17 - Settle my dad's affairs.
18 - Get into shape.

I might add more as I think of them. This is a good start though. Wish me luck, I guess.

It Was Meant to Be

While talking about stress at work today, I was reminded of a good coworker story. You remember "Sam" my ex-coworker? I was actually her replacement as she had accepted a job in another department. Thus, she trained me. It was awful.

"Sam" believes that we all release certain energies. Apparently some of us have energy that isn't compatible to other energies (I guess that's what you tell yourself when you're a cantankerous person). She said that she and I were very high energy. Translation to me: high strung. Which is true.

Anyway, she told me this long winded story about a heated argument she had with one of our VP's. As the conversation become more and more tense, she began to feel warmer and warmer. Finally, she felt so hot she got up and went to the bathroom to take a breather. When she looked in the mirror her eyebrows were singed! [I think I was supposed to gasp at this part of the story] Yes, her energy levels reached such incredible levels that it burned her brows.

"And now I know why you were meant to work here," she said. I couldn't possibly imagine how her story related to me. "To warn you." .....?? "about spontaneous combustion." Usually I'm pretty quick, but it took me a minute to put this together. She thought I was in danger of causing self spontaneous combustion? And then I went to the bathroom and cried.

A Little Slow

I've always been slow to join the band wagon. I mean, I got an Ipod less than six months ago. We JUST got Guitar Hero, and I only added texting to my phone plan a few months ago. I think you get the point. At any rate, it doesn't really bother me. I like to make informed decisions, and it takes me awhile to decide a fad is worth doing. But what was I thinking not joining Netflix??? This thing is great. Has everyone else been using them for years?

Recap of '09 Goals

This is a tedious post. I advise you not to read unless you're really bored. Or want to become bored. 2009 was the first year I really made an effort to set goals. Specific, reasonably attainable goals (I think my buddy Stephen R. would've been proud). Anyway, I think blogging about my progress on said goals will provide some accountability. So basically this post is for me, not you.

1 - Learn to make breads: cinnamon rolls, loaf breads, rolls, pizza crust, and artisan breads.

I have made yummy cinnamon rolls plus decent rolls and pizza crust. For Christmas I got two baking books and some supplies, so I should be on track to learn loaf and artisan breads this year.

2 - Fix our yard: get grass growing, keep tidy and presentable, get patio furniture, plant flowers.

Ehhh, Ryan got our grass growing (looks great, honey!), and I've tried to do better about sweeping the porch and raking the leaves. Note: leaves are littering the front yard as I type. We now have a good grill and a fire pit but no other furniture. I guess this is another to be continued in '10.

3 - Replace the front door with a nicer one that lets in light.

We have the new door picked out, but we've had trouble finding a contractor to do the work. The first guy tried to hoodwink us, the second guy hasn't returned my calls . . . we will be calling guy number three shortly.

4 - Catch up on writing in my journal (this was actually #6 but I was getting low self esteem listing so many unaccomplished goals in a row).

Although I still have much room for improvement, I am actually up to date through the new year on my journal writing.

5 - Do Temple work for my father.

I'm a horrible person, but I didn't do this one. I'm only a month or two late though. Yeah, no excuses . . .

6 - Settle my dad's affairs.

This was perhaps my loftiest goal and I am closer than I expected. We have a few straggling issues to finish, but we're almost there! The house sold (truly a miracle), the estate sale was successful, and the Harley sold (I am sooo glad I'm not stuck with a motorcycle).

7 - Visit my grammie's farm in Texas.

I added this one late in the year, so she didn't have any trips planned. She has been informed that I'm interested though, so we will be going sometime this year, I hope.

8 - Get into shape.

Big fat no.

9 - Reorganize the filing cabinet.

Yes! Finally an unequivocal yes.

10 - Clean the baseboards.

Another yes.

11 - Clean the garage.

Yes.

12 - Learn the Articles of Faith.

I know this is embarrassing. I mean, what adult does that? But I never memorized them as I child (being baptized at 13). It seemed like I should learn them before we have children so that I can teach them. Well, I did it! I have to sing some of them, but I can do it.

13 - Go camping.

No. Our trip was canceled due to some bad timing.

14 - Make a cake from scratch.

It was not the loveliest cake, but it was pretty tasty.

15 - Make a pie (that actually tastes good).

My first pie attempt was a disaster. I guess I overfilled it, and the filling seeped over and then beneath the crust. The entire pie was encased in black burntness. My next attempt was Alton's blueberry and it was great! I've also made a couple of pot pies using , and they were okay. The trust was tasty, but it fell apart and had to be pieced back together. Probably I just need to practice.

16 - Repaint our side gate.

Yes! And since I used tinted sealant instead of paint, hopefully I won't have to do it again for awhile. Also, I pretended I was the Karate Kid.

17 - Clean out the closets.

One down and two more to go.

18 - Start food storage!

Ryan's parents had the genius idea to give us two 30-day supplies for Christmas each year. At our second year, we now have 60 days a piece. I also bought a can rotating system so we have canned goods to last us probably another 60 days. I redid our 72-hour kits (that previously were without food). So I'd say I'm off to an okay start. If food storage is even a fraction as scary to you as it is to me, check out this website: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ which helped me tons just to get motivated.

Well, I guess I have a lot of unfinished business to roll to this year. Soon to come, my 2010 list. Again, to add accountability; I don't expect anyone to read them.

Let It Be Known

If I ever do become pregnant, you are under no circumstances allowed to touch, rub, pat, stroke, etc. my stomach. Baby or no baby I think it's weird to have people touching my tummy. Consider yourselves all forewarned. That is all.