Today is December 25, 2008. In most of the world it is Christmas. At my parents' house in California it is just Thursday. Grandpa is in the hospital so we are not celebrating until he gets home. We visited with him in his hospital room for a few hours this morning, and will go back again later tonight.

So instead of a wonderful blog about Christmas and the mounds of presents that I have received, I am making a list of things that I enjoy at my parents' house.

1. 400 thread count sheets (I also like to sneak in to my parents bed to nap on their 600 thread counts!)
2. No snow!
3. Cookies...everywhere you look. Trifle dish on the counter? Check! Bag on the island? Of course! Stashed in between the boxes and boxes of crackers in the pantry? Giddy up!
4. My mom's new Christmas tree...as she says, it is dripping with ornaments.
5. Don't want to get up to turn the lights (fan, Christmas tree, driveway lights, you name it) on or off? No worries...they are all on REMOTE CONTROL!!!
6. Gloriously fluffy pillows
7. Dad's A-Maze-ing cooking. I have been here for a day and have gained 30 lbs.
8. Going through the stacks of Christmas cards that mom receives from old friends and family
9. Snuggling on the couch and having mom tickle my back/arm/feet/whatever area of my body that I can trick her into touching
10. Getting to visit with Grandma and Grandpa for maybe the last time (though we've been saying that for 5 years now)
11. Books, books and more books
12. Love

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Winter has finally arrived in Utah. Perhaps finally is not the right word. Finally is a word that has the sound of Joyous expectation ie Christmas is finally here! I should change it to say Winter has arrived in Utah, damn it! (sorry Mom...and Emily).

We had a big snow storm this weekend, and temps dropped to the 30's and 20's. The low on Wednesday is 14. Last night I went to my car to deliver dinner to my friend that had surgery, and my back door wouldn't open. Why you ask? It was frozen shut. Yep, FROZEN SHUT! Come on people! We live in Utah, not Alaska! It's not like we can see Russia from our back yards!

I was tempted to force the door open, but suddenly I was reminded of when I lived in Connecticut (another state in the Arctic Tundra) and the front door to my car was frozen shut. I forced it open (because I was late to work as usual). Then when I went to close it, it would not latch. I had forced the lock open and it was still frozen! So I had to make the 40 minute drive to work, holding the door shut with my left hand (crying the whole time) and driving with my right hand. I should probably mention that my car was a stick shift. Yeah, hard to drive that with one hand. It was TERRIBLE. So after this painful memory, I decided to just walk around to the other side of the car and open the passenger side door. It worked! Yay! Crisis averted!

Instead of being crabby about the cold, I am trying to think of the good things about winter. Christmas is the most obvious. Not only does it bring Joy and reflection on Jesus' birth...it also brings the opportunity to decorate our yards! Woo Hoo! On one side of our walkway we have a penguin playground surrounded by snowflake lights. On the other side we have a snowman conga line (no they are not really doing the conga, but wouldn't that be cool!). Delicious goodies are also a plus for winter. I LOVE the hot cocoa at 7-11. This probably sounds white trashy, but it is delicious! They have flavor shots that you can add, plus mini marshmallows and creamers! I usually just add cinnamon and the mini marshmallows. On a good day they have chocolate marshmallows! MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Winter also brings cute sweaters (perfect for hiding the pudge from a fore mentioned goodies) and fuzzy hats. Mittens and Christmas lights at the Temple....sing alongs, parties with friends, and vacation days from work. Things are looking up! I can see the bright side of winter. This should keep me happy for a while....or at least until the next time I have to shovel the back deck so the dogs will go potty (which unfortunately will be tomorrow).

Stupid Socks

I hate socks. They make my feet feel dry and confined. I am a toe wiggler. Socks makes it difficult to do so, especially in shoes. Why can't I wear flip flops all year long? Yes, they make my back hurt, but they are so comfy!

I try to trick myself in to liking socks by buying cute ones. Stripes, flowers, polka dots (though no crazy halloween socks or those things that are like gloves that you put each toe in it's own space...GROSS!). Today I am wearing some very cute and soft yellow socks with tan, blue and white stripes. You would think the socks would want to do their job...keep my feet warm and dry. But no! They are revolting...perhaps going on strike? Wanting for a better job than to protect my smelly tootsies?

My cute yellow socks are actually rejecting my feet. The reason that I know this is because they are trying to escape. When I put them on this morning they seemed calm and relaxed. Eager to please. Comforting even. However, as I walked to my office, the plan was executed. The socks immediately began creeping down my ankles, to my heels, and then to the middle of my foot! I think they knew that my shoes were not in on the plan, because there they stayed. In the middle of my foot, hiding beneath my arch, like little cottony cowards.

So I gave them some reprieve. I took my shoes off and am now working in just my sock feet. But soon I'm going to have to go to the bathroom, and sadly it will all begin again.

Confession
Ok, so I have a confession. I ate 4 1/2 donuts on Tuesday at work. What you can't read that? FINE! I ate 4 1/2 donuts on Tuesday at work! Now it's out in the open. You all know my secret. I am a donut hog.

I just couldn't resist. The first one was a plain with chocolate glaze and Christmas sprinkles. As festive as this sounds, it wasn't really that good. So I couldn't end on a bad note. My 2nd donut was a bismark...you know...cream filled with chocolate glaze. Oh my goodness it was heavenly. This ended my craving and I knew i could make it the rest of the day without another one.

But then for some strange reason, the box was left in my office, right behind my desk...tempting me with their chocolatey deliciousness. So around 3:30 I had a chocolate bar. I'm not sure where chocolate bars have been all my life, but this was perhaps donut perfection. It had a plain glaze, and THEN a chocolate glaze on top of that! Yummmmmmmmm! Then at 5 Micci left to go home. She came in and ate a 1/2 of a maple bar. ( I was really impressed with her will power to only eat 1/2. You have to know that Micci is obsessed with maple bars. She dreams about them at night. I'm thinking she might even love them more than her husband, and she really loves him ALLOT!). Naturally after she left, I ate the other 1/2. It too was wonderful.

Wait, if I did my math correctly, that means I only ate 3 1/2 donuts! Woo Hoo! While I know this is nothing to be proud of, I now feel like I can take the scarlet letter off my chest (duh...that would be a D for donut) and not be shunned from society! Oh happy day!!

My Thanksgiving was awesome. Jen and I slept in until 10! Woo Hoo! We had reservations at a restaurant at the Snowbird Resort at 1:30, so we got up and headed out. The food was fabulous. We had sushi and other appetizers, which were just ok. But then we headed over to the hot food section. The turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy were To. Die. For. I ate my body weight and then went back for seconds. Then it was off to the dessert table. No, this does not describe it well enough. It was 6 feet of candy coated, chocolate dipped, cheesecake deliciousness. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mouse cups with little cookies and candies, cobblers, cookies, cakes....sorry I just salivated on my desk. The best part though was the Bananas Foster station. A lovely young man in a tall white chef hat scoops a mound of compound butter with cinnamon into a hot pan. Then he slices bananas and tenderly drops them in. He heats these together until the butter melts...if that wasn't enough, he then squirts some rum into the concoction...which bursts in to flames!! Step back! Call the fire department! This competent young man however puts out the flames quickly, as is supposed to happen. He serves up a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream topped with the now slightly crispy coated bananas and you have a bowl of heaven.

Jen and I then headed home and took a nap. I mean we had been up for 3 hours after all. But we needed to gear up for Black Friday....which started this year at 8Pm on Thanksgiving night. We went to Michaels Crafts and got some Christmas decor for the yard. We then went to a movie at 10:00. After that we were off to Fashion Place Mall and then South Towne Mall. We shopped around for a couple hours, got pedicures at 3 a.m. (FUN!). I fought the crowd at Pennys at 4 a.m. Next stop was Shopko which was a zoo, so we exited pronto. Then off to Smith's Marketplace at 6 for free donuts and apple cider. We shopped there until about 7:30 a.m. One more stop to drop some donuts off to Todd at his store Axis Sports in Draper, and then home at 8:25 a.m. We slept for about 3 hours, then headed back out! It was insane. We didn't really have anything we needed to buy, and didn't spend much money, but it was such a fun experience.

Saturday was the Winona Christmas concert in Wendover with Jen and Kristi. I've always been a fan of Winona and was really excited to see her live. Man can she belt out a tune! She was fantastic. The mood was a little mellow however..she's become a holy roller! We headed over to the casino to find Paul (Kristi's husband). He was stuck in gamblers la la land. After trying unsuccessfully for 10 minutes to get him to go home, Kristi and I headed over to the bar to watch the show. It was 3 black men in their 60's singing old Motown favorites. This was the highlight of my night! They were great! Finally, with an extra $2.50 in my pocket (thanks to the penny slots), we headed home.

It was a crazy weekend and I'm glad it's over. Today I am falling asleep at my desk. But I loved it! I am so glad I live with my sister and that she's up for such fun!

Things I am thankful for

1. My sister. She is my best friend. I love her with all of my heart. She takes great care of me, makes yummy dinners, keeps the house clean and makes me laugh daily.
2. My parents. Even though I was a monster of a teenager, they raised me right and taught me so many valuable lessons that made me who I am today.
3. My dogs. It may seem silly, but they bring light and happiness to my life...so much joy can be found from unconditional love...now if only they'd let me sleep through the night...even just once!
4. My friends. They love me for me, and tolerate my faults. They have accepted me in to their families and share their family time, homes and lives with me.
5. My freedom to choose. To choose anything. To choose a President of our country. To choose right over wrong. To choose what kind of person I want to be, what morals and values I want to have, where I live, where I work, what religion I practice.
6. My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. For the blessings in my life that have been given to me and for those that I have not yet received. For the knowledge that this life is just a test. That I have the ability to repent for my mistakes and will be forgiven. That some day I can live with my family again in Heaven.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may you remember to be thankful every day of your life.

Things I need an intervention for

I have a problem. I have an addictive personality. (I blame my mother). My vices, in no particular order, are:

1. Oreos
2. Kit Kat bars
3. Caffeine free diet coke, 1 squirt of lime, and the delicious little ice from the corner Circle K
4. Ice-cream...any kind really, but particularly peppermint at this time of year (scooped on top of a warm brownie with crumbled up oreos....mmmmmmmm!)
5. Warm Brownies with peppermint ice-cream and crumbled up oreos
   
6. Rescuing (and subsequently adopting) dogs
7. Facebook
8. Oreos
9. Paradise Bakery Cookies
10. Jon and Kate plus 8
11. Wearing sweat pants to work
12. Planning vacations that I will never EVER be able to afford
13. Cookbooks
14. Driving around town looking for the cheapest gas
15. Blogging when I am supposed to be working
    

Will someone please contact A&E television and ask them if they can do an intervention episode on any (ok all) of these problems???

Lazy Saturdays? A thing of the past ever since my sister and I became home owners. (ok, so she owns the home, I just mooch off of her). This past Saturday I spent 4 hours raking up leaves in my backyard. All from my neighbors trees....yeah, I am very happy about that. When my sister and I moved in to our house, we were so excited that our neighbors had fruit trees that stretched over our fence....Apple+plum+apricot+grape vines = fun, right? WRONG! The apricot tree is so tall that most of the fruit cannot be reached...so they fall all over our yard. The plum tree is a little better, however fruit falls off before it is ripe. Our yard is littered with nasty rotting fruit...and it is a fruitless (ha ha..pun intended) task trying to keep Mimi from eating the pits.

Anyway...back to my point. Jen came home and helped me about 1/2 way through the miserable task of bagging up all of the leaves. Here is the end result. (There are 10 bags total):
While we busted our humps cleaning up the yard, this is what our dogs were doing:

Mimi

Dandie

Razzy

Razzy is our new foster dog. She is an adorable Cocker Spaniel that was turned in to a shelter in California due to numerous health problems. Yesterday Razzy had several mammary tumors removed, and soon she will have her back knees operated on. She is a sweet natured dog...except when Mimi goes after her..then watch out! Dandie of course is oblivious to her existance. Once her surgeries are over the hope is that she is adopted quickly and goes to a loving family....let me know if anyone is interested!!

So after our day of strenuous work, I complained the rest of the day and loafed on the couch while giving my sore muscles a much needed break! More to come about our crazy doggies.....

This weekend I drove to Boise with my good friends Shana and Todd. After losing touch with my friends Mindy and Angela from high school, I recently found both of them on Facebook. So we planned a fun weekend and off I went!

I stayed with Mindy, John and their 4 adorable kids - Brooke, Amber, Joshua and Emma Jo. They all treated me like family! I watched Iron Man with the kids...all 5 of us snuggled up on a loveseat in their awesome theater room. It was a tight fit...but fun! I got to lay around, sleep in, and just relax. It was heavenly.

On Saturday evening Mindy and I met Angela, and Mindy's sister Katy at the Cheesecake Factory. Dinner was delicious (no, I did not have the fried macaroni and cheese balls...dang it!). Then we walked around the mall for a little while, including Sephora...my favorite make up store! I was a good girl and didn't buy anything, but I did introduce Mindy to Bare Escentuals..LOVE IT! After the mall closed, we dropped Ang off and headed back to Mindy's house. Mindy, John and I watched Get Smart. It was so funny!

On Sunday I slept in....til 10:30! Woo Hoo! No dogs to wake me up! Mindy made a delicious breakfast, and then we just relaxed until Shana and Todd came to pick me up. The drive home was long, but fun. I was glad to be home and in my own bed!

Mindy is wonder woman...Her 2 littlest kids both have Cystic Fibrosis and need a LOT of medical attention, so she is a very very busy (and tired) mom. Yet she made breakfast every day, made chocolate chip cookies for my ride home, stew for Sunday dinner, ran 4 miles on the treadmill, wrangled her 4 crazy kids..whew...I was tired just watching it all. I was once again reminded of the blessings in my life, how I really have no major trials to speak of, and how Heavenly Father will never give us more than we can handle. I guess HE knows I can't handle much! :)

Today as I was painting my fingernails a really REALLY dark red, which looks black, I realized that perhaps I am too old to pull that off. Which led me to wonder what else am I too old to do? Here's what I came up with:

1. Wear black looking fingernail polish (the fact that I borrowed it from my 22 year old roommate should have been my first clue).
2. Wear my hair in a pony tail every day (I try to only do it 2x a week now)
3. Not Vote. On the radio today they were looking for the oldest person who voted for the first time today. The response (though I suspect it was a joke) was an 84 year man named Joel. Now granted, this is only the 2nd election I've ever voted at, but come on people....if you don't vote, you have no right to complain!
4. Sleep in til 8:30 on a work day. (according to my sister anyway...I see no problem with it).
5. Change diapers. No explanation needed
6. Listen to rap music...it hurts my ears truly! (when did I turn in to my grandmother)?
7. Say "That's just how I roll". (I think I can pull this off, but according to my friend Cat, I am too old, and too white. She's only 24...what does she know? She doesn't even vote!!)

Things I hope I am NEVER too old to do:
1. Eat brownies for breakfast and cereal for dinner
2. Work in my garden
3. Be a friend to all. I DO NOT want to be a crabby old lady!
4. Enjoy a good dirty joke

A letter to...

Dear Weight Watchers,

My name is Stacy and I am a cookie-a-holic. Now, I started you several weeks ago and had great results...8.2 lbs lost in the first week! (I think I have Mr. Stomach Flu to thank for his assistance as well). The next 2 weeks I did not do as well. I gained 1.2 the 2nd week and 2 lbs the 3rd week. Last week I did not even weigh in at all because I was afraid the old man at the scale would yell at me and tell me he was disappointed (though he always says I get a star in his book...he's so cute!)

In my defense, I had to travel for work, and then it was my birthday week, which I celebrated with mounds and mounds of food. Then I went to St. George last weekend and devoured junk food both ways of the 4 hour drive.

So this week I am back on, full board! My fabulous sister, Jen, took the time to go through our new favorite cookbook from Hungry-girl.com, and then meal planned for the week. She even made me a special breakfast on Sunday to get me excited about things.

I have to tell you, this cookbook is fabulous, and the portion sizes are GINORMOUS! Here's the problem though, Mr. or Mrs. Weight Watchers...I am still STARVING!!! My friend Amber has a bag of delicious Classic Lays potato chips under her desk that are calling to my name. Paradise Bakery is a mere 1.5 miles away. And Harmons across the street has just about the best darn donuts around.

Please give me the strength to resist driving to the Circle K to get a package of ho-hos. Or perhaps you could change the points value of things to include those items listed above.

Thanks for your time!
Love,
Stacy

Ode to Paradise Bakery

Today I went to Paradise Bakery for lunch. I got my usual...a tuna sammy and roasted tomato soup. While delicious and oh-so filling...this is merely a distraction for the real reason to go to Paradise Bakery. The COOKIES!!!!

You get a deliciously gooey chocolate chip cookie for free just for ordering the lunch. I'm not sure why anyone would think one is enough. So of course I always take advantage of whatever special they are offering. Today it was buy one get one free. So, being the nice friend that I am, I got a sugar cookie for me, a choco chip for Amber, a chocolate chip coconut for Micci and a white chocolate chip macadamia nut for John. Truthfully I almost didn't get one for John. He didn't know I was going, so he would be none the wiser if I kept the 3rd cookie for myself! But my kindness and compassion on my left shoulder over-ruled the devil on my right shoulder so I got him his stupid cookie. I hope he enjoys it!

Here is my conversation with Micci after eating our cookies:
Micci: How do they make them so delicious?
Me: They sprinkle love and a little bit of heaven in to each cookie.
Micci: I think you are right.

And you know what, I think I am right, too!

Green Eyeshadow

I am obsessed with Green Eyeshadow. There! I've said it! The first step is admitting you have a problem...right? I go out of my way to buy clothes that I can wear green eyeshadow with. I think it's because I've always wanted green eyes. My eyes are hazel. On a good day, like when I'm having bad allergies or have cried my eyes out, they look kind of green. But mostly they are a weird shade of brown with green and gold flecks in them...sort of like poo. So ANYWAY...I learned in the 80's that green eyeshadow makes them look more green! Unfortunately the colored eyeshadow craze faded long ago. Imagine my surprise and delight when it came back a couple of years ago. Now I have 4 shades of green, 2 shades of blue, 2 shades of purple, lots of gold, bronzes, pinks...ooooohhh...Maybe I should say that I am obsessed with all shades of eyeshadow?

You have a birthday, shout Hooray!!

Yesterday was my 36th birthday! I am now officially closer to 40 than I am to 30. And I feel every day of it! :)

I had a marvelous day. It started with walking in to my office and seeing the cute decorations that Micci put on my computer and wall. (I didn't include a pic b/c my desk is too messy!!) She also brought donuts. I had 1. Ok, I had 2. Big deal! Then Amber gave me the new New Kids on the block CD. I felt a little dorky, but I'm not gonna deny it...I like NKOTB. So there!

Then after lunch work got me my favorite chocolate cake from Costco. Yes, I had to pick it up myself, but that was ok b/c I got to make sure I picked the very best one! (Thanks to Amber for helping me with that task!). This cake is 3 layers of fudgy deliciousness, with mounds of frosting and chocolate shavings. Oh sorry, I think I just salivated. Some people at work were complaining that there was too much frosting. Sheesh...amateurs!

I left work early to go home and plant some bulbs, but instead I watched the Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (my sister says this show is the downfall of modern America...whatever..I LOVE the drama!) and talked to my mom on the phone. Then off to the Cheesecake Factory with Jen and our friends Steve and Alisha. As we pulled up to the parking lot, I said "They aren't doing anything embarrassing like bringing balloons are they"? Sure enough, they got out of the car with a huge balloon bouquet. My sister sheepishly said they were from her. I was pretty embarrassed, but I carried them in to the restaurant with all the adults in the place laughing and the kids looking at me like I was Santa Clause. Dinner was DELICIOUS!!! Can anyone say Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese Balls!!! HEAVEN!!!!! We shared 4 appetizers, and then a piece of Adams peanut butter cheesecake and a new blueberry to die for cheesecake. The waitress wrote on my plate with chocolate sauce (um...YUM!) and they came out singing to me.

After dinner we decided to go to Nordstroms b/c I needed some makeup. Alicia decided to get a make over so we hung out, then we walked around the mall, me with my huge bouquet of balloons. It was pretty funny. Everyone kept saying Happy Birthday! to me. Steve was a good sport as we went to another make-up store and a beauty supply store. Finally it was back home to cuddle with the doggies and watch a little TV before bed.

It was a fabulous day. I got tons of phone calls and messages on my Facebook (Stacy543) page. I felt very loved and blessed that I have so many good friends and family!

Welcome to the Twilight Zone

The other day I was on my way to lunch, and drove past this girl on the sidewalk. I had to do a double take. She had on a long black spandex tank top. And nothing else! No pants...no undies...NOTHING! Well, I guess that's not completely true..She was carrying a pair of black shoes. Unfortunately I saw her actual bootie..Bare buns and all. It was really weird. (Not her buns, but the whole experience). I don't know what happened to her, but on the way back there were 2 police cars in the same spot, so I'm guessing they hauled her off to the slammer.

That same night I was walking the dogs around the neighborhood. We had gone on a nice, long, uneventful walk, and were rounding the corner towards my street when I heard the unmistakable sound of a.....GOAT! WHAT THE HAIL???!!!(as my friend's 3yr old likes to say). Did I make a wrong turn somewhere and fall of the planet? I looked around, and sure enough there was a goat in the back of a pick up truck! Next thing I know they are taking it out of the truck and leading it to the garage...on a leash! I stood there for a few minutes to see what they did next, but then I started feeling creepy, like some sort of peeping Tom. Plus the dogs were panting and starting to fall down on the ground because they are so lazy. So I will probably never know the story of the goat.

Weird, Right? It's not just me?

Last night's silliness

Ok, so I called him last night, but he didn't answer. I'll try again today!

On a different note, last night I got home, talked to my dad on the phone and took the dogs for a walk. My sister, who so kindly makes dinner for us every night, got home late. She was a little perturbed that I didn't make anything. So I did what I always do when it's my turn to cook...I suggested we go out for burgers!

Just as we were walking out the door, my primary president came over to chat withe me for a little bit. Oh yeah, I'm the first Counselor..LOVE IT! I think it's a trade off for not having any kids. Anyway, I mentioned that we were going to get burgers and she suggested a pub down the street that has amazing burgers. She said "The food is great! There will probably be some people drinking beers, but you will love the burgers". So being 1. Starving 2. Women of the world and not afraid of people drinking beer and 3. Too lazy to cook, Jen (my sis) and I headed out to get this amazing burger.

We pull up to the place and the windows are all foggy and there are 10 people standing outside smoking. First sign! We walk in and there's a pool table and a karaoke machine. Second Sign! Then there is a HUGE bar with some strange people sitting at it, and some random tables with men in camo gear and a woman missing every other tooth. Third Sign! We weren't sure what to do....sit down and make the best of it, or run from the building screaming with our integrity in tact! Well, being #2 from above, we decided to tough it out. The food was delicious...we split a "West Valley" Burger (bbq sauce, bacon, all the fixins, plus an onion ring....yum!) and an order of garlic cajun fries (Heaven!), and got out of there pretty quickly. On the plus side...the bar tender/waiter dude was hot!

Calling a boy?!

10 days ago I went on a fabulous blind date. I had a great time, and I think he did too. My friend Jen set us up, and is encouraging me to call him and ask him to "hang out". I think I might throw up. At almost 36 you'd think this would be old hat for me. But it's not! I'm an old fashioned gal! I want to be called! I want my door opened for me! I want him to feed me chocolate on a silver platter while massaging my feet. Ok, well not WHILE massaging my feet because that would mean I'd be eating foot flavored chocolate...and I'm not THAT desperate. But you get the picture.

So anyway, I am going to call him after work unless a natural disaster occurs, or they need me to volunteer for the Red Cross or the soup kitchen down town. I'd better take my cell phone with me just in case!

First day in the world of blog!

Hi! One of my secret dreams has come true....I've created a blog. Now for a confession, I have no idea how to do a blog! I used to consider myself technologically savvy, but after having to have my 25 year old co-worker help me learn myspace and facebook, I realized that I am an old relic...a dinosaur in the age of computer know-how. I still remember having a Coleco Vision and playing Donkey Kong for pete's sake! So anyhoo....please be patient as I learn this thing and come into the year 2008!