Valentine's Day

...at Valentine's Day, that is...

The DH and I aren't very good at Valentine's Day. It started when we were dating. For the record, we didn't get serious until March, but we both really liked each other in February.

I'm seriously deficient at being able to take risks, so I wanted to let Patrick know I liked him without putting anything on the line. Go figure. He's the same way. What a great combination.

Before our Valentine's Day date, I picked out the perfect card. It was just the right mix of "I like you" and "you're OK" without jumping up and down and saying I was really into him. At the same time, he had purchased a stuffed Valentine's bear. You'd think we could just be straight with each other and give each other these heart-felt gifts. But, if you thought that, you'd be wrong. We're far more pathetic than that.

After dinner, we chatted in my living room, at arms length of course. Then Patrick said goodbye and I didn't give him the card and he didn't give me the bear. He left after I said goodbye. But that's not the end of the story. He came back from his car and abruptly said, "I got you this." As he shoved the bear in my direction, I said, "oh, I forgot to give you this," and shoved the card in his direction.

Then he left for real and we both felt like complete idiots. When I shared this with my friend Lori at work the next day, she concluded that we were meant for each other. There are no two bigger invertebrates. We should not inflict ourselves on anyone else.

Happy Valentine's Day, DH!

The Worst Business Trip -- EVER

A week ago, I had a business trip to Las Colinas, Texas, just outside of Dallas. It was, by all accounts, my worst business trip ever – and I mean EVER. I’ve traveled quite a bit and consider myself quite comfortable arriving places I’ve never been to before and I’m not familiar with. I wasn’t worried at all about my trip. I got my MapQuest maps before I left so I’d be able to get from the airport to my hotel, from the hotel to the office, and back to the airport. I was all set.

Things started going awry as soon as I arrived at the airport. I went to the check-in kiosk and the computer couldn’t find my reservation. Confused, I went to the counter to find out that my reservation had been cancelled when the payment didn’t go through. I’d made the reservation through American Express corporate travel, so I was very confused. I called AmEx travel to find out why I didn’t have a ticket. They said it was a “computer glitch” that happened when their computer went to pay with a credit that I had from a previous cancelled flight. They reinstated the flight (at $200 more than the original ticket) and filed a complaint for me so I could get the money back.

With ticket in hand, I set out for the plane that was a half hour late. For once, I was actually happy with the delay as I didn’t have to stress about getting to the plane on time even with my ticketing issues. The flight was uneventful, which in the grand scheme of things really is the most important part of the story. I was safe the whole time, even if I was miserable by the end of the trip.

When I arrived in Dallas, I rented my car and left the airport with my map in hand. What I hadn’t realized before setting out on my drive to the hotel is that the airport is 5 miles north to south. My map was leaving from the north end of the airport, but the rental location put me leaving the airport at the south end of the airport. Dallas is a maze of highways. The hotel was 7 miles from the airport with highway the whole way. In a perfect world, this would have been a 10 minute trip. In my alternate universe, it was almost an hour, including my trip into and out of Dallas proper. Ugh! By the time I got to the hotel, it was 10:00. I was hungry and a bit grumpy, so I just wanted dinner and sleep. At the front desk, I asked about room service. The answer was, no. There is no room service there. I had to go out again and find some dinner. After finally finding a Taco Bell, I got dinner and found my way back to the hotel. Sleep at last!

The next morning, I had to be at the office at 8:00. Did I mention that it’s 2 hours ahead of Seattle? That’s like being at work at 6:00 Seattle time. I was a bit tired. The reason I was in Las Colinas was to facilitate a round-table discussion. Normally, this is an easy task for me. Also, I listened in on a similar call in Charlotte a few hours before mine in Las Colinas. I had my colleague helping me with setting up a Live Meeting that we could record and reserved the room a half hour ahead of time so I could get all set up. Then the crazy floor plan struck. My conference room was nowhere near the other conference rooms with numbers right above and below mine. By the time I got to the conference room, I had only 5 minutes to get everything set up and the Live Meeting recording wouldn’t work. Then the people who came wouldn’t talk. It was pretty aggravating and I wasn’t having fun. I don’t think I won any credibility with my peers in the other organization either.

When the round-table was done, I got to work on some other things I needed to do and got them all taken care of. I thought my plane left at 2:40, so I got on my way at 1:20. I got directions from my colleague to get to the airport so I wouldn’t waste any time. Well, I made two mistakes there. First, the flight was leaving at 2:20, not 2:40. Second, I got directions to the north end of the airport. That meant I had to drive all the way through the 5 miles of airport with the arrival and departure traffic.

When I finally got to the rental car return, it was so crowded I had to wait another 10 minutes to get out of there. The only good side of this was that it gave me time to change my blistered feet out of the offending shoes and into more comfortable shoes. On top of everything else, I made a really bad footwear choice for the day.

I finally arrived at the terminal at 1:48. I knew you needed 30 minutes to check in, so I ran to the kiosk to get in there under the wire. Then the kiosk asked me which later flight I wanted. I was crushed. I went to the counter and the woman told me it was 40 minutes for checked bags. I asked if I could get my bag back and go on the earlier flight. She stopped the belt, grabbed my bag, looked at the ticket and told me not to bother. I was in terminal C and the earlier flight was in terminal A. There was no way I could make it. I resigned myself to 2 hours in the airport and got in line for security.

I called the DH to tell him I’d be later than planned and started to cry. I was so tired and just wanted to be home again. Instead, I nursed my blistered feet and found a stuffed armadillo for the DH and enjoyed a salad at Chili’s. When I got home, the DH had a wonderful dinner prepared for me and we fell into bed shortly after eating dinner. I think that’s about the happiest I’ve ever been to get home from a trip.

Happy, Happy!

Shout out to An Ordinary Mom today. It's her birthday and she's just fabulous. I wish her all the best for the next year of her great life.

Snow Day… Again

Great pic courtesy of my brother here!

We’ve had bad weather her in Seattle yet again. It struck yesterday in the late afternoon with a vengeance. I usually pride myself in staying in front of such ugly weather and not getting in the traffic fray, but I was not so lucky last night. I spend two and a half hours traveling from my office to home. While sitting in my car for such a long time, I thought about how blessed I am. Even though I was in a messy traffic situation, I was safe and warm. These are a few other things I’m thankful for.

1. A DH who loves me and shows it in many ways.


2. A loving family that supports me.


3. A good job that challenges me and helps me grow in ways that I wouldn’t otherwise.


4. A warm house with electricity, gas, water, and sewer.


5. Really great friends both near and far. I know some really amazing people and they bless me in more ways than I can express here.


6. Cell phones that help keep me connected and make the commute go faster.


7. My health. I’m also thankful that I can work out regularly and feel good about myself doing it.


8. E-mail and blogs that keep me feeling connected to people I can’t see as often as I’d like.


9. A piano in my living room, even though I don’t play nearly as often as I should.


10. Access to great music, art, and programs that feed my soul.

A Meme -- from the rule-breaking, Miracle-Whip-eating, car-accident-surviving, accident-prone, contest winner.

I got tagged for a meme by An Ordinary Mom, so here goes. These are five things you don’t know about me:

1. On my mission, I spent the night in the Elder’s apartment while they were in their landlord’s resort house up in the Alps.
2. I like Miracle Whip sandwiches. Who needs the meat anyway? At least it’s not as gross as Mac ‘n’ Cheese with ketchup.
3. I’ve been in three major car accidents, but have never been seriously injured. This includes being the passenger in a car that was totaled crossing the Blue Mountains in Oregon and continuing to drive it to Seattle and back to Boise. The two of us in the car were fine, but the body shop asked if there were fatalities when it was brought in.
4. I lost my front tooth when I was hit by a swing when I was 2 years old and had that gap until I got my permanent teeth at 7. I think this made me much more empathetic when my mission companion wrecked her bike and lost her front teeth when we were riding our bikes in the rain.
5. I won a Father’s Day essay contest sponsored by the Idaho Statesman when I was 12 by writing about why my dad was so amazing (and he still is).

Seeing as I was tagged for this one, I feel it my obligation to tag five fabulous people as well. I'd like to know five new things about the DH, Annzy, The Duchess, and Darin and Liz over at Corndogs and Avodados.

Cheery Cherry bag

Shout out to my SIL, Kinsey, who made me the very cutest bag ever for Christmas. I love it!

New Beginnings

It’s a New Year and time for new beginnings. My dad always taught us to set goals and that the New Year was a great time to do it. I have a couple of things that I’d like to accomplish this year, but you know it scares me to put them in writing for everyone else to see. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with it. Here goes nothing:

• Continue to improve my overall physical health. This means working out 5 times a week (which should be fine because I’ve been doing that for a long time now), eating a more healthy diet with no refined or processed stuff (wish me luck!), and losing a little more butter.
• Improve my spirituality by reading the scriptures daily and attending the temple regularly (for Patrick and me, we think twice a month is reasonable). I guess I’ll keep doing other churchy stuff too and not slacking there.
• Improve my mind by taking a class in the spring and a class in the fall. I thought about convincing the DH to take a ballroom or salsa class, but we’ll see if that ever flies. That could also have dual benefits as it’s good for both the mind and the body.

I’m breaking it down to more granular goals for myself, but I think that gives you an idea of what I’m working on this year. Hopefully you’re doing the same!

The DH and I had a very nice Christmas. On Friday, we went on the Argosy Christmas Ships. Santa and a choir were there with us and we had a really nice time listening to the concerts, seeing the other decorated ships, and enjoying a night out together.

We spent the holiday at home with no other obligations except for cooking dinner on Christmas Eve for a few friends who joined us for the evening. It was yummy dinner. I even made cream pudding and Evelyn’s rolls. Mmm… It makes me hungry again just thinking about it.

On Christmas day, we got up around 8:00 and opened a few presents. Patrick had already had my windows tinted for one of my presents, but he also got me an iPod Nano, some gift cards, and shirts. It was pretty great. I gave him an authentic Raiders football jersey, hockey tickets, and some long john’s (to replace the crotchless ones he’s wearing at work right now – I guess that’s what wears out first with all the gas passing he does).

We didn’t do much more on Christmas day other than that and delivering a few straggler gifts. We also got in some naps and nibbled on more turkey. I think I could get used to staying home for Christmas.

Ringing, Singing On Its Way

The DH has found out something very odd about me. I know the words to a lot of Christmas songs. You may find this unremarkable. In the grand scheme of things, it really is. However, the DH finds it hysterical, mostly because I can’t remember the words to any other songs at all. I sing along all the time and just make up new words or fake words or whatever. It’s kind of entertaining if you don’t find it completely frustrating and annoying.
When you put that next to the fact that I can sing along to almost any Christmas song written, it’s pretty funny. The DH, on the other hand, can recite the words and tell you everything else about many, many songs. He doesn’t know any Christmas songs other than Jingle Bells.
Aren’t we a pair?

Christmas Meme

An Ordinary Mom put together a meme on her site, so I thought I’d join in.

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? I just love eggnog. The best thing though, is an eggnog milkshake.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They’re sitting next to the stocking that has been taken down and filled, and they’re unwrapped.

3. Colored lights or white on tree/house? I like white lights on the tree, but colored lights outside on the house.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I like mistletoe, but didn’t find mine this year while unpacking the decorations.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I like to put them up right after Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t usually all happen that quickly.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I associate fondue with the holidays and I love it, especially with really good gruyere cheese.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: this is tough as there are so many. I think I really love those childhood memories of checking out each other’s gifts. I remember one year when my older bother got a Flintstone’s sculpture kit. It was this set of weird plastic figures that you chipped off until you uncovered the Flintstone’s character inside. I also always loved shopping for gifts for someone we chose off the Salvation Army giving tree. Good times!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth? That he’s real? I always knew that.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We only ever opened the Christmas tree ornament that Granny sent. My mother is very anti-opening-on-Christmas-eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights, lots of ornaments collected over the years, and a fun gold star on top.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I have to admit that I dread it. I love it in the mountains, but don’t enjoy it where I live.

12. Can you ice skate? I think the real answer is “no” even though I’ve been on ice skates numerous times.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I actually don’t remember a favorite. I got a Madame Alexander collectible doll from Santa most years and always looked forward to which doll he would bring. One year my dad bought be a string of fresh-water pearls that I really wanted and I loved it. Maybe the best was the beautiful ruby necklace the DH got me last year.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I love the focus on the Savior and being in a spirit of giving. I also enjoy how it brings people together – whether by hearing from old friends in Christmas letters once a year or getting together with family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hands down, cream pudding.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas dinner by candle light was always my favorite.

17. What tops your tree? A star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love spending so much time focused on giving, but I’ll admit to enjoying the receiving as well.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love Christmas music, but I think my two favorites are Mary Did You Know and O, Holy Night.

20. Candy Canes – Yuck or Yum? I’m not a big fan of hard candy, but I love the flavor of candy canes.

A Mighty Wind

We just keep making the national news with our weather. I find it somewhat humorous -- only because I'm not one of the folks on the phone with my insurance agent. It's been a wild night, but my home is fine and I actually have power (hence the ability to blog). My thoughts are with the thousands without power and those who are cleaning up the many trees and other messes.

Trimming the Home for Christmas

I really enjoy decorating for Christmas. The picture here is the figure of Mary and Jesus from our nativity. I just love the simplicity of the figure. The nativity is a critical part of the holiday decor since it's one of the wonderful things that reminds us of the reason we are celebrating. It's a great time to remember the great gifts He gave us and to reflect on our relationship with Him. It's also a wonderful time to reflect on the other relationships in our lives and to present gifts that represent, in some small way, our feelings for those we love. All good things!

Of course, I also love the rest of the decorations. The tree is always good fun. I have some great decorations from Europe, from our honeymoon, and from my childhood. They all bring back sweet memories. I'm a sucker for tradition. I just can't get enough of it.

Shout Out to Annzy!

Everyone give a shout out to Annzy. She got an HR job yesterday. It's at this really sexy company too! She really rocks and she'll be able to do cool HR-y stuff there. It will even require skills she learned in her graduate school program. (I know! shocking!!!) She'll als be close to the porn wagon, where she used to work and Orson Gygi, one of the coolest kitchen stores ever.

I ask, who wouldn't want that job?!?

  

Annunciation

I'm not sure why the picture wouldn't post on this, but it's in the post above now.

Mormons aren't really devotees of all the dates on the Catholic calendar, but at this time of year I enjoy thinking of all the events leading up to the birth fo the Savior. The annuciation (when the angel visited Mary and told her not to be afraid of this overwhelming event that was taking place in her at the moment) is celebrated on March 25th.

Luke Chapter 1
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

I love this picture. It captures exactly the feeling I imagine Mary might have had. It was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner, and african-american artist, in 1898. It is exquisite.

About the Artist:
Ossawa Tanner was raised in an affluent, well educated African-American family. Although reluctant at first, Tanner's parents eventually responded to their son's unflagging desire to pursue an artistic career and encouraged his ambitions. In 1879, Tanner enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he joined Thomas Eakins's coterie. Tanner moved to Atlanta in 1889 in an unsuccessful attempt to support himself as an artist and instructor among prosperous middle class African-Americans. Bishop and Mrs. Joseph C. Hartzell arranged for Tanner's first solo exhibition, the proceeds from which enabled the struggling artist to move to Paris in 1891. Illness brought him back to the United States in 1893, and it was at this point in his career that Tanner turned his attention to genre subjects of his own race.

In 1893 most American artists painted African-American subjects either as grotesque caricatures or sentimental figures of rural poverty. Henry Ossawa Tanner, who sought to represent black subjects with dignity, wrote: "Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, the ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior." The banjo had become a symbol of derision, and caricatures of insipid, smiling African-Americans strumming the instrument were a cliche. In The Banjo Lesson, Tanner tackles this stereotype head on, portraying a man teaching his young protege to play the instrument - the large body of the older man lovingly envelops the boy as he patiently instructs him. If popular nineteenth-century imagery of the African-American male had divested him of authority and leadership, then Tanner in The Banjo Lesson recreated him in the role of father, mentor, and sage. The Banjo Lesson is about sharing knowledge and passing on wisdom.

The exposition-sized canvas was accepted into the Paris Salon of 1894. That year it was given by Robert Ogden of Philadelphia to Hampton Institute near Norfolk, Virginia, one of the first and most prestigious black colleges founded shortly after Emancipation. Hampton lent it the next year to Atlanta's Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895, where it hung in the Negro Building. Contemporary critics largely ignored the work. Tanner painted another African American genre subject in 1894, The Thankful Poor, but then abandoned subjects of his own race in favor of biblical themes. When Tanner returned to Paris in 1895, he established a reputation as a salon artist and religious painter but never again painted genre subjects of African-Americans.

Cops love me

So, I hate my commute, especially on the way home. I don't think that's much of a revelation to anyone. It's ugly out there. Yesterday was no exception. I left work at 4:15, but it was already packed and I found out later there had been an accident (that I never saw, but it was reportedly there). I was in a hurry to get to the traffic jam, so I went as fast as I could, weaving through traffic.

Then there were lights -- cop car lights. You know the feeling. There was the wee bit of hope that it was for someone else. There was the lump in the stomache. There was the resignation that I would get the ticket I have been deserving for years.

The police officer was quite nice and asked for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. I was having a hard time getting my proof of insurance card out of my wallet because it was stuck in the silly, flimsy plastic cover of my temple recommend. Plus, I was nervous, because I was about to get a ticket.

I finally gave the card to the police officer and he asked me how fast I had been going. I had no idea. I felt like an idiot. Then he asked me if that was my recommend. I was a little confused (assuming that no one in WA is LDS). He asked again if that was my recommend. I said it was and then he told me I was the third member he'd pulled over in the last two hours. He gave me back my information and sent me on my way.

I didn't get the ticket! Cops love me.

Advent

Today is the first Sunday of the Advent. It’s a lovely European tradition I learned on my mission. Each of the four Sundays before Christmas, families would light a candle and do something to commemorate the coming of Christmas. Today, the DH and I lit a beautiful gold candle and watched the Christmas program with the first presidency and Mormon Tabernacle Choir from Salt Lake City. It was a really nice program, only and hour long, and was a nice beginning to the Christmas season. We also put up the tree and put the star on top (but didn’t get any farther than that) and worked on Christmas cards.

Snow Days

By now, everyone knows that Seattle got blanketed with snow and that things here came to quite a standstill. On Tuesday, the WSDOT cautioned that everyone should stay home unless they were involved in “essential services” like doctoring and police officering. I’m curious what my friends and neighbors did on their snow days. Here’s what I did:

Tuesday

• Worked some from home, but with a spotty internet/RAS connection.
• Watched a bunch of TV, including the Tyra Banks talk show. Her show is really lame, but I was working on my computer at the same time and didn’t really think to change the channel.
• Picked up a painting from the frame shop.
• Almost got stuck in Patrick’s old truck trying to get into the frame shop parking lot (that had a bit of an incline).
• Bought supplies for making Christmas cards.
• Bought supplies for making Christmas gifts.
• Took almost half an hour to get home even though it would usually take only about five minutes because 130th street West-bound was closed.
• Forgot to plan or make anything for dinner in spite of the fact that I didn’t really accomplish anything all day.
• Planned Christmas presents for everyone I want to give to.
• Bought Christmas gifts online.

Wednesday

• Worked more than I did on Tuesday.
• Swept and mopped the kitchen floor (while participating in a conference call for work). I'm a great multi-tasker.
• Bought groceries.
• Made turkey soup for later and a really good dinner to make up for slacking on Tuesday.
• Ironed table cloths at the church in preparation for a Christmas program this weekend.

What did you do?

24 Degrees Fahrenheit

It’s unseasonably cold in Seattle today – 24 degrees Fahrenheit at 12:20 p.m. to be exact. We’ve had a bit of a cold spell with the weather and it’s not what we’re used to here in the normally temperate northwest. There is also a bit of snow on the ground. At one time, it was close to four inches.

It’s quite lovely, but a real mess too. It all started on Sunday afternoon with some lovely snow. Then it got warmer on Monday morning, but worse on Monday afternoon. The result was a horrible commute for most folks in the Seattle area. I decided to work from home, so I missed most of the ugliness. The DH, however, did not.

Today, it’s much worse. The snow that fell yesterday turned into a big sheet of ice over night. The Microsoft campus actually closed. I’ve stayed home again today and the DH didn’t go to work until 9:00 after the sun came up. Normally, you would expect everything to melt here when the sun comes up. Not today though. It’s only 24 degrees.

Thanksgiving

I'm so thankful for a wonderful husband and great family. I really enjoyed Thanksgiving in Boise with my entire family. It was only a little crazy and mostly really fun. I also got to see some great old friends. I loved seeing Andrea and Kathy. I’m really blessed with wonderful people in my life. I’m thankful for lots of things:

• The great DH
• A lovely family and in-laws
• Wonderful friends in Seattle and elsewhere
• A job that’s mostly good with a nice boss and really fine co-workers (the only exception being that blasted commute)
• Enough money to do most things I’d like to (because of my mostly good job)
• A nice warm house (especially today when it’s 20 degrees outside – and I’m not exaggerating)
• Working out at the gym and feeling really strong and good
• General good health
• A beautiful world to be in and appreciate
• DVR and Netflix
• Fleece and hot chocolate
• Christmas decorations
• Computers and the internet for staying in touch
• And a really good hair dresser
• And lots more stuff that I can’t think of right this moment

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday too and that you remember all the things you’re thankful for.