Picture of the Day for 2/23/2010. Life is made of little victories. I experienced one today. Two weeks ago I wrote about how I never manage to get my garbage can out on the street in time for Tuesday's trash collection. (I know, I know- it's not rocket science.) Today the planets aligned and I successfully had my garbage disposed of. Ha!
Picture of the Day for 2/22/2010. I love apron patterns. The pattern on the right is my most recent acquisition. I should clarify that I love collecting apron patterns- new and vintage. I have yet to actually sew an apron, but I have high hopes that I'll get around to it someday.
Picture of the Day for 2/21/2010. I was supposed to deliver a one-minute overview of Leviticus 14-27 in church today. Note the operative phrase "supposed to."
Q. When did I recall that I had this assignment?
A. Exactly at the moment I was supposed to be delivering my presentation.
Q. Where was I when this realization occurred?
A. At home.
Q. Had I read the assigned chapters from Leviticus?
A. No.
Dang...
Picture of the Day for 2/20/2010. These are my Tarot card reading colleagues- Kelly on the left and Mary on the right. We met taking Tarot card reading classes from Margaret Ruth, a famous psychic who lives in Salt Lake City and now has a regular column on the Huffington Post website. For the past couple of years, we've been reading Tarot cards at a local coffee shop the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. Tonight, we were hired to be the entertainment at a surprise party for a woman who is turning 60. She's a supervisor at the West Jordan Police Department and her employees threw the party for her. We got a kick out of the sign that by coincidence just happened to be pointing at the table where we did the readings- Background Investigation. Obviously, the sign is in connection with the police department, but it is also apropos for what we do as Tarot card readers. It was a fun evening. For some reason, I was on fire tonight. It was gratifying to see the patron's eyes bug out and their mouths drop open when I correctly pegged their situations.One of the women attending the party is a crime scene investigator. She made me laugh when she said she was tired of seeing dead men on the toilet. Can't really argue with that.
Picture of the Day for 2/19/2010. Yes, this is a picture of my scalp. Yes, I know I'm scraping the bottom of the photographic barrel. Some days are just more interesting than others. Today was pleasant, but not much more than that. Work was uneventful and I spent the evening on my couch watching the Olympics. Yawn. The most significant event of the day was getting my hair dyed in preparation for my trip to Florida next week. Gotta look pretty. I thought I would document my non-gray roots before my hair starts to grow out (which will happen in about five seconds since my hair grows so quickly). I promise I'll be more interesting tomorrow...
Picture of the Day for 2/18/2010. Here's the deal- I am completely disinterested in sports. At least watching them. In my younger days, I was very active- running, yoga, water-skiing, hiking, etc. Now my favorite pastimes consist of reclining on the sofa, reading novels, and eating chocolate. Every two years my disinterest in sports is transformed into fanaticism during the Olympics. I adore the Olympics (both Winter and Summer) and watch every single moment I can. I scour the Internet for the latest news and information about the athletes. Today's picture is of Evan Lysacek receiving a gold medal for figure skating, the first American male to do so in over 20 years. It should be noted that I watched the Olympics tonight while reclining on my sofa and eating chocolate.
Picture of the Day for 2/17/2010. This is a very grainy picture of my brother-in-law Will sporting quite the mustache in his early 30s. I desperately wanted to call it a "pornstache," but the words "porn" and "brother-in-law" have no business being in the same sentence together. Will's son, Robbie, brought out the photo album tonight for the sole purpose of showing me this particular picture. Much hilarity and mockery of Will ensued. I took one look at the mustache and knew it had to be my picture of the day.
Picture of the Day for 2/16/2010. I have a new camera! It was definitely time for a change. My old camera and I had a long and intense relationship for several years. It went everywhere I went, tucked away in my purse, ready to snap a picture of anything noteworthy that crossed its path. On the surface, everything appeared to be fine between us, but I can tell you the exact day I decided to break up with my camera - Saturday, November 7, 2009. I was attending a banquet where one of the guest speakers was Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. A once in a lifetime opportunity given how reclusive he is. Even though I wasn't seated too far away from the podium, the following picture is the best my camera could do.
Would you be able to tell this is Neil Armstrong if I hadn't identified him for you? Yeah, I didn't think so. While I had to settle for this indistinct image of Armstrong, my banquet companions were able to take pictures from my same vantage point that made it seem they were standing right next to the man. I was bitter. After this disappointing event, the camera began mysteriously slipping out of my hands and dropping to the floor. It survived a few of these incidents, but eventually one of the falls broke a vital component, leaving me free to pursue a relationship with another camera.
Picture of the Day for 2/15/2010. Not only am I trying to eat a healthier diet (refer to the "Chocolate Cake is Good for You" blog entry from 2/13/2010), I'm adding exercise to the mix as well. Gasp! I've made an appearance at my gym for the first time in approximately two years. My exercise (i.e., torture) of choice is walking on a treadmill. Fortunately, each treadmill at my gym has a small television. Yay for being able to watch TV while exercising! Now if I could only figure out a way to nap while exercising...
Picture of the Day for 2/14/2010. I was invited to my sister's house for a Valentine's Day dinner. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding* were on the menu. This is a picture of the Yorkshire pudding which had grown to epic proportions due to the fact that most of my sister's guests were late. Apparently, this is what happens when Yorkshire pudding is left in the oven too long. I'm glad we were only a few minutes late. The pudding probably would have muscled its way out of the stove if we had been delayed any further.*According to Martha Stewart, "A roast beef in Britain isn't quite complete unless it's served with a golden-brown Yorkshire pudding. Something of a cross between a popover and a souffle (and not at all like any of the usual assorted foods that Americans and Britons call pudding), Yorkshire pudding is made from a basic batter of eggs, milk, and flour."
Picture of the Day for 2/13/2010. I've lost quite a bit of weight over the past year, mostly through cutting back on my most egregious excesses. Now I've decided I need to step up my game by eating healthy. What could be healthier than oatmeal? I'll tell you what- oatmeal with a sprinkling of flaxseed. I can feel my heart getting stronger and my cholesterol plunging as I write this blog entry, full of zeal and determination.
Oh wait, I'll be full of zeal and determination AFTER I eat the cakes I bought today (pictured below) from Glaus Bakery. I mean, health is important and all, but no one should be expected to pass up triple chocolate cake.
Picture of the Day for 2/12/2010. I worked on clearing out the last of my mother's things from her bedroom today. I came across her desk calendar from 1963 which documents many important milestones from my first year of life- gifts I received when I was born, weight/height at various well-baby visits, when I rolled over, when I sat up unassisted for the first time. I particularly liked the diagrams she drew of my teeth as they came in. Apparently, my first name didn't get much use that first year as I'm generally referred to as "baby." The entry shown above indicates that as of January 28, 1963, I weighed 8-1/2 pounds and I smiled for the first time. Too cute!
Picture of the Day for 2/11/2010. This is a view looking out from my garage. I took this picture because I was excited to see the first snowfall we've had since the holidays. I was almost embarrassed to post a picture of this paltry amount of snow given the fact that Washington D.C. is being pounded by a monster snowstorm which has shut down the federal government for the past few days. I'm not sure I'd want to endure several days of impassable roads, but having one snow day would be nice. I'd snuggle up in my quilts and nap the entire day away.
My parents were married 66 years ago today on February 11, 1944. Sadly, my mother is not around to celebrate as she passed away last June. Still, my parents ended up having a 65-year marriage. No small feat. Even more impressive is the fact that they adored each other to the end (despite the fact she called him a "turkey" or a "toad" in occasional fits of exasperation).
Picture of the Day for 2/10/2010. Had dinner with my sister's family at The Garden Restaurant which is located on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). (I recommend the fried pickle appetizer. Trust me- it's good.) This is the view out the window. Pretty spectacular.
The JSMB is right across the street from my office building as seen in the rather funky picture below. That's my reflection in the window as I'm taking the picture.
Picture of the Day for 2/9/2010. This is my garbage can. It hasn't seen a lot of use lately. Allow me to make the disclaimer that it's not due to deep-seated mental health "issues" that render me unwilling and unable to throw away trash.
I'm not a hoarder. In fact, I would love nothing more than to have my garbage disposed of. Trash pick-up in my neighborhood is on Tuesday mornings. I usually forget to take out the trash on Monday evenings so I swear that I'm going to wake up early on Tuesday mornings to move the garbage can out to the street. Problem is, I always hear the garbage truck out on the street right as I'm about to go outside. Today was no exception. Normally I would applaud municipal employees who demonstrate efficiency and zeal for their jobs, but really, do they have to pick up the trash in the wee hours of the morning while it's still dark outside?
Picture of the Day for 2/8/2010. These are the creepiest cupcakes ever. I love them. I ate one.
Here's the back-story. My niece Renee has a RAGING crush on Zachary Quinto, the actor who played Spock in the most recent Star Trek movie. Quinto is also known for playing Sylar, a psychopathic killer on the TV series Heroes. He kills by using his mind (and pointy index finger) to laser the tops of his victims' skulls off, right above the eyes. It's a long story how/why he does this. I'm not going into it.
Anyhoo, Renee likes to host Heroes viewing parties for the sole purpose of gazing upon the lusciousness that is Zachary Qunto. This was her third, and potentially last, Heroes party. Renee was under the impression that tonight was the series finale so we were all surprised by the "To be continued" that flashed across the screen at the end of the episode.
In honor of the last (possibly, maybe) episode, our friend Kellie made cupcakes depicting Sylar's victims in the process of getting their scalps lasered. I especially like the blood dripping down the foreheads.
Picture of the Day for 2/7/2010. Tonight I faced the grim realization that I had procrastinated long enough and needed to spend quality time working on finances- mine and my Dad's (I have been managing his finances for the past few years). I approach this task by grouping the documents by the following categories:
1. Papers that need to be thrown away (i.e., empty envelopes, junk mail).
2. Papers that need to be shredded.
3. My Dad's bills or items that need to paid/addressed.
4. My bills or items that need to paid/addressed.5. My Dad's documents that need to be filed.
6. My documents that need to be filed.7. My Dad's magazines.
8. My magazines.
9. Tax documents.
10. Catalogs and coupons.
Whew- that's a lot of piles.
I estimate I spent four hours this evening working on finances instead of watching the Superbowl. Given a choice between the two activities, I would always choose working on finances, hands down.
Picture of the Day for 2/6/2010. A few months ago I moved into my parents' home to be the caretaker of the property while my dad is residing in an assisted living facility (my mother passed away eight months ago today). I moved in on top of 60 years' worth of their possessions. An outrageous amount of possessions since my parents, typical of their generation, never threw anything away. Digging my way out of their stuff in order to make room for my things has been a cross between a treasure hunt and an archaeological dig. Some items I could have lived my whole life without encountering (i.e., my mother's diaphragm). Other items delight me, like this "in your face" patriotic scarf I discovered today while I was clearing out my mother's closet. I also found some red/white/blue earrings to match. I was especially glad to stumble across the earrings since I remember my mother wearing them when I was a child. I have grand plans to wear these accessories on July 4th this year.
Picture of the Day for 2/5/2010. This is the latest book I just bought tonight. On Fridays, my BFF Karl and I have a standing dinner date. We used to have a standing dinner AND movie date, but that ended when Karl started graduate school a few months ago. So, now we go our separate ways after dinner. I've gotten in the habit of stopping at Barnes and Nobles on my way home. Given my love of books, this is not a bad way to spend a Friday evening; I can feel all the stress of the work week just melting away.
This book is just one in a long string of "New Age" books I've purchased. Yes, it's true. I'm a closet devotee of all things "New Age." I'm inexplicably drawn to this kind of stuff which leads me to believe I must have been a priestess in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus or served as the Oracle at Delphi in a previous life. Much more interesting than my current incarnation as a group health and benefits consultant in this life. Don't be surprised if some evening you catch me dancing under the light of a full moon (fully-clothed of course- I'm not entirely lost to propriety).
Picture of the Day for 2/4/2010. This is a picture of two work colleagues- Matt and Judy. Today was my last day of being Matt's supervisor as he is transferring to our Chicago office on Monday. As his supervisor, I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring a cake and organize a little office gathering to wish him well and send him on his way. Turns out executing this simple little plan was more complicated than anticipated.
First, I was planning on making a chocolate chip cake (my mother's fabulous recipe- yum), but that didn't work out since I didn't get home until after 11:00 p.m. last night- waaay too late to contemplate baking anything.
So, this morning I stopped at Glaus, my all-time favorite bakery on the planet. I asked that they write "Good Luck Matt" on the cake. The clerk helping asked if "Matt" were spelled "Mat." Ah, that would be a no. Leaving the "t" off of Matt's name would change the meaning entirely. Instead of wishing Matt well, we would be celebrating having a good luck mat. Not that there's anything wrong with that (people have all sorts of good luck charms, so why not a mat?), but it was not appropriate to the situation.
Prior to Matt's farewell gathering, we had a combined meeting with another division of our company with whom we share office space in Salt Lake City. The purpose of the meeting was for the head of our Northwest region, Kathy, to discuss the company- and region-wide goals for 2010. At the end of her presentation, Kathy asked if there were any dessert. My boss piped up and indicated we were having cake in honor of Matt's departure and I could just bring it up to the conference room for everyone to share. Eek! It was a small little cake. Barely enough for our little group. I was forced to dash the other division's hope of getting any cake, but in a politically savvy move, I did manage to snag the last piece for Kathy. Whew.
Picture of the Day for 2/3/2010. This is my nephew Robbie next to the 3-D Marine Spitfire puzzle my sister Paula and I gave him for Christmas. He completed assembling it just today. Robbie is 15 years old with the frugal soul of my 88-year old father (for whom my nephew is appropriately named). Robbie neither wants nor needs much in terms of material possessions. This is all well and good, except when it comes to Christmas presents. What follows is a typical conversation I had with Robbie during the month leading up to Christmas:
Favorite Auntie Michelle (FAM), "Robbie, what do you want for Christmas?"
Robbie, "I don't know."
FAM, "Would you like a video game?"
Robbie, "No."
FAM, "Would you like clothes?"
Robbie, "No."
FAM, "Would you like a CD?"
Robbie, "No."
FAM, "Would you like a DVD?"
Robbie, "No."
FAM, "Would you like food?"
Robbie, "No."
I could go on, but you get the idea. I was getting desperate until Robbie's mother (my sister Robynne) came up with the great idea that Robbie would like a 3-D puzzle. Yay! Finally! A good suggestion! My relief was short-lived when I realized that purchasing a 3-D puzzle complex enough for Robbie would require hours of Internet research and a bank loan. I learned a ton about 3-D puzzles during my research. For example, did you know that Wrebbit is one of the premier manufacturers of 3-D puzzles? Were you also aware that the cost for some of these puzzles is several hundred dollars? I'm an intrepid shopper so I was undaunted in my quest for a great 3-D puzzle. I eventually found the perfect puzzle through an eBay vendor. Yay! Finally! I found an affordable puzzle! My relief was again short-lived when Christmas came and went with no sign of the hard-won puzzle. I finally found it in mid-January tucked behind some furniture on the front porch. Apparently, the delivery person wanted to make sure no one would see it. Well, mission accomplished. I was lucky to stumble across it.
So, that's the saga of Robbie's 2009 Christmas present. I should probably get a head start and begin contemplating what to get him for Christmas in 2010.
Picture of the Day for 2/2/2010. There's the mixer, just waiting for me to make the chocolate chip cookies I promised my sister for her birthday tomorrow. Here I am, at the end of the day too tired to make them...(
Robynne- if you're reading this post, don't worry. I'll deliver the cookies as promised!)
Picture of the Day for 2/1/2010. This would have been a really cute picture if I hadn't been wearing a clingy shirt that hugged every one of my curves (i.e., rolls of fat). Today at work, my colleague Wendy and I were both dressed in a maroon top, a black bottom, and black boots. I found this coincidence amusing so I had a co-worker take a picture of the two of us. I've lost a lot of weight over the past year, but apparently not enough since this picture made it appear that I'm 40 months pregnant. To preserve my emotional well-being, I couldn't post the photograph on the Internet "as is" for all the world to see. Cropping the picture seemed to be the best solution.
Note to Self: Clingy shirts are not flattering at this point.
