Giving My Brain a Break

Picture of the Day for 4/30/2010. This is an update to my "Flight of the Old Dog" entry from two days ago. I managed to slog through the rest of that book last night. Whew. It is my conclusion that the novel contained 5% character development and 95% technical aviation/military jargon. I decided to give my poor brain a break from all the technical jargon by reading something completely different- "East" by Edith Pattou. I read about 100 pages today during my hair appointment (yay for no gray hair, by the way). It was so nice to fly through the book (it's quite a page-turner) rather than make my tortuous and labored way through each page. Another plus- "East" has a really pretty cover. (Yeah, I'm pretty shallow in case you haven't already noticed.)

For those of you interested in the plot of "East," below is a book review from Amazon.com:

"In the rural villages of Norway, there is an ancient belief that children inherit the qualities of the direction in which they are born. Nymah Rose, the last daughter of eight siblings born to a poor mapmaker and his superstitious wife, was a North-born baby. It is said that North-born babies are wild, unpredictable, intelligent, and destined to break their mothers' hearts because they all leave hearth and home to travel to the far ends of the earth. To keep her close, Rose’s mother lied and told her she had been born of the obedient and pliable East. But destiny cannot be denied. One day, a great white bear comes to the mapmaker’s door to claim Rose’s birthright. Everything that comes after, as richly imagined by author Edith Pattou, is the basis for one of the most epic romantic fantasies ever told. East is a deftly woven tapestry that melds traditional fairy tale motifs of both Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, with the haunting icy lore of medieval northern lands. Told in a changing chorus of voices, including that of Rose, her hopeful brother Neddy, her regretful father, the charmed white bear, and the Troll Queen whose selfish wish is the catalyst that seals Rose’s fate, East will enchant any and all who venture within its pages."

Easily Influenced

Picture of the Day for 4/29/2010. I am easily influenced. I grocery shop at Harmon's and when I enter the store, I walk right past a selection of "new age-y" health-related books. My eye has always been caught by the titles touting the ASTONISHING miracles of coconut oil. I finally caved the other day and purchased one of those books. Here's one of the astonishing claims- coconut oil is not only good for you nutritionally, but it's also good for your skin. According to the book, "It's no accident that people living in regions where coconut oil is used both in the diet and for body care have beautiful skin and hair. The healthful properties of coconut oil are not only apparent internally, but help promote a radiant glow all over." That did it- I immediately had to go out and buy some organic coconut oil to give it a try. I suspect my readers are going to be sooooo jealous when I have a "radiant glow all over" (or disturbed- it's a toss-up).

Flight of the Old Dog

Picture of the Day for 4/28/2010. Upon the recommendation of a certain "friend" of mine who loves all things aviation-related (I know, I know- I'm being overly coy since my readers know full well which "special" friend I'm referring to), I'm reading "Flight of the Old Dog." This is Dale Brown's first novel which was published in 1987, still within the Cold War era. Here's the overview from the back cover of the book:

It is the riveting story of American's military superiority being surpassed as our greatest enemy (Soviet Union) masters space-to-Earth weapons technology--neutralizing the U.S. arsenal of nuclear missiles.

America's only hope: The Old Dog Zero One, a battle scarred bomber (B-52) fully renovated with modern hardware--and equipped with the deadliest state-of-the-art armaments known to man.

It's been an interesting read, but my oh my, the author goes waaaay overboard on the technical descriptions. Here's a sample:

"Ten degrees to roll-out," Luger reminded the pilot, "Drift is zero, so heading is still zero-one-zero. Radar, I'll correct gyro heading after roll-out. Pilot, don't take the FCI until it's displayed on the EVS scope."

Whew! That's a typical example of the prose I've been slogging through. At least I'm in the home stretch; I only have about 60 pages to go. I estimate that I'll finish sometime this year. ;-)

I don't have my next book selected yet, but I do know it will be something fluffy and shallow.

Falling Off the Wagon

Picture of the Day for 4/27/2010. You know how I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry that I was going to hit the gym EVERY day because I was determined to get in shape? Yeah, well, I had a little set-back today. I failed to get up in time to go to the gym this morning due to a little alarm clock "incident." I think I must have turned off the alarm in my sleep. I was lucky to make it to work by 9:30 a.m.

Not only did I not make it to the gym today, but I went out for nachos at the Desert Edge pub with my friend Karl. The nachos there are divine, but they must be ordered in a particular way to maximize the nacho-eating experience. Here's the secret- you ask for a large order of nachos with all of the condiments on the side (sour cream, guacamole, salsa, green chiles). This is crucial; otherwise, you only get small spoonfuls of the condiments dumped unceremoniously on top of the nachos. This renders the chips rather soggy and clearly you need more than just dainty spoonfuls of sour cream and guacamole. There's a very specific chip to cheese/sour cream/guacamole ratio that must be maintained. After you have this portion of the order established with the wait staff, you then ask for extra condiments on the side. As you can see from this picture, Karl and I are swimming in condiments and cheese. Yum.

I'm SURE my resolve to go the gym will be back in full force tomorrow (if I've recovered from eating all that cheese).

Hell Has Frozen Over

Picture of the Day for 4/26/2010. Alert! Hell froze over at precisely 5:56 a.m this morning. This is when I woke up in order to get to the gym by 6:15 a.m. Those of you who know what an extreme night owl I am understand that my "hell has frozen over" claim is not an exaggeration. Getting up this early did not come without a cost. Below is a list of the intolerable conditions I was forced to endure:

-The birds were chirping. Dang perky birds.

-The air smelled funny. Night air and morning air have distinctly different scents. I prefer the night air.

-The gym was crowded. As a night person, I'm unprepared to deal with humanity so early in the morning. I have an unholy desire to kick people in the shins.

-There was nothing on TV! If I'm going to exercise, I demand to be entertained while doing it. 100 channels on cable and I was forced to watch infomercials promoting skin care products. Sheesh.

Despite the horrors I experienced, I'm planning on repeating this tomorrow morning. And the morning after that. And so on. I'm determined to get in shape.

Latest Shopping Spree

Picture of the Day for 4/25/2010. Help! I'm out of control! Someone needs to stage an intervention. I went on another shopping spree this weekend. Here's a list of my purchases (moving from left to right in the picture):
-Brown sandals from Macy's
-Black high heels from Ross
-A pink/black nightgown from Macy's
-Black pajamas from Ross
-An off-white camisole from Dillard's
-A black leather purse from Solissa's
-A gold/blue enamel bracelet from Macy's
-Bangles with black beads from Solissa's
-Turquoise/white enamel earrings from Sollissa's
-Makeup from Target
-Two blouses from Solissa's
-A black scarf from Solissa's

Not pictured (but also included in my purchases this weekend) are the following:
-A black skirt from Target
-Books from Barnes and Noble
-A stack of books from a thrift store (I'll be writing a blog entry soon about that. A friend has tasked me with searching thrift stores and used book stores for some books he needs to complete his collection. I haven't found any of his books, but I've ended up buying a ton of books I haven't been able to resist.)
-Chocolate from See's (It's not pictured because I ate it!)

Willow Creek Country Club

Picture of the Day for 4/24/2010. Per my dad's request, we made our weekly pilgrimage to Willow Creek Country Club. He always asks me to drive by on our way home from lunch. It makes him sooooo happy to see the place each week. If you added up all the hours he spent golfing, bowling, swimming, and eating there over the course of several decades, it would represent a good percentage of his life. I never thought my dad would EVER voluntarily give up golfing, but a few years ago, he just abruptly stopped. That made me incredibly sad. I've always wondered if he knew how bad his memory was getting and if he was a little worried about making the drive out there by himself. Just a sneaking suspicion I have.

Well, my dad's memory may be bad, but there's nothing wrong with his thinking or his sense of humor. I get a kick out of his turn of phrase. When I'm approaching a red traffic light, instead of asking me if I plan on stopping, he asks if I anticipate decelerating. I assure him that decelerating is on the agenda.

Shocking Development

Picture of the Day for 4/23/2010. Take a good look at this picture since this momentous event might not happen again for awhile. I have a clutter-free car. Yay! I spent a few hours on Tuesday evening clearing out the accumulated junk. (Yes, it was so bad the task required a few hours.) I'm thinking I might take my car to get detailed so it will not only be clutter-free, but clean as well. Shocking, isn't it?

It wasn't until I cleared out the car that I came to the realization that grieving takes on some unusual forms. My car was like a time capsule dating from my mother's death last June. I came across a DVD from Blockbuster that was due the week we were planning my mother's funeral. I never did return it. (Guess it's mine now. If anyone wants to watch episodes 1-5 of season three of Weeds, let me know. I've got the DVD.). I must be on the mend since I was finally able to summon the energy to clean out the car.

Scary Hair

Picture of the Day for 4/22/2010. Going along with my trend of writing blog entries primarily about food, shopping, or my hair. I thought I'd post a picture of the current state of my scalp. It's been two months since my last dye job and I have about two inches of gray hair showing. My hair grows extraordinarily fast which makes it hard for me to keep up with it. Six weeks is about as long as I should go between dye jobs. Someday when I'm slender (hey- it could happen), I'll just let my hair go completely gray. I think it would be quite striking with my blue eyes. In the meantime, I refuse to be both chubby and gray. It's either one or the other. Since I'm unwilling to give up my chocolate addiction, it's hair dye for me.

Tormenting Your Nieces is Fun

When I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I had no idea it would become so shoe-centric nor did I realize what fun I could have using it as an instrument of torture. Refer to my "Tormenting Your Friends is Fun" blog entry from 4/9/2010. That was my first attempt at using my blog to taunt someone and it succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Although you don't see any comments associated with that entry, it achieved the desired effect. There were a flurry of emails from my friends Sharla and Suzanne regarding that post.

Now I'm going to turn my attention to my niece Chantal. She has become a devotee of my blog and is unhappy with me for flaunting all of my cute new shoe purchases since Chantal has, as she describes it, Hobbit feet which make it impossible to find cute shoes. At our family lunch today I asked for evidence of her Hobbit-like feet. When she showed me her feet, I had to agree. Although they are perfectly lovely feet, they are quite wide. (Sorry Chantal!) Oh look Chantal, here is a picture of another pair of new shoes which I wore for the first time yesterday. I especially like these shoes with their surprisingly comfortable 4-inch heels. I'm 5'10" in those heels and I enjoy the feeling of being so tall.

Scary House - Part 2

Picture of the Day for 4/21/2010. This is my scary entryway. I like to joke that this is where I entertain guests. Actually, I should clarify that it's just one of four ways to get in/out of the house. Thankfully, this scene is not what greets visitors who climb the stairs and ring the doorbell at the "official" front door. This is the entryway from the garage into the basement which is how I enter the house. There are spiderwebs that have been lurking in the corners of this room for literally decades. I took a picture of the spiderwebs, but decided it was much too scary for my "Scary House" series. That's kind of disturbing.

Taking a Break from Scary

Picture of the Day for 4/20/2010. I realize I promised to publish a series of vignettes about my scary house, but I decided to take a break from scary tonight. (I can do that you know- it's my blog.) The regularly scheduled "Scary House" series will resume tomorrow. In the meantime, let's talk about shoes. If you are a regular follower of my blog, you will have noticed recurring themes- food, shopping, my hair. I thought I was merely being self-indulgent by focusing on these topics, but apparently my shopping updates have a following. In honor of my friend Suzanne's interest in my purchases, I have posted a picture of my newest pair of shoes. Here are the vital statistics:

-I purchased the shoes on April 9, 2010 at Macy's (I love Macy's shoes).

-With tax, the shoes came to $44.50.

-I wore them for the first time today with a new black skirt (also purchased at Macy's).

-They are fairly comfortable although I've realized I need to avoid shoes with straps like these. I have tiny little toes that tend to slip out from the straps. That was probably TMI about the toes...

Scary House - Part 1

Picture of the Day for 4/19/2010. Having been inspired by yesterday's "Scary Cherries" entry, I thought I would do a series of "Scary House" vignettes. Now to be clear, my home is not technically "scary." I grew up here and the "vibe" I get from the house is that it's glad I've returned home. (Yes, I realize the fact I'm getting vibes from an edifice might seem scarier than any examples I'm going to provide in my "Scary House" series. Bear with me, please.) It's just that the property requires some long overdue maintenance and attention (and lots of money, I fear). Tonight's picture is of my bathroom window. If I didn't know better, I would be under the impression my house was surrounded by a haunted forest. I wouldn't be surprised to see a gnome's face pressing against the glass some day. Trust me, if that happened it would soooo be my picture of the day! The reality of the situation is much more prosaic. This particular side of the house is covered by ivy that has been allowed to grow wild.

Scary Cherries

Picture of the Day for 4/18/2010. Scary things can lurk in basements. In my case, it's not monsters, but shelves full of canned cherries. At one point, there were two prolific cherry trees in the back yard so my mother canned a LOT of cherries over the years. I actually remember eating the canned cherries as a child and they were quite tasty. The problem is, the cherries remaining in the basement were canned several decades ago. We suspect they are highly toxic now and will require skilled technicians armed in hazmat suits to remove them. All I know is I'm not touching them with a 10-foot pole.

Evidence My Mother Was Quirky

Picture(s) of the Day for 4/17/2010. I'm in the home stretch of packing up my mother's kitchen stuff and stowing it away in the garage. She was so quirky. She had a habit of labeling EVERY baking dish with her name in red nail polish. It was a little weird, but highly effective. I bet she never lost a dish whenever she had to bring food to a neighbor or a church dinner.

This Picture Makes Me Smile

Picture of the Day for 4/16/2010. I LOVE this photo of me with my dad. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Uncle Claude

Below are two World War ll-era photographs of my Uncle Claude Eldredge who passed away on Monday, April 12 at the age of 84. He was married to my dad's younger sister, Molly. (Random Tangent: Molly's "real" name is Stella Marlene which has to be one of my all-time favorite names.) I've known Uncle Claude all my life, but it's amazing how much I didn't really "know" him. I was unaware of so many details of his life until I read his obituary and heard the eulogies at his funeral today. I was interested to learn that he completed advanced flight training with the U.S. Army Air Corps and was hoping to fly combat in WWll, but the war ended before he could be deployed. I was under the impression that my dad was the only pilot in the family. My dad, his siblings, and their spouses are in their 80s and late 70s so I guess Uncle Claude's passing is part the inevitable trend that started with my mother's death last year. I hate to see them go. It's definitely the end of an era.

Late Night Chocolate Search

Picture of the Day for 4/15/2010. I worked until about 11:30 p.m. tonight. Sadly, this is not an unusual occurrence. When I work late, I have a habit of walking around the deserted office looking for chocolate. There are a couple of women who work on the other side of the building who can always be counted on having a good selection of chocolate which I freely help myself to. Tonight's selection consisted of Hershey's Kisses and mini Three Musketeers bars. Yum. They helped me get through the last few hours of my work day.

Dramatic Gopher

Picture of the Day for 4/14/2010. Today is my niece Corinne's 23rd birthday. One of the gifts she received was this "Dramatic Gopher" bag which is based on a popular YouTube video that never fails to amuse Corinne. You can check out the video below.

Yucky Girls

I have a friend who claims girls are yucky. He's a grown man and not a 5-year old so he's kidding of course (at least I think he is). He would probably appreciate this book, "Girls are Weirdos." I like the companion book not pictured in this photo, "Boys are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them."

Poor Tulips

Picture of the Day for 4/13/2010. You know the picture of the tulips I posted a couple of days ago? Well, this is the thanks the flowers received for poking their heads above ground and braving Salt Lake City's erratic weather. They got punched in the face (metaphorically speaking) and beaten down by a heavy layer of snow. Poor tulips.

Parking Relief

Picture of the Day for 4/12/2010. This tunnel separates two worlds- the Church (Mormon) parking complex that extends for several blocks underneath downtown Salt Lake City and commercial parking for my office building. Up until last week, there was no way to reach the commercial parking except to navigate a complex labyrinth of corridors, gates, and ramps in addition to a gauntlet of Church parking attendants and parking enforcement employees. Once you finally reached the tunnel, you crossed into commercial parking territory and were "home free" so to speak. I certainly felt that way since my relationship with the Church parking employees was strained at best and downright hostile at worst. I'm not sure what the problem was, but we were like oil and water. Let's just say that things escalated to the point where they threatened to revoke my parking. A new exit was finally made available last week and I no longer drive through Church parking to leave the building. Whew. I suspect the Church is relieved as well.

Spring Tulips

Picture of the Day for 4/11/2010. Finally! Some evidence that Spring is here. You wouldn't know it from the weather (snowy) or the temperature (cold). The tulips have decided to brave the forbidding conditions and make an appearance in my yard. Poor tulips- their setting isn't too picturesque. They've sprouted up from underneath a layer of dead pine needles which I have no intention of removing. I'm willing to tackle the nightmare scenario of cleaning/organizing my parents' house, but I refuse to do yard work of any kind. I come by this attitude honestly. My mother believed yard work was the purview of the "menfolk" and I completely subscribe to this sexist philosophy. I'll be hiring out the yard work this summer and it will be worth every penny.

Cleaning Out My Purse

Picture of the Day for 4/10/2010. I've mentioned in a previous post how I take my dad out to lunch every Saturday and how he looooooves to linger. I'm talking major league lingering that eats up several hours. I adore my dad, but I have a small lingering threshold. Consequently, I get really antsy by the time we actually finish lunch. I like to indulge my dad as much as possible so I try to find activities that keep me occupied while he's nursing his 40th Dr. Pepper (which you can see him doing in the background of this picture). I now use our Saturday lunch as an opportunity to clean out my purse. I once read a magazine article that stated a true lady has an immaculate purse at all times. (In case you're wondering, this article was written within the last decade, not during the Victorian era as you might suspect.) I have decidedly un-ladylike habits. During the course of the week, I tend to wantonly throw cash/change, receipts, papers, bills, napkins, books, small animals, etc. in my purse. This picture shows my approach to purse cleaning. I empty the entire contents of my purse onto the table in front of me so I can organize the items by category. This invariably leads to snarky comments from my dad and alarm on my part at the massive mound of receipts. I never realize just how much money I'm spending until I see those receipts. Thankfully, the alarm I experience is temporary and doesn't really slow down my spending. After dropping my dad off at his apartment this afternoon, I immediately went out and bought a new scarf. All is right with the world. Whew.

Tormenting Your Friends is Fun

Picture of the Day for 4/9/2010. This post is directed to my friend Sharla Means from Boise, Idaho. Sharla- you remember the pink, high-heeled shoes you tried on at White House / Black Market when Suzanne and I were visiting you a month ago? Remember how much you liked the shoes, but didn't end up purchasing them? Well, I bought those very same shoes today. On sale. $60. Oh, look at that, there's a picture of me wearing those shoes. ;-)

Customer Appreciation Night

Picture of the Day for 4/8/2010. My Tarot buddies and I held a High Point Coffee appreciation night. High Point Coffee is where we conduct Tarot readings on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. If people made a purchase at the coffee shop and presented a receipt to us, they received a free reading. The people who came in had some rather weighty issues they wanted us to address (marriage/divorce, moving, jobs). Hopefully, we gave them some good advice.

Life Imitates Art

Picture of the Day for 4/7/2010. I like how life (the cat at the bottom of the picture) imitates art (the orange wooden cat on the mantle).

The photo below of my brother-in-law Will on his 52nd birthday was supposed to be the picture of the day, but he totally got aced out by the overwhelming cuteness of the cat picture.

Effie Gundersen

Picture of the Day for 4/6/2010. I attended the funeral for a 92-year old neighbor, Effie Gundersen. I LOVED the picture of her sticking out her tongue that was on the back of the funeral program- probably because it reminded me of my own mother. Effie and my mother were cut from the same feisty cloth; you tangled with them at your own peril.

The funeral was great. All of the speakers commented on how Effie was a force of nature and you followed orders without question. This was said with a great deal of affection, of course. Thomas Monson (president of the Mormon church and neighbor) gave the concluding speech. He mentioned how Effie effectively dictated "how things should be" to the point where he felt like he functioned as Effie's representative with the leadership of the church. He claimed that several major church decisions were based solely upon the fact that he was scared to face Effie. He spoke about how once the presidency and the council of the 12 were voting on whether or not to remove the stages from ALL Mormon ward houses. Apparently, it was a "done deal" with the rest of the leadership, but President Monson knew he couldn't face Effie at church if that happened. Effie was the one in our congregation who directed all the plays, roadshows, and the ward choir and having a place in the church buildings to hold musical/theater productions was a BIG deal to her. President Monson successfully campaigned to keep the stages. He also mentioned how the church owned property with a baseball diamond that a buyer was interested in purchasing. Effie worked for 28 years as the "scorer-in-chief" for the Salt Lake County Recreation Department and President Monson knew she'd have a fit if they sold the property. He had to do some campaigning to keep the property from being sold. He proudly stated that the church still owns that property to this day. Those stories made me laugh. Good for Effie for keeping the church leadership on its toes.

Unpacking Update

Picture of the Day for 4/5/2010. Sorry readers. This is a rather boring post today. The most notable of today's activities/achievements was making a dent in unpacking the boxes stacked next to the front door. I got through about 10 boxes before I decided that this activity was too taxing and I needed to spend some time reclining on the couch watching TV.

Easter Basket

Picture of the Day for 4/4/2010. Went to my sister Paula's house for dinner. She had an Easter basket for me. Yay! It is my contention that one is NEVER too old to get an Easter basket. My mother certainly subscribed to that philosophy. Up until a few years ago, my 80-something mother insisted that we color Easter eggs on the Saturday afternoon before Easter and that my dad and I participate in an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning. My mother would hide precisely 24 eggs. To begin the hunt, she would hand us our baskets, make us stand at the entrance to the living room, and then give us the go-ahead to start searching. My poor dad- he never stood a chance against my prodigious egg-hunting skills. He would routinely get creamed in this competition. That didn't mean he stopped trying. He'd usually elbow me out of the way in an attempt to get a head-start on the hunt. One Easter, my dad surprised me by picking me up by the waist and flinging me behind him. This was truly an amazing act of strength considering he was in his mid-80s at the time and I ain't no delicate flower (to put it mildly). I was in the grocery store yesterday and I overhead a mother telling her daughter that Easter baskets are only for children. I'm so glad my mother didn't believe that.

Clash of the Titans

Picture of the Day for 4/3/2010. My nieces and I saw Clash of the Titans tonight. Pictured here are my nieces and their friend Marianne in front of the movie poster. Corinne is making a threatening gesture towards the giant scorpions which are featured prominently in the movie. Initially, the monster-sized scorpions wanted nothing more than to kill the hero Perseus and his traveling companions, but they were eventually able to tame the scorpions and use them as a conveyance through the desert. Chantal had a problem with this since she felt it was "unrealistic." Um, hello, the whole movie was unrealistic. I shouldn't give her grief since I had a serious problem with Zeus wearing medieval-era armor. Overall, my reaction to this film was a big "meh." Don't need to see it again.

Hot Reagan

Picture of the Day for 4/2/2010. My nephew-in-law, Rob McNeill, is the lead singer in an 80s cover band called Hot Reagan. He's the one on the right in this picture. The band performed tonight at The Woodshed, a dive bar in downtown Salt Lake. Hot Reagan's shows are always entertaining. "Major Tom (Coming Home)" is in their repertoire and the band usually dedicates the song to me since I'm obsessed with astronauts and outer space.

Watching the crowd proved to be just as entertaining as the music. My nieces and I were keeping a close eye on the very drunk man who was sitting right in front of me. He was a large man (tall and wide) and would sway dangerously in his seat. I was afraid in one of his swaying circuits he'd topple over in my direction. Standing up seemed to be fraught with peril for this man as well; it was touch and go whether or not he would remain upright.

Mrs. Johnny Depp

Picture of the Day for 4/1/2010. Today was my niece Chantal's 37th birthday. I was informed that she expected me to deliver Johnny Depp to her (naked) as a birthday present. I let Chantal know that a heads-up concerning her expectation would have been helpful. Chantal replied that I should have just "known" about this without her having to say anything. I guess I let her down. It would appear that I'm a bad auntie.