Picture of the Day for 9/30/2010. Regular readers of my blog know that I shamelessly use this blog to torment my niece Chantal with my new shoe purchases. Chantal is jealous since she has self-described Hobbit feet and can only wear wide shoes. After family lunch today, Chantal and I lingered at the mall where ironically enough we went shoe shopping. In penance, I purchased a pair of silver shoes for her. In return, Chantal has promised to refrain from making snarly comments to me which given her snarky to non-snarky comment ratio, will be extremely hard.
Picture of the Day for 9/29/2010. My sister jumped on a very trendy bandwagon and purchased eyelashes for her car's headlights, effectively guaranteeing no self-respecting man will ever be caught dead driving her car. I think they're darling, much to the disgust of my 16-year-old nephew Robbie.
Picture of the Day for 9/28/2010. The property management company that oversees my office building frequently hosts "customer appreciation" events. Today was pie day. Normally, I am circumspect and eat just one piece of pie (as one should). Not today. I had not one, not two, but THREE slices of pie (two chocolate and one berry). In my defense, I am not the only one from my office to wantonly consume three servings of pie. Most of us snagged several pieces because hey, free pie.I'm not feeling well. Wonder why...
Picture of the Day for 9/27/2010. This has to be one of my favorite pictures of the day and its existence is a complete fluke. A photo from an "Excellence in Aviation" awards banquet I attended in California last May serves as my computer wallpaper at work. My computer wigged out this morning and transformed the picture into something that looks like an Andy Warhol painting. I have since learned this effect is called solarization. I was annoyed my computer was freaking out (since I thought I was just about to lose an hour's worth of work), but I was quite entranced with this picture so I quickly snapped a photo of it.
Picture of the Day for 9/26/2010. I'm totally cheating. I didn't want to worry about coming up with a subject for today's picture of the day so I'm piggy-backing off of my "Girls' Night Out" blog entry from yesterday. I got home after midnight and snapped a picture of the pin I had been proudly wearing at Hot Reagan's (my nephew Rob's 80s cover band) gig.
Picture of the Day for 9/25/2010. Pictured left to right are Mary, Kelly, and Margaret Ruth. These are my Tarot buddies. Kelly, Mary, and I do Tarot readings at High Point Coffee every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month (never hurts to slip in a little advertising) and Margaret Ruth was our Tarot teacher. All three of them had a birthday within the past month so we went out for a mass birthday celebration.After dinner, we headed over to The Woodshed (a local dive bar) to hear my nephew Rob's band, Hot Reagan, play. Hot Reagan (www.hotreagan.com) is an 80s cover band. They are great fun and if you get a chance, you should go see them (as you can see, I'm in advertising mode tonight). Tonight's gig was somehow associated with the Salt City Derby Girls. Needless to say the crowd was very lively.
Picture of the Day for 9/24/2010. Oh no! The horror. The indignity. I discovered my first age spot on the back of my right hand. I can't squint my eyes and claim it's just a freckle or a burn or a scratch. Nope- it's definitely an age spot. Damn. Or, as Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth might say, "Out, out damn age spot." Ha, ha, ha- I'm so clever.*
*OK- I realize that was neither funny or clever and I sincerely apologize. I'm just a little punchy tonight.
Picture of the Day for 9/23/2010. Once again I've managed to reach a new low in my blog. Yes, you are looking at a picture of toilet paper. This isn't just any toilet paper, however. It's the first package I've purchased in the 13-1/2 months since I moved into my parents' house. I've mostly been exasperated by my parents' hoarding (which appears to be a generational tendency of people who lived through the Great Depression) because I still haven't managed to dig my way out of their stuff, but I have certainly benefited from my mother's rather odd obsession with stockpiling paper products when she was alive. I'm rather irritated that I'm now forced to start buying toilet paper like everyone else.
Picture of the Day for 9/22/2010. It's been awhile since I've given a "book report" on my blog so I thought I would circle back to this topic. My niece Renee and her family are obsessed with Shannon Hale's books. Hale is an award-winning author of young adult fiction who is known for re-imagining classic fairy tales. "Book of a Thousand Days" is based on the Brothers Grimm tale of Maid Maleen.Here's the gist of Hale's story - a princess falls in love with a prince who is deemed objectionable. Since she will have no other suitor, her father locks the princess and her lady's maid in a tower for seven years as punishment. After several years, they manage to escape only to find the kingdom has been utterly destroyed. The girls manage to make their way to the prince's kingdom where they find work in the royal kitchen and there learn the prince is betrothed to another. (Oh no!) I won't give away the ending (I couldn't even if I wanted to since I haven't finished the book yet), but since this story is told from the maid's point-of-view, I'm guessing things probably work out well for her in the end.Renee gave me this book along with another Shannon Hale novel, "The Goose Girl." before I went in for surgery a couple of months ago. I liked "The Goose Girl" a lot, but I love "Book of a Thousand Days" since it's like nothing else I've ever read before. I think what makes it so unique is the setting- Hale places this fairy tale in the central Asian steppes. I really feel like I've been transported to another world.
Picture of the Day for 9/21/2010. Today was one of those days where I have my head down at work, the day passes swiftly, and before I know it, it's nighttime and I have yet to take my picture of the day. A self-portrait is always a good fall-back in these emergency situations so I snapped a quick photo of my reflection in one of our conference room windows.
One of my colleagues mentioned that my skirt reminded her exactly of her school uniform in India. LOL. As a middle-aged woman, schoolgirl wasn't quite the look I was going for, but that's OK I guess.
Picture of the Day for 9/20/2010. There is a Hawaiian restaurant in town called Mo'Bettah Steaks. I'll wait for you to quit laughing at the name. You done? OK, let's move on. I'm obsessed with this place because I'm pretty sure they put crack or some other addictive substance in the macaroni salad. That's the only way I can account for the fact that I dream about this salad. I'd eat it every single day if I could.
Picture of the Day for 9/19/2010. We celebrated my great-niece Hayley's 11th birthday tonight. (The actual big event is tomorrow.) She rode back from the restaurant to my sister's house for the presents/cake/ice cream portion of the evening with me. As we were chatting in the car, Hayley casually used the word "thrice" in the conversation - correctly I might add. I had to laugh. What 11-year-old uses the word "thrice"???
Picture of the Day for 9/18/2010. Today is Saturday so that means it's "lunch with my dad." In previous blog entries I've mentioned that my dad loves to linger over his Dr. Pepper for hours on end. I don't mind spending hours with my dad- it's the lingering for hours at a restaurant that makes me crazy. I've found an effective way to lure him away is to promise to take him on a drive. This compromise makes both of us happy.Today we drove up Little Cottonwood canyon. I love the panoramic view of the Salt Lake valley from this elevation. None of the pictures I took do the actual scene any justice. The sun was shining so brightly that it was hard to see the images I was capturing through the viewfinder.The leaves are starting turn at the higher elevations. We'll have to return to the canyon next week so I can get some good pictures of the fall colors. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year.
Picture of the Day for 9/17/2010. I attended the Utah State Fair for the first time in about 20 years. I thought I would start off this blog entry with the cutest picture I took last night- a piglet with its hooves resting on its mother.Once I arrived at the fair, I headed straight for the chickens. As you might be aware from previous blog entries, I'm a little obsessed with chickens. I don't know why and I realize it's rather weird. That being acknowledged, here is a selection of chicken photos.
I attended the fair with my sister Paula's family and some of my niece Corinne's friends. Pictured left to right are: Dane, Paula, Renee, Marianne, Kellie, Sharon, and Corrine. Dane and any female wearing a white shirt are family members. (The white shirt thing is merely a coincidence. We don't have a family uniform.) The others are Corinne's friends.
We visited the animal exhibits and saw bunnies...
And cows...
And sheep...
And pigs.
We also visited the agriculture exhibit...
Where I saw my first-ever sheaf of wheat (yes, I lead a very urban existence)...
And pumpkins, of course! I'm just as obsessed with pumpkins as I am with chickens.
We decided it would be prudent to go on the rides before 12-year-old Dane consumed any food. I headed straight for the Ferris Wheel. Apparently, I'm the only family member who is unafraid of heights. I had a lovely ride and view of the fair.
Renee and Dane rode The Scrambler for what ended up being a really, really long time. The carnies running the ride were so uninterested in their duties (one was talking on his cell phone) that they let it go on forever until people were just begging them to stop the ride.After the rides, we ate dinner. I tried the fried bacon dipped in chocolate sauce (don't judge me- you're supposed to eat crap at a state fair). I had been excited to taste it since the dish contains three of my favorite things- fried food, bacon, and chocolate. Meh. It was just OK.After dinner, we checked out the creative arts. Renee was particularly interested in seeing the quilts.
And what better way to end the experience than checking out a quintessential state fair exhibit- a butter sculpture.
Picture of the Day for 9/16/2010. Here are Ethan and Sadie (grand-nephew and grand-niece respectively) holding toys that are clearly in their possession, not mine. Every time I see them, they make a big deal of showing me the objects that I, under no circumstances, will be allowed to wrest away from them. Hmm...I wonder why they do this. It's not like I have a history of stealing their toys. Absolutely not. I'm COMPLETELY innocent...mostly...sort of...OK, not really.
Picture of the Day for 9/15/2010. I attended the surprise 40th birthday party for my coworker Richard Larsen's wife Michelle. Both Richard and Michelle are very good friends as I have known them now for 15 years. Michelle was only 25 years old when we met. I'll make a totally unoriginal observation - time flies.Richard, who is arguably the Nicest Man on the Planet (NMP), was sooooo excited about planning this event for his wife. He could barely concentrate at work yesterday. Despite being the NMP, Richard was not above posting huge pictures of Michelle during her "violently big hair" stage.
Picture of the Day for 9/14/2010. I was wearing a 1950s housewife outfit today- a fitted shirtdress accessorized with a double strand of pearls. I felt VERY June Cleaver-ish (and a little overdressed for work).
Picture of the Day for 9/13/2010. I just got back from a walk. Normally (i.e., before my surgery) at this time of day I would still have my head down at work. It's amazing what happens when you look up. The sky was beautiful tonight.
Picture of the Day for 9/11/2010. My dad wanted an outing today after lunch so I took him on a scenic drive through the mountains. Wild sunflowers were growing alongside the road for miles on end. They were a nice sunny counterpoint to the fact that today is the 9th anniversary of 9/11.
Picture of the Day for 9/10/2010. I'll be honest- I have weird eating habits. Obsessions really. Once I latch onto a food item, I can eat the same thing for months on end, even years. Here's a very rough timeline:
Toddler = Peanut Butter
Nursery School/Kindergarten = Pancakes
Elementary School = Rice*
Junior/Senior High School = Toast or Oatmeal
I could go on, but you get the point. Do you notice a pattern here? As you can see, my love affair with carbs began early. I would mention how chocolate has been a constant throughout my whole life, but that's like pointing out how the sun rises every morning. Those things are a given.
Eggo buttermilk waffles are my latest obsession. I've had one every single morning for over a month. I'm not tired of them yet so I decided I better stock up. Three boxes for $5.00. Good deal!
*The rice obsession was probably my most enduring one. For years, my mother would cook a small bowl of rice (with a pat of butter melted in the center) for me every Sunday. I can still see the metal bowls she used to cook the rice. Good times- at least for me. My poor mother. I think I broke her spirit.
Picture of the Day for 9/9/2010. Ethan is in receipt of his "Henchman in Training" business cards. Look at that face- it has potential henchman written all over it. After he distributed some of the cards at family lunch today, we asked Ethan what he would charge to break someone's knee caps. He did not have a ready answer for this. Apparently, his training has not yet addressed the administrative/financial issues associated with being a henchman.
Picture of the Day for 9/8/2010. Oh how the mighty have aged. Once a swinging bachelor sporting a killer pornstache (refer to my 2/17/2010 "Mustaches are Hot" blog entry), my brother-in-law Will is now the proud owner of an AARP membership at the decrepit age of 52. Does this sad fate await us all? Scary...By the way, Will made this scrunchy face on purpose. Here's a picture of the so-called "normal" Will.
