New Year's Eve Date

Picture of the Day for 12/31/2014. My date for New Year's Eve was sleek and sexy and we had sooooo much fun just hanging out at home together. No, I'm not wandering into TMI territory. My date was the new Blu-ray player that I received for Christmas. (I know- I'm very late to the Blu-ray party.) I did meet my family for a quick dinner, but after that I was perfectly content watching movies while bundled up in a blanket on my couch. 

Surprise Christmas Card

Picture of the Day for 12/30/2013. One of my favorite former account executive contacts, Megan G. from Kaiser Permanente, just found out that I returned to my group health & benefits consulting job. Bless Megan's heart, she hurried and sent me a Christmas card which just arrived. I was happy to get it since I didn't think I'd get any from my health plan contacts this year!

Mean Christmas Stocking Gift

Picture of the Day for 12/29/2014. This was in an envelope in my Christmas stocking. It was was horrible! Yet at the same time I have to congratulate my sister Robynne for coming up with something so mean. Well played.

Dueling Nativity Sets

Picture of the Day for 12/28/2014. This post is for my friend, Lisa Joner, who rightly chastised me for writing about a beautiful nativity set I inherited from my mother without actually showing a picture of the nativity set. Here it is:

 

 

I have another nativity set that my mother made for me. Not from scratch obviously, but she was into ceramics for awhile and I think she did the sanding/glazing portion of the work. Here is that nativity set. 

 

In a fit of uninspired holiday decorating, I placed them right next to each other on a long ledge in my living room. I kind of have this image of the figures from the opposing nativity sets taunting each other in the middle of the night when I'm in bed. Here's how I imagine the conversation going:

Brightly-Colored Nativity (BCN) Wise Men: Hey, how is that whole plain white glazed look working for you?

White Glazed Nativity (WGN) Wise Men: Just fine, thank you very much. At least we're not painted in garish colors. We're elegant and sophisticated.

BCN Wise Men: Uh huh. Riiiight. Elegant and sophisticated. Also known as boring.

WGN Wise Men: I'll show you boring (they say as they shake their fists). So, how is that measly lone camel working out for you? We've got two and they're MUCH bigger than your lame camel.

BCN Joseph: Whatever. So, how is that puny little star over your stable working out for you? We've got a magnificent angel hovering above us and all you've got is that dinky little plastic star. 

WGN Joseph: The star looks dinky only because our stable is so large. Far more commodious than yours. Sorry you're all crammed in so tightly there. Well, actually we're not really sorry at all. We're too busy enjoying our luxurious accommodations.

BCN Shepherd:  Yeah, if it's so great why did the sheep that's supposed to be resting on the right-hand side of Baby Jesus made a break for it? (Note from worried Michelle: I just noticed as I was writing this that the sheep is actually missing. Eek. I hope I can find it in the packing box.)

WGN Shepherd: Argh!!! Don't you dare insult my shepherding techniques!!!

In a rage, the WGN Shepherd throws the first punch and a melee ensues. The two Marys just roll their eyes and stay out of it. 

So, yeah, that's the kind of thing that goes on inside my head...

Cryptic Fortune

Picture of the Day for 12/27/2014. I got the most cryptic fortune at a Chinese restaurant today...

"I've Got a Christmas Tree!" Update #4

Picture of the Day for 12/26/2014. This is a picture I took yesterday, but I wanted to document that after a nearly a month, I finally have a "completed" Christmas tree. This picture shows I've added the tree skirt my mother made for me (therefore making it a treasured Christmas tree skirt) along with presents underneath the tree. Nothing more is needed. 

Nothing like "just in time" decorating. Everything I've done this month has been "just in time." I got my tree decorated "just in time" for Christmas. I got my family's presents wrapped "just in time." I stole the phrase from an actual business strategy called "just in time (JIT)." It seems to be appropriate for how I operate.

Conversation with Missionary Rob

Picture of the Day for 12/25/2014. It's a white Christmas! I didn't think it was going to happen since we've been having unseasonably warm weather and there's been no snow to speak of this winter. There was a flock of birds that greeted me upon arrival at my sister Robynne's house. Seeing them in the snow-covered branches of a tree was a pretty sight.

I always enjoy my Christmases at Robynne's. We open presents, eat the most divine homemade quiche, and go see a movie in the afternoon. 

We also got to speak for about an hour via Skype with my nephew Rob who is currently stationed in Fort Wingate, New Mexico on his LDS mission. This call was 1,000 million billion times more successful than last year's Christmas call. Rob was sick last year and didn't seem to be terribly interested in talking to us. This is a young man who is devoted to his work and loving serving a mission. I think talking to us last year took him out of his new world. This year he seems to have lightened up. We all laughed when Rob said he had to coach his current missionary companion, Elder Butterfield, on how to be more social. Rob is a man of very few words and before his mission, not a particularly social person. Oh, the irony.

Christmas Excitement

Picture of the Day for 12/24/2014. I spent Christmas Eve with my niece Chantal and her family. The kids wanted me to take pictures of them, but they all came out blurry no matter how many attempts I made. That's because the kids were bouncing off the walls they were so excited. Ethan is shown below tackling his older brother Dane and Sadie is on the floor with arms and legs flailing. 

Despite the flailing and attacking, we had a very nice evening. Chantal made a turkey dinner and the kids inhaled the chocolate chip cookies I brought. Then we watched excerpts from the Animaniacs Christmas video. Chantal read the Christmas story from Luke and then read a history of the song Silent Night which we then listened to in German. 

My favorite part of the evening was seeing all four kids transfixed by the Family Time with Santa DVD. It's a locally-produced DVD that counts down the 12 days before Christmas, starting on December 13. Each night features an 8-10 minute episode featuring Santa doing interesting things like skiing or visiting a candy factory or visiting the North Pole or showing how he goes fishing or roller blading when he's on vacation. Mrs. Claus plays an important role in the episodes too which is sweet. What is especially sweet is how Santa Claus ends every episode by saying "Santa loves you." I have to admit I thought it was pretty cheesy when I first started watching, but then I ended up being just as transfixed as the kids.

Gas Station Santa

Picture of the Day for 12/23/2014. I stopped at a gas station today to fill up my car, and I was delighted to be greeted by Santa Claus! He's actually one of the clerks who had dressed up as Santa for the day. What a great idea. I'm so stressed out trying to get ready for Christmas and juggle work, but this made me stop and smile.

Poor Elder Butterfield

Picture of the Day for 12/22/2014. I had asked my nephew Rob what I could get his missionary companion for Christmas. Rob told me that Elder Butterfield loves Chips Ahoy cookies. I bought him two packages, but unfortunately I was only able to fit in one package in the box I was mailing to Rob. Here's the email conversation I had with Rob about this:

Me: Just wanted to give you a heads-up that I mailed your cookies and Elder Butterfield's gloves to you. The post office said it should arrive on Wednesday. I also sent your companion some Chips Ahoy cookies. I bought two packages, but only one ended up fitting in the packing box. Oops. Poor Elder Butterfield is missing out. His loss is my gain. I opened up the package and I've been snacking on them.

Rob: Merry Christmas. By the way something a little funny...mom had planned to send Elder Butterfield some Chips Ahoy, but forgot to put them in the box she sent. Poor Elder Butterfield. 

"I've Got a Christmas Tree!" Update #3

Picture of the Day for 12/21/2014. So, I FINALLY got the tree decorated. It took hours. That's because I have a gazillion ornaments. I have boxes full of Hallmark ornaments and boxes full of glass ornaments and boxes full of wooden ornaments and boxes full of cloth ornaments. I eventually had to concede defeat when there was absolutely no more room for even one more ornament. I felt like such a hypocrite after emphatically telling my niece Chantal there's no such thing as "no more room" for another ornament on her tree.

Sheep Hat

Picture of the Day for 12/20/2014. I attended a 2-hour choir practice this morning for tomorrow's Christmas program. I was sitting next to my neighbor Lois Sager who was unashamedly wearing this cap designed to look like she had sheep/lamb ears. Apparently, it's a costume for a family nativity play. I loved it. What I loved even more is she didn't hesitate for even one second to say yes when I asked if I could take a picture of her wearing the cap. I'm so used to my camera-phobic family who give me such a hassle about taking pictures. Which is why I've become a master a stealth photography. 

You Look Just Like the Other Woman Who Needs to Dye Her Hair Too

Picture of the Day for 12/19/2014. So, I'm walking back to my office after grabbing some lunch when this woman stops me just as I'm about to cross the street. This is the conversation we had:

Strange Woman (SW): Where do you work?

Me: In that building.

SW: What do you do?

Me: (I don't say anything. I'm tried and grumpy and cold and don't feel like being interrogated by a stranger. I just kind of lift my eyebrows.)

SW: Do you work at a florist shop?

Me: No.

SW: Oh.

Me: Why?

SW: You look EXACTLY like the woman who helped me in florist shop today. 

Me: Nope, that wasn't me.

SW: Yep, the other woman needed to dye her hair just like you do.

Me: Oh, isn't that interesting.

Sigh. It's true. As you can see from the pictures below, it's waaaaay past time for a dye job, but really, I was in no mood for that type of comment from a complete stranger.

Portraits

Picture of the Day for 12/18/2014. I visited an art estate sale with my sister Robynne, niece Rachel, and Rachel's boyfriend Danny.

Due to the fact I'm beyond easily swayed by the power of suggestion, I was on the lookout for vintage portrait paintings since a few months ago my niece Michelle had sent me a link to an article about decorating with vintage portraits.

This is the portrait I found for just $7. I know, it's cheesy, but I love his face.

This is one of the portraits Rachel and Danny purchased. A clown. OK- it's very low on the creepy scale and it's actually well done and kind of interesting, but still... It's a clown. Sigh...

"I've Got a Christmas Tree!" Update #2

Picture of the Day for 12/17/2014. So, I FINALLY got the lights on the tree. I spent an hour carefully stringing the lights "just so" and when I got to the end of the process, I realized I had the cords going the wrong direction so I couldn't plug in the lights. Sigh. I wallowed in deep despair for a few minutes and then regrouped. I pulled all the lights of the tree and started again. My process the second time around wasn't so much stringing the lights as throwing them randomly on the limbs. I got the whole thing done in just a few minutes. It works. Good enough.

Side Braid

Picture of the Day for 12/16/2014. I wore my hair in a side braid today. No good reason. Just because.

"Michelle" China Pattern

Picture of the Day for 12/15/2014. I did a Google search to see if there are any china patterns named Michelle. Turns out there's a beautiful pattern that was produced by Mikasa. The picture doesn't do the colors justice. The background is a lovely pale blue which is my favorite color. I will now be collecting the entire set though eBay since this pattern has been discontinued.

Jingle Boo

Picture of the Day for 12/14/2014. My niece Corinne hosted Sunday dinner at her place tonight. After we were done eating, we watched clips from YouTube of our favorite Christmas programs. It turned out to be a fun little impromptu Christmas celebration.

The Muppets are always a favorite with Corinne and her sister Renee.

My sister Paula loves the Claymation Christmas vignettes.

I get a kick out of Jingle Boo from the Animaniacs. 

"I've Got a Christmas Tree!" Update #1

Picture of the Day for 12/13/2014. Oh sure, I've had a Christmas tree for a week now, but I can't seem to get the dang thing decorated. Just a couple of random ornaments thrown on is about all I've been able to manage so far. It's because I hate stringing the lights. It's a horrible task. Bah humbug. 

Thomas Kinkade Christmas Movies

Picture of the Day for 12/12/2014. About this time last year I attended a bad Christmas sweater party where we watched a cheesy Thomas Kinkade Christmas movie at my niece Renee's place. It was great! So imagine my delight in discovering that there's a whole series of cheesy Thomas Kinkade Christmas movies.We could make this an annual tradition.

Hazel Pauline

Picture of the Day for 12/11/2014. My niece Michelle had a baby girl today and named her Hazel Pauline. My mother would be so happy with the baby's middle name. I think it's sweet my mother Pauline has a namesake now. I can't wait to meet this little girl and kiss her sweet little face. And to be a bad influence. I'm a HORRIBLE influence on my nieces and nephews. That's my role in the family.

Visiting Don Lind

Picture of the Day for 12/10/2014. Today is my birthday and I celebrated it in the most perfect way a space nerd could. I drove two hours north to spend an hour visiting Don Lind, the first Mormon astronaut, along with his wife Kathleen. They were so gracious to invite me into their home. They are both smart, talented, and lovely people. 

I learned a lot about Don's role at NASA. I didn't realize he was such a big deal behind the scenes on the Apollo missions. He was responsible for the tools used on the lunar surface. Lind said if he didn't design something himself then he personally approved the designs for the tools. You can read an interesting article about his role on the Apollo program here. He was assigned to one of the later Apollo missions that eventually was canceled. He was also on several back-up crews for Skylab. It took him 19 years at NASA before he finally made it into space in 1985 on the space shuttle Challenger, nine months before that spacecraft exploded. He later learned his flight had the same O-ring issue and the shuttle came within 3/10 of a second of exploding. 

I enjoyed chatting with Kathleen just as much as I did with Don. She is the one who wrote Don's biography. I've started reading it and she is a very good writer although she's very modest about that accomplishment.

They were telling me that years ago they were so busy with work and church activities that they decided to take a Thursday-night art class together so they could spend three hours together. Both of them are very good artists and they showed me all of their artwork hanging on the walls of their home. Don painted this picture of his space shuttle launch. The shuttle is surrounded by God's hands, depicting how he believes he was projected on the flight. 

Billy's Bad Back

Picture of the Day for 12/9/2014. My sister Robynne's dog Billy has a very bad back. Apparently that happens quite frequently to dogs with long bodies. Billy was having a particularly bad day so my niece Lisa got on the ground to commiserate with him. Despite being in pain, he was so thrilled to get Lisa's attention that he flopped onto his back so she could rub his belly. A good belly rub trumps a bad back any day.

Michelle's Nativity Set

Picture of the Day for 12/8/2014. I inherited a beautiful nativity set from my mother. It was my all-time favorite Christmas decoration when I was growing up and I looked forward to setting it up each year when I was living at home. I think my mother left it to me since she knew how much I loved and treasured it. I finally cleared away enough boxes so I could reach the nativity set packed away in the dark recesses of my basement. I laughed when I saw the box. My mother made it VERY clear that this was MY nativity set. She put my name on the top of the lid, on the underside of the lid, and on the bottom of the wooden stable. It made me smile. And miss her. No one loved Christmas more than she did.

Cat Wrestlemania

Picture of the Day for 12/7/2014. My brother-in-law David and his family's new cat love to engage in a daily bout of wrestlemania. Ben is a pretty smart cat and realizes David is the only person he's allowed to pounce on and wrestle with. I witnessed this manly battle for the first time today and it was pretty epic. And very cute.

I've Got a Christmas Tree!

Picture of the Day for 12/6/2014. Look at this! I've got a Christmas tree! First one in about five years.

Look at this! I've got it all set up after lugging it up about a million stairs.

Look at this! I've even got the star on top of the tree.

Alarming Flight Tracker

Picture of the Day for 12/5/2014. Take a look at the flight tracker from my trip home from California today. These are the statistics showing on the screen right AFTER we landed. They indicated that we were still at an altitude of 4,227 feet. Eek. I found this alarming until I realized that technically, Salt Lake City is about 4,500 feet above sea level. Phew. Good to know I didn't have to step off the plan from a height of 4,227 feet!

Minnie Mouse Watch

Picture of the Day for 12/4/2014. In honor of my mother who wore a very cute Minnie Mouse watch into her 80s, I purchased my very own Minnie Mouse watch upon a return trip to Downtown Disney last night. I proudly wore my new watch to work today.

A Footstool for Milady's Purse

Picture of the Day for 12/3/2014. I attended a business meeting that was held in a very posh restaurant located in a very posh hotel in very posh Beverly Hills. I probably violated all sorts of codes of etiquette by casually slinging my purse over my chair. For the rest of the women in attendance at the meeting, an individual footstool was provided for each purse. I guess for the very posh ladies who traditionally dine here, they don't want their designer handbags resting on the floor. Call me a hick, but I never knew such a thing existed before today. I know I definitely looked like a hick when I got up to take a picture it. Now that I know the proper protocol, I'd like to return for a do-over as I am actually in possession of a designer purse.

Listening to Jazz Music in Downtown Disney

Picture of the Day for 12/2/2014. I flew down to Southern California for some work meetings this week. I inadvertently made a reservation at a hotel a few minutes away from Disneyland. When I checked in, I saw a flyer listing the free shuttle schedule to Downtown Disney. I arrived just a few minutes before the 7:00 p.m. shuttle was about to leave so I thought, OK- why not?

As I was exploring all the shops and restaurants in Downtown Disney, I checked out the menu at a restaurant called the Jazz Kitchen. The food looked good so I thought, OK- why not?

I ended up being seated right next to the stage where a fabulous musician called Barbara Reed was singing and playing the piano. She was taking requests so I asked for something bluesy. Barbara complied by singing a song called "Hey Lady, Your Husband Is Cheatin' On Us." It was fabulous! I spent a pleasant hour there eating a great meal while listening to Barbara's music.

When I left Salt Lake City this morning, I never would have guessed this is how I would spend the evening. This is what happens when you go, OK- why not? A happy accident indeed!

Hanging Upside Down

Picture of the Day for 12/1/2014. Well, here's a sight I've never seen. My parakeet Malcolm was hanging upside down from the top of the cage. I'm not sure what Cora is up to. She's probably trying to gnaw her way out of the cage. They are hooligan birds I tell ya.