They say taupe is very soothing.

Today, I have done something I have meaning to do for a long time. On January 6, 2007 (yes, this long!) I bought myself a can of paint, to paint my bathroom. I remembered after buying it however, that I hate to paint. I painted the bathroom when we first moved in, and I think I gave up after finishing like 2 or 3 walls. I had to call my older sister in to finish the job. The original color was white, and I painted it a purple/pinkish color. Looking back now, I'm not really sure why I chose that color, but after a couple of years, I got sick of it. So I finally decided to get myself some more paint and change the color.
I chose a whole different theme for the new color. Since my favorite color is gray (I know, thats weird) I chose a slate color. Its really very pretty. But since I don't paint, I had to try to get someone to paint it for me. For the last two years, I have been hounding people to help me out. For every birthday and Christmas present, I kept telling people that they didn't have to get me a gift, all they had to do was paint my bathroom, but still, I had no takers. Finally, on Easter Sunday, Rory told me she would paint it. Having heard this before, I was skeptical, and didn't really think she would. But on that Sunday (after a gentle reminder from me) she showed up, bringing Joseph. Imagine my surprise when they got started. I sat outside the bathroom and kept them company. Mostly that just entailed me laughing hysterically at things that were only moderately funny. Turns out, when I am on Loratabs, not only does it make me super tired, I think everything is hilarious, and laugh until I cry. Which did not help the pain go away any more, so maybe it was a bad idea. They came back this afternoon to apply the second coat, and I gotta tell you, things are looking good in there. Rory and Joseph kept telling me that the dark color would make my bathroom seem like a prison, but I don't think so. I like it in there, and I like the dark color. I can't wait to get everything back in there to see how it'll look. Tomorrow we'll be painting the base boards (or something, I don't really remember) and then we can get everything in there. And of course, while they're doing this, I'll be there, to laugh like a hyena.

A tie isn't a loss

Now, I know two posts in one day is just overkill, but I'm kinda wired right now, so I'm doing it. Plus, I have things I need to speak about!
Real had the opening game yesterday, and it was a marvelous occasion. As soon as we got out of the car, and saw all of our fellow fans, hearing the sounds coming from the stadium, I was psyched. It was like no time had passed at all from the last game. Shortly after taking our seats, the game began. (Now, I mostly like to get there a while before opening kick-off, but I wanted to hit up a cupcakery before the game, since we were in the neighborhood already). Real played a really good game. I think their performance was really solid-much more so than it was last year (and probably many years prior). Our passes were solid, our shots were very close, we just were in the groove. Sissy Blanco spent most of the time on the ground, but thats what we expected. What an idiot that Blanco is. We dominated the game-held onto possession of the ball way more than Chicago did, our goals just weren't finishing. In the 71st minute, we got a goal, helped by the other team. Kovalenko crossed the ball into the box, and Chicago's defense kicked the ball into their own goal instead of kicking it out of play. Bad for them, but oh so good to us. We held onto that one point lead the rest of the game. Unfortunately, (and this is something I sometimes hate about my beloved sport, more on that later) we had 4 minutes of overage time. (Like in basketball, they stop the clock when there's a sub, or injury, we don't in soccer, we just tack that extra time onto the end of the half) Two minutes into the overage, Chicago scored. Of course, it was by Blanco (you can't let him have the ball anywhere near the goal! He always makes it, dang it!) and it just went straight in. There was nothing Nick Rimando (our fantastic goalie) could to do stop it. And with only two minutes left, we played our hardest, but we ended in a tie.
Now, this isn't a bad thing. It's very unfortunate we didn't get the win, but we didn't lose. I was expected us to lose, so this is better than I was expecting. Now I really think we have a shot this year of being good, a real contender, at least to make it farther than we did last year. And we can only get better. The first game is always the one you see how you can improve. And the thing I super hated about this game was our referee. I don't know what the heck was wrong with him, but he was the worst! He randomly kept giving yellow cards to our team, (I honestly have no idea why he was handing those out most of the time!) and to the other team, he gave nothing. Espindola (one of our guys) got KICKED in the FACE by a Chicago guy, and nothing. Findley challenges Chicago's goalie, and he gets a yellow card. There was definitely something going on with that ref, he must have been a Blanco fan.
I hate the overage time sometimes. When we have a lead, I don't want to have any more time, because (like we saw in this game,) the other team has a chance to score and either even things up or win. But, on the flip side, when we're down, I like that extra time to give us a chance to possible score. And the more time there is, the worst it is! You're on the edge of your seat, willing time to go by faster or slower, and hoping the team pulls it all together in those few minutes!

Tagged? Am I It?

I was tagged by Chelle, which I assume means I have to fill this out? I've never been told of this phenomenon!

You're feeling: weird-I took some Loratab today, and I've never really had those. I'm tired by them, but a little hyper at the same time. Needless to say, I'm forgetting about my pain!

To your left: The couch

On your mind: Absolutely nothing! (Maybe the answers to these)

Last meal included: Fruit and nut pancakes from Village Inn. Delicioso!

You sometimes find it hard to: Be wrong

The weather: cold-and what the heck is with all this dang snow?!

Something you have a collection of: Movies, movies, and more movies

A smell that cheers you up: Laundry soap

A smell that can ruin your mood: popcorn burning-makes me hate whoever made it

How long since you last shaved: This morning- it was church today!

Yesterday, The current state of your hair: Down, kinda curled at the bottom? The usual.

The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): currently? Because nothing if so.

Your skill with chopsticks: Not too shabby-my brother taught me when he got back from the mission.

Which section you head for first in a bookstore: depends on what I'm there to get.

Something your craving: Like right now? Uh...shoot, I can't think of anything!

Your general thoughts on the presidential race: Man, our country is in trouble no matter what happens.

How many times you've been hospitalized this year: None ever in my whole life.

Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: I don't ever need a quiet moment!

You've always secretly thought you'd be a good: A soccer player

Something that freaks you out a little: Mice

Something you've eaten too much of lately: Chocolate

You have never: Run in a race (6 days...)

You never want to: Get my head chopped off.


My answers were pretty lame, but I don't really care. At least I filled this out, yo.

I'm tagging PJ-Now you're it!

It's the most wonderful time...of the year

It’s here! The MLS season is officially beginning in less than 1 day, and I could not be more psyched. I checked out PJ’s blog right before I got on, and I see that we have the same topic. Lets be honest, for the next few months, this is probably how it’ll be. Anyway, with no further ado, are my predictions for opening weekend:

Columbus v Toronto FC:
I don’t know how much Toronto will win this year. Last year wasn’t good for them, and I don’t know that this year will be an improvement. Having your coach say about your team “In all my years in the game, that's the probably the worst performance I've ever seen” probably isn’t a morale booster. This one will go to Columbus.

Houston v New England
A rematch of the 2007 MLS cup! And I’m sure this will end the same way as it did months ago-with Houston winning. I don’t think New England is quite solid enough to hit the ground running, while Houston has showed us (in off-season games) that they haven’t lost any of their stuff.

Real Salt Lake v Chicago
As much as I loves my Real, I think I’ll pick Chicago for this game. We’re not ready yet to start winning right out of the gate, it’ll take us a couple of games to get our momentum. But look for Blanco falling down every ten minutes like a sissy.

Colorado v Los Angeles
I feel bad for LA. There is so much talent on this team that will not get recognized in the mist of the Beckham circus. And sadly, Beckham doesn’t help them win. Colorado will walk away with this victory, if they don’t tie.

Kansas City v DC United
Kansas City is going to have a hard time (at least starting out) this year without their man Eddie Johnson. When he left for a few months during last year’s season, KC fell apart. I hope it won’t be the same this year, but even so, I’m giving this one to DC.


FC Dallas v Chivas
This one is going to be pretty tough. They’re both good times, maybe even equally so. I think Chivas is going to be the victor, though.

Regardless of how Real will do, I’m dressing up in my team colors and rooting for them. And who knows, maybe we’ll randomly pull out a victory. I’m at least hoping Espindola will score, because I love his post-goal celebration!

Soccer is not just about scoring goals - it’s about winning.

On my way out of a Real game one night last year, PJ and I overheard a guy talking to his young son about the sport. The son was told that Real isn’t very good because they get most of their goals in stopped play. Now, for those of you who don’t follow the sport, this means that instead of scoring during regular play, they score during a penalty kick or free kick. (These might sound like the same thing, but they are not) At the time, we laughed at him. He is right, to some degree, and he definitely is trying to teach his son about the sport (in his own kind of way) but the thing is, it’s not just exclusive to Real. Most of the teams in this sport score this way, its how most of the scoring in this sport take place.
As I was watching the USA v Poland game last night, (which the US won, 3-0) 2 of our goals were scored off of free kicks, and the other goal was scored off a corner kick. Now, according to the previous guy, this would mean the USA isn’t very good, right? Now, to that I say a resounding no! They are the cream of the crop of the United States, the best we have to offer. We might not be as good as some other countries (Mexico and England are a few that come to mind) but that’s because as a nation, we’re still pretty new to the sport, in comparison. Yes, we’ve been around for many years, but in comparison to other countries, we’re still newbie’s at this. But we’ve gotten better. We’re not ranked in the top, (we’re currently in 28th place, ouch) but we’re improving, year by year. Just look at some of the people we have had and currently have, and you can’t help but be impressed! Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey, Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, Eddie Pope, Eric Wynalda, these guys are amazing to watch. They have undeniably awesome skills, and they understand everything about the game. I can’t wait for the next world cup, so we can see how awesome we have become.
So it doesn’t matter if you score your goals off a play or off a kick. A goal is a goal, and to get any in soccer means you have what it takes. So play on, dear Real, and don’t worry about the haters. Score the goals any way you want, and I’ll be there to cheer you on.

Its all Greek to me

With the return of spring/summer comes the new “filler shows”. You know what these are, the shows that (according to network execs) are good, but not as good as to be aired during the peak TV months. People don’t watch TV during the summer, so why air the good stuff? Well, my friends, I am here to tell you, some of these summer shows are my favorite. Burn Notice, for example, is quite delightful; I invite everyone to check it out, along with My Boys. One of my favorite summer shows is Greek, which has recently returned. Greek is a show on ABC Family (has anyone else noticed that ABC Family isn’t very family-oriented anymore?) It’s about sororities and fraternities on a college campus, with a brother and sister (who are on opposites sides of the spectrum, personality-wise) at the center of all the delicious drama. It’s really very tame as college shows could go, there is drinking and sex and what-not, but it isn’t right out there in your face. There was a marathon of the show on Monday; they re-aired all the shows from the first part of the season, which was aired last summer.
As I watch this show, I can’t help but think about how I have always wanted to be in a sorority. I know movies probably portray them way way differently than they are, but I always think it looks like so much fun! You get to hang out with all sorts of cute boys from a fraternity, and if you’re cute enough, I’m sure you’ll never have to buy yourself another drink again! And trust me, that kind of stuff gets to be expensive. Plus, there are parties galore, you get to live in a house with all sorts of girls, and surely, one of them is your size, which means your wardrobe just doubled! And even though most of your ‘sisters’ are sure to be bratty and mean, I’m sure I could be just as bratty back, so I would totally thrive in this environment. Plus, surely any sorority is full of WASP’s, and, as everyone knows, I would so love to be a WASP. I’m still trying to figure out how to marry into them. Of course, no sorority would be as fun as they make it look on this show, which is why it’s probably better for me to just dream about it in this case. Plus at this point, I’m probably too old to be joining any kind of sorority, but hey, a girl can dream.

And now...its on like Donkey Kong

And now, the day has come. It's not THE day I've been waiting for exactly, but its so close. Tonight, our beloved Real Salt Lake has started playing. It wasn't a league game or anything, just a pre-season game, but oh, how I've waited. All day I kept thinking about it, so by game time, I was ready to go. We took on the Lobos PFC, a local team. It was a little weird at first, mostly because I hardly recognize anyone on the team! We have switched around so many people, all my beloveds are gone. I'm sure that in a little bit, I'll have them all memorized, but for now, I'm just learning. The game was quiet, nobody was yelling or anything, which was weird. I mean, its not like I shout and scream the whole time, but I do like to yell every once in a while! And when no one else is yelling, I just feel awkward doing it, so I abstain.
During the first half, we scored one goal, made by Kovalenko, so by half time, we were up. After an abysmal half time show by the worst dancers in the history of the world, the second half kicked off. After another goal (it might have been by Kovalenko again, but I really don't know for sure.) and then shortly thereafter, another goal scored by Movsisyan (my favorite crazy guy) and then the game was over! And, good news, we won the game! 3 to 0! Take that, Lobos! Of course, the game was bleeding freezing. At the beginning of the game, I was ok, it was maybe a little chilly, but I could totally take it. After a while, it was getting colder and colder. By the end of the game, I was wearing two hoodies, wrapped into PJ's blanket, and smushed into PJ as much as I could and it was still way too cold. But at least it wasn't raining or snowing or anything, so that was a welcome relief. And now, we have the opening day game on Saturday-and I could not be more psyched! I hear it might rain, which is disappointing, but I can be prepared more so then than I was today, so I will probably be warmer. But it doesn't matter, I've sat through hail and snow and rain to see my team, so it could be raining frogs, and I'll be at the game on Saturday.

If I was speeding, how was I supposed to read the sign?

I attract policemen. I don't mean in the good way, you know, with maybe an attractive police officer asking me out, that would be ok, I'd be happy with that. No, I'm talking about getting pulled over. I must have a magnet in my car for these peoples to find me, because believe you me, they find me. The most recent infraction happened just today, and I felt I had to share.
I got my first speeding ticket when I was 17. I remember, I was on the way to a boyfriends house, and I had his little sister in the car, and not half an hour earlier, I had said (rather smugly) that I have yet to be pulled over. Bad move. In December of 2001, I got pulled over for going 44 in a 25, on 1600 north in Orem. Whoops. But I went to traffic school, and it was wiped from my record. I got the next one 8 months later, in August of 2002, on 820 north in Provo. Again, I was going 44 in a 25. But, I could go to traffic school in Provo, and again the slate was clean. I got the next one 6 months later, in February 2003, on 400 north in Orem. 44 in a 25, which I believe is now my signature move. Because it was in Orem and had been a year since my Orem ticket, I could go to traffic school again, and was, again, totally clean. The next I had was in June 2003, in Provo, on University Parkway. I was going 65 in a 50. Because it hadn't quite been a year, I wasn't eligible for traffic school, so I went to the traffic judge and argued my case, and she let me go to traffic school, I just had to report back to her after I had done it to finish my case up completely. (Side note, I forgot to do this, and about a year later, had a warrant out for my arrest. They sent me a letter informing me of this. I took care of it though, I'm legit now). Then, I had a big space where I didn't get anything anymore, and I thought, my luck, it has changed! I can drive however I want!
Oh, how things can change. In October 2007, I was pulled over in Spanish Fork, on Hwy 6. I was doing 65 in a 50. (All my speedings are the same!) I tried my hardest to get out of that one, but oh man, no dice. Luckily, since it was Spanish Fork, I could go to traffic school, and my record was spotless once more. In November 2007, the family and I were driving back from my brothers wedding in California. Since dad had driven a good portion, we switched in St George, and I took over. In Beaver, Utah, I was pulled over for going 89 in a 75. I was devastated that this could happen to me all the way down there. And sadly, traffic school wasn't an option, so I had to pay the fine, and my record finally had a blemish on it, I couldn't believe it.
On Friday night, I met up with PJ at the local Wingers. After dinner, we made a snap decision to go to Zion's this weekend. (Please see PJ's blog for the fun times we had. I was going to blog about it, but decided instead to talk of this. Plus, her description is probably better than mine would be.) Because we had met there, and we only needed one car to travel together, we left my car there, with the intention of picking it up the next day. Well, the next day rolled around, and we ran out of time to get it. Finally, on Sunday night, I remembered, quite suddenly, that I still hadn't gotten my car, and I probably should get it, since I need it to travel to work in the morning. Dad so graciously took me to pick it up. Upon getting to my car, I saw something on the window. Thinking it to be an advertisement, I just snatched it off, and got into the car. Then I read it, and I got a parking citation from the Provo Towne Center security people. I don't have to do anything, I don't think, to me it reads more like an FYI, like, 'hey, you shouldn't be here overnight, just letting you know'. But I'm sure whoever wrote it felt like a real policeman while he did so. And you know what? Good for him. I know its not the same, this infraction, as getting a real ticket, but it just seems to me, I am always unlucky. So anytime you see somebody getting pulled over, steal a glance at who it is, because its probably me.

I don't sweat, I glisten

I admit freely that this is probably the weirdest blog I'll do, but this is on my mind, so I will speak of it. Don't judge me, dear friends. If you don't want to, you don't have to read this. Just giving a fair warning.
I am not a sweater. By that I don't mean a piece of clothing, silly. I mean, I don't sweat. I can work out for hours, and I just have a healthy glow. I think its so weird-and in fact, I kinda hate it. I'm envious of people that can work up a good sweat. I don't know that I'd want it dripping out of every pore on my body, I think that might be kinda gross. But I think it would be good, nay, great, that if after a run, people would actually know I've been running. And its not that I'm running at like, a leisurely pace, taking my time, so that might explain it. No, I'm going at full speed, for quite some time, and...nothing. I am probably about a half hour into my run before I start to feel some moisture on my face. About twenty minutes later, I can feel a couple of trickles down my face, and that makes me happy. Thats when I think I'm actually working. But thats only when I run inside. When I'm making that trek outside, oh, forget about it. There's not a thing going on then. Maybe thats why I prefer the indoors, I get those four drops of sweat.
Even during the soccer days, I don't recall ever sweating that much. I don't know if its something thats wrong with me, or if its a defect I have. Either way, its not looking good. I heard once that the healthier/more in shape you are, the more you'll sweat. Well, I have worked out as hard as I can, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape, and still, I get nothing, so I think that theory is bogus. So for those of you who can work up a good healthy sweat when you work out, I salute you. You keep on keepin' on, and I'll do how I do. I might not look like I'm doing anything, but when it comes down to it...I just might be working harder than you are.

Hop in my Chrysler, its as big as a whale, and its about to set sail!

I gotta get out of this place. I'm getting restless. I keep thinking its summer. Mostly because when I look out the window at work, the sun is all shiny, and it looks so warm. Of course, you go outside and its still cold, but things are improving. Spring is not only on the way, its actually circling the neighborhood. But, sadly, things are not as I wish them to be. Lately, I have felt the urge to leave the city, go someplace (preferably warm) and just escape for like a weekend. I have been craving to go to Disneyland for about a week now-which is weird, I don't think I've ever craved to go to a place, but for some reason, I keep thinking about those blue skies and all the fun times I could be having there. But I will be going there in June, so there's a small consolation. I just have to hold on for a few more months, which hopefully I can do.
I've been wanting to go to a national park. Any of them will do, really, but I think I want to hit up Zion's the most. There's a specific trail I want to hike there, and I want to head out and just head into the mountains for a few days. I have a busy schedule of things coming up, so it'll be a while before I can actually get out of town, but when I get the first opportunity, I am gone like gangbusters. Plus, after the events that I have coming up, I'm pretty sure I'll need a vacation, to recuperate. I need some variety, something new to spice things up, and I hope I get that soon. But until then, I'll just hold on to the memories of vacations past...

Television is what happens between the commercials.

With my Tivo, I fast forward through most commercials. No disrespect to commercials, or the people who make them, but I want to get through my show, and you selling stuff to me is just hinders me. I usually watch a commercial either by accident (I forget to fast forward) or on the internet, after someone has told me to watch one. I think one of the sad things about commercials now is we don't have the jingles anymore. "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" Classic. "Rice-A-Roni, The San Fransisco Treat" Everyone knows these, and thats awesome!
Today, I was reading an article on MSN about the new Cheetos commercials, and how they’re targeted to adults. “Intriguing”, thought I. Luckily they had links directly to see them, so I watched. I won’t lie; I find these new commercials bleeding hilarious. Chester Cheetah is so creepy in these-yet I find myself loving him. A cartoon cheetah telling me to do bad things to people? I am in! Please, watch them yourself; I hope you won’t be disappointed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hokQnWm-rjM&feature=related
Watching these commercials made me think of others I love, and I wanted to share them all with you. If you are so inclined, I have included the links so that you can watch them, and I hope you do. I’ll try not to ruin these by telling you too much. They make me laugh so hard!
Berlitz- A commercial for a program to help you learn languages, a German guy is put in charge of a Coast Guard type place, only to have some people start drowning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsCR9Y4Ymvo
I don’t know what brand this is for. A child is throwing a temper tantrum in a store, to say anything else would give it away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkZ_StRjU0
This is for an iced tea-I love these guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0
I don’t even know what these guys are selling-but I love this commercial. A guy tries to cook his girlfriend dinner with disastrous results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b80I0r-4p8
These are just a few of my favorite commercials, and I hope you had the time to watch them all. I have seen them so many times but I still laugh every time! Maybe now you'll take the time to peruse commercials, because who knows, you could end up finding a gem!

Running is like mouthwash; if you can feel the burn, it's working

I have needed new running shoes for a while. I know, you're supposed to replace them after every 400 miles or so, but lately, I have not found any shoes that have felt good for me. I got some new shoes a few months ago, but after using them a couple of times, my feet began to hate me. These ones had no arch supports, which I definitely need. So I went back to my old Nike's, and have been using those ever since.
This weekend, I decided to bite the bullet and find myself some, no matter what. I went to Runners Corner, knowing that surely they would find me some. I had never been there before, only having been told of the process they have to help you find some shoes. For those of you who don't know, I"ll summarize. When you get there, they have you put on a pair of running shoes and then watch you run, to see how you do it. They find you a few pairs of shoes, and you run in those, and then by a process of elimination, you find the shoes that fit you best, what you're looking for and they will help in however you run. They also give you a size and a half bigger than what you wear, but when I put those on, they were definitely too big for me, so I went only a size bigger. The guy was trying to argue with me to get the bigger size, but they felt weird when I ran, so I stood firm to my convictions. It took me about an hour or so to find the ones that I liked the most-but totally worth it. I was a little disappointed that the ones that felt best on me were pink, but at least they're like a neon/hot pink instead of like a girly pink-which would just be embarrassing! The ones I chose are Muzino's-the Wave Rider 11 model. Apparently these are good running shoes, so huzzah, my feet made a good choice.
Now that I have my running shoes, I'm definitely closer to being ready for the 5k's I'll be running soon. There's only a few weeks until they're here, so its time to buckle down. Not that I'm going to be winning these, I'm just trying to make sure I don't embarrass myself in the running.

Yeah, I'm sick. Sick of you telling me I'm sick, what up?

I never get sick. I don't know if I'm bragging there, just stating fact. I never take sick days, and that makes me sad. I think it'd be really fun to stay home, and do whatev, and I always want to do this, but I'm never sick enough to. Today, I had the opportunity to take a sick day. And by opportunity, I mean I could barely stand up, let alone function, so I pretty much had to do it. This morning, I felt a little sick, but I was like, psh, I can make it through the day, we'll be fine. So I get to work, and about ten minutes after being there, I took a turn for the worse. Needless to say, but by 8:30, I was done. Dad had to take me home, I couldn't even drive myself, and we almost took me to the hospital, but I'm very anit-hospitals, so I said we should wait a couple of hours, to see if anything would happen. When I got home, I immediately laid down and camped out, getting inside took a lot out of me. Taking my temperature, I had a negative fever, which is apparently something I inherited from Pops, and its like a real thing. Instead of our fevers raising, they lower when we're sick, how weird is that? But ha, I'm unique! I popped in some DVD's, and set out to watch them all. About mid-way through the second movie, I was bored and lonely. Its not that my movies were bad, they were favorites! (For the day, I had chosen Intolerable Cruelty, Invincible, and The Iron Giant, all so good) Its just...laying here all day talking to nobody (whilst in mucho pain) is not at all fun. And I wasn't falling asleep like I hoped I would. Every time I started to kinda drift off, I'd wake right back up. So by the end of the third movie, I was like, flip I need to get out of here. So I stood right up...and sat back down again, because it was a whole lot of pain. So to switch things up, I laid on the other end of the coach. Excitement!
I watched some more stuff, cleared out a bit of my TiVo, watched some Ellen and whatnot, and now I no longer have the desire to have any more sick days. As I'm laying here, writing this, I'm still in a bit of pain, which I'm hoping will be gone by tomorrow. PJ was right when she told me sick days were no fun, and I totally didn't believe her. I was like, no, its gonna be great, I'll hang out, and watching movies all day will be fun! No, no its not. So I will repent of my stupid ways, and never again will I want a sick day. Surely this won't go on for more than today (Oh boy, am I hoping) and I can get things back to normal with the working and running and whatnot. How naive I was, but no longer will be anymore!

I now know what Alfred Hitchcock was talking about...

Don’t be fooled by the innocent, wide-eyed look she’s giving you. This is the devil himself, reincarnated to give me hell. And I’m doing everything I can to send him back where he belongs. (Not really, but didn’t that sound so dramatic?!) This is Bird. Yes, this is her name. Pops originally named her Dragoon, but dude, that’s like the lamest thing I’ve ever heard, so I just called her Bird, and after a while, it stuck, and that’s all she’ll answer to now. Ha ha, I say to those who named her. Clearly, I’m better.
We got this little devil for my mom for Christmas years ago. (I don’t remember the exact number. It’s been like 6 or something, I think) When we got her, everyone was excited for the possibility of her talking. Which, being an African Grey parrot, she should be doing a lot, they told us. The two of us didn’t really hit it off, for one specific reason. She likes to bite people, and I don’t like to be bit. Automatically, this makes us not compatible. One day, close to when we first got her, I was in the same room as her, talking on the phone (with my older sister) when all of a sudden, I don’t even remember being particularly close to the bird, but she just up and bit my face out of nowhere. Naturally, I very calmly got off the phone and summoned my sister to come help me. Ok, that’s a lie. After I felt the blood pouring out of my face, I screamed into the phone, (sorry, Katja) hung up, and screamed for Rory to come up to me. (That poor girl was asleep in her room downstairs, but luckily, she awoke at my banshee cries) We looked at my face, determined it didn’t look right, and called for outside help. (Dad) He told us it was probably a good idea to get it checked out, so we went to the doctor, straightaway. They ended up having to put a stitch in my face, on my upper lip. And I got that with no anesthetics. That’s right, I’m a tough person. But I got over that after a while, and thought that Bird and I could be friends.
Boy was I wrong. Ever since then, she has been proving my forgiveness wrong, tormenting me. She is a huge fan of biting me every chance she gets. I’ll be sitting there, looking through the pantry for cereal, and she will all of a sudden jump on my back out of nowhere! I’ll be sitting in the kitchen, reading, minding my own business, and she’ll just jump onto me, and it’s hard to get her off. Those stupid claws are so pointy and they scratch me up like nobodies business. And I’ll be doing a crossword puzzle (I mean word search) and she’ll grab my pen and then it’s like a tug of war to get it back! And she is so noisy, half of the time she’s making noise, its all gibberish that I’m sure she thinks is real words, but all she’s doing is disrupting things. She does talk really well though, just not when you want her to, of course. Oy vey.
But, not everything about her is bad; I’ll give her that much credit. It is fun when she learns something I’ve been trying to teach her. It takes a while, and you have to do it often while she’s learning, but it pays off when she does it. I taught her how to wolf-whistle after I say “How do I look?” which is just a confidence booster for me. She’s pretty good at imitating things, so she imitates cell phones and ringing phones, and sometimes she’ll make a phone ring (she’ll ring like one) then she’ll answer it, and have a mini-conversation, it’s actually pretty funny. She does this little side-stepping thing when she thinks she’s being sneaky, getting near me. Before I move away from her, of course I’m not getting bitten again. She “pumps iron” with pens, and sometimes she throws temper tantrums. Which I know shouldn’t be funny, but come on. A tiny bird getting mad at being left alone? That’s pretty funny. I do think it’s awesome when she imitates me. She can do my laugh perfectly, including the claps I add when I laugh really hard. (I never really knew how I laughed until I heard her, now I’m kind of embarrassed) She’ll dance with me when there’s music on, bops up and down, and sometimes adds her own rhythm by way of claps and stuff. I guess all in all, we get along, but she always has to watch herself, before I’ll take her out. And believe me, nobody will ever find the body…

Unwrapped!

I love the TV show Unwrapped. I don’t know if any people out there besides me watch it, but I do, religiously. And then, I share my findings with other people, whether they want to know or not. For instance, did you know there’s a 15 pound pizza sold at a pizzeria in Colorado? And if you (and a friend) can finish it in an hour, you get that pizza for free! I don’t remember how I first got hooked into that show, probably through dad. I seem to remember him watching it. At first (before I’d really heard of it and only saw dad watching) I was only interested because the host of Unwrapped is none other than Mark Summers, our friendly host of such classics as Double Dare and Family Double Dare! You can’t tell me you didn’t love those shows as a kid. I wanted so badly to be on that show. I had even picked the sibling I’d take with me. Now, I’d better not say who that was, lest I start a fight. My answer has changed now, of course, I’d pick James. I’m pretty sure he’d win that for me. But this has nothing to do with the show, so I’ll move on.
I love all the stuff I get to learn about food here. Each day has a theme, and within that theme, each day there are 6 things you get to learn about. Last night’s theme, for instance, was country cooking, so we got to learn about restaurants that have country home cooking, and food that’s massed produced that is also as country cooking that city people are going to get. I don’t know that I have a favorite episode so far, although I have to say the one where we learned about giant foods was pretty cool. I don’t remember the exact dimensions of all the stuff, but there was a seven layer chocolate cake, a five layer (and like ten-pounder) Strawberry shortcake, and a thirty pound hamburger, courtesy of Fuddruckers. I can’t believe that people actually make these foods, much less that people eat them.
The bad part about watching this show is that inevitably, by the end of the show, I’m hungry, usually for something I saw on the show. Usually, I’m watching at 6:00 in the morning, so of course I’m hungry anyway, but usually one doesn’t crave fried chicken in the morning. But I do today. And since most of the stuff they feature is out of my state, I’m always thinking of ways I could get there. I’m like, well, I don’t think I’ll ever go to Montana, but I could swing by that state just to try that place out! And of course I know I’ll never get there, but oh man, would I love to. And there are so many things that I want to try, but they only sell in other states, and that makes me sad. But it seems silly to me to travel to another state, just to get some food. It has now become my dream to host this show. I don’t know when Mark Summers will be retiring, but when he does, I’d gladly fill his shoes.

I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight!

I had never even heard of Jersey sheets until Leeny blogged about it. And when I first read, I was like, Jersey sheets? Have I been sleeping on New York sheets? Is there a feud? Do I need to support one side over the other? But then the more I found out about them, the better they sounded, but I was still skeptical. Sleeping on what was described to me as an old t-shirt? Intriguing, but I wasn't sold. As I was walking through Target yesterday, I passed an end-cap that had them on it, and on sale for 9.99! I thought to myself, 'Self, thats only ten bucks, and if you don't like them, its not like you spent the farm'. So, I bought them, and they had them in gray! My favorite of all the colors of the rainbow. All right, technically, gray isn't in the rainbow, but shut up. I'll say what I want, this is my blog. As we were still walking near the bedding stuff, PJ noticed that a memory foam mattress was on sale, and she was like, 'You need to buy one of these'. Now, I've never done anything on memory foam, and to be honest, it completely freaked me out. Its not natural! But, usually everything PJ says I find to be true, so I was like, eh, I'll give it a try too. I got home and immediately put it on my bed, looking forward to the sleeping.
When I finally crawled into my bed, several hours later (but thats a different story) I was a little excited to try out all the things I had been promised would be uber-comfortable. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Sliding into the bed was literally the most comfy I have ever been. And believe me, not figuratively, literally. I laid there for several minutes, wide-awake, reveling in the awesome feeling of this. And the next morning, waking up, I so did not want to get out of bed. I kept trying to invent reasons of why I might have to still stay in bed. And later, I was thinking of reasons why I'd have to lay in my bed, but sadly, I could think of none! Maybe if I were sick, or had a better reason than, "I just want to lay in heaven" I could, but so far, no dice. I'm definitely looking forward to lying in bed tonight. I am now in the debt of the people who brought this moment to me. Leeny, for introducing me to the Jersey sheets, and PJ for introducing me to the memory foam. I look forward to many a night in the utmost comfort. Now if only I could get a memory foam pillow...

Ouch!

My mouth was dry. My palms were sweaty. But I had been psyching myself up for it all day, and I decided to go through with it. I’d spent all day researching it, finding the perfect one, picking the right size, and location. I was ready. I stepped into the dimly lit parlor, (it wasn’t dimly lit; I’m just setting the mood. Go with me here.) and began discussing the procedure. After about an hour of prep time, it was time. I had been nervously fiddling with my purse and hair for that hour, trying to calm my nerves. Should I turn back? Not go through with it? No, I told myself, I’d been thinking of this for a while, and it was time to go. I had acted on an impulse, hoping I wouldn’t chicken out. JayD finally called me up there, and I knew it was time; there was no turning back now. I was getting a tattoo.
I’m not sure why I had chosen today to be the day, but as I sat at work, I just kept thinking about it. I knew what I wanted to get, the ball, and finally I just thought, I’ve just gonna do it. So I left work and drove straight to the place. After deciding on the location, I chose back, FYI, we put the stamp on there, and we were on our way. I had to sit in an uncomfortable position to get this done. I was laying on my right side with one arm under my head, kind of sticking out, and the other was just hanging out. The reason it was not comfortable is because after about ten minutes, my arm started to fall asleep. After about twenty more, it was totally numb, and I could barely do anything with it. I was told I had chosen a pretty painful spot, which I didn’t really know until we had gotten started, but I braved my way through it. The outlining was the most painful part, and luckily, that part had to be done first. When we started, and I just kept feeling everything, I thought to myself, “This might have not been a good idea”. But I kept through it. (Not that I could back down or anything, jeez, the ink was already in the skin.) After we finished the outline, I could look at the progress so far. Getting up from the table, I made my way to the mirror. It looked great, as a work-in-progress. The outlining was dark and looked pretty cool. I took the opportunity of his changing the needle to stretch out my arm, which was slowly getting some life back into it. As we buckled down for the last stretch, which was the shading, I was told it wouldn’t be as painful as the outlining, and he was right. I was only a mild discomfort then, opposed to the scratching feelings of the first thing. This time, my arm must have changed positions, because it was more painful for that this time! It took about an hour total for the whole thing, which wasn’t so bad. When I sat up after everything was finished, my arm was useless. I couldn’t even move it, it just flopping around! JayD told me that I had held perfectly still during the process-which few people do, especially with the spot I had chosen. I was really proud of myself for that.
And now, here I am, recovering (only slightly) from my adventure. And when it heals, I’m sure it’ll look even better!

Once Upon a Time...

Tonight, as I was running (which I did tonight with no problems! Best day ever!) I was watching the Broadway version (is there another version? I don't know) of Into the Woods. I love this musical! I know all the songs, and I love to sing along with it. Which, believe me, is really hard to do as you're running on a treadmill. I do not recommend trying it. As I was watching, I was thinking about how I just love musicals. Newsies, Hairspray, Evita, (I only recently watched it, and I can't get the songs out of my head) Singing in the Rain, Wicked, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, High School Musical, the list goes on and on, and there's no way I could list all the ones I love. It would simply take too long. I love how I can be having a down sort of day, and I just have to listen to a few lines of any of these, and I can be perked up and singing in no time. And one of my special talents (of which there are few) is I can mimic pretty much anyone in song, so after a few times of listening to a CD, I sound very similar, if not exactly like, the CD does. I should take this act on the road! But how popular can a mimic really be? Having a show in Vegas? No thanks. It used to be one of my dreams to sing on Broadway, one that has sadly passed. Because I realized what that all entails, and there's no way I could handle it. I almost passed out singing in front of my company a few years ago. Eech.
I think the thing I really love about these is the fantasy. I fully believe that life could be a musical. I would love nothing more to be walking down the halls at work, and suddenly break into song, and have people popping out of cubicles to join me. I would love to be in a store, singing about the clothes, and the sales people sing as well. I don't know why I think it'd be so cool, but I do. To meet your true love, and know he's the one for you because your duet is perfect. To get out of any tough situation, start singing, and it'll lessen the tension. Especially at work, if you're in a meeting that isn't going well, just start singing. What are they going to do, fire you? "She was singing, sir! What else was I supposed to do?" Believe me, you'll be fine. And maybe you'd get a fan! And if these movies are to be believed, (which I assume every movie is meant to be believed. Otherwise, why would they make them?) you just need a really good ballad to get over anything. And then to sing when you get back with your boyfriend/friend? Man...reunited, and it feels so good.
I don't know that things could ever reach a place where we could all sing, but I'd sure love it if we could. If we can get a man on the moon (and I'm not saying this happened...) then surely, singing around the world is a possible dream. But until this happens, I think everyone should take matters into their own hands, and sing when you can. And if you get the chance, watch Into the Woods. One of the best musicals there is!

Its just a bit of Hocus Pocus...

Recently, I have acquired a new computer. And by this I mean Papa Bear got a new computer and I got his old one, to take the place of my computer, which, believe me, is an upgrade. My computer was the shadiest thing ever. I think I bought it in 2002-but I can’t be sure. So we took my computer and put it in the basement as the server computer. Again, an upgrade. Our old server computer was so old to move the mouse around the screen took a while. I will not miss it. When we moved my computer out, I decided to check all the files and folders on it, just in case I had left something scandalous on it. (Good news, I hadn’t) Going through the files, I noticed a childhood game on there, Hocus Pocus. I don’t know that many people have heard of this game, but I adore it! The game is essentially about a little wizard (you) who needs to fight the forces of evil, collect all the magic crystals, and defeat the evil wizard in a final battle. I definitely put the emphasis on little with who you’re playing. He’s so tiny, and he wears this little robe and cap, to let you know you’re a wizard. You have to go through several worlds and different levels, there’s treasure everywhere, and you get bonus points for getting all the treasure in a level. Then you get bonus points if you finish a level before the time they have allotted for you. Nothing bad happens if you go over; you just don’t get the satisfaction of being quick. Of course you have little creatures you’re fighting along the way, and in this game, they vary from level to level, getting harder to kill as the levels increase in difficulty. It starts off with little alligators (who walk on 2 legs) shooting fire at you to little men who throw spears at you. Every time you get hit by one of these guys, you’re health goes down, and you have to find the special bottles of potion to get you back to 100%.
This game is pretty easy. I don’t remember at what I age I started playing it, but it’s been a really long time since I have played it. As with all my games, I quickly learned the cheat codes to this game to ensure I would be the best. These were very helpful when fighting the wizard at the end. I don’t care that I cheat to win in these games. If they weren’t meant to be cheated, nobody would have invented these codes, and we’d all play it slowly. After I found the game on my computer, I played a quick round, to see if it was just how I remembered it, and it is! I fell quickly back into it, knowing all the secret places, and the best way to avoid my nemeses. I only played one level, because of time constraints, but I am excited to go back and play again. Now that I’ve found it, I just want to keep going, see if I can get to the end again, or if it’ll escape me. Seeing this game has brought back to mind my old games we used to play. Monster Bash was a favorite-you had to free cats and dogs that some zombies or something had captured, all while avoiding them. Wow, that sounds dumb now that I’m remembering it, but it was so awesome! And I don’t remember the name of this other one, but it was a math learning game. You chose a person, (a boy or a girl) and then you went through different levels of math-ness. They would give you a question (for example, 9x3) and you had to locate the number someplace. And you had to avoid the little number-stealers, or else you’d have to redo one! And sometimes, to be scandalous, I would be the little boy character instead of the girl. I know, I’m a wild one. But remember, I was like 7, and to me, back then, oh man; I was hilarious for doing that. I can’t wait to play again, and defeat the bad guys, to hear my little wiz yell “woo hoo” and the end like he always did. That always made me so happy!

The Great Mouse Detective

My house now scares the crap out of me. With this winter of freezing-ness, it has brought into my house every dang mouse in the near vicinity. Ever since we've moved in here, we've had mice problems, but right now, it just seems ridiculous. I've seen so many mice the last two days, I'm afraid to walk around this place, lest I run into one. Yesterday, as I was cutting Sweet Pea's hair (yes, I cut my dogs hair. I think its adorable) a little mouse ran from behind the desk to the door to my office, panicked, and ran back. I, of course, freaked out, cutting poor Sweet Pea (don't worry, she lived) and screamed, jumping up onto the table. Dad, always to the rescue, came down and got rid of that mouse for me. It was most victorious. Then today at work, I learned that Troop had caught one and killed it. Huzzah for Troop! And then we found one in a mouse trap we had set this afternoon. So, we're getting them, slowly, and hopefully we'll get them all soon. It's apparently useless to get an exterminator, we were told, unless our neighbors also get exterminated, because then the mice just leave when they spray, and come back when they leave. Gah! And I know some people say to get a cat to take care of them, but I hate cats. I can't stand being around them, I feel their devilish little eyes on me all the time. They're unnatural, thats all I'll say about them.
As I sat down to ponder what to write today, (and by that, I mean, as I sat at my computer to play a game I've recently re-found in my files) I saw another tiny mouse run out of my laundry room behind my bookshelf, hang out for a minute, while I stood on my table, all casual-like, it ran back into the laundry room. So, of course I set a trap and holy crap one just ran from underneath the table I am sitting on into that room again. Where are these things coming from? And how are they sneaking around everywhere? I am about going out of my mind! Maybe its time I did invest in a cat- I gotta get rid of these things somehow! Any tips on how to get rid of these things? Having problems yourself? Please please share. I'm already sissy enough without having to think about there being mice all over the place.

If it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does.

We have 27 days until soccer season starts. 27 Days! That's no time at all! I am so excited for this year-more excited than I have been in years past. We are ready to go. We have our season tickets, we are learning the players names, and already inventing what we think would be a perfect line-up. Because the season is starting, you'll be hearing a lot more about it, so you'll just have to deal with it. Here are the reasons I'm super psyched for this year:

Our new players. Ian Joy is supposed to be an amazing player, and I can't wait to see him in action. We have Kovalenko we acquired from Chicago, and he is crazy. I want crazy on our team. I'll compare his craziness to Movsisyan, who threw a chair after being red-carded in a game. Alex Nimo. His story is so inspiring, and I can't wait to see the player who risked so much to play this game. Jamison Olave. He's a Columbian defender we have acquired recently, and is 6'4" and 220 pounds. To put it politely, he's built like a truck. I can't wait to see what he can do for us.

Returning favorites. Pretty much the entire team is a returning favorite, and I am excited to see all of them. Kyle Beckerman, with his amazing kicks and attacking (I still do wish he would cut his hair. Although by now, I wonder if I'd like him without his signature dreadlocks!), the Argentineans, Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales and Matias Mantilla are all so amazing. Last year, they were like a breath of fresh air, and I'm hoping this year they'll help us keep breathing. Nick Rimando-unquestionably one of the best goalies in the league. I hope we won't have to use him as much this year (I'd rather we attack all the time instead of defend) but if we do, its good to know his cat-like reflexes will be there. Yura Movsisyan. As stated before, he has a temper. The good thing about that is, while on the field attacking, he is like an animal-he just keeps going until he gets what he wants. I do love mostly all the players we have, but I won't name them all.

The new stadium. For years I've been hoping we could move away from the football field at Rice-Eccles stadium, and it looks like this year I'll get my wish. I just hope the stadium will be as amazing as I hope it will be, and have been imagining for months now.

Player sightings, meetings. I love so much that during the soccer season, I get to meet my idols and get an autograph. One of the highlights of last year was getting to speak to Rimando, and Mantilla last year in an elevator. Mantilla asked if we were afraid of him, and all I could do was giggle like a school girl and say yes. Seeing these people in real life helps me know them better, but also lets me know they're real people. Otherwise, I build them up to be gods. Not that there's anything wrong with that... And I hope they do more meet-and-greet with the players this year. Its a goal of mine to have every player sign my ball.

Those are just a few things that're getting me excited for this year, but impossible to name them all. I will miss the players we have lost or traded, Esky, Jack Stewart, but these new players all have promise. And in 27 days, we'll see if we made the right choices.