Bruce, Haagan Daaz, and Dating

So today I went out with Bruce, my 2009 Toyota Corolla Sport, to make sure his breaks were okay. I'm glad my car was all A-OK despite the recall. I'm rather fond of my car. I've recently gotten into a habit of putting on my gloves, rolling down the windows, and blasting music as I drive around Provo. I find it exhilarating enough that I ignore the looks I get from people.

After the inspection I went to Walmart and picked up a few odds and ends. I have a new love for "Five Vanilla Bean" Hagan Daaz. I bought the most fantastic mango I've eaten in months. A $10 bouquet for $3 that had 2 bad stems of mums which will probably last a good week if I take care of them. The best find, however, were kites for $1. I am excited to drag a friend to a park or field with me and see Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear compete for highest "falling with style".

I went to my usual dancing tonight only to discover that we had no speakers. As a result I left club still craving a really solid dance. On top of that some boy I hardly know at all asked for my number. He seemed harmless enough so I gave it to him but as I continued talking to him I kind of regretted it. He gave off the "I'm REALLY into you although I hardly know you" intense vibe. I should probably just drop it and give the poor guy a chance. However, I've become kind of overwhelmed with my dating life this semester. My roommates keep teasing me about how I get asked out on more dates then all of them combined (Jessi is in a relationship so clearly that's not true) and I honestly don't know what I'm doing that's inspiring them to ask me out all at once...

Well, back to reading SOPs. Its the last night of my work week and tomorrow'll be BUSY. Institute, taxes, clean fishbowl, kite flying, Activities committee errands, etc...

Rambling,

So the last 24+ hours have been intense. Yesterday night I was busy at the very start of my shift (9:30pm) and things didn't ever really slow down. I had 10 minutes of "me" time and half of that was in the restroom. Hopefully things will be far from that crazy tonight. Its slow right now so I can only hope...

Today I managed to stay awake for about 6ish hours of meetings. It was rather tiring trying to get everything done, but somehow I managed to stay awake for (almost) everything. In between my morning meetings and church I was pretty out of it. I ate broccoli and cheese for breakfast. I said things that somehow ended up on our quote board... I guess the lesson learned is Jill should probably send herself straight to bed without her second breakfast.

So Saturday I went to the SLC temple with members of my ward. Its fun going to the temple with other people but it was really crowded and made my entire Saturday feel weird (I'm usually sleeping away the morning, not the afternoon.) Hopefully the next temple trip they plan will be during my week off so I'll feel a little more alert.

I'm really craving homemade bread with berries and freshly whipped cream. This is one of my summer staples. I wish it was July so I could go on a long bike ride in the canyon and pick blackberries, come home to smell the hot fresh bread-maker bread and then eat them with fresh cream while reading a good book. If you haven't ever done this once in your life, you should. It fits into a slew of "perfectly lovely moments that make you realize how beautiful it is to be alive".

I went to a reunion of sorts with some people from Minnesota. It made me miss Deseret (especially since I was originally planning to see her this weekend...) and my family and MN people in general. I missed my family even more today after my dad sent me some pictures of my nephews. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had moved home and worked at Mayo. Really there are benefits to having some distance between you and your folks (less opportunity to meddle in your dating life fore example), but I really think I ought to make more of an effort to visit home more... We'll add that to my "to do" list.

Rats, Running and Ho Downing

My coworker Mike is one of my favorite people in the lab. First off, he is a fast, worker so I know that if my morning gets crazy he will still manage to get everything done and cleaned up. Secondly, he makes me laugh (Bone marrow biopsy butts conversation... nuff said). Third, he always reminds me how wonderful I am, even though sometimes I feel like I must look like death by 5am. He's like that to everyone, especially the ladies of the lab. He must treat his wife like a queen.

Well, our conversation yesterday had some gems in it like "You would notice he wasn't wearing personal protective equipment when disposing of the body." and "If you don't like him and he leans in for the goodnight kiss say 'I work with pee'. If you like him you can add 'but I wear gloves'." Right before I went home, Mike said he had to tell me one of his sewer stories. He mentioned how they had had a rat problem. To help fix the problem they got a bunch of cats and set them loose in the sewers. Slowly the cat population diminished. Supposedly one of the last cats was seen getting dragged into a rat hole. Can I just say that sounds like the most terrible way to die EVER!! Eaten alive by rats in a dark, stinky sewer hole. I thought I'd probably have nightmares only to realize since I would be getting to sleep at about 9am it would be more appropriate to call it a daymare.

On a lighter note, I made a beautiful cake today. There was a berry layer in the middle and the yellow cake was topped with Coolwhip (one of my favorite combos). I made it for my Ward's Contradance which I think was a success. I was nervous people wouldn't be interested in more dancing after our dance on Valentine's Day but we had a really good turn out. I knew I would be happy since I love skipping, swinging, and galloping down the dance floor but it looked like I wasn't the only person having fun. However, in my haste to make it to work on time, I forgot to grab a piece of cake... I'm kind of bummed about that. I guess I now have an excuse to make more cake next week...

If anyone reads this and sees me in the next few days, you should ask about the bruise on my leg. Its about half the size of my calf now, thanks to my reckless soccer, running and frolicking habits. Its starting to change colors. Its pretty cool.

Well, I'm going to get back to my "dog training" book. Until tomorrow. : )

Fat, Soccer, and Quicky Engagements

Its night two of my work week but it feels more like it ought to be night seven. I guess that's what I get for covering a shift during my week off.

Today I went out to lunch with a friend. At the close of the meal she commented how she was still hungry but wasn't going to order anything else because she'd get fat... Can I announce that the word "fat" is thrown around too liberally by people who really shouldn't be using it. I can understand not wanting another order of fries "because it'll make me feel gross" but it bothers me that people think having a little pudge around the middle is bad (this girl, looks terrific and doesn't really have any "belly pudge"). My philosophy is exercise and don't eat junk every day and work what the good Lord gave you.

Today I played soccer with our ward's inter-mural team. I enjoy sports but I confess that all my soccer experience is from my 2nd grade little league (my dad claims he never saw any of us kids score a goal on our little league teams) and public school PE. Needless to say there's room for improvement. However, I still think I didn't do too bad. I did get a gnarly bruise from my shin guards... Hopefully it won't inhibit my running/dancing plans this weekend.

So at work tonight I was talking to Ariel, my coworker. Apparently Brian, a guy I had gone on a blind date with a month ago, got engaged a week ago. He met his current fiance at a New Years Eve Party and supposedly all they do is make-out. I confess I wasn't feeling too much magic after our second date but I had thought more of him then this. Some people "just know" they're supposed to be together and pull stuff like this off but it takes a certain kinds of people and usually those sorts of people have a little more depth to their relationship besides "4 hour make out sessions". I don't ever plan on doing a quicky engagement but if I ever do appear to be doing something incredibly stupid and impulsive with my dating life, please don't hesitate to slap me. I'd hate to be a hypocrite.

Burgers, twirling, cakes, and dog training

Today was a good day. My life seems to have a lot of those as of late.

I managed to wake up and volunteer at Ms. Flakes class. To break away from the norm I helped the kids play a Bingo-esque letter game rather than help them with their worksheets. I was surprised I made it through most of the period without the kids using the bingo chips as tiddly winks, flipping them at each other, throwing them across the room, etc. Heck, it was taking all of my self control not to start shooting them across the room and I'm supposed to be the roll model.

I also successfully got to go to my lunch date with Sunny. We went to In-and-Out which was tasty but I'm pretty sure next time I go out for a burger I'm going to insist we go to Five Guys because their food is better. After that we went to Costco and bought large quantities of plums. She had just wanted some Kleenexes but apparently she succumbed to my impulse buy and decided to forgo the 12 boxes of tissues for the 4 lbs of seductively dark, luscious looking plums. The experience made me think of a poem I read in high school about someone stealing someones refrigerated plum. Plums are mighty tasty....

Definitely a good night for me as far as dancing is concerned. I realized tonight how very spoiled I've become in my dancing habits. At Saturday's dance I swayed and chatted to a few guys while listening to music (1 or 2 exceptions). However at Swing Kid's Club I feel in my element as I get twirled, spun, dipped, lead with confidence.... can you blame me for feeding my addiction?

At the end of social dance club I ran to the aid of my friend Laura who was delivering wedding cakes. I could explain the situation more but I'll let you wonder all night why Laura showed up at a dance in order to deliver wedding cakes in the first place.

After this I'll resume reading a book I started reading today. Sam, Jessi's boyfriend, says its a dog training book. I think its more of a fishing book but I guess I like puppies... and eating fish. If this were a conversation in my living room I would probably draw a picture of a puppy eating a fish... or a fish eating a puppy... right about now.

Some person in Jessi's textbook named their daughter Ernestine... Who does that? Ernestine is the name for a horrific apartment haunting doll, not a real person... Sheesh.

Because Matt Yancy told me to

Many people start blogs to stay connected to people. Others start them after marriage or another significant life changing event occurs. I on the other hand am creating this blog because Mr. Yancy Pants told me to. He informed me that someone whose life is as full and exciting as mine ought to record their activities in a blog. Sure, he might be slightly biased since he will soon be creating a "Matt and Lori Yancy" blog but I s'pose one ought not jump to conclusions.

Today was an unusual day since most people had the day off of school for President's Day/Post Chinese New Years/Valentine's Day Weekend. I think it would have been very appropriate to eat heart shaped rice balls while discussing politics. I didn't get around to doing that today. I actually defied the norm by offering to cover a shift of work rather than resume my usual week off. Who do I think I am blowing off heart shaped rice ball politics to do something productive?

I finished reading "The Giver" this morning. I had read it once in elementary school and on a whim decided to read it again. I think it was spurred by my listening to "A Brave New World" in my car. I guess I could read "1984" again and complete my satire about the future phase.

I also got to play Frisbee today. I wish I could can the feeling of playing Frisbee and put it into "emotional food storage" for those days when nothing seems to go right. There is something exhilarating about the smell of the grass, racing and weaving across an open field, snatching the disc right out of the air, bowling over Jackie Warner (well, we didn't do that today... we're not allowed to guard each other any more...). There are very few activities that give me that sort of rush. Dancing with solid lead, performing in an orchestra Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, running on a clear summer's evening are a few.

During work I got an e-mail from my boss that made me feel frustrated. Backing up the boat temporarily... Last week I got an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to go to NY to train an entire week at a Vitros workshop. The training would allow you to calibrate the analyzer (only 2 people in the lab can do this right now) and probably cover all sorts of interesting, valuable information. I mentioned an interest in going and my boss asked if I'd be able to for sure be around the next few years. I wanted to say "Why yes, or course" but clearly since I'm still single I said things were uncertain... which means I probably won't get to go... Stupid long-term ambiguity. : P

Forecast for tomorrow:

-Volunteering at Ms. Flakes class which I failed to do last week...
-Lunch with Sunny who I haven't seen since we made Thanksgiving pies together.
-Dancing the night away. After last Saturday's Stake Dance I've been craving Lindihop Swing.