tamrobot

2009-06-19T13:17:00.001-07:00

Randomness:

Cleaned house last night. Feels good.

Got car cleaned car at this place, which was awesome, thanks to Brenna's recommendation. Those guys there rule.

Bought resistance bands from Big-5 and did all kind of exercises with them the other night. Plus a bunch of crunches. I'm super sore. On top of that, at running club last night one of the girls made us do a Pilates workout, which was HARDCORE. Probably more intense than the track workout, which was pretty hard.

Also, am going to start being really good about wearing my seatbelt thanks to this article.

2009-06-16T10:07:00.001-07:00

Life with Company!

Company!
Originally uploaded by pinklightning

Company is cute
Originally uploaded by pinklightning

2009-05-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Funny Things Kids Say and Do

In church on Sunday, I let each of the kids say something about their mom or what they did for their mom for Mother's Day. Most of the kids took time saying what they did for their mom, ie cleaning the house, making food, etc. When it was one of the girl's (Sarah's) turn to speak she proceeded to talk about her trip with her family to the Arctic where they played with penguins and saw seals. I asked her if she went there this weekend and she answered, no, that it was a few years ago. The kids then returned to their mom stories, and then when it was one of the boy's turns, he proceeded to say that he went to the same place as Sarah with his family and that they had gotten to train sharks.

Also, Sarah was the only kid who seemed to genuinely like the treat we brought them - figs. We tried to sell it to them as food that Jesus ate that also kind of looks like alien food, but to no avail. I guess its not a big surprise that Sarah liked them since she has already admitted to eating her boogers and liking them.

2009-04-25T16:40:00.001-07:00

96 words

Typingtest

2009-04-24T22:27:00.001-07:00

Google has been useless in answering my question if earwigs bite.

Wikipedia gave me no direct answer. However, they did let me know that earwigs don't really burrow into the brains of humans through the ear and lay their eggs. Thanks, Wikipedia. I was really worried about that.

Some website sources say they don't bite, but they can pinch. Others say they don't pinch, but they do bite. And some other sources say they don't do either but release some liquid from their abdomen that stings you. Sources also vary between their bite/pinch/sting doesn't hurt to it hurts very badly. I would say it hurt pretty bad. Worse than a bee sting.

Also, according to the Internets, they have wings?!? I guess they can fly but they prefer to travel on people and other various objects.

What a mysterious creature.

2009-04-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

NOT FUNNY Things Kids Say

The first day we taught the kids class at church we asked the kids what some of their favorite things to do in church were. A few of the kids said Hang Man. Since Hang Man isn't a very Christian or PC game to play, we changed it to Hang Spider. When we'd play, the kids or Jared and I would choose what to hang - we've done black widows, bees, jerusalem crickets, and I think an eye ball.

On Sunday, all the kids ran ahead of us to our classroom. We had to stay behind and help one of the kids who can't walk. As we walked in, the kids were all chanting, "Let's play Hang Obama. Hang Obama. Hang Obama."

Seriously. Not. Funny.

Is it okay for me to talk to all of their parents and give them guilt trips? Their kids are all freakin monsters.

2009-04-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Best vampire movie ever.

Although we never actually got to finish it because NetFlix instant streaming has been so horrible lately and we finally gave up.

2009-04-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

Bunny Identity Theft

2009-04-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

I am going to re-plant my square-foot garden today after work.

This is the plan:

2009-04-02T21:52:00.001-07:00

Also, just now, I was seriously freezing and took my temperature. 95.5! Under 95 according to the Internets is hypothermia. I am going to hop in the bath tub. My body sucks at regulating heat.

2009-04-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

funniest dream ever:

So the other night I dreamt that I was somewhere, and I met Anoop from American Idol. In my dream I had a huge crush on him, and I wanted to take him to this big house I was house-sitting at (I think Yanni's house) to impress him. He agreed to go with me so we got in my car (my old red Honda Prelude). While I was driving, I remembered that Jared had just given me the new Blonde Redhead album (which he really did give me in real life the night before). So I put in the CD and put it on track 1 because I remembered that was the song that Jared said was good. I also though this would impress Anoop, but the song as it turned out actually was not that good. A little bit later, Anoop tells me he needs to poop. (haha. i just realized that anoop totally rhymes with poop. funny.) So he tells me he needs to poop, and I ask if its okay if I just pull over and he can go on the side of the road or something. Then he says no, its fine, keep on going. Then I look at his face. And he's totally giving that pooping face. He was totally pooping in my car! I must have given his some weird look, because he then told me "no, it's fine" and showed me his colostomy bag. Then I woke up. haha. best dream ever!

2009-03-23T07:28:00.001-07:00

Funny Things Kids Say

This wasn't one of the kids in our class, but one of the older kids. Kids are all comedians these days.

My favorite food is pelican.
When I grow up I want to be a gingerbread man.

2009-03-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Funny Things Kids Say

Jared and I teach a dozen or so kids at church on Sunday. The kids range from ages 5 to 7. They say the funniest things. I will try to document them here every week.

I caught a GEM yesterday. All the kids were talking over each other for some reason and I don't think any one else heard one of the boys say this:

"I see blue people shaped like ghosts in my house."

I didn't want to reward him talking out of turn by asking him about it, so I just wrote it down.

Kids are awesome.

2009-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Brenna's Parsley Pesto, I made Cilantro pesto, using cilantro instead of parsley, and pepitas instead of walnuts. I also added some peppers, both serano and bell peppers. It ended up turning out pretty good.

2009-03-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Brenna's Sweet & Spicy Tea. She let me have some today. It tastes as if cinnamon bears gave their lives for this flavorful wonderful liquidy goodness.

2009-03-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

Iron Diet

Morning: Hemaplex Iron Supplement and orange juice
Bagel or oatmeal an hour or so later - since I'm supposed to take the iron on an empty stomach

Lunch: Spinach salad with parmesan, white beans, pumpkin seeds, bell peppers (red, yellow and orange) and balsamic vinegar
Something else an hour or so later - burrito or grapefruit or a piece of bread - because I'm still hungry

Snack: Green protein drink

B-12 sublingual dot when I get home

Dinner: Normal dinner plus some sauteed spinach w/ nuts (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, etc)

calcium/magnesium supplement before I go to bed

So yeah, vitamin C increases absorption and calcium/caffeine/alcohol decreases absorption. Spinach/Kale/Swiss Chard and nuts and beans tend to have a lot of iron, as well as some bread/bagels/cereal. Tofu and whatever is in the Morningstar fake meats have good levels or iron too.

I ate albacore tuna for the first time in like over 10 years thinking it would have iron. I went with the intention of trying salmon but the place was out of salmon. When I got home I researched it and tuna really doesn't have that much iron. oh well.

2009-03-07T02:57:00.000-08:00

Felt pretty weird this week. Tuesday night had debilitating joint pain and migraine. Thursday had a severe, very embarrassing, emotional breakdown at lunch. Like the worst I can remember ever. Like someone died or something. And I've been very uncharacteristically apathetic about food.
Weird days.

Also, I found cinnamon bears at Ralphs. They are actually Ralph's brand and 2 for $3.

2009-03-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

i am craving these right now. Anybody know who carries them? Ralphs?? Sav-ons?

2009-03-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Iron Depleted

CBC
White Blood Cell Count 3.9 (3.8-10.8 normal)
Red Blood Cell Count 4.02 (3.80-5.10 normal)
Hemoglobin 11.7 (11.7-15.5 normal)
Hematocrit 34.2 (35.0-45.0)

Iron, Total 28 (40-175 normal)
Iron Binding Capacity 447 (250-450 normal)
% Saturation 6 (15-50 normal)

Ferritin 7 (10-154)

So according to my CBC's I am slightly anemic per my low hematocrit (really not that bad though). I am, however, very iron deficient. A ferritin level below 10 means your iron scores are depleted. An iron deficiency can cause anemia and a whole host of other symptoms including hair loss, low body temperature, sensitivity to cold, night sweats, prone to infection, low energy, fatigue, paleness, high heart rate, etc.

If you are female 15-50 and have any of these symptoms or are at a higher risk from being a vegetarian or a regular blood donater, or if you do high-intensity endurance training, I recommend you ask your doctor to do a serum ferritin test the next time you are in. It's important that you don't take iron supplements unless you are actually iron deficient - I think its actually more common for people to actually have too much iron.

I think I will post my new iron diet tomorrow.

2009-02-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

I kinda hate my doctor

EXHIBIT 1 - Infection Fiasco *

Doctor Visit 1

Doctor: What's wrong with you?
Me: I am dying. I feel sick. I have chills. I have a fever. I have severe abdominal pain. I have no energy. Something is seriously wrong with me.
Doctor: You just have the stomach flu. Get over it.
Me: uh....okay, but it really doesn't feel like the flu.

After being in the ER over night and treated for a kidney infection over IV

Doctor Visit 2 ( 2 weeks later)

Doctor: Wow, you were really sick. Your bloodwork is all over the place. I wish we had caught this a few weeks ago.
Me: .....seriously? I really kinda hate you.

EXHIBIT 2 - Iron Fiasco *

Doctor Visit 1

Doctor: What's wrong with you?
Me: I am losing a lot of hair. I'm tired. I have no energy. I think it's my iron levels. There is seriously something wrong with me.
Doctor: You are just stressed. Get over it.
Me: uh....okay, but it really doesn't feel like stress.

Doctor Visit 2 (A year later)

Doctor: Wow, your iron levels are horrible. Your iron stores are completely depleted. I wish we had caught this a year ago.
Me: .....seriously? I really kinda hate you.

* conversations may possibly be slightly exaggerated

2009-02-26T16:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went in a dumpster. When I was getting ready in the morning, I thought about earrings and remembered I don't really have any I like. THEN I REmembered I just bought earrings online along with a bracelet and a sweater. I remembered that the bracelet and the sweater came but I don't remember seeing any earrings. But come to think of it, I didn't see the bracelet until I remembered, HEY I ordered a bracelet. I remembered throwing the box into our recycle bin and then I remember Jared taking out the recycling.

So on the way to work, I walked over to the recycling dumpster bin and saw THE BOX that the goods came in. But I couldn't reach it. So I said 'what the heck' and I climbed inside. There was nothing in the box and although I really wanted to look more because I hate losing things, I really didn't think it was worth searching the dumpster for the packing list or a little bag containing a pair of $10 earrings. Curses!

2009-02-24T16:34:00.001-08:00

I survived the doctor visit today. I don't understand how it can be so excruciating for me. I tell him about me being denied at the blood donation center and the night sweats, and then he asks me all these weird questions if I have been out of the country or gone on any mission trips. He then looks at my old paperwork from when I had the kidney infection and says it definitely wasn't a kidney infection and that it's weird that they never figured out what it was. so he wants to do a chest x-ray to see if its tuberculosis and lymphoma. So I'm kinda freaking out because I really kinda think I do have lymphoma. So I wait for the x-ray, and then they do the x-ray, and then they make me wait kind of a lot until they guide me back to my room. In my head, that wait is because the technician is like, wow, this girl has lymphoma. She finally guides me back to the room, and then the nurse comes in after several minutes and says the doctor will be back in a few minutes to go over my x-ray with me. I assume that this means I definitely have lymphoma and they are going to break the news. I REALLY need to not be such a hypochondriac. But seriously, can't the technician or nurse just give me a head's up - hey, your x-ray looks fine - don't worry - the doctor will be back to go over it with you. OH NO, that would make doctor visits too easy.

So anyways, no lymphoma or TB. Yay! I wish they had shown me pictures of my x-ray. That's the least they could have done since I'm sure I'll have to fork up all kinds of money for it.

They also took my BLOOD. The iron test should be back Friday. nice!

2009-02-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

Jared and I were both scheduled to donate blood on Saturday. Jared had a pretty nasty cold a few days before and so decided not to donate. He was nice and went with me. Unfortunately, I also struck out. My iron was too low. BOOO. Both last night and saturday night I have been plagued with night sweats. DOUBLE BOOOO. I made a doctor's appointment. Luckily, I think all of my problems can be solved by getting my iron back up. According to the Internets, symptoms of low iron include difficulty sleeping, high heart rates, and night sweats.

Fun Fact: Runners tend to have low iron because the impact of running actually crushes the red blood cells. Females are at higher risk. Females who menstruate are at even higher risk. And vegetarians are at higher risk. I'm totally screwed.

2009-02-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

I died a little inside today.

Today was the last day for Frosty Heidi and Frank, the funniest talk radio show ever. Free FM 97.1 is switching over at 5 PM today to Top 40.

I hate you CBS Radio.

2009-02-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

I only woke up 10 times Tuesday night. And last night, I had the best sleep ever. I think I only woke up 3 or 4 times.

I've finally started running again. Three days in a row. woot. I don't know if it was an error or not, but my heart rate monitor said it got up to 204 bpm last night. thats 12 beats over my "maximum heart rate" according to the formula. I didn't die so I guess that formula is BOGUS.

2009-02-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

I have always been a light sleeper, but lately its been getting ridiculous. On Sunday night, after waking up at 2 and laying in bed for an hour, I finally got up and read until 5. And last night, I'm pretty sure I woke up close to 50 times. I think I will start keeping a sleep log by my bed.

2009-02-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

Recent Discoveries:

Valley Produce. This place rules. I could probably cut my grocery bill in half by buying all my produce here. Lots of weird, ethnic stuff here. I want to try everything.

Freezing Tofu. This is the best way to get Tofu all spongy - like it is at restaurants. Just freeze it for a few days, and then put it in the refrigerator to dethaw a few days before you cook it. Best texture ever.

Mail-Order Prescriptions. I just found that I can get a 60-day supply of my birth control for the same co-pay as my normal 30-day supply I've been getting at the pharmacy. Easy way to cut my prescription cost in half. Woot.

2009-02-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

All I ever post about is food. Whatever. Food is good.

I made Jared some mole for Valentine's Day. Another 10 out of 10 per Jared.

Serves about 4

1/2 Jar of Mole (I used the Goya brand I found at Valley Produce)
1 small onion - diced
1 Jalapeno - diced
1 Brick of Tofu - cubed
6 small potatoes - cubed
1/2 head of cauliflower - broken into bite-size pieces
some cashews
little piece of dark chocolate
cumin
cinnamon

I steamed cauliflower and potatoes separately. Cooked Tofu until brown on both sides in one pan. In other larger pan, I sauteed the onion and jalapeno until tender. Added 1/2 jar of mole, added about 4 parts water gradually (if you do it all at once its hard to mix without leaving chunks) . Once mixed, added tofu, potatoes, cauliflower, a little piece of dark chocolate, and some cumin and cinnamon. I served with rice and some corn tortillas.

2009-02-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

Who knew that the ancient chinese do mole face-reading? Women here, men here. Lucky for me, I have lots of moles.

I shall focus on the most obvious moles on my face: one above my eyebrow, one near my jaw line, two kind of near my ear, one on my ear, and one kind of where a monroe piercing would be.

According to the ancient chinese, I have:

Luck
Bad luck to subordinates
Prone to self-harm
Longevity
Good husband
Low self esteem

2009-02-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Jared reminded me about another person I needed to add to my list.

#5 Usher!

2009-02-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

Tango Alfa Mike Romeo Alfa

I have to give long, complicated passphrases at work to people over the phone. I am horrible at enunciating, so I usually have to give an example of what the letter is I'm saying. On the spot though, I always stall and it seems like I can only think of really inappropriate examples. So, today, I memorized the military phonetic alphabet. You should too!

A - Alfa (how it was spelled in the manual I memorized from)
B - Bravo
C - Charlie
D - Delta
E - Echo
F - Foxtrot
G - Golf
H - Hotel
I - India
J - Juliet
K - Kilo
L - Lima
M - Mike
N - November
O - Oscar
P - Papa
Q - Quebec
R - Romeo
S - Sierra
T - Tango
U - Uniform
V - Victor
W - Whiskey
X - X-ray
Y - Yankee
Z - Zulu

2009-02-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

FULL DISCLOSURE: CELEBRITY HOTTIES

Jared has given me so much crap since he overheard me on Saturday say Paul Rudd is hot. I think he was a little surprised since I rarely talk about people being hot, and I think he was a little bothered/hurt. It's been pretty rad seeing him do a little posturing and all (i.e. walking into the kitchen with his shirt off saying how this is what a real man looks like). Just another one of the reasons I love Jared.

So as not to surprise him in the future, I will fully disclose, in my opinion, the top 4 hottest celebrities (I was gonna do 5 but I can't think of any more that I consider hot):

#1 Milla Jovavich: No surprise here. Everyone knows I love her.

#2 Michael Rosenbaum: Everyone teases me about this, but I think he is very attractive and he's super funny in interviews, and, yes, I admit to watching Smallville.

#3: Paul Rudd: Good lookin' and witty!

#4: Zoey Deschanel: She's so cute and sweet, and I love her voice in Elf, and, yes, I'm totally trying to copy her hair.

2009-02-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I created a tasty Yellow Curry dish (except for I'm lazy and bought the curry sauce pre-made). Jared gave it another 10 out of of 10. I got all ingredients from Trader Joe's.

Serves about 4

Basmati Rice
1 Onion
1 box of Tofu
6 super-small potatoes (I think they're mashers - they have the thin skin on them)
1 Jar of Yellow Curry Sauce
1/2 bag frozen peas

Make Basmati Rice per instructions. Microwave potatoes (wash potatoes and poke potatoes before) for about 4.5 min. Saute onion in olive oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or so. Turn heat down to low. Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces and put in with onions. Pan-fry tofu in wok (or large pan) with olive oil over medium-high heat until brown on both sides. Add onion and potatoes to wok. Add Yellow curry sauce (I added some water because it was a little too strong for me). Add peas (I dethaw peas first by putting them in colander and running hot water over them). Simmer for 5 minutes or so.

Serve with Basmati Rice.

NOM NOM NOM!

2009-02-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

I made this Whole-Weat Spaghetti with Vegetables and Peanut Sauce for dinner last night. Jared said it was 10 out of 10.

I didn't really understand the directions - it didn't seem like they cooked the tofu in the directions. That kinda weirded me out so I pan-fried the tofu in a wok with some olive oil and salt and pepper until brown on both sides. I put the tofu to the side and then sauteed some red bell peppers (cause i like adding stuff to recipes like that) until tender and then added the carrots and snow peas and put the tofu back in and just heated on low until the spaghetti and peanut-sauce was ready.

I highly recommend!

2009-01-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

Fun fact about Fillmore:

Fillmore was the first school in California to add Skate Boarding to the Middle School PE class schedule.

Also, they have a new outdoor skate park. It looks pretty cool.

2009-01-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

A new staple I have added to my grocery list which I highly recommend:

They are a Probiotic fruit drink + multivitamin. I know yogurt is really good for me, but I have a really hard time eating it regularly.
And vitamins are just icky to swallow. So here is my cure all. And they are organic and vegan!

They can be fairly pricey, normally $4.50 for a pack of 4, but they are often at sale (at least at Vons) and I come across coupons for them all the time. I just bought 2 4-packs today for only $3!

2006-10-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

Brenna's been going to the dentist a lot lately so we've been talking about flossing and stuff. I absolutely DESPISE flossing. One day after we had been discussing flossing (and bren had shown me proper hand positioning/wrapping technique) I went home to cut coupons and found a sample of the new Crest Glide Deep Clean floss.

My first enjoyable flossing experience ever! The floss was wonderful, not at all stringy and waxy like normal floss, but really wide and smooth and so ever minty. That, mixed with better floss handling technique so I don't cut off all the circulation with my fingers, made so much of a difference. I have now been flossing almost every day.

I haven't been to the dentist in like 10 years, but maybe I'll go soon. Hopefully, I won't have too many cavities and they will be ever impressed by my plaque-free mouth.

2006-10-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

its over.

i finished. in the top third of my age division. i ran 3:57:35. my goal was 4 hours. i will never run a marathon again.

it was pretty brutal. i stopped to use the porta-potty once just so I could sit down for a few seconds. My stomach hurt a lot during the race and I felt like I was going so slow. i threw up massive amounts of gatorade near the end (even though I only drank water during the whole course). I threw up a mile from the finish line and i actually threw up a few feet from the finish line and threw up a foot after the finish line. the last 3 miles were the worst. Luckily, I had jared, my mom and brenna there to help me get through it. I'm glad I did it but i don't think I ever want to do it again.

it hurts to move. so much.

2006-09-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

I remember that Brenna asked me on Friday what I was going to wear during the marathon. I never answered her for some reason.

The answer:

.

2006-09-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

bananas

They are happy food. I ate half of one today. Only half because the other half was black and mushy. I hereby declare that Jared is no longer allowed to pick out bananas.

Seriously though, only a few minutes after I ate the banana I felt the endorphins kick in and I felt instantaneously happy. Its like when I'm running. I had spent all day stewing over the air quality and getting behind on my training schedule. I spent most of the day complaining about the falling ashes and the tightness in my lungs and my burning eyes. Brenna and I discussed at length on me wearing a bandana over my mouth while running or maybe even buying a gas mask.

Turns out all I really needed was a banana.

2006-09-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

good news: finished my run this morning and still made it to 9:00 church service 15 minutes early.

bad news: gatorade lid wasn't completely closed on the bottle I put in my purse. orange sticky bible pages = the worst.

2006-09-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

i'm turning into a dragon

the weirdest thing just happened. I was at work in front of my laptop, icing my knee (different subject), when I burped. There was a little trace of what appeared to be smoke.

what??

Then I started coughing and this huge puff of, at what first appeared to be smoke, but upon further investigation I think was powder.

yeah, freaky.

At first I thought it might be cinnamon sugar because I just had cinnamon sugar toast, but it definatey was finer than sugar and way more of it than what I put on my toast. It had to have been from the calcium supplement I had taken. Weird.

2006-09-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

No joke.

My friend Brian Pew and his wife just had a girl. They named her Henrietta Esmé Gertrude Petunia Pew.

2006-09-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

To box canyon and back again.

On saturday I ran 20 miles. For part of the way I ran with a pack of coyotes.

2006-08-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

haha, so I sent Dannon a comment on their website about finding the ant and guess what... Dannon called me at work today! Brenna was laughing so hard after she answered the phone.. Tamra, Dannon is on the phone for you! I had to compose myself before talking to them to not laugh. They asked me all sorts of questions and they are sending me a package to collect the "specimen" I threw the yogurt in the trash at work so I had to dig the yogurt out of the package. Alas, I could no longer find the ant. I did, however, find a dead ant, conspicuously close to the spoons. I suppooooooose its possible that the dead ant was somehow connected to the spoon and then I put it in the yogurt and THEN noticed the ant. I can't really remember.

So, should I send them the other ant I found (it would've been an honest mistake) or should I just write them a note that I couldn't find it? I'd hate to return the package empty handed. I wonder who does those tests? That seems like a pretty cool, funny job... testing items found in food ...

They're supposed to send me one coupon for yogurt with the specimen collection package. If I sent the specimen back and then they run tests on them than they might send more coupons. I probably won't be eating yogurt for a while anyways, but the whole process sounds kind of fun..

MORAL OF THE STORY: if you ever find something in your food, don't necessarily throw it away. preserve it if you want free coupons.

2006-08-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

I'm over yogurt.

I've been pretty regularly eating yogurt - one package every other day or so. Today I found a dead ant in my yogurt. I have decided I will now be taking a hiatus for a while from yogurt. I once found a dead spider in my mac and cheese and it took me like ten years until I ate mac n cheese again. Its really stupid because I probably eat spiders and ants all the time in my sleep...

oh, and long run running update: I ran 20 miles two saturdays ago (my house to box canyon and back) and this past Saturday I ran 16 miles (up first street, long canyon wood ranch to royal and back). I'm going to flagstaff this weekend - should get some high-altitude training in..yay.

2006-01-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

On the verge of my wedding (three months), I have been dedicating a certain amount of time of my week to help ay my moms with odd-and-end jobs in preparation. She is, after all, paying for most of my wedding; it’s the least I can do.

The other Sunday after church, the task was to help with tile work. When I got there, it turned into putting up shelves in the extra bedroom. “Piece of cake”, I say to myself, almost insulted by this so-easy-anybody-can-do-it task.

I really can not begin to say how monumental this task was for me. It might as well had been building the Great Wall of China. Well not really, but you know, kinda.

These shelves really almost defeated me. A shelf dropped, while I was holding up to see if it was even. The shelf got a little beat up and the paint chipped off the side. The screws were so hard to put in, that the wood split on the other wood pieces I was screwing them into. I finally got it on, but then it was uneven, and I had to redo it. I mean, it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I finally got one put on, after completely stripping the screw and using every ounce of muscle in my arms (I'm still really sore from it), but then looked at the picture and with a wave of utter defeat, I had put it on upside-down! Not being so easy to take out stripped screws, mind you, it took me about thirty minutes to take the shelf off. Alas, of course.... it turns out I had it in the right way the first time!

The culminating thing was that I also dropped the second shelf when I was trying to see if it was even. I was so convinced the second one would be easier after learning from my previous mistakes. When the second shelf dropped, it ended up landing on a pot. It was broken into probably two dozen or more pieces. “Please, I said to myself, not THAT pot. Please let it not be that pot." Of course it was THAT pot, a Native American (I think Ansai or Acoma) pot that my sister had just given to my Mom for Christmas.

I profusely apologized, to which my Mom replied “Oh, no big deal, its fine. I can glue it. Brenna will never know.”

There was no hint of annoyance in her voice. Nothing but love out of concern out of her clumsy, well-intentioned daughter. She went back to the bathroom to finish her tiling. I left to pick up the broken pieces of pot. At first it was tears of just feeling bad for breaking the pot. She piped up from the bathroom “Don’t worry about it, really. It’s fine.” No annoyance in her voice at all. Surely I would have been slightly annoyed even if I knew it was unintentional. My tears of feeling bad were then completely overcome by tears of overwhelming joy and appreciation for the best mother I could ever ask for. They were then enhanced by feeling so lucky to be getting married in a few months to the man I love.

My joy was so much and so encompassing. I felt spoiled. I felt unworthy of such blessings. Surely these were blessing that were meant for someone else, someone better than me. I went to the bathroom, in tears, and hugged my mom – my mom who has always been there for me, so selflessly.

I came back to the house a couple days later for Brenna’s birthday. Immediately, I went to the bedroom to show off my defeat of the daunting destroyer-of-all-that-is-good shelves to Jared.

Taken aback at first, but to no surprise, there atop a set of drawers was the Native american pot, glued back together – much like the pieces of me that my mother always seems to put together when I have broke.

2006-01-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

what are the odds?

the day i finally hire someone to do something about the mouse in my house (two months after the fact) is the day my cat decides to be a 'cat' and finally catches the mouse.

Guess he felt like he had some competition.

2006-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

so i guess all the animals in the neighborhood met and voted on my place as hangout central of the animals. Woke up to, no, not just Oliver, one cat, but THREE cats just hangin out in the living room. Yeah, I only own ONE Cat. Then right before I go to work I hear some weird noise and Oliver acting all weird. Oh yeah, theres a rat under the couch. Oliver and I team up to try to catch him, but to no avail. I then opted on going for his long hairless tail.

Rule #1 : Never grab a rat by the tip of it's tail. Tails falls off.

Left with a piece of rat's tail in my hand, i give up. I opened the front door and let oliver chase it out.

Rats, mice, spiders, hummingbirds, cats, ants. They all somehow end up in my house. Probaby because they all know I'm too wussy to do anything to them. My house is clean, I don't leave food laying around, why oh why my house..