You mean blogging isn't the only thing I have to do???

Can you hear the crickets chirping around my blog lately? Yeah, me too.  I haven't blogged any original thought all month (debatable if I've ever come up with anything original, but that's another topic.)  I didn't blog about Ben's birthday on Wednesday.  Or my dread at planning and hosting his birthday party with 9 party-goers on Saturday.  In fact, these things didn't even cross my blogging radar.

It's because it's February.  In my world, February is the month where I plow through Excel file after Excel file full of salary data.  I reconcile these files with what was received over the year.  It's fun (actually, it really is.)  But it takes a lot of time.  I worked over 67 hours last pay period; the most I've worked in a 2-week period in over 8 years.  I'm not really whining, just explaining my blogging silence.  Work, work, work. (Sorry to all of you who put in real full-time hours on a regular basis. I marvel at you!)

But you probably don't mind my blogging silence.  I just miss having something to say.  Like the fact that I still have not finished Anne of Green Gables, despite the fact that I've been reading it for a month and a half.  Or the fact that once I'm finished with my current book (not Anne of Green Gables; a book called Lavinia that I'm loving), I have nothing to read. At all.  Or my happiness that Lost is back on because I can drool over Sawyer again (he is so much hotter than Jack!) 

But, I'll be buried under work for a few more weeks.  My hour of computer time at night will be spent working instead of blogging or trawling my friends on Facebook.  But I'll come back next month.  I might even have something interesting to say.  We can all dream, right?

I knew it would happen some day...

The relationship started back in 1997.  My oldest niece was 11; my youngest 2.  It was an unlikely match from the start; I knew it, and he knew it.  But we lasted for over 12 long years together. Until yesterday morning, that is.  He looked ok, but then wasn't.  There wasn't even a final sputter; just a flash of white smoke, a smell of burning, and he was gone.

Long live the memory of my hair dryer.  His long life can be attributed to many, many mornings of skipping showers and wearing ponytails.  He was always there when I needed him, though.  I've known the end was coming for some time now; I prayed on Christmas morning that it wouldn't be the day.  My prayer was answered, and he died unauspiciously on February 8, 2010.

I can't even remember what brand he was, but dang it, I appreciated him and his cool shot button, the detachable defuser (by whom he is survived), the melted-on plastic from being set on the bag of cottonballs while still hot.

I will never forget.

10 for January (a little late)

10 things I did in January:

1. Won a $50 gift card from my work.  We did a biggest loser-type contest and I got 4th place. I sat in 6th place for weeks and weeks...only the top 5 got a prize. I worked my tail off. But it sucked knowing I had to weigh in every week during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But I was determined not to be the runner up to getting a prize, and I did.. 
2. I bought my new favorite shoes with the gift card I won. And also tried harder to be a real girl.
3. Went to my neice's wedding and bridal shower.
4. Celebrated my 11th wedding anniversary.
5. Got my taxes done. I love refund years....
6. Finally started wearing my new running shoes I bought the day after Thanksgiving. I just loved my old shoes so much & didn't want to break in a new pair.
7. Sweated through a few DVD's of P90X. Holy cow, I haven't hurt like that since I ran my marathon in 2004.  I seriously considered walking down stairs backwards a few times.  I love being that sore.
8. Joined a team for the Ragnar Wasatch Back relay. I chickened out on putting together a team, but a friend stepped up and invited Shane and me to join his. I picked my leg (#2!) and am spending every run wondering what my first 6.7 leg will be like.
9. Received two (2!) new callings at church.  I'm now on the activities committee and planning girls camp.  Should be interesting.
10. Missed my dad.  I had a little break down last Sunday and ended up going through some old video tapes, looking for video I shot in 2006.  I wished I had gotten him to say something, but it was awesome to see him interacting with my kids.

9 Places I ate:

1. 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. Holy cow, I'm a sucker for a good burger and homestyle greasy fries. 
2. Olive Garden.  After my niece Jacqui went to the temple for the first time, we joined everyone for dinner at Olive Garden.  She went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple which is near me, so it was fun to be able to be with them.
3. Los Hermanos.  Mmm.  Shane and I ate there for our anniversary after my niece's wedding dinner. I guess that means we kind of ate dinner twice that night, but it was worth it.  Seafood enchiladas to eat and a brisa negro to drink....heaven!
4. Chili's. 
5. Chili's.
6. Chili's.We only went 3 times last month.  And 3 Fridays in a row I cooked dinner.  They must have been worried when we didn't show up for our regular Friday night meal.  Maybe we through them off by showing up on Saturday.  That will keep them guessing.
7. Jimmy Johns.  Mmm.  Nothing better than free lunch thanks to your employer.
8. Cafe Rio.  I took a 4 month hiatus after I found a WIRE in my pork salad back in October.  It not only ended up in my mouth, but got caught between my back teeth. I was scared of hepatitis for weeks afterward.  And I stopped ordering pork salads.  I'm back to grilled chicken.  At least the Cafe Rio that put the wire in my food wasn't the one we usually go to. If it had been, I don't think I ever would have gone back.
9. Sampan.  I love Chinese food dearly.  So good!

8 people I spent time with:

1. My nieces.  With Jacqui getting married and having lots of family events, I saw a lot of these beautiful girls I love so much: Haley, Madi, BreAnn, Lyndsay, Kayci, Britteny, Jacqui.
2. My sisters and mom.  It was awesome to see them multiple times in one month.
3. My brother-in-laws and nephew-in-laws.  I love them, too.
4. I didn't see my dad, which weighed on me a lot.  He's silent now and I don't even feel the recognition I felt back in September.  Where has he gone? Is he "curled up" somewhere in his mind the way my sister Amy once wrote?
5. This list should have 8 items, but I've already mentioned more than 8 people. I'm calling it good.

7 random thoughts in my head that I want to write down:

1. We spent a lot, and I mean A LOT of time really considering moving in January.  We had a a house picked out and everything.  I loved it - it was 300 feet bigger upstairs and down, brand new, had energy star appliances, a walk-in closet, big bathroom with double sink vanity, separate stand-up shower and big jetted tub. Oh, but did I mention I already had a house and it isn't up for sale?  Yeah.  So, we were going to make an offer on the house, but then it just didn't feel right.
2. The item that really kicked me over the edge for not moving to the other house (well, besides the logistics of selling a house, making an offer on another house and hoping no one tried to buy it before us, etc.)?  Buying a fridge.  The other appliances would have come with the new house.  But not a fridge. I was ready to go through the rigmarole of putting in another yard, buying another water softener, but I couldn't justify buying a fridge.  I guess it wasn't meant to be.
3. We drove by the other house this morning and it had a "sold" sign in the window.  Tiny sniff.
4. Did I mention the house had an honest to goodness fireplace in the living room? And an island?  Oh, I wanted to live there.  But not bad enough, I guess.
5. In non-moving-related thoughts, ESPN can go on for really long periods of time covering events that are over and done with hours ago.  The Superbowl ended a few hours ago and they are still going on about it.
6. Superbowl parties inspire me to eat grand amounts of food. I think the other girls at the party we were at were wondering if I would ever stop.  Oh, party food is good!
7. Hot wings and turkey wraps and 7 layer dip go really good together.

6 songs that made me reminisce:

1. Moon Shadow. Cat Stevens.
2. Another Saturday Night. 
3. Can't Keep It In.
4. Peace Train.
5. Hard headed woman. (see above.)
6. I should probably explain all the Cat Stevens. I loved Cat back in the day and listened to him all the time during my time with Cindy/Eric.  I was watching some videos of Cat on YouTube and borrowed his greatest hits from the library. It is amazing the flood of memories and feelings that come from listening to music from your past.  Bittersweet.

5 thoughts about considering moving that surprised me:

1. I would miss my neighbors immensely.
2. Ditto my ward. I walked in to the church one night to get Thomas from scouts, greeting people I knew from my ward on the way in and the way out.  I would miss associating with them.  I seriously considered going even after we moved. I would miss all my friends there.
3. I was looking forward to not having to paint over the hellish pink paint that I painted in my kitchen last April.
4. At the same time I was glad I didn't have to paint over it, I was sad I wouldn't get to see the same area painted in the lavender/gray paint I picked out to replace it.
5. I would miss my trees. They are like friends and I would be sad to see them being taken care of by someone else.  Unless that person was my niece, and then I would have been happy.  How does 2 years sound, Lynds? :)

4: 3 books I read all month and never finished and 2 I did

1. Finished:  The Copper Beach and The Lightning Thief. Loved them.  Am using the reminders from The Lightning Thief this month as I read a book called Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin.
2. Didn't finish: Anne of Green Gables. It is taking me forever.  Should it?
3. The Gate at the Stairs. Will keep reading.
4. The Swan Thieves.  It's massive and I just know I won't get it done.  Maybe some other time.

3 things I was grateful for:

1. That my niece is happily married.
2. That I have a sweet husband with serious skillz in making videos that make me cry.
3.  That January came to a close.  I hate January, can I say that?

2 things I will do in February:

1. Work.
2. Work.  This is our busiest time. I got 12 hours overtime in the past 2 weeks. That has only happened twice in 8 years of being part time.

1 thing I like about 2010:

1. I am finally running faster. I have never wanted to run fast in my life.  Until now that I'm running Ragnar and don't want to let my team down.  My husband is wondering what I have done with his never-wanting-to-be-faster wife.

A new form of claustrophobia...

You are all probably sick of listening to my inadequacy in the arena of appearance, but it seems to have reared its ugly head again.  But in a new way.  What's not to love about new ways of making a fool of yourself?

This week, my favorite brand of cosmetics had a free gift with purchase.  I'm a sucker for free gifts, so it wasn't much of a decision to buy it.  I went in with a semi-formed plan: get the mascara, check out the prices on lip gloss and/or moisturizer, and call it good. 

After trying on 3 different shades of lip gloss under the watchful eyes of a sales clerk with no success and declaring that the $45 moisturizer was "more than I wanted to spend" (gah! Did I really admit that to the prettily made up be-nose-jeweled salesgirl?) I found myself desperately seeking something to buy to meet the required minimum purchase.  I told the lady to let me browse by myself.  Without other people's eyes watching every move, I ended up finding a lip gloss that I loved.  I noticed it seemed to dry really fast and didn't feel very lip-glossy, but since I liked the color so much I still thought I was home free.

I had put on some of the lip gloss I bought while I was at the store. Right after I got home, I hurried to run before I watched my neighbor's babies. After sweating for a half hour on the treadmill, I ate some lunch, played with the kids, drank some water. Through all of this, the lip gloss was perfectly in place.  Huh. 

I didn't panic until I got into the shower.  I scrubbed my face and lips with soap (not very sophisticated, I know, but it usually works!), and noticed how they felt a little crumbly. Huh.  I washed them again. And again for good measure.  When I got out, I looked in the mirror and half of the lip gloss was still perfectly in place. On my lips.  How does this happen?

It was at this point I started to panic.  I was sure that it would never come off.  In fact, it made me a little claustrophobic.  I tried some Vaseline. It didn't make a dent. I tried a washcloth. Nothing.  I finally used some of the eye-makeup remover that I got with my free gift to remove it.  Later, after reading a bit on the internet, I discovered that they recommend a certain type of makeup remover for this lip gloss.  I seem to have bought some high-potency lip gloss but not made it home with the equally powerful antidote.

I admit that I felt some gratitude that this time around, I only made a fool out of myself in front of myself. But it was disconcerting to realize I might spend the rest of my life wearing royal red lip gloss on half of my lips.  Maybe other girls know that you have to get the oil-based makeup remover to remove lip gloss these days.  But I didn't.  I usually leave most of mine on my water bottle at work.  I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Have you ever gotten trapped in your cosmetics?