Every now and again...

...I actually do check other people's blogs and edit my own!

Tonight is what Doug and my friend Mandy call a "chi" night. Doug is out of the apartment doing his usual Friday night thing, and I am home alone. With the bird, which I guess means I am not alone per se. Anyway, a vast array of opportunities to "do stuff" has presented itself to me. In about 10 minutes, I will start to harrass the parakeet by practicing the oboe, followed by some intense homework-doing and all-out Christmas gift-wrapping. Woot. But seriously, it is nice sometimes to have these moments, these "chi nights", when I just get to do stuff. I keep threatening to post pictures on this thing- that might even happen tonight! Who knows!

November Already?!

So, October ended on an anticlimactic note- my sympathies to poor Doug, Martha and Matt. I helped my folks in the yard on Saturday afternoon and ended up being severely allergic to something *ahem* in their yard. I *ahemed* b/c Dad thinks I was bit by a spider, but I am pretty sure I am allergic to the hyacinth bulbs I stuck in the ground for them. That meant that I spent Halloween evening zoned out on Benadryl. AWESOME! When we came home I went straight to bed- poor, cute Doug having been gipped out of a good, scary Halloween stayed up late to watch "So I Married An Axe Murderer". That's pretty spooky, right? Now I have to decide what to do w/ the 2 extra pumpkins we never carved. There's always pie..... At least we dressed up- Doug was bird flu, and I was swine flu. A picture is forth-coming.

Saturday, Dad cut up a whole bunch of pieces of wood for me to paint and decorate my apartment with. It might be kinda nerdy, but I went to Enrichment in September (back when it was called Enrichment), and we painted a whole bunch of little blocks and put vinyl letters on them with inspiring mottos, and it was so nice that I've decided I could stand to do a little more of that. :) I'm excited- I will probably be heading over there tomorrow for more. I love my dad-how nice of him to donate some of the better pieces of his stockpile to my rare craft experiments.

By far my favorite parts of this weekend were hanging out with family and friends- especially adorable little nieces and nephews. We left the camera at work (we have some pictures from the C-med party that need posting there), but as soon as I get it back I will be adding to this blog. I'm sad I didn't get a chance to take pics of the Brady & Peterson munchkins, but it was good to hang out with them.

And now to stop procrastinating and start the dishes....maybe... GO PHILLIES!!!!

The Ultimate Bran Muffins

Ok, so a while back I went online and was looking for some good recipes, and I came across this bran muffin recipe on foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com. YUM! Whole grains are really good for us and I am trying to be a good kid and make sure Doug and I get our share of the good stuff. I've been making these and freezing them once or twice a month for the past 6 or 7 months. It was so funny b/c the other day I was at the grocery store and I decided to get festive and buy a few Halloween muffin cups. The girl at the register was really happy and social and asked if I was making cupcakes. :) I told her it was just another way to jazz up my bran muffins- the truth is out. heh heh heh
This morning, about the only things that sounded good to me were a couple of thawed, reheated bran muffins and a pot of peppermint herbal tea (with honey- best thing I know for being sick). Yum! I'll probably wash that all down with some cough syrup here in a bit.

A note- bran is something you can find at every grocery store but the boxed stuff is expensive. There's a store close to my house that has bulk bins of grains and nuts and flours. I found buying my bran there saved me a ton of money. Hopefully there is something like that near you.

The basic recipe for the muffins is quite good but I like to add stuff to it. Here it is:

Not Your Typical Bran Muffins

(Preheat oven to 375 degrees)

2 c. wheat bran
1 c. oat bran
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the above in a large bowl and set aside. At this point I also sometimes add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves- whatever- to taste. :) Sometimes just adding alittle spice makes the muffins taste like gingerbread or a spice cake.

In a smaller bowl, combine the following and mix well:
2/3 c. milk
2/3 c. plain lowfat yogurt
1/3 c. canola oil
1/3 c. molasses
1/3 c. honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

***At this point, I vary the recipe depending on my mood. You can add 1 to 1 1/2 cups fruit (blueberries, bananas, etc.) to the wet ingredients or you can even change the basic recipe by substituting some of the oil w/ applesauce or one of the eggs w/ two egg whites. I find that while that cuts down a bit of the fat content, it also can make these already moist muffins even more moist- almost like a cake. You can also use 2/3 honey or 2/3 molasses instead of 1/3 cup of both. My most recent adventure with this recipe involved adding 1 cup shredded carrot and a little less than 1/2 cup raisins, which with a little added spice made my muffins positively scrumptious and much like carrot cake. Carrot cake w/ gusto. :) Just a sidenote- don't make your muffins too scrumptious or you might forget that they are chock full of fiber.
Another yummy-sounding variation that I found on that same blog was a cranberry orange bran muffin, where you replace the milk with orange juice and omit the vanilla, and then add 1 c. dried cranberries and some orange zest.***

Ok, after that tangent, now you combine the wet and dry ingredients in the large bowl. Mix with a spoon or rubber spatula until just mixed. Bake 20 to 25 minutes- may need a little longer (28-30 minutes) if you added fruit. I always use the toothpick test anyway, just to be safe. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on cooling rack. Store in airtight container for a few days or freeze. Makes 24 regular-sized muffins.

And there you have it. Apparently we are out of cough syrup, so I am off to the store and signing off for now.

The Plague

So, there's been something nasty going around the office, and people have been dropping like flies. Today, it is my turn. I feel like some sort of alien life form has crawled into my chest to incubate and no amount of coughing is going to fix this. Do I sound like Doug? :)

I have noticed a pattern in my life- it turns out the only time I ever post on the blog is when I am home sick from work. I've used all kinds of rationale to explain that one, but I think it comes down to the fact that I just haven't been very dedicated to any online pursuits (including my class- I am dreadfully behind). Last night I cleaned out 1100 unread messages from my inbox- 1050 of those were junk emails from retailers. I also ventured onto Facebook for the first time in MONTHS. It was good to be able to contact people again. I'm really bad at that kind of thing. So, one of my new resolutions is to be more accessible online and off.

The difference between rational and irrational fear

If you have seen the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events - or read the book on which it is based - The Wide Window - you will understand the difference between a rational fear - such as a fear of spiders - and an irrational fear - such as a fear of Realtors.

So, my question is this - Does anyone else have a terrible fear of being trampled to death by seahorses?

Tesla

As most of you know, Stephanie LOVES Porsche. I'm not much of a car person... but ever since I married Steph, I've been getting quite the education on cars. I officially have a new favorite car. It is called the Tesla Roadster. I believe I've mentioned it before, but Nicola Tesla is one of my heroes. I love to study his life and inventions. (As such, I am NOT a Thomas Edison fan. That stuck-up thief is absolutely NOT one of my heroes. But I don't want to fill the blog with angst.) So, when an American decided to make a car company and name it after my hero, of course I'm going to like it. As such, let me introduce you to the Tesla Roadster:

This car is completely electric. It takes only three hours to charge the lithium battery that is stored in the back. The battery makes up 1/3 of the car's over-all weight. This roaster tops out at about 120 mph - which is pretty freaking awesome for a car that has no gas. There was a race between a Tesla Roadster and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4. The Tesla won. It barely won, but it won none the less. I think that it won only because the Tesla only has two gears. So, it didn't have to shift, unlike the Porsche. Naturally, this car is pricey. $100,000 will get you one... but only after you pay the $2,000 fee to get on the waiting list for one. Here's what the back of this fabulous car looks like:

Now, I show you these pictures and tell you all about this car simply because I GOT TO SEE ONE! As of right now, there is one - ONE - in the state of Utah. And yesterday I got to see it. Stephanie and I were driving from my parents' house to hers. We turned a corner and both of us gasped. I said, "Ooo! That's a nice car." Stephanie said, "Wait, is that a Lotus?" (If you don't know, Lotus is another super nice car company and they happened to have designed the Tesla.) Then is hit both of us. "It's a Tesla!" I slowed WAY down to admire the car. It was pulled off to the side of the road in all its glory. There was a crowd of people looking at it, but they all started to laugh at Steph and I as we slowed down to see it. They laughed even harder when I turned into a school parking lot and turned around. I threw the car into park and rolled down my window. I told the owner that he was driving my favorite car. I asked is we could take some pictures. He said we could. (YAY!) Yes, we have pictures, but he told us not to put them on Facebook or Myspace. I don't want to betray his trust (even though I don't know his name) so I just took some pictures from the Internet. I got out of the car and I even touched it! I TOUCHED THE TESLA! I still get excited just thinking about it.

Oops

I meant "car" in that post... not "care." Like I said. It's late. And I'm tired.

Did you all hear that Michael Jackson AND Farrah Fawcett died today? I don't think I could care less, really. Some of Michael Jackson's music was fun. And no one can doubt that he was a really good dancer. But then there's the whole pedophile thing. Hence me not being sad. Robot Chicken did a short where Michael Jackson became white because he's an alien. And the then the black Michael Jackson returns and they have a dance-off. Then a kid gets a gun. The black Michael Jackson says that the kid will just have to kill them both to be safe. Everyone knows that is the real Michael Jackson. Then the kid shoots them both. Steph and I quote it all the time. The White Michael Jackson (at one point before his death... and actually before the dance-off) pulls out his wallet and says. "No. I'm the real Michael Jackson. See. It says - Michael Jackson." Farrah Fawcett is just BY FAR not my favorite human. What did she ever do that I care about? Honestly, I don't even know why she is famous.

Stephanie is reading Freakonomics... or however it's spelled. I can't check. She has the book. But I'm just waiting to go to bed and I don't want to interupt. Sorry for the rambling - and bad spelling! I'm sure there are more issues. I forgot for a minute that that was what I was writing about. I swear I have night-time ADHD.

The Fellowship of the Ring - Again

It is really late. I know I have a habit of having incredibly long blog-posts that everyone hates. But I am super happy and want to tell everyone! Stephanie and I will read to each other while we drive. Obviously the person NOT driving is the one to read. But once I saw a girl (who will remain nameless - but it wasn't Steph, I promise) who tried to read while riding a bike. She ran into a parked care. We'd all say that she was so dumb she got hit by a parked car. Now, it was horribly mean, and not true. After all, she hit the car, not the other way around. My point is that reading and driving is a bad plan. Anyway - Stephanie reads while I drive. We've read Dracula (which I HIGHLY recomend), Something Wicked This Way Comes (another HIGH recomendation), the whole Harry Potter series (okay, I recomend all of these), and we are now going through Lord of the Rings. We just finished the Fellowship of the Ring and have started into the Two Towers. I forgot how amazing these books are. I also forgot how closely the movies follow the books! I like them.

The Writer's Cop-out

***Douglass again***

So, the day afer memorial day, I woke up very confused. I was not where I should be. The room was completely unfamiliar. Then, I felt something on my back, it was soft, but with... a spine? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw short brown hair. I started to panic. Now, I must clearify here that I think boys are completely gross. That is why I married a woman. But back to the story... My heart was racing. What was I doing in a bed with a guy?! I grimaced as I turned over. To my immense relief, it was not a boy, but a woman with short brown hair. Then I started to panic again. What was I doing in bed with a woman? As I looked around the dark room (it was very early) I saw a picture of me. I was again relieved. Where ever I was, I was supposed to be there. So, I went back to sleep.

When I woke up I thought how funny it was that I had spent ten minutes panicking about being in my own apartment and in the same bed as my cute and wonderful wife. We got ready and went to work. This is when we noticed another problem. I could remember things, but details of memories were gone, and recalling memories took about five minutes. It was at this point that everyone at work told me that I needed to see a doctor. I called the regular doctor, he was full, I called my sister's doctor - full. I called Stephanie's family doctor - full. So I went to an Instacare. They were panicking about me. They were running all over the place to rush me through. Hello!? I just was confused this morning! Well, after an EKG, bloodwork, and a UA, I was told that I was fine but that I needed a CT scan of my brain. So, Steph and I went to Salt Lake and I got a CT scan with and without contrast. I don't know if you've ever had one, but when they inject the dye, it feels like you have just wet your pants. I wasn't allowed to open my eyes, so I just took a nap. And, there was nothing wrong again! Now, I didn't write about this experience at this point because I still had to see a neurologist. He made me (weeks later) walk on my toes, touch my nose, tell him what a table is, etc. He said that I am fine. I had Transient Global Amnesia. (Which, by the way, I can now remember everything fine and in a timely manner.)

Steph and I like to watch a show called Bones. In the season finale, (Spoiler alert!) Agent Booth has amnesia. I was so disappointed! That is the biggest cop-out in television. It's the writers getting lazy! But then, maybe two weeks later, Doug is offically diagnosed with Amnesia. So, when you are watching a movie and someone has amnesia, it isn't just a cop-out. And if you wake up and don't know where you are - have fun. Steph and I now joke about it. If I forget something, I just remind people that I have amnesia.

Poop

*****This is Douglass!*****

So - without going into too much detail - I found myself in need of going to a doctor. I first went to our typical doctor. He told me that I needed to see a surgeon. Now... I like the doctor. But I hate everything else. I don't like his nurse, and I DETEST Tanner Clinic's billing. Obviously, I - of all people - would be picky about this. So when our doctor said that I needed to have a colonoscopy and tried to have a Tanner Clinic surgeon, I said NO!

Now, I tried to find a surgeon that I knew I could trust and that had a billing company I trusted as well. So I decided to go with one of our doctors at Consulmed. He is located out of Brigham City. So, I drove up to Brigham City and met Dr. Bryce and his office manager Sunshine. Yes, her name is actually Sunshine. So he went into very uncomfortable detail of what was going to happen during my procedure.

So, Dr. Bryce gave me a prescription and immediately went into a shpiel about how good the drug was. He even gave me a report by the food and drug administration about it. If took me a while before figuring out that he was telling me all this because the FDA put a "Black Box Warning" on the drug. That is their highest warning level. Now, if Dr. Bryce went to all this trouble of warning me, I guess he trusts it. So I took the drug last Wednesday. I had to take four pills every 15 minutes with eight ounces of water. Then, I had to keep drinking clear liquids all day. I drank cranberry apple and apple cherry juice until they both began to smell like pee. PEE! It was awful! So, the juice I had chosen for myself ended up tasting like something I typically avoid drinking with all-due caution. Then, I was found all day, in one of two places. The couch - or the bathroom. Now, I don't want to go into details. I am, after all, posting this so people will read it. So, let me steal a phrase from Dave Barry and just say that I really agree that during this time, the toilet just might need a seat belt and that "full fire-hose mode" is a very appropriate term. In fact, most of his description it perfect. I don't have a link for it because I am tired and want to post this before the experience is a week old. I must say - Stephanie lovingly make chicken broth for me. I was surprised that I could drink something with so much salty goodness.

Finally the day came. It was Thursday. Stephanie woke up at 5:00. She was terrified that we had missed it. I assured her we were fine and she wen back to bed. We left at 7:00 because of the snow and checked into the Brigham City Hospital. The hospital is small, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in technology. I made sure I drove. It was my last act with dignity. I thought about drawing an "Exit Only" sign on the small of my back... but I just wasn't sure how Dr. Bryce would take it. (I told Sunshine the other day at work. It took her a whole minute to gain composure enough to ask me her question.)

The nurse had me change into the lovely flowing robes of the hospital. It took me a while to find the upper straps, so I just wandered the changing room wondering why the gown kept falling off. I came out and was put in a large leather Lazy-boy. I sat for a long time. Eventually the nurse came to give me my IV. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I have good veins. I know I have good veins. People in the business regularly comment on my veins. But, apparently when I'm dehydrated, my veins roll. So the poor nurse tried and tried to get the vein in the back of my hand, but couldn't. I wanted to get a picture... but I'm tired. Needless to say, half of my right hand is black and blue... along with a smaller bruise on my arm where she actually got the IV in. Next she had me drink this antacid stuff. I forget why. It tasted like... well... if the grape kool-ade powder and the sour coating of a war-head had a baby, and that baby was in a liquid state for some unknown reason, it would be this antacid. After waiting a while longer, they took me into the dark room. This woman stuck what looked like lotion in my IV and told me that my arm was going to burn. It did. I was going to tell her that... but the next think I knew I was back in the lazy-boy.

Now, I had some major concerns! So I asked Steph is they found any polyps or diverticula. She laughed and told me they found fluffy bunnies. (It was later what she told me I had asked her that question 3 times before.) I will leave the rest of the story to Stephanie. I was unconscious for the remainder of the day...

Graystache!?!

So, Doug has asked me to post this:
We have officially finished the Harry Potter series!
We've started on LOTR (starting w/ the Hobbit), but if anybody has any suggestions on what to read afterward that would be swell.

PS ha ha naked mohawk-baby carrot jockeys- Doug

Hot stuff!

So, maybe it's just leftover giddiness from the cakewrecks blog, but has anyone noticed that our Poulsen People profile pic is Doug in 6 ft. of blonde wig? Just checking....heh heh heh mohawk-baby carrot jockeys....

Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys

So, my sweet sister Emily sent me a link and showed me a few cakes off of this blog (www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com). Now, I know that the above title could raise a few eyebrows, but I haven't laughed so hard in weeks. I spent an hour and a half muttering "naked mohawk-baby carrot jockeys" and laughing hysterically to myself while I did laundry. Enjoy!

Devil May Cry Movie

I am, admittedly, a dork. (This is Douglass again, by the way.) As many of you know, I want to be a writer SO bad. One of my great friends, Kollin, and I have formed a small company for this purpose. It's called Night Ink because we almost always write from 6:30 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. We keep looking for opportunities.

According to IMDB.com, there is supposed to be a live-action version of the videogame Devil May Cry. I am a fan of the games (hence the dork comment). Now, with the annoucement of the 2010 release date, Kollin and I went on a search for a script. I am somewhat pleased to say that there is not one... at least... there is not one aside from ours.

Kollin and I have been researching for the past year. We've been reading The Divine Comedy, and other works of literature that the series references. We've been working and re-working the script to make sure the script is not some crapy videogame movie... but a really great and exciting movie.

There is a problem though... Kollin and I are not represented by an agent. Which means we have no way of contacting Capcom to tell them of our work. Also, we haven't been produced before. This is obvious. But we are trying to produce a bunch of scripts ourselves. But this is something more real. This is something ready and exciting. We are trying to get Capcom's attention. We want them to know that we are serious. So, in regards to the Devil May Cry series, we need the link www.thenightink.com posted all over the internet. We want the people at Capcom to be forced to accept that our script is nearly ready. Please, please, please post the link somewhere... That's the only thing I can do at this point. Kollin and I are in desperate need of your assistance.

Thanks.

P.S. - Stephanie and I are just finishing Harry Potter 6. Ug... what a depressing ending...

The Fellowship of the Ring...

*This is Douglass*

Some time ago, I was given a ring. I should preface this with the fact that it was not Steph because the ring in question was not my wedding ring. This person will remain nameless...

Now, in case you don't know me, there is something you MUST understand about me to fully understand the story I am about to tell you. I have worked my whole life to be positive, happy, and look for the best in people. Now, I would like to think that I am pretty good at this. The problem about all this is that I am not good at forgiving people. It took me years - as in somewhere around five years - to forgive some kids from junior high. I don't mean that if you say "Hey Doug, what ya been diggin?" that I'll never speak to you again. (In case you didn't know, that also happens to be one of my least favorite things I've had someone say to me on a regular basis.) But if you really offend me, or hurt Steph, it will take quite some time for me to forgive you.

So, I found myself in eager need to forgive three people. One of them in particular, I needed to forgive as soon as possible. Without giving away who is who, the first person hurt Steph in very personal ways. One hurt multiple members of my family at the same time, and the last is the one that gave me the ring.

After a horrible fight, and a meeting at work, I found, embarrassingly, that I needed to forgive. (Yes, one of them was a meeting at work... that was a fun meeting. I love having my boss tell me - among other things - that I needed to forgive someone.) That night I laid on the bed and found the ring. I don't typically wear jewelry other than my watch and wedding ring. But I thought it might be appropriate to wear this ring as a constant reminder that I need to forgive.

Friday nights I spend at our friends Kollin and Nicole's house researching, writing, plotting, and sometimes killing things on video games. On this particular night, Kollin, Nicole, Steph, and I were watching The Mummy - The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I was mindlessly playing with the ring, which is part of why I limit the jewelery. I somehow managed to get the ring - that fit perfectly on my middle or index finger, onto my thumb. No, I don't know how it happened. I tried to pull the ring off discreetly under the blanket, but I quickly found that it wouldn't budge past the wrinkly part of my thumb. Now, I took physics in high-school. In my head I said to myself: Self, you should cool down both your thumb and the ring! The ring will get smaller, or thinner, which will allow it to slip off easier. So I ran outside and dumped my finger in the snow. It didn't move. I pulled and pulled and only found that my thumb swelled... Now, the ring didn't cut off the circulation or anything if I left it alone. I spent Saturday and Sunday with the ring securely fastened to my thumb. The lesson in Priesthood was about being unified and forgiving others. I hastily told everyone in the class that I had problems forgiving and told them about the ring still stuck to my finger. I told them all about how ironic it was that my "forgiveness ring" was now stuck to my finger. Most people in our ward told me how funny it was followed by advice I had already tried. I found the most common of all the things was to put my finger in soap or oil. I tried both before going to bed the previous night...

During church I had a stroke of genius. My dad has a metal saw. It's blade is very thin and removable! I figured, I can thread the saw between my finger and the ring and then cut away from the skin. So, I called my parents and asked if I could borrow the saw. They laughed about the whole situation. When they came, however, they forgot the saw. They had talked to one of their neighbors who is an ER nurse. She said to thread a piece of yarn through the ring. The piece facing toward the thumbnail is wrapped very tightly around the thumb and then the other side is unwrapped it basically screws the ring off the finger while keeping the swelling under control. It didn't work. It just caused immense pain. My dad and I snuck into the kitchen - much to Stephanie and my mother's dismay. I soaked my finger in peanut oil for a while, and my dad clung to the ring with both hands while I pulled back with all my might. All we got was more pain. One of the people I found myself in need of forgiving called. They suggested that we heat up the ring and cool down my thumb. Now, in my head I thought. That doesn't add up! The ring will get bigger in all directions which includes constricting against my thumb. I dismissed this - partly because I was angry at this person still.

Monday I got to work. Kollin - who is also my boss - came to my desk laughing heartily at the fact that the ring was still firmly attached to my thumb. Everyone at work came over to see what was going on. They all gave the same advice. Kollin gave me the same advice as the person whom I needed to forgive - heat up the ring and cool down the thumb. I told him that it won't change anything. The ring will constrict. Kollin kindly explained how I was only thinking in two dimensions. The ring will expand in all directions, which means, it will constrict, but it will also expand in all directions - so it will loosen. So, I broke down the fact that I didn't want to try this and was soon to be found in the break-room boiling water in the microwave and setting my thumb on various things in the freezer. After a while Kollin came in, along with the trainer Jen, and they started to laugh while I placed a tissue in the boiling water and wrapped it around the ring. I pulled. I pulled with everything in me. The pain was horrible... but I continued to pull. I could feel my finger going red with blood. I could hear Kollin laughing. I told him to shut up as the ring was moving. The ring popped off as it squeezed over my thumb bone. The ring shot across the break-room, clanging on the table.

After, my thumb looked as though it was broken. The sides were very bruised. The rest was red, except where the ring had gotten stuck - which was white. My thumb was also quite bigger than its usual size. Stephanie lovingly said that I needed to take an anti-inflammatory. The thumb soon looked better... sort of. Because the ring came off, I figured that I needed to forgive. It just seemed to fit. One of the people I am now able to speak with. And one I called and apologized... The third I just have to make a mental note not to kill when I see him at family functions. Now, I am awaiting forgiveness from others... But if nothing else the ring is gone. And I am, therefore, happy.

How to Buy Deodorant

So, for those of you who don't know, I picked up an extra shift at my second job cleaning the office building I work in on Saturday mornings. My first shift was on the 10th. I woke up and decided NOT to get all cleaned up because I was just going to get all gross again while cleaning bathrooms and doing garbages. I also planned a trip to the grocery store afterward because I had a handful of coupons that were burning a hole in my pocket. (Free Cheerios?! YES!) So, after about 3 hours hauling garbage, scrubbing toilets, and dragging a vacuum up and down 3 flights of stairs (the building really needed a good cleaning), I decided to call it quits and wander over to the store. I felt (and looked! and smelled!) absolutely disgusting. Well, one of the coupons I had in my handbag was a discount on deodorant, so I made my way that direction first. The store was super crowded. I parked myself in front of the deodorant display and concentrated with all my might on the problem at hand: what do I want to smell like for the next 3 months? My cart was a little far out in the isle, but nobody was coming my way so I didn't bother moving it. While debating between "Asian Pear" and "Shower Fresh", I saw out of the corner of my eye a gentleman who needed to get past my cart. I was kindof embarrassed, but when I turned around and saw who it was, my embarrassment deepened 10 fold. Russell M. Nelson- or his double- but all the same, very embarrassing. Here I am, uglified and grody, concentrating so deeply on deodorant, which I so desperately and obviously need at the moment, and an APOSTLE decides to show up! Aah! ha ha ha I remember a time in my life when I despaired of ever meeting or seeing an apostle up close, and for some reason, it was extremely important to me. Now, of all things... I moved my cart and blushed fit to match my red sneakers. By the way, "Southern Peach" was the winner.

Zombie Apocalypse

So, it has arrived. Dena, Doug's sister, warned Doug that various members of the family had been through what she called "the zombie apocalypse flu." Well, this week, Doug and I have both spent days at home with something that very much seems like the zombie apocalypse flu. Ug. I have spent the morning in various stages of consciousness, and have now travelled to the couch. There are so many blogs I haven't read in the past couple of weeks, so now, while I am quite stationary, is a good time to read (and POST!).
I must say, this whole experience made me grateful for my woobie. For those of you out there who don't know what a woobie is, go rent "Mr. Mom" and get back to me. My woobie is a lovely blue and white checked fleece throw that Em made me when I was at school in Provo (thanks Em- we've been inseparable since. :) I TRIED to use Doug's woobie (a green fleece throw that is still sitting on our couch from his zombie apocalypse experience yesterday), but there is a huge difference. It's like when you were a kid and you slept with a favorite toy most of the time, and then your favorite toy is missing or in the wash and your sweet parents try to give you a suitable replacement. There is no replacement. :)