Wednesday Thoughts

I couldn't get into my car this morning. It wasn't an emotional thing; it's not like I couldn't face the day (though I suppose that's not entire untrue). I just literally couldn't get into my car. The door was completely frozen shut. And remember my awesome new scraper? It was frozen into my ice-sealed trunk, unable to fulfill its destiny. So I used an old-school scraper and when that didn't work, a giant glass of super hot water. Eventually I was able to get the car door open and face the slippery drive to work.

I'll admit, the drive in could have been a lot worse, but the prettiness of the snow softened my heart somewhat.

I was totally watching the road when I took this, no worries.

And this scene greeted me when I walked up to my office building:

Fine, snow. Fine. I'll concede. You're pretty.

Between the snow and parting my hair on the other side of my head as an experiment, today is definitely going to be a challenging day. Let me explain about the part. See, I heard this piece on Radiolab about mirror image, and how the way we see our reflection in the mirror is different than how people see us. They had a guy on the show who talked about how he thought the way he looked in the mirror was fine, and couldn't understand why he was unpopular. Then one day he got several passport pictures taken and discovered by examining them that he was goofy looking. He blamed it on his part, and parted his hair on the other side of his head from then on. And because of this, he claims his life improved dramatically. He was more popular and had more friends. Because of his part.

So I decided to experiment and change my part today. I had talked with my coworker, Justin, about the Radiolab show yesterday so he knew about the guy who changed his part. Today I told him about changing mine, and asked him if changing it made me more likable, less likable, or the same likable. He paused and I added, "And you can't take into consideration the annoyingness of the question. This is based on part alone." He then quickly answered: "same likable."

So now I have to feel "off" all day and I am not even more likable. In fact, if I'm being honest, it's probably making me less likable. Or maybe that's the snow's fault?

Between the snow and my part, the deck is definitely stacked against me today. I guess I better take a quick look at the bright side for today: peppermint hot chocolate, Chinese food, a party at my grandma's retirement building at which Elvis* is going to be performing, and my book club. (Oh boy, all those people are going to see me with this weird hair part. [Sigh.])

Happy Wednesday.

*not the real Elvis, cause you know....he died and stuff.

Stayin' Alive

I haven't blogged about my grandma for awhile, but I know at least a few of you enjoy my grandma stories, so I thought I'd write a few updates about her.

My grandma, whose name is Fran by the way, tells me she's living on borrowed time lately. She's been telling me this for about three or four years but it always worries me when she says it. She's almost 92 so you never know, right? A couple months ago, her son told her he's coming to visit in December. She adores her son (my uncle) so she is really looking forward to this. But when telling me about it, she got overwhelmed at the idea of having to wait a couple months for his visit. She sighed heavily and said,  "First I had to stay alive for Barry's wedding (my cousin), and now I have to stay alive for Larry's visit." I told her it was only a couple months away and she could manage it. She agreed that she could probably make it to December. Just to play it safe though, she decided to celebrate her January birthday with the November birthdays in her building because she's "not sure she's going to be around in January."

Yesterday I called her after work to ask her if I could pick her up any dinner. She thought about it for a bit and said, "How about a strawberry milkshake?" I said,"Is that all?" She said yes. So I got her a medium strawberry milkshake from McDonalds (her favorite), and she sipped away at "her supper" while I helped her with some stuff at her place. I guess when you're almost 92, ice cream for dinner is completely acceptable. (She finished the whole thing.)

Now, I know you'll have a hard time believing this story, but she recently told me that while she still loves my curly hair, and still thinks men prefer curly hair, she has been liking the way I've been wearing my straight(ened) hair lately. I should have gotten that in writing....

She has a best friend who lives in her building, a blind man named Lewis. Every Saturday evening he walks over to her apartment and they have dinner together then watch the O'Reilly Factor*. In one of their recent get-togethers the conversation turned to me and my persistent state of single-ness. She complained to Lewis that though she prays for me to get married all the time, God must just not be doing His job. Lewis wisely told her that God works in his own way, and that seemed to pacify her for the time being.

I'm not sure if I've told you this before, but my grandma thinks the best case scenario for me is to find a widower to marry. Specifically a widower with kids. She justifies this fantasy by saying, "you're just so good with kids." I have to say, "I know I'm not in my twenties anymore, Grandma, but I can still have children of my own." I'm not sure if she believes me on that account or not but she seems skeptical. Either way, she's sticking by the plan for me to find a widower. I just hope she's not trying to find one for me in her retirement complex.

I'm really lucky to have my grandma in my life. She really is very sweet to me and though I know I'm far too flawed to believe I'm as great as she tells me I am, her kind words stick with me after I leave her place. I just need to plan a big event for a few months from now (and another a few months later) that she "has to stay alive for." Any suggestions?

*She recently told me that watching tv just makes her angry most of the time. I can't help but wonder if her choice of programming is the problem. I told her to stick to sitcoms.

Thanksgiving Update

Thanksgiving day was full of many of the things I am grateful for: family, food, and recognizing how  how blessed my life is. Here are some pictures from the day, and one short video. I'll start off with the video. My nieces and nephews were SUPER excited about going to Disney World for vacation, so I asked my niece what she was going to see there. 

It goes without saying that we had sooooo much delicious food. I mean, SO much. I guess it was necessary to have a ton of food though since we had 30 people there. But still, we had enough food to feed twice that many people. I brought the green bean casserole and some mini cheese cakes. They both turned out really well, if I do say so myself.

As per our tradition, we made candy houses after dinner (to avoid watching the Lions lose, and Nickelback perform). The kids went first, then the adults took a turn. My uncle made an outhouse, which probably would have won if we'd done the voting this year.

I played outside with the kids a lot. I pushed them on the tire swing, helped the little ones teeter-totter, and played tag with the boys. They were a bunch of cheaters though because they tagged me back even though I specifically said, "no tag backs!"

The chickens tried to come home with me. The chickens amuse me to no end.

It was a super fun day. I definitely have a lot to be thankful for. Later that night/morning, my sister Katherine and I went out to do some Black Friday shopping. But that's a story for another day. I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as mine!

Wednesday Thoughts

America's national bird is the bald eagle. Personally I've never been that into the bald eagle. First of all, they're scary looking, and secondly, they're scarce (which isn't a bad thing considering my first point). But I suppose I don't mind having it as a national bird since it has little to no impact on me, personally. Benjamin Franklin thought the national bird should be the turkey. He criticized the eagle for having "bad moral character," and being lazy and weak, whereas he said the turkey, "though a little vain and silly," is a "bird of courage" who "would not hesitate to attack" an enemy invading his territory. He forgot to mention the fact that it says, "gobble gobble" which is also a very American ideal. (Gobbling, that is.)

Not only is the turkey brave and fierce, but let's be honest, it's delicious. The turkey is present in most American homes at least once a year on Thanksgiving.Turkeys and Thanksgiving go together like (insert something that goes together). What other animal can claim to be the centerpiece of any other holiday? I guess for the Fourth of July we eat a lot of hot dogs, but those come from lots of animals (among other things), so we can't give any one animal credit for the hot dog.

But I digress. This year for Thanksgiving I am in charge of the green bean casserole, and I'm taking that responsibility very seriously. Sort of like when Chandler was in charge of making the cranberries on Friends (anyone remember that)? Green bean casserole is one of my favorite dishes for Thanksgiving. Along with mashed potatoes and the aforementioned turkey.Oh, and gravy of course. For dessert, my mom always brings her famous dessert, "Oreo Delight" which the crowds go mad for, myself included. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? What are you cooking this year?

I love Thanksgiving. I love that we have a holiday that focuses on gratitude, and counting our blessings. It kinda makes me sad that Thanksgiving gets so overlooked (it seems to me, anyway). Especially with many stores opening their doors at midnight on Thanksgiving night for Black Friday. I don't love that. Though I suppose it was inevitable. But I do love that I'll be spending so much time with my family and enjoying an extra long weekend. And gobbling up lots of delicious food!

Turkey for National Bird, 2012!

Happy Wednesday.

Creative Weekend

I've mentioned this before, but this time of year always stirs up creativity in me. When it gets dark at 5:00 in the afternoon, I guess it becomes necessary to find things to do inside (besides carbo-load and mope - my two fall back winter activities). 

This weekend was an all-out craft weekend, starting with Friday when I stayed in, watched a movie I'm ashamed to admit*, and made a wreath for my grandma. This was a super fun project and I'm going to make another one this week. Sorry the picture of the finished wreath is blurry. I couldn't get the dang thing to hold still. 

I spent any free moments the rest of the weekend making headbands to give as gifts. I'm addicted to this project these days. 

Saturday afternoon I went to a painting class with some good friends. I was very nervous about this. One of my sisters is a very talented painter (check out her website), and I know that compared to her, I seriously stink at it. But I had a blast in this class and would definitely go again.

There's us with our final paintings. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with mine. A friend of mine looked at the picture and said, "Oh wow, it's good!" I said, "really?" And he said, "Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't buy it and hang it up, but it's not bad!" That kind of honesty always makes me laugh. But if you want to lie and tell me it's amazing, I'm always ok with that too.

*The first Twilight movie. I know you'll never be able to look me in the eye again now. And what's worse? I've seen it  before.

A Happier Friday

It's Friday so I should be thrilled right? Well, I am. I mean, really I am. The weekend is almost upon us. But there's still work that has to be done today, and not only that, but the air outside is winter air. It feels like when you stick your head too far in the freezer, looking for a popsicle in the back. It's crisp, and it stings. And because of that, I need a little pick me up. I thought you might too, so I thought I'd share some fun Pinterest finds again. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. And if not, well... tough. :)

I love Arrested Development (from here).

The feelings expressed here do not reflect the feelings of management. (from here)

I wish this was in my wallet. (from here)

 There are no words. (from here)

Michigan, in leaves (from here).

Yep.

Please tell me you've seen Labyrinth (from here)!

Which do you like the best? Happy Friday!

Wednesday Thoughts

Wednesday! Wednesday! Wednesday! (Please read that in the voice of the guy who announces the monster truck rallies.)

You guys, I am in a state of shock that next week is Thanksgiving. What the what!? This year is going way too fast. And in a broader sense, now that I think about it, my life is going too fast. Dang. I am not getting any younger. Pretty sure I'm going to make it a New Year's Resolution to get married in 2012. Think I can do it? Does making it a goal help at all?

In other thoughts, I got busted this morning by a coworker who caught me listening to Sufjan Stevens' Christmas CD box set. Is it still too early for Christmas? I've crossed over, I think. It's too late to go back. If it makes you feel any better though, I watched a Halloween special last night too. 

Oh my goodness, you guys, I have been way excited to show you this ice scraper mitten I bought from Eddie Bauer the other day. (There's a handle inside the mitten.) Pretty cool, huh? It's honestly sad how excited I am about this. Nothing puts me in a foul mood in the morning like scraping the ice off my windows and getting wet, cold fingers.

Winter..... I.... think....I.....can....do.....it.....again. (Sigh.)It snowed last week. It didn't stick or accumulate at all, but it came down hard for a little bit. My coworkers and I stared at it out the window, adjusting to the variety of emotions it stirred in us. For me it was mostly dread, but oddly enough, a bit of happiness. Winter is part of me, I guess. Even though I mostly hate it.

And lastly in Wednesday Thoughts, I've been a crafting fool lately. I went to a church Christmas craft workshop over the weekend, and that only fueled the fire (check out some of what I made here). My nieces and nephews are going to get some of the awesome-est home made gifts they've ever seen for Christmas this year! And some store bought stuff too, because I still want them to love me.

Happy Wednesday.