Crap. I'm 40 now.

Look at what my "friends" did to me! They found all my most awful pictures, blew them up huge (with the help of my brother) and posted them all over my yard. What's they saying . . . "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" It's all in good fun, though. Revenge is a dish best served cold.



Then my brother's family came late in the night and used 48 Dr. Pepper cans writing out "Lari is 40." Well, at least I'll have a good time drinking it all, and it was all well chilled after being outside all night long.

At least my sister loves me. She brought me flowers and chocolates.

I also got breakfast in bed, a new watch, and a new necklace and matching earrings. Lane's parents got me some new clothes and I got an Itunes gift card from Michelle and her family. The aforementioned "friends" know me very well and gave me 2 bottles of Magic Shell (remember - only 3 servings, no matter what the label says) and jammies. Other than the turning 40 part, it was a great birthday.

The roommate lunch was on Saturday. We were able to get 5 of the 7 of us there. I had hoped to scan a picture of us from college, but my scanner isn't working, I guess that's still part of the Great Computer Crash of 2010. I'll try to scan it at work and add it later. That's Becky on the far left, with Tricia next to her (it's Tricia's fault I'm married to Lane), then me, then KyLee and finally Heather on the right. I don't know how many years we have been getting together, but it's been long enough now that I think/hope we would miss it if we didn't do it. Are all my roommates really that short? I look like a giant.

I am such a genius!

I live in a nearly 40 year old house. Needless to say, it has none of the fancy amenities of the newer houses, but I do have a TON of cabinet space. (When Lane refinished the cabinets a few years ago, we needed to buy 55 new handles, yes 55!) Anyway, I hated how all my tupperware/rubbermaid bowls were always rolling all around in there, and it was impossible to match up lids with bowls . . . and the right sized bowl had always found it's wayt to the back . . . If only there was some way to contain it all!



So a few years after we moved in, I remembered my piles and piles and piles of Avon boxes (I am an Avon Rep if anyone didn't know - hence all the boxes). Turns out the boxes were just the PERFECT size to serve as cabinet "drawers" to contain all my tupperware/rubbermaid.



I know I'm no rocket scientist - BELIEVE ME, I KNOW - but seriously, this is one of my finest little ideas. The bowls and the lids are always together and easy to find. Nothing is rolling around at the back. If for some reason the box gets yucky and needs to be replaced - voila! I have more boxes! It's Genius! Especially for an idiot like me.

Giveaway

Sandy's in Stitches (see my blog list - I' don't know how to link) is having a fun give away for any fellow crafters who are interested. I've never entered a give away before, so send me all your good wishes, unless you enter yourself. I would do a giveaway if I had anything good to give away. Maybe some day I'll make something good enough and give it away. I would really rather give things away than keep them myself. When I keep things myself I see all the mistakes in them.


If you are misguided enough to think I have anything worth giving away, let me know what it is and I'll consider it. If there are no responses to this post, I will take that as an answer also.

The Weekend

Saturday we went to Jack's game. They still don't keep score, but Jack thinks his team lost by one basket. If I was a good parent, I would keep score myself. But I am so easily distracted who knows what inaccurate score I would come up with. That's my boy, white jersey, #9, right in the center.

Attempting a rebound . . .

Actually dribbling and not bouncing the ball off his own shoe . . .

Later Saturday I broke out my ward cookbook since I had an urge for carrot cake. I've never made a carrot cake from scratch before, and it turned out really good. Stupidly, I let Jack set the oven, and I stuck the cake in without checking it. So after 30 minutes, I went to take the cake out and was surprised at how un-done it looked. Yeah, he set the oven to 250 instead of 350. So the cake fell in the center. The only logical thing to do (after I finished baking it) was to even out the top by using extra cream cheese frosting on the center part where it fell. The cake was wonderful, and that middle fallen section of the cake has at least as much frosting as cake, and that can never be a BAD thing. I will definitely bake this cake again, but I will check the oven temp before putting it in.



Pork chops for dinner tonight. Or that was the plan, anyway. I made up some marinade of lemon juice, fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon pepper and olive oil. The pork chops marinated all afternoon. While I finished preparing the rice and salad, Lane grilled the pork chops outside. Then Lane's grandma came, and since we haven't seen her for a few weeks, we got to chatting and, well, the pork chops burned up. This NEVER happens. I know, he burned up Christmas stockings and oven mits, but he never burns food. Lane is a very dedicated and careful griller. And you should see the way he babysits the Thanksgiving Turkey. He pulls a chair right up next to the oven and pretty much sits there most of the time the turkey is baking so he can baste and baste often.




But Grandma was talking about her upcoming trip to Jerusalem, and we just got distracted. The pork chops were charred beyond the point of being edible, so we put the rice and the salad in the fridge and went out for burgers. The house smells really good from the rice and the fresh rosemary and garlic. I assume that means the pork chops would have tasted good, too. Well, I have more pork chops in the freezer so we'll try again another day.

What am I missing?

Again I have to ask, What's the big deal? We finally got around to trying out Five Guys. We had to go down to Sears to get a new battery for the car, and since we were in the neighborhood, and it was 3:30 in the afternoon and hopefully not so croweded, we decided to try Five Guys. We had gone once before, but it was so packed we ended up at the Iggy's next door.

It turned out to be just another over-rated burger joint. I still haven't found anyone who makes a burger that can rival JCWs. I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger at Five Guys, and had to open the bun to look for the bacon. That's something no one ever has to do at JCWs! The bacon is obvious! The fries were only OK, too, and the restaurant was cold and drafty. There are so many doors to the place that there was no place to sit away from a door. And the biggest sin of all, there was no Dr. Pepper on their fountain! I'm sorry, but combined with all the other problems, no Dr. Pepper is the final straw and I don't think I'll go back.

But now since I've complained about Five Guys and Paradise Bakery, let me give a good plug lest I be branded impossible to please. Of course I've mentioned that JCWs is tops, but for the brisket or pulled pork lover in all of us, the place to go is The Smoking Apple in Lindon. Looks unimpressive from the outside, but it is so yummy! The owners are friendly, they always remember my face, and sometimes even remember my name.

Another place that never disappoints is Kneaders in Lindon/Orem, not quite sure what city it is right there. Everthing is always fresh and yummy, the desserts are irrestible (no matter how hard you try), and they have that whole all-you-can-eat french toast breakfast that is SOOOOO good.

So see - I'm not negative all the time. Just some of the time. And I like what I like.

Not hot enough

I eat everything mild. Mild sauce on my enchilada, please. Mild cheese in my fridge. No, I would not like hot peppers on that. Except wings. When I eat wings, I want to sweat. Just a little. I want my nasal passages cleaned out.


I attemped to make boneless wings today. I found a ton of recipes, but ended up mostly making up a recipe. They turned out ok, but not nearly hot enough. I kept dumping in Tabasco, but still not hot enough. So if anyone has a great recipe for wings -baked not fried - please pass it on. But they have to involve Tabasco.


My first attempt at the sauce, I am ashamed to say, didn't resemble sauce at all. More of a glue, really. Not sure what happened there.


And my homemade ranch is already gone. We had to ration it on Wing Night! That's not good.

We are still totally enjoying our Christmas gift of Mario Kart and chairs. I have even gotten good enough at the game that I usually place in the top 3 or 4, except on those tracks that are just crazy. The worst are Rainbow Road and Mario's Mine, plus one that I don't know the name of but it's really dark and has tricky corners. That's the worst one. But I am no longer the worst player in the family, and sometimes even take first.

I know I've photographed breadsticks before, but they just smelled so good today as I took them out of the oven. If only there was a way to capture aroma in a photograph. Apparently I'm going to have to start doubling the recipe, because we ran out of breadsticks before we ran out of chili, and it is nice to have them on hand for an after-school snack. So yummy!

I think my computer is fully loaded again. I got my Photoshop on today. My InDesign is working, QuarkXpress is working, my .pdf writer is working. I just downloaded OpenOffice for all those files I don't have proper programs to open. Of course, all things can't go smoothly, so naturally I'm now out of ink.

More computer fun

I lost my .pdf driver. Where did the dang thing come from in the first place? I don't know. I'm not THAT computer literate. I use my .pdf writer more than my regular printer, so being without it is a huge problem. So after a google search, I found one, downloaded it, and it didn't work. Not only did it not work, it was a beast to remove from the computer, and brought all kinds of crap with it. So I found another, also not by Adobe, but it works just the same. Why are all these things so difficult? The whole reasoning for fixing the old computer instead of getting a new one was that I didn't want to reload software and stuff. Well guess what I've spent the last week doing? Reloading software. I still have to find the Photoshop CD at work and load that. I finally got InDesign loaded tonight, so at least I have that, but I couldn't find the Photoshop CD. Hopefully Calvin will know where it is. How am I supposed to manage my photos without Photoshop? Come on!

Help! I can't stop!

When I went to that Fireside last night, the speaker suggested that everyone try to index JUST ONE batch per day. Just one. They don't take long to enter. It's hardly much of a commitment at all. You can even take all day to do it. If everyone helps, the work will go so much faster.


So I sat down with my bills and my to-do list today after I got home from work. I figured I would quickly do one batch and then I could feel good about my accomplishment. I couldn't stop. I simply COULD NOT stop. I kept thinking, just one more . . . just one more . . . until now it's 9:00 and I'm starting to cramp up. Plus I only sent 1 back for illegibility. I didn't keep track of how many I did, but I'm sure I easily did more than 10. I think that's why the speaker suggestd doing JUST ONE. He knows how addicting it is, and one batch leads to others, and then hours have somehow passed by.


It's a good feeling to be involved in an important work. We didn't have FHE since Lane wasn't feeling well, and the kids stayed at my mom's until almost 8. So I have been home alone, without much to do that can't wait, so I'm glad I didn't waste away my afternoon.


Next time remind me to wear my arm brace.

Day of Rest

No pictures today. I'm far too worn out. The primary president and the secretary were gone today, so the 2nd Councilor and I were wearing all hats. It all got a little insane trying to keep everything straight. I hope the kids didn't sense the out-of-control feeling that I had. I came home and wanted to get right to my Sunday nap-taking, but there was a fireside I wanted to go to at 6, and I knew if I took my dress off, I would never put it back on. So we watched some shows, and played some Mario Kart, and I went off to my fireside. It was really good, I'm glad I sacrificed my nap to go. It was on encouraging us to do family history and explained the new Family Search program. So motivated was I that I came home and promptly did 3 batches. I used to do a little indexing here and there, but got out of the habit, and then completely forgot about it. I enjoy doing it - as long as it's legible - it's just simply a matter of remembering.


Lane is sick. He stayed home from church today to rest. He even looks sick (sorry, sweetie!). I feel a little achy. Not sure if that's just leftover stress from primary, or if I'm getting sick as well. I've had a headache all day right above and below my eyes - Sinuses - so that's a sign I'm probably getting sick. Not cool.

I took a few minutes to get my menus figured out for the week, but as the evening goes on and feel more and more weary, I'm thinking soup every night. Which would be fine anyway. I love soup. NOT CHOWDER. Soup.

It's time . . .

Everyone should have pictures like this easily accessible during these cold winter months.

And everyone should be making plans to go cruising.

Even if I'm not going until the fall,
knowing that the cruise is booked and the
Carnival website is counting down days for me





It somehow makes the snow and the smog and the cold
more tolerable.

Once a year I get together for lunch with my old college roommies. This year we are planning to go on a cruise together next fall. It looks like we are going to go to the Bahamas this time. If that all works out, we'll be going out of Jacksonville instead of Miami. I do love South Beach and will miss it. My fingers are crossed that it will all work out!

And the drama continues. . .

So here are the two options. Either my newly cleaned computer was just in a really bad mood . . . or I'm even dumber than I always thought. Remember the missing fonts? Yeah, they're back. No explanation. They are just back.



I had typed up some invitations, only to find that I only had default fonts. I saved my document, exited the program, tried again. Still only default fonts. I saved and exited again, this time rebooting the computer, and tried again. Default fonts. Fine, I decided. I'll just use crappy, boring fonts. I finished up my invitations, printed them, and resolved to look for fonts another time.



So I spent half the day today hunting down fonts, free ones of course. I found a lot of them, at least a lot of the ones I use frequently, and downloaded them. Then as I went to install them in the "fonts" folder of Windows -- there were all my fonts! I went back to my original document, and sure enough, now all fonts were available. Huh??? I don't know what happened . . . or how . . . but I'm glad to have them back.



Not so much a reflection on my own stupidity, however, I got my Quicken fixed. I called my dad to see if he had any brilliant ideas on how to resolve the program/data issue. It turns out he had my updated Quicken CD all along. He borrowed it and forgot to return it. I spent HOURS looking for that CD - deciding it had been accidentally tossed out. So I reloaded the updated software, did a quick Restore, and I'm back in business. At least through December 28. So now I have to re-enter my pile of receipts for the last 3 weeks, which luckily were still on top of my garbage can. Updating the checkbook is not one of my favorite chores, but after staring in the face of a -$8000 adjustment, I think I'll not mind it so much as I re-enter and reconcile a second time.

Here's to hoping this is the end of the computer drama. I've had enough for a while!

-$8,000

So I did my due dilligence as I was watching my computer be comsumed by viruses and backed up all my data. I didn't want to lose anything! I got a new thumb drive so I could have it all safely backed up. Not only did I store it on the thumb drive, but I also moved all my sacred data over to my laptop. Double backed up. What could go wrong? I was so on top of everything. Even if Computer Guy had to wipe out my hard drive, I was all set. I had all my stuff. Nothing could go wrong.

1. All my fonts are gone. Except the horrible boring ones that come with the computer. Working in the industry I have for lo these many years, I have come to learn that fonts are everything (not really, but to me!). All wiped out. Crap. Where did I find them all? What were their names? Where do I begin finding them all again?

2. My precious Quicken Data won't load. Evidently, my Quicken program (2005) went back to factory settings, meaning none of the updates I carefully downloaded all these years is gone, and for some reason when I try to download updates from the Quicken site, it tells me I have all the updates I should. But when I try to install my backup data, it tells me that the data is from a newer version of Quicken and therefore incompatible. So my Quicken has no data after February 2006. But somehow it retained all my memorized transactions and has filled in all those transactions from February 2006 until now. Nothing else. Just the memorized stuff. No deposits. Imagine my fright when I opened Quicken to find that I was $8,000 in the red! The picture shows my cash flow - all the bars of the graph are far BELOW the $0 line. So I just went off my most recent bank statement, reconciled it, and recorded a HUGE adjustment to hopefully get me back where I should be. I hope I don't need any of those records for my taxes! I could probably restore my data if I was willing to purchase a newer version of Quicken, but as I've mentioned numerous times, I'm far too cheap. So I'll just do my best to get valid balances from my last bank statements. Somewhere the Quicken Gods are laughing at me.

Things I can't live without

1. My crockpot. When I have a crazy busy day, like today, there is nothing so wonderful as walking into the house, exhausted and weary, and smell dinner cooking. It is very exasperating to come home all worn out and have to worry about dinner. Which is when Taco Amigo becomes dinner. Even better, the meat doesn't even have to be thawed before tossing it in, so when I remember that I'm supposed to be "crocking" dinner at 8:45 a.m., I can just toss in the frozen chicken, a little "Cream Of" soup and be on my way. Has anyone ever written a song about the wonder of the crockpot?

2. News. I am a NEWS JUNKIE. I drive my family crazy when they complain that there is nothing good on TV and I remind them that there is always perfectly good news on at least 3 channels. I have a problem.

3. Paper. Lots and lots of paper. You just never know when you're gonna have to whip up some cards or invitations or stationery. It pays to have lots of paper on hand. And a paper cutter. And sticky tabs.

4. Dr. Pepper. A wise person once said that the only difference between Mormons and anyone else is the temperature of their caffeine. I love my DP. There is just nothing quite like that first sip at 9:15-ish am. Yes, I said 9:15 am. Is that weird?

5. My slippers. They are so soft. And warm. My feet are ALWAYS cold. Actually, all of me is always cold, but especially my feet and hands.

6. Big, dangly earrings. I love 'em. Some people are struck with horror when they realize they have left home without their cell phone. Forget the phone, no one ever calls me anyway. I am struck with horror to find that I've left home with no earrings. Oh, the humanity!

Mmmmm . . .

I love days when I am not overwhelmed and crazy with too much to do. I love days when I have taken the time beforehand to figure out menus for the week so I don't stand in front of the panty waiting for inspiration to the inevitable question, "What's for dinner?" Today was such a day. It was pizza night!


I made ranch dressing to go on the salad that I was serving with the pizza. This is the best ranch ever! I suppose it could be made lower fat, but life is far too short for low-fat ranch. Bring on the clogged arteries!

Then the pizza. What a nice surprise to find that I had mushrooms on hand. I love the food storage concept! While I did enjoy the mushrooms on the pizza, I was bummed that I didn't have the foresight to buy mozzarella cheese at the store on Saturday. Oh well. It tasted great anyway.

And the salad for the aforementioned ranch dressing. Seriously. I could eat the ranch alone by the spoonful, but that's not terribly healthy. Well, neither is the pizza, really, but hey, chugging ranch is really disgusting.

Then I mixed up the herbs and EVOO dip to go with the freshly baked plaited bread. It was good, but needed more sea salt.

And finally, the bread. Between the pizza and the bread, the house smelled heavenly, all warm and fresh and cozy. I am so glad that I learned I can make fresh bread in 3 hours. Now we can get back to our bread rotation. I'm thinking bread bowls and chili later this week. . .

Christmas is over . . . therefore, Christmas is coming

I took my kids to the library last night. It occurred to me that Christmas is coming (11 1/2 months, sure, but still coming), and I ought to take advantage and get started. I found a few books with fun Chritmas craft ideas in them that I can get a jump start on now . . . or more likely, copy and file away in my gigantic files and forget about them until next November when Full Blown Christmas Panic season begins. Let's hope for the former rather than the latter.


Yep, the computer is still down. I'm hoping Computer Guy will be able to recover it and get it back to me on Monday. I need to bills and my check register is on that computer.

I've been enjoying a quiet evening. Taylor went with friends to see Avatar, Jack is at a birthday party, and Addie decided she didn't want to stay home with me (apparently I'm not fun) so she called my mom and asked if she could come over there. Grandma is an old softie, so she took pity on little Addie and so she's gone too. Lane and I went over to Paradise Bakery for dinner. I'd been there once before, and decided it was only ok. Lane had never been there. So I decided to give it another shot, since apparently every one else in northern Utah County thinks it's all that. So now I've been there twice and still think it's only ok. The chocolate chip cookie was not good at all. It tasted like cardboard. Yuck. So we can now add Paradise Bakery to the list of places that I don't like and everyone else does. My other non-faves are Pizza Factory (what's all the fuss about? It's not that good), Los Hermanos (also over-rated), and Betos (truly vile). There's a Japanese place in AF where the food tastes like feet, but I don't know the name of it (I call it the Sweaty Sock) and most people I know haven't eaten there so I can't determine it's over-rated-ness. But strangely, when I refer to it as the Sweaty Sock, people seem to know where I'm talking about. Hmmm. Curious.

YIKES!

I think I killed it. I got a virus/worm on my computer. That's in addition to all the little mostly harmless ones that were already there. This was a BIG ONE. I had one like it once before, a little over year ago, I think. This one pops up with a warning tht your computer is infected and you need to download the program in order to fix it. It was labeled Internet Security 2010 and had one of those tricky little logos that at first glance looks like an official Windows logo. Since I've had a similar one before, I didn't agree to download, but I guess it still worked it's magic. I tried all my best tricks (which aren't many) to get rid of it myself, and then called in a professional. He came out this afternoon. He had allowed me a 30 minute time slot, and after trying, and failing, to boot the computer, he pronounced it especially nasty and took the computer away with him. So I'm working on my laptop, which may become the new family computer, hence no photos because I don't have the camera software loaded and don't really want to take the time right now to do it. Luckily, since the computer's demise has been clearly coming, I did get all my files backed up last weekend, and I did copy the files onto this laptop, but haven't re-loaded programs because, well, it's just a pain and a bother. And I only want to do the things I want do do. And I don't want to load programs. It's not a fun use of my time. Especially when I could be playing Mario Kart or stitching something. Or almost ANYTHING else. Except laundry. That's still the worst.

For Danna

I am cold. Always. Aside from when I was pregnant, I can't hardly think of a time when I have ever been hot. I've tried to convince Lane that I am always the correct temperature and he's just freakishly hot, but he's not falling for it. He occassionally allows me to put my cold feet and icy hands on him, though. And he's always ready to build a fire to warm me up. He has learned to keep the fireplace well stocked with wood so he can build the needed fire on a moment's notice.


All bacon ain't created equally. There is bacon . . . and then there's BACON. This has come to be known in our house as "Good Bacon." Regular bacon is not to be tolerated, if we can help it.

Pleasant Grove, although it is no longer the one-horse town I grew up in, is still home to a little corner grocery store, referred to by the Old Guard as "Little Smiths." It used to be just "Smiths" until the big Smith's Food King moved in. Then it became "Little Smiths." Little Smiths has a butcher. A real butcher. The meat display behind the glass is still how my little-girl mind remembers it when I would go shopping with my mom. The meat is indescribable. More expensive? You bet. Worth it? WORTH EVERY PENNY! When we feel extravagent, we get steaks from there, and you better believe they are better than from anywhere else. But what's more affordable, is their BACON.

It doesn't come in a box, or all vacuumed sealed in plastic. You can order as much or as little as you want. They wrap it up in paper, like a real butcher should, seal it with that crazy butcher tape, write the price on with that also crazy butcher grease pencil. It's super thick cut bacon. And when properly cooked (crispy), it just melts away in your mouth. Great, now I'm salivating. No other bacon can even be considered in the same class as Good Bacon. Tonight we had Brinner (BReakfast for dINNER), and the crowning glory of any respectable Brinner is Good Bacon. Mmmmm . . . . It's good enough to even make Danna consider driving all the way over from Lehi to get some. Oh, and Danna, stop by the shop and say hi when you come.

Sunday

Is it wrong to spend a whole Sunday afternoon playing a video game? Good, cuz we didn't. Not that we didn't want to. But since we've changed to 11:00 church, that takes 2 hours out of our usual afternoon. Then when you factor in that I actually made a proper Sunday meal and the accompanying clean up time . . . and that I MUST have my nap, and still fit in our Mythbusters . . . well, we fit in a hours worth. There once was a time when we were all equally bad together at the game. Then Jack started to pull away from the pack and get better. Now Taylor wins all the time. And me? Yeah, I'm still bad. But it doesn't really matter when the game is as fun as this one. Dance Dance Revolution? Guitar Hero? What? It's all Mario Kart all the time at our house. Luckily, school starts again tomorrow so we'll have to be a little more organized and less frivolous with our time.


We had a fantastic testimony meeting at church today. Some people are really blessed with the gift of having the right words to say. Sometimes between battling my own kids in church, plus kids in primary, it's hard to come away feeling spiritually fed. I felt well fed today. Thanks to those who contributed to that.

Full Circle

Full Circle - Back to one's starting point.

December 31, 2009

Can you believe how much they've grown and changed in just one year?




This is my sewing room. And my scrapbook/craft room. And the food storage room. And the "I don't know where to put this so I'll put it here temporarily until I find a permanent home for it" room. It has gotten completely out of control. Even by my standards, which are frighteningly low.

Too much Christmas sewing, too much keeping of useless items. I'm so ashamed. Or I would be if I had any pride. Which I don't.

So I set about cleaning it up today. I even got very firm with myself and tossed out lots of fabric scraps that I'd been saving because "you just never know when I might need it." Yeah, right. Most of the scraps were so small they would be useless for anything except making one or 2 squares for a tied quilt. Or I had scraps that I had inherited from someone, and not to my liking, but my packratedness would not allow me to throw them out, because, as I mentioned, you just never know when you might need a piece of electric blue and yellow paisley fabric. Really. It could happen. And I'm not even making that up. I actually had (inherited from a dear neighbor) almost a full yard of electric blue and yellow paisley knit. Seriously. It's gone now.

The room is hardly recognizable. All my scraps are neatly contained in the blue tote there, and I scrutinized each piece as to whether it was a) nice enough to bother saving, and b) large enough to be useful for something. Along they way I found out that I have about 3 yards of a lovely green cotton, 2 packages of interfacing that I desperately needed YESTERDAY, and some old photographs of Lane and I from 1989.

After I finished up that mess, I moved on to my bedroom with the same devotion to really elminate the clutter. Where does it all come from? I swear, I just gutted my room not too long ago, and it's all back. Yikes! It's all cleaned up now, dusted even, and soon will be vacuumed. I tidied up my shoes in my closet. Now if I can just keep it that way.