Friday Night Date Night

Friday nights are our designated date nights. We have a couple standard date-night options that include (are you ready for this excitement?):

1. Go to Cafe Rio and order steak and chicken salads. If we're lucky we get a "free meal." Afterwhich we drive across the parking lot to the Costco where we fill the car with cheap gas then cruise around the warehouse looking for the next big find, like a memory foam mattress topper (perfect for the 10 yr. old sunken mattress at the cabin!)

OR

2. Go to the Costco, where we fill the car with cheap gas, then enter Costco le restaurante for a piece of pizza, churro and a smoothie for $3.00. Afterwards we cruise around the warehouse looking for the next big find, like another 500 piece tool set (hear Mr G: "This one is different. It's in metrics.").

Unfortunately, Mr. G has caught the croop that seems to be going around. Bonus for me - his sickness has brought on a Barry White-sexy deep voice....Needless to say, the croop put a little damper on date night tonight, so I decided to go by myself. I headed to the Costco, but I didn't stop to fill the car with gas - it just isn't the same unless Mr. G does it. I cruised around the warehouse where I bought some fun new towels to match my new guest bath shower curtain, a giant bag of frozen strawberries and 10 lbs of chicken. None of this is quite like a new metrics tool set. Then I cruised across the parking lot to the Cafe Rio where I waited for 25 minutes for steak and chicken salads - to go (and no "free meal"). When I got home, Mr. G was burried in bed, in his fat Carhart sweatshirt, hoodie and all, wrapped in a down comforter and quilt. Poor guy was freezing. So I pulled out a couple of cookie sheets to use as dinner trays and we had Cafe Rio date night together in our bed.

Leap Year Extravaganza

Happy Leap Day! Does anyone really know what this means?

In kindergarten we were all taught there are 365 1/4 days/year. We also learned that the Earth orbits around the sun, which takes one solar year (scientists have the orbit time calculated right to the minute). Well, because over time this calculation isn't exactly perfect, in order to catch up with the solar year, an extra day is planted on the calendar every four years to make up for lost time. Isn't that exciting?
Leap Day Facts:

• The Egyptians were the first to come up with a leap day to keep the calendar in sync with the sun, but the Romans were the ones to designate Feb. 29th as the official Leap day
• A century year is not a leap year unless it is divisble by 400. That means three leap days are eliminated every couple hundred years! (you do the math)
• In Greece it is believed that getting married in a leap year is bad luck
• The ol' English tradition states that women can only propose to men on leap day (watch out Susan B Anthony!)

Leap Day Birthdays:

• Superman - this was a clever way to keep the character young and account for the differences between Earth years and Kryptonian years
• Tony Robbins - American Motivational Speaker
• Ja Rule - American Rapper and Actor
• My dear friend just turned 8 yrs old today. Shout out to Jen! Happy Birthday!

Longing for Spring

Once a day and sometimes more

I look out my day dream door

To see if spring is out there yet

I'm really anxious, but mustn't fret.

I see the snow a melting down

and lots of mud and slush around

I know the grass will surely sprout

and birds and flowers will come about.

But why oh why does it take so long?

I'm sure the calendar can't be wrong.

Sunshine fills my heart with cheer

I wish that spring were really here.

Soon mother nature will sound the alarm

Wake up! get dressed, turn on your charm

Winter's gloom has gone its way

It's Spring! It's Spring! Oh Happy Day!

Edna T. Helberg

Vitamin D and a Spoonful of Shuga

I feel like the luckiest auntie (or "tanty" as Noelle says it) to have a neice THIS CUTE! I was so fortunate to get another last minute "special fare" and fly down to sunny AZ to hang out for the weekend with my sissy, Boo and the Jelly. This was perfect timing for the funk o'rama. All I needed was a little vitamin D (read: warm sunshine) and a spoonful of shuga (read: the Jelly) to feel a little rejuvinated again.

We had a great time playing in the backyard (in the sun :D), blowing bubbles and just hanging out. While Boo was working his brains out, the three of us drove to the Mesa area to explore the rich culture of AZ. More specifically, Cortate Furniture and Designer Blvd.

I think Designer Blvd is a figment of Rachel's imagination. The first time we plugged the address into the navigator we were led to an open field. Rach tried again by changing the city (since Higley Rd. drives through three different cities) and we were led to the corner of nothing. And upon one more try still nothing, just two irritated women and a crazy baby.

Cortate Furniture on the other hand was a little more interesting. It is a giant tuff shed warehouse that sells furniture from catalogues. You don't really know what you're going to get since your just looking at pictures, but you're guaranteed a great price. You save on the shipping, meaning you have to go pick up your order - they do not ship it to you. Rach kept trying to get me to look through the furniture books. I could only imagine myself finding a really great bedroom set at a great price and while in a moment of excitement I would pull out my American Express card and suddenly I'd find myself committed to a purchase, kind of like my IKEA experience in Boston (a blog for a rainy day), but on a much grander scale. Only problem is I would either have to PAY to ship it home or I'd have to rent a moving van to schelp it to another state! So much for the good deal. I successfully resisted, though I think the warehouse-catalogue store concept is a great one. Rach and I dreamt up our business plan for launching our own Cortate Furniture business. It would be a great success, just like all our dreamt up businesses.

mmm....Love her.

The Big Release

For the last four years I have been playing the piano for my church choir (my "calling"). Playing the piano is something I really enjoy. I feel needed and appreciated and it is something I am good at. However, for the last several months it has been increasingly more difficult to "magnify my calling" (not to mention the other two callings on top of it) by calling on substitutes as we've been traveling several weekends to the cabin, last minute trips to AZ, etc. I've said to myself on multiple occassions, "Why can't I just be a visiting teacher coordinator? That way I can add value without being responsible for any Sunday duties." Well, tonight I got a call from sweet ol' Ralph Larsen, telling me I'm being released from ALL three callings and how about if I be a visiting teaching coordinator? The devil in me screamed YEEEHAAAA!! FREEDOM!!!! But the more angelic side of me was really sad, and for the first time in my entire life I CRIED for being released from a calling I've had for FOUR YEARS! What is wrong with me? I think this is debris from the funk. I should be so happy - I'm a VT coordinator! I really have no idea what a VT coordinator does, even though I wished it upon myself, but if it means I get to keep a record of visits then I tell you what, I am going to have the best damn spreadsheet the RS has ever seen.

{Big Sigh}

From time to time I get in a funk when, among other things, I'm crabby, I hate work and my clothes are ugly. I'm in a funk right now, to the point where I want to rip up that dream board that I was so excited about a few days ago. So instead of bringing you all into my misery, I thought I would write about a few things that have sparked moments of happiness the last few days.

I love the flowers Mr. G sent me on Valentine's Day. They are my favorite mix bunch of spring blossoms that have opened up so beautifully. I told Mr. G he didn't have to buy me flowers for Valentine's Day (just send them for no occassion in August) because I know he thinks they have no "utility" and are a waste of money, but he did anyway and I love smelling and looking at them as I come through the door. (Side note: happiness = utility in my mind)

I love when Sonia the cleaning lady comes to my house. She was here today. You probably wonder why two people without children need a cleaning lady. Well all I can say is it's money well spent. There is nothing I enjoy more than walking into a lemon-fresh home that I didn't spend hours cleaning. I love Sonia, even if she doesn't always keep good track of her calendar.

I love when Mr. G gets home from work before me and calls out "Pooookie!" when I walk through the door.

I love sitting in a steamy-hot bubble bath reading the most recent issue of Country Living. Nothing is more relaxing. Mmmmm, the lavendar bubbles smell so good and make my skin soft.

Snowed In

For President's Day weekend, we invited Kati, her friend Ben, Ben R., Amy and Koree to the cabin. Every visit to the cabin so far has been nothing but a big suprise to see how high the snow measures. Again, I am shocked by the amount of snow on the ground. As we pull up, we can't see the front doors. Here is a picture of the back of the house - while we were there, part of the snowpack on the roof slid off. Now I have an idea of what an avalanche on a small scale sounds like. I had a moment of wobbly knees afterwards.

Here is Mr. G giving us an idea of just how high the snow measured. This picture is from the driveway.

Kati is such a good little athlete. Saturdays, much like my Saturdays, are her long-run training days for the 1/2 marathon. I forfeited my long run knowing the roads were snowpacked and icy, but this didn't stop hard-core Kate.

Off she goes down the driveway when.....

a MOOSE runs by!

As Kati rounds the corner of the driveway I hear this squeel. "A moose!" Indeed. And a big one at that. This mammoth ran by several times. I think the poor thing was scared of the snow mobilers. It kept running up and down the street. At one point we were in the house talking about it when it ran down our driveway and nearly onto the porch! Kate said the people she met on her run kept telling her to be careful - there was a moose on the loose!

Here is a picture of Koree exploring the avalanche.

Later on in the day Koree and I went for a walk. While we were out, Koree thought it would be fun to have a snowball fight.

Snowball? What snowball?She got me pretty good in the eye.

To keep themselves busy, Ben and Kati built a snow cave. Apparently there was enough room for a person to sit inside - Koree could almost stand. I was too chicken to crawl into it so I just took photos of everyone else playing in the cave.

And what would a trip to a cabin be without Settlers of Catan? Here you see the gang on their three hour adventure.
Thanks for a fun weekend at the cabin. We enjoyed your company!

Dream Board

As part of the goals process at the office, each employee is basically expected to create a five-year plan to help direct them in the desired career path. My colleague, being in her forties and still not really sure what she wants to be when she grows up, was struggling with her five-year plan so she called a meeting to whoever was interested to discuss the creation and direction of each other's five-year plans. I wasn't initially going to attend the meeting because I have already written my five-year plan, but three minutes before the meeting this colleague pleaded with me to attend.

When we all gathered, it was more like support group then a meeting about five-year plans. There was some discussion about some good books to read, such as Who Moved My Cheese, or Love It, Don't Leave It (the job, that is). Then she busts out this poster board, a "dream board," that reminded me of a collage I did in 4th grade - pictures cut out of a magazine that represent "me." The idea was, as another colleague put it, either really interesting or I was now in an episode of The Office. The idea behind a dream board is to create a purpose, or overview of what each of us wants out of life, an "articulation and expression of the dream." After providing brief insight into her own life, she handed everyone poster board and strongly encouraged all of us to go home and get to work and bring our own dream boards back to the next meeting to share with everyone, then hang them in our offices so we could look at the pictures that illustrate our success over and over again to in-turn manifest our dreams. Uh, huh. Sure.

When I got home and turned on my DVR, there was my daily Oprah show recording - and what was the topic of the day? It was all about The Secret (we all know how I really feel about that), positive thinking and creating - you guessed it - dream boards! Ok, I took that as a sign that I needed to get to it and start making a change.

So here it is (not quite glued together, but layed out). Pictures that represent me and the person I want to be, personally and professionally. I have to admit, the process of creating the dream board was rather enlightening, revealing a lot of my insecurities in life as I thought through the pictures and phrases I wanted posted to remind me of who I think I am and what I want to be. I won't be taking this to work, but I've already warned Mr. G that it will be hanging in our office at home. As cheesy as this first seemed, this was a good experience and I encourage everyone out there that feels like they need a change or some direction to go through this exercise.

Week 7: Countdown to April 19, 2008

Another milestone. 9.75 miles. My intentions were to go only 9 miles today, but in my first 0.75 miles, I paused the treadmill to move a fan to blow in my direction (because it was another 80 degree day in the fitness center). When I got back, the treadmill had reset itself. So, I started over. My bones hurt, but I made it.

Amsterdam and the RLD

I just read an interesting article about the government in Amsterdam wanting to eliminate the Red Light District, the red-lit windows of prostitutes, promiscuous activity and provocative sex shops from the city and replacing them with upscale restaurants and bars, shops and galleries. The article claims it would be giving up a $100-million a year industry, with staggering support from the city's residence. Others argue that by taking away the brothels and sex bars, the prostitutes will move to the streets and the tourists will stop visiting Amsterdam.

I have visited Amsterdam and the Netherlands on three different occassions and had three totally different experiences. Each trip was with different people, some more open-minded and willing to experience the city then others. My first visit to the Netherlands was with my Grandparents, who immigrated from the country after WWII, an aunt, uncle, cousins and my sister. The trip was as much about learning about my family history as it was about being a tourist. However, Amsterdam was not on the agenda. I can recall suggesting we visit the city, but my Grandparents were adamantely opposed, saying something like, "Oh, no. You don't want to go there. Amsterdam is a filthy city of questionable value." Others in the group took this at face value and agreed with my Grandparents. I thought this was silly, old-school mentality and we were missing out on some real Dutch "culture," but out of respect for my Grandparents I didn't push the issue. We didn't see Amsterdam on that trip, but I said I'd be back, with eyes wide open. Which I did, eventually.

I returned with my sister several years later. Of course we had heard of the Red Light District and made it our mission to find out what it was all about. Obviously we didn't intend on changing careers, we just wanted to formulate our own conclusions about the city and what it had to offer. While on our search for the RLD, we crossed the gamet - anything from sister missionaries from our church, canals lined with gabeled houses, pastry shops and drug cafes. There were signs strewn across the narrow ally-ways warning of pick-pockets. We saw hippies and yuppies, but no RLD. We couldn't find it. And on this particular day it started to get late so we turned around and headed for what we felt were safer quarters (e.g. our hotel). We never saw the RLD.

My last return to Amsterdam was with Mr. G in early summer of 2007. By now I felt like I knew what the city was all about and really could take or leave a visit to the infamous neighborhood. But, it was still a novelty to Mr. G and he had his own personal mission to visit the place. For being such a poplular place we we struggled to locate the neighborhood, but we eventually found it and and I assure you, you know when you're there. My first thoughts when we walked by the windows, strewn with women of all ages and sizes soliciting sex, was that of a novelty. A show. It wasn't real. Until I saw a man walk out of one of the locations buttoning up his pants and the girl resituating herself in her space. I was immediately disgusted. Sick. Does she have so little dignity or self respect to believe that is the best she can do? And that man -(just one of how many millions that have walked in and out of those doors) what was going through his mind? He was obviously thinking only of himself, his own immediate gratification and sexual desires. What was I expecting? Did I think this was going to be fun? All of these years of hype, wanting to know what it was all about somehow created this imaginary fun-house in my mind. It wasn't fun. It wasn't sexy. It was sad.

I can agree with the dissenters that there is a strong potential for this revolution to backfire. Perhaps prostitution will filter to the streets and the city will see an increase in criminality. There are a series of issues the government in Amsterdam needs to mitigate and resolve before shutting down the District, but there is one thing that I am certain about - and that is the fact that there will be an impact on tourism. For those individuals whose vacation to Amsterdam revolves around the RLD, sure, they will have to relocate (while Amsterdam is the most famous, the RLD isn't exclusive to just this city) or may never return, but there are plenty of people with the same silly, old-school mentality held by my grandparents that Amsterdam is a dirty place. While it will take time and proof of change to really adjust this mentality, I think over time there will be shift. I think Amsterdam will always maintain its reputation for being the most liberal city in the world, but it will also invite a new generation of tourists to a city with a rich culture beyond the RLD.

SUPER TUESDAY

GO VOTE!!!!

Week 6: Countdown to April 19, 2008

Eight miles, baby. Eight miles. That's a long way. If you think about it, that is like running from my house to the Wal-Mart in Centerville, or from my house to my office downtown, or 3/4s of the way to my mother's house in Sugarhouse. I feel pretty good about it. Plus having run that far, I have little guilt about the not-so-healthy food I'm going to ingest on SuperBowl Sunday!