5 months

I'm nearing 5 months that I've had this blog! Wow! Time flies. I just read through all I've written, and I have a few updates. I'll start at the oldest one and move forward, which may seem backwards to some of you, but may seem correct to others. Very similar to how you order your cards in your hand when you play Canasta. You could do it correctly like Sandra and I, or you could do it the wrong way like Matt and others in his family.

So, starting with the oldest:

2007-09-06
I have learned a lot watching Bollywood movies. And we have picked up on a few words like "jadoo", which means magic. If anything is cool or exciting, Matt will instinctually say "jadoo".

2007-09-24
Since blogging about how I number my months, I am constantly referring to it. In this blog, and in general conversation. It's silly, but I enjoy it.

2007-09-26
I actually had forgotten about this blog. But, I was glad to think about the ditto machine again.

2007-10-04
I don't think I've had a West Coast Reuben since this date. I've been to Mimi's, but I've been adventurous and tried other things. Maybe the raw mouth experience stuck with me since I wrote it down.

2007-10-17
So, I have a few updates for this entry! First, how funny I was stressing about the Primary Program. It gets over and I completely put it out of my mind. I'm so glad I won't start thinking about it until at least August! Second, we tried out a wonderful Indian restaurant on 7200 South called Ganesh - the people are so nice and the food is fabulous! Anyhow, I asked them how to make Mattar Paneer (not Mattal Paneer like on this post), which means peas and cheese. Specifically I asked how to brown cheese! She laughed, nicely, when I told her I used mozarella cheese. But, the book told me I could! Anyhow, she said you can brown cheese, but they use cheese that they make from milk and vinegar, and you put it in the hot oil very quickly and take it out. She said so nicely to me, "it would be really messy if you use mozarella cheese." Tell me about it! Really messy.

2007-10-22
We actually saw this house on "Good Homes Utah" one Sunday morning. So, we got to take a video tour. We still love our house.

2007-11-28
Everyone who hasn't finished the series are really afraid to read this blog with my Harry Potter predictions. I don't give anything away! Don't be afraid.

2007-11-28
Ha, ha! Music in English didn't last long. I went right back to the Hindi music. I even skipped Christmas music this year and kept listening to Hindi music. It's just too fun.

2007-12-11
Alright, I do have a Bollywood movie update:
14. Lakshya
15. Fiza
16. Chalte Chalte
17. Black
18. Baabul
19. Calcutta Mail
20. Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (haven't watched yet)
21. Dil Se (haven't watched yet)
22. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (haven't watched yet)
23. I See You (haven't watched yet)
24. Mission Kashmir (haven't watched yet)

Others that I want to see at some point:
Chak De India
Devdas
Jab We Met

2007-12-14
I was really surprised. I did do a second reading of the Twilight series. I once again really enjoyed Twilight. I liked New Moon better the second time, but not as much as Twilight. I struggled very much with Eclipse! It was hard for me to finish the second time. That's so strange because I liked it better than #2 the first time. Now I've started the Anne of Green Gables series which I haven't read since 5th grade. I'm almost done with book one.

2008-01-15
I can report that this January has been fairly haze-free. Yeah!

2008-01-17
No more instances with the Restroom Ghost! I think the restroom has been exorcised aka the plumber has repaired the problem and returned order.

2008-01-28
So, the same cheesecake with cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese is so much yummier! Hooray!

13 more hours!

And my least favorite month of the year is over! Yeah!
Anyone else out there happy that January is coming to an end?

Reunion

The Spice Girls are doing a reunion tour! Why not ....


The New Kids on the Block?


Ha, ha ... First of all, I have to laugh because I found this rumor on one of my Bollywood gossip sites! I find it very interesting that the Indians would be gossiping about a New Kids on the Block reunion.

Secondly, I laugh because, and I quote from the article, "the members of the group, who broke up in 1994, are ditching their respective professions to make a comeback in the music industry". Last I heard their respective professions were: Donnie; actor, Jonathan; real estate, Jordan & Joey; musicians, and Danny; disappeared into oblivion, or on a cable reality show, I can't remember which ...

Okay, let me back up and say that I was a big New Kids fan. My friend Nikki got me started sometime in Junior High. I liked Donnie best; he was the bad boy. My friend Nikki liked little squeeky Joey-Joe. My friend Tamara obsessed over Jordan and his LONG braid. My best friend Heather wouldn't have anything to do with them; she liked Bobby Brown. But, she was still so kind to record things about them off of cable for me to watch since we didn't have cable at my house.

I spent one summer with my friend Tamara marking a map of Massachusetts after reading information and looking through pictures in Bop, Teen Scene, etc. We were trying to find out where they lived of course! I have to make it clear that it was her idea. I guess you could call her a HUGE fan, compared to me being a big fan. She actually spend over $100 calling information and phoning different houses in the Dorchester area. She swore to me at the time that she actually did talk to Jordan on the phone.

Confession time. We were also in a creative writing class in school at the time, and our creative writing took a turn to the romantic side. Tamara would write Charnae/Donnie stories and I would write Tamara/Jordan stories and we would pass them like notes in class. "To be continued ...."

Ha, ha!

I even have a "scrapbook" of sorts that I made. Yes, I still have it. My sister-in-law Tara married into the family in 2000. Eventually we found out that we both shared a previous love of Animaniacs and Donnie from New Kids. So, I pulled out the book for a good laugh!

All things come to an end .... good or bad. High school was almost here and I was done with the boys ... NKOTB as they were being called by then. Tamara begged that I would go with her to their concert; they were finally coming to Utah! So, I agreed, as a sort of last hoorah! A couple days before, Tamara decided not to go. I guess she finally decided she was over them as well, but I was stuck with a $30 ticket that I had paid for; in the nosebleeds, no less! After some begging, I got Bobby-Brown-loving-Heather to come with me.

We listened to the little white pins on the black canvas singing their songs. And we watched the 8-year-old girls in front of us scream and pretend to faint. And we thought they were so juvenile since we were 11 & 13.

Prophets

So, I was pretty surprised when my mom called last night to tell me President Hinckley had passed away. She heard it from my sister-in-law Debbie. I checked the internet and we turned on the TV, but we couldn't find anything. This was at 8:03pm. By 8:30pm they had interrupted TV with the breaking news, and things started popping up on the internet. It's amazing that the church has an internal "Call Tree" that works quicker and more effective than the internet and TV in passing news.

I started thinking last night about Prophets. I remember President Kimball. I remember the comparisons to Yoda. And I remember being in the portable at East Midvale Elementary school in the 5th grade the day I learned he had died. I was devastated. I didn't understand the workings of the church, and didn't understand what that would mean for me. It was scary.

I remember very well President Benson's voice when he would speak. I don't remember as well when he passed away. But, I wasn't scared this time.

I remember President Hunter and always associated him with the Bountiful Temple. I remember thinking/feeling that he must be the kindest man on earth. He always spoke so gently. I remember how surprised I was at his passing, because he was the prophet for such a short time.

President Hinckley was so easy to accept moving into the position as Prophet because it seemed like he had always been there! 13 years doesn't seem very long, but it's longer than I've been married. That's actually amazing to me! I tried to think back to 1995 to remember who I was and what I was thinking, and it was very hard.

It makes me sad that he is gone, but I can't help but think over and over that now he's with his "dream girl" again. It gives me the same feeling as when I knew that Elder Haight and his wonderful Ruby were once again reunited. I'm glad that there are some very happy endings in being parted.

Cheesecake Update

So, I tried out the ricotta cheesecakes. I baked a Kumquat one and a Buttermilk one. They tasted good. But, I don't like the texture of the ricotta cheese. It's like eating soft sand. And it's kind of pasty.

I've decided to bake the SAME cheesecakes, only this time I will use cream cheese in place of the ricotta cheese. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Also, next up I will be trying a mango cheesecake! Fun, fun!

sp?

I'm not an editor by any means, but I feel like my spelling and punctuation are fairly accurate most of the time. However, when I re-read through my blogs I find the most awful spelling mistakes! Gots instead of gets. Advise instead of advice.

Who is writing this thing? It can't be me!?

Goo

This is our cute cat Goo.

Matt asked me if I've blogged about him before, and I don't think I have.

When we got him, his name was Oliver. We named him Radar because he had big ears and a little head. Justin Q. named him Mr. Magoo because he squints in the sun. Pretty soon he became Goo. Sometimes Goozer. Frequently Fat Goo or Phat Goo, whichever you prefer. And most recently "Phat Lightning".

Matt thinks he is a tormented cat .... because ... he is tormented. I like tormenting him. Tonight I dressed him in my winter wear (see last blog).

But, he likes it!!!! Goo and Matt. He was purring the entire time. Goo not Matt. See how cute he is.

Other past Goo tormenting include stickers on his forehead:

Stickers on his ears:

Dressing him in Halloween costumes:

Trying to get him to pose like Marilyn Monroe:

Dressing him in a bow-tie. I think he looks beautiful:

When he gets angry with me, I make him smell the roses:

I've been known to put him in the dirty clothes:

Or put pretty Christmas bows around his neck:

You may think he's got it rough, but he's still got time to take a nap with his favorite person .... Matt! (How did you guess who is favorite would be?)

He also loves to lay around on his back and snore:

If he gets too upset at his treatment, he just sticks his tongue out at me:

But, mostly he's just a really good sport!

We love Goo!

Winter Wear

So, per my friend's advise (see January 23 entry) I wore sensible shoes (winter sensible, not business environment sensible) to work today. My tried and true Doc's! (It hasn't snowed yet.) My shoe laces for these shoes died, but the shoes are still going strong. I got new laces, and going by the advice on the box, purchased the ones that it instructed for the number of eyelets on the shoe. WRONG. They are so long, I have to tie 4 knots to keep them from dragging on the ground!



And I also wore my fabulous fuzzy scarf, a Christmas gift from my friend Joellen (made by her mother). The scarf has been named Elmo (Seasame Street) by Matt and Animal (Muppets) by Wilson. Isn't it snazzy?

Talents

I had sharing time earlier this month in Primary, and briefly talked about talents. I explained to the kids that even if we're not great at something it can still be a talent. Maybe it's something we enjoy doing, try it or practice it often, aren't necessarily great at, but we're making steady improvement or attempts at improvement.

Anyhow .... I brought up baking as one of those things for me. Very often when I bake, my attempt falls FLAT! But, I think it's so much fun that I keep doing it. Occasionally I'll run across something that just WORKS. That's my favorite part.

In December, Matt and I found a cheesecake recipe book at Spoons 'n Spice. There were colored pictures of each cheesecake creation! I was especially inspired by the pomegranite cheesecake (darn, they're already not in the grocery store!) ...

So, now that the crazy holidays are over and there's nothing pleasant to do in the freezing outdoors (no, I don't want to try winter camping), it was the perfect time to start working through my cheesecake book!

I got these really fun springform pans (also from Spoons 'n Spice - love that place) that are 5" round instead of the large 8". They're great because I can split the cheesecake recipe in half and have two cute little ones instead of one over-the-top large one.

We got a new stove last fall, with the convection oven, and I'm still working through the up's and down's of that little development. I love that it gets the center of the cheesecake cooked, I think the fan takes some of the "moist" out .... hmmm. Thoughts anyone?

Anyhow - it's been fun. I made a Black Forrest cheesecake, which is plain cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, cherries, and a vanilla wafer crust. I also did a Banana Lime cheesecake with a ginger snap crust. That was interesting. (Thanks to all my neighborhood buddies who helped me taste-test. Hope they weren't too bad!) Next I'll be trying a kumquat cheesecake with ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese. And also a buttermilk cheesecake, which uses ricotta cheese and yogurt.

I'm still pretty bummed that pomegranates are out of season! Darn! Next year ....

Mukluk & Oatmeal

I wore my cute fuzzy brown shoes to work today. A friend of mine told me if it snowed, I wouldn't be too happy walking to my car with cold, wet feet. My shoes are open in the back, but it didn't snow today so all was well.

On my way out to the car in the evening, I was laughing to myself as I thought about my shoes and Matt.

A few months back, near the time when I bought these shoes, he started calling them mukluks. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he briefly explained that my shoes looked like they were made from "baby seal fur". I admit I was a little irritated. Where did this come from!?!?! I still don't know, but it stuck with him.

Whenever I wore these shoes, he would call me Mukluk, not just referring to the shoes. And now he just calls me Mukluk, shoes or no.

A month or so back, Matt began wearing a wool sweater that he bought on sale during a business trip to Boise. He bought it as a Christmas gift for someone, decided he liked it, started wearing it, and .... it became his. I teased him a bit at first that he was a gift-stealer.

As he kept calling me Mukluk, I picked up on the the funny name that was on the tag of the sweater. The manufacturer named the wool sweater, for the color of the fabric, as oatmeal.

Each time Matt called me Mukluk, I called him Oatmeal. Silly enough, I've warmed to my nickname. I'm not sure if he's as fond of Oatmeal.

Reader

I don't know much, but I know I love Google Reader. This is a great little tool! If you haven't used it, you should try it out.

What does it do? If you have a website/blog that you like to keep tabs on, you enter the URL as a "subscription". Anytime there is an update to that website/blog Reader will let you know.

It is great to open one page and see everything that's new!

Blog Vortex

Hee-hee! Last night I found Matt caught in a blog vortex! Yes!

He went onto a friends blog and read. Clicked into one of their friends blogs and read. And kept clicking and reading about unknown people and their situations.

I have frequently been caught in this spiraling affect, to the point that I'm reading a blog, and confusedly pondering how I ever got there!?

Now there are blogs of people that I have never met, but I know the in's and out's of their family, friends, children, hobbies, and dreams. I will refer to them by first name, and tell Matt their current news. It is a crazy result, but I really enjoy my "blog buddies". Matt thinks it is very odd (and I agree) and he looks at me in wonder and shakes his head.

I think after yesterday that he may have a small idea of the spiraling, sucking vortex that are blogs.

Restroom Ghost

Boo! I was informed last week by my office buddy Suzanne that the first floor women's restroom at American Express has a ghost. She told me she was alone in the restrooom and the last faucet kept turning on and off during her entire visit.

During a visit this morning, alone in the restroom, I got to experience the faucet turning on and off! I had forgotten what she told me last week, and so it was very unexpected. It really creeped me out.

Now, to be completely honest and to take the edge off of my story, I must confess that the faucet in question is a motion activated faucet. The only one in the restroom. And so obviously it must just be having technical difficulties.

But, I have a very vivid imagination, and although I knew logically what was happening, I still rushed out of there as quickly as possible!

One month!

After a long absence, I can report that nothing much has happened in our neck-of-the-woods. Matt and I are currently recovering from after-holiday blues. We are coming to terms with the fact that we have 2-3 months more of short, cold, hazy days. The hazy part is the worst. If you refer to a previous blog, you'll know that January is my least favorite month of the year.


My favorite thing about January is planning vacations that will transport me somewhere pretty! Of course I usually don't end up going those places, but it makes me feel like there is an exit if I really need one.


It really isn't the cold and the snow I hate. It could snow constantly and break periodically with a cloudly blue sky and I would LOVE it! Instead it warms up. The snow melts or turns black and the sky gets hazy. Yuck.