Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2005

The good news is, Kandis is back a day early.

We are very excited about our cruise. I think we got a good deal, and that we are going at a great time, price and weather and schedule wise. Speaking of fancy vacations to Mexico, Brook and Erin are going to Cancun next week, and we get to watch the kids for the weekend. Erin's parents are taking over after that. Speaking of the fam, we are going up for Nathan's birthday tomorrow.

I also made an Eclair Cake. I was on a roll. I love Eclair Cake.

We had leftover pasta (little shells) from the stroganoff. I also had an extra piece of lasagne, and for some reason, didn't think I would have enough and made half a box of big shells to stuff just in case. I cut all of it into tiny pieces for the pasta salad. It's not the yummiest thing I've ever made, but I'm sure I'll eat all of it.

It's payday! John gets paid every week, which is nice, but it's especially nice when I also get paid.

By the way, she says she got the cheesecake at Sam's. I fully excepted the company had it shipped just for whatever meeting.

Yes, I realize I could be eating cheesecake... I'm saving it!

I've been very busy at work. I thought the tide of HR work was supposed to ebb in January, but it hasn't happened yet; I just feel busier than ever. Luckily being busy is very motivating to me.

Last night we got to watch Lily for a little while. She is so adorable! John is already a better parent than I'll ever be. Maybe I'll catch up when he is working late during busy season, or studying for the CPA exam.

Drinking Umcka. Can't get sick.

At the grocery store, I was looking to see if the potsticker wrappers were on sale (are they ever?) and I noticed two things: First, Macey's has decided to carry Yakisoba noodles- hurray! Second, there was an entire line of juices (in the produce section, right next to the wontons) put out by Bolthouse farms. Fancy, expensive juices. Who knew.

I bought some kiwis. Maybe the vitamin C will help my throat. We have been married nearly 18 months and just opened our second regular-sized box of dishwasher detergent.

When I get into reading, all I do is read. When we were first married John thought I didn't like reading because I never did, but I've gotten into it since then and proved him wrong. I think it's been about a year. I've read seven Chronicles of Narnia, five Harry Potter, eleven Series of Unfortunate Events, The Lord of the Rings, about ten novels about the Amish, two movie-ized books after seeing the movie, The Book of Mormon and nine The Work and the Glory. And about 50 magazines.

If there are 5,261 pages to read in a series, I don't do much else in my spare time until I've read 5,261 pages. I need a break.

We had Matt and Celeste, some neighbors, over for dinner. I made stroganoff and Raspberry Spinach Salad with poppy-seed dressing. I actually followed the recipe for the dressing this time, only I halved it, and it still made 1 1/2 cups. But it turned out a lot better following the recipe. Can you tell we love the stroganoff?

I've noticed that I tend to do the things that take up space on my desk first, because they sit there and bother me.

Probably the things that bug me most are unqualified candidates (especially those who think they are), long paragraphs, and non-Word formats (I can't open them). Linda is slowly taking over most of recruiting, so my experience in that area is starting to dwindle. Just as well though; I have plenty of other things to do.

Speaking of haze, yuck! It rained today, so hopefully it will clear up a little. The other day I was driving home from work and I looked directly at the sun and at first thought it was the moon. That's how sick the air has been here.

Monday is our 18-month Anniversary. We are going to Red Lobster for lunch, and to see "National Treasure" to celebrate.

Thanks to Joe, I have a new gmail account. Email me!

We are planning to go down to Bakersfield for President's Day. Hope to see some of you there!

Today we've been trying to, as Linda put it, catch up on our real jobs. I took back some recruiting stuff from her so she could do benefits, and I also have to do five salary surveys. I guess I'll get to work on that now.

I gave John a ride to school today because he had to take his big tax books, which remind me of the big compensation books, which are very expensive, which is why we do the surveys (to get a discount).

On Thursday I checked out The DaVinci Code and was unable to put it down. Of course, reading it before bed got me a little scared, so I didn't let myself read any yesterday. I looked up some of the paintings it refers to online, and am now less scared, so I guess I can finish it now. I think it's pretty good, I like figuring out the mysteries and such. But I'm not taking any of it to heart.

I painted my toenails orange. They have been naked for quite sometime, and I thought it was about time they had some fun. I also painted nine of my fingernails. The tenth hidden under a Band-aid, due to an unfortunate incident this morning involving a tomato. And a knife. My goal in painting my fingernails is to embarrass myself by their obvious and atrocious shortness enough to stop biting them. Hey, it could happen.

Back when I worked in the dishroom, I was always accessorizing with Band-Aids. I went through a box at least every month. Of course, half of that was also biting my nails too much. I really need to stop.

I have been doing a LOT of data entry at work lately. I definitely think my ten-key is improving. The problem is that I already type faster than anyone in my department (we are stuck with this project because of the confidential nature), and that means more of it for me. I like being busy, but I get so bored sitting at my computer typing boring numbers for hours at a time. And to think I was looking for a data entry job. I am so lucky.

We are having some of John's old roommates and their wives over for dinner tomorrow. I am making taco soup. My P. Chef party is Thursday (if anyone wants anything!) and we are going to make Mexican Chocolate Pies and Taco Dip, yummy. But what I am most excited about this week (besides finishing our numbers project) is going to California! yay!

It feels like it is practically the weekend because my party is on Thursday and Friday we are driving to CA. I've been giving myself fun projects at work, like cleaning out old files. I am even determined to organize our miserable and hopeless file room, mostly with the help of the company records retention room- We never look at it- why should it be in my way when I'm filing?

We went up to the retention room today, Linda and I. She hadn't been up there in about four years, which is probably why she forgot that our stuff was in a different room in the back. We spent 5 minutes wandering around looking for a Human Resources spot, only to find four entire shelves for us in the other room. I am excited to use those shelves to get rid of the junk in our back room.

We had a great trip. We spent lots of quality time with Mom and Grandma learning about Grandma Della, Grandma Rachel, and Grandma Susanna. All Grandma remembers about Grandma Susanna is that she was honery and she has a picture of her sitting on the porch with a gun on her lap.

Work is going well. I am keeping very busy by picking up old filing anytime I find myself with nothing to do. I like being busy, but I suspect I will eventually even run out of filing.

Today our insurance brokers came and took us to lunch. I insisted we get mexican, because I had to slave in the cafeteria over fajita toppings all morning and then didn't get any. It was yummy and I learned about some state propositions affecting insurance plans.

I have spent most of my freetime at work (I think most of my time is pretty discretionary) doing ancient filing. Today I did old encapsulation tests and exit interviews, which were filed together instead of in individual personnel files. As boring as it sounds (or should I not use the word anymore?) I enjoy filing. I especially enjoy finding mistakes and fixing stuff (files in the wrong year, wrong order etc). It makes me feel organized.

Enrichment is tonight and we are doing yoga.

We are working on something confidential and I am securing it. I learned how to password-protect read-only cells in an Excel sheet so people don't accidentally change stuff, but can still change the stuff we want them to change. I also made a big list of passwords (and password-protected the file) so we can put passwords on each individual file. I also have to send out voicemails to everyone with their password.

I like figuring out how to do new things in programs, although I realized when I was halfway through that I was doing 1/3 more work than I needed to.

Today we are up at my in-laws, shopping and making John's graduation announcements. And doing laundry. I even got the house all cleaned before we left, because John had to go to a stupid group meeting.

Also, I am teaching Relief Society tomorrow, and getting my lesson all ready. John asked if I was going to bring a tablecloth, but I informed him that the Relief Society has it's own tablecloths.

John was making dinner again when I got home from work. Jana and I went to the scrapbook store to make cards and just hang out.

Linda took her daughter to Wendover for her 21st birthday. I gave her a dollar to gamble for me. I was up to $8 once, she said, but Brian said "one more push" and I only came out 50 cents ahead. I spent it on paper at the scrapbooking store.

We are enjoying the first episode of the new Amazing Race season. Tomorrow morning Linda and I are going to Salt Lake for a meeting. We have to get up early, but there will be free breakfast. I guess that's about all the news.

We get to see Grandma June this afternoon. We had dinner there last month, but it still seems like a long time since we've seen her. I'm especially glad we're going because she apparently hasn't been feeling well lately. Even though we are old we still get spoiled (this is also true with John's parents). I think this is because we don't have any kids.

Aw, my honey is vacuuming, how cute!

John graduates in just 48 days! Which means 56 days until our cruise! and less than 150 until we move. Yay!

Kathy is back from Canada today. She has learned lots about Canadian employment law and social medicine. Canadians have about twice the amount of taxes witheld, and about 50% of the tax base goes towards healthcare. The social insurance, however, only includes stuff that is done during an office visit. Anything else is not covered at all and you need supplemental insurance anyway to cover anything else (generously provided by your employer, if you're lucky). Sounds like a waste of taxes to me, since they still need to have other insurance to actually cover stuff.

Although I think if you offer insurance to some of your employees, you must also offer it to others in a different country even if social healthcare is provided.

How much of our tax base goes to healthcare anyway? I know there are free clinics, but maybe those are all privately sponsored.

Thursdays are great because it's Friday Eve! I exercised, made a yummy dinner, and read. It's so relaxing to know I can wear jeans at work tomorrow and there's only one more day until the real weekend.

I have done some random projects today, which is probably good. It has given me a chance to catch up and finish things so far back on the burner they'd been lost behind the stove.

I've been wondering about boys with fancy cars. I'm talking about both ganstas and mid-life crises. When they're driving around do they just think "I'm the hottest thing!"? Or do they get over it eventually?

Today we are busy, but we are making special plans to go on a walk together. It is such a beautiful day, how can we not?? All the cousins are coming for dinner tonight (Except for David who has to work). We're very excited. I just hope there's enough food.

Linda is at a birthday lunch and everyone else is upstairs with the Board, so I am all alone. Except for Hugo. I think I like Hugo so much because my own grandpa isn't around anymore. I spent the morning doing payroll filing for him, back to 2003. The receptionist spent several weeks putting it in alphabetical and chronological order. At least I didn't have to do that part.

Yesterday Linda and I spent the afternoon cleaning our file room. We threw out a huge pile of stuff, old books and benefit stuff and trashy decorations. Everything is organized, labeled and put away, and we can actually shut the firedoor now!

John made dinner again for me last night. He's the best!

1 cup butter
3/4 cup blended walnuts
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar

Cream together.

Mix in:
2 eggs
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Add:
2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 12 oz. bag chocolate chips
1/2 8 oz chocolate bar, grated.

Cook at 375° for 7-8 minutes.

1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds -- toasted
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

John prepared steak in this marinade for dinner tonight. I think it is supposed to be for chicken, but it was delicious! We used dried mint though, because we are poor.

I cooked the steak while he was at class and also made Cheddar-herb bicuits and garlic mashed potatoes. We also have some kind of a pear with a brown skin (John did the grocery shopping...) It is yummy, and I think it tastes like hyacinths.

John made french toast for breakfast, which almost makes up for snow on the first day of spring.

I'm going to a stamping party tonight, but I'm sure I won't buy anything. After Pampered Chef, I don't need to spend anything on stuff like that.

This weekend we are going to Park City, hopefully with Jodi and Franco. Should be fun times.

Yesterday I signed up for our 401(k) program. I figure, if the company will match 50% of 6%, and I can transfer it for free into our IRA when we move, why would I not take the free money? I realize this works out to about 1% of my earnings, but still- free money.

I got myself a nice project at work last night, so hopefully I will be busier today.

Ahem. I had a dream that a niffler dug a hole up into my bedroom (some fake bedroom). Now, I don't know exactly what a niffler is. In my dream it was a bear-dog type animal. It was supposed to be either those things that sniff out gold in Harry Potter, or the truffle-hunter thing in Ever After. And in real life, probably my Piglet pillow. Anyway, Mom and I couldn't figure out what to do with the niffler. It kept snuggling up to me. Maybe I miss Gretel.

In the meantime, I have one more day of work.

For Easter, we went up right after church, other than a short visit with Grandma and Lawrence Welk, and hung out at the Chadwicks. I made eclair cake and helped make the rolls and ham and Jello-eggs. It was fun cooking with Susan. She made funeral potatoes, which are my favorite, I think I ate 2 cups of them. Her rolls are really good too.

Everyone loved my eclair cake and wanted the recipe. I've never gotten anything but raves for it, but Linda made it for Bunco two weeks ago and a few people just said it was "ok". Weirdos.

We also had a nice shopping trip in the food storage room. We got lots of meat and some flour and sugar. The flour and sugar were food storage that needed to be rotated, and I think the flour smells funny. But it was free so I will give it a try.

Anyway, we're home now. I'm exhausted, but I actually feel like a break- maybe cause I took Friday off- and I can go back to work. Hopefully it will be a busy week.

The best joke was that she had pried off the "M" and "N" on my keyboard and switched them. The reason this joke was so great, is because Linda was standing behind me shouting "how are you doing that!!?!" as I typed along. The joke was on her- I don't look at the keyboard when I type.

Things have picked up around here, although it may be because I was lazy on Friday and I am catching up on beginning-of-the-month stuff. I brought my lunch today and the exact same thing was being offered in the cafeteria. At least I paid less.

Last night was my first night going to USDC to volunteer in their hippotherapy program. I got lots of advice from the Rec Therapists there, but it wasn't a good day to ride- only a few individuals came out. I think it will be good experience though.

I'm afraid today is going to be another slow day.

So, what is the Holy See? It reminds me of The Great Eye (and not because I watched too much Middle Earth). Ok, nevermind, I will look it up and enlighten us all. "The authority, jurisdiction and governmental functions associated with the papacy." Basically what I thought. It's the governmental state of the Vatican City.

See? You DO learn something new everyday.

These ducks are either very stupid or very haughty, the way they cross the street (to the other pond) with their ducklings in tow. But the cars stop for them. I only saw one dead duck in the first 9 months I worked here. This week there have been four. Yuck. Also, when I was driving to USDC yesterday, I saw three roadkills on the freeway that looked like raccoons, or something fat, gray and fuzzy. Too fat to be a kitty. And we will not discuss dead kitties.

Speaking of driving, yesterday my right turn signal suddenly started blinking much faster than normal. It is still doing it, but only on the right side. It is very annoying.

Today we are having another ward thing because we got a new Bishop today. His wife is the dean of the College of Health and Human Performance.

I am trying to sew one of those bags filled with rice that you put in the microwave or freezer. The only fabric I have is quilt squares, but I’m pretty good at sewing in straight lines. I was almost done sewing a pink flannel cover for it, but then my sewing machine started making a funny noise, and wouldn’t you know it, all kinds of stuff fell out of my bobbin door. Mommy, you will have to help me put it back in when you get here.

We had dinner and got to look at Lisa's mission pictures. Kristen and I reminisced about our kids, silly things we did, furniture that fell apart, etc. I got out my "Romania quotes" from my scrapbook and we laughed at ourselves.

I also got my new stamps last night. Unfortunately, I am very busy this week. I may be able to squeeze some stamping time in on Tuesday. I'm very excited to use my new stamps.

I'm also very excited to see Mom, Leonard, and Sumana who are all coming for John's graduation. The next three weeks are going to be great!

My family's coming today! yay! We are going to have a whirlwind tour of Utah for Sumana.

Everyone made it here safely. I'm excited for all the activities we have planned, and also to see all the Chadwick clan today (except Franco who has to work). What a great weekend it will be!

Friday we went to DI and then picked up Camilla for the big Whitney luncheon at Macaroni Grill for Mom's birthday. I guess I should say Call luncheon, because most of the Omans also came. Leonard, Sumana, John and I left immediately from there for the Salt Lake portion of our journey. We saw the Conference Center, Temple Square, the Distribution Center, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the Church History Museum. We only visited the development of the church section and the Presidents' Gallery. The new Joseph Smith exhibit was packed.

We took TRAX to the Sam Weller bookstore downtown and read some books. Then we took TRAX back to the Delta Center to eat dinner at the Gateway. We ate at a place called "Thaifoon", despite the name. the food was pretty good, especially the banana springrolls. While we were eating it began to pour, so we had a fun trip back to the car without any coats.

We picked up Mom at Uncle Jon's and got to visit for a while. Then we squished with Camilla in the car to get back to Provo. John was kind enough to take Leonard and Sumana to the train station late at night so I could spend more time with Mom, who left this morning.

So that's my travelogue, even though I wasn't the one travelling. Thanks for coming to visit, everyone, and for supporting Master John and his achievements.

We're going on a cruise in one week!

So reads the tag on my new bathing suit. What do they think I'm going to be doing with it?

John made four wonderful scrapbook pages yesterday. He made two graduation pages and two pages of the Holbrook (Susan's family) and Richardson farms. They are so cute! He used these antiquey stickers and paper for the farms with some old pictures I had, and some pictures of old stuff we recently took in Lehi. John is a much better scrapbooker than I'll ever be.

We made it here safe. I had a great afternoon with Evaun learning about recreation consulting, and doing some quick crafts at some of the homes. Even though she can't offer me full-time right now (well, in July), it sounds like a great opportunity- very flexible, and something I can do.

We also visited the Tustin apartments we want to move into. It was much more hopeful than expected. Very cheap, fairly nice. We won't be able to get a 2 bedroom right away, but probably within a year.

Also having fun helping Jamie with her scrapbooking "kit of the month". I cut up 400 yards of ribbon so far. So excited for our cruise!

First of all, our free "obstructed" balcony was wonderful. There wasn't anything in the way of the view. It was wonderful to wake up to the sun rising, and to read out on our balcony, watch the ship come into the port- I'm so spoiled!

On Monday we changed clothes seven times- I counted. We worked out in the gym, went in the spa, sat out in the sun. Tuesday we went to one of the shows, with a swing singer and a few dance numbers. We also went to an art auction, the first of three we attended, to get the free seriographs they were handing out after. We now have three nice pieces of art, each of which at least one of us likes.

Wednesday we were in Puerto Vallarta. We went shopping, then went on a "jungle tour" to Mismaloya. We went on a hike in the jungle and swam in a natural pool with some fishies. I got lots of mosquito bites. We saw baby pineapple, a gum tree, tons of mango trees (these were all over in rural Mexico) and bamboo. We saw an iguana from the bus on a tree in the city. By the way, 100% of the tequila in the world is made in this state. That night a local mariachi band came onboard and played, and there were also dancers. It was a pretty good show.

Thursday we were in Mazatlan. For all the hype, I didn't think the shopping was that good. Of course, that was the day John got sick, and we didn't have a lot of time to shop anyway. We went on a seven hour bus tour to some tiny villages in the Sierra Madre. We got to watch people making brickes, baskets, and really nice wood furniture. Lunch at a Mexican restaurant was included. There was really yummy coconut banana cream pie.

Friday was the best day. In Cabo San Lucas, we ended up going on a boat tour and to a beach club, which we hadn't planned before. The boat tour went around the arches, and the sea lion rocks at the very tip of Baja California. The sun was just coming up and it was beautiful. Then we went to a private beach club and spent a few hours playing around in the beautiful, warm, clear water. I saw a school of fish swim by. I found three pieces of sea glass. We met a couple there from Tehachapi named John and Susie and, even weirder, they were the only other people we met on the cruise that didn't drink. After the beach we got dropped off downtown and walked back to the port, shopping along the way.

The only thing we really bought the whole time was a yellow bowl with chillis painted on it. One of the free things I got was a silver Aztec calendar charm that I can put on my charm bracelet. I also got a free sapphire and a cheap gold charm bracelet- you could get a different charm at each port.

Saturday we mostly just lay around watching movies so John could feel better. Poor thing had a really bad fever for a few days, so we got lots of sleep. One thing I was disappointed in was the food on the ship. I guess I'm just not a fancy food person.

I also had someone who spelled his name wrong at the top of his resume- with three Ls.

May is a great month. I feel like I missed part of May, maybe because I wasn't paying attention to the dates on our cruise. Well, back to work.

The thought that we may be moving in as soon as 6 weeks is kind of freaking me out. I guess I should get back to getting rid of stuff then.

Tomorrow morning we are going to Moab with Jodi and Franco. I'm excited to go hiking, eat s'mores, and also to take pictures so we can get our film developed!

We had a great time this weekend, hiking Arches. I think it's so awesome that you can climb right up into most of the arches. I especially enjoyed Partition Arch, Wall Arch and Private Arch (which we actually got to have for ourselves for a while). Even though I'm not that fit, we probably hiked about 15 miles and I'm hardly sore at all- my body is just exhausted. As John said, this is a good reminder to do fun things before we have kids. We should go camping again.

Also: I recently sent a letter at work to someone who had "Ass. Manager" listed on her resume.

I'm excited to move, and especially to have a piano in our apartment! Maybe I will become good at it again. I'm also excited to be close to my mommy. We'll come help you in the yard!

We spent Friday night up at John's parents' house. We saw Brynn and Kristen sing and dance on Friday night, and James, Hannah and Ashley dance on Saturday. Ashley teaches a class for little kids. Hannah was cute in her little pink tutu. This was at the mall during a "Children's Fair" so there were all kinds of booths there, including one from the zoo. They had a ferret, a parrot, a snake and a skunk. Hannah was more afraid of Spiderman than of the animals. The ferret was pretty dang cute.

Sunday we hung out with Tyler and Tasha, our next-door neighbors. We had dinner, played Racko and watched The Phone Call. Then yesterday there was a huge thunderstorm most of the morning. Since going to the cabin wasn't a possibility, everyone else wanted to stay home, but John and I said we were going to visit Grandma still, so we all ended up going to lunch with her. Then we went to see Robots at the dollar theatre. John and I (and Logan and Ember) went to get the tickets and save seats. Ember almost cried when I made her sit in a row by herself (she also had refused to dance in the mall on Saturday). The movie was worth a dollar.

We dropped by the Provo Cemetary, having already missed the Whitneys. Then we watched scrapbooked some more. Our cruise pictures are nearly done, but we haven't started our trip to Moab yet. Or Christmas or Easter....

Also, when John and I were driving back to Provo, we saw lots of hangliders near The Point of the Mountain- I counted 22. The sun was just setting- it was really cool.

I just printed my first label ("Congratulations!" the User Guide says). It says "Susie" and is outlined with a cute little alligator.

We had a good Sunday. I like going to my in-laws on Friday night instead of Saturday because it's nice to come home and still have Sunday ahead. Day of Rest!

If I can't tell what position you are applying for, I am going to delete your resume.
If you're not applying for a specific position, I'm going to shred your resume.
If you're not applying for a position we have open, I'm going to shred your resume.
If you must be 18 to get the job you are applying for, and you are not 18, I'm going to shred 
your application.
If there is no phone number on your resume or application, we won't call you for an interview.
If you show up 15 minutes early for your interview, you will wait in the lobby for at least 
14 minutes.
Remember the name of the person interviewing you.
Spell your name right.
Learn your zipcode.
Ask questions, but don't say "which job was this again?"
You should at least know what the company does.

Also, when we were in Moab John told Franco he should buy a shirt that said “Moab: I got sand in my pants.”

Also, we're going to the cabin!

Today has seemed to last forever. We even went for two walks! I also got a bit more packing done, planned some using-up-the-cupboard-goods meals, and we watched Pirates of the Carribean. John and I got lots of time to talk. And it's still only 9 pm. Maybe it's because I've finished The Order of the Phoenix and I can't continue. It will keep me excited for The Half-Blood Prince, but meanwhile I am continuing on rereading A Series of Unfortunate Events. The drawback: they only take a couple of hours to read.

Time must have slowed down or something. We probably won't get another day like this- next weekend is Father's Day and we are spending half in Midvale and half at the cabin. The next weekend is our last and we will have to spend it packing. Then we are moving and have to spend our next weekend unpacking and getting all kinds of necessary moving stuff done (buy fridge, renew licenses and registrations, go to Disneyland...)

I bought new tires today.

I'm getting very excited to move. John and I packed some more tonight and ran other getting-ready-to-move errands. I'm so excited for our new place, a deck where I can grow basil, Disneyland, Tyler, new job, Disneyland, Harry Potter, yay!

Chop potatoes and boil just until softened. After draining, marinate potatoes in 1/4c. olive oil, 1/4 c. white vinegar. Let sit for a while.

Stir in: Small amount of mayonnaise, chopped green onions, chopped hard boiled eggs, celery, salt and pepper.

We also made broccoli salad last night for dinner with Tyler and Tasha. Also very highly recommended.

Cut up 1 head broccoli into very small pieces. Add 4 pieces crumbled, cooked bacon, 2/3 c. sunflower seeds, 2/3 c. grated cheese, 1/4 c. minced onion. Dressing: 1/2 c. mayo, 3 T. sugar, 2 T. vinegar.

Anyway, nearly everyone was there except for a few cousins who had to work. Even some of the Omans came, including Elliot the rabbit. It was especially great to see Michael again (the only time I'd seen him since his mission was at my wedding), and to hang out with Brynn, whom I'll especially miss.

This afternoon we went for a drive to look at nightstands and to check out the neighborhood. We live on the coolest street! Not only are we just blocks away from South Coast Plaza, the biggest mall I've ever seen, but we drove down the road to find Bed Bath and Beyond and also found: Target, In-and-Out, Trader Joe's, Vons, and plenty of other less exciting places. I have lots of Target gift cards from Nature's Way, so they'd better watch out! I am also excited to visit The Container Store. It sounds like a place I would love!

Our new apartment is great, I love being so close to the freeway (all three of them), not to mention the beach, the temple, and we have a pool and a deck and a skylight and vaulted ceilings. All we need is furniture! (and a fridge)

I'm glad to be home.

Jamie has already put me to work lots. I love making kits for her. She's also had me just prep some stuff for August kit-making and do some data entry for international labels. *type type type* Since John is spending two days in LA for orientation, I will probably come help with July shipping before starting with Evaun on Friday. It's time for BBQ!

*Note: This library does not appear to be very effective if one desires actual books.

We just bought a nice plant at Home Depot with a gift card John got from his brother. John loves plants now. It is a nice tall tropical tree thingy and it fills the corner between our bookshelf and our door perfectly. I also planted my basil but no sprouts yet. The plant I have from Grandpa's funeral did not do well on the deck. The leaves on one side were rapidly losing all their color and becoming limp. Not sure what could have caused this.

Anyway, I am being the receptionist and I basically sit there and stare into space. There are barely any phone calls. Today I actually spent 2 1/2 hours making booklets. It was great. I don't have a computer or anything, so there's very little work they can give me. However, the office does have two flat screen TVs so I can watch CNN in stereo all day. By the way, this place is marketing a cancer cure... No really.

I am making a yummy dinner for John- chicken fingers, cheddar-biscuits and brown sugar carrots. Unfortunately, he called to say he won't be home until 8. It's too bad I wasn't together the last two days when he got home when he said he would. I'm glad we are busy though- it keeps things interesting. This week I have learned that if we don't go to the pool, we never have time to sit and talk! Of course, John's first CPA exam is on Saturday and I've been busy too.

I've had a ton of interviews. How do I interview when I'm working at a temp job? Good question. I had an interview at 7 AM today. It was great, but I got stuck in a ton of traffic afterwards, trying to drive from Tustin to Newport Beach- through the business center of the OC, merging onto three different freeways. Duh. I shoulda seen that one coming. Anyway. Most of the interviews I've had don't interest me, but a few have and I think I have a good chance. The temp agencies I registered with (they thought they had a good job opening for me) were all very impressed with me computer skills scores. The job market is definitely better here. I will be settled into a job I love soon.

Yay, my biscuits are done. In with the chicken fingers.

Tomorrow: HP!!! Of course we don't get ours for another week, but still! Also, John is taking his first CPA exam, which means at least a day or two of less stress for him. And, when he gets home we are going to DISNEYLAND!!!!! I'm also excited to go to our new ward again.

Monday: I start my new job! I got an offer to work as a Human Resources Administrative Assistant (sound familiar?) doing similar work to what I did for Nature's Way. It's with a company in Tustin that conducts clinical trials all over the country. It's smaller than NW, but still large enough that I will enjoy it; I have learned that I don't like working for small companies. Anyway, this job pays great, has awesome benefits, and the job sounds perfect for me. I'm very excited to start.

As John said, it really says something about the difference in job markets. I was able to find a great job here in a week, while working a temp job fulltime. No wonder houses can sell for so much- people keep moving out for great jobs.

I hate how expensive spices are here. I enjoyed having the noname 99cent bottles at Macey's. I spent $10 on two bottles today! Ack! Also, I returned our broom to Target because the handle kept falling off. Then I forgot to get a new one! D'oh. If I'd remembered earlier I would have gotten one at the store or something. But I didn't remember until I got home and thought "hey, I didn't actually spend anything at Target cause I just used the money I got for returninig the.... oops."

I was telling Mom in an email about Soarin'- it's supposed to be like you're flying over California seeing (and smelling and feeling) the sights. The chairs move a little with the plane and you can feel the breeze. You're practically inside the screen, watching Yosemite, Malibu, and the orange groves fly by. It's a great ride.

Tonight we went to Jamie and David's, to eat dinner with them and to stay with the boys while David picked Jamie up at the airport. I got to read 2 chapters of Chad's Half-Blood Prince and I am excited, but enjoying the suspense. Ok, well I already know some important things that happen (I'm a spoilsport), but still! I still have a great book to look forward to!

New job starts tomorrow.

In other good news, I got three checks in the mail today. And maybe, just maybe we will finally have medium-temperatured water in our shower soon.

Still enjoying my new job. Hopefully that will last a long, long time.

John's birthday is tomorrow, yay! We are driving to Bakersfield to see Mom and Rachel and plan on having a great time.

Speaking of cupcakes. I went to two stores on my lunch hour, trying to find the kind of frosting John wanted. Either they don't make it anymore, they don't sell it California, or groceries stores here have a really poor selection of frosting. Actually, it's possible that Macey's just had a really great frosting section; after all, I can't have been the only college student who ate it from the jar.

Anyway, after all that, I got home and discovered I didn't have any cupcake liners, so I had to go back to the store. I decided to check out the Japanese market that's just down the street rather than fight rush hour traffic again. I had been battling my suspicions that this was an actual Japanese market rather than a supermarket with a large section of Japanese speciality items. Turns out, my suspicions were correct. It was actually more of a Japanese mall. But they had what I was looking for.

In the midst of all this, it has occured to me that I'm having a bad week. I had basically the same issue as with the frosting with the bank yesterday. I never did find the bank. I did find an ATM in the mall, but it didn't accept deposits. I also spent two hours at the mall looking for a nice oxford type shirt and never found one. Plus, I've been driving around like a maniac in the traffic. Yesterday I got onto the freeway going the wrong direction. It was so crowded going the correct way that I didn't want to get back on, so I found my own way home.

Luckily, this bad-week-ness only affects me when I'm in the car, so I've still been having a great time at my job and being busy at home. My cupcakes are baking, I have acceptable frosting ready, and I am excited for a great weekend with my family and a great birthday for my hubby.

Oh yeah, and I spent over $20 in gas for the first time today. I almost stopped the pump at $19 just to make myself feel better.

Work is going well. Today was a very busy day. I got up at 5:20 (John asked if I'd set me clock wrong) (he was already up studying) to go to work early, so I could leave early to go to the DMV. After that I went to Jamie's and worked for two hours. Then I came home (no traffic!). Since I didn't have to cook tonight (I ate at Jamie's, John had leftovers) I made No-Bake Cookies. Mine don't solidify fast enough. Any suggestions?

John is reading Half-Blood Prince. The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed that book. Yay! I reread the last few chapters, to make sure I didn't miss anything obvious, and I got all teary-eyed three times! Maybe my eyes were too busy flying through the pages.

I also found a nifty way to get to my regular Vons on my way home from work. It's nice to just get it over with then, since I still got home more than 2 hours before John. 7-4 is a nice time to work.

I made this huge, gorgeous Thai chicken satay stir fry dinner for John. The knife slipped while I was cutting green pepper, and cut my bitten-down nail. Not two minutes later I realized I was trying to grate baby carrots. What kind of a stupid idea was that? I avoided another incident there.

The dinner was delicious. John was so impressed he jumped right up after and did the dishes! I got this recipe off Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals several months ago, but today I randomly had all the ingredients to make it. I picked this one in the first place because I new I'd never have lime juice or cocount milk, key ingredients in other recipes. This is the first 30-Minute Meal I've actually made and it took me about 50 minutes (not including whatever dessert she put with it). Here's the recipe (Susie-ized):

Chicken Satay Stirfry with Orange Jasmine Rice

Zest of 1 Orange
1 cup rice
2 cups water

2 T. oil
1 lb. chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced (I used green, but I think red would be better)
1 cup matchstick carrot pieces
6 scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 c. peas

Satay sauce:
4 rounded T. chunky peanut butter (or creamy with chopped peanuts! I’m so inventive!)
3 T. soy sauce
3 t. honey
1 t. ginger (or 1 inch crushed)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 t. red pepper flakes
juice of ½ orange

Garnish:
¼ c. chopped peanuts
3 T. chopped cilantro

Cook rice and water with orange zest.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat.  Add chicken, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes.  Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more.  Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined.  

On Wednesday night, while John was at the Angels game with a client, I made mini-kits for Jamie's online store. I spent about two hours, coincidentally the amount of time it takes to watch "The Incredibles". It was fun, although I feel like I haven't talked to my husband all week. We are going to Ladera Ranch on Saturday; John is going to study in the library there, and I will do the beginning-of-the-month stuff for Jamie. Then we are having a BBQ. I love having our family close!

John and I are going to the Angels game tonight. I haven't been to a baseball game in years. Should be fun. I'm going to go to the grocery store on the way home, and I'm going to stop at Trader Joe's. I want to see how prices compare, and I want to buy some bulk cornmeal- I can't remember if Trader Joe's has bulk or not. I want it to make fried okra with. I've been very good about us eating vegetables every night. John mostly prefers cooked vegetables, so it takes a bit more planning, but it is health for us.

I just made a white sauce (2 T. Butter, 1 T. flour 3/4 c. milk) and put some shredded parmesan (1/2 c.) in it (aka Alfredo Sauce), then added an ice cube of pesto. That's it. It was so easy. I also put peas in mine.

Uncle Justin is always so interested in our lives. He asked lots of questions and then told us about Lorna, and about his mom (Great-Grandma Della). He was reminiscing about her piano and was excited to hear that I have it now.

He was also telling us about some of the cases he's been an "expert witness" for; drug companies, contested adoptions and the like. And about how he got to be so cool. He showed us the bike path where he rides 12 miles every other day and told us about the fundraiser he is hosting on Friday. They are going to have a sign outside his house that says "Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis."

Aunt Barbara is such a go-getter, she could hardly sit still long enough to eat her food. It was nice to get a chance to chat with her too.

They are keeping me fairly busy at work with steady projects. They are not yet used to my efficiency, but I've only been turned down by both Susan and Andrea once* when I asked for work.

In other news, John has been around a lot more since his last test. He has been coming home a bit earlier (ten to seven instead of ten after) and bringing work, since he doesn't have to study quite yet. I like having him home.

And yesterday I cute up a pepper all tiny to make salsa with and later rubbed my poor eye. I called Mommy to whine and make sure I wasn't going to go blind (any worse than I already am) and she said I'd be fine. And what do you know? She was right.

*Update: Make that twice. I believe they are beginning to have suspicions about my superefficiency (at least compared to normal slow assistants).

What I do is stuff the kits, label and box the international shipments and take them to the post office. Starting next month I'll also get to help with invoicing and domestic shipping. Since I love having a nice, tidy task to sit down and do, and John gets home several hours after me each day, this is a great job for me. Another great side effect is that it's a great excuse for John to play with his best buddy, Tyler. And I love working with Jamie. And I get paid. And I get free scrapbook stuff once in a while.

So go to her website and check it out. They also have newsletters with ideas of what to do with the kits and anyone can post things they've made. It's really pretty cool, and there are lots of cute scrapbooking supplies and papers every month.

At the beach: ok, like two people from our ward. The waves were huge! This beach has a very steep slope right at the water's edge- the waves were crashing over it, 15 feet high. Eventually, of course, enough water made it over and ran down toward the BBQ pits. For some reason it rolled mostly to either side of us, but we still moved down to the grass. The bulldozer, having built a wall of protection around the lifeguard building, moved down toward the picnic areas, and our place never did get wet. Anyway, it was really cool.

Eventually some more people from our ward showed up. There's a girl in our ward whose brother I knew from Nature's Way- he was our rep from the temp agency and was always taking me and Linda out to lunch. She was there, and gave me a ride home. The RS president bugged the two of us about our talents. They were pretty sneaky too. When we didn't 'fess up, they started making up talents. I had to be honest before I got stuck playing the organ! So not a complete waste of an evening, esp. since John was at the Angel's game.

The weekend started off great with a visit from Mom. Other than the Gretel-spots on my carpet, it was a nice visit. I enjoyed sitting in our camping chairs at the dog park watching Gretel romp. We also made fun of some scrapbooking magazines together.

I also had a great time with Tyler and Tasha Langston. I never knew Downtown Disney was so big! It's like a mall, only we get 10% off from our Annual Passes. Then we went to the Newport Beach Temple Open House. The temple was beautiful. The mural in the instruction room is painted to look like the California coastline, with the ocean waves toward the front. All the doors were made out of a dark wood and had curved tops like in a fairy tale, or a Romanian Castle, or a Disneyland ride. The grounds are also beautifully landscaped and there are some neat etched-glass panels.

Sunday we spent most of the day at Jamie and David's. John and I made two trips from the car to bring in all the work I was sent home with. It should keep me busy this week. Jamie is coming to my work tomorrow to pick up some of the kits that already need to go out.

We have another busy weekend ahead of us. John and I were asked to usher at the Temple Dedication next Sunday. I have no idea how the Stake got out phone number, because I'm pretty sure the Bishop doesn't know who we are still, but it should be fun. There are four sessions; we are attending the second and ushering at the last two. It is a long shift, but we don't have callings yet, so we might as well serve doing this.

Somebody brought their cute doggie in, because he has to go to the vet. Of course, having sat at the front desk all morning, I was prewarned to the random bark.

That reminds me. When Gretel first came into our apartment and saw the mirror on our dining room wall, she gave a load bark. Gretel doesn't bark very much so it was actually kind of funny. But she ran over and sniffed and made friends with the doggie on the other side (and some noseprints on the mirror) and that was the end of that.

I tried to put my hair into two little braids this morning, but it was too short, at least for me to do it myself. So I tried french braids instead, and it worked ok. Actually, not only did it look ok on my first try, but they have actually stayed in! I couldn't even do that with long hair. However, I can still only french braid inside-out on my self. Oh well.

Saturday John worked the entire day. I cleaned, finished Jamie's kits and sewed. Yes, contrary to popular (John's) belief, I actually do know how to use my sewing machine. Mom gave me a million (about 2,000) flannel squares. I made five squares of nine. Most of my time went into sorting the fabric. I don't know what I'll do once I have a finished quilt (or three). Anyone want a quilt?

Saturday night we went on a date to the beach. This was John's idea. (isn't he cute?) I made us BLTs and we took a blanket and ate dinner watching the waves. We contemplated sand, took a walk, and poked a dead jellyfish. Then we spent the rest of the evening wandering around South Coast Plaza and Metro Pointe, and had a Jamba Juice.

Yesterday was the dedication of the Newport Beach Temple. John and I went to the second session at the Irvine Stake Center, then we went over to the Newport Beach Stake Center to be ushers. We were quite superfluous, so we didn't feel too badly about leaving early. We'd been invited to dinner with some other young couples in the ward. We had a good time there, making some friends and eating yummy food.

Anyway, other than the standing out in the sun, and poor John being exhausted from working so hard, the actual Dedication was lovely. I even used the antique white handkerchief Aunt Anne gave me when we got married. I love when we all sing "The Spirit of God" at the end. We were just in a chapel, but it was so loud you couldn't even tell when the video feed kept shutting off. Now I am excited to actually go use our new temple! John is taking off Sep. 16 to spend the day spoiling me, so we are going then.

When I am stopped at the light waiting for my turn to get on the freeway and the lane next to me is empty, I like when cars zoom past me, using my green light as well. This is something I would do. Actually, this is something I do if that lane is empty when I am pulling up. It saves everyone time, and besides, the 55 is never crowded right there.

Love, Susie

PS: Remember you are taking me to Souplantation tonight!

The guy in front of us, with his pressed khakis and cell phone clipped to his belt, asked if his daughter could ride with us. She was a cute little Indian girl named Lika and beamed the whole time we were on the ride.

There was another poor kid we helped out too. When you get off Tower of Terror, you go down these back access stairs to get to the gift shop. There was a little boy standing in the stairwell crying. He said he was too scared to go on the ride, but was really more scared that he couldn't find his dad. So we kinda hung out by him until he found his family. Poor kid. That ride is terrifying, I can't blame him.

Anyway, I was telling John about this one time when I found a toddler wandering around crying in Tomorrowland. I'd noticed the little girl earlier, so I picked her up and took her back to where I'd first seen her, when her mom came up, grabbed her and yelled at me. Stupid lady; the kid could barely walk!

Here is what I would like for my birthday:

• plant stubs
• red nail polish
• nail buffer
• print skirt

Anyway, I finished our Moab pictures- four pages. I also made a page from 1 picture from Easter. I am anti- "1 picture per page" but I only had one and it was so cute I wanted to spotlight it. It's of Me, John, Jodi, Franco, Logan, Ember, James and Hannah with our Easter baskets. The colors are so bright and real, and I had some cute Easter cutouts from Jamie's getting-rid-of pile that I used (I love Jamie's getting-rid-of-piles).

I love holidays not only because of the free day but because now my week is 1 day shorter! And Friday I am going to Bakersfield to see my mommy!

Enrichment was very interesting. There were only two other young girls there, both pregnant. One of them and I are getting to know each other pretty well, so that was nice. We were learning about parenting/family. There were four classes: family fun, cooking, arts & literature and religion. One of the "professors" was a complete crack-up; She was over 80 years old and I just about died laughing as she told us the story of her liberation through the invention of Tampax.

I got home later than John, amazingly enough. Poor thing has been working horrendous hours.

If Enrichment was still called Homemaking, would I have called this entry "Homemade"?

Saturday I clean around the house until Mom got up. Then we went to lunch with Grandma. Poor Grandma is slowing down. It makes me sad that she doesn't talk as much as she used to. She talked non-stop the entire way back from the last Benson reunion I took her too. I trimmed the dead leaves off of her plant and admired the baby quilt she was making. On our way back, Mom and I stopped at the Greek Food Festival to get very yummy gyros and baklava for dinner. After Mom took a nap, we went in the hot tub together.

When Rachel got home from MLI, we gave each other pedicures and painted our toenails Pink Bikini. My toes are so cute! I was sad they were covered up with shoes today. Thanks for the pedicure, Rach! Afterwards we sat on her bed reading her blog book and making fun of silly things she'd said.

Sunday we laid around in our PJs. Mom and I went to Sacrament meeting and then I headed back home. It only took me two hours to get back- there was zero traffic! Lucky me.

Today was the start of a very long week at work, even though I am taking Friday off. My boss quit. I spent the day training the receptionist in some of my training paperwork and dealing with personnel paperwork from the 5 new hires that started today. I am expecting to have a lot put on my plate soon.

After work I went to the Post Office for Jamie, and then got to work on some of the mini-kits she sent home with John last night. I got a lot of it done. John's deadline is Thursday so he is infinitely busy this week; these mini-kits will help keep me busy too. And next week I will hopefully have October kits for both Jamie and Tammy to do.

What do I do? Smash it with a papertowel? Eew. I can't even stand doing that with spiders. I know! I'll vaccuum it up- the preferred method for post 7 AM spider-killing. I get out the vacuum. Hook up attachments. Plug it in. Aim at cockroach. Turn vaccuum on. Nothing. It scuttles away when I poke it with the tube but refuses to be sucked up. Stupid cockroach. "It won't work!" Duh, Susie.

What do I do? "I'll smash it with a shoe." I get a shoe from the closet. On my way back I glance at myself in the mirror, holding my shoe and almost laugh. I carefully move my Pampered Chef serving dish away from the hiding antennae. Thunk, "eek!" thunk, "eek!" thunk. "Eek!" Stupid cockroach. "Eek!" It runs into the sink which, of course, has some dishes in it. Well, I can't very well thunk my dishes.

"What do I do?" Turn on water. Turn on disposal. Wait for cockroach to get washed down drain. Well, a cockroach that won't get sucked up into the vacuum isn't just going to be washed down the drain. It took some careful aiming of the water, using a knife, to get the guy down inside. Crunch, crunch. "Eew."

You dream about it.

Someone in our complex has lost their kitty. How sad.

Afterwards we went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. It was full of ladies with stollers and piles of shopping bags. I wondered outloud who these women were that shopped all day and dined at The Cheesecake Factory. Don't they have lives?

After that we spent some time at home so John could study and I could clean. John also let me open my presents then. As is his tendency, he totally spoiled me. He bought two big, framed prints to go above our bed. He also bought me two books, a DVD, some candy and some giftcards to In-in-Out and Jamba Juice so I could go out to eat sometimes too. I also got to open my package from Susan. There was a card from Grandma June and from Jodi and Franco and also two stamp sets for cardmaking and two books. Like I said, spoiled.

Next, we went to South Coast Plaza to buy some sort of decoration for a bowl I won at Bunco. We settled on a bag of light gray rocks to put a candle on, but when we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a candle, we found some cute potpourri and bought that instead. Finally, we went home and read until Rachel and Chris arrived and stayed up much too late talking with them.

Tune in next time for our next installment: Disneyland!

Basically, it was an all around great time. We all kept making great sarcastic comments, and we had a "princess count" of dressed-up little girls- got up to 30!

Tammy's husband dropped by some scrapbooking kits for me to do, and also a gift of several mini-kits. Very thoughtful. It took me eight trips from the car to bring everything in, plus the huge pile John brought in on the first trip. With a bit of rearranging, John managed to fit it all inside our closet. Of course I got half of it out last night to start putting kits together...

Also got to talk to my mommy on my birthday. Leonard called too, but we were at Jamie's and didn't hear it. I am so spoiled!

I am feeling a little sickie. Sore throat and no energy. I had some Umcka and drank a lot of OJ this morning. For lunch I am having pasta salad that my mommy made. Not exactly warm, cozy soup, but at least I am able to eat it. Thanks for the salad, mommy!

Two of my coworkers, with whom I spend a lot of time, commented that I seemed really down since I've been sick. I haven't been talking much because my thoat hurts. I think it is just really obvious on me because I normally have a lot of energy. This afternoon Andrea said I seemed a little more chipper.

I knew it was true when I said something funny and Noelle and I laughed like crazy. We realized it was the first time we had laughed in days (Noelle is also sick). Anyway, here's what happened:

I was giving Noelle a break and playing a quick game of Spider. Imagine my surprise when I won the game! I started another game and was shocked that I got a complete set before dealing once. Just after that I realized the difficulty was set to "Easy". Noelle returned and I related this to her. I concluded, "So I said to myself, 'self: you've been had!'"

We laughed until we had tears in our eyes. Like I said, we've been sick. I still laugh thinking about it.

I made a beautiful hollandaise sauce last night, to go with our beautiful, if not cheap, aspargus. Unfortunately, it had a little mishap while I was getting the laundry- it got microwaved for 30 seconds! So we had buttery, lemony, scrambled eggs on our aspargus. Hee hee! This amuses me to no end.

Overheard at the grocery store.

Then I made yummy fajitas for dinner, and lunch today. yum.

Noelle: I'll give you a give to Molly.
Me: Who's Molly?
Noelle: tamale!
We had been discussing tamales for ten minutes!

Reading a sign in my rearview mirror while stopped at a red light. "Fee-mal-ay". Feemalay? I keep reading. "Exotic Dancers". Oh, female.

This afternoon I was reviewing Corrs lyrics for the occasional word I couldn't figure out. I was surprised that one song, Tell Me No, wasn't on a rather comprehensive list. Turns out, I had completely misinterpreted the title, which is said about 20 times throughout the song: Time Enough. I have listened to this song about 50 times. In my defense, I listened to the song on my way home, and it still sounds like "tell me no." But there is no excuse for the rest of my stupidity.

Update: Doctor says it's allergies. He says allergy pills and cough syrup + codeine. And shut the windows while we sleep.

Hee hee. I did a lot better this time.

Another little story about James: One time he walked home with me and we sat on the porch talking until Mom came home. (We weren't allowed to have boys in the house if no one was home.) We hung out for a few hours, and after he left Mom said, "that's the kind of boy I used to bring home to my parents."

I went to Jamie's last night, to print domestic shipping labels and box up the international stuff for me to take to the P.O. I also took all of Tammy's kits and brought back stuff for Jamie's November kits. More work!

Poor Tyler has croup. Like I told John, I'd never seen a three-year-old with bags under his eyes before.

On the other hand, I recently had to change my password at work and I am having the opposite problem. I have to think very hard before typing my password to remember that it isn't the one I've been using for the last 3 months. We have to lock our computers when we step away, so I have to do this all the time.

In related news, my 90 day review is coming up, a bit early since Andrea is going on a cruise next week. Hmm. Is she really going on a cruise and leaving me as the Responsible Head of HR for a week? I hope they hire an HR manager soon.

Also, I have been stubbornly not rinsing off dishes when loading the dishwasher to prove that the point of a dishwasher is to wash the dishes for you (not after you). What do you know: it works. And, by the way, we have the most ancient, low-tech dishwasher.

Andrea is on a cruise to Mexico. She gave me a two-page list of things to do in the meantime, including prepare for an audit next week. Noelle and I have both been very busy all week- we've been working hard. *gets out list* Should be a busy week.

1 c. warm water
1 T. yeast
1 T. sugar
2 T. oil
3 c. flour
2 t. crushed garlic
1 t. oregano
fresh basil leaves, torn

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, oil and spices. Mix well. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead until smooth. Rise in covered, greased bowl until double. Pre-bake at 375° for 5 minutes before topping. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.

I don't always let it rise; it turns out ok if I just put it in the pan, top it and bake. If you do this, you don't have to pre-bake it.

Anyway, this makes two pizzas, so I usually divide it in half after rising, and put half in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap then foil. To use, it thaw overnight in the fridge, then sit on the counter for an hour to warm up, then roll onto the pan and let rise for another 1/2 hour. Two pizzas for the work of one.

With no kits to make and no new books to read and no scrapbooking to do, I found myself at a loss this afternoon. Of course, if I had more energy I probably would have put it to use better.

So yes, I am *practically* caught up on my scrapbooking. I still have one Christmas page to do, and Grandpa's funeral. I am waiting until Sunday when I can get some inks from Jamie. I want to use my cute leaf stamps, but I don't have any leaf-colored ink. So that's the holdup. In the meantime, I thought I'd write a bit. Very little physical energy required at least.

So if you've been wanting to do anything like this, trust me, it's easy. All you have to do is get started, and type fast enough to keep up with the ideas.

I remember Leonard teaching me how to ride a bike. We had an old blue dirt bike - that one was the best, until of course I got my ten-speed. We’d ride around the yard, up the hill on one side, down on the other. I fell and scraped my right knee pretty badly going up the hill one time. I had three huge, nasty cuts that hurt when I washed them in the bathtub. But I thought I was pretty cool wearing shorts to school to show my scabs. We’d also ride down the road to the reservoirs. The guys in trucks checking on the fields were all ok with “we live down the road” when they found us wandering around.

Leonard also taught me how to place tennis, over by the palm tree with the owl. I was so proud that I could hit the ball over the pool.

We loved to go around the yard and find treasures – anything little piece of metal. My collecting spot was in the fenced-in pool filter area.

We grew a beautiful garden into what used to be a horse corral. I remember corn, watermelon, and berries. Leonard also grew loofah on the fences. In other areas of the yard, we had orange, lemon and grapefruit trees and later grew peaches, apples and nectarines. In the summer, I would make a bowl of macaroni and cheese with peas and a big glass of milk and eat it on the hammock under the lemon tree.

When we first moved to the house there was an old “shack” in the corner of the corral. It was probably really just a piece of tin with two sticks on one side and the fence on the other. Leonard was the only one big enough to get up there. That was where he stored the treasures he found. I remember being upset when the “shack” fell during a storm, before I was big enough to climb up on it.

One year, Mom built us a beautiful treehouse. It was big enough for slumber parties and had a hole with a rope through it so we could climb down. It also had a little “porch” with a sign that said “Our Precious Kitties.” And the kitties would actually sleep there! Our two Preskool chairs were up there, and a little white shelf to hold our treasures. The trees it was built on grew collections of seeds with red needles sticking out of them. We used to pretend it was pepper. There was also a beam across with rings and a swing. I used to go out and swing on the swing and sing Primary songs to myself. I remember doing that while Rachel was riding her bike by. We also had a tire swing (how cool was that) and a giant wooden spool – I think the spool was inherited with the house in Arvin.

One of my favorite spots was a tree in the northwest corner. I needed our little Playskool chair to climb up to the main branch at first, but from there I could scamper up the branch and lean myself against it while looking out over the fields. I could see cars coming down Rancho road. I could see across the grapevines to the orange groves. I could see the birds flying across the sky. I could see the mountains to the east. I loved to climb up there and rest myself against the branch and just think. I’ll admit there were some initials carved into the branch, where no one but me could find them. But I don’t remember what they are.

Ah the pool. Elizabeth Velez and I had a synchronized swimming routine that we practiced for years. I also loved spinning around with my fingers just grazing the water. Leonard was famous for his backflips, with his long hair trailing out behind. I remember learning how to dive – and trying to teach Rachel. She was too scared to just lean forward. I loved to swim all the way across underwater. I remember filling up the pool every year and having a little party. It seemed magical, for some reason, when it was only half full. I even remember swimming when the pool was nasty and green. We were just jumping in and getting out, jumping in and getting out. We always had pet frogs, which were thrown over the fence without dismay. But I would go around and carefully “save” any ladybugs, ink bugs or caterpillars I could find.

We had two water tanks, one new and one old. I am pretty sure I remember climbing on them, although that can't have been allowed. There was also one of those cement wells. I always wanted to climb up and see inside of it. I think I saw inside of a different one and it was just dirt on the bottom. But so intriguing!

We also went to see the show, Golden Dreams. It was an interesting little movie about the settling and development of California. Starring Whoopi Goldeberg as Califia, inspiring the hearts of men and women throughout the ages! It made me cry.

Princess Count: 6 at California Adventure and 2 at Disneyland (we wandered over to go on Indiana Jones). Each of the past two Friday nights at Disneyland we only saw three little princesses.

Spent some time at Jamie and David's. John asked if I was bored because I didn't do any work there today, but I wasn't. I enjoyed talking to Jamie and helping with dinner and playing video games. I was actually winning at "Mario Baseball", but Tyler didn't like that and started crying so we left.

We are very excited for this week. The Chadwicks (all of them!) are coming down on Wednesday night. We are spending Thursday and Friday at Disneyland and Saturday at the beach. Besides having fun with my nieces and nephews, that means only three days of work this week! This is good news because we're having an audit and it's "business professional" and I don't have quite enough really nice clothes. Plus short work weeks are always nice. Plus, Disneyland!

I gave a ride to a lady who walks to the train station, since the weather was yucky and we were leaving at the same time. It made me feel a little better. I think I was blessed for it, because I went to the store to buy spice cake mix to make John's famous muffins, and they were on sale.

I made Chicken Satay for the Elders tonight. Such nice boys. I hope they had a good meal. We enjoyed talking with them. I hope I get more sleep tonight. I just enjoy having John around during those hours I should be in bed, I can't help but talk to him!

I have begun reading Lemony Snicket's The Penultimate Peril. It is already very good, especially compared to the earlier books in the series. You can read the first chapter online here.

The Chadwicks are all on their way to California! I am so excited for our weekend o' fun!

• In line for Autopia, Ashley, Jodi and I all won the free toy car, like Rachel won in September. Somebody didn't shuffle very well.
• While we were waiting for the parade, Erin stood up to take a picture of me, John, Ember and Hannah. While she was standing up we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her, really loud and other people in the crowd joined in, just like on TV. It was great.
• I love being Aunt Susie. "Aunt Susie, can you help me with this?" (Tyler and his sandcastle.) "I want to sit by Aunt Susie!" (Justin was particularly clingy after he got lost, and not just to me.)
• At the beach, Logan, Ember and I made a pretty decent sandcastle. Of course, you can't have as many nephews as we do and not get your castle knocked over. Pretty soon Tyler and I were making mini-castles just for him to knock over. I think we will have some cute castle-building pictures.
• After the beach on Saturday we went to the pool at one of the clubhouses in Jamie's neighborhood. Fancy Schmancy pool, clubhouse and hottub. The boys had chicken fights in the pool while Erin and I put our feet in the hottub and tried not to get wet.
• Saturday night, someone got out MadGab, which is a funny game anyway, but soon became loud and hilarious. Even John joined in for a few rounds and was very good.

I've never noticed the effect of having a fall* birthday before, but aside from my costumed teddy bear, there is the dark orange spatula David picked out (I have already used it like, ten times) and the pumpkin bundt pan. Anyway, I'm spoiled.

*I don't actually have a fall birthday. It is right at the end of Summer.

Anyway, today continues the grand reopening and they were having free samples. I also got a book with $80 of coupons on Vons brand stuff and some coupons for some free items. I got a sample of their yummy Signature soup, all the free items, and used three of the other coupons. I have finally succeeded in "saving" over 50% using my Vonscard and coupons.

I was going to buy the soup anyway because I had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and John had been eyeing it earlier. But after I tried the Tuscan Tomato Basil Bisque I had to get it. It was so delicious!!! I have finally found a soup that is comparable to the Soup Kitchen in Salt Lake. It's not the same, but equally yummy. I also bought a container of the Fajita Chicken Chowder. Shall post a review once I try it.

I thought the world was awfully dark this morning with out him. But then I realized it was probably because I had gotten up to go to work 1/2 hour early. I am leaving work at 3 and going in search of cheese-costume making materials. I would prefer a nice piece of foam, cut a hole for my head and some "cheesy" holes. But I don't want to spend more than $10. I will make a sandwich board out of foamboard if I have to.

After over a year and five tries, I have finally finished my scrapbook page of Grandpa's funeral. I kept having a hard time when I sat down to do it and I'd end up staring into space. Or I'd want it to be perfect and put it off so I could get the right supplies. Anyway, it's done. I'm not 100% happy with it, but it tells the story I want it to.

1. Someone at work said the ones behind our office aren't in use.

2. There are none of those gates that come down for when trains pass.

3. People always stop on them.

The other day the lights were flashing red and the cars were all stopped but there was no train. Then I looked and saw one with, like, two cars slowly making it's way away. If anything this proves my theory.

We went to a baby shower for Jenifer (James) Griffin's new little boy. It was really good to see her, Bobby and Nancy James. Also saw Tim Overturf's mom. And it was at Fresh Choice, can't beat that. And the baby was very cute.

Mom is napping and I am picking up something for Rachel's halloween costume. We are eating dinner together then Mom and I are going to visit Grandma Rosie. She fell last week and is in convalesence. I hope she will be glad to see us. Rachel wants me to stick around and hang out with her after MLI, so I will get home late tonight. But it will be a good trip!

Jellybean snores.

Very busy busy week. I have a lot of work to do for Jamie, and I'm going back to Bakersfield on Thursday night. I will probably be taking a lot of this work with me. We'll see.

Tonight (after the Post Office and grocery shopping, and John getting back from LA) we are going to a Halloween party a young family in the ward is throwing. I will still be cheese.

You know you've been living in Utah when cigarette smoke reminds you of somewhere you went four years ago.

You know you go to Disneyland too much when exhaust fumes remind you of Autopia.

The receptionist is pretty much omnipotent as far as a salesman is concerned. Noelle and I screen calls for the IT director. He gets A LOT of sales calls, and rarely takes them. If you are a salesperson trying to talk to the IT director and he is always "in a meeting" or "away from his desk" or "out of the office", Face it: if he's interested, he'll call you back. Being rude to us won't help. Don't call back everyday, or four times a day, especially when we've told you he is out of the office, and will call you next week if he's interested. That's harrassment! And if we complain, you won't be getting our business anyway. Give us a break, and save us the trouble of putting you into voicemail everytime you call. You've already blown your chance - the first time we had to tell you off.

I saw a tanker truck that said "INEDIBLE NOT FOR HUMAN FOOD".

Mom got some blood, I spent two hours with Grandma. She seems a bit better. She says she is still dizzy when she tries to walk, but she was talking more coherently, and more often. Pat and Don were there when I arrived, along with Rodney Love, Aunt Ellen's son, and Carroll, one of Grandma's brothers. We are going to dinner at Pat and Alan's with them.

Grandma Susanna: I have asked Grandma several times about her grandmother because it says in my confirmation blessing to get to know and emulate my namesake. Ok well, here's what Grandma Rosie knows: She lived with them when Grandma was a little girl; She was mean to her daughter-in-law (Rachel); She thought the girls' (Rosalie and Lou) dresses were too short, "Georgie, buy some fabric so I can sew onto the bottom of those girls' dresses" (direct quote from Grandma); Grandma has a picture of her sitting on the front porch with a shotgun in her lap. Yeah, that's it. We laughed so hard when she first told us about the photograph, though.

Grandma came to California when she was five. Mark had only had primer before, so they started first grade together and everyone thought they were twins. I think he is less than 1 1/2 years older. She said she later visited a good friend who still thought that!

I asked her if she'd ever liked to cook. She said when they were first married she made rolls from scratch for dinner every night. "When we started farming, that's when the cooking quit."

Oh, and Don was teasing Pat about burning dinner tonight. She says she only burns stuff when her brothers are around, and they told a story about one Thanksgiving when Dad turned the oven to "Broil" and let her rolls burn on purpose until the smoke detector went off. Everyone got blamed but him because he was sneaky. That reminded me of something John would do to tease and laugh about (well, maybe not ruin food...), especially since Pat's brothers are still teasing her about burning stuff!

Also, it was very cute to see Uncle Carroll sitting on the bed with his arm around Grandma, squeezing her every once in a while. Nice protective brother. He said he's been to visit her four times in the past two years.

John is getting ready for his third CPA exam today. Good luck! (like you need it)

John is in LA for tonight (and who knows how late tomorrow night). I just got home from the post office. I think I will do a bit of cleaning, since I didn't do it this weekend and read a book. Noelle has lent me a series of Christian romances (The English Garden Series by Lori Wick) and I am actually enjoying them. They have all the mushy love stuff I enjoy without being a "trashy novel".

Let’s leave Behind The things that do not matter, And turn Our lives To a more important chapter.

“Eeyores are Realists, they say. But Reality is what one makes it.”

“Without difficulties, life would be like a stream without rocks and curves – about as interesting as concrete.”

“In reality, heroes are heroic because they, despite their weakness – and sometimes because of them, do great things. If they were perfect they wouldn’t be here in earth’s classroom.”

Persian Curse: May your every desire be immediately fulfilled.

“When one’s will is not distracted, one’s power is increased.”

“[The] worthwhile and important things in life – wisdom and happiness in particular – are not the sorts of things one can Chase After and Grab.”

I also love when he is talking about how this book will be more serious than The Tao of Pooh… and Piglet falls into the wastebasket.

Also, they have started construction on the [empty] top floor of our building. Loud. And the guys had to be told they couldn't smoke up there (duh).

A couple nights ago, I dreamt I went back to Haven Drive to see Mr. Autry. Maybe because I was playing my flute while I was at Mom's house last weekend.

After the temple, we went to the outlets in Carlsbad. We went in all the shops and saw a few things we liked. We didn't buy much though. The parking lot was crazy!! Apparently, people don't do anything but shop down here. On the drive home, I got to talk to Leonard about various Christmas presents.

Kristen's baby was very cute. She is just 5 weeks old, and her name is Lizzy. I asked Kristen if Lizzy made her miss her kids less and she said, "No, it's different." I told her I understood (although probably no one else ever will). It is different. And now I know that ache will always be there.

It's been almost four years; my kids are all older than my nieces and nephews. But I think they'll always be my babies in my mind.

Other than listening to the radio, I have two distinct memories about fog. One was driving home from Bakersfield on a very, very foggy night. We were going less than 25 mph and had the windows rolled down to help us see better. Took us a very long time to get home. Someone was following us to make their way easier.

The other one was at Haven Drive. It was so foggy that we'd probably had a fog delay, but it hadn't cleared. Anyway, my friends and I were playing hide-and-seek on the playground, just feet away from each other in the open space. You can't do that in non-B-town fog!

Creamy Tomato Chicken Penne

2 1/2 c. uncooked pennne
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 T. olive oil
2 T. chicken broth
2 c. cooked cubed chicken
1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese (I didn't have any so I used Mozzerella)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 can sliced ripe olives, drained

Cook pasta. In large skillet saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in broth; cook for 1 minute. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through and slightly thickened. I added a handful of chopped fresh basil at the end, and I think it made a big difference. Makes 6 servings.

Caramel Apple Cider

1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 c. apple cider
1/2 c. water

Bring cream and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cider and water and raise heat to medium high, heating just until the cider begins to steam, about 4 minutes. Divide among 4 mugs, top each with 2 T. of caramel whipped cream and serve immediately.

Caramel Whipped Cream

1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. brown sugar

In a small chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream with the brown sugar until soft peaks form. (I didn't make this because I was using cream that had been in the freezer.)

Oh wait, you already knew that. Well, here's further proof: John is taking me on an Alaskan cruise next May! We want to do it all: dogsledding, flightseeing, canoeing around a glacier.

Like I said, spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.

It's that time again - time to make Christmas shopping easier for each other. Please post your wishlist (you know you've got it) so we can start emailing behind your back and calling dibs.

I will be a bit of a hypocrite here, because I left my list at home, but I will post it soon. I even put potential stocking stuffers on this year - mostly because I didn't get any of them for my birthday =P Just kidding.

PS: Rach, you get to watch your Christmas present be made, because I haven't had any other time for it. You can be extra picky!

black buttondown shirt
bright pink buttondown shirt
eyeglasses cleaner refill
$$ for Susie's Alaskan cruise fund
cookbooks
plants
red nail polish
nail buffer
cream nylon trouser socks
big bath pouf
small soap dish
Dr. Scholl's cushy feet thingys ("He's so not gellin'")
cute socks
interesting books
practical little useful things
anything from Ghiradelli Square!!

John said yesterday "everything we did today had a Christmas theme." He was talking about our Disneyland activities, but really the whole day was like that for me. In the morning, Noelle and I went to a service day sponsored by the local Interfaith Council. We sewed hats onto little dolls, tied a quilt, made two fleece blankets where you tie the knots around the end, and wrote two letters each to Afghanistan orphans. It was really a lot of fun, although my fingers hurt from all the needle-pulling.

Then John and I went on our twelfth Disneyland trip. We visited the reindeer, had our picture taken in a sleigh, waiting in line to meet Mickey, watched the "Christmas Fantasy" parade, which was very good. Princess Count: 16

In the evening we pulled out all our Christmas decorations. We put our little tree up, with twice as many ornaments this year. I only decorated the front 2/3, and it looks pretty good. Our little tree skirt and stockings I made last year. Our light-up snowman and two nativity sets, and the blocks I made at Enrichment last year. It actually doesn't look like much, but it's still quite nice. Feels like home.

We spent tonight at Jamie and David's, me putting together her Christmas-themed kits. I got half done, which was nice because we are tired of hauling the stuff in from the car and back again. Only one trip this time!

I am excited for our busy, two-day workweek. Hopefully we will get to see Goblet of Fire tomorrow night. I am doing laundry now so we can get all packed and ready to leave Tuesday night. It should be a wonderful trip to San Francisco for Thanksgiving; it sure was last year. I am looking forward to seeing all of my family.

I brought my paperwhite bulbs to work so Noelle can water them while I'm gone (needy bulbs). They have been quite the conversation piece.

Also, very clumsy today. I almost fell out of my chair this morning, right onto the floor - please, laugh! I did. Then I knocked an entire cup of water onto my desk when reaching for the phone. Luckily no papers got wet.

Rachel, John and I went to Chinatown on Friday morning. We parked on Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. John got his sweet bread and some mango soy milks. We had a nice walk around. We also drove down to Jollibee in Daly City for John. Such a spoiled boy.

I also had a lot of fun playing games with everyone. John hopes I got my game fix, and I probably did. We also watched A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was pretty funny. My favorite quote, of course, was when they were shooting each other with the Point of View gun and the President turns it on the girl and she says, "It won't do anything; I'm already a woman." Mom and Leonard said the book is funnier so I will add that to my reading list.

I am a teeny bit mad at her for not waiting a few hours so I could visit her again. But she got to go home from the Skilled Nursing place, and she'd had a nice Thanksgiving with Pat and Alan. And she had finished the baby quilt she'd been working on.

I am more than a bit sad to have joined the realms of the grandparentless. There is still Grandma June (who "adores" me).

Other bad news: Unlike John, my cold followed me home from San Francisco and I am all runny today. Efrain was nice enough to bring me a box of tissues. Yesterday John and I brought in some Christmas decorations and did some fix-it things for mom. While trying to mend a pipe, I tripped and fell on the patio and now I am sore and bruised today. I am going to go stocking-stuffer shopping after work to make myself feel better, even though today is the only day to finish Christmas kits for Jamie. With John in LA, I will still have enough time to work, I hope.

I remembered why I like paperwhites so much- they're delicious smelling. Mine opened up two little blooms yesterday. I'm sad to be leaving them again. I tied a sparkly red ribbon around them so they could stand up straight. It's very pretty. Thanks, Mommy!

Also got sympathy flowers from work.

Since John's car doesn't have a CD player, he mostly listens to Radio Disney. They have "Disney-ed" up some of the songs to make them more appropriate for their younger audience, but I couldn't believe one I heard on my way to pick John up in LA. It was Mambo No. 5. I knew they had changed the lyrics when I heard "ice cream." Ice cream? Women and liqour maybe, but no ice cream. So I listened and heard something like this:

A little bit of Minnie in my life/A little bit of Mickey by her side/A litte bit of Donald is what I need/A little bit of Daisy is what I see/A little bit of Pluto in the sun, etc.

John: Starving kids in China don't have legs.

As not funny as that ought to be, we laughed for 5 minutes.

Susie: Honey?

Tyler: Honey! I mean, Uncle John!

Later, Tammy (Jamie's business partner and in their ward) and her husband came over with their little boy. I was sitting at the table facing away from the door.

Andy: Hi Jamie.

I look at him.

Andy: Oh, hi Sister Crawford. What are you doing here, Sister Crawford?

I keep looking at him, and finally say, "I'm Tyler's Aunt Susie", because I haven't realized it's Tammy's son yet. He just walked off to play with Tyler.

The really funny thing is that they don't know any Crawfords. But I probably just heard him wrong.

John brought me home a very yummy treat from Starbucks. It had a cookie bottom and caramel and chocolate and nuts. It tasted a bit like Almond Roca, only chewy. He is such a thoughtful husband!

Obviously, we went to California Adventure first. We went on all the good rides: Tower of Terror (front row), the river rafts (hardly got wet), the swings in the orange (John hates those and has never gone with me before) and then California Screamin' opened just as we got there. We got very front row seats and it was awesome! So fast!

Then we walked over to Disneyland. As we walked around, everything had such long lines we didn't feel like waiting in, so we ended up going on the Mark Twain riverboat. Such luck! Not only did we walk right on, but the "captain" asked us if we wanted to go up to the wheelhouse with her. It was really awesome. We got to ring the bell, blow the whistle, and "steer" (John was right - the boat runs on a track). Also, we happened to have brought our camera, so we got lots of pictures taken with the awesome view. Athena told us lots of stuff about Disneyland and working there. And we got Pilot Certificates.

The fun didn't end there. We walked around the whole park, then ended back at Main Street and got on the train. We rode the whole way around. We were sitting at the very front, so we got to watch them fill the engine (it's steam, you know). Also, got a nice view of the "it's a small world" lights, and drove right through the middle of the parade lined up "backstage." Mrs. Claus waved to us.

After the train ride, we went back to California Adventure and had a delicious sundae. It was finally time for our FastPasses for Soarin' (we'd had them for 4 hours!) We got the very last top row seats. Oh, and did I mention we saw about a million characters? I mean, everyone was out today. Chicken Little, the Incredibles, Mushu (gave me "5"), Baloo, Pluto, Santa, Penguin, etc etc etc.

*sigh* what a wonderful day. I'm so spoiled!

Lady: Can you tell me the bid on the pop-up Santa?

!!!

Somewhere along the line the Richardson's started drinking orange juice with ginger ale. I don't know where this came from (I suspect Leonard, an alcoholic drink, or both), but it's yummy! Of course, when John drinks his eggnog/ milk concoction, it means four bottles on the table for dinner.

At work we have giant tape dispensers for packaging tape. I haven't found them very useful in taping a box - I can barely lift them - but anyway. Efrain (maintenance man and "all-around good guy") was taping down an extension cord for us with one of these things, forgot he was taping down an extension cord and dug into it when we was trying to cut the tape. Do Not Do This! Huge sparks went flying. The tape dispenser teeth are all bent and the cord has a big burned spot, but luckily Efrain is fine.

John: Sunrise?

Leonard helps: We have an uncle named this.

John: Larry?

Following close behind in the memory list is the time all the Chadwicks played MadGab at the Vans. I love playing games, esp. with my family.

Also, I consistently mispronounce the word “gestures” like the game “Guesstures”, which I have never played.

Not that Lynn is old. I am a terrible judge of age and if I didn’t know she was Erin’s mom I’d say she was, like, 50-55.

In other news, yesterday the CEO complimented my outfit and the ribbon in my hair. From what I’ve heard, he is a very fashion-conscious individual, so I was pleased. I am wearing the “Christmas Tree Skirt” skirt that Mom made in the ‘70s.

I heard this song on RadioDisney on my way to work. I mentioned this before; they edited this song too. I went like this: Grandpa's taking this so well [cut to next verse].

This morning we awoke to a bit of fog, which really made it feel like Christmas to me. Leonard also mentioned today that the weather in Bakersfield is usually foggy on Christmas. There was no traffic, it only took us 2 hours to get to Bakersfield, and Leonard and Sumana pulled up right behind us. We took Rachel out to lunch since she has to work (John's idea!) and Leonard and I have started a Christmas Eve feast. We made a turkey! Gretel was excited: she got the gibblets.

On Monday morning, Leonard, Rachel and I cleaned out Mom's garage and the shed. It was great! Leonard boxed up all the junk for the Salvation Army and Rachel and I dejunked, cleaned and organized in the shed. Then we all cleaned in the garage. We were out there for several hours and filled both the trashcan and the recycling bin. The place looks awesome now, and we can get rid of so much junk. Except now Mom is worried we'll want to keep all our old junk in there.

Leonard and I made a huge dinner on Christmas Eve. We cooked the turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, gravy, mashed potatoes and spinach dip. Then we had fun sorting the stocking stuff we'd all got for each other. I love doing stockings!

Christmas evening we went to Pat and Alan's and had fun playing with the little cousins and eating. This year was more fun than some because the little kids are getting older and Santa has started coming again.

We had a good time going to church together and opening stockings/gifts. We are all quite spoiled, I think. John and I got some fun games, books, clothes, DVDs, etc. Also some Target gift cards, so we can buy a digital camera. And peanut brittle.

Monday night Leonard, Rachel, John and I went to Black Angus and split the $46 Filet Mignon meal for two, with a few add-ons. It was delicious. We also played lots of games: Apples to Apples, Guillotine and Settlers of Catan. I love playing games! My new Guillotine game is fun.

Yesterday John and I stopped in Valencia to hang out with Tyler and Tasha. We played another game of Apples to Apples with them and two of Tasha's siblings. It was a lot of fun. When we got home we "took down Christmas" and put up some of our new decorations. Then we watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", which is my favorite of the Rankin/Bass films John loves.

Now I have two days of work to live through and then another four day weekend!

It is 9:10; I don't know if I will make it another three hours! Tomorrow, and next week, I have to be the Primary Chorister, which I think is the hardest calling, especially since it's not my calling! I guess we will sing fun songs for two weeks.