Susie's Leaning Tower of Chocolate for 2006 April

Poor Xochitl. John: I heard this hissing and I swear I thought there was a cobra in there!

Rachel will be relating the story of the 14 cent tip from girls who listen to Disney music.

John: This is a really weird calendar. St. Patrick's Day, Friday, March 17th? Susie and Rachel: ...

We had a nice weekend in Bakersfield. John and I went to White Forest Nursery and to Smart & Final and then ripped out the winter garden and planted tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. There was a lot more we could have done in the yard if the green waste bin hadn't been full. It's easy to work in the yard now that Gretel is gone. Instead, I cleaned off Mom's desk and then organized the top drawer of her dresser. Also watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" with Rachel.

I slept terribly last night; I hate Daylight Savings. I kept waking up in the night, confused about what time I had to get up.

When I was cleaning out Mom's drawer the other day I found a silver cuff bracelet and she made me take it because it was "classic." I don't like those things because they poke your wrist when you put them on and I think wrists are gross, but I polished it up and wore it with a cute outfit to work yesterday and I felt so cool! Now I am a stylish person who wears cuff bracelets.

Alright, I have thought of one (1) good thing about Spring Forward; the day seems to go by a bit faster. I think my body is used to how many hours of work are left when there is a certain amount of light in the sky. Plus out systems administrator was sick yesterday so the phone says "6:45" right now and it's nice to know it's wrong. John and I went for a walk to get chocolate-dipped cones after dinner in the daylight.

Andrea called me this morning, on her way to her first day at her new job. I don't miss her yet, but maybe once we replace either of the positions she was filling and I have less to do.

I have had a lot of dreams that I am going somewhere but I haven't packed properly. 50 days until our cruise!

Yesterday was our 25th visit to Disneyland. I did a rough calculation of cost per visit and we are now down to about the price of going to the movies (in SoCal). It was very crowded. We went on a few rides at California Adventure and then on Big Thunder Mountain. I love roller coasters!

I have been given an exciting new project at work: dividing the benefit bills and coding them for each department. I spent an hour with the controller learning how the spreadsheets and bills worked and what to do to balance them and how to fill out the AP form. I spent all day yesterday doing the two remaining bills for February and most of today doing three for March. Next week I will get the five for April.

I am enjoying learning more about Excel and having thinking work to occupy my time.

It's nice to have a weekend without "things" to do sometimes. Last night we went to Irvine Spectrum and walked around. Today I went to a baby shower for Jen Jennings (the internet was down, so I found my way there using an actual map!). We went for a little hike on a trail in Newport Beach and then for a walk around IKEA where we bought some cheap nonessentials and some hotdogs and cinnamon buns. Then we went in the hot tub, watched Maverick, and decided on shore excusions for our Alaskan cruise. Tomorrow will also be a fun day. Jamie and David are on their way to Utah so we will do "nothing" all afternoon!

I have had a lovely day at work. I've been busy but the other people I've been working with have been cooperative and supplied necessary information. It's amazing how helpful people can be sometimes. I managed to complete two travel itineraries today, organize two training schedules, create a huge pile of training records and also did some training.

Also, I finished The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at "lunch". It ended rather abruptly because there is a 94 page making-of special at the end. The book was quite funny, but I'm afraid if I hadn't already seen the movie I would have been lost. As it was, I had to remember what happened in the movie to keep from wondering why the plot had fallen apart. But funny nonetheless.

I am going to the Post Office to do shipping after work, but John and I have another library date to make. He has given up on The Last Mohican.

Another busy day. I got most of the things done that I needed to, so I'm not overwhelmed, but it sure is nice to be busy.

Also, I got some inspiration for a scapbook page I want to make, so I'm even more excited to go home.

I've been meaning to post these recipes from Jamie for a while, so here we go.

7-UP Marinade
2 c. 7-UP
1/2 c. oil
1 c. soysauce
minced garlic
chopped onion
medium piece of minced gingeroot

Marinate chicken for 24 hours. Cook in oven or on grill. I used this on our George Foreman and it is delicious!

1 c. soycauce
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. fresh grated ginger
2 lb top sirloin, thin sliced

Stir to dissolve sugar. Marinate all day, stirring once. I used this on some really thin beef something I bought and grilled it on the George Foreman.

1 t. ground ginger
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. orange juice
1/4 c. honey
1 green onion, chopped

This one was originally for salmon, and I haven't made it yet, but John loved it and Jamie said it is also delicious on chicken.

Yay, half a day off! Well, 2 1/2 hours. Noelle is going to come over and scrapbook.

One of the movies John and I recently checked out from the library was At First Sight. It was ok, despite the superfluous bedroom scenes, but one part really struck me. After the main character has surgery, he opens his eyes and sees for the first time and says, "This can't be seeing! This can't be seeing!" How weird would it be to experience sight, or any sense for the first time like that, without any "visual vocabulary"? I imagine it would be pretty scary.

What will they think of next?

For breakfast this morning I had Frosted Cherrios with fresh strawberries. It was very yummy. Also, I made ham fried rice with leftover Easter ham for dinner and I didn't have any green onions, so I used a shallot instead - also very yummy.

By the way, you can't put a shallot in a garlic press. Just get out the cutting board already.

Since I have been using the same laundry detergent for years, anything different is very noticeable to my olfactory sense. Right now I am using half a box that came from Grandma's when she died. It doesn't actually smell like her, but knowing it's hers and noticing it's different makes me think of her.

The day Grandma died, we were putting up Christmas decorations at Mom's house. I kept pretending everything was from Grandma so I could be sentimental about it. Grandma Jessie really made the Christmas blankets, but they remind me of Grandma Rosie - especially the frog one which I took to our apartment.

I didn't feel like writing about it after she died, but now I thought I'd post what I said at her funeral.

One of the things Grandma and I shared, besides our weird thumbs was telling random storeis. I loved to listen to her talk and talk. When she started slowing down, she topped talking as much, but the last time we were together we had a great time chatting.

We reminisced about one of the trips we took up north together, to a Benson reunion. I drove us home from Aunt Lou's late one night and she talked the entire way, telling storeis about growing up, raising her kids, random stories. We went the long way because we were both scared to drive by the prison. I don't think I said one word the whole way home. That's what I'll miss most about Grandma.

John and I went out with a couple in our ward, Jennifer and Matt Faas, to CPK for dinner on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun. We stayed and talked for over two hours. We really like our ward and it's nice to have friends. I just got a compliment on the skirt I'm wearing. It's a skirt Rachel bought me at an Express sale while I was in Romania. Nice sissy!

It's been a good day; slow at times, but I enjoyed holding actual conversations with my supervisor. I am looking forward to working a half-day tomorrow and going to Bakersfield with John.

I cut my finger grating cheese at Mom's house. I can't complain too loudly though, because John and Rachel did the rest of the cooking. And John cleaned Mom's kitchen. Twice.

I have had some work to do today, but I locked myself out of my computer and had to spend 1 1/2 hours doing nothing until IT came back from lunch. I am looking forward to a yummy dinner and a nice evening walk with my husband.

This week I have read two teeny-bopper books from Rachel. One was Voices After Midnight, a book we both remembered reading when we were little. We were talking about it a few weekends ago and Mom told us more of what it was really about (enough to be able to find it online) and said that we'd read a preview copy from a friend of Dad's who did book reviews for the LA Times.

The other book was An Occasional Cow, which Dad read us ages ago (obviously). This book is about a girl from New York who gets sent to live with her cousins in Iowa when her summer camp burns down. They teach their pigs to curtsy for the town pig talent show and make the world's largest gum chain. I know this book has been part of our family culture in the past: "Yeah, I'll say!" Plus, Rachel is well-known in our house for making gum chains.

I have a little book in my purse where I write down funny things, important things, everything. This bumper sticker I saw was written in there. What kind of people openly speak against tolerance? What's wrong with tolerance? We tolerate you, don't we?

Disneyland was very empty last night. We went on lots of rides, walked right onto the Matterhorn twice in a row, and saw the Parade of Dreams.

I had three kumquats this morning.