Traffic for 2006 October

(3) Mon Oct 16 2006 13:26 PST A Universal Disappointment: Went with Susie, the woot, and Rob to Universal Studios Hollywood on Saturday. I wanted to get there at opening hour (9 am) so we wouldn't miss a beat. Well, we didn't. We had done everything by 3 pm. Everything. The longest line of the day was like 20 minutes. And the weather was perfect. That's the good news.

The bad news is that it wasn't fun. They had this stupid Van Helsing haunted house thing that wasn't scary at all, the Jurassic Park ride just takes you up to see a bunch of fake dinosuars and gets you slightly wet, and the Backdraft exhibit is just a bunch of smoke and flames.

The Mummy ride wasn't bad. It did go backwards, and the beetles eating my feet were pretty scary. But it was a pretty short ride. The backlot tour was also ok, though the earthquake wasn't as scary as it was the first time I experienced it. We did get to see Wisteria Lane since they weren't filming that day, but since I don't even watch Desperate Housewives, it wasn't that thrilling.

The consistency to the day was the fact that every ride involves a lot of mist, water, and something poking you. Every ride. I guess it's done to remind us that all that Hollywood is based on smoke and mirrors.

They also had a waterworld show that was quasi-entertaining. Except I've never seen the movie. Susie, woot, and Rob all noted that it's a pretty stupid movie. So I'm not sure why they chose to make a show out of it. I have beefs with a lot of the concepts to the movie idea in general.

Sunday was a fun day. Susie was up on the stand playing the opening hymn when the Heil family came in and sat two rows behind us. Their 6 year-old Lucas came and sat next to me. He's not in our primary class, but he wishes he was. Anyway, we played cars and he drew a picture of an alien that got destroyed by bombs, dogs, guns, and gerbils. Susie liked the gerbils. It was kind of fun to sit through Sacrament Meeting with a six year-old by my side, though I didn't catch a single word that was spoken from the pulpit.

Next Sunday is the primary program, and Susie and I are both excited to get it over with. It's torture to both kids and teachers alike. But religious traditions die hard, so there you have it. We practiced for two hours straight yesterday. The kids were so restless by the end. A treat has been promised next week after the performance. It had better be good. And I had better get one. It's about time I got a treat in Primary. I know all the answers.

(3) Thu Oct 19 2006 16:45 PST Tech Deck: Last night Susie and I watched Labrynth. The subtitles were on, and I don't know how to turn them off. But it was actually pretty entertaining with them on, as there was a lot of stuff I don't I would have picked up on otherwise.

We also went to Wahoo's for dinner and I have the shrimp enchilada meal, which came with two enchiladas, beans, and rice. What I really wanted was the shrimp quesadilla. But for some reason the quesadilla was more than the whole meal thingy I got. I really don't understand retail.

(3) Thu Oct 26 2006 08:45 PST Stupid Indian Summer: It's gonna be 85 again today. I really don't know how these SoCalians can stand so much sunshine. I kinda miss having "weather."

Anyway, I won a free gym pass to 24 hour fitness. And not just any 24 hour fitness, the fancy one with the showers and spa and all that stuff. And the pass is good for a whole year! I can no longer say I never win anything. I am very excited about this, as my current gym membership at our apartment is a disgrace. I'm always afraid the treadmill is going to eat me it's sooo noisy.

Susie and I have spent the last few weeks pondering the meaning of life. My favorite coworker is relocating to UT to work with my other favorite coworker who left in September. I'm getting pretty tired of people asking me if I'm moving back to UT, especially because I don't know the answer to their question. Susie and I are doing our best to stay in Cali, but it's hard. We spent all last week looking for cheaper housing opportunities, but I just don't have the energy to move right now. So, for the time being, we are staying put. Out of sheer laziness, which bothers me because I'm normally not a lazy person. Maybe I'll call it sheer exhaustion and feel better about it.

Shifting gears, our primary program was on Sunday and literally in spite of the presidency our children all did very well. We practiced for three weeks and then the day of the program there was a new seating chart implemented and half our kids weren't sitting with us. And I couldn't yell at somebody about it because I was at the organ playing prelude. During the lesson I asked our kids who loved me and their little hands all shot way up. And Spencer sat on my lap the whole time during sharing time without causing problems. That's the stuff that makes it all ok. I hope my own daughter will be that crazy about me.

Lastly, last night we had a BYU alumni dinner sponsored by the firm and Buca di Beppo. I really don't like their food, but it was a lot of fun. Susie wore a maternity shirt so that no one would mistake her for being fat (she's still kinda in that inbetween stage) but we really didn't need to worry. At least half of the women there were pregnant. One thing's for sure, you wouldn't mistake us for a meeting of the OC Choppers.

(6) Sun Oct 29 2006 18:37 PST Mr Sandman: Susie is a happy camper because she got to sleep in today. She's also happy because, five months into her pregnancy, people can finally tell that she is pregnant. Though she technically is still in the inbetween phase of "I can't ask her if she's pregnant....She could just be fat." She seems bothered by it. I'm ok with it. Less to lose in the end.

Today in Sacrament Meeting we had another pew visitor: Elizabeth. She was very excited to sit with us, and we gave her Spencer's goldfish, since I had noticed that he was not in church today. I enjoy primary a lot. What I don't particularly enjoy is being the ward choir accompanist. When I told the director we'd be in NYC for Thanksgiving, she decided to cancel the November song instead of get another substitute. That's what I get for being a good director-follower.

Yesterday Susie and I went to the LA temple. We've been meaning to go to that temple since we celebrated our third wedding anniversary, and finally made it there yesterday. It was a sad sight. That temple could hold over 200 people in a session and there was maybe 50 people in ours. The Newport temple, on the other hand, can hold about 50 people, and is always packed. We also were asked to assist in some sealings. It was a good trip. I need to make it there more often.

I finished Lemony Snicket's final book the other day. Not sure what to make of it. I guess, if nothing else, it's over. Any book suggestions on what I should start reading now?