Friday, February 22, 2008

the song remembers when

I’m sitting at my desk, the cold snow blowing outside, the warm space heater keeping my feet toasty. I have my headphones in because, well, without music to sooth my soul I sometimes lack the strength to make it through my work day. I usually only listen to instrumental music so that I am not distracted by lyrics, and, thanks to good friends, I have a several cd’s copied onto my office computer. I can usually make it through the day without really noticing the music other than that it helps me tone down my angry feelings (work is not a happy place, can you tell?) One song, though, always manages to completely lift me out of my concentration.

Somebody and I spent the first part of our honeymoon in Park City, an often hoity toity mountain resort, at the best bed and breakfast ever. Our big splurge, though, was not on the hotel. It was on the food. We both appreciate fine food and enjoy finding excuses to blow our hard-earned money on exquisitely prepared cuisine. My favorite dining experience of that week was at a little restaurant called Bistro 412 on Main St. in Park City.

We were sitting outside, enjoying the most divine coconut curry mussels in the world, and my attention turned to the music playing. It was an instrumental recording of Edelweiss, one of my favorite tunes. I distinctly remember sitting there, my napkin stained with the bright yellow of the curry, the sweet tang of the sauce in the mouth, listening to this beautiful song and looking over at Somebody and realizing that I had never been happier in my life. How lucky was I that the music, the food, and the location, while all wonderful in their own right, were eclipsed by the person sitting across from me?

Even now, whenever I hear that song I am instantly taken back to that moment.
Everyone has songs that will transport them to another place and time and bring up memories, both good and bad, from the past. What is your remembering song?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

because i said so

Go here. Just because you should. And watch the video. Now. And then tell me what you think about it.

like having the wind knocked out

I hate Phoenix. My stupid resort hotel has this stupid, secluded hot tub tucked away in this stupid little alcove next to a stupid waterfall. And because this end of the stupid resort is pretty empty right now, this stupid hot tub has been unused and so inviting, and so I put on my stupid suit and flip flops and made my way up there late last night. It was like stupid rock climbing, I’m sure, if rock climbing is at all like climbing stairs made of rock in flip flops. And then, stupid!, I tripped myself and ended up stubbing my toe on the rock. But I kept on going and enjoyed a soak in the tub, all the while curious as to why my toe might still be throbbing. And then I got back to my stupid hotel room and looked at my toe. Ouch. Pain all night. Pain all day. No sock or shoe is comfortable, but my white flip flops don’t look too hot when worn with my black suit. Dang, Phoenix. You lure me in with your oranges and friends, and then you trip me with nature and laugh at my pain.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

if it tasted any fresher it would still be on the tree

I am in Phoenix this week for work meetings, and while I sometimes pretend that there is anything at all that I enjoy about work meetings I think my family is clear that the real reason I’m excited about Phoenix is that I get to spend some time with the lovely Housewife and her Jim Bob and Munchkin. Our Utah life included very few married friends (we love the friends we already had when we were single and saw absolutely no reason to get some new ones when we got married) and were sad to leave this one married friend behind. They left right after us, though, and are living it up in sunny Phoenix.

Anyway, we love these kids. We feel okay calling them kids because they are young and we are old, and we like to joke about how they are kids having kids, and what is this world coming to what with all the kids and their Hammer pants?, but then I see the great outfits that Housewife puts together and I listen to Jim Bob talk about noodling, and I know the future is safe in their hands.

Housewife picked me up from my hotel and took me straight to the mall where I could be good and jealous that they have a billion stores that I could only dream of shopping in. Then we went back to their place and they rubbed in my face the fact that they live in a house with five citrus trees in the backyard. I know. Green (orange?) with envy over here.
Oh, the happy days I would enjoy having all the oranges I could care to eat. Jim Bob got busy making some juice and I ruined my dinner by downing every last drop.
But people, it’s not the mall or the juice that made this evening wonderful (although the juice was pretty high up there). It was the company. The complete comfort of not having to worry about having things to talk about, or making sure you always agree, or having commonalities (we already know we have them!). These kids, well, they are smart and funny and engaging and just a delight to be with. When I relayed Somebody with tales of the evening he actually asked me to please stop telling him because he was so jealous that he couldn’t be there, too. Yeah. They are that cool.

Shopping. Oranges. Excellent conversation. I think I like Phoenix.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

sweet like cotton candy

My siblings produce freakishly good-looking children, and the latest edition from my younger sister is no exception. There are few things that can shut out the world like holding a tiny, sleeping baby.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

the final present

My attempts at homemade Christmas presents kind of failed. Wait. Am I talking about Christmas in February? You got that right, sister. I finally, finally completed my sister’s Christmas present and was relieved to finally deliver it when we went up to visit this weekend. I had seen the idea a year or so ago, promptly forgot the site with the template, decided I wished I remembered, begged and pleaded anyone I could think of who might know where to direct me, and then, and an answer to prayer, found what I was looking for. And that was the easy part. I’m still learning the intricacies of Photoshop, and while I really want us to be BFFs and braid each other’s hair while watching Girls Just Want to have Fun, our relationship has been nothing if not rocky as Photoshop refuses to behave like any other program I’m familiar with. Woe is me, I know. (Side note, if any of you know a good web site that has Photoshop tutorials, please direct me.) Anyway, after hours of work, then rework once I realized I’d created everything with a sucky resolution, and then with guidance from a genius coworker in transferring the files from Photoshop to Illustrator to Adobe, I was finally able to print and glue. But, oh! The books. The books. The books. I thought using blank board books was genius until I realized that there is no where in the greater Kansas City area where you can walk in a buy them, and that if you call a store because they show them in stock online but the store tells you they don’t have them in the store, you shouldn’t go to that store thinking the phone girl was mistaken because you might end up spending an hour sorting through dirty books with the misplaced hope that somehow one ended up in the bargain bin without any employees noticed. And then you will get mad and hate Christmas.
I ended up ordering the books online, and was happy (Happy!) to read that they were the perfect number of pages for a complete alphabet and then sad (Sad!) when they arrived and I realized they were counting each page twice, those sneakers. Oh, and the glue. Good nelly, you would think it would be easier to find a reasonably priced paper adhesive that would also work as a top finishing coat. Trial and error. I was able to glue the paper down, but no top coat.

Blah blah blah, I’m finished and I’m pleased with the final result. The whole process has taken so much emotion and time that nothing short of my sister and her family jumping for joy and singing loudly the praises of my good work would have made me feel like it was worth it. Um. It wasn’t worth it. I think she already has a few books with the alphabet, and I think she might like those ones better. Oh well. Live and learn. Buy from China.

Friday, February 01, 2008

to catch a fly

One of my coworkers gave me this gift for my birthday. I had heard about the Venus Flytrap, and, to be honest, thought it would be a lot more exciting than it is. I was hoping the traps would snap shut the second a fly landed, and that I would be all grossed out, and startled, and delighted to see it in action. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. It must be catching flies because it is still alive, but I’ve never seen it in action. The hope that someday I’ll see a plant eat an animal is what keeps me coming in to work each day.