Snow shoeing

On Friday, we headed up Millcreek Canyon with some friends to do a little snow shoeing. It was a winter wonderland up there! Spectacularly beautiful...

Christmas...the Low Down

Christmas was great. Good times with family and friends. Delicious food. Thanks Mom, for Christmas breakfast of sausage, egg, & potato casserole and the stuffed french toast. Yum!

We also celebrated Christmas night with some french food to honor Lauren's impending semester in France. Lauren requested ratatouille and we also had quiche, a cheese tray, and mushroom pate. Bon appetit!

Awesome gifts!

And finally, some holiday silliness. We sent this to our friends who spent Christmas in Cancun. Earlier in the day they'd sent a photo of their pool side fruity drinks, complete with paper umbrellas, wishing us a merry Christmas.


Overall, a terrific day despite all my pre-holiday crankiness! :)

The Cleavers End of Season Montage

This is a video montage that I put together for my awesome Leave It to Cleaver team mates to memorialize forever our victorious 2008 season (league champs, baby!). If you aren't a roller derby fan or maybe even a Cleaver's fan this will likely be super boring. But otherwise, I hope you enjoy watching these five minutes as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Nutcracker & Theater Etiquette

Lauren and I went to Capital Theater this afternoon to see The Nutcracker. Although she does not remember suggesting this as a possible activity that she'd be interested in doing while she is in town for the holidays, I am glad that we did it! She has not seen The Nutcracker since she was 8 years old. I really enjoyed having some time for just the two us together. We went to lunch at Trio beforehand and it was delicious!

While we enjoyed the show, I can't help myself from commenting on some very annoying behaviors that were on display in the theater today. Firstly, please wear something decent. I don't think it is necessary to bust out the evening wear (especially for a matinee) but for the love of God, you can do better than jeans and hoodie, right? Secondly, while I know it is the holiday season and parents do their best to impart wonderful holiday memories in their little ones, please leave little kids at home. Give some thought to whether your child has the ability to sit still and be quiet for two hours. While you may think it is adorable that your child is commenting all through out the production, believe me, the patrons sitting around you who dropped bank for their tickets aren't amused. Finally, if you buy snacks, the merch that is being peddled, or merely cough drops, if they are wrapped in cellophane, quickly, quietly unwrap them and then leave them be until intermission. Nothing is more distracting than the sound of cellophane being crumbled throughout the duration of the show.

Otherwise, the show was wonderful. The dancers amazed with their lithe physiques and gravity-defying moves and the costumes and music were beautiful.

Bah Humbug

I am the grinchiest ever this year. I cannot for the life of me get into the holiday spirit. I've struggled with it for the last few years but this year is the worst of all. Everyone I talk to is fearful of losing their job or has already lost it but I whenever I drive past a shopping center the place is packed. I can't quite figure out how the recession is affecting people. Are folks adjusting their spending habits to match the economy?

Spyware Guard 2008....Blech!

This miserable virus has sucked the life out of my laptop. The IT department has called it dead. So, in the meantime I will be sharing a laptop at home with my sweets (yikes, I know!). Bear with me during this difficult time.

UPDATE: Shoppingnotes.com

So far, shoppingnotes.com has been a bust (see previous post for details). I did received an email notification from them on Friday morning saying that the camera that I was interested in buying from Amazon had gone up $40. While swearing and pounding my hand on my forehead for my own stupidity in waiting to see if the blasted camera went down in price, I visited Amazon to see the damage for myself. Well, the camera was still the same price that it had been the day before so I threw in the towel and ordered it.

Smart Shopping

Do you have a specific holiday gift in mind for someone special? Do you ever leave the item lingering in your online cart for a few days? I do this all the time and I'm amused to see the fluctuation in price over the course of those few days. I just know that as soon as I pull the trigger on the order, the price is going to go down. Knowing what a tightwad I am, you know how this chaps my hide.

So, I'm excited to try out a new service that I just read about called Shopping Notes. Just enter the URL of the item that you want to follow and you'll get email alerts when the price drops. I signed up today to watch a camera on Amazon that I've been considering for my daughter. I'm going to check a few other items as well. I'll keep you posted. If you know of other money-saving sites then please share!

Hmmm, thought I'd be faster than that

I swear my Mom used to type something crazy like 90 words per minute.

58 words

Typing Test

The What Not To Buy Holiday Gift Guide

For each of you who's received (an unrequested) household appliance as a holiday/birthday/anniversary gift before, you'll get a kick out of this 4 1/2 minute video clip.

Miss Anthropy's RetroRadioland

Listen right now!


Tonight is the end of an era, Miss Anthropy's RetroRadioland will air for the last time tonight from 5-7pm MST. Miss Anthropy began spinning tunes on KSUB (Seattle University's college radio station) in Spring 2006. For two hours each week, she's played rockabilly, psychobilly, big band, surf, swing, and the like.


But, alas, all good things must come to an end and Miss Anthropy is off to new adventures. We'll miss our favorite 'hostess with the mostess'. Bon Voyage, Miss Anthropy!
Love, your Mom :)

Finally.....snow

Outside my office building this morning...


At research park this afternoon..

On My Own Again

No Ban and I didn't break up. I'm talking about my ongoing saga to find an excellently trained, reasonably priced, non-flaky hair stylist. Last December, the hair stylist who I love and have gone to for years and years decided to relocate to St. George. I can't explain her decision but nonetheless, I've spent the last year trying to find someone fabulous to do my hair.

I'd found a great stylist with mad cutting and coloring skills but she was at a hideous salon. "If you're not hot, we'll make you hot", yes, they seriously answer the phone with that message. The first time I called, I hung up, I was so put off. The stylist thankfully left that salon and started working at a salon in the way southwest end of the valley. Apparently, she has left there too and now I'm back to square one. I'm 9 weeks past my last appointment and looking a bit shaggy.

B

Happy birthday to one of the greatest humans on the planet! Today is my sweetie's birthday and what will surely be the beginning of a fun-filled weekend (we work 4 tens so it's our Friday...yippee!). He means the world to me and life without him is unimaginable. He's my best friend, my number one goofball, my rock, and all of that other incredibly gag-inducing mushy stuff that I feel but won't write here. I'll tell him later, although I'm pretty sure he already knows. Right, schmoopy?

4500 S 900 E. Murray, Utah

This intersection is the bane of my existence. I drive through it at least twice a day on my way to and from work. It doesn't matter what time of day or which direction I approach the intersection from, I miss the light EVERY SINGLE DAY. It is unbelievable. Sometimes I take the alternate route just to approach the intersection from the other direction. Doesn't matter....I mean I JUST miss it. As in, I am almost always the first or second car at the light. On principle, I don't drive and text, but seriously the ridiculousness of this situation tempts me to post an easily-typed expletive, such as 'Frick!' each time I just miss the light just so you know the daily dumbasity of the situation.

Heartache

Typically, I'm a glass half full, looking on the bright side, believing in the human spirit type person. But today, all I feel is anger, hurt, rage, and sadness. I can't understand what would possess someone or a group of someones as the case may be, to intentionally mock, harass, and generally make life miserable for another person. Especially someone who is a little more vulnerable than the average bear. What causes a person to do this? What kind of short-coming in their character? With a heavy heart, I'm off to bed to ponder these questions.

Attention Pet Lovers

Critter Carols!
Love the Jib Jab Sendables? Or last year's Elf Yourself? Well, you and your pets are going to love this little bit of fun. Click on the link above and you'll be able to insert your pet's photo into an singing dancing holiday spectacular. You can even upload or email the finished product to your friends and relations.

Here's something for you non-pet people. Go Elf Yourself already!

Team Building Exercises

I've been asked to come up with some 'team building exercises' for our program (16 people) at the holiday retreat later this month. Usually when I think of 'team building exercises I sort of cringe. Does anyone know of some interesting/fun/creative activities to do? I have a lot of flexibility in terms of what counts as team building (e.g. Wii games, Foosball, and gift exchanges have come up as potential ideas).