Yeah, um, sorry

I've been pretty bad blogger over the holiday season.




My wonderful in-laws got the ear doctor and I a wii.




Enough said.

Our House....Christmas Style

So, I've finally got our photos together. The first one is an aerial view taken by me standing on top of the island in the middle of our kitchen.

Our tree:

A close up of our tree showing some special ornaments:

From the upper left-hand corner around clockwise:

1) My mom gave use these ornaments. The bride had blond hair and I colored it red with a sharpie. Cool.

2) This is the really cute one that the ear doctor got me this year. It's the back of a bride and groom sitting in a car. Our names and the year are marked on the spare tire.

3) This is a tube of play-dough in the shape of a candy cane. Not an ornament. The ear doctor added this one to the tree without me knowing.

4) This is the cute reindeer our friends got us last year.

5) This is a race car with snoopy in it. Again, not an ornament, just something random added to our tree by one, ear doctor.


Looking the other direction, into the kitchen you can see my snowflake cutting handiwork:




Last but not least, on our kitchen table is a beautiful poinsettia that the Ear Doctor got me:

Thanks a ton!

Yesterday I got Olivia's mixed Christmas CD. Side note: I love getting stuff in the mail from strangers.

On one of the disks she sent me her mix from 2002. On it she put a really great song that I've never heard before. I love it. A lot. It just seems to really capture a lot of the angst that some people experience in their family's over the holidays.

I've listened to it on repeat about 20 times at work today.

Here are the lyrics

The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams

Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday. Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay."

And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree. He watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three. He told his niece, "It's Christmas eve, I know our life is not your style."

She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you and it's been awhile."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table. Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able. And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said. Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses.

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch. 'Till Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"

His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the kitchen.

And it was Jane who spoke. She said, "It's true, your cousin's not a Christian. But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share. And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table. Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able. And where does magic come from? I think magic's in the learning. Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning.

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, don't bother."

Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked liked Tim and like her father. He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year. He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here"

He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve saying"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave."

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table. Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able. Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold.

That just seems right, don't you think?

If I was independantly wealthy

If I didn't have to go to work today, I would pass the time by making this entire outfit, as seen on last week's episode of Pushing Daisies:




In case you missed this awesome moment of stunning TV fashion design, it was a cream and light green wool, high waisted, sleeveless dress. It had a 1 inch red strip down the front and across the bottom, making it feel like an apron sewn into the dress. Add a white thin turtleneck and tights underneath, bright red gloves and a huge chunky scarf and you are in Katie clothes HEAVEN.

I love this munchkin

My niece's first snow!

Religious Art

For some reason, I'm not a huge fan of most religious art. I think it often feels a bit overdone or contrived. We have a few pictures in our house that are really very nice, but I'm pretty picky when it comes to that kind of thing.

However.

I would hang this photo up anywhere.

My little sister's, best friend's husband Matt took it and I think it is really quite stunning. It is a picture of the big LDS (Mormon) temple in the center of Salt Lake City. The image is quite beautiful and very symbolic.

Well done, Matty.

Looking for well wishing

Right now one of my very best friends is in surgery.

Under the knife....is there a scarier phrase in the English language? I can't think of one.

Anyway, if you don't mind, send her a little positive thought if you get a chance.

Steppin out with my baby

Yesterday worked d.r.a.g.g.e.d on at a snails pace. Every three minutes I found my eyes drifting to the lower right hand corner of my monitor, willing time to speed up. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that the more you want this to happen the more the opposite effect occurs. Yesterday was no exception.

Finally, the ticking digital display counted off the appropriate moment and I threw my belongings in my bag and took off.

After arriving home I critically examined my wardrobe to select the right outfit for the evenings festivities. My favorite black dress seemed to call to me, as it always does. However, the frequency of wears is starting to show and I want it to last me until my dying day. My cute red skirt with floral cutouts seemed promising, but seemed a bit obvious. A little "look, it's my Christmas celebration outfit"-esque. I finally chose to wear the skirt I bought years ago for Genius's wedding. Beautiful, green, lace and pearls. How could I go wrong.

I impatiently waited for the ear doctor to get home from work.

When he did he swept me right off my feet and down to Denver to fulfill a childhood wish and dream.

As the lights dimmed the orchestra music swelled. The oh, so familiar notes enveloped me. I was transported one of the million afternoons spent watching my favorite Christmas movie with my little sister at my side. For a moment I missed her with all my heart.

Throughout the show I sat on the edge of my seat, eyes the size of two shiny silver dollars. I hummed along with the songs that I know by heart. I became the 7 year old version of myself wishing I could tap dance and wear a huge red satin dress lined with white rabbit fur. I looked over at my wonderful husband and realized that he is one of the blessings that I can count if I'm ever having trouble falling asleep (you know, instead of sheep)

As the show ended the performers bowed and snow began to fall onto the audience from the top of the theater. I almost cried with pure, unadulterated, childlike happiness.

So, if you have a chance to go see White Christmas on stage, I highly recommend you do it.

Great Christmas Gift #12

Confession time: I love wearing layers. I don't really trust the temperature anywhere I go. The ear doctor can attest. If I'm too hot I feel sick and get really grouchy. If I'm too cold I stop talking and shiver all day.

Solution? Having lots and lots of layering tees. Up to this point in my life I've always had about 20 different white/black/solid colored tank tops that I wear under...well...pretty much everything. Lately, the tank top hasn't really been cutting it. The straps sometimes slip down and get really annoying.

And, while these aren't the most "exciting" gifts in the world, you can never have too many basics, right?

I ordered a basic cap sleeve shirt in black from Shade Clothing to wear with my Halloween costume this year and fell head-over-heals in love with their products. Seriously, the best basics on the planet earth.

I'm sure anyone would be excited to own this cute turtleneck with buttons on up the side in black (size Large for me...they tend to run kind of tight). Bonus, this is on sale right now!

Also, to add to my single black capped sleeved shirt, I'd love to get a white, light gray and celery colored basic capped sleeved shirt, all size Large.

I cannot say how much I love these basics! Thanks, Shade Clothing for making basics that are PERFECT!

Culinary Skillz

Monday I was laid up sick all day. I had a cold that was incapacitating. As a result, I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store for our week of meals. Since all we had in the house to eat for dinner was a stale piece of left over gingerbread (still delicious, BTW) and one egg, I decided to order pizza.

It was delicious. I love me some cheap peperoni and mushroom pizza.

Last night I worked late, so our after our trip to the grocery store I decided that all I had the energy to make was spaghetti and meatballs. The ear doctor has been craving spaghetti and meatballs for the last 2 weeks.

I was even so tired that we used store bought tomato sauce (Prego, if anyone is interested).

Sitting down to this less than fancy dinner I looked over at the ear doctor to see him grinning from ear to ear. He could not have been happier with the 15 minute meal.

After taking a stroll down the college-meals memory lane he looked over at me and said, "Katie, thanks so much for the fine Italian food we've had 2 nights in a row!"


I guess I don't have to aim that high to meet his culinary expectations.


Although, in my defense I did make the meatballs from scratch using my mom's famous meatloaf recipe.

Great Christmas Gift #11

About 3 months ago I caught a special on the making of the Stormy Kromer cap and I've wanted one ever since. You can buy them at Cabela's, making them very manly and hard core for sure.

I think they are really functional and, dare I say it, really cute. (my brother-in-law is now rolling his eyes)

Anyway, I think it's cool. This hat is the kind of thing that, had a popular girl at my high school had shown up wearing one of these hats, they would have been ALL the rage. Just like carrying around Nalgene bottles of water.

Stormy Kromer Original Cap in Charcoal

PS You can also get them on sale over at the Restoration Hardware site, but I'd prefer to buy from the source. Their company's story is pretty awesome...very American Dream. Thanks Nicole!

Great Christmas Gift #10

One of my recent issues of Bon Appetit rated these loaf pans as the best on the market. Anyone who is working at their less than awesome bread making skillz (ahem, ME) would love to get a pair of these babies.

Plus! GOLD! How pretty are they?

Williams and Sonoma Gold Touch loaf pans

Lets get serious

This is a really important topic to me. So crucial to me, in fact, that I can't believe I haven't broached the subject before in this forum. It is a topic that touches me every single day of my life. I cannot turn it away. I cannot ignore it's significance.





My hair dryer.





In the last year I've bought 3 of them. And all three have broken. I can't even begin to explain to what levels of frustration this has brought me. I'm at the end of my rapidly fraying rope.

Maybe it's because my hair is exceptionally thick and a bit unruly wavy, but they always burn up. Probably its because I've always bought the $25 device at my nearest and dearest Target?

Whatever the source, this frustration has cost me at least $75 in cold hard cash.

Like the day I realized that GAP jeans just aren't going to cut it for me, I'm pretty sure the day has come that I invest in the Citizens-level of hair dryer. Back then it seemed crazy to pay $100 for a pair of jeans that actually fit but now it's perfectly logical. That gives me hope that the $140 price tag on this Sedu dryer will, in time, not seem like something only an INSANE person would spend.

Should I save up my pennies and get it? Anyone have a hair dryer that they love and is under $100?

Socially awkward

The omnipresence of cell phones has made me really socially backward when I'm calling someone I don't know.

I'm so used to calling people who look at their caller id and know that it is me who is calling. There is no need to identify myself. Usually the person picks up and says, "Oh, Katie, I am so happy that you called me. It has brightened up my entire day! I hear birds chirping and feel the warmth of your sunshine entering my soul and cheering my heart."

I don't even need to say a single word.

Recently I bought some tickets off craigslist. Don't get me wrong, I love craigslist with every fiber of my being. I've even started referring to it as THE LIST. There are no other lists before this list. It is the alpha and omega of lists.

The thing I find awkward about craigslist is the whole contacting-a-complete-stranger aspect of it. There is always that first chain of impersonal emails where you exchange information, haggle prices, and set up some kind of plan to meet.

Then the phone calls start. The first call left on a voicemail. The second reply...usually to voicemail again. You finally connect and there is that strange identification conversation. It goes something like:

Me: "Hi, this is Katie, the girl from the Internet, who wants to buy your blah blah blah for $50?"

Them:"Oh yeah, this is so-and-so. I have blah blah blah to see for $50"

Me: "Cool, when and where can I meet you to buy the $50 blah blah blah?"

Them:"Well, I'm in South Denver, where are you?"

Me:" I'm up in Boulder."

Them: "Oh, well, can you meet me at the grocery store that is right next to my house that is terribly inconvenient for you to get to?"

Me: "Umm, I guess."

Them: "Great. I'm going to have you call me on the morning of the day we're meeting, then again when you are on your way, then again when you are in the parking lot, then again after we make the exchange, then again next year for a follow up."

Me: "Um, that's strange, but OK"

Them: "OK, I'm programming your number in speed dial so that I can call you a bazillion times before we make this excruciatingly simple transaction. Sound like a plan."

Me: "OK, you're kind of creeping me out so I"m going to ask a co-worker to come with me to make the exchange"



Oh, wait, this isn't the way your experiences have been? Hmmmmm

Great Christmas Gift #9

As someone who read the first book in this series, trust me, I'm hooked! These books are easy reads and pretty fun. Both by Stephanie Meyer.

New Moon and

Eclipse

Great Christmas Gift #8

Nie Nie featured the artists of this beautiful jewelry on her Friday face a couple of weeks ago and I really liked a few pieces.

This bracelet is really quite stunning...

As are these cute earrings. I could wear them almost every day!

Katie's Christmas

Well, I haven't done one of these in a while and since I love sticking with a holiday theme the ENTIRE month of December, here is a little info about me:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, especially if I someone puts the effort into designing their wrapping paper look like Jordan or Emily!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I can really go either way on this. Growing up we always had at least our artificial tree and usually a live one two. If you get a nice artificial tree I think it makes trimming a little easier.

3. When do you put up the tree? TREE DAY, duh! (the day after Thanksgiving)

4. When do you take the tree down? Hmmm, we probably won't take our tree down until we get back to Colorado from visiting the ear doctor's parents in California. That means a big mess probably, but that's alright.

5. Do you like eggnog? I can't get enough of the stuff! I love it with every fiber of my being. However, I do thin it down with milk because I think it is way to thick on it's own.

6. Favorite gift received as a child ? Wow, that is really hard to say. I really loved the doll house that my dad built by hand and used scraps of the wall paper that was in our house. It was stunning. I also really liked "my" telescope.


7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes (finally). My mom got the ear doctor and I the most beautiful modern looking white ceramic nativity this year. It looks breathtaking on low black entertainment chest.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My brother-in-law Dan. He's so non-materialistic that its hard for me to think of something he'll actually want.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My sister. I just get her anything that I would like.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Hmmm, I think cards are going to have to wait this year. They are always at the bottom of my list and this year I think we're going to run out of time.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Nothing really comes to mind. Hypothetically, I'd probably just say something that someone re gifted without even thinking about it.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas. Hands down. Best movie of the season (and maybe all time?)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? It's different every year. Sometimes I collect all year long and sometimes I do it last minute. This year it's seeming to be more toward the latter.

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Handmade chocolates or my Grandma's divinity or that apple cake with the rum FLAVORED sauce. Yummmmm.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear, I like the ornaments to take center stage.

17. Favorite Christmas song ? This year? A tie between the Josh Groban "I'll be home for Christmas" and "Winter Weather" by Peggy Lee.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I've almost always traveled for Christmas and I like it that way.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Please, that's child's play. Who can't do that?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star ? Either. The significance of either is important and a great reminder of the season!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning for sure! Gifts should be opened one at a time so that everyone can enjoy the giving and receiving of them!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The Debbie Downers. I get it that you may not like the season as much as I do (hardly anyone does) but please don't rain on my parade.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? I'm really traditional when it comes to Christmas. I love red and green and anything with a sort of vintagey feel.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.




The idea for this meme is from Tricia, so go give her props.

Great Christmas Gift #7

Right now they are totally sold out, but this big orangey-red bag is BEAUTIFUL! I am in serious need of a large fabric bag like this. I'm sure anyone on your list would love it too. They take 3 weeks to make because they are all done by hand, so get it quick if you're planning on giving it as a Christmas Gift.

Cool

Has anyone else noticed how cool it looks when you write the months down in order?

I've noticed that if they are all left justified, the ends of the words make a cool wavy shape. This has made me happy for the last 6 months and I just thought I'd share.

Its the small things in life, right?

Another evidence of my company's coolness

I just got a huge, mass email inviting me to come see a slide show from a stranger's vacation to Nepal.

Beat that!

Great Christmas Gift #6

About 5 years ago my little sister got me a beautiful pair of ginger scissors for Christmas...or my birthday...I can't remember which. Anyway, I loved these scissors. Unfortch, between moving almost twice a year for the past 5 years the two of us have parted ways...the scissors and I, not my sister.

If you know someone who likes to make crafts, a great set of scissors is a perfect gift! At Costco last month they had a whole 6 piece set of beautiful ginger scissors for $80 which would be great. Although, there is something nice about getting a pair of handmade scissors.

They remind me of a pair hanging of the edge of my Grandma's sewing table. Beautiful.

Well, jeez

The other day I got the best compliment on my blog. The best EVER. I cannot say how much I loved getting this compliment. Even if someone gave me a Pulitzer prize for what they thought was a creative turn of phrase on my little corner of the world wide web, I would not mean 1/10 of what this compliment mean to me. Even if I started getting the crazy style following of Dooce or Wonkette or any of the other well-read blogs, it would never compare to this.

In an email from my mom:

I was talking with Grandpa this morning and he was chuckling about your blog. He told me that he reads your blog all the time. He thinks you should be a journalist or a writer. He loves you and thinks the world of you. In his eyes you can do anything.

Nice, huh? I wish everyone in the world could get this kind of love and support from their families.

Great Christmas Gift #5

I almost bought one of these for myself last year because I think it would look so cute on my desk at work. This would be a great gift for a friend!

Letterpressed calendar.

Good idea Bad idea

Good idea: sleeping in this morning. Last night I did so many barrel rolls in my bed that I almost turned into a river otter.

Bad idea: rushing out of the house without eating a crumb. Not even a little splash of egg nog passed my lips.

Good idea: wearing my bright yellow jcrew sweatshirt and my big fluffy puffy black vest.

Bad idea: wearing ballet flats without socks. It was 17 deg F this morning. Brrrrrr

Good idea: listening to my new Josh Groban Christmas CD on the way to work. Hooray for the holidays!

Bad idea: listening to Josh Groban belt out how he'll be home for Christmas. Even though I love my in-laws, I'm really going to miss being with my parents this Christmas.

Good idea: getting my daily hit of free hot chocolate at the work dispenser.

Bad idea: using a Styrofoam cup and messing up the environment.

Good idea: Looking for tickets to go see White Christmas on stage in Denver in the next couple of weeks on craigslist.

Bad idea: Trying to haggle someone down in price and end up frustrating myself.

Good idea: Remember the holiday cheer that should be in my heart and try to be nice to everyone at work.

Bad idea: Eat too many of my co-workers candy out of her candy bowl. Feeling slightly sick.

Good idea: Print off the invitations to the small Christmas party I'm throwing for some of the kids at my church.

Bad idea: Don't notice that the printer is out of colored ink until after they're printed.

Good idea: Think of the perfect gift for my dad.

Bad idea: Realize that the gift might weigh a ton and I'll have to ship it out to him.

Good idea: Get excited about spending a WHOLE WEEKEND with my sweet ear doctor.

Bad idea: Realize it's only really 2.5 days, not 2.5 weeks that I want.

Great Christmas Gift #4

If you know someone who likes to cook and bake (like me), and who likes to know the history of a recipe (me, again) and who likes trying new things every time they cook (me), this cookbook looks like it would be great. I don't have it....yet....but I've flipped through it and it looks stellar!

America's Best Lost Recipies!

Our first together

Last night the ear doctor and I finished putting up all our Christmas decorations, capping the experience off with trimming our first tree together. Here is our step-by-step tree decorating process:

1. Ear doctor slowly rotates tree around and around while I stand across the room to determine the exact angular position that shows of the most beautiful sides.
2. Pull out the new string of fancy 8-phase blinky lights and make sure they work alright.
3. Our tree is tucked in a corner of our living room, so we debate back and forth about whether we are going to loop the lights around the back of the tree, or zig zag across the front. Decide on the zig zag technique.
4. With the ear doctor on one side of the tree and me on the other we zig zag the blinky lights up.
5. Both cross to the other side of the room to make sure blinky lights are even. See that they are decently spaced and return to the tree.
6. Add two more strings of cheap normal tree lights so that our tree has a magical, only a few little lights twinkling effect (the ear doctors great idea!)
7. Add the light up Christmas star that I bought for $10 4 years ago. Not my dream tree topper, but it looks ok.
8. Stand across the room and again appraise our work. After some poking and prodding the light phase of tree adornment is deemed acceptable.
9. Have a moment where I look at my wonderful husband and realize that this is the first of many, many Christmas trees we will trim together.
10. Get a little choked up.
11. The ear doctor stations himself on the other side of the room while I get the bead garland under control. The ear doctor is very particular about the spacing/drooping/alignment of the bead garland, so he directs while I do the placement.
12. We decide the beads look alright.
13. Move on to the Christmas ornaments.
14. All special or sentimental ornaments go up in the best spots at eye level.
15. Place the reindeer my good friends got me last year dead center, next to the blown glass wedding cake from my mom and the cute little Santa I had from last year.
16. Get a little overwhelmed at how much I'm loved.
17. Decide the the tree is looking a little bare still and pull out the sparkly wide gold wire ribbon and add bows across the tree.
18. Impress myself with how good that looks.
19. Stand back and admire the tree.
20. Decide that we should get some candy canes to hang on it.
21. Look down at all our unused red ball ornaments and ask the ear doctor if candy canes are the only thing missing.
22. Wonder why he left the room for a minute.
23. Hear him call out from the other room, "there's one more thing it's missing."
24. Fall head over heels for him again when he comes back to the room with a pretty bag and an white tissue paper wrapped present.
25. Unwrap the present (I love presents) to find a custom ornament that he'd picked out for me with our last name and 2007 on it.
26. Like a jerk, ruin the moment by commenting that the little girl on the ornament has yellow hair, not red.
27. Test the ear doctor's patience....again.
28. Throw arms around man of my dreams, then turn and place the perfect ornament in the perfect spot of our perfect tree.
29. Stand back and enjoy.
30. Try to take a picture to share on my blog, but realize the camera's battery is as dead as a doornail.
31. Hope people who read my blog will have patience like the ear doctor.

Great Christmas Gift #3

Every time the ear doctor and I go to Costco (once a week) we look at these cool books. Inside they teach you everything from first aid to how to fight like a pirate. There's history and crafts and all kinds of awesome ways to spend an afternoon. I'm sure they're supposed to be for kids, but they are really really cool. For the kid inside every grown-up:





Daring book for Girls and Dangerous book for Boys

An email from the ear doctor

This is what it said:

Babe,

I hope your day is going well. I just saw a 3 MONTH OLD baby in the clinic who had more bling than any adult I've ever seen. Not only did he have a fat gold necklace and ring on one hand, but he was also sporting the ring in the attached picture. Note how many finger holes there are.

And here is the attached photo.

Yes, that is a gold ring with holes for 2 little infant fingers. I think we're going to get one for baby Charlotte. All the other kids in the St. Louis ghetto will be so jealous!

(Charlotte doesn't really live in the ghetto, that comment was just for effect :)

Great Christmas Gift #2

For anyone who likes to do projects (ahem, me) this 5 piece basic Gocco printing set is an awesome gift! I could use this for SO many different things! Plus, buying things off Etsy is SOOO good!

Tree Day

I cannot begin to tell you how great it was to be home with my family for Thanksgiving! Seriously, so amazing. I got to play with the baby to my heart's content. She is at the wanting-to-be-bounced-all-the-time-by-aunt-Katie phase, so I gladly performed the task. Guess what. You have to be SO strong to be a mom and lug that dead weight around all the time! My biceps were KILLING me the next day! Who knew?

Thanksgiving is great and stuff, but my favorite day is the day after Thanksgiving which my mom has turned into another holiday....TREE DAY! I've explained the genesis of this most wonderful of holidays in many years past, so I'll skip with that. I'll just have to say that I loved that the ear doctor could help my dad put up the lights on the house. I love that he was there to help me with the tree. His help on the gingerbread house was crucial. And seeing his eyes light up at his snoopy, smartie-filled race car was priceless.

Great Christmas Gift #1

This awesome poster (in seafoam green) could find a place in anyone's house!


Poster from Keep Calm Posters, and black 19.75 x 27.5" Ribba Frame from IKEA.

In honor of the day

It used to be harder for me to express my gratitude. I would worry about using the wrong words. I never wanted to use the trite expressions that flit around day in and day out. I wanted my expression to really convey the sincerity I felt. I just didn't think that a simple "thank you" would fit the bill. How could it?

But, then I counted up how many times people told me thank you. I cross referenced these occurrences against my perception of the teller's insincerity. I compiled a list of the utterances that didn't make me feel loved or appreciated.

The results?

Every time I was thanked I was touched.

So, although it may seem small and banal to me in the telling, I'm pretty sure the hearer still understands my intent.

And, more to the point, the intent of expressing gratitude isn't to make me feel good about myself, now is it? So why should I care?

Sweet Dreams

Last night the ear doctor was tucking me into bed. He lovingly pulled the covers up to my chin and made sure I was nice and warm. He laid down beside me, put his loving arm under my weary, little head and started telling me a bedtime story.

Not about a princess or a fairy. Not about a red balloon or a pot of gold.

Instead,

my darling ear doctor told me the fascinating tale of the human circadian rhythm from a neuroscience point of view.

Restful, huh?

A question for the Southerners out there

How on earth do you people generate and maintain your holiday spirit when nary a snowflake falls? Today it is 77 and sunny in Colorado. I felt like a C-R-A-Z-Y person over my lunch when I went to drop off movies at bl0ckbuster (3 weeks late....oops) and "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." was blasting from my stereo.




On a more pleasant side note, the soda machine gave me two beautiful Diet Coke's for the price of one. Score!

Whoa

I cannot believe that I forgot to brag about this last week! I must be loosing my mind or something.

Last weekend the ear doctor and I went grocery shopping and we got chicken breasts for $.99 a pound!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable! I was so shocked that I actually took the package of meat over to the meat counter to make sure the price was right. The slack-jawed, shocked, overwhelmed and incredulous expression on my face was met by the butcher's small, knowing smile. Without a verbal inquiry from me, he answered my obvious question, "yes, $.99 a pound."

Like a selfish fiend, I ran back to the cold meat locker and grabbed as many packages of the precious protein as I could. That cheap chicken was MINE and I refused to share my good fortune with the other patrons of the King S00pers. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure that the store manager failed to notice me practically STEALING their meat.

I circled the market, giving myself a moment to calm the pumping adrenaline. I carefully placed other items on top of the meat, intentionally obscuring the price of my prize. There is no way I was going to spread the good word to the other suckers in the store that day. It was *MY* discovery.

At the checkout stand the nice woman working the register took one look at the tag and called the manager to make sure the price was correct. They both stared at the package, scratched their heads. I held my breath with anticipation of their verdict. Turns out, it was marked correctly.

And that is how I ended up with almost 20 lbs of frozen chicken breasts in my freezer.

Beat that!

A great way to kick-of the season

I don't often link over to other people's blogs, so the fact that I'm doing it today says something. It says I was too touched by this story to just leave a comment there. In my small way, I too want to share something with everyone because I love it. It would be selfish and wrong of me to keep it to myself.

So,

go check out the Greatness of Deb.





(Caution: if you are as much a softie as I am, you might want to grab a tissue before reading)

Look around

I really love Chip0tle. I mean, I really like it there. Their burritos are sweet ambrosia to my mouth. Today I went their with co-workers and something really ticked me off.


Let me take you back to scene of the "incident."

Here we have an aerial view of the interior restaurant layout. Like at every other Chip0tle, you enter the restaurant and go strait to the beginning of the food line. At position number 1 you give the first worker your meat and bean choice. You slide down the line as you watch their nimble hands prepare your delicious lunch until it is all wrapped up and cocooned inside it's silver protective sheath. At position number 2 you pay for your choice and move on.

At this particular Chip0tle, everyone then turns around and flows to position 3 where silverware, hot sauce and napkins can be procured. Each person then slides down to position 4, the soda machine. This is the particular locale of the frustrating occurrence.

After smoothly participating in the well-designed directional flow you leave and sit at your chosen table. We usually sit at the large round table indicated in the figure above as position 5.

As you can clearly see, the flow of traffic moves from right to left at position 4. This is the only thing that makes sense. The ONLY thing.

We need to take a closer look at the soda machine featured as the pivotal focus of position 4. Below is a schematic view of the soda machine looking face on.

As you can see the ice machine is the first device each person encounters. This is logical and makes sense with the flow of the entire experience. Then, each person moves down to fill their cup with their beverage of choice.

I don't know if you can tell, but both normal Coke and diet Coke have 2 spigots each.

Today, and almost every other time I've been to this particular establishment the person before me will get their ice and choose the FIRST diet coke spigot to fill their drink. This puts me in a very odd position. Do I get my ice, go around behind them to use the farther away, second spigot or do I wait until they are done using the closer spigot? What if they step back at the exact wrong moment while I am accommodating for their flow disruption (going behind) and I end up dropping my burrito and the goodness explodes out of it's tightly wrapped silver container? If I do decide to wait, should I then slide to the farther spigot so that the person behind me isn't in the same quandary? Ugh!

Why didn't they just take an extra step to the left so that we could both fill our drinks in parallel?

The world may never know.

They never get dirty

The ear doctor has more black socks that anyone on the face of the planet.

I'm not exaggerating here.

We have a little deal in our marriage. He takes out the trash (something I H-A-T-E doing) and I fold the laundry. I know you might think I'm a little nuts, but I don't mind doing laundry at all. I think I associate laundry with really happy childhood memories of my mom wrapping me up in a warm, fresh-from-the-dryer blanket and singing me to sleep.


pause for momentary memory reverie


Anyway, thus far the arrangement has worked out beautifully. I never have to bend over a foul smelling garbage can and he doesn't have to fold his shirts.

We are very Steven Covey Win/Win in our house.


The other day I bent down to pull out some laundry and all I got was a handful of black man-socks. Hmmmm. That's strange. I piled them up on top of the dryer (I don't really *do* matching) and stuck my hand back into the dark hole of mystery. To my surprise, out came another fist full of socks. Stunned, I sat down on the floor in front of the dryer and, to my complete amazement, the ENTIRE dryer was filled to the brim with black socks. He has an entire load's worth of ONLY black socks!

Well, I just piled the whole lot of them on top of the dryer and called that good. (please, please, please. If you ever come to visit my house don't ever open the doors to my laundry cubbie. There is always clothes folded on top of the dryer. Most times we just don't care enough to actually put the clean clothes away. At least they are always folded, right?)

The next day I saw ear doctor standing in front of the dryer doing the strangest thing. He was holding about 5 different black socks in his hand and carefully comparing them. I asked him what he was doing and he explained his sock selection process.

Because he has SO many different black socks he's pretty much given up on finding an exact match for his two socks. He holds them up and attempts to just find two socks that have the same amount of fade to them. So, basically, my husband never wears matching socks.

I feel much better now about wearing my valentines day socks in the middle of August...at least I'm wearing a PAIR!

Good News

I ate an entire movie-sized box of Hot Tamales today while sitting on my bum at work.

Glorious!

Why my mother in law is cool

The ear doctor doesn't like Harry Potter.

At all.

Unfortunately for our relationship, I am an ardent fan. This is a real sticking point between us as I want to talk over my Ron/Hermione love theories and he isn't able to listen to my prattling on.

Earlier this week we got a huge, heavy box in the mail from his mom. We were really intrigued by what they could be sending us. With eager anticipation we opened the box and peered in. She had sent us an entire cardboard box filled with movies they didn't want anymore.

SCORE! I love new movies.

But, what really made me excited was the three brand new, unopened copies of the first 3 Harry Potter movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She sent them just for me.

Isn't that nice?!?!?!?!

Good Eats

My family has always teased me about my strange connection to food. They'd always complain that if I ran out of things to talk about it would always circle back to what I ate that day. My mom said as a little girl I'd come home and the only thing I'd remember about my day at school was lunch.

I always felt like I was getting a bum rap for all of this. Sure, I like food, but just as much as the next person.

A couple of months ago I was going through some memory books that my grandma helped me make. I was shocked as I flipped through page after page of a 7 year old's account of the daily menu! It read something like this:

Today we went to golfing camp at the BYU. It was fun. We had hot dogs and popsicles [sic] for lunch.

and the next day

Today at golf camp we learned good stuff. We had burgers and milkshakes. I had strawberry and Maggie had vanilla.

Oh, how I wish I was joking.

Well, since I clearly will never be able to leave this trend behind I just thought I'd fill you in on the awesome week of food we're having at Casa del Ear Doctoro.

Monday: The ear doctor "grilled out" and made us awesome rib-eye steaks. I made sweet potatoes fries. Yummm

Tuesday: The ear doctor again whipped out his grillin skills and made us some crispy-skinned brick chicken, and I steamed us up a couple of artichokes and lemon butter.

Tonight: I'm making breaded, pounded chicken and the ear doctor is whipping up a batch of his secret recipe Guacamole. (he learned how to make it in Mexico and it is so, so, so, so good. Sometimes I dream about it.) And, for a special touch, he's stopping on his way home from work to get some fresh handmade corn tortillas to go with. *Swoon*

I'm pretty sure 7 year old Katie would approve of this weekly report.

Time to chop the mane

Yesterday the ear doctor and I were invited over to the home of one of our favorite families....the Rogers.

Over a delicious chicken casserole and whole wheat rolls made from scratch we caught up on each other's lives. For some reason we hadn't spent time with them since July....life gets busy, you know? Anyway, even though a little time had passed, things were just the same. Hanging out with them feels like putting on my favorite hoody, comfortable, soft and familiar.

We reminisced about our trip to Mexico eons ago (4 years), how much fun we had at their wedding (the ear doctor and I had just met...it was one of our first dates as a couple), and how much their adorable little son had grown.

On the way out I asked Amy if she would tame the wild beast that is growing on top of my head.

I so badly want to get a cute, stylish, and most importantly, NEW haircut. I want to look in the mirror and show me a fresh new person.

However,


knowing me,


I'll probably walk out of her door with an inch gone....tiny layers if I'm feeling really brave.



I'm *such* a risk-taker.

Self Realization

Saturday afternoon I realized something new about myself. My favorite type of movies are no longer comedies. The aren't even rom-coms. My favorite movies are dramas about families. By far.

We went to see Martian Child and I LOVED it. I thought the story was great, the acting pretty believable and the camera work pretty awesome. Plus, it was cool to see both Cusacks acting opposite each other. It really made their on-screen bro/sis relationship much more real.

And,

I cried like 5 times during the movie.

Making me feel better

Well, a couple of these guys sure would help my foul mood created by the great photo debacle (see last post).

Thanks Anthro! (the store, not my pal)

Wedding photo migraine

The ear doctor and I finally got around to ordering some big prints of our wedding photos to hang on our walls. We spent hours sifting through he photos to pick our 4 favorite.

One thing we thought was really great about our photographer is that she worked with an online printer ( pict@ge.com) to share photos with family members and streamline the printing process. I thought this would be a great feature. I was wrong.

After we picked them out and paid for them we had to wait 3 weeks to get them in the mail. Yesterday they came. I excitedly waited for ear doctor to get home before I ripped them out of their packing material. I carefully pulled them out of their packing material. I flipped over the first one and was instantly disappointed. The picture wasn't as great as I remembered. Something about it seemed off. I went to the next picture...same thing. The printer had messed up the photos and I was REALLY disappointed. For some reason they cropped the bejeesus out of them and turned our photogs beautiful work into something my 12 year old niece could have made with her point and shoot (exaggerated for effect).

Take a look. On the left is the online proof from our wonderful, talented photographer, on the right a picture of the print we got last night.


Is it just me or does this photo loose about 50% of it's beauty because the side of the arch on the left has been thoughtlessly cropped out?



The golden angel on the top of an LDS temple has special religious significance.....you can't just cut him off! Plus, it ruins the line in the photo!





Oops, there is goes again....





And the fact that this one is off makes me really mad. It is our favorite picture. So unique, so unlike any wedding photo we've seen, so US! And it's been maimed and makes our bodies look gross and stumpy. UGH! When you blow it up to an 11X 14 (like we did) it makes a huge difference.

And then there were 3

Every morning the ear doctor wakes up before me. He has to be at work earlier than I do and his work is much farther away than mine is. Lately I've asked him to wake me up before he leaves so that we can have breakfast together. Sometimes I'm bad, really tired, and refuse to get up. I feel like a bad little wife on those days.

I thought this morning would be one of those mornings.

When he leaned over me in bed to wake me up I almost felt like it wouldn't be possible. I cracked my sleep covered eyes open to let in a little light and geared up my most tired/pathetic face. However, when I saw the glint in his eye I knew that this morning was special and different. He asked me, "do you know what today is?"

Half awake, brain barely moving I tried to race through my mental Rolodex to remember what today was....Wednesday? your birthday? my birthday? Christmas? No.

"It's November 7th," he excitedly reminded me.

Then it clicked. Exactly 3 years ago we decided we would exclusively date. Today is our 3 year DATING anniversary. I was under the impression that after you get married that day kind of falls by the wayside.....not at our house.

I got out of bed and went into the kitchen where the guy of my dreams had made us bacon, eggs and maple pecan waffles! He also got me a pumpkin candle (that I've been wanting for a month) and a very nice card. In the card he explained that even though we are now married he never wanted to stop "dating" me. That's why he wanted to keep celebrating today.

(I'll pause while you are all overcome with jealousy that he is so AWESOME!)

So I ate my breakfast, smelled my candle and thought about how lucky I am to have found a guy like ear doctor. Seriously? One in a million!

Its that time

I have to literally FORCE myself to wait until after Halloween to bring out one of my favorite heralds of the season....my Christmas CD wallet.


Yes, you read that correctly, my Christmas CD wallet. I have so many Christmas CDs that they have their own separate storage wallet.


Well, in my book there aren't really any BAD Christmas CDs....but some are much better than others. Here are a few of my faves...in case you're looking.

Diana Krall's Christmas Songs is SO great. I really love her voice!

Barenaked for the holidays. Just pure fun....and some Hanukkah songs too! Bonus!

This 2 disc compliation is pretty much the best collection of Christmas songs you can get. Perfect variety of the absolute CLASSIC versions of your favorite songs! A must!


As always, I get a new one each year. This year I'm thinking of getting:












Everything I've heard from Mindy Smith is AMAZING, and I'm sure this one would be no different.





Anyone have any other favorites or suggestions?

You know you like to cook when...

Well, Sunday night the ear doctor and I were invited to a dinner party. It was a Thanksgiving warm-up. One person made a delicous turkey, another made suffing and rolls, ect. We brought cranberry sauce....yummm.

Anyway, when the end of the dinner rolled around I found myself in the kitchen helping clean up I noticed that the turkey maker was moving to throw the carcass away. I gasped and asked, "can I have that carcass...I really want to make my own turkey stock so that I can get some great flavor in my sauces."

As I looked around and saw all the confused, slightly frightened faces I realized something. I'm out of control with this cooking thing. That's not a normal request to make. Normal people don't get excited about picked-clean dead birds. I need to get a grip.

Oh, wow

This is a perfect room for me.

I know that a lot of people might think this room is a bit....sedate, but I love it. The contrast between the dark blue wall and the white...wainscoting (is that what it is?) is beautiful. The loopy pattern in the rug loosens up all the very square lines in the wall, couch and picture frames. And that lamp....be still my heart, I think it is so pretty. I also like the way the two chairs are pointed to each other with an automan in the middle. I could see ear doctor and I sitting there talking for hours....

I love how edited and exact it looks.

Although, instead of birds everywhere I'd rather have foxes or something. I'm getting a little bored of birds.

I'm pretty sure this is from CB2 and the whole picture is just mean to sell that bird pillow on the chair.

My favorite

This is my favorite picture of the runt so far. Just thought I'd share.

(ED and I got her that outfit!)

Seamstress

Just after my freshman year of college my friend Kathy and I decided to make our own pair of black leather pants to wear out dancing. Well, we were cheap so we found some "awesome" black pleather at the fabric store and we set to work. We were both working down in my mom's huge sewing room and I was making some pretty good progress. Kathy on the otherhand....not so much. After finishing my mine I grabbed hers and finished them up for her.

I love to sew, especially costume-y stuff that doesn't require a whole lot of finess or accuracy.

This year for Halloween was my most sewing intensive yet becuase the ear doctor and I had 2 costumes each.

Last friday we dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde:

(Don't worry mom, that's a chocolate cigarette)

(please note the hot pink bra on ear doctor's head. This was his prize from the white elephant gift exchange....from "Dolly Parton". I got a package of raw chicken hearts and gizzards from the "Tin Man")

Last night we went as our favorite fast food chain mascots:

New pics

Well, since Mags didn't post them, I figured I would.

My ADORABLE niece in her first Halloween pjs:



Yes, she is only 7 months and practically walking....scary for mom and dad!

Yikes

Today I'm wearing my hair in two french braids down the sides of my head in preparation for the Halloween party I'm attending tonight. I'm wearing it this way at work because it's much easier to braid my hair wet and let it dry that way.

Anyway, it looks ridiculous! However, no one here has mentioned it at all. No one has said a thing about it. I'm sure they all probably either don't even notice (they are engineers after all), or are being polite, but when no one comments on my obviously crazy appearance it makes me wonder if I look crazy every day and they are used to it now.

That's a frightening thought.

Dear NBC Execs,

I have been a fan of your empire for a long time. Over the years offering us such beauties as Seinfeld and Friends has cemented my love for life...or so I thought. More recently, you've won my heart with the back-to-back 30 Rock/Office programming. Solid Gold.

However, I must protest at your recent shenanigans. Here are two words for you.

Bee Movie.

I cannot STAND the way you are publicising this movie. Really, really, really hate it. Between the NBeeC TVjuniors and that dumb HP add with my guy Jerry I can't seem to escape the madness. Now, I love Jerry, so I don't blame him for this tactic. Surely this is exactly the type of thing my four friends would sit around a diner table discussing how inane this marketing is.

Had you advertised this movie the normal way (movie trailers, the OCCASIONAL TV spot), the ear doctor and I would have probably gone to see it. These ads everywhere are so annoying that I'm mounting a boycott of the movie. I will not see it and I will not urge anyone else to see it.

I'm bringing down your empire, NBC! (Wuahahahahaha)

Take THAT.