Thrown for a loop

Literally.

My hair is curly ... in its own way. Lately, I've succumbed to straightening it most every morning. It rarely obeys me, but the straightening seems to work out fairly well. Except, I'm not patient or thorough in most anything in my life--including my hair.

This last Sunday, I was running my fingers through my hair halfway through Sunday School and found something I'd missed.

Of course, I wasn't going to start on the "getting ready" process for the 2nd time in one day, so this stayed with me through church, visiting teaching, a fireside and a communication council meeting all day long on Sunday.

Fun, huh?

My hair defies gravity and most laws of physics.

Train gone ...

So, I really need to post more often. Especially when the last post was as freakin' whiney as it was. That doesn't need to stay at the top of the list for that long. Rant over. Move on, right? Nope. It takes time to follow up and push that post farther down the scrolly list. So, here I am typing the whiney post DOWN DOWN DOWN that scrolly list.

You're welcome.

Like I really have any organization to type out here ...

I feel like I should be posting something about the Olympics. EVERYONE is posting about the Olympics, and they're often quite clever and witty. Can I just link you to some blogs and claim affiliation? Like this one? or this one? No? Fine. Here's what I have to say, then.

1) I keep myself WAY too busy to watch much of ANYTHING. I make time for NCIS. I have my priorities.

2) I've seen a grand total of 30 minutes of the Olympics. BUT, I have STELLAR timing. In my blog surfing, I've seen posts about particularly interesting goings-on. Guess what? I saw that! And I saw that, too! 

So, Shaun White, I can attest to his stellar flippy tricks. Holy crap, who does that? I'm not going to be trying that anytime soon. At least, not on purpose.

Koreans take-down. Those speed skaters don't look like they're moving AT ALL. The glide is effortless. They're just floating along on a cloud of cotton ... until in a frenzy for the finish, positions 2,3 and 4 slide together in a Korean heap of spandex into the padded wall. SUCK a duck! You can't even blame some other dirty country for tripping you up. These guys went out together.

And what's with the girly-man-feathered-wanna-be-Russian-claiming-to-be-American-Marilyn-Manson-look-alike-with-every-bad-haircut-at-the-same-time-on skates? Yeah. What's his name. He's graceful. That's what he is. It's crazy skill, I tell you. Disturbing style and crazy skill. I liked the other guy. Evan something? I didn't see him skate, though. I just really liked his face.

Enough about the Olympics. Mostly because that's all I've seen, so I have nothing more to say. Oh, except that Willie taught me what that shadowy gray line means that chases the speed skaters around (or usually leads them along). That's the record line! So those two skaters BEAT the record! Technically terms, I know. But you learn something new ... sometimes.

Today at work I pulled up my roommate, Gina's blog. She had interesting things to say about the Olympics that took me at least 45 minutes to read. Work kept interrupting. But guess what ALSO happened during those 45 minutes? Some obnoxious song about rocks and trees took over the world. Gina, I WILL get you back for that song.

Desirae is HOME!!! It probably should be more of a highlight in this post, but remember the RANDOM? Today in particular, really. Oh yeah, but DESIRAE is home! For those of you who have NO IDEA what I'm talking about, Desirae Rowberry was my best friend while growing up in cute little Cloverdale. She's been on her mission in Knoxville, Tennessee. She just got home Monday. I got to hang out at the airport with her and her family and THEN go to their house for dinner! It's been fun having Des around. We went x-country skiing with friends on Saturday and she's covering for our broken Skyler at our volleyball games tonight.

I also want to talk briefly about why I like games. Some of you who have played games with me may wonder this because I ALWAYS LOSE! But it doesn't matter! I like them anyway! I've grown up playing games with my family. My favorite part? Sitting at the table at Grandma's house, throwing elbows in cousin Sydney's face, stealing Aunt Vicki's chocolate, calling Uncle Curtis a "fart" and laughing. Lots and lots of laughing. I'm not in it for the game. It's all about camaraderie. Yes. Big word. I just LOVE laughing with people I love! So, when we had game nights at Joelle's house, my favorite parts were messing up the orientation of Sarah's cards, and trying to give Joelle 5 card handicaps when she wasn't looking. They'd laugh because I could never focus, and things were just FUN! Saturday night we had a game night. Kylee HATES games. She's competitive and doesn't like to lose. There you go. I'm not competitive and I like to LAUGH! So, Saturday worked for me because --oh boy-- did we laugh! Things that came of this week's game night: Does anyone know what the phrase "Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant!" means? Everyone at the table is perplexed. Also, a lion/fighter bee combination isn't as hard to illustrate as you'd think. Aaron's question of the night: "So ... he pollinates?" And Kylee learned not to call out the word "RAGE!" whenever she missed a card. Poor Paige kept responding.

It's going to be a good week. I have lots to smile about. Hence, the random, scattered, missed-the-train post. I had to compensate for the whiney crap of last week ... but I have limited concentration skills, and limited time. Big things are happening this week and I couldn't be more happy about it! Ta Da!!

in another life

Do you ever think of people all the time, wanting the best for them, wanting to be with them, wanting to listen to them and love and support them ... only to find out they don't really think of you AT ALL?

Ever have one of those days, weekends, months where your perception of everything is skewed? Life isn't necessarily sucky ... it's just that your perception is.

Ever freak out and give yourself a panic attack, just to give yourself a wake-up call? Stir things up? SCREAM for some sort of stimulation? or attention?

Ever call for help and get ... apathy?

Ever expect too much from people? You try not to ... it's not fair to anyone. Yet ... it'd be nice if they'd step up ... follow through ... listen ... care ... ask questions ... be involved ... It's not fair to expect too much. Is it fair to expect anything?

I can't recall the last time i felt brave, i just recall insecurities--Owl City

Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love--Charlie Brown

I wish I could cross my arms and cross your mind.--Owl City

Love is inclusive - it allows as many people as you wish into your circle of love--Megan's blog

"Love is never wasted. It may not be reciprocated, it may not be fully appreciated, but it is never wasted."--Elder Maxwell

What's good for me

I've decided that Reese's peanut butter cups are good for me. ESPECIALLY during a certain time of the month. My roommate Gina is a genius. Period.

I don't really think celery is good for me. Mostly because it's gross.

I KNOW meatloaf isn't good for me.

I don't think sitting cross-legged is good for me because my foot always falls asleep and then I tip over when I try to stand up.

Fasting on Fast Sunday is good for me, even if it's only for the laughter that comes when Janae, Nicole and I are harmonizing with our growling stomachs.*

Bearing my testimony is SCARY. But, it's really good for me. Even though, (or "especially because"--I haven't decided which) Elder Kim B. Clark from BYU-I and President Dwight Whitaker from the Ammon Stake were on the stand behind me. Those men hold special places in my heart and having them in my branch today was a tender mercy. Tender mercies are DEFINITELY good for me.

X-country skiing is GOOD for me! My muscles like being this sore, even though they're wondering how my neck got involved. And my heart is so happy at the massive amounts of fun I had with good friends. It's also good for the soul to make the squirrels laugh at you.** Birthday cupcakes in the snow are good for EVERYONE, even if you can't get the candle to stay lit.***

Bridal showers aren't always good for you. Actually, most of the time, I hate them. BUT, there are exceptions. Like, when the bride-to-be is super embarrassed by specific presents and the branch president's wife needs an anatomy lesson to figure out the gifts in question. Those are the BEST! I bought Nicole some brown boots to wear to church on Sunday. That's an appropriate bridal shower gift, right?

Sitting on the couch with Kimball is good for me. Even though (or "especially because") we're always intertwined to the point where we don't know which legs belong to whom. Laughter and drooling is also good for me. Those two usually come hand-in-hand.

Know what else is good for me this week? Telling good friends exciting news and getting their responses back. I have good people in my world. The BEST people, actually. I told my Grandma this and she believed me. That is really good for me.

*I know fasting on Fast Sunday is good for so many other reasons. I promise, I know this.

**Squirrels really do laugh. I promise. If you were a squirrel, you'd laugh too. Just watch.

***It wasn't my birthday. It was Skyler's. So you should probably wish him a happy one.

The reason squirrels laugh at us.

from Keri: We wanted to see if you could run from one tree to the next in several feet of snow...without skis... This is Skyler's demonstration.