A Funny Thing Happened On The Way

Just a small post to relay some random fun and silly stories.

     Yesterday I went on a morning walk with my friend Holly.  As we went outside I patted my pockets looking for my sunglasses.  Holly told me they were on top of my head.  We both laughed.  Fast forward a half hour to when we returned.  I told her I thought she was awesome and I should know because I'm smart.  Her response: "You couldn't even find your sunglasses.  How smart can you be?"

Touche.  You won this round!  Seriously, how can you argue with that?  I still think she's pretty great though.

     One time a couple of years ago Lyle, the kids and I were in the car on our way to get frozen yogurt.  As we parked the car and got out Taylor was lagging a little behind.  I asked him to hurry up.  Annie had heard a new word recently and decided to try it out right then.  "Yeah, coagulate Taylor!"  Lyle and I just stopped and looked at her and started laughing.  Annie's really good at laughing at herself and she wasn't offended.  I asked her if she knew what the word 'coagulate' meant and I told her it's meaning.  I still have no idea where she heard it and why she thought that word meant 'hurry up'.  It's something we still tease her about today.

     My most embarrassing moment was in the 12th grade.  I was on the Dance Company and we were practicing after school one day for the Make A Wish Foundation concert we were doing the following night. There had to be 50-60 people there.  At this particular moment people were just milling around talking and mingling.  It was pretty loud.  I decided to practice my pirouettes...and pirouetted right off the stage onto the lowered orchestra pit which got an up close and personal meeting with my face.  The entire auditorium went silent as soon as I hit and I tried to play it off like everything was okay.  SO embarrassing!  I was SO lucky.  I didn't split my chin open or crack a bone or break my nose or anything.  I did however have a black bruise on my chin for about a month and at the end of the year the girls on the dance team gave me an action figure with a parachute for my end of the year gift.  Haha.  Very Funny!  No really!

     When we are in the car we sometimes play I spy with the kids.  One day it was Taylor's turn and he said, "I spy with my eye, something that starts with a C."  We guessed and guessed.  And got them all wrong.  Finally when we gave up he told us that he had chosen "Kennecot Copper Mine".  Lyle and I started laughing as we told him it started with a K not a C.  He laughed along with us.  Then it was Lyle's turn and he  picked something that started with an S.  Annie thought it would be funny to guess "Sennesot Sopper Sine."  It was.  We laughed pretty hard.  Even Tayor, though I think he was a bit embarrassed.

     Last week I went for a walk with Holly (I know another walk story, I must be extra embarrassing around her or something) and in coming back from our walk we stood talking by the door.  I wasn't looking when Holly pushed the handicapped button which makes the door open automatically.  It came about an inch from my face before I realized it was there.  I did avert the door/face disaster, but just barely.  I laughed so hard!

Good times.

What do you laugh about?

A Day in the Life of Laura

     Thought I'd let you know what things happen in my life.  Times are approximated.

Thursday
6am Wake up (sort of) and get out of bed
6:10am Eat breakfast- cereal
6:15am Get irritated at Lyle's breakfast eating noises (poor guy, I'm a grump in the mornings)
6:20am Braid my hair
6:30am Get dressed for work- d'oh! I tore a belt loop!
6:45am Do  makeup
6:55am Hug and kiss Lyle good bye
7am At work
7:05am Logged on, do some computer and box work
7:30am Check facebook and see that the cover photo I had selected had inadvertently led people to believe I was either pregnant or adopting a baby
7:31am Write an explanation telling people that I'm not having a baby and change cover photo, log out of facebook (I hate facebook today)
7:32am Go to bathroom and cry
7:35am Put on a happy face and check the mirror to see if my eyes are too red, find grey hair
7:36am Pluck offending grey hair
7:37am Back at desk working again
7:38am Email Katie about traumatic morning event
7:39am Call mom and Lyle to check in, tell them both about traumatic morning event
7:50am Working again, good thing (helps distract me and I feel much better)
9am Morning walk with Holly (we get 1/2 hour to exercise 3 days a week, my friend  Holly and I go outside and walk)
9:30am Come back from walk, Holly pushes the handicapped button for the door to open automatically and I don't realize it, almost get hit in the face with the door
9:31am Back to my desk, laughing loudly at myself (the laughing helps me feel better too)
9:32am More computer and box work, eat fruit snacks
10:30am Staff meeting
11am Data entry section needs help; log on and do data entry of tax returns
12pm Lunch break, go home for lunch since I only live 5 minutes away- eggs and sausage and OJ for lunch
12:30pm Back at work
1:15pm Head up to 2nd floor with my trusty red cart to pick up some boxes, stop to talk to Amanda for 5 minutes while waiting for Doral to meet me and let me into storage room to get boxes
1:25pm Back down to the 1st floor to unload boxes
1:30pm More computer and box work
2pm Take full cart of boxes out to warehouse to store on pallets (this is where I get to use what Amanda calls my mad forklift skills!)
2:30pm Verify addresses of taxpayers for tax return refunds
3pm More computer and box work
3:30pm Snack on crackers and peanut butter filled pretzels (work always has lots of snacks, this is a bad thing) and back to work
4pm Make batch headers for Monday's scanned documents
4:30pm More computer and box work
5:30pm Sayonara work!
6pm Eat a tortilla (I don't always fix dinner if it's just me, especially when the fridge is empty like it is tonight)
6:30pm Teach Lindsey piano lesson- she tells me about The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (a videoblog of the Pride and Prejudice story)
7pm Get on YouTube and watch first episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and absolutely love them (they're on 3 minutes each)
8pm Download borrowed library book online
8:30pm Just Dance time!  I get a good workout tonight.  Lyle gets home from work- he stopped by Costco on the way home.  Yay we have food again!
9:15pm Shower time
9:30pm Read one chapter of Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer to Lyle
10pm Leave Lyle sleeping and go read and ebook on the couch by myself
12am Go to bed (I get to sleep in!)

Friday happenings:
Drop off papers at adoption agency
Chiropractor appt
Lunch with cousin Colin
Shovel
Blog
Clean Kitchen
Haircut
Play piano
Read
Pick up kids
Meet Katie at Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt
Prepare sharing time for Sunday

Saturday:
Morning temple session for friend receiving endowments
Sweep and mop floors and make sure kids get chores done
Help mom clean and organize her house so she can prepare for sister missionaries living with her
Practice organ for Sunday

Sometime this weekend:
Take Lyle and kids to visit baby Harper

Ye Olde Festival

     Come one, come all!  The time of year has come 'round once again and it's time to visit our family's favorite vacation spot: the Arizona Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace!  This is the 4th time going in the 6 years I've known Lyle.  It's so much fun!  An old time village set in the Arizona desert filled with delicious food, games and rides, various shows on 13 different stages, jousting tournaments and an artisan marketplace filled with things to buy and do.
     The first thing we went to see was London Broil, the 3 man juggling act.  Actually I should say juggling and comedy act as they're pretty funny.  We've seen them every year I've gone so far.  Last time we went was in 2011 and Lyle was chosen to come up on stage where they threw knives around him and another pretty big guy.  I have to say I was a little jealous.  I'd love to be up there.  I mean who wouldn't want a few guys throwing knives at them, right?

     All the rides at the festival are man powered.  They're mostly for little kids so I haven't really tried any other than one: the Pirate's Assault Catapault which is basically a trampoline and you're attached to bungee cords and fly through the air flipping around.  That's a favorite with the kids.
     We saw Adam Crack Fire Whip Show.  He's a guy who uses big whips to whip stuff.  He's very good, in fact, he holds some records in the Guinness Book of World Records and he went to a competition in Australia this last year and got 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 3 events he competed in.  He used a few different whips for different stunts, but he brings out the big guns for the finale: The Big Bullwhip of Death (Duh, duh, duh- he actually had us make those sounds whenever he said, 'the big bullwhip of death') which is a 22 foot whip which he uses to whip the heads off of roses held in the mouth of an assistant from a really long distance away.
     I went to the petting zoo and saw ducks, goats, pigs, a highland cow with horns, little chicks, a draft horse and more.  Pretty cute.  I made sure to use the proffered hand sanitizer when I left.  There was the Barely Balanced acrobats.  We hadn't seen them before this year.  It amazes me that people have the kind of balance they do.  I wanted to get better pictures of all three of them in extremely difficult positions but the camera battery died.  Doh!

     I stopped and listened to Sarah Marie Mullen play the harp.  She sat in a shaded grassy area and played the harp all day and in full dress renaissance too!  That must be really tiring and hot.  I bought one of her CDs.  We also saw for the first time this year the Falconry Show which was very interesting with owls, hawks, buzzards, and this King Vulture who is preening something from his back.  They have camel and elephant rides.  I didn't have time this year, but last time I rode an elephant.
     The Joust to the death is always gruesome yet delightful.  There are 3 jousting tournaments through the day the last one is to the death (okay they don't really die they just knock each other off their horses, fight with swords and spout blood packets when one of them is supposed to get hit).  Our knight Maximillian the Earl of Something-or-other (who was in fact the bad guy) tragically died in the end murdered by the upright and whiny Sir Brown Noser, favorite knight of the King.  Disappointing but, ah well, what can you do?

     Other shows we saw: the Knotty Nauticals fire eating (they were supposed to do rope walking too which they didn't do and while the fire eating was really cool, they were too crass for my taste) and the Living Fountain, a new addition this year, a lady pretending to be a statue in ancient Greece who comes alive and elegantly sprays water over herself and an attending satyr.  Some of our favorite acts from the past that we didn't see this year: Thom Sellectomy the sword swallower who picked Annie one year to come up and pull a sword out of his throat, Three Guys and a Bunch of Drums which is exactly as it sounds- but they're good and really funny, Cast in Bronze the Musical Carillon, a guy playing what looks like a piano but it's attached to huge bells, the Glassblowing Demonstration, the Wyld Men show which is a couple of half naked guys playing around in the mud (I'm not sure exactly where this idea came from), and Clan Tynker the family circus.  Still haven't caught but would like to see: gypsy violinist, knife throwing show, bagpipes and drums, bellydancing carnivale the knighting ceremony and more.  I'm not sure when we'll be able to go next, probably not for a couple more years.  But it's such a good time!

An Arrival, Gravity and God's Math

Mike and baby Harper

     Two new things happened this week.  First of all, my niece Harper was born.  My younger brother Mike is now a first time father.  It was so touching to see Mike so thrilled at holding his little baby girl.  I went to the hospital and held her for a short while.  She was so good being passed around to the few of us that were there, without crying.  She has her mother Wendy's hands and a little bit of dark hair.
     I have been truly excited for Mike.  He is so good with kids and will be an excellent father.  But at the same time I can't pretend not to notice the minor stab of jealousy and fear that come with this birth.  All of my younger siblings are adults and any of them could have been having children before now.  But they haven't.  This is the first.  And I realize that I'm now being passed up.  Younger people than me are having babies all the time, but this one is the first in my family.  

The baby blanket I crocheted for Harper

     The second thing that happened this week is that Lyle and I received a notice from the adoption agency.  It has been 1 year since we started the approval process and they need us to resubmit our criminal background checks and redo our finance worksheet so they can continue to keep us as a prospective adoptive couple.  If we don't do these things within the month we will be taken off their lists.
     I try not to focus on the fact that I have to qualify to be a parent.  Most people don't have to have 3 fire extinguishers in their house in order have a child.  Or be interviewed with intimate questions about relationships and psychological questions to make sure they're not crazy.  Or compete with hundreds of other couples for one child.  
     Most of the time I do fine but the question is always just beneath the surface: will it ever be my turn?

Elder Shayne M. Bowen

     Sunday was stake conference.  Elder Shayne Bowen from the first quorum of the seventies spoke to us.  He took his scriptures and asked us as an audience to identify the principle he was going to show to us.  He then let go of the book and it fell loudly on the pulpit.  We softly answered: gravity.  Gravity is one of God's principles.  He picked the scriptures back up and repeated the action a few more times asking how often we thought the same principle would work.  Would the book float the next time?  Each time, as expected, the scriptures fell on the pulpit.  Of course gravity was going to work the same way over and over again.  It's one of God's principles and they are eternal and unchanging.  He wanted to know if we thought it was important to understand how gravity worked?  Yes it is.  If you're on the top of a thirty story building and standing near the edge, it would be very useful to know how gravity works.
     He read a scripture from D&C 130:20-21: There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated- And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
     The lesson here is this: obedience is also one of God's laws; it's eternal and unchanging.  It's important for us to know how it works as well.  And we are told by God that when we obey we will receive blessings.  
     Laurel Christensen spoke at Time Out For Women this year about this very thing.  The principle she was trying to relay was: Trust the Math.  She had worked hard last year to lose weight.  She started eating less and exercising more and created a spreadsheet to chart her progress.  And sure enough, when the chart said she should be 1.2 lbs up, she was 1.2 lbs up.  If it said she should lose .8 lbs, she lost .8 lbs.  The weight didn't always show in the same week, but eventually it caught up.  It was simple math.  Calories in- calories out.
     Then she quoted the same scripture that Elder Bowen did and added another: D&C 82:10 which says, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

Laurel Christensen

     She talked about how we're all waiting for something and how in our times of waiting we needed to trust the math.  Math is one of God's laws too.  And in these scriptures God himself tells us that He has to bless us when we obey.  We don't always know what laws go with what blessings, but if we keep the commandments he cannot keep blessings from us.  Basic math: obedience in- blessings out.
     However, they may not show up the time we expect them to.  So what do we do while we wait?  Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  This means that when we're obedient to His laws we have the right to ask Him for what we need during our period of waiting.  
     Note: One thing that would help me in my time of need is patience.  Another is gratitude.  I'm going to ask Heavenly Father to grant those to me as I wait.

Me and Harper

     Laurel's final advice was this: stop worrying about things you can't control like timing, the agency of others or the plan God has in place for your life and put the focus on what you can control which is your obedience and your worthiness to receive personal revelation and blessings. They will come.  Trust God's Math.
     Elder Bowen ended his talk with a promise as well: if we keep the commandments and are obedient, the Lord would give us all the necessities of life and the riches of heaven and that all that God has will be ours.
    Hmm...God has an awful lot of children.  I'm not sure if I want quite that many.  But I'll be thankful to take the ones that will come.  Will it ever be my turn to be a mother?  Well, I'm doing my best to keep the commandments.  The answer is yes, I will.  I just need to wait for this blessing to catch up.   

Let's Go to the Movies Part 1

     One of the things I enjoy is a good old fashioned movie.  Whether in the theater with buttered popcorn at your knee (do you have any idea how many calories those things have?  yikes!)  or checking out the latest redbox title or even pulling out an old VHS tape (gasp, that's right sometimes we're real old school at my house), there's nothing like a 2 hour escape to refresh yourself.  My problem is that I like them so much, I have a hard time narrowing them down.  So this will have to be a series of posts- though probably not in a row- breaking my favorites into genres.  Today's sampling: animated/family films.
     I may not have children living at my house full time, but I still really love kid movies.  Maybe it's the feeling of being a kid again or just the absence of some of the trash that appears in other films, there's something special about movies you can watch no matter who's in the house.  Here are a few...or maybe a few more than a few...of my favorites in no particular order:
   1. Enchanted- 2007 starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.  Giselle, Prince Edward and Robert in a modern day fairy tale love triangle when the beautiful damsel in distress is separated from her true love by an evil queen/witch and has to wait in New York City for his rescue.  When I first saw the trailer for this movie I was at the theater with my sister and cousin.  Anyone who has seen me get excited has no doubt noticed how I clap my hand and wave my arms and laugh really loud.  Well, when it came to the part in the trailer where Prince Edward was in Central Park singing to try and find Giselle and gets hit from behind by the bicyclists, I got so excited (see above behavioral issue).  My cousin turned to stare at me, though I'm sure I have no idea why, and laughed as I was saying, "I want to see that movie so bad!"  She turned to me and said, "I forgot how fun you are to watch movies with, Laura," and laughed some more.  Ah, shucks, you're making me blush!
   2. The Karate Kid- 1984 Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita.  Who knew learning karate was so easy.  Wax on, wax off, Danielsan!  Poor Ralph Macchio getting picked on by a bunch of black belt teenage snobs.  Good thing Mr. Miyagi kicked all of their butts in like 2 minutes all by his old man self!  I have to say, I think he got a lot of slave labor out of Daniel in the lessons he taught him.  And I was totally awed by Mr. Miyagi's magic clap that healed Daniel's leg after an illegal sweep during a tournament Daniel wasn't qualified to fight in.  But the crane move saved the day at the end.  Whew, that was a close one!
   3. The Muppets- These darling...um...what are they really...anyway, have been around for a long time.  Way back when I was a tyke their TV show was so cool!  Over the years they have had a number of successful movies.  Here are my favorites: A. The Muppet Movie- can't forget Kermit sitting in the swamp with a banjo singing "The Rainbow Connection".  B. The Muppet Christmas Carol- I love Kermit as Bob Crachit.  Having Gonzo play Charles Dickens was a nice touch, and I absolutely love the songs.  C. Muppet Treasure Island- Tim Curry is such a good pirate. I love the pirate roll call and the rats on a cruise who share their ship, but I find the man that live sin Fozzie's finger a bit strange.  And of course our latest installment: The Muppets- we bought the soundtrack to this one and we now all have "Life's a Happy Song" memorized.
   4. The Nightmare Before Christmas- 1993.  Tim Burton's imagining of Halloween Town and Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King, Sally, Lock, Stock and Barrell, and of course good old Sandy Claws is a fun new direction to the wonder of holidays and Christmas.  This is not a movie Lyle likes but I find the imagination that went into this one amazing.  I love Jack's attempts to scientifically find out why Christmas is so special.  Poor Jack, just trying to spread his own brand of holiday cheer and he pretty much ruins Christmas.  And Mr. Oogie Boogie certainly didn't help.  Again, amazing score and songs.  Good job Danny Elfman!
   5. Song of the South- 1946 Disney Classic.  I know you can't buy this movie now in the U.S.  People seem to find the portrayal of Uncle Remus and the African American people offensive.  But I will never forget Br'er Rabbit making the tar baby or Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear being sucked into the whole "Please don't throw me in the briar patch" debacle.  These are classic stories.  And where would we be without the song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"?  That's a song Lyle likes to sing to the kids and one my grandfather (who died when I was 6) sang to me as a little girl.
   6. Toy Story- 1995 Tim Allen, Tom Hanks (voices).  Now tell the truth, how many of you young'uns (or in my case not so young'uns) went home and tried to sneak a peek to find out if your toys really did move when you weren't there.  Pixar's first movie, and the first full length computer animated movie ever, took us by storm and we fell in love with Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Rex and the rest of the lovable characters from this hilarious portrayal of what a toy's life just might be like.  Two sequels, both in my opinion quite good, added to the fun.  To Infinity and Beyond!
   7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial- 1982 Henry Thomas and a young Drew Barrymore.  This one I remember seeing in the theater.  How fun seeing the young siblings discover, care for and try to help E.T. get home.  We watched him talk for the first time, fly bikes across the moon and grieve when we thought he and Elliott were going to die.  And oh, my heart broke when E.T. went home.  It was supposed to be happy but my 5 year old heart was crushed that E.T. couldn't just stay with Elliott and play all day.  I bawled all the way home.

   8. The Family Dog 1987- Nobody will recognize this one.  It was one of my family's absolute favorites growing up.  It was a 20 minute short animated story that featured in the TV series "Amazing Stories" (does anyone remember that one?) about a suburban middle class family and their dog.  It may not sound like a funny premise, but with Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Brad Bird as producers on it, you know it has to be good.  This poor dog, he gets tortured by the kids living in the house, ignored or disciplined by the parents and finds himself in the doghouse (I'm so punny!) when he can't stop a robbery from taking place in his home.  I bought this one on DVD from Amazon (I think it was) because I loved it so much.
   9. Mary Poppins- 1964 with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.  A classic story of a very remarkable woman who flies literally into a family's life to help them learn to recognize the importance of each other then promptly leaves them to their familial bliss.  Along the way they dance on the London rooftops via traveling through chimneys, pop into a chalkboard painting and win a derby race on a carousel horse and have a tea party on the ceiling.  Some of Disney's best songs come from this movie: Let's Go Fly a Kite, Chim-Chiminey, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Feed the Birds and Spoonful of Sugar to name a few.
   10. The Princess Bride- 1987 Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Peter Falk, Andre the Giant, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Christofferson, Billy Crystal, Wallace Shawn and a young Fred Savage as the sick kid.  So many one liners from this movie!  As you wish.  Inconceivable!  Hello, I am Inigo Montoya; you kill my father, prepare to die!  Who can forget the Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, the pirate ship Revenge, Rodents of Unusual Size, the Pit of Despair, Miracle Max, Buttercup, Prince Humperdink, a very mealy-mouthed priest, a six-fingered murderer, the shrieking eels and the man in black.  Love the grandfather reading this to his sick grandson.  And check out the graphics on that video game Fred's playing.  High tech stuff!

Well, I guess that's all for this installment.  Come back for more entertaining movie choices from yours truly.  Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel!

Heartbreak and Insanity

     Warning: Infertile rant coming on.  Those who are are not optimistically challenged like yours truly may wish to skip this post and go to yesterday's much more fun loving and happy post.  This post also contains info on womanly problems that might make some people uncomfortable.  For women like me, we lost our privacy long ago and have no compunction about sharing unfortunate details with people.  Proceed at your own risk.
     My monthly was late.  To most women this signals a minor inconvenience.  To infertiles it wreaks utter havoc.  Like some other infertiles I know, I have shorter cycles than most women which means I get an extra cycle per year.  So not only do I get the extra fun that comes with an approaching menstruation more often than most women, but I also get the knowledge that I fail at my goal an extra time each year.  I get a little hot under the collar knowing that not only do I not get the chance to have children, but I have to endure emotional trauma in addition to the normal physical crap that comes with Auntie Flow's visits. It seems extra unfair not only to not have the ability to reproduce but still have to go through the bodily preparations for something that's not going to happen.  But then add in one more lemon squeezed into the wound: the hope that comes with a late period.  
     Hope is the most dangerous and painful thing for an infertile woman.  No matter how much you try, each day that does not bring your completely unwelcome but expected guest adds hope to an already aching heart.  That doesn't sound so bad.  Nobody wants to live without hope, right?  Hope is a good thing.  In one way, yes that's true.  But here's what happens to a seasoned infertile when hope arrives on the scene.  Every day after the expected arrival that it doesn't come, hope filled thoughts occur:

Maybe this is the month.

No of course not.  It's just like any other month, just later.

Huh, it's still not here.  I wonder...

Don't be stupid, Laura.  You know it's not going to happen.

I'm starting to feel possible signs of pregnancy.

Yes, and most of those signs are also signs of an approaching period.  Don't do this to yourself.

I fell nauseous today.  That's not something I normally feel before "the arrival".

You're skating on thin ice.  You know you can't allow yourself to feel this kind of hope.  It'll only be extra painful when it comes.  Stop now.

I've never been this late before.  That has to mean something!

Stop it!  Stop it!  Stop it now!  Don't hurt yourself like this.

     On and on it goes until you are finally proved right once again.  And your heart breaks for the thousandth time.  This month I was a week late.  I've never been that late before.  Sometimes I REALLY hate my body!  It sure knows just the right way to ruin my peace of mind and crush my dreams.  It also creates many opportunities for me to beat up on myself because I was stupid enough to have a small grain of hope that it could still happen.  Even when I already know that those kind of miracles only happen to other people.  They're not made for me.

     An infertile friend once wrote on her blog that she understood the meaning of insanity now.  They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  I agree with her.  It would seem I am certifiable.  This month marks the 5th year Lyle and I have been trying for a child.  That means I have done the same thing 65 times (appx) and failed EVERY SINGLE TIME yet this month I still thought it was possible to be pregnant.  So this is what insanity feels like.

     Though most months I don't break down when that beastly day occurs (why break down when I know I'm not going to be pregnant?), the months where something different happens, I can't stop my heart from feeling so empty and yet in so much pain.  

     My oh so wonderful husband has left me wallowing with tissues in my pajamas to go to the store and buy some comfort for me.  Since I can't have a baby I'll have to make do with Mr. Pringles, a candy bar or two and of course my two best friends: Ben and Jerry.

Food, Glorious Food

     I once heard a comedian talk about how as a society, we're obsessed with food.  That it's pretty sad when you hear a news story about a horrible fire and your first thought is: Mmm...marshmallows!
     Then there's the classic conversation from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings : 

Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.

Pippin: What about breakfast?

Aragorn: You already had it.

Pippin: We had one, yes.  What about second breakfast?

Aragorn walks away.

Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.

Pippin: What about elevenses?  Luncheon?  Afternoon tea?  Dinner?  Supper?  He knows about them, doesn't he?

Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

     Why think about food?  Aren't we always thinking about food in some form?  Do I have time for breakfast?  What am I going to take to work for lunch?  Where's the snacks?  What do I fix for dinner?  What groceries do we need this week?

     Lyle's birthday was this week.  We had some good meals.  Thought this was a good a time as any to talk about food likes and dislikes.  Lyle's food dislikes: beans.  Lyle's food likes: anything except beans.  I'm not so easy.  I'm a picky eater.  I don't like many condiments.  I won't/can't eat salad dressing, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, some sauces, onions, pickles, spaghetti-o's, cottage cheese, sour cream, any pepper other than a bell pepper...and that's not the end of the list.  However, there are many things I like too.

     This week we went out to eat for Lyle's birthday 4 times.  The first time was with Sam and Sandra in the ward and we went to Benihana.  This is one of our favorite places to eat.  Expensive enough that we don't get there often, but we're signed up on their email program so in our birthday month we get a $30 off dinner coupon.  Such yummy food!  And you get to see it made and have an entertaining show at the same time.  Love their chicken fried rice and tempura vegetables (other than the onions)!  Good chicken, steak, shrimp.  And surprise, surprise, I will sip on their onion soup appetizer, I just won't eat the onions out of it.

     Dinner no. 2 was Lyle's parents taking us to Bombay House.  Oh Indian food, how whole my life feels while I'm eating you!  I'm not a big spice person so I always choose the mild food option.  We get naan bread and rice with the meals.  Our favorite: Chicken Saag.  Yes, it may look gross, but one bite and heaven awaits!  One of us always gets it whenever we go.  It was my turn this time!  Chicken Saag is a spinach based sauce, which explains the green, with chicken (obviously) and other spices and pureed veggies (like onions, but their pureed so it's okay) in it.  Other favorites:  Chicken Mushrooms, Tikka Masala,  and Coconut Kurma.  We never leave without having Gulab Jamun.  It's a desert of fried dough balls in warm syrup with coconut.

Tikka Masala, Tandoori chicken, Naan and Chicken Saag

     Tuesday night is spent with the kids.  Tuesday was actually Lyle's birthday.  This meant a birthday dinner with the kids.  Lyle chose Golden Corral.  It's a family favorite.  It's a good buffet.  I always have to make myself get some salad and fruit because I know I'm going to get at least one plate filled with dessert.  They always have some kind of macaroon- I love coconut- and this time it was cherry macaroons.  Mmm, mmm, boy!  And as a stepmom I always have to make sure the kids get something decent to eat as well: they want the soft serve ice cream.  And this time they had cotton candy (what?).  They have a good variety of foods and yes, I also get some actual entree in between the other stuff.

     Last night we went to Rodizio Grill.  Again a coupon discount for their email club.  I love getting free dinners!  Always leave there SO full.  Is there really any use, Mr. Waiter, to ask me if I want dessert?  Big Fat No.  Nowhere left to stuff it; sorry, buddy!  I love the bacon wrapped turkey and the roasted pineapple.  The glazed ham is really good.  I'm not so much a pork person, so that's saying something.  And I love the parmesan beef.  Now I have one meal for which I don't have to worry about eating too many carbs.  Just too much food period.

     Now for a little more personal angle on food, I thought I'd talk about what we like to eat at home.  Lyle's the cook here.  I can cook and I'm not bad at all, but Lyle actually enjoys it.  Many weekends he likes getting up early and making hashbrowns, hash (potatoes, eggs, cheese, bacon, etc.) or sometimes omelettes for breakfast.  Because we both work, we do do (I said doo doo; probably not a good idea in a blog about food) the busy-parent-instant-meals-thing like mac and cheese, hamburger helper, and the oh so easy spaghetti sometimes.  But we have a couple of favorite dinners.  So I thought I'd share them.  I'm making Chicken Enchiladas for dinner.  Care to join me?

     Also, here's Lyle's recipe for Spinach Lasagna, another favorite.  Actually it's a friend's recipe that Lyle's modified for us. 

Dave's Lyle's Spinach Lasagna

Note: we added more spinach so this makes more than the original recipe.  It can make 2 small pans or 1 big pan, but sometimes that ends up with too much meat/spinach filling.

1 lb sausage

1 lb hamburger

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning

3 or 4(recipe calls for 1) tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 - 2 lbs spinach (frozen or fresh)

lasagna noodles

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese (but we use more)

Cook noodles.  Warm soup.  Brown meats.  Add seasonings and spinach to the meat. Cook until spinach is tender and mixed well with meat.  Layer pan with noodles.  Next layer is the meat/spinach filling.  Then layer with 1 can soup and one of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle with half the cheese.  Repeat layers.  Cook 350 degrees for 45 min. - 1 hour.

 Enjoy!  Bon Appetite!