stuff i've been doing

This picture basically sums up what I've been wanting to do ever since we got back in town

It's fall! (It's fall??!) I have had great intentions to do a big catchup post, blah blah blah, and I haven't yet because there's Too Much to catch up on. I just need to muster up the energy to do it. I have been feeling like I have a lot I want to record so while this isn't the most exciting entry ever I'm doing it for posterity. I've been reading President Eyring's biography and I can't help but think the main takeaway from his life is that I need to write in a journal more often. 

We got back from Seattle the first week of August, and then I was here (in Philly) for a week before we left again on our Great European Vacation for 2.5 weeks. Then it was hot and we don't have AC and I couldn't be bothered to do anything but lay across my bed like a starfish to try and cool down. 

The Great European Vacation deserves its own post(s) and I'll get around to that. Eventually.

After our Great European Vacation I went to California for a very quick trip to celebrate my grandma Helen's 100th birthday. Quite an achievement! Her party reminded me a little of Rhoda's first birthday party (it was noisy and crowded and she was slightly disoriented) but it was really great to see all of my family. All seventeen grandkids and many great-grandkids were in attendance and I was also able to fit in a massage with my siblings at my brother's favorite slightly sketchy Chinese massage parlor. Wins all around.

I've been catching up on the third season of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, which is now on Netflix. If I haven't already told you to watch it, you should. If you're into that kind of thing. It's like Foyle's War, but instead of an middle-aged British male detective during WWII it's a sassy/slightly racy Australian lady detective post-WWI. Which means it's actually more like Maisie Dobbs but the main character is not a pain in the neck. (Sorry Maisie. I keep trying to forgive you for turning into a really annoying character.)

I'm suffering from severe allergies. A dermatologist friend told me that since I grew up in the desert I have terrible immunity for allergies, so that's a bummer. And apparently everyone I know who has ever had any kind of hay fever is also suffering big timer right now, so that makes me feel a little better. Someone please tell me when it's going to stop.

Robbie's back in school and gone a lot. Not for school, though—he's usually riding his bike. Thanks to Harry and Bruce, my brother and brother in-law, for making it more of an obsession for him than a hobby.

I'm on track to finish 52 books this year. (Yay!) For some of you this may not seem like much of an accomplishment but please remember that I have a two year old.

Rhoda's funny and awesome and talks a blue streak. She's really into singing these days. Some of her favorites include Happy Birthday ("happy to you, happy to you..."), A-B-C, Twinkle Twinkle, and Five Little Ducks. She also has a freakishly good memory for people's names so she randomly talks about friends of ours that she hasn't seen in months. She'd make a great candidate for public office. Her hair is officially long enough now that people don't mistake her for a boy (you'd be amazed at how many people were still doing that over the summer). 

baby, baby, where did our blog go?

I was admonished yesterday for neglecting my blog. I have things to write about, I think, but two forces are at work preventing me from posting my usual insights. One, I've been working a lot (I may or may not have earned 23 hours of comp time last week). Two, I come up with things to write about and then I either talk myself out of following through on that idea or I forget what I was going to write about. Any suggestions on how to deal with any of those problems would be greatly appreciated.

So here is an illustrated list of what I've been up to lately. Philosophical musings on less-important things to come later.

I finally watched the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice! (As you may recall, I had never seen it before.) All in one evening! And, of course, I loved it. In other news, Lizzy Bennet is actually American?? Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?

We had a sleepover for work on Friday, and I actually slept over. I use the term "slept" loosely, as it more loosely resembled the sort of restless sleep that happens when you're flying overseas. And then I had to be somewhat presentable for all of the participants the next day as I served them breakfast at 6 am. Sigh.

But in more exciting work news, I totally met Betty White on Thursday. She is a nice lady, and she loves animals. What more could you want in a woman?

Robbie is in Haiti. Again.

I bought four pounds of strawberries on Saturday and I've already gone through them. Here's one of my favorite strawberry recipes so far—a delicious summer salad brought to you by a lovely woman in my ward. You're welcome in advance. (BACON.)

EASY BREEZY SUMMER SALAD
1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced 
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup chopped red onion 
¼ cup chopped walnuts (I substituted slivered almonds sautéed in butter until brown)  

 DRESSING 
Whisk together: 
1 cup mayonnaise
 ½ cup sugar 
¼ cup raspberry vinegar

Yield: 6-8 servings

So... what's new with you guys?

DC I love you, but you're bringing me down

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that the government is going to shut down at midnight tonight. Maybe it won't directly affect you, but since you're here, let me tell you what's going to happen to me.

Since DC's budget comes from Congress, our city will basically shut down too, i.e. no basic services like trash collection. Yay. I won't be going to work, because the Library of Congress employees are considered "non-essential" government employees. So, that sucks because even though I'm not getting paid, I'll be losing internship hours that go toward getting my degree. And then there are the other things that I could be doing with all the free time I'll likely have, like going to some Smithsonian museums or visiting the monuments/memorials, but no—those'll be closed too. Basically, if you're planning on taking a trip to DC to see the sights, you should take a rain check.

There are some upsides that I should mention. I'll have free time to work on my term papers. We aren't getting a return on our taxes this year, so it won't matter that it will take a long time for them to be filed. Robbie won't have to travel to Indianapolis for work. And I've got enough cereal to last me through the Second Coming.

So, take that for what it's worth. If anyone wants to hang out and share a bowl of cereal during the day this month my schedule is (probably) wide open. Any takers?

Che gelida manina

This has been such a whirlwind month. And it's only April 4th. (5th. Oh my gosh. This is my life.)

Anyway, tonight my exhibit officially wrapped up and we celebrated with an opening reception. It's up! Life is good. I'll post pictures and more recap later but I really don't want to think about it right now. We got home at 9:30 tonight and just stumbled in the house because between Robbie starting a new project at work and the events at the library, we're just exhausted. I can't explain why I'm still up though, it might have something to do with the bowl of Robin Eggs sitting in front of me.

To alleviate some of the stress going on this week I've been listening to a lot of opera. I know that there are some in our midst that do not appreciate a diva belting out a sweet opera tune but that's okay. It really helps to listen to opera when I'm trying to chill out during my high stress moments, or (alternately) when I need a good cry. Robbie also likes to sing fake opera to me when I need a good laugh, so it is pretty much a great outlet for all extremes of emotion.

Speaking of needing a good cry after listening to opera, this one gets me every time. It really gets going at about 3:48:

The joke's on me

I went to the dentist this week after three years of neglecting to schedule a cleaning appointment. (That's actually not a record for me, but I won't disclose the real record because it's embarrassing.) I am the most diligent flosser and brusher, and never have I had a cavity, which I think was my mouth's way of saying "six years of braces was enough torture for you."

Until this week. Dr. Jani (who is awesome, if you need a dentist in DC) found not one, but TWO cavities during my checkup. My cavity-free streak is over. Not only that, but he explained to me why one of my front teeth is a slightly different color from the other (tooth trauma as a kid that I don't remember happening) and that one of my molars might be attacking itself. Are these things that you have to worry about as you get older? Don't answer that.

Anyway, I went and got the cavities filled today. I was hoping that Dr. Jani would say "April Fool's! You don't have any cavities." But no such luck. Just a quick drilling and a couple of hours of a lopsided smile. Thanks, man.

NDANAP

This used to be the phrase on my sister's vanity plate. I don't know if it's still there but if you are a Terrill woman, this slogan is always relevant. I do not want to diminish Bonny's need for a nap (she has four children) but winter just makes me exhausted. I take it back—this is not a new issue and I am tired all the time regardless of the season. How do moms do it? Insomniacs? How do you deal with not enough sleep? I feel like a zombie all the time, and to complicate things further, the work never seems to slow down.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. I haven't posted very much lately, and it's because nothing's happening. Really. It's just bitter cold and windy, and I'm inside all the time, and tired. (And for you Californians, I know the weather is really nice for you right now, but just... don't rub it in my face.)

List of things on my mind

1. I love playing the "last year at this time, we were..." game. Robbie and I were reminiscing last night about snowmageddon, which was simultaneously awesome and boring. I still wish that we could have another city shutdown for a week. Is it too late for that?

2. That being said, I wish that spring would just come already. I guess it's a matter of extremes--I'd rather it be cold while we're snowed in instead of just being bitter cold with no snow, or just be warm and springy. But today it's supposed to get up to 50 so I'm happy with that.

3. The new job is going pretty well. I'm the project manager for an exhibit opening in GW's library at the beginning of April. So it's relevant to my schooling, I work fewer hours, I have an insane amount of responsibility and "expertise" (which I'm still getting used to), and as mentioned, I has an office:

The view from my office, ironically enough, is directly into the building that I used to work in. Hahaha. Same floor and everything. But I really really love having a window. It's so luxurious.

4. With the flexibility of my job, however, I am having a hard time getting motivated to get other things done. I took Friday off (because I COULD!) and I caught up on making appointments (I need a haircut in a bad way) and other slightly necessary things, but I don't really care to do other things that matter, like homework. I have been doing pretty well at making it to my office before 10 am, but please tell me,  dear readers: how do you get motivated to get on task?

5. Oh yes. And last night we watched the Super Bowl at the Taylors' new digs. And none of us care at all about football. I am still kind of amazed that we made it through the whole second half (we started watching at the terrible halftime show). At one point Robbie said (in all seriousness), "If the Steelers just get one more home run, then they'll win!" I'm a lucky lady to have found a man who cares less about football than I do.

The ghosts of bosses past

I just learned that my new office used to belong to a woman who passed away while she was still working here. Not still in the actual office, but it's kind of a weird note to start on.

But, on the bright side, I do have my own office, AND it has a window! I can see that it's sunny outside! I can play music on my laptop! I think things are off to a good (albeit crazy) start.

(PS, remember to vote for Kate and Regan, if you haven't already! And feel free to reblog and tell all your friends, if you haven't already. THIS IS IMPORTANT.)

Eternal truths

It's true that quitting your job can't solve all of your problems. But it does solve many of them.

Some Monday inspiration

This video is long, but worth watching. Charity is in our ward (well, unofficially, but her brothers and sisters are) and I had only heard bits and pieces of her story until I watched this video on Saturday night. Pretty amazing (as is her performance at the end of the video), and I am suddenly feeling guilty that I take my life and health for granted.

These are my confessions

Well, I've only got one confession for today that I was thinking about this morning. I've never seen the Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries. I've never really felt like I was missing out on anything but now I feel like a viewing of the miniseries is an important part of being a Mormon woman.

A long December

I'm on vacation right now, in Monrovia at my parents' house. It's pouring rain and I'm not actually sure what the date is today. I think that is a good thing.

I'll be back to regular posting soon. In the meantime, I need to go play paper dolls with Agnes and get some donuts from Christy's. Duty calls!