thankful for a prophet

I have loved having President Hinckley as a prophet. I've loved his great sense of humor, his love of all around him, and his tireless enthusiasm for the gospel. He set such a wonderful example of happiness in marriage, and I'll bet Sister Hinckley is dancing for joy right now! I'll miss him! I look forward to meeting the new prophet, and coming to love his teachings as well. I love Jesus Christ, and I am grateful our Heavenly Father calls prophets to guide us.

what paul said

On children:

"We look still look like we're in our early twenties, right?" (I ask why) "Because if we look really young then maybe we'll live longer and we'll be able to see our kids grow up." (he's been feeling old lately.)

On vending machines that take too long to give you your diet coke and then keep the extra quarter:

"What's taking so long? Give me my colored bubbly goodness!! Hey, where's my quarter?"

I can't handle how much I love him.

bauer power

This is one fine T shirt. I have purchased said fine T shirt, and when it is in my possession, I plan on calling everyone else Chloe, and also doing a lot of interrogating. There's really nothing life threatening going on for me right now (which is good, because I'm playing make believe, and that's why it's fun), so I have to look for opportunities. Like, when Paul gets home I can ask him how long he waited for the bus, and when he says five minutes I can say "really? are you sure it was five minutes? you better tell me the truth because you're not getting any tuna casserole until you do!". Nope, it doesn't work, does it? Man, I stink at interrogating. Maybe I bought the wrong shirt.

on the subway

The other day, I am on my way home from work, on the subway, and a Very Respectable Old man is standing next to me. I know he is respectable because he has on an argyle sweater vest and those shoes with tassles on them, and who but very respectable people wear those? He is reading the New Yorker (again, very respectable) and listening to his i-pod. Then, he does something in no way respectable: he starts rocking out. He is getting down and funky, lip synching, dancing in place and really being very Mick Jagger. I am digging this quite a bit, and trying not to laugh, when another Very Respectable Old Man gets on the train. Now, he actually could kick the other Respectable Old Man's trash, because he has on a very smart looking cap, and one of those jackets with the elbow patches, and I think we can all agree that elbow patch jackets trump argyle sweater vests any day of the week. Plus, he has some really great grizzled old man sideburns. He is standing directly next to my music loving friend, who by the way is showing no sign of quitting his dancedance revolution. He looks at him over his New York Times, is understandably quite shocked at this very un-respectable display, and gives him his best I'm Very Disappointed in You Glare (which is also a very effective parenting technique), but Mick-in-Training is quite in his own little world and does not notice, so Elbow Patch Man decides to glare for the duration of the train ride. We all get off at the same stop, Man #2 glaring at Man #1 the whole way to the elevators, and then they go their separate ways, with Mick in Training jiving all the way.

Pimplewatch 2008

I have a huge pimple. It is on my left cheek, and it is roughly the size of Texas. No, Alaska. Combine Texas and Alaska, and that is the size of my pimple. Basically, I have a pimple the size of North America on my cheek. It had some relatives, smaller and less obnoxious ones, on my forehead, chin, and other cheek, which have thankfully diminished greatly, but this one (I think I will call it HAP, which stands for Huge Angry Pimple) is just not taking my hints that it is not welcome. I have tried several methods: attempting through Jedi mind control to will the pimple to disappear (unsuccessful so far), looking really hard at it in the mirror with an angry expression on my face (didn't scare it, but sure made me look worse when I was looking in the mirror), talking to it ("Please go away. I don't know what I did to make you so mad, left cheek, but I'm really sorry!", and steam, which is much more boring than the previous methods, but which supposedly actually produces results. I think maybe it's a little smaller since I wrote this post. I think I'm going to go sit on the couch and think positive, pimple shrinking thoughts.

P.S. Paul has just informed me that HAP stands for Hospital Acquired Pneumonia. I like Huge Angry Pimple better.

educating paul

paul and yours truly on Christmas morn (respective facial expressions are an adequate representation of our feelings on holidays that involve waking up early.)

One evening, Paul and I had a disagreement, and I felt the need to educate him on the finer points of communicating with yours truly. You see, he wanted to listen to music that particular evening, and I did not. Here's how our conversation went:

Paul: You never want to listen to music.

Me: Sure I do- I'd just like to be asked what I would like to listen to. (here I felt the need to instruct, and took the ball and ran.) Besides, you shouldn't say "never". It is not a representation of the way things actually are, only how you feel. I like to listen to music, so "never" isn't fair. (here Paul is listening quite intently, trying ever so hard in his cute Paul way to understand me.)

Paul: (looking considerably puzzled) Okay.....why do I feel like you never want to listen to music....please?

I believe afterwards we listened to Coldplay.

hello, new year

Holy cow, it's been a long time since my last post! Not to worry, I was not abducted by aliens, involved in any illegal activities, or locked up in a drug treatment facility. I was quite safe, in fact, being hosted by our families in Southern California. Of course we were there for Christmas, and also.....my little bro's wedding!!! Holy cow. That's the second time I've said holy cow. Anyhoo. It was warranted. David's new bride is completely awesome, and I'm so excited for them. Up with marriage!!! What can I say? It's a blessed arrangement, a dream within a dream....okay, I totally stole that from the Princess Bride. You caught me. Here are some pics:

Christmas Eve with my family

Christmas morning with my family. I like how my dad looks like he is lording over all his sleepy children.
Christmas day with Paul's family. I heart them.

the happy couple

my little bro, mugging for the camera. soso cute!
the happy couple embrace. and laugh.

I have more pics I could post, but I thought it being the new year and all, I should say something about goals, and I didn't want to lose you. Still there? Good. Now, about goals. I have some, which I actually wrote down this year. I don't usually do this. I mean to, and don't, and the cycle goes on and on, until this year. Here's what I would like to do:

Find more ways to serve my family and friends

Write in my journal at least weekly

Exercise at least twice a week

Figure out what I should be doing with my life (I realize this is no small undertaking. All the same, it seems kind of important.)

And now, here is a list of things that are not goals for me in any way, shape or form:

Growing a mullet (although I would think it great fun to wear a mullet wig as a costume.)

Watching any of the Saw movies

Eating brussel sprouts

Being a contestant on a reality TV show

Just thought you might like to know. Happy New Year, everyone!