The Young and the Foolish, episode 01

I can't get away from soap opera* and drama. If it's not in my own life, it's manifest in the lives of my dear friends. For most of my dating life, I have defined my stories with the title As Dragon Lady's World Turns, Episode ##, filling in the ## with some large and random number. Recently, my personal soap opera has been discontinued and I have turned my free time to watching someone else's real life drama. Knowing many of the actors personally has made it a very new experience for me. I'm not used to seeing both sides of the story. It's caused me to seriously think about things in dating that I had never before considered. I saw relationships in a whole new light as I watched two people interpret the exact same event so differently. I also had insights into dating and marriage in general that really made me stop and think. I'm too tired tonight to explain more, but as I think of things that I think would be helpful for more people to think about while dating, I'll post again, with a subject similar to this.

Note to self

If you fall asleep on the bus, don't drool.

Green Doritos in the Moon

I watched the lunar eclipse this morning. After four hours of sleep, I slept-walked to the park with a roommate and a friend. Upon arrival, we discovered that the sprinklers had beat us there, so spreading out on the grass was not an option. Unless, of course, you had a great desire for hypothermia or more likely, as Friend argued, frostbite. Instead, we set up the telescope, chair and blankets on the sidewalk that cuts down the middle. I selfishly kept all four blankets to make me a little bed and promptly cuddled under my own blanket to enjoy the moon in phases--whenever I could convince my eyes to open--and to listen in on Roommate and Friend's conversation, chipping in whenever I found the energy to think of something to say.

You know the moment, an hour or so after you wake up, when something triggers a memory of a dream you had... you can remember bits and pieces, you can remember that it once made sense and you can remember how you felt... but you can't remember the details that made it such? I had such a moment, but with real life in my semi-conscious state. Friend and Roommate were discussing the color of the moon due to the refraction of the sun's light around the earth. Somehow, I believed they were discussing this topic, using it as symbology for the gospel. I distinctly remember the comparison between all of this and Satan, God and Christ. I remember thinking how insightful they were and how it all made sense. I love analogies and symbology. Roommate is very good at them, so it didn't surprise me at all that they were discussing it. Then I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up later to move to a better place to view the moon, they started asking what conversations I was awake for. Turns out that they did, in fact, discuss the refraction of light, but they had not compared it to the gospel at all. All of that was in my own head. I remember the vague topic; I remember that I was impressed and that it made perfect sense. I do not remember how they tied together. Perhaps when I'm more awake I'll actually think about it and receive that inspiration yet again.

My favorite part of the eclipse was when the sunlight started hitting the moon. It was so bright and beautiful. It was such a stark contrast to the hazy, reddish light that we had been watching for half an hour. Roommate described it beautifully when she said, "It looks like someone's pulling the top off a pudding pop!" I had to gently remind her that the moon is made out of cheese--not pudding. (It is too! Just ask Wallace and Gromit.)

I finally left an hour and a half after I first left my house, with twenty minutes to walk home, get ready for the day (I was still in my pjs), and leave for work. I didn't even get to finish the eclipse. Miraculously, I made it. I'm a little groggy today, but a sweet little angel brought me all sorts of delicious snacks that have kept me awake enough to function. Bless her. Oh, and I was able to sleep on the bus again. :)

What is it about the lights in the heavens that make this all worth it?

Buffalo

I was at the temple yesterday and saw a menu for the cafeteria. The first line on Tuesday's menu said, "We all have a bit of a wild side in us…"

Just not something I would expect to read in the temple…

"It never fails--take a bath and there's a rub at the lamp"

Why is it that I can go all week without a single phone call after 9 pm, then, the one night I decide to go to bed at 9 so that I can wake up early enough to shower, eat breakfast, and get ready before work--without feeling like a zombie--I get two phone calls after 9?

I do not blame either person for calling me--in fact, I was hoping for both phone calls. (Please forgive me, both of you, for either being groggy while talking, or simply silencing my phone. Please know that I was half asleep and can take no responsibility for my actions.) I am not trying to discourage people from calling me after nine. (It is very, very rare for me to be in bed that early.) Rather, I'm simply musing about the effect of Murphey's Law in my life.

"Is this just another miscommunication we are having here?"

When my parents were first married, my dad told my mom that the only vegetable he preferred canned to frozen were green beans. My mom interpretted this to mean that he preferred everything except green beans frozen.

So, trying to be a good little wife, she started freezing all of her vegetables except green beans, which she canned.

One year, many years down the road, my mom's cousin got married. This cousin loved canned carrots. In fact, she loved them so much that my mom decided she would can a bunch for her as a wedding present. When the batch was done, Mom found one jar that didn't seal.

Well, she couldn't exactly give an unsealed jar, so she decided to eat it instead. Upon tasting the canned carrots, she realized that she really enjoyed them--much more so than the frozen carrots. She mentioned her liking of them to my dad at dinner, to which he replied, "Oh, I've always liked canned carrots better than frozen."

[rolls eyes]

So, for all those years, both of my parents preferred canned carrots to frozen, yet, due to a miscommunication, only ate carrots that had been stored in the freezer.

Gravity's pull on my life

It has been a very random last several days. I think the earth's axis has tilted .0000031 degrees, only knocking a few things out of place:

- I slept so soundly in a car that my phone rang right next to me and I didn't wake up to it.
- Yesterday at work I spoke a grand total of 8 words: "Shhh! I have a dress in the bag!" Without context, that being the only thing I said makes it even more random.
- I had to politely and gently shoot down two of my former suitors yesterday. Why do they always come in droves like this? Flood or famine...
- I saw a store marquee on the way home from work that read, "Buy a butter, get a jam." It makes sense... but it still sounds funny.
- Every time the bus driver opened the door, I think his microphone turned on and we heard his breathing. Either that or Darth Vader took over the microphone. I'm not entirely sure which.
- I got to bed by 10:30 last night. I'm actually arguably awake today.
- I got nine hours of sleep Saturday night. And still couldn't stay awake at all Sunday... or Monday either, for that matter.
- I haven't remembered the majority of my dreams for the past month. The only one I even vaguely remember related to Hermione trying to escape Cormack at Slughorn's party--we were listening to HP 5 in the car while driving. However, all I remember is a big white circle floating around. And that it somehow related to the above-mentioned scene.
- I cleaned out my Gmail inbox from 133 messages to 7. In two days. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
- I actually have work to do at work. Imagine.

Reason #267 why I'm glad I'm short

I'm at my sister's house. This morning I went to take a shower and chose the one upstairs by all the kids' rooms. This shower head was designed for either the shortness of these kids or perhaps a midget that surely once lived here. I've never been considered a tall person--in any sense of the word. Yet, I still had to bend my knees and crouch to get my head under the shower head. I am fairly certain that I have never before had to crouch to fit under a shower head. I have a new-found empathy for tall people.

Just around the river bend...

Today was among the best days I've had. First, I had the day off work. Because I'm a real person now, I got paid to not go to work today. How crazy is that? So, I attempted to sleep in. Tragically, my body doesn't know how to sleep past 6:30 anymore, so between 6:30 and 9, it was more like a half-sleep where I simply didn't want to get up. Finally, around 9, I got up, got dressed, filled up my car with gas (it's been running on empty for several days now), and got the oil changed in my car. It's been due since June. Yipes! But, good news, it was free. I saw Jack at the dealership... the guy that is 15 years older than me and my brothers were trying to set me up with. Last decision: when I'm 25 and he's 40, if we're both still single, he'll take me on a date. Ha! We talked for a few minutes, laughed about stories he heard from Brother about Jerusalem... or, rather, Jordan, then I went back to reading the Book of Atrus and he went back to work. So then I read for the 30 minutes I waited for my oil change, which was really nice. I've missed reading. And I rather like this book. So it was nice to have a chance to just sit and read. Then my mom called, so as I ran more errands, I talked to her for the next half hour. I really like my mom. She really has been my best friend my entire life. I finally stopped at Michaels and bought the jars I've been promising Brother I'd buy to put our dirt from around the Middle East in. Then it was answering Board questions and emails, chatting with good friends, then trimming the hedges. That went much easier than expected, but my arms still shook afterwards from holding the trimmer for so long. The hedges look 100 times better now, but if you look closely, the one right out front resembles a bad male-haircut. It makes me smile. It was my first time trimming hedges. Give me a break.

Then it was time for a nice, long, relaxing shower. I even shaved my legs so that I could wear capris all day. Yay... Not wanting to spend a half hour making my hair look decent, I ignored it and got back online for a wee bit. Twenty minutes or so later, I realized that I had to leave soon, so I should probably do something with my hair. 10 minutes later, I had the fastest and easiest hair style of my life. I think it may have even looked good. I wonder if I could ever duplicate it... My roommate made dinner—the most amazing chicken noodle vegetable soup ever. And poppy bread. Oh, it was divine. Even had homemade noodles. (She also made symphony brownies that morning... which were also divine.) Just before dinner, an old friend of mine showed up, so we invited him to eat with us, then headed over to Kiwanis for a rousing game of croquet. I ended up being the third person to make poison but died soon thereafter. I love croquet. I think it's one of my favorite games. Uffish... we really need to go play in front of the library.

Returning home, I wasn't ready to stop playing games, so out came Sorry. Traditional style, I came in 2nd place. (Out of three... ehh...) Adult style, I came in 1st. Apparently I play better as an adult than a child. I have more strategy than luck, I suppose. Yellow then came over and [enter the bad part of the day... yet one of those things that will definitely be laughed at later] while opening my screen door, got stung by a bee. I'm sure he'll write about it in his blog. We decided he was gallant because, if he hadn't been stung, one of us would have been. We gave him ice to stop the swelling, then headed over to Olympus' for a pie party. My piece of pie was delicious. I re-met a girl that I met at a summer program at Ricks when I was still in high school. There were some great memories tied up with her. I spent the evening in great company; it was my favorite company to spend time with. Happy and comfortable. Content, even. It's a pity that it was limited to just a few hour this evening.

I looked up the Hebrew for 'gnashing' tonight. Turns out it really is simply translated as 'gnashing' or 'grinding the teeth.' Perhaps I should study my vocab more.

The night couldn't have ended better. I checked my email before bed to find a completely unexpected email that made me very happy. In the words of my roommate on a completely unrelated matter earlier today, "There is a God, and he loves me." Sometimes, God answers prayers in completely unexpected times, ways and places. Tonight was a reassurance that things can go right in my life. That there doesn't have to be something bad to counteract every good. Sometimes, life can just be good. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Happy Tuesday.

An Awakening...

I'm itching for a new prank. Or at least, some sort of secret quest. Several conversations and events recently have reawakened the prankster portion of my soul. It has been in hibernation ever since the great Dragon Lady events of '05-'06. I've even had the perfect pranking opportunity. Well, at least I had the perfect recipient who deserved such a prank that only Dragon Lady can deliver... but hibernation is difficult to break out of. Spring has come, however. I can feel said portion waking up, sniffing the wind, feeling a bit hungry after such a long sleep.

Problem. I feel little wrath against previously mentioned recipient. Plus, he got a half-hearted revenge a month ago. Should I really do more to him? Hmmm...

Possible Solution. I'm being plotted against. Rather, I think I'm more being used as a tool in a plot against more powerful and influential people. Should I use this opportunity to my advantage?

Current State. I have no energy. Sleep is a precious commodity. Do I really have the energy to think, plan, plot and carry out? Would this provide a source of energy? A shot of adrenaline, if you will? This must be considered. I think for now, I shall sit back and wait. Prep myself to pounce when the perfect opportunity presents itself. I'm sure it will. It's never failed me before.

You have been weighed...

It's yet another Sunday. The week has come and gone. It's been a busy week. It's been a long week. It's been a very good week. It's had its ups and downs, that's for sure. Two different mornings I had to chase after a bus. I got lost in the Church Office Building and had to be escorted to where I really should have been. I've had to ask myself the question, "How do I ask forgiveness of someone when I'm not sure what I've done wrong?" And I still have not found an answer. I had one very "meh" day full of insecurities and things going wrong... the day when you just need a hug. Luckily, I got that hug, accompanied by unknowing reassurances and a most exciting game of Super Mario Bros. 3. Who knew that reliving such a pastime could bring such gleefulness? Especially when the other player is willing to play, knowing that he will lose. But, I guess it's not really a competition in Mario, is it? It's more about working together to fight the angry sun and spiky backed thingy-ma-jigs and monstrous fish that want to eat you for dinner. I started a new job this week; I even got put in charge of a new project. It's weird going to a new job and training other people that have worked there for years. But, I also get my turn of being trained on new things, too. I made the most delectable dessert this week. Having only four people eating it, it lasted for quite awhile. I'm ok with that. I've had long phone conversations with many members of my family and a few old friends. My fridge is covered in wedding announcements of good friends. It must be summer—we're seeing the results of Spring twitterpation. (Firefox doesn't think I spelled that right. It recommended extirpation. What in the world is extirpation?? Hmm... "Loss of a species from an island or region, with one or more populations surviving elsewhere." I suppose it fits in a very odd sort of way. hehe.) I got to go star-gazing last night. There's a meteor shower this weekend. It's going on for the next two nights. Y'all should go watch. There are some amazing shooting stars—perfect to wish on. My wish has come true, perhaps yours will, too. Go try it. You won't regret it. Even if your wish doesn't come true, you'll still see some amazing shooting stars. After most everyone had left, I saw one star that shot across the entire sky. I had time to see it, excitedly point at it, and hear, "Wow. Wow. Wow." before it finally disappeared. Now that is a long meteor.

Overall, the good has far outweighed the bad. I guess that's what determines a good life. Not that there is no bad—there's bound to be—but that the good outweighs the bad.

Thank you everyone who contributed to the good. You know who you are. I can't thank you enough.