From an old blog

May 31, 2006 • Wednesday
E. Coli and religion
Current mood: amused

So I planted a vegetable garden in my back yard. (Have I mentioned that I moved into a house?! It's incredible) There are a few little problems with this (the garden. Not the house): a) we have a sprinkler system that I can't control. So watering has been a bit of an issue. Some places get it too much, some not at all. Blah. b) the dirt thinks it is rock. I think it needs to be psychoanalyzed, but I can't afford that. Nor do I know a dirt psychoanalysist. [The Heartless Siren] (my psych major roommate) said she'd do what she can, but I'm not sure how much experience she's had with dirt. Perhaps she'll find her new niche in life. Anyway, with these problems combined, as well as my lack of experience and my very not green thumb, some of my plants don't look like they have much of a chance at life. This saddened me, so I called my gardening-expert parents. They suggested I go get some fast-acting fertilizer and a sprinkler. With their recommendations at hand, I went shopping. Well, I was at WalMart anyway shopping for other things, and didn't know where a local nursery was, so I thought I would just buy what I needed in their gardening section. The result? A very humorous story. Let me tell it....

First, I walked around the gardening section, finding nothing but Miracle Gro and no one to help me. I called my parents to see what they thought of Miracle Gro. Just then, cute old man in a green Walmart vest walks by. So I said to him, "Excuse me, do you have any..." my question trailed off into nothingness as he walked right past me without a glance in my direction. I was in shock. So I went back to talking to my mom. A few minutes later, the old man came back. "Did you need something?" So I asked if he carried the stuff I was looking for. "No. That's too expensive for WalMart." (It costs $6.98) "What do you need and maybe we have something else." So I explained that I was growing a vegetable garden and had already fertilized it while planting it, but I needed a more fast acting fertilizer to get things going. He asked what I used before. I told him steer manure. I thought he was going to kill over with a heart attack right there in the WalMart Gardening section. "You should NEVER use steer manure on a vegetable garden!!" At this point I about died laughing. But I kept my composure. You should be proud. He then proceded to tell me how bad steer manure is for vegetable gardens. His main argument? I could get E. Coli and die. Once again, I about died laughing. This time it was hard not to. So I explained to him how I grew up on a beef farm and that's what we had used to fertilize for as long as I could remember and how fertile our garden was and how I've never met anyone who died of E. Coli. He backpedalled and stumbled over his words for a moment. "Well, your cows at home are probably safe. But the stuff you buy in the stores, it's just not safe." My dear friend [Humble Master] made a valid point--it's all cow crap. What's the difference? Anyway, he then proceeded to show me some fertilizer that was expensive and would have covered my entire garden probably 100 times over. I explained that I was a poor, starving college student that just wanted something inexpensive that would make my relatively small garden grow. He took me over to the Miracle Gro section, found the one I wanted, then said, "This is your new religion. You will water your garden with this religiously every two weeks. You can miss church and your garden will grow, but you can't miss this." By this point I was just praying that he would leave so I could laugh in peace and with little guilt. This man was crazy. That's all there is to it. In a way he kind of scared me with his wild eyes and crazy ideas. But mostly he just made me laugh. I still chuckle about it.

If I die from E Coli, you'll now know why.

Facebook wins!

A most glorious thing has happened. Today, I opened up my Facebook account to see the typical bajillion invites to things that I'm never ever going to join. I was much grateful a few weeks ago to see that below "Accept" and "Ignore" there was a link that said something like, "Block all invites from this application." Sure, that's not going to solve the real problem, as there are a bajillion apps out there and people are going to keep adding them and inviting me. But I suppose every little bit helps, right?

Anyway, so I went to block all invites from whatever app was trying to get me to sign up and saw the most beautiful link ever, "Block all invites from this user." Oh my goodness. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this is. I really do get a bajillion invites every time I open Facebook, but they're all from the same 4 or 5 people. Well, I am friends with them, so I didn't want to block them as a friend. But I didn't really feel like asking them to stop inviting me to everything, either. So I just kept clicking Ignore. And now, with one swift click, I can keep my invite section beautifully clean for the rest of eternity. (Actually, scratch that. I pray we don't have Facebook in the eternities.)

And believe me. If you start sending me invites in spam fashion, I will block you as well.... without even a second thought.

The Ultimate Tragedy

I still can't sit with my right knee tucked under me. This is a great tragedy if ever I've known one. Anyone who knows me can attest that my favorite position is curled up. Laying, sitting, whatever, I much prefer to have my legs curled up. So to have to sit on a chair at work for 8 long hours and not be able to pull my leg up... I think this may be the worst part of the entire snowmobiling incident.

Well, that and the fact that I couldn't climb a fence the other day to pet a baby foal that I was told felt like velvet. However, a different day I could probably still do that. My knee was just hurting a lot at that point in time.

Sell for science?

This is so weird...

$4875.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

Saddness

Neither the bleach nor the Shout got the pink out of my white. I shall not give up hope yet, though. Tomorrow will be pre-treating the white with the bleach. Besides, I washed the grey about 7 times... why give up after one on the white?

Spring in Hiding

Our lawn is dead. There's just no way around it. It has been dead since last summer when our sprinklers didn't work and our landlady didn't do anything to remedy the situation until summer had almost passed. My roommates were slightly passive-aggressive about the whole situation and I was out of the country for most of it. Point is, our lawn is dead. It's very sad.

Yesterday morning I went out to my car and found this growing in my lawn. It brought me much thrill and giddiness. (Please note the dead lawn in the background.)

Coincidence?

Yes, I know we're not supposed to put any stock in horoscopes, and I don't. Really, I don't. But I got a forward today with horoscopes in it and it fits my house so well that I couldn't help but share. It's kind of creepy, actually.

Dragon Lady
The Protector
Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

The Heartless Siren
The Perfectionist
Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

The Cold One
The Happy-Go-Lucky One
Good-natured optimist. Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules. Sometimes hypocritical. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn't like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out.

Listing

Well, I maybe didn't get into work until 1:30 today. However, in my tardiness I accomplished the following:

- I planned my trip to France. Well, sort of. I convinced the girl I'm going with to spend our last day and a half in Paris instead of Bordeaux. Then, one week later, I will fly out of Paris to come home. The interim period is still up for grabs. I will either go to Normandy with a girl I know who lives there, or I will ride the Chunnel up to London and spend the time up there with the Cold One. Tangerine has almost convinced me to take a day or two in Wales. I guess it all depends on if I can find myself a travel buddy and what werf wants to do.
- I did a much needed load of laundry.
- I finally got the majority of the pink out of my sweatshirt. It only took 7 or 8 washings. But I finally triumphed. Somebody's white socks are officially pink socks, though. (Thanks Mom for suggesting Shout!)
- I finally washed my bathrobe that was covered in pink.
- I got all of the color off of Heartless Siren's and my shoes. That was... amazing. I don't think there's another way to describe it. I didn't think it was possible. First try, too.
- I washed the massive gross pile of dishes that had been gathering on our counters.
- I answered many a work-email from home.
- I answered a couple of work-related phone calls as well.
- I combined several pdfs into monolithic pdfs to make Heartless' work life easier.
- Wrote a shopping list. Including bleach so I can get the pink color out of my whites. Yes, Festival of Colors was still worth all the work I've put into laundry.

I think all in all, I was pretty productive, despite not making it into work until 1:30. I was very tempted to keep being productive at home and not coming into work... but then I remembered how I need all my vacation days for France. Tragedy I didn't get sick today or something. [looks up and shouts "I am not saying I want to get sick!"] [knocks on wood]

Tonight's goals:
- Go grocery shopping.
- Bleach whites.
- Make cheesecake. (Yes, Tangerine, you may come have some. It's the recipe we got in church on Sunday.)
- Water lawn.

Come to Europe!

Ok, this is a cry for help. My work is sending me to France June 2-6 for training. I have someone staying with me until the 8th to sightsee in part of France. Then she's going home. I think it's an awful waste of a trip to Europe to sightsee for only one day, so I want to stay later. But I'm a big fat chicken and I don't want to tour Europe by myself. Thus, I am looking for a traveling companion for approximately the dates of June 8-14 (the ending date is more negotiable than the beginning date) for any place in Europe. I'm kind of leaning towards London right now. I would not be opposed to Paris. If someone would go to Norway with me, I would bless them forever. However, in exchange for a traveling companion, I would be open to most any location.

Here's the clincher. I'm supposed to book my flight today. April 3rd. So I would need to know where I'm flying from and how long I am staying. By today. During business hours. Help!

Resurrection

I'm rather fond of Harry Potter. It has played a fairly substantial part in my life recently, and thus is often in the back of my mind. One of the major themes in Harry Potter is death. You see the people who don't fear death such as Dumbledore, those who conquer death in a harmless way such as Nicholas Flamel, and those who fear death and will do anything to conquer it such as Voldemort. The idea of a life after death is clear as the spirits of Harry's family and close friends are able to return for brief moments to help him. Also, the scene in King's Cross Station at the end of book 7 implies that the soul does not cease to exist upon death. (Which, i just realized, makes the idea of a dementor's kiss all that more terrifying. Because if they suck out your soul, then even when your body dies, your soul can't move on.)

All that was simply background. Just stuff that is lingering in the back of my mind without ever really being thought about in organized fashion.

Today I decided to put the scriptures on my iPod. I have been going to bed rather late recently, which makes it really hard to read my scriptures before bed. And even if I do it, I'm so tired I don't get much out of it. Solution? Read them during the day when I'm awake! Why not take advantage of the drive to work and lunch hour to read scriptures?

I was just listening to Alma 11 where Amulek is preaching to the people of Ammonihah. They're trying to twist his words so they can condemn him under the law. The subject of Christ's atonement comes up, and Amulek starts talking about the fate of the wicked. Verse 41 is the verse that really stuck out to me: "Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works." (emphasis mine)

Immediately I started thinking about how even the most vile and wicked of people will be resurrected someday.. How every single one of us will again have a body, but this time, a perfect body. Whether we deserve it or not. Really, the gift of immortality is something that each of us are given by Christ. Which really makes the idea of the Fountain of Youth and Philosopher's Stones kind of silly, doesn't it? Why extend the longevity of your mortal and imperfect body when you are guaranteed a perfect body later? It especially makes things like Horcruxes seem especially heinous. Committing murder in an effort to gain something that is freely given and yet pales in comparison to the free gift seems ridiculous and downright stupid.

I decided right then that I am very grateful for the Atonement and the Resurrection. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I am guaranteed eternal life. I love the peace that comes from knowing that I don't have to fear death; that I will not only see my family again, but that I will be sealed to them eternally.

Then I realized that this belief was not a wide-spread belief. The world does not believe this. If they did, we would have less stories of people searching for something that would grant eternal life. It hit me the fear that most people must live in. I want to reach out to each of them and hug them. I want to assure them that there is no need to fear. I want to convince them of the truth of a loving Father and Savior who provided a way that we may live again... with those we love. They would not create a plan that caused more pain than happiness.

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." - 2 Nephi 2:25
"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." - Moses 1:39