Sociopath

I read the most fascinating book about sociopathy called the Sociopath Next Door.  I only got about 3/4 through; I think Geoff took it back to the library.  But it was so so interesting, and thought provoking.  Kind of something I almost think everyone should read.

RM Memoirs

Ricky Martin came out!  Ha ha I don't know why but this makes me laugh histerically.  I mean, that's great for him, really, honestly.  It just seems like everybody already knew.  Ah well.  He's still hot.

A hit for the trusty 'ol car

Guy was pulling away from his house - not part of oncoming traffic - as I was making a left turn, and we hit.  I don't know who they're going to say is liable - actually I have good reason to believe the other guy will be dishonest.  But we'll see.  For now, my concern is just not getting a ticket for having a headlight out.  I saw a cop eye it down as he passed today, but he was with his buddies and must've been on his way somewhere.  The insurance co. says they'll send someone out in 3-4 days to take pictures and then I will get it fixed.  I need to ask my brother if he would be able to fix it, since it would be much cheaper, especially since we went liability only once the car was paid off.  We'll see I guess.

hm

I feel that everything that should and does matter to me are just eroding away. And I either care so much it hurts, or I simply don't care enough. And I feel so helpless because I don't know what more to do and it's all slipping away anyway. There are stretches of time when things seem fine, even optimistic, then the next thing you know it's all falling apart. Is it futile to try fixing things? I have hope, but even that is barely, right now. I just feel alone and I don't know what.

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GUESS WHAT?!?! (Just kidding)

Today while leaving work, someone asked if I have lost weight. HA HA! That's a laugh and a half, but who doesn't like to hear that anyway? It has motivated me to go to the gym tonight. That, and the pictures we took last weekend:

No, neither of us are pregnant, we're just totally pudgy. And we may have been pushing our bellies out as far as they could go, but still. He he he.

Other good news: Geoff might be getting a "little brother" soon, meaning, he's going to be part of Big Brothers Big Sisters. He's so excited! He has wanted to do this for months now. He cares so much about those kids, that I know he'll be an amazing big brother.

The Vegas trip

Well I'm home now, home how sweet the word. I keep getting home so late, it's no bueno. Our house is a mountain of dirty and clean laundry right now, but I don't even care I'm just happy to be here. So finally, for the trip.

We made it our 5th anniversary trip, seein' as how we've just barely come sliding across the plate, we decided to celebrate. It was a busy busy weekend in both St. George (Sunshine Tournament) and in Las Vegas (the St. Patty's celebration plus March Madness betting). So we stayed in a hotel in Henderson, which is a lot bigger than I had imagined, by the way. Nice place though. And the hotel, I am never disappointed in anything by Mariott. They had awesome breakfast, and the whole hotel looked like it came straight out of an IKEA catalog, especially the rooms.

We stopped at the St. George Walmart on the way down to buy some NyQuil for Geoff, and arrived in Henderson late Thursday night. We were too tired to do anything, so we took the NyQuil and laid in bed watching TV until we fell asleep. (I love doing that!) Had a bit of a time waking up the next morning, anything with sleep agents totally knock me out.

But we got up and went to tour a nearby chocolate factory. It was a short tour, but we got chocolate samples out of it, yummy. Then we went to the mall, where we both bought clothes at H&M and Old Navy, and I got the mucho delicioso Milk Chocolate Decadence by Godiva. Mmmm SO GOOD! We then drove by the Gold and Silver Pawn because we wanted to see the dudes that are on TV, but there was a huge line going all the way down the block, so we decided to come back later, and I think we went to Circus circus and watched an act. They were good. We went to Fremont street next. We spent like an entire 8 hours there. We got 99 cent hotdogs at Golden Gate and tried deep-fried Oreos. (I know! But we had to try them! For the record, they're okay but not that great.) We watched the platform dancers, the U2 cover band which was amazing, the light shows, a sax-player named Carl Ferris, browsed the street vendors, and got our pictures taken with people. We gambled a tiny bit, but not much. We walked through the Golden Nugget. The best part of Fremont Street was the Knight Rider convention, mainly for Geoff because he's so completely starstruck. That he got so close to David Hasslehoff, and got his picture taken with that one girl - he didn't actually know who she was at the time, he just knew she was an actress, but he was so excited about it.

After 11 when the platform dancers came back on, people started dancing (I may call it club-dancing in my dweebishness because that's what it was), and we watched this huge drunk dude stagger around with his eyes rolled up into his head. Think of Barney from the Simpsons and you aren't far from the truth. The funny thing is, he could barely stand upright, but when he got dancing he got dancing. He kept trying to hump everything and the girls kept pushing him away. It was so funny. We got back to the hotel around 2 and stayed up another couple hours watching TV and stuff.

Saturday morning, we slept in! Normally we don't like to waste the day away sleeping on vacation, but man it felt so good. We got up and went to an indoor flea market in Henderson (I think Henderson?) that was huge! There were some people selling sterling silver rings for cheap, but they look nice, and Geoff bought one. We called it a "fifth anniversary" ring. I actually picked it out. I know we're so cheesy, but a little bit of cheesy is good for us and I thought it was really cute. :) There was a huge snake exhibit there, which included a couple of snakes as big around as our heads. And people were holding them, we couldn't believe it. There was also a bird exhibit, and an As Seen on TV booth, and lots of interesting stuff to look at. After the flea market we headed to the strip. We went to Bally's, got dinner, and watched the BYU game at one of the sports books.

After the game, we walked around the shops at Bally's and bought me a 5th anniversary ring. Geoff was telling the two cashiers that the rings were for our 5th anniversary. They thought it was so cute but the one cashier was also shocked that we could be married 5 years and be so young. (It's Utah for you, I guess.) We gambled a little, then walked down the street to see the Mirage volcano, and then the Treasure Island show.



While waiting for the show to start, we talked to this elderly, retired couple who were visiting from England. They'd been married for 35 years, and apparently they travel all over the world. They'd come to see the Grand Canyon but were spending a few days in Las Vegas. They didn't think they'd like Vegas but they ended up loving it. I thought it was so funny that an old, old couple from the English countryside could enjoy Vegas so much, with it being, "one big long party for blocks and blocks." :) We liked them a lot. He said we celebrate the Irish (St. Patty's day) a lot differently than they did. He lived close enough to Ireland once to party with them himself, and he said they had a dark gray colored drink that they got hammered on in the pubs (except he used a different word than "hammered" wish I could remember what it was.), but here we all dress up in green. ha ha.

Anyway, the TI show was something else. Not exactly kid-friendly anymore we'll just put it that way. But it was still cute I thought, with an open mind. ;) We walked back down toward Bally's then, stopped at a very boring block party, and soon after went home. We tried to find the electronic roulette games that we won on black 17 last time, but couldn't find them. We lost a few bucks on some other machines.

Sunday morning we tried to find a buffet that wasn't over $20 (no such luck), we ended up eating at a chinese restaurant, ha. We drove by Gold and Silver again and still a long line.

We stopped at a gas station on the way out of town and there was this guy parked on the side of the road in his uni-bomber van and trailer, with tables full of anti-obama paraphernalia all over. He was making such a scene that we had to stop and talk to him. He really was crazy. He thought the FBI had files on him and was after him. Geoff noticed that his van was licensed in Colorado - "that's a diversion," we were told. The van is licensed in Colorado, the trailer in Montana, but really he's from Texas. Funny, crazy, crazy dude. We were home about 5 hours later.

It was so fun! I already miss our weekend away together.

On loyalty

This is a good post. Read it. :)

LV Pictures

We went to Las Vegas. I'm going to do pictures first since they're faster and I have to get back to work, then I'll write more about what else we actually did, later.

Circus circus

The Sirens of TI - (not the innocent show I remember seeing as a kid! ha ha!)

They had girl dancers on these platforms on Freemont Street - the breakdancer and the old grandma lady up front were the brave ones that joined in.

Gettin' freaky with Cali's lipstick

U2 cover band - this guy looked and especially sounded exactly like Bono - they were amazing!

The characters walking around charge tips for having your picture taken with them, but I had to get one with the pirate - he said "Thank you love" afterward, tee hee

A light show on the giant roof/screen thing

Again, getting freaky with the showgirls

Again, getting freaky with - okay no just kidding. This is from a Nightrider convention we happened to see. Geoff was able to call this girl over from the other side and she came and let us take a picture with her. She's from the new Nightrider.

We saw the Hoff-man there.

This picture is not zoomed- Geoff was just inches away from touching him. He was saying, "We're on international television right now, so on the count of three, everyone yell 'Nightrider rocks!' One, two, three!'" Everyone yelled it. Geoff is so starstruck, it was the highlight of the trip.

Off for a much needed weekend away. :)

I'm sorry I am so dang depressing lately. We talk about choosing to be in a good mood in our meetings and stuff. I just feel like throwing up my hands and saying screw it and walking away from everything today- everything. I do not feel up to the challenge today at all. I'm so so tired.

Fun camping times

I'm just browsing the pics on our computer. This one makes me laugh for so many reasons...

Der reekend

We had an actual date night Friday night. Very cool that Geoff came up with the idea and was excited about it. It was such a cute idea too, but I won't say what it is because we might use it for something later and I don't want to ruin it. :) We also made chicken salad from a recipe from the baby shower. It is yummy, but we left the grapes out because Smith's was charging $7.00 for a bag. Way too much for a bag of grapes, ha ha. It turned out okay though.

Saturday, we slept in and went to Salt Lake. We went to Pirate O's - always a fun place to browse - and Barnes & Noble. I bought a booklet on Las Vegas. There were so many ideas of things to do and see that we've never done before, so hopefully we'll be able to have a fun trip next weekend! Our anniversary is on Thursday and we both have Friday off, so we're thinking about doing that.

At 5:00 we went to a bowling alley in Sandy, for a fundraiser event for the organization Geoff works for. It was packed! We passed out t-shirts, sold drawing tickets, and just sort of made sure people had food and drinks and then cleaned up afterward. I was glad to meet Geoff's colleagues, they were all really cool. There was some weird guy running around in a cape and spandex, talking in a high voice all night. He seemed like he was our age. We thought he was some kind of mascot for something, but found out later that they don't really know who he is, he just randomly shows up for these kinds of events. He's some sort of Youtube celebrity. ??

It SNOWED! Like all day yesterday. It was snowing when we left and all we wanted to do was go home and make dinner and watch a movie. So we did. It was a pretty good day.

Today, ended up sleeping the morning on the couch (nasal congestion, didn't want to wake geoff with my constant sniffing and sneezing) and both the "spring forward" and not having an alarm - I slept too late. Geoff still went to church because he had to teach. Now he's in bed with a cold. I don't know. We are struggling to get off the nasal spray. We've tried so many times, many different ways. We've tried just healing one side at a time, but that doesn't work because the swelling seems to shift from side to side throughout the day and it's just weird. Geoff's mom said she was addicted at one time and the Dr gave her steroid shots, but that seems a little extreme. We just have to buck up and do it. It just means miserable days and sleepless nights, is all. Anyway.

I love love quiet lazy Sundays.

Baby shower

Went to a friend's baby shower tonight. Earlier as I shopped for a gift, I looked at all the little boy clothes and just wanted a little boy! We think it will be awhile yet before we decide to start trying, but oh. I don't even have kids yet but I already feel so protective of them! Geoff wants a girl though. So we'll be having mamma's boys and daddy's little princesses. If and when the day comes. Like I said, there's a lot to do still, first.

The shower was fun, with yummy food! It was all co-workers. Funny story - I followed one co-worker out of the parking lot at work, and I figured she was going to the shower too, and I didn't know exactly where it was, so I just decided to follow her and save the hassle of finding the address. She started taking a few weird turns, but I thought she's still going in the general direction, so I just kept following her. Yep, I followed her right to her mom's house. Oops! We had a pretty good laugh about it. She did come to the shower later.

The person's house that the shower was at was so beautiful! It was a townhome, and very nice, very modern, very big, and beautifully decorated. So it kind of sucked to come home to a messy, messy house. Drabby and bleh. Geoff will be gone for about two more hours, so I'm going to whirlwind this place into shape as best I can until then! Ar-vior! (Obviously I don't spell french) Bye

I hope the mountains just stay mountains, and the valleys stay valleys

In the wee hours of the morning I had a dream that there was a violent earthquake, and I knew we had to leave the house, so I ran into the bathroom and started putting on my makeup, because it was vital that I have on makeup before leaving the house, even though I could sense pending death. I'm not really like that - in fact I didn't wear makeup to work today - but I woke up feeling panicky and unprepared and immediately thought of Al's urging us to get food storage and put an emergency bag under the bed with a change of clothes and a few other things. It needs to be done, like, yesterday.

So as if I don't already have a complex about this earthquake stuff, Geoff's out there watching 2012. I will not watch it, even though it's just a bunch of unrealistic special-effects. Anyway, an earthquake might just bring the mountains down on the entire valley, (and the valleys become mountains, and the mountains become valleys), and we're goners anyway, so. How's that for uplifting? Sorry. I have not been the most uplifting person in the last few months. I know that needs to change.

Anyway, tonight I'm trying out mom's dee-licious artichoke dip recipe. Oh it's so full of cream cheese and mayonaise it should sound really gross. But it's not. We used fat-free cream cheese and low-fat miracle whip, but still. Oh but it's the best.

Mom really likes CS so far! Yay!!! We finished with the clothes project. We cleared out six huge garbage bags full of clothes. I think this is the beginning of something beautiful - a decluttering of the house! I cleaned out the pantry too.

"They call it Mari-ju-wanna"

The weather is fantastic today. It might be a smidge too cold yet, but it reminds me of four-wheeling out west, or at the sand dunes. When we were little we even did easter egg hunts.

Given a little craziness of the past weekend, we ended up with all of our clothes strewn all over the front room and bedroom, I mean everything in our closets. I decided it's the perfect time to go through stuff and get rid of the stuff that doesn't fit/haven't worn in awhile. Mom works at a place that takes clothing donations, so we'll send 'em there once we're finished. But I found a pair of jeans that I wore just a couple of years ago that look too small for a pre-pubescent teenager... of course they only look that way now that I'm fat. So depressing. Good motivation for going to the gym eh. Anyway, the clothes are still all over the place - it looks like storm hit. Hope to get it done tonight.

Alison wrote again - it sounds like she's still doing good, but having a little trouble with her companion, who isn't motivated to do much of anything at all. Boy I just miss her so much. I'm just glad she's still safe.

This last Saturday, we went to the Young Dubliners concert at The Depot with mom and dad, two aunts, two uncles, and 4 couple-friends of my parents. I was feeling a little queasy and not wanting to jump in with the main-floor crowd, so I sat on a stool by the wall, but man I was still blown away by their performance. It really was incredible - easily the most energetic concert I've ever been to, mixed with some absolutely beautiful bagpipe/flute music that reminded me of my favorite show of all time: Riverdance. The bagpipe guy also played the music on Mel Gibson's Braveheart, so they did a few minutes of that theme too. But mostly it was kind of punk-irish rock, and awesome. I really want to go next time they come so I can actually get into the crowd and get down, he he. My parents were actually right up there next to the stage, partying with all the other people, ha ha. And it was a pretty good mix of ages and types of people. All-around a great show. Thanks for the tickets dad, I'm glad you got us to go. :) (My uncle called it "traditional irish, on steroids, ha) Also there was a lot of beer and as we walked out we passed some miserable guy sitting on a bench with his head in a trash can. Gross! And Geoff said he watched the concert from the upper balcony and accidentally got a little high off the second-hand mj smoke - oops! ha ha. But a good time was definitely had.

How the heck does paper beat rock?

The only way I could possibly hope to get around today was to walk in heels. They reduced the stretch on my calves just enough that I could walk, because standing up otherwise was not an option!

GIRL POWER!

I just watched the hour of the Bachelor, the after show thing. I think the whole thing is ridiculous. He spent a few dates with the girl in a beautiful island paradise, and then didn't seen her in months. He couldn't possibly know the girl's true values and what she's really about, as he claims. And suddenly she's going to move into his house and get married and everything will be just peachy because every day is a blissful, confetti-filled barrel of fun, right? I merely chuckle...

There once was a story about a young bride who said on her wedding day, "I have found the one! All of my troubles are at an end!" And her mother lovingly replied, "yes, but you don't know which end, dear." ha ha

I just don't feel like thinking about serious stuff today. I think I shall pay a re-visit to Before These Crowded Streets. If I can find it.

Somebody posted this on facebook: "how the heck does paper beat rock? stand in front of me and ill throw a rock at you while you protect yourself with a piece of paper" HA ha I love that girl.

Ouch

My calves are killing me! That workout two days ago? Yeah my body's paying back now. I'm zombie-walking everywhere, just the act of standing up is accompanied by great pain. I guess I'll have to be careful on that machine from now on...
.

So, the owner of our company (Or the old owner? The guy that started the company and is still around), anyway, he liked the mustache thing so much that he gave everyone who wore a mustache $20! So nice!

The days of our lives

Work. Other work. Home. Gym. Home. So grateful for my blessings. I still wish I was in Chile helping Al & the rest. I wonder what they are doing now.

Mustache March

Last week, we got a mass email about "Mustache March." Yes, even us ladies were included. I thought it would be funny if we showed up to staff meeting today wearing fake mustaches- you know, in honor of. Angie found a bunch last week and I passed them out today - about half the girls in the company (the fun ones with a sense of humor) wore them to staff meeting. It was kind of fun. (The organizer of Mustache March joked that we would now be having Armpit April as well.)

For lunch (which was catered), it was breakfast from Apple Spice Junction (didn't know they do breakfast!) French toast with syrup, bacon, and scrambled eggs, with fruit for dessert. I was in serious food heaven.

After work, went to other work. Got a lot done. I like my trainer.

After other work, went to the gym. Met Rachel there. Ended up staying for over two hours, but hopefully at least burned off the enjoyment of lunch.

Al's letter.

The letter Alison sent today is here. I was pretty shocked when I read it but so so grateful for the people who watched over her. They actually tried to go back in the building and go back to bed after the initial quake, but one of the members came looking for them and got them out of the building and let them hang out with their family until the Elders came. I just want to hug that nameless person; I'm so grateful to him for looking out for them, even when he had his own family to tend to. It's so sad that he and his family, along with so many people, are without their homes now. I just wish I could fix it for them. I know natural disasters happen a lot, but this one has obviously hit close to home. I really wish there was more I could do. But I am so so so grateful that she has been so looked after.