I Could Eat It For Every Meal. Or Just All the Time Without Even Stopping.

Saturday was a pretty freaking busy day for me.  I went to the eye doctor.  I finally got some more contacts.  All I have to say about that is:  I LOOK LIKE ME AGAIN!  Yeah.  I was pretty excited.  Then, I had to run to the store to pick up some things to help Zach with a school project.  I'll talk about that more in a second.  I dragged (drug?) Kurtis to the craft store with me to see if I could find something to get/make my grandma for her birthday.  The result is in the previous post.  It turned out adorable.  I love it.  Too bad her party the next day was canceled. :(  Then we ran to the grocery store to get some cookies and a brownie mix for Grandma's party, some yeast for Zach's project, and some bread flour.  That's right.  I said bread flour.
After we got home, I had time to eat lunch, and then I had to run off to rehearsal for like five hours.  It was seven o'clock when I got home that evening.  I ate some dinner, sent off my email reminder for everyone to come to Church Choir, and then Zach and I commenced with his project.  It is due tomorrow, but I have known about it since sometime in January.  Needless to say, I've been putting this one off.
For Zachary's fourth grade class, they are studying Utah history.  I didn't study that until 7th grade, and because I don't volunteer in their classrooms very much (I can't.  I'm babysitting three days a week, and would like the other two for some me time.), I really had no idea they were studying that at all.  Until he came home with a list of things he could choose from for his project about the pioneers.  He said he wanted to make a wagon.  I just looked at him, and said, "Out of what?"  I guess he thought I meant it would be better if he picked something else.  Which I kind of did.  It sounded really involved, and with rehearsals and my new scouts calling, I just couldn't handle that.  He chose making bread instead.
Uh-oh.  I frowned and felt sad inside for a bit, but vowed to find and easy recipe online somewhere.  I have never had much desire to make bread.  I have friends with bread machines, and they say they love making bread.  It is so much fun.  Sure.  If all you have to do is put the ingredients in this awesome invention, and let it do the rest!  Why not?  I have no bread machine.  I haven't ever really wanted one, either.  But Zach's project had rules.  You were not allowed to use a bread machine or an electric mixer.  When we started, he said, "We have to do this using no electricity."  "What?"  "Except the oven!  Except the oven!"  Hee hee!
Don't get me wrong.  I have tried making bread/rolls many times before, and they didn't rise, or they didn't turn out the way I was hoping.  And I would tell my friends this when I was explaining why I didn't make bread, and they would look at me like I was from another planet.  They would always say, "Oh, your kitchen just wasn't warm enough."  Or, "You need to use fresher yeast."  I would just roll my eyes and say, "Why should I make bread?  I can just go buy a loaf at the store for like a dollar."  This is not the way Mormons are supposed to think, though.  We are supposed to be self-sufficient, and not need to rely on others for things.  That's why they encourage us to plant gardens and have food storage.  All wonderful ideas.
But I never felt this desire to learn to make bread, or bake cupcakes from scratch.  I just want it to be simple.  Please?  My friends would tell me I needed to keep trying, and that I would get used to it.  But why?  That's like when people would tell me beer was an acquired taste.  All I could think was, "Well, if it's gross when you first taste it, why do you keep drinking it?"  Or like telling me if I keep eating brussell sprouts I will like them.  No, I won't.  They are gross.  Why would I want to keep trying to make bread when I suck at it.
But Zach and I made bread on Saturday night.  We were up until midnight (because dough has to rise).  But I did not fail this time.  Zach must be my good luck charm because we kicked that bread recipe's butt.  It was pretty dang tasty bread, too.  He took some to his teacher today.  His project is done, and one day early, too!  He thought making bread was cool, and that punching the dough down between risings was fun.  Kurtis wants me to make more.  But, oh no!  We are out of yeast.  Whatever will I do? ;)  I will probably make it again another day, but not for awhile.  I'd rather be on stage.

 You can find the recipe here.

 Zachary shaped this loaf.  I love the way it turned out.

We don't believe in perfection in this house!  :)

I Made This!

Pssst!  Hey, look what I made Grandma for her birthday!  I hope she likes it, because I really do!

I want one! :D

Just to Fly For Sheer Joy

I'm a sucker for romance.  I absolutely love it.  A good love song can move me to tears.  That's why I compiled a playlist of love songs for this month.  After February, I will have a bunch of Irish songs on my playlist for St. Patrick's Day.  That's just how I roll.  It was harder for me than I thought it would be to put together this playlist of love songs.  I found a bunch of old ones from when I was a kid, and I asked my sisters and a few friends what their favorites are.  I managed to get the limit of 200 songs, but my favorite love song wasn't available on playlist.com.  I was disappointed, but I want to post the lyrics here, just to share my favorite love song with you.  Why is it my favorite?  The imagery it creates makes me swoon.  I could take it line by line, but that would take too long.
It's called "Dark Roman Wine" by Snow Patrol.  A band that has written a lot of wonderful love songs.  They are also from Ireland and Scotland, so they will also be on the next playlist.  And probably every playlist I ever make.  His voice just moves something in my soul.  Now, I will admit, every single word may not be correct, but I tried.  Most of the websites that have the lyrics on them aren't exactly correct. And it bugs me, so until I meet Gary Lightbody somewhere in a bar; and can ask what the lyrics are, this will just have to do:

I will hang on the hook of your splendor

As the night rolls us up in its arms,

And the square of your thumbs and your fingers

Is the blanket of sky that's so warm.

I know it's late, but I can't help but thinking

That the day hasn't shown all its cards.

Now it's out to the stars or the ocean.

Let's not retrace our steps to the car.

Picking out all the stars that we like 

Between finger and thumb.

You laugh as you pass me the night

As if it's too fragile to hold,

And I fold it so close to my chest 

With your hands in my hands.

You say this is just how we'll rest

Until land turns to sound.

Now your eyelids they faint and they shiver

Like the wings of the last bird to leave

For the south, for the heat, for no reason

At all - just to fly for sheer joy!

The wind shakes the branches above us

And the cars shake the ground at our backs.

But the dark Roman wine in our bloodstreams

Makes the cold, just a word, just a sound.

Picking out all the stars that we like 

Between finger and thumb

You laugh as you pass me the night

As if it's too fragile to hold,

And I fold it so close to my chest

With your hands in my hands.
You say this is just how we'll rest

Until the land turns to sound.

See?  Poetry.

It's A Question of Trust

I have something to say, and I'm not really sure how to say it without it coming out all wrong.  I am currently in rehearsals for an Oscar Wilde play called An Ideal Husband.  It is a great play, and very well written.  Sometimes the lines are hard to memorize, and the actors in this play are great.  They are doing an excellent job, and working really hard. 
My problem is simply that nobody really talks to each other!  They come, rehearse, leave.  Come rehearse, leave.  It's a phenomenon that I am having trouble dealing with.  This cast hasn't gelled together and become as one.  We are still so uncomfortable with one another.  I don't really know what it is, but nobody ever says much to each other.  Our director doesn't give us notes when we are done either.  Nothing specific any way that would help us other than be louder.  At my last rehearsal, the assistant came up to me and asked why I have never had an English accent.  What?  That's the first I had ever heard of that.  I had a cold that night, and was having a hard time doing one, but she claimed I had never had one the whole time I'd been rehearsing.  Well, that was a load of crap. 
Mabel and Lord Goring kiss in this play.  Last night was the first night we got to rehearse that scene (I came in about a week and half later than everybody else), and he didn't want to kiss me.  I found it quite funny.  He knows I am married, and so I think he is worried about that.  He even said once, "I've never kissed a married woman before."  But come on!  This is a job.  Lord Goring kisses Mabel.  Let's try to create some illusions that those two characters are in love with each other, please!  He also was used to the other Mabel.  She's taller than me.  It was very funny to watch.  Everybody was laughing any way.  I think by the end of the night we started getting it right.  I've just never had a kiss be so uncomfortable before.  The director said, "It could be worse.  I could have you kissing Kolby again."  Kissing Kolby was nothing like this.  He just kissed me, and had no reservations about it.  That made it a lot easier.  If you don't remember, that was when I was in a short play called The Kiss.  I put pictures on my facebook page, but I guess I never did here.  I checked.  Oh, well.  That's not really relevant.
And I don't really believe that Lady Chiltern is in love with her husband either.  When I watch her kiss him, it's just so weird.  Something is wrong with it.  But I think it all comes down to just what I said before.  We don't know each other.  We aren't comfortable with one another, yet, and that is something that is so essential in a cast.  At least between the characters who interact with one another onstage.  We have to trust each other, and know that the other person is going to come through for us.  How can you trust somebody you barely know?  Well, they are actors, so they should at least be pretending to trust each other.  I just don't see that really happening right now.  Did I mention the show opens in two weeks.  Yes, yes, it does.  My only show dates are March 11th & 12, though, so don't get tickets for any other dates. ;)  Go here for ticket information.  I am having fun despite it all, so come and have some fun with us, too.  This play is really quite funny.

Just Spreading the Love!

I love Valentine's Day!  I just don't see how a day set aside to tell people you love them could ever be bad.  I can understand how some might feel lonely if they don't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend on this day, but really?  There are so many other people in your life that you love.  Tell your best friend how awesome they are.  Let your nieces and nephews bask in the awesomeness that is you!  Visit a nursing home and give valentines to the elderly there.  There is so much love to spread around.  Life is amazing.
Kurtis and I decided to celebrate Valentine's day on Saturday.  He also thought that many other people would feel the same way we did, and wanted to be ahead of the crowd.  I told him he was probably wrong, but it was fine.  I just wanted to spend time with him by myself.  I was teasing him earlier in the week and told him he had to plan our date (that part I wasn't teasing about), and that it had better be epic (that part, I was).  He felt a little bit of pressure, though, even though I really didn't intend it.
He took me miniature golfing at our fun center.  We've been married for almost 12 years, now, and have never done that.  Kurtis said that where he grew up, that was pretty much all there was to do, so he though that I would think it was lame.  I grew up in a town where there was nothing to do but hang out in your friends' basements and listen to music.  Seriously.  Once in awhile, there would be a school dance or a church sponsored dance, but that was it.  Yay.  There's more to do for the kids now, though.  They have a Wal*Mart, now.  But I don't see myself ever living there again on purpose.  I have to add the "on purpose" or someday, I may have to eat my words.  That happens to me way too much.
After miniature golfing, Kurtis took me to Thia Pan, and I got some Valentine's decorations.  I really don't have any, and have been wanting some for about 12 years. He he he.  I wasn't really all that excited about the selection, but I got a wreath and some heart-shaped boxes that were cute.  I put them up.  I will have to take them down soon, but I will just use them next year, so it's not that big a deal to me.
When we were done at Thia Pan, we opened our presents to each other.  I got him the Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits cd.  He told me once he wondered if they had one.  I found it.  I'm awesome.  He got me a couple of books I've been wanting to read.  It was actually perfect because every time I would walk by them in the store, I would look at them longingly, and talk myself out of buying them.  Next time, I would say.  Next time.  Yep, Mom.  Sometimes, I actually do show restraint when shopping.  Amazing, I know!
By this time, it was 4:00 in the afternoon, and he took me to dinner.  I said, "Awesome.  We're old people."  He laughed.  I wasn't all that hungry but ate anyway.  I'm not used to eating until 6 or later.  But we went to my favorite restaurant.  Boston's.  I really like the pizza there.  I've ordered other things, but most of the time, when I go, I order the Florentine pizza.  That time I got it heart-shaped.  It was so cute.
After that, we went back home, and took the kids dinner.  Then we left again, and went to see Just Go With It.  That new Adam Sandler movie.  We really liked it.  It was really funny.  We got home around 9, and put the kids to bed.  It was such a fun day!  I got to spend half of it with my sweetheart.  What more could a girl ask for, right?  The kids amazingly, got their chores done before we left, too, so it really was a perfect day.
I hope your Valentine's Day is equally amazing, and filled with love and happiness.

 Check out my husband's photography skills!  My ball is still spinning in the hole!

 Yeah, I've got me some miniature golfing skillz!

 He's so cute.

 Yep.  We're a super good looking couple! :D

 Of course I chose the course with the Pirate ship!

Don't let Kurtis' score keeping deceive you.  He won.  He just thinks I am number one until he starts writing the scores down! :D

Just throwing this in here for all you Strongbad fans.  Zachary's Valentines box.  It was Kurtis' idea, but he really liked it, so last minute (last night) Zach and I put this little number together!

This is Trogdor the Burninator.  Check out the video below.  It's funny, and explains where Trogdor came from.  Zach came home, and proclaimed that nobody knew who he was.  I must spread the word. :)

Post # 3 of Something I Never Thought I Would Say:

Yesterday, Riley was home sick with a cold for half the day.  When I walked Kaleb and Tyler to school, he decided he was ready to go back.  He was home all day on Monday.  So when we get to the school, Riley starts spitting.  Only he is getting it all over himself.  It was gross.  So last night while Kurtis and I were watching the Vampire Diaries (my favorite show) online, during a commercial break, I turned to him and said, "You need to teach Riley to spit."

It's Worth A Shot, Right?

There is a saying among addicts.  They say, "You know us addicts.  We have to be addicted to something!"    I've decided it's true, and am considering my options about what I will transfer my sugar addiction to.  It's a brilliant idea, really.  Often a person addicted to drugs or alcohol will start running (or something like that) to get their minds off the fact that their bodies are telling them they need something they don't.  I thought about exercise, but I don't really like it that much.  I only do it because I gain weight when I don't.  My bestest friend Nicole laughed when I told her that, and said it was because I won't change my diet.  It's true.  I really, really like candy.  Just talking about it makes me want it.  Sometimes, when I crave it, and I don't have any, I get restless, and sometimes shake.  Literally.  That is how I know it is an addiction, and anybody who dares to tell me otherwise is pretty much asking me to punch them in the face.
The other day, I was thinking about this.  I thought, well, I could try being addicted to celery.  Celery has zero calories, so I could probably eat as much as I want.  It also has a lot of fiber.  Keeping my colon squeaky clean is always a good idea.  So this is brilliant, really.  I owe the idea to Spencer.  One day, I posted as my facebook status:  "Why aren't I skinnier!?  All I do is shiver all day!  That burns calories, right? :D"  It's true.  I easily get cold, and I do not like it.  I am glad I don't live in places where the temperature is often below zero in the winter.  That would not be fun.  Spencer wrote on my post:  "Eating celery does too.  So if penguins ate Celery, they'd be like sticks."  He's so funny.  I posted back:  "I'll have to try that.  An all celery diet.  Gross."  Obviously, I was being sarcastic.  But what if instead of eating candy when I craved it, I ate celery?  I'm seriously considering this.  The only downside is that I only like celery with cream cheese or peanut butter.  That would kind of defeat the point, so if I do this, I would not be able to put anything on it.  Also, it is hard to store celery in my desk drawer.  It needs to be kept cold, or it will go bad, and then it would not taste good, and potentially make me sick to my stomach.
Well, it is an idea.  But the thing about addiction is that it is an extremely hard thing to let go.  I'll give it a week.  No.  A day.  That's probably about all I could take.  Celery is not my favorite vegetable.