Away

I am currently in florida on vacation with my family and 20 other people. I know, my life is rough. Today i was at a shopping center. This little girl, maybe 8, looked at me from head to toe and rolled her eyes, as if to say, i cant believe you went out in that. She did it 3 times! I almost beat her up!

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I decided the hippopotamus song is about American consumers.

Gayla Peevey doesn't need a hippo; it's an outrageous request. Seriously, what would anyone do with a hippo in their two car garage?

Like Gayla, the typical American consumer always wants more. Not because we need more, but because we want more. A bigger house, nicer car, new furniture, new clothes. And the list goes on.

But maybe this isn't just an American problem. When I was in India the new craze was camera cell phones. They didn't even have cell phone service in some areas and people had a camera phone. They had to have the latest and greatest (except indoor plumbing didn't seem to make the list....).

The need for acquiring more and more probably isn't just an American problem. We just have the resources to acquire a lot of stuff. This is probably a human problem. A selfish human problem.

And now that I am working full-time it's an attitude that I fight a lot.

I hope I get a hippo for Christmas!

Uncleaning

Not only can I not cook or bake, but apparently I can't clean either.

Yesterday I had invited my friend Emily over for dinner. I had neglected to clean in the last couple of days and my apartment was filthy. I quickly put things away and began to vacuum.

Right when I put my face down near the vacuum cleaner to pull out the hose, the stupid bag exploded. Dust and cat hair blew all over me, the carpet and my apartment. Appropriately, I screamed and ran to unplug the vacuum.

My apartment was just FILLED with dust. And Emily was coming over in 1/2 hour.

I got most of it cleaned up, but my apartment still is pretty dusty.

It's a good thing I wasn't born during a time when a women's worth was measured by the house she keeps, because I would surely be kicked to the curb by society.

I can't believe that I have a college degree that says I know stuff about running a business, but can't even vacuum the carpet. (or cook stir-fry. or bake a cake.)

One thing is for sure: I won't forget to check the vacuum bag again!

Domestic Me

Guys, don't marry girls who haven't lived on their own.

Because chances are, they can't cook.

Tonight I made the most disgusting stir-fry ever. It's a good thing I'm not married, because my husband would have divorced me right then and there. Or thought I was trying to poison him.

I thought vegetable stir-fry seemed like a good meal after my weekend of consuming chicken flesh. As I was cooking the veggies I realized that unless I put some spices on it, they would just taste like cooked veggies on brown rice.

You must know that my spice rack intimidates me. I don't know which spices should be used for which type of foods. I stare at the pretty bottles of spice and realize they are just daring me to use them and ruin my food. At one point I thought about tasting them all to get a better idea of how to use them but then I smelled Thyme and decided that seemed like a bad idea.

I used some spice mixture that seemed like it should make food a little spicy. I think it did. I couldn't taste anything, but my lips burned a lot. I am re-labeling that spice "Tasteless-lip-burning-spice" for future reference. I thought adding cheese would make the stir-fry taste better and it kind of did. I got two more bites out of it before I had to throw it away.

Apparently my mom taught my sister and I how to use spices, because Sarah can use them well. I just didn't retain anything. It's trial and error for me!

Tomorrow I am making tortilla soup. From scratch. Hopefully that turns out.

God, Cars and Cats

My trip this week went much better than the last one. We got nothing but positive comments at our program review, which was great. The highlight of the trip was the flight down and back where I got to talk to one of my coworkers about God. Good conversations too. I had been praying for this opportunity for a while now. He's going to come check out my church and is willing to listen to my thoughts on God. The whole trip was worth it for those two conversations.

In other news my car is dying. I think the cold is just zapping its will to go on. For the last couple of days the drivers side doors hasn't been latching properly. This means that I get to gracefully climb through the passenger side door, over the parking brake and gear shift and into the driver's seat. Today on the way home, I think my car had a heart attack, but some gentle yelling and banging my head on the steering wheel brought it back. I guess an inch of snow is just too much for my little 626 to take anymore. I had accidentally pulled up behind a car that had broken down at an intersection. Apparently my car thought that seemed like a good idea as well and promptly died. It eventually started, but I think I may need to push up the time frame for getting a new car. May seems like such a long time for my car to hang on. I want to get a Jetta. Silver. Manual. If you know of a good deal on a Jetta, let me know.

My cats love the real tree I got them. They love to chew on the ornaments. They love to run and leap into the branches. They love to jump from the couch into it. They love to climb it. I am glad I got them such a fun toy and spent time putting all those toys on its branches.

Travel and a Tree

Sorry about the lag in posting. I was in Orlando earlier this week for work. It was probably the worst trip I have ever taken. Every little thing that could go wrong did. Except for my hotel room; everything was very nice in my room. Last week a coworker traveled to Dallas and they gave him a key to someone else's room. He definitely walked in on someone while they were sleeping. Talk about frustrating.

Today my family and I are getting the Christmas tree. Should be a fun time. Some years it takes us FOREVER to agree on a tree. Other years we pick one out really quickly. I need to get a tree for my apartment. I haven't decided if I want a real tree or a fake tree. I've never had indoor cats around Christmas time so I'm not sure what they would do. I think I would rather have a real tree - but just a small one. My cats have been acting like I feed them crack, so maybe a real tree isn't the best option.