Things that explode if heated on the stove-top...

Luckily, no one was hurt.

Dessert Overlord

Up until last week, the only thing I ever wanted to be a (benign) dictator of was my own bookclub.  Other than that, I'm pretty much a big believer in democracy in almost all aspects of my life.

However, late last week I was appointed Cranberry Sauce and Dessert "overlord "of Thanksgiving Dinner.  At first I was skeptical, but now I see many possibilities regarding this.  Cranberry Sauce?  We have reason to believe many of the people at our table may not ever have had cranberry sauce at their Thanksgiving Dinner so I'm thinking of either serving basic cranberry sauce (maybe with orange, haven't decided) or making two 1/2 batches of cranberry sauce. One traditional and the other with jalapeno.

As far as dessert goes: I haven't quite narrowed down what I want to do.  I could do the Mrs. Smith and Dairy Godmother route.  I could be mean and offer my guests hot tamales and chocolate bars as desserts, but I don't think they would ever let me forget that.  I'm guessing I'll do a traditional pumpkin pie, a not traditional pie and then maybe something else as surprise..but I'm not sure what.

Not Rocky Mountain Oysters

Back when I was 12 I had steamed oysters for the first time.  My dad bought a dozen or so at Pikes Peak and my Aunt Mary Helen (and my mom or dad) steamed them.  They were horrible.  Texture, taste...no redeeming value.  Then there was oyster stew...milk (sometimes potatoes) and oysters.....worst soup ever. I also had raw oysters twice...both times were traumatic.

Well, when I was in Seattle in April, I discovered that oysters don't completely suck.  Not completely.
So when we were traveling this weekend I ordered fried oysters. Twice.  And I liked them (mostly.)

Joy (me) with Buffalo Style Fried Oysters. The Pumpkin is for decoration.

I also found that when oysters are fried, sprinkled with buffalo sauce and served with blue cheese...I don't hate them.  I also have swayed Kelli over to the "Oysters do not completely suck" Team. We wear our nebulousness regarding oysters with pride. 

Val

I think I mentioned that my dad lost one of his closest friends on Thursday. Val was like a brother to my dad and an Uncle to my brothers and I.  So, rather than type anything, I'm just going to leave a link to his daughter in-law's blog that she published on Friday.

Here you go:
http://onafricanthyme.blogspot.com/2012/11/val-j-mortenson.html

Delmarva Trip Map

Here's a map of the trip we just took.  

  I'll finish up day 3 tomorrow (or sometime this week).

Delmarva Trip Day 2

We (Joy-me and Kelli-Joy's Best Friend) woke up early-ish on Sunday to the sound of the ocean outside the hotel room.  That's right, the bonus of staying in Virginia Beach is there's a Federal Employee/Military (even for off-duty travel) discount and it's off-season. Totally affordable to stay on the boardwalk!

We headed for the Del Marva peninsula and drove over the 23.7 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel.  While not as striking as the more well-known Bay Bridge, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel was cool to cross (and I bet they see whales off of it in the winter).  You see, we were headed to Chincoteague, Virginia and spend a hour or two doing their local museum scavenger hunt throughout the exhibits. Yes, there's a bucket with a B in that museum and a porpoise spine cane.  After scavenger hunt fun, we went out to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and drove out to the beach.  After building a sandcastle while flying a kite (kelli) and reading a book while convincing my lungs they like traveling (me), we had lunch.

This was a traffic circle two weeks ago. Kelli shouldn't be taller than that sign.

Kelli wanted a photo with her kite. At Chincoteague.

2 weeks ago this was a parking lot.  Sandy left a whole lot of sand in her wake. 

Cormorant at Chincoteague.

Then we spent the rest of the daylight identifying birds (Ruddy duck!) and I played peek-a-boo with a great blue heron. That evening we had seafood (again) and I decided since I was in the oyster capital of the world, I would try them again.  They didn't completely suck although the rest of the meal was sub-par.  Back at the hotel, we started watching The Notebook (neither of us had seen it before) but soon switched to a Lifetime Christmas movie.  Making fun of movies?  a past-time we both enjoy.

Del Marva Trip Day 1

Saturday morning, Kelli and I headed to Virginia Beach.  We had the idea of doing the DelMarva Loop...heading to Virginia Beach and (finally!!) taking the southern bridge to the Del Marva peninsula.  What we didn't know is that we would end up at three national wildlife refuges (Go FWS).  So after stopping for diet coke next to the scariest truckstop ever and finding the one toll road in Richmond (here's hoping we don't get a ticket for accidentally not paying.), we made our way to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge is completely undeveloped beach that starts south of Virginia Beach to the North Carolina Border.  I really want to walk to North Carolina someday, but i'm not sure if I ever will.  However, what we did see was at least 3 or 4 dolphin pods and maybe 30 or so dolphins. We saw dolphins jumping, twirling, and I even saw a tail (Kelli missed it) not far from shore.  However Dolphins are pretty much impossible to photograph with even my "nice" camera, but I did get a fin of one dolphin in a shot (I tried twice because dolphins are super tricky to photograph).  After dinner I tried Sheepshead for the first time.  Although a sheepshead has a face even his/her mother doesn't love, it's a succulent, tender fish that tastes a little like scallops.  

Sheepshead closeup found on the Internet. 

A montage of  my photos.  If you look closely in that middle picture, you can see a dolphin dorsal fin.

Vermont Roundys

Last month I picked up my parents in Philadelphia and we spent a week driving around New England.  Our first stop was to visit Rockingham, Vermont where her great-great-great grandfather, Shadrach Roundy was born and lived until he was fifteen.  None of us had ever been to Vermont and we were impressed with the state.  Here's a couple of pictures my dad took in Rockingham.

We spent quite a bit of time in the cemetery looking for Roundy headstones.  Uriah Roundy, Shadrach's father, was buried in this cemetery, but we couldn't find the gravestone.  We think his family didn't have enough money for a slate gravestone so his grave is no longer marked.  There's a gap next to the headstone below where Uriah may be buried.

Captain John Roundy-He's a Revolutionary War Veteran. I believe this is Uriah's brother, but FamilySearch hasn't been cleaned up to tell for certain.  

The Meetinghouse in Rockingham, Vermont.  Shadrach and his family attended this building.  It's on the Historical Register.

.

ReEvaluate

This morning I received news that a family friend had passed away.  He was like a brother to my dad, and one of his son's is my "other" sibling. Needless to say, today has been a day of introspection and memories.    

Fatigue

So, the Presidential Election is finally over. Finally!  

Now you'll never Know

I was going to post a picture of my "I voted" sticker, but I may have misplaced it.  Oh well, it's been a long day.

Art

On Saturday Kelli and I went to the National Gallery after eating the election burgers at Good Stuff Eatery.

Guess what?  The Mary Matalin won.  The James Carville?  Just had this odd "fried" taste to it.

I've found that the best time of the year to hit up the Smithsonians in DC is Saturdays in the late fall and winter.  We were headed to the Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the National Gallery.  However, I'm pretty sure we went to the West building first so we could ride through the lighted walk-way.
The Lichtenstein exhibit was interesting.  I'm still not quite sure what to think of his art..but I like the fact that his made me question what is art...just like Warhol's work does at times.

One of the Lichtensteins we saw. 

Cheesy

So, I've read that making Mozzarella cheese is really easy to do.  At first, I couldn't figure out why I would want to make cheese...but I kept thinking it might be kind of fun.  Well, it's easy to do and takes about 1/2 hour.  I was sure my first batch would fail or not turn out well (that's what I read), but mine is edible and not bad at all.

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Pumpkin..

I first saw this idea on Martha Stewart's website a few years ago.  This year I decided to gather the supplies and make my own little undead pumpkins.  Here's two of the three little pumpkins I carved.  

The Election

So, I've been so ready for this election to be over that I've been looking ahead to the Inauguration.   Will the weather be cold?  Will there be a concert a few days before?  You know, the important questions.

Hallo-Hurrication

So, we never lost power during Hurricane Sandy.  The lights did flicker once when a transformer blew, but it wasn't our apartment building's transformer.  That being said, I've heard many people in DC say, "we are so lucky."  Everyone is thinking about those up north who bore the brunt of the storm and wondering what can be done to help.

Last night I walked through the neighborhood to watch the little kids trick-or-treat.  There were less people out this year, and some people didn't bother to put the Halloween decorations back up, but it was still fun watching the kids and seeing the houses.  

Oh Hello. Again.

So, I'm back. Maybe.  Anyway, as my last post stated, I've been sick since the second week of August.  I had a window of healthiness of about 10 days where I was able to ride the 2012 Seagull (Metric) Century and chauffeur my parents around New England.

However, my dad was starting to get sick during that trip and shared his cold with me too.  Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment the following week. Turns out I do have a deviated septum which is partially why I keep getting sinus infection after sinus infection.

Now after my second round of antibiotics in less than two months, I'm feeling better and can start thinking about important things, like what I want to post on this blog and how to stay healthy so I can have outpatient sinus surgery sometime in the next couple of months.   

Oh, Hello

I've been sick for the past 6-7 weeks with a nasty virus that turned into a sinus infection etc. etc.  Oh, I'm doing better, but the blog has suffered unfortunately.  Hope all who read this are doing well.

Tortured Artist

Above is a clip of Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) talking about the idea of the tortured artist. I really like what Jeff had to say about the "tortured artist" myth and where he is now creatively as an artist.

Below is "Born Alone" from Wilco's latest album. Some of the lyrics were inspired by Emily Dickinson of all people*.

*Nicole, Anna actually watched this band perform on You Tube over Christmas while you were gone. She was dancing on my lap and then we got to this song and she was quiet.  I looked down and her eyes were huge while she just listened. It was cute.

light

Einstein...Yarn Bombed?

Although I didn't take this photo (I work about 3 blocks from this statue), I wanted to share this "yarnbombing." Einstein usually looks like the photo above..but for a few hours he was yarnbombed. I told my best friend about it and the next thing I know she wanted (me) to knit Einstein a hat with earflaps.

A look into a Toddler's Brain....

Earlier this week I shared the image below with my sister in law. My two year old niece saw the image and immediately reacted by saying, "ELMO ELMO ELMO LOOK MOM ELMO ELMO ELMO LETS DRAW ELMO ELMO"
I think the image is pretty accurate. 

E.T.

While in Seattle/Tacoma this Spring I had the opportunity to watch the walruses at the aquarium/zoo there. I remember this guy and after this video I'm guessing you will too.

Log or Predator?

Book #45--Stealing Trinity

I don't usually read thrillers, but this book grabbed my attention. The author spins a tale about why the U.S.S. Indianapolis was sunk immediately after delivering one of the nuclear bombs. This story involves an american born German spy who was recruited to unite with a Nazi Scientist who was working at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project. I found the story to be fast paced fun, but the one qualm I had was I wasn't sure if the characters were sufficiently motivated. That being said, if you want a quick, fast, enjoyable read, this is the novel for you.

Quite Possibly the Best Fishing Video Ever

I don't normally like amateur fishing videos, but this is amazing. Keep watching, the beginning is slow but this video is great. Oh and keeping with the same thing, this article is incredible. 

Call me Cookie..

So, that Carly Rae Jepsen song? The unofficial song of Summer 2012?  Catchy, inoffensive pop. From Colin Powell, Jimmy Powell and Carly performing the song with The Roots on class room instruments, the song has grabbed onto it's hold in pop culture. Well, now the folks from Sesame Street created a likable, cute parody of the song.

Sesame Street Parody

Jimmy Fallon, Carly Rae Jepson and The Roots!

Giggles

While waiting for Moonrise Kingdom last night, I happened to see the trailer for "Hyde Park on Hudson." Hyde Park on Hudson looks absolutely fabulous, but I couldn't stop giggling when a certain actor appeared on the screen. Guess which one. I'm really afraid that I'll be unable to control my giggles when I see this movie in the theaters. Seriously though it looks great. 


Oh, and Moonrise Kingdom? Great film for a Wes Anderson fan. Loved the film and thought that Wes Anderson films suit Bruce Willis. 

#42-How to Hepburn*

I picked up this book because it was a Kindle Deal of the Day, and I've always been more of a Kate than an Audrey fan. Oh, I like Audrey just fine, and I admire's Audrey clothes, but I've always gravitated towards Kate-even her "horrible" films in the 30's. So, I thought this book would be fun. Well, jogging my memory about Katharine Hepburn's life story was fun. I didn't learn much about Kate's history having read her memoirs and the biography written shortly after she died but it's been several years so I enjoyed re-reading about her. However, The author gets in trouble though with the basic premise. It's extremely hard to write a "self-help" book about someone who defies categorization and didn't live a flawless life. The author flounders almost immediately and the book turns into a dis-jointed mishmash of anecdotes from K. Hepburn's life. That being said, the author does write pretty well. She has a decent voice but fumbles and borders on being preachy when she tries to prescribes a life like Kate. However, by the end of the movie I yearned to watch The Philadelphia Story, Bringing up Baby and The African Queen again (okay, for probably the 100th time).  






*The Title to this blog isn't a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. No, I'm going to attempt to write a paragraph or two about each book I've read so far this year. Yes, this was my 42nd book this year. Trust me, I'm not bragging about that. I hope this project doesn't bore my 5 readers to death. I really hope I'm able to complete it. 

Yesterday

While I wish this was a post about the Beatles, it's about my ankle. I've been riding my bike to work the past couple of weeks and really enjoy it (especially since there's showers in my office building). However, yesterday morning I overestimated my bike's capabilities and ended up spraining my ankle on my bike. Oops. Needless to say, even though I was less than a mile from my house, I rode into work. Luckily, I sprained that's been injured previously (torn ligaments ) and although I'm going to rest it again today, I should be fine to ride my bike back home tomorrow. 

Sorkinisms.....

Aaron Sorkin has a new television show out and unfortunately the reviews are abysmal. That being said, because Sorkin has a new television show out, there's been a lot of press out on his work (which I always like reading. One of my favorite pieces this go-round is this article by David Haglund.

Then there's this YouTube video of recycled dialogue and phrases Aaron Sorkin has used over the years that's fun to watch.     

Interview

A Motley Vision, the "major" LDS Literature blog interviewed me about my paper at the Association for Mormon Letter's Conference in April. The interview is below:

http://www.motleyvision.org/2012/interview-with-joy-buhler-on-mormon-literature/

Wordless: Tourist in DC Edition.

Ducks at Tidal Basin.

Jefferson Memorial.

Long Flights...

I remember reading briefly about Nina Katchadourian, who spontaneously started taking pictures of herself in airport lavatories with toilet paper on her head and realized the pictures looked like flemish style paintings. Nina then continued to take similar pictures during long flights.  All I can say is, these portraits are pretty awesome and I love that they were a gallery exhibit. Am I tempted to do the same on my next long flight? 

Les Mis

The trailer for the Les Miserables film adaption is out and it looks.....pretty cool. Even to someone who was turned off of Les Mis (and Phantom) because of the theater kids at school who sang the songs excessively. But I also have a mother who loves Les Miserables who acted out the whole play to me on our back porch after she saw it for the first time so I'll probably see this with her. As far as the casting goes? Overall, it's a pretty safe cast. Hathaway has turned into a solid actress and Crowe is almost always great. Jackman? Meh, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

Back

I've spent the last 5 weeks in Utah with my parents.

While there I:
worked;
held (my niece);
kept a secret from my mom;*
attended two graveside services;
regretted I didn't let my brother show me how to knife (an oyster);
teach the other niece how to eat berries obnoxiously;
caught up with a friend from high school;
rode bikes;
was invited to Nicaragua next year;
rode 2k miles in a car;
presented;
ate at the Ranchhand for the 3rd time in 6th months;
realized that my parents watch at least one sport every night (many nights two);
played Ligretto with old friends;
introduced a dog to a little boy who kept saying, "meow";
teased my other brother;
had one-on one time with my sister-in-law; and

many other now memories.

The secret? After work I wandered outside to help my dad with the garden.  While I prepared soil for his greenhouse he came over to me saying, "I don't have the seeds."  He set them down in a plastic bag and couldn't find them.  We looked for them for several minutes but because it was so windy we thought they could easily be halfway across the valley. I was then sworn to secrecy.  Well, he found them a few days ago in the window well and the seeds are now seedlings in the greenhouse.

Steven Knifing Oysters at Hood Canal

The Ten Commandments of Teaching

1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.

2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
- Bertrand Russell

Via Swiss Miss

There's some food for thought in these rules.  I would change the word argument in #4 with discussion, but I more or less agree with these.     

Today....

Ah, Miss Congeniality.  

Better.

A few weeks ago another Gay LDS man took his life.  He was given the choice of living the gay lifestyle or his family and faith.  After his suicide his family put up a blog that honored his life, but none of the posts mentioned that he was gay which saddened many people.  However, in contrast, BYU sanctioned a panel consisting of four openly gay students who talked about their experience at BYU.  The panel was so popular that BYU students were turned away.  A summary of the panel can be found here.  
Last week a BYU "It Gets Better" video was released quietly and has been making the rounds.  Here it is below:

My hope is that because of the panel and the organization behind the video above, more gay LDS students will reach out and create their own support groups.  

Presenting

About 2.5 years ago, I read an op-ed by Jerry Johnston that stated that there will never be great Mormon Literature written by an active Latter Day Saint and subsequently blogged about it here.  About the same time I attended my first Sunstone Conference and started reading more LDS essays etc.  Anyway, as I feel like I'm stagnating intellectually, I've thought about tackling a large project. When Margaret Young announced a Call for Papers for the Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting, I thought about submitting a proposal for a paper.  Well, I submitted the proposal below which was accepted.
Here's the Abstract:

Title: The “Great LDS Novel,” Pipedream or Future Reality?

Author: Joy Buhler

In 2009, Jerry Johnston, a columnist for the “Mormon Times,” stated that the “Great American Novel” would never be written by an active Latter Day Saint because of the demands the religion makes on the devout member.  A “Great American Novel” is often defined as a work that captures the essence of being American during that time period that is written by an American Author.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee or Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain are two examples of novels that are considered great American works.  Current critics agree that most novels exploring LDS themes written by active Latter Day Saints have not qualified as “Great American Novels.”

This paper analyzes the reasons Mr. Johnston gave when contending that there will never be “great” Mormon literature written by active Latter Day Saints.  Mr. Johnston is correct that active LDS members tend to promote their religion and gloss over controversial topics.  However, there’s a growing community of devout LDS people who are more willing to write, read and explore the “gray spaces” of the LDS religion with intent to illuminate rather than destroy the Church.   Great literature comes from the minds of inquisitive thinkers who delve into topics that have no clear answer.  Could the first great Mormon novel come from this community of LDS people who are examining the LDS faith, including the nebulous areas, with the intent to better understand who we are as a religion?  

I've been doing a lot of reading for the paper (yes, I even read "The Gospel According to Twilight" which is written by a Methodist, not a Mormon)and asked Jerry Johnston a series of questions.  He replied back to me today so his response will be incorporated in the paper.

Anyway, this is the "personal" project that I'm tackling and will be presenting my findings to individuals who know much more than I do about the subject next month.

Itching

I woke up yesterday with a rash on my leg.  I checked the bite when I arrived to work and noticed that it was oozing but didn't think much of it.  However, a little later I examined the leg a little more closely and marked the leg and went up to CVS to get a bottle of Benadryl Cream because the rash itched and burned.  Anyway, yesterday evening, I asked Kelli for some Benadryl and she asked to see the rash.  I showed her and found myself at Urgent Care a few minutes later.  Urgent Care had closed but the PA there told us to go to the 24 hour clinic or the ER last night.  We ended up at Kelli's ER and luckily left after about a hour with an antibiotic and outpatient instructions.  Turns out I the rash is actually infected and it's cellulitis.  The leg looks much better today, but it's even more sore, achy and hurts to walk on today so I stayed home from work.  I'm sure I'll be to work tomorrow.  

Bus Stop

Monday evening I happened to be at the Pentagon Bus Terminal at the end of rush hour.  I had about 20 minutes until my bus came so I sat down to read a book* for the paper I'm currently writing.  As I was reading, I noticed a handsome black man trying to catch my eye.  I looked up at him and smiled.  He came over to me and asked what I was reading and then asked for the book.  I gave it to him.  His first question to me was, "are you Mormon?" I said yes.  His face immediately turned angry and disapproving.  I thought, "oh crap, he's been reading all the crazy stuff Randy Botts said in the Washington Post."  He asked me, "Why are you Mormon?" I immediately asked him what faith he was, but that didn't diffuse him.  He asked me again.  I answered him but he didn't like my answer.  He then asked me again and I answered.  At this point, my bus came and I asked for my book back because I didn't want it to end in the trash and I wanted to finish it.

As soon as I sat down on the bus, a gentleman engaged me in conversation (not that it matters, but he was black too).  He wanted to know what the other man said to me.  I told him the story and he shook his head, "Muslims, Mormons and Jews. People get so riled up over you."  He then told me to keep my head up and be proud of what I believed in and other words of encouragement.

Anyway, I've had similar things happen in the past, but never had a stranger give me a verbal pat of encouragement.  I found myself half-way wishing I was reading the book on my Kindle though.

*Dispensation: Latter Day Fiction 

Hiatus

I'm back.  Between a "personal" project I took on recently, a crazy deadline at work and the trees deciding to pollinate 3 weeks early, I haven't had a chance to update my blog.  I will tell you all about the "personal" project in my next post, but in the meantime, have you had a chance to watch the "penguin cam"?  Seriously.  Discovery Channel and Sea World San Diego set up a live penguin cam in the penguin exhibit.  Sounds lame, but just watch.  300+ penguins are hilarious..and noisy.




Free live streaming by Ustream

I Had Forgotten He was a Jockey.

Davy Jones at age 19 Auditioning for the Monkees.

RIP Davy Jones.  

19 Types of Christians......

From: Online Christian Colleges

This is kind of a cute little graphic that is more or less informative.  The language used in "the Doubting Thomas" category is interesting to me.

Plus, there's two "Mormons" on the list! Twilight and G. Beck.  Even if both make many Mormons cringe.  In fact, G.Beck is one out of a handful of right-wing personalities that my dad and I agree upon.  Yes, we both think he's "fringe."    

Jan Berenstain

RIP Jan Berenstain.  

Happy Birthday, Hermano!

Steven at 20 months in the mid' 80s.  He wouldn't put the hat on (which is why he's not smiling either).

Mormon Voluntary Modesty Police Force!

So the latest episode of the "Voluntary Modesty Police Force" happened on Tuesday at BYU for those of you who haven't heard about it yet living under a rock .  Like last Fall, I dismissed it just as that one "crazy" guy you get in a singles ward.  However, one of the writers on FMH stated this, "As long as we keep teaching boys they are too weak to behave themselves, they’re going to believe it," and it got me to thinking.  In the LDS (Mormon) Church, young women are taught sometimes that they should dress modestly because otherwise men will have unpure thoughts.  In fact, I read something to that effect in one of the conference talks this past year because I remember disagreeing and stewing over it for several weeks.  I ended up just tossing the idea out the window because I still disagree with it.  I think it's potentially harmful to teach young women that they are "guardians" of men's thoughts and virtue for several reasons-one being that it can give young men the idea that they are powerless over their thoughts.  
The letter above is a Young Man reminding a Young Women of this concept that was taught at church.  Was this just a "crazy" guy at BYU-I and BYU or are we going to see more instances of "skinny jeans" that embarrass most of the rest of us?  What do you think?  Oh, and if you disagree with me--I'm more than happy to hear what you have to say.   

Valentines!

I like Valentines Day.  A lot.  I try not to think about the commercialism of the day and think about it as simply of a day of love.  Oh, I probably would like Valentines Day more if I wasn't single, but I try not to focus on that.  In fact, I really detest the phrase "Single Awareness Day," but whatever works for people.  I know that it's tough being single.
Anyway, I was thinking about why I like Valentines Day and I realized that it's in part because of my mom.  When my siblings and I were little, she always gave us a little gift for Valentines Day.  Now that we're older, each of us still gets a little package from her almost every year.  I remember getting packages from her while I was in college, in Chile and out here.  It's one of many things I treasure about my mom.  Plus, she always puts cinnamon gummy (the gumdrop ones) hearts that I LOVE and can't find out here in my package.      

Weekend Etc.

After attending a party on Friday night, I stayed in for most of the rest of the weekend.  The weather was super cold and windy.  My lungs don't do well with either and I didn't want to risk it.  I haven't been sick for a month and I want to continue my streak.

Anyway, I was going to show off a couple of crafts I finished over the weekend, but I ironed a hole in the skirt as I was working on the hem--right after I thought I probably needed a ironing cloth.  Oh well.

Shifting gears, the "Mormon" blogs are in a tizzy over the practice of not allowing menstruating girls to do proxy baptisms in LDS Temples.  The rule isn't official LDS policy and is "enforced" intermittently at some temples (but not all).  Feminist Mormon Housewives  has put up a call to action here.   

Whales!!

I haven't had the best luck when it comes to seeing whales.  In 2008, I was whale watching just on the coast of Oregon but the water was too choppy to see the gray whales that were probably there.  In 2009, I was on a whale watching tour that had 99% success that year.  We were the unfortunate 1% that didn't see whales.  Last year on the plane back from the Galapagos Islands, I was sitting next to a lady who was on the same itinerary as us-just on a different boat.  She asked if we saw the whale that was next to our boat the night before.  We didn't but they did.  Anyway, this past weekend Kelli and I went whale watching in Virginia Beach.  This year has been the best year the aquarium sponsored tour has had in almost ten years.  I was nervous about seeing them, but my luck turned this weekend.  We saw at least 4 (and maybe 6) humpback whales.  They were just as neat as I thought they would be.

Random Post

So, yesterday Kelli and I celebrated my birthday (don't worry mom, we're both still straight).  We started out at a Lebanese restaurant that has to die for hummus.  After a wonderful dinner, we went to the Massage Academy for massages.  The Masseuses are students so it's about half or less of what a 1 hour massage costs almost everywhere else (at 35 an hour it's even cheaper than Groupon).  I admit, it was my first massage.  I haven't been leery of getting one, I just have never done it before. Kelli's done it before, but this was her first male masseuse.  Anyway, the massage was lovely.  I had a hard time keeping my eyes open the rest of the night.

When I was home over Christmas, I spent many hours with my niece watching Sesame Street.  I was talking to my brother and sister in law about Sesame Street and they mentioned they hadn't watched this one yet which was her favorite.

Just Peeking In

Iguana at the Uxmal Ruins in Mexico.

I'm alive.  Between getting sick (again), preparing for a trip to the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and being not sure what to blog here, I just let the blog lie dormant for a few weeks.  But I'm back from Mexico and (maybe) back blogging.  Hope this finds you well.