December trips

This month I've enjoyed a couple of trips to nearby destinations. Traveling is so therapuetic for my winter despising soul. I don't know how I could get through winter without it.

My first outing was a bit of an adventure. I went to Colorado to visit a boy I had met online only a week before I booked a flight. I don't know where I get this romantic idealism, but as much as I try to ignore it, it often gets the best of me. His name is Barrett, and he's getting a Masters in Fine Arts in Boulder, CO. He's very liberal, artsy, eccentric and forward. For some reason, that attracted me. We had a fun 4 days together. He introduced me to a whole new side of theater that I'd never experienced before. He was sweet, chivalrous, thoughtful and fun. In spite of that, I'm clear that we're not right for each other, but I consider him a friend and I'm glad we met.

Two weeks later I went to San Diego with my friend Aline and stayed with my favorite couple, Jamie and Adam Hale. Aline and I were soooo happy to be in the sun even though it was freezing at night. We got a few hours of good sun in during the day, and just being able to walk along the beaches made us both very happy.

While in San Diego, Jamie and Adam introduced me to a guy who they thought might be a good match for me. I first met him at church on Sunday, and Jamie invited him over that night for dinner with us. He came with his 3 year old daughter Ella and a plate full of home made chocolate chip cookies. We seemed to have a good connection. Unfortunately, Aline and I had to leave to catch our plane, so we had to cut the conversation short.

I didn't hear from him again until just yesterday. I had pretty much decided he wasn't interested, but then out of the blue, he calls to to tell me he's in town and wanted to take me to lunch. I took him to One World Cafe. It was nice to sit and converse with him, and I admit, it was nice to stare at him, too, while he talked. :P He's really cute. Here's a pic I swiped off of his on-line profile. Is that stalking?

His name is John. His full time job is training for the Olympics in race walking. I never even knew there was such an event, but it's quite interesting to talk to him about it. Unfortunately, he's in the middle of a divorce which won't be final until March, so I can only hope for friendship at this point. He said he'd call me the next time he was in town, so we'll see. It probably won't amount to anything, but still, it's fun to pretend.

Blood Diamonds

I haven't been able to stop crying for the past 30 minutes. I'm giving myself a headache. My heart feels like it's being crushed with sadness after watching the movie "Blood Diamonds." The reason is because it's a true account of the darkest side of human kind, and it is happening somewhere in the world even in this very moment. War, anger, hate, greed, pride....all consuming the human spirit, turning our children into heartless machines, corrupting the innocent and turning brothers against one another. "Blood Diamonds" exposes the exploitation of Africans for diamonds, but that is just one of many of the malidies in this insane world of ours. Tears flooded my eyes as I considered the overwhelming amount of pain and suffering in our world, and the incredible reality that there are people who have completely detached from their spirit to the point that they are unaffected by hurting others.
I cried to Heavenly Father, feeling completely helpless. It is in this space that I feel especially grateful for Jesus Christ. Even though this world is all messed up and justice doesn't always get served the way it should, Christ will make sure that one day those who were good in their hearts receive their just reward. That is my only comfort right now.
I am also grateful for those who do take a stand for a cause, who get involved, who care and love and do their part to make a difference. I rub shoulders with many of them. It is an honor. Thank you, God, for people who care.

Thanksgiving '07

Sometimes I really enjoy going home. Other times, it's a little too chaotic. This year I had a lot of fun with fam over Thanksgiving. Here's me with Clancey and Zaharah and an overgrown psychotic rat that has a strange resemblence to my dog.


Marlo's kids presented mom and dad and me with a lovely puppet show on Thanksgiving morning. Much better than watching the Thanksgiving parade.

These are puppets made by Zac and Zaharh. That's obviously a bunny, a moose and a....brown....bear?


Clancey's contribution to the puppet show.

Mocktail Party

Friday night's Mocktail party was a smashing success. I wowed myself and my friends by transforming my living room into a cocktail lounge. I drug out all of my tables and chairs, stools and plant stands and turned them into cozy nooks and inviting spaces for congretating with friends. The candles, low lights and lounge music all added to the effect.

My friend Heidi organized it with me and had the martini glasses stacked neatly on the hors' derve table, complete with square napkins, frozen fruit and olives to add to the cocktails.

We women got to pull out our sexiest little party dresses and get all dolled up. The men cleaned up well, too. Some even went to great measures to fit the part.

The purpose was to meet new people, and when I say new people, I mean men. So, each girl was invited to bring one or two quality men with her to introduce to new her friends. We had a great crowd. Lots of neat people. Not sure if there was any love connections made, but it was a unique experience and everyone enjoyed it.

The next theme party.....ugly sweaters. Stay tuned!

Halloween 2007

Although Halloween signifies the beginning of all of the winter holidays that I hate, I usually really enjoy this day. Dressing up has always been a highlight. This year I attended a huge dance party dressed as a pink fairy. It was a cheap costume I threw together a few years ago and since I didn't get around to shopping for a new costume, I decided to pull it out again. Wish I had taken a picture to post. I learned that men respond really well to pink. Maybe it signifies the epidome of femininity or....maybe I just showed too much skin. Either way, I got a lot of attention that night and a couple of dates out of it. One from a Chipendale dancer and another from a pimped out guy wearing a box full of candy tied around his hips that was conveniently situated right over his package. I don't know which one I trust less. :p


Prior to the party, I took some of my African friends trick or treating and dressed them up in all the mismatched costumes I've collected over the years. The loved it. Unfortunately, the only pictures i got were from my cell phone. They're not the greatest, but you'll get the idea.



The booty.



I had a bit of a challenge convincing this boy to put on that wig and that dress.



Elvira


This little one is a butterfly who's wings I pulled off and put in the trunk of my car so they wouldn't get destroyed. But, I'm sure you could already tell that from the red wig, pink bows and yellow boa.

Naughty, naughty dog!

Today was the first day I really wanted to spank my dog. I didn't, but it took me a little while until I wanted to talk to him again. He's becoming quite manipulative, the little stinker. Lately, he's been peeing on my floors and I know it's on purpose. I'm absolutely convinced of it because he had been peeing outside very well for the last few months, and I know he can hold it when he wants to. I think he's trying to communicate something to me, and I'm convinced it has something to do with me leaving him home alone or not giving him enough attention. Peeing in the house is his way of getting back at me. Ya, we're having a few little issues we need to work through. I've been putting his diaper on when I leave the house lately, just in case. It's usually dry when I come home.

This morning I had to rush off to church, so I threw the diaper on and ran out the door. Something inside of me made me a little uneasy, though. He wouldn't poop on the floor, I thought. (The diaper only covers his pee-pee, not his bum.) Well, I should have listened to that little voice and left him on the back porch. I walked in the living room when I got home and sure enough, there was dog poop on my rug. You should have heard the curse words! The reason I know he knew what he was doing was because whenever I come home, he races out from under the bed to greet me. He's soooo excited to see me, he can hardly see straight. This morning, however, he never came out from under the bed until I had it all cleaned up and went back to my room. Even when he did come out, he was pretty reserved. I know he was feeling guilty for being so naughty, but there was also a little part of him that felt satisfied in upsetting me.

I never knew dogs could be so jealous, resentful and manipulative! The little turkey.

He gets extremely upset whenever I pull out my lap top, too. He'll cuddle with me on the couch until I open it up, and then he jumps right down and goes over to the other couch where Keva is sitting...working on her own lap top. It's not the lap top itself he dispises, it's MY laptop and the fact that I'm not giving him my complete undivided attention. He used to just go sit over at Keva's feet, but now he'll jump right up on her and lay on her chest while she's typing. He refuses to do that with me! The funny thing is the entire time he's with Keva, he's eyes are glued on me as if to say, Hey, I'm not going to sit by you if you don't put that lousy thing away! I'll just sit by Keva because she loves me and I love her! Neener neener neener!

Ya, that's exactly what he's thinking.

Well, despite the fact that he's being a turd, I love the little guy to death. I'm definitely getting to practice disciplining with love. Certainly, these skills will come in handy when I actually have kids one day. What good lessons I'm learning! Now....how am I going to win this battle of the wills......???

Dinner and a Massage

I converted my friend Rob to massages today. We both went in to Massage Envy where I have a membership and spent an hour in luxurious bliss. If only I could get that hour to last as long as a sacrament meeting, but for some reason it always seems to be over just as it begins.

I hadn't seen Rob for a year or so and ran into him at a party the other day. Having never really talked much to him, I had the impression that he was always calm, cool, collected, confident and committment impaired. He's my age, cute and single. That's always in indication of committment issues in this town.

After the massages, we went to dinner and talked easily about a number of subjects, becoming more and more comfortable and open with each other as the evening went on. By the time I was dropping him off at his car, we had begun an interesting conversation which revealed a lot more about him than meets the eye. It's always fascinating to peek into another human being's soul and discover how similiar it is to one's own. We all have issues, insecurities and times of darkness, even men....even good-looking men that have a lot going for them. It's part of what makes us human. No one is exempt from it, even if they appear to be. I was glad that he shared some of those things with me. As he was talking, my own insecurities popped up and I wondered how I should react to his openness based on the dating book that I'm reading. Should I open up, too, or just let him talk? Do I take that as a sign that he's not interested in me or that he is? Do I want him to be interested or don't I? Blah, blah, blah....sometimes you just gotta say, to hell with it, and just go with what feels most natural. So, i did. I listened and shared. We had a great conversation and a very nice evening. That's all. The End.