Sneeze (or move) if you Want To

The other day I SNEEZED (click) at work. It was a medium-loud sneeze, not one that is intrusive or disgusting or anything like that. My boss said “bless you.” Well I had to sneeze again immediately following the first sneeze but I didn’t want my boss to say bless you again because THAT would be awkward. I mean, what if I had to sneeze a third time and he had to say bless you AGAIN? So I tried to hold my sneeze in.  I must have thought of holding it in a little too late because what happened was my cheeks filled with air (and literally puffed up) and I let out a phhhh that sounded less like a sneeze and more like a, you know, *toot*.  No one said anything of course, because it’s one of those things you wonder “what was THAT?” without wondering it out loud.  I couldn’t stop laughing about it!

On another note, we're moving!

So, farewell mysterious long-haired Chilean chain-smoker/organ playing neighbor. We'll miss you 6 year old Chinese boy who jumps on a trampoline in the apartment above us.  Goodbye ward members who can't help but think the Gospel should be more complex. See ya strange (but nice) couple a few doors down with a cat.

Goodbye South Provo, HELLO WEST PROVO!

Hello nice landlord and nice landlord's business hooked onto our house. Hello giant construction equipment new neighbors, nice to see you Freeway. Glad to meet you nice fenced in front yard and small deck. We're happy to see you mice in the storage closet. Hi second bedroom that will serve nicely as a craft room, I mean project room. Hola cheaper rent. Hey new ward, and oh, hey brother and sister-in-law Watson who we'll see at church every week! HELLO washer and dryer hookups.

We're excited for a change!

If you see any of these (of the empty variety) let me know!

MATH TIME!

This is the clock I made for Jenny B.F.  She is the smartest math person you’ll ever meet. She’s currently going to math grad school to get even smarter.

First I mixed my own paints until I got a really good Jenny green.  She likes green things.

Then I asked my sister-in-law Andrea to cut the vinyl equations (you should SEE what else Andrea can do!  Check out her amazing talents HERE—trust me, you’ll want to be a follower.)

I used the font called Georgia for the numbers because Jenny lives in Georgia.

Each equation equals the number on the clock in its respective position. I didn’t come up with the equations, I found those on-line. 

My dear Watson helped me put the equations on straight (well he did as much as he could for a person with a chronically crooked perspective), and then installed the clock hands.

Jenny’s cousin David gave me the idea of writing It’s Math Time on the clock because I was worried about how accurately it would keep time (it’s just a clock kit from Joann’s--although I should have bought it from Hobby Lobby because it was cheaper.) No matter what time it REALLY is, it will always be math time.

Then I shipped it to Athens (Georgia, not Greece). 

The best part of all---Jenny LOVES it!  

p.s. I think snow is kind of magical -- the gentle kind, not the violent stuff.

What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?

Halloween was fun. My dear Watson turned into a chicken and I turned into a fried egg.  We ran into some mummies and some old friends. We watched a video of our friend Monte shoving 6 full sized cupcakes in his mouth; it was an amazing trick (watch him do it HERE ).

I taught the Nature merit badge at BYU’s Merit Badge PowWow where I accidentally called on the boy in the blue SKIRT (instead of shirt) to answer a question.  I told the scouts I was going to talk about a plant in Utah that is protected by law, and a nice boy raised his hand and said, “flower?”  I was passing out candy for answering questions after I reviewed them—but I hadn’t asked a question yet. This boy rrreaallllyyy wanted some candy.

I delivered a birthday package to Jenny B.F. (when she receives it I’ll show you a picture—it was homemade with love).  I got mad at FedEx because the store signs were uninformative and confusing. Luckily my dear Watson was there to tell me to take a chill pill and I managed to not be mean. 

I’ve been making real good dinners this week. I came prepared with a two week meal plan and it has made all the difference. Making dinner is fun now that I know what I’m going to make sooner than 15 minutes before I make it, AND I know I have all the ingredients, AND it’s more than just chicken and rice or beef and rice.  I often get frustrated while making dinner because I feel pressed for time, I don’t really know what to make, I don’t have something I need, I drop the cheese grater, cut my finger on the cheese grater etc.  I make grunting noises like a 2 year old.  In the last 2 days the only time I got frustrated (and grunted) was when I realized I would have to wait for the White Sauce Chicken Enchiladas to cool down before I could eat them.  I’m a very patient person though (right, honey?) so it wasn’t that hard….Anyway, I have enjoyed it immensely. It’s amazing what a little bit of preparation can do to lessen stress. 

Oh yeah, check out my Turkey headers (at the top of each section of my blog) and my new blog banner. I made it all by myself.  I even used Illustrator to make that branch with leaves :). It's the only thing I could figure out and it actually wasn't what I was trying to do, but it looked close enough to a branch.  The rest was done using Photoshop.

Yes, he is wearing tights.

Yes, I do have a spatula on my head.

Yes, this is a REAL mummy.