Day 38 - You say Samoan, I say Samoa!

Saturday morning...ahhhh!! Would have loved to have slept in, but my food dream woke me up. Latoya sent me an evil cookbook with a bunch of "secret" recipes. One of the recipes was for the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies. Before I had gone to bed last night I was looking over the recipe, and it definitely gave me some sweet dreams. Visions of gooey coconut and chocolate drizzle danced in my head. So when I woke up at 7:30 am, I opened up my computer and figured out what I would need from the store. I then walked to Smith's to get the necessary ingredients. I figured if I walked to the store it would burn a few hundred of the THOUSANDS of calories I would soon ingest. The cookie is basically made with sugar done three ways, standard white sugar, Karo syrup, and sweetened condensed milk, boil it together and add some coconut, stir it all up, and there ya have it. Then melt some chocolate chips and drizzle over the top. There was no mention of the cookie center that the coconut concoction usually surrounds, so I experimented and made some with a vanilla wafer on the bottom. I was fine either way, I'm not picky, as long as there is plenty of caramelized goodness anything tastes good. They tasted similar to a Samoa, but those girls scouts have their secrets. Make sure to note they are called "SAMOA" not to be confused with "SAMOAN." When I worked at Franklin Covey I overheard a lady at the cubicle across from me telling a friend she had eaten and entire box of Samoans the night before. That just didn't sound right, and I'm sure that's illegal, or at least not ethical.

After stopping by the boys house to drop off the reminder of my knock of Samoa's, I met Alisa at the Gateway and saw "He's Just Not That Into You." It was pretty funny, somewhat insightful, and entertaining. I then ran to Ogden to meet Alane for dinner and to see Peter Pan at Weber. I felt like I was running about 20 minutes behind all day. I was late meeting Alisa for the movie because there was traffic and a defective stop light on South Temple, then the movie got out later than I had anticipated and I didn't leave Salt Lake until almost 6:00 which was when I was suppose to be in O-town. Alane and I ate at Lee's Mongolian Barbecue in Ogden and since I was late getting there, we were running late from dinner getting to the show. But we made it just in time for the curtain to rise.


The show was pretty good... Not my favorite show, but it was well done. Nick did a good job, he can still bounce around the stage just like he did when he was in high school, wish I had that kind of energy, I can only do 3 back handsprings in a row these days...ah to be young again ;).

Take note of the return of my double chin in this picture. I could blame it on the copious amounts of coconut delight I had consumed earlier in the day. But I have figured it was bound to happen eventually, I have not been eating well the last few months. This photo has inspired me to really start watching what I eat. Need to lose 30 lbs by June...bikini season!

Day 37 - Slumdog Millionaire, EVERYBODY DANCE!

It's FRIDAY!!! Today was a good day, pretty much because it was Friday of course. Work went well, we had a "Tamale Party." The marketing department met in the conference room and had authentic Mexican Tamale's from Letherbee's... Who knew Leatherbee's made Tamale's I just thought they made big giant milk shakes...and furthermore, I didn't even know they still existed. So many pleasant surprises. During the lunchtime siore the director of marketing asked us to go around the room and share an embarrassing moment. This is always such a touchy subject, some can be funny, some can be really gross...and for me, most of them involve saying something completely inappropriate that I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing in a work place setting.. I ended up telling the story about the time at Alphagraphics when I was going to scare my co worker Wade. I went and hid in the break room waiting for him to get out of the bathroom, and when I heard the door open I sneaked out and turned the corner to the long hallway ready to tackle him. But when I began to pounce I realized it wasn't Wade at all, but the tech who was there working on one of the machines. So instead of saying "sorry I thought you were someone else" I just tried to play it off and continued to skip / lunge down the hall way, as if it was completely normal. Wade had stopped at the drinking fountain after coming out of the bathroom, and witnessed the entire incident... That was the story I shared, and it got a good chuckle. I'm hoping to make some points with the co-workers. I'm still trying to find my place there, its been a little over a month, I'm getting more comfortable, but I'm definitely still the new kid on the block. (whoa-o-o-o-o! Hangin tough)

After work I met Latoya, Christian and Jess at Cafe Rio then went to Slumdog Millionaire at the Broadway Center. It was a good time. I always enjoy getting together with them. We all share our crazy wacky work-time experiences. Its a good way to decompress after a long hard week. The movie was very, very good! There were times I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I ended up loving it. Some parts are very disturbing and completely shocking. But its a clever way to tell the story of this poor kids life. But I have to say, my favorite part was the random Bollywood style dance number during the closing credits. I think all super dramatic movies should end with some uplifting light hearted choreography!

DAY 36 - I've Got A Golden Diamond

Today was such a momentous day at work! We had a visit from one of our "Golden Diamond" distributors.... I have NO IDEA what that means, but it must be a big deal. They called all of us out of our offices to go to the main entrance and line the red carpet and up the stairs, then when the group arrived we clapped for about ten minutes. I'm hoping I don't work for a cult. I was going to leave if they started chanting. The lady was from Korea and was coming to visit the corporate office for some reason. For those of you who don't know I work for a company that is like Amway, NuSkin, Maleleuca, all those MLM companies... Don't worry, as a corporate employee we are not allowed to participate in the business, so I won't be calling any of you to share a "great opportunity."

The rest of my day was good, it was Thursday, so we all know what that means...dinner with the parents. Tonight we ate at Applebee's in Bountiful. It's always good to catch up with the fam and spend some quality time. Not a lot going on with any of us so no good juicy gossip...my mom has really let me down, guess things have been pretty quiet in the Relief Society. After dinner I went to my parents house and did a quick sweep to see if my camera was around there anywhere and I picked up my laundry. I had left a bunch of clothes up there I was going to come back and do later in the week, but my nice cute sweet mom finished it for me. What would I do without her! I'll always be my mamma's little boy.

After dinner I came home relaxed for a bit, and after much inner conflict I decided to work out! The "professor" who lives beneath me wasn't home, so I went all out this time. I was jumping up and down as hard as I could. My favorite part of the work out is the "fast feet." Its were you just do tiny little steps as fast as you can. I feel like I'm in Flashdance and I always poor a bottle of water over my head duirng that portion of the work out.

Tomorrow's Friday! woo hoo! and it's Tamlale day at work, olé!

DAY 35 - Life is Beautiken

Life is Beautiful...right? Not as beautiful as Brandy and I, we're HOT! Or actually I guess the sign is kind of saying Life Is Beautiken, since my head is becoming a signifier when juxtaposed to the preceding text... So my new theme shall be "Life Is Beautiken." I'm getting it embroidered on a pillow.

Today was Wednesday, middle of the week, hump day, miércoles as the Spanish say. All I care about is that we're getting closer to Friday. Today life was just beautiful, for no real reason, just simply another day in the life. It was the traditional Wednesday night TV at Brandy's. We watched Top Chef and The Real World. It takes us about 3 hours to watch two, one hour shows because we have to keep pausing it to tell some story we were reminded about. But that's what makes it a good time. We discuss our hopes, our dreams, our fears our failures, all with the backdrop of reality TV... and who said TV doesn't bring people closer together. I don't really know if anyone has ever said that, but I'm sure they have.

I'm really just rambling because there was no major event or underlying theme for the day. Just that Life is Beautiful, and not in the Italian Nazi movie type way, just tryin to simply enjoy whatever comes my way.

DAY 34 - We're not gonna, we're not gonna pay!

Well I made it through January, now making a dent in February... These few months of the year are my least favorite. Not much is going on, its cold and hazy. The snow has lost its magic and has become crusty gray mounds of broken Christmas dreams.

The bad thing about the beginning of a new month is a whole new set of bills. Today I paid my rent, a day late, but it never seems to be a problem. The check usually doesn't go through until the middle of the month anyway. When I first moved in I couldn't imagine how I was going to make it, I figured I would be destitute in no time and moving back into my parents basement. I'm proud of myself for actual making it on my own. It's been 8 months now and I'm not completely destitute...close, but still keeping my head above water. The safe, secure, heart strings of my parents home are trying to yank me back. But I'm trying to resist. However I'm not ruling the idea out. It is tempting to go home for 6 months to a year and pay off my credit cards, then be able to go out and BUY a house. Oh my gosh, even typing that sends ripples of fear through my body. I still have 5 months left on the lease, so I'll be staying put for a little while. We'll see what the summer brings. I don't think I'll make any moves until fall. I loved being in my place last year. It is so close to downtown and all the happenings. I can't wait to walk to the Gallivan Center for movies and concerts. And walk up to the park to swing on the swings. (You have to be careful at the park in the avenues, those hills are steep and sometimes people fall on you.)


Post Script: I still have not located my camera, I'm starting to think it may have dropped out of my pocket onto the street...It may be long gone. I still have my larger digital camera, but it's not as portable as the other one, which makes the picture a day a little more difficult. But I shall overcome, I will not be discouraged by this set back. I will prevail!

DAY 33 - I Clot You Babe!

My camera is still missing, so sad. So in the mean time I'm using my phone, not the most quality, but it does the job. Tonight I went to dinner with the AG gang, and our favorite customer Ms. Barbara Jones accompanied us. Barbara is a big time quilt maker, when I was the designer for Alpha, Barbara and I spent a lot of quality time getting the covers for her patterns just right. She even taught me a thing or two about quilting. I never even got out a needle and thread, but I became a trim making master in photoshop. I even learned terms like "fat quarter." It was a lot of fun to get together with her, she always cracked me up. In a strange way I miss the old Alphagraphics days... not the job, but definately the people

Other than that the day was status quo. Put in an honest days work, went to dinner, then home for some down time sitting in front of the TV and internet. I watched Dr. G Medical Examiner...it was a good thing I had all ready had my surgery, there was a lady that died 3 days after her operation of a blood clot after having the same surgery I just had last year. They had to tear her open to figure out what casued the her death... Pretty nasty. Even though it was about 8 months ago, I started to feel the symptoms of some remaining blood clots...but I think I'm going to pull through.

DAY 32 - Oh Yo, Oh Yo! Catch This!

So it's the day that sports fans all throughout the country look forward to. Some even place it above Christmas as their favorite "holiday." Well I am always up for a reason to celebrate, especially if there is food involved. So a few of us non sports folk got together for a little "Superbowl" party of our own.

I tried to redeem myself by making some more cupcakes. This time I used Clete and Greg's oven, and they turned out pretty well, I think they were still a little dry, but at least they weren't burned. I put a little Hershey Hug in the middle of each and then had a variety of vanilla and chocolate frosting. They were pretty tasty. We also had pizza from Papa Murphy's and some chips (left over from the "Chips" party the night before.)

But the star of the Superbowl was the viewing of Pretty Woman! We had been talking about it a few weeks ago, and it had been a while since any of had seen it, Clete had never seen it cause it was rated R and his mamma wouldn't let him watch those kind of movies. So we corrupted him and watched it. It's so sad how old and dated it's starting to look. I think I have seen that movie more than any other. When it first came out my sisters and I would go to the Redwood Drive Inn at least once a week or more. It seemed like Pretty Woman was always the second movie with whatever we were going to see. So we would watch the new release movie and end up staying and watching it. I think I saw it about 17 or 18 times. Crazy! I still love it, and can quote almost the entire thing. We watched the directors cut, it had a few scenes that weren't in the original. It was weird to me, I didn't like it, it felt wrong! You don't mess with perfection. In one part Vivian (Julia Roberts) tells Edward (Richard Gere) that your foot is the same size as your elbow to your wrist, and since all four of us have the same size feet we tried to see if the pretty woman's theory was true, so this is our comparion shot.

We took these pics with Greg's camera, I'm still on the lookout for mine. Hopefully it will reapear soon!

I would like to leave with some Pretty Woman wisdom, that I think we all should live by.
I say who..I say when...I say how much!