Dumb Question/Comment of the Week

Why would you get all of that education just to stay in education?

It's About the Small Things. Really.

1. I am typing from a seated position.
2. I put on real pants.
3. I only have 4 more episodes to go to finish Freaks and Geeks. 
4. I was not driving when I had two coughing fits in the middle of the night. 
5. Showering! 
   

Words of Comfort

I had to email my online students yesterday and tell them that it looks like I have the flu. In other words, I was trying to not so subtly let them know that their papers will probably not be graded by Wednesday.

Many of them wrote very kind messages in return. One message even contained the following caution:

"Don't drive. I just heard about someone who had a coughing spell while driving, fainted, and woke up crashed in someone's porch. She had her two small kids in the car. Be careful."

And while I feel bad for this woman (I really do! If it's indeed true), I laughed and laughed, which then made me cough and cough.

And that is enough reason to wear sweats for another couple of days and take another nap.

Down with the King

The Universe must have known that I decided to cook a recipe from another cooking blog on the night I planned to meet The Pioneer Woman at The King's English. And the Universe wasn't too happy about it. My bad. I guess.

Perhaps all of us, including her publisher, her publicist, and The King's English were disillusioned and believed that only a few close people and a random sprinkling of strangers knew of Ree, The Pioneer Woman. Months ago, when Ree posted the dates and locations for her cookbook tour, I put the info on my calendar and thought, "Oh, that would be fun."

But the event proved to be anything but fun. My sister and I showed up to the intersection of 1500 East and 1500 South around 7:10, running late because that recipe from another cooking blog took longer to make than I expected. We knew we were in trouble when parking proved ridiculous and gaggles of women swarmed and swelled and pushed each other around the tiny bookshop. But I still had hope. I had attended The King's English's party for the final Harry Potter book and it did not disappoint, but clearly they were not anticipating Harry Potter-like crowds for a cookbook blogger and writer who lived on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. Or they had just not done their homework.

I had even more hope when I caught a glimpse of Ree, hanging out under the bookstore's awning, slightly away from the crowd, casually chatting with another woman as they watched this swarming gaggle of fans. What would that be like--to have hundreds of people in line to meet you? I don't think I'd like it.

After making my sister stand in line--a line that really had no purpose since they were handing out letters A-Z for groups to enter the bookstore--I pushed myself between the art gallery and the bookstore and back to the gallery and then back to the bookstore, trying to figure out the "order" of the evening. Eventually I squeezed myself into the small room to purchase my copy of the cookbook only to hear the bookseller clerk announce that they were sold out of their 300 full-price copies.

That's when I realized that I should have planned better and arrived at The King's English by 3pm like many other fans did that day so I could have firmly secured my full-price copy of the cookbook and my top spot in line the gaggle of women. Silly me for not planning ahead.

Instead, I departed to now buy my cookbook on the Big Bad Brother called "Amazon" and save myself $13, but only after watching another swarm follow and fawn around another famous blogger. Who knew The King's English would be a hot bed for such notoriety on a Wednesday night? And who knew there would come a time when I would need to devote my entire Wednesday to meeting someone from the internet?

Okay, I'll Eat Them. If I Have To.

I knew I shouldn't have picked up the Fudge Mint Oreos when I hit the grocery store at 12:20pm, but to be honest, I imagined something very different than what I got upon opening the box.

I was dreaming of Oreos filled with mint creme and then covered in chocolate fudge. Nope. Just a regular ol' Oreo with mint flavoring covered in chocolate fudge. Not bad, but...just not my expectation.

Even more disappointing--there are only TWELVE in the entire box. I can see why the box says "Limited Edition." Yeah, these definitely aren't going to be around  for long.

Hello, box of Fudge Mint Oreos containing 1200 calories, with flavor resembling Thin Mints, meet my stomach.

Let Us Eat Cake

When I found out that I could take a free tour of the Fisher Mansion on Halloween and eat free cake with the SLC Mayor, I pounced on the opportunity.

Creepy old house + creepy old music playing in the carriage house + cake + a hearse the likes driven by Harold parked out front + people wandering around in Victorian-era dress = a splendid Halloween outing.

It's really too bad the cake was covered in Crisco. Ick.

But I did my civic duty and donated a $1 to the cause in hopes that next time they'll splurge for buttercream. It's what any self-respecting person would do.

 

And a birthday shout out to my mom, CW, and Marie Antoinette!

Eight Really is Too Much

This may really be my one and only chance to have eight children.

And for that, I am grateful.

(And here's to my 500th post).