Back and Better Than Ever

I don't know why I decided to come back. I can't really explain this sort of thing. Maybe it's a slow day at work. Maybe it's the overwhelming need I feel to write something. But here I am.

In the year that has elapsed since I have written, a great deal has happened in my life. Some of it has been good and some of it has been bad.

In the vein of the bad, my favorite sister, (Annie B. as I call her) moved away. It was actually less devastating at the time than I thought it would be. I of course cried a little, but that's because I cry about everything. Sissy.

Most of the time, I don't think about it. I catch myself occasionally. If I see a car like hers, I wonder if maybe it's hers. Or, when I drive by the place she used to work I think about her. It's just sad thinking that we'll never have lunch together like we used to or hang out on a Sunday and watch Pride & Prejudice. I suppose that's sadness about growing up and moving on both.

The reason I'm thinking about her a lot now, even though she left about six months ago, is that she is coming home tomorrow for the first time since she left, and she will be here for three weeks. I cannot tell you how excited I am.

She insisted we keep this whole thing secret from my parents, which I was only too willing to do. So, tomorrow, Vieve and I will go the airport and pick her up and take her back to my house and surprise my parents. My mom will cry, then I'll cry, then we'll all laugh because we're crying. Awesome!

And like usually happens when something is occupying my mind, I have been dreaming about it. First, I dreamt that mom had found out and knew Annie was coming. I was so disappointed the surprise had been ruined. (I'm actually still worried that somehow mom knows, even though I don't know how she would know.) Next I dreamed that Annie decided she was going to surprise everyone by coming home and didn't bother to tell me not to go to the airport. I went and she wasn't there. I was super ticked. Last I dreamed that she didn't even make it to the airport. I don't know if she missed her flight or what, but she was not there! (I have crazy and annoying dreams.)

So far, everything seems ready. Annie is still planning on coming. The weather is supposed to be fantastic for tomorrow. Vieve and I still have our secret plan. I just can't wait for the whole thing to go down and to see my sister again. It's going to be a terrific three weeks, even though I'll still be at work through most of it.

Here we come a wassailing

I’m stealing this post from Red. Thanks, Red! Especially because yesterday at church we were talking about our favorite Christmas traditions, and I realized I have way too many.

1. Egg nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, especially if I can mix in Hazelnut creamer. Mmmm.
2. Do you wrap presents or bag them? Wrap. I am an expert wrapper. Wickety-wack!
3. Colored Lights or White? I usually prefer color, unless the tree is themed white.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Maybe if the answer to #17 came over, I would.
5. When do you decorate? We usually get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and everything else goes up after that.
6. Favorite holiday dish? I love a ham with pineapple and brown sugar. We’ve had them at Christmas parties since I can remember.
7. When & how did you learn about Santa? I think at school. I don’t remember the particular details. I don’t think I was really that disturbed by the news. Which is strange, because everyone else I talk to remembers and was traumatized by it.
8. How do you decorate your tree? Colored lights and then all the crazy ornaments go on haphazardly. Mine are always at eye level and in the front. We have so many ornaments and none of them go together.
9. Snow...love it or dread it? I used to love snow and playing in the snow. Now that I drive 25 miles to and from work every day, I don’t love it as much. Especially because Utah drivers cannot figure out the secret to snow driving. SLOW DOWN!
10. Can you ice skate? I have been once, so I think yes. I spent a lot of time on my bottom.
11. Do you remember your favorite gift? I have a lot of gifts over the years I have loved. I understand from people that I am difficult to shop for because when I want something, I buy it. I’m more excited about the presents I give to people nowadays.
12. What is the most important part of the holidays? Frankie Hejduk.
13. Favorite holiday dessert? I love homemade candies. We made them for the neighbors a couple times. I ate a lot myself. I love caramels, fudge, divinity, and toffee especially. And homemade oreos—if you put red and green frosting in them, they are Christmas cookies.
14. Favorite memory? I don’t know if it was Christmas, but it was winter. My house used to be right by the mountains. There was a trail that motorcycles and 4-wheelers went on up in the mountains. It was a clear path about ten feet wide surrounded by scrub oak. It was a smooth downhill, not too steep or too shallow. We always went sledding and tubing on it. One night, my dad took his generator up and strung lights through the trees and we sledded in the dark and we had hot chocolate. It was so fun. When you are young, the cold doesn’t bother you as much—probably because of all the moving you do.
15. Do you have a special ornament? I have one that is heavy mirror glass that is my school picture on one side and my primary class on the other side. It’s from when I was about five. I’m so cute.
16. What do you do on Christmas Eve? Shop, watch movies, bake, get ready for Christmas. I love to get into the spirit by doing every Christmas-y thing I can think of.
17. If you could have anything for Christmas this year what would it be? Much like Vieve, I would take Dema Kovalenko. Best abs ever. But if any member of RSL decided to show up, I would be okay with that.
18. What do you do for neighbors and friends for Christmas? We make them cookies or candy. Mom used to give them homemade salsa every year. I love Christmas because we get so much food and I eat it all. Which is bad, but delicious.

Go my favorite sports team!

So, It’s rivalry week at 4Life. Basically that means that the day before gameday (today) everyone brings every piece of BYU or U of U paraphernalia they have into the office and displays it. It also means that everyone who went to one of these schools and still cares wears either a piece of clothing from that team, or that teams colors.

I, in my traditional I-don’t-care stance, am wearing yellow. This is in support of Columbus who play New York for the MLS Cup on Sunday. This is one of the few times when I support a different team than Real.

Anyway, back to rivalry week, I’m not really into football, as we know, so whether BYU or U of U wins, I couldn’t care less. But, I like the spirit of rivalry week. I love that people hang their flags and then sabotage the other team’s supporters. I have access to a color printer and so someone asked me to print out the above picture so he could hang it on a U fan’s flag. I just thought it was funny. If you can see the faces of the guys in the crowd, it looks like they are cheering because the U player got hurt. Sports are fun!

I wish everyone here at work got into soccer like this. Then I would be all over it. Until then...Go BYU of U! Beat the opponents soundly. Score a goal-unit-basket…

No Really, I'm Fine

Much to my dismay, soccer season is over. I’m dealing with it just fine. I took a personal day on Sunday to recuperate from Saturday night’s loss. (Actually I have a cold.) It’s fine. As they say, there’s always next year. Besides, the season was so long this year (34 weeks all told); and if they start the same week next year as they did this year, we’ve only 18 weeks until the next game. And don’t think I haven’t already started counting down.

Sadly, those eighteen weeks are winter. Winter me no likee.

Which brings me to the real matter at hand. I have a cold. My first one of the season. Whoo! I actually hate everything about colds. My nose runs or is stuffy. I cough. I get tired just because I’m walking. It throws my running off. AGH!

So, I am totally overdosing on Vitamin C. I drink a lot of Simply Orange and plenty of RioVida. Usually when I’m sick, I’m totally into soup. This time it’s just simple foods. I’m all about fruit (gala apples and bananas and peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

Luckily, and this I attribute to TF, the cold seems to be ebbing. I was able to run last night, though not my usual length. Right now I have to be able to run well because next Thursday is not only Thanksgiving (delicious food), but it’s also a 4-mile race. I intend to do well, not stop half-way through because I can’t breathe anymore. Oh, and I’m totally going to beat Pepper!

I Voted Today!

I sure did. And I waited in line for 25 minutes to do so. I have the sticker to prove it. I'm not going to say who I voted for. Let's just say, I don't think either of the candidates for president in the two main parties are fit to run this country. This election has been incredibly annoying to me. I have hated watching the bickering and slandering and the stupid things they all say. No matter who wins, it doesn't really affect my life.

I do think that America needs to do away with the electoral college. I think it is a large part of why most Americans don't take the opportunity to vote. Especially in states like Utah, where the electoral votes go Republican, a single vote doesn't seem to matter. I think that would be different, were each vote counted. Every person's voice should be heard, individually.

Anyway, off my soapbox. May the best man (or woman) win, or failing that, may the people be ready for the consequences of their actions.

It's Real-ly Frightening

I actually hate the Real puns.

After a decade-long absence, I’m returning to the blogosphere. Okay, it wasn’t even close to that long, but it has been nearly 2 months. I’m sure that no one has even noticed my absence--except for Pepper. Thanks for the support, Pep!

I actually just wanted to share how proud I am of my pumpkin I carved for Halloween. I’m pretty good at carving pumpkins, but I think this one is my best work so far. Beautiful. It worked even better because it went with my “costume” which was a Real fan. It wasn’t so much a costume, as me putting on my going-to-a-game-gear.

Real are in the playoffs for the first time ever. Not only that, they won their first playoff game. Every other playoff game last week ended in a tie. Ha ha! Take that! Even if we don’t advance to the next round, they have put in a solid effort this year and made us all proud to be Real fans.

Time to Go

I don’t think anyone can remember the last time I wrote. It’s been a strange couple months…

Anyway, I’m back, at least for today. I thought I’d again share my MLS predictions. Not like I have a lot of knowledge in this area. Let’s see what happens.

Columbus Crew at Toronto FC
I think when the season started, 24 short weeks ago; no one expected from the Columbus Crew what they have delivered. They are top of the Eastern Conference and show no signs of lagging. Not so for Toronto. They showed some definite promise earlier in the season, but all signs of that have disappeared. Columbus is simply the best squad. And Toronto at home is not as scary as once they were.

Houston Dynamo at San Jose Earthquakes
Both these teams had a rather rough start to the season. San Jose did the usual “we’re a first year expansion team” thing. Houston…well, I don’t know what was going on there. But with their current run of form, you wouldn’t guess they were ever struggling. Houston is #1 in the west and San Jose came from being last place just a few weeks ago, to being fourth place. I’d rather see San Jose win this contest, and chances are they could, but my money is on Houston.

FC Dallas at DC United
Dallas, bless their hearts, have not won in four games. They conceded a victory to Colorado last week, which in my opinion was one of the most boring games I have ever seen. Kenny Cooper is flat and Jeff Cunningham is showing again he’s not worth his salt. DC, while proud winners of the US Open Cup trophy, have not won a league match since August 23rd. Even so, I expect this game to go to them.

RSL at Red Bull New York
I love the boys in red, but for some reason they cannot win road games. Last weekend they were clearly the better team, but only managed to keep one point against LA. The fact is; if they want into the playoffs, they must win road games. And they will have to do it without Fabian Espindola. He is out for at least 4 weeks. New York has not being playing awful soccer, so I expect a Real loss.

LA Galaxy at Kansas City Wizards
Kansas City can’t win. LA can’t win. LA, while able to score a lot of goals, cannot manage to stop their opponents from doing the same. I expect a high scoring tie.

Chicago Fire at Colorado Rapids
Both of these teams managed to win last week. Colorado’s victory was flat. Chicago’s victory was lucky. I don’t expect a repeat performance from either, but if I have to pick one of these teams, I would go with Chicago.