holiday fun

okay, it's been too long since i posted. and i just realized i had a repost of "sightings" by accident - so i took it off. anyway, i thought i'd share one of my favorite parts of the holiday. i woke up feeling a bit under the weather and dragged around most of the day with a nap after dinner, so i can't say i really enjoyed the day. but near the close, right before the cousins started leaving, we put a dvd in of andrew goldsworthy and his art. can i just say amazing? i was impressed with how mesmerized my 9 year old nephew was. you should check him out!

Opera souvenir

The fourth annual suggs' opera is over. Wish I could remember the name - something about the invention of the horseless chariot - but I got a souvenir! One of the horseless chariots is powered by rats. They have glow in the dark eyes! It was reportedly their funniest opera yet. My normally silent 15 year old nephew sang a figarro solo. The 13 year old niece was head seamstress. Between all 6 of them they managed to fill over an hour with pure musical and dramatic entertainment. They come up with a basic premise - this year they wanted to feature latin so it was set in ancient roman days. Then they outline a plot and then listen to hours of classical music to try and find the perfect song for the intended scene. Then they manage to write words to match the songs to tell their story. Then they make scenery and costumes and props - mostly using fabric and paper and other junk lying around. The 17 year old niece is head director. For her birthday this year the other kids got together to buy her black fabric for the backdrop - talk about a happy birthday! Anyway, I came here to see the opera, my job is now done. Sorry I have no action photos - I was busy manning their real camera during the show so I was unable to break out my cell phone. I head back to the great slc in the manana. See you at church!

Croissants

Maybe you could already tell from the photo, but leggo makes some pretty unique pieces these days. My nephews are major leggo fans and they received a special order today - a set of croissants!
It was a special day in other ways too. I slept in. I had amazing homemade bread at every meal. Dinner's main course was a salad bar - I had seconds. In the afternoon my sister and I attended the sacramento temple where I learned a new word for socks: scuffies. In the morning, along with the home schooling club, I attended a little christmas carol play - pretty well done for such a small theater. And speaking of talent, this evening I attended the fourth annual opera performed by the suggs children (my nieces and nephews). It was my first chance to see one of their operas live. It was exceptional! moral of the story: pizza is king. And now...i'm going to bed and it says 9:30 - and it's a friday night! Holidays are great!

Vegas

Oh the pain of sitting in vegas' airport. The painfully repetitive noise of slot machines brings me to tears. Or maybe it's just my yawning. My seat mate from slc was a bit wired and chatty but fun - at least for the short time the flight lasted. He kept reminding me that for only $20 more I could have had a direct flight and skipped vegas. He's right. that's what happens when you make spontaneous travel decisions.

Security

Funny about the title. For the last few days i've debated posting some negative thoughts on fhe and how it left me feeling threatened. Something about dancing and strangers makes me feel nervous. It didn't help that I made a scene in the lobby on sunday because some guy wouldn't let go of my hand. But I had decided it wasn't good to be negative and since it was days ago it didn't seem blog worthy. In fact on tuesday I wore my pink shirt with fancy designs that I bought after a breakup years ago to help me counter my sad feelings with happy love centered ones. I wanted to exude love and that shirt always reminds me to. Silly, I know.
But back to security. I am at the airport waiting to fly to see my sister and her brood - it's the weekend for their annual opera performance. When I go to the airport I like to bring snacks and a water bottle. I always drink the water while in the security line so I can refill in the water fountain. Tonight the line was so short I totally forgot to drink it. I got stopped. They wanted to confiscate my water. To keep the empty bottle I had to walk back out (escorted) and drink or dump the water and go back through security. I spilled a bit on myself (it was a short line - I had to hurry) and they said things like "that was fast" and "you again" but I have my water bottle and I can say I am secure!

Breakfast

There was a time I had a boyfriend who lived in california. One way we "dated" was to make breakfast together. We both liked cooking and then we could chat while we ate and it gave us something to share. It was nice. He was a good man and I appreciate his efforts. He is now happily married and everything I know about his wife I love. She is more perfect for him than I could ever dream. When he and I stopped dating I missed having someone with whom to share life's random moments, so I started this blog. I had enough long distance friends that were also bloggers that I figured I could start sharing my random stories here and all my blogging friends would enjoy (or at least read) them.
Anyway, that was a lot more than i'd intended to share. Really all I wanted to say was that I made breakfast this morning with plewe! Now that she's married and living closer we try to go walking on saturday mornings. Today I suggested we walk to walmart. I know - i'm mostly anti-walmart but it's the closest grocery within walking distance and I like being able to walk to the grocery and the asian market (a touch closer) just lacks the variety. So at walmart we purchased some pears and camambert (sp?) cheese. We sliced them and put them on pancakes - oh so delicious! It was a great walk and breakfast! Hooray for friends and food!

Watching

That dinosaur eye in my parking lot is still there. I just needed to leave work during daylight to notice it.

celery

i love it. i think it's my favorite vegetable. when it's good. just this morning i read a short article in the ny times about how it's good for you and you should use it. they gave a recipe that involved mushrooms and celery and a lemon vinagrette. sounded great! i generally just eat mine plain or dipped in hummus or spreadable cheese. i have some in the lunch box right now waiting for me.

crazy

sometimes i get all spastic and do crazy things like deciding to go on trips at the last minute instead of planning them far in advance. in fact, i can't remember the last time i actually planned a trip in advance. lately i just get an idea and do it. last week i decided it would be fun to take a road trip to sacramento the weekend BEFORE thanksgiving. that's the really crazy part. if i wanted a trip why didn't i wait until i naturally had some time off? because then it wouldn't be as fun and exciting! i really enjoy being on holiday knowing i have a sub. since i couldn't find a driving buddy (and i'm not allowed to drive long distances alone due to my sleep tendencies) i decided to see how much airplane tickets were. and guess what - they were cheap! so if anyone needs me next weekend (not the coming one - that would really be crazy) i'll be in sacramento. i'll be watching my nieces and nephew's latest opera. wish i could remember what it's called but it has to do with greeks or romans i think. i'll keep you posted.

elections!

http://berkeleycarroll.org/news/detail.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=3614&ModuleID=183
my brother sent me this link. too good to not share. he voted nader i think, but i'm sure it's due to my influence over the years. he's a good brother. he introduced me to that movie about nader that made me want to live a more noble life.

Perfect fall outing

Yesterday my friend vanya and I went to snowbird for lunch. It was grand! Delicious food, good conversation, and then an easy hike/walk up to a lookout where we could see the valley far away. Vanya leaves me soon so it was a nice outing one on one. I already miss him. I've enjoyed sharing my family and friends with him - he likes people and likes to learn and likes to quote the simpsons. He's a good example to me of kindness and being easy going. He can get along with nearly anyone. He's a good son and brother and I appreciate it when he takes care of me. He's younger but he often fills the role of the older brother I never had. Thanks for a nice afternoon vanya!

thank you all!

i was going to title this post "tired," but then i decided i felt more grateful than tired. last night around midnight i wrapped up another successful halloween party. i LOVE my halloween parties because they always remind me of how blessed i am with good people in my life. when people complimented me on my great decorations and how much work it must have been i happily tell them that good mark and lynn came over last saturday to hang lights and how danielle and cindy came to help hang cobwebs and how allison tonya tricia loren annette and leanne all helped with food. not to mention the good roommate that totally makes it possible! there's no way the house would be clean today if it weren't for her. oh, and of course, all the people that came and had fun! there's no party if there are no people. sure i was up until 2, sure i had a creep insult me at the end, sure i had leaves all over the floors, sure i had empty cups strewn in the strangest places, but what a blast it was. hooray for good people who make a party a party. oh, and of course, thanks to kristen for being the first to post photos making it an official party to remember.