Three Silly Things

(picture doesn't really have anything to do with the post...)

1. My roommate met a guy at a wedding, when she came home from the trip she told us about him, I pulled out my phone so we could see his picture on Facebook. Next thing I know, I've accidentally friended him! 30 seconds of panic ensued while I frantically tried to figure out how to rescind my request. Luckily I figured it out.
2. Sometimes I ride the bus to the metro, sometimes I walk. Last week I rode the bus and during the walk from the bus to the metro, I found myself walking the exact same speed as a little tiny Latino man. I sped up, he sped up, I slowed down, he slowed down. So I sped up again, walking like I couldn't WAIT to get to work. The guy slowed down and crossed behind me to turn into a building. But as he did it, he says very quietly in his Spanish accent, almost in my ear, "Seeeee youuuuu". I kept walking, slightly creeped out but laughing the entire way to the metro.
3. Last night was the Grey's Anatomy premiere. If you watched it you'll understand. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll avoid spoiling it. Basically I sobbed through the entire thing. And then I calmed down, went home, and started to tell my roommate all about it, only to start crying again. I'm so embarrassed. I had to remind myself that these people are not real. And it probably doesn't help that my old roommate Debbie and I used to call the characters "our friends". And I shouldn't be surprised when I know contracts haven't been resigned by actors. But it doesn't make it any less sad. 

What is that smell?

Sunset from last night, I snapped it after I noticed the reflection in my front door window. I almost missed it! Yeah, this picture has nothing to do with the post...

On Saturday my sister Jess and I went to a big craft expo out by the airport. And it was awesome. We walked in and felt like we had just been transported to the Eugene Holiday Market (ie the Winter version of Saturday Market) because it was filled with various booths of awesome homemade goods. The only difference was that there was a serious lack of dreadlocks and hippies. We loved admiring jewelry, pottery, stain glass (the booth was gorgeous), beautiful rustic wood mirrors, but the best part was the food samples. Basically Jess and I devoured all the different food samples (jams, pickles, mixes, salsas, etc) and we were in food sample heaven. Wait, that's Costco... In the end, we ended up buying a few different specialty hot chocolates, dip mixes and a pineapple salsa.

Ok so there's the background. Last night my room smelled bad. Totally embarrassing right? It smells bad so bad, I'm worried that an animal died in the walls or something, but I don't want to search too hard in fear of what I might find.

So I did the next logical thing, I borrowed my roommate's delicious smelling candle to try and cover the smell. It helped last night, but the smell was still there this morning. I kind of looked around for it again but couldn't find it, again scared to look too hard. What if I find an old lunch tupperware deep under my bed that was now covered in mold? Ew. Gross.

Then it hit me while blow-drying my hair. One of the mixes I bough had asiago cheese in it and the guy I purchased from told me to put it in a tupperware because the smell is strong*.

Sure enough, it was the asiago cheese and herb mix. Problem solved (hopefully, if my room still smells when I get home from work I'll know it is a dead animal).

Note to self: remember to follow directions.



*They kept that particular mix under the display table, offering samples of it only because the lady next to them complained about the smell. I loved the craft expo drama. I wonder what else we could have found out...

3 Nerdy or Stupid Things I Did This Week

1. I'm excited for Mo Tab. I got an email from Deseret Book announcing the new Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD. I clicked on it, watched a 30 second clip on the website. Now I'm pretty excited about it and plan on downloading to iTunes when I get home from work.
2. Panic attack over work crush moves. I had a mini, minor panic, no, just a little worry attack, this morning when I saw that the young handsome guy (handsome doesn't totally cut it, he's one of the best looking straight guys I've ever seen) had moved out of his desk and I thought his contract was up or something. Good news readers, it's now after noon and I found out he'd been relocated to sit closer to his team. He's still here! Whew!
3. My best friends are Icy and Hot. Sunday morning I slipped in a slightly damp bathroom. In the split second I had to catch my balance or fall into the shower, I threw my arms in the air (caught myself from falling), but hurt my neck and back. After it happened though, I wish I could have rewound and watched it. I'm sure it was hilarious. Post church and nap however I was really sore, extra sore. It hurt to sit, walk, lay down or do anything. Icy Hot and Debbie (my "nurse") are miracle workers. Now I'm just really sore from doing 40 pushups on Tuesday night (part of my Christmas present i.e. personal training sessions).

Note to self

Do not eat blue Airheads while working.

Also, exciting fact for the day:

Today's date is a palindrome (you know the same thing forwards and backwards, like racecar or 2002 or boob or as wikipedia tells us, dammit i'm mad-- now spell them all backwards)

So, today's date: 11/02/2011 

Awesome huh? 

Maybe as awesome as my blue tongue?

Eugene Weekend

I went to Eugene this past weekend for my sister Rachel's end of year activities. Highlights definitely include her last ballet recital and her piano recital, she played THIS by my favorite Polish composer.

But two things happened this weekend that let me know I am becoming my mother (in a very good and somewhat dorky sort of way, you know, things my mother might do*)

Example 1: I totally had a conversation with Andrew Wheating. For those of you unfamiliar with Oregon Track and Field (like everyone in the world except Oregon Track and Field enthusiasts and Eugene residents) Andrew Wheating runs for Oregon and is really good and really awesome. Here's what his U of O page says about him:

2008 Olympian

5-Time NCAA Champion (800 Meters twice, 1,500 Meters, Distance Medley Relay twice)

Pac-10 Champion (800 Meters, three times)

2010 Bowerman Award Finalist

USTFCCCA Track Athlete of the Year (Outdoor)

Pac-10 Track Athlete of the Year

3 School Records (Mile, 800 Meters-i, Distance Medley Relay)

8-Time All-American

Yeah, he's pretty awesome.

And I totally talked to him on Saturday after the Prefontaine Classic track meet.

Lauren: head nod, Good job!

Andrew: smiles, Hey thanks!

And there you have it folks. Me and Andrew Wheating? Tight.

Why does this make me like my mother? Because she'd probably do something like that to a total stranger as well.

Example 2: My dad took Rachel's car to work because his didn't have gas. Rachel took my dad's car to school, along with the credit card. That leaves me with my mom's minivan to drive to meet my friend for breakfast. We met at the Institute of Religion for the U of O. And what does she come pulling into the spot next to me in? A minivan. There we are 27 and almost 27, no kids between us, driving minivans. It was one of the funnier moments of my life.

Yes, I am turning into my mother because I don't think twice about driving a minivan.

Speaking of my mother. Rachel just emailed me this picture. Harry Potter World. Butterbeer. Mmmmm...

* but don't get me wrong. My mom is super cool and I want to be just like her. Maybe that's the real reason why I do things she would do...

Laurprah = Lauren + Oprah = Oprahfy

Thanks to Debbie, Facebook, and a little bit of procrastinating (ok, a LOT of procrastinating) I Oprahfied myself a few different times this afternoon.

Yeah. I really like Oprah.

Right vs Left

I have a problem. I frequently tell people to turn left when I really mean right or to turn right when I really mean left. Which I did not 30 seconds ago.

"Where the hell does _____ ______ sit?"
"Down that aisle, he's on your right."


Then I realized ____ ____ sits on the left but the person had already marched down the aisle and I didn't feel like yelling above the cubicles to tell him I was wrong. Besides, he's our White House liaison so he's kind of a big deal and I'm feeling a little sheepish that I don't know the difference between my right and left.

Also, why do people think just because I'm young that it's all of a sudden ok to swear? Not that I really care, it's just sounds weird coming out of the mouth of a professional. And really, is hell really the best word to use in the situation? Wouldn't a, "Hey, where does ___ ___ sit?" still get the point across? Do you think that by using hell I'll be able to tell you faster where someone sits? Or maybe by using hell I can beam you over to his exact location? This phrase has also been used in conjunction to find my boss. "Where the hell is ___ today?" I want to tell Mr. White House liaison that he's probably cool without the swearing, but that's just awkward. The only thing that could be more awkward is yelling above the cubicals stuttering that  ___ ___ is on the left not the right!

Series Books

You know that feeling when you finish a book that you really liked, I mean really got into. The type that you find yourself dreaming about all night about the characters, you as a character, reliving the good or dramatic parts of the book? Oh, you don't get like that? It's just me? Well then, this is another disclosure on my nerdiness.

I love series books. And for some reason that seems really dorky to me. But, I love them anyway.

I love them because the story keeps going. I don't have to imagine what happens next in the story, because all I have to do is pop open the next book. I blame my love of stories on this. This is probably why I like TV and movies so much.

Last night I finished a new book, that if I had read the fine print would have known it was the first in a new series of five books. And the other five haven't come out yet. And will be coming out over the course of the next four years. Tragic for me, because I just want to know what happens next!

But, this got me thinking about other series books I have enjoyed. If you're looking for a good one, I'd suggest one of these.

Harry Potter (probably the best series ever. if you're a hater, DO NOT tell me, I don't care)

Anne of Green Gables (adds more background to the movie and Gilbert is just as fantastic, and I really just like the first three best)

Uglies Trilogy (Way more sci-fi than I thought I'd like but I ended up loving the whole series. Such an interesting concept, getting plastic surgery at 16 to get rid of your genetic traits.)

The Books of Bayern (the first is my favorite but I loved them all. Started from a lesser known Brother's Grimm Fairy tale, The Goose Girl and then developed into the series. Just really great.)

Peter and the Starcatchers (a retelling of Peter Pan, before he could fly and before he met Wendy, and it's written by Dave Barry and he's hilarious, so the book is hilarious. And the audio book is read by Jim Dale, the same guy who reads Harry Potter, and it's pretty awesome.)

The Hunger Games (loved these and couldn't sleep for weeks. And I still love Peeta.)

Twilight (yes I enjoyed reading them. Yes this embarrasses me. No I do not find Robert Pattison attractive, or even the character Edward for that matter, and no, you don't need a link for these. But I figure I should be fully disclosing.)

Shopaholic (probably one of the funniest series I've read. it's easy to like Becky but also easy to want to throw the book across the room in frustration with her dumb choices. And, it's way better than the movie. Though I don't think I made it past the third book.)

Sarah Dessen books (though not really a series, sometimes her characters overlap and I like that, favorites are The Truth About Forever, Just Listen)

Emily Giffen (mainly Something Borrowed and Something Blue, they go together, and Something Borrowed is going to be a movie coming out in May. I'm pretty excited about that. But there is a character overlap in Baby Proof.)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (the Greek gods are still alive, they've just moved to New York City, Percy Jackson, is part god, part human and will be essential in saving Olympus. These were awesome because I love Greek Mythology and I thought the writing was fun and energetic. )

And, finally my new favorite which is actually a companion series to Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus series (this combines both Greek and Roman Mythology and was so good, I'll be itching to get the second book this fall. If you're interested, read Percy Jackson first since characters from that series pop up in this next one. But over all it's fantastic.)

Oh yeah, most of these are young adult too. Does that make me a dork too?

Post Publishing Edit: I just remembered another series I loved, and added it above. The Books of Bayern, or the Goose Girl books. Fantastic too. 

"Have a good one!"

I remember once when I was 14 or 15 the guy at the gas station handing my mom her receipt with a, "Have a good one!" And my mom saying thanks as she rolled up the window and then complaining that the command to, "have a good one" just didn't sit well with her. "Have a good what?" She said. "Have a good day?" "Have a good week?" "Have a good time trying to pop that zit between your eyes that's luckily covered by your glasses?" (Actually that's me today, not 10 years ago...it's a really pesky zit. It doesn't want to leave my face.) Now every time I hear that inadvertent command to, "have a good one" I think it sounds funny.

Yesterday I had a mini panic attack. I couldn't find my Kindle. I was worried but not that worried thinking it was probably at the bottom of a pile of clothes on the floor of my room. (Yes I'm violating one of my New Years resolutions to "Keep my room clean.") So I grabbed my iPod and earphones and decided I would have to listen to a book or music at the gym instead of reading, and gave up for the time being. But then I stressed about it. All. Day. Long. I couldn't even go to the gym after work because I needed to check my room again. And more thoroughly (I was worried about missing the bus.)

No Kindle.

Lisa suggested I call the gym and see if I left it there.

"Bally's Total Fitness this is _____"
"Um, Hi, I know this is a long shot, but uh, I think I might have, uh, left my Kindle there yesterday?"
"Is it in a cream case?"
"YES! With a brown leather band?"
"Yes we have it here."

How. in the world. did I leave my Kindle at the gym??

But, it was there, and I picked it up. And as I was closing out I looked at the lady with a big smile and a big thanks and found myself saying excitedly, "Have a good one!"

(On a side note, I'm pretty excited that Phil did not see his shadow and I'm SO ready for Spring already. I love Spring. It's so pretty here. And I'm glad I don't have to relive a cold day in February over and over and over. And another side not? Someone broke down the Groundhog's Day movie and how long Bill Murray must have been reliving February 2. He figured it out to be 12,403 days or 33 years 358 days! Wow. No wonder he was so good at ice sculpting!)

Disclosure on my dorkiness

I tend to have a somewhat obsessive personality. I don't really like that I'm like this but it's not really something that I can help. So, what have I been obsessing about for the last couple weeks that has caused my sleep to suffer and my mind to race in the middle of the night contemplating different scenarios and options and outcomes?

The Hunger Games Trilogy.

Yup, I jumped on that bandwagon when I went to Oregon a few weeks ago for Jess' wedding. I actually bought The Hunger Games on accident on my Kindle while reading the synopsis (it's hard to be on a cardio machine at the gym and have steady fingers to click away on the Kindle). But I decided it's vastly popular so it must be good and worth reading and I like series books anyway (I sometimes hate when books end, I think it's because I fall in love with characters and want to know everything about them). So, I stopped reading the synopsis and started reading the book. I was hooked before the first chapter finished, it's so intriguing, and I didn't have any clue what was going to happen.  So when I find out that the main character, Katniss, volunteers to go to the Hunger Games in place of her sister I found myself crying at the gym. (You know she goes into the games for her sister by reading the back of the book, but since I didn't read that, I didn't know.)

Unfortunately this reading kept me awake on my across the country flight to San Francisco (I read the entire way and finished the first book) and because of plane problems I missed my connection to Eugene and had to spend the night in San Fran. And, unfortunately the only available hotel rooms were smoking rooms and it was hard to sleep from the smell. But I mostly didn't sleep peacefully because I was replaying scenes from the book in my head all night long. Pathetic.

I started the second book the next day on the flight to Eugene, Catching Fire, but stopped about a quarter of the way into the story because my sleep was suffering still, and I took a break with a "fluff book". (fluff book. n. a book that has no real value other than being an easy, fun, read. These books are usually associated with shopping, girly-ness and New York City. Examples are Confessions of a Shopaholic, Something Borrowed, and other novel to chickflick movies, which both of these are.) I ended up reading two fluff books before finishing Catching Fire and then continuing on to read Mockingjay.

While reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay, in an attempt to keep myself from becoming too obsessed (and so I could sleep), I had to start doing yoga stretches before bed and include in my prayers "to keep myself calm and be able to sleep" and I also may have sang a few primary songs in there, you know, just a few things to calm my over-active/hyper imagination.

Anyway, I finished Mockingjay last Friday. (I was satisfied with the way they ended.)

And now I can sleep.

(But the best part about finishing the book was that the next day the author, Susanne Collins, was at the  National Book Festival in DC. And it made me really happy that I live in DC. And I loved hearing her background, hearing why she is interested in war and how the idea of the book came together. And, if you really want to know, I'm Team Peeta.)

Lisa

My roommate Lisa and I work at the same agency. So that means we commute together. And have lunch together. And email through out the day. It really makes us sound kind of pathetic. I usually end up sending her cool things I find online through blog stalking and such. But now she's on TDY--which is government talk for a work trip. (TDY stands for Temporary Duty. No idea where the Y comes from... Oooo! Just googled it, it stands for Temporary Duty Yonder. Thank you Wikipedia!) So, she's on TDY in a really cool place (well, not THERE exactly, but the country it resides in). And that really cool place will be followed up by another really cool place (ok, probably not that exactly either but it was a jealousy inducing picture found through google image search, she's here) making her gone from my daily routine for five whole weeks. How dare she!

10 K

DC Temple Christmas lights

Anyway, because I send her so much stuff online that I think is cool and know she would like, I have decided to avoid filling her inbox full of junk from me, and started a new blog just for her. Isn't she so lucky? I know, she really is. But now so are you because I decided to let you in on the secret. Check it out. Things I'd Send Lisa While She's Out of the Country

Mr. Yogato Karaoke

Mr. Bird. Our Thanksgiving Turkey.

PS. All pictures stolen off Facebook and because I hardly ever update Facebook none of them show us in the summer. Oops!