Fresh pasta, yum yum!

I took a cooking class at Harmon's a few weeks ago with some good family friends. Um, hello, why have I not discovered this sooner?? I made pasta with my own little hands (from scratch, with a hand-crank pasta roller.) With sauces. It was probably the best chicken fettuccine I've ever had--made--in my life. We also made cajun chicken spaghetti and tri-colored crab ravioli. I have a gift card to Sur la table, so I'm thinking of buying a pasta machine, stat. Pronto. Tonight.

This might be just too much darn awesomeness for one blog but I'm gonna go for it anyway.

So my coworker Kim and I were driving back to the office after a delicious Moochie's lunch when she reminded me that I still hadn't revealed my announcement to the world which was so titillatingly (hehe) alluded to in my last blog. Well, I've been kind of wrapped up in finalizing said shenanigans and haven't had a chance to blog so much as a word, semicolon, or exclamation point.

I have a couple things to write about in addition to the announcement and it helps me to go chronologically so if you're wanting to skip the rest of this chaff and read it already, I think it's going to be number four on the list of things I discuss.

#1. Brian Regan. In the beginning of March I went and saw him at Abravanel (sp?) Hall and he was HILARIOUS. I was kind of sad that Derek couldn't go because he loves him some Brian Regan more than anyone I know. He had prom that same day and had to do the whole "take your girlfriend or she'll be very put out" thing. Oh well. Those of us who did go went to dinner before at Texas Roadhouse, somewhere I hadn't been in a while. Anyway, the show was great and we had pretty good seats. Luckily they had a screen set up so those of us not sitting in the front could see his facial expressions and gestures in minute detail. They're half the jokes, you know. I'd love to make money for having a funny face like his.

Being at Abravanel Hall made me wish I went to the symphony more. I remember going a lot when I was younger, but not so much anymore. So I should get on that, I think.

#2. Cara's wedding dress. She got one, and it's gorgeous! Yay! We only had to go to two stores! YAYYYY.

#3. Remember Me. Or as Cara and I refer to it, Rob Pattinson's redemption for having done Twilight. My hairdresser actually recommended this movie to me, which I was wary of just based on the previews. But. Gosh darn movie about shocked me out of my skin. If you do see this movie, don't do any research beforehand because the punch (literally, in the gut) comes at the very end and it's better to not have any idea, as was my case. It's probably the best movie I've seen in a long time.

#4. And the big one: I bought a condo. So, yeah...I'm a homeowner. Yikes. It's in Murray and I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm in love with the place. It has a balcony overlooking a creek, it's next to the park that has a huge farmers market in the summer, and it will cut my commute in half. And it's charming and has huge closets and once I'm done remodeling it'll be about the most darling thing you ever saw. Seriously. The mortgage is cheaper than any rent and once again, I love it. Housewarming party planning in the works.

#5. Muse. Freaking amazing show. The words "effing jamfest" come to mind. They played at the E Center Monday and I can unequivocally say that it's the best show I've ever been to. And I say that thinking full well of both MCR shows I've been to. I can't even explain...the stage setup, the lights, the music, just everything. It was a freaking party. They played for an hour and a half, then gave two encores. It doesn't get much better than that. I think my favorite part of any show is when it's been a mindblowing, exhausting, and exhilarating experience the whole time, and then the band comes out and gives a little more, and even though your feet are starting to ache and your throat is sore and you'd really rather sit with a drink, you refuse to do so because the band asks you for just a little more too, so you do, and then everyone's just in it together of being part of something that exists only for that moment. That's why I go to rock shows. You just don't experience that anywhere else. I just decided to draw you a picture in Paint of the stage layout because it was just too awesome. I'll post that later, along with some pictures if I can eke out the desire to download them soon.

Well, that's it for now. Work is going great; I'm really blessed in that arena, I think. More than I expected, anyway.

Hope you're all doing well!

Oh and PS, don't cut jalapenos for guacamole and then take out your contacts. I found this out the hard/painful way this morning when I went to put my contacts in and my eyes felt like grapes peeled with razorblades for the rest of the day. Just FYI. Thanks.

Innumeracy /n/:

"A person who lacks basic knowledge of mathematics and arithmetic."

I always knew my disability had a name ;)

So...I have some potentially big news to announce here pretty soon. It's a little nerve-wracking but I'm really excited at the same time. I'll keep you posted!

Advanced New Study Reveals Link Between Newly Washed Cars, Rain, Snow, Sleet

Local woman Rachel “LQTM” Spohn has at last revealed a correlation between bad weather and clean cars.

In what researchers now call a thoroughly groundbreaking and highly scientific study of monumental import, Ms. Spohn has discovered a new way to accurately predict the weather—and she did it all with her car. “Well, I first noticed the phenomenon a few years ago; I would wash my car, and the next day it would rain, snow, hail, or any other combination of the three. When this continued to happen, I decided to track the effects of clean cars on the atmosphere,” Ms. Spohn stated.

After a conclusive study of two and a half months, Ms. Spohn found that 10 to 1, the weather became particularly volatile in the days following the washing of her car. In fact, the pattern has proved so predictable that scientists are hailing the findings as the first step toward a new age of weather forecasting.

Despite the acclaim, Ms. Spohn fails to see the bright side of her discovery.
“It just ain’t right,” she commented, an air of personal vendetta in her tone. “I just wanted to keep my car free of corroding salt and vicious road grime. A person can’t even live anymore without them [expletive deleted] clouds messin’ it up all the time.”

“Them clouds” refused comment, choosing instead to glower ominously in the sky above Mister Moochie’s Aloha Suds ‘n Spray Car Wash.

It is, in fact, Wednesday.

Fact: For 3/4 of the day, I was convinced today was Thursday.
Fact: It sure is not Thursday.


Lately I've been feeling like I need a change. Nothing big, just something different. So I'm not talking job change or anything; mostly I love my job, despite the fact that not even a dog could live on my paycheck. (Ok, maybe a little dog. One with no children and that doesn't mind eating off-brand kibble. And definitely cannot buy sweaters.)

Possible/feasible change options:
1. Ward.
2. Hair. (I want it long though...)
3. Wardrobe. (As in redefining the meaning of the word overhaul.)
4. Boyfriend. (May in fact correlate with number one.)
5. Awesome vacation.

Ideas?

Until said change occurs, I think I can get by because of the following:
Jack McDevitt books, Kaboose tunes (esp. "Goin' Outta Control"), Taco Bell eats (seven layer burrito--thanks Kim!), my coworkers (enough said).

Hmm.

Our little Cubby's growing up.

Clarence proposed to Cub last night and she said yes! [We were a little skeptical she would, to be honest ;) ]

Her ring is gorgeous, and we're all really happy for them. Getting to this point has definitely been somewhat of a journey for them, but it's the right time for them, I think. Here are some pics of the [gorgeous] ring:





I don't want to steal any of her thunder, but you should know they're planning on August in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, so plan accordingly. I'm sure Cub'll keep you posted...loves!

Farewell, Friend.

J.D. Salinger died today.

What did Catcher in the Rye mean to you?

Nausea: Jean Paul Sartre.

"I jump up: it would be much better if I could only stop thinking. Thoughts are the dullest things. Duller than flesh. They stretch out and there's no end to them and they leave a funny taste in the mouth. Then there are words, inside the thoughts, unfinished words, a sketchy sentence which constantly returns: 'I have to fi. . . I ex. . . Dead . . . M. de Roll is dead . . . I am not ... I ex. . .' It goes, it goes . . . and there's no end to it. It's worse than the rest because I feel responsible and have complicity in it. For example, this sort of painful rumination: I exist, I am the one who keeps it up. I. The body lives by itself once it has begun. But though I am the one who continues it, unrolls it. I exist. How serpentine is this feeling of existing, I unwind it, slowly. ... If I could keep myself from thinking! I try, and succeed: my head seems to fill with smoke . . . and then it starts again: 'Smoke . . . not to think . . . don't want to think ... I think I don't want to think. I mustn't think that I don't want to think. Because that's still a thought.' Will there never be an end to it? My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think . . . and I can't stop myself from thinking. At this very moment, it's frightful, if I exist, it is because I am horrified at existing. I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire: the hatred, the disgust of existing, there are as many ways to make myself exist, to thrust myself into existence. Thoughts are born at the back of me, like sudden giddiness, I feel them being born behind my head ... if I yield, they're going to come round in front of me, between my eyes, and I always yield, the thought grows and grows and there it is, immense, filling me completely and renewing my existence."

Here's what we're gonna do.

The way I see it, I have the following three (3) options for 2010.

1. Buy a Skycar.

2. Spend time at Hagia Sophia.

3. Learn Italian. In Italy.

So we'll see. Moving to London is also an option to throw out there.

Other ideas?

So true.

This article made my day--and made me want a dog even more. I still miss Abby a lot, but I think my family's ready to adopt a new family member. Hmmm, Dad?