Happy Valentine's Day!

I used to love Valentine's Day in elementary school. I would spend days decorating my shoe box and bring cards for everyone in my class. If I really liked a boy, I would add an extra candy heart in his card and seal it with a chapstick kiss. There was an exhilarating excitement when you received a card from the boy that you had a crush on, even if he gave the exact same card to every other girl in the class.

Nowadays, I don't love or hate Valentine's Day. I mail a few cards out, I send a mass text to my friends and family, I bring candy to work...I'm pretty apathetic about it. This is probably because it's been awhile since I've had an actual Valentine. I'd like to think that I am immune to the consumerism of it all: the $50 roses that die in 2 days, the diamonds, the expensive dinners. How many starving kids can we feed with all that money spent in the name of love?? But deep down I am a hopeless romantic and part of me wishes I had someone to share today with. Other than my life partner, Sarah, that is.

I received an e-mail poem from a friend today reminding me to be my own Valentine. When I first read that, I thought, "How sad is that?? Just one more thing I have to do alone." However, upon further reading, the last few lines of the poem really resonated with me.

Forgive yourself
Let go of the harsh judgments
You torture yourself with
You are you and it’s enough

Be your own Valentine
And no matter if you get flowers or not
You know you are loved deeply
Because it always starts with you!

Elsewhere in the world, they celebrate Valentine's Day a little differently: they ban stuff. Saudi Arabia has recently banned the sale of all things red in an effort to stop immoral relations between unmarried men and women. How banning the sale of red items would play a role in discouraging opposite sex relations is beyond my understanding. Teenage sex has been banned in Thailand, but only for Valentine's Day.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day, whether you have someone to share it with or not. Tell your friends and family you love them, be nice to yourself and eat lots of candy hearts.

I have become uncomfortably numb

My mouth hurts. I went to the dentist today to get 4 fillings. I know that sounds like a lot, but I've only had one other filling and it was in high school so I figure my average is pretty good. All 4 of my bicuspids had cavities; this meant my entire mouth had to be numbed. I looked like the Elephant Man and I was drooling. A lot. Kind of reminded me of the time I had Bell's Palsy in college. Very sexy. 


Everything started out ok...the top two fillings were easy. The bottom ones were tough. I have a freakish mouth: it's really, really small and apparently resistant to numbing agents. I had to get 2 more shots on the bottom, but then I could still feel it on the right side. So then I had to get this extra strong shot that hurt like hell and made my heart race and my hands shake. Nice. I think everything was numb except the tooth he was drilling into. One piece of advice for you: floss your teeth!!

On my way home I was hungry so I stopped at Taco Bell. I tried very unsuccessfully to eat a taco with half of my mouth still numb. I kind of wish I had pictures, but that would be gross.  

In other news: 

• Barack swept the primaries today. He's definitely gaining some momentum!

• My sister Paige passed out while driving and got in a car accident. Luckily she's ok and no one got hurt.  She did get a ticket for smoking in front of the cops though. Real smart. 

• I'm obsessed with Nip/Tuck again

• I'm about to call the Pittsburgh Police Department to file a missing persons report on behalf of Amy. Call a bitch back!

• I'm also obsessed with Ryan Adams again. Amy once told me I had hair like Ryan Adams. I think it was a compliment.  

Weekend Update

Good weekend!  I partied a little too hard on Thursday so I took it easy on Friday.  I saw There Will Be Blood again.  It was even more brilliant the second time.  The ending is perfection!  I kind of wish Daniel Day-Lewis was my boyfriend.  But alas, my heart belongs to another three named man: Philip Seymour Hoffman.  

Saturday I slept in!   Later Lesley, Maberly and I drove up to Logan for the annual Chocolate Festival to benefit Planned Parenthood.  First we volunteer at the fundraiser.




Then we go to The White Owl to drink. 




Mabe's cousin Cole and his cowboy friend Tut showed up. I would like to know how boys from Central Utah end up with Southern accents and say stuff like "I'm a freakin' agriculturalist."


Lesley's cute aunt, Laurie, always lets us stay overnight at her house and provides the beer!








I taught Les and Mabe how to play King's Cup.  I made a rule that you couldn't show your teeth and then I lost.

After we returned home from Logan on Sunday I went over to Calvary Baptist Church to see a new documentary:  The Wisdom of Our Years, Stories of African American Utahns.  The pastor of Calvary Baptist is France Davis, one of my favorite professors from college.  It was nice to see him again!  The documentary was powerful.  I think we sometimes take our opportunities for granted.   We don't think about the challenges and sacrifices people have made in the past that enable us to have unlimited possibilities now.  Makes you think.  

I ended the weekend watching Hostel 2.  Hmmmm...not sure what to say about that.  The things Nolan makes me watch.

Good thing about this week: I only have to work for 4 days!  On Friday I'm off to Seattle to visit Grumbley and Derek!  That's not all...Sarah, Kim, Jed and Chris will also be in Seattle so we'll have a small reunion.  I can't wait!!

Happy Birthday Lesley!

Happy Birthday to one of my very favorite friends: Lesley!  I first met Lesley about 4ish years ago when I moved back from Chicago.  She was working in accounting at Planned Parenthood, I was working in the clinic. Over the years she has become one of my best friends and I love her dearly.  Happy Happy Birthday!!

Things about Les that make me smile:

• "Put it in yo' mouff!"
• Drinking Chasing Tail at Juniors
• Dancing to Earth, Wind and Fire on her deck in the middle of the summer
• Straight up Russian vodka shots at book club
• Putting her to bed after too many Russian vodka shots
• Gossiping, our favorite pastime

Year of the Rat

Last night I got together with a few friends to celebrate the Chinese New Year. After a heated and comical e-mail exchange that resulted in no less than 101 e-mails in my inbox, we decided to have dinner at the Hong Kong Tea House. Just FYI: They do, in fact, serve dim sum after 3 pm as an appetizer.  This was a significant point of contention in the e-mail exchange.  

2008 is the Year of the Rat. A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find. 

I'm not sure how all this will affect me since I am a Horse and apparently the Rat/Horse relationship is not a good one. I guess we'll just have to see what 2008 has in store for me.  I have a good feeling about it. 

Kristina and Monty

Katie, Karl and Joshi


Staci, Metra, Tommy


Maberly and Bill


First the mussel debacle and now this short rib. Why is Asian food so sexual?? At least we didn't have beef balls.

Metra, Tommy, Cindy, Katie


Typical Monty behavior


Metra really isn't crying. But Lesley really is laughing at her.


Don't ask...


Me and Tommy


Bill and Maberly

Secrets don't make friends

Soundtrack for tonight's blogging: Pet Shop Boys, Introspective. Favorite track: Always On My Mind/In My House.


I like secrets. People are always telling me their secrets or telling me other people's secrets. Basically there are a lot of secrets floating around out there. I'm not gonna lie...I kind of like knowing all these secrets, but sometimes the information can be overwhelming. I have secrets of my own you know!  I recently read this article about keeping BIG secrets, either your own or others'. This really can have a profound effect on your life, physically and emotionally.  Where do you draw the line?  When do you spill the beans, if ever? This is all very rhetorical; fortunately I am not harboring any harmful, salacious secrets.  

All these thoughts about secrets really came about when my friend Staci directed me to the PostSecret blog. I first heard of this project a few years ago when this book came out.  

It all started when this guy named Frank asked people to send him anonymous postcards with a secret on it.  Now Frank posts about 20 of these secret postcards on his blog every Sunday.  It's easy to get drawn into other people's secrets...take a look at some of my favorites.   

Some secrets remind me of things I would say

Some secrets make me laugh

Some secrets are just gross

Some secrets are illegal

Some secrets are sad

Moral of the story: everyone has secrets.  Does sharing secrets make one feel better?  I don't know.  I'll leave you tonight with a few of my own secrets and I'll let you know.

• I sit in the dark and spy on my neighbors from my kitchen window 
• Sometimes I go pee when I talk to you on the phone
• One time when I was bowling I got really drunk and left without paying
• I made Amy and Sarah steal beer glasses for me from several bars and now I've implicated them in a crime