She Remembered...

Every two weeks I frequent a certain facility which has a security guard out in the front lobby. There are two guards that work at this place.

One is a 60ish white man with white hair, just shorter than I am. I always flash him a smile and say hello. The other is a 50ish black woman, about 5'7", a little heavier set who always has a very kind expression on her face. She brings her lunch everyday to work in a Walmart bag. You usually find her sitting just inside the door or standing in the doorway holding the door open for people as they walk in.

Having observed her for the last 10 months, she does not look or really act the part of a security guard at all. Quite soft-spoken, but comfortable talking with most people. And yet she is dressed in her black uniform. Still, I think it odd to see her belt holding a pistol on one side, a walkie-talkie that I never hear go off and the other normal things you see guards wearing. I was surprised one day as I was walking in, she firmly asked me to remove my sunglasses before I made my way into the facility...

She, along with a number of the employees in the facility, has come to recognize me quite easily and we talk about any number of topics. Last time I was so excited about the upcoming beach trip I had planned, and talked it up with her. Two weeks went by, and I went back into this facility. I was pleased to see she was working when I walked in. She took me by surprise almost immediately after I came through the door by asking me how my trip was.

Why surprised? Well...I don't remember ANYTHING. K, let me rephrase: I remember some things, but I quite often forget important things along with the unimportant things.

So when she asked about my trip, I was really shocked. My beach trip was my favorite subject for at least a week...until it didn't happen of course...thus it was a fairly safe assumption that I 'talked it up'. I have absolutely no memory of our conversation at our previous meeting. In fact, I had to clarify that it was the beach trip she was talking about.

I was remembered. It was a good feeling. Actually...it was a great feeling. :)

Allergies!!!

Dear All Sources of Pollen here in the Lovely South,

I am grateful for the natural process of life in plantlife. You are, with the help of the wind, rain, bees, etc., able to grow and make tons of kids...you create food, lovely things to look at, paper, certain medications, herbs, etc. etc. For all of this I am grateful.

However: I am not amused by the fact that the pollen counts are still so incredibly high. It's been 2 straight months I do believe, and it is still quite apparent when my allergy medication is no longer functioning. This is somewhat annoying, irritating, and I have had enough.

I am getting a refill of my Allegra-D (works like a charm, I only take it every other day, it works for 38 hours to the dot, supposed to work for 24, but I discovered it works longer). It is VERY expensive. Unfortunately, it's the only allergy medication that has any sort of effect on me.

I ask of you this one request: please hurry and finish your pollinating so that I may yet again breath without the assistance of rather expensive drugs.

Regards,

Elizabeth

Crooked Fingers...curly

Homework assignment:

What really caused my crooked fingers?

Right Hand palm down

Left Hand palm down

Left Hand from the side


Right Hand from the side
(the left hand middle finger and the right hand ring finger do not lay flat at all...and I can't get any of my fingers to lay flat all at once...either one joint or the other is crooked)

From what I have read so far online, I have boutonniere deformity...in nearly ALL of my fingers. The causes of this deformity (ha, this is the first time I have referred to my crooked fingers as a deformity and not joking about it) are by injury or by rheumatoid arthritis.

I believe neither is the case.

IF I had rheumatoid arthritis, I think I would've noticed by now.
My parents love me. They did not beat my hands to a pulp when I was a little girl. In fact, I hardly ever was spanked. Nobody else injured me. Yes, I was a klutz, but the first time I had a finger in a splint was in junior high and it was one of my pinky fingers, not the extremely crooked middle fingers. And I vividly remember the first time one of my classmates screamed in horror because of my fingers...I was very young at the time...:)

My aunt and my Mom both have crooked fingers as well...mine are just MUCH more obvious.

Is it genetic? There has GOT to be a better explanation than rheumatoid arthritis...

One of these days when I am rich I will see a hand surgeon about them...they are getting worse with age, unfortunately...it used to be just the left middle finger wouldn't go flat, but other fingers are stiffening...yes, old woman that I am...I still don't believe it is arthritis...

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One of the young women in the stake went to town on my hair last week...I LOVED it...

Movie Reviews...

Star Trek: Loved it...go see it, including all you Star Trek nutso's out there. It really doesn't effect the original story...I mean, it does, but it really doesn't...uh, just go see it, you will enjoy it, I promise. And it's worth the ticket.

Angels and Demons: Well, they changed some of the story for obvious reasons if you read the book (this book actually occurs BEFORE The Da Vinci Code, for example), and then some of it they changed because...actually, not sure why they changed some of it...anyways, I thought it was better than the Da Vinci Code...it just seemed rushed, but I suppose that was on purpose, because they are in a rush as well...anyways, it was alright. I will probably buy the box set when they come out with it...

X-Men Origins Wolverine: Loved parts of it, didn't love parts of it...FAR better in most parts than the other X-Men movies...was really hoping they were going to tie him into the Avengers Movie that will come out sometime in the future (Ironman, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, etc...). They still could bring him in, but...eh, we'll see. Hugh Jackman is lovely, though.

Night at the Museum: Loved it. Thought it was hilarious. There were a lot of underlying/obvious underlying jokes, just like in the first one...a number of them involving Amelia Earhart. I enjoyed it a LOT. (FYI, for all you Office fans who are in mourning because the season is over, go watch this movie...you will enjoy it just because of who shows up...and not the obvious Office link that was in the last movie, the original Michael Scott from the British version of the TV show). Very entertaining.

Good movie month, overall. Haven't had the desire to go for a long time, it seems...and it's about time. Maybe we should go into a recession more often, it produces much better movies...I believe the next movie I am excited about seeing is 'Up'. Still need to go see the Soloist...

:(

Saturday: Rain all day
Sunday: Thunderstorms all day
Monday: Thunderstorms all day

PLUS: 2nd friend bailed out on me for the weekend...both for good reasons...

I give up. No beach. I really can't afford it by my lonesome...plus, it kinda stinks to go to the beach all by yourself...I mean, who is going to keep an eye on my keys while I am out in the ocean swimming with the sharks and avoiding lightning strikes??? exactly...

What am I going to do? Wallow in self pity all weekend long? Oh, I hope not! I really don't know what to do with myself...

:( The Elizabeth is majorly bummed out...

FOUR DAY WEEKEND!!!

Hmmm...what shall Elizabeth do?

Get a nice second degree sunburn? Well, not on the 'want to do' list, but it is on the 'likely to happen' list...

FOUR whole days...

MIGHT go into work in the morning to finish clearing up what I didn't finish clearing up today as I stayed at work really late...just so that I don't have it waiting for me Tuesday morning...cause I am pretty sure it's going to be a Monday, even thought it really is a Tuesday...

Other than that, the plans are:

Saturday: Go to the beach.
Sunday: Go to Church at a convenient ward near the coast...and then go to the beach.
Monday: Go back to the beach yet again.

Somewhere in there we might hit up the outlets...:) to window shop mostly...

:) Slightly excited about how my weekend is looking...not so excited about the strong chance of thunderstorms the entire weekend, but that just means the likelyhood of a really bad sunburn drops slightly...not much, because in my large amount of experience the sun is extremely powerful, even through dark clouds...

Photo Shoot Contest...

Meant to post something on this a while ago...

My friend Michael is giving away 50 free photo shoots across the country...he is traveling to every single state in the United States this summer, so yes, even your state will be covered. He is a great photographer, and can make this:


Look like this:


Check it out here: LINK!

To check out far better selections of his work, go here: LINK!

Injury Report...

Playing Softball? No...

While hiking Saturday? No...

While hanging out at a family's house Sunday afternoon and falling down their stairs?

...uh...yes...

Right hand sprain, and a number of bruises that are now showing up...all over...

At least I didn't break my neck. I fall so much, my Mom trained me how to fall correctly. If I feel the sensation of falling, I automatically sit down. Less injuries that way, usually.

Second time I have gotten hurt falling down the stairs. First time, I managed to twist BOTH of my ankles...which flipped out a fellow citizen enough to call 911 evidently, cause a firetruck AND an ambulance came to my rescue...I am so serious. And I couldn't walk, and by that time I had no ride, so the ambulance gave me a lift...which ended up costing about $500...which the insurance wouldn't cover...good times...

Beach Trip! Help!

Going to the beach this weekend, but we are having one little bitty issue...

We need a place to stay. I found a hotel that is about $80 a night that we could stay at, which=$80 a piece basically unless we get more people to come, and that's more than we really want to/can pay...and if you don't already know how I feel about camping, I will be surprised...

Destin/Fort Walton Beach area is where we are going...if I have to, I am sleeping in my car, but I would rather not...and I would like to place to shower...and a kitchen would be FABULOUS...

Leaving Friday, coming back Monday (Memorial Day).

HELP!!

I am going to the beach whether I have a place to sleep or not...

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

2 hours last night, 5 1/2 the night before, 4 the night before that...oh, and it just keeps going...not one decent night of sleep for a month...

It finally caught up to me. I am a officially a nut case. The Dr. agreed. I have entered the level of a Rx for sleep...at least for 5 nights I am. Maybe this will teach my body that 10:30pm is when I should fall asleep, NOT 4:00AM like last night. The idea is that after 5 nights, I won't need the drugs...I sure hope this works.

I just want to be NORMAL...I mean, I don't have the excuse of kids or loud neighbors/roommates/pets/anything. There were a couple of storms last night, but I mean, come on...most people fall right to sleep at the sound of rain. Not this girl...at least, not lately.

I believe I have the house to myself for the whole weekend as well, starting today, so not even the possibility of distracted sleep this week...not that Rachel ever wakes me up, because she doesn't. There just won't be anyone hanging out at our house this weekend, which is exactly what I need.

Cheers.

To Be A 109 Year-Old Lady...Bummer...

News headline on AOL news:

After a 109-year-old woman complains about the queen's outfits, Prince William pays her a visit.

A cousin of mine recently asked what celebrity guys we have a crush on...I have to admit, I have a bit of a crush on him. He is 2 months older than I am, and I really do think he is attractive...the fact that he is royal is just an added bonus. :)

The article is kinda cool, I put the link up if you have any mild interest...sure he is getting a ton of good publicity from it, but I still think it's cool...

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Last inning, we are up to bat...we are losing by one point. First batter pops out. Second batter hits a line drive but it is caught by their center. Third batter gets a base hit...

...and then it's me. Ump reminds me that I will be a hero...either for my team or for theirs. Thanks ump, no pressure... :/

First pitch was perfect...I should've ignored Chris's advice and swung on that first pitch.

Second pitch, swing and all I caught was air.

Third pitch...swing and a miss. That's the game...

Yeah, I am bummed. However much everyone else says that they made this mistake and that mistake...I got the last out, when I could've been the winning run...

Diet...

I skipped breakfast this morning...because I decided to change my getting ready routine a bit, and I still didn't get to breakfast...and I was just lazy enough to not go to the hospital cafeteria to get something to eat there...or rather, cheap enough to not get breakfast...

Lunch: Mr. G's Roastbeef Sandwich loaded with brown gravy, Lay's Potato Chips, and 2 inch thick chocolate chip cookie cake...of which I had more than one helping...

Dinner: Chocolate chips cookies and Doritos with homemade guacamole...

...I am SOOOOOOO unhealthy...I am going to pay for this...no wonder I can't lose any weight...

To All You Mommy's

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mom, of course, is the greatest Mom in the history of Mom's...but I am also very much grateful for all of the other Mom's that I have. The aunts, the ward relief society members, my co-workers both past and present, my friends Mom's, etc. You have all done great service for me when my own Mom was so far away, and for that I am grateful. I am so very grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who put all of you in my path. I am grateful for my grandma's and great-grandma's who are all gone now. I miss them terribly and can't wait for an upcoming reunion when I get to see them again.

Thanks for being a listening ear, for the hugs and the smiles, and for the time you took to check up on me.

And for putting up with me...:)

White Girl turned Red...

How many times is it going to take for me to really come to grips with the fact that I can't tan for the life of me.

No pictures. I am too disgusted with myself. I laid out today, and the places that haven't seen the sun since last summer...well, lets just say that it's enough that I have a headache and a slight fever.

In fact, I am such a smart person that I laid out, exercised, and then laid out again...me thinking of course that since I hadn't been in the sun for a couple of hours that it would've calmed and it would be okay to bake a little more...

It's not really bad...in fact, it might all end up being a tan at some point, except for one spot...but still...

Funny thing is that even if it does turn into a tan, you won't be able to tell because I will still be whiter than everyone on earth minus any albinos...I think even they have more color than I do though...

Sorry, just wanting to be a California girl...tall, skinny, blond and TAN...skinny is hopefully attainable, but tan?

...I did NOT get my Mom's skin, that's for sure...she has that perfect olive skin that so easily tans...oh no, not me, I got Daddy's English/Irish/Danish white Scandinavian skin that burns sooooo easily, except the burn takes forever to show up.

Touchy subject? Yes, yes it is.

I know, it ages your skin and causes wrinkles and skin cancer. I just want to be tan ONCE...and a nice even tan at that...and I would really like to have something of one before possible future beach trip or girl's camp (lake) or going out on the lake here so that I don't burn to a crisp...AND so that I don't blind people...

Going West!!!

It's official!!! The plane tickets have been bought!!! I am coming to New Mexico AND Arizona!!!

To say I am just a little bit excited would be a total understatement...:)

When I saw the email confirmation for the plane tickets in my email this morning, I nearly started to cry...

I get to rough and tumble with all the kids who probably have completely forgotten who I am by now and have grown a foot taller, gab with my cousins, hang out my my Aunts, see the best friend (hopefully, she doesn't even know I am coming yet!!!), and enjoy the lovely heat and complete lack of tornado warnings...

But even better, I get to be with my Mom, Dad, Emily and her hubby Ison...

...SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy right now...I need to make a count down...

July 17th through at least the 22nd I will be in AZ, and then a few more lovely days in NM before I head back to 'Bama. Put it on your calendars...:)

lol...

I have gone through five different titles and about 10 different subjects for this post, I keep thinking each one just isn't worth sharing...and the clock keeps ticking away.

I give in, nothing interesting today...happy dreams.

Revelation...

I love it when my priesthood authorities answer prayers...even when the answers I get aren't the answers I wanted.

I had my annual birthday interview with the Bishop today. He asked how I was doing, what I am doing, and all the other questions that are supposed to be asked at these interviews. At the end of it, he gave me some advice that he might not think was much of anything...but is exactly what I needed to hear. And it was definitely direct revelation...it was one of those short and sweet experiences where my testimony that he was called of God was given a turbo boost.

Tonight I meant to go to watch the CES Fireside up in Bessemer with the rest of the YSA, but then I forgot to fill up my car yesterday, so did the roommate, went through a bunch of the YSA who either were in the same boat or weren't going up...I eventually found out about a couple of people who were going, but it turned out something came up and the roommate and I just stayed home for the evening. It was great, we had some good roommate bonding time. Then we watched the fireside over the internet...Elder Bednar was the speaker, and it was SUCH a tremendous talk. It is something for me to ponder and think about for sure. I think all the youth out there would benefit from listening to it as well, along with most adults...it really was an inspired topic.

Chef Elizabeth

Monday I felt like making a real home cooked meal. So I dinked around on the internet and found a couple of yummy recipes on foodnetwork.com...

Tuesday I went shopping for the ingredients, and Friday I cooked...

I made Rachel Ray's Love Birds - Chicken in Pastry and Alton Brown's Rice Pilaf.

The most trying of the two recipes was the Chicken...I have never used pastry sheets before, and the sheets I ended up with weren't the 11*17 ones the recipe calls for...I think next time I make this recipe, I am just going to get 2 boxes of pastry sheets, because wrapping those little strips around the pieces of chicken was a terrible experience, AND all the cheese ended up leaking out anyways...they couldn't even tell there was cheese in it, and it was expensive cheese! :/ I think I am also going to tear up the chicken before putting it into the pastry for more ease in eating...BUT it tasted good. I think they should be called Love Bird Hotpockets instead...

I altered the Pilaf a bit, couldn't find Saffron at the store AND it's pretty expensive anyways...so I left it out. AND I didn't put the rice into the oven after having it on the stove...and yet it turned out sooooo good. Alton Brown gives hilarious instructions...instead of 'cook the rice for 3 minutes with the onions and peppers' it says 'cook the rice until it smells nutty'. :) Love it... It's a sweet pilaf with lots of different flavors. I left the pistachios out. That was a personal decision, I don't like em...and they were just a garnish anyways...

I had Rachel, April and Nichee over for dinner...and they all said it was really good. Nope, no pictures...the chicken definitely didn't look like what the picture on the website does...and I didn't take any pictures anyways...it was good to cook a full meal, I enjoyed it. AND I have leftovers, yay!!

The Bug...

I am a night owl. I am most productive between 10:00pm and 2:00am...that is, if I didn't have to try to force myself to sleep during these hours...

At about 10:00pm tonight I tried to find something...I couldn't find it. Then I decided I had it with my unorganized closet and my messy room...

The cleaning bug bit me...the closet is completely reorganized (shoe racks into the closet with shoes on racks and in order, all clothing hanging up and organized by color and type (shirt, skirt, dress, and pants), empty hangers all together, suitcase stuffed with various bags of varying uses to save space, towels, blankets and sheets on shelf, excercise stuff in the corner, exercise ball in his new home where I don't have to step over it to get to my clothes, box of music and graduate work notes into corner but still with easy access, hats, belts, scarf all in their proper place...). My closet is cleaner than my room at the moment...

Oh, but I didn't stop there...I started a load of laundry...and then started another load of laundry...I washed the dishes...books on bookshelf, DVD's in a stack, CD's in the drawer, random papers into the drawer for me to go through and trash/shred/save...if I had someone else here right now, I would be moving the dresser, desk and bookshelf into new homes so I can create a reading corner for scripture reading and for studying...

...if I knew I wouldn't bother the neighbors, I would wash my car right now. :) And it's 1:30am...

...and after all that, I still haven't found what I am looking for...I KNOW it's here...perhaps it's out in the car...

I am done for the night though...hopefully I finish the job. Perhaps I will show you the final project. I am hoping this will inspire more productivity in ALL areas...:)