Alabama 33 Virginia Tech 21

Last year one of the doctors asked if I babysit. Of course I babysit! I love kids!!! So I babysat for her.

We talked again a few weeks ago, and after she consulted with her husband they decided that they wanted to use me again this year. Woot!

Tonight at FHE the YSA were trying to figure out where they could gather to watch the game, and our house came up...the roommate is going to the beach with her family, so everyone took a good look at me...I considered it for a moment, and then luckily remembered before they ran with the idea that I was babysitting Saturday.

There were protests: how could you babysit during a game?

Very easily: my life does not revolve around Alabama football. Nor does it around any other sport for that matter.

They were still amazed.

I actually enjoy being around kids wholeheartedly, so it's not really work to watch them. I'm not missing anything Saturday that I feel I am going to miss out on except associating with my friends here in town...but my closest friend I believe has to go to the game to work, the roomie will be at the beach, so...why not?

People here take their college football seriously...and even their high school football. They could really care less for the NFL...going to the scrimmages before the season starts is a highlight for all football fans here...you would think an actual game was going on...the minute details people mull over here is just incredible to me...everyone is an expert on football here...our 'ice-breaker' at FHE tonight was 'what will the score be for the game Saturday?' Everyone told their guess, which was recorded, and the closest to the actual score wins something...not sure what yet. EVERYONE guessed an Alabama victory...I strongly thought about going the other way, but I think that might have pushed some peoples strings too far...

It irks some people to no end that I root for ASU...:) It's my Alma Mater, and I wouldn't trade any moment of my 4 years there for anything...even the bad experiences. They were good for me. GO DEVILS!!!

But after ASU, I do have to say, 'ROLL TIDE ROLL'!!!

So I had some chewing gum...

We had a YSA (young single adult) dinner and fireside tonight with the entire stake presidency and their wifes. We had an AMAZING turnout, considering it was just our stake...

Dinner: lasagna, salad, rolls and cheesecake.

Finish dinner, and Cody starts passing out his stash of mint flavored gum...

Get into the chapel, and the pianist signals to me that I am going to lead the music. I seriously need to have an attitude change, because I really didn't want to and haven't wanted to lead the music at church for a while...but especially tonight...

I am sitting up there, it's about to start and I realize: I still have the minty rubbery substance in my mouth...

Do I run to a trash can? No, the opening hymn will need to start in about 2 seconds...purse is down in the pew, so that option is out...I don't have a special place in my mouth that I can stash it and be sure that it will stay there for the entire hymn...

Yeah...I swallowed it.

Foul fowl...

Yesterday a funky smell was coming from the general direction of the kitchen...

I searched in all the 'usual' places for malodorous sources...without much luck...except that it was definitely coming from the fridge...but we were finally successful in finding the culprit:

Putrid Poultry

Butter...

Last night I found THIS New York Times article about the effect the movie Julie & Julia is having on the book business. My favorite part of the article was the ending.

I already bought the book Julie & Julia before seeing the movie, but didn't start reading it until after seeing the film. In the movie, Amy Adams character Julie Powell asks her husband 'do you think she (meaning Julia) doesn't like it (her blog) because I use the F-word sometimes?'. I admit, I chuckled...terrible, yeah, I know. Well, then I started reading the book. That sucker had more language and blech in it in the first 100 pages or so than any 100 books that I have ever read combined. She has every right to do that, but that is just not for me...I kept hoping it was going to clear up because beyond all that it was an interesting read, but it kept getting worse, so I skipped to the parts about Julia Child's life that were strewn in the midst of the book and then I threw it into a plastic bag and have yet to decide if I should give it to the library or what...I was SOOOOOOO disappointed, the movie was lovely in many ways...

In the Times article they quote Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally) who is the director, writer and producer of this film. The quote is at the end of the article with her saying that she secretly hoped that moviegoers would go from the theaters to the bookstores and that books would go flying off the shelves...but they may find that another product may be flying off the shelves much more than those books mentioned in the film...

...because as for me, I bought butter. :)

And this little piggy went...

First Swine flu scare at work today...

...luckily it wasn't the H1N1 strand of flu, it was just regular flu...phew...

I found it kinda funny that after we got the results back from the lab and the word was spread, we relaxed back into regular mode...and then the paranoia hit that flu season is around the corner and this will be the first of many scares...

...I believe the lobby is now littered with:

'if you are sick, tell the receptionist so we can hand you a mask so you can scare all the other patients and give them someone to gawk at and insist on you using the hand sanitizer we leave available for the patients to ignore or refill their own hand sanitizer bottles (yes, that really happened...the nerve)'

...signs that have a stop sign on them. Unfortunately, they are black and white...so their effectiveness may not be very good.

I suggested the brilliant idea of a sign with flashing lights, but the others argued that we would get complaints that it was causing headaches. There already is a TV out there...in my book, if they can handle one of those all day every day in their own homes, they can handle a flashing 'stop' sign in the lobby...;)

A Profound Statement...

If you think about it, this really is a profound statement no matter what your situation in life is:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not.

Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.”

-by none other than our beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson

It Has Happened...

I've waited for this day for a while...

You know when you have a Gospel question? And you sometimes have to wait to find the answer? And when you get the answer, it's just an amazingly lovely experience?

Usually these come in the form of a Sunday Talk, a Conference Talk, some random comment made by someone that doesn't even have to be a member of the Church, a book I am reading, etc...

Sometimes they come from the Scriptures. But there is one book that I have never really gotten this kind of experience from in the scriptures.

This time I did. The Book was Isaiah...:)

Yes, I am doing the happy dance...and I wasn't even looking up the topic, I was on a different route...

Usually I refer to it as 'the dreaded but evidently really important Book of Isaiah'.

I like to think of myself as something of a scriptorian...ha, the word is actually 'scripturist'...yes I bothered looking up the correct word...

Scripturist: one who is strongly attached to, or versed in, the Scriptures, or who endeavors to regulate his life by them

Anyways, Isaiah definitely caused a bit of a challenge that improved little with time, experience, knowledge, etc...

I should do a re-read-through of Isaiah for kicks and see how I do...:)