My Sister Had a Baby!

Today, I thought it would be fun to hang out in the hospital for a while. I'd heard there was something going on with a baby. I guess my sister had one. Whatever, I just went for the uncomfortable chairs and expensive vending machine food.

Just kidding, of course. I was thrilled to visit my sister and meet my newest neice today!

Here we are anxiously awaiting any news.

Unrelated: We ate snacks out of the vending machines. Mine got stuck, but my neice has magic tapping fingers, and she was able to tap the glass until it fell.

Then my brother-in-law showed up. A beautiful baby girl was born! After hours and hours of labor, my sister Jess did fantastic during the delivery. Chris was still a little stunned, but I think he was pretty proud, too.

The two aunts are wanting to see our new neice! This is me and Salem waiting.

And still waiting.

Finally, we got to see her! Proud Mommy. And Grandpa, and Daddy in the background. And there's the beautiful girl!

The pictures are a little dark because I didn't want to flash the poor thing's eyes. But you can get the idea.

Evelyn Lilith I got to go back later in the day so that Matt and my grandparents could see her. She's pretty exhausted at this point. After all, she's had a long day.

Me with my SIXTH neice!

I fell down my stairs. Yeah, I'm cool like that.

Yesterday morning, it was very cold outside. Very cold. I had heard that the temperature would be dropping the night before, so I prepared myself. I wore an extra warm pair of socks and a nice, cozy turtleneck sweater. And I looked pretty darn good in said sweater, by the way. As there wasn't any snow on the ground (and I checked out the window to be sure), I wore my nice high-heeled boots to complete my ensemble.

I shouldn't have worn the boots.

I hurried down our outdoor stairs with morning breakfast shake in hand, hoping to make it to the bus stop before my bus pulled away. Matt was close behind me when disaster struck.

I slipped.

And fell.

I landed hard on my bum, and tumble-slid my way down the remaining stairs. Chocolate Instant Breakfast flew out of my cup and went everywhere. It landed all over me, soaking my hair and covering my beautiful turtleneck sweater.

And I began to cry.

I was scared, in pain, wet, and without breakfast.

Matt helped me back to our apartment, and after a shower and a new set of clothes for me, we left for work a second time.

This time, I wore my winter boots. And walked very slowly.

My breakfast shake remains on the stairs.

As the shake froze on the stairs, they became even more dangerous. I slipped a second time, but I was ready. I grabbed that rail and held on for dear life, and I made it down safely! Then management came and salted the stairs. So no more falling down!

Today, I have bruises on my left side of my body, and muscle soreness on my right. But while it was horribly traumatic at the time, it's kinda funny now. I guess...

Sometimes, I have a pretty awesome husband.

Well, I have a pretty awesome husband a lot of the time. But sometimes he is exceptionally awesome. And today I want to brag about it a little bit.

I've been a little down this week. I don't love my job right now, and I'm bored out of my mind without rehearsals for any shows (but I get back to rehearsals next week... hooray!). Sometimes, when I'm unhappy about certain aspects of my life, I forget about the important things: my health (and the health of my loved ones), my family (my new niece should be arriving any day now!), and my husband. Matt helped remind me!

After listening to me complain for two days, he unexpectedly brought a surprise home for me:

Flowers!


I like flowers.


Yep, awesome.

Twilight: Dumbing down teenagers since 2005!

I have a confession to make. I read Twilight. And then... I read the sequel. And while I haven't read the third or fourth books yet, I probably will eventually. But sometimes complete mindless drivel can be fun; it's nice to read and not have to think at all. And I promise, read Twilight, and you won't have to think (except when you're thinking, "Really? That's lame." over and over). With the movie coming out this week, I wanted make clear that, while I read the book, I did not find it a literary masterpiece by any means. And to compare it to Harry Potter? That's just dumb.

The story follows Bella Swan, as she moves to a new town and falls for the gorgeous outsider at her high school. We soon find out that the unbelievably good-looking Edward Cullen is a vampire. The author then proceeds to go on and on about the deep love the two suddenly began to feel for one another, and how amazingly hot Bella finds Edward. At the end, Bella gets in a little trouble with some rival vampires, providing the only action and somewhat interesting elements of the entire novel, before Edward bravely comes to her rescue. The boring end.

So why did I read it? Well, I like to read. I like to read EVERYTHING. From Nora Roberts to Tom Robbins (though I prefer Tom Robbins). It's just fun to get lost in another world. And Stephenie Meyer creates a somewhat interesting world. The cool elements are there. Love: I can dig that. Rivalry and battle: awesome. Vampires: sweet. Vampires that glitter: ...what? Seriously? He "glitters" in the sun? Well... ok... whatever, I guess...
Should teenagers read this book? Sure, why not. My problem? The complete and ridiculous obsession that rivals only that of the Harry Potter series (which is a little excessive itself). This really is a mediocre book that should be read, and then forgotten. Set aside, and only re-visited during a blizzard when you are stranded at your parents' house, and the only book available is an old copy of Twilight, left in the basement because no one wanted it. This is not a book that is worth waiting in crazy lines at midnight the day it's released.

The things I didn't like? The characters and the plot are weak. I know that there are many literary elements that make a story "good", and I won't get into those. But characters and plot are essential.

Bella has no interesting qualities at all. She has no hobbies or interests other than her obsession with some boy she met in high school. She's not a member of the math bowl, or in high school choir, or on the volleyball team, or addicted to World of Warcraft. Nothing. Is this really a good role model for young girls: someone addicted to a boy, with no goals or aspirations of any sort (other than her dream to be turned into a vampire herself)? I have a hard time being interested in a protagonist like that. And Meyer's other characters are all equally one-dimensional.

The story line is dull. It arcs at the very end, when Bella's life is threatened by the "bad" vampires. But the rest of the book is slow moving and uninteresting. There are very few things that surprised me at all as the story went on.

Now, I'm not a writer. There is no way that I could write anything as good as what Meyer's written. But I am a reader, and I know I've read many things better than Twilight. It's laughable to compare this to the Harry Potter series. Rowling may not use a myriad of literary techniques, but the basic elements are there. Her characters are well-rounded, with both good and bad qualities and multiple interests. The story is complex, with twists and turns, and mysteries that take seven books to fully unravel.

But hey, the Twilight books are fun to read. It takes me back to when I was younger and boys were the most important thing in the world. I just think teenagers also need to be reading other books (and not just Harry Potter). Books with intelligent and strong heroes/heroines, who fight for what they believe in and let no boy (or girl) bring them down. And books that are just a little bit better written than a high school creative writing project.

The KitchenAid Mixer is pretty much the greatest machine EVER.

Better than the car, plane, or even the television! And I finally own one! Matt saw (and heard) me salivating over one of these a few weeks ago, so he got me one for Christmas! It was a great moment when I saw my big brown box, and imagined what was waiting for me inside.


My big strong husband carried it all the way upstairs for me.


And I was thrilled to open the box (though too much of a wimp to get the huge thing out, that was still Matt's job.)


And there she was: My beautiful new baby. The big KitchenAid Proffessional 600! That's right, the big one. Look how shiny.


But I was terribly saddened to see an awful imperfection right in the front of the machine. A huge dent/scratch!


I was ready to pack her back up and send her back. But Matt reminded me that she is supposed to be used, not just look pretty. And it would be a LONG time before I could use her if I had to wait for a new one to come. So I have accepted her "birthmark." And I have learned the importance of loving everything about her, including her imperfections. I hope she loves me the same way.

We quickly got to work making dinner. Meatloaf. And look, clean hands! And I got to keep my ring on for once.


Delicious mashed potatoes as a side.


The finished meal was delicious. But I just made canned green beans as a vegetable. I'll have to work on figuring out what veggies can be made in my new baby.


After dinner it was time for dessert. Here she is in action, making cookies.


Mmmm...


I thought I deserved a little treat after all our hard work. Here I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.


We made a big mound of cookies tonight.


My new machine is now resting after all her hard work. Here she is, towering over our mound of cookies. She's a beast!


I think I'm really going to love having this girl around. And I think Matt will love it, too. He sure seemed to enjoy some of those cookies.

Now I just have to name her... Any ideas?

Oh, the hilarity of vain surveys!

I am a member of a couple of websites that reward one for participating in surveys. The rewards are usually small. The survey I took today was 50 points, and it takes 1450 points to get a $10 gift card. So I'm not exactly getting paid big bucks for this stuff. But I don't mind doing them, and eventually it may add up. Anyway, today I took what was possible the funniest survey I've seen yet.

The introduction page stated very clearly that I was only to participate if I was going to provide thoughtful answers and take my time completing the survey. Most surveys don't usually have a statement like this, but I didn't really think much of it.

Well, these guys must really take their hair care seriously.

Yes, the survey was about hair care. Not too odd, I guess. A hair care company probably wants to know a little bit more about what their consumers are thinking. Perfectly understandable. But wait...

Are these questions for real?

Are they really asking me a formal survey question using the term "hook up"? What exactly does "hook up" mean anyway. (I don't really want anyone to answer that for me.) And what kind of girl to you think I am: "When meeting a guy for the first time..."!! I'm not likely to "hook up" with anyone after meeting them for the first time! (Yes, I know I said "somewhat likely," and I'm not really sure why. I think I was just focusing on the hair part of the question, and not the fact that I'm not "easy.")


Um... none of the above? How am I supposed to generalize all guys my age? And a lot of guys with "bad" hair know perfectly well what sort of impression they're making on snotty girls, and they don't care! Because those girls are snotty.


Really? Words used to describe guys' personalities based on their hair. What? It's sad that people really make these associations in real life. I don't like that guy's hair, he must be lazy, dirty, and clueless about what girls want!


Is "gel-met" really a term? And I'm not even sure how to answer this question.

My husband has two BIG cowlicks on the back of his head. These leave him with very few styling options, so he generally keeps it really short. If I had seen his cowlicks or his short unstyled hair when we first started dating, and said, "This guy won't ever be successful, is goofy and lazy, and has no idea what girls want," we wouldn't be together. And I would have been wrong... three out of four times.

Because he's really goofy.

Happy Halloween!!!

Yay for Halloween parties! Especially 80s themed Halloween parties. My sister had an awesome one on Saturday, and it was a lot of fun! The dark lighting set a spooky mood, but it made it impossible for my camera to focus. So the pictures are a little blurry. But they're just too awesomely 80s for me to not put them up anyway!

My best friend Mel, seriously 80s!

Me! "Let's Get Physical, Physical!"

I had great plans to make Matt an awesome Boy George costume. But I got sick and distracted... and maybe kinda lazy, so I didn't do it. I'm a bad wife. But I'm not sure that he would have loved wearing a crazy wig and makeup all night. So he made a creative costume of his own.

Can you guess what he is? (The paper towels are part of the costume... the beer is not.)

My sister went as a pregnant lady. It wasn't very hard for her to find a costume. Bet you can't tell what her boyfriend went as.

My other sister. It was her party, and she was definitely getting into it!

The 80s leg warmers and leggings.

Me and Mel.

It was a good time. But unfortunately, it didn't help me get over my sickness. And today I feel pretty awful.