Life is worth laughing about!

For anybody who knows me well, you know that I am very much a giggler, prone to sudden and unexpected fits of laughter or laughing over seemingly small things. I refuse to believe this makes me silly; rather I decided that it just shows I have a great sense of humor and believe life should be experienced (as much as possible) with laughter and a smile. If that means I'm sometimes overly giggly, so be it.

Why am I choosing to talk about this, you may ask. Well, why do I choose to talk about any of the topics I address in this blog--it was on my mind, so here's me writing about it! Just kidding! Of course there's a reason. There's usually some sort of method to my madness, or in this case silliness!

Today I was quite busy at work trying to get a bunch of work done before I leave for the holiday tomorrow. I needed to be super productive and felt like I was only moderately productive, but I was trying desperately to work as efficiently as I could in spite of this. Well, my co-worker across the way, whom I will refer to as the Fashionista, decided at about 4:30 that she was done. We had been IMing off an on all day, which is typical (I promise we still work while we are doing it), so she decided since she was done that I should be done too. I tried to resist, I really did, but I sadly discovered that resistance with her is futile!

Earlier our co-worker down the way told us a gum wrapper myth (basically if you can pull the tin foil away from the paper without ripping it, that's your pathway to kissing. why or how this works I don't really know so I wasn't much inclined to do it. However, she's sort of dating someone, whom we refer to as Mr. Hot Lips, and they might be going out this weekend so she has more at stake than I do.) so she was working hard at that. We started giggling at various things and pretty soon we'd hit the rummy point so EVERYthing was funny.

Our co-worker came over because he wanted to help the Fashionista with her gum wrapper and then he joined in on the fun by starting to make a monkey noise, referring to my very cute and adorable giggle, meaning that I laugh like a monkey!! Of course I most certainly do not, but his teasing accomplished its purpose: both of us broke into fresh peals of laughter, despite the fact that he was mocking me! Every time he walked by for the rest of the afternoon, he had to make the monkey noise, which I suppose I could have been insulted about, but instead chose to find amusing. It just made me laugh harder, and I'm pretty much a fan of anything that makes me laugh, even sometimes when it's at my expense.

Even after he left (because he knew the Fashionista and I still hadn't made it out of the office yet), he couldn't let the joke die, so he called her phone, requested to be put on speaker phone and made the monkey noise again, which had the desired effect of more giggles.

I feel kind of silly even telling this story because, let's be honest, it was silly. However, I am a strong believer in the idea that life is much more desireable when you can laugh about it.

Happy Pre-Thanksgiving Day!

So I accomplished a major feat today, and I am so proud of myself: I cooked my first turkey!! Okay, so really it's in the oven right now cooking, and I'm hoping that it's done in about 45 minutes when all the friends we invited over for our "We're so thankful for good friends pre-Thanksgiving dinner" starts in about 40 minutes, but I looked in the oven when I got up from my nap, and it was looking' good. The button is also popped so I consider that a good sign as well. However, I was putting the leftover cooking bag away, and I realized that I forgot to cut slits in the bag for it to vent, so I hope that doesn't cause any problems. I guess we'll see soon enough. I'm hoping old Tom Turkey is going to cooperate though. Don't worry--I already told his frozen carcass thanks for sacrificing his life so we could enjoy him. Umm, that sounds kind of morbid so moving right along. . .

So my roommate, Speak (yes this is a brand new nickname I came up for her so I don't always have to say one roommate and the other), and I went to the grocery store last night. They had a deal where you could get the turkey for $.08 a pound if you bought $25 in groceries. Don't worry--we more than doubled that amount, so we got the deal. I thought this was a pretty good deal but it wasn't until I called "The Expert" (a.k.a. my mom) to ask about baking the turkey that I realized just how great of a deal it was. Anyway, this turkey is huge (18.8 pounds), and I didn't realize how long it takes for a 20-pound bird to thaw. On the package around the turkey it says to let it thaw for 2-4 days! That would've been nice, but I'm not quite as well prepared as all that. I only decided on Wednesday that we were even going to have this dinner so I did the best I could under the circumstances.

I got up for church super early this morning (6:30 a.m.) so I could put Mr. Turkey in some cold water in the sink to continue thawing. I left him there all through church, and when I got home he'd made good progress. Speak helped me work on pulling out the turkey's innards, a task that was not terribly pleasant but still doable. She wanted to take pictures of this special occasion for "my posterity." I told her that was fine, but then she didn't end up doing it anyway, probably because I didn't give a strong enough reaction. . . . she's kind of a reactionary person so it makes sense really.

Anyway, our company is due to arrive in not very long so I'm going to close now. Plus, I'm such a wordy person that I always end up writing stinkin' long blog entries, so I'm hoping to curtail that just a bit. I'm also excited that I can in fact make a turkey, that it wasn't too big for the oven and that cooking bags expedite the process!!

Living in the "Twilight" zone. . .

So today I had the opportunity to experience, and participate in, an important piece of pop culture. I just saw one of the fall's most anticipated movie releases (now that Harry Potter's postponed until next summer): Twilight.

I should start off by saying that I dearly love the Twilight books (with the exception of "Breaking Dawn" which just didn't do it for me). I have read and re-read those books over and over again. Okay, really I've only read them several times each, but still. I was anticipating and dreading this movie all at the same time because I was so scared that I was going to be disappointed by seeing something near and dear to my heart ruined. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it'd be. However, instead of just talking about this, I mean to use this as my official movie review. I've never done an official review before, so bear with me!

For anyone unfamiliar with Twilight, the basic premise is that a human girl falls in love with a vampire. However, he's not a traditional vampire as he and his family are "vegetarians," so to speak, and choose to exist on the blood of animals rather than humans. The conflict in Twilight is that Edward is in love with Bella and wants to be near her, but a large part of him also wants to drink her blood which "sings" for him, meaning she's his ultimate match. In spite of this, the book still boasts some steamy scenes. . .

The movie opens with Bella packing all of her stuff as she prepares to move from Phoenix to Forks, Washington. She meets up with her father, Charlie, chief of the Forks Police Force. Charlie's life pretty much consists of work, watching sports and eating at the local diner. I'm going to stop right here and interject that I really like Kristen Stewart as Bella. I think she plays Bella's understated character very well. I also liked the guy who played Charlie, even though I can't remember his name.

Bella starts out at Forks High School, and everyone is really excited to meet her, especially males. She's mystified on her first day at the unearthly beauty of the mysterious Cullen family who pretty much keep to themselves. I have to say that I wish it were possible to really portray the full beauty of the Cullens. Although I think they got the actors for most of the Cullens right, with the exception of Edward and Jasper, I didn't really feel the sense of mystery they're shrouded with because they looked kind of regular. Oh well!

I know there's been a lot of hype about Robert Pattinson playing Edward, and it's really that you love him or you hate him. I couldn't stomach him as Edward. He wasn't nearly dreamy enough (or let's be honest--bulked out enough) to be the fabulous and super attractive Edward Cullen. My roommate and I thought he got the brooding aspect of Edward okay, but otherwise he was pretty much lacking. The guy playing Jasper wasn't what we had pictured either, but again, there's not much we can do about that.

On the whole I liked the movie. I thought it flowed well, had good characterization and acting and the music complimented the action nicely. One of my favorite aspects of it was the funny lines such as the one where Edward says, "The lamb fell in love with the lion." Bella replies, "What a stupid lamb." and Edward answers, "What a masochistic lion." Everyone in the theater was laughing at that! There were quite a few other scenes like that too, and I think it made the movie much more pleasurable.

My roommate and I had a four-way conversation with our former roommate and her sister about the movie just before I started this post. One of the things her sister pointed out that I agree with was that the movie didn't do a good enough job portraying Edward's true conflict of being with Bella, the sexual tension between the two of them wanting to be together but Edward not yet sure he has enough control (over his desire for her blood) to do so. In the movie it was more like, "I want to eat you!" and that was it. You can't expect every detail to make it into the movie when the book is over 550 pages long but still.

I think I've rambled so much that I'm not even sure I communicated my central point. The movie was good, and I would recommend all true Twilighters or Twilight girls ;) see it, but go with the full understanding that no matter what you're expecting, it's going to be different. If you're like me, you'll have to continue searching for the perfect Edward because I don't think you'll find him in this movie. I am grateful to participate in this important part of pop culture while it's still very much in its initial hype. . .

Hark the Sounds and Sites of Construction in Downtown

So I work in downtown Salt Lake City and in case you weren't aware, it's pretty much a major construction zone. Right now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is building its City Creek Center, a mixed use residential and commercial development, which will be so great once it's finished but right now it kind of sucks while they're constructing it. My building is in the center of the block where they're taking down the former ZCMI Center, so for the past few weeks it's been crazy being in the middle of it. Yesterday I wrote a list of all the "fun" things about working in the middle of it. I hope you enjoy it!

Top 10 Reasons why it’s so much FUN to work in the middle of a construction zone
1) It gives you practice for what an earthquake might feel like since your building regularly shakes.
2) It’s often a surprise whether or not the walkway on Main Street will be open or not, depending on what demolition is occurring that day. . . (okay I know this is really a good thing since I don’t particularly want to be crushed by a piece of falling rubble, but it still makes for an interesting trek from the parking garage to the office when you don’t know if it’s really open or closed or when it closes for 20 minutes and then re-opens again).
3) There’s so much color in downtown with all those orange vests running around.
4) South Temple might look like a street but it’s actually a maze and if you navigate it successfully, there’s a prize at the end. . . ;)
5) It’s much more fun to look out the window to see what’s going on below than it is to do actual work. (Okay this is really true when the last part of the Food Court comes down in a big chunk and the whole building shakes, and I mean really shakes, so you have to rush over to see what’s going on, and you’re having writer’s block so not much is being done anyway. . . and it’s Friday so you have the weekend on your mind. Basically you’re in the mood to waste time and this is an interesting way to do so. I promise this was a one-time only deal, and I do actually work very hard.)
6) Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like watching buildings fall down?! I think there’s a 12-year-old boy in most people that finds it kind of fascinating, even if it is a tad distracting
7) Speaking on little boys, I suddenly feel like one of my nephews because I also find it interesting to watch the construction vehicles at work, loading the rubble into trucks to be hauled away, using the backhoes to clear it away, etc. (If I were really my nephews, however, I would know the exact name of each construction vehicle, but I don’t so I guess that just makes me a faux construction fan.)
8) The landscape (okay really it’s the skyscape) keeps changing as the buildings, or what’s left of the buildings disappears.
9) The window washing business is booming because of all the dust said construction kicks up. . . (kind of a fruitless exercise, IMO, since they’re just going to get dirty again 10 minutes later, but we wouldn’t want the buildings to look dusty, now would we J )
10) There’s Port-a-Potties all over the place so if you have some kind of potty emergency while walking around downtown, well, you get the picture.

I keep telling myself that no matter how annoying all the construction, closed roads and walkways and dust might be, the end result will be worth it! City Creek Center’ll be awesome when it’s done. I’m just ready for them to be done DE-structing and move on to CON-structing, well at least in the block where my building is located. The former Crossroads site is coming along quite well. If you haven’t checked it out lately, you really should!

Tammy's Secret Code

Did you know that I'm actually a secret agent and I have a code I speak known only to me (and those closest to me)? If you didn't know that, I guess you are now aware that you learn something new every day. Awesome huh!

Okay, so the truth is that I don't really have a secret code. But sometimes, those who know me well can see when I'm laughing about something known to two of us but perhaps not known to someone else who may also be in the room. Does that sound confusing? I promise that it's really not. This is an example. So this weekend my roommate and I were having a discussion. We were talking about something that made us really upset and although we were both pretty steamed at first, later we had convinced ourselves to laugh about it. However, as I mentioned in my first entry, the world is my private joke, so I kept thinking about this, partially because I was still miffed about it and partially because the other roommate had made me laugh so hard about it.

Tonight my two roommates and I were sitting in the living room talking. The discussion was fine and mostly we talked about the one roommate's day at school. Things eventually led around to a book she had purchased online. Don't worry - she bought it from the used book section on Amazon and with shipping, it probably cost her less than $5, so it was not like it would break the bank. However, the other roommate has been somewhat disapproving of this roommate and seems to think for whatever reason that she's going to run out of money and expect us to pick up the slack (aka rent) for her, which is absurd, but whatever. Anyway, I started giggling because I was thinking about this very thing, and of course, the roommate who knew what I was laughing about asked why I was laughing. I told her, and she was amused too. She didn't really even have to ask because she already knew what was on my mind, knowing me as well as she does. She said it was like she was temporarily in my brain (frankly I don't want anyone in my brain because it's a confusing enough place just for me, much less anyone else!) but I would modify the statement to say she was speaking in "Tammy's Secret Code." (Insert smarmy secret agent music here.)

I have to be honest that I know this is catty, but sometimes I can't help it! Laughter is one of the best ways I can deal with things that are bothering me almost beyond belief, and trust me, in this case, I needed some pretty serious laughter so I wouldn't be mad. This isn't the first time that my "secret code" has manifested itself either.

When I was in college, one of my roommates was kind of interesting. She used to whine about the same things all the time (usually they involved boys and the fact that she was the "dateless wonder" - her words not mine) and of course after you've heard a story so many times, you either A) get really annoyed about it or B) find the potential for mocking. This is what one of my other roommates and I did. Every time this roommate would start into her "I'm the dateless wonder" or telling the same dating stories over again, all we had to do is exchange a look, and both of us knew exactly what we were thinking. I usually had to turn away so I wouldn't laugh, or try to hide the fact that I was laughing. Another of our roommates used to get mad because she always said she had to cover for us when we did that so she wanted me to stop with the silent communication already.

Anymore, this "secret code" is mostly manifested with looks between myself and someone else when we know that we're thinking the same thing, usually if someone is being ridiculous or telling the same story for the 10th time. (Yes, I know I do that too and I'm sure my roommates roll their eyes at me when I do it too, so oh well.) Maybe I should modify my statement--it's not really a secret code but more like good silent communication. It's more effective with someone whom I know very well than with than a casual acquaintance. Oh my goodness! Where do I even come up with these topics?! Hopefully tomorrow I will have something more interesting to write!

Talking can be so cathartic!

So this week has been pretty tough for various reasons. I don't really want to talk about that here. I'm kind of depleted, but it's going to be okay. I just need a little time to rest and recover and then I'll be fine or else something really great to distract me.

I want to share an experience that I had tonight that made me feel so much better. A good friend of mine called this week to ask if I wanted to go to dinner. He was teasingly telling me that I could also ask my roommate because "we're all tight like that" (meaning we're good friends, which is true). Anyway, this friend has a great talent for making me laugh, and I think I can make him laugh too, so it works out well. This dinner has been a bright spot for me and something I could look forward to.

My roommate was going to cancel out at the last minute but then she was persuaded to come after all. We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed talking, laughing and everything in between. Then we had a little dessert, which did include ice cream. (I am a strong believer in the idea that ice cream is good for the soul and sometimes it helps open the lines of communication.) This proved to be true. Yesterday I started thinking about a situation that involves so much needless drama, and I got completely riled up to the point that I could hardly handle it anymore. I've thought about this situation before and it's not really a new thing, but with everything else going on this week, I'd had enough. We started talking about this situation, which is also something my roommate is bothered by. We talked about all aspects of the situation and what really bugged us about what was going on. Our friend put his two cents in from time to time but mostly he listened. However, he also pointed out a few things about this situation that neither of us had considered before. It was a pretty long discussion, but it just made me feel so much better to talk about it and to consider it in a different light than I'd thought about before. To sum it up, it was a cathartic experience!! I know that both my roommate and I are now ready and prepared to tolerate it so much more.

I've said it once and I'll say it again--talking is very cleansing to girls. I have told my guy friends this before, and I don't know if they always believe me but it's true. Sometimes we just need to talk about a problem or vent about something that's bothering us and then we start feeling better. We don't necessarily want someone to solve our problem with us; mostly we need them to listen. Sometimes in listening, they can offer an outsider's perspective (as this friend did) which may be just what we need to help us feel better.

Going to dinner was step number one in overcoming my difficult week and talking over this particular problem was step number two in helping me to feel better. I can't even believe how much more at peace that I feel now. The plain fact is that nothing has changed, but my perspective has altered and now I'm ready to deal with it again. The funny thing is I actually talked about this situation with another friend yesterday, which is part of what stirred me up in the first place. However, this friend is a girl, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't talk to girls about your problems or anything, but in a lot of ways what she said only made it worse. Maybe there's a lesson for me to learn from all of this. . . . I'll have to think about it some more and decide. Well, a lesson aside from the fact that I need to talk about my problems with someone but perhaps that I should consider who it is that I'm talking to. I am sometimes afraid to let myself lean on people because I'm afraid they won't be there for me the next time I need them. Yes, this has actually happened before, and as a result, I don't trust very easily. But maybe it's time that I changed this mode of thinking and decided instead to let someone into my life instead of being so stubborn. I'd better close now before I get any more personal. Thanks for reading, anyone who actually looks at this on a regular basis!

Kidspeak

And now it's time for a post that I hope to make a tradition on my blog: Kidspeak! I am the proud aunt of 11 nieces and nephews (with one more on the way) and they are the joy and delight of my life! Kids have the tendency to say some of the funniest things, in innocence of course. Today I got to spend the day with two of my nephews while their dad was at the hospital. I'm going to start with examples from two of them.

Zack, age 6, was frustrated when a key chain he wanted to buy had the wrong spelling of his name (Zachary instead of Zackary) so he said, "Mom why did you have to spell my name wrong?"

I wish I had a picture to post, but on the way back into Salt Lake, we were listening to a hip-hop song, and my nephew, Kasey, age 10, quite amused me. He started doing this ghetto hip-hop arms thing that was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing! Anybody who is my friend on Facebook will be able to see a video with those arms in it because I'm going to post it very soon.

My nephew, Taylor, age 9, was riding with me to my parents' house in Idaho a couple months ago. He and his sister rode with me so I didn't have to drive by myself. Taylor was great company and talked to me the entire two hour drive there and back. I was most amused by several things he had to say. For example, he noticed the "green light" which indicated I had cruise control on and remarked, "You have the green light on - that means your foot gets a rest."

As I was preparing to take the junction from I-84 to I-86, I realized I was going a little fast so I had to hit the brakes to slow me to a safer speed. I had been talking to Taylor and trailed off. He said, "Aunt Tammy, did you just get nervous?" I told him I wasn't nervous, just slowing down a little bit on the curve, and he answered, "I can always tell when my mom gets nervous when she drives." (You'd have to know my older sister to know why that's funny. She can be rather of a neurotic driver sometimes.)

My niece Katriel, age 6, asked what was taking me so long to get married. (This was soon after she had watched "Enchanted" though so I think she had that "We've been together one day and tomorrow it'll be two" convo in her head. Ahh, if only it was that simple in real life. . . )

A few months ago, Katriel was asking me when I was going to have a baby. I told her that I have to get married first and since I'm nowhere near that, pretty much it's going to be awhile, so she said, "Well, hurry up then!"

I went to the temple while visiting my sister in Boise a few months ago. Her kids woke up on Saturday (I was staying at their house) and wondered where I was. My sister told them I went to the temple and they asked why. She was explaining the importance of temple attendance until her 5-year-old son, Preston, piped up, "She went to get married!" Amused, my sister asked what had happened to my husband if I was getting married. Preston shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know." I wasn't there for this conversation, but I still thought it was cute!

I was visiting my older sister a couple weeks ago and a friend happened to call. It's very common for me to greet any female friends as "chica" which I did. My 3-year-old niece, Alyssa, turned to me after I hung up to ask who "chica" was. When I explained it was just a nickname, she was kind of like "oh" about it. Teasingly, I turned to her and said, "Hi, chica!" She looked at me and said, "I'm not chica, I'm Alyssa!"

I'm quite certain there are even more I could write here, but it's late, and I'm tired so my brain isn't working as well as it normally is. However, since I intend to make this a tradition, I'm sure that there will be more sometime in the near future.

Tammy, Tammy Quite Contrary. . .

Sorry - it's been a couple of days since I last wrote. I have ideas in mind sometimes about the topic I want to address for the day, and then it gets closer to bedtime, and I'm distracted by other things. . . Well, you get the picture. Basically I'm kind of wasting time but doing other things instead of this. However, I had an experience tonight that I'm just dying to write about so I decided to go for it, late or not.

Generally speaking I am a very sweet and nice person. I get along well with people and even though I have my opinions on certain subjects, I don't always voice them. (The philosophy I developed back in junior high, sort of in response to the loud-mouth boys in seminary who just couldn't shut up, was, "Your opinion will be more valued if you don't always voice it." I still tend to stick to this philosophy.) Anyway, I have my opinions on things and given the right situation and circumstances, I'm always happy to repeat them. However, I seem to have a knack for finding people with very strong opinions who seem to feel it's their duty to persuade me to think and feel the same as they do. I'm happy to respect other people's opinions even when they don't match mine (even though I may think they're wrong ;)) and hope they would offer me the same courtesy. Lately I find myself in company with people who have extremely different viewpoints than me who can't handle that I might think differently and I often feel like they're trying to quash my opinion with theirs. It's the "I'm right, you're wrong kind of a deal" where they won't be satisfied until I think and feel the same as them.

I hate this for so many reasons. Honestly, though, who likes to feel like their opinion is being steamrolled by someone else who is more vocal or more strongly opinionated on a subject. The last couple of years (and one very-much opinionated roommate later), I have learned that I have to stand up for myself (and in this case my opinions) or I will be trampled. I thought I was getting better at it, but it just seems to keep cropping up, so maybe I'm not quite so good as I might hope I am. Darn it! I don't know why I seem to draw these kinds of people, but I do. I'm a magnet for highly-opinionated people and weirdos - not sure which is worse. . . J/K! I could tell story after story about it, but I'm interested in sharing one in particular.

Tonight my two roommates and I went to dinner at a friend's house. We had a lovely meal and an even better conversation. After we were eating we started talking about some various subjects, including the recent protest at Temple Square over the Church's involvement in the passage of Prop 8 in California. Don't even get me started on my views on that!! Bigotry all over the place, but that's once again a topic for another post. Anyway, I happened to bring up a talk from General Conference a year ago that received a rather heated response. I meant to comment about what was said in response to the negativity towards it. Little did I know I had opened a can of worms! One of my roommates (again very strongly opinionated but not the same one as before) and one of the friends we were visited started going off about everything that was wrong with this talk and why it bugged them. I could see their point, but I also felt my hackles raising, so to speak. I felt a sudden urge to express an opinion contrary to theirs in hopes of them seeing this in the light it was intended rather than the way it was delivered. It wasn't that I felt so strongly about this but I just felt the need to offer a second perspective that these two very opinionated ladies could consider. I really don't think it made a whole lot of difference but oh well. I did take my stand and of that I can be proud!

A little while later something happened, but in a much more dramatic fashion. The five of us started talking about a certain influential figure and how people tend to become lemmings and follow what she says blindly without thinking why they might be following her. This has affected everything from reading material to the presidential nominees (and yes I believe at least some of the people who voted for Obama did so because they listened to her, but that's beside the point). My roommate has extremely strong feelings on this subject and she climbed right up on her soap box to start dispensing these opinions. The three of us sitting on the couch and even the other friend were all amused by this diatribe because we could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. I must admit that she had a good point, and good for her for having such strong opinions. However, I again felt my contrary self pulling at me, so I took an opposite position to hers. I definitely didn't feel anywhere near as strongly on the issue but something inside of me was not content unless I took the opportunity to express an opinion contrary to hers, if only for her to consider the other side. I have a pretty strong stubborn streak complete with just enough contrariness that I'm not just going to sit by and let this happen without speaking up. This was the case here. I know, I know it's shameful for me to admit that, but there you have it. With my comments, she conceded that this person wasn't all bad and really the root of the issue was that she was bugged by people blindly following someone, without bothering to think about it for themselves. I had to agree that this is true; anytime you let someone else do your thinking for you it's bad.

For anyone who's known me for a long time, you might be surprised by this little confession, but honestly, I can't help myself. I hate feeling like whoever has the loudest and strongest opinion is right no matter what. That's often what happens because it's the vocal people who are heard and whose opinions are listened to. Okay, I'm not going to step off my own soap box and head to bed, hopefully to dreams free of strong opinions. . . :)

I Wish, I Wish

Okay, so it's really late right now and truthfully I should be going to bed, but I'm still super excited about my blog, so I want to take a few minutes and write. I have two friends who are chatting with me on Facebook right now so I'm trying to chat and write this at the same time. Who knew I was so talented?! Well, I am a woman so multi-tasking is an innate part of me!

So, I have to say that I am not completely pleased with the results of last night's election. I'm not an Obama supporter, and I was hoping that he wouldn't win, even though I was pretty certain he had it in the bag. However, instead I've decided that it's not a prophecy of doomsday or something (plus if I was being a ninny like that, I'm pretty sure my roommate, who is much more liberal than me, would loudly tell me I was being ridiculous, and she'd be right), I'm trying to be hopeful that his "change" slogan will really come to pass, and it will help take our country in the right direction. Who knows, maybe a fresh approach is just what we need since the current one isn't working so well. I just hope the direction he takes us in is NOT a socialist one. I think that's quite enough said on that subject.

The "I Wish, I Wish" title of this post refers more to the fact that I am a hopeless romantic at heart and always have been. My roommate and I were just watching a few episodes from the first season of "Pushing Daisies" which is one of my favorite TV shows. (I'm quite distressed that it's in danger of cancellation because it's so clever, and I have enjoyed watching it!! Hopefully the network decides to keep it on for awhile!) Anyway, for those who haven't seen it, the premise is that you have a boy who learns in the first episode that he has a unique gift to touch dead things and bring them back to life. However, it comes with conditions A) One touch will bring it to life again. B) A second touch means it's dead forever and C) If he doesn't make it dead again within one minute, something else will die in its place. Someone finds out his secret and they use it to form a private detective agency where they go wake the person who was killed up to find out who the killer is and then collect a reward.

This is going along great until Ned's childhood sweetheart is killed, and he ends up bringing her back to life. He can't bear to kill her again, so she joins in their business venture. The problem now is that Chuck (that's her name) and Ned are in love but they can never touch each other. However, they find ways around this (like kissing through saran wrap. :)) Anyway, I love this show because it's witty and clever and because Ned's character is just so lovable!!

The whole point of this long drawn-out story is that my roommate and I were talking tonight about how wonderful it would be if someone like Ned existed in real life - a nice, sensitive (and completely attractive) man who is not afraid to show his sensitive side but is still fun to be around. Good men are hard to come by. And good men without some type of issue are even more difficult to find. I know that I am being completely idealistic, and I can't help it, but it's true. This is the problem with being a hopeless romantic. . . Someday my life will involve an interesting and intriguing romance, but until then, I will have to content myself with enjoying interesting fictional men.

While I'm on the subject of wishing, I seriously wish that A) it were still spring/summer/fall - anything but winter really and B) that it didn't get dark so early! Winter arrived with a vengeance today and it snowed for most of the day. We probably have an inch and a half outside, and it's about 30 degrees tonight. BRRRR! I enjoy the snow to a certain extent, I really do. I like that it makes the world pretty and white and that sometimes you can play fun games in it. However, I get tired of the cold, and the trek into the office from the parking garage (It's only a block and a half but still) is not fun when it's freezing outside. I must admit that it does help me appreciate the other seasons much more though! Last year I was afraid winter was NEVER going to end because it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing, clear up until May 1! Yikes! Hopefully, it won't last as long this year.

Anyway, I meant to make this a short entry, but as always, my wordiness prevails. I am exhausted now and need an excuse to end my chats, so I'm going to close. I wish I could sleep in tomorrow too. . . . :)

The World As My Private Joke

So this is a new endeavor for me. I've been wanting to start a blog for several weeks now and just haven't gotten around to it. However, I've started thinking about my daily experiences more and have developed the desire to share them with someone, even if it may just be random people in cyber space. I've even started formulating my entries in my head, which seems silly, but today I finally decided to make it a reality! (Well, that and I finally fixed the settings on my computer so that it's no longer in Japanese. How I ended up with YouTube and Google in Japanese, I'm not quite sure, but I have now happily fixed it and all by myself too! :) )

A few weeks ago, my roommates and I were having some friends over for breakfast and to watch General Conference. I love having people over, so of course I was delighted with this. A few minutes before something had happened which I was quite amused by, and I was still smiling about it. My roommate looked at me and said, "Tammy, I swear that sometimes the world is your private joke."

Perhaps in saying this she wanted me to share the reason for my happiness, but I just smiled cryptically, without offering explanation (which is sometimes a very amusing thing to do) and kept my thoughts to myself. I should explain that I'm kind of funny in a lot of ways. I tend to remember things that I am amused by, long after they happened, and I can still laugh about them hours, days, months, weeks and even years later! For example, I almost feel nerdy sharing this but be that as it may, here goes. I remember something funny that one of my classmates said back in junior high. We were doing a lesson on probability and had been presented with a list of story problems and had to come up with several options for how this could have occurred. I remember one of my classmates said something that was completely absurd, but very funny, and the whole class laughed. I'm sure 95 percent of the people in that class have long since forgotten this happened, but I haven't. A few months ago I was thinking about it and found myself laughing all over again. I know, I know, it's completely silly but it's just the way I am. Perhaps that's part of what helps me be so happy all the time. . .

I enjoy walking down the street, thinking about these funny things and just smiling to myself about them. Sometimes I wonder what people who see me do so think about these cryptic little smiles, but who really knows?! I am well aware, and that's all that matters, right?! Plus, life is hard enough, especially with the economy so crappy, so I'm glad that I can find things to be happy about.

Today I had another funny experience along these same lines. My co-worker was having a hard day, so in an effort to help her feel better, I went to theofficequotes.com and copied some quotes from a few of the very best Office episodes. We share a mutual interest in The Office and have even incorporated a few of the sayings into our vernacular. This had the desired effect, and I was pleased to hear her laugh at each of the quotes I sent. Later, the two of us were leaving the office and we got onto an elevator together. I started thinking about The Office (and let's be honest - there are quite a few episodes chock full of funny moments!) and an episode in particular that I found amusing. A couple floors down from our floor, a lady had joined us, so there were three of us in the elevator. As I thought about the particulars of this episode, I started laughing, suddenly and without explanation. Andrea (my colleague) is accustomed to my sudden outbursts of giggles, so she wasn't startled. (I am also very much a giggler, and I laugh easily, so this happens on a regular basis.) However, she said the lady turned around and gave me the weirdest look, like I was some kind of crazy person. She said something to the effect that nobody had even said anything. I told her that I don't need anybody to say anything because the pictures in my head entertain me most effectively. In thinking over the situation, perhaps I should have found a different way to say this, but oh well. She walked away very quickly after getting off the elevator. Andrea and I talked about it on our trek to the parking garage (which is a block and a half from the office - oh the joys of working in the middle of a construction zone, but that's a topic for another post). I thought it was the funniest thing ever and was still laughing about it once I got to my car.

I supposed the point of all this prattle is that I like to remember things that make me laugh and think about them later, after everyone else has long since forgotten about them. The world is my private joke, but only because I make it so.