encounters at the grocery store

So, I was at my local Kroger tonight, looking for molasses.  I looked all over the baking isle, which is where I thought it would be, but I couldn't find it.  So then I thought it was probably in the syrup section, but I couldn't find that either.  I thought it would be by the pancake section, but that was also the baking isle and, well, now we're back where we started.  As it was after 10, there wasn't much in the way of people to ask, other than stockers and even those were few and far between.

Finally I found a young kid who looked promising.  (Now, before I tell this story, I just want to say that he was very young - maybe 18 tops - and probably didn't have much baking experience especially with molasses.)  I asked him where I might find some molasses and he looked at me a second, puzzled.  Then he put his hand up to his mouth and said, miming, "Like for smoking?"

And really, who among us hasn't thought of smoking molasses at one point or another in our lives?  I dare say we all have.  I was spared answering the question (forever leaving myself to wonder if we were both indeed thinking of the same kind of molasses) when another woman walked by, who I could ask.  (And, by the way, I was right - it was in the syrup section, which was in the cereal section, which I really should have thought of.  I guess.)

So, I happily checked out and as I was leaving, another young man nearly ran over me.  But he apologized by raising his case of beer and saying, "Cheers to you!"  Then looking closer at my bags he said, "Oh wait - that's not beer you have.  It's cling wrap.  Well, cheers anyway!"

the return

I have some GREAT news for you! Kristin and Erin's online book club is back after a many months hiatus (my fault).  So head on over and check it out.

Kristin and Erin's online book club.

team edward 4 life!!

Okay, you and I both know I'm not a Twilight fan.  But I have to say I'm definitely on "Team Edward" because I have the most amazing brother-in-law in the world: Todd Edward Gardner.  He is my favorite brother-in-law, by far.  Most of it is, of course, how he treats my sister, Lydia.  (Originally I wrote Bella there, but it creeped me out too much, so I changed it back to Lydia, as it should be.)  He loves her oh so very much and takes the best care of her.  He can see her for the wonderful woman that she is and he makes sure she know she loves her.  It is a wonderful thing for me, as her sister, to see.  On top of that, he's just a fun guy to be around.  He integrated himself into our slightly crazy family and accepts each one of us for who we are.  From the very beginning it seemed like he was already a part of the family that we'd been missing and I don't know how we did without him.  So, here's to Todd Edward!  Thanks for being so great.

(But, don't get a big head... you can move into second place brother-in-law at any moment if you slip up, and you know we'll be watching you.)

Heart!

(Note: I currently only have one brother-in-law.)

number 8 on the list of things not to do at a cemetery

I went to Utah this last weekend.

(To my Utah friends: I know, I know.  I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming.  I was really only there Saturday and Sunday and I knew I wouldn't have time to see you, so I didn't tell you.  Please forgive me.)

On Sunday,  my two sisters who live in Utah, Lizzy and Lydia, and I decided to go up to Brigham City and visit dad.  It was the first time I've been up there since he was buried.  At that time, we hadn't gotten the headstone yet and I wanted to see it.  And I just wanted to visit him.

The evening before, I went to a wedding reception.  They had flowers on the tables with vases that they said we could keep, so I took a vase and a few flowers to bring up to put on the grave.  But the vase was very light and after putting it on the grave, it kept tipping over.  After one of the tippings, I said I should probably take the vase anyway because there was a sign upon entering the cemetery that said not to bring glass or wire onto the grounds.

"What?" said Lydia.  "This isn't glass!  It's plastic - watch!"

And before we could stop her, she took the vase and hit it against the cement at the base of the headstone, whereupon it promptly shattered as it was, in fact, glass, spilling flowers, water, glass and little blue pebbles all over the ground.

The three of us looked on in shock for a second and then burst out laughing.

"Well, that solves the problem of the vase," I said.

"At least it was on mom's side and not dad's," Lydia said.

At least, indeed.  We left the flowers sans vase by the headstone, thinking dad probably wouldn't care if there was a vase or not.  Or even if there were flowers.

Lessons learned:
- When your sister tells you that a vase is made of glass, maybe find some way to test that other than breaking the vase on your father's grave, even though dad probably laughed just as hard as we did.

sometimes it's not better to be safe than sorry

I read a quote once that said something like, "If you wish to live a life free of pain, you must do without many things."  I think it is saying, in effect, that you have to take risks sometimes, even if you might end up getting hurt in the end.  If you don't ever want to get hurt then you'll live life in a way that keeps you safe, but is boring and doesn't bring you to your full potential.

That's a pretty weighty introduction to the real point of this post, which is that I made the switch to the new iPhone.

My old phone was making me crazy.  It didn't ring half the time.  It sent text messages hours later.  Plus, my contract with T-Mobile was up.  And I'd dropped my iTouch enough times that it was starting to have troubles of its own.  So I just decided to combine the phone and iPod and get the new iPhone.  Yes, I know that some people have antenna problems.  Yes, it is a little bit more expensive than my old phone.  But these are risks that sometimes just have to be taken.  (Yeah, I realized that I'm comparing my iPhone to life.)  And maybe it will end up that this switch will break my heart and make me frustrated and angry.  But sometimes you just have to take a risk in order to end up with a really rocking phone.  Plus, it feeds my crazy need to always check my email and find out answers to questions right now.

So, don't be afraid to take risks my friend.  Sometimes you end up getting burned and sometimes you end up happier than you thought you'd be.

and the last shall be first

Lydia got married a few weekends ago.  I thought I would have more to say about it, but I really don't.  It was very happy because she is so happy with Mr. Wickham.  But it had undertones of sadness because dad wasn't there (in person).  So... I'll just post some pictures.  (That's all people want from blogs anyway, isn't it?)

Hooray for Uncle and Aunt Gardner!

where's that terrible towel when i need it?

I went home to visit my mother this weekend.  We had a lovely time together.  I love my mother.  But that is actually irrelevant to this post.

Here are the relevant bits of information:
1. Mom lives in Pittsburgh.
2. Uncle Steve also lives in Pittsburgh.
3. Uncles Steve (and family) love Steelers football.
4. There was a pre-season Steelers game last Saturday.
5. Uncle Steve had extra tickets to the Steelers game on Saturday.
6. Up until about 3 seconds ago, I thought it was spelled "Stealers" and I didn't know why it was being underlined in red.

Okay, that last one wasn't really relevant, but maybe it was interesting.  (Probably not.)  Anyway, as you are very good at deduction, you have figured out by now that mom and I went to the football game with Steve last Saturday night, plus my cousins Eleanor and Alex.  I'd only ever been to one pro football game before in my life, at I was maybe twelve years old at the time, so it was a interesting experience, even though it was just "pre-season."  I enjoyed the action and seeing the plays from a totally new angle than on tv.

As interesting as football is (which incidentally isn't as interesting as baseball, in my opinion) this post wouldn't be very exciting unless Something Happened at the Game.  In this case, the Something was rain.  Our seats were under an overhang, so we didn't get the worst of it.  Until the wind started.  Then we were in the same boat (ha ha) as everyone else.  We headed for higher ground, along with most of the others in the stadium.  An announcement came on the PA and the jumbo tron that the game was being postponed for now.  We were pretty much stranded in the stands of the stadium.  This is when Alex turned to Uncle Steve and said, "Dad, can we get some nachos?"  Oh Alex.  So innocent and undeterred by the weather.  Luckily he found an unopened bag of chips to tide him over until the rain lessoned enough (about an hour later) to send him and Eleanor out for supplies.  (That is one of the benefits of being an adult - you get to make your younger cousins your minions.)

Okay, so maybe this post wasn't actually as exciting as I thought it would be as I was writing it in my head in the stadium.  But it seemed memorable at the time.  One of those things where Eleanor and I will say to each other years from now, "Remember that Steelers game we went to with hurricane force winds and rain?" And we'll smile at each other knowingly and remember it.

I'll just end with a deep thought by Jack Handy:
"Most of the time it was probably a read bad thing being stuck down in a dungeon.  But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, 'Boy, I'm glad I'm not out in THAT'."