Oops

I didn't mean to leave the almond post up for so long. Of course I wanted people to see it, but not for a week! My previous posting frequency (or should I say non-frequency?) gives me a little more credibility on this, I should think. Leaving a post up for a week is nothing compared to how often I usually wait!

So, I signed up for Nablopomo. Probably a bad decision, destined for failure. I'm too much of a perfectionist ("huh?", you're probably saying, "that drivel you post is the perfectionist version?"). It takes me an hour to post anything, and I always feel like I have to spend time uploading pictures. In the spirit of non-perfectionism, I'm going to end this right here and not even finish that thought.

Did you know I was going to start a running blog? I was. But I didn't. And then I slacked off running. Today I thought sadly "my running career is over before it even started." That got me motivated enough to go for a short run.

Fresh, raw, ALMONDS - great for FOOD STORAGE - delivered FREE - $4/lb

Fresh, raw, shelled almonds – perfect for food storage – delivered right to your door for $4.00 per pound.

California’s almond trees have just been harvested, and it’s a bumper crop! Almonds should be on anyone’s top 10 list of most-nutritious foods. Almonds are not only wildly nutritious and a fantastic fresh source of Vitamin E and fiber, they’re also lower in fat than all the other nuts. When you soak truly raw almonds, they sprout and are nutritionally worth 200% to 500% more: they double in fiber, and minerals, vitamins, and those all-important enzymes go through the roof! Enzyme inhibitors are neutralized and the almond’s plant energy is released—for you to use. This item should be in everyone’s pantry. These shelled almonds are FRESH OUT OF THE TREE and will be good for at least one year at 70°F and even longer in cold storage, refrigerated, or frozen. This is a perfect item for food storage.

If you order 25 pounds or more and you live in Utah, Salt Lake, or Davis counties, I will deliver your order to you for free. (I will take one Saturday after the order comes in and deliver them all that day.) The minimum order size is 10 pounds. Delivery of orders from 10-24 pounds will be 25 cents per pound, or you can pick them up at my home in Utah County. (Go in with your friends to make a 25 pound order!) I will include a booklet with instructions for soaking almonds (similar to sprouting) for maximum nutritional benefit, as well as a collection of recipes including almond milk, almond paté, chocolate almond torte, crispy almond snacks that kids will love, and many others.

Unfortunately, you can’t get truly raw almonds from any retailer, unless they’re $8-$12 per pound from Spain. Not Costco, not Good Earth, not Wild Oats, not Azure Standard. It’s been illegal since September 2007 for California to sell raw almonds to retailers, and California produces 85% of the world’s almonds—it’s the state’s largest agricultural export. For that you can thank the mandatory high-heat, flash-pasteurization law that the FDA is currently being sued for, by a coalition of almond growers. Some nuts are labeled raw (because no restrictions on this are imposed by the government), even though they are flash pasteurized and WILL NOT GERMINATE.

These almonds come directly from a ranch in California. The September 2007 flash-pasteurization law allows you to buy 100 pounds per person, per day, directly from the rancher. Not only are these nuts truly raw, but they are less expensive than the flash pasteurized nuts you can get in local stores. There are 25-27 nuts per ounce. The picture you see here shows smaller nuts (30-32 nuts per ounce) from the same ranch. Yours will be a bit bigger and nicer!

Leave me a comment or email me. Since we're talking finances, I'll be glad to give you my phone number, but email me first!

I will accept checks, money orders, or Paypal. I need to receive your payment by October 29th (Paypal payments must be cleared by that date).

Panic Time!

I have always wanted to be more feminine and beautiful, but there are some things making it really difficult for me:

1) I'm really lazy. 5 extra minutes of sleep or makeup? Sleep wins every time!

2) I have no fashion sense. I insist that I'm better at matching colors than my husband, but other than that, I just don't get it. The most attractive clothes I've owned have been picked out by my sister or husband. I wrote about this two years ago.

3) I'm REALLY cheap. Right now I have one pair of dress shoes. My mom thinks she bought them for me 3 years ago. I think it is in between 1 and 2 years ago. Either way, I've worn them nearly every day since, and they're trashed. Whoa! I just looked at the pictures in the link I referenced above, and I have the shoes on! So I guess I have had them at least two years. Sheesh.

4) Comfort is my paramount goal. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of high heels. But then I try them on, and I just can't do it. I cannot put myself through that torture. I browse at Zappo's and have saved pictures of the most gorgeous purple brushed leather heels on my computer, but I just can't get myself to actually suffer for beauty. You might have noticed that I had heels on in one of those pictures in the 2006 post. I would wear them to work and hobble in to the building. I would hang out at my desk all day and leave it only for emergencies (i.e., bathroom runs). Then I would have to pull myself up the stairs by the handrails. When I got home at night, I would take pictures of my poor red feet. For someone who has had 3 unmedicated childbirths (two of which were at home), I have a pretty low threshold for discomfort.

5) I rebel against societal expectations. Our culture's standard of beauty is so arbitrary. Here in the USA, it's sleek hair, makeup, a size 0 body, and high heels. In other cultures, it's lip plates, foot binding, or stretched necks. Who decides? I know that I have bought into our culture's idea of beauty. I'm trying to change that, but it's hard -- it's something ingrained into us from birth.

Wow, that was supposed to be a quick bullet-point list. Oops. Anyway, there was actually an entirely different point to this post. Namely, my sister is getting married the first weekend of November. Most of the time, I am fine with my bun/no-makeup/no-heels lifestyle, but I would like to look decent for the wedding (by US standards; no lip plates). My sister bought me a dress, and I actually think it will work OK. But what about the rest of the ensemble?! I need to figure out hair, makeup, and shoes.

Here is the dress, and yes, I don't know how to pose or smile:



It looks way different on the model (no surprise).

This dress is perfect for my um, chest area. I will not even get into my struggles with bras. But the fact that the pretty neckline thing on this dress covers it all up is FABULOUS. Someday I hope to find a good bra that fits. Probably not happening since I need a 30G (depending on how long since I've nursed the baby).

I have worn my hair in a bun probably 80-90% of the time since early 2006. I no longer own a straightening iron, curling iron, or hairspray. Since I'm not the bride, I don't need to worry about a glamour-intense hairdo, but I do want to look non-frumpy. I'm thinking that I'll do my hair in a half-up of some variety, with the remainder curled -- either my natural curls, or steam-rollers, or curling iron curls. Then a few wisps around my face will make it look awesome. Although now that I think of it, if I do that, I can guarantee that my baby will suck on/eat them, leaving them looking scraggly and nasty.

Here is a picture of me with no makeup:



When I was 14, I had my makeup professionally done. I think the colors complemented me well. I have never strayed from them in nearly 14 years of wearing makeup (I've worn it sporadically). As of yesterday, I had mascara, but that was it. The kids got into my eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipstick and destroyed it. As I mentioned above, I cannot STAND spending money on stuff, especially something like makeup. I went for the high-quality stuff (haha) and bought a few things at WalMart today. I had two colors in mind for the lipstick -- nude and almost nude. I decided to be really bold and go for the 'almost nude'. Well, I tried it on at home, and it is Barbie doll pink! After a few minutes it brightened into a neon Barbie pink. In what galaxy is this 'nude'? $5 down the drain. I bought an eyebrow pencil, as my eyebrows are pretty much invisible. I think it might be OK. Maybe.

Shoes. Sigh. I'm going to have to wear heels of some sort. I hope I can find something nice with about 2" heels. If I get them now and wear them around the house, I think I might be able to stand them long enough to get pictures taken. If anyone knows of a place where I can get CHEAP dyeable shoes or clear shoes, let me know! By cheap, I mean $20 or less, dyed. Probably not happening, huh?

Has anyone made it this far? *chirp* *chirp* (That was the sound of crickets chirping. . . .)

Triceps brachii: lateral head

Note: If this post makes no sense, please forgive me. It is very, very late.

There are so many things I have wanted to write about over the past few months/years, but I never have time to write all of them. I've decided to just get started again and do what I can. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, or something like that. That said, the following post was not even a kernel of an idea in my mind until about 10 minutes ago. So all those other things I've been meaning to write about will have to wait.

A few minutes ago I was rubbing my arms because I was cold. I felt something firm and lumpy. After freaking out for a nanosecond, wondering what this unusual lump could be, I remembered -- oh yeah, I recently acquired a muscle. Yes, 'a' muscle. All the others are still just like limp spaghetti, but this one has decided to single itself out.

The muscle in question is the lateral head of the triceps brachii. It took several minutes of intense Googling to figure that out. I acquired it because of a Craigslist purchase. A few months ago I decided to start 'jogging'. I meant to start a blog about my 'jogging' adventure, but I never got started, and now I don't even remember what my motivation to 'jog' was. Anyway, I ended up buying a $30 jogging stroller off of Craigslist. It is pretty much a piece of crap, and I have to fight with it to keep it on the sidewalk/trail. Over the past few months I managed to develop a triceps muscle due to fighting with the stroller! Yay for 'jogging' with crappy strollers!

(The reason I put 'jogging' in quotes is because of my pace. On my last 'jog', my first after a 3-week hiatus, actual snails blew past me. Seriously. I was doing a 17-minute mile. 17 minutes, really. I didn't even know it was possible to 'jog' that slowly. I could easily walk faster.)

Cheater Green Smoothie

I made a green smoothie last night that was so delicious, you would literally not know it had greens in it. Therefore, I call it the 'Cheater Green Smoothie' because it tastes fruity and sweet, with no bitter aftertaste or any type of bad taste that anyone might associate with greens.

The full recipe is proprietary (see GreenSmoothieGirl.com and her store), but I'll tell you the basics of what I used:

water
agave nectar
lemon with peel
flax seed oil
spinach, chard, and kale
avocado
bananas
frozen peaches
pear

I am still a little light on the greens; I could increase the proportion of greens a lot more. I noticed some, um, digestive disturbances when I went all-out with the greens, so I've cut back on them for now. I need to get a kitchen scale to get a better idea of the true amount I'm using on a weight basis.

Anyway, the smoothie was absolutely fabulous, and incredibly smooth - almost silky, like pudding. I used a VitaMix to blend it; I'm not sure if I'd have gotten the same result using my Bosch blender. Perhaps I'll make the same thing again tonight using the Bosch to test.

Robyn shows how to make her basic smoothie here. You can vary the types of greens and fruit however you want.

The Best Chocolate Cake

When Megan announced the Egg Recipes contest at Backyard Farming, I was very excited to enter! I planned several recipes, made two of them, and took lots of pictures while I was at it. Then I procrastinated until now I have 6 minutes until the entry deadline. So I guess all you'll get is the recipe and a couple pictures.

I based this off Smitten Kitchen's 'the best chocolate cake, expletive-free' recipe.

Copied directly from the above link:

To Make a Four-Layer Chocolate Cake

For cake layers:
12 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
6 tablespoons water
12 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cup sugar
1½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder

For filling:
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons confectioners sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons Grand Marnier*

Make cake layers: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease four 9-inch circular cake pans and line bottoms of circles with a piece of parchment paper.

Melt chocolate with water in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring. Cool to lukewarm.

Beat yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 5 minutes in a standing mixer or about 8 minutes with a hand-held mixer. Fold in melted chocolate until blended. Beat whites with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks (you will need an enormous bowl for 12 egg whites).

Gradually add remaining 2/3 cup sugar and beat until whites just hold stiff peaks. Fold one third of whites into melted-chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Spread batter evenly over four baking pans and bake until puffed and top is dry to the touch, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating cakes between racks to ensure they bake evenly. Transfer pans to cooling racks and if necessary, loosen edges with a knife.

Sift cocoa powder over top of cake layers and place a piece of waxed paper over the top of the pans. Place a baking sheet over paper and invert cake onto it, gently peeling off wax paper lining. Place layers in the freezer for about an hour, until they are firm enough to be carefully lifted without breaking.

Make filling: Beat cream with powdered sugar and Grand Marnier with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.

Fill and roll cake: Bring first cake layer out of the freezer and arrange on platter, cocoa side down. Spread one-quarter of filling evenly over the cake. Bring the next cake layer out of the freezer, placing it gently over the filling, again cocoa side down. Repeat this process until all layers and whipped cream are used.

Keep cake in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it. Two hours should be more than enough to assure that the layers are no longer frozen.

Dark chocolate grated into curls with a vegetable peeler makes for an excellent garnish.

* You can substitute the following for Grand Marnier: 4 tablespoons Cognac and 1 teaspoon vanilla; 4 tablespoons cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla; or 4 teaspoons instant-espresso powder or instant-coffee granules dissolved in 4 teaspoons water plus 1 teaspoon vanilla.

I halved everything to make a two-layer cake and I used the cocoa variation instead of the Grand Marnier.

Here are the ingredients I started out with:


And here is the finished product:

Fabulous Beginner Green Smoothie

I've toyed with the idea of drinking green smoothies in the past, but never stuck with it. I recently stumbled across Robyn's Green Smoothie Girl website, and she got me all fired up for green smoothies again. The last few days I've been stuffing mine full of spinach, collards, and kale, but I decided to scale back a little bit today and work up to that many greens at once. This was today's smoothie, and it was fantastic:

start with 1 C cold water
add 1 handful spinach and 1/2 leaf collard greens (no stem)
blend until smooth
add 1-1/2 C fresh pineapple with all the juice from when you cut the pineapple up
add 1 pear, with skin (I removed the seeds)
add a tiny squirt of agave nectar (I'm sure it was less than a tablespoon)
drizzle in melted coconut oil as the blender is going (I used several tablespoons)

It was delicious! It's heavy on fruit, but it's a great way to get started on green smoothies. You can work your way up to more green-intensive recipes.

I also added a raw egg to mine, but most people probably aren't going to go for that ;-)

A disgusting experience

Out of respect for the vegans, there are no pictures included in this post :)

A couple of weeks ago, I went grocery shopping and included fish on my list. I bought a somewhat-thawed previously-frozen fish labeled 'Whole Red Snapper'. It looked kind of gross, as it still had the head attached, including deflated eyeballs. I've used chicken feet when making stock in the past, so heads/eyeballs didn't really bother me that much.

However, I made a serious thinking error. I assumed that when the label said "Whole Red Snapper", it meant "Mostly Whole (Gutted) Red Snapper." Sadly, I was wrong. Today I got the fish out of the freezer, and as I removed it from the package, I noticed that there was no tell-tale slit up the stomach. EW. That meant there were still GUTS inside. If this was a fresh fish, I wouldn't have been bothered. As a kid I always wanted to go into the health professions, so I actually liked gutting fish. I loved to examine and feel all the organs. But those guts just sitting there inside the fish for all this time . . . yucky.

I thawed the fish in warm water. I planned to scale it, remove the fins, gut it, and chop off the head. Unfortunately, when I took it out of the water, it just started falling apart. Everywhere I touched it, the skin just fell off. That was fine, since I didn't have to bother scaling it. I started the stomach slit, and the very dull knife sailed right through the flesh. That's not really a good sign. It basically fell open in my hands. I removed the guts, and meanwhile, the head fell half off. All this time I was wondering if this fish was even safe to eat, but it smelled OK. I guess it just didn't appreciate being frozen and thawed.

I baked it with butter and pepper. My kids usually LOVE fish, and they wouldn't even touch it! I guess the reality of it was just too much for them.

Am Fast!

96 words

Speed test

I didn't even cheat! The first 3-4 times I did this, I got 87 wpm. Then I got 94, then 93, then today I got 96 wpm.

If you wanted to though, you could cheat pretty easily:
8,451 words

Speed test

Resurrecting My Blog for an Apron

Loralee's friend Erin has opened up an Etsy shop called Saucy Frocks. She is selling some of the cutest aprons I've seen, and at reasonable prices! I can't decide which is my favorite. All of them are darling. I already enjoy cooking, but I think that wearing one of these aprons while I cook could only make the experience even more fun.

If you check out this post at Loralee's, you can get entered into a drawing for a Saucy Frock apron.

Keep on the Sunny Side

Lately I have been spectacularly good at finding the negative in life.  I've turned into one of those annoying people who isn't really rude, but doesn't ever have anything positive to say.   It's getting to the point where I don't even recognize the positive any more.

I have so many great ideas about what I want my life to be like, yet all I really want to do is crawl into bed and sleep.  Forever.  Just sleep.  That sounds heavenly.  It is obvious that I am depressed, at least to some degree.  I'm not sad and unable to function; I'm just negative and 'blah'.  I continue going to work.  I occasionally get the kids something to eat.  I occasionally do a few dishes or sweep the floor.  I vacuum nearly every day and I put all the clean clothes away every week.  So see, I'm not completely non-functional.

Even my husband has mentioned this recently.  He has NEVER been the type of husband to tell me I'm depressed and do it in a jerky manner.  I'm not sure how to describe what I'm thinking of, but I've heard of husbands who do this.  So anyway, he's not like that, but he has gently suggested recently that I might consider maybe possibly going to a doctor to look into anti-depressants.  I was like "Why would I go to a doctor to 'look into' them?  They'll just prescribe them?!"  And he answered "yeah".  Oh.

I'm too deeply entrenched into the world of natural health to go to anti-depressants just yet.  I know what I need to do.  Exercise and eating better would make a world of difference for me.  I know this.  I've always known this.  Yet I still don't do it.  So will I start on my own?  Or is mine a situation where pharmaceuticals would help me get enough motivation to start, and then I could continue on my own?  It's something to think about for now.   

Also, apparently I'm supposed to be looking for the positive in things.  I have been practically bombarded by messages from every side about looking for the positive in life and being happy.  I'm reading a book called "Wake Up to a Happier Life."  Based on the title alone, it's obvious what kind of messages I'm getting from there.  Lessons at church are often about being grateful for what we do have and looking on the bright side of things.  A good friend gave me a Christmas card about me being a happy person.  I wondered where she got that idea, but it made me think about what my life would be like if I was really like that on the inside and the outside.  To seal the deal, today I got this quote by Bob Proctor in my inbox:

"Everything that happens in your life today will either appear negative or positive. Keep in mind whatever happens must have a positive side to it.

A large majority of the population seems to be mentally programmed to pay attention to the negative side of life and unfortunately, ignore the positive.

Make a decision right now that, regardless of what happens today, you are going to look for the positive aspect of what's happening. Remember... every cloud has a silver lining. Do this again tomorrow and the next day until it becomes a habit to see the positive in everything. You will feel better, you will be more productive, and you will have more friends."

So apparently I'm supposed to be positive and find joy.  I mentioned that last month, before NaBloPoMo.  Clearly I'm still not doing it, but I'm a little closer now.

Too Country? Nope, Too Practical.

I really regret not going to Brad Paisley's concert last year, and it looks like practicality may win out again this year.   You know how women are supposed to be offended if their husband buys them a cleaning implement or kitchen appliance for their anniversary?  Not me - that's the kind of stuff I specifically ask for.  The best gift I can ever remember receiving was my Bosch mixer, although it was from my mom when I graduated from BYU.  So when I look at the long list of things I want, I typically prioritize by practicality.  Brad Paisley tickets are on the low end of "practical".  Here's my unedited list of Things I Want or Think I Need, exactly as it is written on my secret scrap of paper [I'll save my editorial comments and explanations for a future post]:

Natural/mineral makeup and/or makeover
Spa stuff - massage, manicure, etc.
Chiropractic care
Contacts and/or glasses
Henna
Flexi-8's
Ficcares
hairsticks
Nursing bra
Clothes
Shoes
Food processor attachment for Bosch
Dillard's or similar gift certificates
Engineering scale
BRAD PAISLEY CONCERT tickets
Photoshop Elements
Digital scrapbooking instructional DVDs
silk sleeping cap or pillowcase
AV re:coil
robe

When I look at that long list of much more practical things, how can I even consider concert tickets?  Not to mention the other challenges of going to this concert, namely:
1 - It's an hour away, on a weeknight
2 - My husband would have to skip most of his sleeping time to go, and then he'd have to go to work right afterwards.  We might even have to leave early so he can get to work.
3 - I'd have to go to work the next day (but maybe this isn't really a big deal since I always stay up half the night wasting time on the internet)
4 - We'd have to get a babysitter who could take the kids until very late at night (but maybe we could get noise-reducing ear muffs and take the baby with us)
5 - I discussed the cost with my husband, and we agreed that we'd forego expensive Christmas presents (like concert tickets) and get a portable dishwasher instead.  We HATE washing dishes by hand.  I'm all for the old days, but not when it comes to dishwashers.  I love modern appliances.

Earlier in the week when I started this post, I was waffling.  The biggest thing is the dishwasher.  I could buy the tickets and have one fun night.  Or I could put that money towards the dishwasher and be 80% free from dishes from here on out.  We were thinking that we'd be spending $300+ for the dishwasher.  But yesterday I found a NEVER BEEN USED nearly-new portable dishwasher on KSL.com for $75!!  Of course it was gone by the time I found it, but if one popped up, another will come along eventually.  (I hope). 

Oh and by the way, I've made my choice.  I'm throwing caution to the wind and ignoring the consequences - I'm buying the tickets.  Tomorrow morning, 10 am sharp.

Is It Raining At Your House?

I went outside to go to work and it's raining!  Glorious rain!  I love rain.  I think rain is the biggest thing I miss about Houston.  Houston gets an average of 44" of RAIN per year.  And it's usually warm rain - wonderful for going outside and getting soaked in.  My area of Utah gets 15-20" per year, but that includes the rain-equivalent of snow, so really, not much rain :-( 

There's one big downside to this rain.  It's all going to turn to ice.  A solid sheet of ice under several inches of snow.  That will be fun. 

It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway

To the person who stumbled upon this blog by Googling "defrizzer": You are at the wrong place ---->

Oh My (Stinkin' Heck) and a Side Note

OMSH is hosting a funny face contest. I had absolutely no intention of participating, because I figure that the fewer pictures of me there are on this blog, the better. But then my 3-year old went crazy with the camera, and I ended up with a funny face picture. So here it is:



I was messing around with the special effects that came with the camera software, and I thought this one was especially fetching:



Side Note: I found out today that based on my page views, I could make 75 cents per month if I added BlogHer ads to this blog!!

Side Note 2: I have got to get up to date on photo uploading and handling. I think I am doing it a very old fashioned way. I open the picture in my free software program and save it once in a relatively large size and once in a smaller size. Then I upload both to Photobucket. Then I add the small image to my post using HTML, and point the href tag to the larger picture. I'm doing it totally weird, huh?

Let me try the Blogger "add image" button:
Whoa! It added 5 lines of nasty looking code to this post. Yuck. I don't like it because I don't know what the code is doing, exactly. I do like how it allows the picture to be in line with the text. But I'm sure I could learn that fairly easily. Or not. I just checked a couple blogs, and they don't do that in-line thing. They maximize the picture width to cover the full width of the text column on their blog.

I just remembered that the reason I got on to the computer in the first place was to upload some pictures of some stuff I'm selling on KSL.com. Oops.

Which famous person are you?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Hope for America

I have added two new banners to this page. I urge you to check out Ron Paul and see for yourself what kind of candidate he is. Check out the library as well as the main campaign site.

I heard third-hand that the State Department has said that Ron Paul supporters are threats to national security. That actually makes a lot of sense. The stronghold the federal government has on our nation would be destroyed if Ron Paul was elected president. I can see how they would feel that their power is threatened by Ron Paul and his supporters :) So count me in as a threat to national security.

NaBloPoOops

A few weeks ago, I said there was NO WAY I was doing NaBloPoMo. On Thursday I changed my mind, and figured I'd at least give it a go for a few days. But then yesterday I forgot to post! I guess at least that takes the pressure off, so now I only have to post if I really want to.

Three Rants, One Resolved (kind of)

1) Our easy listening station is playing Christmas music already! If I'm not mistaken, I wrote about this last year. This year, it totally took me by surprise. It can't be November already! I remember when I was a kid, time went s o o o o s l o w l y y y y y . Now it ZIPS by.

2) Why do big huge SUVs slow down to a crawl to go over speed bumps and through dips? What is the point of having an SUV if you can't barrel through bumps and dips at full speed? Surely if your Hummer suspension can handle off-roading, it can handle a little dip at 25 mph.

3) Last year I didn't buy tickets to the Brad Paisley concert because we were kind of low on cash. I figured I would just go this year. In retrospect, that was kind of dumb, because last year I should've realized that I'd have a newborn by concert time this year. A few months ago I started looking at tour dates, and it seemed that Brad Paisley wasn't coming to Utah this year. I was QUITE annoyed (that is the rant part). However, he apparently IS coming, on January 24th-ish - at least that's what I remember from the radio - there's nothing about it on his website yet. That doesn't quite solve the newborn problem though. Baby will be 5 months old by then, and I leave him every day for work, so in theory, I should be able to leave him long enough for a concert. But ideally I'd go to the concert with Husband, and he's the one who stays with Baby while I'm at work. My mom is probably afraid to tend him while he's that young (are you, Mom?), but maybe I can find someone else. We'll see.

Edited to add:
I've got to get more creative! I'm totally recycling posts from last year. See, I wrote about Brad Paisley here, and I wrote about the Christmas music (and Brad Paisley) here. Blogging appears to bring out the teenage girl in me - I really don't gush about Brad Paisley in real life, at all (seriously).

?

Well, I've successfully managed to not post for nearly 9 months! The good news is that in that time, there has been progress on the problems I mentioned in my last post. Namely, two Chipotle restaurants have opened up less than an hour from here! I guess I wasn't craving it all that much though, because I haven't gone yet. I'd still rather have Texadelphia cheesesteaks and Don Carlos queso.

In order to tell how far away Chipotle is from me, I had to put it into Google Maps. I figured I'd be lazy and leave off the city/state and just use the zip code. So I put my address in the 'from' field and 6924 South Park Centre Drive, 84121 in the 'to' field. What did Google do? It gave me a location in HOUSTON. Of all the places in the entire country/world, it chose Houston. Interesting.

I'm thinking of doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month or something) again this November. But I still feel extremely inhibited when writing about important or personal things, so I'd be posting a month's worth of drivel. I could write about my hair for a month. That would be fun for the guys who read this. I could do hair growth progress, a history of my hair, hair routines, hair products, and hair styles. The possibilities boggle the mind.