Happy B-day to Me!

My birthday was a few weeks ago. As is typical I wasn’t really looking forward to the big day. (I never like the number and the big 4-0 is coming up way to quickly for my comfort.) Weeks before the day’s schedule was school, work, school, maybe out to celebrate, not super exciting but one bonus is that my Mom was here, course she was leaving that day for St. George…

Anyway, a few days before my birthday, my mom’s Aunt Afton passed away and as it turned out, her funeral was on my birthday. Now the schedule became school, funeral & family luncheon, school. Not exactly the most thrilling way to celebrate a birthday but at least I was with family, lots of family. And I love my Mom's family to pieces!

Our family luncheon was fabulous. Aunt Afton had arranged for us to meet at her favorite place to eat, the Hidden Valley Country Club. Knowing her, not only did she have the meal paid for but I bet she even selected the menu. At the luncheon, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to me, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings…way more family than would normally be singing to me under normal circumstances.

When my afternoon class ended I headed home. I was still not really thrilled by the day partly since I felt a bit like I’d reminded people it was my birthday (not exactly what I like to be doing on the day of) and since we’d all been together and parents away from children, I headed home to my place alone and with no plans for dinner. I don’t expect tons of celebration but at least a little bit, enough to know that I was thought of...

As I climbed the stairs to my apartment, I was feeling a little sorry for myself and not thrilled about getting my dinner then having to study. When I rounded the corner to my apartment door I found this…







Beth Anne had driving to SLC from Herriman (about 25 mins drive) to decorate my door. It really cheered my spirits to know that I wasn’t forgotten after all. Memories of college rooms being decorated came to mind. Even though the day and evening wasn’t anything like I would have planned, it turned out ok. To help the celebration feeling linger, I kept some of the decorations up for a few weeks. They’ve all been tucked away but the memory lives on! Thanks BA!

Letting it all hang out

Ever have a favorite outfit? One that you anticipate wearing each season? And you wear frequently it throughout the season? Another bonus to the outfit is that it's a few years old but still looks great and stylish...Best of all, it suits your figure perfectly.

Well I have one. My silk, green, plaid, cropped pants outfit. I bought the outfit on a whim and have never regretted the purchase. Every time I wear the pants I receive at least one compliment. Since they are spring pants and the best shoes with them are sandals, I can't wear the pants until the weather's fairly warm. Today we're to be in the upper 70's so I figured I wouldn't freeze in the office and it was a great outfit to wear to work. I got up and ironed the shirt that goes with it and then got dressed and headed out the door knowing that I looked great.

As is common when this outfit is worn, I received a compliment from a co-worker on my cute pants. I even mentioned that I needed to find another shirt to go with it since the one I originally bought was getting a bit worn and faded.

I kept going about my day taking care of the various tasks which are my responsibility. As I squatted down to contemplate moving some storage stuff around I hear the sound of fabric ripping. Somehow I knew that it was my beloved pants. I felt where I figured the rip occurred and sure enough, there it was, right in the seat where the untucked shirt doesn't cover. So I’m just kinda hangin’ out at the office for a bit longer until I can go home and change before the next thing. Thankfully I’m one who often gets chilled so I have a little jacket at my desk I’ve tied around my waist to try to stay modest but it doesn’t match at all and I don’t look nearly as cute as I did leaving my house this morning.

Though I haven’t looked yet at the rip I fear that it’s beyond repair. You may suggest a patch and that could work, however, I seem to recall noticing that the seat of the pants was getting worn. I knew eventually that this might happen but hopped that I’d have several more seasons with these darling pants. Now I must plan their funeral and lay them to rest. I’m so sad that their life has been cut so short. I suppose I could use parts of the pants for something else but I don’t know exactly what yet.

So far I’ve done a fairly good job of not letting it get me down but I fear I’m still in shock over it all and the emotions will surface later this evening. Maybe I’ll have to just spend the evening consoling myself and drowning my sorrows with a big bowl of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. *sniff sniff*

4 things

I received this via email and thought it might be fun to post here too....

Four things about me that you may or may not have known in any particular order.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1 M&M Mars-Assembly Line Dipping Dove Ice Cream Bars
2 Receptionist-GE Plastics
3 Legal Secretary
4 Student
(Way more than 4 could be put here)

Four movies I have watched more than once (or 100 times) :

1 The Lake House
2 A&E's Pride & Prejudice
3 Anne of Green Gables series
4 Gigi

Four Places I have lived:

1 Elmhurst, IL
2 Lisle, IL
3 San Diego, CA
4 Los Angeles, CA

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:

1 Dancing With the Stars
2 Extreme Makover Home Edition
3 Oprah's Big Give
(All of the above are on video and after the fact)
4 PBS's Complete Jane Austen

Four places I have been:

1 Boston
2 Anaheim
3 Russia
4 Armenia

Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1 Chrissy
2 Mom
3 Choir People
4
(Though regularly is used somewhat loosely)

Favorite Foods

1 Cafe Rio-pork salad & burrito-YUMMY
2 Strawberry Pie
3 Strawberries with sour cream & brown sugar
4 Ice Cream

Four Places I would like to visit:

1 New York
2 Hawaii
3 Europe
4 Japan

Four friends I think will respond:

1 BA
2 Alicia
3 Jennie
4 MaryRuth

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming Year:
1 Trip to Japan
2 Paying down debts
3 No more homework
4 Spending time with family


Not going to "tag" anyone, however, you are welcome to post this to your blog if you'd like.

Thank you Jane Austen

Take the Quiz here!

UGH!!!

It's finals time and I HATE it! Two finals this week & 3 next then I'm finished with the semester. (Still no grad school updates as yet.) The time off can't get her fast enough. Maybe then I can do a bit more with this poor, neglected blog. Thanks to all of you who keep yours regularly updated, it's fun to catch up with all of you. Gotta run for now but wanted to put a little post that I'm still alive & kickin' just busier than should be legally allowed!

Quick update

I need to head off to class but here's an update or two:

1. No details or info on the store robbery. I don't know if suspects have been found or what. It's not been reported in the news but no one was hurt or in the store at the time which could be why.

2. Still nothing exciting to report on the grad school apps.

3. So glad Spring seems to be here to stay.

4. Can't wait for the semester to come to an end.

Well, off to class I go....

What I did on my Spring Break

Picked up some extra hours at work, played a bit with friends and family, responded to some long overdue emails, attended Enrichment Night homework-guilt free, went outside for walks, called 911 to report a robbery....

My landlord knocked on my door this morning and mentioned that the store downstairs was robbed early this morning. He asked if I’d heard anything and I said that I didn’t. Not really that big of a deal, right…wrong!

Tonight I was in my living room studying and heard some loud banging or thumping below me and then an alarm went off. I gave it a minute or two then went down to see if I could find the car whose alarm was going off. As I looked into the store’s front windows I saw that the door was open a little and didn’t see any cars with their lights flashing so I went back upstairs to my apartment and called 911. I gave them what info I had and they called it in as a robbery in progress.

After about 30 minutes, I looked out my window and saw a police car in the parking lot. Feeling safer now, I headed back downstairs to see if she’d been robbed again. Sure enough, she had! The owner is bothered and upset, understandable so, but luckily no one was hurt. She did lose about $400 cash and about $6000 in merchandise in both robberies. Not sure if the police have any leads or not, didn’t really think to ask.

Now every little sound downstairs makes me wonder if I need to call 911 again. She doesn’t have a lock on her door anymore, they broke it again, and is hoping to get someone to stay the night to guard the place. It’s just so unnerving, the second robbery happened right around 9:00 pm. It’s a Friday night, if I didn’t have two tests next week, I might have been leaving my apartment to head out for the evening or run an errand right as things were happening. I’m not against excitement but this is going a bit too far.

Whoever is behind this is pretty gutsy. ALL the lights were on the store and she has big picture windows facing a busy street. Anyone driving by would have surely seen something. Not to mention hitting the same store twice in less than 24 hours. Thankfully, the cars are all untouched. I sure hope they get this figured out and it comes to an end. It makes me nervous to leave during the evening without some type of escort and I don’t like not feeling safe in my own home and neighborhood.