Interesting By Association

Over the years I have discovered a hard truth about myself- I’m not that interesting.  I know what you’re thinking: ‘stop being so hard on yourself’ and ‘if you’re not that interesting why do you have a blog?’ but it’s the truth.  I’m not that interesting.  If there is anything interesting about me, it’s my friends. 

I have the most unusual assortment of friends possible.  Their professions run the gamut from teachers, performers, stay at home mom’s, missionaries, telemarketers, social workers and aquatics managers.  I even have two optometrist friends… and they’re married- to each other.  The small talk is endless with that kind of set up. 

Beyond their day jobs my friends also have very interesting hobbies / second jobs.  I currently have two friends writing books.  Books that will most likely be published.  How are these people friends with me?  One of them, my friend Lesley, recently sent me a draft of her book and it is so amazing!  It’s a book aimed towards teen readers so, naturally, I love every minute of it.  Like me, Lesley is a Twilight lover and an avid fan of all things Disney (Suite Life, Hannah Montana, you name it), so it makes sense that her book would relate so well to teens.

Side note: I am very jealous of teens these days since they have entire book series’ dedicated to them.  Don’t get me wrong- I absolutely enjoyed some Sweet Valley High books in my day.  Who didn’t love to check in with Elizabeth and Jessica?  But, it’s just not the same. (Should I be embarrassed that I just confessed to reading Sweet Valley High books as a teen?)

After Lesley sent me the latest copy of her book she told me that her newest novel focuses on a rich kid who gets mixed up with a bad girl.  And she used my last name for the girl character’s name!!  I wrote Lesley and told her she must have used my name because I, too, am a bad girl.  I think the response was something like “ha ha… yea right”.

Anyway, I am so honored to have my name attached with Les’ work.  I haven’t told her yet, but I am expecting to receive 25% of the profits and a dedication in the book. 

See?  I may not be interesting but I am expensive.

Olympic Fever. Catch It.

I have Olympic fever.  I ALWAYS get Olympic fever but the past two Olympics I have been especially riveted.  In fact, I know I went overboard with the ‘08 Beijing games because it was dark days for a while after the closing ceremonies.  I was practically in an Olympic coma those two weeks of August.

When I was a little girl I would watch the Olympics and imagine I was an ice skater or a gymnast (depending on which games were on) and try to come up with awesome routines.  I’m pretty sure every girl has imagined sticking the landing to win the Gold for her country.  And if you haven’t then… welcome to my blog, I an over sharer.  Anyway, in the 4th grade the Winter Olympics rolled around and it was the BIG one.  The one with all the important characters: Nancy Kerrigan, her knee, a baseball bat and Tonya Harding.  I was completely engrossed with all the drama on and off the ice.  In fact, that February I made an art project that was diorama of an ice skating rink with all the skaters on it.  I spent a lot of time on that thing, only to be utterly disappointed when Oksana Baiul (wearing a scrunchie) came outta nowhere and stole Nancy Kerrigan’s gold medal from her (I don’t know if I was more upset that Kerrigan got the silver medal or about the scrunchie).

So, this year I’ve been watching all the Olympic sports and enjoying myself immensely.  I find that sports I would never typically consider watching become so much more entertaining when there’s a gold medal on the line.  I was thinking as I watched figure skating tonight that I would really like to be able to skate up on one leg and if I could do anything, I’d just like to be able to skate on one leg.  But after thinking it through I realized that if I did learn how to skate on one leg I would still be disappointed because if you have to clutch the wall as you do it you don’t feel nearly as graceful as the ice skaters on tv.  Maybe I should focus on skating with both legs first.

All this to say, I’ve got Olympic fever, and clearly (after sharing that diorama story) it’s a sickness.

The BIG Mac

Last week my friend Yumi sent me a text message to wish me a Happy Chinese New Year and asking if I’d like to get together for dinner soon.  And since I’m always interested in meeting for dinner I said yes, please.

We met up soon after that and I asked Yumi how she had celebrated her New Year.  She told me that there was a Taiwanese Student Union at her school and she had gone to their New Year’s party.  And, as is our tradition, we began a cultural discussion.  Our “cultural discussions” usually just entail her telling me things about her culture that I’ve never heard of.  She spends a lot of time educating me.

So, Yumi was telling me that it is tradition in China to pass around a red envelope at the New Year’s party and everyone there puts in a little money.  After the envelope is filled up they give the money to the children and the children give the elder’s a blessing.  She was telling me about this and said that her friends at the party wanted to do this but they’re all poor college students so they didn’t have the money to.  She said that instead they decided to have a raffle and she won the raffle!

Yumi told me that she was mortified because she wasn’t technically a member of the student union and that they’re supposed to pay dues but she never paid any money.  I asked her what she had won and she told me: “Well, I opened it and it was a Big Mac box.”

My friend told me how she felt so awful because she couldn’t believe they would buy her a Big Mac, and especially because she didn’t pay her dues.  Yumi went on and on about how bad she felt because she thought they’d bought her a Big Mac.

So, I asked her if there was a Big Mac inside the box when she opened it and she said no, there was a t-shirt inside the box.

I thought about that for a little bit and then finally asked her how they’d managed to get a tshirt into a big mac box.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, Big Mac’s are great but they’re not usually THAT big (or, if they are then I am going to the wrong MacDonald’s for my Big Mac’s).

Yumi looked at me like I was crazy and said “I told you it was a BIG box.”  I told her I didn’t understand why they would get a big box for a normal-sized hamburger.  Even if they were putting a t-shirt inside it.

She said “I told you it was a BIG Mac.  A big Mac computer.  The Mac computer in the big box.”

Although we were both talking in English, we were clearly speaking two different languages.

Am I the crazy for thinking the hamburger would have been the better prize?

Confession Is Good For The Blog

I’ve decided that, while confession may be good for the soul, it’s really good for the blog.  Gives me something to write about.  In this particular case I’m going to have to confess something that isn’t going to paint me in the best light.  But, clearly, I’ve lost all my vanity, so I might as well go for it.

For the past two years I have issued a challenge for myself called the February Financial Fast  (that’s patented, so make sure you credit me if you decide to jump on board next February).  The basic gist is that for the whole month of February I don’t buy anything that isn’t an absolute necessity.  No clothes, movies, books, magazines, cd’s, etc. etc. etc.  I got this idea from my good friend Mari who gave up buying anything for herself for a FULL YEAR.  Clearly, I do not have her will power, so I choose to financially fast for a month. 

The shortest month. 

But still, 28 days is enough time to make a difference.  I don’t have a ton of money to begin with and so this month I wanted to save some and give some away.  It turned out that there was plenty of opportunity to give some of the money away, between birthdays, baby showers and a new tire for my car. 

I also managed to get my BFF Chelsea on board and she has done the Financial Fast with me the past two years.  It’s great accountability to have someone to go to when Target jewelry is screaming your name.  However, it’s also the worst case scenario when you mess up and you have a friend who will never let you live it down.

Which brings me to this weekend.  On Saturday my parents called and said they wanted to come down for the afternoon.  Once they arrived my Mom said she wanted to go shopping.  I knew I was in trouble.  Big time trouble.  But I didn’t say no.  I could have and Mom would’ve understood, but I didn’t.  I didn’t even mention the fast.  I at first tried to be good and not seriously look at anything, but let’s face the facts… it was a loosing battle.

One sweater and one wallet later (both on sale, thank you very much), and I feel dirty.  Not totally dirty, because my Mom paid for them, but still… I feel bad.  Mainly because I know that Chelsea will read this and a nasty phone call is sure to follow.

So, I guess this years’ fast has been extended by one day to make up for today.  March 2nd, here I come.

Until then, I’ll have my new sweater and a load of guilt to keep me warm.

Fat Tuesday Leads To Lazy Wednesday

On Fat Tuesday I decided to go crazy.  Well, I don’t know if I decided to go crazy or if I just went crazy, but that’s neither here nor there.  Anyway, I had a leftover box of Red Velvet Cake from Valentine’s day and I decided to celebrate Fat Tuesday with some Red Velvet Cupcakes.  My logic wasn’t totally sound.  Why I felt the need to make the whole box, when I wasn’t planning on going anywhere with it or having anyone over for cupcakes, is still a little mysterious to me.  I just kept thinking “it’s Fat Tuesday, I have to do this”.  I was probably basking in the glory of our cupcake party from last week, which was a ton of fun.  However, I think that had more to do with the company than the cupcakes.  Apparently I’m only cut out for the group sports.

Anyway, after making a dozen cupcakes and frosting them, I was exhausted.  So exhausted that I only ate one of the cupcakes- maybe this had more to do with the sugar rush I was already riding from taste-testing the icing than it has with being exhausted.  And I had to go to bed early because of my decision to give up my snooze button for Lent.

Let me repeat that: I’m giving up my snooze button for Lent.

I totally stole this from Chelsea, but I was so inspired by her that I went for it.  I’ve decided that I really need to give up my slothfulness for Lent and this is one step in the right direction.  So, the idea is to get up when my alarm goes off and get lots more accomplished in the mornings.  That’s the idea….

Wednesday morning, Day 1 of Lent, didn’t go so well.  I definitely gave up my snooze button.  However, after I turned my alarm off (without pressing snooze) I promptly rolled over and went back to sleep until about thirty minutes before it was time to leave for work.  Not really a rousing success.  But, I’m a work in progress.

The good news is that I did manage to get rid of half a dozen cupcakes.  I gave them to my friend Yumi and told her they were a Southern delicacy that she had to try.

I’m thinking of trading the other half a dozen cupcakes for a the services of a nanny who gently wakes me up every morning.  That sounds like a fair trade, right?

High On Love

I kicked off my weekend a little early last week with two days off school.  Then on Friday, I got a computer virus, fixed my computer, took out the trash and waited for my BFF Chelsea to arrive at my casa for our weekend of fun.  There’s so much more to this story, but I just don’t have it in me to explain at this moment.

Once Chels got here we watched the Olympic opening ceremonies.  The whole time we were watching it we wondered where our favorite Canadian, Celine Dion was.  I also wondered why that Canadian Opera Singer did that to her hair.  Having sung some opera in my day, let me just tell you that the height of your hair is not directly related to your singing ability.  Don’t be fooled.

On Saturday I was invited to a party at my friend Cortnee’s apartment.  So, Chels and I set off to see what kind of Valentine’s trouble we could get into.  When we got there the place was DECKED OUT with VDay fun!

We decorated cupcakes:

Had tons of fun!

Decorated Valentine’s (mine from Chels):

       

And decided to make it a yearly event!

This was the table after it was all said and done:

A little scary.

My favorite story of the whole night came from our friend Dara.  D was more interested in eating the cupcakes than decorating them (and who can blame her, right?).  But she did have one big decorating idea- to ice a cupcake with as much marshmallow filling as possible and then write “High On Love” on her creation.

Here it is in the making:

And here it is as all the marshmallow filling melts over the sides:

 

Ha!  We had the absolute best time!  It was the most fun party I’ve been to in a while.  It almost makes me wish for the next Valentine’s Day….. Almost.

On the 14th we went to go see the movie “Valentine’s Day” and watched a few episodes of ‘Lost’.  Then Chels had to leave, so I said goodbye to my Valentine then spent a romantic evening watching the Olympics.

There you have it.  The longest post with the least amount of actual information involved.

Brokedown

My blog has fallen and it can’t get up.

I decided that I needed to learn how to fix it, if I was going to have a blog.  Now I’ve decided I never want to look at a computer again. 

Honestly, I just figured Meredith my blog tech/friend was probably busy doing something important and didn’t want to be bothered.  But now, I’m really wishing that I had just bothered her.  So, it looks like I need a computer tutorial more than ever.

And, after looking at my blog I’ve decided that the old adage has never been more true: You can lead a horse to cute graphics, but you can’t make her understand what the heck she’s doing.

All this to say: bear with me.  It’ll be cute someday soon.  Whatever day Meredith is free.

Happy Valentine’s Day

I hope your day is filled with love.  Remember, we love because HE first loved us.

LOVE!  Crystal

Birthdays

Today is my 1st Birthday.  One year ago today I began my blog.  Well, in all truth, I actually began trying to find names for my blog about three weeks earlier, so I started the hunt long before I wrote my first post.  Over the past year I’ve learned a lot, lived a lot and I even remembered to write some of it down.

I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you.  If you are reading this, thank you for joining me on the journey.  I am truly humbled that anyone would take a few minutes out of their day to read whatever strikes me as important enough to write that day.  And, Heaven knows, some days what strikes me as ‘important to write’ can be truly shocking.  So, I’ll repeat it: Thank You.

Also, I can’t mention birthdays today without mentioning the birthday of a very special little girl, Ginger Evans (Katy’s little girl).  Ginger- the world just got a lot cuter!  You are a precious baby girl, and I hope you always know how loved and wanted you are.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store for your life. 

Snow Day

Well, the dream of yesterday’s SNOW EVENT, became a reality today.  Luckily, they closed school so I don’t even have to worry about driving.  So, in light of the weather, here is my plan for the day:

-Eating my mom’s patented Snow Day breakfast of Toast with Hot Chocolate (DONE!).  Which, if you haven’t ever tried you have too.  And, take it from me, dip the toast in the hot chocolate.  It’s the way God intended it to be eaten.

-Looking out my windows.

Tracking how much snow has fallen on the cars and seeing what the crazy college kids are up to.

In this case, someone (with too much time on their hands) wrote “I Heart Snow” on the pavement of my parking lot.  Then some jerk parked over the “W”.  How rude.

Of course, 45 minutes after I took this picture the message is almost completely covered by snow.  But still, the sentiment holds true.

-Reading a good book.  I’m torn between rereading “Scarlett” and starting “Prince of Tides”. 

-Checking facebook every other half hour to see if someone has posted pictures of Katy’s baby Ginger, yet.

Happy Birthday Ginger Evans.  You are a precious (and prompt) baby.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Snow Day.  Stay warm and safe!

SNOW EVENT

Ladies and Gentlemen,

North Texas is bracing itself for a “SNOW EVENT” that may or may not be happening sometime between Wednesday evening and Saturday morning (we like to be extra prepared here in North Texas).

When said “EVENT” happens you can be certain that the local news will spend the better part of those four hours with a camera pointed on an icicle hanging off a bridge somewhere and talking about the dangerous driving conditions sure to come.

This is why I hate the news.

As much as I’d like to pretend that I’m all cool and laissez-faire about it all, I’m not.  And I am the one person who always buys into the hype that the news puts out there.  I am the one person watching that icicle and convincing myself that if I get into my car then I’ll get stuck somewhere in the ice and then I’ll have to skate home.

So, the whole point of this post? Pray for me.  Because while the snow is sure pretty, it sets my nerves on thin ice.

(I’ve never been prouder of my pun abilities!)

Love, Crystal

Some Random Thoughts In List Form

1. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks.

2. Have I mentioned that I watch ‘Lost’ and am utterly confused by it?  Well, my BFF Chelsea also watches ‘Lost’ and she text messages me approximately 12 times a day with her latest conspiracy theories.

3. I am riding on a football high right now and I’d really like to visit New Orleans.  But maybe not this week.  Or next.

4. I really like Oatmeal Raisin cookies but I never make or buy them.

5. At dinner last week our waitress told me I looked just like her sister’s best friend, Bevy, asked me my name and then asked if I was related to Bevy.  I’m not related to Bevy- that I know of.

6. I have a new nickname. It’s Bevy.

7. I just discovered that Hulu has full-length movies as well as TV shows.  AWESOME!

8. I really enjoy House Hunters, but I am addicted to House Hunters International.  But, as a result, I keep asking people how expensive their homes are.  Which kinda makes me seem impolite.

9. I’m not Catholic, but I always give something up for Lent.  I just don’t know what I’m giving up yet.

10. I just started following Candace Cameron Bure on Twitter.  So far, I’ve managed to stop myself from tweeting her every hour, on the hour, to ask questions about her ‘Full House’ days…. but I don’t know how long I can hold it in.

So, there you have it.  Ten Things to get you through your Tuesday.  Stay warm and dry y’all!

The Super Bowl Of Boring

Did you do anything interesting over the weekend?  I didn’t.

Which was nice, but not very conducive to writing a blog.

This was the first year in many years that I was actually interested in watching the Super Bowl.  Truthfully, I just wanted to go to a Super Bowl Party.  The kind of party where all the guys watch the game and all the girls stand around the kitchen where the food is until the commercials come on.  I am truly in my element when I’m talking and surrounded by plentiful cheese products, chips and other bite-sized foods.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any friends nearby throwing Super Bowl parties.  Unless I count my neighbor and her friends along with their 14 combined dogs who all traipsed in and out of our stairwell four million times, slamming the door and barking every time (they should know better- Grandma in 204A has to be in bed by 8:30 at the latest).  But, I don’t count my neighbor, her friends and the dogs because they didn’t invite me to their party.  I wonder why?

I decided that even if I couldn’t stand around the kitchen I would still watch the game.  Then I had to decide what to eat.  Earlier in the afternoon I had gotten a fast-food menu tweet from Sonic (yes, I follow Sonic and Chic-fila on Twitter because- in my world- they’re the REAL celebrities).  Their suggestions included some old friends of mine- chili cheese tots, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella cheese sticks and popcorn chicken.

Part of my heart really wanted to eat all of those things at my impromptu Super Bowl Party….

But the other part of my heart didn’t want to deal with the inevitable atherosclerosis.

So I settled for a Diet Coke.  Did you do anything (and by “do anything” I mean “eat anything”) exciting for the Super Bowl?

The Water Bottle That Broke The Camel’s Back

Have you ever had an obsession that, hard as you try, you can’t seem to shake?

Have you ever obsessed over something absolutely ridiculous?  Something that is so tiny and unimportant you question your sanity?

I have.

And for me it comes in water bottle form.

Looks harmless, right?

Delicious?  Thirst quenching?  Refreshing, right?

Wrong.

This water bottle may be the bane of my existence.

About a month ago my friend Yumi and I were hanging out at my apartment and, being the thoughtful hostess that I am, I gave her some water.  After a few minutes she said that she couldn’t get the lid of the bottle open.  In my head I thought, ‘oh my goodness, what a precious little 84 pound Taiwanese girl- she can’t even open water bottles with her own strength’.  In my arrogance I confidently grabbed the bottle and began to twist the lid off and immediately felt like my hand was being ripped apart.

Apparently perforation between the lid and the twisty part beneath it (I have no idea what it’s called) was never actually perforated.

It’s not the best picture in the world but I think you can tell that this bottle lid is not made of plastic, but steel-plated armor. 

Like I already mentioned, this happened over a month ago and since that time it has sat in my fridge where I take it out three times a week to see if I will be able to finally open it.  I can’t seem to throw it away because:

1. Even though it probably only cost me 67 cents, it would be totally wasteful and I just can’t make myself do it.

2. If I throw it out then the water bottle wins. 

I’ve tried everything I can think of to help me open the lid.  I’ve used knives, scissors and prayer.  And, with the exception of the prayer, all that’s changed is my mental stability.

I guess this post is just a blatant cry for help. 

Do any of you own a chainsaw?

French Fries and Photos

My friend Miranda and I have a standing dinner date each week.  We always meet halfway between our homes on Tuesdays.  Yesterday, I sent Mir a Facebook message beforehand and told her that there was a big flaw in our plan…. LOST.  The premiere started at 7 that night and I told her I couldn’t risk missing even a second of it, because if I did I would be more confused than ever.  She and I both know that if I get confused about something that happens on LOST then I end up calling and text messaging her non-stop until my feeble mind understands. 

To be completely honest with you, it takes many phone calls for my mind to wrap around the space-time continuum of LOST.  Every time I think of it I feel like I did on the day they taught about cells in freshman Biology- very close to a mental breakdown.  For some reason that doesn’t deter me from watching the show, which is interesting since, I gave up on all-things-science many moons ago in that Biology class.

Anyway, in order to ensure plenty of time to prepare for LOST, Miranda and I decided to meet for a Blue Plate Special at 4:30 last night.  We decided to have a little snack at Kincaid’s- a delicious Fort Worth burger joint.  When we arrived there were two other customers in the store and an employee training session going on in the back.  Mir and I decided to split a large order of their yummy fries and a chocolate shake.

YUM!  And, since we split it- totally health conscious too!

After enjoying some of our fries we both realized that, come 8:15 we were going to be extremely hungry.  That’s when we decided to split a burger as well.  But, neither of us wanted to have to actually get up and go place the order- so we did what any rational adults would do.  We played rock-paper-scissors and left the decision up to fate.

As Miranda walked up to the check-out to place our second order of the night I noticed that the cashier and cook had disappeared somewhere in the back.  This left her standing at the counter with no one around, except me, an elderly couple and a room full of Kincaid’s employees in the back.  It was awkward for poor Miranda to just stand there and wait, particularly because I’m guessing they don’t get many repeat customers- especially when they repeat within 15 minutes of their first order.

So, as Miranda took one for the team, waiting to be helped in a nearly deserted restaurant I did what any good friend would do….

I laughed while I took pictures of her with my phone’s camera.

Comment Moderation

I often talk about the fact that everything I do on the blog I do for my one reader.  I have to confess that I don’t technically have just the one reader.  However, she’s the one who reads daily and comments.  I jokingly told Katy last month that I felt sorry for her because my New Year’s resolution required a lot of work from her as my one commenter.

I’ve known others read the blog but maybe don’t feel comfortable commenting or don’t want to take the time.  Over the weekend I was talking to my Mom and she told me that she’d read the blog and really liked one of my posts from last week.  I basked in the glory of being a successful writer for all of two seconds before she said, “but that one post, about your mattress?  That was WEIRD.  What were you thinking?”

I told Mom that if she wanted to issue a complaint she had to talk directly to the “Comments” department on my blog because I didn’t accept criticism in person.  I only accept praise.

Then Mom told me that she’d never seen any comments or anywhere to write comments.  So, please excuse my Mother and I while we have a technology lesson in blog-form.  But, just in case, you had been wanting to lodge a complaint (or compliment) but couldn’t figure out how to do so the comments are at the bottom of this post on the right.  Please feel free to do so, even if we’re strangers…. or if I’m your daughter.

For the rest of you (Katy), I apologize for wasting your precious time.  I promise to be back tomorrow with something worthwhile, like a list of my five favorite lip balms.

(I kid.  I could never choose only five favorite lip balms.)