Stories

"All sorrows can be borne if we put them in a story or tell a story about them."

- Isak Dinesen

Once again...

It seems to me that most of what I'm doing lately is linking to other things - I'll try to get something nice and rant-y up here soon.




In the meantime - link! I think this post has great points and describes some terrific principles... there are things here I think I can apply right away in relationships. Hmmm...

(ETA: I haven't read this yet, but I want to, so I'm linking it here so I can find it easily later. Feel free to tell me what you think about it!)


Also, days to marathon: 37
Days to potential mental breakdown: 1 or (approximately) 15

SRSLY!!! LOL!!!

If you don't mind a little gentle/clever/pointed mockery of some of the sillier aspects of Mormon culture, and enjoy rolling your eyes now and then at people who gush about their marriages/gush about their ward callings/gush about their hobbies and in general think they are the center of the universe (in a cute/perky/ditzy way), then this is a blog for you.

If you don't get it, don't worry - I'll do my best to put it in Laman's terms for you.


Hee.

Hey, Hey! It's Her Birthday!

Today is the annual CELEBRATION of the birth of one of my dearest friends, Katherine!

She is gorgeous and vivacious and talented and thoughtful and fun and smart and loving and a wonderful aunt and funny and a terrific sibling and friendly and creative and a FANTASTIC FRIEND. Seriously.

Because I am always late, I didn't get this VSP (Very Special Post) up as early as I'd planned, but I will add to it and make this a WEEK OF KATHERINE (*throws confetti*) . Watch for pictures and poems and embarrassing stories (if I can remember any that don't involve me). In the meantime, please go wish her a Happy Birthday on her blog - she deserves all the best! Tell her I sent you!

HOT.

ETA: Pictures!

For some reason, I have a terrible dearth of pictures of my friends. I must fix this. In the meantime, here are some photos from a cruise we took a few years back - the five of us were absolutely the most fabulous things on that boat. (And it was a nice boat...)

Does it count as a real lifeboat drill if you haven't left the dock yet?

Scuba diving with hotties. They should have been paying us to take that cruise.

Dinner with the very lucky young man who sat at our table - is it any wonder he's so happy?

And my favorite picture... the frozen yogurt machine!

As for stories, well, there were some good times had - let me just sum up by saying Kath was the only one that had no trouble getting the boy to kiss her. It must be a gift.

Don't forget the Happy Birthday wishes! Go on! Scoot!

It's a Sin (one of 7)

In which we shall see: nothing so bad as the post title would imply (I think), long-armed furry animals, tracks in the carpet, things that almost happen, a list, big news, a stiff upper lip, "Dear Auntie Cyd", and familial lunacy.

* * * * * * * * *

I don't really have much to report, so this will more than likely bit something of a ramble. My current job just cut hours down to 20 hours a week per person, and that has left me with a couple more days off a week. That's really only OK for about the first week - after that, one starts to realize that (along with the sudden drop in income) a person generally does better when she has a real, Day-Timer worthy reason to leave the house. I am such a LURP. I haven't exactly been sleeping all day (that was last week), but I probably could be mistaken for a tree-hanging mammal. In my own small defense, I really haven't been feeling well or sleeping well the past few weeks, so days when I don't have any scheduled appointments make it that much harder to get going. Probably the most exercise I get on a regular basis is the series of laps I do between my bed and the "snooze" button on my alarm clock. Today I almost did some housecleaning, very nearly got a load of laundry in, and WILL in fact get out of the house for an, er, "appointment" (more in a minute) and a two-mile walk/jog. It's 8:00. P.M.

At least I'll also be able to say I blogged today.

Plans:

- Clean out storage. Sell things on Ebay.

- Make/sell jewelry. Next month, put together website. (Want to wait until my web designer gets settled in her new house.)

- Find second part-time job/one full-time job. Will probably stick with odd jobs or SP-T job until fall, when job market opens up a little and vacations are over.

- Finish next dramaturgical packet for Pinnacle Acting Company. (Romeo and Juliet. Bleh.)

- Try badgering (er, "persuading") local theatre companies to let me come on as a paid, assistant, or intern dramaturg.

- Get dramaturgy portfolio DVD compiled, ready for grad school applications.

- Help prepare jewelry, flower girl dresses, and anything else that needs doing for my youngest brother's wedding.

Yeah.

I'm officially the last single member of my family. It's not like I didn't expect it, but it is still a little strange... We're having family pictures taken next month, and each sibling's family is wearing a different color - and I'm halfway tempted to just show up in my own color (burnt orange, or gray, maybe). I won't, 'cause I think it would make my mom feel bad (and there really aren't any colors left I look GOOD in, so...), and it's just weird, you know? It's certainly nothing about my brother's fiancee, who's a darling girl... It's just...

Years ago, I remember my mom saying that one of her dreams was to have all her children present in the temple when the youngest was married. And we all will be, which is wonderful, it's just a little hard to know that I'll be the only one there by myself. (Naturally, this situation wouldn't have ocurred to anyone all those years ago.) On the plus side, I have made it clear that I am not eligible for bridesmaid's duties (honestly, when the bridesmaid is a good thirteen years older than the bride things are gonna get uncomfortable for everybody). Also, I really do want to get a Master's Degree and work as a dramaturg in New York, and then maybe (MAYBE) come back here and start a Performing Arts School... while intermittently traveling the country (and possibly the world) doing important work in the development of theatre (and perhaps working on movies) while writing books and a syndicated humor/advice column; which is gonna be just a little difficult if I a) have a husband/family or b) don't get moving and stop being so lazy!

To that end, there is one other bit of news - most of the family is taking part in the Pocatello Marathon on August 30. We are not a particularly athletic family, being much more inclined towards the artsy and musical and computer-oriented aspects of society, but one person got interested, and it snowballed, and peer pressure reared its ugly (yet effective) head, and we're off. My oldest brother and my brother-in-law are doing the full marathon; while my sister, sister-in-law, youngest brother, and myself are doing the half marathon. All the rest of the siblings/in-laws (and parents) are coming along for support and to offer child care. The other day, Mom said she wanted to do the marathon NEXT year with all of us... oy. Gotta make it through August, first!

I'm off now to help plan flower-girl dresses, and to get in my two miles - I'm hoping that the exercise will help me get ready for the (half) marathon, sleep better tonight, and motivate me to actually get some things done tomorrow. Quite a lot to expect from two little miles, eh?

Watch out for falling turtles (and bouquets),

Cyd

Days to marathon: 52

Bonus Content #HILARIOUS

Still... can't... breathe... abs... hurt...

better than a workout



Ow.





Days to marathon: 54

Words

"We have thoughts, but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we're stuck with that word for that thought - so be careful with words."
- George Carlin