don't sign me up

Got this ad on my Facebook today. I admit my pearly whites don't really live up to that metaphor, but if this product will make my mouth look as freaky as this? No.

weekend play-by-play

My weekend was very full. Friday and Saturday Brian was in Nebraska, so those days are singular; Sunday is plural.

Friday
5:20-5:45 pm Arrive home from work. Change for the evening.

6-10 pm Serve at the dinner theater benefiting the local homeless shelter.

10-11 pm Go through mail, play Minesweeper before bed.

Saturday
6:45-8:20 am Wake up and get ready.

8:20-8:45 am Drive to Moundridge.

9-11 am Christmas Tea at Eden Mennonite Church.

11 am-1:30 pm Spend time at the farm watching the deer get butchered, eating lunch, trying the new massage chair, gathering Christmas decor.

1:30-1:50 pm Drive home.

1:50-2:05 pm Check out Five Places of Christmas at the Ad Building. Buy peppernuts.

2:15-2:45 pm Drive to Wichita.

2:45-8 pm Brave Hobby Lobby, the mall, and Super Target.

8-8:45 pm Eat supper at Felipe's.

8:45-9:15 pm Drive home.

9:15-10 pm Brave Wal-Mart.

10 pm-12:45 am Decorate for Christmas.

Sunday
9:20-10:25 am Wake up and get ready.

10:30 am-12 pm Church.

12:15-1:45 pm Lunch with mom and dad.

2-2:45 pm Jesse Graber's book signing.

3-3:50 pm Work on getting our Christmas tree in the stand.

4-6:15 pm Small Group.

6:25-6:45 pm Square up the tree in the stand. Much vacuuming.

7-9:10 pm Deutsche Weihnachten.

9:10-11 pm Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Ruth and Jesse.

Monday
7:06 am Wake up feeling in need of a weekend. Or at least needing to go back to sleep.

thanksgiving highlights

• Time off from work
• Family
• Turkey (my favorite holiday meat!), stuffing, some form of potatoes (mashed with gravy (personal fav) or cheesy potatoes (close 2nd)), pie (I got to try sweet potato pie for the first time this year — yum!), delicious rolls. Three times.
• Celebrating mom's birthday at Cheddar's
• Movie nights with Mark
• Thanksgiving dinner with three kinds of wine rotating through my glass
• Thinking about Christmas
• Actually going to the gym twice over break instead of just thinking I should
  
• Organizing the bathroom
• At 1am Saturday morning (this is following one of our big Thanksgiving dinners), Mark, Brian, and I deciding we're hungry, and devouring a frozen pizza and Oreos. Reminds me of college days.

party in the mods!

Friday was so much fun. Our friend Kate is currently a fill-in resident director for two RDs who were/are on maternity leave this semester. Friday night, Kate hosted a party in her mod! And, yes, she does have a whole mod to herself. She really only uses the lounge, the bathroom, the box for her bedroom, and room one for her kitchen. But if she wanted, she could have a whole sweet six-room apartment! :) We were warned in advance we could not fulfill any possible unfulfilled college fantasies of having a drunken orgy in the RD apartment, so it wasn't that kind of party (as so many of the ones I attend are... ... ...nor have I ever had that kind of fantasy). Kate had a nice selection of teas, some mixed nuts, and some tasty no-bake cookies. A good number of people showed up, and there was conversation and Catch Phrase. Once it was down to five people, Catch Phrase couldn't proceed as written in the rules very easily, so Kate, Brian, Tim, Bethany, and I set a goal of how far around the circle to get it (all the way, including the starting person a second time) plus two more people. Harder than it sounds, people. When we finally succeeded in our quest, it was just after 2 a.m. I think. We were pretty excited though. Someone said it definitely called for celebration cheese fries. Bethany and Tim left, but the other three of us did hit Druber's. I went to bed after 3:30, which is so much later than my usual bedtime.

cicada wing cookies

Last night, Brian presented on periodical cicadas to the junior high youth group from our church. It was great. I was already familiar with most of the information, and I still found it very interesting. He showed some of his awesome pictures (and a couple of my videos) by projecting them on our wall, and he played some neat recordings of his through our sound system. I did my part by making cicada wing cookies (not totally accurate representations by any means but still fun).

old.

This is old news, but I just checked the email account I use for online registration, and this made me laugh. Some of you have probably seen this with your own name.

lars and the real girl

Since I don't know about what to post, here is a movie recommendation: Lars and the Real Girl. Some will say it's a good story about giving people time to work through things, but I think it's even broader than that. I think it reminds us that everyone — no matter if there's something big s/he is working through or if s/he appears "normal" — has his/her own version of reality, and it's important to be mindful of that in order to live well together. Watch it. It will take you through different emotions. It's funny. It's moving. It's good.