I don't understand...

Now don't get me wrong here. I love penguins. One of my favorite "claims to fame" is the fact that penguins live in my mission, but I do have one question. When did the penguin become a Christmas icon? Last time I checked, they were not there with the shepherds and sheep, nor were they with the camels and wisemen. Last time I watched PLANET EARTH or MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, Antartica was the typical place for penguins. That places them geographically NO WHERE near the reindeer, elves, and North Pole. Yet...the latest trend in Christmas decorations has penguins in santa hats, wrapped in lights, holding candy canes, etc...anyone care to explain this one to me?
PS "because they're cute" is an unacceptable answer.

I've once again reached that point in my blog where I'm waiting for someone else to update it. I get the feeling that the waiting is going to be in vain unless I do something about it. I just don't know where to start...
*Muppet's Christmas Carol and homemade Egg Nog
*Ode to Bojangles-a night full of epoxy and jumper cables
*Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert
*Breakfast at VILLAGE INN at 11:30pm. HEAVENLY PUMPKIN PANCAKES!!!
*Stephen's Hot Cocoa. The one thing that can improve it is a good sugar cookie.
*Half-Day at work and half-day with the nephew.
*6:30AM temple shift Saturday
*FOOD! obscene amounts...but it tastes so GOOD!
*12:12am/pm 12-12-2008
*More Muppet's Christmas Carol
*Pizzeria 7 12 and the 50% tip.
*Christmas boxes and Carmel Corn
*The irony of the snowfall. ONE DAY LATE!!!
Oh the joys of a great week in December. Take it for what it's worth...

weak sauce.

this is what i am. i was talking one of the drug reps at work today. (remember, i work in a doctor's office. i am not a dealer.) i hadn't seen him in a few months, but that was to be expected-last time i saw him, he told me he was going to have rotator cuff surgery the next week and wouldn't be back for a month or so. he told me today that 10 days after his surgery he took off for nepal and hiked to the base camp. WHAT!?! are you kidding me? he hiked with a ski pole to ward of yaks-all while wrapped up in braces and styrofoam blocks. my roommate told me i was hardcore last summer because i hiked 1-2 times a week. i had to cancel my last hike because of a COLD!!! i respectfully relinquish my title of "hardcore". i have entered the world of weaksauce...

not my mother's thanksgiving...

like george washington-i cannot tell a lie. i think i just got home from one of the greatest holidays in my recent past. i went to idaho (i know...great destination)and spent the holiday with an old roommate. the theme for this holiday was "not my mother's thanksgiving". if the title is not enough to imply it, this was our first non-mission thanksgiving away from home. that means, no mom, no grandma, nor aunt to do all the cooking. we were left to fend for ourselves. once again...no lies-i'm pretty sure it was the BEST turkey i've had in my life (and i don't think it was just because we cooked it ourselves). seriously though...it was one of the best weekends i've had in a really long time. lots of rest and relaxation in the form of movies (at least 11 of them) and the wii (we'll not count the hours) and people who love me...always a good combination.
***ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC***
my holiday fling with guitar hero has officially been terminated. indefinitely. when use of my right arm is re-established, negotiations may be opened to redefine this relationship.
***and now-back to our regularly scheduled program***
as i layed in bed thanksgiving morning (extremely thankful for an exceptionally comfortable bed), i contemplated past thanksgivings--the so-called landmarks in my life.
~turkey on a styrofoam plate and a mixed tape of the carpenters~
when i was approximately 15, we spent our holiday painting my grandparents living room. it was great. mom and kelly made turkey, stuffing, rolls, and pie while the rest of us covered the piano and furniture and painted the walls. we took turns eating as the styrofoam plates of turkey were passed around. we also took turns flipping the tapes over and that is where i learned the fatefully true lyrics "rainy days and mondays always get me down"(...still can't figure out how i survived chile). i think it was that year that i realized that it's not just about food. it's about family and being thankful.
~pumpkin pie in south america~
speaking of chile...my thanksgiving there was one of the greatest-not going to lie. it was the year that president hinckley challenged all members of the church to read the book of mormon between august and december. oddly enough, i finished it on thanksgiving day. i would call that strangely appropriate. we had district meeting in our chapel that day so the elders asked us if we could meet them there early so they could have leadership meeting before hand. we let them in and hid in a classroom and i finished the book of mormon. i took moroni's challenge and received my answer. it wasn't any different than any other time that i'd prayed about the book, but it came. i had never been so grateful for the scriptures and a heavenly father who loves me enough to give me a personal relationship with him and the holy ghost and-through those relationships-a testimony of his gospel. i found that appropriate for a thanksgiving day, right? i would have been totally content with that, but i got a phone call later that day as i was wandering around camino real in the rain that just iced the cake. one of the assistants asked to meet us back at the church, that he had something for us. when we found him there, he had a slice of pumpkin pie for us. GLORY!!! there are perks to being in the same town as the mission home and having gringos for mission presidents. it was perfect. all was right with the world-a loving heavenly father and pumpkin pie. what more could i have asked for?
~not my mother's thanksgiving~
this was the beginning of my future thanksgivings. (i know, cheesy. get over it.) it wasn't like mom's, but hey, i'm okay with that. at some point, i'm going to have to take over and do it for myself. for practice we brined, basted, and carved our own turkey. we mashed potatoes. we had pie. we started our own traditions. it's okay. we can be grateful for the future and the adventures it brings-adventures in turkey only being a small part of what the future holds for me...
all in all, i'd consider the holiday a grand success-one of those experiences that go down in the memory books as a first. i'm looking forward to many more...

Just for the record...

I watched the BYU/UTAH football game today. ALL of it. That means I watched a full football game. Yay me.

the whistler...

once upon a time i worked in an office. we listened the radio quite a bit-it happens in offices. one day, while listening to said-radio, they had a short news bleep about whistlers. yay for useless factoids that will be forever ingrained in my brain. one out of five people in an office is a whistler. the whistler will also drive the other four crazy. at the time, i was in an office of 11. we had one whistler. she didn't whistle all the time, nor did she do a bad job when she did whistle, but i was acutely aware of her musical habit.
flash forward two years. i still work in an office. (it's kind of a familiar story...) we have a fellow in the office who studied in new york, but is originally from china. he speaks english really well, but there are a few bits of culture that he missed, for example-the 80's. he recently has discovered the glory of youtube. apparently he taught himself how to moonwalk watching youtube...he broke that one out the other day and had us all rolling because of it.
today, they added a bit of mood music to my friday afternoon ritual, a little bit of phantom of the opera. it's quality entertainment. the same moon-walking doctor apparently has recently discovered the glory of phantom as well. he whistles it now. the thing that really amuses me is that he just whistles it. he doesn't whistle along with the music. he whistles the music. it doesn't matter whether he is 3 bars ahead or 4 bars behind, or whether he is even whistling the same song-it just brings him joy to be vocally(if i can use that word) participating. good for him. the thing that i find ironic is that there were 5 of us in the office that day. 1 out of 5...

oh boy.

so i've had a cold. no big deal, right? they come a few times yearly. as my mother pointed out to me, it only happens when i don't sleep. ha. sleep! who needs it? seriously. okay, now that i'm over my pride, i fully accept and support that statement. i only get sick when i quit sleeping. ironically (or not at all), my favorite method of kicking the cold is sleeping it off. that's exactly what i did with this one. after 3-hour naps daily, and a weekend full of r&r, I FEEL AMAZING!!! gotta a love the great 'recovered' feeling however i'm completely amused by the few after effects of the cold...namely, my voice. it's all sorts of amazing. i called a restaurant to order a salad for dinner and the girl that took my order called me BOTH 'sir' and 'ma'am'-poor girl, that's awkward. they told me at work today that i have a sultry phone voice. ha. then i realized how many people i talk to on the phone daily...how many people come home from work to find my voice on their answering machine. it's a good thing i don't have a 900 number. the cough that accompanies the voice. also beyond amazing. it's quite the combination... unproductive smoker's cough + my hot voice. i suppose that's my cue...i'm not done with the naps and orange juice diet.