The Lights at Temple Square

Here are some pictures I took at temple square this evening. I would have taken more, but I didn't want the disappointment of blurry pictures when I got home. I was surprised that they actually turned out pretty well. Now we'll have to make a trip back in the next couple weeks to get more pictures - and attend a session while we're at it.




Here is one my Mom took of our small group at the Visitor's Center. There were so many people there, it was crazy. It was like going to Disneyland.


Anyway, I'm tired. Time for some R&R.

Wearing My Grumpy Pants

I've been putting off posting this week in hopes that my mood would improve, unfortunately I've waited all week and I've still got a case of the grumpies, so I apologize for not being a little more cheerful.

We've had company for most of this week. My Mom and Dad flew in on Tuesday and spent Wednesday at Costco and the grocery store getting the house stocked with ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner. On Wednesday, Karen and Niklas drove down and joined us. It's been great having everyone here, but for some reason I've just been feeling a little off. Being fun and social has been more of a chore this week. Maybe it's holiday depression...? I dunno.

My Mom prepared most of our Thanksgiving feast. We had all of the essentials - turkey, potatoes, homemade rolls, and various pies. In addition, Karen's college roommate and her sister came and brought a raw apple cake with cream cheese frosting. We also tried something new and made a green bean casserole. Although this is a staple for most, it hasn't ever made it into our list of Thanksgiving "must-haves". It was great having everyone over - Alex has really enjoyed spending time with Nolan and Niklas - probably the guy time he's needed for awhile now.


Last night Jenna and Daniel stopped by to see us - they've been in Orem visiting Daniel's family for Thanksgiving. We played a couple rounds of Mad Gab, another one of our favorite board games. First round we played girls against guys. Normally this is a guaranteed win for the girls, but for some reason the guys were doing exceptionally well, so we shuffled things around and made co-ed teams. We almost nearly tied during our second round and then it was time for them to go. Thanks for stopping by guys!


Today has been completely unproductive so far. In fact, I'm still in PJs and needing a shower. We don't have anything planned until later, so I'm not all that motivated to do anything at the moment... maybe it has something to do with excessive amounts of turkey and pecan pie in my belly. What can I say, I'm making the most of my last few days of eating freedom.

Tonight Karen is catching a shuttle back to Rexburg (Niklas had to head back early for work) and the rest of us are going to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. Alex and I saw them last year before we were married. They were beautiful.


That's what we're up to. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P.S. We also saw Australia this week. It kind of reminded me of the Pearl Harbor movie with the love story and all. Hugh Jackman was fabulous. People magazine says he's this year's sexiest man alive... I have to agree with that one. Well, aside from my amazing husband. :)

My Fair Lady

If only I could go to school and learn how to be a lady... that would be great. This week Karen's brother in-law, Nolan, moved in with us. He recently moved from Ohio to start a job in Salt Lake City, so we offered him a room while he's in transition.

This evening I experienced embarrassing moment #1763. We were all standing around the kitchen talking while I was making dinner and out of nowhere the most disgusting sound came from my body. Yes, as Niklas would say, "I cracked one off". Why does this always happen to me? First Alex's family, now Karen's in-laws. I was speechless, turning so red that I was almost purple. I desperately tried to think of something to say - anything - but nothing came to mind. There was no justification for the heinous act that had just occurred. Thankfully (as always), Alex saved the day and chimed in with, "I think it's a boy!"

If that wasn't enough, we all sat down to the table for dinner and Alex ripped one - equally disgusting or worse than mine. I was really hoping we could keep the facade going of being nice, proper folk, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be. Our inner filth-pig has emerged.

Other news.. Alex I are getting new callings at church. Here's a clue:

Yup. Webelos leaders!! Hopefully I'll look a little less nerdy in uniform. They are in the process of doing our background checks now and will officially extend the call to us in a couple of weeks - assuming they don't find any dirt. We'll continue to work in the nursery through the end of the year and will be released going into the new year. Kind of a bummer since we've really enjoyed working with the little kids.

That's the news for now.

For those curious - No, I'm not pregnant. I've had a couple people ask lately and I really have nothing new to report. I promise I'll let everyone know once it happens.

P.S. A little follow-up to Alex's post about being competitive. We played Ticket to Ride again this evening and Alex won. His ego has been restored.

Come one, come all...

Check out my other blog for details on "The Game".

http://chunkleupagus.blogspot.com/2008/11/competition-er-friendly-challenge.html

A "Wicked" Disappointment

I started reading Wicked yesterday. I'm exactly 21 pages in and I've decided to return it to the library. Unfinished. There are several things that bothered me about this book. First, it's written in a way that makes all people out to be deceptive and immoral. Second, it contains semi-pornographic, unnecessary content. Third, his writing style just doesn't do it for me - I keep going over things repeatedly to figure out what the heck he's talking about.

I've always been willing to take the bad with the good in a story. Contrast is necessary. It's how lessons are learned and morals are formed. This time, I just couldn't deal with it. There was no contrast - just bleak, immoral, darkness. The more I read, the worse I felt. The book kept bringing me back to that dark, feel-bad place. Yes, I'm curious to know where the story was going. Even more than that, I'd like to know if the author was able to pull off a moral spectacular enough to make up for all of the garbage people had to wade through in preceding chapters. In the end, those things don't matter. It was most important that I stop reading and spend time on something a little more uplifting - as indicated by the stern voice in my head that said, "This book is offensive and it's making you feel like crap. Stop reading it!!"

Here's the good news: The book was written for adults. The play is family friendly. Problem solved. Ditch the book and wait to see the play. Done.

Competitive?

"Nah, not me" I told Kristine as we started one of our favorite board games. We played "Ticket to Ride," one of our favorite new board games tonight after dinner. (There's actually a blog post devoted to the game down below that Kristine wrote if you're the type that wants to understand the game a little more.) By the end of the game it was quite clear to me and Kristine that I am really competitive, about this game at least. Let me give you the late game play-by-play so you can taste the emotion.

Kristine and I had both put trains all the way across the board and I was slightly behind her as to the number of trains we had out. I picked up some cards called destination cards that could either help me or really hurt me at the end of the game. If you put trains between the two destinations indicated on such a card, you get the number of points shown; otherwise you lose the points. It just so happened that since I had been so successful thus far in the game, I took some cards that were a little more ambitious. One went from Seattle to Montreal and the other from Montreal to Atlanta. They were worth 29 points together. I picked up the cards, all the while being absorbed with planning my placement of trains.

After I took that turn, Kristine went and placed some trains in a part of the board that didn't entirely affect me so I went on thinking about how to complete the new goals I had imposed on myself. Suddenly, her two last trains caught my attention lying askew in her piece bag. Sudden realization of what that meant jerked me out my absorbed state and cold hard reality began to set in--this next turn was my last. About the time that I was realizing this, Kristine gleefully announced it as well. It was not something I wanted to hear since my own moment of realization had been amply painful. This was about the time that my true competitiveness exploded inside me.

I wasn't able to finish either of my new destinations on my last turn. I wasn't able to even do anything that gave me any kind of advantage. Kristine happily finished her last turn and then began counting points. As she did so, my competitiveness turned into frustration and welled up inside me. The first thing that I had to do was move backwards 29 points, from there on out I would add up the rest of my meager points and find that I was a heart-shattering 60 some-odd points behind Kristine. The game board only has 100 point slots on it! So, I got angry. Then I started saying stupid things like: "I'm not even going to count up my points!" and "I hate that stupid last turn rule!" which only made Kristine laugh. She thought it was fairly ridiculous of me to act like that. Then she said I should write a blog about it--so I did.

I was amazed how angry I got and how long it took me to settle down. It probably took me a good fifteen minutes until I could breathe easy and think clearly again. So, yes, I think I'm a little competitive. I guess nothing has changed from since I was a kid. I have some great competitive stories from my childhood and my friends lives. I think I'll outline some of those in my next blog.

If anyone else can relate, I want to hear their stories so leave me a comment or something so that the top 10 most ridiculous can be my next blog. Anyway, let me know.

A blog for the round...

As a follow up to my last post and Becca's great idea (Thanks Becca!), I've started a second blog which will be dedicated to weight loss endeavors. Not just my own, but any of you that are interested in taking part. See my first post here ... if you'd like to be added as a contributor let me know and we'll get this thing rolling. The more the merrier - I can only post so much about the junk in my trunk people.

Alright fatty, it's time...

That's my inner voice speaking... it gave up being nice a long time ago.

After months and months of denial I've decided it's time to lose some weight. It's either that or move to a country where my rounder figure we'll be appreciated. Since the latter is highly unlikely, I'll have to go with the first option and torture myself with exercise and healthy eating. It pains me to even think about exercise, much less setting foot in a gym. Exercise just doesn't feel good, and the first 2 weeks back to the gym are always the worst.
(**Skip this blog if you'd rather not read about my plans to lose weight.)

A couple weeks ago, Aunt Stephanie sent over an e-mail with some funny quotes related to weight loss amongst other things (Thanks Stephanie - I loved these), the title of the e-mail was "Girlie Wisdom to brighten your day". Here are a few of my favorites:

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my shorts.

Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

If only they all weren't completely true!

I'm not sure exactly how I'll manage it yet, but I intend on ditching the spare tire and "cottage cheese" ASAP. Realistically, by February since I have to factor in holiday gorging.

In the meantime, maybe I can try this while I'm at work:

Successful weight loss starts with goals and a commitment to change, so here are a few small things I'm going to start immediately:

1). No more fast food. Period.
I was doing pretty well avoiding this stuff, but lately it's crept back into my life. It doesn't make any sense. How can chicken parts, put into a mold and sold as nuggets be appealing to anyone?

2). Drink lots of water - at least 64 oz per day.
64 oz a day seems like a lot, and makes for frequent trips to the restroom, but this is essential for weight loss. Plus, it might be just the thing to help with my dry skin issue.

3). Cut back my candy and/or sugar consumption.
I can't go without completely, that would be almost impossible... and miserable. Instead, I'll cut back significantly and commit to no candy before lunch or after dinner. I'm also putting chips in this category - including the bag of Cheetos I brought home today.

4). No late night snacking - or snacking period after 8 PM.
I confess, I wake up regularly, very, very late at night and go to the kitchen for a snack. Sometimes it's juice, other times a cookie... It's usually a response to my grindy midnight tummy. To prevent this, I'm going to try a glass of warm milk before bed.

5). Eat a big, healthy breakfast.
We've started doing this already and it makes my day so much better. It wakes my brain up, gives me more energy and prevents me from snacking on junk in the mornings. It's also nice to have that extra time to spend with Alex before we head our separate ways for the day.

6). Drink more milk.
I've heard milk is good for weight loss - and more importantly, bones. I told Alex I married a younger guy so he could wheel my osteoporosis-ridden body around when I was older and hunchback, but he didn't like that idea, so I'm going to try to prevent it by drinking more milk now. Milk is on my "things that gross me out list" along with mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard... so it's a bit of a chore to get it down my gullet.

7). Get a good night's sleep... try for 8 hours and get a minimum of 7.
I rarely get to bed before midnight. Horrible, I know. How am I ever going to get up for an early AM workout if I'm getting to bed at midnight?! For the next couple weeks, I'm going to force myself to bed by 10 PM. Once I accomplish that, I'll work my way down to 9:30.

8). Exercise.
I save this for last because I'm looking forward to it the least... Plus, I need to talk with Alex and see when he wants to workout - early morning or later in the evening? Hmm.. sounds like an FHE activity waiting to happen. Will do Monday - exercise routine TBD after Alex and I plan on Monday.

If anyone has any helpful hints, please comment.

P.S. Terry, I found the books you made a couple years ago for the weight loss competition we did at work. Who won? Probably you since I bombed on my scripture study.
If you're up for the challenge, we could reinstate the competition using the same criteria and start our points at zero. Whoever has the most points by the end of the year (or whatever date) wins... what do you think? Let me know - I'd be up for a challenge. : )

Trans Siberian Orchestra

To sum it up... bright lights, lasers, fire and awesomely loud music. The seats were good - that was confirmed when one of the guys ran from the stage and made his way up the stairs and stopped right next to our row to jam on his guitar, 5 feet away from Alex and I. I'm not obsessed, so I didn't rip the guy's clothes off or anything, but I could have if I wanted to.


We did have one snafu trying to find the venue and arrived 30 minutes late. By the time we got there I think Alex would have been just as happy to kick me to the curb and take off, but he was nice enough to stick to the original plan. In the end it worked out, they played for 2 1/2 hours - after we got there. They are very generous with the length of their performances. It's equally cool that they stayed after to do a meet and greet for anyone and everyone. We didn't stay, but maybe some other time...

Anyway, more later. This old bag needs some sleep.

Mystery Solved?

I had a epiphany this morning while we were eating breakfast. I know exactly where our pumpkin went - it joined the circus!

I am having a very tired day today. Alex, on the other hand, slept quite well and was full of energy during breakfast. He was hilariously reciting Monty Python sketches, which was so funny that I almost shot milk out my nose. I'm thankful for the balance. Had we both felt icky, breakfast wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable.

Tonight we are going to the E-Center for the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. I can't wait. Details to follow later.

Date Night Stigma

Tonight marked yet another momentous occasion in the Booth household. We had an impromptu date night AND it was fun for both of us!! Yay for progress! Date night has become a bit of an obstacle in our home as of late. Here is our typical dialogue...

Me: "So, what do you want to do for date night tonight?"

Alex: "I don't care, what do you want to do?"

Me: "Ummm... how about we go to dinner?"

Alex: "Yeah, that might be good... do you really want to go? ... We could just make something here...?"

Me: "I don't really feel like cooking dinner, but I guess we can eat here if you don't want to go out."

Alex: "I don't know, I don't really feel like eating out."

Me: "Okay, what would you like to do?"

Alex: "Whatever you want to do is fine."

Me: "How about we go see a movie?"

Alex: "....I don't really like entertainment... is there something else we could do? What about bowling?"

Me: "No, I hate bowling. Bowling in Provo on a Friday night is ridiculous.."

*Note: Provo has a large dating population, it's probably the dating capital of the world. Trying to do any date type activities on a Friday night between 6-9 is pretty much impossible... and since LDS people have that geeky streak in them, the couples at the bowling alley actually know how to bowl - the right way. I'm sure most are semi-pro, making me and my granny shot look even more ridiculous. No thanks, I'll pass.

Alex: "We don't have to go bowling.."

Me: "Why don't we go to IKEA and look at some things for the house? We've been talking about that for awhile...?"

Alex: "That could be good... Is there something else you'd rather do? I don't really feel like shopping.."

Me: "So, what do you want to do?"

Alex: "I don't know... I don't really feel good, I'm a little off today."

At this point in the conversation, he usually gets the sour look on his face - much like a person realizing they have to use the restroom - immediately! This is also the moment I usually choose to give up. If planning a date is this painful, how awful will the actual date be? Forget about it.

Me: "Let's just stay home tonight. We can do it another night.."


Alex [in martyred tone]: "Sorry I ruined our date night... we can still do something if you want to...?"

Me: "Dude, I'm over it - the horse is dead."

Moments later, his phone rings. It's one of his friends. What do I notice first? My indecisive, too-ill-for-date-night husband seems to have suddenly had a full recovery. Not only has he recovered, he's now asking me if I mind if he invites people over. What?! I'm baffled and extremely annoyed.

**Flash forward to this evening.**

I came home, told Alex I didn't want to cook dinner and within minutes we were in the car on our way to get some food. We went to Guru's Cafe and shared a huge plate of Cilantro Lime Pesto Pasta and a salad. Over the course of dinner, we noticed that several of the patrons seemed to be very Bellingham-esque... the granola kids! It's almost like being back home. (P.S. I'm so over guys wearing those tight, tight pants. Give your sister her pants back and go buy some masculine jeans).
Next, we stopped at one of my favorite places in Provo, the Provo City Library. Check this place out - it's beautiful.


I've been searching for the Wicked book by Gregory Maguire and surprisingly, there was one copy on the shelf. I grabbed it and on we went.

We were now officially headed for home, until something came up about the BYU Planetarium. How about one last stop?


In the process of walking to the Planetarium, I saw the "sights" - the lab Alex works in a few hours each week and the room where he and his Physics buddies spend most of their time studying (commonly referred to, by me, as the "Dork Code" room). We even took a few minutes to play with the cool gadgets in the Eyring Science Center lobby. The Planetarium itself was closed when we got there, so we decided it was time to go home.

We both had a great evening. To most others and myself, this would qualify as a date - but to Alex, we were just doing what needed to be done - getting food in our bellies, checking out the book I wanted, and seeing the sights at BYU. He was fine the whole evening, BUT had I classified it as a date beforehand, it would have been a disaster.

The moral of the story is, my husband is, in fact, capable of doing date night we just can't refer to it as such or the stigma will set in.

My Christmas Wish List

As much as I've been trying to avoid thinking about Christmas, it's really hard with all of the cool things I've seen at Costco (and everywhere else) lately. I've had this list of wants floating around in my head for awhile and it's making me slightly crazy. In an effort to save my sanity and potentially help my husband who may want to exchange gifts this year, I've decided it's time for another post. Without further adieu, here is my Christmas Wish List (in random order)... complete with pictures, where to buy and estimated cost.

**Alex, if we decide we're not going to buy presents this year, you're welcome to surprise me with any of these items, at any time, no questions asked. ;)

My favorite perfume.. Clinique Happy
You can get it from Macy*s or Nordstrom, it's about $50.

A shop vac similar to this guy so I can vacuum out my car, the garage or anything else I feel like vacuuming. This one is a 12-gallon Craftsman from Sears, which seems to be sufficient in size and cuteness, but kind of pricey, about $70.

A mini-to-RCA audio cable - I like this one in particular because it's a little longer than the others and the connectors aren't funky like some of the others. This one is Dayton brand, 3.5mm mini-to-RCA, I think it's a 12 foot. Probably at Best Buy and roughly $20.

A cute apron. I was never into aprons, but I'm really not into splattering hot oil all over me and my clothes, plus, this apron would give me a little bit of Betty Crocker cuteness. It's from Flirty Aprons, which has a kiosk in the University Mall - or you can go to flirtyaprons.com. Usually $35, but currently on sale for $28 (online).


The America's Test Kitchen cookbook. This book happens to be at Costco right now and would add nicely to my collection of cookbooks. Who knows, it may be just the thing to get me jump started on cooking again. I believe it's about $23.

Square Baking Dishes. I've desperately wanted a couple of these for a while, you can find them at Target for approximately $8. Specifically I'd like the 8" Pyrex Grip Rite Square Baking Dish in clear.

And finally, the Lego egg timer I've been eyeballing for months and months - can you believe I haven't bought it already? Proof that I have a small amount of self control. $8 (plus shipping) at http://shop.lego.com

Sunday Tradition

One of my favorite traditions we've started since being married is Sunday breakfast. Every Sunday we make a mondo huge breakfast - much like the one in the picture minus the coffee - stuff ourselves to the point of misery and then relax, study scriptures or veg (sp?) until it's time for church. I hope we'll be able to continue to do this once we have kids, it's hard to say, but in the meantime - I love it! Today we had french toast, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs.

Notice my plate, I'm a separatist. If the syrup touches the eggs or hashbrowns they become inedible.

The other thing I love about Sunday (besides church) is the time we have together. Usually we get off to a rough start, almost always having some petty argument on the way to church, but afterward we have dinner, discuss random things from the day, and end with a board game or a movie. It's also the day we Skype Alex's family and get the scoop on the week's happenings. I'm glad we're able to stay in the loop even though we're here, in Utah and they're back home, where I'd like to be at times.

Sunday used to be my least favorite day of the week. It was like having a built in day of restriction every week - no shopping, going out, television. It was a designated stay home and spend time with the family day, which I did not appreciate. Now that I'm older and a smidge wiser, I'm grateful for Sunday. Having a day to rest up and spend time with family is exactly what I need to feel refreshed and get me ready to go into a new week. It's also the one day that I don't have to feel guilty that I'm not cleaning the house or working in the yard. What a great day!

...almost forgot, how about the after church naps? Those are the best.

The New "Contributor"

I guess I'm a new contributor to the blog. I'm not very good at writing and I'm even worse at expressing feelings and ideas but maybe this blog will be good for that. Kristine's blogs are funny. I think she was inspired by my cousin Kristin whose blog entries always leave us in hysterics. I hope that I can live up to the expectation.
Getting straight down to business, what did happen to our pumpkin? I think it was probably eaten by the dog that consistently defecates on our front lawn whenever we're not there to see it. I liked that pumpkin. It was my brainchild. (Pretty sad huh. I haven't taken an art class or done anything artsy since 8th grade. That's 7 years already!). I was hoping that it would be a barfing masterpiece but with our marital theme of OCD and dislike for the gross pumpkin guts, it was not to be. I really was all about the X's for eyes. It reminded me of the Japanese cartoons I used to watch with Austin. That's all for now.

New and Improved...

I was reading Bonnie's blog the other day and noticed that Tyler had posted the latest entry. At that moment, an idea was born - why not add Alex as a contributor so he can post to ours? Duh. I'm a little slow. I'm not sure how often he'll post, but now he has the option... watch out world, here he comes!

P.S. I take no responsibility for the content or opinions expressed in his posts.

The Case of the Missing Pumpkin

This evening marked a strange occurrence in the Booth household - our pumpkin was nabbed by a pumpkin thief! Alex and I arrived home shortly after 5:30 and immediately noticed something was missing. No more pumpkin! Neither of us touched it. We thought we might find its nasty carcass in the garbage. No such luck. I can only assume one of the neighbors got tired of looking at it and pitched it for us...


We soon forgot about the pumpkin and quickly moved on to our first priority of the evening (besides dinner) - our newest board game. We spent the last of our birthday funds on a game called Ticket To Ride (Thank you Melissa for the suggestion - we love it!). I won't go into detail now except to say we both really enjoyed the game and look forward to playing it in the future. It's another strategy game, which is our latest guilty pleasure... Click here for more info on Ticket to Ride.

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. In fact, I think I've blocked most of it from my memory since it involved being crazy-busy at work and not-so-nice to Alex while I was at home. More on that later when it's not 1:00 am.. In the meantime, I'm sure Alex will continue to pray for me to have patience... and I'll keep having trials to break me down until I finally learn that wonderful (and seemingly difficult to obtain) virtue.

This Place I Like To Go

After taking a 3 month hiatus, Alex and I finally made it to the temple for dinner and a session. We went to Mount Timpanogos since it was the closest (I worked in Highland today)... and because it happens to be one of my favorites. I feel bad that we didn't get there a month or two ago, but at least we got there, right?
From what I can tell, Fall may be officially over. Last night it snowed; not just on the mountain, but in our driveway and all over the cars. I had 3 inches on my car this morning and it took me an extra 20 minutes to get to work. So, basically it went from windy Fall-like weather to ridiculously cold and snowing overnight... the weather here is just weird like that. I'm not ready to deal with Winter in Utah, 6 months of freezing butt cold, chapped skin, yuckiness.. and, like usual, I don't have much of a choice. I would have posted a picture, but I'm still in denial.

Hmmm... but on the bright side, maybe now I can justify buying myself a cup - one cup, not two - of hot water with a hint of chocolate from Maverick. Maren, if you were here we could even go together, I know how much you crave that stuff. I'd even splurge and buy the M&Ms just for you. Good times. :)

You are cute, but EEEK!

Alex noticed this in the bath tub while he was brushing his teeth a few minutes ago:


Three questions...
How did he get in? How long has he been chillin' in the bath tub? And did he bring any friends?

The idea of little mice cruising around the house while we're sleeping (or awake) gives me the heebie-jeebies. I have to stop thinking about it.

We were in need of some entertainment this evening and decided to play a board game. Alex Hildebrand sent Alex Carcassonne back in September for his birthday. We still hadn't played it, so tonight was the night. In some ways it reminds me of Settlers of Catan, but this game is a little easier and takes much less time to finish (Scott & Liz, you need to play this one if you haven't already, I think you'd like it). We played two games - I won the first, he won the second and thankfully so. We both have the tendency to get quite competitive when we play games. On a bad day, it can be just the thing to start a fight. I recall playing a game of monopoly at the cabin in August and someone (we won't name names) was a little upset when his wife beat him at his own game (prior to that we was considered to be the Monopoly Master). To be fair, I did make it nearly impossible for him to win when I refused to sell him any properties...
He was a little discouraged this evening when I won initially, but quickly regained his confidence when he trashed me during the second game. I told him he should be thankful that his wife is any competition at all - I don't know that this made him feel any better, but it was worth a try.

The Happiest Place on Earth

That's right... this evening Alex and I visited the happiest place on earth, Walmart! It was an extremely efficient one stop shopping experience - we were able to buy the thing we came for, say "Hi" to a friend, and enjoy a constant supply of people watching entertainment that Walmart is known to provide. No matter what state you're in - the weirdos flock to Walmart. This evening was no exception.

Throughout the store we saw many couples still dressed in Halloween garb, others were taking advantage of the 50% off candy shelves (I intended on doing so, but my waist said no), and then there was the one guy that really gave us a chuckle.

After making our way to the front of the store, we surveyed the lines and nestled in behind another couple in the self checkout. This line was the shortest, unfortunately that didn't mean it was the quickest. We stood, and waited... and stood, and waited... the line did not move. After 5 minutes I finally got curious and looked ahead to see what the holdup was. The guy at the front of the checkout was paying for his groceries and was in the process of inserting coins one by one. No biggie, we all pay with change once in awhile. I looked even closer and realized he was paying in pennies. No quarters, dimes or nickels.. just PENNIES! The people in front of us were getting impatient and at one point the husband leaned over to his wife and said,"He has $15.00 to go..." I just about died. Apparently he's never heard of Coinstar, which would have made his, and our, shopping trip much faster. Needless to say, we too had grown impatient and quickly moved to another line.

The joys of Walmart. If only you could have seen the look on his face... and the look on the faces of the people waiting in line behind him. Priceless.