"I Wanna Be The One To Walk In The Sun"

Well, Kyle is on to me and my once-hairy legs.  He read this post and promptly drove me to the WalMart to buy some new razor blades.  Because he initiated the purchase, I felt the $16 pack of 8 was totally justified,  even though I still hear him mention every now and then about how expensive my razor blades are.  But really, I think we can all agree they were worth it.  And you know what?  He really hadn't noticed how hairy they had gotten.  I'm not exactly sure how I should feel about that.

In other maritial news, the Kyle has also noticed the seemingly endless supply of lotions and creams and sprays which a woman must have.  A lotion for the face, a lotion for the body, a cream for those really dry winter days, a mousse for hair volume, a root boost for more hair volume, hair spray for proper styling, a conditioner for dry hair days, a conditioner for clarifying...  The conversation came up when he nearly caused a landslide when the toothpaste managed to knock over a moisturizer which then tipped over the toner and so on and so forth. 

Also, I hear he is unhappy at finding my longish blonde hairs on the towels, on his jacket, on the toothpaste, in the bed...  I can't help it.  It's nearing the end of winter and I must be molting.  I'm sorry sugar muffin, but I do love you so!

Being a girl is just so fun.
(Extra points if you know where the post title came from)

Better Than a $5 Foot-Long?

Today I made the sandwich of all sandwiches.  I call it the PBHBP.  Peanut Butter Honey Banana Pecan.  It started out innocent enough: a quick Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich on my way back to work.  But then I thought, "Wouldn't toasted almond honey from the local monastery taste so good with this?"  And after slathering on some of that delicious honey I realized that while there were already a few toasted almonds, why not some pecans too?  So I smooshed a nice layer of chopped pecans right into the honey and smashed it all together with generous amounts of peanut butter and a sliced up banana. 

I tell you I did not count the calories on this.  But it is on wheat bread and that means it must be healthy.  And it goes without saying that the banana makes this a diet food. 

I rest my case.

While beyond delicious, this was probably not the best choice for a sandwich to eat in the car.  Catching banana slices and drips of honey proved to be rather tricky on the road.  Perhaps the PBHBP would be best enjoyed at home with a glass of milk.  Or a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Milkshake, if you dare. (my favorite!)

Mmmmm....

But Owls Are So Hot Right Now

I have been wrestling my tempermental sewing machine for the past hour trying to get a handmade owl to be properly positioned on the tiniest of tiny baby onesies.  Does no one have fat babies anymore?  All in all it turned out pretty darn awesome.  And why not?  The Hooty is my most popular onesie.  In fact, the only one I've been selling.  But owls are so hot right now.  And what's up with that anyway?  There are just owls everywhere these days.  (Although I'm not complaining)  And how is it that I managed to remove the skin from my thumb in all this sewing today?  That was definitely not part of the plan.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the news had a bit about a "neuroeconomist" tonight.  Sounds pretty nerdy, I know.  This guy explains what happens in the brain to cause a person to spend money a certain way.  Or something like that.  Oh but how I'd be interested to know what goes on in my brain when I shop!  Wouldn't you like to know?  And what happens to cause someone to buy tiny baby onesies with owls on them?  I mean really, I need to know my customers!

Maybe if I Took a Vow of Silence

I believe that sometimes we are given challenges to help us appreciate our blessings.  So today I am very, very grateful for breath and days when it comes easily.  Ok I said it, I am grateful, can I go back to breathing normal now?  You see I have this vocal chord that doesn't always behave.  Sometimes it sticks to the other one, leaving a smaller space through which to breathe.  It pretty much feels like I'm trying to breathe through a straw.  For years doctors thought I had asthma until it kept getting worse and inhalers were totally useless.  I actually wish it was asthma, because then there'd be some things I could do about it.  But, with Vocal Chord Dysfunction all I can do is wait... try to relax and drink lots of water.  I'm going on two weeks of bad breathing now and I'm getting so fed up with it!  Usually it just comes every few months and hangs around a few days and goes away.  Perhaps I have not been grateful enough and so I am being challenged evermore so?  Well, at least it would help to think there's a reason behind this. 

It's a difficult thing to explain and it's extra frustrating that every third breath I take is a sigh or a yawn. People always think I'm impatient or upset about something or just really need to get some sleep.  Quite the contrary.  I just can't breathe.  The more I talk, the worse it gets.  It interferes with exercising.  I have yawned so much that my jaw hurts.  Oh honestly, it is getting old.

Maybe if I took a vow of silence my vocal chord would forgive me and start to behave.  But talking is overrated, isn't it?  I could be like The Little Mermaid and work my body language!  Maybe I should learn to sign and then I could someday teach our kids to sign when they are just babies and they will be little geniuses.  Or I could fish up an old game of Pictionary and communicate through stick figures.  Or I could resort to only using text messages.  People do that these days, don't they?  You wouldn't be offended if I sent you a text when you are sitting right next to me, would you? 

So please do forgive me when I sigh seemingly impatiently or yawn every other minute.  I do not think you are boring or annoying or impossibly long-winded, I just need you to do all the talking for awhile.  Could I interest you in a game of Pictionary?

Bandwagoneering

I have totally jumped on the Olympics bandwagon this year.  Seriously, I can't even get enough of it.  You better believe Kyle and I are watching every night!  And thanks to the movie Blades of Glory, Kyle has a newfound "interest" in figure skating and there's definitely an added humor when we watch it together.

I hate to admit it, but we also kinda like to see people screw up.  Now don't get me wrong, we don't want anyone to get hurt, we just watch with baited breath for the next skiier or skater to fall...  But we really are nice people, I promise!

I contribute some of my added enthusiasm for the winter Olympics to finally making it down the hill on a snowboard for the first time last winter.  Yes, I grew up in Colorado.  And no, I had never skiied or snowboarded prior to January 2009.  Yes, I realize that makes me markedly uncool.   Yes, I made a fool of myself on the mountain.  And yes, I looked pretty bad-a doing it too.  (or so I thought)  You know what happened was, all my friends I went with each thought I was with someone else and I pretty much got left at the top of the mountain to figure out on my own how to get down.  I had no choice but to get determined!

To say the least, I have a much better appreciation and awe of these Olympic athletes that can make it down a mountain in a minute or two.  They are not afraid of crashing.  They are not afraid of intense speed.  They are not experiencing abdominal muscle failure from trying miserably to get themselves back up after falling a hundred times. 

So I'm sure you're asking yourself right now, "But did she ever snowboard again?!?"  I tell you, I did not.  But I assure you I have high hopes of making it out again, I just have to convince Kyle to go with me. 

'Let's Strike up a Match, Valentine!'

Well I suppose there's something to be said about Valentine's Day.  The Kyle and I spent this Valentine's Day in Boise, Idaho.  Very romantic, I know.  We went to the wedding of a friend on Saturday though, and that was actually very romantic.  One of the temple worker's names was even Sister Valentine which was a very romantic coincidence until I realized her name was not Valentine afterall.  Ballentine is very much less romantic.

In our efforts to "keep the Sabbath day holy" we celebrated the holiday Saturday night and Kyle took me to Shige for sushi!  Oh how he knows I love sushi!  And you know what?  The Kyle is really starting to like the stuff too.  I couldn't be happier.

Also very romantic: we had a double-date with Kyle's parents in the family room and watched High Crimes and ate peach cobbler.  But tell me, is there anything more romantic than a lawyer defending her murderous husband?  And Kyle offered to rub my shoulders.  Which... he didn't do, but I'm not forgetting!  You owe me, mister.

I know most people aren't really into Valentine's Day.  You are probably "one of them," aren't you?  That's ok, we can still be friends!  While I do feel that love should be celebrated more than just one day a year, I just kind of like the silliness of it all.  I think it brings back fond memories of the elementary school trading of valentines which I loved so much.  (The ones with candy were always the best) Such a lovely, nostalgic holiday I think. 

And so much more fun than that President's Day.  I mean really, does anyone actually celebrate President's Day?  Poor presidents.  Overshadowed by St. Valentine every year.

I Am Not a Free-Spirited Hippie

(not my legs)

Well, I'm officially an old married lady.  You know why?  I can't remember the last time I shaved my legs.  Don't tell Kyle though.  Somehow my hairy legs have gone unnoticed for weeks now.  Either that or he just doesn't care.  I think at this point it has been so long since I've shaved them that I just want to see how much longer I can go before he says something.  Kind of a sick game, isn't it?

I realize this is probably more than you were bargaining for but hey hair is a fact of life, unpleasant though it may be at times.  I will, however, spare you a photo of my hairy legs. (You can thank me later)

(also not my legs)

At one point I had myself thinking, "Oh I will just let it go until it's long enough to wax."  But that was two weeks ago.

Anyhow, it is winter here and this is the season for layers, tights, leggings, pants, and boots.  So really, who is going to notice? 

The truth of the matter is I bought a new razor the day before we got married so I could have silky smooth legs a la romance.  And I have not bought razor blades since.  Do you know how dull a razor blade gets after 5 months of daily shaving?  Very dull, is what it is.  It's for the best interest of my sensitive leg skin to just not shave them at all.  Afterall, aren't hairy legs better than poorly shaven legs with razor burn?  I do think so.

All this talking about hair reminds me of a rather free-spirited yoga instructor I had in college.  She was very talented and I loved her classes.  She loved to wear tank tops.  She was also against any kind of shaving, if you know what I mean.  I must tell you that no matter how dull my razor may be, I will never forgo a day without shaving the underarms.  Nothing is more disruptive to personal serenity than the image of said yoga instructor reaching skyward for the next asana only to display her ridiculously hairy armpits.  I shudder.

So despite what you may think, I am really not a free-spirited hippie (I don't even recycle regularly).  I'm just a lazy old married lady who needs to buy some razor blades. 

Super Bowl Sunday

  

So the Colts lost the Super Bowl, you know, and we are a little disappointed.  But we had a great time of it anyway.  (I told you this would end up on the blog Zane!)

  

Our friends have some of the cutest kids!  I love that Lexi calls me "Corky."  But only she can get away with it though, don't be gettin' any ideas.

Cody even cleaned the TV stand with a wipe!  He's so helpful!

  

Totally unrelated... look what came in the mail!  I'm so excited and now I just have to find the perfect lamp shade...

Also, today I came home from work and ate a ridiculous amount of leftover Super Bowl chocolate cake. I refuse to apologize.

Sometimes I Fall Asleep Anyway

It takes Kyle a ridiculous amount of time to pick out a movie to watch.  If you know Kyle, you'll know he loves movies and loves to collect DVDs.  We have a few too many, if you ask me, but it is nice to have a seemingly endless supply of movies to fill our weekends when we are too cheap to go out and do something else.

I think its really quite silly that it takes him so long to pick out a movie.  "Can't you just pick one?" I think to myself... or sometimes say aloud.  If I plan to be present during the movie watching he will often question my level of alertness, claiming that he doesn't want to put on a "really good" one that I've never seen if I'm just going to fall asleep.  Sometimes I fall asleep anyway.

After approximately 17 minutes of deliberating, he first settled on "Appaloosa" and then made a last minute change to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

I approve.  And yet, another Michael Caine?

Ok so as I am writing this he puts on "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and just as we get through the opening credits he changes his mind.  Now he wants to watch "Ransom." 

"Picking out a movie is very key." Kyle says, in response to me laughing at him.

"Why?"

"Because it sets the mood."

"For what?"

"The night."

He wants to "set the mood" for the night by watching a movie about a kidnapping?  Hm.

In my effort to better understand my husband, I tried to put myself "in his shoes," so they say.  And you know what?  That's exactly what I thought about: shoes.  Watching Kyle pick out a movie is very much like my daily challenge of assembling just the right outfit for the day.  Not forgetting just the right shoes, of course.  Afterall, what a woman wears definitely "sets the mood" for the day, don't you think?

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

We recently broke up with Comcast cable TV and said goodbye to our beloved DVR.  It was a sad day as Kyle carried the DVR and necessary cables and remotes to Comcast, but it won't be a long parting. 

You see, the idea was to ditch the cable until, of course, football season starts again. I mean really, can one be joyfully married to the Kyle without ESPN during football season?? I just don't even want to know.  

So here's what's happened since our parting with cable:

1.  Because the TV is no longer forced to reside within 3 feet of the cable outlet, we could spend a whole afternoon rearranging furniture.  And what do you know, we have more room!

2.  Without the handy TV Guide thing, I have no idea what shows are on and have to flip through each channel one by one.  I subsequently found myself sitting through an episode or two of "Little House on the Prairie" and a very old Michael Caine movie.  I may have also watched an opera.

3.  Now that we can't record all our favorite shows, we have to include "watch The Office" on our weekly plans so we don't miss an episode (we sure love us some Michael Scott around here).

dream home maybe? 

4.  We're saving money!!  This brings us ever closer to the purchase of our very own house where we will not be subject to the booming music selections of Ms. Obnoxiousness next door. This, of course, always makes us happy, therefore improving the overall atmosphere of the Post family apartment.

Well, goodbye cable. 

We'll see you in September.