FAST TRACK TO FASTING

Nothing makes fasting easier than finding a dead mouse on your kitchen floor. 

After consultation with J, we decided that this is what home teachers are for, right? I've never asked them for anything, couldn't they just come over after church and take care of one measly little mouse? I just couldn't imagine picking up that soft, squishy little body even if I had the tools to do so. J at this point was still convinced it was fake - possibly planted. I think I may have been a suspect until she realized that I was truly averse to going near it.

 I asked the HT at church if he would come take care of it and he was a little awkward about it "Do you have a box or something to put it in?" was the exact question. My response: "um...I have a trash can." It wasn't getting it out of the apartment that freaked me out, it was the actual touching of the actual dead mouse (and before you judge, I actually am an animal person and don't mind live mice as pets).

Anyway - got a text from J while at church that it was taken care of. Thanks, B! Even though I may have suspected you of planting it for a while, I blame that evil thought on J and now regret that I had those distrustful thoughts.

But all of this begs a different question that we have been contemplating: how does a mouse just drop dead on its side in the middle of the kitchen floor? I mean, doesn't it have to die for a reason? It wasn't even hidden in a cupboard or something. Could that reason, perhaps, have been the fact that we were both tempted to not fast? Did we call death upon this little rodent so we could stay righteous and realize our fast for the day? Was he sacrificed for our good?

All I know is that this must not happen again. Any suggestions on how to stay rodent-free? Preferably without traps and mouse-murder involved?

I'LL JOIN YOU TOMORROW...

I recently received an invitation (finally, something different on the ward listserve!) to join an Occupy DC march to the Convention Center last night to protest the Republican gathering there. I was tempted...I'll admit that it's mostly because I just have this really strong desire to join some kind of movement (and I kind of like this one to some degree). Maybe it's so that in the future I can say "Yeah, I was there." Instead, I will probably be saying, "Yeah, I knew people who were there but I had to study, was lazy, didn't want to pay the metro fare to get there...etc." So lame, but that's the way it is. Plus, it's getting cold here.

Anyway, I feel like this article is a sign that I was right not to go yesterday. Maybe I'll make it to the next event. Maybe. If it fits into my class schedule.

WAY TO GO MALAYSIA!

I was wasting time before getting back to finishing my class assignment today and came across this BBC headline: 

"Malaysia bans Obedient Wives' Islamic Sex Guide"

All I could think was  - thank goodness! Then, while reading the article I came across the, apparently, universal solution to domestic violence (heavy sarcasm here):

"The club (who published the book) has previously said women should act like "first-class prostitutes" to prevent their husbands from having affairs or resorting to violence."

Oh. Well, then. If that's all it takes to eradicate infidelity and domestic violence...(again, heavy sarcasm).

APPARENTLY PROVIDENT LIVING MEANS HAVING A GUN

So, during church yesterday I noticed a link in the program to a specific website that shall not be documented here that is supposed to be about provident living. As that is my new calling, I determined to check it out for helpful resources. What did I find?

Not a list for easy-to-pack 72-hour kits, that's for sure. Instead, I found personal posts about gun-control being bad mixed with emergency preparedness quotes from prophets. What the...? I won't go into detail, but was definitely happy when my RS President gave me the links that I needed to look at for my calling and this was not one of them. Sheesh.

ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

So, my friend Erin just left this morning after a week-long visit (she was here for business and extended a bit to do some site-seeing) and now I have a little bit of time before I have to go to my ALL-DAY-LONG Saturday class (seriously, it's from 11-5:30 - who does that?), so I decided to give a quick update. I'll post about some of the other things, but just wanted to let you know about one of the greatest places to eat lunch if you are on the Mall. The National Museum of the American Indian. Yup, you heard me. They have a great cafeteria where you can get Native American food from various regions of the Americas. Even gluten-free! It was delicious. I got this great masa cake with black beans, peppers, and some kind of cheese sauce all over it. SOOOOOOOOO good. Erin got some kind of lobster cakes (bleh) that she said was good and some fry bread with a blueberry syrup. If you are in town, you should definitely make your way there!

NAIL POLISH MYSTERY

Does anyone else think it's weird that people here don't wear nail polish? I feel like my hands are screaming out loud when I wear it. Not only that, I put on that shatter nail polish last weekend while watching the game for fun...and when I went to church that Sunday I felt like a hooker or something. Weird. It was only in black and white - very classy and subtle. ;)

THE ECONOMIST

So I was talking to one of my new roomies and we got on the subject of magazine subscriptions. She asked what magazines I get so we could compare and see if any of our subscriptions overlap...

Me: "Oh, well I get Martha, House Beautiful, and I just got enough Coke rewards points to get Elle Decor. Sometimes I buy Dwell since I just really want to look at it."

Roomie: "What's Dwell?"

Me: "You know, like another design magazine."

Roomie: "What does that mean? What's a design magazine?"

Me: "You know, like how to decorate your house, interior design...stuff like that... (I trail off starting to realize how crafty and scrapbooky I sound - not that that's a bad thing, but I feel there's a difference between old crafts and new DIY scene - subtle differences, so I try to save the conversation)...What magazines do you get?"

Roomie: "Right now just the Economist."

Me: "Oh. (pause) You can't get that with Coke rewards."

Is it weird that sometimes I just want my magazines to be relaxing and visually satisfying? That after a day of talking about how-we-need-to-save-the-world-but-really-can't-save-the-world-but-everyone-has-ideas-of-how-to-save-the-world-and-they-all-mess-it-up-more-and-what-does-"the world"-mean-anyways... that I just want to read an article about how to find a great rug for my future house?

Don't judge.

And yes, if I could get People magazine with my Coke rewards I would be subscribing to that as well. My dirty secret is out. I like to think of it as a natural curiosity about the world around me.

CINNATRAGEDY

Today I was going to make the best gluten-free cinnamon rolls you have ever tasted in your life. Or at least that's what the blog said. I want to preface this with the fact that I haven't had a cinnamon roll in like 2 years. The thing is, it's so different when you know you can't have one as opposed to just not having one.

Thanks to a friend, I saw this great recipe online. I figured Sunday would be the perfect day as I have church at 8am (I know...should be illegal) and then after nap time I could get to some cinnamon roll making, particularly since it's cool enough to be baking.

I visited three different stores, that's right - 3, to get all of the supplies. This gluten-free baking thing is intense! I came home from church and as I looked at my ingredients scattered over the counter and in the pantry I came to this horrifying realization: I have no mixer.

So, cinnamon rolls, maybe we shall meet another day (hopefully before my buttermilk expires because, really, who needs buttermilk for anything else? gross!).

14,000 rounds of ammunition missing from Fort Bragg

Again....all I can say is, really?

Who has Libya's missiles?

This is the headline I saw tonight as I logged onto cnn.com. Really? Does this make anyone else nervous?

Mean or Lazy?

I can't decide which I am...both of the roomies are moving out tonight and all I can think about is finding some really legitimate excuse for not being here when the hauling begins. I mean, really...there's a ton of stuff and we live on the 3rd floor. One even rented a truck! I think it's more laziness than anything (or legs that want to fall off because all I ever do around here is walk - what's up with that?). I'm a horrible person inside.

Since I'm Still Anonymous

So I feel like I can still write this since no one in my new ward knows me yet and won't see it and get offended...but I felt like I was in the Singles Ward movie last week when I went to my ward for the first time. The speaker told us he was EQ Pres in about 9 creative different ways during his talk while also focusing on his view that dating and marriage has become "sensationalized."

Now, I am sure he is a really nice guy (really...he does seem like a nice guy and I'll probably want to delete this post when I get to know him)....but I just have to think that as you prepare a talk you need to know how you come off? You are trying to be the anti-stereotype by talking about marriage while not being so obsessed with it, while at the same time reinforcing about a kajillion stereotypes of singles ward quirks.

Maybe I was just feeling this way because church meets at 8am. I mean, really? My job didn't even start by 8am!

I have a couple of other snarky things to say but am holding them in so I don't alienate any possible new friends. Thinking of starting a tumblr account (Tricia as my inspiration) and only letting certain people know? This social media thing is getting too complicated.

Sister Love

Is it normal to be jealous of your sisters when they are losing weight and you aren't? S3 has definitely been losing some weight and is looking great! Which is great for her...but sucky for me. Good thing S2 is still pregnant. haha.

Car-lemma

Hmmmm...no good when you are getting into your car after work and you hear some cars bash into each other on the other side of the hedge. I definitely took the other way around...crazy UCI college kids. I swear we see an accident at least once a month. Add a college campus with a high school campus with a bunch of BMWs bought by parents = recipe for car damage.

Speaking of cars...I am dealing with a car-lemma. Although I have decided that I am at least taking my car with me to Virginia initially, I will then have to decide whether to keep or sell. I guess a big factor in that decision will be the job status. Nanny = not enough money to keep my car. Other jobs = a definite possiblity.

Well, Hello George!

I just realized I never updated the post with where I am going. Yup, folks, in August I will be headed out to DC to begin a MA in International Development Studies at George Washington University. So excited! I have so many more things I need to update on here...maybe this weekend? :)