dear sisters,

in the words of The King (ok, not Jesus-all of a sudden I feel really guilty calling Elvis the king at Christmas time) himself, "I'll have a blue-ue-ue Christmas without you."

However, I am not shaking my hips while typing.

But just so you know, you're lame for having husbands and not coming home with me.

Merry Christmas.

-mollie

New Look

dear blog readers,

i just noticed we're five days away from christmas and my blog is still screaming Thanksgiving! No one told me!? How embarrassing! Anyway- so it was time for a make-over. I don't like this background all that much, but it was one of the few "wintry" ones to choose from (so I don't feel bad having a Christmas one up until April). It looked more blue online, but now it's looking gray.

But anyway. Some time I shall give you an update about coming home and life in general. But, not today. Because I am lazy.

-mollie

ode to katie

i have been trying to write a poem for katie for the last hour and haven't come up with anything good or clever.

so.

for now, this shall stand in its place.

dearest katie,
you rock.

the end.

random

Things that have been happening:

1) I got a 100% on a test last Tuesday!!!

2) I distributed letter-of-recommendation materials to professors on Tuesday!!!

2a) This means I'm applying to 7 programs. BAH!

3) I drove to Rexburg on Tuesday, with Nathan- a boy in my ward who was going to Blackfoot.

4) I stayed with Megan from Tuesday-Saturday.

5) We ate at Craigo's on Wednesday night. Yummmm.

6) We went to the arcade/fun zone place across the street from Megan and Chad's apartment, got stuck with an obnoxiously large group in black-light mini-golf, and played skee ball- my favorite! And I got one of those poppers (like the picture- crappy, but... you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a picture of those things), which I love! Oh it was a good night that brought out my inner 8 year old.
7) We spent about 30 minutes arguing and screaming about who had to put their hand in the business end of the turkey to get out the bag of guts and the neck. GAG.

8) The food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the mashed potatoes.

9) On Friday, Megan and I went to Idaho Falls, spent about 30 minutes in the mall realizing everything was more expensive there than online, and left empty-handed.

10) On Friday night, we went to a Rexburg town activity. Seriously. You bring a toy, they give you a glow stick and a hand stamp. You get free chili, cornbread, cookies, and hot cocoa, free horse-drawn carriage rides, and free pictures with Santa if you so desired (and there were a LOT of little children who so desired) all while being serenaded from a little live band that was sometimes good and sometimes not. Then they flipped the switch on the lights on main street, and everyone followed Santa to the tabernacle (secular and spiritual, together at last), for a talent show, which was pretty much a recital for all the local ballroom dance companies.

I must say, Rexburg surprised me. Despite the somewhat lame band and talent show, and the pitiful caroling down main street to the tabernacle, and Santa's anti-climactic drop-off in on the corner, and the crazy lady who kept breaking the touch barrier with us as we stood in line, it was a holiday-ee small-town kind of thing to do. Aww Rexburg. And, I want to reprimand my tongue for this word forcing its way out, but... maybe even, dare I say, "charming".

10a) Rexburg is absurdly cold. I kept telling Megan I didn't want to do things because it was too cold out. She said, "Mollie, you can't just not do things because it's cold. What, are you just gonna hibernate all winter?" Bingo! Yes. I would. If I lived in Rexburg I would never go anywhere from November-May.

11) On Saturday I took the shuttle back to Provo. It took 6 hours and a noticeable invasion of my personal bubble to get back here, but I did. And just for the record, Salt Lake Express, I did not get my complimentary snack or bottle of water.

12) I had tithing settlement on Sunday. Full-tithe payer. Boo yah.

13) I do not understand boys.

14) I found out that I will officially be Timpview High School's newest intern starting January- 25 hours a week. Exciting, but terrifying. (Note: Because of this, I won't get to TA again for Psych 304, which is lame, because I wanted to do both. This also means I have to give up Floral Design class.)

15) Tonight in the ward Christmas Party/Program, I played "Still, Still, Still" on flute with Ben (as previously mentioned in this post) on piano. I get really nervous playing, so that was lame, but it was fine. I'm glad Ben and I got to play together- it was fun. He's musical and all and that's nice.

16) I have the best coworkers ever. Seriously- some of my fellow PMs can make me happy on the worst of days, make me laugh and smile when I don't want to, and generally make the world a better place. When I think of "best" friends, I'd say about 90% of them are peer mentors. Oh how I love them. Thank you, Freshman Academy for the friends, if nothing else.

17) I haven't gone to bed on time the last two nights. Tonight is going to be the same. Blah.

18) Happy Birthday Dad! Erin already one-upped me with her post, so I'm not going to try to compete. Let's just say I'm your Cordelia.

19) On Friday I'm headed back to Rexburg. And Megan has warned me that it's going to be frigid- frigider (yes) than last weekend?! Is that possible?! If my spit freezes before it hits the ground, I'm not leaving the apartment/hotel room. Seriously- and Megan acted like hibernation was a completely irrational solution to the problem.

19a) Let's pray that Leonard survives the trip and the cold. Heck, let's pray that I survive the trip and the cold.

20) Only 6 more days of classes this semester.

21) 11:11- make a wish!

The End.

-mollie

I just have to say...

graduate school applications are making my brain turn to mush.

tempted to make the "round is a shape" joke...

So, I told Erin this today; she seemed shocked. Why?! I don't seem like the exercising type?

Well, I'm not. Which is why I don't tell people this.

But I've been dutifully getting up at 6:45 every school-day morning to go to the SFH and jog. Not very far. I get tired really fast. But this is officially my 6th week, and I think I've maybe lost 3 lbs. Ok, so progress is slow.

My goal is to finish the semester and hopefully be able to wear the jeans and other pants that I wore my freshman year, that I've been toting around in my car for the last 12 months. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to resign myself to getting rid of them.

Watch out love handles.

-mollie

Today...

... was a good day.

And that's all that needs to be said for now.

-mollie

The Way The Cookie Crumbled

Dearest and darlingest blog readers,

I recognize I am not the greatest at updating here. I get busy- or at least... I should be busy. But I have to tell/vent a little bit about my day, and then I shall go to bed, sleep it off, and never worry about it again... theoretically.

So my boss came and picked me up this morning at 8 am and we drove to Timpview High School. She knows someone who works in their counseling office and we were going to see what internship opportunities they had with their school psychologist, etc. The meeting was not what I was expecting- just in the sense that I left with the instructions to decide if I really want to do this, and then email a schedule and list of interests to the counselor. This is just something I thought would be done in the meeting- "this is what we want you to do, this is when you'll do it"- but it didn't happen that way. But the meeting was fine overall. Made me nervous and excited to be there in Winter semester. And that school is giMONgous! Like... 2000+ students?! I want my little Cromwell High bubble back.

Then I got dropped off on campus because my boss wasn't going to be in today. I worked for a while, then went to the bookstore and dropped$20 on candy because I told my TA students I'd bring them Halloween candy. I taught the lab and gave the students time to work on an assignment. The professor was there to observe and said he liked how we did things, so that was a nice pat on the back. Yay for me. And then he asked if I want to TA next semester. But I don't know how this internship is going to work out, so I told him I'd have to get back to him. I would like to keep TA-ing but we'll see.

Then I went to work. I was asked to help conduct a meeting (because "the boss" wasn't there), regarding what we want the students to do next week. Anyway- long story short, I was advocating the boss's position on the task when I was somewhat shot down and the task went in a different, but related direction. When the boss found out about what we'd done, she again stated the position I had tried to advocate. And when this happened, there was what I will call avoidance and reattribution that went something like this: "mollie didn't tell us that's what you wanted us to do." And BAM just like that, it was my fault.

This meeting had already gone over its time limit by an hour and a half, and I had a test that needed to be in my hand by 5 pm, and I was supposed to leave to go study for it an hour and a half ago. Now I only had 40 minutes to study and get it in my hand. I was worried because I knew I didn't know the material. And I didn't know it. I did less than stellar on the test, and I was just so dang mad. Yes, it is my fault that I didn't start studying earlier, but an unnecessary overlap in my schedule that kept me at work where I essentially got blamed for something that wasn't my fault and then a resulting not-great grade on the test did not a happy mollie make. I had perfect grades last year, so the thought of losing that because of this test (in a class I did not need, but took because I wanted to learn), which happened under these circumstances, made me just so dang frustrated.

It did not help that I had not eaten since breakfast. [Note: If you do not know this about me already, I get grumpy when I'm hungry. It's really not pretty.]

I walked home at 7.30 and my roommate was getting ready for the ward halloween party. I vented a little and tried to shake it off for the party. The party was in the Wilk- it was fun, though I got flack for not wearing a costume , but I was not in the mood nor did I have the time for a wardrobe change. M'Lisa painted a cute ghost on my cheek and I ate some candy, after buying a couple soft tacos at Taco Bell. But by the time 9/10 o clock rolled around, I was tired. Being tired also makes me grumpy; my efforts to be less noticeably defeated by the day were wearing off. I just wanted to come home, put on my pajamas, drink hot cocoa, curl up in a blanket, and watch a movie or something. M'Lisa suggested 101 Dalmatians. This is why I'm friends with her.

Anyway. So I finally got home after 11 pm. Exhausted. Frustrated. Defeated. I was getting ready for bed when I used the bathroom and noticed ... I have been wearing my underwear inside out all day. Of course. It seems only fitting given the day I've had. My roommate, trying to cheer me up, said "But now you get to wear them twice!" It did make me laugh.

We watched 101 Dalmatians, and now I am going to bed. I'm frustrated with work, and with myself. But I'm hoping a good night's sleep and some good venting will do me well. Tomorrow's another day.

And if I start it by putting on my underwear right side out, I'm already ahead of the game comparatively.

random things.

update 1) I still have not found my checkbooks. I have resorted to using another checkbook out of storage, so they will be out of order. This irks me every time I write a check.

update 2) For my taught-by-a-grad-student-who-lets-us-teach-ourselves class, we had to write a paper. About psychological contracts. Which is a term that isn't in our book. Basically it's the idea that when you get hired as an employee, you have expectations for the job and your experience at that company. When those expectations aren't met, there's a breach in the "psychological contract" often causing people to quit etc. Well, our assignment was to find a journal article about psychological contracts and how they affect the relationships between employees and employers. I found an article that talked about how a breach of contract is related to feelings of violation and revenge which are related to deviant workplace behaviors. Pretty much saying if a company doesn't do what an employee thinks it will, the employee is less likely or willing to follow rules/protocol etc.

I wrote the paper, and thought "Man, if I needed a bunch of information on this, I wish I could just collect all our papers." And then I wondered about why he chose a term that wasn't in the book anywhere. And then, I went to class. Some point in the discussion about our papers, our grad-student-professor said, "When I was in a social psych. class, we came across this term and I just found it so interesting, which is why I've decided to do my thesis on it."

Hold the phone.

You're telling me we just wrote your lit. review for your thesis??? Are you serious?! So LAME.

update 3) I got free tickets to a play tonight through Freshman Academy, so my roommate and I are going.

update 4) I had to grade papers for my FA students this week, and they're all disappointed in the scores. But we were told to be harsh to push them to do their best work. I think we pushed them into learned helplessness. I feel so bad. :( Hopefully they don't hate us too much.

update 5) My boss at FA is currently working her networks to line up an internship for me for winter semester. I only have 5 credits of classes left to take, so an internship would fill a void in my schedule.

update 6) I registered for classes last night. I now have Intro to Social Psych, Floral Design, Bowling, Judaism and the Gospel, and University Band on my schedule. Yippeee.

ok, the end.

bills to pay

ok...

So, about a month ago, I was rummaging through my stuff at Erin's house and decided I better take my checkbooks out of a box somewhere so I wouldn't need to come searching when I ran out (which was going to be soon). I had no idea where they were- just that they were in a box somewhere. I found them, after about 30 minutes of searching, and took two of them with me. I distinctly remember putting them in a box with my pots and pans that I was also getting out of storage.

When I got back to my apartment, I cleaned the pots and pans, and took the checkbooks to my room. I also distinctly remember thinking, "I don't want to have to search for these again. I will put them right here __________________________ so I'll be able to find them again."

This is all well and good, and I pride myself on being organized and planning ahead, but... the problem is, I'm drawing a blank on how to fill in the blank. That is, I HAVE NO UNEARTHLY IDEA WHERE THEY ARE!!!! I have searched high and low, under and over, in and out, and in all other prepositional ways possible.

And I ran out of checks last weekend, and I need to pay my gas bill.

lame.

update

BAH!

As many of you know, I am quite terrified of insects of all sorts. This is a story about one. I was about to get in bed tonight when I saw something crawling on my bedspread, which I determined to be a very leggy beetle. I knew it would be best to smoosh it against something hard, but all I had was a hard-soled shoe against my bed (not hard. thankfully). I swung and hit it, but when I moved the shoe, the beetle was nowhere to be found. I think I may have unknowingly propelled it into the air and across my room somewhere. And now I have to go to bed.

Eeeewwwwwwww!!

the end.

Spam.

Friends,

I have not been up to much- just trying to keep myself on top of readings and school work. I have been taking lots of tests (it feels like) and studying less than last year, but feeling more busy. How is that possible?

Anyway- as some of you know, I am taking SLF 260- Family Finance because I feel like I am painfully naive about a) taxes b) life insurance c) mutual funds, bonds, credit cards, etc etc etc. It is a large class (about 150) and about 2 times a week, I get emails asking for notes from class. Now, the class comes with a spiral-bound notebook and the professor gives lectures on the information in the workbook. If you read the workbook, you probably wouldn't "need" to go to class. There's also a TA lab that's open the majority of each day where people can sit down with you and go over class material. But alas, the emails keep coming.

Well, last week, a one "Lyndsey Gaskins" sent this email: "Okay, for all people who are sending out emails about getting notes from people it really needs to stop. We're all adults, be responsible and get to know one of your neighbors in class, tell them you are going to be out of town, or come back when you are feeling better after being sick, and ask them to borrow their notes. I am not trying to be rude, but like many others I'm sure, I have six classes so I get about six or seven emails a day, so if you could please refrain it'd be much appreciated. Thanks and have a good day."

Wow, I thought. She has some nerve sending that email. But finally, someone willing to suggest that people STOP sending mass emails to the entire class whenever they need something. Good.

Then, about 2 hours later, I got this one from "Annie Heinitz": While we have all read many respectful requests to cut down on individual note requests, I'm just wondering how difficult it is for one to simply delete an unread message when it is of no concern to them? I don't mean to cause offense, but who are we to judge another's situation? We don't know if they have classes far away from each other and are pregnant, thus they are late getting into class, which would not allow them an appropriate opportunity to 'get to know' another student, whom they would ask for notes from. Or, what if a student was unexpectedly diagnosed with H1N1 (swine flu)? These students are asked to not come to class while they are contagious, and in many cases contagiousness has lasted over a week. These ill students will automatically fall behind and should not be penalized for missing class because of their illness. Shouldn't we be grateful that they are staying home and stopping the spread of the flu? My point is, that we are all in this stage of life together, what ever happened to giving your fellow student the benefit of the doubt, and helping them out when they needed it? We are in no place to judge, so either help your classmate out, or just click your delete button.

And then I thought me and Annie would not be friends. Because honestly? If I missed class, I would never EVER think about sending a mass email asking for some stranger to send me their notes. And I honestly think the people who do are those that don't have friends in the class... maybe because they never go? Even if someone WAS sick, they could go to the TAs for help, or when they got back, they could simply sit next to someone and say "Hey, do you happen to have notes from the other day?" But I am tempted to believe that the type of people who send mass emails are not the type of people who go to class on a more regular basis. I tend to think the people who send mass emails are the people who are too lazy to go to the TA lab, and are also the type of people to copy your math homework. I had half a mind to send another email asking that everyone simply SHUT UP to save the rest of us from the ridiculousness.

But it just kept going! I got this email from "Jair Hernandez" :
Here are my notes for Monday:
He talked about life insurance from the workbook. HW due on Friday.
Pg 158-161

Notes for Wednesday:
He talked about life insurance and told jokes.
Pg 160-161, 164-166

I think this email got the point across: the lecture comes from the text. Stop whining.

Maybe finally the issue was settled?

Nope, yesterday I got this one from "Quentin Hunt": I would just like to second my disgust at the emails number of emails I receive.

I am a full time student as well and with all the emails I receive it sometimes is difficult to not accidentally delete one of your emails requesting notes along with the 15+ emails I get selling me cIaLis or some other way to increase my manhood.

Inappropriate. These actions must stop! We're all adults--so leave me alone.

I have never bothered to use the filters on my email account because they just confuse me. It is therefore your responsibility to fix my problem for me.

It's time that you all grow up.

P.S. Please forgive my sardonic ways. It's a blessing... and a curse.

... He apparently thought he was just too funny to keep his comments to himself.

And finally, another one yesterday afternoon: Personally I love the emails I get from the class. Keep them coming!

Ok. Seriously, stop with the emails already!! Take your stupid arguments to the Daily Universe op-ed page please. That is what it's there for, after all. Then you can join the ranks of the people who argue back in forth about co-ed camping, bringing babies to movie theaters, girls wearing clothes that expose their clavicles, the condemnation of caffeine drinkers to hell, and other such nonsense that could only happen at BYU. I purposely choose not to read the Daily Universe to avoid such discussions- I do not need it in my inbox.

Ok. I'm done now. And now I can delete the emails from my inbox.

The end.

Thanks, Erin.

First of all, I am officially 21 and a half today! Wooo.

So my sister (Erin- ok, most of you are siblings, I know) posted a whole page of pictures of New England in the Fall.

I am never quite as homesick as I am in the Fall. (Christmas makes me pretty homesick too, but it's different.) But I'm sorry- for those of you who just don't understand- Fall is beautiful in Connecticut, and New England in general. Utah has fall in it's own little way, as my sister said, but it's just not the same.

The weather of last week (not so much this week because it's a little chilly) made me want to be home picking and eating Golden Delicious apples off the tree at Lyman Orchards and wearing a sweater. It made me want to take a drive to the Granville General Store (seriously- you know I've got to be homesick to appreciate that drive...) and turn my nose up at extra sharp cheddar cheese as my dad eats it in little slabs in the car. It made me want to take pictures of pumpkins and drink apple cider. *Sigh* Oh how I love Fall in Connecticut.

And Erin's pictures did not help. So I'm blaming my bout of homesickness on her.

And then, I had this little tinge of awareness. At this time next year, I just might be home to see fall in CT. And I smiled.

Excitement of the Day

Hello there ladies and gentlemen,

I am back in the habit of writing short posts. Today is Monday. There's a Red Cross Blood Drive today that I have been looking forward to for the past 2 weeks. (I like to give blood- I hate the process, but it makes me feel like I did a good deed afterwards). Well, first of all, I got up this morning with a runny-ish nose, and I am highly disappointed. This means I probably will not be able to give blood. I am quite upset with my body right now.

Anyway- I went to class at 9 am. As I was sitting there, my right contact lens started to annoy me, so I rubbed my eye. Well, that proved an unfortunate decision because it displaced my contact into some mysterious, yet ridiculously painful, region of my eye and I didn't see it again for about 40 minutes. I tried to get out my mirror and fix the problem while in class, but that wasn't working. And my eye was starting to tear. I finally decided I had no choice but to go to the bathroom, so I climbed over people and made my way out. They probably thought I was crying. Yes, tax code is just that unsettling.

I went to the bathroom and tried flushing out my eye, but still could not find the contact lens anywhere- except every now and then I'd pull my eyelid as far away from my eye as possible and see this little glossy wad that I assumed was it, but that I could not and did not want to try to reach with my fingernails.

I went back to class for the last ten minutes, after I got the contact lens into a region of my eye that hurt less than the others. After class I thought about how to solve this problem, and decided that since I was in a building close to the hill, I could just walk down and back home to take out the contact and put in new ones- walking around with just one in is disorienting and nausea-inducing.

So I walked down the hill, but decided maybe I could stow my backpack in my locker in the HGB so that I didn't have to bring it all the way home. This is a locker I bought at the beginning of the year. I know the combination by heart, but have yet to open it successfully. Yes, that's right. I fiddled around with it for about 5 minutes and then walked home. (I think the problem is I don't know what to hold on to. You put the code in on the lock, and then there's nothing to pull, nothing to push, and I cannot figure out how to possibly open the locker short of a magnet.)

Anyway- that's not the point. I walked all the way back here, spent about 10 minutes in front of the mirror trying to rub this thing out of its hiding place. Finally saw it in the back of my eye and decided to just dig for it. I got it out of my eye and I was feeling trimphant when I noticed it was only half a contact lens.

Well, who knows where the other half is? I guess we play the waiting game now- if it could come out and irritate my eye and make me cry in the middle of a meeting I have with a professor today, that'd be fabulous.

Back to campus now. In glasses. I'll keep you updated.
-mollie

p.s.- I have a date this Friday :)

No Boys Allowed. REALLY.

so I was just minding my own business in my room when I had to leave to go to the bathroom.

I opened the door just as three men (probably 20-24 range) were walking down the hallway and into my roommate's room, and then shut the door.

Um... excuse me?

I'm sorry, but this is a rule that I see absolutely no reason to break. There was one time my Freshman year when my brother had to come into my room to fix my printer. But I warned my roommates ahead of time, he was there for 10 minutes, and the door was open. Or maybe my dad was there for a bit while I moved in. But other than that, there is absolutely no reason to break this rule. So, roommate, even if you don't mind having 3 guys in your room to hang out, I do.

Brown: Overcoming Obstacles in a Resilient Manner...

Ok...

First, here's three cheers to the peer mentors who will think my title is clever. It is much less clever if you are not a peer mentor. Sorry.

Second, it's time for a story. Oh and by the way, I have tons of pictures from recent happenings in my life- the trick is getting the energy to get them onto my computer. Sorry I'm lazy. Ok really, on to the story.

So, at work the other day, Toni and I were talking about how much we love the movie October Sky. We decided we wanted to have a movie night to watch it on Friday (yesterday). Well, then I had the brilliant idea to have an October Sky party in... OCTOBER! So we sent out invitations to the office and then decided to watch a different movie last night.

And now, I present to you my chronology of good and bad things that happened last night.
Good: I thought I'd plan ahead and reserve the movie (The Soloist) online.
Bad: It was at the redbox about 10 minutes away
Good: I reserved another one at Smith's, near my apartment
Bad: I lost my dollar on the other reservation.
Good: We went to dinner at Cafe Rio
Bad: None. Except for that my water tasted like blood. It was weird.
Good: I have a DVD player in storage at my sister's, so I said we just needed to run over and get it.
Bad: When we got there, the house was locked and the keypad wouldn't open the door.
Good: I finally got in (after about 15 minutes, seriously) by pushing the "Enter" button three times on the keypad and yelling at it.
Bad: When I went to leave, the keypad still was not working to close the garage door.
Good: I figured out I could just push the button the inside of the garage to close the door, and then go out.
Bad: The censors caught me and the door wouldn't close.
Good: I pushed the button again, ran, and jumped over the censor line to get out.
Bad: We got back to my apartment and realized I didn't have the cord to hook the DVD player to the TV
Good: I borrowed a cord from my neighbors.
Bad: We realized the TV did not have a hook-up for a DVD player. Or a VCR. (Seriously- was this TV made in the 50s?)
Good: I have a laptop and we could watch the movie on that.
Bad: The sound on my laptop sucks for three people trying to huddle around and watch a movie.
Good: About half-way through the movie, we discovered subtitles.
Bad: We had to read the rest of the movie.

Ok.

Now really. I like to consider myself an organized, planning-oriented person, but last night I was like 0-10. Seriously. I was impressed with my optimism in an effort to overcome all the random challenges, but I'm just going to have to admit here, my attempt at dinner/movie night: FAIL.

I think it goes without saying that the October October Sky party will not be hosted by me.

Going to run errands now,
mollie

And the Award Goes To...

Patrick and Sam. Two guys I work with.

The first to notice (or at least to comment on) my haircut. I got 4" cut off on Saturday.

Alisha, you must have trained him well. As for Sam, I don't know how to explain that, except that he's observant- obviously.

Also, here's a "shout out" to my mom. President Samuelson quoted "Que Sera Sera" as central to his devotional talk today, and I know that song from beginning to end because my mom used to sing it all the time. At least, it seems like it was all the time.

The End.

Rise and shout the Cougars are out!!

ladies and gentlemen,

so last night, BYU beat #3 Oklahoma in Texas. Provo was crazy. At BYU, there were tons of people in the streets yelling and shouting and honking. People were playing music really loud and basically joy-riding around to scream.

well, I caught wind that people were going to the Provo airport because the team was flying back at about 2 am this morning. After some convincing from a couple friends and a sister, I decided I might as well go. Right?

I hate large crowds. I hate the pushing, shoving, and selfishness of it. And I tend to think that the collective IQ of the group loses thousands of points when you get more than 15 people in one place. But, I thought, what the heck.

We drove there and were some of the first ones. We waited at the gate and a guy came around to announce they would let us out onto the runway but if we did not stay behind the cop cars and cones, we would be arrested and everyone would be forced to leave. We ran out and I was in the front- good spot. And then these massive men came and plowed their way through and I was behind them now. For the record, I do not understand fanatic fans (can I use those two words together?). These men were psycho. They're out there yelling and when the guys finally came off the plane and went down the row to shake hands they're all fawning "DUDE- YOU'RE AWESOME. YOU ROCK MAN!" and I just don't get it.

I also do not get the girl fanatics. Who showed up in their short shorts and tank tops (to cheer BYU- morons) and screamed the names of the players as they walked by and then leaned as far as they could in to maybe get one of them to touch their fingertips as they screamed "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU!!!" I know this because three of them were right behind me.

At one point a girl came up from behind me and said to me, "I just need to get in front of you." Um, nope. You don't. Nice try though. And so then when I said "No" and she probably thought I was a snot, she just pushed into me every time a player came by and her hand was nowhere near making it far enough to be reached- but nonetheless she did her best by leaning over the top of me. Thank you girl. Then her and her friend start pushing.

Now, I'm right behind the guy who's right behind the cones. There is nowhere to go if she starts pushing, except for into the guy in front of me, who will then go over the cones, and get himself arrested and rest of us sent home. Finally I just turned around and yelled at her. "YOU CAN'T PUSH!" As I said. She thought I was rude. But I was getting tired of her.

Anyway- so it did only solidify my hatred of large crowds. But, it was exciting. We watched the plane land and then all the players got off and everyone was cheering and then they walked down the line and shook hands and signed autographs. Bronco gave a speech to all the fans. I'm sure they were exhausted and thought "Oh crap. I just want to go home and now I'm going to be stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get out of here," but oh well.

I took a couple pictures which I will have to put up later. But for now, here is a picture from Deseret News.

I am the little face with the glasses under the white arrow. Crazy pushy girl is under the turquoise arrow, and the two kids I came with are the purple arrows.

Rah rah, rah rah rah, rah rah, rah rah rah, GO COUGARS!!

-mollie

rare political tirade. no, i'm not this crazy all the time.

ADDENDUM TO THIS POST: now this is the headline story of CNN.com. Why?!?

ok.

I try to keep myself out of political discussions at work and elsewhere, mostly because when I moved here, it became very clear to me that I am not a republican, and most people here are- some extremely so.

but I'm sorry, this article : http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7786052 annoys me!

It's the headline story of ksl news, and it's talking about President Obama's address to the nation's students next Tuesday at noon. All schools are encouraged to take time to watch it, and it's supposed to be about 15 minutes. And the story is about how Utah parents are "concerned" that the address will be "offensive" and "too liberal" or "pushing a leftist agenda." School districts are putting "guidelines" in place for students if teachers want to include it as part of their curriculum, and students will be allowed to "opt-out" and do something else so they don't have to watch it.

Seriously? This isn't an R rated movie, or comprehensive sex education, or a discussion about abortion which I could see people having legitimate concerns about. But really. It's the President of the United States. He's taking time to address the school children in our country for 15 minutes, and there are parents so "concerned" that they won't allow their children to watch it?!?!

What could he POSSIBLY say in 15 minutes?!

Something like "Now is the time to focus on your education. To search for your own answers to today's questions and problems that you will soon inherit. You are the leaders of tomorrow and our future is in your hands. Some of you will hopefully find alternative energy sources. Some of you will hopefully solve the 'healthcare crisis'. Some of you worry about your future- perhaps your families are struggling. I can assure you with hard work our country will again become financially secure- we will come out of the recession. Some of you may even be the President of the United States. You need to take advantage of the education you're receiving to learn as much as you can to become responsible citizens. And while we're at it, it will take the help of all of you to stop school violence. To keep each other safe. Make good decisions. Don't throw away your future."

... that was as "leftist" as I could possibly muster for a presidential address to students in the country, all of whom are under voting age (therefore I don't think President Obama is going to be 'campaigning' to your 6 year old), and most are elementary and middle school students who probably don't understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Maybe high school students are different, but most little children do not care that their president is a Democrat or Republican unless their parents told them to care. Most elementary school kids think "cool, he's the President!"

And really? You're going to keep your kids home from school so they don't have to see the President speak directly to them? Heaven forbid your kid get a viewpoint different than your own, and heaven forbid your kid feel like President Obama is "their" president- after all, they LIVE in the United States. Seriously. If nothing else, your kid will feel like the President cares about them, that they have a responsibility to contribute to the world, and maybe their view of the world will be a little bit wider. And not even a lot wider, because I can't imagine what President Obama could say to an audience of 6-17 year olds that would "push his leftist agenda".

Urgh. It just bothers me. "Please, no, we don't want your children to hear what the President of the country has to say! After all, we didn't vote for him! Therefore we must ignore and avoid every interaction our children could possibly have with him. We don't want them getting crazy Democratic ideas!" Well, maybe your children can stop chanting "kill Obama" or whatever it was in Idaho. Yeah, that would be a shame. Because that really gives the Republican West a good reputation.

But I really don't even care if you disagree with President Obama's "agenda". That's not even what matters here. He's the President, and he wants your 8 year old to take 15 minutes to hear what he has to say. And you say no? I just don't get that! If your children are in high school, you should be able to trust that they will make their own good decisions and you can stop protecting them from the President. If your children are younger, as I said, they're not going to pick up any of his "leftist agenda" because they'll be too busy passing notes to each other and thinking the President is "cool", and probably little else.

I mean, my parents (sorry, I'm calling you out here) didn't exactly like President Bush there for a while, and I was in high school. But did they tell us we couldn't watch his television addresses because they didn't want us picking up his "right-wing agenda"? No. Because children should be informed. And be exposed to other opinions. And make their own political decisions. And know what's happening in their own country.

Anyway. ok. I'm done now.

I'm just saying. And it's my blog, so I can. I'm just hoping getting to voice my opinion here will keep me from getting uppity about it at work, etc. But anyway- I guess that's the beauty of living in America- crazy parents can keep their children from seeing the President speak if they want to. But I'm just sayin- disagreeing with someone's political stance is not a good enough reason to keep your children away from them, and it's not a good enough reason to ignore what they have to say.

-mollie

wait, what?

I realize I really need to start posting pictures or you all go into a coma before you get to the end of my posts. Sorry about that.

Well, I have had my first day of classes, and my second day. It is going to be a busy semester and I am struggling to find a routine when I have classes all over the place and don't get out of class until 8:30 on Tuesdays, 6 on Wednesdays, and 8 on Thursdays. Also, I teach my first section of "psychological testing" on Friday, and I'm a little bit terrified.

Anyway. I'm wanting to share a few stories with you.

1) At work the other day, our boss was talking about the economy and how life as a college student is uncertain right now. She was talking about students don't want to graduate, so more are staying on campus, and how there was a general influx of freshman this year, possibly because people don't have the money to send their students elsewhere. She threw out a question to the effect of: "we don't know all the consequences of the financial instability at this point, so this fall semester is going to be different than those in the past." Makes sense, I'm on the same page. I catch her drift. I'm picking up what she's laying down. Then a fellow peer mentor (who is new this year) said "I know. I was talking to my dad and I was telling him, 'You know, it's because of the financial crash that I'm not a y-group leader this year.'[peer mentors used to be y-group leaders at new student orientation]"... all serious and urgent-sounding. ... wait, what? I don't even know how that makes sense in her head. Maybe you do?

2) I went to office depot last night to buy stuff for school after scoping out prices online and determining that they had the lowest ones. I went to a Staples and an OfficeMax first though- thinking they were Office Depots. They were not. Spent about an hour (if not more) scoping out notebooks, binders, and folders. Things in my world have to be color-coded. So each class has a color. Which means for classes that require notebooks and folders, I need to find matching folders and notebooks depending on the color of the class. Anyway- it took me longer than you might think humanly possible and I still had to go to Wal-mart [which I was trying to avoid] to get an orange, green, and purple notebook because Office Depot let me down. Lame. But anyway. I got my receipt back, and I had purposely put off purchasing a "financial calculator" (for about $30, for my Family Finance class) in the hopes of borrowing one from someone. But then I see the receipt and it says "$10 off coupon when you spend $30 or more". Well, my lucky day! I can get my calculator in about a week, and it'll cost me $20 instead of $30.

I held on to the coupon and just now looked at it on my desk. Here's what it says underneath the previously mentioned coupon announcement: "Valid in-store only at the store named on this receipt". Ok, I have to go back to the Orem Office Depot. Not a huge deal. Then, "must present this original coupon to cashier at time of purchase. Photocopies not valid." Ok, I get it. Then, "Not valid for purchases: 1) made in Office Depot outlet/clearance stores, 2) by contact customers with Store Purchasing or Procurement Cards [I don't even know what that means], 3) of gift cards, 4) [and my personal favorite] of any technology or consumer electronic products and accessories or media or software products, 5) of postage stamps, 6) of product protection plans, 7) of HP ink or toner, 8) of wireless, satellite, internet, technology, installation, mailing shipping, or third-party services."

Ok seriously, when your "coupon" is 6" long and 5.5" of that is to explain what you can't get with it, something is wrong. Anyway- I'm guessing my calculator falls under the "electronic products" category. Maybe not.

No but really. I think they should have included a list of what you can get with your coupon; I think it would have been shorter.

3) I went to Psych 358 tonight- Leadership Development. It meets once a week from 6-8:30 pm, and besides the fact that that is an ungodly time slot for a class, I was plenty excited about it. Should be interesting, I assumed. Then I go, find a grad student standing at the podium, and determine this might be less of a good choice than I thought. But, I'm trying to withhold judgment at this point.

We go over the syllabus, and he's talking about our writing assignments (two short ones, one long) and how he'll be grading mostly on organization and not content. So then he spends about 15 minutes explaining the "introduction-last-sentence-thesis-statement-topic-sentence-of-each-paragraph-conclusion" format. Basically how you wrote a paper in 4th grade. I have determined that professors who say they're grading on "organization" are really using code for "I don't plan on reading these and need a quick way to skim over your paper in 15 seconds or less. If you screw with my plan, and I actually have to read your paper to get what you're saying, you lose points." At this point, judgment starts flowing. Slowly.

Anyway. That's besides the point. My favorite part [and when I let all my judgment loose] of the syllabus was the section titled "Team Presentations". It went like this: "The class will be divided into five teams [note, he purposely avoided the word "group"]. Each team will present a chapter to the class. Team members will be given a specific chaper to present on a designated day. Presentations should cover key concepts from the chapter in an interesting way that will help students learn. Each team can use visual aids, digital learning, role playing, case studies, challenge groups, or any other ideas. Presentations should be between one and two hours. Extra journal articles on key topics are encouraged and can be posted by the professor on Blackboard for the entire class to read before your presentation... Be creative and have fun with it, but make sure the entire class will be prepared to be tested on the material you cover. Teams will hand in 5 multiple choice test questions when they do their presentation."

Ok... hold on a minute. This class meets like 12 times throughout the semester. 6 of those will be taught by students. Presentations have to be 1-2 hours long, and the class is 2.5 hours, not leaving much time for professor instruction. So I get it- we're providing lectures for you because you don't want to. Fine. But then it gets better. Not only do we have to do the lectures, but we're also responsible for activities and supplemental readings in class, and [my personal favorite] to provide you with 5 multiple choice test questions at the end of our presentation. So we write your test too?! Really?! ... what exactly do you do mr. grad-student-professor? Seriously?!

Oy.

Well anyway- those are my stories of the day. The end.

-mollie

FYI

my summer officially ended today.

my senior year officially starts tomorrow.

bah!

oh what a beautiful day!

dearest and darlingest blog readers. all 4 of you...

hello! today was a wonderful day, and i simply have to write about it.
1) this morning i went to work ... well, this part wasn't wonderful now that i think about it. i put on khakis because we were getting our peer mentor picture taken today so i had to wear our "FA apparel", which includes khakis. i bent down and they split up the leg. ok... they didn't fit. i wore khaki capris which is kind of a no-no. so goes it.

2) i bought donuts last night at macey's because they were on sale. so today, i looked to give them out to people who did not eat breakfast. i actually could not find anyone in our office who did not eat breakfast (a bunch of responsible peer mentors doesn't make a likely candidate probable) so i gave them to our tech guy and a couple of friends.

3) i had our last rehearsal with the students for the play i had to write. in case i haven't mentioned this in detail before, our boss had our students read "Seedfolks" (a short novel by Paul Fleischman) and then asked me to write a play about it. i did. 13 characters, 25 minutes. done. we called students who lived in the area, asked them to participate, assigned parts, and then waited for the rehearsal to come. it came, and it went well.

4) we had the pre-NSO meeting. Freshman Academy this year was a little different than previous years. we were not involved in NSO (new student orientation) so we had a "pre-NSO" meeting with our students in each community. as previously alluded to, i got put in charge of the one for the theme-based communities (students in social science classes, looking at issues of poverty and strengthening families). this meeting included the play i mentioned in #3, and the movie i'm about to mention in #5.

5) i presented the video i made. at the beginning of the summer (or sometime in July), i was given 55 minutes of footage of interviews with the professors the students will be taking classes from. i was asked to edit the footage and make a video that could be shown at this pre-NSO meeting. i spent weeks editing and writing scripts and messing around with iMovie, and finally, it was done. it's 15 minutes, has background music, pictures, text, and cool movie transitions (like a cube, or swipe). anyway the point is, i did it. and it got shown to the students today.

6) as a summary of #3-5, the pre-NSO meeting went as well as i was hoping for. (there were some problems with a projector and microphones, but a very chivalrous boy from IT came and saved us at the last minute). the work i've been doing all summer came to fruition today, and it felt so good! everything went just fine!!! YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!

7) i got to meet my students today! because our program is smaller this year, i only have 10 students. (the last 2 years, i've had 40). it is going to be So Nice to get to know them well- i already know their names.

8) i found out my roommate m'lisa likes the west wing. oh. my. goodness.

9) i came home after a hard but very productive and satisfying day, and called dearest home teacher Ben (mentioned in a previous post somewhere). He came over shortly thereafter and our plan was for him to change the oil in my car because he used to work at Jiffy Lube and dad said the car needed an oil change. First, we went to Wal-Mart to buy the oil. Then we went over to Jesikaa (my old roommate's) house in Orem to drop off some bread I made for her. She was at institute, so I asked her to run out to meet us. But we couldn't find her and she couldn't find us (turns out we were about 1/8 mile away, in the wrong building's parking lot). Finally, we gave up and dropped the bread off on her doorstep, just a block away from where we thought she was.

Then we drove up to my grandma's house because mom said we could do it there, and that my uncle was at the house. No one was at the house. We started poking around in the back yard and storage shed, didn't find anything necessary for the oil changing job, and then Ben said we could go to a house he used to live in in Provo and get the stuff.

On our way, we were hungry, and stopped at Arby's (of course!) because it's the last Wednesday Freebie day of the summer! I paid for our drinks (in payment for changing the oil) and we got our sandwiches and french fries. Mmmmmm free Arby's.

We finally made it back to Provo to Ben's old house, when it was determined the oil was pretty clean as it was, and Ben didn't have whatever it was he needed to get the old oil out. i don't remember all the details- just that changing the oil was going to be a pain in the butt tonight, so we've postponed it till the weekend.

So... the original objective (changing the oil) did not even happen, and we basically spent 3 hours touring Provo and Orem. And it was lovely. I told him we'll have to do it again some time.

Anyway.

So, basically, this was a long post to say I had a wonderful day at work, and an entertaining time driving all over town with Ben, so I am going to bed happy. It's pretty great.

-mollie

p.s.- i imagine my happiness will last for a few more days, as tomorrow is an office bonfire like the one i documented last year (YAY!!!!! you know how i love bonfires!) and friday is a party with some old friends. the week before school starts is great for my social life :P i'm so excited!!! (i will try to take pictures...)

Summer Days, Drifting Away...

to uh-oh those summer nights!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok, I really need to be in bed.

Just for a quick update, here's what I've been up to :)

-went to the Utah County fair. I love fairs (as mentioned in my "Things I Love" post) ! I got to pet a sheep and eat junk food.

-ate and showered without power (as mentioned in my previous post).

-had my first rehearsal with students who will be performing in the play I had to "write" for our Freshman Academy pre-NSO meeting on Aug. 26.

-interviewed 2 Provo schools principals for a similar purpose.

-took Ashley Burton (my roommate from freshman year, who I love and miss dearly) to dinner at Chili's to celebrate her graduation from BYU. Got to catch up. Aww.

-went to a late night movie with friends from the ward. We saw "Angels and Demons"- which was a little gruesome (I had to keep covering my face and looking away), but I am surprised I liked it despite that.

-had Leonard return to me all patched up and as good as new. Ish.

-took the GRE

-went out with Erin, mom, Megan to see "Julie and Julia"

-went out with Erin, mom, Megan to Chili's for dinner and dessert. Yum.

-met with the professor I'm TA-ing for in the fall, and got genuinely and absurdly freaked out thinking about the idea of me teaching a lab section of 30 students once a week for 16 weeks. What was I thinking when I agreed to that?!?!

-played kickball in the park with Will and some coworkers

-brought Will back to my apartment because he wanted to see where I lived and "meet my friends".

-went to Sundance to see "The Fantasticks" which my brother-in-law's brother was performing in. (He was good- this is the second play we've seen him in, and he's doing one in Provo next)

-went to the "after party" for "The Fantasticks" because it was closing night, and previously mentioned distant relative was ever so kind enough to invite us.

-went up the canyon with a picnic, ate and made s'mores over a campfire!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, I have been trying to squeeze every last ounce of fun and enjoyment out of my summer. It's been a good time!

It's pretty nice when mom comes to town- besides the fact that she takes the car. But she pays for things! And I get special treatment because I'm the unmarried daughter. So mom buys me snacks. Or lunch. And the married ones have to fend for themselves. Sometimes it pays to be single. Hah. I really wouldn't mind not being single, but that's a story for another day.

School starts a week from tomorrow! GAH! Senior year!

until again,
mollie

Candlelit (cold) Dinners

Ladies and gents, boys and girls,

I came home from work today to find a new roommate moving in. She was so excited to get "the big room with the closet" and said that the other girls (one of my Asian roommates in May) said the rooms on my side of the hall are bigger and she wanted one. So... I'm settled into the room I have with the recessed closet, she's excited to have her big room with the double closet, and the other one got the room with the good window. I guess we've all got something going for us. Except for the girl who moves into the last bedroom- it's pretty crappy all around.

The new roommate seems plenty nice- she's a sophomore, so a little younger, but that's never been a huge deal. From Texas. Hopefully she's a clean, courteous person. Then we're good. Her name is M'Lisa. That's right. I thought it was "Annalisa" until I introduced my home teacher to her and she spelled it. Woops. Anyway. And you thought you'd seen it all. But I'm happy so far.

I walked into my room to see my alarm clock off. I followed the cord to the wall, and it was plugged in. Hmmm. Right as my head had almost made the connection, M'Lisa says "Oh, by the way, there's no electricity."

Oh yes. That's right. My old roommate wrote a note about that that I may have, kind of, sort of, ignored.

So the Figian roommate (Mita? I think that's her name. At least, that's what it sounds like...) said she called and got it connected again, but it won't come back on until tomorrow. The three of us talked for a little bit in the kitchen and discussed splitting cabinets, etc. I'm not a huge fan yet, but I am not all riled up about it anymore. So that's good. Maybe it will be fine after all- I am trying to withhold judgment.

So, then I remembered I had food in the fridge. And that having no microwave or stove meant no means to cook dinner. I went over to my home teachers' apartment and checked their fridges (they have 2). They had plenty of room, so I asked if I could bring my food over, and they kindly obliged because they are top-notch guys who are just good and helpful like that. One even ran over to help me get everything (there wasn't that much- enough that we could carry in two shopping bags).

I went over and debated making dinner there, but I'm not terribly hungry right now, so I guess I'll hold off. If I really need to, I can eat chocolate and pretzels for dinner. That's not a bad idea. Or if I really really need to, I can go beg off my home teachers- the displacement from my apartment to theirs is about 25 feet.

They left, so I came back here. And I'm wondering what I'm going to do at 9 pm, when I can't see anything in the apartment anymore. Light lots of candles I guess. Or tomorrow morning when I have to shower in the dark. Hmmm.

Well anyway. That's about the excitement for the day. And this:
Mom drove to Rexburg to get Megan, in my car. Leonard died this morning!!!!! In IDAHO! With my mom! I'm at least glad I wasn't with him. I was so sad. My mom said he's in the shop right now, hopefully getting surgery that will give him a couple more good years. I just need him to make it through college with me. Leonard- I love you! It's not your time yet! Come back to me!!!

Enough drama. Just sayin'. It made me kind of sad. ... And that car is supposed to be my transportation to the GRE on Thursday, so he better come back!

Now I have to go and conserve computer battery power in case I want to waste time on Facebook later.

-mollie

What the heck?!

I can write this because she doesn't know my name yet.

So, my landlord scheduled a cleaning check for Friday at 2. The problem with cleaning check when all your roommates are moving out?? The apartment is a mess, and the sheet says "If you're the last person in the apartment, you are responsible for the cleanliness of the whole apartment." So, I spent 7 hours cleaning on Thursday night.

I got home on Friday to a note that had a list of things the landlord wanted redone. I spent 2 more hours cleaning, with a couple of my roommates who came back to vacuum their rooms. I was told the landlord was coming back today to check that these jobs had been done.

I wanted to move to another bedroom in the apartment because it has a bigger closet, and a window that I can actually open (right now I have a window, but the view is of my neighbor's bedroom about 4 feet away over a sidewalk. So, it doesn't stay open much, and I need sunlight.)

I woke up today, expecting to have the apartment to myself for a few days because the contracts do not start until August 20-something. At least, when I was trying to move in last year, I was told I had to wait until August 26-ish. I showered, and was preparing myself to move to the other bedroom after the landlord showed up to check it. There was a knock on the door. Perfect timing. She'll check it, I can move.

No, it was my new roommate. A woman who came and introduced herself in... May? And said she was 33/34 and that I was "so young". I wanted to say "No, you're just old." Seriously? What is a 33 yr old woman doing living in single student housing at BYU and attending BYU student wards- really?! You've outgrown the single life lady- you should move on and realize you're probably not going to meet your "eternal companion" living in a housing complex whose average age is about 22.

Anyway. So new roommate came in (she has a name I can't pronounce- from Fiji) and asked which rooms were available. I said "There's three that are available, but I was going to move into the back one. The landlord said people weren't moving in for a few days, and she needed to come back and do a cleaning check on that room, so I was waiting." She walked into it and said "Well, I think I'm going to take this one. Is that ok?" ... is that ok? You just heard me say I've been waiting to move in there because the landlord said she had to do a cleaning check. Not to mention the fact that I've been living here for a year. I look at her like "Are you serious?"

And she says "I'm going to be working on my Master's degree. So I need this room. I need the privacy [it's at the end of the hall, and uh... they're ALL private rooms]. So I'm taking this one."

OH. NO. SHE. DIDN'T. She just pulled the "I'm older than you and my degree is more important than yours" card!?!?!

Seriously. She's getting her Master's degree in Social Work- which was a program I was looking to apply to, but my first interactions with her make me want to get as far away as possible. I MISS MY ASIAN ROOMMATES!!!!

And right now I am really hating my landlord for being such a jerk. SO FRUSTRATED.

So the moral of the story is, Mollie gets the short end of the stick AGAIN.

I am more than a little bit frustrated right now.

-mollie

I Can Count to 100, 100, 100

Things I Love:

1. milk
2. warm summer nights
3. bonfires, and their smell
4. roasted marshmellows/s'mores
5. shampoo that smells good
6. my squishy pillow, and the cold side of it
7. warm pajamas in the winter
8. hot cocoa, or when my mom used to put my coat on the radiator, in the winter
9. Cromwell
10. a comfy, cozy bed
11. the sound of crickets and especially cicadas (I think) at home in the summer
12. fall leaves in New England
13. chocolate milk
14. chocolate.
15. my mom's rice pudding
16. my mom's breakfast crepe things, with the cheese and the jam... yummm
17. rice krispy treats, and their variation: butterscotch and chocolate
18. watching the stars
19. seeing a good view of city, land, lights at night, etc.
20. the feeling I get when flying home for Christmas
21. the Christmas season
22. the first snow of the season
23. when the sky is pink and bright at night because it's going to snow
24. michelangelo's pizza
25. friendly's nuts over caramel ice cream
26. my new suit jacket and skirt
27. my black shoes
28. the sound of gravel or sticks (like when hiking) under my feet
29. baby animals, especially puppies
30. the movie "a league of their own"
31. mario kart
32. french fries
33. chocolate milkshakes
34. ducks and penguins
35. the giant bounce ball I saw at macy's tonight
36. feeling exhausted- if you know you've done something productive
37. pant suits
38. towels fresh out of the dryer in the winter
39. things that are really soft
40. the sound of wind in trees, that makes it sound like there's water nearby
41. finding a pair of jeans that fits just right
42. my mini cheese grater from megan and this guy who wrote a blog post about his
43. little baby shoes at the store
44. watching it rain
45. sleeping in
46. a good sneeze
47. baby smiles, or laughs especially like this one- it makes me laugh every time.
48. hearing good piano music
49. my West Wing ring tone- yes, I am that dorky
50. jokes the involve puns, or are in some way really corny
51. the Turkey Ciabatta sandwich at Mimi's Cafe
52. Barnes & Noble or Borders, but I think I prefer Barnes & Noble
53. a good library and lots of time
54. my pictures of London, and the book Erin and Mike gave me of my London blog
55. 7 seasons of The West Wing
(and while we're on the birthday thing)
56. Annie Dillard and the signatures she sent to me
57. being home in my comfy bed, knowing my parents are just down the hall
58. laughing till your cheeks hurt or you cry
59. my coworkers
60. Panda Express
61. drinkable milkshakes
62. the sunset at the beach in CT
63. Nikki, the dog
64. sappy chick flic(k?)s- sometimes
65. the Coca-Cola polar bears
66. the Budweiser clydesdales
67. dalmatians!!!
68. Disney movies
69. getting a good deal
70. learning something new
71. having my own room
72. reading a good book
73. fairs, carnivals, etc.
74. rodeos- even though I've technically only been to one
75. a cold glass of water
76. getting mail
77. the British man who wakes me up in the morning, usually
78. having a clean apartment/house
79. journals, or paper- I have a weird obsession with paper (cards, scrapbooking, etc.)
80. copies that are still warm from the printer
81. feeling competent
82. full moons
83. eating easy candy out of the pot
84. the people who know what "easy candy" is
85. playing basketball or volleyball for fun
86. the smell of clean sheets
87. the smell and sound of a real fire in the fireplace (not gas), especially at home
88. fresh peaches
89. my flute(s), and playing them
90. the smell of my grandma's house- it's very distinct
91. freshly painted toenails
92. sweet potatoes with the marshmellows
93. the sound of the keyboard when I type
94. a good steak
95. seeing or talking to friends I haven't seen or talked to in a long time
96. reading the news- I'll admit it
97. pay day!
98. going to the theatre and seeing a good show
99. the song "Dancing Through Life" from Wicked
100. a good pen that writes smooth
101. Say Yes to the Dress

I started this list a little while ago- of things I love- that make me happy. Anyway- it's getting kinda long (I just numbered it today) and so I decided I should post it, and I can always add things later. But anyway. It all started when I drank a nice big glass of cold milk and I thought "Wow, I love milk." Which is why it's the first item on the list. And then I thought, "I love this warm summer night, too." And it just spiraled out of control. So here they are, in no particular order whatsoever. Also, I did the math, and yes, more than 20% of my list is about food. What can I say?

-mollie

p.s.- I imagine this will have little entertainment value, but I'm posting it nonetheless.

cook book in her left hand, rolling pin in her right

first of all, name that country song!

second of all, that's me. minus the cook book.

that's right, i got my rolling pin back!

so i've been whining about this to everyone who will listen for the last few days. here's the story, in case you haven't heard the whining, which is doubtful, but whatever.

on saturday i was home by myself when there was a knock at the door. i went and answered it and it was a girl asking for my roommate. my roommate wasn't home, so the visitor asked me "do you guys have a rolling pin? i want to make dumplings like at home, but i don't have a rolling pin." (she was asian, meaning i'm sure she was quite far from home, so her story about wanting to make dumplings like home sucked me right in.) i thought twice about giving her mine since it is new from christmas and it's a pretty nice one as far as rolling pins go. i gave it to her and she said she lived downstairs, and then hesitated and said she'd bring it back "tonight. or maybe tomorrow. i'm not sure." well, i tried to be optimistic when it didn't show up on saturday night.

then sunday night, no sign of it. then monday. tuesday. today. i have not really had good luck lending people things- they usually don't come back, or they come back broken or somehow worse off than they were when they were lent. so i was worried. finally, i decided, "you know what? you just gotta go ask for it back."

so, i walked downstairs and knocked on the door. i waited. and waited. no one answered. then, a door opened behind me. "hi, sorry- are you the girl who borrowed my rolling pin?" (so apparently i didn't know which apartment she lived in.)

"oh, yes yes. so sorry. right here, right here." she invited me in and gave me the rolling pin. she asked what my name was. i asked hers. hers took me like 3 tries, until she finally wrote it down "Puujee". Ok. Well, if there's one thing i have to say about my asian roommates and acquaintances, it's that most of them have "american-ized" names, which seems weird to me, but the ones that don't have american-ized names, have names that are hard to pronounce. although, with a double "l" in my name, they probably feel the same way about me. "hello mawryy!!!"

so the rolling pin is back. now i need to make something that uses it. cinnamon rolls would be nice (thanks to mom's comment on megan's blog) but i don't know how to make them. i've always wanted to make one of those fancy cinnamon roll wreaths that mom makes at christmas time too, but i guess those are a little out of season right now.

anyway. i'm just writing to say this experience has somewhat restored my faith in human-kind, or at least in the Asian population. i will say this: i didn't know any of my roommates moving in here. it turned out they are all Asian of one variety or another (taiwan, korea, japan). but they are by far my most clean, considerate, and personal-space respecting roommates i've ever had. they do not eat my food, or even move stuff that isn't theirs. they clean up after themselves relatively quickly after making a mess. they clean the hair out of the shower and off the vanity when they're done. one of my roommates went to culinary school and whenever she makes something yummy, she leaves me a piece before taking it to friends. they do not borrow without asking, and they do not yell or fight (like sophomore year).

the only conflict i can recall having was when i was in the shower and another roommate got in the other shower, taking away all my water pressure and hot water. i got out to wait, soaking wet in a towel. another roommate was standing at the mirror and asked what was happening, so i told her. when the roommate in the shower got out, the roommate at the mirror said "uh, mollie (mawry!) had to get out of the shower because when you got in it took the hot water. so maybe we shouldn't use the showers at the same time? let's just wait until the first person it out." to which the first girl responded "oh i'm so sorry!" and we've never had a problem showering at the same time since.

we do not have to fight about where the thermostat should be in the summer or winter (roommates freshman year: so hot we were wearing shorts in the winter. roommates sophomore year: air conditioning on in march, while it was snowing out.) we generally all keep to ourselves, but we are kind and civil to each other. we never have dishes in the sink for more than a couple hours, and my dishes are always clean because they are considerate enough not to use mine when theirs are dirty- and theirs are rarely dirty for long periods of time (unlike freshman and sophomore years.) anyway. my point is, i don't know if it's some type of culture thing or not, and maybe it's just coincidence, but my Asian roommates have been my best roommates in terms of manners and civility. and getting my rolling pin back (though late, and after having to go ask for it) with many apologies reinforced that theory. sure, they eat weird things sometimes, and watch movies in languages i don't understand, but that's a very small price to pay.

and don't get me wrong, i've loved some of the people i lived with freshman and sophomore years, but i'm just saying. my faith in Asians as roommates has increased remarkably since living here.

and now that they're all moving out and who knows what crazies are going to move in, i find myself already missing them!

long story short: rolling pin is back, and my Asian roommates are pretty great.

-mollie

Time Warp

Ok, so I've pretty much given up on the long posts. You'll just get what you get. Besides, short ones are better sometimes because you don't have to commit to multiple minutes to read them.

Also, who knew my last post would be so popular? I think 7 comments is a record here.

I'm just writing to tell you a story.

Last night I was at Erin's because they got home from their family reunion and Bryce was going to set off some fireworks with his cousins. I went and watched. I got home late- about 11. And then had to get ready for bed. My sleep schedule was all thrown off now (I try to get to bed by 10:30 so that I can get 8 hours of sleep and also have time to shower, take my time getting ready, and make/eat breakfast. It's a good system.) I usually take a Sunday nap, which is factored in, but yesterday I got awakened 6 times- SIX!- while I was trying to take a nap. I had been in bed for an hour when I just decided it wasn't going to happen. Anyway. I came home late, after not getting my nap, and I got ready for bed as fast as I could and then set my alarm.

My alarm is set for 6:50 M-F, so I left it. I woke up at 6:50 when the alarm went off, and reset a new alarm for 7:30 so I could get a little extra sleep- knowing this would cut out breakfast time.

I woke up again when the alarm went off at 7:30 and laid in bed for a few minutes after pushing "snooze" before forcing myself to get in the shower with the argument that I already got to sleep in, and if I didn't get up, I'd be late for work.

Ok, you're wondering why this all matters. Well, I got out of the shower after spending the time thinking about what I was going to wear so as to expedite the getting dressed process since I was already 40 minutes behind my regular schedule. I went to my room and turned on the radio (all part of the routine...) and there, right before my eyes, my clock said 7:33. WHAT?!

So then I spent the next hour trying to figure out how this could possibly be so. I checked my phone, and the alarm was set for 7:30 and hadn't gone off yet. Did I just imagine the alarm going off at 7:30? Did I wake up to some other noise and convince myself out of bed before realizing I had only been asleep an extra 10 minutes from the original alarm time?

I really have no idea how this happened, but I'm pretty sure I have officially time traveled. I think I deserve a Nobel Prize.

And now this post (and a surprise party for a boy in the ward) has caused me to be late getting to bed once again. Blah.

-mollie

p.s.- Also, I think I am going to take the plunge tomorrow and buy an external hard drive for $80 (I have $50 in gift cards that I can use, so it will really be like $30 out-of-pocket). I sent the information to Kyle and he said it looked fine, so I think I'm gonna go for it. It's pretty and red (bonus!). I'm just worried that my dear Toshiba laptop has been having some health problems (what with random error messages and such) and while I'm hoping very earnestly that he survives through my BYU graduation at least- He's only 4 years old for Pete's sake!- I'm afraid he's going to die. Which will be a tragedy. There will be sackcloth and ashes. But less so if I have everything backed up somewhere else. So purchase an external hard drive I shall.

graduate school update

So... I had the day off today. (Caution: This is going to be another short post...)

I spent it sleeping in, first of all, which was wonderful.
Then I got up, took a shower, and waited for Erin to take a shower so we could go to lunch.
(At Burger King- for the toys. For her children.)
Then I went to Erin's for a little while, played with Will, and read the boys a story.
Then I came back to the apartment and started looking up graduate schools and programs- thanks to my co-worker Patrick, who gave me the idea to create an Excel spreadsheet of all the critical information about each program.
I filled out the spreadsheet for 5-6 different schools, some out East, some here, and then got bored.
Then I watched some West Wing and studied math for the GRE, thanks to my cousin Liz who brought me her old books.

Now I'm bored, which I suppose is OK because I would be going to bed shortly on a regular night, so I will probably be moving in that direction soon.

Oh yes, and I also hiked "The Y" for FHE on Monday, and convinced my boss to take us to Arby's on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I need to write a talk (I got asked to speak at church on Sunday- about managing our finances and avoiding debt. Oh joy. It's sure to keep everyone on the edge of their seats!) and run some errands.

Anyway, today was not a total loss; I think I found my dream graduate school and program. They tell you to pick a "reach" school/program... well, I did. I am not telling anyone what it is, so as to avoid jinxing it. Also, this way no one can say "You want to go where?! Hah, yeah right!" Also, if I DO apply and then get rejected, I won't have to tell anyone. So, if you're wondering what it is, you'll just have to keep wondering. Or read my journal. But I'd prefer if you didn't do the latter.

I also found 3-4 other programs I will probably apply to. So yay for me.

Can you believe I have absolutely no inkling of an idea as to where I'm going to be a year from now? Where I'll live, where I'll be going to school, what I'll be studying, where I'll be working? I can't. And sometimes it makes me want to barf.

the end.

No, but really.

Yahoo horoscope for the day:


Love isn't just in the air. It is the very air you breathe. Who can resist you?




As the Dixie Chicks say, "What's all this talk about love?!"

-mollie

p.s.- Because Friday is "pioneer day", tomorrow is the start of my weekend! YAY!

Star-crossed lovers?

I was just checking my email and I have a habit of checking the horoscope for the day.

Some days I enjoy them more than others, and I thought today's was pretty good.

"Love is knocking on your door, but are you ready to answer? Go for it."


... all I can say is it must not be knocking very loud...

-mollie

p.s.- sorry for all the random short posts. I promise a substantive post is on the way.

Another random, short post.

when you run out of toilet paper, you suddenly become acutely aware of how many times you use the restroom in a day. and it seems like you have to go ALL THE TIME.


(addendum: don't worry, I have purchased some...)

smile

i think it's funny that my roommate writes her name in big letters on her jar of kimchi- fermenting cabbage with red pepper.

... like anyone else wants it.

hehehe- it made me laugh.

Time Out.

ohmigosh.

centipedes bite?!

add that to my list of Things To Be Afraid Of (which is already plenty long).

Best and Worst

Update from my little world:

1) work at the University Advisement Center is crazily busy- at least it was today. Fastest 8 hr day I've had in a long time. I got an office (my very own office!!!!) and met with students in person and on the phone with no breaks except to eat lunch for half an hour. And I absolutely loved it. I think I found my calling in life... :) Two more days of my office in the UAC before moving back to the good ol' FA office. (FA loaned two of us to the UAC to help with Freshman Registration which is happening July 13-15.)

2) I quickly did something with my hair today so I wouldn't walk into the UAC with wet hair, fresh from the shower. It took about 10 minutes, and it turned out dang good if I do say so myself. Pictures soon of course.

3) Spiders in the shower are the WORST spiders in the world. I think there is a special place in hell for them. You go to the trouble of checking the bathroom before going in, then get undressed and get into the shower, before finding one on the back of the shower curtain?!? There's no way to see them until you're IN the shower, and at that point you're defenseless and have nowhere to go. Gag.

4) I think I killed a centipede in my apartment this morning. Seriously. I thought centipedes were just the stuff of legend, until I saw one today, crawling across our carpet, in all its one-hundred-legged glory. It scared the living daylights out of me... just when I had semi-gotten used to spiders in the apartment, now centipedes?!? Also, do NOT google image search centipedes. It will make you jump and gasp in horror as I just did.










I bet you just googled it, didn't you? I warned you.

That is all.

-mollie

This just in.

So about 2 minutes ago, yours truly was walking from her bedroom to the kitchen. A green flying bug flew in front of my face, so I swatted at it and continued on my way. Went to the kitchen, then turned around to use the bathroom before heading to bed for the night. I caught my face in the mirror and my heart jumped a little when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a green flying bug smack dab in the middle of my forehead. Landed there, just hanging out.

GAH!

there may have been some erratic flailing of arms and screaming, but I managed to get it off me.

The end.

our little girl is growing up!

hello there boys and girls,

I am noticing that I still have not posted anything significant about my trip home. Let's just say it's because home is so near and dear to my heart that I consider it sacred and therefore do not feel comfortable discussing my trip on such a public page. ... That or I'm just lazy. But let's go with the first.

I am quite the traveler- since the last time I posted, I have traveled to Rexburg, Idaho and back.

Here's how it stared. Megan text messaged me last Sunday "When are you coming to Rexburg?" (or something like that) telling me that I promised I would. I did? I seem to have forgotten making that promise. Well, anyway, then the hunt was on for someone who was going that way and would let me tag along.

By Wednesday night, I had still found no one to tag along with. So then I had two options. 1) Take the shuttle for $80, taking 6 hours, stopping billions of places on the way from Provo to Rexburg or 2) Drive there myself with Leonard.

I love Leonard dearly, but I did not want to push him. Just like with old people, you'd rather have them comfortably sleeping in their own home than out traveling for three days. Travel takes a lot out of the old folks (and me- who am I kidding.) He's got a big heart- he's like the old guys that still think they can play basketball with their grandkids, but then have to sit out because they lose their breath too fast, etc. I was worried Leonard would lose his breath on a 4 hour car ride, and I didn't want him to die. Also, I didn't want him to die when I was alone with him. That's just creepy, and made me worry about a 4 hour trip with him. Also, I am terrified of highway driving. When I think of driving 80 mph with 5 lanes of traffic and cars weaving in and out, visions of car crashes and rolled vehicles on fire in the median, with news stories including the phrase "jaws of life" immediately come to mind. I do not want to be one of them, thank you very much.

But the shuttle did not sound enticing either. 2 extra hours on the road with strangers and a driver who makes small talk when you're the only one on the bus from SLC to Rexburg, usually. And $80 out of my pocket. Of course, gas was going to cost money too.

I agonized over this for 24 hours, before waking up on Thursday and going to work and deciding, "I'm just going to go for it." I had heard the story of my grandma (somewhere in her last five years of life) telling my cousin Liz (under circumstances I'm not quite sure of) to "put on her big girl panties and just do it." Well, grandma, this one was for you.

I decided I needed to conquer my fear of highway driving at some point, or the rest of my life would be pretty stationary. Put on your big girl panties, Mollie. I also thought a 4 hour drive to Rexburg, alone, is something like a rite of passage. Like Native Americans (or some such indigenous people) send their youth out in the wilderness to make their way back, find themselves, and prove that they're now worthy of adult status. This was my wilderness test.

I got out of work, looked up the statistics on my chances of dying in a car accident this year (1 in 6500)- hoping this would reassure me, put gas in the car, called Megan and told her I expected balloons and streamers when I got there, picked up a cooler from Erin and filled it with Kyle's chinese food from his open house, and nervously found my way to the highway entrance. I talked myself up pretty good though: "You can do this. It's all you. The road's got nothing. These other cars will move out of your way. They want to live just as much as you do." I got stuck in traffic twice on the way, but once I got out of Utah, it was pretty smooth sailing. And lonely. But I liked that the road was open, the land was open, and I got to put my iPod on the stereo system and sing me some good songs, without worrying about 40-50 cars around me.

In Idaho, I stopped at a rest area to go to the bathroom and stretch my achy gas-pedal knee. (I learned I do not know where Leonard's cruise control is...) The bathroom was nasty. I was picturing maintained bathrooms with a couple restaurants or something, which was not even remotely close to reality. There were two outbuildings and some picnic tables, and a vending machine that looked like the food in it had been there for at least a few years. (This did not stop me from buying a Twix bar, that I ate half of, and then placed the rest on the middle console of the car, where it promptly melted into a chocolately mess when I wasn't looking.) I got back on the road and tried to stop at Fort Hall for gas. Note: do not stop in Fort Hall for gas. The gas station was the only commercial thing around. There were plenty of people, many of whom were old Native American men with long white hair in pony tails and pick-up trucks. The sky was menacingly dark, and there was thunder and lightning. I got in line after a car, swiped my credit card, and it said something about a network error. Great. So I pulled out and around and tried to get in line at a different pump. There were probably 10 pumps, and I kid you not, EVERY pump had someone at it whose gas tank was on the driver's side of the car, and most had someone waiting behind them to pull in. This means that Leonard (whose gas tank is on the passenger side) and I sat around trying to wait until one of the pumps was available for us to pull into going the opposite direction as the car that came out of it, but every time we saw one, another car would beat us to it. This was Frustrating with a capital F. I finally got to one, and it said the same thing. Crap.

Because of the weather, their credit card readers were not working. I had cash, but I didn't need the gas that desperately, so I drove 10 miles up the road to Blackfoot and filled up there. I got back on the road and ran into some intense thunderstorms. The sky was so dark I needed my headlights, and the my windshield wipers were on the highest setting and I still couldn't see. I thought "This is gonna be it. Car rolled over in the median. Certain death. 1 in 6500. Well, at least there hopefully wouldn't be too much of a fire with all the rain..." I slowed down and made my way through the storm at about 35 mph, along with all the other cars. It scared me.

Finally, I got to Rexburg after 5+ hours of travelling. So much for 4 hours and 18 minutes like Google Maps told me. Stupid traffic and weather.

I went and stood under what I thought was probably Megan's window and called her name. She came down and found me and we went to Wendy's to get food. We went back to her apartment. She had their "spare bedroom" (aka the "entryway" from their bedroom to their bathroom...) set up with a full size "two-story" (regular bed height) air mattress, complete with balloons and streamers as requested- a treat basket as a bonus.

---------Lots of stuff happened while I was there that I shall document, possibly in my next post--------------

Before I knew it, I woke up on Sunday morning and it was time to go meet Leonard for another 4 hour date. The drive home was very calm. I was worried I would hit traffic, so I left at 11. I don't know if there was traffic or not later, but 11 was just perfect for me. The way out of Idaho was lonely and empty. The most exciting things that happened were 1) seeing a roadkill wolf, 2) playing "traffic parcheesi" with a motor home and a truck pulling a trailer (they parked themselves next to each other, blocking both lanes and bottling everyone up behind them) for about 20 miles, and 3) a white SUV that pulled in front of me, and then a big mass of black crap fell off the wheel well and got thrown up onto Leonard's brand-spanking new windshield, giving it a lovely little chip. I wanted to kill, or at least maim, the SUV driver. Leonard didn't do anything to you!!!!

I stopped in Malad to get gas. There's a Burger King there that was mobbed- it had a line out the door. Apparently everyone stops in Malad (which I still think should rhyme with "salad"). I used the bathroom and got back on the road. The weather was nice the whole way back, if a little hot.

When I got into Utah, a highway lane came out of nowhere and scared me. Then another. And another. And another. Pretty soon I was driving on a road six lanes wide with quite a bit of traffic. But I made it back to Provo and breathed a sigh of relief as I drove off the exit ramp. Then, BAM- I got rear-ended at the end of it by some guy who apparently thought I was part of the road.

Kidding. That did not happen. That would have sucked. I drove to Erin's and dropped off the cooler and played with Will for a little while. (Of course, I also took time to pilfer some meat, corn, and popsicles from their 4th of July). I drove back to good old #4 and put Leonard to bed. I think he is happy to be in his own home again. He's a trooper- and put his whole heart into getting me back safely. I think we bonded. But I'm sure he's pooped- poor guy.

And I, ladies and gentlemen, am an official Adult I think! I have successfully traversed the wild. I have found myself and my way home. Now let's get some drums out and have some dancing. And I think I should get a new name. Mollie Pedal-Foot. Or something similar, but more clever.

I'm done now. 40 hour work week starts again in about 10 hours.

until again,
mollie

p.s.- I was grieved to discover I have inherited mom's driving eyes. So sad.

follow-up

this is what the storm in my last post did to a house in wethersfield, which is a town 2 towns north of my town in CT. the article says it was a tornado.

. . . TORNADOS IN CONNECTICUT?!?!?!! WHAT THE HECK?!

when i think about home, i tell people it is the ideal place to live. there is ocean, without huge waves. there is really no threat of earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornados. at least, we have had none of those things since I've lived there- except some fall-out from hurricanes down the coast. i am pretty terrified of tornados and earthquakes, so it made me happy to think of moving back to a part of the country where those things are not threats. well, today just threw my theory out the window. a tornado 8 miles from my home. i can't even live fear-free when i'm at home now!!!!

not cool weather gods, not cool at all. i don't know who angered you [maybe it was the lady in the picture- but she looks pretty nice] but strike them down, and let's get on with it please.

-mollie