Oh, hello...

"What? She didn't give up on bloggin yet? Strange... I was certain she had."
That's what'd be going through my mind if it was a friend posting a blog after so long not doing so. I'll actually be quite impressed if anyone reads this, if no one one but me will know (both about the post and that no one else read it) so no skin off my nose. If you are not me, and are reading this- I'm sorry this is my post. I'm certain it's going to be scattered, mostly topic-less and, most likely, a big waste of time. But- aren't most things we do?

Today I spent the greater part of my day at school (substitute teaching) reading a book since there was a student teacher. As I was reading I considered this list-

Things I would like to buy if I wasn't such a penny pincher:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Great book. (I'll come back to this I think.)
• Both of Adele's CDs. Simply wonderful music!

So, this obviously isn't a comprehensive list. Though I suppose anything else I would buy would go under the title "Things I would buy if either didn't mind going into debt, was fabulously wealthy, or didn't mind being dirt poor" I think that one mostly includes sporting equipment and a jet plane. So, while I have to make due with borrowing books and listening to Adele's powerful tunes on youtube, I really can't regret the penny-pinching ways I have. I mostly credit my parent's incredible ability to be completely solvent on only a Utah teacher's salary. Examples of parents make such a big difference in the ability of people to be reasonable (in money matters and so many other things)

Um, not sure where to go after that...so- Thanks Mom and Dad. You're great!

So, the book referenced above. It sounds like a crazy name for a book, and it is, but it's a delightful book. It's written as a collection of letters, which is why I picked it because it's easy to leave off or pick up if I get interrupted by whatever. I think my favorite part about the book, aside from it's incredibly loveable characters (they're so endearing and there's no narration or real descriptions of anyone in the whole book, aside from them introducing themselves to new correspondents) is the incredible insight it gives to life during WWII. The events of the book take place directly after WWII, but much of the book is people describing events during the war. I just can't imagine the oppression that people lived through. I can't imagine how people could do that to other people. Each time I read the book I wonder anew at the trials people endure. It makes me so very grateful that, though we have known wars during out time, they have not been on our own soil or affected our lives in the way WWI and WWII did, especially those in Europe or Asia.
A while back I meant to write a post after a special Relief Society fireside my stake had. An incredible lady from Indonesia came and spoke to us. She was part Indonesian and part Dutch (Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch). When the Japanese invaded their island during WWII her family was first put under house arrest, then separated and sent to concentration camps. I had no idea that they had them in the Pacific, just like in Europe. This fine lady told her story from beginning to end without any hatred in her voice. Only love for those who helped her. Her mother was astounding. Their family was Christian and her mom never failed to live up to the teachings of the Bible and always taught others to do so. She described a time when her Mom stood up to the Japanese, was punished by spending a week in a pit with no food or water, and was preserved my a miraculous series of rain storms through the week. She never heard her mom complain. It was amazing to listen to all these stories and compare them to my incredibly easy life. Her family never turned against God, even with all their trials. To think some people turn away from God because of so much less. If people who endured concentration camp can believe in God and testify of the power of Christ, who am I not to believe them?

Anyway, I'll stop with the WWII thoughts, but I will recommend the aforementioned book. Ashley (sister) read it first for her book club, (which seems to be the source of most of my reading material lately as well) and I fell in love with it. I must admit, part of me really wants a Dawsey Adams kinda guy. Like I said, terrific characters. It also makes me want to write letters and read every book I can get my hands on. Maybe I need to find someone with no phone I can write letters too. (If they had a phone I know the letter writing wouldn't last long.)

This post is already to long and disorderly to read. I'll end. Have a lovely day.

Two things I saw when I got home

I saw two interesting things when I got home from school/Ashley's today:
#1:

A rooster. In our car park area. We are in the middle of the city. Where did this rooster come from?

#2:

My free, yes, FREE authentic replica RSL jersey with my name and number on the back. Direct from RSL in SLC. On a whim I text entered a Gatorade RSL sweepstakes and this is what I won. It even still had the tags attached! Yay! "I look so good!"

What a good day.

My Pumpkin

This both one of the coolest carving jobs and one of my nearest to epic fail I've ever come with carving a pumpkin. Not since the foot fell off of my headless horseman have I had so many breaks in my carving. I created this design by combining two others I found online. When I printed it out I actually thought it might be too big for my pumpkin, but about half way through poking the holes I realized I could've gone significantly larger (and it would've helped so much!) What we ended up with is an awesome design slightly too small on a pumpkin slightly too small for the details of the design. I got about half of it carved out last night after ward prayer but I had a job lined up so I had to go to bed at a reasonable time. I had been carving the flesh out inside as I did the design so the light could shine through and it created a pretty unstable surface that ripped pretty easily. Due to these problems poor Doctor Who lost one eye and his thumb. I kept them and hoped to be able to reattach them after it was all carved out. Then I went to bed.
   When I got back to my pumpkin after school today all the carved stuff had dried out and shriveled up like a pumpkin does after sitting outside for a day or two. The eye and thumb had also shriveled up and I thought there was no hope for reattaching them. Then I had the brilliant idea of trying to rehydrate them I soaked them in a cup of water while I finished carving, then I soaked the whole pumpkin face in my laundry bucket in shower. It worked! It all came un-shriveled and I was able to use 2 safety pins (they were the only pointy thing I had...) to reattach his eye. In the picture you can hardly even tell the safety pins are there. I think it turned out pretty well considering all the broken pieces and such.
   The image is of the 11th doctor with his sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS is in the back. First a look at what it looks like on the computer, where you can do fine details to your heart's content...

Now, the finished product-

"Bow ties are cool!"
Not to shabby, if I say so myself. I had closer up shots, but they turned out kinda fuzzy. Fuzzy pictures makes me feel like I'm not wearing my contacts, so you'll have to make do with the farther away one. I didn't get a really amazing costume this year (I was a Philipino table tennis champ = ) so I'm glad that I had at least one bit of Halloween awesomeness.

I made soup!

So, you might remember my last attempt at a Sunday-after-church-what's-in-my-fridge meal. It turned out something like a sloppy joe stew. It was odd, but not too bad. Today was a much bigger success.

Veggie soup! My upstairs neighbor was making soup when I got home, and I thought sounded so great, so I pulled out all my left over veggies from the cheese soup I made for the murder mystery and did pretty much the same thing, but without cheese and with more broth (I had a box of chicken broth just waiting to be used...) And with peas = ) It turned out really well! I used a big handful of Italian seasoning instead of parsley, and I think I could've gone with just a small handful instead since at the bottom of each bowl I was left with some broth and lots of  flakes of spices. I didn't have any meat on hand so it's just veggies, I didn't even think to add noodles, but that's ok. It's great on it's own. I'm so excited that I made something really quite tasty without a recipe. I don't really consider myself much of a cooker so this was a triumph.

A Permutation

There are n! ways to permute n objects. That means if I have 3 objects there are 3*2*1=6 ways that I can organize them in a line. If I have 8 objects, say people, and I want to put them in a line there are 8! = 40320 different ways. Now, if there are 8 books, numbered 1-8, and they are distributed to these 8 people and these 8 people sit down in a room in basically a semi-circle beginning at the door and following the wall around (there was a big TV on the other wall, hence the semi-circle) here are a few interesting stats-

There are 16 ways for the people to have sat in order 1 thru 8 beginning anywhere in the circle and going either direction around it. That makes a 1 in 2520 chance of that happening.

There are 2 ways for the people to have sat in order 1-8 beginning at either end of the semi-circle and going around the room (avoiding the break in the circle made by the tv). This makes a 1 in 20160 chance of that happening.

There is only one way for the 8 people to sit in order 1-8 beginning at the door and going around the semi-circle. A 1 in 40320 chance.

Guess what happened at the murder mystery last night...

P.S. It was a really fun evening. We did "The Wattersdown Affair." My character was an author who's murder mystery novels were praised for their incredible view into the mind of a murderer, naturally that means my character was in fact a murderer and had the audacity to write a "fictional" book based on it. Ha. In fact there were 2 characters who were confirmed murderers in the group and neither of us did it. In fact we were numbers 1 and 2 at the first. My friend Alycen has done 2 of these with me and each time her character has ended up being an American hussy. (We do not do that on purpose! You don't know until you get there all the dirt on your character) It was pretty funny. The game takes place in 1936 England, so we all got to dress up fancy and wear hats and talk with phony English accents. It was great! If I ever get a hold of some of the pictures I'll post them.

Why I love my job!

Lately I've been having a really big problem being motivated to actually get jobs. If any one who reads this doesn't know, I am currently employed as a substitute teacher for the Logan & Cache school districts. This means that, unless I am contacted by a teacher beforehand to teach their class, I get to get up at 5:30 or 6 am to get online and try and snag a job. Some days there just aren't jobs to be had, some days there's a lot. It depends a lot on the time of year and day of the week. Mondays are usually pretty slim pickings. Anyway, I've found that it's been hard lately to get myself up and not just let myself sleep in and do whatever all day long. So, since I have my prep hour right now for the class I'm subbing, I thought I would remind myself as to why I like being a sub.

• I get days off whenever I want them. No prior notice required.
• To some extent I get to choose where I work, and with what age group. (I avoid elementary school... the kids are swell, but they can't pay attention for more than 3 min, and I'm supposed to do things just like their teacher whom I've never met... It's stressful!)
• Even if the kids are brats and the day goes horribly, 99% chance I don't have to see them again tomorrow. Or maybe ever.
• I have nights, weekends, and holidays off, always.
• I get out of the school while it's still daylight. (Big thing during the winter in Logan. Didn't always see the daylight when I was student teaching...)
• I've never seen people so excited when I tell them I can do math as do the students in the math classes I sub, especially if they have a test coming up.
• It's actually pretty good pay.
• I get to know teachers at the schools and can see how they run their classrooms and lessons.
• I get to write on the whiteboard.
• I get to watch interesting videos and learn new things from the different classes I'm over.
• You learn a lot of interesting things when you have nothing to do besides read bbc.com and wikipedia.com for several hours.
• I never have to take my work home with me.
• I get a good laugh almost every day I sub. Students are sooo funny. Especially the middle school kids.
• I can deffer difficult questions to their teacher. "I don't know. You'll have to ask your teacher when they get back" is so lovely.
• Good days remind me why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. Helping people learn to do math is fun!

So in summary: That's what substituting is, you know. It's not just a lesson plan and a roll and a whiteboard and markers, that's what a sub needs but what subbing is... what it really is... is freedom.
And that's why I love my job.
...Today.

Stuff that has happened within the last week II

Sugared bacon wrapped water chestnuts.
Holy smokes. So good.

I never realized what cut-throat business it was trying to get someone called to a calling. I had to rock-paper-scissors the RS 2nd counselor today over a sister in our ward (for who got her for their committee). We were sitting next to each other and the said sister was speaking and we learned that we both were requesting her for a calling. I totally won, but the RS is heavy and they're reluctant give her up...

I got sick Thursady. I'm better now. Shout out to ShaReece who went and got me some Canada Dry even though it was the day before her wedding and her family was coming over soon. Also to Nate who left work to come give me a blessing. Good people!

Pearl cotton thread doesn't fit in a regular cross stitch needle. Hmm.

"Just Like Heaven"- strange movie. She's not dead, but she's haunting her apartment? And they just let him walk away after he tries to steal her body? I mean really? Even if she did wake up from a 3 month coma they still wouldn't just let him walk away. I'm just sayin...

For those not on fb- I totally won a RSL jersey with my name on the back. I entered some Gatorade-RSL sweepstakes thing through text over a month ago one day while I was grocery shopping. I was hoping for RSL tickets, but I'll take the jersey for sure! I can't wait for it to come = )

We had a stake RS meeting today. One of the stake RS counselors talked to us about being good a good wife. I realize that it's a very important thing, but doesn't it seem like a strange topic for an entire stake of single women?

At some point I would really like the opportunity to see Ashley and I at the gym from an outsider's view. I think we're pretty funny to listen to, I hope they think the same. (Who has two thumbs and is a Hufflepuff? I'm a Hufflepuff!) ((youtube it.))

Um. that's all. Have a lovely day!