Third Eye Blind

For years, Darby and I have talked about how fun it would be to go to a concert together—the problem is, we don't really have the same taste in music. We finally decided that either Third Eye Blind or U2 would be enjoyable for both of us. U2 is super-expensive, so I figured that wasn't going to happen, and I hadn't heard of Third Eye Blind touring in years. A few months ago, I was listening to the radio and heard an ad for Third Eye Blind coming to town. I was so excited! They were playing at a small venue, so tickets were relatively cheap ($25). And since it was small, we were pretty close to the stage. It was awesome! I forgot to bring my camera, but concert pictures never turn out that great anyway. I figure I can always find a video on YouTube if I want to remember it.

The show brought back so many good memories. They played most of their very popular songs (except 10 Days Late—boo!). I remember listening to their first CD at my friend Melanie's house when it came out in 1997. At the time, it was very edgy, and we felt so cool listening to it. And, of course, true fans knew all the words to "Semi-Charmed Life," not just the radio version. I discovered the song "Wounded" when part of it was used in an anti-drug commercial (an irony that was lost on me until this concert). On the day of my high school graduation, I called my friend Desiree and blasted "Graduate" into the phone. Being a rule-following, naive, somewhat nerdy teenager, listening to alternative music was just about my only "rebellion" (well,
there was also my ill-fated relationship with a "skater" guy, but that's a story for another time...or never). :)

Unfortunately, Third Eye Blind is not as cool as they used to be. Most of the people Darby and I told about the concert laughed. This was very disheartening to me. They are one of the coolest bands I actually like; if they're not cool, I'm sunk. Darby told some of the students in his lab section (mostly freshmen and sophomores) about the show, and they looked at him blankly. He was telling me this, and I was like, "What?? I mean I know they were too little to remember the first CD, but their second CD, Blue, was also pretty popular, and that came out in 1999, so they would have been...7 or 8...ohhh..." Then I realized, it has begun. From here on out, it will only get worse. I'm going to be that old woman talking about stuff that no one remembers or cares about. I really did not expect this to start until age 40 or so. Oh, well. The show was really fun, so if going to it makes me an old loser, I'll just have to be ok with that.

Bad Endings

For about the past two months, I have been reading Lonesome Dove. It is a long (945 pages), dense book that was difficult to get into for about the first 200 pages. However, the story soon picked up, and I became attached to many of the characters. For the past few days, I read steadily, excited to see how the story would end. And then, last night, I turned to the last page, and it just . . . ended. Seriously, there was absolutely NO resolution for any living character. They were all miserable, and the author gave little indication of what their next steps might be. I don't have to have a tidy, happy ending by any means, but a little resolution, even if sad, would be nice. I was so mad. I literally started crying and threw the book down on the ground. I just felt like I had been cheated; I had invested so much time and effort in that book, and I didn't even get a satisfying ending? There is a miniseries based on the book; I'm thinking I might watch that. I have a feeling it will have more of a resolution, as television usually demands some sort of finality. I hope so. Otherwise, there's no telling how long it will take me to get over this.

Stereotypes

On my way to work for the past couple of days, I have heard the same commercial for Meijer, the grocery store I shop at. It's a group of women chatting, making fun of their husbands for all standing around the grill and laughing at how possessive men are of their grills. One woman says, "Yeah, but at least it keeps them out of the house." Then they all laugh knowingly.

This commercial is annoying for several reasons, but the main one is the implication that all men are just bumbling idiots who women have to "put up with." Darby and I are always annoyed at this depiction of men on TV. There's one particular commercial (I think it is for Stanley Steemer) that shows a man attempting to make a smoothie without the blender lid on. The smoothie flies everywhere as the voiceover says something like, "With kids, pets, and a husband, it's no wonder you can't keep your house clean."

These commercials do not in any way appeal to me. I mean, if men were that incompetent, why would we marry them? I didn't grow up with that model, and I certainly don't live it now. I would never think Darby incapable of fixing his own lunch, cleaning up his own messes, or operating a blender. I must confess, however, that I do sometimes tease him about his inability to find stuff in the refrigerator or cabinets...sometimes you have to move stuff around. :)

So, why is the stereotype of the bumbling husband still so prevalent? It seems like it must resonate with someone, or the advertising wouldn't be effective. Are women really living in marriages like this, where they just want their husbands to stay out of the house and out of their way? How sad. Do these commercials bother anyone else? Or, am I just taking them too seriously?

Blast from the past

So, I just rediscovered the old Xanga blog I had before I started this one. I'm not going to include the link, because, wow, it was dumb. It kind of makes me worry. In five years, when I read this blog, will I be embarrassed that I wrote it? I hope not.

Anyway, there was one choice tidbit I thought I would share with you:

Tuesday, March 15, 2005
(after a Spring Break Campaign to New Jersey)
I have decided that I NEVER want to live where it's cold. I got so sick of having to put on 30 layers of clothes every day. Snow is pretty, but only up to a point. Give me 100 degree heat any day. I guess I'm a Texas girl at heart.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha! I guess God didn't care about my emphatic NEVER.

It was also fun to remember some college events I had forgotten. (For that reason, I'm glad I had the blog, even if it was 95% stupid.) I had totally forgotten about the time there was a fire in our sophomore dorm on Saturday morning, and we all had to go sit in the Teague center (where there was an event going on) in our pajamas.

I had also forgotten about my famous aphorism: "You can't be sexy until you're 20." Emerald had a "little sister" through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. I think she was about 11. Anyway, one night we were all eating dinner with her at Mr. Gatti's. The girl had on a necklace that said "Sexy." And thus, the line was born. I still think it's a good rule. Although, maybe with my daughter I should say, "You can't be sexy until you're married." :)

Old

Well, I've officially turned Darby into an old man. Last night, we went to a friend's birthday party and then out to eat with some friends from church. When we got home, we we watched an episode of Seinfeld and got ready for bed. While we were brushing our teeth, Darby said, "Wow, this was a pretty late night for us." It was 11 p.m.

Tonight, we had a guy from Darby's lab, his wife, and their little boy over for dinner. They had to leave pretty early to get the boy in bed, so Darby and I went to Starbucks afterward. On our way home, Darby said, "Do you want to play a game when we get home?" I said, "Sure." Then he said, "Oh, it's already 9:30. Never mind." It's not just me anymore! :)

Happy Easter!

I made these cupcakes for our small group tonight. I am probably more proud of them than is appropriate, but I just think they're so cute! The top ones I made with stencils that Debby gave me in my stocking at Christmas. And I stole the idea for the bottom ones from a magazine (I think Family Circle).

I spent all weekend cooking. Without realizing it, I signed up to bring dinner for our small group on Sunday and dessert for my women's Bible study on Monday. So yesterday and today I made 3 9x13 pans of chicken and rice, carrots, 2 dozen rolls, 2 dozen cupcakes, and a pan of cheesecake bars. I'm tired! Of course, most of that is probably my fault. It's not like I had to spend 4 hours decorating cupcakes. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We didn't do much to celebrate (besides going to church, but that's not out of the ordinary). I always think it would be nice to do a big meal for Easter, but I don't know how I would get it all done after church. Darby and I will NEVER miss our afternoon nap, so we have to be done with lunch by 2 at the latest. Usually, we're done eating and in bed by 12:30 or 1. I've thought about doing a nice breakfast, but that would involve getting up early. I guess I'm just too lazy to celebrate Easter (until I have kids that is, I'll get up early for them).

Thanks!

Thanks for all the feedback! Brittany and Kalyn (sweet, sweet friends that they are) suggested I get a dog (or two dogs and a cat). While that might provide some interesting blog fodder, I don't think getting a dog for blogging purposes only is much better than having a baby for blogging purposes. So, for now, I'll stay childless and puppyless. Nice try, though, guys.

My family seems to enjoy my posts about my childhood. Since my mom is my most dedicated reader, I will oblige her. I'm thinking about going through my old photo albums and scanning some pictures for your enjoyment (particularly pictures of my "awkward" stage). I ran out of time to do that tonight---it's already waaaayyy past my bedtime. So, for now, just a quick story:

I was about 12, and Hannah was about 10, I think. This was back in the day before cable internet, when going online meant tying up the phone line; crazy how much has changed since then. Anyway, Hannah was on the phone with her BFF, Sara, and I wanted to check my e-mail. I tried to check it, and it made that crackling, beeping noise on the phone. Hannah said, "I'm on the phone." For some reason, I was really anxious to check my e-mail, so I marched back to her room, grabbed the phone from her, and hung up. She, understandably, got mad, and kicked me. Well, she kicked me square in the knee, so she hurt her toe really bad. I, of course, was laughing so hard. She had to go the doctor; I think it ended up being sprained. (Edited to add: In the comments, Hannah informed me that her toe was broken, not sprained.) I don't blame here for kicking me; I was being really rude. But, at the time, l thought she had gotten what was coming to her. Mom didn't punish her because she said she had been punished enough. I don't remember if I got in trouble; I probably should have.

Inspiration

I am in need of some blog inspiration. I try to post at least once a week. For a while, I was posting 2–3 times a week, but now it's a struggle to do one post. I'm not sure why I have this self-imposed goal; I don't think any of you just sit around waiting for me to post (except for Mom, ha!). Maybe I should have a kid so I can just post cute pictures all the time. Just kidding. Kind of. :) No, really, just kidding. So, if anyone has any great ideas for blog topics, leave them in the comments. Otherwise, you can just keep reading my boring posts.

A couple of weeks ago, I threw a little birthday party for my friend Megan. When I asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted me to make, she said "An Oreo ice cream cake. Can you make those? Or do you have to buy them?" I had never made one before, but sure I was up to the challenge, I told her I'd make one. I looked online and found a recipe. It was one of the easiest cakes I've ever made, and everyone went crazy over it! Seriously, every single person said, "I didn't even know you could make an ice cream cake!" So, if you want to impress people with very little effort, the recipe is below.

Oreo Ice Cream Cake
1 pkg. regular Oreos
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
1 12-oz. jar hot fudge sauce (warmed so it's pourable)
1 tub Cool Whip

1. In food processor (or in gallon bag with rolling pin), crush half of oreos into fine crumbs. Mix with half stick butter, and press in bottom of springform pan.
2. Spread half of ice cream on top of crust
3. Place remaining Oreos (reserve a few for garnish) in food processor and break into small crumbs (not quite as fine as the crust). Mix with hot fudge sauce. Spread on top of ice cream.
4. Spread remaining ice cream on top.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze several hours or overnight.
6. Just before serving, top with Cool Whip. I crushed a few of the remaining Oreos and sprinkled on top for decoration.
7. To serve, dip knife in warm water and run between cake and edge of pan. Remove sides of pan and slice.

Note: My springform pan does not form a perfect seal at the bottom. When the ice cream started melting, a little seeped out the bottom. I would recommend wrapping the bottom of the pan in foil or plastic wrap before you start.

Sibling Reunion!

Hannah and Matt came to visit this past week. It was so much fun! Darby and I went to pick them up on Saturday from O'Hare, and we spent the weekend in Chicago. We saw a lot of the touristy stuff, but some of the most fun moments were crazy situations that we got ourselves into, involving me getting very mad at a Central Parking Service employee who threatened that our car would get towed because the machine where you pay for parking was broken, Darby getting very mad at Subway employees who almost refused to serve us because we had the nerve to come in 20 minutes before closing, and a guy almost jumping off the "L" train because he missed his stop. Aaahhh...memories.

Unfortunately, Darby and I both had to work all week, but Hannah and Matt seemed to have plenty of fun staying at home and playing Wii. And we were able to fit in a lot of game-playing between 5 and 11 p.m. I'm so glad they came; Darby and I are pushing for them to make it an annual trip.

Now, Darby and I are in Arkansas for his cousin's wedding. It's been a crazy but fun week. Below are a few pictures from Chicago.

Matt and Darby being dinosaurs. Wow. I had no choice in my brother, but I did choose my husband. What was I thinking? :)

Our reflection in "Cloud Gate," or, as Hannah calls it, "The Big Kidney Bean."

Hannah and Matt chowing down at Gino's East. We stood in line 1-1/2 hours for this pizza. I don't know that it was worth that long a wait, but it was pretty good.

What I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

• Going to a women's Bible study at church. We're doing the Beth Moore study on Esther. I've done one other Beth Moore study in the past, Believing God. I think I liked that one better. Some of the homework for this one seems a little superficial, but I really enjoy the videos and our small-group discussions.
• Getting ready for Hannah and Matt to come. I'm so excited! Darby and I are going to pick them up in Chicago on Saturday. We're going to spend the night there and do some sightseeing, then they're coming back to our house until Thursday! Yayyy!
• Eating ice cream. My beloved Custard Cup reopened for the season last Friday, and, embarrassingly, Darby and I have already been 3 times. I told Darby last night, "We can't keep this rate up." We'll be broke and very fat by the end of the summer. But it's just so good!
• Enjoying the spring weather. The past two days we've had highs in the 60s! (A little rainy, but who cares?) I'm not getting my hopes up that winter is completely over yet, but I'm enjoying being coatless while I can.
• Being excited for my friend Kalyn. She is having a baby! I have been praying about this for a year (as many others have), and I'm so thankful that God chose to answer our prayers in this way. Baby Gensic will be making his/her (I think her, but Kalyn thinks his) appearance in October. Many excited phone calls and e-mails have been traded back and forth among the Fat Tuesday girls about our 2nd little addition to the group.

Happiness

So, last night I spent about an hour typing up a post about the book I just read, The Happiness Project. I went to publish it, and Blogger freaked out and logged me out. When I logged back in, a very early version of my post was all that remained. I believe this was a test . . . to see if I actually learned anything about being happy. I whined for just a minute, but then tried to put it in perspective. It was a blog post—it wasn't like I lost a term paper or something. I think I passed the test. I decided not to mess with it last night and re-create what I could in the morning.

I highly, highly, highly recommend The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. It is the memoir of a thirty-something woman's year-long attempt to increase her happiness. I saw so much of myself in the author. She wasn't unhappy to begin with; she just felt like she wasn't appreciating her life enough:

I had everything I could possibly want---yet I was failing to appreciate it. . . .
I didn't want to keep taking these days for granted. The words of the writer
Colette had haunted me or years: 'What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish
I'd realized it sooner."

She set up a happiness resolutions chart (a la Ben Franklin's Autobiography), where she tracked her progress toward different goals each month. (Most of the goals were very specific, but each month had a general theme: marriage, parenting, work, fun, etc.). This methodical approach appeals to me greatly. Gretchen has a website where you can set up your own charts and other resources; I think I might try it.

Two major themes of the book really affected me:

• You aren't happy unless you think you're happy, and, conversely, you're happy if you think you're happy. This was a big realization to me. A huge part of happiness is believing that you're happy and acting accordingly. I always figured that I act happy when I feel happy, but really I have much more control over it than that. Why not act happy, and therefore be happy, now?


• Happiness is work, and it's not always as easy as it looks. Gretchen talks about how it's so much easier to be negative, critical, and cynical than to be upbeat, energetic, and encouraging. She discusses how we assume naturally happy people are that way effortlessly, but, in reality, they likely work hard to maintain that happiness—especially in the face of negative people who try to bring them down.

Several of Gretchen's specific goals struck a chord with me, as well:

• Tackle a nagging task. She wrote a 5-page to-do list of all of those little things she never seems to get around to and crossed them off one by one. I don't think my list would be 5 pages, but there are several little things (like getting renter's insurance) that I need to do. Remembering them takes so much mental energy; why not just do it now?


• Enjoy now. She discusses the arrival fallacy: the belief that when you arrive at a certain destination, you'll be happy. This is rarely true because (1) you've been anticipating the destination so long that it is already built into your happiness and (2) the destination brings more responsibility. This is a big one for me. I'm always looking forward to the next thing (in high school, college; in college, marriage; in my job, a new job). I'll never have this time in my life again; I should enjoy it now.
  
• Cut people slack. "Fundamental attribution error is a psychological phenomenon in which we tend to view other people's actions as reflections of their characters and to overlook the power of situation to influence their actions, whereas with ourselves, we recognize the pressures of circumstance." Busted again. I am really going to work on giving people the same slack I give myself.

As you can see, this book gave me a lot to think about. I could go on and on, but Gretchen explains it much better than I can. If you have any interest at all, I highly recommend getting the book. I'm going to be working in the next few weeks to come up with some "happiness resolutions." I feel like my list of goals before I turn 25 is a start, but I want to set goals for my attitude, as well as my actions.

Siblings

A few weeks ago, Darby and I were hanging out with some people who work in his lab. One of the women, an international student from China, had seen some pictures of our family Christmas on Facebook and asked if I had a big family. I said, "Well, I have one sister and one brother, so not too big. What about you? Do you have siblings?" She said, "No . . . we have a one-child law." (At this point, I felt pretty bad and ignorant, but she didn't seem offended.) Then, she kind of sighed and said, "It must be so fun to have brothers and sisters."

And, it got me thinking, she's right. It is really fun to have siblings. Sometimes I take that for granted. (Disclaimer: I know there are many happy families with only one child. I'm not saying that siblings are necessary for happiness, just that it's easy to forget what a blessing it is if you do have siblings.) I've shared quite a few stories about my sister on this blog, but I haven't shared as much about my brother (part of the reason being that he's not quite as crazy as Hannah). To rectify this, I thought I'd share some of my favorite memories of the three of us together.

• When we were little, Hannah and I would play school, and Matt always wanted to play with us. We didn't think he played the right way, though, so we'd make him sit in the other room and be the principal. I still remember him yelling from the other room, "Hey, aren't some of the kids being bad?" And we'd just yell, "Nope!" and keep on playing. (That was kind of mean... I'm sorry, Matt!)
• We loved to play church, mainly so we could take "communion." We'd get Saltine crackers and break off little pieces and eat them, along with our grape juice.
• Hannah and I would dress up in my mom's wedding dress, and Matt would be the groom (one of the downsides of having only sisters).
• On Christmas Eve, we would all sleep in the same room. We weren't allowed to get up until 6 a.m., but usually one of us would wake up earlier too excited to go back to sleep. Whoever it was would wake the others up, and we would softly sing Christmas carols to pass the time until 6 a.m. (I recently shared this story with Darby, and he seemed to regret that he had married into our family. I think he's afraid I'll try to pass these traditions on to our children... he's right!)
• Hannah and Matt (or Mom and Dad) are going to have to help me out with this one. I have a vague recollection of listening to some Christian rap/hip-hop (seriously!) CD and singing along and jumping on and off the couch. Did this happen?

And, because he doesn't get enough press on this blog, here's a story involving only me and Matt. I think this incident happened when Matt was about 10 and I was about 14 (a fact that will be very embarrassing for me when you hear this story). I went out to get the mail while Matt was playing with a remote control car on the driveway. As I was walking back up the driveway with the mail, Matt thought it would be funny to chase me with the remote control car. Well, I got really scared and started screaming and running toward the house. I tried to open the door, but the knob didn't turn, so I just smashed my wrist against the door and fell to the floor crying, scattering the mail all over the garage. I went in the house sobbing, telling Mom (and maybe Dad) how Matt had terrorized me with his car. In the words of Andy Bernard: "That was an overreaction." We still laugh about that one.

Simple pleasures

I've been trying lately to appreciate the little things in life. The winters here can be very hard. Even though it is staying light longer, February is always difficult because you are so ready for it to warm up, but you know that it will be realistically be about 2 months before that happens. But, even with the cold, wet weather, there are so many things to be thankful for. Of course, I'm always thankful for the big things like Darby, family, friends, health, financial stability, etc. But it also helps to think of all of the little things that bring me joy. Here are a few that I've been thankful for recently:

• A steaming cup of coffee in the morning
• Waking up and thinking that your alarm didn't go off and then remembering that it's Saturday
• Getting a card in the mail
  
• The sun coming through my office window in the afternoon
• The smell of bread dough
• Surprise coupons that print at the register
• Turning on the TV and happening to catch a favorite movie
• Someone bringing homemade goodies to work

What are the little things that make you happy?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Darby and I have never made a big deal of Valentine's Day, but we did have a nice little date on Friday night. Any excuse to eat out, right? We went to Red Lobster on Friday because I figured it would be less crowded than Saturday, and we went super early, so we could get home in time to watch the Olympics opening ceremonies. (How lame are we?) When I went to pick up Darby from school, he surprised me with a single rose and a package of conversation Jelly Bellys. So sweet!

I made dinner for our small group tonight. Now that that's over, I'm just relaxing watching figure skating. I love the Olympics!

Special visit

My mom and dad came to visit this past weekend. Darby and I always enjoy it so much when our parents come stay with us. I've always had a good relationship with my parents, but living far away definitely makes me appreciate time with them even more.

It snowed about 6 inches in the 24 hours before they arrived. Darby was at a conference until Saturday afternoon, so Dad got to shovel the driveway. Fun trip, right?

We had a fun time talking, playing games, going to see Sherlock Holmes, making food for our small group's Super Bowl party, and, of course, eating a lot.

Darby and Mom playing Dr. Mario. Mom has her game face on. :)

I always enjoy having company because it's an excuse to make lots of food. Darby was making fun of me because I actually made lunch on Saturday. Normally, we just eat whatever's available. For dessert Saturday night I made a "banoffee pie." It was very rich and very good. The recipe is below:

Banoffee Pie
Slightly adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey by Jill O'Connor

Filling ingredients:
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened, condensed milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup (2 oz.) brown sugar (If I make this again, I might leave this out; the filling was a little sweet for my taste.)
4 Tbsp. (2 oz.) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
boiling water, as needed

1. Stir together the milk, vanilla, brown sugar, melted butter and salt. Pour into a 6 cup oven proof dish. Cover with foil.
2. Place the dish in a 9 x 13 baking pan and fill the pan with boiling water until it reaches half way up the sides of the dish.
3. Bake the milk mixture, stirring every 15 minutes, until it has turned a toasty caramel color, 1 1/2 -2 hours. Remove from the water bath and let cool.

Make graham cracker crust following the recipe on the back of the graham cracker crumb box. Let cool. (You can, of course, use a store-bought graham cracker crust, but homemade is so much better and not hard at all.)

When the toffee has cooled but is still soft, spoon it into the crust, spreading it evenly. Refrigerate until the filling is set. You can cover the pie with plastic wrap and keep it chilled for 24 hours

Topping ingredients:
3 medium ripe bananas
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Peel and slice the bananas into 1/2” thick slices and arrange over the toffee.
2. Whip the cream at medium speed with the confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form. (Tip: Stick your mixer bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes beforehand, and the cream will whip up much faster.)
3. Pile the whipped cream on top of the bananas, spreading it toward the edge of the crust. Cover all of the bananas to prevent them from browning.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

The rest of the story . . .

It's only fair that I now share about my role in the infamous piano recital costume disaster. I was playing songs from The Entertainer, so my mom had sewn me a flapper costume. It was a red and black boxy dress with sequins and fringe (which my grandma had found for some outrageous price). I had helped mom pick out the pattern, but when I saw the dress, I refused to wear it. I thought it was too flashy (which, hello, was kind of the point). Despite my parents' reminders of how much time and money had been spent on the dress, I remained adamant. I ended up wearing some pink dress my mom had in her closet. It didn't look 20s-ish at all.

This was 12 years ago, and I have only just now been able to think about this story without gut-wrenching guilt. I feel so bad for treating my mom like that! I didn't consider her feelings at all. It didn't help that the dress was hanging in my closet for years after the fact, mocking me. Now, we all kind of laugh about it, but it was not funny at the time.

The funniest part of the story is that the main reason I was embarrassed to wear the dress was that I had a crush on one of my fellow piano students (who is now married to my friend Whitney's friend, Jenna—small world). But do you know what he wore? A full lion costume! I don't know that I've ever told my parents that that was the real reason, but they probably guessed.

Sadly, this was not my worst bratty moment. No, that prize would have to go to the time I pitched a fit because I didn't like the color of the new car my dad had bought for me (and eventually my sister) to drive. My poor parents.

Fun weekend, bad Monday

Darby's brother Jeremy came to visit us this past weekend. He had training for his new job in Chicago, so he rode the train down for the weekend. We had a lot of fun---ate at some yummy restaurants, played Wii, and went to our first Illini hockey game. That was quite an experience; the fans are pretty rowdy. It was fun, though, and much cheaper than most of the other sports at the U of I. I'm glad Jeremy was able to come up; we don't see him that often. Hopefully next time his wife, Janice, can come too.

Darby and Jeremy

In other news, I found out on Monday that I will have to get a crown on the tooth I had a root canal on 18 months ago. Boo! The dentist who did the root canal said I most likely would not need a crown. Then, I had to switch to a new dentist to get the discount offered through my health insurance. From the beginning I didn't like the new dentist, so when she told me I'd have to get a crown, I was suspicious. I called the old dentist, and they told me to bring in my x-rays, and they'd take a look at the tooth.

Well, the new dentist gave me a PHOTOCOPY of an x-ray of that one tooth. Thanks a lot. When I got to the old dentist, the hygienist was really rude and made a big deal about my x-rays not being good enough (like it's my fault). She told me they would have to do more x-rays, and I said I wasn't going to do that and I would just wait 6 months until it was time for me to get x-rays again because I don't have dental insurance. The hygienist said, "Those are a different kind of x-ray." At this point I was really frustrated and started getting choked up. I did NOT want to end up paying for x-rays on top of the crown. I told her, "Well, maybe I'll have dental insurance by then or something." She said, "So, if we have to do x-rays, you're going to leave." I said yes. At this point, she decided she could ask the dentist if he could look at the tooth without x-rays. And, imagine that, he could! It took him like 5 seconds to determine that, yes indeed, I will need a crown. To the tune of $1,000. Ouch.

I am very glad I refused the x-rays, although I wish I had done it without crying. Everyone in the office was treating me so gingerly after that, like I was going to blow at any minute. They were like, "Have you heard about our payment plan, sweetie?" "Do you want to make an appointment now or think about it for a while." I do not have a good track record dealing with doctors. It's just horrible when you feel so powerless, and there's so much pressure to get hundreds of dollars worth of procedures done, and they don't give you any time to think about it. Ugh! I get so emotional. But, after a couple of days, I'm feeling better about it. I'm going to sign up for the 12-month 0 interest payment plan, so I won't have to take all of that money out of savings. And I have a plan to save money on groceries and entertainment each month until I get it paid off. By the time this is over, this stupid tooth will have cost me well over $1,500. Maybe I should have just had it pulled. :)

Open mouth, insert foot

I am an opinionated person and am generally unafraid to speak my mind. This has gotten me into trouble more times than I care to admit. I am trying to do better at thinking before I speak, but it is tough for me. There is one instance that sticks out in my mind as one of my worst truly accidental "open mouth, insert foot" moments. I had no mean intentions AT ALL. So, continuing the theme of stories from my childhood, here goes . . .

My sister and I both took piano lessons for about 7 years. Our first piano teacher would have theme recitals, where you dressed up according to what music you were playing. When Hannah and I were about 10 and 12, the theme was "Movies." I was playing songs from "The Entertainer," and Hannah was playing songs from "Winnie the Pooh." (This post will discuss Hannah's costume; the story of my costume might be discussed in a future post—Title: "My Brattiest Moments.") So, Mom had sewn Hannah a Winnie the Pooh costume. Back then, Hannah was a little pudgy—very cute, but definitely still had some baby fat. Anyway, she came out in her costume and asked how she looked. I, trying to be helpful, said, "Maybe you should take the pillow out of your stomach. It looks too big." Her face fell as she sobbed, "I haven't put the pillow in yet!." Oops. I tried to rectify the situation by explaining that it was just the fabric that was sticking out. Yeah, that didn't help too much. The damage was done.

I was telling this story at our women's Bible study a couple of months ago, and I started laughing so hard that I couldn't even talk. I was just picturing little Hannah in that costume and how her face just fell. She was so pitiful. And she really was such a cute girl. I went looking through my old photos just to find a picture of her in that Pooh costume. I haven't been able to scan photos for about a year, but I repaired my scanner (an hour-long process) just so I could share this. I bet Hannah's going to love me. She's partially blocked by a microphone, so you can't see the full costume, but you get the idea.

Now, since I've done this to Hannah, I will share the story of my costume (which is embarrassing in an entirely different way). That story to come soon.

Success!

It only took 2-1/2 years (3-1/2, if you consider that I started shortly after we got engaged), but I finally finished my wedding scrapbook! I considered putting this as one of my "goals before I turn 25," but I've had it as a goal so many times and failed to meet it that I was too embarrassed. For the most part, I'm pleased with it. There are a few pages that I wish I had done differently, but finished is better than perfect, right? Below are a couple of my favorite pages. Pictures of pages in page protectors really don't come out too well, but I just thought this post could use some pictures. Trust me that they look better in person. :)

Each of the little cards for the bridesmaids opens up, and there's a description of why I chose them to be my bridesmaid. I'm going to cut around them so you can open up the flap even with the page protector on. I just have to find my exacto knife (and convince Darby to cut it for me, since I will probably mess it up!)

Good week

It's only Tuesday, and this has already been a great week.

• On Sunday, I found out that when our lease is up in August, we will be able to renew for 3 more years at only $25 more per month. Woo-hoo!
• On Monday, Darby got official confirmation that his research assistant appointment for this semester went through, which means a substantial raise.
• Tomorrow, the temperature is supposed to get above freezing (barely, but I'll take it) for the first time in 2 weeks!