Ice Cream Goodness

I went to Coldstone this afternoon to pick up some gift cards. (I may have just ruined the birthday surprise for a couple of people. But really, are you shocked to know that we bought you Coldstone for your birthday? That's classic Blockburger gift-giving. Who doesn't love ice cream?)

Anyway.

We walked in the store (Julia and I) just behind an elderly couple. It appeared that they had never actually been to Coldstone before, as they began sampling lots of different ice cream flavors. Sampling, and sampling, and sampling. Trying to make a decision.

Now, there have been days in my life when all this sampling on their part, and thus the waiting on my part, would have caused me great frustration. When waiting in line was the most terrible thing that could ever happen to me. When (I thought) I had places to go, people to see.

But that day was not today. I made the conscious decision to just relax, and enjoy watching them experience all my beloved Coldstone flavors for the first time. (A calm baby may have contributed to my sense of ease.) And honestly? It was totally worth it that I walked in after them. They were tasting the Sweet Cream, the Cake Batter, the Oatmeal Cookie Dough, the Pumpkin, all those flavors that I savor and crave, and it made me smile inside. And probably on the outside, too. The guy behind the counter was so kind to them, giving them suggestions, looking so happy to let them sample as much as they liked.

And then I saw that they were missionaries, and that made me smile even more.

And then, AND THEN, to top it all off, when they went to pay, he said, "You know what? Missionaries eat free today. Enjoy."

There really are good people in the world. And I am so grateful that I got to see some of that goodness in action today. Thanks Coldstone.

They did the Mash

As Clark mentioned, we carved pumpkins last night! Julia did not join in the fun, because she was being a crankypants and just needed to go to bed. Could she be getting another tooth already? Who knows.

Anyway, back to pumpy-kins! So, pumpkin carving has never been something I'm very good at. Basically, all my pumpkins end up looking like a 5-year-old 's handiwork, and a 5-year-old who hates art projects at that. However, it's one of those things that I get excited about every year, thinking that we just have to do it, it's an integral part of Halloween. I'm pleased to report that this year I've created a pumpkin that I'm proud of. And that we actually saved the seeds. Usually I want to save them, and then I have no idea what to do with them, so they just get thrown away. But this year, I've got a recipe from allrecipes.com. MMMMMMMM!!!!

On to the pictures! Here is Clark, hard at work:My cute little pumpkin, in the light. Do you know who he is?
"OH, YEAH!!!" That's right, I did the kool-aid man. I like it.
And then Clark got all fancy with the camera and tripod. I thought it was a neat effect.
Pictures of Clark's pumpkin are on his blog.

Books!

It turns out my kids loves to read her books. She'll just sit and flip through them. She loves loves LOVES to turn the pages. I got this cute little sequence today (sorry they are kind of dark):




So studious. We went to the park today, as well, and she enjoyed reading her book there, too. I even got a video of her page turning skills.



Ah, nothing like eating your sleeve after finishing a good book!

Silly Ol' Julia

Apparently spoons are the enemy.



And I just thought this was cute.

By the way. . .

Julia hit a big milestone over the weekend. Clark found it, so he got to tell the world.

I haven't posted much lately because I've been singing and singing and singing. Or at least it feels that way. We had our choir concert last Tuesday, which meant we also practiced on Monday. And then I got to be part of the huge combined choir at a Gala on Saturday, which was a great experience, but it also meant that we had practices on Friday night and Saturday morning, and then we sang Saturday night. Poor Clark had to put Julia to bed 3 times last week, which is no easy feat when she gets all worked up.

This week should be a little less hectic. Well, maybe not, I've got a couple of enrichment activities, and then there is Halloween. But it should be lots of fun stuff.

Oh, and don't worry. Our new ward is making good use of our musical talents. I'm substituting on the organ this Sunday, and Clark is playing the piano for the choir Christmas program. But you know, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love music!

Weekly Quote 10/27/08

"Did you make some Z's?"

Sorry to be a little slow on the quote this week. Last week's quote was from Everything is Illuminated, which is really a good show, and I'd never heard of it until we saw a preview on. . . I think it was I Am Legend? Anyway, I checked it out from the library, and really enjoyed it. You should check it out.

New quote up!

"And I'm back in the game!"

I made a triumphant return to Gold's Gym last night. Yeah, my account has been on freeze for at least a year, maybe longer, and last night I decided to just be brave and go. Julia was in bed, Clark was playing Starcraft, it was the perfect time to go.

OK, brace yourselves. . . I liked it. I actually enjoyed working out. Me! Exercise hater! Now I like it! Or at least I liked it the one time I went last night. But still, progress is being made. Also, I discovered that they have a Zumba class on Wednesday evenings (at 6:30, so not quite the ideal time of 8:30, but still doable). I have heard a lot of good things about Zumba, it's basically a latin dance exercise class, so i'm pretty excited to go to that.

There. Now I have 3 posts about the gym.

A Plea for Help

For our wedding, Clark and I registered for this cute kitchen set:


After we opened all our presents, we discovered that we were only missing the flour canister. However, it was marked as "purchased" on our registry, so we decided not to buy it ourselves, and just wait for it to come to us. I mean, really, someone went to all the trouble of buying, of course they'll give it to us. Right?

Wrong. About 6 months later, we still hadn't gotten any flour canister. So I decided that the time had come to buy it myself. But alas! My beloved Target was discontinuing this line! And while they still had some of the other pieces on clearance, the flour canisters were all gone. Gone!

And so, here we are, 4 years later, with no flour canister. Part of me thinks that I should just get another one that doesn't match, and then this other part of me is holding out hope that either I'll find it for sale on ebay, or the purchaser of the wedding gift will find it in their garage and realize they never sent it, and be brave enough to send it 4 1/2 years late. So here's the plea: if you are that person, we don't care at all that you haven't sent it yet, we'd just be happy to take it now! In fact, the value of your gift has increased greatly (at least in my eyes) as time has passed. So just send it. Please?

Oh, and the other plea: if you are ever looking at garage sales, or on ebay, and you happen across a canister that looks like this (except it says FLOUR):


please buy it for me. I'll pay you back.