Random Thoughts: British Names

So my mind goes on really random tangents and and thinks things through that really don't matter. I think I will try to post these if I remember because I think they are kind of funny. We'll see how they come across in print.

When the elevator arrived that I was waiting for to go to lunch, a coworker of mine, Roger, came out. "Hi Roger." I said. But it was mumbled and I realized that it came out with a slight British accent. So I began thinking how Roger isn't necessarily a favorite name of mine, but it seems much more pleasant in a British accent. Go ahead, try it. Sounds nice huh? So then I got to thinking of other names I don't really like all that much but think it's really fun in the accent. Peter. Simon. Sebastian. Oliver. How if I were to name my kids any of these names I might slip and say their names with the accent and then they would grow up thinking that is how it pronounced and then insist on being called that way in school and life and be made fun of and subsequently be scarred for life. So I better not name any kids those names.

Have my wishes come true yet?

Here is a little recap of how I'm doing so far on my wishful thoughts of 2008.

-Improve on skills already learned.
Well, I haven't really touched my piano or guitar for about a month or so so that's not going so well. I have made a cake every month so far and my last class went really well. So well, in fact, that my teacher who quit because she is having a baby, wanted to reccommend to take her place. Though completely flattered and shocked, I refused because I just don't have the confidence to teach a class right now. I feel like I am still trying to get better.

-Invite others along to things I normally do by myself.
I haven't really been doing too much to invite others along too. I did go to some movies by myself, but sometimes it is really fun to do and I like the fact that I feel okay with it whereas I know some people would not do something like that. But I do need to use my gift card to the Hale Center Theatre so I am planning on extending an invite to anyone to join me in seeing Annie Get Your Gun.

-Cook More, Eat Out Less.
Yeah, let's just skip this one.

-Try again, things that fell by the wayside last year.
We have been doing musical nights again, not really on a regular basis but just when we have a yen for it. Melanie and I are carrying it on and not really worrying about whether or not Loralee can join though I would love it if she did. Drawing dinners are still on the back burner with no immediate plans (see above category).

-Show Some Restraint When it comes to Spending.
I think I've done pretty good with this. There are lots of things that I want to buy: small external hard drive, 5th generation ipod, new computer, armoire for t.v. (I will buy this soon), but I have I am holding off. And go back and forth on what would be okay to buy right now or that can wait. I'll be starting a de-cluttering project in my bedroom soon (more on that later) so will be spending some money on that. But my dvd buying has decreased somewhat mainly because all the movies I have wanted are marked full price at Walmart so I force myself to wait until I can buy it off Netflix for much cheaper.

-Take better care of my car.
Not really. I live in the worst area of the city for pot holes I swear and do I slow down to go over them? No. So who knows how much wear and tear I have been putting on my car lately. But it seems to be okay. Happily warmer weather is coming and so my windows will roll down a lot easier and maybe roll up in one push of the button.

So some things are going okay but not too well. I've really slacked off. I'm in a lazy phase right now. But these were just wishful thoughts and I still have nine months to work on them.

Updated photo

Okay, I have no idea how my profile photo got changed. Really weird. I have no idea who that person is. But thanks to those who brought that to my attention. The photo that is up now will be temporary until I can get onto my own computer that has the pic I normally use. I haven't visited my blog lately because I was sure I had hit my maximum amount of comments on that last post and I usually feel guilty that I haven't posted for a while. I know I shouldn't feel guilty because there are those of you who haven't posted in a much longer period of time ( no need to name names, you know who you are and we do too.) I've had post ideas rummaging in my mind so they'll be happening soon. I think the next will be a take-off of Julie's where I recap my status with my yearly goals. So anyway, I haven't seen my blog lately so didn't realize that my profile photo had changed until Aly told me over the phone about it. That makes me a little wary that someone was able to change it. Hopefully nothing else major gets changed.

Birthday Surprise & Shower Gift

It was perfect. At a week before the surprise, I had it all figured out. Alyson would be at school all day so I would leave work early and drop off her specially made cake with balloons in her apartment using the key that she doesn't know I have. Never have all the pieces been put together so well for me to give someone a surprise on their birthday. Well, then a few days before her birthday, Alyson calls me up and throws a wrench into the whole works. "I'm gonna drop my chemistry class so now I will be free on Wednesday. Do you want to go to a digital scrapbook party that night?" Crap. Normally she has a lab from 2-5 but now that's gone so most likely she will be home when I want to drop off the stuff and then it won't be a surprise. Dang! Well, if she's home maybe I can set the stuff outside her door and do a ring and run. She'll probably go searching for a bit and I'm always terrible at ring and runs and always get caught. But I have to try. In addition to the cake and balloons I wanted to record myself singing Happy Birthday, which she will play after she has lit the candles.

So Tuesday night I make the cake. Stayed up a little later than I wanted to but I got a late start as I had gotten my hair done before. I had had the perfect cake in mind for Alyson's birthday since I saw the picture in a book months ago. It would have looked just like the cake in the picture, had I not been stupid and rushing and used frozen raspberries which leaked their juice over everything, but oh well it still looked okay.
The next day I went to work until noon stopped at Zurchers to get some helium balloons and then went home and put some finishing touches on the cake, recorded the song and made the cards that would accompany the cake instructing Alyson to light the candles and then press play on the recorder. I made two actually. One for if she happens to not be home and I get to leave the stuff on the counter and one for if she is home and I leave it outside the door. I was really praying she wouldn't be home when I got there.

After setting everything properly into my car and then filling up with gas I made the drive up to Ogden including the precarious drive westward on 3300 South where the whole road just seems to be covered in pot holes. Every bump I was sure would make the raspberries pop off, but they held strong. When I arrived at Alyson's apartment complex I drove around the other side of her building, in case she might be outside. I sneaked out the other side to get a glimpse to see if her car was there and lo and behold it wasn't!! Yay!! So I parked on the side of the building so she wouldn't see my car and gathered everything up and quickly walked to her door. Who knows how long she would be gone. I got out my secret key. I'm not really sure why I got the key but I've had it for about a year and never told Aly for just such an occasion as this. It worked and I was in. I set everything up to look nice and then went into Katie's old room to hide, hoping she wouldn't be gone too long. After a couple of minutes I decided to peek out the blinds on the window and just as I did I saw Aly pull into her parking spot. Okay this was it.

I stayed out of sight in the corner of the room and as I heard her open the door I even held my breathe a little. I couldn't really hear much for a few minutes but her moving around the living room. Then a small chuckle-maybe she had just read the card. I was worried she would think to call me and I hadn't turned my phone off so I tried ever so quietly to find my phone in my purse but my keys clinked a little. Around this time Aly had come down the hall to her bedroom and looked in the bathroom. I was so mad that she was searching the rooms. The point was for me to jump out after she had played the song. So she poked her head into Katie's room and found me. "You were supposed to do what the card said!" I said. Oh well, like I said it was almost perfect. So I watched her light the candles and we both listened to me sing Happy Birthday. Then we hung out the rest of the day. It was a lot of fun.

Also, this is a baby blanket that I made for Kaysie who is due with her first in April. A little girl to be named Sophia.
And this is showing the leaky raspberry juice that dripped all over the cake.

A Year of Origami

In 2007 I bought a Origami-A-Day Calendar for my desk at work. I loved doing it. It was so fun, especially when I got better and better. I did skip some days because they were boring so I saved the fun paper for other projects. The one's pictured above are my favorites from the year but I still have a whole cabinet drawer full of the rest. I'll probably get another calendar next year.

Just click on the photos at the bottom to see larger sizes of each thumbnail. This thing is so cool I think I want to do it for all my posts where I have multiple photos. You can do it too, just click on "Pictobrowser" on the right hand corner. You must have a flickr account though.