REwind

Sooooo (I so love starting my posts with that word), I am sick. Don't worry the doc told me I don't have that umentionable sickness going around. I just have some "normal" version of the flu. Yeah, it sucks. Hot flashes, headaches, body aches, memory loss, constant irritation...if these symptoms don't stop soon, I think it is a sign that I don't have the flu and perhaps I should join the Red Hat Club...but I'll give it a few more days.

Since I am being quarantined (personal choice of course), I have decided I should probably spend some time updating everyone on the homefront life.

But you know me, I hate writing about my self, or at least I hate admitting that I like to write about myself. That's why I write about random, useless lists and celebrity corner junk...it's just easier on my conscience to pretend that I am writing for you and not for me.

But I'm gonna act on the premise that you might give a dingo or two (where did that expression come from?) about what I have been up to since I last wrote about myself. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a little trip down memory lane, YoAdriane-style.

The only picture of us from the last 6 months...pathetic huh?

January


Predominant Mood: Optimistic

Major Preoccupations: School (start of a new semester, whohoo!), Church, cleaning the house, cooking food, thinking about getting a part-time job with the school district.

Major Stressor: Understanding school readings for Michel Foucault.

Memorable Activities: Wearing shorts, baking lots of bread, talking in church with J for the first time together as a married couple, and getting a real kick out of reading Abel's e-mails from the Babylon (ooopps, I mean southern California) mission.

Abel's favorite part of the California mission? THE CARS

Favorite show I indulged in on YOUTUBE: Project Runway Season 4 (All I can say is...fierce!!)

February

Predominant Mood: Introspective

Major Preoccupations: Same

Major Stressor: That whole mess with our vehicles.

Memorable Activities: Mountain biking with J, learning how to quilt, selling my car and J's motorcycle then buying a new car and fixing J' truck all in about 48 hours (we really didn't plan it this way b/c J was going to upgrade to a bigger motorcylce, but as fate would have it, my car and J's truck went bust on the same day he sold his bike...but in retrospect, it was really SUCH a blessing!).

J's bike, "the black swan."

I totally kicked his butt riding my single speed (no pic, wahhh,wahhh), but shhh! don't tell!

Favorite show I indulged in on YOUTUBE: So You Think You Can Dance Australia (the only foreign version of the show that totally shows up the U.S. for style...GO TALIA!!)

March


Predominant Mood: Bittersweet

Major Preoccupations: Spending A LOT of time in MO and cleaning Mom's house (it totally whipped me, but it was so worth it...I luv 'ya Mommy-O!).

Major Stressor: This one's pretty self explanatory.

Memorable Activities: Cooking food for 200 people (Poly-style of course...this wasn't no dainty meal)in less than 12 hours with a bung oven, hearing Uncle Henry tell his Bishop that he better get down to the hospital and see him b/c "he was going to kick the bucket," and riding the train home to AZ.

Enojoying the fruits of our labor at the funeral...good food man!
Apologies for the poor photo quality...I stole this pic from a friend, he, he.
R to L: Samala (cousin), Me, Mary (cousin)

Favorite show I indulged in on YOUTUBE: Anything and everything with hula and Tahitian dancing...Merrie Monarch and Le Grand Ballets de Tahiti were a few favorites though.

April

Predominant Mood: Motivated

Major Preoccupations: Catching up on school, preparing for our Ward lu'au, and doing my best to produce a near-perfect patchwork baby quilt (yeah right!!).

Major Stressor: Budgeting (Man, I need to get back to work!!)

Memorable Activities: getting to bring Flinty-Katbinty home with me for a week, teaching hula to the sistahs at church (if any of you are reading this, you are 'da best!!), and choregraphing a Tahitian routine with Ella (my Hawaiian Primary Pres.) at like 4 a.m. the day of the lu'au.

Me and Flinty keeping it real while hiking/swimming at the Catwalk....I know you are totally digging my regressive ghetto style.

(Again, outdated picture...from last summer...completely pathetic.)

Favorite show I indulged in on YOUTUBE: Dancing With The Stars (Do you see the pattern of dance obsession?...Anyways, I was totally rooting for Lil' Kim even though I knew she was a hoochie and Gilles was the superior dancer.)

May...so far


Predominant Mood: Uncertain

Major Preoccupations: Finals, finals, finals

Major Stressor: Mentally preparing myself for the fact that I will be working in Springerville during the week and then returning home on weekends...Is there a crash course on how to train your husband to cook GOOD (a.k.a. not frozen)food for himself and how to keep the house from becoming a bachelor pad?

Oh yeah, one more and this IS stressful. Worrying that the countless hours of working on the computer while sitting in a wooden chair has rapidly increased the aging process on my bum...NOTE TO SELF: This summer I WILL get my ghetto booty back.

Memorable Activities: Going to a quilt show in "Sedoner" with my quilting buddy Maxine and enrichment teacher Mickey (INSERT RANDOM FACT: Mickey and I graduated from the same high school in KCMO, but just like 55 years apart...Go RUSKIN HIGH!!), exploring new ways to keep a metal home cool, and worrying that I have Swine flu.

Favorite show I indulged in on YOUTUBE: I am a little ashamed to admit b/c I told myself I wouldn't indulge anymore in witless, vain, entertainment BUT I totally had to catch up on this season of America's Next Top Model. Who is with me that Celia was totally the best? Sure, she wasn't the prettiest of the bunch, but she was the most interesting and hard working. I give kudos to that yo!

My fierce portfolio pic for the next cycle of ANTM...do you like the towels in the background?

--A

One Hot Top Ten List

So, do you think your biological temperature tolerance (pseudo-scientific term) grows weaker with age?

I mean when I was a kid, I could have a great time whether the temperature was below freezing or in the three digits. If it was cold, I ran around the yard faster. If the weather was hot, I took off more clothes. Pretty sound logic, right?

Well anymore I feel like I can only tolerate temperatures in the range of 65-75 (except of course if I can be in Hawaii--then I can endure up to 90 because I know the end result will be a fabulous tan).

I think the temp. here is CV is currently 85 and I am dying. 85??!! I know it's pathetic, but it's true.

I am glad that it is Sunday because I have an excuse for not doing anything that may require my body temperature to increase. No exercising. No cleaning. No cooking with the oven...it's crockpot today baby!

So out of sheer avoidance of the heat, I am blogging my next top ten list:

Top Ten Ways to Beat the Heat

10. Eat chilled watermelon

I did today and it totally worked...for about 10 minutes...good thing there's more in the fridge...

9. Hang out in the frozen section

Do you know THOSE people who go to Costco or Sam's Club with someone else who has a membership card JUST so they can try the free samples? Well, if you don't, now you do because I am one of them.

If you are trying to beat the heat, you can use a similar tactic. Hang out at the grocery store frozen section. You don't have to have a membership to do it (unless of course you opt for one of THOSE fancy stores) and the air is completely free.

Added benefit? The grocery stores carries oodles of magazines you would never pay for, but you know you are helplessly curious to read so you can find who is the next Hollywood disaster case. So grab your People Magazine and chill out with the your new buddies Breyers and Red Baron.

8. Clean your fridge

Yep, this is the one time you will welcome that rush of cold, stinky air.

7. Wear a dress

Hate the stagnant air "under there" that especially accumulates on hot days? Wear a dress and let that air circulate--keeping you cool and your loved ones close by.

6. Roll in some dirt

I have yet to try this one, but it seems pretty effective for most other creatures in the Animal Kingdom, so why not people?

5. Do a "Cleopatra"

Yeah that's right, get some poor soul (a.k.a. your husband or a kid in need of some reprimanding) to fan your body, fetch chilled drinks, and do pretty much every little menial task that would potentially cause you to break a sweat.

4. Blast from the past

Got any picutres of an ex-friend, ex-love, or ex-love of your spouse? Just taking a glance through these memorabilia is sure to leave you a little frigid.

3. Wear deodarant

So maybe this one won't make you FEEL any cooler but, at least you will SMELL like you are.

2. Move to Alaska

Oh wait, scrtach that. I forgot, Alaska's summers are worse than Arizona'a--Hot AND humid AND mosiquitoes. I'll stick it out here thank you very much.

1. Watch a documentary on climbing Mount Everest

This one works really well and just proves that you can have mind over matter:

"(meditating) ahummmm, ahummmm, I am not hot, ahummmm, I am on a Himalayan, snow-capped peak, ahummmm, it's cold, ahummmm, I think I have frost-bite, ahummmm, where's my sherpa, I'm hungry?!!"

--A

It's that time again....

Yes, it's about time for another (drum roll please)........

Celebrity Corner!

This time I decided to showcase some DNA that was a little closer to home--my bro Abel.

Since I couldn't actually pinpoint him to one celebrity look-a-like, I decided to show you the MANY celebrity faces he embodies. Here we go:

#3 The teenie-bopper prince

being introspective...

#2 The comic sensation

Wolverine and Mokujunabel

#1 The all-American funny man

shhh!!! don't tell Abel I said he looked like Bob Saget...

--A