It Was Worth the Lack of Sleep!

Aw dang.  I set my alarm incorrectly and missed the vows, but I did see most of the ceremony.  While I was napping, I had a dream that Kate decided to really throw tradition out the window and walked down the aisle wearing white silk pyjamas.  Imagine my relief when I awakened and turned the broadcast on.  Princess Catherine's dress is lovely--very evocative of Grace Kelly's.  Will this finally turn the tide against the very boring strapless dress trend that has been going on for too long? 

I love pomp and circumstance.  This wedding seemed like the perfect royal wedding.  Who wouldn't love a fanfare or wild bells ringing out at their wedding?  Most likely there will be recaps of the parts I missed.  I hope that William and Catherine will follow the counsel given them over the pulpit and keep their wedding vows, being faithful to and supporting each other and doing good in the world.

This week has been a total mess as far as my sleeping has gone.  I worked overnight on Monday, got up at 3:30 am today and am working overnight tomorrow night.  It will be a week before I really pull myself back together.

Oh, Yes. I Will Be Watching

So cute!  So in love!  There was none of that, "Whatever "love" means...."  They are adorable, and of course I'm going to be up in the wee hours watching the royal wedding.  Will you also be watching??

Tri-Harder!

The very observant will note that there is a new donation website link on the left-hand side of my blog.  The page is not set up quite yet with the plea and the pics, but you can still donate to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America using the link. 

The goal this time is only $2,500. I've actually already received one donation, which is very exciting.  The triathlon will be here in San Diego on September 11th.  It is just a "sprint" triathlon--so no "Diane Bricco, you are an IRON MAN!" at the end of it, but it will be a lot of fun.  It's a 1/3-mile swim in the bay (gak!  That's the hardest part for me), a 12-mile bike ride (pffft!  Child's play!) and a 5K run (no big deal). 

Awww, Go Fly a Kite!

The Easter Bunny came early and brought bubbles.  It was such a beautiful, breezy evening that we blew bubbles and brought out Keiler's kite.  To my knowledge, I have never flow a kite until today.  Thanks, Kilo, for letting me fly your cool shark kite!

Tri-Hard

The time is soon-upon us when I will be training and fundraising for the San Diego Tri-Rock sprint triathlon.  My goal is to raise at least $2,500 for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.  I do not have my fundraising page set up yet, but it will be accessible from a link on this blog.  The half-marathon experience was really good, and I expect this will be, too.  There are some things I will add to my fund-raising armamentarium, such as a Rubio's fundraiser and brochures, that will add something to the mix and make it easier to donate.

What Not To Wear--Sunday Edition

When I was growing up, my mom impressed upon me and my sisters the importance of wearing "proper" clothing to church.  She was taught the same principles by my grandmother, who always was as neat as a pin and who prided herself on her clothing.  It wasn't anything expensive, it was just tidy and modest and attractive. 

We were taught to wear dresses or skirts to church services, and if we were wearing pants at an activity, we certainly were not to walk into the chapel.  To this day, if I am helping to clean the church and I have to go into the chapel to vacuum and I'm wearing jeans, I feel very weird.

I realize that there is a spectrum of what is nowadays deemed "appropriate" for church wear.  Frankly, I'm just happy that people show up to church, and I keep my opinion to myself if they are not dressed the way that I feel comfortable dressing myself for church.  My husband balks at wearing a suit (though I think he looks absolutely dreamy in one), and for that matter, a tie, so sometimes he wears a shirt with no tie, dressier pants and tennis shoes.  I don't care, except for the fact that I would really like to iron his clothes sometimes.  Killer wears a suit and tie, mainly because that is expected of the Priests who are blessing the sacrament.  He also looks good dressed that way, and he knows it.

The topic of what to wear to church has been in the back of my mind lately because of a new friend of mine.  She is a new convert, but has been quite religious throughout her life.  I visit teach her, and at this month's visit she brought up her concern that she really didn't have dresses or skirts in her closet that weren't casual or shorter than she was seeing the rest of the women wearing. She asked my companion and I about wearing garments and how that affected what we wore.  She said something like we both looked quite normal in our jeans and t-shirts, and we pointed out what was covered and where.  I don't quite know her well-enough to offer to go shopping with her or send her links to some websites that sell modest clothing, if she was interested in putting some new things in her closet.   It made me think of a story told by Anne Osborn Poehlman (known in my work world as Dr. Anne Osborn, Queen of Neuroradiology--but I digress).  When she first joined the church, she wore her very favorite pink suit one Sunday.  It always made her feel beautiful.  But someone criticized her for how short her skirt was, and it hurt her feelings.  I hope that no one ever says something to my friend that makes her feel unwelcome or like she doesn't fit in.  She's already quite loved and welcomed by the ward family, so I don't think that would happen.

I also happened upon a blog discussion (here) about wearing pants to church.  Frankly, I have worn pants to church once, because I was traveling, not expecting to go to church, but my traveling companion and I decided that we'd track the nearest meeting down.  I.felt.weird.  It just isn't me.  But it doesn't really bug me when I see women wearing pants in church.  As I said before, I'm just happy to see people at church, and I realize not everyone's circumstance or upbringing is the same.

One of my friends announced at book club that she and her family will be moving to Utah this summer.  We were teasing her about how different it will be, and I said that people will think she's weird for wearing flip-flops to church year-round and never wearing hose.  It's so California.  I haven't even purchased panty hose in years, probably even before I moved out here.  In New York, it was either no hose or very cute, patterned hose or tights.

So, what are your "rules" for church attire?  Do you ever cringe secretly (or not-so-secretly) at some things you see people wearing?  (To be honest, I'm not thrilled with how some of our Young Women dress for church, but maybe that's just me, and I wouldn't ever go up to them and say something about it.)  What would you say, if anything, to a new convert or an investigator about what to wear to church?  Has anyone ever made an unkind comment to you about something you have worn?  Frankly, as far as my friend goes, I have never seen her wear anything that wasn't tasteful and modest to church.  She's very intelligent, and I think that she'll probably just figure out what works for her. 

Letters

This is just a random missionary picture I took from Google images.  Believe me, there are some unseemly pictures that come up when you do that, so beware.

R's idea for Family Home Evening tonight was for us to divvy up between us the missionaries serving from our ward and write them letters.  We have a pretty decent group, five elders and an older sister missionary who has been on a mission for four years, it seems.  She must really like what she's doing (I think she's a Family History missionary) and keeps signing up for another go.

I wrote to her and to the guy whose dad was just called as our bishop.  I do know his parents, but I really don't know him.  He's serving in the Florida panhandle and Alabama.  I asked him some questions about his mission and for some advice for Keiler, who will be leaving sooner than I think we are actually ready to have him go, now that it's getting closer.  It will be fun to hear back from him.

My cousin's son entered the MTC on April 6th for his mission to the Samara, Russia Mission.  I need to get his address from his mom so that we can write to him, too. 

Our Barbecue Can Beat Up Your Barbecue

At Mission Bay

Andre Galvao, the founder of our feast.  He's a master barbecuer.

 

At the Atos barbecue today:  The middle guy in the picture opined, "I'll bet that our barbecue could beat up any other barbecue in the world right now."  He might be right, given that the Atos Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team is filled with world champions, and even the San Diego guys are pretty bad***.  Even the women are crazy-tough.  Check out Cris Cyborg:

She was there, along with her husband.  So, yeah, I would expect that our barbecue could have beaten up any other BBQ in the world.  We definitely could have taken any of the other BBQs at the park today.

The weather today was ah-may-zing.  It was probably 90 degrees or more.  I rode my bike from my house to the beach.  It was just a little ride--13.4 miles or so, no hills, just a headwind.  Rowdy twisted my arm just a little and gave me a ride home.

Movie Review--Hanna

There was no book club tonight (I had the dates mixed up), so I ended up going to the movies with the boys.

I liked it.  It was freaky, but interesting and had a great soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers.  Too much DC and intense, spooky movie mean that I'm going to be up late.

Dinner Studio

I'm going to be working several overnight shifts in the next two weeks, so we're going to try Dinner Studio for our evening meals.  It will be cheaper than eating out, nutritious and relatively fuss-free.  I'll let you know how it goes.

PMSing

That must be what I'm dealing with today.

Yesterday, I tried to go for a run, but my calves were cramping too much.  That is so freaking annoying.

I basically wasted two hours at the DMV.  The DMV workers weren't too bad, but I wanted to smack every single old man in line near me who thought it was cute to flirt with the DMV people, and there were a lot of little old men in line. And why do people in line by me want to get all up next to me and talk to me?  Just shut up and leave me alone, whydontcha?!

I failed the motorcycle written exam.  Dang it!  It is really not something that you can just think your way through.  And yes, I did read the manual...TWO MONTHS AGO.  Dumb.

Rowdy was healed up for two whole days before bursting open another abscess.  I've seen him cry before, but not from his illness.  Today was different.

Here Are Some Pictures of Whistler

2/3 of the Dahlstrom girls.

Olympic rings (duh).

Nina, the Group II instructor.  Soooo funny and patient.

Blackcomb's bunny hill

The base of Blackcomb

Spring Break

The cherry trees are blossoming in Vancouver.

Since K wasn't able to go to Japan over Spring Break, we did the next best thing and sent him to Utah.  R and I were looking forward to making the most of our time together, but unfortunately, we didn't have too much of that during the week.

While I was on vacation, things were extremely busy at work, and things didn't slow down very much this week.  I am the call person this week, so I have to be the "clean-up" person during the week and come in on the weekend for cases.  With the exception of Tuesday (when I leave at 1230), I stayed late every night until at least 730 pm.  Today hasn't been that bad, call-wise (thankfully).

On Tuesday evening, we ended up helping out a friend who is going through a major, gut-wrenching, rip-your-heart-out-and-show-it-to-you trauma.  It is awful to see her have to deal with this experience.  Talking about it later in the evening, Rowdy and I both said how we wouldn't change our basket of problems for anyone else's.  R and I have already gone through similar experiences in our lives and it was really...awful, painful, horrific, lonely but ultimately refining.  I know our friend will make it through this, but it will not be pretty or fun.

That whole situation reminds me again (as if I needed reminding) of the amazing power of the Atonement, and how healing and comforting it is to know that Jesus Christ knows exactly how we feel, because he has already felt it, and he knows exactly how to help us through our trials.  It would be so horrible if we didn't have that.  I know that after the darkness of winter comes the beautiful spring.

Warrior Dash

Do Not Adjust Your Computer

This looks like it was made with giant Legos.

Vacation Food

I think that we're spoiled when it comes to food.  K and I both have spent time in NYC (she still lives there and gets to go out a lot), and for my money, the best food I have ever eaten has been in Austin, TX.  The restaurants are good, and my mom's cooking is the best.  So, Vancouver and Whistler food just wasn't thaaaat special.  But here are some thoughts:

When I think of Canadian food, the only thing that comes to mind is poutine.  If you haven't heard of it, it is fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds.  A friend of mine who went to school in Montreal said that it is best consumed after a night of heavy drinking.  So that leaves me out.  The appearance of the dish also leaves me out:

Whistler has another iconic snack, the Beaver Tail.  This is also known in other parts of the world as a scone or Navajo fry bread.  We sampled one with cinnamon sugar and lemon.  The photo is on Karen's Flickr photostream and is copyrighted.

We went to High Tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria.  Neither of us had ever done High Tea, so it was fun and made us feel fancy.  I had a lovely hibiscus tea, and the little snacks were good.

We really wanted to try the Japadog cart in Vancouver.  We were not disappointed.  I had a Yakisoba-covered dog.

Finally, the snacks we had at Market were so delicious.  We had popcorn that was cooked with rosemary, then tossed in olive oil and salt.  Yum!  Then we had a fruit and local cheese plate, then dungeness crab on toast.  All lovely.  I had a very tasty bottle of fancy mineral water.

Vacation Heard-In-Passings

HIP #1

60-something year-old woman at the movie theater, excitedly gesturing to the poster for the upcoming movie Your Highness:

 (Shouting to her husband):  I can't wait to see this movie!  It's going to be just like The Princess Bride!!!"


Apparently, she has not seen the trailer or any movie starring James Franco and Danny McBride.

HIP #2

Early 20-something girl in our snowboard camp:  I couldn't sleep at all last night!  There were two old men in the apartment next to me having a fight.  They were choking each other and everything!  I couldn't believe it!  These two old men!  They were, like, 45 or something!"

You Call This a Celebrity Sighting?

Being the celebrity hound that I am, I was looking forward to seeing interesting people in Vancouver.  After all, several movies and TV shows are filmed there every year.  Also, I had Karen with me, who has a Rainman-like ability to remember faces and names of every actor from the stars to the extras of every film she's ever seen.

We had gone almost the whole trip without seeing "anybody" until our last night in Vancouver.   Our indulgent spa-afternoon complete, we decided to go to the hotel bar (more to come about that) for appetizers and libations.

Karen leaned over to me and said, "There are actors sitting at the bar."
"Oh, who?"
"Oh, just a couple of guys from that show, Psych."
"Uhhhh...never watched it.  I have seen commercials for it.  Is it still on?"

We leisurely finished our snacks and walked out.  As we passed this guy:

James Roday, who is the star of this show that is on the USA network (so what does that tell you?).  He looked up at us, smiled and said, "Hey."

Okay, James, you get one courtesy viewing of your show from me.  (New info:  Psych is one of Jordan's favorite shows.  Had I only remembered that, I would have autographs and pictures for her.)

I attribute it to low bar lighting, his having been at the bar and probably drinking, and the general friendliness of people in Canada.  His co-star, Dule Hill, was also at the bar, but he was turned away from us.

Celeb sighting #2 also would have completely eluded me if not for Karen's skills.  I was sitting with her at the gate for her flight out yesterday (she was leaving a little earlier than me), and there was this guy with very sparse hair with sticky-uppy cornrows, pulled up into a ponytail on the top of his head.  Karen said, "I think that's Coolio."  Yeah, I wouldn't know Coolio from Foolio, but okay, maybe so.  But then some girl came up to him and got a photo with him, and there was an airport security guy hovering around him, so yeah, it was Coolio.  As this is a family blog, I will not post the video Karen posted FB of Coolio's cooking show.  (But it was pretty hilarious.)

Writer's Block

I really need to start writing down post ideas when they come to me, instead of waiting until I can sit down, because all of the great ideas I had have flown out the window. 

How's about some pictures?