Nov. 22: Errands are just about the most mundane thing you can do on your day off, but . . . I love running errands on my day off. They're much more enjoyable when you're not fighting Saturday crowds or trying to cram another thing into a regular work day.
Nov. 23: It appears that my body likes getting sick the week of Thanksgiving. I'm just grateful it's a cold this time, not the stomach flu like last year. Also, my mom makes the best rolls ever.
Nov. 24: Things were pretty quiet at the Carter household today, for which I was grateful. It was nice to have a mellow day after the craziness of Thanksgiving.
Nov. 25: I've gone through an appalling number of tissues the past few days. I am grateful for the really soft ones; without them, my nose would not be in great shape right now.
Nov. 26: Anything that makes day-to-day living more convenient. Mainly, food that, at most, only needs to be heated up. Essential for sick days.
Nov. 27: My Christmas stuff is up! Except for my Christmas lights, which I cannot find. I'm trying to not let it devastate me too much.
Nov. 28: First day back at the office in a week, and it was a go-home-early day. Which allowed me to finish Oathbringer before my bedtime reading hour, which then allowed me to sleep more peacefully because I wasn't having stressful Stormlight dreams.
Nov. 29: Sometimes it's the simple things. Today I'm just grateful to be able to breathe out of both nostrils. At the same time.
Nov. 30: Today was rough. When the long list of things was done, I sat on the couch, in my pajamas, with some ice cream, and watched While You Were Sleeping. John Wayne was tall.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Thanksgiving moments: Week 3
Nov. 15: We're doing this writing contest at work. We each had to draw two "character" cards and two "scene" cards from a deck of prompts, and I've been trying to come up with a brilliant story based on my cards for a month. It's intimidating when you're competing against a team of professional writers; I at least wanted to try to hold my own.
Well, today I decided to just sit down and write and see what comes. And somehow, a story came out that I actually kind of like. It may not be brilliant, but if nothing else, I'm proud of that closing line.
And, here's another quote overheard at the office: "I'm a photographer. I'm literally a professional creep."
Nov. 16: I love burgers, but I'm not great at making them. Restaurant burgers always taste better. But today I made a burger from Home Chef, and it was delicious. I love food subscription boxes.
Nov. 17: A guy from Pixar came to do a creativity workshop with us today, and it was really good. Plus, he looked and sounded just like Adam Brody—a nice perk. (Readers of this blog mostly likely know Adam Brody as Dave Rygalski on Gilmore Girls, the best boyfriend on the show, IMO.)
Nov. 18: BYU's football season is almost over. The torture will soon end.
Nov. 19: After hearing my family's report of Elder Bednar's visit to their stake conference and watching the Face-to-Face with Elder Ballard and Elder Oaks, I am extra grateful to have apostles leading The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These guys aren't the old, out-of-touch, conservative white guys the world tries to make them out as. They dedicate their lives to serving people all around the world, and they know what's going on, both inside the church and out. And because they're so good at recognizing the spirit's promptings and acting on them, their counsel often feels deeply individual. Their words are not just words; they are inspired by wisdom and love. We're really lucky to have these men as our leaders.
Nov. 20: Construction on I-215 is finally done. There wasn't an orange cone in sight today. #blessed
Nov. 21: Today is my Friday. That makes me so, so happy.
Well, today I decided to just sit down and write and see what comes. And somehow, a story came out that I actually kind of like. It may not be brilliant, but if nothing else, I'm proud of that closing line.
And, here's another quote overheard at the office: "I'm a photographer. I'm literally a professional creep."
Nov. 16: I love burgers, but I'm not great at making them. Restaurant burgers always taste better. But today I made a burger from Home Chef, and it was delicious. I love food subscription boxes.
Nov. 17: A guy from Pixar came to do a creativity workshop with us today, and it was really good. Plus, he looked and sounded just like Adam Brody—a nice perk. (Readers of this blog mostly likely know Adam Brody as Dave Rygalski on Gilmore Girls, the best boyfriend on the show, IMO.)
Nov. 18: BYU's football season is almost over. The torture will soon end.
Nov. 19: After hearing my family's report of Elder Bednar's visit to their stake conference and watching the Face-to-Face with Elder Ballard and Elder Oaks, I am extra grateful to have apostles leading The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These guys aren't the old, out-of-touch, conservative white guys the world tries to make them out as. They dedicate their lives to serving people all around the world, and they know what's going on, both inside the church and out. And because they're so good at recognizing the spirit's promptings and acting on them, their counsel often feels deeply individual. Their words are not just words; they are inspired by wisdom and love. We're really lucky to have these men as our leaders.
Nov. 20: Construction on I-215 is finally done. There wasn't an orange cone in sight today. #blessed
Nov. 21: Today is my Friday. That makes me so, so happy.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Thanksgiving moments: Week 2
Nov. 8: I had three social things lined up for the day, and I actually did them all. It's not often that I can say that. Highlights include playing a Scrabble game with word nerds, golfing with those word nerds, and feeling accomplished when I came home from the ward thing I didn't want to go to.
Nov. 9: As an editor, I spend a lot of time in Microsoft Word. When I got a new work computer over a year ago, I noticed Word was considerably slower than it was on my old computer. Any time I clicked back into Word after using a different application it froze. The problem never went away and I didn't know what to do about it, so I just dealt with it. I got used to waiting for the spinning rainbow to disappear every time I entered Word. I tried to do my link- and fact-checking all at once so I wouldn't have to click in and out of Word more than was absolutely necessary. I got in the habit of scrolling down before clicking out of Word so I would have something to review when I came back while Word sluggishly unfroze itself. I dreaded getting multiple files at once because I knew it would take 5 minutes just to save them to my desktop.
Frustrating, right? It's been slowly driving me insane. On busy days, watching that cursed spinning rainbow is enough to push me over the edge. FINALLY, earlier this week, after a long search through my computer that I'm certain I won't be able to duplicate, I found some old updates that were never installed. So I installed them, and HALLELUJAH WORD IS WORKING PERFECTLY NOW. You have no idea how amazing it is to be able to enter a Word doc without being punished. Sometimes I click in and out of them just for fun.
Nov. 10: Scattergories has an app. I may never get any work done again. (And I'm still going to beg my family to play this game with me on a regular basis.)
Nov. 11: My temple attendance has dropped since the Jordan River Temple closed over a year ago. Every other temple in the valley is overcrowded all the time as a result, which makes going to the temple much more of a hassle than it used to be. (I know, I know; #UtahProblems.) But I went today, and it was a lovely, faith-promoting experience.
Nov. 12: I think I may have made a friend or two at church today. (Always hard to tell for sure, when you're me.)
Nov. 13: Another thing I like about daylight savings in the fall is watching the sun set on my drive home. The sky looked incredible tonight.
Nov. 14: OATHBRINGER CAME OUT TODAY! I picked up my copy during lunch and read the first 40 pages or so—I almost didn't make it back to work. The wait for this book has been killing me, and I cannot wait to dig into that 1,248-page monstrosity. Brandon Sanderson, thank you for making me so excited about your books.
If you don't care about outstanding fantasy books, here's something one of my coworkers said today: "Please don't die behind me. I'm very sensitive to corpses."
Nov. 9: As an editor, I spend a lot of time in Microsoft Word. When I got a new work computer over a year ago, I noticed Word was considerably slower than it was on my old computer. Any time I clicked back into Word after using a different application it froze. The problem never went away and I didn't know what to do about it, so I just dealt with it. I got used to waiting for the spinning rainbow to disappear every time I entered Word. I tried to do my link- and fact-checking all at once so I wouldn't have to click in and out of Word more than was absolutely necessary. I got in the habit of scrolling down before clicking out of Word so I would have something to review when I came back while Word sluggishly unfroze itself. I dreaded getting multiple files at once because I knew it would take 5 minutes just to save them to my desktop.
Frustrating, right? It's been slowly driving me insane. On busy days, watching that cursed spinning rainbow is enough to push me over the edge. FINALLY, earlier this week, after a long search through my computer that I'm certain I won't be able to duplicate, I found some old updates that were never installed. So I installed them, and HALLELUJAH WORD IS WORKING PERFECTLY NOW. You have no idea how amazing it is to be able to enter a Word doc without being punished. Sometimes I click in and out of them just for fun.
Nov. 10: Scattergories has an app. I may never get any work done again. (And I'm still going to beg my family to play this game with me on a regular basis.)
Nov. 11: My temple attendance has dropped since the Jordan River Temple closed over a year ago. Every other temple in the valley is overcrowded all the time as a result, which makes going to the temple much more of a hassle than it used to be. (I know, I know; #UtahProblems.) But I went today, and it was a lovely, faith-promoting experience.
Nov. 12: I think I may have made a friend or two at church today. (Always hard to tell for sure, when you're me.)
Nov. 13: Another thing I like about daylight savings in the fall is watching the sun set on my drive home. The sky looked incredible tonight.
Nov. 14: OATHBRINGER CAME OUT TODAY! I picked up my copy during lunch and read the first 40 pages or so—I almost didn't make it back to work. The wait for this book has been killing me, and I cannot wait to dig into that 1,248-page monstrosity. Brandon Sanderson, thank you for making me so excited about your books.
If you don't care about outstanding fantasy books, here's something one of my coworkers said today: "Please don't die behind me. I'm very sensitive to corpses."
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Thanksgiving moments: Week 1
I get a little testy around this time of year when the Christmas music debate is in full force. I am firmly in the camp that you should listen to Christmas music whenever you want to (this year I didn't even make it until Halloween—I blame Pentatonix), which only makes Thanksgiving purists more preachy. You'd think we'd get bored with engaging in this same stupid argument year after year after year.
But believe it or not, you can still celebrate Thanksgiving while listening to the best genre of music there is. And one of the ways I like to recognize Thanksgiving is by focusing on gratitude on the blog throughout November. This year I'm going to focus on capturing the special moments, so there may not always be an "I'm grateful for" entry, but, you get the idea.
Nov. 1: I buy new Christmas albums every year, and today I was getting to know the Killers' Christmas compilation. They're all originals, except for one track at the end, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Before getting to the singing, Brandon Flowers talks about his childhood a bit, and while I was only half paying attention, I heard him mention Footloose and then Onion Days. I perked up immediately; did I hear that right? Sure enough, he soon mentioned good ol' Payson, Utah. My secondary hometown inspired a song! A Christmas song! Even better, Payson was the first place where Brandon (a Nevada boy) experienced a white Christmas. He then invited a special teacher, Mr. Hansen, to sing with him, and it was like getting a local version of the end of the movie White Christmas. The Christmas miracles are starting early this year.
Nov. 2: The latest episode of This Is Us (the Halloween episode) might be my new favorite. A lot of it resonated with me, from the characters bemoaning how rough your 20s can be to the character who was 9 months pregnant while all the Halloween craziness was going on (sorry, Kin!).
Nov. 3: November 3 will no longer be known as just my dad's birthday; it's also the day my fourth nephew was born. (Of our family of 14 people, 6 of them share a birthday with someone else. That's almost half! Crazy.) So basically, anything else that happened today doesn't matter. You just can't beat welcoming a new life into the world. I can't wait to get to know this little guy and watch him develop into a unique and interesting person.
Nov. 4: Today's is a tie between holding my new nephew and gauging my niece's reaction to her baby brother. For something as helpless as a newborn, they sure have a lot of power over the people around them. I could have just held him and looked at him for hours. As for Avonlea, I've never seen her so excited about anything. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that she loves her brother SO MUCH after seeing how enamored she was with her cousin Noah. She's a proud big sister, and SO EXCITED baby Conrad is finally here.
Nov. 5: That extra hour of sleep was glorious. As was the Sunday nap I took that I didn't need as much as I usually do. I love daylight savings in the fall. For a few weeks it's easy and natural to fall asleep at a reasonable hour and easy-ish to wake up early.
Nov. 6: Copywriters who have a sense of humor are my heroes. Here's the warning I found on my Haunted Hotel–scented candle:
I tried to save myself the trouble of typing all this out, but that font is tiny. So if you want an easier reading experience, see below:
Nov. 7: Today was the first real wintery-cold day we've had, and I'm loving it. I'm a cold-hearted human who laughs in the face of those who can't handle the cold. It's my payback for enduring July/August while the heat lovers reveled in what caused great misery in my life. I believe in equal suffering for all.
Seriously, though, there are some cold-weather things we can all enjoy. Hot beverages! Cozy evenings at home! Some of us even have fireplaces! All good things.
But believe it or not, you can still celebrate Thanksgiving while listening to the best genre of music there is. And one of the ways I like to recognize Thanksgiving is by focusing on gratitude on the blog throughout November. This year I'm going to focus on capturing the special moments, so there may not always be an "I'm grateful for" entry, but, you get the idea.
Nov. 1: I buy new Christmas albums every year, and today I was getting to know the Killers' Christmas compilation. They're all originals, except for one track at the end, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Before getting to the singing, Brandon Flowers talks about his childhood a bit, and while I was only half paying attention, I heard him mention Footloose and then Onion Days. I perked up immediately; did I hear that right? Sure enough, he soon mentioned good ol' Payson, Utah. My secondary hometown inspired a song! A Christmas song! Even better, Payson was the first place where Brandon (a Nevada boy) experienced a white Christmas. He then invited a special teacher, Mr. Hansen, to sing with him, and it was like getting a local version of the end of the movie White Christmas. The Christmas miracles are starting early this year.
Nov. 2: The latest episode of This Is Us (the Halloween episode) might be my new favorite. A lot of it resonated with me, from the characters bemoaning how rough your 20s can be to the character who was 9 months pregnant while all the Halloween craziness was going on (sorry, Kin!).
Nov. 3: November 3 will no longer be known as just my dad's birthday; it's also the day my fourth nephew was born. (Of our family of 14 people, 6 of them share a birthday with someone else. That's almost half! Crazy.) So basically, anything else that happened today doesn't matter. You just can't beat welcoming a new life into the world. I can't wait to get to know this little guy and watch him develop into a unique and interesting person.
Nov. 4: Today's is a tie between holding my new nephew and gauging my niece's reaction to her baby brother. For something as helpless as a newborn, they sure have a lot of power over the people around them. I could have just held him and looked at him for hours. As for Avonlea, I've never seen her so excited about anything. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that she loves her brother SO MUCH after seeing how enamored she was with her cousin Noah. She's a proud big sister, and SO EXCITED baby Conrad is finally here.
 |
| My heart just melted. |
Nov. 5: That extra hour of sleep was glorious. As was the Sunday nap I took that I didn't need as much as I usually do. I love daylight savings in the fall. For a few weeks it's easy and natural to fall asleep at a reasonable hour and easy-ish to wake up early.
Nov. 6: Copywriters who have a sense of humor are my heroes. Here's the warning I found on my Haunted Hotel–scented candle:
I tried to save myself the trouble of typing all this out, but that font is tiny. So if you want an easier reading experience, see below:
HEY!
PAY ATTENTION,
I'M A WARNING!
Never leave a burning candle unattended.
They are DANGEROUS when they're lonely.
Do not let any children or pets near a flame.
Nothing adorable. Full-stop.
Don't burn it on or near or under or beside or while contemplating flammable objects!
Thank you for your cooperation; I am certain you and this candle will have many happy hours together.
Nov. 7: Today was the first real wintery-cold day we've had, and I'm loving it. I'm a cold-hearted human who laughs in the face of those who can't handle the cold. It's my payback for enduring July/August while the heat lovers reveled in what caused great misery in my life. I believe in equal suffering for all.
Seriously, though, there are some cold-weather things we can all enjoy. Hot beverages! Cozy evenings at home! Some of us even have fireplaces! All good things.
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