another step into adulthood.

I keep wondering when these "good-bye's" will end. But they don't. They keep creeping up on me like a spider that you don't know is there until you realize that a hair or a piece of lint wouldn't give you the shivers so profusely and you're forced to acknowledge that it's been a creepy crawly thing all along. I hate acknowledging the creepy-crawlies, but last night I was forced to. My sweetest bestest Meredith Wahlstrom friend is leaving on an LDS mission tomorrow, and we said our "hasta luego's" last night. My heart was and is broken in two. I know it's only 18 months, but so much could and will happen in 18 months. I could have two babies... We could be moving out of state.. I could run 2 or 3 marathons.. two seasons of American Idol...two seasons of the Office... two birthdays... lots of tears. I'm so happy for her, though. She is going to the Chile, Viña del Mar mission, which is so exciting because she will be able to live among the Chileans and learn my greatest passion, Spanish. It will be so fun to chitter chatter all fast-like in Español... It is also awesome because she is actually going to the same exact mission that her daddy went to. Fate? Maybe. Awesome? Totally. Despite all this goodness, i can't help being so sad that my sweet to the beat, generous, tender, hilarious, original friend will be gone for what seems like a lifetime. sigh. Just another step into adulthood.

american idol fever

So, I am so psyched about this awesome steal of a deal I found this weekend... you're not going to believe it. Before I let you know what my steal of a deal is, I'm going to have to divulge another one of my beyond-weird crazy obsessions: I'm an American Idol freak. It all started about 8 years ago. It was my Sophomore year of High School. I was in my "Glory Days." My buddies, JMHC and Shay showed up one lonely dreary Tuesday with a bag of chips and said, "We heard your mom makes good salsa." So, we brought the chips into my kitchen, pulled out some of the authentic goods, and began to eat. Well, this night caused a revolution. It evolved into being what we now reminiscently refer to as "Fiesta Night." All through my high school experience, there was always an open invitation to all to come to my house on Tuesday Nights for the acclaimed Fiesta Night, with the condition that my mom would provide the secret recipe of authentic salsa as long as the friends would bring the chips. Well, my Senior Year came along, and some new-comers decided Fiesta Night sounded pretty cool (who wouldn't?) Unbeknownst to me, Tuesday Night Fiesta Night shared domain with AMERICAN IDOL, which was rapidly gaining fame in its second season (featuring stars like CLAY AIKEN (ahhh!) ). So I thought, what the heck? We can dip and watch at the same time! So we did. And, well, I was hooked. It was love at first sight. We didn't miss a single week! And if we had to for whatever reason, we'd video tape it (this was pre-tivo days, fyi). The summer following that season, my friends and I made sure to hit up the American Idols Concert. And let me tell you what: it was so hot, rockin, rollin, and entertaining! I loved it! It was so good that I promised myself I'd go every year.
Well, it's now 5 years after that blessed season and I haven't gone to a single concert since...UNTIL NOW. Back to my steal of a deal: So, Friday i was on ebay, feeding my addiction instilled by my hubby, and stumbled across American Idol tickets. I decided to look at them, not because I thought I could afford them (because in my mind, there could not possibly be any tickets left that i would be able to afford, nor that i would want to afford, being that they would surely only be in the nosebleed section) but because i thought, Man, I wish I could go. Minutes later, I realized the price read $49.00 for TWO! Not only this, the tickets were on the floor row 15! I was shocked!! I immediately called up the Mr. and told him, dude, get the plastic out, we're going to see Jordan, Blake and Melinda!!! So this is my steal, of which I'm proud to be the benefactor of...and of which I CANNOT WAIT TO ATTEND! I can't stop singing "Shot through the heart, but you're too late, baby you give love a b- b- b- b- ba- bad name...."

Harry Potter goes midnight

Well, I'm proud to say I'm one of those monsters who is infatuated with that Harry Potter fellow and all of his books. I was so excited to read book 7 to get all of my unanswered questions answered. For instance: is Snape good or bad? If he's good, why in Merlin's pants did he kill Dumbledore? Why has he been so cruel to Harry all these years? Is Dumbledore really dead? Or is he somehow still living through some immortal object only attainable through the wizarding world? Will Harry live? Will Ron and Hermione get over themselves and finally hook up? Such tantalizing questions with even better answers. With so much anticipation for these answers, I got up the nerve to make my somewhat "closet" infatuation public by attending the Harry Potter Midnight Party at Barnes and Noble. It would have not sufficed me, however, to go it alone...therefore, I dragged my disinterested husband to the obsessor's party with me. And let me tell you what! I have to admit that I was entirely entertained and secretly in Harry Potter heaven! There were people there of all shapes and sizes, personalities and lack thereof's. What I found most intriguing was the handful of individuals that everyone knew that they secretly believed there really is a Hogwarts. While I admit that I have often wished for such a place, their belief extends into the realm of certainty that is quite difficult not to chuckle at.
Nevertheless, the party was jammin. There was a potions station where mentos in a liter of sprite combusted to the ceiling. There was a station called "Azkaban," where they didn't do anything evil or have any dementors, but rather gave me a nice chunk of chocolate. Go figure. There was a trivia section where my obsession trickled out of my brain. There was a wandmaking section where wands were made that surely looked like they belonged in Ollivander's shop and other's just looked like another branch from a tree. There was mask station, where we made masks that were supposed to resemble those of the dementors but really came much closer to resembling mardigras masks.
All in all, the experience was ravishing. My only regret is that this was the only party I attended.