Thanksgiving

It is hard to believe the holiday season is already here. Thanksgiving is now behind us, and Christmas is coming. And the goose is getting fat :). And so is the Nilla ;). Hahaha... Kidding.

We had Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house this year. Ben and his family had his in-laws up, so they did Thankgiving at their house. The rest of us were at the house. That was 7 adults and 5 kids. And that was chaos! But it was good. Though I am pretty high-strung. I will admit it. I don't handle too much chaos too terribly well sometimes. But anyway, the food was great. Yes, I took pictures. No, I don't have them with me at the moment. I will remember to post them later. But it was quite a feast -- always tons of food, even when we think we aren't going overboard ;). We had a turkey, 2 hams, sweet potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, jello salad, tropical fruit salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. And sparkling cider to drink. And we watched a true Thanksgiving classic... A B.C. Thanksgiving. Thank goodness for my dad's habit of keeping everything. Otherwise we might not have had those Betamax tapes from which to copy!! So yeah, we chuckled about the "winded turkey" and every other small joy in that show.

I guess, at times, it is easy to forget the many things I have to be thankful for. It is always so easy to focus on the negatives. But then I realize how blessed I really am. We've had a cold spell for the last several weeks. And Thursday night was particularly chilly. And I have a safe, secure, warm house and warm bed to sleep in. I have a vehicle that gets me from place to place. I have a job that is paying my bills and allowing me to do fun things. And beyond that, I have a job that I love. I have a loving family, and we are almost all close to each other geographically. I have the most wonderful friends anyone could ask for. I have an abiding knowledge that I have a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for me -- even when I can't see it. Truthfully, these are just the surface of my blessings. I truly have so much. And I need to do better at remembering that every day. Even when I'm frustrated that life isn't going as I had planned.

So yes, Thanksgiving here was good.

I even went out on Black Friday. Now, I'm not willing to sacrifice too much sleep for that. So I got up around 7:10 and left the house around 7:30. I went to Wal-Mart and got a few DVDs for $2 each. Then I went to Target and got a couple of things there, including Baby Mama on DVD for $4. I haven't seen it yet, but I figured it was a good buy :). I heard a lot of good things about it. Eventually I'll get around to watching it :). I was at work by 9 and just spend the rest of the day doing the usual.

Tomorrow I will be singing a solo in church. I'm singing with the Ward choir, but there is a part that is solo, and they asked me to do it. I'm a little nervous about that. It's a beautiful song. And, though we are a small choir, I think we are a good one. But singing with everyone together is a whole lot different than singing by myself. Ugh. Hopefully it will go okay.

So yeah, that's about it, really. Just more of the sameold sameold vanilla :).

A Nilla Week

Just some random stories from my last week :).

1. (Julie, don't read this one). So last Sunday morning, I had a very early meeting. Had to be at church at 7, which meant I could only sleep until 6:30. So it was still dark outside. I woke up and knelt down to say prayers. While I was getting up, my hand was pressed to the bed, and I felt something, so I picked it up and kind of rolled it in my fingers. And it felt wettish and weird. I threw it down, thinking, "Yuck. That doesn't feel like something I want to be touching." I flipped on the light... and sure enough... I'd been rolling up a spider. A rather large one. And that's creepy nasty. Because it had been in my bed. Not the best way to start a morning that I already had to start out earlier than I think is humanly necessary ;). So ick. It still makes my skin crawl to think of it.

2. Christina came by the house on Tuesday with the girls. Emily gets more independent by the day. She can pretty much stand by herself, though she doesn't do it for very long. She is very nosy, and very demanding. I told Christina that, since I haven't had children of my own to pass my genes down to in the traditional way... I've just been passing them on to her children through osmosis. Nosy and demanding. Yep, that's me! Hahaha. But, the cutest thing... Christina was feeding Emily and then gave her a Ritz cracker. Well, Emily decided she wanted to feed me the Ritz. So she would cram it into my mouth until I would take a bite, and then she would look at Christina and take a bite of whatever Christina was feeding her. It was really cute. She is learning by example, and she wants to do what she sees us do. Meanwhile, Desiree serenaded us with some of her beautiful music about bananas and apples. And when my mom and I busted out singing "Day-O" (the part about bananas), Desiree thought that was just the bees knees.

3. I could get on a soapbox about lack of individual accountability in Corporate America, but I would just work myself into a tizzy. I'll let it be. Sometimes it's sad when we lose our idealism. And then I just want to return to the days of yore... The days of innocence and ignorance are gone. And sometimes, I can buy into the whole "ignorance is bliss" thing.

4. I got a birthday package in the mail yesterday from April :)! A very awesome bunch of gifts. To include The Office pens; a nice notebook; chewy mini sweettarts (have you tried these? they are awesome); and a huge bag of a variety of Lindor Truffles. Oh my gosh those things are sooo good. She had them at her wedding, and they are fabulous. So, just go ahead and plan to roll me around ;). Hahaha... Nah, just kidding. I plan to make them stretch.

5. Getting together with a group of ladies to do a potluck and gab is always fun. Tons of laughter. It is amazing what a gaggle of women will discuss. And if you are a woman, you are not amazed by this statement, and you understand it completely :).

6. With the release of New Moon in the theatres, it's time for my sisters and me to start planning our Twilight party. We have to come up with a menu, and so far we only have 3 items on it, and they are all sweet. So, anybody who has suggestions for cutesy vampire or werewolf related foods, send 'em up!

7. I've been on a bit of a spending spree. I have accomplished a lot of Christmas shopping, plus I have treated myself to several seasons of various tv shows that I like :). Yes, sometimes I'm not the miser some will accuse me of being ;).

Cuz [I] Had a [Blah] Day

Yeah, I guess this a pretty lame song-title post :). But it popped into my head, so I used it :).

Seriously, today has been the longest day I've ever spent at work. Usually it's fun and something is always going on. But today, the time seems to be ticking by soooo slowly. I looked at the clock at one point, and it wasn't even 3 p.m.! Perhaps it's the weather. Winter has set in here in Washington. I think our temperature today was 46 degrees. We have been getting ice on some days. So far I haven't had to scrape my car off. I know it's coming, though. Perhaps the one thing that is saving me is that I don't actually get up until after 8 every morning. So maybe that gives the sun time to heat up and melt away the ice :). I'm all about doing things au natural. That's why I love blackberries. They grow in abundance without any effort. Is that lazy? Don't answer that ;). Anyway... I have to be at a church meeting at 7 tomorrow morning, so I'm pretty sure I'll be scraping my car in the morning. Oh well, c'est la vie. I'm feeling French today :). Want another one? Ambiance. Not pronounced like the a in ant :). Or ambient (as in temperature ;)).

Okay, I'm being goofy.

Anyway, so yeah, today wasn't an exciting day. But that's okay. I did some shopping last night. Went back to this cool grocery store that is full of great deals. So you have to bag your own groceries... who cares? If it means my bill will be smaller, I'll take it :). Tonight I'm going to go to several stores. I'm in the Christmas shopping mood. I've made my list. I've checked it twice. I've also checked off the things I've already purchased. Oh how I love lists. Right after work I'm going to shoot over to St. Vinny's, which is one of my favorite places. It's like Goodwill or whatever. They have great stuff. Anyway, they always have a lot of books for sale, and I'm going to go pick some up for Christina as part of her Christmas. And no, I don't think it's tacky to get used books as Christmas presents. They aren't her only gift. So fret not, my peeps :). Plus she knows about them, because I have been giving her new authors to read, and she tried Iris Johansen, and she liked her book, so now she needs to be kept in supply :). Oh how I am babbling...

In other news... Julie texted me today and we discussed, briefly, Christmas gifts. She asked me what I am asking for this year. Truthfully, the only thing I really want right now is a laptop. But that's a big-ticket item, and I'm not actually asking for it. I will save up the money for it eventually. I have recently done the math and know that I will be credit card debt-free in January. And completely debt-free (as in I will have my student loan paid off) no later than December. December 2010, that is. It's the worst-case scenario of all things being equal. But with tax season coming up, that should help move that up to much sooner.

Anyway, so far the only thing I have thought of that I would like to own is the movie Serendipity. Oh, and season 3 of Arrested Development. I actually bought the first 2 seasons the other day, because they were on sale at Target. And okay, I also bought seasons 3 and 4 of Everybody Loves Raymond. Because it was a total of $14.99 (plus tax -- that darn tax, I should move to Oregon ;)) for both of them.

In still other news, I have had some of the strangest dreams this past week. One night I dreamed I had to do an IRLA (which is some kind of verification they have to do on the cemetery grounds to prevent improper burial -- and this is something only the grounds crew does, so who knows why I dreamed that...). One night I dreamed I was going to Germany with Julie. We started out in my house in Panama, and I was packing. And then we were on this huge airplane that had restaurants on it, like a food court in the mall. Bizarre. And I know there was another one, but now I don't remember it. I knew I should have written it down sooner. Oh well. It's just my crazy mind anyway :).

Wow, today my life sounds truly vanilla. Anyway, I alleviated some of my boredom :). Have a lovely week :)!

Time May Change Me

Over the past year, more so than any other time in my life, I have realized how much I have changed. Time has changed me, just as David Bowie suggested that it might. I alluded to the fact that I was once quite averse to the idea of changing. I didn't want to believe that I would change. I guess I feared that, if I changed, I would somehow cease to be Hila. I'm sure I was changing all along, in spite of my declarations that I hadn't or that I wouldn't. And maybe the changes were small and imperceptible day-by-day, but over time, they were more noticeable. I really don't know. What I do know is that I can look back now and see how the past year has definitely changed me... and perhaps it really has been happening for longer than that. Perhaps, in my fight against change, I had to be put into situations where I would change and grow and learn. I think it has happened. And I'm sure it will continue to happen.

I'm far more outspoken than I ever used to be. I let my opinions be heard. I say what is on my mind. If something is bothering me, I speak it. I don't squash down those feelings out of fear of some form of repercussion. If something hurts my feelings, I say so. I have the right to do that. It's something I wasn't as good at before. I would just bottle it up and let it fester. Which only hurt me, in the end.

I'm far more outgoing than I used to be. I know I am still quiet at times, especially in new places surrounded by people that I don't know. But I have found that I am an extrovert. I am a social person. I crave associations with friends and family. I don't want to close myself off from the world. I am not content with that. There was a time in my life when I thought I was an introvert. In the past 3 years, I realized that I'm not. I don't know if that personality trait has changed or if I've just become aware of it. But what has changed is the way I deal with it. I desire to have parties and create social situations where friends can gather, talk, play, eat, and have fun :).

I'm much more independent. Okay, so maybe not financially. But in other, perhaps more important, ways. I have a stronger sense of self. I like who I am, and I am confident in the choices I make. I've had to work through a lot of different situations all by myself, and I've come out the other end stronger for it. I know I can stand on my own. I know I have the strength to get through trials on my own, even if I may wish I had someone by my side with whom to weather life's storms.

Of course, there's always the bad side. Perhaps I'm too sassy. Perhaps I'm too headstrong and stubborn. Perhaps I'm too dictatorial ;). I have a lot to work on... And I know that.

Okay, so this was kind of a boring post of random thoughts. But, it's been bouncing around in my head. Thought I'd jot it down. I've changed. [Life (and] time) [will] change me... And it's okay.

And Now... The Rest of the Story

Well this ought to be lengthy. But, as promised, this is the birthday post, followed by Halloween :). Might as well get it all done now, since there's no telling when I will be at a computer where I can do this for any length of time again.

So I talked to Mary on Thursday night for something like 2 hours. We were both very surprised that we managed to stay on the phone that long -- and we didn't realize it had been that long. It was 1 in the morning by the time we hung up the phone. However, she had regaled me with many hilarious stories -- which will come into play later on.

So, I woke up at about my usual time on Friday, October 30. Which was my 29th birthday. Good grief. 29. Who'd have thunk it? So anyway, I took my sweet time getting ready for the day. At about 8:50, I got a phone call from my boss telling me that I needed to hurry in to work, because they couldn't find a file for a family who had come in. So, I grabbed my stuff and headed in to work. Well, I got downstairs, and everyone was sitting in the reception room, and they immediately began singing Happy Birthday. So, I was a bit embarassed and went and sat down. Well, Mary exclaimed, "You'd better look behind you!" Well, here's what I saw:

And here is how I reacted to what I saw upon closer inspection:

Yeah, not a flattering picture of me. But it was hilarious. Because upon closer inspection, you will see that the cake says this:

And above the cake was a collage of me!

If you care to see some close-ups of the pictures and what people wrote on them, click on any of the pictures in this blog post, and it will take you to my photobucket. Needless to say, this was hilarious! Good ol' Mary. She sure knows how to get me. And let's just say that some of the pictures she chose were less-than-flattering. Like my sleeping in the airport picture. YIKES.
So here are me and Mary with my cake

And here's one of just me and my cake:

(which Sue jokingly said is for next year's collage). Hahahaha.

So everyone was wanting cake, so we went ahead and cut it -- even though it was maybe 9:30 by this point. Mary thought it was hilarious that, even with taking a huge chunk off the top of the cake, you could still see my whole head... aka my melon :).


So, meanwhile, Mary re-tells one of the stories that she had told me the night before... Only now it is more understandable -- and sadly so -- because now she can tell me the rest of the story. (Wow, that worked well with my post title :)).

So, the story Mary had shared went like this: She was at the grocery store, and the store clerk said to Mary (about a 20-something year old), "But you're the mom." So, Mary, feeling horrified, went home and applied her face mask and re-dyed her hair. As she was telling me this story, we were laughing and she was saying, "The only reason she had for saying this was because the girl was in my vicinity! There was no other reason for her to think I was the girl's mom!" So, this is funny, because Mary doesn't have children in the first place, and plus, Mary isn't really old enough to have a 20-something year old daughter. So, we had chuckled about this on the phone the night before. And so now I got the rest of the story. Turns out Mary went to pick up the cake. The bakery had closed an hour earlier than anticipated, so she was getting help from a store clerk. Well, they had to get even more help, because they couldn't find the cake. They finally found it, and the store clerk was hesitant to carry it. She said she didn't want to drop it. Mary said, "But I don't want to drop it either!" And the store clerk said, "But you're the mom!" And so... Yes, that makes the story even sadder. At least for Mary. Because Mary is definitely NOT old enough to have a 29 year old daughter. But I told her, "Maybe I look 16 in that picture." Which would be really good news for me, since I have, like, a ton of gray hair on my head. But, I digress...

After all of this, I go back to my work station. And I realize that the party-fun was not over! Mary had also decorated my desk and surrounding area :)


So here I am, showing off the "Over the Hill" can that has been bequeathed to me by Mary:


And here is "Old Lady Hila" demonstrating the use of said cane:

FYI -- I am well aware of how horrible a picture that is of me. Every time Mary sees it, she just laughs at how awful it is. But, I can say... At least I posed that way on purpose :). Have to look like an old lady with my over-the-hill cane, right?

I ended up running several errands for the funeral home, such as picking up death certificates, doing the bank deposit, etc. When I arrived back at the funeral home, I found all sorts of my birthday pictures being played on the TV. Turns out Bob had so graciously burned them as a MeM. Including the horrible one of me with the cane. Classic. Nothing like seeing yourself on the big screen. Hahaha... As the day wore on, Mary and I went to lunch at a Mexican place and got a ton of food. Way too much for me to finish in one sitting. So, I saved the other half for another day. But it was delicious. We got back to work, and I ate my piece of Hila cake, and then finished up the day. After work, I opened the presents my BFF Juliebean sent me :). She got me pampering stuff that she said she knows I would never get myself... And it was pure white. For the vanilla in me :). Plus she also got me some nice lotion and little cutsie decorations for scrapbooking that include two peas in a pod... Because that's what we are :)!


The rest of my evening consisted of shopping at Fred Meyer. Yeah, I know... You get old, and shopping seems like birthday fun :).

I am almost positive that I have left out a detail or two. But it's been a week. You can't really expect my old lady brain to remember that far back, can you :)?

On Saturday, I worked. But Saturday evening was our Halloween Party! My mom took care of getting everything ready that I had put on the "to bring to Brad's house" list, since I was at work and therefore unable to do that. Thank goodness for my mom! I ran home, picked up all the stuff, and headed to Brad and Tarylyn's. The evening was fun. We had lots of lovely food. This is an overview of the table, but if you click on it, you can see all the dishes individually :).


Not pictured above is the body-part and worm jello and the punch, and the non-alcoholic butterbeer.

Other than Christina (who did her make-up to look like a sparkly vampire) and the kids, we didn't really dress up this year. I have gained too much weight to fit nicely into my 80s gear. So sad. But anyway... Here are a few shots:








Oh, and in my jello, I ate two worms, a brain, and an ear. That was kind of gross, actually. The gummy brain. Ewwww. After my mom and my grandmother left (my grandmother wasn't feeling well, so they left early on), and once we got the kids settled in to watch their movie, Brad, Christina, Tarylyn, and I played Mexican Train. We were only able to play 2 rounds, but it was fun. Though it is hard to play games with a 10 month old who wants to get all the dominoes...