Maybe My Favorite Thing Ever

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Lazy

I should have done several posts over the past few days, but since I'm feeling lazy, here's a summary.

-I chopped off the tip of my thumb making Valentine's Day dinner for Eric. I was chopping on an angle so it cut off a lot of nail and just a tiny sliver of thumb, but it bled forever and hurt like crazy. I completed the meal using only one hand with my thumb wrapped up in layers of sterile gauze.

-After we had decided not to get each other gifts (since we're buying A HOUSE in less than two weeks) Eric surprised me with an iPhone. I thought "no gifts" actually meant no gifts. Hence the pressure I felt to finish cooking dinner, since that was my only present for him.

-The dinner turned out great despite the inadvertent amputation. Roasted racks of lamb marinated in Herbes de Provence and garlic. (When I asked the girl at the Wegmans butcher counter for marinade ideas she suggested "Herbs de Providence." I thought that might work better for Easter.) Roasted garlic mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans on the side, and Symphony brownies for dessert.

-I really, really, really love my iPhone. Beyond all reason.

-Eric claims to be happy that I didn't buy him a present, because now he can use my guilt as leverage to get a new plasma TV. Apparently our 42" LCD that we bought 2 years ago is now a useless relic and would be an embarrassment in the new family room.

-I chose a paint color for the new kitchen, only to discover that it's currently the most trendy/popular color in North America. Trying to decide if that means I should pick something else, or if I should just give in and admit that I'm becoming a yuppie.

-We started packing. My soaping equipment, all our books and movies, and most of Sawyer's toys are done. I hate (HATE) moving. The whole process overwhelms me and stresses me out. I have never coped well with change, even when the change is something really exciting and good. So maybe spacing things out over a couple of weeks is the way to go. Or maybe we're just prolonging the agony.

Something New Every Day

I learn some pretty wild things at ChaCha, in between questions about penis length and Twilight movie trivia. The other day someone asked me where it's legal to marry your first cousin. I was surprised by the answer. I grew up hearing jokes about West Virginians marrying their cousins, but as it turns out, it's illegal there...and legal in Virginia! First cousin marriage is legal in 21 states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. (http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cousins.htm)

I also learned that the US is virtually the only country in the western world to prohibit cousins from marrying - it's legal in all of Europe, Mexico and Canada. Apparently the chances of birth defects in the children of cousins have been grossly exaggerated in the past due to some spurious studies in the 1800s - the chances are almost as high when you marry someone of your own race. One source says that 20% of the world's current marriages are between first or second cousins, and nearly 80% of marriages in human history have been cousin marriages.

I also learned that Eric doesn't like to hear about cousins marrying each other. I started telling him about it and he told me to stop IMMEDIATELY. Like with so many other things, no matter how good the science is, it's hard to get past the "ick" factor.

Nothing cohesive today

Some random thoughts today:

My mystery allergy is mysteriously back. My lips are itching like crazy.

I hope and pray for the day when Prop 8 won't come up in Relief Society anymore, and I can once again be fairly sure my head won't explode at church.

I'm thinking of compiling a comprehensive list of Backyardigans episodes Sawyer likes, and having Eric verify how he says them so I can tell what he's asking for. It took me two whole days to figure out that "Squaw Picture" actually means "Swamp Creature" in Sawyer-speak. Some others:
"Spud-a-doo"="What Bugging You?"
"Mermaids"="Into the Deep"
"Tission"="Secret Mission"
"Catch a Penny"="To the Center of the Earth"
"Crazy Day" or "Wordle"="Race Around the World"

There's been a mini baby-boom among our friends. Katy and Aaron had their baby Reuben, Kevin and Mindy had baby Lindsay, and Jen and Dave had baby Chloe (no pictures yet!) Congratulations all around!

I'm excited to go to New York on Wednesday with my dad. Megan and Ryan are meeting us there and we're going to see "A Man For All Seasons," and to celebrate Megan's birthday. The only downside is that Eric can't come.

Some funny ChaCha questions I've answered lately:
Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
Can you get pregnant from climbing a tree?
What were ALL the causes of the Industrial Revolution? (this one's funny because the answer can only be 130 characters long)
How do you say "You're my dirty little secret" in French?

About 90% of my questions lately are French translations, which is fun. The rest are about movies and religion. Yay for the specialist program!

I have to go shopping today - here's what's on my list:
vertical blind clips
silicone sealant
pepper spray

Sawyer woke me up from a nap yesterday by whispering "Sticky." I still have no idea what he was talking about.

Weird Pastime #23

I like to look through the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and see what baby names are inscribed on things, and therefore trendy enough to cross off my list for future children. (Not that there's anything wrong with having a trendy name, I just don't want to give my kids one.) I look at the furniture too, but let's face it, I'm way too cheap to actually order anything from there. We got our current bed* on Craigslist. And it was originally from Ikea.

Here are some of the names in the most recent edition:

Dylan
Brooke
Aaron
Laura
Oliver (a name I can't hear without thinking "Well 'ello guvnah!")
Taylor (for a boy)
Hannah
Callie
Matt
Caroline and Mary (these two were on the same page, which is funny since those are my nieces' names)
Nathan
Andrew
Avery
Carson
Randy (really? Randy?)
Allie
Madison
Devon (for a girl)
Cody
Stella
Gavin
Marissa
Sadie
Chase
Tristan
Claire
Meghan

I really like some of those names, despite their apparent trendiness. But I'm glad there are no Sawyers. I have met two different little Sawyers at Target (thankfully both boys) in the past few months, so I'm afraid it's becoming more popular. But as long as he's not one of 4 Sawyers in his kindergarten class, I don't really care that much. There is such a thing as having a name that is TOO unique. If our only requirement was that he never meet someone else with his name we would have dubbed him Dweezil or Moon Unit (except, oops, both of those are already taken.)

*Just the bed itself, not the mattress. I'm not that cheap.

Living the Dream

"I'll tell you one thing, I am not going to be one of those women schlepping her kids around in a minivan. I want an SUV... with three rows of seats."
-Kelly Kapoor, The Office




Until recently, I had been driving our Honda Accord that we bought soon after Sawyer was born. We picked it out just for me and I was very happy with it. Comfortable, easy to clean leather seats, XM radio. But with Eric's new office being a bit farther away and gas prices being so high, we figured out that we could save over $300 a month just by switching cars. So now he's driving the Accord, which means I get his car: a big manly Dodge Durango. Not the car I would have chosen for myself, but I'm finding that it is nice to have all that room for strollers, toys, groceries, etc. in the back. And that third row of seats has gotten a lot more use than I thought it would - you know, considering that I only have one child. The gas mileage is truly horrible, but I so rarely drive more than a few miles at a time that it isn't too much of an issue. Of course, I had to personalize it immediately by putting my LOST sticker on the back, and before long I'll have it decorated to the point that Eric will be embarrassed to drive it from now on (I think something along the lines of "Breast is Best!" or "Soapers do it with bubbles" would probably do the trick.) Yep, I'm living the dream!

Sleep, AI and LOST

Feels like a random post day.

I'm struggling with going to bed at night. I've had this problem my entire life. It's not that I can't fall asleep, it's that I don't want to stop doing what I'm doing and go to bed. You know how little kids never want to go to bed even if they're really tired because they think they're going to miss something? That's me, I guess I never outgrew that. I was up until 3 last night cleaning, working on my Etsy shop, watching TV and reading. Not good.

In better news, my Cadbury Mini Eggs are finally all gone. No more temptation! Until Christmas, anyway. A very good thing for my waistline.

How awesome was David Cook's rendition of "Billie Jean" on American Idol last night? I wish he had gone first, because it would showcase how truly awful Kristy, Carly, and Ramiele were. Kristy's song choice was smart, because people will vote for the pretty blond patriotic girl, but I'm always completely bored and underwhelmed by her vocals, and to be honest that song makes me throw up a little bit. Carly is a great singer but I wish she would stop YELLING everything - not every song has to be powered through. I've been annoyed with her ever since she butchered "Blackbird". Last night she sounded like a mix between Cher and Celine Dion. And Ramiele - just ugh. I hope she goes bye-bye. Brooke White remains one of my favorites for the simple reason that she doesn't belt out every single song - she has some complexity to her voice, and it's not overly trained and forced. Could anyone else tell she was trying really hard not to mouth off to the judges like she usually does? I thought that was funny. And Simon's comment about David Archuleta not picking his own song was interesting given all the rumors about his dad being a pushy stage parent.

Speaking of TV...how am I going to survive the next few weeks without LOST? I might have to rewatch the first 8 episodes of season four. Thoughts about last week's episode - did they really kill off Rousseau?! I saw the bullet go in, but somehow I'm not sure this is the end for her. We've certainly seen characters survive being shot before. There's a lot more to her story (we haven't seen that flashback episode the writers promised not so long ago) and I think she's one of the most interesting characters on the Island, so I hope she's alive. Maybe she'll pull a Locke on us in the next episode. Karl is definitely dead though. Poor Karl. At least he got a cool Star Wars allusion in before he kicked it ("I have a bad feeling about this...")

About Michael; I like the idea that he is trying to redeem himself for betraying his friends. He has always struck me as one of the weakest of the characters when it comes to morals, so it will be interesting to see if he's able to find redemption in his final days. I think he's the one in the coffin (anyone else?)

Why can't Michael kill himself? What does it mean when big gay Tom says "the Island won't let you"? (By the way, I think it's hilarious that Tom used to be the scariest of the Others, and now we find out that he's this jolly gay foodie. Talk about character development.) Here's my out-there theory: it all goes back to destiny. Remember the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes" where Desmond first time travels? He goes back to his pre-Island life and tries to change things so that he ends up married to Penny instead of on the Island. He finds out that he can't. He meets the mysterious Ms. Hawking, who explains that no matter what he does, he will always end up on the Island because it is his destiny to push the button.

So it must be Michael's destiny to go back to the Island on the freighter and work for Ben, since he's been unsuccessful at three separate suicide attempts. The big question is, how does Tom know that it's his destiny? Here's where it gets even weirder - maybe it's because Tom and Ben can see the future. It's not too much of a stretch - we've already seen this happen with Desmond when he has a vision of Charlie dying. Ben always seems to be three steps ahead of everyone else all the time. I think Ben is able to use the Island's powers to see the future, and I think it has to do with his ability to talk to Jacob. This is why he's so passionate about protecting the Island from being discovered by Widmore or anyone else. Ben knows that it's Michael's destiny to be on the freighter because he's seen it, just like Desmond knew it was Charlie's destiny to die no matter how many times he tried to save his life. It's not that the Island controls destiny, it's that it allows certain people to see what an individual's destiny will be.

Of course I could be completely wrong. But it kind of makes sense, right?