1. I cleaned the steering wheel in my car with a baby wipe while bored at a stop light. I was very surprised to find out that my steering wheel is an entirely different color now. Yikes.
2. Yesterday we ordered a flower arrangement for Grandma’s funeral. (She passed away Wednesday afternoon.) For years Grandma has been telling us, “Now, when I die, I want each of you grandkids to buy an arrangement for me. I’ve outlived almost everybody I know, so there aren’t going to be a lot of people at my funeral and I want there to be a lot of flowers.” Geez, I’m going to miss her.
3. I bought Lucy a polo doggy shirt. Lucy is a preppy dog.
4. The more I strive to be a better person, the more darling red shoes I find on sale.
5. I learned an important lesson this week—when you’re going to be in the same city as a blogging friend you’ve never met, get over yourself and send an e-mail and try to get together. You will smack yourself on the forehead for days after missing the opportunity.
6. I have been laughing ever since DeDe and I drove up to Pineview last week and we talked about going to see movies by ourselves. DeDe said, “That’s going to be one of my life goals—visit Europe; go to a movie alone.”
7. Ryan has been reading the new job postings for the professor jobs across the country. Every time he checks his e-mail, we imagine ourselves living in a different place. This is going to be an interesting year.
8. In light of #8, my goal is to throw out or donate one garbage bag full of stuff every day. Eighty percent of the crap in my basement needs to go.
9. The knob on my dryer is broken. I’m using a pair of pliers to reset the cycle, which is actually a lot bigger pain in the neck than one might think.
10. When I called DishNetwork this week to see about getting a new remote and receiver, I found out that I am no longer in a contract with them. I felt an unexpected sense of freedom. We are now considering DirectTV or Comcast. Any suggestions?
10. Umm … for completely selfish reasons that I don’t expect you to understand, please switch to Comcast so I have at least one friend who can invite me over to watch BYU football. (Though my experience with Comcast’s customer service caused me to cancel my account after 5 months. But hey, maybe you’ll have a great experience.
In my attempt to be clever and funny, I forgot to express how sorry I am to hear that Ryan’s grandma has passed. Your post about her was really touching. Give Ryan our best.
So sorry to hear about your grandmother. I hope the funeral will be a time of joyful remembrance.
PS: I hate Comcast, very expensive, but their service does kind of rock.
#6 going to a movie alone is empowering. There is a sense of tossing social conventions aside and living on the edge, even though all you are doing is sitting in a dark room surrounded by people crunching away on popcorn. Plus, you can always get a good seat.
#7 maybe one of the dream jobs will be on the east coast . . . .?
#8 I need to purge, but I keep procrastinating until it is cold outside.
#10 I have DirectTV, no complaints but I’m not in love with it either. It works. But I should have got the dvr when they hooked it up. Now I just envy everyone else’s ability to record their favorite mindless tv.
I am again sorry about Ryan’s grandma. She sounded so funny and nice. It would have been cool to have known her.
I like Comcast. Their cable internet and tv package is pretty sweet. I have never had any problems with them. In fact, while we lived in Santa Fe we got a free ipod shuffle, and 80 free channels, and only had to pay for the cable internet. I think the 80 free channels was a mistake, but I never wanted to call and complain about a problem like that.
Warning: Once you get cable internet, there is no going back.
My condolences on the passing of Ryan’s grandma. Her hands looked cool and comforting, and I’m sure she treasured spending so much time with you in her last days.
As for #5, you’ll simply have to come back to SF. (Or maybe #7 will bring you here, who knows?!)
Not that we were speaking of karma, but I mentioned to the jam guys that I sacrificed one jar of jam to a friend, and do you know what? They sent me a new jar — a bigger one — to replace it. How sweet is that?
I love your Grandmother’s request. I love flowers at funerals and although it’s admirable to put the note in lue of flowers-I ‘d want it just like Grandma…the more the merrier. Don’t they smell so delightful?
My deepest sympathies.
Thanks, everybody, for your kind words!
John–if we get Comcast, you have an open invitation. (But you have to scrub one of my toilets for every BYU game you view.)
Soul-Fusion–definitely applying for jobs in your area, including a couple in Boston and one at Fordham in the Bronx and Manhattan!
James–you would have loved Grandma Rees and she would have loved you.
Catherine–I will come back! Our honeymoon was in SF, so it will always be a place worth visiting again and again! (And possibly work, who knows??) And I’m SO glad that the Jam Gods (and the Jam Guys) have smiled upon you. I have never experienced jam on such a spiritual level before. A couple of days ago, I used a couple of tablespoons (there’s hardly any left) to make some jezabel sauce for my ham. It was scrumptious. Mmm.
Mickey–I think I’m going to ask for a lot of flowers too. Let the charities fend for themselves!
My condolences on Ryan’s Grandma’s passing. From what you had told me about her, it sounds like Heaven just gained a character. You have lots of great memories of her.
#10 – We dumped Comcast in favor of Direct TV. At the time, they weren’t offering the DVR deal, but if they do now, go for it. Broadband was nice, but $$$. We went to AT&T DSL for way less bucks and not an appreciable drop in speed. (I think we may live near the hub and/or central station.)
Do NOT get Comcast. I live in Montgomery County, MD where Comcast is the only cable provider (because they keep it that way). They have a stranglehold here and are always raising their prices. The service is poor too and the bureaucracy is unbelievable. My husband and I decided we would rather not have cable at all than deal with Comcast