salty goodness . . .

Pomelo. Pampelmuse. Грейпфрут. Grapefruit. Whatever you call it, I LOVE it! Grapefruit is one of the highlights of the winter season for me. It is a breakfast staple that I eat as often as possible. Ever since I was a kid I have loved the stuff. Sprinkle it with a bit of salt, dig it out with a spoon and PRESTO – a little bit of heaven.

When I moved to college I made a shocking discovery. While I had been sprinkling salt on my grapefruit for years, other people put sugar on it. Some people even (gulp) powdered sugar! Oh the horror. And even more shocking, it seemed that other people felt as horrified by my salt habit as I did by their sugar! I was ridiculed (okay, that is an exaggeration, but I got many funny looks) for lots of years as I continued to put salt on my beloved grapefruit.

I finally found an allie. A girl I worked with, Chelsie, also ate her grapefruit sprinkled with salt. The day I learned this I felt vindicated! My salty habit was not just a family tradition, but truly yummy. I was thrilled!

So in an attempt to see if there are any others out there, I pose to each of you the question: sugar, or salt?

HAPPY HEART DAY!

It may be strange for a single person to love Valentines Day, but I do! Let’s face it, I am a hopeless romantic. I love all the pink and red, the heart shaped pancakes and pizzas, the cheesy commercials. I think it is so much fun! Sure, being a teacher doesn’t hurt. Student’s enthusiasm is contagious! Yesterday we had our valentine’s celebration. The little girls dressed up in their dresses, and the boys wore nicer clothes than usual. There was a Valentine’s Day tea where the students learned a little bit about manners, and of course, the valentine exchange.

I was determined to give my students a semi-healthy valentine, so they got individual sized popcorn. Lucky for me, they seemed to like it. I was shocked by the number of Valentines I was given (and the variety)! Seriously, look at all of this:

I was wished a Happy Valentines day from Hannah Montana, the Power Rangers, and everyone in between. I even got a Kung Fu Panda tattoo. I received this valentine from a little girl and thought, “How did she know?"

If anyone is in need of a red, heart-shaped sucker, I can hook you up with one.

And who can’t love Valentines Day when their adorable niece gives them this:

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Valentine’s Day as well!

Happy Heart Day!

In case you were wondering

Today at school my students had to write a sentence using the word “Identical”. After they had written their sentence they would bring it to me so I could read it and make sure that it made sense. One student handed me her paper, which said:

“My Dad and Aunt are identical.”

I think the look on my face told her she needed to explain, which she did.

“My dad and aunt are identical twins. But they are nocturnal.”

So if you have ever wondered what nocturnal twins are, apparently it is when the twins are identical, but different genders.

:)

Have a happy day!

MEMORIES

I have always had pretty good memory, especially when it came to random details. But lately I feel like my memory has been failing me. Let me present you will three examples.

#1 – A few weeks ago I was looking through the contact list on my phone when I came across the name Amanda (name has been changed). I looked at the name, looked at the number, and wondered who on earth Amanda was. Sure, I know a few Amanda’s, but not well enough to have their number in my phone. For days I couldn’t figure out who Amanda was. Finally, after many days of pondering I figured out who she is and why I have her number. It is still there, because quite frankly it should be and I haven’t got a clue why I didn’t remember her.

#2 – One Sunday I got a text message announcing that the sender was engaged. I had no idea who the sender was. I called a friend to see if she had gotten the same text. She hadn’t. Usually I would just let this slide by, but this time I couldn’t. So I sent a reply: “Congratulations! Who is this?”. A short time later came a reply. It was my friend Kayleen. (By the way, Kayleen, I am super excited for you!)

#3 – On Saturday I was walking through Wal-mart. It was pretty late, and my contacts get kind of fuzzy as the night goes on. I was walking up and down the isles when a blond woman started waving at me. I was wondering if maybe she thought I was my sister because we get mistaken for each other all the time. But NO, she said my name, and I kind of squinted trying to get my contacts to focus so I could figure out who she was. It didn’t work. I was still lost. I smiled, asked how she was, and went on with my shopping. If you are this woman I sincerely apologize and will blame it on my contacts, or my bad memory.

I think I may be losing my mind. Should I really be forgetting these kinds of things at the ripe old age of 23? It makes my future look pretty grim!

the price of stupidity

If you would like to learn about how I managed to catch my hair on fire, read on.

I love to cook. I miss it when I don’t have time to spend in the kitchen. Since I have long hair I always make sure that my hair is tied back before I start cooking, because let’s face it, no one likes to find a long strand of hair in their food. Or a short one for that matter. Nasty. So I keep it in a ponytail. Never once did it occur to me that beyond causing sanitary problems, cooking with your hair down could also be a fire hazard.

I had been wanting to make this soup all week. I was given the recipe and told it was really yummy. I had all the stuff to make it, and finally, a night rolled around when I actually could. To make the soup you had to have a box of rice-a-roni, cooked as directed on the box, before you could make the soup. This takes a good half hour. So I pulled out the pot and started the rice. Since I wasn’t really cooking at this point, I forgot to pull my hair back.

I poured the rice into the pot, and thought I smelled some gas. We have a gas-stove top and one of the burners tends to go out while you are using it. I lowered my head to check under the pot to make sure the flame was still going. It was. When I stood back up I guess my hair fell forward RIGHT INTO THE FLAME.

The first sign that something was wrong was the horrible smell that suddenly filled the kitchen. Gag. I looked down at my hair and was extremely grateful to see that only the ends of a chunk of hair had been caught. Lucky for me, hair doesn’t seem to be too flammable. The hair that was burned looked like it had a bunch of little knots in it that were completely black. It was a pretty interesting sight. I tried to get a good picture; this was the best that I could come up with:

I spent the next half hour with a pair of scissors clipping the black ends of my hair off. The soup turned out fine, though not worth loosing your hair over. I learned my lesson, I shall never cook with my hair down again!

sick

I have the flu.

I hate throwing up :(

I was suppose to have an interview this afternoon.

Guess it wasn't meant to be.

Weekend Fun

Things I did this weekend:

· Drove to Salt Lake to visit my friend Ashley
· Got completely lost driving in salt lake
· Found myself on a dark, spooky, unlit canyon road
· Sat in a parking lot in front of a creepy Laundromat waiting for Ashley to come and find me
· Gratefully arrived at Ashley’s house!
· Met up with friend Melissa for some seriously yummy grub!

(Our one slightly normal looking picture)

· Ate a key lime tart that tasted like a little piece of paradise
· Reminisced about how weird we were as college freshman
· Realized I forgot to charge my camera :(
· Watched “Becoming Jane” with Ash
· Drooled over James McAvoy
· Laughed uncontrollably at 2:00 in the morning
· Visited Target
· Talked, and talked, and talked
· Sadly, headed back home. Did NOT get lost on my way back :)

Ashley left on her mission when I had been in Brazil for about a year, so we hadn’t seen each other for about 2 ½ years! It took us forever to finally find a weekend that we could get togeter, and even with all of the craziness (I hate driving in Salt Lake!) It was so worth it!