Pleasantly Confused

Since I don't have a great story to tell or a major fault to admit to today.....here are a few things I've been thinking about:

I like when a doc calls a patient pleasantly confused. I hope that when I get older and my memory fails me that this is what I become. Who wants a confused jerk for a grandmother anyway?

Ever heard the word myriad? By definition it means "a large indefinite number." I see this word a lot in written form, books I read. But here is how it is used.

I felt I had myriad choices. Um.....don't you mean "an indefinite number OF choices"? Where is the preposition? If you leave it out, what is left? "An indefinite number choices."

People....don't forget your prepositions or nice pleasantly confused me will become mean and irritable!

Here is another I've seen: "This book inspires me no end." Again with the missing preposition. "This book inspires me TO no end." Enough already, enough I say!

How about something a bit deeper. Do you feel that accepting life's circumstances without judgment is a way of bringing peace to your soul? I've been hearing a lot of this lately. Just wondering.

I like horchata. I've been thinking about it now for 23 hours, I might be replacing my lack of soda for AN ENTIRE YEAR with a sugary rice drink from Mexico.

Do you think writing to an uber rich person like Bill Gates and asking for a handout is wrong when you are not living in Africa and fearing for your life every day? (Ok, just writing that out seems super shallow.) The handout would be spread around, it isn't just for me. (Ok, I don't think that makes me less shallow.)

I need more time for cooking/baking.

I need some time for sewing.

I need to stop feeling ok about 50 pounds lost and start feeling disgusted that I still have 75 to go.

Addicted to Reality

Hello, my name is Jeanna, and I'm addicted to reality shows. It all started with Survivor. Richard Hatch bore his bottom, Susan Hawk trash talked, and Rudy was the surliest ex-Navy SEAL ever. May 31, 2000. D-day for my addiction.

My addiction wouldn't have been so bad if I had just stuck with Surivor, but since season one I have branched out.

Here is the most comprehensive list I have ever compiled of all the reality shows I have either watched faithfully from season 1 episode 1, or I have watched a few episodes or at least a portion of one episode. If I've only seen a few minutes of the program, I'll mark it with a (*).

Survivor
Amazing Race
The Mole
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
More to Love
Hell's Kitchen
Top Chef
Inked
Tattoo Highway
The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Orange County, New York City, New Jersey
Househusbands of Hollywood
Big Brother
The Apprentice
Celebrity Apprentice
Dancing With the Stars*
Fear Factor*
Project Runway*
Wife Swap
The Osbournes
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Outta Here*
Miami Ink*
The Biggest Loser
Making the Band
Reinventing Bonnaduce
Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover Home Edition
What Not to Wear
Kitchen Nightmares
Trading Spaces
MTV's Cribs
Secret Millionaire
Punk'd*
Deadliest Catch
America's Toughest Job*
The Real World, too many seasons

Yes, there are 39 shows listed here. Should I blame Survivor or did it all start with Star Search?

Now the big question is this: Can I quit reality TV? Some of these shows are no longer on the air. Some of these shows are in their 20th season. I didn't even list the prime time non-reality shows I like to watch.

Holy Crap. This post started out with me just thinking it was funny how addicted I am to reality. Now I can see that I have a serious problem. I have GOT to do something more productive with my time.

I could blame eight of my nine year addiction on work. I work so much it seems that when I have down time I relax by watching the boob tube. I do like to read and if I listed the books I've read I'd have a pretty sweet, long list. (Unfortunately, wikipedia doesn't have my personal book list as an entry, because I forget most of the books I've read.)

I also have a house at the moment that could use some serious deep, deep cleaning. Baseboards, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, etc.

Help!! This all ties in to a talk I have to give on Sunday and has made me really think about how I spend my time. I need a do-over. I need 9 years of my life back.

ADDENDUM:
Dating in the Dark
American Idol

Making the grand total 41.

And p.s. I haven't had TV reception for at least 5-6 years. I watch all these shows online with approximately 2.5 minutes of commercials during each show. It isn't the commercials I am regretting, its the 22-44 minutes of time I spend on the stupid shows!!!

ADDENDUM (2):
Ace of Cakes
Cake Boss
Jon and Kate Plus 8
18 Kids and Counting
Small People, Big World

New Total: 46

I Am So Sorry!

Wouldn't it be awful to actually be "in labor" on Labor Day? Ick! I wasn't in labor, but Harold did dream I was pregnant this weekend.

The only labor we partook of the past three days was driving to and from Denver. We had a great visit with the Nichols clan. We talked a lot, played a game, I read a whole book, went swimming, out to eat....all in all a great weekend.

Now I'm glad to be home.

Anyone who has known me for a long, long time knows that for YEARS I dissed Utah. I couldn't help it, I am a California girl at heart and I felt the need to tell everyone who would listen how superior California was to Utah, ok CA is better than most places, but because I had "relocated" to Utah, I was particularly harsh on the Beehive State.

But officially I have now lived in Utah for 19 years of my life. If you count the 18 months I spent in Scotland for my mission, that means I have now lived in Utah for half of my life and almost my entire adulthood.

And....I love it here. It's home. I still feel "at home" in CA, but I don't think I would enjoy living there anymore. My home is now a little town in Utah. I love the Wasatch Mountains, I love the spring and fall in here, I love my little po-dunk town. I just plain love it.

So, for all the times I was rude and disrespectful to you my fair state, I wholeheartedly and sincerely apologize. Utah is a blissful place for me and it is my home!

Deep Thoughts Friday

I dreamed last night that we had inadvertently traded in my parents Toyota to get our new Hyundai. Oops. Had to tell my parents, who then told me we had to take our new car back and give them their Toyota. I was devastated. Apparently that whole giving back the new car thing that happened over a month ago really got to me.

Sav got the first goal of the season last night, but her team still lost. The goalie for the other side was amazing....Oh, and I didn't see the goal, despite trying very hard to watch the entire time. I got distracted by I don't know what. Ugh! Mack played his fourth game, the first one where he did not score and the first that his team lost. My parents came to watch and didn't get to see Mack make a goal and they left before Sav got hers. Again, ugh!

I was asked by my mom and sister to fix my sister's blessing dress. Carrie is blessing baby Daisy this weekend and wanted to use the dress she was blessed in. I am not a seamstress, but I am the sister who has sewn more than anyone else in the family, so I got the job. The elastic on the sleeves was gone, so I just needed to replace it. Harder than it looks. I got the job done, but I didn't love the end product. I was hoping for more pucker in those tiny sleeves.

I ran out of my off brand Slim Fast yesterday morning. I ended up having to use the chocolate protein powder we have on hand. Not the best, but it worked. I am apparently addicted to my morning chocolate-banana Slim Fast shake. Mmmmmmmm.......

I ran to the store in the middle of the day for white thread (blessing dress), bananas (I also used my last frozen banana yesterday), Slim Fast (the real deal, it does taste better even if it costs more), cookies (because I ate the last few that were to go into today's lunches), and Wasa crackers (my new lunch love, with cheese of course).

Yesterday I watched two women I know riding bikes. They've been riding together for months in an effort to get fit and lose weight. They both get up early to ride as they have children at home and husbands that have to go to work. I don't know how far they ride each morning. I know they have gradually been increasing their distance. About a month ago they did a long ride on a Saturday and their husbands and children went to the middle of their route and held up posters, cheering their wives/mothers on. They are committed. They are both looking gorgeous and beautiful. And they did it all on beater Wal-Mart bikes. I'm just saying.

Soccer Season

I know I've complained in the past about the soccer schedule. My brain feels like it is going to explode when I think about weeknights for the next 6 weeks as we go to soccer game after soccer game.

But, I LOVE this sport, love it. I love how I can sit right on the field and watch my child run around, exercise their body, and sweat profusely. I love seeing them so happy and embracing something so good for them. They both LOVE to play and they are both quite good, in my opinion. Will they play professional soccer, no, but I don't care. I prefer the small field, the small crowd, the general comraderie among the kids and parents.

Last night's game was particularly fun because as I sat watching the game the moon was coming up. I wish I had a sweet camera to capture what I saw. Beautiful child, beautiful earth.

For the next little while you can find me at the field, on my camping chair, probably some hand sewing to be done, relaxing in the night air, enjoying the game, and feeling blessed.