chatting with my mother

the other day i was looking through my g-chats with my mom, trying to find something. instead, i noticed two common themes in our conversations:

1. my mother neglects me:

me: hi mom

mmmmmoooooooooommmmm

why are you neglecting me?

me: mom, aren't you happy about Obama?

Mom: hmmmm, How is your Xanax titer?

me: ha ha

i don't need it anymore

i didn't actually get to take any since you never got me some

Mom: self-reliance is better.

me: :(

Xanax is probably more fun

2. i want my mother to make me some food:

me: mom, i'm so hungry

are you making my dinner?

Mom: oh, well, i was sending emails.... hmmmm.... i know you don't like ham, which i have plenty of.... how about yummy Thai chicken bake with rice?? love, mom

me: no, i ate that yesterday

Mom: we often eat things 2 days in a row here.

and i can also offer you a lasagna.

anyway, we could look thru the freezer and see if anything appeals to you.

:)

me: i will eat lasagna if you make it for me

Mom: i had soup for lunch. what did you have?

me: i had candy

me: go cook my dinner, mom!

me: hmmm... it is cooking!! :)

me: ha ha

3. the best: neglect + food:

me: AAAAAAA help help help! i'm being attacked!!!

only a freshly baked caked will remedy this situation

better get on that ASAP

me: CAKE!

mom

mom

Mom: Nope!

me: mom

mom

mom

why are you neglecting me?

Mom: because this is the time I can get caught up with my email. when you are out of town, I will talk to you during this time! Love, Mom

(good night)

*i particularly enjoy how she shuts me down in the last one. she knows me well

just one more screen shot

Bob's going a little crazy in Canada

An Olympic Standard

Bob Costas has compiled some interesting outfits for these Olympics. I'm not sure he understands how to match colors & patterns. I think part of the problem is his obsession with pocket squares. Bob, you are at the Olympics, not the club. Come on.

For example:

this is Bob's outfit on Sunday: pink striped shirt, blue patterned tie, dark red pocket square

now picture this jacket with a blue & white striped shirt, dark purple & yellow diagonal striped tie & yet another pocket square. that was his saturday night outfit (i looked high & low for a picture. NBC is probably trying to hide it. i know i would.)

The Snowtorious B.I.G.

Atlanta got 2 inches of snow last Friday. Here's a picture from my friend's balcony. It was kinda of exciting - other than the whole cancelled flights/3 hours on hold with Delta/not seeing my grandma part

give a little bit

I’ve been hearing a lot about helping others & began reflecting on my life of late. When I was younger, I was all about the big showy acts of service. My senior year in high school I ran my school’s recycling program, had parties to collect money for UNICEF, cooked dinners for needy families, spent many Saturdays working at a horse farm that did physical therapy for disabled children, made Christmas packages for soldiers, coached a little kid soccer team, and volunteered at the hospital. When I look back on it, I wonder how I found the time for all these projects. But I did and I loved it. College was a little more time consuming. So instead of a bunch of mini-projects, for 2 years I got up at 7am every Friday to serve breakfast at the local food kitchen. It is one of my fondest memories from college.

I guess I’ve always gravitated towards event service – a big one-time spectacle with rather immediate gratification. My organizational skills serve me well there I suppose. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve begun to feel that what really matters is the smaller, more inconvenient actions that we take.

There was a talk in Stake Conference last weekend during which the speaker said, “The rescue often comes through our interaction with each other…we sometimes don’t realize that we can rescue someone.” This statement resonated with me in light of several recent experiences where I was both the giver and recipient of such aid. There is much hidden complexity in all of us, but we are often so caught up in the minutia of our own lives that we completely miss the more significant issues weighing down those around us.

I find myself particularly lacking in this area and highly unobservant in general. It is something I want to work on, but its hard to really tell how you’re doing when you don’t notice things to begin with.