Free Lunch!

I know they say there's no such thing as a free lunch. Last week for me was pretty close. There's a Freebirds opening over by work. On Monday, they had a training day. For $1 donation to the charity that was there, I got a free giant burrito. It lasted two meals. Then, on Tuesday, a local restaurant was having a promotion-the first 50 employees at my place of work got lunch free. Yummy. A friend called and asked if I wanted to join her at Rudys for dinner-she had a free meal for 4. Texas style BBQ. It was a good week:)

Really?

I heard a commercial on the radio this morning about tax relief. The part that stuck out to me went something like this: "thousands of honest, hard-working Americans have used [insert service name] to take care of their tax problems." Something seems wrong to me. If you were an honest American, would you really have tax problems big enough to need a third-party? Just asking. Maybe someone who knows more about the IRS can see how this is possible, but it seems dodgy to me.

Random news

As the title implies, this post is not really going to follow any one theme. I have a few small things to say that don't seem at all related, but here I go...

I moved this weekend. I have a cute apartment with checkerboard tile in the kitchen and the bathroom. In the process of moving, I found out that I have some amazing friends. Not only did they show up to help me lug all of my boxes from one place to another, they stuck around the new place long enough to unpack most of said boxes too (that could have been because we waited an hour for some pizza, but who knows?). I feel so lucky to have such great people in my life!

In not really related news, my trusty TI84plus finally carked it. It survived several semesters of calculus, and physics, and even made it through physical chemistry. I guess the disappointment of now having only to help me balance my check book was too much for it! I still remember the day I used the quadratic formula solver for the first time. Sniff.

Having successfully moved into my new place, I naturally had to try out the oven. Below is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie-a recipe I've been meaning to try for ages. It's a winner.


My new Kitchenaid is also a winner. It is pictured below in my new kitchen, with some cookie/brownie bars that were also winners. I used the sweets as an excuse to knock on some doors and try to meet my new neighbors. Only one was home...more sweets for me!


Lastly, I got told about a chocolate walk today. This is one of the best ideas I've heard of in a long time. It's kind of like trick-or-treating for grown-ups. Participants receive chocolates from businesses in a downtown area-it's an endeavor to advertise for the local shops. I see it as mild exercise and (almost) free chocolate.

I can't believe it's almost February! One more month and I will have been in Texas for two years...two whole years of bad drivers and amazing BBQ. All in all, life is pretty good.

Following Instructions

I visited a dermatologist last week. My skin is dry...really dry. I don't think you need much more information, other than that often my fingers will crack, and bleed. The dermatologist said that I could super glue the cuts together. So I bought super glue tonight. I asked my roommate to help me out. Sounds easy, right? Once we figured out how to properly open the glue, she squeezed. Glue went everywhere (on our hands, at least). She washed her hands (I don't know how effective it was), and I just let mine dry, without touching anything. My cuticles are now glued to my nails, and my thumb nail is glued to my finger. Meanwhile, the cut is glued together, and it doesn't hurt anymore. Maybe next time we can manage to only glue what we want to...

Another home story

This is just a quick story...my uncle and cousins have snow mobiles. Dad and I went out with them today. No, that's not the story, I just wanted to post a couple of pictures-notice the helmets. We're responsible adults!
When dad and I got home and started talking to mom, I said "Turns out a snow mobile can go 75mph...who knew?"

Anyone who knows my mom can imagine the pained face she made. She expressed her exasperation at my love for speed, then asked whether we had helmets on. Dad and I assured her we did. Dad then said "You always have to beat me. I only got up to 70!"

For all you Texans, that white stuff on the ground in the pictures is snow. It's what happens when precipitation comes and the temperature is below freezing. Not the freezing when you go outside and say "It's freezing out here." The freezing where it's actually below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (Zero Celsius...273 Kelvin, you get the point).

I love being home.

The Joys of Home

I promised pictures in my last post-I realized it doesn't matter if I brought the camera cord home, because lappy has a card reader. Don't you just love modern technology? Pictures will follow, but there are also stories that need to be told.

For reasons I love being home, family is at the top of the list. I'm pretty close to my cousins. We had a party last so we could all get together. My cousin Owen called and left my dad a message earlier in the day, asking if his sister Mindy could bring her boyfriend. I returned the call-it went something like this:
Owen: Hello?
Me: Hey Owen, this is Janelle. Dad said he got a message from you asking about bringing Mindy's boyfriend...he's welcome to come.
Owen: Who's your dad?
Me: Your uncle...Doug.
Owen: Oh!
Conversation continues, but is not funny past this point.

Yeah, that was the first laugh of the day. When Owen, Rachael (his other sister), Brad (one of his brothers), Uncle Kieth (his dad) and Aunt Jo (his mom) arrived, I was in the kitchen helping mom cook. The conversation kind of stayed in the kitchen area. We asked about significant others. My lack of said other came up, and they offered to set me up with someone (like any good family would). I said sure, as long as he's Mormon. Owen said (with much surprise) "Janelle, you're Mormon?!?! When did this happen?" and everyone burst out laughing. I said something like "All my life". Aunt Jo said "She went to BYU!". Poor kid, he then started asking other family members if they were Mormon too. Turns out he had no idea. I wish I had been able to see his face, I'm sure he was pretty surprised-he sounded pretty surprised. I guess we can't give him too hard a time-he is 10 years younger than I am, which means that he was about 10 years old when I left for college.

Now, for pictures.

Below is a picture of my uncle Dennis and our dog, Zeke. He usually doesn't come in the house (the dog, not my uncle), and we were super surprised when he came right in the open door after someone said his name. He is part chow part lab and probably something else too. He's quite camera shy. I've tried to get pictures of him several times, but he runs away from the camera. This was the best one.


Below is how we often spend our cousin parties. Pinochle is a favorite with my cousins, and we almost always play a game (or eight) when we get together. There was also a table playing Five Crowns, and eventually the Farming Game came out too.


As I mentioned before, Mom and I always make copious amounts of cookies and candy. What's in the bowl below is divinity.

These are my favorite Christmas cookie. Not only do the look neat, they taste great too!

What Christmas cookie plate would be complete without ginger snaps?

The finished products, awaiting delivery.

And, no trip home would be complete without several trips to town in the Mustang. I love the way this car feels. The seats are comfortable, the steering wheel feels good in my hands, and all the world is right (even when she won't start easily because it's cold-she can be coaxed). Sitting in front of Shubert's eating my milkshake behind the wheel of the Mustang. How can Texas ever hope to compete?

Life is Good

Home for Christmas...all I can say is it's great to be home! I miss California when I'm not here! I love the farm land, the trees, and the weather-it finally feels a little like winter. I realize that it's nothing compared to other places, but it's more wintery than San Antonio. Mom and I are baking cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. I'll have to see if I brought my camera cord so I can post some pictures. I love being with my family, and it's nice to have a break from the reality of being a grown up.