A short note before class...

I am tired and cranky today....another night with little sleep, or at least decent sleep. I have been waiting for Mr.3 to come home and they always say that the train will be here in the middle of the night. So far it was delayed for over 24 hours, and then of course the one time that it was on time Mr.3 slept through his stop, which he is now trying to ride the train back from. He was supposed to be here at 3 am, but currently is stuck behind a HazMat train going super slow just outside of Wendover. We are hoping that he will be home about 7ish, but with Amtrak's record, I won't hold my breath.

Good news though...the fallout of BYU's behavior has finally landed from the horror that was this last weekend at the Regional Model Arab League. Apparently, BYU is being permanently uninvited from all Model Arab League events. Gone now are our mantras of "beat BYU", because they beat themselves.

Well at least the Mormons won't poison you...

We live across from a Mormon ward house, as it is one of the oldest in the valley is it distinct from the others...it looks like your ordinary chapel house with old brick and stain glass windows. Parking in front of our house can be scarce sometimes due to Church activities...as I have parking in the back of the house this doesn't bother me so much as it does my friends and parents who try to find off street parking.

And while I seriously dislike the Mormon religion, some aspects of the culture are kinda nice...such as when a group of giggly 20 somethings rang my doorbell to give me a thank you note and some cookies for letting them park out front. Not that I have any choice in the matter, and honestly, I had no choice but to take the cookies and thank you card. And I had no choice but to eat them. And boy are they tasty....

I think that if that happened anywhere else in the states, you know- complete strangers giving you food, no one would trust to eat the food. But here...it is no problem.

And as I am the only one home tonight....I feel no guilt in eating all of these cookies myself. mmmmmmmm.....

My Brother Hearts Jake Ryan

My brother desperately wanted to watch 16 Candles and the Breakfast Club tonight. He had seen a shirt that said "I heart Jake Ryan" and he almost bought it, but didn't as it was a V-neck...and I think that he has limits on how flaming he really will be.

So in an effort to explain more to him about the Brat Pack---complete with pictures, god I LOVE the internet---I came across this great article written on Valentine's Day 2004 called Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of 'Sixteen Candles'. It is all about how there are all of these jaded women (and some men) who are ever searching for the perfect man, the Jake Ryan's of the world. Basically, it says that they don't exist.

I beg to differ.

I would say that Mr.3 could be a Jake Ryan. I have had that moment, when I am walking around after a bad day, sort of oblivious thinking, only to look up and see him from across the quad smiling at me with that little wave. I have those moments with Mr.3 all the time...those sweet tender moments that may not make other melt...but I did and do when I think about him. Also when we talk about instances where the great guy notices the strange quirky girl and falls in love with her instead...if that isn't us, I don't know what it.

Hopefully, my Jake Ryan will be home tomorrow morning.....I can't wait.

Bad Day(s)

Model Arab League has ended...I'm exhausted, and the huge post I did to tell the long sordid story of why BYU's unprofessional behavior made me cry got accidentally erased. It is probably someone telling me to just let go of the whole situation. Or at least approach it with less anger.

So I am just going to continue drinking my girlie beer and eat the generic store brand of cookie crisp and maybe watch a little law and order.

I really wish that Mr.3 was home today, just so that he could hold me. His train back from DC has been delayed in Omaha because of a blizzard. He should be home tomorrow.

Inshallah.

Job Perks

One of the perks of my job is that I can get free lunch by being a filler person at the luncheons we hold for our speakers. Today I got dragged in to a lunch that I really didn't want to go to....and while the speaker was a very nice man with a extremely firm handshake...the rest of the company wasn't that great.

One of the donors was at the dinner and the guy drives me nuts...loud and obnoxious with the self-confident attitude that he can loudly prattle on about anything because he is rich. The gentleman in question is a "metal man" for lack of a better word...he has a recycling scrap business...which can make you alot....ALOT of money. Whenever I am around him however, he is so rude and obnoxious that he makes me want to become some upper-class British snob. "You're a metal man are you? From Cheapside? Oh dear, I don't care how care how rich you are with your 'new money' you will never be seen at St. James Court!" (kudos if you get all of those references)

The one truly amusing point of the whole long affair today, was the bug being inappropriate in polite company again. We were at the point where I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for being able to leave when everyone ordered tea and coffee. The bug and the director ,"I", got tea. "I" was talking to the speaker when the empty cup, teabag, and pot of hot water was delivered to him. The bug immediately sat into setting up her tea, but "I" was busy speaking. Then the bug began to wave her tea bag at Kelly--our office assistant--sitting next to "I". Of course, she is confused, and as the bug began to wave her tea bag around more and more fervently..more and more of the table was taking note of her strange behavior. Kelly grabbed "I"s tea bag and held it out to the bug. This is when she loudly said..."No, I want you to fix "I"s tea!"

Problems with this statement:
1. "I" was embarrassed and announced that he was perfectly capable of making his own tea.
2. "I" hates it when the staff babys him...so we NEVER do it. If the bug had been sitting next to him and she had started to make his tea for him he would have slapped her hand. And Kelly isn't required or ever expected in ANY circumstances to wait on the director.
3. oh yeah....the embarrassing silent moment that this little interchange created.

In any case, the incident filled me with mirth....kinda like the time when we had the secret service in the office and she walked in and pretended that her hand was a gun...

oh....good times.

The wait is almost over!

Mr.3 went to Mount Vernon today, and since I couldn't go with him I thought that I would leave you a link.

Well I (and we) have survived the first week of business-related separation. I am starting to relax and I really really really really really really can't wait for Mr.3 to come home. I am also starting to calm down about the enormity of the possible lifestyle change. I don't really want to change how we live...rather I want to save every freaking penny possible! But I am looking forward to the days where I can keep frivolous food items like potato chips in the house and actually be able to eat them without guilt. And it isn't some some of diet guilt but rather the guilt of buying food that gets eaten so fast. It will be wonderful!

That, and I am super excited about getting new tires. The passenger front tire was about flat once Jimmy and I made it to Price (10 pounds of air in it)...my Dad thinks that it is a slow leak. Hopefully it will make it all the way back (and yes, we refilled it with air...I know you were thinking about that).

Also there is good news galore about my Dad's employment situation....more on that soon.

News News News

Actually this news is a few days old, but I am really feeling the brunt of it today. Mr.3 got a job this week...a really good job doing computer consulting like he used to. Instead this time he isn't the manager of the business and it should be alot less stressful. Let's hope.

And if we all wanted a situation where our trust of the other had to be tested....this is it.

Currently, Mr.3 is somewhere on a bus somewhere is probably Illinois on his way to Washington DC. He needs to be there for training on the 13th and he will be gone close to 14 days if you count in travel time.

He is taking the bus for 2 reasons. One, he doesn't have his ID (long story on that) and two, it is all I could afford (as it is, I feel bad that I could only give him 200 to survive on...that is less than $20 a day). The company he will be working for has assured him that they will make sure he has the means to get back home. As they will be issuing him ID (another really long story) it is likely that they will be able to fly him home. I hope that they will be able to do that, simply because Ehud Barak will be speaking at the University on the 22nd, and "I" might be able to get him an audience with the former PM. As he is working on a project about the Lebanon war, it would be great to be able to ask some questions. ...and I wouldn't mind it if he was home as early as he could be.

14 days is a long time when you consider that I have only had him home for 4 weeks. Last Friday was our first wedding anniversary. I took the day off and it was a wonderful day with him...but bittersweet as we had to get him on the bus early the next morning.

When and if he comes home he will be bringing with him a reimbursement check and a rather hefty signing bonus check. This will be great seeing that my meager paycheck will not have gotten us through the month anyway...and since 2/3rds of my paycheck went to getting him to DC...the need is all the more greater.

Last summer when I left him in Denver all the alarms and bells and whistles of my intuition were going off...they aren't now. My gut reaction is that this is all happening and that things are starting to get better....and my rational side has only a teeny tiny voice that keeps reminding me that you might need to be prepared if this is just a ruse. If he doesn't come back, I will without a doubt, not be able to survive it. People keep noting my strength...but honestly if this fails...I won't be able to endure.

And Mr.3 knows how I feel, he knows my fears....and he knows just how hard it was for me to tell him the other night that I did trust him.

The only way to really test if you trust someone is just to trust them and see how they manage with that trust.

So....I am trusting him.