Favorite Hobby

I have been thinking about this favorite hobby essay that I have to make my students write. I think it’s an easy enough topic, that’s probably why they picked it. But I’ll tell you what, if I had to write on that topic I would be way frustrated. For starters, I have NO idea what I would write about. I can only think of one thing that I could call my favorite hobby and that is talking. I love to just get together with people I like and talk. But how in the world would I write an entire essay about that? I know it is do-able, but it would be weird and difficult.

Whenever I have to fill out a job application and it asks me what my hobbies are, I groan. Talking–should I really list talking as my hobby? I never do because I don’t want to give my employers the wrong idea. Someone lists “talking” as their hobby and you think they’re a big blabber mouth. I’m really not.

My sister is a huge talker. She’s a D.J., so she found the perfect job for a talker. If you ask her about ANYTHING you better be prepared for a 5 minute (at least) answer. If someone asked me, “How’s your new job?” I answer with, “Fun, I really like it.” If they continue to stare at me with that go-on-that’s-not-enough-information face I will add, “It’s challenging, and I get pretty stressed out at the end of the term, but I like it.” Sometimes people will keep staring at me after that, and then I just get really uncomfortable because that’s all I’m going to say. I hate when people do that, just stare at you like you should give them a dissertation about whatever they just asked about.

Anyway, if you asked my sister that same exact question she would give you multiple specific stories about what has happened at work recently. Not that that is bad, it’s just not me. And I don’t really want people to think that it is me. So when people ask what’s my favorite hobby, I don’t say talking. I basically lie and say reading.

New Car

Yesterday my husband called me during 4th period. He called my cell phone and my school phone. After school let out and I got the message, he sounded quite urgent but just said to call him. I thought something might be wrong with the baby or something like that. No. Turns out he just wanted to come pick me up from work to go look at a car. Random. We weren’t even looking for a car or planning on buying one. We already have two working cars. Oh well.

My husband and my dad picked me up right at 3:30 and we headed down to Provo to test drive it. I loved it so we bought it. Right then and there. Drove it home last night. It is the same make, model, and color as my dad’s car, which he (and we) always loved, and it was a great price. So now I have a new car.

New being a very relative term. It’s actually very far from new. It’s older than both our other cars. But it is in much better shape and it has fewer miles than my car. It’s also a luxury car so it’s really fun to drive.  It’s a big boat grandpa car and I can’t wait to take it on a road trip. Maybe we’ll christen it over spring break!

33 Things to do before I turn 33

1. Make a new friend

2. Read 25 adolescent novels

3. Plan an entire unit before I teach it

4. Get a reading endorsment

5. Read James and the Giant Peach to Vincent

6. Read Ian’s thesis

7. Retake GRE (Graduate Records Exam)

8. Write 5 poems

9. Ace the Praxis (at least 190)

10. Go to a temple outside of Utah

11. Run an 11 minute mile

12. Read the Book of Mormon

13. Pay off half of my student loan

14. Buy a house

15. Go to the East Coast

16. Leave the country

17. Teach Vincent to read 50 words

18. Plant 5 trees

19. Have a second baby

20. See 15 Shakespeare plays/movies

21. Read Hamlet

22. Finish Vincent’s quote quilt

23. Finish my bedroom

24. Redo the kitchen floor

25. Paint both bathrroms

26. Squat 140 lbs

27. Hike Timpanogos

28. Make Creme Brule

29. Make Sushi

30. Create a blog (personal)

31. Write something about Vincent

32. 40 sit-ups in 1 minute

33. Get every family member to the dentist

Sleepy Ian

If you look in my phone for my husband’s name, you won’t find it. Like many people, I use nicknames in my address list. My husband is, therefore, not under “I” for Ian, instead you will find him under “G” for Growly Bear. It’s a long, reasonably uninteresting story how this nickname came about, but basically it boils down to the way my husband behaves when he is in that familiar half-awake-half-asleep stage. He seems to be in this particular state of being more often than most people I know. He can also be quite entertaining when in this state. Here are just a few stories of things he has done while not-quite-awake.

Long ago, before we were even dating, Ian and several other people were at my apartment watching a movie. Ian fell asleep, pretty soundly asleep. Then out of no where he…lets say, let off gas. It was loud and long and rather embarrassing. Needless to say, those of us who were still awake all started to giggle. The gas-giggle combo managed to wake Ian up enough to make him realize that he had done something embarrassing, but not enough to help him remedy the situation. In an attempt to smooth things over, he sleepily mumbled, “I like to be stinky.”

A few months later, after we had (surprisingly given the last story) started dating, we went to visit a mutual friend who worked the overnight shift at a local hotel. We were all sitting out in the lobby talking when Ian fell asleep. It was February I believe, and the lobby had a wonderful fireplace that was helping to keep us warm. Ian was sleeping near the fire and still wearing his winter coat. Mid-conversation, Ian lets out a little groan and rolls over proclaiming, “It’s warm as a summer’s day in here.” Only my husband, or someone equally geeky (like Mrs. Reuel ), would throw out a simile in their sleep.

Marrying this boy has done nothing but add to the funny, sleepy stories. One night we decided to sleep with our feet at the head of the bed, kind of upside down like. So our feet, instead of our heads, were near the wall. Ian woke me up around 3 a.m. informing me that I needed to keep my feet away from the wall because there were dead children in the walls, and if I let my feet touch the walls, they would be able to get me.

Alarms and Ian are less than compatible. Like many people, he has turned off his alarm without realizing it, and slept through it while it beep-beep-beeped away. Unlike others though, he can also be a little hostile to the poor, little thing. It’s only trying to help. One dreadful morning, I awoke to the sound of a blaring alarm clock and a mostly-asleep husband yelling, “Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh!” at the alarm clock.

Concerts

My sister is a D.J. and used to come by concert tickets pretty easily. She is also very generous and shared a lot of those tickets with me. As a result, I have had the opportunity to attend many concerts in my short life. I have wondered many times how many I have actually been to, so I decided this would be a good place to keep a running list. In no particular order, the concerts I have attended:

1. Counting Crows/Wild flowers Delta Center, SLC, Faemarie, 1997?

2. Counting Crows Mckay Events Center, Orem, Kari, 2002?

3. Counting Crows/Live The Gorge, Spokane, Kari, Griffin, Lyann, Justin, 2000

4. Counting Crows/Maroon 5 Usana, SLC, Kari, 2003

5. Radio Head, Usana, SLC Matt, 2003

6. Bare Naked Ladies/Guster Seattle, Maroon, Kari, 2000

7. Bare Naked Ladies/Howie Day E Center, SLC Everything to Everyone, Ryan

8. Bare Naked Ladies/ E Center, SLC, Ian, 2006

9. Bare Naked Ladies?

10. Howie Day Kingsbury Hall, SLC, Kari, Demi, Lindsay 2005

11. Tori Amos Abravanel Hall, SLC Strange Little Girls, Kari

12. Tori Amos/Howie Day E center Scarlet’s Walk, Wyatt, 2002

13. Tori Amos E center American Girl Posse, Kari, 2007

14. Tori Amos Usana Amphitheater Beekeeper, Kari, 2005

15. Tori Amos Hard Rock Café, Las Vegas, Kari, 2002

16. Rufus Wainwright/Ben Folds/Ben Queller Hard Rock Café, Las Veags, Matt, Wyatt, 2005

17. Maroon 5/Gavin DeGraw DV8, SLC

18. Guster UofU, Ryan, Adam, 2003

19. Guster Bricks, SLC (balcony) Kari,

20. Guster Bricks, SLC (stairs) Ryan,

21. Guster McKay Events Center, budge

22. Guster/John Mayer Canyons, Kari, Ryan, 2002

23. Indigo Girls Red Butte Gardens, SLC, Kari

24. Indigo Girls Kingsbury Hall, SLC, Kari

25. Indigo Girls Kingsbury Hall, SLC, Kari, Lance, Fae

26. Vertical Horizon, Washington, 2000

27. Ani DiFranco E Center, Faralee

28. Incubus E Center, Mourning View, Josh, 2002

29. Incubus E Center A Crow Left of the Murder,

30. Damien Rice McKay Events Center, Kari, Matt

31. Damien Rice McKay Events Center, Matt, Sept 2007

32. Lifehouse McKay Events Center, Ryan, 2003

33. Matchbox 20 E Center, Yourself and Someone Like You, Kari, Brian Wood, 1999?

34. Matchbox 20 E Center Mad Season, Kari, Nicole, 2001?

35. Alanis Morrisett Olympics, 2002

36. Dave Matthews Olympics, 2002

37. R.E.M E Center, SLC, Ian, Dave, 2005?

38. Lalapalooza Usana, SLC, Kari, Dan, Doug

39. Angie Aparo/Electracy Spokane, WA, Kari, 2000