Transplanted

When he was younger there’s no way I’d have gotten this shot. Now that he’s old(er) and more docile, Mookie just sat there and let me shoot away.

So this site is supposed to be all about moving to a new state and making adjustments (oh and my life), but I’ve decided to throw something else into the mix, totally random and unrelated just because I feel like it.

Since we are so inundated with bad news, (if it isn’t the ecomony and Iraq then it’s speculation about a massive bio terror attack within 5 years) I think it’s worthwhile to remember that there are some great things happening in the world, too. So, I’m going to make it a goal to find one positive news story every day (or other day depending on time constraints) and post them on my blog. Let me know if you like them and I’ll keep doing it. (The first one is posted below.)

Anti-government protesters celebrate court decision against ruling party at Suvarnabhumi airport.

The decision, which effectively dissolves Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s government, follows months of opposition protests in Bangkok that have driven government officials from their offices and shut down the city’s major airport for a week.

The Consitutional Court also banned at least one of the People Power Party’s ruling coalition partners, effectively dismantling the government over allegations of vote-rigging.

Protesters said the siege of the airport would end on Wednesday morning. Passenger flights remained grounded, but cargo, military and emergency flights had resumed by Tuesday afternoon at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport, spokeswoman Monrudee Kettuphan said.

Anyone who spent much time with their grandparents likely endured stories of “when I was your age  “[fill in the blank with horrible scenario that should make you thankful that you even had one coat, let alone the pretty one in the store you really wanted].” And if you were anything like me you made a mental note not to inflict those sort of guilt-laden lines on anyone. Well, I haven’t actually laid them down, but they’re in the works.

Tonight Brandon and I were finishing our grocery shopping and on the way out I saw a candy display and immediately thought about how candy was enough to make a particularly cute and excited toe-headed child happy at Christmas time. LifeSaver Christmas books, in fact, were one of my favorites:

But. Now. A. Days…yeah, those words will stop you in mid-mind rant. I’d just thought “Now a days?” I could already picture myself 70-years old, with kids eagerly hopping up and down for their presents. And likely they would be receiving some pajamas and socks or perhaps a doll or building blocks. And when they forcefully hugged me for the gift they could care less about, I’d sit them on my knee and say, “You know, [insert futurist name like Appletini], when I was your age I used to get games like Pick Up Sticks for Christmas. Yeah. They were colored sticks that you’d throw on the ground and pick up in a certain order. Now that’s not as exciting as your fancy games, but they used to keep me quite happy. Remember that.” And then the little girl would think how I was a crazy old lady who used to play with sticks and actually liked it as she squirmed out of my aging arms.

As the whole scenario flashed before my eyes I looked up at Brandon and said “I’m getting old.” I suppose he already knew that, though.

So Brandon and I spent our first Thanksgiving away from both our families. Usually we split Thanksgiving and Christmas between us and spend one with my family and one with his, but this year it was just the two of us. I even made my first Thanksgiving dinner–turkey and all. And despite hearing horror stories about under cooking or over cooking, I managed to pull it off just fine. And the thing that I thought was going to be so hard turned out not to be, that is, a more quiet affair.

Thanksgiving morning I decided to take a nice bike ride since Brandon had to work, then I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles and loved every second of it (I still can’t believe that movie is 21 years old!) before the cooking madness began. Now I understand why my Mom gets so “crazy” on Thanksgiving-that’s hard work. But it paid off in the end, especially a yummy acorn-squash souffle dish I found via the Internet. And although we certainly missed our families, it was nice to have a mellow dinner just the two of us.

Here are some photos from the day:

I thought the old-school hip-hop title was fitting for this entry. So moving to a totally new state where you don’t know a soul is a pretty daunting task, especially if the community you just left was  tight.

In my case, I also left behind my family. But it certainly helps if you’re able to do it with the one person in the world you’d rather be with, and in my case that’s my husband. And sure we get a little starved for other people’s company, but I can’t imagine doing this by myself. Here, then, is a list of ways my husband is totally awesome (and he deserves the kudos):

1. When I went home over a month ago to visit my family he went to a yard sale and picked out the perfect missing piece of furniture for our TV room. He even rearranged the room so everything looked cozy when I returned.

2. He searched for and found a cheap mower to fix up our rental yard, and even drove an hour to go pick it up.

3. He forgives me when I randomly freak out.

4. He takes the Marta train and lets me have the car every day.

5. He makes a concerted effort to “perk up” when he gets home from work to listen to me for a while.

6. He goes over my football picks with me and doesn’t mind that I check the scores when we go out to dinner.

7. He seems to let me choose which movie we’re going to see more often.

And there are a lot more reasons, too. I’m not going to mention the stuff about he seems to see me as the laundry lady since I work from home now…oops. Anyway, here’s to significant others and how we support each other even when it’s not easy.

Tonight Brandon and I met Judy and Ed for a post-election celebration at a great pizza joint. And since Thanksgiving is next week, we started talking about funny things people serve at their turkey feasts. Ed mentioned that some friends of his do it Italian style with pasta dishes galore. So I couldn’t help mentioning the first Utah-related Thanksgiving food I could think of: weird Jellos.

I grew up in Utah, as a Mormon no less, and I’ve experienced lots of pot lucks with green jiggling Jello molds with things like little marshmellows, carrots and even cabbage in them. It’s like someone took a look at all the potato casseroles and decided they ought to eat less starch. Seriously I gotta imagine that whoever decided to put vegetables in their green Jello mold was a desperate woman (or man). And, as promised to Ed and Judy, here is a recipe for green jello with cabbage: 

http://www.recipezaar.com/Lime-Jello-Cabbage-Salad-149284