People of the world, (or rather, the four of you who continue to read my blog in spite of my horrifying punctuation) I am back!

I never actually left, physically anyway. But my goodness, it’s been a rough two weeks, and while I can give you no assurances that things are any better at all… I am alive. I’m hopped up on vitamin B, I’m full of vim and a small amount a vigor, and I shall overcome!

I went out to the lake on Saturday to see if a little photography session would brighten the day, but as I smudged my feet into the damp sand on the edge of Utah Lake, it became somewhat obvious that it was gonna be difficult to get any amount of joy out of what is currently just a very large slush puddle.

Witness:

Yes, that’s mud in the foreground and icy slush in the background. And yes, I took other pictures that day, and no, there were no other good pictures. Flat failure! BUT! The good news is that there are small tufts of green things popping up, which means that we’ll soon be back to lush greens and golds which will mean that the photography jaunts are going to get good. I’m incredibly excited about this.

Life is a good, people. Some patches are a bit rough, and I don’t care for uncertainty much. But you know, it’s something I get to live. How you respond to challenges and adversity is what shapes you and determines the kind of person you ultimately become. It’s all an opportunity, and I’m grateful.

See? Here’s a picture of me looking grateful (and a little disheveled, because I’m blogging while doing laundry, and I HATE laundry).

A rare case of acceptable harmonica. The Beatles’ “Love Me Do”.

1. Sleep in, but not too long. I set my alarm for just a little earlier than I want to get up, and then sleep for a half an hour past that. I live life on the edge. Don’t go past 9 or 9:30. Saturday is precious. So is sleep, but you can’t appreciate your freedom asleep.

2. Eat something ridiculous for breakfast.

3. Make a playlist for the day.

4. Make your bed, and then do something productive immediately – like laundry – let’s face it, you were probably running out of underwear.

5. Look nice. Not fancy. Just nice. Shave your legs (you’ll thank me tomorrow).

6. Have a healthy lunch.

7. Do something else productive. (I cleaned the kitchen, but you could run errands, fold the laundry you did earlier, wash the car, whiten your teeth, do your nails, go grocery shopping, help a friend move, take down your Christmas decorations, read up on the Smiths, repot the ficus, organize your sneaker collection, alphabetize your spices, memorize the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody.)

8. Go out and do something cool by yourself. Shopping, a hike, whatever.

9. Go to dinner with someone/people you like. Spend the rest of the evening with them. Do something fun. Say good night at a ridiculous hour. Smile all the way home.

10. Get on Facebook and talk to your friends in California who are still awake for another hour.

11. Climb into your nicely made bed. Don’t forget to set the alarm for Sunday morning. You don’t want to be late for church. Be glad that you shaved your legs today, so that you can sleep in 10 minutes longer than you would have if you hadn’t.

12. Think about how great next Saturday is going to be, shut your eyes, and sleep.

UPDATE (Later): I did not end up doing 9-12. Instead I worked. This does not make my list flawed – just my life.

Here’s my playlist for the day, in case you were curious – fair warning – my taste in music is all over the place. I like what I like.

I’m at a Photoshop seminar in Salt Lake City, and it’s great, and deliciously nerdy, but I’m going a little stir crazy. I love jokes about the clone stamp as much as the next Photshop nut, but… My working style is pretty much a mad jumble of multitasking, and to sit here and just listen is totally killing me. Killing me.

So I’m doodling creepy little pictures (made more creepy by the lighting in a dark conference room) and checking Facebook every five minutes. Nothing interesting is happening, but it could at any minute so I must check! Frequently!

Fortunately, God and Steve Jobs gave us the iPhone, and in addition to checking Facebook, I can blog.

“I’m not sleepy, and there is no place I’m going to.” Dylan, your song is stuck in my head.

It snowed today, and my skirt is long and brushed the drifts into my shoes, where the snow melted and made my feet cold for the rest of the day. I was early to church, but forgot to bring something I wanted to give a friend, so I had to leave again. I made it back in time for the sacrament. In the process, I lost my phone and found it again. I had a miniature panic attack about a crowded Sunday School room, and barely made it through Relief Society. I caught up with a friend I haven’t seen in a few weeks, and we drove up to the Timpanogos temple and back.

I’m listening to Ray LaMontagne tonight, chatting with some friends on Facebook, and mentally making lists of what I need to get accomplished this week. It’s a pleasant enough way to spend an evening. I went for a drive (by myself this time) earlier, but it did nothing for me – perhaps I’ve gotten too used to drives. Carlyn cooked, and there’s whole wheat challah on the stove, and leftover roast vegetables in the fridge. Whole cloves of garlic turn soft and sweet after about 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven, and can be squeezed right out of their papery jackets. It’s snowing right now, which means in the morning it will have accumulated on my car. Simple enough physics, but I’m preemptively shivering at the thought of having to scrape off my windshield and windows.

I’m grateful for: My warm bed. Wet tree trunks that look glossy and black. White mountains. Asparagus. Homemade socks. Good lyrics. Optimism. Blessings – lots of them, I know.

I’m concerned: How did I get a reputation for being misanthropic?

I want: Flowers. And for my headlight to be fixed magically.

It was Carlyn’s birthday today (actually, yesterday, as of 81 minutes ago, yawn) and we had some of the peeps over for dinner. I’ll be the first to admit it wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever cooked – the chicken was too salty, the shrimp was cold, and I accidentally used a garlic flavored knife to cut the cake. But it was a fantastic time.

Note: Guys, I did not do well documenting this event. To begin with, all these pictures were taken with my phone. And I took the pictures in terrible lighting. AND I wasn’t even the one who took some of these pictures. AND I didn’t take pictures of the really important things that happened, like, oh, DINNER.

Oh well.

Carlyn took these pictures at Chao’s (on University Ave). The house smelled like garlic and soy sauce. Yum. But potent. Very potent.

The birthday girl. Who now blogs over at A Raise of Hands, incidentally. (This picture wasn’t taken today, just to keep things straight – although that is really needless information, and is therefore probably more confusing than clarifying. Um, yes. I’m tired, ok?)

The house was all decorated -  it was pretty and festive looking.

After dinner, the guys (Kai and Tyler) did the dishes – SO NICE. To give proper credit, Tyler washed, and Kai dried – and then rearranged our silverware drawer so that it will be more efficient. I’m interested to see how that goes.

Elaine (talent extraordinaire, who’s face is NOT blurred out to protect her identity, it just looks like it because she moved) and husband Sebastian also graced us with their presence, as did Carlyn’s brother Jordan and his wife Michelle.

All in all, guys, a good time was had by all.

The end. I’m going to bed. GOOD NIGHT!

Scott Shepherd – Book on Tape Worm. I saw him last night at Velour’s Valentines’s show, and I think maybe you have to hear him live to really appreciate the quality of his voice, but this video isn’t bad at all.

Chapter Three (3) Book on Tape Worm from provo acoustic on Vimeo.

It’s only Saturday afternoon, and it’s been a crazy good weekend already. While I don’t think this Saturday can top last Saturday, I’m loving this weekend so far. (I never wrote about last weekend, but can I say monster amounts of stunning sushi, THIS MOVIE, and two very generous and awesome guys made for a way good time? Yes, yes I can.)

Anyway, so far this weekend:

- Dinner with Rod at the Malt Shoppe (haven’t been there in FOREVER). The man is very wise.

- Added a new desk + chair. Now I won’t have calluses on my patellas (patelli?) from kneeling on the floor with my laptop on the bed. Plus, a completely organized room is so fantastic.

- Went to Velour to see Desert Noises (see pic from last night below) and Paul Jacobsen & the Madison Arm (their keyboardist has a voice that gives me shivers), and the show was amazing. Soooo glad I went.

- Came home at midnight to watch 30 Rock with Carlyn until 2 am – Alec Baldwin makes me laugh until I cry.

- Slept in. Ahhhhhh.

- This morning (while I was still sleeping) Carlyn made chocolate chip cookies. I don’t generally care for cookies in any form, but these are the bomb.

- Cleaned out my car. It was looong overdue.

- Made a massive trip to the Pleasant Grove Walmart – which was the usual soul-sucking big store experience until I dropped a large container of blueberries at the checkout stand. Carlyn ran and got a broom and dust pan and we had to herd blueberries – which, did you know, is hilarious and really difficult? We got the giggles and then so did everyone else in line. Blueberries ricochet!

- Got lunch from Zupas – we split a Yucatan Chipotle Chicken Salad, panini with ham, honey mustard and muenster cheese, and the lobster bisque. YUM!

- Cooked. There’s a ward dinner tomorrow, and we’re supposed to bring something from our home, and I initially thought of making Thai food (because it’s a little funny), but China is as close as I get to having a home, so I’m thinly slicing beef to marinate in soy, brown sugar, chili, and huge amounts of garlic. I’ll stir fry green beans until they’re vibrant and just the right amount of crisp, and serve it all with steamed sticky white rice.

- Went to Lehi Roller Mills to get a bucket of wheat that we will grind, so that I can make bread that we’ll eat with the peach jam from our tree.

And then, coming up:

- My friend Heather is headlining a show tonight at the Grove Theater in Pleasant Grove, so of course I’m going to that.

- Dinner with friends afterward to celebrate the star of the show.

- A late run to Einsteins to buy a box of bagels and smoked salmon schmear.

- A midnight drive up the canyon to see the stars.

- Church. Carlyn is teaching this week, yay! Church dinner, and then ward prayer later on.

- And hey – maybe a Sunday afternoon walk around the lake can be squeezed in there.