Newsflash!

I got a job as a flex aide at Westmore! (where my sister works!) I am waiting to hear back when I start and what hours. But isn't that so exciting???

I also switched to my old ward! I am already loving it.

I am quite ready to get out of this town. Well isn't that a coincidence, because I am going to Zions National Park this weekend with friends! It will be so nice to get away and be a little warmer :)



I am going to see The Young Victoria a second time this week. Thank you, Veronica, for suggesting it because I wouldn't have thought the 30 min drive would be worth it! But it's worth it. and I'm making that drive again. and probably a third time.



Who would have thought Ruthie "pigface" draper from Dan in Real life and the mean old secretary from Devil Wears Prada could be Queen Victoria? And heartbreaker Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice is Prince Albert? Well get used to it. because it's great.

If you'd like to join me and my friends, we're going to the Thursday matinee. Phone me.

a histerical mouse trapping

almost like a histerical pregnancy, but this has to do with mice. And live mouse traps. So not really like a pregnancy huh.

My mom and I went to Lowe's yesterday and got a live mouse trap. We've seen this mouse (we named him Nibbles) and you know how it is. Once you've named an animal, you can't kill him.

We usually see him at night, running from our pantry to underneath the oven. I actually had a dream about seeing him dancing in front of the oven, and instead of running away, he just let me lie down next to him and clap as he performed. The next thing I knew, I was petting him and cuddling him. And all of a sudden, he wasn't a cute little mouse anymore, he was the size of a cat.

So dreams and names have brought on this emotional attachment that could break my heart should his life be taken. So live mouse trap it is for our lil Nibbles.

I placed some peanut butter (organic kirkland signature, my dad's favorite!) in the very back and set up this clever mouse trap next to the oven. Well tonight. guess what. The door to the mouse trap was shut, enclosing Nibbles!

I lifted the heavy plastic container and got in the car with Gina, who chauffeured Nibbles and I to the cemetery on a hill, my favorite place in town.
"Oh my gosh!"
"what?" Gina wondered.
"I feel him moving!"
We approached the entrance to the cemetery and began looking for just the right spot. Gina put on her brights, lighting a cozy snowless little nook of trees and tall grass. I walked to the aforementioned place, carefully opened the contraption and waited. Nothing. What a scared little mousy! Then I tipped it upside down. Then I tried to look inside. I thought I saw something, but...nope.

Just the peanut butter.

Lil Nibbles tricked us all! He's still in our house. Mom said she heard him playing near the toys this morning so maybe he took a vacation from neath the oven. We'll catch you though, and give you a better home, Mr. Nibbles!

Dad in purple pants

I had a dream that I came down the stairs to find my dad wearing my purple pants. I looked at him with confusion, then he laughed and said "I just thought I'd borrow them to wear today!" So we laughed together. Then he did a dance as we kept laughing.

Watch this, it'll save your life.

How did it go?

it went.


I like that answer to that question. so clever.

my car has no heater, so as I was breathing on my way to american fork to substitute today, I could see my breath. because the car was not warm after 20 minutes of driving and that is just how it goes. It snows, it goes.

Interview #4, and four is my lucky number, so I am going to get this one. 6th grade teacher.

A new year, a new me.

I have so many resolutions and already this year is fantastic!

• One of my resolutions is to stop disliking people, or at least pretend I love everyone until I do get to that point.
• Another resolution I have is to be creative in my exercise routines so I will enjoy being active. If that is even possible. I guess we'll find out.
• And the last one I'll share with you is to be in the black this year! That means, according to dictionary.com, "operating at a profit or being out of debt (opposed to in the red)"

I am going to love this year! Last year is going to be really hard to compete with, what with going to New Zealand, kissing boys, and graduating! But I know I am going to love this year! I'm just going to keep saying it!

I accidently overdosed on pain medicine this morning. waited ~ 1 hr after each: 4 ib, 2 aspirin, 2 excedrin, then 2 aleve. Finally the pain went away!

that last post was depressing

so I'll give you a glimpse of my wonderful christmas. it really was one of the best ever. just enjoyable family times, simple, effortless, (that's a lie, but every effort was worth it) christmas.

Fondue. need I say more? rye bread dipped in cheese fondue. all the shrimp you could possible shove on the stick and still have them immersed in the hot oil. then chocolate fondue. I made angel food cake. taking it out of the metal wrap, I had the cake in one hand. not a firm grip, ya know? You always have to be on guard though, carrying anything when my brothers are around. and this is why. my brother nudged me just a tad. angel food cake turned devil. fell on the floor. of course I just picked up the used to be light, fluffy cake and broke it into bite-size pieces and of course we dipped the smashed goodness into the chocolate fondant. "Isn't this supposed to be more airy?" the murderer asked sarcastically.

Arrangements were made in the basement and the entire family stomped down the stairs to watch...the 9 grandchildren put on a nativity scene. I have never seen them all just...ya know...be calm. And they all were, each one acted their part in almost reverence. it was the bombest thing I saw this Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas, portrayed by the most Christ-like of all of us.

Then the look on my brother's face Christmas morning, when he unwrapped the gift Gina and I had bought him. It was a duffel bag he specifically asked us to get him, really the only thing he wanted for christmas. and since his wife, santa, and mom already got him something else, we were his last resort. He used all his manipulation tactics to get gina and I to show a hint of evidence that we got it for him. "Hey I saw you at Costco this week" was one of them. well he failed. and he honestly thought we didn't get him the bag. So that priceless reaction of pure surprise was truly a gift.

and I got everything I wanted and for the first time I can ever remember, I am not taking anything back to return. It's been a very merry week!

feel better now? I do.

It's just an awkward week.

today I found myself in the middle of saying "Merry Christmas," feeling really awkward, and not remembering what the next holiday was (New Years) so I ended up sounding like this:

"Merry Chrim---uhh...yeah."
5 seconds later
"Happy New Year!"

Close your eyes and envision with me for a sec. I guess you need to keep your eyes open to read, but after you read this post, close your eyes and imagine.

You have been done with school since Thanksgiving break. Since then, you've worked a total of 5 days...so not much going on. Then you got another week of "break" then you don't really know how often you'll be substituting when the "break" ends. So for all I know, I'll be on a break until I get a real job. no offense, substitute office. K now close your eyes and imagine. how crazy. I am going to be. you might say "that sounds nice, a long break. I really need one of those" no, you don't. too much break = broken

deck the halls with gasoline

I have been the runner up three times for teaching jobs.

I just found out about the third one and now this is my status:

Deck the halls with gasoline Falalalalalalalala
Light a match and watch it gleam Falalalalalalalala
Watch the school burn down to ashes Falalalalalalalala
Aren't you glad you played with matches? Falalalalalalalala!

When I sang it to my dad and told him it was my facebook status, his automatic, serious response was: "if the school burns down tonight, you'll be responsible! Your status will be all over the papers"

winning the hearts of the nieces and nephs

Lately I've been trying to be the aunt to my nieces an nephews that I'd want for myself. So I think back to the things I didn't like about my aunts and I have mostly good memories but the only bad memories are them telling me what to do. (as a little one, I like when they tell me what to do now.)

Well it's really hard to not tell a child what to do. Really. difficult. They aren't my kids! but the fact that I have this degree in telling chillens what to do makes it harder.

It actually works though. The less I tell them what to do the more they want to be my friend.

500 days of summer

was even better the second time.

This lady's Christmas decorations made my year

"Good news is that I truly outdid myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down:
"First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.
"Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder and almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that.
"My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Oh come on,

Really?

I drove to highland twice yesterday.
Once for the first interview
back for the second!
one of two candidates.
Exciting, right?
Wow I totally got it, right?

nope.
Want to know how I found out?
An automated email the district sends when they close a job.

The song from wedding singer, "kill me" comes to mind. with replacement words for the swear words of course. don't look it up.

I'm ok. That class had 34 kids in it anyway. I don't want that! plus this gives me OPTIONS to live outside of this place I've lived for decades! So I'm looking into that.

Something to think about.

Is loving someone like making a new horcrux where you split your soul?

Tissue alert, nerd alert

Okay I realize that the only two things I post about are a. my dad or b. schoolish/kids stuff.

But those are the only interesting parts of my life so once I get more interesting things I'll talk about those things too. mmk?

a few years ago, as far as I can remember, there hasn't been a roll of toilet paper in our house. No toilet paper, just the empty metal roller.
A friend that has never been to my house before calls behind the closed bathroom door: "I'm out of toilet paper in here!"
Me: "Just use the kleenex!"
My dad prefers kleenex.
It's cheaper.
It's harder to not go crazy; you'll never use an excess amount of kleenex.
the sound of the swish when the kleenex comes out needs to happen more often.
And I don't know what else.

When we go on vacation, you will find a box of kleenex in his suitcase to use instead of toilet paper in the hotel bathroom. Where there is already toilet paper. so it's beyond the price, surely.
here's the best part: I received the following email today, sent to my family:

subject: Tissue alert!

	Inbox		X

Van Shumway Jr

1:52 PM (3 hours ago)

If you call Craig at Day's Market (375-7960) by 2 pm Saturday, you can order a case of tissues (same as those at our house--160 count per box) for only $1.05 per box. That means your cost per tissue is only 2/3 of a penny. Minimum order is a case of 36 = $37.80 + tax, payable when product arrives in a week or two.

|

Ethan

replied, 4:20 PM (33 minutes ago)

Nerd alert!

wah

My last day was yesterday. ;(
My second graders made me a book that I will treasure for years to come.
Here are a couple excerpts.

This one is from Jacob:

"You were very good at teaching. when ye you read you did it so good. I felt like I was in the story. you are sooo cool.
love,
spencer"

here is the back of his letter:
it says "santa" with an arrow and "the bowl of jelly" pointing to his abdomen. sooo good.


One student wrote using only question marks. Like what he said is even a question. jk lol giggle giggle


They gave me hugs and/or fives on the way out.
Wah.

No update on the job...they are looking at applications right now then interviews later...I just made that up. but I know they were looking at applications yesterday.

But do you realize what position I am in?
I will graduate. on the 18th. no matter what. There is nothing I could or couldn't do to prevent it. besides dying. which is something I've considered. that's a lie.

So I am sitting around today. And if I want I can just sit around the rest of my life! Cool. Great thing to think about. Nah I'll get a job (using my degree) and pay off all my debt. Then I'll spend whatever extra money I make on travel. Then when I decide to actually save money, I will. That's my plan.

cookies left on my doorstep

There was a plate of cookies with a note in my bathroom when I woke up. My dad typed up a label, pasted it to a post-it note, then put the post-it note on the note. It says "Left on doorstep last night. Has male-idiot written all over it." My dad rocks. I found more pleasure in his note than the cookies and the anonymous one-page sweet note. And I knew right off it was not from a male-idiot, i'd recognize that calligraphy handwriting anywhere. my friend roxanne. which makes this even better. because my dad totally dissed my friend.

Love you roxanne, thanks for the anonymous note and cookies.
Love you dad, thanks for looking out for me. For taking the time to type up a label to remind me that I deserve more than male-idiots in my life.