Goodbyes are the WORST!

Baby brother left this morning.

I've been crying about it since Saturday night.

Ignore me in the background - it's a good shot of Andrew

Curbside drop off at the MTC sounds cruel, but it's actually probably better than the more dramatic alternative (I've had nightmares of the dreaded "Missionaries exit to the left, everyone else to the right" scenario).

I miss him. I feel dramatically, violently sad about the prospects of coming home to a house without him in it.

BUT I have to be thankful. I know this is good for him. I know our family will be blessed. I know there are Russians out there who need him more than I do. I know that in the grand scheme of things, two years is a trivial amount of time.

Still, I cry. I'm crying.

Exactly how long am I allowed to mourn his absence before it becomes pathetic?

Letdown

The imagination of a child is an interesting thing.

Not surprisingly, as a kid (and also as a 20-year-old) I tend(ed) to jump to dramatic conclusions. When I was a small child I was told that dinosaurs were really big. Well, I knew about some big things. The ceiling is big, the roof of my house is even bigger, and the mountain are even bigger than THAT!! (for reference, I grew up about 2 miles away from the mouth of American Fork Canyon - so I know my mountains)

Little Melissa had high (pun) hopes for these dinosaurs. Teachers would describe them as huge, monstrous, even. What a delight.

My hopes were crushed when I went to my first dinosaur museum. I think I was Kindergarten age, perhaps pre-school. I walked in the building, and, WHAT? I was shocked. It wasn't that the idea of bones/skeletons scared me - whatevs, I can deal with that, but they were disturbing in the sense that they could be housed in a building. That is the worst thing I've ever heard of! They are supposed to be big! How can they fit them in a BUILDING??

I came home and shared my disappointments with my mom. She reassured me that dinosaurs were still big, even if they weren't as big as I had thought. I distinctly remember telling her that I thought they were so big that,

"Their toenails were the size of a mountain!"

That would be super impressive. And as much as I love dinosaurs...

^proof

... I still feel a little resentment toward them because their toenails are so much smaller than mountains.

What a bummer.

What kind of things have YOU been disappointed about? Please do share. I'm interested in hearing about other people's hopes being dashed.

Compliment

The other day someone gave me what is probably the best compliment I've ever ever EVER received.

Said he, "You have proven to be a Hermione of information so I have come again to learn at your time turning feet."

Isn't that fantastic??

Meow.

I've been really into themed holiday presents lately (as in... since this past Christmas).

For Valentine's Day this year, I decided to go with cat puns. Now there's an area I know a lot about!!

Something I don't know a lot about? The United States Postal Service. I was sure to make my post cards regulation postcard size, but apparently because I oriented the address line a certain way... they were not normal postcards. So the first batch I made was sent back to me with the instructions to add more postage. Boo. Anyway - they will be re-sent and hopefully will make it out to the recipients only 1 or 2 days late.

Here they are! I worked very hard on them. I came up with the phrases all on my own, and designed them myself on my makeshift photoshop program (aka Microsoft Word. I'm so cool).

Which one is your favorite?

My favorite is probably the last one. "Meowtastic"? That's not even a pun! It's just an inappropriate insertion of the word "meow" in an unsuspecting adjective! Love it.

Look Alikes

Have you ever seen this website? It's pretty great. Like most meme websites, you have to sift through a lot of mediocrity to find the gems, but they're there. Oh boy, they're there.

I have one of my own to add.

Hillary Swank totally looks like a female Klingon officer.

I will just spew a bunch of pictures forth to prove my point:

There. Can you tell which ones are Hilary Swank and which ones are Klingon Warriorettes?

Probably not.

Just something to think about.

*Bonus picture* Remember these and how much they crack me up?

Yeah, well, behold:

Guess I'm not the only one who's not convinced she's an actual human.

List #2: Old Soul

I am an 80-year old woman, and I have evidence to support this enormous claim.

1) I love cats. Too, too much. If I could afford to build a huge cat ranch like this guy I would, and I would play with cats all day long.

2) I am a crafty lady. I can crochet, embroider, and sew like nobody's business. I am not the best at knitting (which is a point AGAINST my case) but I believe the others more than make up for this.

3) I love the word "shenanigans"

4) I think young people need to be more respectful of their elders

5) I think most music these days is riff-raff, and I am always telling people to turn the volume down.

6) I complain about back problems.

7) On any given day, there is a 90% percent chance that I am wearing either a sweater or a cardigan.

8) I love vegetables, especially broccoli and asparagus. Last week there were 4 days in a row where I had broccoli with my lunch AND dinner. Not sure if this one is super connected with being an old person, but it feels good to get it off my chest.

9) I douse myself in bright, flowery perfume every chance I get.

I'm caving

Yesterday a certain commercial went viral on youtube. I really enjoyed it, and it might have brought a teensy weensy tear to my eye.

You might have thought it was about Disneyland, or maybe kittens.

You would be wrong.

It prominently features a CHILD. Yes, a child. Nevertheless, I thought it was very well done, and now I would like to buy a Passat, please.

Perhaps the reason I can stand it because you don't ever actually see the kid's face.

What does that say about me? I actually prefer Darth Vadar to children? The answer, my friends, is yes. Why? I have 3 words for you: James Earl Jones.

P.S. Thanks to my pretty friend Gretchen for giving me the idea to post a favorite youtube video today!