The Quintessential Query Queen

Enter your choice, Airie…..

And thus it has begun, finally. It has now been about 4 weeks since the dreaded CONVERSION, and I have finally used DIAD for real, for the first time. Yeah, real thrilling. It’s actually not too bad, but since we’re changing all our processes, people are looking for any excuse to unload responsibility. People in the building I’ve never even met before are now giving me their stuff to do. Apparently, anyone can claim that a problem should be handled by Queries. (I still say Rejections, btw). Anyway, it’s become an interesting study in human nature as I receive more and more things to do. If it can somehow be correlated to the phrase “this needs fixing,” it lands on my desk. Ah, well. We can’t all. We’ve been coming up with some fun acronyms for DIAD. Here’s a few:
Don’t Inquire Again, Dummy
Delicious Inconvenience And Drudgery
Did I Appreciate DOS?
Do Invertebrates Agonize Daily?
I invite you all to submit your own if you wish. It’s kinda fun. ;)

A Most Humble Ode to KSL Classifieds

So in the last 3 days, our lives have changed dramatically. That's right, my friends. No more hand-washing dishes. No more mooching off Autumn for laundry service. This post is an expression of undying love for ksl.com classifieds. Though craigslist is a fine friend, ksl really came through for us this time. For $150 (total) we now have a functioning washer, dryer and portable dishwasher. Oh my yes!! Here's a pic (not ours specifically, but it looks just like it) of our new dishwasher. I used it yesterday, and it was one of the single most thrilling moments of my life when I opened it up to find all my dishes sparkling clean and I didn't lift a finger! Ah, the wonders of modern technologies. My life has changed so much!!!

La Casa Nueva!

Howdy! Just a quick little post to announce that we are moving this week! YEAH!! We found a cute little apartment in a little red brick house just a few blocks from here. (815 W. 300 S. Google it and you can get a great street view.) We're very excited about the new place (not so much about the move, ha ha). We like that we have big wide windows and a huge basement room below us for storage and laundry. Speaking of which, if anyone knows of a cheap washer & dryer available, let us know! We're in the market! We're planning on getting moved in by this Saturday. YEAH!

Trip to Portland!!

So Abram is finally home!!! HAZAH! We spent a delicious four days in beautiful Portland. The weather was nice and cool compared to Utah and we had a great many adventures!

Day 1: We slept in :) and later went to see a movie with Barlow (Abram’s brother). We saw WALL-E. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! A MUST MUST see if I do say so myself. I won’t say anything to spoil it. But go see it!! We then went to go and watch fireworks with the Barkers and their neighbors. Quoth the Talmage: “WOW!” It was good fun.

Day 2: Portland. Abram and I went downtown to Powell’s first (as you can see, we’re keeping our priorities straight.). We picked up the newest Pulitzer for Fiction: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, which I’m very exited to read. It’s about a Dominican kid in New Jersey. :) We also picked up Guys and Dolls a series of short stories by Damon Runyon that the musical was based on. They are delightful!

Powell’s was followed by a now traditional trip around the corner to Sushi Land where we enjoyed some good sushi, miso soup and edame (soy beans), which has become, interestingly enough, one of my favorites.

Then we went up to the fabulous Portland Rose Garden. I have a slight addiction to taking flower close-up shots. I won’t tell you how many I took overall, but here are a few of my favorites:

Then it was up the hill to a very peaceful and relaxing visit to the Japanese Garden. I think I liked the koi pond with huge irises and the rock garden the best. Here’s some pics of the Japanese garden:

Day 3: We went to church with Barlow, and then spent the evening with Briton, Robin, Talmage and Sydney. I’m hating myself for forgetting the camera!! But I think Robin took a few. She made a fab-oo roast for dinner and we ate peas from the garden and some amazing rolls. Then we played with bubbles on the back porch and read some fun car (and other topics) books. FUN!!!

Day 4: Gooney-ville!!!! (aka Astoria) We drove up to the tippy top of Oregon to Astoria. I'm not sure if they filmed the movie there. Perhaps the town stuff, because it looked a lot like it, but the beach stuff I think was filmed on Cannon Beach. Anyway, we visited the Maritime Museum, the Column (lighthouse) and went to the shore of the Columbia at a place called Steven's Point. My favorite part (as you will see from the following photos), was the big gun...hehehe.

So we had a fabulous time (and a long drive home yesterday). And even though it’s not so fun to be back at work, it IS great to finally have Abram home again!

The Fruits of My Labors: What happens when DIAD doesn't work.

So, we've been experiencing some major hickups in our new old system. Hooray! Not really. But it's means coming in and having not so much to do. So what have we been up to this morning? Well, we discovered a fun little website that you can check out if you want. Here are some of my creations:

Ta-dah!!! I'll bet you can guess who is being protrayed in each of these little nuggets. You can try it out for yourself if you'd like: http://www.sp-studio.de/. Don't tell the boss (who isn't even here today!) "She's a gem, Banister. She's unbelievable!"