Blanket Paradise

Truth: I don’t exactly know what true love is. I think the closest I have come to this emotion is the way I feel about my blanket.

Some of you may be thinking this a little extreme, and maybe it is. But, if you knew my blanket you would probably feel the same way.

About 3 years ago, I started the search for the perfect down comforter. I checked most of the regular places: Bed Bath and Beyond, Mervyn's, Target, etc. You name it, and I probably looked there. Everywhere I went I was continually disappointed by the expensive, flat blankets that America had to offer. Eventually my Mom suggested we check out Ikea. What a brilliant idea. Soon after arriving in the bedding section I found it. Big and fluffy, just waiting for me to take it home, so we could start our perfect relationship.

My comforter is about 3x the size of a regular down comforter (maybe even more). Some people have described it as a gigantic pillow. I describe it as heaven. It is so perfect that no other blankets or sheets are required. During the winter it is so large and fluffy that none of the cold could ever make it in. During the summer it is light and airy allowing for airflow to reach all of the necessary places. I can’t imagine sleeping without it. When plausible, I will take it with me on my overnight adventures. It has been with me to the mountains, the river and the Wollenzien’s.

Over the years my love for it has grown to the point of being slightly possessive and a little jealous. I don’t much like it when other people come to my house and see it and decided they want to snuggle up in it. A while ago Becky and Erin were having an S.O. (sleep over) at my place. I left the room for a minute to brush my teeth and when I came back there they were snuggled up in my blanket. I guess the protective mother instinct kicked in or something, but the next thing I know we were in a full wrestling match. The 2 of them against me, I struggled so hard just so I could have my blanket back, safe in my arms where it belongs.

I love it so much that I have even contemplated telling my future husband (whoever he might be) that he will have to get his own blanket. Dave says that would be a huge red flag for any guy, so I am reconsidering.

Last night I had this dream that one of the students at the school I work at borrowed my blanket and put it in the washing machine. When she took it out it was ruined. In my dream I could feel my heart breaking. I was in that panic state where you just don’t know what to do, where the only option is tears. Fortunately, I woke up this morning warm and at peace in the comfort of my blanket. A feeling of relief flooded through my body and soul.

Right now I feel peaceful knowing that in a couple of hours I will be safe, crawling into my bed ready to spend another glorious night with my one true love.

Poems for 2 voices

As the ward talent show approaches every year I find it necessary to think of some insane yet wonderful way to impress the crowds. Because of my lack of talent in most of the performing arts it usually turns out to be something ridiculous, like a lip sync or a mock bell choir. This year I was a little stumped, no good ideas were coming at all. A couple of weeks before the show Lily and I spent a Saturday at the local used bookstore. Upon returning home we began to have a moment of "show and tell" where we each presented the treasures we had found. We each took turns displaying our books and giving reasons for why we had purchased them. Then we came to one of the books I had purchased, A Joyful Noise: Poems for 2 Voices. We decided to try the poems out; as we began it became immediately obvious that this was it. These poems would make the perfect ward talent show performance.
The talent show was a smash. Whitney and I came dressed in full beatnik attire: black turtlenecks, sunglasses, and barrettes. You know, the whole works. We brought stools and our own special lighting. After our act was announced we had the lights turned down, we came on the stage in the dark, sat down our stools and our lamp, sat down and then flipped on the lamp. We adjusted the microphone and then with out any extra talking or introduction we started our poems in unison. We started with "The Waterskeeters," then did "Waterboatman" and our last poem was "The Moth's Serenade." We made it through the set with out cracking a smile, and at the same time keeping our voices and faces as drab and serious as possible. We ended with thanking the crowd for listening to our art, picked up our stools and left. The performance was well accepted, some claimed, it was the best talent show performance they had ever seen. I was pleased that I was able to have another successful ward talent show performance under my belt.
After our debut Whitney and I began to find ourselves in situation after situation where people were requesting, that we do our poetry for them. Since then we have performed for several groups of friends, at a couple parties, a poetry reading, and at Muse Music on a Friday night at the end of a show. We've also had some people wanting to record us, one kid has tried once, but the equipment he was using was borrowed from the school and he couldn’t get the sound to work.
I am shocked at how popular our sideshow has become. I'm wondering if we should start selling our act. Maybe we could do children’s birthday parties or something like that.

strange day at work

My work day today seemed really normal, busy but normal. As the day was winding down I had one last appointment. At first the meeting was going along just like normal. We talked about all of the things you would talk about in a career counseling appointment. And then I asked why she had moved around so much growing up, just to show that I was interested. Her response was, "oh, my dad is in the circus." So nonchalant, so casual, she said it just like it was normal to have a dad in the circus. I never realized that real people were actually in the circus, and that they had children, that seemed fairly normal. I feel so lucky to have actually met someone related to a circus act.

I hesitated to add this part, because the girl was a little embarrassed about this and claimed to have never told another human soul but I'll add it because it is so awesome. Her dad actually got fired from the Barnum and Baily Circus because he locked the smallest man in the world in his trunk, because the little man was drunk, and was kicking him, so he just picked him up and stuck him in the trunk.

twinkling souls??

Today my heart broke into a million pieces. It is a long story, which you have probably already heard, so I will spare you from the details again. I sent a text to Lily asking if I would ever feel whole again and she responded, “Only if you allow your insides to twinkle until your heart heals and you can love again. It could take a while. Maybe we need to do something healing that is electronic and adventurous.”
Was I confused when I got this… Yes. Later, via telephone, Lily explained that everyone’s soul has certain things that make it twinkle and when facing heartache it is best to fill your soul with those things, and it will eventually lead to healing.
I agree.
So I have decided to start listing the things that make my soul “twinkle” or vibrate (as that one kid in fast and testimony meeting said). I am just going to do 10 for today.
1. night time tandem bicycle rides
2. dancing, dancing and dancing
3. fish tacos from Rubio's
4. the stars
5. The Green River and Southern Utah
6. magic and witches and magical witches
7. poetry for 2 voices
8. quiet time with roommates and friends
9. reading (mostly books written for kids that are filled with beautiful language)
10. finding out someone is your soul mate
Strangely enough stopping at 10 was quite difficult for me.