Insert "The Godfather" soundtrack here...

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse..." -Don Corleone

Okay, so I didn't quite make it to Sicily, but I still had a "Godfather" moment on my brief stint in Italy today.  As I got out of the car at Lake Como, I saw two guys in their finest duds walking by.  One was wearing a blue pinstriped suit, and the other a black suit with a matching hat.  I immediately had a vision of these two heading to some restaurant to meet their cronies, and a violent shoot-out occurring just after the veal arrives at the table (too much Hollywood influence you say?).

My impressions of Italy are thus...

From a distance, it is gorgeous, a beauty you cannot properly capture on film (or in my case, on memory card).

Up close however, things are a bit different, things are pretty dirty, graffittied, run-down and just kinda gross.

Not to mention!  Italian drivers are insane.  INSANE!  All those movies you've seen with cars zipping in and out, going on sidewalks, traveling at seemingly impossible speeds...it's all very very accurate.

I would like to go back someday and see some other cities...Rome, Florence, Milan (which we were actually pretty close to), Naples, Venice...you get the idea.

But for now, I have the work of Nino Rota to remind me of Italia.

Buy it by the kg

If you are a cheese connoisseur, I recommend that you locate and try Raclette.  It is a delightful, light cheese with a robust flavor...I prefer the smoked raclette myself, but I tend to like smoky cheeses and realize not everyone shares my tastes....poor them.

Because really, it's great!

The brown stuff

When given the choice of Chocolate or Vanilla, I will go with Vanilla.
If I want something sweet, I will generally go for something fruity over something chocolatey.
So why is it that my suitcase is now practically overflowing with chocolate???

Sail Away

My niece LOVES Enya.

If you have never seen a 3 year old sing and dance to Enya, you are seriously missing out.

Do you hear the people sing?

You know those times when you're sitting in church, and you just can't seem to grasp anything?  It's almost as if the speakers are talking in some foreign language that you can't understand! (You can see where I'm going with this can't you?)

Church amongst the Swiss is something I have done before, so I wasn't completely thrown for a loop (and the fact that LDS church practices don't differ much no matter where you are helps too).  I was able to follow the Sacrament prayers thanks to having memorized them over my 25 years of church attendance.  One of the things I had a hard time with was the hymns.  I love singing the hymns, and have many of them memorized, though when everyone around you is singing in German, and you don't have an English hymnbook, it can lead to either: (A) Humming along with the hymns  (B) Attempting to sing in German--I don't recommend this option, it leads to the butchering of a language  or (C) Mixing up the verses you know in English because you are unsure of which verse comes next--this is generally the most used option next to (A).

I'm sure there were a few people chuckling at my sorry attempts at singing, but I wasn't about to just sit there, I think people look silly if they don't sing during the hymns....yep, the truth is out!  If you're one of those people who keep your mouth shut while everyone else is singing, I think you look a bit ridiculous...I hope you can live with that...or that you'll start singing...one or the other.

Architectural Digest

If it's old, crumbling and was once inhabited, chances are, I'm going to like it.

I hope to get my fill of old buildings, castles and ruins while in Switzerland.  I have already been to one castle, and was thoroughly enthralled.  All I can say is that I had better marry someone who can either share in my love of architecture and history, or someone who can be content with the fact that I could be happy just walking around looking at old buildings.

Basically Bacteria

Quark, where have you been all my life, and why must you live so far away?

No, Quark is not the name of some deliciously handsome Swiss man I intend on smuggling home in my suitcase.  Quark is....better (Face it, I don't speak German, ultimately, any relationship would be doomed from the get-go).

Quark is like yogurt, but thicker and more delicious.

If you know me well, you know that one of my basic food groups is Yogurt, therefore it stands to reason that I would love a land that specializes in yogurt.  The Swiss have turned yogurt into an art form (though some types of art are....questionable).  I do not recommend Buffalo yogurt or Sheep yogurt,  Hazelnut yogurt leaves much to be desired, and I am pretty sure I would not like Chocolate yogurt so I haven't even tried it, but I love the Pomegranate-Cranberry (I think it may be my favorite).

Whoop-de-doos and Whirly-woos

My twin nieces, Nicolyn and Clara love clothes.  Clothes and shoes.  They could spend all day trying them on, talking about them and chewing on them.  Yeah...they're only 2.  They specialize in obscure clothing combinations, for instance, Clara is currently sporting a delightful ensemble featuring a frilly purple top, which clashes perfectly with her orange and yellow hairbow, an adorable red skirt sits atop a brown flowered skirt that is accentuated by the rainbow-striped pajama pants underneath it (they are of course inside-out), which are made even better by the white pajama pants with hearts on top of them, and not to be outdone by the blue pajama pants with puppies on them on top of those and if you think it is impossible to get another pair of pants on after that, you are sorely mistaken, because this gal also sported a pair of brown pants to even the whole thing out and at any given time she can have a variety of colored socks on, though she is entitled to pull them off at any moment, and her shoes vary depending on her mood.  I wish I could get away with wearing things like that....but alas, I am a little too conservative in my tastes in comparison.

The dynamic duo also have this fantastic daredevil streak running through them.  They dive off of furniture (with or without a pile of pillows in their landing area), climb up and down the double stroller (sometimes swinging from the handle like monkeys), in their opinion, the higher, the better.

They're kinda crazy, but I secretly love it.  Well...not so secretly.

The Second Time Around

You may have heard that I'm in Switzerland again.  Not quite sure who spilled the beans on that one....oh wait...that was me.  Nevermind.

Anyway, some of you may know that I suffer from motion sickness.  And when I say suffer, I mean suffer. My last go around with international travel didn't end too happily for my constitution by the time I reached Amsterdam, and when I reached Zurich, I looked and felt positively dreadful.

Though I had (and used) copious amounts of nausea medication on my last trip, I was much more successful with my drug combinations this time.  A couple doses of Bonine, some ginger, and sleeping pills and I was good to go!  So though I did still get uncomfortable with the travel, I was able to keep my wits about me (read: I didn't vomit).

I don't know why I started with the gross stuff, I'm sure none of you want to read about the fact that I don't travel well, but there you have it.

Anyway, after our first flight, the mother and I arrived in Chicago only to find out that our next flight to Toronto was...CANCELLED! Uh oh.  But did we freak out?  Did we lose our cool?  Absolutely not!  Classy broads do not, under any circumstances lose their cool...we are always calm and collected (even when we're nauseous).  So we made our way to the AirCanada counter where this nice young chap, we'll call him Michael (because I think that actually was his name), got us on a direct flight to Zurich and had our luggage moved accordingly, thus saving us the annoying task of collecting it and moving it ourselves.

From there, we went to the SwissAir counter to get our actual tickets taken care of.  The lady at the counter (she doesn't get a name) was less than fun.  She made a big to-do about our carry-on luggage being too big and too heavy (I love how domestic and international standards are different....not really) and how because we already had 2 checked bags apiece, we would most likely be charged in excess of up to $500 for everything.  Remember how Classy Broads don't lose their cool?  I had to remind myself of that fact a couple times...  Anyway, because she was such a "nice" individual, she didn't charge us anything extra and checked our carry-ons for us.

And thus began the long flight, or as I like to refer to it, The Time Adjustment Phase.  I didn't want to arrive in Switzerland and need 2 days to recover and adjust to the time difference (of course this time I wouldn't have cranky babies waking up at extremely odd hours either).

So here we are, in the land of cheese, chocolate, bank accounts and knives!  And apparently I have some ancestors from here too...guess it's meant to be.

Domo Arigato

So remember when I said I had submitted my paper, and they had a good laugh at it and told me to redo it?  Well, I did redo it, and it turned out to be a pretty nice paper...with the exception that they didn't like the visual aid I used, and was told in no uncertain terms to redo that as well.  So, with the third time being a charm, after much painstaking (and tedious) work, they accepted my last ditch attempt at the sucker.

Then I went on to record myself reading it.  I hate recording myself, but I loathe watching myself afterward (over and over and over to make sure it was right).  I move my head too much when I talk, I flip my hair, I screw up my face and make exasperated noises when I mess up, and I really, really hate how the rest of the world hears my voice.

BUT...

I did it.  I recorded it and put it on the computer to edit everything together only to find out that...Bosco is giving me attitude and won't let me do anything.  I can't edit my segments together, and I can't convert them into an acceptable form to put them into another editing program.  Awesome.

LUCKILY...
I have a fabulous roommate who works for the church in the Audio Production department...meaning...she has access to handy dandy computers (and the boys who use them) and can convert the files for me while she's at work.  Yay!

So after a busy day at work, and a brief showing at FHE (thanks to Janiece for spearheading that one for us!), I went home to tackle the task at hand.  I edited everything the way I (sort of) wanted to, and then went to upload it to TaskStream (the program my school uses to submit online projects) and......nothing.  It wouldn't load.  At all.

GAH! Muttering and cursing! (yes, I know you taught me better than to curse, mom....sorry)

Again, Shannon came to my rescue (because I know virtually nothing about computers--which is one reason I could use a man in my life...though there are other, better reasons too) and after an hour and a half of frustration, I was able to submit everything.

All I have to say is...if they send it back saying it needs more work, I may break something.

Giving up

For Lent, I am giving up Apartment Hunting.

Why?

Because I hate it...it's long, boring, sometimes smelly, and most importantly of all.....Kelly and I already found one.

Ooh!  Look at that!  I totally got ya!  You completely fell for my sly little joke!

I'm lame.  I know.  Embrace it, it's what I did, and it has made all the difference.


Anyway, back to the point.  Yes, Kelly and I have indeed found an apartment.  It is located in West Murray, or as some people prefer to call it, "Taylorsville".  It is mere minutes from work, and has easy access to the freeway, which is also nice.  It becomes available whilst I am in Switzerland, so we will be moving things in starting when I get back at the beginning of April.  In preparation, I have been packing boxes and giving myself injuries, buying new things and frantically calling people with trucks when I realize I can't fit them into Kelly's car (Thanks again Paul!).  There is still a lot of packing to do, and I know I need to get the bulk of it done within the next week, which is slightly stressful, but hopefully very doable.

Lots of short sentences.

I snowshoed to the bus stop this morning.  And when I say "snowshoed", I mean that there was snow...and I was wearing shoes...and I got SOAKED!

Upon reaching said bus stop, I decided to wake up my mother with a phone call (sorry mom!) to see how she was doing after having dental work done yesterday...I am not envious in the least bit...especially since I have a tooth I am worried about.

For Laura's birthday, we went to The Cheesecake Factory, a place I have never been to before today (which, considering my adoration of cheesecake is surprising, but upon seeing their prices....was completely understandable).  I ordered the Spicy Chicken Chipotle pasta which was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.!  and they have fabulous bread too! And the cheesecake....? Kill. me. now.  No, really, do it.  I shouldn't have eaten it, but I did.  It called my name and I submitted....so worth it.

I also got my results for the task I submitted last night.  Basically, they said "Silly girl, let's try that one again".  So I did.  And I just resent it.  Hopefully they like this version better, because I do.  And I don't want to have to write it again.

Omniscience

 Tomorrow, I will be treated to lunch by one of the Provosts for a friends birthday, and hopefully get the results of the first half of my class assignment.

1 week from tomorrow, I will be done with my last class of the semester!  I will also be in the middle of having big wigs walking around work which means I need to dress up..hopefully the weather cooperates, skirts and snow boots don't look very nice together.

2 weeks from tomorrow, I will be on a plane (or 3) heading to Switzerland!

3 weeks from tomorrow, I will have been in Switzerland for almost a week, and will have long forgotten about how horrible the flight was and how sick I got (yes, I can accurately predict this).

4 weeks from tomorrow, I will have returned from Switzerland and will be back at work picking up the pieces from the giant mess created in my absence (yes, I can accurately predict this also).

5 weeks from tomorrow, I will be crying if we haven't found a new apartment by then, and rejoicing if we have.

That's as far ahead as I dare look, the crystal ball tends to get a bit fuzzy past 5 weeks, and I'd hate to chance any misguided predictions.

Livin' on a Prayer

I'm halfway there!  Unfortunately Bon Jovi isn't with me though...

I am halfway done with the class I have been avoiding/dreading/putting off for the past 6 months.  I hate writing.  Ironic when you consider the method in which this blog is formed, no?  But that is different writing.  I can write til the cows come home if I can BS my way through it, but there was no room (ok, very little room) for BS in the research paper I had to write...and still have to perform orally.

The last research paper I wrote was back in 2004, and if I'm not very much mistaken, I wrote it the night before it was due, and I only used quotes from the overviews of books (since I couldn't be bothered to waste any time actually reading anything).  Alas, I couldn't find that fabulous piece of work (probably because I was the idiot kid who didn't believe in saving anything....now I save EVERYTHING) and just reuse it for my presentation...which is totally legit for this class, would have made things so much easier.

But no, no such luck for Lisa.  I started researching my topic back in October...ultimately I didn't use any of that research in my final product aside from my thesis.  I put it off and finished 2 other classes, but eventually this silly class reared it's ugly head once more, and I proceeded to ignore it.

Well, it's time to pay the piper.  I have to have everything submitted by the 15th at the latest, so I sat down and finished it tonight (I have been working on it periodically, so it's not like I completely ignored it, just enough to feel guilty whenever my mentor called me).

So, soon I will hear back about whether or not my information was good enough and then I'll go from there.

My room is depressing

I have a fortress of liquor boxes in my room.  It partially blocks my door so you can't open it all the way.  The boxes are full of books, CD's, pictures, scarves (which now that it's snowing again I will have to open and remove), knick knacks and everything that was previously in my nightstand.

We haven't even found a place to live yet and there are boxes stacked on the desk full of DVD's, encyclopedias and games.

I always seem to forget just how much "stuff" I have until I have to move it...and magically, there is always more with each move...no matter how much I throw away during the moving process.

But really, why am I spreading out the packing over 2 months?  Because I know myself.  I know that with all the things I have going on, the last thing I will want to do with my final 2 weeks before moving is packing.  I know that unless the boxes sit in my bedroom taunting me with every glance in their direction, I wouldn't pack a single thing.

So there they sit.  And there they mock.

But I will have the last laugh....someday.

Maja' Weepa'

So, growing up, I always thought that those girls who cried during movies were so silly.  I mean really, it's a movie!  I never teared up when Bambi's mom got shot, or bawled when Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr reunited in "An Affair to Remember", I never got emotional about E.T., and Titanic never sent me over the edge.  Then again, I never watched "Old Yeller" as a kid...maybe that's what I was missing.

But now....

I am a MAJOR WEEPER!  It's awful!

I mean, there are movies where it's okay to cry, even healthy..."Schindler's List", "Life is Beautiful", "The Pianist" (basically anything relating to the suffering and persevering in wartime).  Even things like "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Truman Show" (okay, that one may be a little embarrassing), and "Steel Magnolias" aren't awful to admit crying about.  Tonight, I had tears streaming (yes, actually streaming) down my face as I watched the end of "Remember Me", if you haven't seen it, and you want to be moved...watch it.

Then there are other movies where I am slightly ashamed*....so naturally, I'm going to post about it online.  :)  I'm not sure what changed within the last couple years, but whatever it is, it makes me very emotional.

"The Lion King"
"The Fox & The Hound"
"Toy Story 3"
"Finding Nemo" 
       Notice how thus far, they're all cartoons...that is a problem
"Finding Neverland"
"Fried Green Tomatoes"
"Forest Gump"
"Curly Sue"
"Mr. Holland's Opus"
"Muppet Christmas Carol"
"Pay it Forward"
"My Life"
"Frequency"
"A League of Their Own"

Frankly, there are so many others that I feel compelled to stop...mostly because I fear that the dampness dripping onto my computer could do lasting damage.  So let's recap....Lisa is a big, fat baby who cries in movies.  Yep, that about covers it!








*I am not actually ashamed of crying in ALL of these...some are legitimately worth a good cry...but some...are not.

Give it away, give it away, give it away, give it away now!

Happy March!

My month started out fairly well.  I was on the bus this morning, like normal.  Reading the Book of Mormon, like normal, when this guy sitting behind me starts up a conversation.

Guy: Is that the Bible?
Moi: No, it's not...
Guy: Oh, cuz it looks like the Bible, I see a lot of people around here reading the Bible.
Moi: It's actually the Book of Mormon
Guy: Oh.  (pause) So are you Mormon?
Moi: Yes, yes I am.
Guy: Cool, I'm just getting into religion myself.

From there, we got into a conversation about religion and the Book of Mormon, during which I gave him my copy.  So, now, even though I am down 1 copy of the Book of Mormon, it felt really good to give it away.  It has been well over a decade since I have given anyone a copy of the Book of Mormon, I should do this more often.