This is another one of those throw-away posts where I try to make sure I get my weekly post in, but I don't have a lot of time, so it's short and not very meaningful.
Anyway, I've been remembering that when I was six years old, we had little leprechaun cut outs. One of them had a shamrock that said "Erin Go Bragh" on it. Since I was only in kindergarten, I figured that was him telling a boy named Aaron to go brag. Even at six, I think I realized such a thing didn't make sense, especially coming from a leprechaun.
My mom told me it meant "Ireland Forever." I'm not sure how she knew that, because this was before the Internet was a thing.
(I was excited and confused when we went into a fabric store and it had very similar leprechauns in the windows.)
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Meeting a murder victim
While most of these blog posts are frivolous and even amusing, here is a memory that is shocking and sad.
On February 22, 2008, I recorded in my mission journal, "We contacted a less-active, smoking, former pothead young person."
I don't remember a whole lot about that visit. We were looking for people we didn't know on our ward list, and there were several at that address. I think it was a yellow house. The only person home was one Tanner, who was very friendly and let us come in and chat. He hadn't been to church in a long time; I think he was a prospective elder, meaning he had been ordained to an Aaronic priesthood office but not beyond. He was very friendly, and I think he told us that we could come back some time. I don't think he was interested in church, but he was fine with us visiting.
On March 1, I was on an exchange, meaning I was in my area with a different missionary. I was driving around a neighborhood, and my temporary companion noted that there were news cameras and lots of flowers in the yard of the house we were passing. I was just focused on driving and getting around the traffic, so I didn't really pay attention to where we were.
Then that evening, we had dinner at our bishop's house. We had reported the previous Sunday about our visit with Tanner, and our bishop told us that he had been murdered! He and his girlfriend had been murdered by another man, who then tried to burn the house down. The firefighters had discovered the bodies.
It was quite shocking, of course, and sad. Tanner had seemed like a nice young man with a great potential. As my journal entry indicates, he was apparently overcoming drugs. That night I met up with my companion again and he was shocked.
In the ensuing days, there was discussion about his funeral, since he lived in our ward. His mom didn't want anything religious at all for the funeral, while his dad, who lived someplace else, still attended church, as I believe Tanner had told us. Thus it was hard for his dad.
Another missionary in our district knew someone who had been a firefighter or a detective or something, and he told us that the murderer had stabbed the two together with a samurai sword. Turns out that wasn't entirely true, but it was close. He also said that they found the murderer because he left a bloody handprint on the wall. I can't confirm the veracity of that.
I'm not sure what got me remembering that incident this week. You can read some of the articles here and here.
On February 22, 2008, I recorded in my mission journal, "We contacted a less-active, smoking, former pothead young person."
I don't remember a whole lot about that visit. We were looking for people we didn't know on our ward list, and there were several at that address. I think it was a yellow house. The only person home was one Tanner, who was very friendly and let us come in and chat. He hadn't been to church in a long time; I think he was a prospective elder, meaning he had been ordained to an Aaronic priesthood office but not beyond. He was very friendly, and I think he told us that we could come back some time. I don't think he was interested in church, but he was fine with us visiting.
On March 1, I was on an exchange, meaning I was in my area with a different missionary. I was driving around a neighborhood, and my temporary companion noted that there were news cameras and lots of flowers in the yard of the house we were passing. I was just focused on driving and getting around the traffic, so I didn't really pay attention to where we were.
Then that evening, we had dinner at our bishop's house. We had reported the previous Sunday about our visit with Tanner, and our bishop told us that he had been murdered! He and his girlfriend had been murdered by another man, who then tried to burn the house down. The firefighters had discovered the bodies.
It was quite shocking, of course, and sad. Tanner had seemed like a nice young man with a great potential. As my journal entry indicates, he was apparently overcoming drugs. That night I met up with my companion again and he was shocked.
In the ensuing days, there was discussion about his funeral, since he lived in our ward. His mom didn't want anything religious at all for the funeral, while his dad, who lived someplace else, still attended church, as I believe Tanner had told us. Thus it was hard for his dad.
Another missionary in our district knew someone who had been a firefighter or a detective or something, and he told us that the murderer had stabbed the two together with a samurai sword. Turns out that wasn't entirely true, but it was close. He also said that they found the murderer because he left a bloody handprint on the wall. I can't confirm the veracity of that.
I'm not sure what got me remembering that incident this week. You can read some of the articles here and here.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
This shirt
Last week I found this shirt in a tote in our garage, so I posted this picture on social media:
It got me thinking about what I remember about the little shirt.
I can vaguely remember getting these pictures taken at the main room at Kids Klub, the daycare/preschool my mom worked at. My mom says I was three when it was taken.
I remember wearing this shirt at my grandparents' old house and someone commenting on it.
In fourth grade, we had to bring pictures of ourselves as babies and guess whose was whose. I took one of the pictures from this photo shoot, while most of my classmates brought actual baby pictures, and I was disappointed that everyone recognized me. (One boy in one of the other classes brought a picture of himself in the tub, so the teacher had to put up a sticker that said "No peeking.")
Then in fifth grade, I obviously could no longer wear the shirt, so I remember discussing making it into a quilt. But now I don't want it as a quilt, because that could destroy it, and the tiny shirt is adorable for its size.
Now I have to decide what to do with it, because I feel bad just putting it back in a tote in the garage.
(In case you couldn't tell, this post was made just so that I wouldn't miss posting this week.)
It got me thinking about what I remember about the little shirt.
I can vaguely remember getting these pictures taken at the main room at Kids Klub, the daycare/preschool my mom worked at. My mom says I was three when it was taken.
I remember wearing this shirt at my grandparents' old house and someone commenting on it.
In fourth grade, we had to bring pictures of ourselves as babies and guess whose was whose. I took one of the pictures from this photo shoot, while most of my classmates brought actual baby pictures, and I was disappointed that everyone recognized me. (One boy in one of the other classes brought a picture of himself in the tub, so the teacher had to put up a sticker that said "No peeking.")
Then in fifth grade, I obviously could no longer wear the shirt, so I remember discussing making it into a quilt. But now I don't want it as a quilt, because that could destroy it, and the tiny shirt is adorable for its size.
Now I have to decide what to do with it, because I feel bad just putting it back in a tote in the garage.
(In case you couldn't tell, this post was made just so that I wouldn't miss posting this week.)
Friday, February 5, 2016
A history of my seasonal eating habits
People are often intrigued when they learn that I only eat seasonal desserts and candies, and it leads them to ask a few questions.
One of them is "Why?" Well, it started out as a health thing, but today I view it as both a health thing and simply a fun thing. I like living my life this way.
Another question is "How long have you been doing this?" This question is harder to answer, because it has gone through changes throughout the years. This blog will attempt to show some of the ways this habit has evolved and note some key events. Through the years, it has gotten stricter, less complicated, and more enjoyable.
The idea started in 2003, when I read a Reader's Digest article that said that you shouldn't diet at Christmastime, because then you will think, "Oh, it's Christmas, so I can splurge," and it ends up backfiring. (You have to understand that I was always overweight and obese growing up, so this was something I needed to be concerned about.)
Well, somehow I morphed that into my first prototype. I could only eat one each of junk food in a day. So if I went to a party, I could have a donut and a cookie, but I couldn't have two cookies. I also included potato chips, and I think crackers, in this one-only rule. (I don't remember what I did about tortilla chips, because I seem to remember eating a lot of chips and salsa.) I think it also included fruit snacks, granola bars, and other packaged snacks.
However, if a junk-food item was seasonally appropriate (usually meaning it was holiday-themed), then I could eat as much of it as I wanted. So if you presented me with a bowl of generic M&Ms, I could only eat one. But if you presented me with a bowl of red, pink, and white M&Ms in early February, I could eat handfuls. (Defining "one" was sometimes a challenge. I don't want to bore you with all the specifics of that.)
Soon after I started this rule, we had visiting relatives, and my mom made a pan of brownies. Well, I ate my brownie quota for the day, and there was the full pan of brownies, tempting me. It was then that I came up with a system that for everything I ate beyond my allotted quota, I had to do ten situps. This was not something I could do all the time, just something I could do in certain situations. I mostly used it when eating treats was unavoidable, or when I was on vacation.
This dietary pattern continued until spring break 2006. We had gone to Moab, and after doing lots of hiking, I was sure that when I got on the scale when we got home, I would have lost weight. I was shocked and disappointed when I found out that instead I had gained weight. And I realized it was due to all the unhealthy things I had eaten on the trip--lots of granola bars, minty ice cream sandwiches, and other things. So as I stood on that scale, I realized that the one-a-day rule just wasn't cutting it. I would have to cut out junk food entirely--unless it was seasonal, in which case I could eat as much as I wanted.
Now, that vow was immediately tested as our home teacher brought over a non-Eastery chocolate pie that very day. I don't remember how I handled that--whether I did the situp punishment, or whether I postponed starting my new vow, or whether I stayed strong. This was just a few days before Easter, and this presented another challenge, because once Easter is over, there are no holidays for a while.
I think when I started the zero-tolerance policy, I might have removed fruit snacks and granola bars from the junk food category, but I can't remember when that started. I know that I didn't remove chips from the forbidden list. (Today, however, chips and other savory junk foods are not forbidden; only sweet things.)
In 2007, before my mission, I had amassed a large queue of situps, so I decided that I could eat whatever I wanted and add to that queue until I cleared the queue--at which point it would be a no-tolerance policy again.
Well, I took that queue with me on my mission. I finally cleared the queue on Thanksgiving Day 2008--the day before my year mark. At that point I recommitted myself to not eating bad things. However, I wouldn't make a big deal out of it if someone plopped a dessert down in front of me (I would just add it to the queue), but if they asked me if I wanted it, I would say no.
It was at the end of 2008 that I decided that during the New Year season--December 26 through January 1--I could eat whatever I want. We had a huge pile of goodies people had given us, and that was the only way I could get through it. I have maintained the "anything goes" attitude for New Year's ever since then, for multiple reasons.
In more recent years, I have gotten stricter. I have returned fruit snacks and most (not all) granola bars to the forbidden list, and I no longer justify eating treats to prevent them from being thrown away (most of the time).
In the summer of 2011, I experimented with eating ice cream during the summer months. (Only popsicles and similar things are otherwise acceptable during June, July, and August.) I enjoyed eating ice cream, but it just didn't feel summery, so I cannot eat ice cream during the summer. (It has been more than a decade since I have seen patriotic ice cream. Otherwise I eat pumpkin, egg nog, red velvet, and mint ice cream--but not during the summer.)
In 2012, I began to be more open about these habits. Previously, I had mostly told it to family members and roommates, but I now bear the distinction with pride. In summer of 2012, I wrote a blog about these rules. They have evolved a little since then, but it's pretty close to how I have it now.
Also in 2012, I discontinued the practice of evoking the situp or pushup rule for eating whatever I want on vacation. Summer vacation 2012, I ate lots of candy and then did pushups or situps when I got home, but by the time of my Death Valley field trip in November or my Christmas California trip that year, I was living the same rules on vacation as I was at home. (2012 was truly a seminal year for me.)
In 2013, I finally felt these efforts pay off. On Easter, I felt a little sick after eating lots of candy, and in September, after a long dearth of seasonal goodies, I literally could not finish a piece of pumpkin cake in one setting. Years of only eating seasonal things had lowered my tolerance for sugar. I still can eat a lot of sugar, but I can't do so infinitely (like I think I could at one point).
Today, I prefer unique flavors in seasonal items. I will still eat things that simply have a seasonal shape or color, but I prioritize those with unique flavors, and this has become increasingly easy and enjoyable. In the past few years especially, there's been an abundance of products with seasonal flavors throughout the year: Oreos, M&Ms, Pop-Tarts, Dairy Queen Blizzards, Pizza Pie Cafe dessert pizza of the month, various chocolates, even candy corn. It's a wonderful time to be me!
I didn't want to get into the little details here, so if you have any questions, just ask. :)
One of them is "Why?" Well, it started out as a health thing, but today I view it as both a health thing and simply a fun thing. I like living my life this way.
Another question is "How long have you been doing this?" This question is harder to answer, because it has gone through changes throughout the years. This blog will attempt to show some of the ways this habit has evolved and note some key events. Through the years, it has gotten stricter, less complicated, and more enjoyable.
The idea started in 2003, when I read a Reader's Digest article that said that you shouldn't diet at Christmastime, because then you will think, "Oh, it's Christmas, so I can splurge," and it ends up backfiring. (You have to understand that I was always overweight and obese growing up, so this was something I needed to be concerned about.)
Well, somehow I morphed that into my first prototype. I could only eat one each of junk food in a day. So if I went to a party, I could have a donut and a cookie, but I couldn't have two cookies. I also included potato chips, and I think crackers, in this one-only rule. (I don't remember what I did about tortilla chips, because I seem to remember eating a lot of chips and salsa.) I think it also included fruit snacks, granola bars, and other packaged snacks.
However, if a junk-food item was seasonally appropriate (usually meaning it was holiday-themed), then I could eat as much of it as I wanted. So if you presented me with a bowl of generic M&Ms, I could only eat one. But if you presented me with a bowl of red, pink, and white M&Ms in early February, I could eat handfuls. (Defining "one" was sometimes a challenge. I don't want to bore you with all the specifics of that.)
Soon after I started this rule, we had visiting relatives, and my mom made a pan of brownies. Well, I ate my brownie quota for the day, and there was the full pan of brownies, tempting me. It was then that I came up with a system that for everything I ate beyond my allotted quota, I had to do ten situps. This was not something I could do all the time, just something I could do in certain situations. I mostly used it when eating treats was unavoidable, or when I was on vacation.
This dietary pattern continued until spring break 2006. We had gone to Moab, and after doing lots of hiking, I was sure that when I got on the scale when we got home, I would have lost weight. I was shocked and disappointed when I found out that instead I had gained weight. And I realized it was due to all the unhealthy things I had eaten on the trip--lots of granola bars, minty ice cream sandwiches, and other things. So as I stood on that scale, I realized that the one-a-day rule just wasn't cutting it. I would have to cut out junk food entirely--unless it was seasonal, in which case I could eat as much as I wanted.
Now, that vow was immediately tested as our home teacher brought over a non-Eastery chocolate pie that very day. I don't remember how I handled that--whether I did the situp punishment, or whether I postponed starting my new vow, or whether I stayed strong. This was just a few days before Easter, and this presented another challenge, because once Easter is over, there are no holidays for a while.
I think when I started the zero-tolerance policy, I might have removed fruit snacks and granola bars from the junk food category, but I can't remember when that started. I know that I didn't remove chips from the forbidden list. (Today, however, chips and other savory junk foods are not forbidden; only sweet things.)
In 2007, before my mission, I had amassed a large queue of situps, so I decided that I could eat whatever I wanted and add to that queue until I cleared the queue--at which point it would be a no-tolerance policy again.
Well, I took that queue with me on my mission. I finally cleared the queue on Thanksgiving Day 2008--the day before my year mark. At that point I recommitted myself to not eating bad things. However, I wouldn't make a big deal out of it if someone plopped a dessert down in front of me (I would just add it to the queue), but if they asked me if I wanted it, I would say no.
It was at the end of 2008 that I decided that during the New Year season--December 26 through January 1--I could eat whatever I want. We had a huge pile of goodies people had given us, and that was the only way I could get through it. I have maintained the "anything goes" attitude for New Year's ever since then, for multiple reasons.
In more recent years, I have gotten stricter. I have returned fruit snacks and most (not all) granola bars to the forbidden list, and I no longer justify eating treats to prevent them from being thrown away (most of the time).
In the summer of 2011, I experimented with eating ice cream during the summer months. (Only popsicles and similar things are otherwise acceptable during June, July, and August.) I enjoyed eating ice cream, but it just didn't feel summery, so I cannot eat ice cream during the summer. (It has been more than a decade since I have seen patriotic ice cream. Otherwise I eat pumpkin, egg nog, red velvet, and mint ice cream--but not during the summer.)
In 2012, I began to be more open about these habits. Previously, I had mostly told it to family members and roommates, but I now bear the distinction with pride. In summer of 2012, I wrote a blog about these rules. They have evolved a little since then, but it's pretty close to how I have it now.
Also in 2012, I discontinued the practice of evoking the situp or pushup rule for eating whatever I want on vacation. Summer vacation 2012, I ate lots of candy and then did pushups or situps when I got home, but by the time of my Death Valley field trip in November or my Christmas California trip that year, I was living the same rules on vacation as I was at home. (2012 was truly a seminal year for me.)
In 2013, I finally felt these efforts pay off. On Easter, I felt a little sick after eating lots of candy, and in September, after a long dearth of seasonal goodies, I literally could not finish a piece of pumpkin cake in one setting. Years of only eating seasonal things had lowered my tolerance for sugar. I still can eat a lot of sugar, but I can't do so infinitely (like I think I could at one point).
Today, I prefer unique flavors in seasonal items. I will still eat things that simply have a seasonal shape or color, but I prioritize those with unique flavors, and this has become increasingly easy and enjoyable. In the past few years especially, there's been an abundance of products with seasonal flavors throughout the year: Oreos, M&Ms, Pop-Tarts, Dairy Queen Blizzards, Pizza Pie Cafe dessert pizza of the month, various chocolates, even candy corn. It's a wonderful time to be me!
I didn't want to get into the little details here, so if you have any questions, just ask. :)
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