Your life is an occasion. Rise to it. *

I had a very good, long weekend! I won't bore you with the details just the highlights...that I remember.

I made these!!!

I call them gingermuffins (you have to say it with a British accent). They are gingerbread cupcakes and they were fabulous!

I had dinner on Thursday with the family...

I went to the Temple on Saturday (it was fabulous). When I got home Mary-Carmen and her husband were here to visit. She said her daughter would take a while to warm up, but I think we have a connection. She totally gave me a hug, played with my piggy bank and pointed at the cat a lot. I have no clue what she said the whole time, but she was way fun.

Saturday night I went over to Joanna's and we made Christmas wreaths.

Sunday night I finally rearranged the furniture and put up the Christmas tree. ...it needs a little TLC...and a tree skirt. I will get one of those soon.

I don't really remember all of the rest and since I want to post something already I won't try to sit here and remember it all.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I will be making the rounds soon to read up on all the blogs!

Man I just gave your momma a piggy-back ride and she weighs twice as much as I do! *

Today I am grateful for basketball.

In the past, mostly the past month, I feel certain that I have informed you that I am not a good basketball player. Once upon a time I thought I was a good player, I had confidence and all that jazz. Playing on a real league this fall has shown me that...well, that maybe I'm not as good as I thought. It was like this when I played ball with the guys on Thursday nights...there are not many girls who can play competitively on a guys level, it's just not possible, no constitutional amendments or equal opportunity legal jargon can change this fact. It doesn't help that the extent of my basketball career was always playing low stakes ball with church girls in a cultural hall (pardon the rhyming).

Anyway, so this "season" I haven't really felt the sport, if you know what I mean. I'm more than happy to sit it out if there is someone who really wants to play (very unlike how I am with church ball when I want to play the whole game).

I tell you this because this week was different. We had two games this week, the first was Monday night and it was fun! I played the whole first half, I got a few steals, got a foul (even though I ran into the guy, they called the foul on him - I love co-ed sports), and I just felt good. We won - which always helps to boost the good feelings.

Last night I was just hoping I could feel the same way cause I liked feeling good about it instead of apathetic. I feel like I played okay, I stayed out of the way. But sometimes I felt like my upper body strength was dismal. I don't know if the passes I got were hard or if my hands are flimsy or what. We were totally beating the other team, so I didn't worry about the game and I just had fun running up and down the court and used the time to practice my defense (church ball will be starting in a month after all).

In the second half Katie (I know you're reading) called a time out when Chris R. had the ball. We walk over to her and she says, "Jessica needs to make a basket." (By the way - I haven't made a basket the whole season). I really didn't need to embarrass myself, I had already tried a shot from directly beneath the basket which had gone up and over the basket in a large arch...that's embarrassing, I didn't need more of that. But everyone who heard her agreed that I needed to. I kept insisting that I didn't need to and one person turned and said, "I'll be looking for you every time, open or not." ...yeah, we were ahead by that much. So I got a little nervous, tried to hide behind the opponents and avoid getting passed the ball. Chris passed me the ball, I put it up, and it hit the rim and fell away. At least it touched the rim. Then a few moments later the ball was in my hands again, I dribbled (which, by the way, when I dribble I picture myself looking like a 12-year-old girl learning to dribble for the first time - if you have seen this phenomenon, you know what I think of my dribbling skills), turned and put the ball up. ...the rest of the story is told through my adrenaline pumped perspective. The sound of the ball going through the net was crisp and clear. No one could hear the ball bounce against the court floor because at that same time the crowd jumped to their feet and the sound of their cheering drowned out all other sounds. This was the greatest shot in the game...(ahem - except for Clint's buzzer shot at the end of the first half. The shot that people take haphazardly, not expecting it to go in and on rare occasions it does and everyone stands in awe).

Okay - back to reality. But seriously, I heard the ball go through the net and I heard a loud, collective cheer from my team. Their little one was growing up so fast, she finally made a basket. The cheer sounded louder than the 7 people it could have possibly come from. It felt good, but despite the fact that it felt good the first words to come out of my mouth were, "Okay, can we stop this now!" I didn't want the ball anymore, I made my basket, I reached my goal. Didn't stop the ball from coming my way a few more times, but I feel pretty confident that each time I just passed it off to someone else.

All in all - a good game with a good team. Can't wait for the tournament.

I like the night life. I like to boogey.*

In no particular order, pictures from the Harvest Ball... Updated per Tami's request

Amber and Me

Benny

Drew and me

Andrei

Jordan and Me

Jesse decorating (better than I can)

With Daniel

With Bryce

With Benny
Benny showing off some sweet moves

With Chris G.

Tall girls just don't understand...

Don't stop believing - with interpretive dancing from Bryant

I love my sister

With Kat

Kat

Bryant

Chris G.

With Claire

Sarah, Kathryn, and Mary

With Sarah and Mary

Matchy, Matchy

With Chris B.

With Kat

Nicole, me and Amber

...we interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

Have you ever had one of those days where you want to shoot yourself in the face?

Not to kill yourself, or even to disfigure yourself...it's just one of those days where you hate your job, somehow your purse gets turned upside down so that when you pick it up everything falls out, if it were raining it'd be pouring and your umbrella would have broken...

Today is one of those days for me.

My, my, the bulimia has certainly paid off.*

I ran it. ...a week ago - I am so behind on my blog!

But I ran it - My time: 46.25

They tell me my pace time was 9:16.9/mile...I was aiming for a 10 minute mile, so as you can imagine, I am very happy right now.

It's not like I wanna blow up the plane. I just want to store my bag according to your safety regulations.*

This could happen to you...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/11/19/airport.security.issues/index.html

A member of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association described his experience as "sexual molestation," according to union president Mike Cleary.

It's true, this is all from CNN.com but even without this article, I should have mentioned in Boston Part 1 that this could happen to you. In fact, one in four Boston bound travelers feel used, inappropriately handled, and dirty after going through security.

It happened to one of our own, Caitlin got pulled aside and completely handled by some female airport worker. Certainly there was no need to touch her like that! ...Or there! Or right in front of everyone! There used to be a time that a traveler could travel with a sense of decency, and even when that was taken from us - they took those "randomly chosen" individuals off to the side where only the most observant of travelers would notice them being patted down. Now they just run their hands all over your body in front of everyone! The kid who came out of the machine after Caitlin just stopped and stood there, the look of fear in his eyes suggested that he thought they would all be subject to that, and he was next.

It was a little entertaining for those of us not involved in the "pat down" and if I weren't so afraid of the TSA taking my camera and arresting me I would have taken a picture...I did however, buy Caitlin her lunch. It is after all, a social norm for someone to at least buy you dinner before touching you in such a way and I knew that woman touching Caitlin had no intentions of buying her a meal.

Caitlin however probably didn't laugh as much as we did (which again, wasn't that much) at her experience, in fact, I'm certain she was a little unnerved by it. So reading this article made me realize what a problem we have on our hands. It also took my mind to the fact that I have 78 days until my California trip...in 78 days this could be my fate...

It bothered me in the article that someone said that it wasn't that bad it was like, "Going to the doctor for a physical." Yes - going to the doctor for a physical isn't that bad...but it's what you went to the doctor for, it was expected. When you are headed to Boston for a weekend with friends you don't expect a physical from a TSA worker without a medical background. It's offensive to people because it is not the same thing, nor should it be.

Another thing that bothered me was when the article quoted someone saying it was better than a bomb going off in the air - or something like that and it made me think of a quote I heard from Thomas Jefferson once, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." I agree with him and I'll take my chances with too much liberty.

You're my same height, that is neat.*

Boston: Where rules are made to be broken
...Where everybody knows your name

...Where donkeys meet some opposition

...Where tea is meant to be dumped

Day 2 of the Boston trip (sorry I'm so behind - I've been super busy this week). First and foremost - we wanted breakfast and not just gingermuffins and donuts...pancakes were on my mind. We bought sweatshirts from a street vendor and I asked him where a good breakfast joint was. He said, "Where are you from?" I said, "Richmond, Virginia." Then he said, "Boston really isn't a breakfast town." NOT A BREAKFAST TOWN?! What have I gotten myself in to?! Apparently the rave about Dunkin Donuts is for the coffee not the breakfast delights. But then he told us of a little place called Anthony's

Anthony's did not disappoint...

We went back to the sweatshirt guy so Caitlin could buy one and I told him breakfast was a success. Then I got a new job...

Then we got a little lost and decided to check The Book in an alleyway...shortly after some guy called me "Shorty" and asked me something - I couldn't understand him, I felt like the friend in "Adventures in Babysitting" who lost her glasses in the subway station (bus station?) and thought a rat was a cat...okay so I didn't really, but whatever. Elaina laughed cause the guy called me shorty and I was the tallest person in the group.

Elaina's new hat I think it's a bunny.

For day 2 we did the Freedom Trail and Quincy's Market (though we accidentally found Quincy's). Quincy's is where we found the fake Cheers.

And a street performer. I felt like I was in San Francisco again...except that I was freezing!

(Video should load on Facebook page (link to the right)...blogger doesn't like my videos)

He juggled knives with that one blade spinning around, 12 feet above the ground.

Classic Stalker Picture








Then it was off to the Freedom Trail

While we waited to take a picture of Sam Adams' grave we ran into this festive looking guy. We listened to his interesting stories and even his funny joke about the Beantown Pub across the street...it's the only place you can drink a cold Sam Adams while looking at...a cold Sam Adams. It wasn't until he said, "On our next stop," that I realized he was a tour guide and we were tour crashers. I had just thought he was a guy who dressed up and stood by Sam Adams' grave telling stories (it's not like I haven't seen something like that happen before...)

People in Boston were so nice, we had a couple come and ask us if we needed help finding where we were going when we were crowded around a map in the T (metro), then a guy asked us if we wanted him to take a picture of all four of us by the sign to The Old North Church. Then he ran off with my camera and I chased him down, kicked him in the kidneys, and got my camera back...just kidding, he gave the camera back right away.

We toured the bell tower (creepy stairwells) and the crypts (just plain creepy) of the church and came to discover that that's one shady church...they moved bodies around all the time to make extra money...skeesy (sp?).

The coolest part was when our tour guide was telling us how this man "flew" from the bell tower while shooting pistols, and just as she said it a cannon went off...couldn't have asked for better timing.

Random photos

Finally we got tuckered out. We went back to Quincy's got dinner and went back to the hotel room. Kelli and Caitlin asked me to "dramatically" read "The Taking Tree" Done and Done.

Then we had our own Boston Tea Party and took pictures in our Boston hoodies.

....then we returned to life on Monday morning - sadness. I miss Boston.