Scrabbled

To my utter joy, Michael has recently learned to enjoy playing Scrabble with me. Unfortunately, the nearly-70-year-old Scrabble game I inherited from my great uncle was missing 15 tiles.

I was disappointed to find you can't really order just the tiles you need from the game maker, but I'm ecstatic that it only took $8.50 to get all the missing letters from someone on Etsy! Get your own here (and get 10% off with 10OFF code).

Escape the Manul! (We Made Our First Games)

The front part of our Hackbright classroom is the part where the most laughing (and the most sleeping) occurs. Last week, we made games. Ever heard of manuls? I never had. Here's one:





Mercedes and Sanby used an online picture of a manul to make their game a race to gather gems before the sprite gets eaten by a manul. Witness our teacher, Christian, trying it out:

Unbelievably Bad Luck

I've never seen such bad luck at Rummikub. Poor Stefan.



As I predicted, Stefan had one turn, there was one tile left, and Markus won because he got to go after Stefan when all the numbers were finally available.

How Much Wood Can a Woodchuck Chuck?

Did you know the German version of “oops” is “hoppla”? I didn’t until my Internet connection was slow in sending an email and Gmail told me.

I stink at selling plasma. Stink, stink, stink. But I'm not going to give up yet.

The following picture is to show several things. 1. The wooden bow that shows up in windows in Germany this time of year. 2. The CDs and tapes that belong to no one but remain in the apartment. Some say "Made in the DDR" on them. 3. A shirt that I inherited from Sister Grayson. 4. My poor arms. The left always has a good vein for donating blood, but the nurse was new and she couldn't get it right, so that arm is bruised and sore. An older nurse came and went for the other arm, so getting my coat and backpack on and trying to re-braid my hair were all interesting experiences.












My professor (the same one who told us that John Smith founded the Latter-day Church in the late 1820s) said the word “chuck.” As in, “chuck wood.” I didn’t know anyone really said that.

During my first game of Settlers after a several-month pause, I threw a tantrum and quit. Oops. Two days later, I played again against my roommate. It was going horribly but I was determined to stick it out. My eights and variety of resources finally paid off and I won! Wahoo! Queen of Catan once more!

Here's a picture of Sister Dixon (from Harmony, Utah), and Kira (from Ohio), and I after we made cookies at the institute. Well, they made cookies. I just ate what seemed like pure sugar and played a few games of Kicker (which warranted more comments about how I must practice all day--yeah right, like I have the time). Afterwards, Sister Dixon massaged mentholatum into my back, saying that my cold had settled there. I think it's a slipped disc, and it is getting worse and worse each day. Sitting is not fun and nothing really brings relief, but I have no desire/time/money to see someone about it. Additionally, I've lost my wrist brace that I used whenever I used the computer. Carpal tunnel is back as a result. Another reason to feel old. Oh, and that bluish-greenish sweater I'm wearing is another hand-me-down from Sister Grayson. That was the first time I dared wear a belt over a shirt.













I have a big announcement! But I'm going to wait to announce it until I get comments from at least ten different people proving someone actually reads my ramblings.

My Life in Pictures

Things I've been up to recently that have been documented in photos:

Posing with other people's babies (notice the crinkled nose that shows I find it hilarious that Mike is posing behind me to make it a fake family photo).













Getting all covered up to make noodles with 200 other Relief Society women.













Shaking my head at the new development in the saga of the toenail--a hard, raised bump in the middle. (How many times have I posted on this now? Let's see, here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here (barely), and here [way to go Havasupai my foot, literally], and here, and here, and here [but who's counting?]. And I remember someone said I was brave posting pictures of my toe. A Fußpflegerin who is in my ward checked it out and basically said I'll probably just be dealing with similar problems the rest of my life. Mensch. Doesn't it seem silly to you that we can take on arm transplants but no one can do a thing about weird-growing toenails that cause eternal problems--eternal in the worldly sense?)
















Pinning the nametag on the missionary at Sister Grayson's birthday party.













Laughing because Sister Dixon didn't like my outfit but was too afraid to say anything. Instead she said, "You look cute. You have pants on." I like the skirt-over-pants style and find it useful for warming cold upper legs in the winter.
















Finally getting my CT Scan. My throat hasn't hurt for the last several days, but the tonsils are still goopy with white spots. I can't believe it's taken so long--my first appointment was on the 29th of August (two weeks of that are my fault since I showed up without money or an insurance card). Here's a CT Scan I found online. It's kind of pretty, don't you think? Somehow it reminds me of a butterfly, probably because of the symmetrical patterns.

Thus, you know my CT Scan is pretty messed up when it is not symmetrical:

Wow, those are my eyeballs! How come one is bigger than the other?

Utah Trip, Post-Wedding

The last week in Utah flew by!

I spent a lot of time:
-cleaning Johnya's apartment and car.
-researching PhD programs.
-adding music to my computer.
-calling Best Buy about my camera.
-trying to watch episodes of The Office.
-with Scott (talking, going to his cabin, running errands, etc.).
-eating yummy food.
-getting frustrated about my wrist.
-at Egg Products (one day) answering phone calls.
-playing Perudo with Heidi (I love that game).
-visiting with friends (Kelli, Jessie, people from the ward, librarians, Tiffany, etc.)
-trying to re-download PAF on the family computer.
-ripping down the fort.
-watching movies (I have to suggest The Tunnel to everyone. It was so awesome!).
-jogging with the dogs and doing tae-bo.
-looking for my "wallet," which I eventually found.

I don't think I'll be back again for a long, long time, so I hope I didn't miss anything desperate.

Sudoku and Standards on Trial

Did you guys hear about the jurors that were kicked out because they were playing Sudoku? That game is eerily addicting. Click here to listen to the story from NPR.

I was also surprised by the uproar over Kirby Heyborne, as in, I empathize with the uproared. Sometimes we gain extra blessings when we give up something we think might be a blessing with a twist. I know it's his decision to make, I just think it's the wrong one.

Scrabble

Happy birthday, Scrabble. Though I can't beat Amy, Paul, or my mom, (and probably a ton others), Scrabble is one of my favorite games. I think I would be good friends with Mary and Matt.



http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/chocolate_scrabble_8947.asp

Sudoku

In other good news (wow, that's three in two days), I finally was able to complete my first sudoku. I know, you're thinking, "What took you so long?" The things you find to do when you have final essays to write . . .

First of all, it takes a lot of patience and remembering of numbers, both of which I don't have.

Secondly, since I am a phone-and-other-expensive-technological-device-dropper, my phone has lines at the bottom of the screen, so it's hard to tell between ones, sevens, fives, and threes.

Thirdly, and probably most stupidly, I just figured out that the number in the groups of boxes also have to be 1-9. I always just thought it was the rows. Oops. (No one told me, okay?)

I was so proud of myself. My phone was proud too. It said, "Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Spiel beendet." Maybe it was just glad that it finally gave me one easy enough (there was almost a whole row filled in).

Bunter Abend

The proof that the enchiladas were a hit at the Bunter Abend (for which I was responsible) is shown in the fact that there are none pictured in the photos--they were all eaten. Also, the General Authority who came to stake conference and his wife personally asked to meet who made the food. They gave me a card so I could email them the recipe. (Thanks to Mom and Amy.)

The activities at "Bunter Abend" were also hits, especially the playful dough cookies and the spoons. I figured this was the safest picture to load as faces aren't that clear. If anyone in this photo has a problem with it being online, let me know.

Fun and Games

Every time I've played games while I've been here, they have been so fun. Wednesday we played "Wer bin ich?" where someone writes a person's name and you have to ask questions to figure out who you are.







Last night we played this game where every time you roll a six, you have to put on gloves, a scarf, and a hat, then try to cut some chocolate and eat it before someone else rolls a six. It is so funny, I laughed the entire time, even when I had a huge piece of chocolate in my mouth.













Everyone besides me (even the Paulsen kids, remember) is much better at Pickup Sticks than they should be.













We also played Sechs Nimmt and Spoons and I noticed that Sebastian had a collection of weapons . . .













Here is a picture of the field where we play football every Saturday. Mike, standing there, is a wall. So is Samuel. I got a few nice goals today. Everything is looking beautiful with the leaves changing.

Bawk Bawk!

We played an awesome game at family night tonight. I don't even know if I can begin to explain. Here goes:

1. Everyone, sitting in a circle, puts their hands up to their eyes as if mimicking binoculars.
2. Someone starts by moving one hand down and saying, "Bawk" (like a chicken, I think).
3. If the person used their right hand, the turn moves to the person on the right. He or she can either say, "Bawk" and move the right hand as well, or say, "Bawk Bawk" while moving both hands down (which reverses the direction), or mistakenly use the left hand.
4. If the wrong hand is used (the left hand when going to the right or the right when going left), that hand may not be used in the game anymore. So if Johnny's right hand is dead because he used it when the "Bawks" were going left, when they come right, Johnny must be skipped because he can't do a right-handed "Bawk." When you only have one hand to use, you may not reverse the direction. You can also lose a hand by hesitating too long.
5. Keep going faster and faster until people get out.

Splendid, Absolutely Splendid!

We have done so many fun things. I don't know if the Viners usually fill their days with so many activities or if they just don't believe me when I say that I'm completely satisfied: I just want to just to see them!

The boys and I made chocolate chip cookies today. Since ingredients are a bit different here, the dough was really sticky. I kept trying to add flour to de-stickify, and it just got thicker. I eventually gave up and James was delighted to get cookie dough schmeered all over his hands. Because of the extra flour, the cookies turned out more like pumpkin cookies: they were cakey-er. (Cakier?) We still enjoyed dunking them in milk.



I got to take a picture outside the Man United stadium on the way to Manchester, where Marie, Jonathan, and I explored the normal library and the reference library built like a cathedral in the 1800s to commemorate the life of John Ryland, a cottonmill owner. Wowee. The combination of old architecture and new was delightful.Then we met up with James and Simon to go to the Curry Mile, an area of the city infiltrated with amazing Indian restaurants. We tried all sorts of good stuff until our lips burned. Mmmm.

Several games of Skip-Bo today brought me back to good old times at Grandma Bergman's. Skip-Bo, trinkets everywhere, the smell of moth balls, fake green grass covering on the porch, and weird punch always remind me of going to her trailer. Yes, I beat Marie at Skip-Bo.

No sign of my suitcase, I never want to check luggage again! We have made numerous calls, spent on hold or being hung up on. Ha ha ha. I added up all the items in there and discovered that if they were to compensate me, it'd be worth around $700. All I want is my adapter.

I love the Viners. They are splendid people.