Just what I needed!

I went to Salt Lake City yesterday to play with Deb, Jesse, & baby MoJo. Of course we had the most fun as we always do. I spent way too much money, but it was so worth it. My mini trip to be with those that I love & love me unconditionally was exactly what I needed. You can't put a price tag on that.
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Here are the high lights of my trip:

• We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in the historic downtown Trolley Square for lunch. I had chicken marsala. It was way tasty, but for sure not near as good as the chicken marsala that Amanda makes. Don't worry Amanda promised me that the next time she makes it I'm invited! Of course I'm going to hold her to that promise. Delish!
• We then scoped out some of the fun shops in Trolley Square. We went to Cabin Fever. A shop that sales all these weird retro and nostalgic things. I bought "A littlt Golden Book classic" book for MoJo. I got he/she "The Shy Little Kitten" to teach MoJo about the other small member of the family...Muni Cat. I can't wait to read the book to MoJo.
• I also picked up the cutest little cards for Deb & MoJo's baby shower. I know it is many months away. I mean we don't even know the gender of the baby yet! But when you find the perfect cards you have to buy them right? Beauty part is the cards will be great for either a Moses or a Josephine. Cute! Deb thought they were perfect too! I so had to get them!
  
• We then found the most fantastic organic products shop called Trolley Green Giant. They sale all organic and natural products. They even sale my beloved Chico Bag! Most of their health and hygiene products are from a company called Bubble & Bee Organic. Deb ended up buying some lip balm. After I tried hers I was sold & had to have my own tube. Here's the best part! If you have a lip balm with you the Trolley Green Giant will let you trade it in for a FREE Bubble & Bee Organic lip balm. I'm all about free so I ended up trading my Burt's Bees pomegranate lip balm for a Bubble & Bee karma apple. Good choice! I also purchased an unscented lip balm as well. If you're looking for a really great lip balm I defiantly recommend Bubble & Bee Organic.
  
• We then headed over to the Trolley Taffy Station & bought some yummy old fashioned salt water taffy. Salt water taffy is a tourist novelty item in Salt Lake City because of the Great Salt Lake. Course I'm completely fine with this cause it's yummy!
• After all this shopping we just went back to Deb & Jesse's house & did some serious chillaxin.
  
• On a recent trip to Arizona Jesse purchased some kosher wine for he and I as we're both interested in the Jewish religion. We opened the bottle to assist with the serious chillaxin that was going on. Yippee for fabulous kosher Arizona wine. :)
• After more chillaxin I headed north and got home at 10:30ish p.m. It was an all around fun day.
  

Weekend Mini Trip South

This weekend was the baby shower for my cousin Tommy and Jenny's new son Carter. Of course I wanted to go meet the newest Tolman so I left Logan Saturday morning and made an event filled "mini trip" out of the whole thing.My day started at 4:00 a.m thanks to my 20 lbs orange alarm clock that goes by the name of Canon...thanks Canon!! I left Logan at about 7:30 a.m. I arrived in Salem around 10 a.m-ish. I went straight to my cousin Emily's house cause the shower wasn't until 11 a.m. Em was making deserts for the shower and realized she forgot to buy mini marshmallows for one of the deserts. I offered to run to "Fast Gas" gas station to pick some up. While I was looking for the marshmallows I discovered that "Fast Gas" had my absolute favorite gum: "Extra Cool Green Apple Gum". Now you must know that Logan, or Cache Valley for that matter hasn't had even one package in the whole county for nearly 2 years. I can say this with great certainty cause I ALWAYS check whenever I'm in a store that sales gum. Needless to say I was ecstatic to see that Fast Gas had 11 packages just hanging out on the shelf. I bought all 11 packages!!

We then headed to Jenny's mom's house for Carter's shower. This is a darling picture of my cousins Emily (L) Megan (R). Aren't they beautiful! Now why didn't I get some of those beauty genes? Megan being Megan...completely spastic! Can you believe she is going to be a doctor in a mere 15 months? Yeah, I know......

Me and Carter....so perfect...him not me. Course I look fab too. :)

The newest Tolman! Well done Tommy and Jenny! Well done!

My Great Aunt Marda holding Carter.

My Great Aunt Shirly doing some visiting at the table.

*****
After the shower I headed north again to Deb and Jesse's house to stay the night. Deb and I planned to go out to eat. It's always fun to go to SLC cause they have so many restaurants that Logan doesn't have. Deb and I love seafood so we decided to go to "Red Lobster." As we were headed out the door Jesse came home so he got to go with us. Perfect timing!

This is what I had. It's called the "ultimate feast." It was a bit spendy but oh so worth it! Delish!!

For desert I wanted something fab. I was thinking ice cream, particularly ice cream that you can't get in Logan. As we were driving around looking for something fab we stumbled upon the most fantastic frozen yogurt shop "Spoon Me." They specialize in "natural frozen yogurt"....whatever that is. They have 3 flavors, natural, green tea and acai. I had natural and acai mixed with pineapple, kiwi, & blackberries. Truly delish and completely fab! If you're ever in SLC you must stop at "Spoon Me." It's located at 532 E. 400 S. in Salt Lake. Seriously give it a go. I'm for sure going to be a return customer. Yum!!

Deb and I then decided to help make "He's just not that into you" the weekends top grossing movie. Total chick flick, but so funny and cute. I for sure want to see it again. Loved it!!

After the movie I decided that I needed to purchase yet another copy of the book that the movie is based on. I have purchased this book twice previously, but I keep lending it out cause it's so brilliant. Trouble is the people I lend it to never return it. I now own my third copy of the book. Well worth it? Yes! Cause reading it is like having a secret way of decoding guys right in your hands. If you are a women for sure get your hands on a copy. Maybe if we all become aware of why guys do or do not do things perhaps guys will shape up and start treating us like we should be treated...with respect. Actually that will probably never happen but at least we're on to them now.

I also ended up finding some other books I wanted to purchase...of course! Really I should not be allowed inside bookstores. It's a sickness, really it is! I just can't help it.....
I started reading this book this morning and am completely fascinated by it thus far. Actually I have big plans of continuing my reading as soon as I finish this ridiculously long post.

I scoped this book out the last time I went to SLC & couldn't resist buying it this time. Can't wait to read it.

Deb and I got home at 10:30 pm. from our adventures. Good times but I was completely exhausted! Don't forget that Canon had waken me up at 4 a.m. I went straight to bed and slept like the dead. Thank God for that cause I was beyond tired.
*****
This morning Deb & Jesse cooked breakfast. Deb found this fabulous recipe for Greek taziki (sp?) yogurt & cucumber sauce. Yum! Deb made sausage and eggs and Jesse was in charge of the hash browns. So tasty and fabulous.
After we had breakfast we just hung out and I tortured Deb and Jesse by making them listen to many of the songs on my play list & singing along to them. There is nothing like a live Kins rendition of "Jambalaya!"

Deb busted out the hookah....to deal with my singing? Perhaps. :) This is a tradition every time I go to SLC. Don't worry we only use hookah tobacco cause Deb doesn't want any of that "other herb" in her hookah.

Jesse being Jesse! I love you Jesse!

Then I decided it was time to head home. Deb and Jesse walked me out to my car. This is Deb being fab.

I gave Deb & Jesse one of my 11 sacred packs of "Extra Apple Gum" as a parting gift cause I love them. Jesse decided that the occasion deserved a special dance of appreciation. This is Jesse preparing for the dance. Inspiration is coming........

And....."the apple eagle" is born!!!

That was my weekend mini trip south. Good times!

A month later.....

I have happy news:Through many attempts and even more Torah induced naps I finally made it past the 36 chapters of Numbers in the Torah and am now on chapter 3 of Deuteronomy. Well done Kins, well done!

In celebration, Jewish tradition, and just because I had so many left over from our bagel breakfast feast yesterday at work. I have now consumed my weight in bagels and smear. Ok, that is an exaggeration but for sure I've consumed Daphney's weight in bagels. Good thing he's the smallest out of Canon, Daphney, & I. So much for trying to loose weight. How long can one survive on bread & whipped cream cheese before one literally turns into a bagel? Back to salads for lunch tomorrow for sure!

Still in Numbers

I set a goal for myself this year to read the Torah (The Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im (The Prophets), & the Kethuvim (The Writings). I was really excited and making much progress when I started. The Torah is very different from the King James version of the Bible. I actually understand the Torah & find it to be very interesting. As I said I was making much progress and read through Genesis, Exodus, & Leviticus quite fast. Then I got to Numbers.... I've been stuck in Numbers for almost a month & there is only 36 chapters! Now I have some insight as to why it takes an entire year to read Torah once through. Most of the year must be spent learning about the Israelites population census and how to properly do sacrifices.

The Y chromosome

One of my struggles this last year has been dealing with .....MEN!As you may or may not know for most of my life I thought I was a lesbian. After 2 long term lesbian relationships I've now decided that I am in fact not gay. Perhaps bi. After many years of thinking about my sexuality I've decided that I thought I was a lesbian because I have a firm belief that NO man would ever be interested in me. I'm not sure exactly where this belief comes from. I have suspicion it comes from my feelings about my weight. This belief is upsetting to me so I try not to think about it so much. Consequently I don't have as much insight on it as I do about other personality quirks of mine.

After 31 years of not dating guys I decided to give it a go last year. My friend met her husband on the free dating site plentyoffish.com so I decided to create a profile in March 2008. This started a roller coaster year like non that I could have ever imagined. I won't go into details cause if you've been a part of my life this last year then you already know way to many details. If you haven't been a part of my life you're probably better off not knowing.

Through my experiences I have learned that humans carrying the Y chromosome are a completely different species then humans not carrying it.

I have discovered that men are not genuinely interested in me as a person. This saddens and perplexes me because I have no answers as to why. This last week I was letting this fact depress me so I was discussing the issue over with my friend Amanda. Prior to talking to Amanda I always thought that guys weren't interested in me cause of my weight. Amanda & I are very similar in size & she always has boys chasing her. I decided that I must be putting off an "I'm not interested or looking vibe." How do stop doing that? How do I send a flirty vibe? I have no idea.

People always tell me to be the person I'm looking for. I think I am. I'm looking for a Jewish black man! Does that not perfectly describe me? Hehe! Actually I do think I have many qualities that are desirable.

• I'm smart. I was tested by a psychiatrist cause he thought I had ADD. Nope I'm just a bit hyper-vigilant and completely addicted to caffeine. I guess this can be perceived as ADD. Smart but still can't spell worth a fuck.
• I have a good sense of humor. I find that you have to either laugh or cry at life. I choose to laugh & often for that matter.
• I have well defined interests. These include British history, anything medical, the South Eastern United States culture, an eclectic taste in music, Judaism, reading, swimming, Canon & Daphney, & a small addiction to books...just to name a few.
• I genuinely find others peoples experiences and opinions interesting. I realize that in my life I can't do, feel, or experience everything. I find much pleasure in listening to other peoples stories about their thoughts and experiences. Especially if their experience is something that I would never ever in a million years attempt. What better way to see parts of the world that you may never see if not through the eyes of someone else. I love hearing about other peoples opinion on certain things. Sometimes I'm shocked & usually greatly entertained that people think an feel such things. The important thing is to be open minded enough to be completely fine that not everyone agrees with you. Differences in people make us unique and interesting.
• Good personality traits that I have the market on include being honest, generous, not materialistic, happy, good work ethic, stability, frugality. What would you list here? Deb, Megan, Beth this question is directed at you.
  
• I have hopes, aspirations, goals, big and small:
  
• I hope NEVER to have children.
  
• I hope to travel to England someday.
  
• I hope to convert to Judaism.
  
• I hope to find that one Jewish black man out there that "gets me...." where the fuck are you?
  
• I hope to pay off my credit card this year.
  
• I hope to get rid of all the stuff in the storage unit that I've been renting for the past 4 years. Just think, an automatic $25 saved each month. Anyone want to come help me sort through it....Deb? Jesse? Megan?
  
• I hope to loose weight and become the workout queen that I used to be. As for now all I can say is at least I'm not gaining weight!
  
• I hope to move out of Logan. Preferably back to a warmer climate.
  

This isn't an all inclusive list but it is a bit of what I have to offer. Now tell me why guys are not interested in me? This last year I read a book called "He's Just Not That Into You" by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo. This book gave me much insight into how guys think. It's brilliant...read it. Although, it didn't give me any clue as to what I'm doing or not doing that consistently makes guys not give me a second look. Perhaps I'm just asking a question that will never be answered. Kind of like why exactly was Stonehenge built, who brought the statues to Easter Island, or why are guys not interested in Kins? Things we just may never know.

Ok, I'm officially done thinking about this....for now. :)

This, that, & the other....

Here's an update on all that has been going on in my life lately:

• My new phone arrived! Yippee...sort of. Much to my despair I realized that not every phone comes with a camera as a standard feature. My Razr had one so I took it for granted that all phones have cameras. I realize that not all phones do but during the drama of when my Razr actually broke I wasn't exactly thinking about extra features that I want. I was just thinking "send me a phone NOW!" Opps! The day after my new Samsung arrived I called T-Mobile and ordered yet another phone. This one with a camera.

• Even though today is a holiday it was a very good mail day for me. Who knew UPS still delivers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Good thing UPS was out and about cause they brought me my 2nd new phone of the month. Camera & all. Yippee! Now I can take more darling pics of Canon & Daphney and send them to ya'll. Come on...I know you love pics of my boys as much as I do. :)

• UPS also brought me my new electric blanket. This blanket is replacing the one I got for Christmas that broke 2 weeks ago. Yippee for a WARM comfy bed.

• Day 13: Yup today is the 13th day that I have been sick. I now have gone through:
• 10 vacation hours missing work!
  
• 9 boxes of Puffs Plus w/Lotion. How can one human produce so much mucus?
  
• 5 bags of Ricola cough drops. One of the more tasty cough drops, but not in mass quantity!
  
• 2 bottles of cough syrup. Used in an attempt to sleep through just one night without waking up coughing to death. Hasn't worked yet but I still have hope. :)
  
• 1 doctors appointment. I only went as a last resort.
  
• 1 strep test, it was negative
  
• 85 dollars for doctor to tell me that I have a virus and she can't do a damn thing for me.

• I'm still in "Numbers" in my Torah reading. Now I know why it's called "Numbers." :)
  

I now have big plans of taking some cough syrup, crawling into my nice warm bed, and trying to get a bit closer to "Deuteronomy".

Christmas

As many of you may know I am very interested in Judaism and hope some day to convert. Because of this I'm always torn when it comes to Christmas time. Should I celebrate, & give gifts? Of course I'm like everyone in America in that I don't have a lot of funds. This year I decided to just send Christmas cards to most people and give gifts to just a few. As always I have received much more then I gave. I feel very loved by everyone who gave me a gift or shared a nice comment with me. Thank you all.