What's in Your Wallet?

Brandt got me a new purse for Christmas (what I mean by that is I bought it, he wrapped it, and I acted all surprised and excited when I opened it and praised him for his good taste). My old purse always seemed to be overflowing with who knows what, so I figured the solution to that was to buy a bigger purse (duh - Great Scott I'm a genius!!)! And it has been a great purchase, although lately it seems to just keep getting heavier and heavier. So I figured it was time to actually open her up and clean her out. And this is what I found:

Intense! Let's pick these items apart shall we? I'm sure there is a perfectly valid reason for everything in here:

*Apple and carrots. For Thursdays and Fridays when we work straight through with no lunch break (mind you, this particular apple is now verging on rotten and the carrots are so dried out there's no way a human would eat them - they've been in here for over a month). Lovely. Moving on:



*My dental hygiene supplies: an end-tufted brush (for in the future when I get my braces, I'll be all set!); not one, but TWO tubes of toothpaste (you can never have enough toothpaste apparently - although surprisingly, I have no toothbrush in here to apply it with); and lastly FLUORIDE (cherry flavor)!! (just in case I get the tingling that a cavity may be coming on (or I get a craving for cherries), NO WORRIES - I can just shove some fluoride on the tooth and I'll be all set! Phew, emergency diverted!




*The essentials: gum, pills, feminine hygiene products (that sounds so dainty doesn't it?), extra contacts, etc.








*Essentials número dos: lip gloss, lotion, perfume, compact, nail file, and of course Tide to Go...just in case (side note: I actually used to use the Tide frequently when I was at work and I got a blood splatter or pumice on my scrubs...but I've stopped caring about that - pure laziness really - I just throw 'em in the wash when I get home and it's all good; But the Tide to Go really does work in case you're wondering :)




*Wallet, checkbook, change for the bus (just kidding, I don't ride the bus), pens, highlighter for church. This stuff actually makes sense.





*A bunch of receipts, check stubs, and notepads. You can never have too many notepads.








*Broken cell phones. Yeah, they don't work. Why they are still in here is beyond my comprehension.








*Garbage. My purse is a gold mine if you are a raccoon.








Needless to say, I had some cleaning out to do. And the funny thing is, it took less than two minutes to clear out all the junk and my purse feels ten pounds lighter.

So...I'm curious...am I the only pack rat out there?

What's in YOUR wallet?

Dear Kirby...

Welcome to our home! You've been with us for about a month now, and I just wanted to let you know how awesome you are. The salesman didn't lie...you are a MACHINE! I've always thought that someday I would be a proud Kirby owner, but I never thought that day would come so soon. But, being the great bargainers that we are, we were able to talk the Kirby man into giving you to us for a sweet deal. And I'm pretty sure you were worth every penny.

I know it took me a few days to use you, but I ask your forgiveness in that. You see, after listening to the Kirby man for FOUR SOLID HOURS about how wonderful you were, watching him show us how filthy our carpets were (apparently they weren't as clean as we thought when we moved in), negotiating price, and finally forking over the dough, I didn't want to look at you for awhile. Basically I had had enough Kirby to last me awhile. And another reason for not using you sooner, as you know, Brandt has this thing with new toys, and I figured since he used you EVERY SINGLE DAY for a solid week, you deserved a break. So I hope there are no hard feelings. But I've got to admit, when I did finally pull you out of the closet to vacuum, it was an amazing experience, other than the fact that I forgot to put you in 'drive' mode and vacuumed the entire house in 'neutral' (at first I thought you had gained some weight sitting there in the closet, until Brandt pointed out my stupidity, grrrr). My floors are so clean and the Dyson has been cowering in the corner every since (side note: you should become friends with him while you're sitting together in the closet, I think Dyson feels ashamed of himself right now).

I love that you brought a lifetime warranty with you. The Kirby man told us stories about other proud Kirby owners who have had their own Kirby for over 50 years. And I sure hope you plan on sticking with us for that long. You'll fit right in with Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, Febreze, and Scentsy.

Thanks again for all of your hard work so far. I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends!

Sincerely,

Dani

Jon Schmidt Concert

Last week Brandt and I got to see Jon Schmidt in concert. My cousin, Jill, introduced me to his music just last year. For those of you unfamiliar with Schmidt, he is an awesome pianist/composer and describes his style as "New Age Classical." This was one of the funnest things we've done in a long time. He really has an amazing talent at the piano and it was so fun to watch his fingers literally fly across the keys (and he really can play the piano upside down like he's doing in the picture above). Not only that, but he has a great personality and was very entertaining. His parents were in the audience and at one point he brought his dad on stage and had him do a stand-up comedy bit for a few minutes; it was hilarious. After the concert, we waited in line for him to sign our CD and get a picture with him. I was a little bummed it turned out so blurry...but I guess that's what happens when you are crammed in there with the masses trying to get close to him and the teenager we had snapped the picture so fast. Oh well...what do you do.

This concert was Jon's first time playing with a full orchestra (the Teton Chamber Orchestra) and it was so cool. The video below is of him playing "Love Story Meets Viva la Vida;" it's a neat video, but I have to say seeing him perform it live with a full orchestra was AMAZING! He explained that they are still working with Taylor Swift's and Cold Play's labels in order for him to market the song, so in order for him to play it for us legally, he had to stop near the end of "Love Story" and say, "And we will now play 'Viva La Vida' by Coldplay...with a special introduction" and then he kept going. You had to be there, but trust me, it was funny. :)

**On a side note, Brandt found out yesterday that he was accepted to the Master's program at University of Idaho! He's been very nervous waiting to learn his fate, but I just knew he'd get in. Congrats babe! So proud of you!! :)

Book Review: North River

**
North River
By Pete Hamill

I don't like saying that a book was a waste of time...however, that's kinda how I feel about this one. I picked it up at Barnes & Noble in the bargain bin; and now I know why it was in the bargain bin in the first place. The storyline itself sounds like it would be an interesting read. It's set at the height of the Great Depression in New York City. The main character is a doctor who works with the poor who are mostly unable to pay or pay him very little. His wife has been missing for awhile and he is estranged from his adult daughter when one day his 3-year-old grandson is left on his door-step with a note from his daughter explaining that she needs someone to care for him while she tries to find her husband. The doctor hires a Sicilian woman to help him care for the boy and the story is basically about their day-to-day interactions and how these two people help him come back to life, in a sense.

I was bored with it. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen, but nothing ever did. I could go days without picking it up and I never really got into the story. I might have given this book three stars, but because of the language in the book I'm knocking it down to two.

Hopefully the next one will be better: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
It's been awhile since I've read a nonfiction book, so we'll see how it goes.