My pappy-

Now don't be shocked and appalled. I had my first woman's wellness physical ever yesterday. I had to do that to finish my mission paperwork. This paperwork was submitted tonight!!!!!!! TONIGHT! So I should get my call sometime in the next couple weeks..month...year. We shall see. Woot.

Btw, having my first pap smear ever was not as traumatizing as I thought and way more traumatizing than expected. Wow. Invasive. Also, the Dr. told me my cervix was all twisted up so it was hard to get a good pap smear. My brother said that just meant he had a hard time accessing mine, but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me. Woot. At least I have a cervix, right?

I did alright for work today. I had 80 stops and finished at 6. Yesterday I had about 90 and finished at 8:30. That was rough. Course I did have a Dr. appointment for an hour at 10:30, but I am also a slow delivery person. I seem to have trouble finding my boxes. I look through every single box and find the one I was looking for in a really accessible place. Frustrating, since it happens so often. Weird, since I number all my boxes and still end up having trouble finding them.

I just found out I'm not excellent at battleship, but I'm not terrible either. Good to know for the next time someone needs a strategist for sinking other people's ships. Also, my back is in all sorts of knots. I'm not sure why, but get outta there!!

I fell off the back of my truck yesterday-

Yes, I'm sure you are thinking, "No Merilee, that's improbable and impossible. Budget trucks are very high up and you would have been broken to pieces if that happened." And you would be right.

However, since I'm super and someone loves me intensely, I am alright except for a huge bruise on my left knee. Please ask to see it, that's the only benefit of a constant bruising pain- showing people. It is a honkin' bruise. I took a picture of it. To be posted when I'm not on this dumb computer that doesn't upload pictures correctly from my camera.

The event occurred Thursday around 11 am, in the library, with a wrench. No, in the FedEx parking garage with a clumsy. I was just starting my route, because I had just received a truck. Usually I start earlier and have 65 stops. Thursday I had 75 stops and started way later than usual. I was panicked. So I literally threw those boxes in, jumping in and out of my truck like lightning.

A guy from the office helped me out by putting boxes onto the truck, so I wouldn't have to leap so much. Then, when the boxes were all in, I stepped down from the truck. However, I didn't put my foot on the step. Instead, I put my foot on air and stepped out of the truck. My body tilted and fell three solid feet. This is when I landed like a cat on the cement floor, dusted with 1/4" layer of dirt. I stayed in that position for about a minute, trying to feel for any significant hurts.

Then I moved my pained body to a sitting position and sat on my bum for a second. I felt really sick, like I was going to throw up. I think it was adrenaline..it felt very much like the anticipation I feel for certain dates. Anyway, I didn't throw up. I also didn't break anything. Thank goodness!

Weirdly enough, not one of the five guys in the area saw me fall out of the truck. Not even the guy helping to load my truck. He didn't even know I'd fallen. I'd love to see it on tape though. I'm sure it was choice footage. I refuse to do it again, but if someone happened to tape me I would enjoy watching it.

My boss, JT, did see me sprawled on the ground by the truck, so he inferred I had fallen out. He kept asking me if I was ok, if I needed to see a dr., or if I'd hit my knee etc. I did hit my knee, but I could still walk and I didn't think anything was broken. It was nice to know people cared. I jogged to the bathroom and felt alright.

Later that night, after I'd given ten boxes away to an early finisher, a permanent driver named Jesse came to help me. He wasn't getting paid, he just helped me finish my route in three hours of darkness. We had a good time. Today I gave him some toffee my mom made for Christmas. I put it on his truck seat. I wanted to be sneaky about it..but I didn't know which one was his truck. Soooo, that's that.

Oh, but what I was going to say, was I ran to a door for deliverance and the sidewalk had black ice on it and I totally wiped out and blew my other knee. I wanted to swear at the man coming outside to get his package because of his saltlessness, but my knees would still hurt and I'd get a complaint lodged against me. Stupid. Pot stirrer. Man.

So one of my knees has a gargantuan bruise on it today and the other I can only bend halfway. It may be a while before I go running. Course I run all day every day anyway, so it's not like I really need to make special plans to run. But yes, my knees hurt today. And the huge bruise on my left knee keeps banging into stuff, like the hitch on the back of my Budget truck, so that smarted all day long. Boo.

Just know, when I type boo, I always think, "Boo. You whore." From mean girls. I know, ridiculous, but it flashes through every time. I would like to think my blog is a family blog though, so I don't write it. Not that anyone under the age of 18 actually reads blogs, but if they wanted to, they could read mine. I suppose. Wow. I'm rambling.

Also, my arms feel like I played tennis on them for three hours yesterday. Or something. I guess that's what happens when big impacts happen. But I've got a big arm bruise too. Very cool to have an angel watching over me, because seriously, I could have been hurt pretty badly after falling off my truck onto my hands and knees.

Anything else exciting happen to me? Well, my brother Grant has been in Portugal on a church mission for two years. He gets back tonight. We are leaving for the airport in thirty minutes.

Today I also found all my packages with minimal getting lostedness and found a place by looking at the map they gave me and delivered it. Hooray, I'm a real FedEx winner! Hooray. Also, I was going to take a day off for getting my car fixed, but the place is closed on weekends. So I'm taking the day off and cleaning the church, going to the farewell luncheon of a girl getting married in my branch, and getting to my second stake president interview on time- none of which could have been done if I was working Saturday. Woot. Bruise picture soon. Love you, my sweethearts!

Spitting-

I spit all the time when I run. And stuff. On a completely different note, I did find this dress in our attic and wore it to church. Unfortunately, my brother is no expert picture taker. So this is what I've got.

This week was kind of a rough week for driving around. I just drove around and around yesterday. I had to call Frank like five times. Two hours later I was dropping off my first package. Lame. Frank's great though. The fifth time I called him, he stayed on the phone with me and talked me through the exits. Exits and highways in KC suuuuck.

So I was really tired...and went to bad after all the dishes were done and I'd eaten some soup. That was after the adult session for Conference.

My little brother Joshy wrote this poem-

I, of course, asked his permission to put it on here, but I found it the other day and thought it was quite touching.

Perfection

Perfection comes in human form, though most people doubt it.
In fact it comes in woman form, though most don't realize it.

She's like the sun in many ways, for one, the time when she's away, the stars shine brighter but can't compare, with deep brown eyes and shiny hair.

She speaks with too much modesty, and thinks that she speaks honestly. She thinks she's fat and looks so bad, she says it often. It makes me sad.

If she knew what's clear to see, if she could see what's clear to me, with her voice like music singing, her beauty outshines everything.

Her lips quite perfect, and eyes so bright, she walks around a pillar of light. Where darkness does abound, she makes many turn around.

She may just be in human form, and she may think that she's a worm, but she outshines even the sun. I think that maybe she's the one.

This weakling-

I got kicked out of a youth dance last week. I went to dance..actually, I went to a baptism, to show my support and figured a youth dance would frost my cookies.

However, as I was gliding into the gym, Sister Beck called me out and told me I was too old to go to youth dances. She also said they are very strict when it comes to youth dances and attendees. I felt pretty foolish afterwards, especially since I had convinced another person to enter by saying nobody cared if a couple good oldies went along for the ride. Apparently they do care.

Also, I have a couple bruises. One such is on my leg courtesy of the FedEx truck. Another is courtesy of my 17 yr old brother Christian. He beats me mercilessly. It's quite ridiculous. He's much stronger than me and uses that to his full advantage. He likes to show me how much stronger he is than me and his shows always bring this strength to the light.

The only way I can actually gain some ground- so we are close to even and he's not totally dominating the contest of wills- is to bite him. I want you to know I am totally against biting, but Christian, he is a painful fighter. I can't do anything to stop him, so I have to bite him. It's the only thing I can do to bring him down with full effective success.

He does not like to eat real food, only cereal and toast. Today I found out he has decided to be an enemy to all the pies. I made him eat some strawberry rhubarb pie today and he said it was ok. WTH? Anyhow, he watches movies with me sometimes. And he's so sensitive.

What else, Thanksgiving was a day to be thankful for. I went to Cookie's house and we stuffed ourselves in between movies. Also, we have mounds and mounds of leaves outside our barn. Someone kindly dropped off millions of plastic bags full of leaves. These leaves I kindly distributed outside the pond. Mom distributed them in front of the boat. IN FRONT. My dad freaked out when I dumped them all out, even though they would decompose into our yard.

He said his plan was to dump them during the winter for the goats. On days like Christmas. What a guy. So we got a second delivery of leaves in plastic bags, which he specifically told us not to dump, and a do-gooder dumped them all for us!!! Hah! How do you like them apples? Also, you know how in the Bible it specifically says not to call your brother "Thou fool."? Well, when I called Christian fool today, my dad freaked out. Not a surprise, but seriously? I'm not marrying a crazy person.

We did a family Thanksgiving run. We ran very slowly...those of us that ran. My mom wore slacks, my dad wore jeans. We're pretty hardcore in this family. I also realized how much I dislike being touched when I run. During this run, where everyone was clustered around, many elbows were jostled etc. Not the least of these jostlers, Tina did her best to stay close. Tina, Hyrum, and I ran together. Neal and Christian ran together. Mom, Emily, and Sally walked together. Dad, Cookie, Megan, and Allyson walked together. It was a magical journey.

Also, best day ever..I have contracted the infamous winter cold. Every year it nabs me. Well, I've contracted it- the beast of all colds. Boo.

Bet me-

Have you ever heard that twinkies are ageless? Bet me that twinkies are indestructible. Bet me that twinkies are invincible and I will show you this picture of a moldy twinky.
Or rather a whole box of them.

Just so you know, according to reliable sources, if you cut out the mold spots, you can't even tell it's a bad twinkie. I'll try to remember that when there is no other food on earth. But hey, apparently twinkies aren't as eternal as we all thought.

I just wanted to post some appetizing pictures on my blog. A couple moldy twinkies and my clean as magic toenails. I know, best blog post ever.

Look how similar these two pastel pictures look to each other, yet how different. Who could imagine beauty in any other format?

Oh, and Aman- I saw a couple Missy baby pictures. He's adorable! Also, for those of you wondering about my mission call, my update is pretty lame.

I talked with my branch president again. We had a second interview, similar to the first. He asked me if I was sure I was supposed to go on a mission. He wanted to know if I was certain it was the Spirit telling me to go on a mission, or if it might've been Satan. I told him I'd like to think I could discern the two from each other by now and I couldn't imagine Satan telling me to go on a mission, but it might possibly have been him.

So we went through the mission questions. He asked if I was sure I was supposed to go. He asked if I knew what I'd do with my life if I didn't go. I said I was sure I could think of something. He asked if I had any reason for urgency..he's noticed I'm getting antsy. I said no, but I didn't want to live with my parents the next six months. I said I wanted to move on with my life and if I wasn't supposed to go on a mission and my stake president knew that, he should tell me instead of waiting to schedule and appointment with me.

He said they all know I need an appointment. The clerk actually told me not to call him anymore because he knows I need an appointment with the stake president. My dad asked the stake president about it Sunday night when my brother was getting set apart and he said I was on the radar..whatever that means.

My brother said if he had that many obstacles for any decision he'd made, he'd rethink his decision. He said maybe I wasn't supposed to go on a mission. I mean yeah, it's been six months, maybe I'm supposed to do something else.

So I've decided to wait for my stake president to call me in for an interview and in the meantime..I've also put in an application to drive buses for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Wouldn't that be great? I'd be there Jan 18-Mar 30th or so. Then I could go on a mission, or move on with my life. So that's my current plan.

Also, as a funny story to end up my branch president interview, he asked me like 10x whether I was worthy to go or whether I had any "loose ends" I needed to tie up. Or anything that would make me unworthy to serve. I couldn't think of anything, but he asked me with such intensity, so many times, I figured there must be something he knew about that I didn't know. I had no idea what it was.

So I asked him what the definition of heavy petting was, because I wasn't sure what it was, but maybe since I hadn't known I could have sinned in ignorance. So he specifically told me what it was and I was like, "Nope, I'm good there." Wow awkward, but now I know for sure I'm alright and there isn't anything I have done that would make me unworthy to serve the Lord. If anyone has questions about that, go ahead and ask me. I'll clear everything up for you.

Happy Birthday to the Ground-

I saw a funny SNL skit this week. To the Ground, Andy Sandberg, check it out. I stopped watching after the diner with the tazer. So now I don't know if it's dirty or what.

Also, last night, while Canute was talking to a girl online, she had to leave. So she said, "Nobody leave, I'll be right back." Canute, Christian, and I ducked under the table. My dad went over to the computer. When she called, instead of saying hi, Canute was gone, he answered with some shpeel about a mortuary. She was really confused and he just kept going. Obviously she had just called us, so she wouldn't believe it, but the joke went on. Canute and I were crying under the table at the absurdity. Finally, when we couldn't take it anymore, Canute got up from under the table and talked to her. So funny.

Today we took him to the airport. We couldn't park in terminal B because it was full, so Canute was dropped off with Christian and I parked in terminal A. I just barely missed the red bus, I saw it pulling away as I walked outside, and had to wait a good 15 min. to catch the next one.

When I got to the correct terminal, I said goodbye to Canute and we watched him for a couple minutes in the quarantine room. Then we felt dumb, so Christian and I left. However, even though I'd written where my car was on my hand, I couldn't find it. After 10 min., we found the car, and then we got to the guard gate where you pay up. $4 please. "$4?" I said. Weren't we only here an hour? "Nope," she said. "You were here an hour and one minute." STUPID!

Then she asked, "Are ya'll a couple?" Curse my being slow. I said, "No, he's my brother." Instead of being hilarious and saying yes and getting an awesome response. MAN! Next time.

Also, I just remembered one day at school..in sixth grade. My jacket had a syringe in the pocket for goat vaccinations and I freaked out thinking someone would think it was mine, used for drugs. So I gave it to my teacher. I looked like a drug addict when I was a mousy bookwork 6th grader for sure. I just didn't want it in my pocket for one of those frequent middle school drug searches. You know?

I remembered b/c there's a knife on the table by my keyboard. Grant, the handsome one, was always getting chased by girls. One time, at recess, Grant was being chased and he was wearing one of our prize filled coats. He pulled out the first thing he found in the pocket, which happened to be a knife. I think he got detention for that one.

I may drive for the Olympics in Vancouver b/c it's taking so long to get my last mission interview, so if you hear something about that, don't be too surprised.

Slammin toenails-

I just edited my toenails. They looks awesome. I will post a picture on here later. I was pretty bored Saturday morning and that's what I ended up doing, instead of Visiting teaching, which is what I had previously planned to do but had forgotten about.

Sorry if I complain a lot on my blog. I realized I do that a lot and from now on will try to have uplifting posts. Try.

Saturday afternoon I drove Christian up to the Peterson house in Kansas City. Christian went with Neal to a Jayhawks game. Emily, Sally, and I hung out at home and made a quick visit to the mall. I think Emily was expecting me to contribute more to the shopping part of our trip, but I've never been a huge shopper.

It was cute to see Sal so excited to go shopping with her mommy though. They are sure to have many happy shopping excursions together in future years. When we got home, and a little before we left, Sally had us set up for a picnic. She even included me in the setup, which was done previously.

She poured the milk, sopped up spills, washed her hands, and even rode the xylophone. We had some good times for sure.

After Neal and Christian came home, we had a sumptuous feast- lasagna in a crockpot- and played Blokus. Since we're a pretty competitive family, Emily was resistant at first. The first game I dominated, but Christian and Emily tied the next game, so I don't think she dislikes that game as much as she used to. Maybe.

We completed the night watching the ending of Waterworld on t.v. and eating ice cream. It was quite nice. Then I came home to Canute playing some dragon game at home. He's going to miss those pointless computer games when he's on his mission. Apparently he's logged 60 hours time on that game and he's only 40 percent finished with it. Ridiculous. And how.

It was rainy outside today. I think Sunday is the day for it, since it has rained the past five Sundays in a row. I only know that because I have to drive to Belton for temple prep class, it's an hour away, and it's always crappy outside for my adventure drive. Speaking of temple prep, I gotta go.

As it stands-

Christmas music is out and guess what, in order to shuffle up some of the song options, I've begun listening to it. I'm not a huge fan, but it has begun.

Also, 18 vs. 25 case has been determined. My one 18 yr old friend read this blog and found out I was 25 so we're not friends any more. Well, it's better this way. Now all my blog readers know I'm 25 and it won't come as a huge surprise to anyone else. Therefore I will no longer talk to 18 yr olds and something will have to be done to get me some older friends.

On a side note, I had no idea how many people read my blog until someone randomly commented on it one day and from there, I realized I could probably take over the world from this small spot on the web. I will let you know what the plan is when I'm not so tired. Driving around makes one tired.

Today I will probably eat some food, study PMG, and watch some movies. I am the conglomeration of worldwide cool. Obvious.

Also, my sister told me I'm not being nice enough to my parents on my blog. Thenceforth I will write the strange happenings of family Peterson onto my family website and nobody need feel awkward about commenting on this blog. Don't worry, I guess the compost is becoming too convoluted.

When I start spouting nonsense I realize the importance of stopping the stream. Stopping. Now.

Vanilla Pillows-

The greatest cereal in the world, or so my brother and his companion said in their last pday video. They're found in Portugal and other participating locations and taste like vanilla filled chocolate cereal, which is what they are. My brother made us a video commercial that was hilarious. I'm a terrible video maker, but Grant is an aspiring filmmaker, so that doesn't improve my situation, except to alleviate any concerns I might have had about making a movie, because Grant will make my videos if I need any.

I wish to extrapolate on a question my sister has put to me. 18 vs. 25.

Well, I know I am probably too old to date 18 yr olds, since my brothers Christian and Canute are 17 and 19..meaning their friends would be about 18 and that seems excessively young in principle. But those younger boys are just as nice as the 28 yr old males I know. And quite a bit less jaded if you will. And I'm sure you will. But we can still talk yes? See Sarah..

Nice people come in every age group and I don't think I should be limited to meeting the young or old nice people out there. The half your age add seven rule limits people, thereby limiting my scope of friendship to people within three years of my age on either side and nobody else.

That said, I think I'll put my lower cap at 17 and my higher cap can be reset to 40. I don't think that range will limit my options do you? I mean, yeah, when I get back from mission I may have to reset it, but it's good for now. Readers, what do you think?

To end this whole thing, I heard on the radio yesterday 70% of pet owners actually think their pets can understand what they're saying. I would say Danielle's dog Prince is definitely in the lagging 30%.

Note: I don't think I could actually date any of my younger brothers' friends from Missouri. Seeing their infant faces together in pictures might make me retch at myself...especially in our wedding video. Bulimia..so I'll just say this is clearly a hypothetical situation. I did not recently meet a cool 18 yr old who I am in turmoil about being social comrades with, but only because of all the crap people hypothetically have been giving me.

Today-

Today I started painting my room. It was pretty gross. There were skid marks and hand prints all over the walls..and some in very inaccessible places, so I'm not sure how they got there. The room had four little boys staying in it during the younger years, so that's why.

Grossest moment, pretty sure there was some leftover throw up on two of the walls. No kidding. Pretty sick. So I vinegar watered the walls today. Then, I talked over some ideas with my brother Canute. We discussed the wonderful nature of murals and how we should do one. So, against the better judgment of the females of style I know, we're painting an epic war scene on the walls of my room. I can't wait. Right now it's light blue on the walls and dark blue on the ceiling. It looks pretty good now.

With a mural though, it's going to be hardcore. Do you know anyone with an epic war scene on their bedroom walls? Yeah, me neither. I told Canute to not make it too scary. People do have to sleep in there. Overall, the little boys sleep on the couches in the living room, so I think we will keep the precious angel nieces and nephews in mind while we're brainstorming the room decor.

I don't know if we'll put stuff on every wall, I don't know yet. What do we have time to do? And we mostly just have white paint, so yeah. I'll fill you in as we go.

Tomorrow I'm doing Fedex training. That means I'll be driving with another trainee to figure out the scanner, the routes etc. Then, I'll be training some other days and then I'll start working for real. Training pays minimum wage, driving pays $11 an hour. So yeah, starting a route will be good for my wallet. I hope I don't get lost. I've been known to get lost when I don't know where I am. I'm a little nervous about my tendency for getting lost. Fedex may hate me by December, but I'll try my best.

Besides that? Not much.

Sand people

Yesterday I got home at 8:30. I'd driven around for Fedex until 3, gone visiting teaching, and then helped decorate the church for the singles regional Halloween dance. I was gone all day. When I got home, I was hungry. I looked in the fridge and saw some sketchy peppers. I cut those up along with some onions and tomatoes, and made fajitas.

However, I couldn't find any chicken, so I started looking for some beef. There was a cut of t-bone steak in our fridge that had been there for a while. I unwrapped it from the beef saturated paper and plastic to find..moldy t-bone. Which I called my mother over to witness. If I throw stuff away before proving its failings to my mother I get yelled at and it gets fished out of the trash. Sick I know.

So I showed her the mold and she told me to cut it out. It surrounded that steak completely. Ugh. I told her it was unsuitable to eat, so she could either throw it away or give it to the dog. She said, "I can't give it to the dog. It will kill him." Now you know, my mother loves our dog more than her own children.

I then gawked as she fished the moldy meat out of the trash can because she said "Animals will search for it in the trash cans, so I need to refreeze it and will put it in the can for the Monday trash pick up". Right, she's going to remember the rotten piece of meat she reinserted into the freezer four days ago. Not likely. I told her she couldn't.

I then suggested she put the rotten meat into a paint can. We've gone through a couple paint cans this week. It's very doable when your mom saves an inch of paint to use later. She also confessed to keeping a couple empty cans to mix paints in. That's why we have so much crap in our garage/house/attic.

Also, when I was filling my sister in..America, my dad listened in to the whole conversation. The point where I mentioned I had thrown out the meat, my dad interjected that in many countries they mold meat on purpose before they eat it. He was also disappointed I had thrown it out. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Of course he then read me several instances he had googled of people eating moldy meat- cured ham, cured cheeses, cooked meats, smoked meats. No fresh moldy meat examples were ever brought up. Hah, there you have it. Sick. Anyway. He also told me to make sure my water was hot when I made pizza two days ago b/c that's essential to the yeast raising cycle? Jigga-what? I guess I've never made anything with yeast before so I had no idea...

Then he was pretty defensive because of my sarcasm, so he said he would keep his knowledge treasures to himself from then on. Well if they're common knowledge, please do. Weirdly enough, I don't think most people would stick their finger into your already measured water and tell you something obvious like that, but I know someone who would.

I also ate German pancakes for breakfast and got a haircut. Snap. Next update- Halloween regional singles dance. Who could ask for anything more?

I, can't help, myself-

I went to a youth dance Saturday night. Don't judge me.

I was just going to drop off my little brother Christian. He got out of work at McD's a little too late to ride with everyone else. Power to you bro. Anyhow, I dropped him off in jeans because I figured I could keep away if I dressed inappropriately. Apparently it had no effect. I was lured in by Belinda, a great friend, and instead of leaving 10 minutes later, I left after the last song. Yes, you got it. I stayed the entire dance duration. I'm so weird. I did dance with the other leaders and felt ultra cool. My kids would be so proud.

There was one incident. It reminded me of the time Danny Beard asked a leader to dance at a YC dance. A tall young buck came up to me on the sidelines and asked how old I was. I said, "25." At which time he promptly averted his eyes from mine and his abrupt about-face twirled my toupee as he walked off in embarrassment. Oops. It's so not allowed for leaders to dance with the youth, but I felt really bad for him and would have totally danced with him if it had been allowed. Oh well.

On a side note, I would like to add a couple weird things about myself. You may or may not know these things about me.

1. I made fun of Nick for folding underwear, but I realize I too have a sorting process I cannot skip. I align and stack my underwear. I did laundry yesterday, that's when I noticed it. I tried wadding all the undies together and tossing them into the drawer but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

2. My car is pretty spotless. We had an improv night at FHE tonight and the only things in my car were oil, windshield wiper fluid, a lizard stuffed animal, and a blanket. Those were all in my trunk. I only had sunglasses in my actual car. That's kind of strange I realized.

3. I cannot handle hair on people or obvious little specks on them. I'm like the lady on Runaway Bride..but not quite that bad. Ask my freshmen girls about that. I picked a hair off this lady at a missionary farewell and it was attached. Oops. Or you can ask my previous boyfriends. I'm a freak about it.

4. Flossing is terribly important to me. Although I haven't had the best luck finding boys who share my passion for healthy teeth, it's a big deal to me.

5. I'm boy crazy. I've always been boy crazy. I always thought I'd grow out of it. I'm still waiting for that day to come. Shouldn't it be here already? I'm 25. Throw me a friggin bone here.

6. Physical contact. I go wiggidy wack about that stuff. Hold my hand and we're practically soul mates. In fact, in honor of this post, I think I'll post my first kiss story at the bottom of this blog. Feel free to skip it if you've heard or read it before. It's pretty long.

7. I am seriously concerned about my lack of commitment in relationships. Any time some great guy comes along to sweep me off my feet, I bolt. It's such a helpless feeling to see the bolting coming on and being powerless to stop it.

8. Hair. Ask anyone I know. I love discussing hair. Especially my own. It's a grand thing that can change whenever you like. This probably illustrates something huge about me, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

9. I'm a sugar addict. I know, some people like sugar. However, I like sugar so much sometimes I'll eat 5 donuts in one sitting. That's not new for me. I do feel like crap after. Always. So I'm trying to be better about the sugar binges.

10. I won't eat after my nightly floss and brush. I rarely break this rule, maybe twice a year. My friends can vouch for that one. There's always someone trying to get me to bend from my hard stand against after brush food intake. I sometimes do it for holidays, special occasions, or to support one of those sugar binges I was talking about previously. No small event will bend my resolve. Brushing again is a hassle. I know, not that big a hassle, but a hassle nevertheless.

I'm only going to ten, though I know I could list many more. Here's that first kiss story, straight out of my book, so like I said, if you've already read it, don't feel obligated to read it.

First Kiss

There comes a time when kissing needs to happen. It cannot happen with a weird boy, it has to be with someone super or it is not worth the effort. Somehow, with copious amounts of strange mixed into my dating pool, I managed to avoid this intimacy until age 21.

When guys wanted to go for it, they could not get a hold of me; return calls were not made and my life got hectic. My attitude transformed from nervousness to complete lack of interest. Kissing was sick, and would be avoided at all costs forever.

Since my family did not regard this as a healthy attitude, they encouraged me to get that first kiss out of the way and overcome my nervous apathy. At this point in my life I met Neville. He was interesting to talk to and we got along, but I was nervous about his dental hygiene and could not come to terms with the danger his teeth were in.

Still, when everyone else had already dipped their head in that barrel, running to catch up felt right. All my relatives thought it was a good idea. They urged me along in the barrel contest as though their lives depended on it. Along with this support, coworkers also heartened me. Their encouragement was helpful, and slid me to the next step.

One day, in a fit of enthusiasm, I proclaimed my first kiss would occur on Thursday. Any day would not do. It had to be planned or would never happen. A spontaneous person on the outside, my planner is meticulously filled as soon as plans are proposed. The day everyone heard Thursday was my scheduled first kiss was the same day it was written into my planner and became definite.

Although Neville never waved to me on campus or called besides the weekend, my first kiss was planned for him. Even though he told me he had always wanted to end up with a blonde, he was deemed worthy for these lips. Besides the fact he was madly in love with a certain blonde we both knew, his friendship with her was not important or significant to our current relationship.

He told me numerous times if she would agree to dating him he would drop anyone else immediately. Their friendship made me nervous, but we were not really dating, so it did not matter. He took her out more often than he saw me. Come on Merilee, that was clue number one.

Clue two, she was on his water polo team. Neville invited me to his intramural water polo games and I went sometimes. That Thursday I went with a plan. As a side note, my friend recently pointed out the strange feelings associated with watching sparsely dressed people while you are completely dressed.

His body suited up in shorts was not the best image I have ever seen. His dark leg hair gripping his pasty legs with wet panic was the first sight my eyes set upon at the games. Next his glorious fan of chest hair carefully placed. The back hair was not bad and compared to his spike on a slightly balding head was looking quite groomed.

It seemed almost indecent for me to watch him along with two teams of half dressed pasty people. The conundrum is where else to look. Attending this event often includes a group of people also inclined to stare down at the sparsely clad ones. Carefully watching the oversized ball they use to play the game is the main secret. A student of acute observation, it was the safest eye route available.

After the contest of skill had ended, Neville talked with others, scarcely noticing me at his side. It might have been his state of dress, or he could have felt anxious because of their recent loss. He might have been compensating by ignoring me completely. Either way, Neville was rapidly dropping in champion points. Even though my roommate had presented me with lip numbing lip gloss before I left the apartment, the man did not deserve the wonderful service planned for him later that evening.

Pushing such thoughts out of my mind was simple and characteristic and I did it. Life was good. It was spring and every tree across campus was in full bloom. The warm breath of summer was beginning to blow. This was the perfect night to educate my virgin lips.

As we walked along, remembrance filled my heart with dread. Everyone I knew was expecting an exciting romantic update tomorrow and the event might not happen. Steeling for the announcement, the mouth opened, body tensed. It was scary, but a declaration was made. I was going to kiss him tonight.

His answer was surprised and bemused. When the words had left my lips, answers poured from his. The first was a statement claiming nobody had ever said that to him before. The second was a fervent, hearty acceptance of the declaration and an overwhelming agreement to help in any way he could.

Walking along, we also discussed our future relation plans. Since school was over for him in two weeks he was moving to Oregon. I was traveling to New Mexico two months later and it was agreed we would break up in two weeks. Oh well, an icebreaker and some practice for later. It was necessary sometime, so it was happening tonight.

As we headed for wooded areas by campus, nervous feelings began multiplying like rabbits. Heading down a secluded path, my heart racing to beat any metronome, ease was not coming along. Neville tried leaning in a couple times, but my walk became brisk. Under a certain flowering cherry tree, along a certain path next to campus, my legs stopped and as my eyes fluttered to the tree, Neville reached over to pull me close.

With terrified realization, my arms fought back and pushed away from his chest. Using his hand to guide my face to his, distance was narrowing. Calling out in desperation my consternation and unwillingness to compromise my lips, his hand guiding ever closer with confident force my face to his, I could not do it.

Tearing my face away from his grip, pitiful sadness fell over me. Realizing it was not going to happen in that moment, Neville angrily stalked away from me. Following the way of a penitent puppy, my legs scurried after his. I apologized with vehement distaste for my personal weakness, but it was not enough to clear the air.

Sitting side by side was the only thing left to do. On a bench, secluded from every person on earth, panic again took hold of my heart. Neville’s calming tactics were working slightly and my brain, rewiring itself for the current crisis, was having limited success. When the panic had almost receded from my face, Neville repositioned himself directly in front of my rigid figure. Slowly, but surely he was redirecting my thoughts with carefully planned conversation away from the pivotal reason for our current surroundings and placement.

Neville leaned in, my face tipped to the side, and he let me go in for a hug. Next time we went in, he let me hug him again. The third time Neville switched face positioning and came at me. Dodging this way and that, my lips almost missed catastrophe.

At the last second, like the champion he was, Neville caught the right side of my mouth with his. Slipping in some tongue as though he was licking his top lip, my reaction was golden. I turned to the path and looked straight ahead. Terrible as the first kiss was, my frustration was aimed toward the guilt unfolding inside me. Guilt for kissing anyone at all and panic was flowing resolutely onto the grass.

The next phrase to escape Neville’s lips was, “Will you spend the night with me Saturday?” My first reaction being, heck no; the second reaction began when I realized his intention of hanging out, nothing inappropriate involved, and relief flooded through me. I had waited too long to kiss a body.

Luckily I had an old pro to help me along. Neville realized after the first kiss, if he was ever going to get any more kisses, he would have to go in for them quickly. The door was swift and silently closing after the first kiss and he needed to slip his foot in to keep it from dead bolt status. He propped the door by going in for another kiss every five minutes.

With my current stress levels, confidence in his wisdom was dwindling. Every time he went in for a kiss, my urge to dodge became stronger and the battle came into full swing. Never knowing whether Neville was going to make me kiss him or let me hug him, my mind was hoping for another hug and dreading the prescribed lip locks.

When we finally left the bench, my relief was strong. On the walk back, Neville even took the liberty of picking me up and after a struggle told me he would not put me down until after another kiss. Bestowed diffidently, this kiss was begrudging.

On another stop along the way, for another stolen kiss, with people watching right there, Neville piqued their jealousy. After the long walk home, we stopped at my door, he leaned in for another lip flick. Reassured my Saturday night was with him, he left. Inside the apartment, my mind blew itself into a black hole. Thinking of nothing, my mind closed off and I completed my nightly routine as usual. Due to my late appointment, none of my roommates were awake.

The next day was spent on the phone; with more calls than if my engagement had been announced the night before. Even though the story was told to everyone at work and school, my mind was still shivering under the stress and anticipation of Saturday night. Hopefully it would get better, but horror if it did not.

Saturday afternoon occurred and my mind was agape. Neville called me on the phone and he sounded stressed. Imagination is only a blessing at certain times. This was not one of those times.

His panic was mirrored inside me and my mind reflected back the reasons he might be nervous to talk with me. The only reason I can remember thinking for his panic was a proposal of marriage. Granted, it does not happen in sane world circumstances, but he was weird. He had slipped in tongue on my first kiss ever. He could be contemplating marriage to me.

Divine as my attributes are, I could not imagine why he would not ask me. My insides were churning with nervous sickness and he needed to talk to me before our date that night, so he was coming over. What he had to say he didn’t want to tell me on the phone.

He came over and my guts trembled with the horrible anticipation of telling the first marriage proposal of my life no. There was no way to let him down easy. I would have to be nice but firm. When he sat down on my couch and told me he could not date me, every tense muscle in my body released. After the initial relief following his statement, my questions began. It was the least he could do to answer my questions.

Why could he not date me? He could not date me because he was dating someone else. Who was he dating now? The blonde friend he had been crushing on for so long. When had that happened? They had kissed Friday and spent the day together. Although my joy was full for him and his happiness, I could not help thinking it was convenient he had realized this after Thursday when we had kissed.

Then my remembrance was brought to speed with the terrible nature of kissing and there was much rejoicing. We played a game of cards and he left. They broke up the next night because blondie decided she did not want to date him after all. I saw him Monday and never again.

I know, I'm a weirdo. It shouldn't have been so traumatic etc. I've also realized, reading over the first half, I wrote this story with a weird writing style that bothers me. I will have to go back and rewrite it.

My sister Sarah is a special angel sent from heaven-

We just visited Sarah and her little Gessel family over the last Wednesday to Wednesday week in Houston, Texas. We had a great time. I'd never been to Texas before. Ever. It's warm there.

The reason Deane's an angel, is she sent us with a million treats to munch on for the ride home including, but not limited to, homemade fruit roll ups, candy, fruits, powdered donuts, yogurt, Popsicles, and a couple jugs of crystal light.

Not only did she send us with all those goodies, but she also sent us home with two canisters of crystal light to enjoy at home- because she loves us. So I cannot wait to enjoy all those things, since we couldn't possibly eat the millions of things she sent us with on the 12 hour drive home. Even though it was made longer by the car accident that delayed our home arrival by an hour.

It was ok, because we car danced for the people outside our window. Canute also realized I hadn't ejected the banana peels from my car window a little later, and when confronted about it, I admitted I hadn't wanted the surrounding cars to judge me. Since I heard...even though it's stupid..that banana peels don't biodegrade in our contiguous area very well because bananas ripen in the equator.

As you see, I believe most things I hear, and the real reason is I didn't want people to think I was a litterbug even though I would have just been throwing out banana peels. What if they didn't care to check what I'd tossed out and just hated me forever for littering. Or worse, got out of their car to confront me about littering, and on their way to my car, slipped on the banana peels? Then what? Sue city.

During the week, we met Luke and bonded, played many games, watched several movies, and oil painted. Unfortunately, we didn't oil paint until the very last day of our stay in Houston, so our paintings are only have done and we had to split. So we will be finishing our together started oil paintings in separate locations.

I also found out my sister was very helpful and thoughtful in first grade. She suggested to her teacher, when asked about paper towel conservation, that people could save a lot of paper towels by just pushing down all the used paper towels in the trash can. Then your hands are dry, the trash isn't overflowing, and paper towels make a comeback.

Yesterday I made lasagne. I accidentally used tomato soup instead of tomato sauce. The cans look the same, but it tasted a little different. I also over peppered it. Oops.

Meet unhappy McGee-

Or myself, Peterson. Yesterday I made coffee cake. Or as my sensitive father wishes we call it, breakfast cake, since the other name implies we drink coffee and as you know, we don't. It's against our religion. Let me tell you something, I like making up recipes and I put some rhubarb into a blueberry crumble in Alaska and figured I'd never go back.

Well, I found some rhubarb in the fridge yesterday. I chopped it up and dropped two cups into my crumble. For rhubarb, you cut up the red stalk. I found out in the eating of this delicacy I didn't put rhubarb into the mix, but char. Char, for those of you who have never heard of it..like me, is like spinach. You eat the leaf. It looks exactly like rhubarb, except the stalk tastes like beets. So I will be hard pressed to get my family to eat my beet breakfast cake. Boo.

I was also sent away from my house to my sister's house today because my mother doesn't trust me alone in there. I have a tendency lately, especially after dating clean freak Italiano Coppola, to want surrounding areas to me clean. He thinks it's hilarious. I think it's idiotic. Stupid cleaning upstart ruining my life. Anyway, I think cleanliness is next to Godliness, therefore, I will be cleaner in future.

I also saw the movie 17 again today. Very cute. Zach E is a hot 17 yr old. There, I said it. Whatever. Don't judge me. My range is 17 to 40 anyway. I think I used to say 50, but I've reneged, that sicks me out. I also ate two blts for lunch and a brownied up scoop of icecream for lunch. That also semi sicks me out b/c I know it's terribly oily of me to eat such a thing without plans to run, even though Christian bro would love to run with me. I should start that.

Kristie, I would be pleased to make the acquaintance of your friend. Don't be too disappointed if it doesn't work out though, St. Louis is 3.5 hours away. It's where our temple is, so we take temple trips there. I'm sure he's lovely. Most boys are.

Unfortunately, I do have an unsightly bruise on my left leg currently and it showcases my clumsiness..I ran into a bookshelf in our library. It hurt like the dickens. Whatever. Pay no attention to the largess of my leg in this picture, it's an optical illusion. On a similar note, I need to make some food today. Did I tell you my sister babysat me today because my mother doesn't trust me in the house alone?

I mean, she probably shouldn't, I kept asking her what things around the house were for..and I threw away two pairs of shoes in the garage..and get this- she noticed. Have you seen our garage? It's loaded with crap. That's the weirdest part. Paranoid people all over. Hah.

Speaking of paranoid, Nick would never go to church activities with me because he said they're designed to trick people into having fun and joining our church. I guess that's kind of what they're designed to do. Kind of. I also got a job with Fedex today. I'll start training in two Thursdays..starting the day I get back from Sarah's house. Yay for visits to baby Lukes, sisters, and fantastic brother in laws.

On the other hand, my parents are completely insane. I had my car in a spot two places over from where my car is now and I had to move it because we have someone who lives in our basement and it's his "assigned parking spot" even though it doesn't really matter where anyone parks. I had to move it right then, because he is coming home right now. Who cares? I was just annoyed it was so urgent. Completely insane.

Stuck on you

I’m currently sitting in the Seattle airport terminal, watching pushy Delta Skymiles representatives. Calling people over..very sneaky. Anyhow, I’d just tell them I already had one and maybe they’d go away. They’d better stay away from me.

I’m on my way back to Missouri. I left the house this morning at 5:15 am and am getting home to Blue Springs at about 9:15 pm. I will have plenty of time to blog. Right before updating this, I typed up my phone list. I figured my mother’s taking up my phone plan when I leave, so I should take down that useful information and email it to myself. I’d hate for that valuable information to get lost.

Big news: Nick Coppola left two days before me and I was really sad.
Predictable: I cried four times the previous day and the water poured when he left at 4:30 am the next morning.

I also went rock climbing Thursday. I got up four walls. Correction, I scaled two easy walls and half scaled two harder walls, but on the third wall my hands got sweaty and I couldn’t grip anything, and by the fourth wall my arms and legs were exhausted. I could’ve gotten up that wall if I didn’t have T-Rex arms.

Nick did have chalk, but by the fourth wall, it was too late, I was exhausted. Being puny can be a real downer during recreational activities that take lots of muscle control. Such activities I’ve noticed this during: rock climbing, water skiing, and snowboarding. I just like reading, thereby exercising my mind.

I am finished working for the summer and just told my sister on the phone I’m pretty sure I made the same amount this summer as I have in summers past. How is it possible, Merilee? You only worked half the summer you say. Well, I think it’s a blessing for my mission preparation. It must be, because I have no other explanation for that phenomenon. Or I could be on crack and have no idea how much money I make any given season..which is also true.

Canute, my esteemed sibling and I were talking yesterday about the projects my mother has lined up for him. Then I got to thinking about where I’m headed. I’ll be at the project house tonight. We talked about how nice it would be to have free time. Specifically, free time to play golf. I mean, think about how bored you must be to hit a ball into that hole in the ground waayyyyy over there by that flag. I have some cousins that love golf. Big D, you know who I mean. Man, that’s the life.

You know what else is the life? Living as a single waif is awesome. I realized the other day, after reading some blogs and talking to some ladies I know, how terribly lucky I am to be single, unattached, and childless. Not that marriage doesn’t have huge perks such as companionship etc., but I’m not ready quite yet to be attached to the responsibility of educating a child or two.

On the flip side, I do love spooning. Therefore, I should probably get on my mission and forget the boys. Get yourself a canary, Dilmount. I do miss Mr. Coppola though. He’s a hilarious dreamboat who is currently driving through Canada, stopping to climb rocks and hike trails. Weird.

I’m trying to think of something terribly exciting I decided upon or something weird I’ve done lately. Can’t think of anything at all. Wait, have you ever seen someone so muscley they can’t put their arms down? Funny. I just saw a guy with that problem walking past me in the airport.

Other things I’ve seen in the airport while sitting here for the last three hours: a seven year old kid riding on a suitcase his mom was pulling along, lots of not as cute as Luke babies, two puppies, two Peter Pan hat wearers who ended up belonging to each other thereby disproving my theory about a Peter Pan convention in the area, some koochie cutters, Jesus sandals, lots of tattoos, and a $9 Panini sandwich I totally bought, cause I’m a sucker.

Not that I can really talk, because I’m currently wearing sweatpants over my jeans. My bag was too heavy, so I put some pants over my pants. I packed 5 jars of homemade blueberry and salmonberry jam in my luggage for presents. Heavy. Five pounds over heavy, but jam’s liquid so I had to move over other stuff. So I can’t open my carryon, since it’s way too jam packed..heh.
On the upside, it’s cold in the SLC airport and I’ve got some soft sweatpants on for cuddling..with myself.

Also, esteemed Canute just fixed my laptop connection availability. He's my hero. Yay. Today I cleaned my brother Josh's room where I'll be staying since he's in Washington staying with cousins for four months. I don't think it had been vaccumed for ten years, no joke. I'll also be visiting Deane next Wednesday for sure in Texas. Yes!

Grotesque-

The three landscapes are all Juneau pictures. The Taku Inlet, North Douglas, and Lena Point. Pretty isn't it? These were all taken on different days.

Friday I took the fast ferry with boyfriend Nick to Skagway Alaska. We floated over at about 6 pm. We met at the Skagway driver house and had a race meeting. We ate some pasta and took a two hour nap. Then we drove to the starting point of the fifth leg of the 10 leg, 24 hour, Klondike Road Run.

I was leg 5 and had 13.9 miles to run. I hadn't trained much..well. Let's just say I didn't run more than seven miles a week for the last 2 months..since the half marathon I ran last month. So I've been winding down, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I mean I've been running, but not more than seven miles a week.

I figured I could pick up whatever they put down. They gave me the 13.9 mile leg, two days in advance, and I took the challenge. I ran 3-6:05 am. It was dark and I was nervous about bears. I had a head lamp, some reflective bands, and a fancy flickering arm band.

It was chilly outside, but I'm a hot runner. I always strip down when running. I started with the numbers pinned to a hoodie and ended up switching the numbers to my Philmont tshirt while running because I was roasting.

I did alright the first three miles. Then I told the support vehicle with the last four runners to go 4 miles ahead. I was doing ok, what the heck? They said they'd go 3. I said ok. Three miles later I told them to never leave me for that long again. It is hard to run by yourself up and down mountain passes in the middle of the night.

They met me from then on every mile for drinks and moral support. I drank from the water bottle in a stationary pose. I cannot drink while running, it must be a mental block I've put on myself. It was a nice break every mile though. At mile seven, my knees were in blinding pain and I was only halfway finished with the race.

At mile 9 I told the van to tell me I only had three miles left. They told me I had four. There was a lot of yelling about death at that point of my leg. At mile ten I prayed my legs wouldn't break off at the knee until I had finished the race and I walked up the gigantic mountain that wouldn't end. At mile 11 I pooted and thought I'd messed my pants.

After acquiring some tp from the support vehicle, I sent them on their way. I could have shaved five minutes off my running time if they had just gone on instead of waiting right there while I pooped in the forest right next to them. Then they took a picture of me looking pissed. I was angry b/c I thought they'd been taking pictures of me pooping in the forest. They hadn't been, but I have an active imagination and mischievous friends.

At mile 12 I was having serious knee problems and was trying to convince myself the pain was mental and I could get through the pain. Run through the pain Merilee, you'll thank me later. So I tried that for the last two miles and in the end, I had trouble even jogging the last kilometer to the finish line. Boo. Then I took a nap and after waking to deposit waste into the forest for the second time that day, also took 15 minutes to walk 15 paces to a protected bit of forest for this deposit. I was stiffer than a board. It was pretty sick.

Then we took turns driving for the last 4 legs. It was insane, I don't know if I could do it again, but if I did, I would train more. We ate pizza that night from Pizza Hut. It rained a lot. Wow, running up mountains is brutal.

Hubbub-

Misty fjords would be so jealous of our mists outside today. I can't even imagine how the mists cling to us on a daily basis. Wow. It's hard to get outside and do stuff when it's such a craphole out there. I may decide to make a baked good or something later today.

This week was a good week. My sister had a baby this week. She had a little boy named Luke Gregory Gessel. He's 8.1 lbs and 20 inches long. That's a baby! She also had a C-section unfortunately. She wasn't progressing, so they had to cut her up. The only thing she wanted was a killer scar. She got it, woot!

Let's see. I worked quite a bit this week, but not 80 hours. Probably about 60 hours. Not too shabby. I also am getting over this sick cold I had for a couple weeks. It was killer and nasty. Blech. Lots of mucus. Must be a product of our great weather.

We also had an ugly sweater party. Apparently my sweater wasn't ugly enough. I thought it was pretty ugly in the store, but nobody said good job, it's ugly. I'll post some pictures soon. You can judge for yourself. And this is a picture of the bulletin board I did at the church.

I got a haircut yesterday. Lots of layers. I guess I could probably put some pictures up of that too, it's similar. I mean yeah, my hair's still long. I got more layers around my face though. So that will be good for my face, who needs more friends as you know.

Canopy adventure-

Just in- that boy Nick finally kissed me. Well, it happened Tuesday, but since I'm a slow twit, it hasn't come out until now. Tiffanie, I agree. The boy shouldn't have been able to resist me, but he has the "patience of a saint". Therefore, it took a little while.

After work, we tried planning something. Dave from work came over to where we were standing and asked if Nick wanted to go with the guys and play pool at 9. Nick said he might like that and looked over at me. When he asked if I would like to play pool, I rolled my eyes...since I'm a bad sport and was getting anxious about my canteen.

Then I said the chances of me wanting to play pool were small. He said alright. On the ride home I said he could go play with the boys if he wanted to and I'd just watch a movie by myself at home. Boys are so great. Either way I was starving and we went home. I ate, took a shower, he ate, took a shower and 2 hours later I was still lounging around, waiting to hear the plan.

Nick refused to watch a movie in the living room, because he didn't want everyone we work with making fun of us. Understandable. So yes, I'm a sinner, we watched a movie in his room. I didn't think he'd ever kiss me, slow as he is. First thing he did was pull me over. Mmm hmm. Then he kissed me a little later. I enjoyed it. He waited a while, since I've got a nasty cold. He kept kissing me on the cheek and saying how shameful it was I had a cold. Teasing bugger. Finally he did. It was nice.

I am grateful, but I would have understood if he hadn't, since my cold really is grotesque. I asked if he wasn't afraid to get it. He said he'd eat himself healthy. Then he got it two days later. Sucker. So I feel kind of guilty, but glad his ridiculous theory was proven false. Eat healthy enough to not get my cold, pah.

I do think we should probably hike more and watch less movies. I also think Juneau should be less rainy. We had a company softball game yesterday and the other team had too few players. I was put on the opposing team with a couple other people from ACT and we had a good sport. I'm terrible at catching softballs, but pretty good at throwing. I had a good catch, a couple almost catches, etc. I should go on a run later, but I work tonight, so it probably won't happen.

Everyone went to Icy Strait today, but I had to work and didn't have enough time to get a replacement. They're going to see calving glaciers. I'm super jealous. Instead I made some delectable rolls and watched Finding Jane and Willow.

Summing up my week, I'd say it was delicious. And his arms are huge. Mmm hmmm.

Incessant Juneau Rain

Excitement galore…I’ve got a bit going on right now. I don’t think I’ve mentioned my recent experiences. Nick is a boy I’ve been playing checkers and studying Spanish with. We go running sometimes, not recently, and he’s wonderful. I told him I liked him and he told me my impatience would never pay off.

Last week I was studying Spanish with Nick and he put his hand on my hand. I know, I’m like a seventh grader. I was looking for a verb and he picked up my hand. I couldn’t concentrate on what I was looking for because my mind was racing. Then he told me I had dirty fingernails. So I wondered whether he was holding my hand or just commenting on my hygiene.

Eventually, I looked up and we seemed to be having a moment. I destroyed the moment by heading off to the bathroom. I felt uncomfortable and wasn’t sure what to do. When I came back, the boy asked me why I run. Why do you think I run away, with mixed signals like that?

Then he told me not to run. Well guess what, I’ll run if I want.
Wednesday we went to the beach. At 70 degrees, Juneau had a perfect day to study Spanish. We talked about our dating lives, somehow we got onto the topic of the handhold last week, and he told me he was holding my hand. Then I asked if he was ever going to kiss me. He then told me why we could never date: we work together, we live together, and those are two terrible no no’s in the dating game.

Listen Nick, it’s unsporting of you to throw rocks at my house when you’ve just helped me tear down the walls around the outside. Crapface. I’m pretty frustrated. We talked the other day about compromising. Like we could hold hands when nobody else is around or we could date but not kiss ever.

I’ll let you know what happens. I mean, either way it’s a compromise, but at least I won’t be completely straightjacketed this summer. Meh, I’m going on a mission, but canteen fillers..I need to get me some of those. A year and a half is a long time.

My Grandma Enid died yesterday afternoon-

I'd like to blog a second about my grandma. I'll be honest, if I hadn't just read my sister's blog it wouldn't have occurrred to me, but it's a great idea, so I'm going to copy her.

Grandma Enid, my namesake. She always made me happy to see her. I remember her stories because she told them often. My favorites were the stories of her and my Grandpa Neal Peterson. He would tease her about the towel rack falling off the wall, just so she'd get mad.

She always thought it was so weird he dipped eggs in ketchup and put syrup on pancakes. Grandma was always giving me man advice. She often suggested I change my man tactics to exclude making them food and to give them attention, but never too much attention.

Grandma Enid was always full of advice and wisdom. Her house, spotless, was always fun to visit. She would always give you something strange to eat and an adventure was never far behind.

I remember eating outside and riding the turtles. Walking through Grandma's ornamental back yard always fascinated me. It seemed to have such magic just around the corner. I remember the day I found out they had a basement for food storage. It blew my mind.

Grandma loved her movies. She loved some great ones and we would watch them all the time together. She had some great chick flicks and they all reflected her man advice. My roomies enjoyed my Grandma stories. I told them everything she told me, she had some good ones. She once told me men don't like shooting the standing deer. They want to bag the running deer. Well, she used a little bit different lingo, but it boils down to that.

Grandma Enid was always interested in hearing my boy stories. She often told me I wasn't to settle for anyone. I was to go for the gold. Grandma Peterson, I love you. We're going to miss you and your testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Grandma, Sarah didn't eat all her ketchup spaghetti, she put half of hers onto Bonnie's plate. I am blessed to be named after you! Love, Merilee Enid

I've got some pictures-

There are many pictures you have been wishing to see on my camera. So here are a couple. Deane wanted to see those boys I was crushing on. Here are a couple.



This first picture is of me, Brian McEwen, Peggi Taken, and some crazy amounts of salmon berries. Look how our clothes match. Cool huh? We're obviously really good at picking berries.






This was taken on the evening whale watch we attended a couple weeks ago. This is me, Nick Coppola, and Ted McGuire. What a fantastic picture. So yes, this is it. Oh, and Julie is in this last one.














On the other hand, this is a picture of my wrist after I hit it on a rock picking more of those innocent looking salmon berries. Though very deep when it happened, you can't really see its severity in this picture. Oh well, so eat your heart out..

This ones for you-

I love the movie Becoming Jane and all the Jane Austen movies out there really. I'm a chunk of cheesy romance pie. It's pretty sick. I mean come on, one can only eat so much cheese.

I raced my first race Saturday. I ran up the tram trail. I went with two boys I work with named Nick and Dave. I felt alright on the road, but when we got to the trailhead I started panting really hard and Nick charged ahead. Not before he told me I'd do great and he'd see me at the top. I ended up walking really hard the whole way. It was 3.5 miles. I could have done it, if it hadn't been completely vertical.

Big D, you know what I'm talking about, I thought about you on that trail run, since if you'd been there we could have power walked it together. It didn't even have flat stretches. I was rasping the whole mountain race. A group of 9 year old boys totally skunked me. I found out later they skunked everyone, but I was feeling pretty lamesauce when I saw them descending before I even reached the top.

I ate 5 donuts the day before. I had eaten one at breakfast and four at work. I didn't feel fantastic that day, but the next three days I felt even worse. I felt like a donut. Ugh. Nasty. I'm still getting those donuts out of my body. I had no idea donuts would make me feel so vile for so long. No idea. Never eating s donuts again.

Despite my race catastrophe Saturday, I still signed up to do the half marathon Saturday. I'm a sicko, yes, a complete sicko. I'll start at 8 am and run probably three hours. Then I work that afternoon at 4 pm. I hope I don't get too tired, b/c I'll still have 7 hours of work to do. Boo.

I cantalope.

Castles in the sand-

My life is filled with castles I've built in the sand. It's getting worse as I get older. When I find promising relationships, I usually spit on them figuratively and ruin my chances. It's a good thing to know, but hard to change. I'll work on differentiating my relationship patterns after my mission. We'll see what happens.

On a different note, I slit my wrist on a rock this week. I was picking berries and fell into our ditch. I caught myself in such a way.. I'm impressed my veins weren't severed. But I could see them and wanted to throw up. I tried taking a picture of it today and it wouldn't turn out. Ridiculously enough. 

I like taking pictures of injuries because it makes me feel validated with my injuries. These injuries happen less often with me than others. It's a good thing because I almost threw up when I cut my wrist and it wasn't even a bad cut. It was an ugly scratch.

I'm in charge of designing the CES bulletin board. I've crushed some cans, cut out some stars and an egg crate and whatever else I could think of. I'll try and take a picture of it...if and only if it looks good.

If it looks terrible, I'll work on it longer and if I can't make it look good, I'll certainly cry myself to sleep. Either way, the bulletin board needs some spice and it's my new project. I also need some interviews taken care of for my mission, I'm working on it.

I like snickers bars. I also like Baby Ruths. Who knew they were so delicious? I found out today when I was starving at Temsco. I was waiting to pick up people flown down from the mountains. They were stranded in the fog. 

Last week we had softball practice and my slit wrist hurt. I kept slicing through it with my other hand. My batting became tentative and I couldn't hit anything. Terrible. We play in a week. We may win, but only if my wrist is healed by then. I dislike injuries.

On the love vibe, did I tell you what I did? In case I didn't, I will tell you again. I was washing buses and told a boy I live and work with he was a love cowboy. I also told him to tell me we could never date so I could get out of my supremely awkward zone. He said he didn't think he needed to tell me that. Turd. Anyway, I'm no longer following him with my mind.

Second episode happened yesterday on my run. I was running with another boy, Nick, in my house and I asked him if he liked me. He said no. Then he asked me why. He talked me into circles and I realized it would never work. So I told him I liked him. He told me I can't hit on every boy I meet. Oops, but I certainly want to.

We then talked about my boy issues and he told me to stop ruining my life with my methods. I'll have you know my methods are working well for me these days. I can't handle a relationship right now, and I'm unable to keep away without extraneous efforts. Therefore, the "I like you" talk. 

You'd think I could just ignore my interest in males, but alas, I cannot. My mind seems to trail these interests like a slug on berries. Thereby halting all useful activities. When I become a workaholic for eternity, then will I be fulfilled. I'm pretty sure.

In other news, I heard Jake from the Bachelorette was working at Temsco here in Juneau and I got alarmingly excited about it. Unfortunately, I've always looked at myself as some kind of Sheera when it comes to celebrities. I always thought about them as regular people doing regular things. When I heard the coincidence of Jake working at Temsco, I was sooooo excited. I almost peed myself. As it happened, the girl who told me this news is a recreational liar.

I should have known, she tells people she's from New Zealand all the time. I thought we were friends, I thought I was immune. I'm so gullible. I need me some bread. I need me some fruit. I have FHE tonight. It's 6:30. It doesn't start until 8. I can't wait. 

Janitors anonymous-

I can't rightly say the subjects on these blog postings ever have anything to do with the actual posts, but I'd like to think the interest generated by such bylines pays off. You come for icecream and get pie instead. Fetching world. Well, I guess if you are still reading my blogs it's working. Brilliant. Sorry if any of this sounds too english, I'm reading a british author right now and it's leaking into my everyday vocab.

Anyway, to my cousin D- I've been reading lame girly books and haven't enjoyed them. Instead of just picking out random books, I tried looking up your suggested reading material. Guess what? Juneau doesn't have a single one of them. None of them. I looked up ten of them. Lame-o.

I've also been walking home quite a bit. It's good for me, especially since I haven't been running. Therefore, my snacking on confections is justified. Just so you know. My roomie Peggi just plucked some rhubarb from her garden and we made a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. We put it into a 13x9 inch pan b/c we didn't have any pie pans and just doubled the recipe. It turned out marvelously, I don't know how. Well, in any case, it was loads better than the one I made in Germany. Figures.

Let me see, I've got some boy news. Not really, because it's not news. I told my sisters and they just declassified it for me, so there it is, but let me fill you in.

I live in a house with three girls and six boys. Or so. Don't tell my mother. It's been great. The girls live on one side of the house in a sort of dorm room and the boys have like four other rooms they sleep in. We've got Paul, Eric, Nick, Brandon, Brian, Ein, Ria, Peggi, Me. I think that's everyone.

Paul has a gf and isn't often here. He looks like a lumberjack and is pretty funny. As you know, I've only lived here for a week, so I'm not sure I've got everyone figured out, but I've sorted it out most of the way. Ria is great. She's a dispatcher and really fun. She loves wearing skirts and has gotten many opportunities in the last couple days. Peggi is great. She's my mom roomie. She reminds me of my mom, in a good way, and is always making food for me and telling me funny stories.

Boys: Eric has a boyfriend, who doesn't live here. He's funny too, but not often home. Nick is quite attractive when he smiles and even when he doesn't, which doesn't often happen, but I don't see him often. He's a cleaning freak and really nice. He's also not very tall. Apparently everyone who lives here does their own thing.


Brandon is attractive in a bad boy sense. I mean, he's attractive, and he smokes and drinks. That doesn't make him attractive, he just is. I had the wrong impression about him when I first got here, someone, maybe Mike, told me he was a ladies man. He told me he hasn't kissed a single girl since he's been here. Interesting. He's also mormon, but not active, obviously.

Ein is also a drinker. Well, they all are, except Brian, since he's the only LDS person in this house besides me. Ein likes to tell me I remind him of old, obnoxious girlfriends and flirts with me in timeless ways. He's very nice, but I don't think I'm mature enough to handle him. I mean, he usually dates young girls and I think my maturity levels are out of his range. Brian told me my star shorts and high voice reminded him of Minnie Mouse yesterday and Ein wishes to call me that from now on. Let's just hope it's a passing phase.



Brian. Well, that just proves it doesn't it? Always a trouble name for me. I can't help, myself. Wow. Mer, really? Seriously? Before I came out here, Mike Evans told me I would get a crush on him. And wow, here it is. Peggi told me too. I was prepared to strike it down in a single blow. With a terrible swoosh of my machete. He waved at me in the Goshen and I lazily waved back, not caring. What happened to those days? Hiking. Horrible activity that it is.

We went hiking around in the mountains. We picked berries, had some good conversation, and he told me he had some trouble with grades in high school. I got hooked when he told me he wanted to create his own business. What the heck? That's never going to be a success! But what if it is a success? The vision! The dream!

I had a great time on our hike. He told me he wasn't dating right now, and wham! I found out he has a girl, who's a friend, who's going on a mission. Is he waiting and dating for her? Yes. Confusing? Yes. Confusing because he pushed me over numerous times on our walk, shook cotton trees on my head, and gave me the juciest berries from our picking.

Confusing because his girlfriend, named Adriana had a dream we went hiking and kissed. He and the new single LDS girl living in his house. Then she gave him permission. Pah. Permission. Like I'd give him my permission. The scoundrel. I found out today Mike told him in advance I'd have a crush on him. WTH!

Why would you ruin my odds like that, Mike? Ridiculous. I'm delectible. I don't need people dropping my stats. Brian thinks we should be facebook friends because he wants Adriana to be able to get on my profile and check me out. She's going on a mission in a month, does any of this really matter to her. Wait! I'M going on a mission in 3 months. Does this really matter to me? I'm crazy. Obviously.

I've also spent a lot of time being self-satisfied and happy with my life. It's been great. However, this little aphid is eating away at my hard candy shell and I'm not sure how to slow the deterioration. What can I do? Help me Obiwan Kanobi! You're my only hope. And my feet stink. All the time. I can't help it. I'm putting socks on. Serves me right to have feet. Serves me right to be walking all the time. I'm getting the sweat glands on my feet disconnected as soon as I can afford it.

He'd better not kiss me. I will punch him in the face.

I walked on the Mendenhall Wetlands yesterday!!! It was amazing! No, wait, I walked on them Monday. I have wanted to do so the last four years and I finally made my dream a reality. I walked and didn't bring my camera b/c I'm dumb. I didn't know I'd be doing it ok.

I was having a serious bout of depression for 5 min after talking to my sister Bonnie about having no friends and this wild idea came to me. What if I walked across the wetlands to my house from the church!! I live right across the channel and it would be completely awesome! And it was.

I walked through silt that felt like snow. It sunk about 6 inches. Mike told me I'd get worms and I took my shoes off anyway b/c people walk the beach all the time without fear of worms. Therefore! He also told me I couldn't do it. Complete rubbish! Of course I can! Anyway, I did. Because I rock.

I talked to my branch Pres. about the mission interviews. He said it was possible and I'm stoked. Someone called me tonight to see if I could work and I couldn't get down there w/o walking, so I told him I couldn't b/c I have no car. It's true, but I still wish I could have found a way. Darn Douglas Island house that's a 1.25 hour walk. Boo. Tonight I'm going to figure out how to watch the Bachelorette. I need to be updated. I've waited to long and need to know what's going on.

I suppose that's all my news. Sorry I've been lax. I've got a lot on my plate and I need to eat. I'm starving! Literally and figuratively.