Tracie's World

I've already mentioned my cable upgrade. Well, one of the very cool things about the upgrade is I now have this channel called Palladia. It's basically a music channel that plays concerts, and it's pretty cool so far (and, it's all in High Def). As if I needed another r eason to spend more time in front of the tube. Segue to today. I'm a few minutes from leaving work when I find out that tonight's Presidency meeting has been canceled (and to think I had actually remembered this one). Other than a few errands I could think of, what's a girl to do when her meeting is canceled? The answer: Go h ome, grab dinner, and channel surf. As I'm surfing, what do I discover, but Fleetwood Mac in concert on Palladia. Sweet! Nothing like a little Stevie Nicks after a long day. Of course, my clicker stopped there, and my DVR started there. I sat quietly and watched for the first half of the show, but by the second, things were a little intense. Let's j...

Jean Simmons died last night. No, not the freaky rock star from KISS, but one of my favorite actresses from classic films. She was a huge star in the 50's, married to the Great White Hunter himself, Stuart Granger. She typically played up-tight, mental, or just plain intimidating ladies, such as Ophelia in "Hamlet", and Elizabeth I in "Young Bess". But when given the opportunity, she could really let loose. If you ever want to see an actor display pure joy on-screen, watch her rendition of "If I Were a Bell" in "Guys and Dolls". She was also in a few other favorites of mine - "The Big Country" with Gregory Peck (a terrific and melodramatic western) and of course, "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas. Then there was her Sister Sharon Falconer in "Elmer Gantry" with Burt Lancaster. I'll never forget how she tells him off for calling her ma'am, as it is a contraction for the word Madam, and she is not a Mad...

Went snowshoeing again today. Angel and Bridget and I had planned this for a week now, and were very much looking forward to it. However, we woke up this morning to the sight of it snowing. If it hadn't been such a welcome relief from the week-long inversion, it would have been a bummer. Shortly after that, Angel called to say she was sick, so would be unable to join us. Double bummer. But thankfully the snow stopped, and after a quick check of the traffic cam, Bridget and I felt confident enough to make the attempt and drive up Parley's Canyon. So we hit the road. Our destination was the Beaver Creek Trail, near the town of Kamas. However, we'd forgotten a map, and I failed to program the GPS, so we were a little uncertain of where we were going. Thank goodness for highway signs and ranger stations. With a little help we found our way to the trailhead, clipped on our snowshoes, and set off. It's a lovely trail, and we had it pretty much to ourselves. It fol...

I've been having a few problems with sore feet lately. Apparently my arches have fallen, so I've taken to wearing arch supports and clodhopper shoes. I figured it was time I get a good pair of shoes for working out, so the other night I went down to the New Balance store because I've heard their shoes are great. I was the only customer in the store, so got some great service as the kid told me all about the shoes. We decided he'd better measure them, so he got out the ruler. Come to find out, my feet have grown. I'm now an 8 1/2. Who knew? I'm just guessing here, but do you think the reason for my sore feet could in fact be that I was wearing size 8 shoes? Hmmm... Now, my feet stopped growing when I was in my teens. So I guess this is pretty exciting news. But of all the areas on my anatomy I would have chosen to grow, my feet would not have been it. I'm just saying.

One thing about Mormon culture is that it seems most Mormon women "craft". You will find the majority of them knitting, crocheting, stitching, sewing, stamping, card-making, scrapbooking, painting, lace-making, sponging, etc. If it can be made, sold at a party, or demoed at a convention, they are working on it. Really - you should see the madhouse that ensues at Joanne's fabrics whenever they have their big sale coupon in the newspaper. I on the other hand do not do anything remotely crafty. When I was young I did the 4-H sewing projects (actually my Mom or the leader usually did it for me) but I didn't find it remotely interesting. For those rare moments when I did want to learn, no one would teach me because I was left-handed (how dare I be left-handed). And my Mom didn't know how to knit or crochet for the same reason, so she couldn't teach me. She tried valiantly to teach me to sew, but segue to Junior High Home Ec, where I sewed the pockets shut on ...

Got together with some of the girls last night and finally got to see the movie "Avatar". We even splurged and saw it in 3-D. It's been getting a lot of buzz, and has already grossed a billion dollars globally. So I really wanted to enjoy it. Perhaps it was that it was a late night after a long day in the snow, but I was pretty underwhelmed. The special effects were really awesome, as was the 3-D experience. But the story was ho-hum, and felt like it was 8 hours long. Plus, we had to wear the world's most uncomfortable 3-D glasses, and it was like a sauna in the theater. I couldn't wait for the movie to be over. I was also a little bothered by the message. It seemed to be saying that all white people are bad, unless they're scientists. We hate rain forests, people different than us, and we're not interested in protecting the planet because we're just too darn greedy and bent on using up all our natural resources. In reality, life is a lot mor...

Well, I finally fulfilled one of the items left on my list, and went snowshoeing yesterday. Soldier Hollow (site of the Cross Country and Biathlon events at the 2002 Olympics) was celebrating "Winter Trails Day", the objective being to introduce people to snow sports. They provided the equipment for free, and all you needed to do was show up. This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile, and the fact that it was free, and a chance to get out of the inversion and see the sun made it a perfect opportunity. So, Angel and Max and I drove up to Midway and enjoyed a lovely walk in the snow. It was a beautiful day, and the snow shoes were not that difficult to get used to. In fact, I'm now considering purchasing my own. Sadly, the camera batteries were totally dead, despite just being charged. So - no photos of Tracie in the snow. Later, we drove in to Heber and enjoyed a yummy linner (that's later lunch/early dinner) at The Hub Cafe. It was a great day.

I was visiting with my brother over the Holidays, who happens to work for a major cable company. He happened to mention I might want to think about upgrading to a HD-DVR, since I've had an HDTV for what, a year now? Me, who has to think about everything interminably before I can make a decision, finally decided this week that he might be on to something. So I called said Cable Company, and upgraded. Bless his heart, the little rep on the phone asked me if there was anything else he could help me with, at which point I asked if they had any special deals going on. Turns out there were! He offered me a package upgrade to the Digital Preferred package for a much lower rate, with a zillion more channels (including the HD channels and some movie channels), for an entire year. Ask me how long it took me to say yes. We arranged everything over the phone, and he told me to bring in the old cable box to the local office, and they would give me the new one. Seriously - how simple. S...

It's been a fun week. I don't know about you, but sometimes I prefer the week after Christmas, celebrating the post-holiday, and getting ready for the New Year. Here's a highlight of some of the things I did this week: IKEA - I went to IKEA for the first time, and came out of it only spending a few bucks. Monday Night Movie - Saw "Sherlock Holmes". Robert Downey was terrific, as was Jude Law. A very fun movie, with a lot of action, and a lot of humor. Golf in the Round - What do you know, there's a driving range here in SLC that you can go to all winter long. They have heated huts you can stand in. It's a good thing I went, because it was obvious I needed the practice. New Year's Eve Party - Had a fun evening with the girls at Angel's party. We played games, watched movies, and in general ate way too much. We rang in the New Year on the roof of her building, watching the fireworks and banging on pots and pans. New Year's Day - I woke up...