Dinner Party : Postlude

So I didn't die and no one got salmonella, so I guess I did okay.

Tuesday I don't have class until one, but I work an early job. So I got off work at ten and set to cooking.

I had promised Elb I'd make whatever she wanted, and she requested funeral potatoes and chicken. Funeral potatoes are I guess any variant of cheesy potato casseroles, so nicknamed because, well, we make them for funerals a lot out here in the west.

That morning, I made two pans of funeral potatoes and then went to class.

Came home and set about making my last pan of funeral potatoes- another kind, because I like variety.

Then on to the chicken. I bought chicken breasts and made a rub - brown sugar, paprika, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and baked those. I had a veggie tray and grapes. Elb was bringing dessert and drinks.

And like, I was a little stressed out all day with the cooking, but at 6:15 when everything was starting to come together and the food was all set out and the table was clear and the floor was vacuumed, it was just such a satisfying feeling.

And then people started coming! I fed Elb and her friend, all my roommates, three of our friends but Kyv couldn't make it, mine and Elb's old roomie and her fiance, my older brother and Rle, and one of Elb's friends came but didn't eat and like, there were so so many people in my apartment but it was wonderful.

I really enjoy hosting, I think? Like, it was so wonderful to facilitate the joy that everybody had and to have people over and I LOVE that feeling.

Also, Elb got to meet everyone, which was fun.

And no one got salmonella, so I think I did okay.

And it was,,,so so fun.

Dinner Party : Prelude

So a dear friend who was my roommate over the summer is in town this week. We wanted to do something together, but I was wildly busy this weekend with a family wedding and everyone being in town and whatnot.

So Elb and I were able to spend some time together Thursday night, which was great, and then I decided that I'd make dinner and we'd invite some people over.

This is happening tomorrow.

And between a combination of the fact that I have No Chill the guest list is twenty people long?

See, Elb wants to meet my friends, and we're inviting some of our old roomies and some of her friends and basically the list has ended up at:

Elb, a friend of hers from home, three friends here at the uni
Me, my older brother, my best friend from home
My five current roommates
Four of our other friends (including Kyv b/c Elb is invested in this)
Two of our past roomies and one's fiance

For a grand total of twenty??

I'm going to be hosting a dinner party in my six-person, on-campus, dorm?

A few of my friends may not be able to stay long, but still??

How did I get myself into this?

Why do I like people?

Why do I feel like offering people food is the only reason to invite them over?

Also the only way to adult?

So today I have to go grocery shopping and pick up some things and tomorrow, all hell breaks loose.

Here we go.

One and Done

Right, so this was a week.

What I learned this week is that all of the time management skills that I learned on my mission have been decimated this summer. I did not do well this week.

FOR EXAMPLE. I have bassoon instruction and I'm supposed to practice 6 hours a week. And I practiced one this week. Mostly on account of I just didn't do life well.
Also, I have an American Heritage class, and I have about 20 pages of reading I need to do before 11 am tomorrow.
And another 7 chapters for a religion class at 9 am.
I'm crushing it, basically.

In other news, I got to hang out with Tes, my trainer, which was INCREDIBLE. We pretty much just talked for three hours straight- I've only seen her once since July of last year, and that was very brief, so getting to see her again and just do life was incredible. It was so good to reconnect and talk about things and just... yeah. Some friendships are forever, and hers is one of those for me. She's incredible.

Also, I went to the temple, which was a lovely experience. I just really know that it is God's house and that He loves us. There's a lot I'm still learning, but o! how I know this gospel is true!

---------

Finishing Monday morning, because sleep is a thing that had to happen.

I also got hired to be an early-morning janitor in my favourite place here on campus, so we'll see how that pans out.

I'm hoping to write two posts a week up in here, but we shall see...

It's been a blast, but stressful so far. I'm rooming with my cousin, Est, and we've made it a goal to do something with our cousin, Zap, who's also a freshman here on campus, at least once a week. This week, we hung out at Aunt Jo and Uncle Ro's house with him and cousins Kad & Cad and Pyp, their PRECIOUS year and half old daughter. Party. We watched Hercules, an episode of Face-off, and an episode of Project Runway. Go team!

Also this week, I got to babysit Pyp because Kad had to have a surgery at a stupid early time in the morning, and I had the right times free. It means so much to me that I can help out in times like these, that I'm close enough to my family to help, to be there. I love them. Pyp also broke her arm this week, so it was quite the week for their family.

Umm... yeah. I think that's all I got. I have class in two hours and reading to do and I'll see y'all around.

World Domination, pt II

So, a while back, I wrote this post about a conversation Bon and I were having about taking over the world. (I would recommend reading it before reading this post, but anyway) We'd been discussing all sorts of things, but in that post, the conversation ended here:

Me: What part of actually ruling the world is less fun than a failed attempt?

Bon: It's the excitement of not knowing if you will succeed, the tension of thinking you're monsters will eat your face, then the relief as you wrest control at the last second. It's exhilarating! Or painful...

Me: I prefer the exhilaration with as little pain as possible. It that's boring, then I guess that's me!

But now I have more! Okay, I've had more for a while... The previous post was the conversation up to August 14. I'm going to post the rest of it now, which covers August 15-17. Bon and I then started talking about missions, because he left for his on August 19, and then our conversation really ended.
But! The rest of the world domination conversation:

Bon: But the fun is in the gamble! Plus if you do it enough times, maybe the heroes will get inept. Or you win, it's a win win! (unless you get killed by monsters)

Me: I suppose I can see your point... But I'd still like to stack the odds a little farther in our favour.

Bon: Fair enough...

Me: It'll be worth the wait when we rule the world.

Then the conversation moved on to that mission life and whatnot. And now he's kickin' it in Louisiana, which is wonderful.

And here's the deal. I'm seriously so glad I knew this kid. He was one of my best friends sixth grade (when I met him) through eighth grade (after which I moved from Podunk to Myneton), and reconnecting with him these last few months was awesome. He's the funny best friend I remembered, although taller... But it was so great to rekindle that bond, to get to know him again, and to realise that some friendships just... Never go away. He's seriously great.

World Domination

So, I've been texting one of my friends from Podunk, Bon, this whole summer, and recently, our conversation has been awesome. I feel the need to share.

But first, a little background. I met Bon in the sixth grade, and he was one of my best friends from then until I moved to Myneton. We sort of lost touch... But have recently reconnected. He's definitely still AWESOME.
I met Tas in the seventh grade. He's a wonderful, one-of-a-kind hilarious, and I ADORE him. So. Now that you know who these two people are, I'm going to relay the conversation between Bon and I.

This part of our texting conversation began on July 21, and has continued sporadically since then, becoming better and better. The scene opens here, a few days after I visited Myneton:
*as always, typos are left as they occurred in the conversation*

Me: I adore you people. I'm totally gonna crash your ten year reunion!

Bon: Haha, do it. We'll still be the same. Just older. Except maybe Tas, he's going to go crazy in college

Me: I really will though! And Tas is *already* crazy. He raises carnivorous plants and ships his friends and if he goes crazier in college, it'll be something to see.

Bon: Oh yeah, Tas will become like An insane genius who will try to invent a death ray. He'll also become a pro gamer and set up a fake dating site, then lose it all in a bet. Then solve world hunger and become wildly rich. That's my prediction.

Me: Wow. That's ambitious. But, I could see it. Also, he plays oboe in the New York Philharmonic the whole time.

Bon: Of course. Still though, I think I was on to something with Tas bring a pro gamer.

Me: Oh, yacht. That's totally a valid option for his future. I can see it. ;)

Bon: For sure. He'll probably have a yacht too. Oh yacht. :)

Me: Thanks for just running with that. ^_^ The only question remaining is whether he'd still associate with us peasants when he's got all that crazy stuff going on.

Bon: Indeed. Then again, I'm hoping to be just as rich and knowing how smart you are, you could be too, so we should be good.

Me: With our combined genius, anything could happen. We'd be the most POWERFUL trioin the fire nation, and together we'd DOMINATE the world!

Bon: First if all, loved the reference. It was quite sharp. Be careful, with that Wit you might pierce the hull of a fire navy battleship killing thousands.
And second, heck yes'm. Take over the world in days.

Me: Ahahaha YAAAS! And even if our own mothers think we are monsters... Well, we'll rule the world, so who cares?

[note: those last three messages reference the Avatar: the Last Airbender tv show, which is AWESOME.]

Bon: Exactly! Because power and money at clearly the most important things!

Me: Indeed! Nothing else matters in life!

Bon: Plus then we'd be super villains,which is awesome!

Me: We'd really have to work on our presentation, so we'd really be super villains!

[note: Megamind reference!]

Bon: Of course. Does that mean Tas will be the super hero? Because that would be a great backstory.

Me: No, we're all three supervillains together, an unstoppable team! Somebody else will have to be the superhero!

Bon: I don't know. At best Tas is the villain who turns good and betrays us. Tas is just too good.

Me: Hmmm... You're probably right... He'll give away our secret weaknesses.

Bon: And right after we catch the hero too.......what a drag.

Me: *sigh* Why does it always go that way? I want it to be like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog. I want the villains to win!

Bon: Ummmmmm......but then who is the one who dies? I really don't think that Dr horrible had that happy an ending for anyone.

Me: I dunno, it was pretty good for the E.L.E. Also, I never specified happy... I just said the villains win!

[note: Dr. Horrible is AMAZING. Go look it up on Youtube and watch it.]

Bon: True. Still gotta decide who has to die in this scenario, though...

Me: Well, that's depressing.

Bon: Yeah, so let's not shoot for Dr horrible. Maybe like mega mind or something?

Me: But... The villain turns good. I guess we could go that route, but I think it would ruin the 'betrayal by Tas' storyline.

Bon: Yeah... What movie has the villain win but isn't a tragedy???

Me: Umm... Umm... Umm...

Bon: We'll have to make it own (gasp!)

Me: Original thought? Perish the idea! How MARVELOUS.

Bon: Let's see... The story will open in a large city all black and white like a detective show. The camera will slowly zoom into a large building...

Me: Where the three of us, stylishly dressed and in the most dramatically furnished room, are plotting our takeover of the world.

Bon: Yes, Tas would be like a well dressed spy, whereas I would be a crazy scientist with crazy gadgets. I'm betting you woulds be the mastermind

Me: I can definitely go with that. So, what's the evil plan?

Bon: Hmm... That's the hard part. An evil plan that hasn't been done to death... You're the schemer, any ideas?

Me: Kill all honeybees, except from our personal farm, monopolise the honey and beeswax industries... Go from there.
Spread socialism as we go.
On our way to communism that we run, and world power.

Bon: I like it! It's big. Just needs some death ray and freezing ozone, and we'll have a master plan!

Me: Alternatively, we drain the oceans and transfer them to Mars (you up for portal use?), so we'll control BOTH planets... Twice the landmass, twice the potential, all the GLORY.

Bon: Love it. We can then create star ports, speed expansion and science and make a galactic empire. All by thinking with portals.

Me: Exactly! Now, the only question left is why Tas would defect from a plan as astounding as that one?

Bon: Clearly he is not a fan of our totalitarian government. Either that or he is secretly a tree hugger and loves bees.

Me: Well, I'm not a fan of totalitarian governments either... But it's TOTALLY different when I'm in charge! Oh! Maybe Tas wants to be the Supreme Overlord, and since he can't be (because I AM) he betrays us?
Or, the honeybee thing.

Bon: I'm betting on the supreme overlord one. But then, even though he turns good because of selfish reasons, he finds he likes being a hero and narrowly escapes to reform a rebellion that he quelled earlier in the story. Then all we need is some giant monsters somewhere in there and we're good!

Me: We're brilliant. We engineer and control the monsters ourselves. They're nearly impossible to defeat, but Tas knows all their weaknesses. It'll sell millions of copies!

Bon: Brilliant! We'll be rich in no time! We better get someone on the movie rights. We night even get rich enough to really take over the world.

Me: Infallible. We're marvelous!

Bon: Best crime trio/duo this side of Jupiter!

Me: Yes. It'll be MARVELOUS.

Bon: Let's do it. I'll get on the death ray and scary monsters.

Me: Good. I'll work on the details of the plan, and hiring underlings.

Bon: Just make sure you get some good underlings. Ones who can aim, not like storm troopers and every other henchmen ever.

Me: I know... We'll have to find a way to counter 'shooting against the hero' syndrome. ALSO. We need villain identities!

Bon: True... Never really thought about the identities... Any good ideas?

Me: Tas can be Sir Sneaks-a-Lot, you'll be Dr. Gizmo, and I'll be the Mastermind.
Kidding. Totally kidding.

Bon: I feel like... Those names give away our jobs. Is gotta be subtle.

Me: Hey, I don't see you with any ideas. ;) C'mon, the Mastermind is good! You can be Dr. Maniac... And Tas is... Is... Midnight Malice.
Okay, I'll admit, Dr. Maniac isn't OPTIMAL, but as a set, the names sound cool! And, Tas can change to Midnight Marvel or Midnight Miracle or something when he betrays us. It's totally perfect!

Bon: OK, midnight marvel does sound awesome. I like them, though could we drop the Dr? I don't have a Phd, nor do I really want to get one in being crazy...

Me: Valid. Mastermind, Maniac, and Midnight Malice. Now we have identities- we can REALLY take over the world!

Bon: OK! Let's do it! Next Tuesday seems like a good day! Let's shoot for world domination by then.

[note: that text was sent August 6, so Tuesday was August 11.]

Me: Wow, that's an aggressive deadline. Are the monsters going to be ready?

Bon: I'm getting there I've made them, but so far all they're done is try to tear my face of.... Hungry little guys. We do have Tas....i mean midnight malice is going to Hungary, so I figured we could have an agent in Europe.

[note: Tas entered the MTC on August 5 for a mission to Hungary. Bon enters the MTC August 19 for a mission to Louisiana.]

Me: I'm not sure if those monsters rote
sound ready to use. Also, Midnight Malice won't be in Hungary for a few weeks, so we won't HAVE a Europe agent.

Bon: Meh, he's getting there. And monsters are better if you can't really control them anyways

Me: Valid point. I mean if we can't control them, no one else can, right?

Bon: Exactly! Besides, I'm sure we can figure it out before they kill tons of people and rebel

Me: Nawh, stopping them can be Tas's job, after he betrays us.

[note: it's now August 11.]

Me: So... World domination today? We've got like six hours left...

Bon: Oh Uh.... Sure? Not really sure how to start. I didn't think we'd get that far. I thought for sure the monsters would get free and easy my face by now...

Me: Well, that's not productive. It was YOUR deadline, buddy! ;)

Bon: Yeah... But in my defense, you are the planner. So what's the plan.

Me: My plan was a later goal for domination, sometime when the monsters are ready and we actually have an agent in Europe. :P

Bon: Oh fine... If you don't want any suspense... It would have been so exciting, but no, you want a "well thought out" plan with a chance of success...

Me: Yes. When I say world domination, I mean it. :D

Bon: [sigh] fine......it's just so much less fun

Me: What part of actually ruling the world is less fun than a failed attempt?

Bon: It's the excitement of not knowing if you will succeed, the tension of thinking you're monsters will eat your face, then the relief as you wrest control at the last second. It's exhilarating! Or painful...

Me: I prefer the exhilaration with as little pain as possible. It that's boring, then I guess that's me!

And that is where the plan for world domination currently stands. Watch out, we're coming. ALSO. I LOVE my friends!