Too much or Too little

So, I have been at work for the whole time of 2 months. Yes, not very long to be at the new job, and already, I am having slight concerns/anxiety attacks. We all know that the balance of too much or too little is a very delicate balance, especially in regards to work. If we have too much work, well, life just isn't very fun now is it. Working all day and all night, and every time in between. (oddly enough, I seem happier there.) Too little and, well I guess this depends on the individual, but I get a little worried. I wonder if there is enough to justify my salary, or me being an employee, or for that matter, is this a sign for me to start looking for a new job.

I do understand that life in the legal field is, well as far as I can tell, completely different than any other field I have been associated with or known about, yet I am sure that there are some basic things that are just the way humans function. However, I find myself in the position of having to ask my boss (I haven't posted where I work have I? ugghhhh!!) regularly, almost every day or two, for more work. I like to pat myself on the back and say that I work more efficiently than he expects, but in reality, that excuse only goes so far.

So, this begs the question, and opens for responses...what do you do? Are there ways to talk with your boss about the work flow and getting more work without being annoying? How do you comfortably suggest that he may not be doing the best job at managing or assigning work? Or should I just leave it as is?

Regardless, this has spurred on the fear/drive/desire to really start looking into bringing in more clientèle. After all, if he isn't going to give me as much work as I would like, than I may as well bring it in myself...now I just have to find that rock that all the clients who need a lawyer are hiding under.

The weekly word: "Definitely"

Well, I am a slacker, loser, and above all lame. I missed our lovely weekly word two weeks ago. Fortunately, my fellow co-blogger is not so slack induced. But alas, I start this week strong!! Strong as an ox awaiting branding....or something like that. Please, please don't brand me, and definitely don't tell someone I have been branded!

Which brings us to the weekly word "Definitely".

In connection with my previous posts of the timeliness of communication, and what that communication means in regards to making plans, we revert to when things are as close to in the present as if they were never a question. Something so solid, that pen isn't even conclusive enough. Go ahead and decorate that calendar page! Break out those markers. Bathe in the myriads of stickers which will adorn the wonderful calendar date which has been confirmed with the word "Definitely."

When working out plans to see movies, fly to europe, hang at the park, or walk the dog, there are few words which should convey the amount of conviction, dedication and resoluteness that the word Definitely entails. Now, depending on the type of person you are, and the type of plans being made, this type of commitment should not be given too far in advance.

Obviously things such as travel usually require a little more planning than average, but I would not give a definitely until you are ready to buy tickets, or have already taken the days off of work. In regards to movies, put the money on the table baby, cause we're going, so don't commit until you know you can commit. There are many other terms that could be used, like "Maybe", "Probably", "Hopefully", or phrases such as, "Planning on it." (See past and future weekly words to determine the appropriateness of each term.)

Now, if you are canceling a definitely, and don't do so unless you are willing to withstand the fires of hell or the near death of your mother, the first and utmost priority is not to call the individual. This is not like the others where a phone call as early as possible is necessary. Canceling a definitely requires thought, contemplation, and above all, presents. Yes, that's right folks, presents are deserved when making someone cross out all those hearts, starts, and balloons on their calendar. The size of the present is obviously determined in conjunction with the amount of planning and the amount of reliance by the lost and forlorn party, left to wander the streets with whipped cream on their nose and nobody to wipe it off. That candied cherry stem tied in a not left alone and unnoticed to drown the remaining pool of liquid ice cream. Oh, THE HORROR!!

So, what are we looking at for presents? It could be something as simple as a chocolate the next time you see them. Maybe even some flowers, or a combination of all of the above if a bigger event. Remember, no present and you might not be invited next time. Your status of the definitely will be translated by the receiver as a maybe, and next thing you know, they aren't showing up, you aren't showing up, and you may as well have not made plans in the first place. Take 'em out of your phone book, delete them from speed dial, cause it's over baby. That's right, O-V-E-R over!

So, to prevent some wonderful, meaningful relationships from ending, use the word definitely with due caution, and if cancelled...bring presents.

Weekly Word: Judgmental

I claim to be an incredibly judgmental person. Really. I am. You do or say something -- ANYTHING -- and I am likely to start thinking about what I think of it in .000002 seconds.

We had a speaker in church on Sunday who was referencing an article written about Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. However, even if I didn't love the books, I would not have been very impressed with the article. It talked about how there was no "God" that Harry prayed to and how the whole series was based on the Love in that world as a source for good and nothing else and therefore the book was promoting a movement away from God and religion.

My judgment? It's a frickin' kids book created from a brilliant imagination. The author felt no inspiration for infusing religion or doctrinal matters into her work. I don't think that means you then infuse the idea that she is promoting a god-less world. C.S. Lewis wrote books that retold stories from Greek mythology and nobody has ever accused him of promoting the free world to start worshiping Zeus. I also read a children's book to my niece a few weeks ago about a magician turning somebody's mom into a pirate. They didn't talk about God in there either. Perhaps I should warn my sister about the anti-religious paraphenalia she has lying around her house and encourage her to burn it.

Here's another one -- I don't see why we all get so uppity all the time. I even started to get uppity towards somebody because so far, every time I've spoken to this person (which has been a total of three times, and those interactions and conversations were moderately brief), she's mentioned that she has her Juris Doctorate. This is a great accomplishment and I think it's very impressive. I do. And I'm sure she is very smart. I only wish she would stop announcing it to me. I could probably deduce that she is smart even if she DIDN'T have a Juris Doctorate.Why does she keep telling me? Or maybe I'm just jealous. And while we're on the subject of pomp and medals, here's another story it reminds me of, though this scenario is slightly different: one of the board members at work wanted to make sure I put his name on our organization's website correctly and decided to properly spell and punctuate "Ph.D." for me, to make sure I got it right. I wanted to yell at the man and tell him we covered those grammatical issues in, oh, probably my 8th grade year! But I held my tongue.

I do not mind that people are good and seek after good things. I only dislike when they read into things and assume that other things, if not like their things, are not good. And I don't mind that people are smart and that they get degrees. I only mind that they feel the need to wear their laurels for the free world to admire or that they assume others have yet to get done with finishing school and learn their abc's.

I used to really have a hard time with "Utah Mormons"(I can just feel every friend of mine who was born in Utah and is a Mormon wince as they read those words). It's true. I thought they had a weird sense of humor, were stuck in the 5th grade, were way to perky for not ever having had coffee and were way to casual and assuming when talking about church-related things with any and everybody they ran across.

In all this, we find, quite simply, that I am as I said I was: judgmental. There is a beautiful thing in this, however. I have come to love and adore a few people that are indeed, Utah Mormons. I have grown to be slightly endeared to the oddball board member who drives everybody on the planet nuts and is still unawares I have some edgycaishun. And I will endeavor to learn a thing or two about Mizz Juris Doctorate because, if she has enough brains to get that far in school, I'm thinking she might have something worthwhile hidden in her head. These people are all humans. And they have redeeming qualities as well as qualities that can drive other people batty.

I spoke with a woman the other day who is dating a guy who used to be Mormon and is now very angry with the LDS church (which I find to be very common among people who "used to" be Mormon). I had another conversation recently with a friend who is gay who also used to be Mormon before he came out. Both conversations started to lead to this labeling and frustration with this big heap full of Mormons.

My observation is that we all seem to lump things and group people in a generic pile with too much ease. All those Mormons. Having hung around with them for a while, I have found Mormons are human and are pretty accurate reflection of the population at large. In my mind, if you don't like Mormons, I wonder if you like anyone at all.

I think people group things and judge people because it is easy. Maybe. I don't know. But you really can't group things accurately. You can't group an individual either. They may be very pompous. But perhaps they are incredibly smart and good at what they do and can give you some great advice or guidance. Unfortunately, we often think it better to notice their fault and then toss them in a pile of human refuse we wish not be bothered with. And for what?

Admittedly, I don't think I'm going to stop being judgmental any time soon. I don't even know that I should stop. But I like that I am acquiring the ability to appreciate the good in a world full of imperfect people. I like to go back over my pile of refuse and create another "salvage" pile.

Youth....how young our minds really are.

I was just having a little thought to myself. I am working on an issue in a big class action suit going on way away on the other side of the nation, and it got me thinking about a movie that I not too recently saw. North Country. That movie still amazes me at its recounting of history, and unfortunately, how representative it is of society.

To think that the first sexual discrimination class action suit was filed in 1988 (it became an actual class action suit in 1991). This gives us a whole 20 years since courts looked at sexual harassment as a class or group issue, and not dealing with specific instances. That isn't a whole lot of time for something of this magnitude to really sink in and change society. Let's not forget that the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's is still trying to permeate society in any real lasting effects.

I'm not even talking about how this has affected the issues we regularly have to deal with in regards to interaction between the genders in the work place, or even out of the work place. It just isn't that long of a time frame.

With this all being said, it makes me think about our minds and how young they really are. After all, a mind is only as mature as the thoughts entertained inside of it. Some young persons are extremely mature for their age, because of the depth and insight they have of seemingly "mature" calculations. In the 1920's no one would have thought that people thinking a women's place was only in the home baking bread was immature, sexist, or in any relation unacceptable, yet, here we are, applying the principles of agency to more and more of an individuals identity, yet I am sure that we are not applying it to many other facets.

I wonder what we will be thinking in 20, 30 or 40 years? Will we have expanded our notions of applicability of agency, or will we have regressed (my opinion of regression here deals only with the applicability of agency, not the choices made in that application). I am sure there are millions of things that I do that are demoralizing, minimizing or in some way confining of another individuals application of agency, yet am unaware or purposefully ignorant. What things do you think we are mentally immature about?

Visiting Disclosures!

So, I had some childhood friends and their spouses "pop" by for a visit the other day, and it was really good to see them, but in conversation with my fellow co-blogger, and in getting my panties in a ruffle over seemingly small and infinitesimal lapses in communication, I thought, what do you need to do in order for a visit to go smoothly?

Well, first and foremost, I think you need to say when you are coming. To say that you are coming for a visit could mean between now and the next decade, or post death. I don't know, but sometimes I have horrible nightmares about the dead coming to visit, and I don't want you to worry about fulfilling your promise to come visit me and risk me having a heart attack after seeing you in your ghoulish form.

Second, one needs to state who is coming. This can be interesting, problematic, and something I always took for granted. Who comes by and doesn't say who is coming by. Is it you? You and your spouse? You and fifty friends? If you tend to walk around in your underwear, or maybe with a facial mask on so you look like a blue alien, it would be nice to know that your kindest, sweetest most loving closest friend who has seen you like that and worse a million times is bringing by her brand new beau and the beau's really cute friend. After all, do you want to have to have a follow-up conversation disclaiming "I don't always look like a blue alien, and that holey, stained and discolored underwear fraying at the edges wasn't really left behind or stolen from my ex beau, that was just a funny little joke...ha ha." Bleh...that was horrible even typing it!

It is also important to inform the person you are visiting, what you are bringing with you. "What" should be interpreted as broadly as possible. In other words, you should also include if you are bringing any pets, mutants, deaf dumb or blind relatives who you think are insignificant, not impositional, or follow you around so much that you forget they are there. Also disclose any noxious gasses, influenzas or other sicknesses, lice, mice, fleas, and other small little critters which may decide to follow you or your famous "X" around despite your best efforts. I won't get into what needs to be disclosed or brought when visiting for a specific event, i.e. dinner, birthday, manage e trois, etcetera etcetera etcetera, but that should all be disclosed when coming for a visit.

Next, any and all desires should comfortably, without imposition, and almost begging, be clearly enunciated. This can include, "I would love to see your photo," to "would you play me your new song," all the way to "Can we roll around in the grass and stuff ice cubes down each others shorts so we look like we wet our pants?" Obviously there is give and take, with a touch of flexibility rolled into every visit and interaction. But if you know ahead of time that you would like something or to do something, aka can I sleep over? to I want to see X movie should be given a fair warning, or at a minimum no depression, complaining or infringement upon relations due to an inability or desire to fulfill said requests, demands or desires.

Lastly, alterations and changes to the planned visit should be communicated as quickly as possible, or at a minimum, before you are departing to arrive at said meeting place. The reason is, you may not know how your changes or alterations affect the other person. Although it may be something as minuscule as "I decided to wear my blue shirt instead of the yellow one." What if your dearest closest friend was counting on you to wear the yellow one because you have the exact same shirt in blue, and she is wearing the blue one. Might be a bit silly don't you think? It could also be as significant as "I feel ugly, fat and depressed and don't want to see anyone else by you," after you've decided autonomously that bringing along a new friend was just a peachy idea. So communicate everything you know as soon as you know it, after all, you are all friends.

Alas, that should make for a comfortable visit with even the most tenuous of relationships. Visit long, visit often, and make sure you disclose.

Where Greatness Comes From

Some people seem destined for greatness. I am currently reading, or perhaps rereading, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou. I say perhaps because there have been a couple sections of the book that seem very familiar to me, but the rest of the book seems completely new. Thus, I would say I'm more just reading it rather than rereading because it clearly didn't sink in the first time I went through the book.. or 1/2 the book. What I did before was more akin to my eyes grazing across the words with no absorption. Anyhow, this book is a classic and I am thoroughly enjoying it this time around. I took a minute to read Maya Angelou's biography in the back. She's amazing IF you didn't know. This woman has achieved greatness. She has come up through very difficult circumstances, she has an amazing story, a worthy cause, a keen intellect and she can make music with words. In fact, she has been doing just that for quite some time.

There are some people who appear to be truly destined for great things. They are delivered this package of great potential and a perfect mix for going on to do something amazing with it. I watched soccer last night with Male and his brother. Argentina and Brazil were playing, their two rival teams. There was a player on the Argentina team who had amazing talent. He was probably all of 18 yrs old. He's already one of the best players in the world and making millions. I'd say he got a good mix for greatness.

And then I think of me. I keep doing things in life hoping that some day I might stumble across something I really want to do. In the meantime, I make do with what I find I have some kind of aptitude for, hoping to make as good of use of myself as possible while I figure things out. This does not seem to me to be a good recipe for achieving greatness, for the most part. I could be wrong. But it just doesn't seem like it.

Don't get me wrong. I don't feel sorry for me. I am lucky to have been blessed with many talents. I can draw pretty well. I sing well. I can write some fun songs on the guitar. I'm a good speaker...blah, blah, blah. However, none of these things are things I do amazingly. I'm average. Maybe slightly above average in a few things. But not great. I have yet to find the Greatness that Nelson Mandela was talking about being hidden within each of us that we're afraid of. I wish I could have a long talk with him about that quote of his. I've been looking everywhere for mine.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm letting it pass me by. I wonder what great cause I was given to champion that I am neglecting. What fabulous enterpreneurial endeavor am I failing to envision? Under what rock is my passion for "whatever-it-is" hiding that I have yet to unturn?

We may all not be destined for greatness. At least not the newspaper article, emmy awards, million-dollar income, or mass-hunger solving variety. Sometimes your not the man who will walk on the moon, or the next female real estate mogul. It reminds me of a poem that said something about, if you'r de tail don't ye try to wag de dog. Be who you are. Don't be what you ain't. So, what if you're a daisy? Your job is to recognize that and proceed to bloom like crazy. That poem made so much sense to me when I read it years ago. Just be who you are. Duh. Right.

There's only one trick. How do you know if your a tail or a daisy? I know it may take all the fun out of self-discovery and finding out, but I wish I had been given an outline for exactly what I was. I'm fine with being a daffodil if I'm a daffodil. But I'm not sure if I'm a daffodil trying to be a tree, or an artist trying to be an athlete or a whatever else one could be while not knowing and trying to be something else. I was giving so many average talents and more interests than I know what to do with that I'm not sure what to focus on. So it makes it a lot harder to just "get to it." Ya know?

As you can see, I find my life job description to be slightly less clear-cut than the poem might lead you to think it is. I have thus concluded it's a deceptive poem. I didn't know that years ago when I read it. Figuring out what you are is an adventure. A LONG adventure in my case. Someday I may achieve some kind of greatness. But imagine it will not be of the Maya Angelou, Louie Armstrong, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey variety. It will be...... something. I hope. How's that for definitive?

I think my job for the moment, while I try to figure out my job, is just to keep doing what comes across my path that seems worth doing. Someday Iwill know if I'm a daisy or a tail or a tree or whatever I'm supposed to be. And I can wonder and hope that between me and my great work, eventually one of us will find the other. In the meantime, the music of life continues. And to that I say, "Play on, friends. Play on."

Communicating with the opposite sex

Communication with the opposite sex is probably the most over written, understudied, lack of thought and teaching applied subject in the existence of the written language. And yet, it still irks, me, still drives me crazy, and yet I still come back for more later.

It is clear that girls and boys communicate differently, but do they? I often wonder if it is more that people desire different things, but they don't necessarily communicate what they really want, or may not know what they really want.

I have often thought, and I think it appears more and more to be true, that women have no clue what they want. Life is like a big bowl of cherries, and they want them all until they have stomach cramps and have to run to the bathroom. And then, a few weeks down the road, they decide they don't want cherries at all.

In the last several months/years/decades, I have had my fair share of time withe women, girls, and people of the opposite sex. One thing I have noticed is the difference is not that they communicate differently, but that they communicate at all. We all know that when a woman or man for that matter, really wants something, they make sure that they communicate it, or they get it themselves. I have never had a girlfriend who thought something was really important and did not voice it in a way that she knew I was definitely going to understand.

But all of the sudden, you get in a relationship, and you are supposed to be telekinetic. Next thing you know, I am getting brain waves about what that person wants/needs/desires. Hello, it doesn't work that way. If you want something say it.

But what seems all to common, is that a girl doesn't know what she wants, and loves it when she gets what she wants, and is upset when you guess and you get it wrong, because you don't hit that magic button even though she couldn't tell you what that magic button is, and may be only able to tell you what that magic button isn't.

Truth be told, this can probably apply to both sexes, but I more often than not come across it with girls, and all too often with girls I date.

So, communication, it isn't that the sexes communicate differently, it is more that when a guy wants something, he usually just says it, and if it wasn't worth saying, than it wasn't worth having. If a girl wants something, she jumps up and down, does a few cart wheels, and hopes that you recognized that she just requested dinner at some lovely restaurant in the mountains with an apricot souffle for dessert. No souffle, no happy!

Weekly Word, "Okay"

Here's a few scenarios for you:

1) You invite me to your house one evening. I arrive and ring your doorbell. You come to the door in a very timely manner and invite me in. Upon my entering, you ask if I would like something to drink. I respond, "I'm okay. But thank you."

2) You're on a date with your boyfriend. This evening is one of the rare occasions when you actually paid for the movie tickets. Before the movie, your boyfriend discloses the fact he didn't have dinner. After the movie, you ask your boyfriend if he's hungry. He responds, "I'm okay. I've got food at home."

3) A good friend comes by your house on his way home from class. It is an evening class, and the friend commutes to class from his home which is about an hour away. He arrives just as you are about to go out with another friend for a previous engagement. He looks exhausted. You ask your friend if he would like to sleep in your spare room, as he looks really tired and you'll be home in a bit. The friend says, "I'm okay. Just wanted to stop by and say hello."

In each of these cases, the term, "okay" is very vague. It's a politician's answer to an uncomfortable question. In each of these scenarios, whether or not the person is okay wasn't even the question! So why do people answer with it? We all wonder the real reason. Case in point, let's look back over the previously mentioned scenarios. In many of these situations, what the person really meant is hard to say. We are all left to guess and explore the possibilities.

In scenario one, the meaning of "okay" could be any number of things, such as:

1) I'm not thirsty

2) I don't want to trouble you

3) I don't trust your glasses because the last one I had at your house was dirty

In scenario two, the meaning of "okay" could be:

1) I have leftover pizza at home and I REALLY want to eat it because leftover pizza is my favorite food in all the world.

2) I left my wallet in the car because I didn't think I'd need it since you paid for the tickets, and I don't want to make you pay for dinner because I'm the boy and you're the girl.

3) My laundry should be done by now and I'd like to get home as fast as possible so it doesn't get that sour smell.

In scenario three, the meaning of "okay" could be:

1) I feel weird being in your house without you, even if I will just be sleeping there.

2) I have somewhere to be early morning, so I need to get home.

3) I really just came by to say hello. I did that. Now I'm outty.

4) Actually, I came over hoping for a booty call and since you won't be home, I have no reason to stay.


See how much we leave to a person's imagination when we use "okay"? Now, some of these responses are things we would never say. At least most of us wouldn't. Even if they were true. In which case, it may be best for you to be vague and say "I'm okay."

But what if you were offered a glass of water and your real reason for declining is "I'm not thirsty." Do you want to make the host wonder if perhaps you are too considerate to trouble her? Many hosts, in this case, are compelled to repetitively try to entice you and offer you a drink, just to make sure. Or she may wonder if you don't care for her lack of attention to detail in dish washing. Do you really want to cause this kind of undue stress to your host? Even more so, if you turn down your friend for a soft bed when you're tired, do you want her to be bouncing back and forth about whether it was for a booty call? Or perhaps she thinks what you really needed was to "TALK" and she is worried she isn't being there for you when you need her.

My advice in using "Okay" is that if it is possible, without causing offense, be honest and clear in your reasons. It leaves out the vague guessing game . On the flip side, when it may be more appropriate to leave things to vaguery (say, in the case of really not approving of your friend's attention to detail in dish washing), please feel free to say "I'm okay." I think, in that case, it's better to leave a question than to leave no doubt. Nonetheless, whenever possible, be specific. As with most terminology and wording, please careful in your choice of words, and use "okay" only when appropriate.

Psycho - delic

I messed around with some pictures I took today. I LOVE having a digital camera. Now if only I had photoshop. And a computer to put it on. :)

One Giant Leap for Mankind

Groundbreaking news, fellow Americans: Last week at the grocery store, I was able to buy exactly 8 hot dogs and 8 hot dog buns. I don't know if they have remedied the problem with hamburger patties and buns, but I consider the equal rationing of these two products into packaging so that a person is not over or under supplied with either product to be a huge sign of progress for the American people. Evidence that we really do evolve. What'll be next?

I vote for :

1) Reasonable cell phone packages that accomodate the consumer and not having to pay for text messages sent to you which you have no other choice but to accept.

2) All goods to be labeled with price stickers that are easily removable.

3) plastic packaging on software and other products that does not require the jaws of life in order to open them.

Anyone hoping for other ground-breaking, revolutionary changes?

The Weekly Word: "Sooner"

So, in my dating extravanganza, (It really isn't so extravagant, and there is definitely no ganza going on) I have come across the all too often situation of trying to figure out when to plan date number 2,3,4,5, etc. Although when you are a student and life is fairly up to your own making, once you hit the professional world, things are not the same. There is a schedule which you have to adhere to, and then there is the all too often pop ups, which you didn't plan on, and as a religious individual, we have the all so fun regular and sometimes unexpected church duties, meetings and obligations.

So, you are left to finding two individuals that have competing schedules, trying to navigate the all to common waters of....do I like you? Which leads to the question of, well, when do I see you next? And the common response I have often after a date is "Sooner rather than later"

So what does that mean? Well, I guess we could start out that Sooner is not later. Later being a longer time than sooner, yet both being undefined and left to interpretation.

If you were in law, you would rely on one of those funny things called precedent. Precedent is when you have a series of actions or judgments of the same terminology or situation, and how they were treated previously.

So that makes it interesting, I look at how we have scheduled "outings" or dates before. It seems that there might be a toughie. We have scheduled things eh, more likely later rather than sooner. Sometimes it is over a year between our dates, but recently it has been roughly a month or more between dates.

So, in that situation, sooner rather than later could mean a month in between is sooner, and a year in between is later. Wow, that is a long time, and despite precedent that doesn't seem conducive to the event scheduled.

Which leads us to then a common mans understanding of what sooner rather than later means. My suggestion would lead me to believe that sooner means less than a month, but more than a week. Somewhere in between that time of I want to see you again to the point of spending every waking minute, and the, we'll see each other whenever we have the urge or feel like it. There is more of an urgency in sooner than the lackadaisical approach of whenever I get a free moment, but actually looking for a free moment.

So, that leads me to the one and a half and 3 week timeframe. I doubt that unless I was the president or that busy, as in the book "He just isn't that into you," (which all individuals should read), a month in between dates is not sooner. We are not so busy that we couldn't find time within a month to schedule something.

The one and a half to three week timeframe leaves enough space to accomplish whatever it is that you have eating at you to get done, yet schedule one evening where you can plan on meeting up. Obviously it is more difficult in bringing to persons busy schedules together, but it isn't that hard. If nothing else, in that time frame the planning should have at least begun. Or at a minimal contact made.

So, what am I to glean from this sooner rather than later exchange? My assumption is that either my definition of sooner is very different from hers, or "She just isn't that into me!"

Mt. Timpanogos

I went on a smashtastic hike last weekend up Mt. Timpanogos. There were waterfalls, beautiful valleys hidden in the mountain, wildflowers and relief from the heat in the valley. There was also lots of horse poop, but that wasn't a highlight. Though, at times, from my fatigue and sore backs of my knees, it made me think how I wished we had horses. When we finally reached the top, we could see the urban sprawl over the whole valley. Amazing. Utah Lake looked HUGE.

Parts of the hike were treacherous. I don't like hiking across narrow stretches covered in rocks and snow. There's no firm footing to be had there. I'm also afraid of heights, which makes most hiking experiences a bit of an adventure for me. You see, I have no problem going up. It's only the prospects of how I'm going to get back down and at what speed I will be descending that grip me. I proceed downwards with great caution. I worry someday I might be like the cat in the tree, too overcome by my fear of coming down that I will be stuck wherever it was I dared to climb to. So far, however, I've been able to come down. Thank goodness.

It took us TEN hours to complete the hike. And that includes having slid down a big glacier to cut the time down by about 1 1/2 hours. The glacier was an adventure too. Kind of steep. I was somewhat concerned no official body of government had approved sledding here and deemed it safe. But the rest of the people on the mountain didn't seem phased by that. So down we went. The snow gave me scrapes all over my arms and my bum. As I had not planned to be sliding down a glacier that day, I neglected to wear appropriate clothes that don't "ride up." But, you'll be glad to know, I am healing well. I just have a very itchy bum. And since it's not at all socially acceptable to scratch one's bum, it's kind of a nuisance. My fingers and hands tingled for a few days as well. It's a phenomenon I like to call freezer burn. I experienced it once before when I had to climb a steel fence in Russia in the middle of January.

The experience reminded me of reading a very long book. As we made our way back down the trail, I found large sections of the trail which I had completely forgotten. It had just been so long since we'd passed that way. Just like when you go back over a long book. You go over it again and you find these entire sections and chapters with details that had completely left your memory. But when you find them again, they are familiar to you. And it's kind of exciting to realize how much has happened since you passed that way before. It's very fun to be on that kind of a journey. By the end of the hike we were all exhausted. Many were sunburned. Many were sore. I slept for 12 hours the next day. But it was beautiful up there. And sometimes, it's really just great to be on a journey.