Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Odd Things I Love To Do
I like to do a lot of monotonous things that others don't like to do: things that require a lot of repetition; mindless things; things that involve some kind of rhythm. One of those things is running on treadmills. Another of them is typing. I really like it. It's soothing in a sick and twisted kind of way. A friend had this little quiz on her blog, and oh my. I got quite excited. You can click below and check it out to see how you fair with the test. I confess, I took it several times. It's kind of addictive.
79 words
79 words
Friday, March 21, 2008
Shattered
I was talking with my sister the other day. She is droning through her last few days (we hope) of pregnancy waiting for her new little boy. She already has 4 boys and a girl. They are all adorable. But, clearly, the little female is a minority. I asked my sister if she was happy to be having another boy.
For the record, she's delighted to be having a boy. Slightly detouring from that point, my sister expounded on how she thinks Clara, her daughter, will respond to the baby. We talked a bit about how she is now, with being the only girl. Clara is delightful, cute, a total ham,... Clara is many things. She can be rough and tumble and hold her own amongst her brothers. And she's definitely a girl. She insists on wearing more pink than any three year old I've ever met before. And she doesn't get it from her mother -- her mother hates pink. It's also been determined that she likes being the only girl. And She LOVES my sister. My sister is both mother and, more significantly, the only other girl in the house. Along with this hard to come by quality, however, comes certain consequences. My sister says she notices when Clara gets reprimanded for something, it shatters her completely. And I can imagine why. It is very traumatic to have your one, truly most significant and only constant female friend in the world be upset with you.
I had to smile a bit as we talked about this aspect of Clara, as I think she and I may have this in common. Poor girl. Hopefully she can grow out of it. I don't know that I can.
It's a hard thing when one has to come to terms with oneself. Sometimes my emotions get so big, they start to not fit inside and then start to leak out so that I have no choice but to admit that I have them. Very unfortunate, as I find it's so convenient to just ignore them most of the time. But when they make themselves so darn obvious, ignoring is nigh unto impossible! What's a girl to do?
Well, cry, of course.
My new personal realization: compliments are important to me. Previously, when considering the 5 languages of love, that one was always one of the lower-ranking priorities. I'd almost opted to drop it off the list completely at one point, but then thought better of it and figured all of the languages are probably beneficial to some degree. Due to recent events, it has been determined that compliments should be moved up to a higher status.
Lately, I find myself being in the lot of what I'd like to call "noncompliments." Things like: I'll not like you if you ever cut your hair short, you eat weird food, I disapprove of you when you cook with alcohol, you don't clap enough in performances, when you dress up you make me look bad, you don't vacuum enough, I can't believe you'd DARE to put your hand down the garbage disposal, you're not careful, your outfit is terrible..
I could go on, but it'll just make me sad if I do. I think Male and I have gotten to a place where he is very comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that he has forgotten to pay attention to the fact that most of what comes out of his mouth is everything he doesn't like about me. They're probably things he was also too polite to say previously. I assume he likes me. And I think he forgets to express this because he probably assumes that I know.
Well, I do know. Despite this, I have been shattered for an entire two weeks, dizzy with all the noncompliments that are swimming around in my head. My one big friend in the world is upset with me. Often. It's some cause for concern that I have so much in common with a three year old.
For the record, she's delighted to be having a boy. Slightly detouring from that point, my sister expounded on how she thinks Clara, her daughter, will respond to the baby. We talked a bit about how she is now, with being the only girl. Clara is delightful, cute, a total ham,... Clara is many things. She can be rough and tumble and hold her own amongst her brothers. And she's definitely a girl. She insists on wearing more pink than any three year old I've ever met before. And she doesn't get it from her mother -- her mother hates pink. It's also been determined that she likes being the only girl. And She LOVES my sister. My sister is both mother and, more significantly, the only other girl in the house. Along with this hard to come by quality, however, comes certain consequences. My sister says she notices when Clara gets reprimanded for something, it shatters her completely. And I can imagine why. It is very traumatic to have your one, truly most significant and only constant female friend in the world be upset with you.
I had to smile a bit as we talked about this aspect of Clara, as I think she and I may have this in common. Poor girl. Hopefully she can grow out of it. I don't know that I can.
It's a hard thing when one has to come to terms with oneself. Sometimes my emotions get so big, they start to not fit inside and then start to leak out so that I have no choice but to admit that I have them. Very unfortunate, as I find it's so convenient to just ignore them most of the time. But when they make themselves so darn obvious, ignoring is nigh unto impossible! What's a girl to do?
Well, cry, of course.
My new personal realization: compliments are important to me. Previously, when considering the 5 languages of love, that one was always one of the lower-ranking priorities. I'd almost opted to drop it off the list completely at one point, but then thought better of it and figured all of the languages are probably beneficial to some degree. Due to recent events, it has been determined that compliments should be moved up to a higher status.
Lately, I find myself being in the lot of what I'd like to call "noncompliments." Things like: I'll not like you if you ever cut your hair short, you eat weird food, I disapprove of you when you cook with alcohol, you don't clap enough in performances, when you dress up you make me look bad, you don't vacuum enough, I can't believe you'd DARE to put your hand down the garbage disposal, you're not careful, your outfit is terrible..
I could go on, but it'll just make me sad if I do. I think Male and I have gotten to a place where he is very comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that he has forgotten to pay attention to the fact that most of what comes out of his mouth is everything he doesn't like about me. They're probably things he was also too polite to say previously. I assume he likes me. And I think he forgets to express this because he probably assumes that I know.
Well, I do know. Despite this, I have been shattered for an entire two weeks, dizzy with all the noncompliments that are swimming around in my head. My one big friend in the world is upset with me. Often. It's some cause for concern that I have so much in common with a three year old.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
An Old Friend
How can something be nostalgic, wonderful and pathetic all at the same time? And yet it is. I ran yesterday. For the second time. In many months. I love running. I've missed it. The gym isn't nearly as fun without a run on the treadmill. I know there are few people who share this opinion. But, nonetheless, for me it is a very true statement.
I ran for the FIRST time in months a couple weeks ago. It was also a very joyous occasion. But slightly less. The pathetic part comes after the run, actually. I got off the treadmill after I had only run 2.5 miles (though it was at my normal pace, which made me very glad my hiatus hadn't made me slower). I suddenly realized... dun, dun, dun....my legs felt like jello. I was a little surprised. I used to run 3-5 miles without even thinking about it. So for that short run to do that to me was, well, a bit of a set back.
But not totally surprising. It had been MONTHS since I ran. And, of course, I have been going to the gym in the meantime. I've gotten better at the bike, the arc trainer, the stairmaster and my arms actually have identifiable bi's and tri's-- which may be a first for me. But I haven't done as much cardio as I'd been doing while I was able to run. I would frequently do cardio for over 40 minutes if I was running. In contrast, I normally kept it to 20, and SOMETIMES 30, with these other machines. What can I say? I just don't love them as much.
It seemed like a minor set back. But not the end of the world. I just needed to build my muscles and endurance back up. C'est la vie. Yeah. At the time I clearly didn't know the meaning of the term "set back". No worries. I was soon to find out as I was TOTALLY sore for the next few days, to the point that I walked like a disjointed, stiff, adolescent boy, nervously making an effort to make his awkward body move at a middle school dance. That's a wee bit embarassing.
And that wasn't the worst of it. When the soreness started to subside I went back to the gym to run again, which I learned I shouldn't have done. Because when you run like I ran, you get sore for many reasons, one of which is that exerting your muscles like that causes little tears in your muscles. I am sadly very prone to BAD tears, and succeeded in exacerbating one of the tears in my left thigh within the 1st two minutes of my 2nd attempt at a run. OW! I am so not smart sometimes.
So, two weeks later, which could also be called yestersday, I finally got my sorry butt on the treadmill and ran a slow, steady 2 miles without tears or other reasons for pain. I didn't run too much. I didn't run too fast. And today? I feel just fine. Ahhh, welcome back friend. I've missed you.
I ran for the FIRST time in months a couple weeks ago. It was also a very joyous occasion. But slightly less. The pathetic part comes after the run, actually. I got off the treadmill after I had only run 2.5 miles (though it was at my normal pace, which made me very glad my hiatus hadn't made me slower). I suddenly realized... dun, dun, dun....my legs felt like jello. I was a little surprised. I used to run 3-5 miles without even thinking about it. So for that short run to do that to me was, well, a bit of a set back.
But not totally surprising. It had been MONTHS since I ran. And, of course, I have been going to the gym in the meantime. I've gotten better at the bike, the arc trainer, the stairmaster and my arms actually have identifiable bi's and tri's-- which may be a first for me. But I haven't done as much cardio as I'd been doing while I was able to run. I would frequently do cardio for over 40 minutes if I was running. In contrast, I normally kept it to 20, and SOMETIMES 30, with these other machines. What can I say? I just don't love them as much.
It seemed like a minor set back. But not the end of the world. I just needed to build my muscles and endurance back up. C'est la vie. Yeah. At the time I clearly didn't know the meaning of the term "set back". No worries. I was soon to find out as I was TOTALLY sore for the next few days, to the point that I walked like a disjointed, stiff, adolescent boy, nervously making an effort to make his awkward body move at a middle school dance. That's a wee bit embarassing.
And that wasn't the worst of it. When the soreness started to subside I went back to the gym to run again, which I learned I shouldn't have done. Because when you run like I ran, you get sore for many reasons, one of which is that exerting your muscles like that causes little tears in your muscles. I am sadly very prone to BAD tears, and succeeded in exacerbating one of the tears in my left thigh within the 1st two minutes of my 2nd attempt at a run. OW! I am so not smart sometimes.
So, two weeks later, which could also be called yestersday, I finally got my sorry butt on the treadmill and ran a slow, steady 2 miles without tears or other reasons for pain. I didn't run too much. I didn't run too fast. And today? I feel just fine. Ahhh, welcome back friend. I've missed you.
Monday, February 25, 2008
New Job
So, I started my new job last week. I am the PR and Development Manager. Whatever that means. It is, officially, the coolest job I've ever had. I'm quite pleased they've taken me in. The work they do is inspiring and they do good ALL OVER THE WORLD. Love it. And the work I do is actually fun for me. Not to mention, my commute is 10 minutes and I haven't had to get gasoline for my car in over 4 days, which is probably the first time that's happened in almost two years. Ahhh, how fabulous.
The funniest/oddest part of my job is that it involves quite a bit of PR. You might have guessed that by the title, I suppose. It surprises me, even so. I'm not sure why they structured it this way or entrusted me with this responsibility. I think we both saw my resume. Yet somehow, here I am. Of course, I'm always up for something new and exciting. I look at it as a fun adventure for me. And it's a fabulous outlet for creativity. However, from my organization's perspective, hiring someone so green to PR as I am and just handing it all over like they have... it seems a bit... what's the word... brash? risky? imprudent?
One caveat to this point of view: I have a habit of underestimating myself and thinking less of my experience level than perhaps I should. For example, when I got into the college I had wanted to and which had a reputation for being competitive and selective, my first thought was "I guess they're not so selective after all." Okay, so I still think that.
Anyhow, I started working on the annual report for the organization and slicing and dicing stories that are coming to me. As my work in progress is taking shape, I find myself thinking, "Huh, perhaps they're not as naive as I thought. That's not half bad-- and a *?&! of a lot better than last years, for sure. Why didn't I start doing this earlier?" Who would have thunk it..
The funniest/oddest part of my job is that it involves quite a bit of PR. You might have guessed that by the title, I suppose. It surprises me, even so. I'm not sure why they structured it this way or entrusted me with this responsibility. I think we both saw my resume. Yet somehow, here I am. Of course, I'm always up for something new and exciting. I look at it as a fun adventure for me. And it's a fabulous outlet for creativity. However, from my organization's perspective, hiring someone so green to PR as I am and just handing it all over like they have... it seems a bit... what's the word... brash? risky? imprudent?
One caveat to this point of view: I have a habit of underestimating myself and thinking less of my experience level than perhaps I should. For example, when I got into the college I had wanted to and which had a reputation for being competitive and selective, my first thought was "I guess they're not so selective after all." Okay, so I still think that.
Anyhow, I started working on the annual report for the organization and slicing and dicing stories that are coming to me. As my work in progress is taking shape, I find myself thinking, "Huh, perhaps they're not as naive as I thought. That's not half bad-- and a *?&! of a lot better than last years, for sure. Why didn't I start doing this earlier?" Who would have thunk it..
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Last Weeks and Weekends
I got back from LA on Sunday night. It was a very fun trip. Jefe was already there for a law conference, so I went out to meet up, talk business and play. Apparently, most lawyers go there for the sex and the open bar. So having two single mormons there is questionable. But I promise, we just went to events and had a good time and did some business planning. No sex, drugs or rock & rolling for us. But we did find a college bar that had foosball and air hockey. Good times. Good times.
Fun highlight: after the Saturday night event they had at the swanky "it" club called The Sky Bar, where we hob-nobbed near the real "it" people who normally go there to feel more important and hip than everybody else on the planet, we went back to the Beverly Hilton and somehow managed to walk up the stairs that landed us (unknowingly, I swear) right within the red carpet area just after the Pre-Grammy celebration had finished. And there they were: Pink, Nelli, Blake Lewis, a bunch of directors I don't know, and some hip and beautiful female R&B/Rap star who had a body guard the size of Godzilla. Just so you know, Pink is a lot more petite in person than you'd think. I think all her music videos make her look kind of big and manly-ish. It's not true. She is officially "little". And for some reason she really likes her jeans, because she has the Seven For All Mankind brand tattooed on the back of her neck. Go figure.
There was no snow there. I really liked that. And I got a pedicure for the 2nd time in my life. I also got to go inside Barney's, Saks, and all the cool Rodeo Drive stores, like Ferragamo, Versace, Valentino, Prada.. I could go on, but I'll spare you. And I'll elaborate more about all the "businessy kind of stuff" on my other website where I'm allowed to rant about fashion and other business-related stuff.
So, now I'm back at work, and it is my last week. I am so glad it is my last week. However, I'm most glad that it is only expected to snow 1-3 inches this week, so the commute won't be terrible. We already have a new "me", so I've been pretty busy training her and have hardly had a moment to think about my new job. And when I'm not at work, I'm hell-bent on trying to get all my research and work done for the business.
The worst of it is I haven't even had a moment to work out, which I very much need to do. I gained three pounds in three days on my trip to LA. In actuality, I think I may have gained three pounds in three hours, when I ate two Godiva chocolate bars and a small bag of beef jerky while waiting at the airport. Yum. Okay, so my jeans felt tight way before that, but I'm gonna guess they didn't help.
Here's to hoping that after this week, I'll have some downtime.
Fun highlight: after the Saturday night event they had at the swanky "it" club called The Sky Bar, where we hob-nobbed near the real "it" people who normally go there to feel more important and hip than everybody else on the planet, we went back to the Beverly Hilton and somehow managed to walk up the stairs that landed us (unknowingly, I swear) right within the red carpet area just after the Pre-Grammy celebration had finished. And there they were: Pink, Nelli, Blake Lewis, a bunch of directors I don't know, and some hip and beautiful female R&B/Rap star who had a body guard the size of Godzilla. Just so you know, Pink is a lot more petite in person than you'd think. I think all her music videos make her look kind of big and manly-ish. It's not true. She is officially "little". And for some reason she really likes her jeans, because she has the Seven For All Mankind brand tattooed on the back of her neck. Go figure.
There was no snow there. I really liked that. And I got a pedicure for the 2nd time in my life. I also got to go inside Barney's, Saks, and all the cool Rodeo Drive stores, like Ferragamo, Versace, Valentino, Prada.. I could go on, but I'll spare you. And I'll elaborate more about all the "businessy kind of stuff" on my other website where I'm allowed to rant about fashion and other business-related stuff.
So, now I'm back at work, and it is my last week. I am so glad it is my last week. However, I'm most glad that it is only expected to snow 1-3 inches this week, so the commute won't be terrible. We already have a new "me", so I've been pretty busy training her and have hardly had a moment to think about my new job. And when I'm not at work, I'm hell-bent on trying to get all my research and work done for the business.
The worst of it is I haven't even had a moment to work out, which I very much need to do. I gained three pounds in three days on my trip to LA. In actuality, I think I may have gained three pounds in three hours, when I ate two Godiva chocolate bars and a small bag of beef jerky while waiting at the airport. Yum. Okay, so my jeans felt tight way before that, but I'm gonna guess they didn't help.
Here's to hoping that after this week, I'll have some downtime.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Just as I suspected
This is a fun quiz I found on eclaire's website. I am so democratic. The quiz was pretty insightful. I don't know that it's exactly accurate for me. However, that's mainly because the quiz asked me about several issues which I really haven't done a lot of research on or given a lot of thought to, so I'm not really sure where I stand on them. I should be more vigilant in politics, so I don't have to guess on my opinions. If you want to check it out, go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html.
93% John Edwards
93% Barack Obama
92% Hillary Clinton
91% Bill Richardson
88% Chris Dodd
81% Joe Biden
78% Mike Gravel
74% Dennis Kucinich
49% Rudy Giuliani
41% John McCain
34% Tom Tancredo
30% Mitt Romney
30% Mike Huckabee
20% Fred Thompson
18% Ron Paul
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
93% John Edwards
93% Barack Obama
92% Hillary Clinton
91% Bill Richardson
88% Chris Dodd
81% Joe Biden
78% Mike Gravel
74% Dennis Kucinich
49% Rudy Giuliani
41% John McCain
34% Tom Tancredo
30% Mitt Romney
30% Mike Huckabee
20% Fred Thompson
18% Ron Paul
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
Finally!
I swear, I've been on the job search for an eternity. At least it felt like eternity. It's probably been 4 or 5 months. I can't remember when I started. And it's been a long haul. There have been interviews. There have been 2nd interviews. But never the job offer. At least, not from the job I wanted. And then..... it happened! Hurray! Yippee! I can hardly believe it! I can hardly wait! But I have to, for two weeks. If I can survive the commute in the every-other-day-mob-by-snowstorm we've gotten lately, then I will finally be there.
I just got hired by this fabulous nonprofit that ships donated medical supplies all over the world. Yeah! I can finally start helping to save a village in Africa. You've no idea how long I've had that on my to-do list. And they are training me to be their development director. I'm SOOOO excited about that. And the commute is 5 minutes from my house in Salt Lake. How fabulous is that?! I'm already daydreaming about how much extra time I'm gonna have to go to the gym. And I won't really have to work at Chloe Lane. So I can do LOTS of stuff. Like go to church on Sundays. I might even be able to pick up my guitar on occasion. And hang out with people on the weekends. And go to Will's "rock band" parties. Ok, I may or may not do that.
Anywho, I also don't need to get a new car so soon. Thanks for all the feedback, you guys. Really, you're great. But I'm happy to say, though a new car would have been fun, I don't have to get one just yet. I can wait till I can better afford it. And until I can afford the hybrid or diesel version. Double bonus.
I just got hired by this fabulous nonprofit that ships donated medical supplies all over the world. Yeah! I can finally start helping to save a village in Africa. You've no idea how long I've had that on my to-do list. And they are training me to be their development director. I'm SOOOO excited about that. And the commute is 5 minutes from my house in Salt Lake. How fabulous is that?! I'm already daydreaming about how much extra time I'm gonna have to go to the gym. And I won't really have to work at Chloe Lane. So I can do LOTS of stuff. Like go to church on Sundays. I might even be able to pick up my guitar on occasion. And hang out with people on the weekends. And go to Will's "rock band" parties. Ok, I may or may not do that.
Anywho, I also don't need to get a new car so soon. Thanks for all the feedback, you guys. Really, you're great. But I'm happy to say, though a new car would have been fun, I don't have to get one just yet. I can wait till I can better afford it. And until I can afford the hybrid or diesel version. Double bonus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)