Renew the Zoo!

Another election year is coming, big sigh. I hate that I live in a State where my vote doesn't count. I know that my vote for President will be a toss away. There are no contenders against the race for Governor. But there is one very important issue that needs attention: Dear Utahns everywhere: vote for something that matters: forget the U.S. President and Proposition 8 in California.

Vote for Proposition 2 in Utah!!! What better campaign can you have than "Renew the Zoo". It's fun to say and the commericals are HILARIOUS!!!

Thanks, Toad for helping figure out the whole uploading video thing. (There are several commericals on youtube, but these are my favorites).






How can you turn that down! While I was at the NAFSA conference - spending my lonely evenings in my hotel room I laughed and laughed everytime I saw the giraffes.

Happy almost-Halloween!

Happy almost-Halloween! Can I just say - I love fall - crispy weather, crunchy leaves, sweaters, and let's not forget my birthday, but Halloween is not fun. The stress of trying to figure out what to be, the cost of putting the most fabulous costume together is just too much. Our office has a costume parade - imagine 20 attorneys dressed up walking around the 2nd floor of the administration building - it truly is a sight to behold, but seriously, can't I outgrow this? I really don't think my up-stairs maid costume is quite appropriate for the office party.

Moving on....

Every week I receive an e-newsletter from the most fantastic Australian writer. She rattles on about her family tales and provides writing tips and such for her readers across the globe. My favorite part is a vocabulary quiz on whatever random thing she happens to stumble across. This week the quiz emphasized blogging.

Her definition of a blogger is as follows: "term used to describe anyone with enough time or narcissism to document every tedious bit of minutia filling their uneventful lives."

I would just like to take this moment to declare that I am NOT a blogger - I seriously cannot believe that anyone would have any care to read my ramblings, but I find it somewhat therapeutic.

Moving on to document "every tedious bit of minutia filling [my] uneventful [life]"....

Last week I went to the NAFSA: Associate for Foreign Educators Regional Conference in Park City. I know - a long way to travel (ha ha). I stayed up at the Marriott for the whole week - it was good because I was busy in the morning and evening, but my afternoons were pretty quiet. I hit the outlets one afternoon - I really could have gone spend-crazy, but I controlled myself. Back to my love of fall - I bought two jackets, a couple shirts, and some pants - all Fall appropriate. My fall wardrobe is huge - I can go all season and probably never wear the same combination of clothes twice, but Spring/Summer I'm probably wearing the same outfit each week. I need a spring/summer lover to go shopping with me. The best thing about being in Park City was the restaurants - pretty much every place I ate - even the hotel grill - was fantastic. There was a little Italian place just outside the hotel that had the best eggplant sandwich. I don't even like eggplant! My highest recommendations go to Chimayo - a Mexican-inspired restaruant (whatever that means). There were 6 of us there and each one of us practically licked our plates clean. It's definitely in the $$$ price range, but well worth every penny.

I guess I should clarify that the conference wasn't all about eating and shopping (although, that's honestly how I spent most of my time). I did attend a session led by the NAFSA Ombudsperson (contact with Dept. of Homeland Security and Dept. of State) and an attorney from David Ware & Associates. They gave a very informative update where I learned that Homeland Security & Dept. of State is making life more difficult for everyone. Int'l travelers will now require "ten print" fingerprint scans - that means longer lines at the airport and consulates. SEVIS - the student tracking system - fees are increasing by double or more. H-1B worker visas will take longer because the Department of Labor applications that used to be instantaneous will now take up to a week to obtain. Also, Dept. of Labor is going to take over issuing Prevailing Wage Determinations rather than having the State Workforce Agencies issue them. I have a feeling DOL won't be as understanding as our SWA person is - even though she's not so bright either. I guess on the bright side, our Canadian friends can now get their TN visas for 3 years instead of just 1 year. As you can tell it was a jam-packed session. (Does that now justify my $600 weekend?)

Hooray for good friends

I have been very lucky throughout my life to stumble upon great people who have become great friends.

Today, my Rock Springs friend is my favorite. She posted to her blog a fantastic offer that any girl would be silly to ignore: FREE STUFF:

I'm serious. It's easy, fantastic and 100% free. Believe it. Check out www.handbagplanet.com if you don't believe me. Signing up at their website guarantees you a shot at one free handbag, and they outline additional opportunities for even more chances.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Happy October!

Hooray for Fall! (I had to say it just one more time.)

It is General Conference weekend, so of course it will rain in Utah. I'm wondering it's God's way of forcing Mormons to listen rather than go camping or take a vacation from church. I have no problem spending an entire weekend in my jammies on my couch. Too bad I won't be able to this weekend. Maybe in April.

Toad's cousin is getting married Saturday. I hope it's not an outdoor wedding; it might be a little soggy. My mother-in-law wants the fam to get together for dinner on Sunday. Something about birthday's or something-or-other. (Happy Birthday to Toad! - and me).

I had a point when I started this, but I am afraid I got side tracked and can't remember what it was.

Happy October!

Stop the Skaters

So the other night I was coming home from painting wooden pumpkins - hooray for fall and easy Relief Society crafts (no way was I going to make a witch - too hard. I actually did get an amazing peanut butter cup recipe - I can't wait to start baking for Christmas.)

Anyway, back to my story... I came to the intersection (can you call it an intersection if it's only 3-ways?) and saw Skateboard boy lying on the hood of his car looking like his life has ended. He's a 17 year old boy who is always in the front of his house with swarms of boys flipping skateboards. I don't think they actually ride them, they just try to look "cool" which they haven't quite nailed yet.

What is it about skater boys? They are always the size of toothpicks wearing clothes that are so big they wrap around them as zoom down the street and fall down around their ankles giving a lovely view of Sponge Bob boxer shorts. Typically, they also have so much metal in their face that it magnetizes with the North Pole - I suspect that this is what keeps them upright on those little boards.

Okay, I know I sound 80 years old, but having nearly hit these boys because they only seem to come out at night when it is pitch dark on a dimly (sparsely) lit road when I will hit them.

Apparently in August Salt Lake County banned the use of mini ramps on residential property. There is now a group that is petitioning this action because the Health Department took the first loop hole they could think of when passing this ordinance. They focused on the noise the mini ramps cause. That seems like a thin stretch. While I don't agree with the reasoning behind the ordinance, I must confess I do enjoy driving down the road without worrying I may hit someone who will dart into the road.

Hopefully skateboard boy will find a new hobby so the pathetic pouting on his car can cease. Maybe he can pick up a book on skateboarding.

CrossFit Update

So Toad and I have been to CrossFit 8 times. It kind of seems like more than that. This last Saturday we finished the Foundations Course. It was like an abbreviated personal workout session. I know Toad pretty much only goes because I want to, but I'd like to think that he doesn't hate it. I'm kind of a CrossFit junkie. I don't usually have time to check the web during the day, but their site is becoming one of my most viewed.

When people first hear about the CrossFit they are usually thinking one of two things. It’s either “SIGN ME UP!!!” Or, “Pull ups and Olympic lifts?! NO WAY.” I was one of the latter. Had I not done personal training with my buddy, I know I wouldn't have ever gone. The nice thing about CrossFit is that the program can be scaled to any body, old/young, weak/strong, timid/brave.

Yesterday was the first time I went to a session during the week. (First time I got home from work at a decent hour and wasn't exhausted - something else should break down so I can work from home while waiting for the repairman. It's much more relaxing. That's a blog for another time.)



The people who were there were people I recognized from the Saturday workouts. We did our warm up of squats, push ups, pull ups and sit ups and then did a series of Jerks. I finished in about 10 minutes. My max was 95 lbs. Since that went by so quickly, I did another routine - Cindy - (all of the workouts have names - generally girl names). The Cindy is as many rounds of pull ups, push ups and squats you can do in 20 minutes. I finished 14 rounds.

I know this probably won't be of any interest to anyone other than me, but I thought it would be cool to keep a running list of my CrossFit scores to compare. So I've added yet another list to keep track. Hopefully I'll get better. I can't really imagine jerking more than 100 lbs. or doing a full pull up, but we shall see.





Since I like to include photos here one from one of our first visits to CrossFit. Look how good Toad's form is! He's the push up KING!

Is it normal to be insane?

It has been getting darker earlier and staying dark longer. It makes me tired. I've always pretty much required a full 8 hours of sleep or I get a "little" ornery. (Note: "little" is a subjective term.)

The other morning (if you can call 3:50AM morning) when Toad left for work he went to give me the standard kiss goodbye. Toad is fully aware that there are only two outcomes when he goes in for the kill. I will either 1) be completely comotose or 2) be slightly conscious and try to kill him. Fists flying, screaming threats of bloody murder. I don't really remember doing these things, but part of me is aware of what is going on. When I am awake I think I am a pretty pleasant person, most of the time.

This morning (the real morning - 6:00AM) I woke to find myself entering a whole new level of insanity. I wasn't awaken to the song on my alarm, but my own voice. I was literally having an argument with myself. Self 1: "Get up" Self 2: "NO!" Self 1: GET UP! Self 2: Grrr.

I think of myself as a pretty "normal" person, but it just may be possible that I am reaching a new level of insanity. The subconscious is a very interesting thing. When I was younger I thought that it was one's true self. Now, I hope not. My subconscious seems to be very violent and lazy.

This disturbing situation did encourage me enough to eventually get up out of bed. But I didn't make the bed - does that mean the subconscious is winning?!