Indiana, Day 4

Woke up, barely -- it was very hard today -- snoozed the alarm more than once.

Realized that Kenji graduates exactly 16 years after me.

Sent Kenji a text to wish him a Happy Graduation Day!

Made it to the library too early.

Perused the used books and CDs and ended up buying the soundtrack to "My Best Friend's Wedding" for $1.50.

Helped the missionaries fix a couple problems on their laptops -- for which they were so grateful they offered to buy me dinner.

Ate lunch.

Answered several questions throughout the day.

Went out to dinner with the missionaries at Logan's Roadhouse. Pretty good food, the baby back ribs were delicious.

Drank a root beer.

Headed back to the hotel.

Packed my suitcase while listening to Kenny Chesney.

Wrote out a few baby shower invitiations.

Went to bed.

Indiana, Day 3

Woke up – it was harder today.

Hit the snooze button once.

Performed my ablutions.

Skipped breakfast in order to squeeze in a trip to Wal-mart to grab some kind of gadget for wrangling network cords – they were all over the place yesterday! (Ever notice things are better when you know where a Wal-mart is? Why is that?)

Snagged some food items as well as a belt and a tank top – today I’ve decided my pants are too big and could kick myself for not going for the size 10 over the 12s…do they make an 11 in women’s sizes – add to that the fact my pink polo shirt is still not my favorite shirt (why is it I can never remember that it doesn’t flatter me at all?) thus the tank top and the belt, a valiant attempt to make myself look and feel better, if only I could be sure it worked.

Headed to the Library, got turned around on the many one-way streets surrounding the library.

Spent the day wrangling cords with wire-ties, more computer stuff, and sundry other housekeeping items.

Had a yummy sandwich for lunch brought to me by the Matthews – with a spicy sweet pickle and an apple.

After work, ventured once again to the Cracker Barrel for dinner, after attempting to cook a microwave dinner with hot water – very unsuccessful.

Tonight’s dinner consisted of broccoli cheese chicken, green beans and baby carrots, not my best dinner.

Discovered that if you’re a party of one you get served much faster than if you’re a party of more.

Ended up buying a green Indiana t-shirt and a cow flashlight keychain to get change for parking tomorrow.

Hope to spend the evening reading Percy Jackson and going to bed early.

Indiana, Day 2

Must have fallen asleep at some point. I think it came right after I realized I’m only comfortable laying flat on my back, blanket tucked under the chin and shoulders, much like a mummy.

Woke up bright and early (literally -- its two hours ahead here, so waking up at 6:00 is like waking up at 4:00) with a sore tailbone (yuck!)

Managed to complete my morning ablutions – I even managed to squeeze in a little Percy Jackson.

Ate breakfast at the hotel cafe and made my way to the Library by 9:00.

Met the missionaries – very nice people — Sisters Greene and Wilkins and Brother and Sister Matthews.

Spent most of the day fielding questions, defragmenting computers and sundry other administrative tasks.

Ate a very strange sandwich for lunch.

Ventured back to the hotel at day’s end.

Discovered Toby had been in an accident on the way to working – “I ruined my car” she says to me when I catch her on the phone. Elphie reduced to carnage – but Toby’s okay, torn rhomboid muscle (and a broken heart – I’ve been there, losing the car you love mostest – thus the heartache when I saw the red VW yesterday).

It could have been much worse, I’m glad it wasn’t.

That’ll teach me to go out of town on a workday! Ventured to the Cracker Barrel once again, this time in the rain to make it a little more interesting.

Once again successfully completed the triangle peg puzzle while waiting for dinner.

Ordered the “Eggs in a Blanket” – which here means, two fried eggs in the middle of two slices of sourdough toast with a side of fried apples and some bacon (at this point I began wondering how much is too much bacon to consume in a 24 hour time period?) Did I mention it was very tasty?

Back to the hotel.

Wrote a few work emails.

Scheduled a baby shower for Becca.

Watched the season finale of Glee (loved it! – yes I’m a “gleek”).

After that, went to bed.

Indiana, Day 1

Flight out delayed one half hour.

Ate scrambled eggs and bacon at the Wolfgang Puck express place in the Airport.

Waited.

Boarded the plane.

Seated between 2 good sized men.

Decided that when I invent an airplane it will have ample seat space.

Read quite a bit of The Lightening Thief”.

Did a more than a few framework puzzles from my puzzle book.

Arrived unscathed in Cincinnati.

Wandered the shops, ate a slice of greasy pizza and boarded the next plane.

Spent 25 minutes in the air before landing safely in Fort Wayne.

Collected my Chevy Cobalt rental car and drooled with envy over the candy apple red VW Beetle sitting in the stall next to it (ah, my heart!)…what would I have to do to get to have that for my rental car?

Successfully located my hotel using my MapQuest direction – which is a feat in and of its self.

Checked into the hotel.

Found my room.

Settled in – yes folks, I even put my clothes in the drawers – somewhat uncharacteristic of me.

Ventured to the Cracker Barrel next door where I had my favorite dish – grilled pork chop with applesauce and mashed potatoes (yum!).

Successfully completed the triangle peg puzzle while waiting for dinner.

Got sucked into the vortex that is the Cracker Barrel store and ended up buying a Wynona CD (all because the sound system was playing “My Strongest Weakness” which is one of my favorite country songs (thanks Marges!) not to mention it helps support wounded soldiers.

Back to the hotel, talked to Toby on the phone, then Mom who had to make sure I’d arrived safely – we chatted while Mikayla fell asleep on the floor.

Then I set my alarm, brushed my teeth, washed my face and crawled into the unexpectedly hard bed.

Found it hard to fall asleep, not only was I in a strange place but I was missing my furry leg warmer Gus.

Just as I was falling asleep, got a text from Andyra wondering if I’d made it safe.

My 5 Minutes of Fame

Last week I helped at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Salt Lake City. I was there showing visitors a little bit of what I do on a daily basis working at FamilySearch. A fellow from the Deseret News snapped my picture while I was helping some cute little (unbeknownst to me until after the fact, I might have protested had I know what was happening). After taking down our names and telling us we'd be in the Mormon Times on Thursday the guy with the camera went on his merry way.

So, like any crazy person who wants to see her name in print I hunted down the print edition of the Mormon Times late Thursday night but I did not find myself there...Flash Forward to today when a coworker on the Elevator says "we need your autograph, you're famous!"

Famous, probably not, in print, yes, if you call the Internet "print" --

Check me out -- you might need a magnifying glass to spot me.

http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_living/family_history/?id=14731

Granted it's not much to write home about, but one should take their fame where they can get it.

Definitely NOT Business As Usual

As some of you know I get the opportunity to travel from time to time with my job. It's usually to far off exotic places like Mesa, Arizona or Cheyenne, Wyoming which while they are fun to visit there's no real appeal to going there, especially for work. As it usually happens, you get on a plane or in a car, arrive at your location to do your job and then return home the same way you came. On occasion I get to go somewhere good, like St. George in the winter or Seattle, Washington (which is right next door to my leetles) but those times are few and far between.

On Monday I went to a business lunch with the my bosses and the distributor of one of the scanners we use to get books ready to go online. During the course of the meal (no pun intended) we learned that someone could be easily trained to learn to fix the machine and avoid a yearly maintenance contract. My boss has great faith in my abilities (though sometimes I think he's a little nuts). By the end of the lunch my boss had given me the thumbs up for a trip to France (that's where the machines are made). Bordeaux, France. here I'm sitting thinking, WHAT THE HECK!!!!

I'm still reeling and can't quite believe it. I've been assured that it's pretty much a done deal, we just have to wait on passports and the factory in France to let us know when we can come.

Yesterday I applied for my very first passport, which was pretty exciting, but I don't think it will really sink in until I have the tickets in my hand. I hate to get my hopes up, just in case...after all I never did get that trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana last fall (though I'm sure France would be a lot more disappointing if it doesn't pan out).

Please keep it won't be all fun and games (only some if it), there will be work involved. I will be visiting Paris (on my own dime, of course) with Toby, as she has decided to do all in her power to come along with me. I'd do the same if the situation were reversed.

For those of you who are bound to feel some jealousy, make sure I have your address and I'll send you a genuine French Postcard with a genuine French Stamp.

What the Heck!
I'll keep you posted.

Look at the Moon!

Those who have seen Disney's The Kid will appreciate this post. Those who haven't should watch the movie because it is hilarious.

The movie is about this guy Russ (played by Bruce Willis) who is a colossal jerk. There's this one scene where Russ' friend Amy tries to get him to look a the moon. She is all excited and bubbly about it and tries to point out the Man inside to Russ. At this point he completely mocks her for her childish-ness--after all she's almost 30. This is about 5 minutes into the movie and there is no longer any doubt how jerky this guy can be.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself being the jerk (in my head). My co-worker, who is a sweet 20-something, fresh from BYU, graduate was showing me the plant she had just picked out for her cubicle. She was all excited about the fact that the underside of the leaves were purple. She was so excited...and at that moment I became Russ in my head and berated her for being so ridiculous about the plant.

Fast-forward to this morning. I'm standing at the bus stop, in the pitch dark that is 6:30am and can't help but notice the moon--it was ENORMOUS! Full and smiling -- one of those times when you know the Man inside is smiling.

It was so cool. It was the Harvest Moon, by the way. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I stood there wishing that there was someone to share it with--besides the random bus guy that was more concerned about deciding if he had enough time to run across the street to look at the giant pumpkin a shoe in for the part of the Great Pumpkin in this year's retelling of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

I watched it the moon out the bus window the best I could all the way to work--it was that amazing to me.

Perhaps there's a lesson in all of this...whether it's to look up once in a while or to appreciate the wonder that is around us, I don't know. Take it for what it's worth -- and don't be a jerk.

the Gnome I love to hate

About a year ago I went to the local Borders store that was in the process of liquidating their inventory--on account of the building was about to be torn down. While I was there I happened upon a cute little lawn gnome smiling out of his cellophane package. He seemed to be saying "Please take me with you. I'd be SO happy living in your cubicle."

So I forked over the $10.00 and rescued the little guy from his bookstore bondage.

I get him to my desk and out of his package -- and faster than you can say Rumplestiltskin, the little guy turns on me -- No longer is he the cute smiling gnome from the bookstore, but an annoying presence. he just stood there staring at me with his wee beady eyes, looking smug as he stood there on his 4X5 inch square of astro turf. He was promptly dubbed GJerry the GJerky GLawn Gnome...the name fit.

I tried putting him behind my monitor, in a far corner of my desk, but his eyes were ever peering at me. It's very hard to concentrate on much of anything with someone constantly staring at you--it's like having someone read over your shoulder...you know the feeling.

As the months have passed, GJerry is still in my cubicle and it seems that we have reached a silent agreement...He now stands happily in my overhead cupboard looking straight out over my head.

He's stopped making trouble as well. As long as I make sure his 3 silk tulips are in place and change his backround scenery once in a while we're good.