Why is my face like that?

At the last softball game we had, a friend from the ward took some pictures. She's a professional and had a super cool camera. She was showing me some of the pics and sent them to me. After viewing them, my questions are:
1)Why am I smiling so big in this picture? I must really love softball.
2)Are my arms fat or muscular? Depends on where you look. On top- totally buff. Underneath- Lacking. Which is funny because I probably do 3 times more tricep exercises than bicep.
3)Why is my face like that? That's a pretty unusual look, but really funny too. It kind of looks I'm getting hit in the face and my jaw is disconnected. Once I saw the picture, I knew it was a must have.
Overall, I thought the pics were really fun and deemed necessary for the blog.

Living the Dream in Quadrant II

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to hear a great presentation on one of the Habits of Highly Effective People. Numero tres, Weekly Planning. He also spoke about Quadrant II. The perfect world where you complete things in a timely fashion and plan ahead so that important things get done, and you don't lose yourself in urgent matters. My first mission president was a successful businessman and loved this book. We had many zone conferences regarding the things of Effective People. I even wrote 2 personal statements on my mission: one as a missionary and one for after the mission.
Last night I was feeling so motivated, I did weekly planning (something I hated on the mish, and Megs can attest to that hatred). Last night I went through my planner and planned phone calls that I wanted to make, emails to new people on the Enrichment committee, meetings I wanted to schedule in 2 weeks and softball games that I wanted to organize. And low and behold I got it all done. When I called my dad I told him, I was calling him to fulfill the duties as my role of daughter. (My role of daughter is stated on my my mission statement and the phone call was on my to do list.) As I am reading this email to Truth, she candidly points out that I did not put her on the list of important people to call because SHE had to call ME. Truth calls me out of love not out of duty, so she says. But really, she just calls me out.
I'm feeling super motivated (aka afraid of finals) that I am currently writing my 20 page final paper that isn't due for 2 more weeks. I just want it not to be crazy at that time. We'll see how this whole weekly planning thing goes. Tomorrow I have to go to work early, make 2 phone calls for visiting teaching appts on Sunday, go to a homework study group at 7, the gym and then flossing.

I'm just no good at STDs....or am I?

Lately I have been on the quest for a summer internship with a county or state health department and it's been really frustrating. I've applied to Epidemiology, STD, AIDS and HEP C organizations, just trying to get my foot in the door. But most don't have internships available and if they do, they aren't paid. I've applied to a WIDE variety of places all over and it's the same story. Which made me think. What is the point of an internship that doesn't pay? Who would really work for a whole summer for free? Granted, I would if it was in let's say...Jamaica, but other than that, the odds that I would work for free are very slim and almost non-existent. I might one day feel inclined to volunteer for a praiseworthy cause, but when it comes down to it, money is the ticket. Give me those dollar bills! I'd volunteer a few hours and then have to get a real job to pay the bills.
I had one department reject me with much praise for my experience, but they just don't offer internships. That made me feel better because at least I wasn't rejected because I lack experience with STDs. I just love that I get to work in this field...one day. Oh well. I still have to hear from some other places. We'll see what happens for this summer. I may just go to Jamaica and actively search out STDs.
I hope.

A Smack of Jellyfish

smackofjellyfish.com
I love this website of which Quickhands informed me. How fun are collective nouns like:


A
An Army of Ants

B
A Flutter of Butterflies

C
A Murder of Crows

D
A Team of Ducks

E
A Parade of Elephants

F
A Knot of Frogs

G
A Gaggle of Geese

H
A Bloat of Hippopotamuses

I
A Mess of Iguana

J
A Smack of Jellyfish

K
A Troop of Kangaroos

L
A Pride of Lions

M
A Scourge of Mosquitoes

N
A Watch of Nightingale

O
A Parliament of Owls

P
A String of Ponies

Q
A Covey of Quail

R
A Crash of Rhinoceros

S
A Walk of Snails

T
A Bale of Turtles

U
A Bed of Urchins

V
A Nest of Vipers

W
A Pod of Whales

X
A School of X-ray Fish

Y
A Herd of Yaks

Z
A Zeal of Zebra

Intergalactic Baby shower

This past weekend I was hostess to a party that was out of this world. Literally, out of this world. Stephy is the mothership to a docked baby boy and we decided to welcome him to planet earth will a big warm welcome. We had about 20 people and way to much food. Here are some of the highlights of the day including the softball game after:
1) To play the safety pin game, Truth and Stephy made little alien pins out of pipe cleaner and eyeballs for everyone to wear and lose if they said the word "Baby"
2) The cake had a corner that looked like the moon and was very yummy. Chocolate with strawberry filling.
3) Truth made a space music cd. We had to guess the name and the performer of the song. Does anyone know the name of the David Bowie song? First line "Ground control to number 1." No one at the party did.
4) My vegetarian friend is now a meat eater and I only found out on Saturday after I realized that we had no non-meat sandwich material. I gasped as I saw her take a bite of chicken salad sandwich.
5) There's a gift called a Baby Bather, but I read it from across the room and I thought it said Baby Bother. Stranger still I thought that some apparatus that would poke and prod a baby. Make a baby cry and really bother it. I was laughing.
6) I bought way too much cake. I first ordered a 1/4 sheet then freaked out when 26 people rvsp'ed and switched to the 1/2 sheet. WEll, one baby shower and one softball game with 40 people later, we still had cake. Oh by the way, my baker said that the 1/4 sheet would serve 10 people.

7) My florist Tamara at Ralphs has high dreams of leaving the corporate world and making it on her own as an independent floral artist. I believe in her.
8) Softball that night was awesome. I only wish the lights had turned on and we could've played longer. Tons of people came and I think that we might have found all the people for the league team.
9) So thankful Truth was there to work the grill. She was a big hit and even though I didn't let her bat, she was very supportive of my team.
10) I don't accept that loss because we didn't get our last at bat, so I'm sorry Brannan, it doesn't count.
11) Seeing my good friend Totally Hot get pegged in the face with a line drive and not have any marks or redness.
12) Having my school friend comment that they "enjoyed their Mormon experience" Never heard it phrased like that, but its a good thing.
13) Going home and sleeping for 10 hours for the next 2 nights.

Friends that Chortle Together, Stay Together

There's an old adage (according to some movie) that a couple that prays together stays together. Being a religious person, I can believe that. Applying this principle to another relationship, I have found another commonality upon which people can find unity and I think I have found the word for it....chortle. Definition: to chuckle gleefully.
The idea first came to me at a church basketball game. Oddly enough I laugh a lot at these games. Not because of what's on the court, but because the company I keep. My good friend (we'll name her Mystical) is one of the funniest people ever. One of the things I like about her is that she cackles exactly like me. Not just a mild, self containing blip of momentary amusement, but a real deep down-from-your-belly chortle of pure unadulterated happiness.
Yes I know that it seems fairly common for someone to like a person with similar attributes they possess, but this got me thinking. How significant is this relationship between chortling and strength of friendship. My system of analysis was a self-conducted deep investigation into some of my friendships. The results found were that people I considered to be my better friends and long lasting friends were chortlers as well. E$, Megs, Navs, Quickhands and others are considered in this group. (I write their names because they are avid readers of the blog and deserve the recognition) But none of those people live near me, yet we remain in good contact; a sign of strength of friendship.
The discussion of this subject is in no way a reflection of requirements for my friendship. The last thing I need is a bunch of people attacking me with fake chortles. So friends mentioned and not, thanks for all the laughs. Chortlers welcomed here.

What I learned on Vaca

1) Recently I went to the land of my birth for a sabbatical. It was the 2nd time in 2 weeks and I am getting quite proficient at packing for 5 days in just a carry on. One thing I’ve noticed is how much I sleep there. Last time I attributed it to time zone difference, previous lack of sleep and exertion (due to crafting). Without fail, I was able to take 2 hour naps and still get great sleep at night. But this time I know exactly what it is, the lack of oxygen at that high altitude. It must be at 30,000 feet or something because I get really tired. There’s really no oxygen and I don’t know how people live there. Truth accompanied me on this little sabbatical and the same thing happened to her as well. We went for a speed walk and I HAD to slow down. How ridiculous is that? But now I know, so next time I can plan my naps accordingly.

2) I talked to my cousin who was on the Biggest Loser and she confirmed the most joyous new ever. Bob, the blue trainer, is as wonderful as I imagined him to be. She said that he really does love his team members and that is preferences were just as I thought that they would be. I still love him….maybe even more now.

3) My Aunt M is the best crafter I’ve ever seen! She can make anything. She made a teddy bear and knitted booties and made cards. She does it all. Her basement is a crafting palace. Over 3 rooms stuffed for your crafting pleasure. Plus, she is so much fun. She came to see me on the mish, so we have a special bond.

4) Maestro’s is the best gelato place I’ve had in America and I strongly urge anyone in the vicinity to try a sample of its deliciousness. It’s on Center St in P-town. Plus the brother of the owner is uber sweet to look at.

5) Carrying hand guns is apparently common in the land of my birth. I was at dinner with someone (name will not be mentioned because this person has vain aspirations for status on my blog). But a guy walks in with his 2 daughters and his 1 hand gun on his belt. It wasn’t concealed and the guy didn’t look like a cop at all. I sort of freak out, because where I’m from people don’t normally carry guns around like that. So I point this out to Vain Aspiration Friend and Vain Aspiration Friend starts with the whole “there is a right to bear arms” blah blah blah. What was that guy thinking? Vain Aspirations Friend got a great picture of me pretending to take the gun from the guy from behind. He didn’t even know I was there.

6) Shopping isn’t my favorite thing. (I actually knew that before) Truth and Aunt M took me shopping and Truth knows that I have a strong dislike of the shopping, but I wanted to spend time with them. When I get tired and/or hungry during shopping expeditions, I just get really quite because I don’t want to say anything mean. This inhibits my ability to speak up and tell people that I’m done shopping, so they just keep shopping. I get more annoyed and hungry. Thank goodness Truth knows and feeds me. Who knows what could’ve happened. Thank goodness I wasn’t carrying a hand gun either. I still can’t believe that.

7) I have a great family. I got to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin’s children. Some I haven’t seen in years, some I haven’t ever met. We had a big birthday party for some and it was so much fun. I love them. They’re so nice and inclusive. We shot hoops and watched as my second cousin, a 2 year old, obsessed about cleaning and vacuuming. It was hilarious. I’m really excited to run my next half marathon with my 3 cousins and Truth.

8) I actually like the place of my birth. I used to knock it for a very long time, but every time that I go, I love it more and more. I get to see so much family and so many friends. I have to realize that being on vacation there is completely different than living there; I’d rarely see all my family and friends. But I don’t do snow, so I would have to move every 6 months. I really don’t do snow. Or cold weather for that matter. I’ve never driven in snow. I’ll probably delete this item after proof reading the blog. I can’t have any evidence that I said this.

9) I can handle children. Being childless and having lots of childless friends, I don’t get the opportunity to be around kids. I used to baby-sit all the time, but haven’t done that in years. Being in proximity to the babies was at first a little overwhelming, not knowing what to do, how they would react to strangers. But my innate ability to charm them soon kicked in and they were easily deceived into thinking that I was ok.

10) Why all the kids fly on Delta to the land of my birth; there’s a direct flight instead of having layovers and taking way too long to get there. The 50 buck difference isn’t worth the time wasted. My flight was an hour and a half late coming back. Good thing my homework was sort of done.

11) I love to read. I finished a 700 page book in 2.5 days. Helps that I had a lay over. Reminds me of the days when I would get paid to read and would stay up all night reading just to earn some Slurpy money. But this time it was all for my pleasure. I got a good recommendation to read Atlas Shrugged from my cousin’s husband. Has anyone read this? Let me know what you think. Aunt M has a bumper sticker that says “Who is John Galt?” If you’ve read the book, you’d know. I need to read more non-textbook books in my life. I think I would be happier.

12) Snow is really fascinating to me. I haven’t been around it much and so I’m extremely intrigued at its characteristics. Aunt M lives on the mountain and there was lots of snow. Every time I got a chance, I would make a big snowball and peg Truth. She still can’t move very fast from her slicing and dicing, so she’s an easy target.