What's New?

On February 1st I gave 2 weeks notice at work because...I got a job offer!

The story goes like this - January 4 I interview with a local pediatrician's office. I'm told that they'll make their choice in the next 2 weeks. Time passes and no contact. I'm thinking, I should have written a cover letter, I should have sent a thank you letter, I should have presented myself better in the interview, etcetera, etcetera.

January 18, I gather my courage and call. The phones rings and rings and goes to the answering service. I leave a voice mail message saying "Um, are you going to hire me or not?" (but a little more tactfully) The next day is Saturday and I find a letter in the mail from the place I interviewed at. I recognize the letterhead and get excited. But the excitement fades as I realize that there is no good reason a company would send a letter to ask someone to work for them. Yes, it was a rejection letter. Not only did I NOT get the job, but I feel like a goober for leaving a message. I think it would be fair to say that I was not good company that weekend.

That Monday I was doing my usual sleeping-in-too-late routine and the phone rang. It was Utah Valley Pediatrics (the place I interviewed with). "Great," I thought, "she's returning my call from Friday to tell me that I didn't get the position so now I get to hear it out loud. Thanks, but the letter was enough."

Well, she surprised me by saying that the person she wanted to hire "flaked out" and I'm her second choice and would I still be interested in the job?

So that's how last week was my first week at my new job that is during the daytime, less than two miles from home, working with children, with full-time benefits.

BRRR, COLD

If I could, those letters would be trailing icicles - wunderground.com says that the temperature outside is 8.5 degrees Farenheit and weather.com says it's 14 degrees! Hmmm, I'll believe that the second option is more correct. I love winter but I don't like being a human popsicle.

Don't Quit Your Day Job

This month when I blow out my candles, I am going to wish for a day job. I love the people I work with but I really need to work during the daylight hours. There are several reasons for this, the most important to me is that I want to see more of my husband.

Last Friday I had a job interview at a local pediatrician's office. (I won't hear back for another week.) I hate the question "how did it go?" Because really, I won't know how it went until I find out if I landed the job or not.

Welcome 2008

As I've been thinking about the past year and the changes it brought, 2 things stand out:

1) Nathan changed jobs. Last August, his temp job with Nature's Sunshine ended abruptly. We were very fortunate because he found a new position in less than two weeks. He now works at a company called MBi Neutraceuticals. It's closer to home, has nice coworkers, offers paid time off and health insurance, and the boss appreciates Nathan's contributions. We appreciate the Christmas bonus.

2) We got a new car. On Hall0ween Day we bought a 'pre-owned' '05 Camry from Larry H Miller of Lindon. It was a scary decision, but I think it was the right one. I'm not happy to have car payments, but I'm very glad to have a car that I can trust. We can drive from our home to Salt Lake City and not worry about the engine overheating. I also like the automatic rearview mirrors that can be adjusted from inside, the trunk that can be opened without using your key, the power windows and locks, and the rear seat belts that have shoulder straps.

What Did You Say?

I've suspected for a while now that I should get my hearing checked. But maybe Nathan just mumbles a lot. Neither one explains why I am so good at misunderstanding song lyrics.

For months I sang along to the song that plays at the end of a TV show Nathan and I watch every week. I said, "I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose, sipping red mango juice." After a while, Nathan pointed out that mango juice is not red. The line was Fresh mango juice. Sound similar? No.

And there was the time when my sister was visiting and I was accompanying Colin Raye. It turns out that the word road in "I think I'm on a road here in Little Rock" is actually roll. I guess that makes sense.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

What are your favorite Christmas movies? Mine are Miracle on 34th Street and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I just found out that my mom really likes A Christmas story. Which is funny because I really don't like it. But now it makes sense that when I was growing up I saw it on TV every year.

Recipe For Gingerbread Men

1. Go to Macey's (or your local grocery store) at 7 PM on the Saturday before Christmas.
2. Explain to the friendly bakery worker that you saw a sign earlier in the week that they were selling already made gingerbread dough and are they still doing that? Feel rather dumb as she says that yes, they were selling some, but she doesn't know if there is any left. (Of course lots of people will want to buy gingerbread dough the weekend before Christmas - why didn't you think of that?) Smile gratefully when she comes back to say that yes, there is some of the gingerbread dough left.
3. Feel very pleased when the cashier shows surprise at your purchase and says "I thought we were all out."
4. Call all of your cooking-inclined friends when you get home and remember that you don't own any cookie cutters. Ask if you can borrow their gingerbread man cookie cutter.
5. Put them on your friends forever list when they say that you can come over anytime to pick it up.
6. Remember to wash cookie cutter and return to friend with plate of warm gingerbread men cookies.
P.S. Cook at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy.

Hogswatch

This week a movie called Hogfather has been showing on TV. It's based off of a book written by Terry Pratchett. A short summary would be that an assassin is hired to kill Santa Clause. In a world where Santa Clause's face resembles a hog and boars pull the sleigh instead of reindeer.

I am going to share a quote. Because I think it's neat:
"All right," said Susan, "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need ... fantasies to make life bearable.
(Death, her grandfather) "No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meet the rising ape."
(Susan) "Tooth fairies? Hogfathers?"
(Death) "Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the little lies."
(Susan) "So we can believe the big ones?"
(D) "Yes. Justice. Duty. Mercy. That sort of thing."
(S) "They're not the same at all!"
(D) "Really? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet you act, like there was some sort of rightness in the universe by which it may be judged."
(S) "Yes. But people have got to believe that or what's the point?"
(D) "My point exactly."

A Peeve

It really, truly annoys me that Utah does not plow their roads. Saturday was a very snowy day and we had to rearrange our plans because Orem roads are not safe to drive on when it snows. It stopped snowing Saturday evening and the roads were still bad when we went to church Sunday. Not the slightest indication that the roads had been iced or sanded or anything to help with traction. No wonder people have trucks.

A Christmas Party

Yesterday I had a day on the town in preparation for my first party of the season. First I had to drop Nathan off at work so that I could use the car. Then I was on my own - with a debit card. After spending way too much time in the mall, I bought a cute red dress at JC Penney and some comfortable dress shoes at Sears. (Did you know Sears has cute clothes?). A haircut at Fantastic Sam's made me feel pampered and late picking up Nathan. Oops.

The activity was planned by a bunch of guys who exaggerated and called it the Ward Christmas "Ball". (Turns out they just wanted to give people a chance to dress up and we were reassured in our Sunday meetings that Sunday dress would be okay.) Most people came in stuff a little to fancy to wear to church, but not formalwear. One couple came in a limo and wore a tux and a gown.

I was a bit leery of what was essentially a church dance, but I had a good time. It was a fun (and free) date night with dinner, a gift exchange, and dancing. Nathan and I went home the proud owners of a box of Cheerios (from the swap) and sore toes as proof that our social dance lessons from BYU are fading.

345 PLZ

We got the plates for our car today! Nathan likes to make words out the letters on license plates. Our last car was called Nelly after he saw NLY on the license plates. Our new car doesn't have a name yet, but I was the first to notice that she's a polite auto - doesn't PLZ look like please?

I'm Old At Heart

You Belong in 1951

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

I enjoy silly personality quizzes. I found this one through a link on The Sassy Lime. Although, I do wonder how they peg the year so exactly - why not just say the 1950's?

Thank You Nathan

Nathan did me a great service this week. He programmed our VCR clock to adjust for Daylight Savings. Thanks to him, I didn't miss this week's episode of House.

Boy, have I had some bad luck taping House this season. I caught the first episode but the next week I forgot to rewind the tape. Apparently the VCR needs something to record on. The next time I was disappointed because instead of House I found 2 hours of a baseball game. Sure, this was what was supposed to be on, but I forgot that there wouldn't be a new episode for two weeks and was disappointed anyway when I got home and saw sports instead of My Show. And another time, the TV antenna was adjusted for the best viewing of ABC instead of Fox so that episode wasn't watchable.

A Peeve

It really bugs me that my favourite radio station is playing Christmas music around the clock. I really love holiday songs, but only after Thanksgiving. Cozy 106.5 started the day after Halloween. For me, the music begins to lose some of the specialness if it's around for 2 months instead of one. What happened to our month of thanks?

There Must Be A Better Way

Newspapers: Nathan goes to BYU campus 3 times a week for yoga and always brings home 2 copies of the "Daily Universe"s (so that there is a crossword puzzle for each of us to do). That's 6 papers a week. Then there's the UVSC paper that he picks up when he goes to his weekly class there. (he only brings home one because it doesn't have a crossword puzzle) And sometimes he'll stop by a building on campus that has free New York Times available. Those are big newspapers.

All of this adds up to a lot of newsprint in our home. When we lived on BYU campus recycling bins were very convenient and I used those once a week. Now recycling is not convenient and it usually piles up next to the trash can until I remember to bag it so Nathan can take it to BYU and dump it there.

I also don't throw away papers that aren't newspapers because BYU recycles that too. So I have a pile of papers next to my trash that needs to be sorted into newsprint and not newsprint so Nathan can take it with him next time he goes to BYU. Except that most of the time he's in a hurry and forgets to take it and it piles up more. Or he doesn't have time or forgets to dump it in the bin and then it's in our car until he remembers.

Maybe it is time to start throwing the paper away.

Am I Old, Responsible, or Cheap?

Yesterday, I was excited when I opened my monthly letter from the electric company. September's bill was less than $30! This is the lowest it's been since we moved in last December. Am I totally boring that this made me happy?

PS. Everything in our apartment is electric - heating, cooling, stove, etc.

Observations

1. Jello that is 2 weeks old is gross. If you try to throw it away by turning the bowl upside down over the trash can, it will not budge. If you shake the bowl, it will make slurping noises but it will not fall out. A spoon will not remove the parts in direct contact with the bowl.
2. Chopped hard boiled eggs on top of a pile of red and green Jello looks icky.
3. Taking out the trash does not always make the smell go away.
4. My husband WILL eat his Jamba Juice smoothie that has been sitting in the fridge for 5 days that he didn't like much in the first place and then be surprised that he has a stomach ache from a fruit smoothie that is nearly a week old.
5. I will promise myself to eat healthier and cut down on snacks, buy some 100-calorie Oreo packs to help with the resolution, and then have some of the ice cream cake served at work that night.

Girlfriends

The other night I told Nathan that he is my best friend - even more than my girlfriends. For me this was very meaningful, kind of saying you're still important to me even though we're disagreeing on a lot of stuff lately and I love you most. It was significant because I'm closer to several of my old college roomates than any of my family members. What does the man say? "That's good." Grrr.

I feel jipped

We almost had moderate weather. Almost. One week of 70's after 2 months of 90's. Then there was Saturday. High of 50-something and slush on the windshield. Now we are up to the 60's. (sorry for the weather report)

In the 8 years that I have lived in Utah (ugh), September and October have been mild months. Last year my flowers bloomed until mid-October. Which brings me to the reason I feel cheated. My impatiens were late bloomers (due to my un-green thumb) and I was hoping to get a few more weeks of flowers. Just long enough to see what color blossoms would come from the last plant. That's all I ask.

Visiting Teaching

I just finished my visiting teaching for September. I've always enjoyed these monthly visits. Okay, I get anxious every other month when it's my turn to share the lesson. But this time I was the one to schedule the apointments. It also helps that my partner lives just two doors down and is just a really awesome woman. We've been visiting teaching companions since I moved here last December and I'll be really sad when that changes. I hear that in regular wards people can be assigned together for years. Due to the nomadic tendencies of student life, visiting teaching companions in a student ward are lucky if they're paired up for 6 months.

Now, I know some people don't like visiting teaching or have a beef with the program. And sure the first visit or two - AKA the 'getting to know you' stage - can be awkward, but after that it's a good way to make sure you schedule time in to see friends.

Between work, school, grocery shopping, laundry, attending family events, etcetera, etcetera... how often do we take time to drop by and spend some time with our friends? If I see my mechanic every 3 months for an oil change then shouldn't I see my old college roomie at least as much? At least she doesn't tell me I'm old and broken each time we get together. Unlike my mechanic.