Pet Peeves

I just realized that despite having plenty to say, I haven't updated this blog in way too long. So I will do so by commenting on something that has become a pet peeve as of late. It really bugs me when I am in a store shopping, you know, just doing my thing, and a sales person comes up behind me and starts talking to me. It isn't that they started talking to me, but the fact that they are talking to my back.

Maybe I am being rude and obnoxious here, but really, you want me to stop looking at what I am checking out, turn around, and respond to you?

I am one of those shoppers that does my own thing, usually I know what I want, or am just seeing what there is to see and if I need help, I will ask for it. If I am busy looking at something, the last thing I want to do is to turn around and respond. I don't mind a sales person being friendly or trying to help, it annoys me when they talk to my backside and want a response.
Yesterday I was at one of the big box stores getting a few things and I heard what sounded like someone yelling at me from behind saying, "How are you today, miss?" Then a, "HOW ARE YOU MISS?" When I stopped and turned around, she realized she had already greeted me and said, "Ha, ha. Hope you are finding things okay," as she ran off. I thought, if you just would have talked to my face instead of my backside, you would have known you already talked to me today!

                 

                                     

Climbing on Roofs?

Today I decided to look at some job postings just to see what is out there. I was looking at one job and noticed the following:

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Subject to relocation.
Occasional long, irregular work hours.
Travel, including overnight travel, as required.
Repeated use of PC, telephone, and office machines.
Extended periods of sitting and concentrating.
Regular bending, twisting, crouching, pulling, pushing, and reaching in an office or field environment.
Regular physical activities, including lifting, carrying, and using a 35-pound ladder, as well as climbing on roofs.

I don't know about you, but I don't necessarily consider regular physical activities to include climbing on roofs.

Scraping My Pride Off the Gym Floor

Like many people, with the new year come new resolutions and I am definitely a goal setter. I actually have a hard time wanting to set resolutions, not because I don't think I will accomplish them, but because to me, it makes more sense to make resolutions in the spring or fall. Why?? Because in the spring once winter has begun to thaw, I feel the sense of newness, with all its new beginnings and excitement for the wonderful spring and summer weather with all the adventures that ensue. With fall, I again feel the sense of newness and new beginnings as the air becomes crisp and many go back to school.


What does all this have to do with 'scraping my pride off the gym floor'? Well, each new year, I set goals for different half-marathons and other races I want to run that year. Along with those goals come my renewal of a goal to run at least 1000 miles during the year. I break it down so I know how many miles I need to run each day, week and month to make the goal. Well, tonight I was at my local gym running my heart out and
(hopefully) running those holiday pounds off. I recently downloaded a new app for my iphone that I was excited to use during my run and rather than stop the treadmill and open the app, I just started it up while running.


All the sudden my reflexes kicked in and I was grasping for the handles to help me regain my footing and balance. I caught them, but since the treadmill was still going, it did nothing but prolong the fall. Eventually (and after several attempts to save myself) I ended up on the ground nearly hitting my head on the treadmill. A neighboring runner stopped and asked if I needed any help and I replied that I could get myself and my pride off the gym floor okay.


In an effort to regain some of that lost pride, I got back up on that treadmill and ran the rest of my workout. Because I got up so fast and went right back at it, the pain from the scrapes and bruises were minimal. Now, a couple days after the workout, definitely feel the scrapes and bruises and will for days to come. But at least I scraped my pride off that gym floor.

Waiting

Since the time I became unemployed, I have discovered that I do not like the interview process. It isn't the actual interview, the anticipation or nervousness that comes or even all the time you put into researching the companies that you interview with. For me, it is the complete and utter disrespect and double standard that exists.

If you go to any interview/job help web site, you see that they all say to show up early, even to map the time and distance from where you will be coming from to the place that you will interview to check for possible detours, etc. However, what do they say to the interviewer?

Obviously nothing as the last 2 job interviews I have had, the interviewer has been at least 20 minutes late! 20!! Yeah, it is an employers market right now and employers feel that anyone who gets a job offer should be happy they are even getting an offer, but my word! My time is valuable too! If I wasn't here waiting for you, I could be out there looking for a job at a company that may actually appreciate my skills and talents and might make some money from the effort that I put in to making them more profitable!

The other day I was told that if they 'gave' me the job I was interviewing me for I would have to, and I quote, "work my butt off" for them. Let's think about that for a second. Don't most employees work hard, especially in these days of economic turmoil? I would venture a guess to say that some even work really hard while others do, in fact work their butts off for their employer. I would also venture a guess that those that literally work their butts off are most likely paid fairly for working their butts off. This company was not willing to pay me to work my butt off. And to be honest when they said that, I had little desire to continue to sell myself so I would get the job. Is that bad? I don't feel bad. In that moment, especially after waiting over 20 minutes for the interviewer to show up, I decided the company was not a match for me. I resisted the urge to walk out of the interview out of respect for a friend who works at that company and continued the interview. When they called me a few days later to tell me they decided to promote a current employee into the position, I sighed a breath of relief. They made it so I wouldn't have to tell my friend I didn't want to work for her company and didn't have to feel bad about declining a job in this 'tough economic climate.'

To employers out there, despite this tough economic time, there are a lot of awesome potential employees out there who are willing to work extremely hard for you. They are people who through no fault of their own are unemployed. Maybe their CEO made some bad decisions and the company has suffered. Maybe their goods and/or services are ones that other companies have to cut back on at this time, despite their efforts to keep their companies profitable, things sometimes just happen!

Don't treat them like you are being benevolent and 'giving' them a job and a paycheck. You aren't. You have a need for someone to do something for you. You must pay this person fairly for their efforts. You feel that your time is valuable. So do employees. If you take advantage and pay them less because you feel you can because the economy is bad, watch out! The second the economy is better and they find a better company or a better paying job, they will be out of your company and on to the better one and you will be out the money and time you put into training and have to spend more time and money in training the new person AND you will have to pay the next person more money!

Things I have said and done

I have been shocked and amazed over the years by a variety of things, and I have learned that despite my own best wishes and desires, I am not perfect. I say and do things that I shouldn't and actually make mistakes. I don't realize it in the moment, but fortunately am blessed with friends and family who help me learn from my mistakes. In fact, my grandfather had a gift. When I was young I didn't think of it as a gift, but when my family would visit him, he would observe you and by the end of the trip, he would tell each of us what we needed to do to become a better person. He would usually tell me I was selfish. I didn't really like it when he would tell me this and I would tell him as much. His response was that he loved me and he wanted the best for me and if he could point out these things then I could fix them and avoid struggling later in life. My grandpa was great. I absolutely love him and appreciate everything he ever did for me. I remember him saying that he wished he had someone to tell him how he could be better when he was younger. Despite him telling me my weaknesses, he also told me how great I am, and coming from him, it really meant a lot.

 Despite having someone fabulous telling me how to be better, I still did and still do things that make me cringe. When I was a kid and a new girl moved into my ward, I was so jealous that she had her ears pierced. I desperately wanted mine pierced, but the rule on my family was that you had to be at least 18. I was only 8 and couldn't imagine waiting till 18. When I approached my mom about getting it done(for the millionth time) I tried to structure the argument around the fact that this girl had pierced ears so my parents should let me! Well, it didn't work and in the end, my frustrated mom ended with 'if God would have wanted holes in your ears, he would have put them there!' So sadly one day I walked up to the girl (in a fit of jealousy) and used the same line. Poor girl had no idea why I was saying this to her or what she had done to receive such contempt from an almost stranger. Fortunately I got over it and she did too and we became friends.

I thought I had gotten over doing and saying ridiculous things till a couple of days ago I ran into someone that I haven't seen in years. In chatting she mentioned a friend of ours and how one time the other friend went running with us and not being a runner, couldn't keep her pace up to stay with us. Apparently instead of slowing our pace we just took off and left her!! I thought I had gotten over my selfish need to say or do whatever I felt like doing in the moment. Fortunately freshman year was a LONG time ago. Hopefully since I have become more aware of it, I will do better. Too bad gramps didn't also tell me that in addition to being selfish I need to watch what I say and do...but then again he was a man who told me exactly that he thought regardless of whether I asked for it or not.

Strangers

Because I am currently looking for a job, I have the distinct opportunity to spend literally hours in the public library. It is a choice to be there but who can beat free Internet and silence? If I stay home, I usually turn on the television for background noise but then I sometimes get sucked into random shows and the last thing I
want to do all day it sit in front of it!

So a day or two I was in the library job searching away in this large study room with a couch and overstuffed chairs, various tables and desks. I usually listen to music so I am typically very much am in my own world.
All the sudden I get this weird feeling. I look up from my computer and this older man walks into the room. He has no books or magazines. He didn't look any different from any other man in his late 60's. He
walked directly to the couch in front if me and sat down.I started to get a really bad feeling about this guy, like his intentions were not good. After all, I was the only person in the room, and it was a room that is off on it's own--to be honest, despite having visited the library several times, this is the first time I noticed it.

While I was deciding what to do with the bad feelings and vibes I was getting from this man, my logical brain tried to kick in--'he did come into a study room with nothing to study,' it said. 'he only picked up
that magazine when he realized that he needed a prop. See how fast he is flipping through it? His mind is somewhere else.' While sitting there, I thought a good response would be to gather my things and leave, but the strangest thing happened. I felt a strong,'NO!' to that thought. I stopped gathering my things and
continued yo sit there. Meanwhile my logical brain once again kicked in. 'Which would be a better scenario for this man if he did have bad intentions?' It asked, 'you sitting here in a public place, or you leaving this public place for the parking lot and your empty car?'

The truth was that with me sitting where I was and him being where he was, it would be difficult for him to do anything. I would see him and this overstuffed chair would provide protection. I wanted to let him
know that he made me uncomfortable and for him to know I saw him (and could ID him) so I organized and moved everything closer to my body while looking at him. A couple of minutes later he left.

I do feel bad that I let someone know they made me feel uncomfortable. For all I know, he was just a man in the library. However, I trust my gut.

In this day and age, you can never be too sure. A few years ago I was in San Francisco in an Ikea on a holiday with my sister and her kids. It was crazy crowded. My sister had enough kids that we were
constantly trying to keep track of everyone and make sure someone didn't get left behind or lost. All the sudden I noticed a man walking towards us. He was watching my nephew who had wandered a few feet. I
got the creepiest feeling about this person I have ever had. I made eye contact with him and went over to my nephew and took his hand. As I did so, I said loudly to the man, 'come hold my hand, there are all
kinds of creepy people around.' the man quickly left.

Gosh! Why are there so many crazy, bad people around? If I have to worry about my own safety, what about that of innocent children?!?

Another Matilda Story

> I totally forgot about this Matilda story!! Matilda was my assistant
> at a job I was recently laid off from. I can't believe I haven't
> told this one yet!
>
> It was way back last summer. I had a networking event I was
> scheduled to attend. Since it was at about 8 or 9 am and downtown, I
> told my assistant I would go directly there in the morning.
> Arrangements had been made so someone from another center would be
> at my center so Matilda would not be all alone.
>
> I showed up at the event and found out they had put the wrong date
> on the invite and it was actually the next day. So I proceeded to
> drive from downtown Salt Lake City to Draper to my center.
>
> As I walked up the stairs and looked through the floor to ceiling
> windows, I could see that no one was at the desk. That is rile #1-
> never leave the desk unattended! I could see back into the office
> behind the front desk and there the two girls were. One sitting in
> the office chair while the other was applying fake eyelashes to
> her...wait, what the..?
>
> I walk in and laid down the law. The visiting employee was currently
> on probation and I knew that a report of these shenagans would
> definitely put her over the edge. Both jumped into action cleaning
> up the fake eyelashes, dye and glue that was scattered around the
> room. I asked, 'what if a potential client had walked in?!? What if
> the CEO or VP had walked in?!? What kind of a conversation would you
> be having right now?' In the end I was too nice and told them that
> no one would find out about it as long as I never saw anything like
> it again from either of them.
>
> While I was letting them know this was not acceptable behavior, they
> both were looking at me like I was the crazy one and as if they
> couldn't believe they were getting yelled at! That really just
> killed me! I could not and still can't believe that happened!!
>
> The real kicker was that after all was said and done, Matilda came
> up to me and asked if they could go to an empty office and finish!!
> After all, I was there now and I could watch the phones for
> them...forget that I have my own responsibilities!! I wanted to be
> nice after yelling at them(I really never yell at people) I asked if
> they were both planning on taking lunches that day. They both were.
> Matilda said something about Needing to run some errands. I
> responded by saying that if they wanted to both use the tome they
> would take for lunch and finish, they could. Matilda was not happy
> about that because of her errands, but once she saw that I was not
> going to budge from that answer, they left to finish. The best was
> when she asked if I wanted to get my eyelashes done. Yeah right!
> Then I would be just as bad as you guys (not that I told her that,
> but I sure thought it!)
>
> I am absolutely sure that they talked about how horrible I was to
> them about the whole thing. I wish I could have been a fly on the
> wall in that room! My relationship with the other girl was never
> very good and I think it all goes back to their perception of how
> mean I was to them. Little do they know, I saved Matilda from
> getting put on probation and saved the other girl from getting her
> last strike!
>
> Sent from my iPhone

Labels

I recently purchased some multivitamins. I like them because I can take one vitamin and feel that I am doing what I can to ensure that my body is getting the nutrients that I might not get from the foods I eat. The brand I recently purchased is One-a-day. Assuming I only had to take one of them a day, I thought little of it.

A few days after purchasing the multivitamins, I was reading the label and noticed that I am actually supposed to take two a day! My first thought was that if I had realized I was supposed to take two each day I would have gone with a different type of multivitamin.


Oddly enough, I started thinking about other things in life and how labels would help out in making decisions on them. Hmm, what if there were labels on guys, jobs, friends, decisions, etc.?


As I continued to ponder my musing, I wondered if labels would really help. Part of the experience of life is learning. How much would I really learn if I just looked at labels and avoided people or things that had warnings on their labels? Or would I pay any attention to the labels at all? Obviously I was provided information on the label of mulitvitamins but I didn't bother reading it before making the purchase.


I guess it really is best to live and learn , even if labels are included!

Grateful

Today I want to talk about how greatful I am for all the people in my life. Not just the people I see and talk to everyday, but EVERYONE!!

I am currently unemployed (due to a layoff) so in addition to finding the perfect job, I spend my days cleaning things in my apartment that I have never thought to clean before, reading people's blogs, watching TV (sadly my TV watching has gone up--I attribute it to the late winter we are having in Salt Lake City), going to the gym and looking for new and interesting things to do. But really the highlight of my day is hearing from people via email, text, phone, facebook or other modes of communication.

I delight in hearing from them not because I am bored or lonely but because lately I have been noticing how brilliant the people around me are and seeing their wonderful attributes.

One example--I have been working on my resume lately. I have found it difficult to summarize what I have done at various jobs because quite frankly, each job deserves more than a few bullet points!! I have honestly put my guts into the different jobs I have had. I am not your typical 9-5er!! I have stayed late at jobs not because I was required to or because I wasn't efficient in my work, but because I knew that if I stayed late, then I could go above and beyond and make a project or my company that much more competitive or that much better. Not everything that I did have tangable, immediate results.

At my last job, I was a center manager and sales manager. I was responsible for leasing executive office space to individuals and companies. But was that all I did? Heck no!! I stayed and did the paperwork behind everything after hours so during business hours I could be out front where current clients stopped by because I felt that it was important. Yes, I did increase the number of suites occupied in my center and that is very satisfying, but even better is hearing the CEO of my company say that I created a feeling of welcoming to my center. He said he has noticed that anyone who comes in feels at ease and welcomed to the place. Clients who have wanted to upgrade from my center (class B space) to a nicer building told me they were set to do it, but don't want adjust to not having me and my employees to work with and see on a daily basis. How do you quantify that in a resume???

But I sent my ho-hum resume to a friend and within minutes she emailed me back giving me pointers and hints about how to list and quantify my accomplishments. Gosh, I am so grateful for her!!

I have a roommate that has been going though a lot of family issues as of late, but does that stop her from making my day a little brighter? Does that stop her from making the lives of others that she interacts with happier? Not at all.

Really when it comes down to it, I feel that I have become a better person for knowing the people that I have known and currently know. I just hope I can do the same for them!!

Oh the Stories I Could Tell!

So now that I am separated from my previous employer, I can tell some of the stories that I have mentioned to friends, but until now, haven't published anywhere.

I had an assistant, Matilda that I constantly entertained me. I will miss hear and her young, naive, narrow minded perspective on life.

Before I left the company, Matilda told me that she has always wanted to be a stripper. Yes, this assistant is LDS and is 20 and married...in the temple. She went on to say that back when she was 16 she would tell her mom that she wanted to be a stripper. She was convinced that she would make tons of money and be very happy since she would be the center of attention and everyone would stop what they were doing and just watch her dance around. She said she still thinks she should do it, not tell her husband and start working at a strip club. She would be able to make all kinds of money and be able to pay off her car, her student loan and pay for her husband's schooling.

When I heard her vocal daydream, I stopped and asked, "so you don't mind random dirty men putting their hands on you?"

She responded, "they wouldn't touch me! They aren't allowed!"

That is when I couldn't control the laughter any longer and answered, "how do you think you make tips?"

Sadly, her face sank. "What? They let them do that? I would slap them...but then I probably wouldn't make much on tips."

"Well, there are certain places where the men like being slapped and you could make money."

Matilda then asked what I meant by that and where to find these places. As an LDS individual who really has no affiliation with that lifestyle explained that there are places where people like it a bit more rough and that opened the floodgate of questions. After defining several things that I know little about, Matilda decided that her idea of the stripper lifestyle was much better and that if she could do it her way, that would be a much better option.

Personally, I am convinced that she didn't believe me and that in her mind, she still believes that her idea of that lifestyle is how it really is.

Poor naive soul.

More stories will follow as I remember them.

Unemployed...again

So there you go! I had been working for a company and last week I contacted a friend to let her know that I had decided to start looking for a new job. Not that I needed one, but because I felt it was time to find something that compensated me more appropriately for the time and effort I put into the job I was doing. That same day I had been called in to discuss the opportunity of a promotion at the same company. Despite the opportunity, I still felt I should look.

Fast forward to the next day and bam! The same person I discussed the promotion with told me that the CEO had decided that the company couldn't afford the new position and my current position would be eliminated. I honestly tried not to smile as I got the news. Yes, it is better to look for a job when you are employed, but I really wanted to leave and not come back and until that moment, I really didn't have a reason to do so. I guess maybe I should have given my 2 weeks notice the day before--then I would have had at least 2 weeks to find something!!

This cloud has a silver lining!!

Memories

I used to work in downtown Salt Lake City. I used to ride Trax every morning and evening. It was nice. No worries about traffic, you won't miss that cop that is always hiding somewhere. But invariably, I would always be the one who had an adventure or two on the ride home.

First, there was the time I was really tired and boarded the train. I sat down and will sometimes doze off. Usually I wake up a stop or two before my stop and all is good. When I woke this time, I had been completely asleep and had not realized that while sleeping, I managed to completely rest my head on the business man that was sitting next to me. My head was completely resting on his shoulder. I straightened up and as I realized what had happened, I apologized to my fellow commuter. His response, "you seemed so tired, I didn't want to wake you."

Then there was the drunkand homeless man that was walking through the Trax station, passed several commuters, walked up to me and gave me a huge hug. I honestly didn't know what to say or do and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the men there turn and start coming over to protect me. The guy finished giving me a hug and just walked off. Sadly, he smelled quite bad and it transferred to me. The whole trip home made me sick because of the smell. I had to shower before the smell went away.

I remember a drunk native american that came up to me and talked to me while I was waiting for the train. He just talked and talked about the bars in SLC, despite me saying I don't drink and know nothing about bars. When the train came, he shook my hand and walked away.

There are also the random men who have asked if I was married and proceeded to cheesily hit on me despite me telling them that I am (I am not).

The most memorable would be the man that got on the train and proceeded to fall to the floor of the train. Everyone looked up when that happened. He looked like he was on something. He of course sat near me and started trying to have a conversation. I told him I was trying to sleep and pretended to fall asleep. My seat was right by the exit (stairwell) and he went around to the stairwell and started to say,"boo!" every few minutes to wake me up. He got bored because I wasn't reacting and went away. The gentleman next to me asked what stop I was exiting at and I told him. He said that if the guy got off at the same stop, he would escort me to my car.

So despite being the 'chosen one' on Trax, I never felt worried. I knew there were always people looking out for others. And if they didn't, I am pretty good at making some noise.

New Year's Thoughts

New Year, new effort to chronicle the goings and comings of my life.

At the start of the year, I reflected on the things that happened that were significant during the last year:
1. My dad having a quadruple bypass
2. Getting laid off from an extremely stable job
3. Cops deciding that I need loads and loads of tickets
4. Not being able to register my car because of an over-vigilant mechanic who failed me on inspection, getting 2 tickets and almost getting my car impounded, but talking the cops out of it
5. Things getting tense in the house I lived in and having to find a new place to live
6. A rock flying up and chipping my windshield and several minutes later cracking my windshield
7. Getting hit, head on by a driver driving too fast in the snow and having $3600 of repairs to my car

I am sure there is more, but that is all I remember right now. Yes, to me it is a significant list and when thinking on it, I decided that 2010 HAS to be a better! A good friend of mine helped me alter my perception of the intense year I had.

1. My dad is in fantastic health and because of his great health, didn't have a heart attack and cause more damage. He recovered remarkably quickly from his surgery and is doing great!
2. Although I did get laid off from my job, it has been a good thing. Within a week of being laid off, I found a great job with great people doing something that pushes and challenges me more than I was ever challenged at my last job
3. Yeah, the whole getting tickets really is my fault, so I have no one to blame but myself
4. Again, my own fault. I could have taken it somewhere else and had it re-checked sooner than I did (it passed the second time it was checked)
5. This, too is a great thing. I moved with one of the roommates I lived with and things are fantastic! We found a beautiful place to live and the move was pretty easy
6. Life happens
7. The good news is that I wasn't hurt and the other driver wasn't hurt. My car was repaired through his insurance and I am now driving it

Really, when I think of all the good things that have happened this last year, they really make me realize that this last year wasn't so bad. In addition to the items listed above, I travelled domestically quite a bit, saw some fantastic concerts, had new adventures, made new friends, got to spend a lot of time with my sister and her family while they were here for 3 months, grew up quite a bit, learned what it is to be employed and unemployed in a crazy economy, and many other lessons that will make 2010 a dang great year!

My assistant and Martin Luther King, Jr.

You never know what an assistant will be like, especially when you don't pick them out yourself. There are different types of people that go for assistant type jobs. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying there is anything wrong with being an assistant. It is a pretty important job. Some people who go for this type of job do it because they know the CEO of the company and he/she hires the person for the assistant job because they want to help them out. Others take a job as an assistant so they can get in with a company that they want to move up in. My assistant falls into the first category--she is a friend of family of the CEO.

Please understand, I love my assistant, Matilda. She is sweet, cares about our clients, tries to do a great job on all her assignments but sometimes I wonder what she is thinking.

As today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and my office is closed, I asked Matilda to make a flier to send out to our clients. Later, the same day I asked her to prepare it, I went to Matilda's desk to see if she had finished the flier. She was just getting a graphic to add to the flier to complete it. In my mind I figured she would add a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. himself. Instead, she had gone into clip art and typed, 'black people.' My jaw dropped and I felt like the civil rights movement went back in time.

I asked her why she was in clip art rather than getting a picture from the internet. Her response, 'I have seen two black people in my life. They all look the same to me. I thought I could just find one that looks like him.'

I about fainted. Yes, the state I currently live in is not very culturally diverse, I have never heard a comment like that. I grew up in a state that was pretty well mixed with different cultures and people and had many friends of various races and backgrounds. Hearing that comment made me feel as though we had moved back to a less tolerant day.

Matilda finally put a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the flier and after a discussion I thought I would never have to have with my assistant, the situation was resolved...but not without me being reminded that despite the years that have passed, ignorance towards others unfortunately still exists.

Things Learned

Saturday I went hiking with friends. I really enjoy hiking, and was excited to go, especially since my roommate told me that we would most likely be back around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and I would have time to do other things that day.

It all started out well, we met up with friends and found the place where the hike began. I didn't realize a friend was bringing horses, but that was fine, so we got them unloaded and saddled and began the trek.

It was fun and we were all happy. I was riding on Smokey the horse and all was well. Eventually we got to a good spot to change riders so I got off and the next person got ready to get on. Because the next rider was nervous about riding, I held the horse for her while she got settled. As she got up, the horse took a step towards me and managed to land on my two littlest toes I cried out in pain and tried to get the horse to move, but she was still getting on the horse, so I really couldn't move the horse whithout scaring her. Eventually I made the horse move and assessed the damage. It wasn't bad, so we proceeded in our journey.

Smokey was tired and wasn't too excited about this journey. For some reason, she would stop anytime we got to a muddy section that she didn't want to cross. We soon discovered that unless I went over and coaxed her through it, she wouldn't move. One of the times I was coaxing her, she managed, again to step on my other foot, just scraping it. Another time as I was getting her to move, I was standing on an incline on the side of the trail. Smokey decided to sidestep towards me and in so doing, knocked me off balance and I slid under her. There I was, under a horse, looking at all four of her legs scared to death that she was going to step on me again. The rider had seen what had happened and was telling me to get out from under the horse asap. I was telling her to not let the horse move in any direction for anything until I could get up. It was crazy.

So eventually we made up the 3000 or so feet that we climbed to Fish Lake and the boys started fishing. When they were done, we started our journey down the mountain. I was eager to get home because I wanted to have plans that night, but it wasn't looking good. We were going much slower than we anticipated and just a short distance after we started the descent, one of the people in our party got altitude sickness. So he was going slow and sitting every few minutes to get his bearings. The horses went ahead and I was too impatient to go slow with the sickie, so as I hiked down the mountian alone I made a list of the things I learned that day. Here they are:
1. When hiking with horses, make sure all the water is not with the horses
2. When riding horses, do not wear Chacos. They are great for hiking, but offer no protection if a horse steps on you.
3. When going hiking, expect to be there a few additional hours, because you never know.
4. You aren't going to have cell service when hiking most of the time.
5. Bug spray is a blessed, blessed thing.
6. So is sunscreen.
7. Take more water than you expect to drink. It is always good to have extra.
8. When you sit, bugs will bother you. If you are moving, they won't.
9. Enjoy the scenery.
10. Enjoy the company.
11. Hats are great when hiking, but make sure you keep an eye out for low trees (I learned that the hard way).
12. When you walk for a long time by yourself, you begin to wonder if you are lost, even if you are on the trail.
13. When you know horses went ahead of you, seeing fresh horse poop reassures you.
14. Be patient. People are in all different types of physical condition.
15. Sometimes people will get sick. Be patient.
16. It is fun to talk to random hikers.
17. Don't accidentally step in fresh horse poop.
18. When you start to question if you are going the right way, keep going, most likely you are.
19. When hiking for a long time by yourself, you start to make lists in your head.
20. It is wonderful when you finally see the car and know that a hot shower, food and clean clothes are not far away.

Wasatch Back

This post will be all about Wasatch Back and the adventure that is the race. For those of you who haven't heard of Wasatch Back, it is a crazy relay race that goes from Logan to Park City in the great state of Utah. It goes for about 188 miles and most of the teams that run it are comprised of 12 members. Each runner runs 3 legs of the race and each leg is between 3 and 9.6 miles. You run through the sun, the rain and through the night.

I have participated in the race the last 4 years. Yes, that was a 4. It is great! The problem with the race is that once you do it, it is hard to stop. There are so many different challenges to the race that you always want to do it again because you always want to do better or try a different leg of the race.

They have expanded and Ragnar Relays have relay races in several states. I would highly recommend it. In addition to bonding with your team through running, you have approximately 24 hours in which you are in the same van, so like any road trip you have plenty of time to bond...and discussions can get pretty crazy.

I am lucky enough to be on a team that is full of fanstastic runners. We placed 18th in the mixed division and 31st overall. That is 31st of the 650 teams that participated. So to all of you that came in after that, you just got passed by A Bunch of Sissies.

The Days of Unemployment

Day 2 of unemployment went well. I was worried because day 1 of unemployment started with me waking up at the regular time for work, despite not having an alarm set. I tried at first to go back to sleep, but once that proved useless, I gave in and got out of bed.

Day 2 was much easier to sleep in. It was a great day. Got up, ate breakfast, cleaned, got a phone call about an interview and went to the gym. Showered and then went to my sister's house to use her internet access. That is when my day slowed down...for some reason my computer would not connect to her internet and so I used her computer and stayed for dinner. Not a bad day.

Day 3 was great. I went to Logan to start runing in Wasatch Back (see my post on that) and that was basically day 3 of unemployment.

Day 4 was also Wasatch Back, when we finished, we cleaned out the van and went to dinner. I went straight to bed...and let me tell you, my bed has never felt better!!

Day 5 was pretty easy. Church in the morning and then it was Father's day so I went down to Payson to spend time with my family.

Day 6 I had an interview in the morning. I think it went well. I was comfortable with the people that were interviewing me and felt the interview went well. That afternoon a friend of mine called to tell me about a job possibility.

Day 7 I went to the outplacement services place my company hired to help those laid off find new employment. I went to the seminar and it basically lasted all day. During the seminar I called my friend to find out more info on the job...and it sounded great! She set up a meeting with the CEO for after the seminar and I hurried over there...and after some small talk, got HIRED!! YAY!!

Day 8 I went ahead and attended the second day of the seminar. It was informative, but not super useful. Probably because I got a job!!

Day 9 I showed up at the company's office in Sugarhouse and signed the hire forms and went to my new office in Draper. Yay for finding a job quickly!!

Beneficial Financial bowing out of insurance business

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12600876?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

Turn of Events

Honestly, I never thought this day would come. It is the day after a series of events transpired that have turned my world upside down. It is the day after the economy really affected me. It is the day after I was laid off.

It is difficult to go from a star player/go to team member to one of the casualties. It is difficult to go from, 'we can put her anywhere in any role and she will do just fine,' to 'your termination date is today. Would you like to pack your things today or would you like to come back to do that?'

The most difficult thing is trying to not take it personally.

So now the task at hand is to decide where to go from here. School? Soul search? Jump into a new job? Start a new career? Anyone have any ideas?

Over the last few months I have thought a lot about how jealous I am of the morning joggers I see running on the side of the road while everyone in their car is driving to work or other responsibilities. I guess I can now be one of those 7 am runners.