charitable donation

i have been donating platelets at the american red cross for about a year now: pretty much since i moved out here. and i love it. now, some of my friends don't understand why i do this. i can go in up to every 2 weeks, but mostly try to make it once a month. it is a bit time consuming (one donation takes about 1½ to 2½ hours), but among the benefits, i count the following:

1. you save a life, or two, or three, or ... -- platelets are needed for cancer patients and other people undergoing a bone marrow transplant, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatment or organ transplant. people with type a+ blood are particularly good donors, and can even give 2 or 3 units in one sitting. that's 2 or 3 lives right there. so you can pat yourself on the back for that.

2. it doesn't really cost you that much -- your body starts replenishing platelets pretty much immediately. within 48 hours, your body's platelets should be completely replenished and you'll be totally back to normal, assuming you were "normal" to begin with. so ... what does it hurt?

3. you get to feel needed -- platelets can only be stored for aout 5 days. so that means they need to keep replenishing that supply. and, as it states on the red cross website, "platelet donors have the satisfaction of knowing that their donation will be saving a life within just a few days." you get to feel needed and satisfied.

4. it keeps you healthy -- i know that when i am planning to go in and donate, i kind of watch what i am eating and make sure i get enough liquids and such a little bit more than normal. in order to give platelets, you have to meet the same good health requirements as for donating whole blood. the thing that always gets me is the iron levels ... so i've learned that for the couple of days before i donate, i need to eat a little more red meat (ha! as if i could possibly eat more beef than normal!), or spinach, or raisins ... i've been learning all kinds of things that have iron in them. and i even find that chocolate has some good iron in it, more than i would expect, considering the bad rap chocolate always gets. it has iron! it's healthy, i tell you!

5. you can catch up on movies -- because the donation takes so long, they let you watch a movie while you are there. the following are just some of the movies i have seen while donating:

   the prestige
   transformers
   girl with the pearl earring
   failure to launch
   the aviator
   premonition
   cinderella man
   an unfinished life
   lord of the rings: two towers
   the illusionist
   x-men 3

   it's a perfect opportunity to see the flick you missed in the theater. my red cross is constantly getting new movies. in fact, i think they just joined netflix, so they can keep up with what's newly coming out.

6. you can catch up on cookie-consumption -- you know how when you give blood, you get to go to the "treats table" afterward and munch on some sugary goodness -- and that's when you just donate whole blood, which takes about 20 minutes -- well, imagine how many cookies they will let you eat (and even take some with you) after your 2-hour donation! i suppose i could include herein a list of some of the snacks i have eaten after donating platelets, too, but i think we'd all get a little sick just thinking about all those calories.

   oh! my red cross just got all new kinds of snacks, too!

i just scheduled an appointment for this saturday (yes, partly because of the new snacks) -- and i think all of you should look up the number for your local american red cross and set up an appointment for yourselves. i went twice last month and i am scheduled to go twice again this month. can you keep up?

now, before i wrap up this post, i have a question. i would definitely consider a platelet donation as "charitable." wouldn't you? so ... do you suppose i can get some sort of deduction for that on my taxes this year? just wonderin' ...

---

(to follow-up ... this is what i found at irs.gov. phooey.)

an amusing weekend

this was a while ago, but i haven't taken the time to write about it yet ... so here we go!

southern california's amusement parks really celebrate halloween. i got an email from a friend a while ago who was trying to put together a group of at least 25 people to go to knott's scary farm (so we could get discount tickets). well, i forwarded the message on to a handful of people, as did many other people ... turned out we got about 130 people to commit to go! it was so much fun.

i already mentioned that i spent about 5 hours screaming that night. and i loved every moment of it. it was completely hilarious to me: i was with a group of people the whole, entire night (did you catch that: not by myself, at all, ever) and somehow the "more than 1,000 fully costumed, very-alive creatures wandering the park" zeroed in on me and chased me down all night long. and i, of course, screamed like a very small child while running frantically in a zig-zag pattern (yes, i thought that would help) until the monsters had had their fun. it was absolutely fabulous! i loved every moment of it.

(my companions kept lecturing me and trying to give me tips about how to "not show them your fear -- they can smell it, y'know, like dogs." but i was having too much fun to pay any attention to that. i paid $28 to get scurred, dangit, and scurred is precisely what i was gonna get!)

two days later, my friend becky celebrated her birthday. at disneyland. now, whereas knott's scary farm aimed to "continue to set new standards in adult scare entertainment," disneyland is still the happiest place on earth. every halloween they transform the haunted mansion into a "the nightmare before Christmas" theme, they make a big mickey face out of white and orange pumpkins on the welcome lawn (instead of the usual flowers), and they "grow" candy corn in the main plaza in disney's california adventure. but disneyland is in no way as scary as knott's scary farm. which is *fine* -- we still had a great time. it's been too long since i've been to disney. loved it.

part of the problem

i have recently realized and have to admit that part of the problem is that i am still in love with someone else.

a pastime

if any of you guys haven't yet checked out "the pioneer woman" blog i have listed over there on the left, you are missing out!!

lately, she has been posting the story of how she met and fell in love with her husband, which has been hilarious! (and a story that any woman will love and wish she were the one living it.)

i have found her site to be the best way to waste time here at work -- way better than updating my own blog ... which i usually find entertaining enough ... but seriously: reading hers is way better. promise.

she also posts recipes and cooking tips on her linked site.

(and she takes really cool pictures. honestly, i don't know what she *doesn't* do.)

"it"

on september 2, my friend becky and i went to the northridge singles ward so becky could make some friends. you see, there was going to be this really fun barbecue party at the bishop's house the coming friday night and i was going to be out of town ... so becky needed to make some friends so she could show up and not feel like a complete schlemiel. after church that sunday, the ward had a break-the-fast potluck, so becky and i, of course, stayed to chow down on what singles term "homemade" (mostly chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and anything else you can store in your freezer until the next potluck). the food wasn't bad.

becky and i stuck around to help clean up and as i carried a stack of dirty dishes into the kitchen, a guy stopped me at the door and was like "hey, i remember you from an activity last Christmas."

"uhh, you do?"

"yeah."

"umm, what's your name?" i asked, a little thrown off.

we exchanged names -- thank goodness he didn't remember mine, if he ever knew it. we got to talking a bit and, since he was in charge of the potluck, we started washing dishes while we chatted. spent about a half hour cleaning and chatting. he grew up around here, he likes hang gliding, he's an accounting student at northridge -- he's graduating this coming spring, so we talked a bit about accounting and a bit about my firm and stuff. once all the dishes were clean, i found becky and we went home.

while i was in utah, becky was amazing! on saturday morning (the day after the barbecue) she called me and was like, "you are going to be so proud of me!"

"why? what did you do ... ?" i was a little nervous.

turns out she got to the barbecue a bit early, before anyone she knew was there, but as soon as she found perfect boy she went over to say hi. after a few minutes of conversation, she said, "oh -- christianna says hi," paying close attention to his response so as to be able to give me a full report.

"really?" he asked, and (as becky describes) his eyes lit up.

yes: i was proud of becky. that sunday at church while i was still out of town, becky approached him again and brought me up again ... and then she got me his phone number!! uhh, yeah. they talked a little about accounting and my firm and he told her to have me call to talk about my firm some more.

so i called him once i got back into town and i just have to interject here that we still haven't talked any more about my firm since that first day i met him. we have talked a few times since then, and talked about many things. and he is just a perfect guy -- seriously. as far as the "list" of things, he is perfect in most everything that is most important to me: active and involved in church, kind, concerned about others, serves others, gets my sense of humor (which is difficult, i know -- no really, i know), loves family, wants a family, wants to be right before God ...

so, why am i not falling head over heels for this kid?

someone once said in reference to me that he just wasn't feeling "it", whatever "it" is ... and i have to say that i might now understand that. because i'm just not feeling "it" with perfect boy. as far as "on paper," there is no reason why this shouldn't work out swimmingly, but there's something missing ...

i've been thinking about it a lot lately: i don't want to lead the kid on, but i also don't want to sign him off and say goodbye too prematurely -- too many people are telling me that sometimes you have to wait for that "click" or whatever, which is something i haven't ever experienced. so i am trying to be patient. but i just don't in any way feel for perfect boy what i feel for cute guy.

maybe i'm only even thinking about him because becky put in a lot of effort for this to happen. maybe.

i really don't want to hurt perfect boy. we've been out a couple times, but i think things are going faster for him than for me. while i was in chicago, he and i talked a couple times on the phone. the last time was thursday night, during which phone call he asked me out for that saturday night. as we were hanging up, he snuck an "i miss you" in there. i had no response to that. in all the time since i have known him, i've only ever seen him maybe once a week, if that, so for me to be out of town for a week really wasn't a big deal. and also, i just don't miss people -- i kinda figure that i'll see people again when i see them, or i'll talk to them when i talk to them, so why dwell on the feeling? sorry. that's me. anyway ... i don't know.

anyone out there good at these kinds of analyses? have the solution to my problem (err, at least to *this* problem)? ;)

the windy city

or close thereunto, anyway ... i spent all of this week in st. charles, il -- a little town about 45 miles from chicago -- for training for work. i hadn't ever been to chicago before, except for lay-overs, so this was kind of exciting.

and mostly boring, unfortunately.

well, the training wasn't too bad, and i met lots of people from my firm all over the u.s. and puerto rico, which was fun. (that's a shot of me and one of my co-workers, leila.) and we got limo service to and from the airport -- fun, too, though we didn't have a sun roof to stand up out of. doubt the driver would have let us, anyway. oh, well.

the training was held at this training center that used to be a college campus of some sort with dorms, a fitness center, a bar and everything. so we got to stay in the old dorm rooms: which were tiny! i could really sit on my bed and brush my teeth at the same time, or sit on the toilet and wash my feet in the shower at the same time. and actually, i had to be careful not to lift both my arms up in the shower at the same time so i wouldn't hit any funny bones. and there was certainly no rolling around allowed in the bed. i don't know how students used to put up with those rooms! i did survive, though; don't worry.

the days were spent in the classroom, 8 to 530. then the night life! err, yeah. let's see, monday night was a networking/ice-breaker activity: we had to build a mouse trap using pvc pipe, paper and rubberbands (the "mouse" was a pool cue ball). tuesday night i got out of class, got some dinner, then went on a walk/jog with leila and we found the cemetery that was next door -- very cool -- then i had to do some stuff for work (what i don't understand is how i can have had so little to do over the last 2 months here at this client, and then the one week that i leave there is suddenly so much stuff to do that i have to work on it while i am away at training. yeah.). after class on wednesday night i went up to my room and watched a movie before dinner, then just spent the rest of the evening as a hermit in my room kinda watching tv and kinda working on some other stuff for work, annoyed that i had to do anything for work at all -- oh, and i went to the gym with my friend jen for a little bit, too. thursday night i watched another movie or tv or something again before dinner, then dinner, then leila and i went to the gym for about an hour -- i've never spent so long in a gym before! -- then back up to my room where i spent the rest of the evening on the phone: my sister inge, cute guy, perfect boy, my mom. and then yesterday i flew home!

i am psycho. really. i admit it. one week of not having my packed evening schedule and i was so ready to rip all my hair out. yup, guess i don't know how to relax. like, at all.

crazy-busy

i quite honestly feel like i haven't slept in 2 weeks. i don't know what my problem is, but i always seem to think -- and blurt out before thinking any further -- "sure, i can do that, too!"

when i got called to be a teacher in relief society back in april, one of the sisters in the ward stopped me in the hall and said quite frankly, "i need to teach you something."

"umm, okay ..."

"no," she said quite sternly.

i was confused -- yes, with a furrowed brow.

"you need to learn to say 'no.'" evidently i was already doing too many things and spreading myself too thin.

my response to her then was the same one i use today: "well, i just figure that if i *can*, then why not?"

i have to admit that i think i may have overdone things a bit in these past couple weeks. since october-1, not only have i put in a full 80+ hours at work (which is still boring for the most part, but not as boring as it had been), but i have attended 2 after-work work events, taken 6 little girls shopping for fabric as part of our let's-learn-to-sew activity (wow, i am impressed with mothers who can do that without going crazy), spent 30+ hours driving (yes, i got lost a couple times), screamed away my voice for 5 hours at knott's scary farm (*so* much fun!), attended 1 relief society pot-luck, had 2 harp lessons, attended 12 hours of training for work, taught seminary once (now, *that* is a difficult class to teach), attended a women who mean business awards luncheon (good food), watched general conference, donated platelets once (which took surprisingly long this time), watched 1 movie with a perfect boy, attended game night at my sister eden's followed by dinner with perfect boy, eaten too much sushi with the girls, finished my way-good library book (finally) ...

... okay, i was just now trying to think of a good way to end that list ... nothing is coming to me right now. i guess not only am i out of time these days, but i am also out of a brain. heh.

tu compañía - keith urban

if i could be anywhere with anyone
you know exactly where'd i'd be
under the covers waiting for the sun to rise
your head on the pillow next to me

your feet propped up on that kitchen chair
morning papers scattered all around you
coffee brewing on the cast iron stove
and the pleasure of just knowing that you're mine

[chorus:]
well, i love the way you look
love the way you feel
and the way you roll your eyes
at the kisses that i steal
love the way you stare
when you're staring right at me
i just love your company
oh, yes, i do

arm in arm on some spring sidewalk day
laughing just because it feels so right
wrapped up under the blankets all cozy by the fire
as long as you're here close enough to touch

[chorus:]
well, i love the way you look
love the way you feel
and the way you roll your eyes
at the kisses that i steal
love the way you stare
when you're staring right at me
i just love your company
oh, yes, i do

[chorus:]
well, i love the way you look
love the way you feel
and the way you roll your eyes
at the kisses that i steal
love the way you stare
when you're staring right at me
i just love your company
oh, yes, i do
oh, here we go now

unfulfilled

last night i ordered precisely 7 waters at happy hour -- each individually, specifically, one at a time -- and i drank exactly ... 1. (no, i didn't leave a half-dozen glasses on the table.)

after the FAS 123R training yesterday (which was a very long and exhausting day, by the way, but worth it -- i really enjoyed it) we had a happy hour celebration for a couple of my co-workers who are going to china on a type of exchange program with our shanghai office. i arrived shortly before 5 and the waitress quickly got my order: "water -- no, not bottled, just water." i thought that was pretty simple.

about 10 minutes later another waitress asked what i would like, i told her i had already ordered.

the first waitress came back with everyone's drinks. except mine. no worries. maybe she had too many drinks to carry in one load.

after another 10 minutes, a third waitress came with more drinks, so i asked her for a water. she went off to the bar. she came back with another round of drinks for everyone. but no water.

now, repeat that cycle a handful of times. the wait staff kept coming out with more drinks, with quesadillas, hot wings, jumbo shrimp (yumm!) ... but still no water.

i guess i should have ordered something they could put on the tab. :S oh well, i have a water bottle in my car. so, after i'd been there just over an hour, i thought i'd better head out -- still had lots to do that night -- i started saying my goodbyes and then i heard a "christianna, christianna! it's here! it's heeere!!"

yes, my friends: my water had arrived.

so, i couldn't very well take off without enjoying this long-awaited moment of pure refreshment ...

if that's what it was supposed to be, i was left very unfulfilled -- the water was too cold and they'd put a lemon in it: yuck. oh, well. i drank my water, finished my farewells, and took off.

and then i drank my water bottle when i got back to my car.

the trip

i didn't post anything about my trip to utah yet! before i start getting hate mail ... i figure i better put some stuff up ... enjoy!

thursday 9/6:

woke up at 430 am to catch a 7 am flight: too early! *why* do i always get the super-early flights? honestly ... i had stayed at my sister eden's house because she was nice enough to sacrifice her morning sleep to take me to the airport. ... well, then i dropped my phone in the toilet at lax just before flying out. y'know, for fun.

we arrived at the salt lake airport around 10 am, but sat in the plane until 1045 while we waited to be taxied into the gate -- evidently the tow bar on the truck broke and they had to get a new one -- so that took a while. i finally got my luggage, rented a car ... and drove down to provo. (that's me in the sunroof of my rental car -- how lame is it that i had never driven a car with a sunroof before?)

i got down to byu around 1130 -- just in time to hand out the last ice cream cone for our grant thornton ice cream giveaway. then the whole gt team went to lunch at the brick oven near byu campus. after lunch, i finally went to my hotel, checked in, got somewhat settled, and took a quick nap! it was wonderful!

meet the firms started at 7, so we arrived by 630 to help set up and just "be ready." i had a *great* time -- i absolutely *loved* recruiting! meeting so many new people, talking to them about my experience and why i chose gt, networking with other people at my firm. it was so much fun. i love meeting new people!

after meet the firms, i met up with jessika -- an old high school friend of mine -- haven't seen her in probably years. after she showed me her new place, we went and got frozen custard at this cute place in springville called yummies and it was yummy! it was so much fun to see jessika and catch up on everything! (jessika -- how did i forget to take a picture with you?!)

then i went to pick up my sister matti. she's crazy. (i am putting this picture on here just for her. heh, heh.) she and i went to wendy's for some late-night chicken nuggets then had a hotel party ... which consisted of turning on the tv until we started falling asleep -- about 37 minutes -- then turning it off and sleeping. hmmm. my parties generally used to be a bit "wilder" than that ...

friday 9/7:

i woke up early and took matti to work. when i got back to the hotel, i decided to find the swimming pool: a morning swim! it was fabulous! i swam for maybe 20 minutes then sat in the hot tub for a few. but then i had to get going.

the firm put on a barbecue lunch with an oktoberfest theme at kiwanis park -- well, it was byu, so we did root beer instead of regular beer. mmeh. we also had some apple beer, creme soda, bratwurst, chicken breast, sauerkraut, and german potato salad. the food was great. we also had a root beer stein race and a hot-dog eating contest -- i couldn't believe how quickly this one kid put down 6 hot dogs and buns! (that's a picture of me with linsy, one of the girls out of the portland office.)

we wrapped that up by 2. then i went up to riverton to see my folks who were fixing something with the air conditioner at my aunt's house. i got my hands dirty, then i convinced my mom to come back down to provo to go to dinner with my old roommate kanani and her husband jeffrey: it was *all-you-can-eat sushi*!! i mean, c'mon! how can you turn that down!

and it was delicious all-you-can-eat sushi. seriously. we paid $20 a head, but probably ate about $35-worth of sushi each. oh my goodness, i go into a sushi coma just thinking about it.

saturday 9/8:

i think i slept in a bit on saturday and then spent the morning with my mom figuring out some stuff on her computer. i don't think we did much else on saturday -- probably took naps.

oh -- i got a call in the morning from this guy that my aunt has been trying to set me up with: he asked me out for that night. so around 4 i got ready for that and drove down to my aunt's house to wait for my date. he got there about 630 pm: we had dinner at chili's and then went to the driving range to hit some balls. it was a fun time. he was a very nice guy.

sunday 9/9:

sunday was church -- i really love my parents' ward: good meetings and wonderful people. after church, mom and i discussed the plans for monday for a bit and then took naps -- wonderful naps! ... i think i should sleep more on a regular basis so i don't end up taking so many naps when i go on vacation ... :S

mom and i then had dinner and played ticket to ride while we waited for dad to get home from work (he's been working so much lately!). ticket to ride is *so* much fun to play! my brother introduced it to us a couple years ago and i just love it. i mean, afterall, it won "spiel des jahres 2004" or "2004 game of the year" in germany ... so that has to tell you something!

monday 9/10:

monday was a work day. and we worked! mom and i decided that if we were going to work on organizing the office, we should paint it while we were at it. and then if we were going to do that, we might as well switch the office over to the bigger room. but if we were going to do that, then we needed to paint the bigger room, too -- fire-hydrant yellow isn't very concentration-and-productivity-friendly. so the original "let's organize the office" project got a little bigger.

bring it!

so in the morning mom and i went to lowe's for paint. then got started moving furniture and everything else ... and then we painted! and it was fun! i don't think i've ever painted walls before -- loved it!

we got the office painted pretty quickly because we only painted the top half of the walls (bye bye, cute-little-rocking-horse wallpaper!). after we let it dry a bit, we moved the furniture in and got it set up in there. (now we just need to do something about that bedspread -- sorry, mom.)

tuesday 9/11:

the next morning we painted the old bedroom (soon-to-be new office). yellow's not a bad color, so we just toned it down a bit -- and covered up matti's unfinished art project.

then things got to be a bit more work: so many things to organize as we put them in the office. but we were getting stuff done. the layout of the furniture was fun to decide about: we ended up bringing up a second large table from downstairs and will probably bring the file cabinet up, too. we'll see about that one -- it was too heavy for mom and me to move anyway. then lots of papers and such to just go through and throw away -- it's amazing how easy it is to hold onto stuff you just really don't need.

the organization of the office is a project that we continued over the rest of my trip ... and there's still plenty to do. but it's in progress ...

tuesday night was so much fun! around 4 i headed down to salt lake to meet my friend michelle for dinner and then ... the keith urban concert!! yea! oh, it was so much fun! michelle and i have been every year since i got home from my mission ... so it's a tradition that i am *happy* to continue! the concert was so great -- he always puts on an awesome show and he is *amazing* on the guitar! and it was so great to spend some time with michelle ... i can't wait for her to move out here!

wednesday 9/12:

after such an amazing night, maybe things couldn't have gotten better ... but seriously each day of my vacation was so much fun.

wednesday morning i got up early and drove again down to salt lake -- well, bountiful -- to see my old roommate amy! she and i packed up her son and headed out to the mrs. cavanaugh's chocolate factory. oh, even just as we were getting close, the sweetest chocolate smell was so wonderful! wow. it was great. we watched a video about how they make chocolate and then got to see the factory in action. :) it was kinda funny -- a bit anti-climactic -- not much to see, but i just really wanted to eat *all* of the chocolate downstairs in the chocolate shop. it was seriously amazing. i bought some chocolate to share with amy and take home to my mom. (she shared with me -- mmm, yumm!)

mom and i worked more on the office the rest of the day -- i think ... man, i can't remember! i should have made this trip log sooner!

in the evening i got a call from my dad: there was a muse concert down in provo that needed to be loaded out and they were short a couple hands, so i of course accepted. i *love* working on concerts!! so he and i left the house about 930 to drive down -- usually, we arrive about half an hour before the concert is over, end up watching the end of the concert from back-stage, and then start tearing down the stage as soon as the house lights go up. i got put on the lighting/electric crew for the evening. i usually end up doing sound, so this was a bit different: but just as fun.

oh. i got injured: i was taking down lights from one of the trusses and had to duck under to get to the other side. but i came up too soon and conked my head (hard) on one of the lamps. but because i was there with some pretty rough and burly men, i didn't want to be a pansy about it so i just shook it off and got back to work, chanting "don't be a girl, don't be a girl" to myself. but then i started to feel a trickle running down from the top of my head ... umm, yeah, that was my blood. so i ran over and had my dad look at it -- i had gotten myself pretty bad, but i was okay: no stitches needed. so i got back to work again. but i'll tell ya, i had a headache. and a lovely streak of pink/red hair to go with it. i figure that just kinda helped me fit in better with the roadie crew.

thursday 9/13:

since dad and i didn't get back from the concert load-out until about 3 am, i slept in a lot on thursday. mom finally woke me up around 1230 to tell me to come with them for lunch: yummy javier's mexican food. (i use the word "yummy" a lot -- but seriously, there is so much good food in this world!)

after lunch, i can't remember what i did -- probably not much because of the intensive hard work from the night before. i swear, most of the time i think i am in pretty good shape, y'know, but then i go and work a concert with my dad that completely kicks my butt and i feel like i had been in some sort of cocoon for the past 30 years and had never used my legs before so i walk (as minimally as possible) around with unbelievably sore muscles for about 4 days while i recover. it's insane.

in the evening i got ready and went out to meet another old friend from school, desaray. we had dinner at this super cute italian place in downtown ogden and it was so great to see her!

friday 9/14:

i slept in again on friday, but not as long as the day before: i was up and at 'em by about 1030. but then all of us kind of lazed around all morning -- dad didn't have to work. it was a nice morning. mom had a job interview down in provo at 2, so we headed down there. mom drove while dad and i sat in the back seat and worked on building a database system for his company -- something i have been intending to do for a couple years now, but i just don't ever get very far on it. frustrating. i still have lots to do for that.

after the interview -- which went well: she got the job! -- the three of us went over to byu campus to check out the minerva teichert exhibit at the museum of art and to see the new hinckley alumni house. it was a fun afternoon followed by ...

... too much sushi!! *again*!! yup, we picked up my sister matti from work and my brother jorgen from his apartment, we called my aunt susan kay ... and then we gorged ourselves on raw fish. it was awesome.

wow. i ate way too much sushi again. it is a darn good thing that i don't live in provo: all my money would be spent, which would be problematic because i would need to buy new pants to fit my sushi belly, because i would *spend my life* at this place! ha.

after sushi, mom and dad dropped me off at amy's place. she and i and her friend karen made cinnamon knots (cinnamon rolls fashioned into knots instead of rolls). and then we watched a movie and did pedicures. it was fun. i spent the night there so that i could be there early in the morning to go hiking. it was a fun night.

saturday 9/15:

woke up about 730 ... well, i think amy was up much earlier with her son who has a habit of waking up too early every day. after quickly getting ready to go, amy, her husband, her son, and i headed south to go to timpanogos caves. it was a fun 1½-mile hike up followed by a 40-minute tour of the caves, and then a hike back down. it was really cool; i had a great time. that's me and amy inside the cave, though you can't really tell.

my sister maren came over that evening -- i hadn't seen her yet on this trip, so i was glad she was able to come. we worked on the office some more; maren helped. then we went out to dinner: chinese, this time. i think that's the same place we went for maren's birthday when i was up there in june. it's good food.

sunday 9/16:

after church on sunday, mom and i headed down to my aunt susan kay's house for dinner and games. yup, we played ticket to ride again: the three of us played once before my dad got there, and then all of us played one more time before mom and i headed to the airport to drop me off.

what a full trip!! i had a *fabulous* time and loved seeing so many people! i love where i am living now, but i surely miss my friends and family in utah ... that's why it is so great to be able to go back to visit!

welp, until next time!!

brrring ... brrring ...

so, last night i went out to sushi with the girls. becky excused herself at one point to go to the restroom. and she had a funny story when she got back: as she was just sitting down, she heard from the other stall "so are you watching?" uhh ... what? watching what? watching her? what in the world?! becky tried to think of any and all situations where that would be an appropriate question to ask someone through a bathroom stall door ... and then she heard "yeah, so are we." the woman was on the phone!!

i don't know why people suddenly think it is okay to talk on the phone in the bathroom. like, and i don't mean talking on the phone when in the privacy of the bathroom in your own home and you can strategically use the "mute" button to pretend like you really aren't in the bathroom -- i mean the public restroom: where other people are walking in, washing hands, flushing toilets, etc., and where you just basically have less control over the noises to be transmitted over the air waves.

when i walked into the restroom here at work just a bit ago, there was someone in one of the stalls gabbing away in some other language. sometimes i just wait until the person hangs up, but well, i really had to go just now, so i couldn't even *try* to wait until she was done. i just hope she was able to hang up before i flushed -- i mean, i don't think that is *ever* a sound i want to hear over the phone.

victory!

i get to go to the FAS 123R training! wahoo!

the corporate ladder

last week i was invited by one of my seniors to attend a training on FAS 123R (for all you non-accounting nerds out there, FAS 123R discusses proper treatment of stock-based compensation). and since i am well on my way to 100%-accounting-nerd, i was very interested and maybe even a little excited about this training: it is a subject that we studied pretty in-depth in school, and i am interested to see its "real-life" application.

last winter, i got a brief introductory training about the application of 123R from the manager on one of my clients. i want to know more.

so i signed up for the training and put it on my calendar. i got a follow-up email from the training coordinator asking me to select one of two restaurants for lunch. i was set!

well, today i got a quick email from the "training champion" (why we have to call them the "champion", i still don't understand, but we do: we have a training champion, a recruiting champion, a women-at-gt champion, who knows what else ... whatever) asking me if i knew of any other second-year associates that would be attending the training. i quickly responded that i think i am the only one.

about an hour later, i got an email from my senior asking me to not forward the information and invite to anyone else and not to tell anyone else that i am attending the training. strange. but okay. i don't think i have told anyone else except the training champion and coordinator. after another hour, i got a follow-up email from my senior asking me to not attend the training -- she explained that it was intended to be offered only to seniors and above, and if i were to attend, it should have been offered to all the second-year associates.

disappointment.

disappointment that only an accounting nerd can fully comprehend -- i was being denied the opportunity to revel in 8 hours of training on the 300-page document known as FAS 123R. *gasp!*

i responded to my senior that i understood her request and simply asked her to forward me copies of the training materials so that i could go over them myself.

and then i complained about the whole situation to one of my co-workers. heh. you see, i really didn't understand why i shouldn't be allowed to attend. i mean, i understand that the firm needs to be fair to all the employees ... blah, blah, blah ... but really. this is a subject that i am particularly interested in: i have some experience with it -- probably much more than other second-year associates -- and i would like to have to opportunity to learn more and to improve on my knowledge and skills. i mean, isn't that kind of the point of all this?

my co-worker turned on the lightbulb for me: it's all about competition. as she explained, there are probably not a few people out there that would be quite miffed if i got to attend this training that wasn't even offered to them. they would feel like they are being passed up and that i am receiving special treatment. well, i have a master's degree, too ... was that special treatment? or was it me going after what i wanted? there are many trainings out there that i have no particular interest in. the not-for-profit training that was held in august: no interest whatsoever. but this is something i *am* interested in.

so. with the encouragement from a second co-worker, i just emailed the training champion to ask her to allow me to attend the training. we'll see what she says. i am pretty certain that the answer will be "no," but i am trying. we'll see ...

not as funny this time

scores for the cpa test were published this weekend. umm, i did "better" this time ... 49. yup, not quite good enough, though.

still a long cry from the 75 that i need ...

ai ai ai ...