Dear boys...

She might not be interested in you if...
She's been busy for the past two months (every time you call).
When she says she's busy, she doesn't suggest rescheduling.
You get her answering machine more often than you get her.
She never returns your calls.
She would rather stare out the car window than carry on a conversation with you.
She spends thirty minutes polling the post-FHE crowd for ways to get you to stop calling.


And after all that, I still didn't get anything I could use. I ended up just texting him :( Why do I always attact the creepy/socially inept ones? And why won't he just take the hint?

Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone

Stupid foot. It was working just fine until Monday night. Even then, it wasn't that bad. Tuesday was terrible, but after that, things started looking better. I did all the things you're supposed to do: I stayed off it, I iced it, I took my vitamins. I even prayed that my two months of preparation might not be in vain and that my foot would stop hurting.
So this morning I got myself out of bed far earlier than I ever get up on a weekday to attempt to run 11 miles. After a half mile, I thought I could do this. Sure, it hurt, but not that bad. After a mile, I began to change my mind. After walking a bit, I tried to run again. Bad idea. This now left me with a sore foot two miles from my car. No phone and no road access even if I had managed to find someone up to come get me. Nothing to do but hobble back. Which left me a lot of time to think about life.
I had a thirty-second episode of, "Why is this happening? I didn't do anything that would have caused this!" Then logic took over, which said that asking why was really quite pointless. It will not fix my foot. It will not help me run the half marathon next week. All it will do is make me even more frustrated.
You see, I don't believe in accidents. Everything happens for a reason. Even if I don't understand that reason right now. Someday in the eternal scheme of things, it will make sense. Until then, worrying about the whys will only waste energy that could be put to use fixing the problem.
So I took it slow, enjoyed the view, and made it back okay. My foot still hurts, but I'll live. Who knew you could learn so much about faith from running?

Am I living it right?

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give fate a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance

I hope you dance

This song really hit home today, cheesy as it may seem. I found out yesterday that my grandpa has a brain tumor that is inoperable and more than likely incurable. He's not going to die tomorrow, but his death is certainly coming a lot sooner than I expected. I was talking with my mom about it and how I don't want to get old in general. She made the point that he's lived a full life so it's not as bad as I think it is now, from my limited perspective.
I keep remembering the last time I saw him in person. I was really upset--they wanted me to stay with them rather than driving home that night. The next morning it started to snow and I had to stop at Walmart in Cedar City for Midol. I called home (because I knew they would be up at 6:30 a.m.) and ended up venting to Mom for a while. For some reason, I thought this was just the worst thing ever. I'm glad now that I had that time with them, but I wish I hadn't spent the night feeling mad.
I just re-read an interview my Uncle Gary conducted with them a few years ago at a family reunion. My grandpa ended by encouraging all of us (kids and grandkids) to stay close to the gospel because you won't feel happy anywhere else. So that's what I intend to do.

Carpe diem, everyone.

How I spent my tax refund

And my overtime, and my fun money for the next two months. But isn't she beautiful?

BLK PRL

That's what I wanted my vanity plate to be. Totally fitting, right? Tragically, it was already taken, so I had to settle for a normal plate like most people. *sigh*.
I have decided that this cruel denial should have applied to a few other people. Like the car in front of me today. It said "I(heart)MYGLF" Aw, how sweet. If you're like...12. Not in your late 60s. Which the driver totally was. I just hope the GLF in question was at least moderately close to his age. (Side note: as I write this, I realize that perhaps GLF stands for golf, not girlfriend. I like my first interpretation better.)
This is, however, not my favorite license plate ever. That honor belongs to a Buick Lesaber I saw in Utah. It said "10COWMAN." I saw it several times, and it made me laugh every time.

Grunion hunting: a true California adventure

10:45 -- Arrive at beach. Set up chair, get comfy. Return coworker's "All clear" flashlight signal.
10:50 -- Decide that the moon definitely makes tonight better than last night.
10:52 -- Get up to wander the beach. Discover lots of trash, a seal carcass, and some cool shells. Feel slightly guilty for looking at shells rather than the waves. Redirect flashlight and walk back to chair.
11:00 -- Wonder what all the fuss is out on the boats. Their lights are flashing every which way. Suspect I hear gunshots, but attribute that to general creepiness of being alone on the beach at 11:00 p.m.
11:03 -- Get up again. More shells.
11:07 -- Decide I should use this time productively. Wish I knew someone still up to call. Contemplate composing a short story.
11:08 -- No story ideas. Mind returns to wandering aimlessly.
11:15 -- Resist temptation to check the time by getting up again.
11:21 -- Decide fingers are cold enough to dig out the gloves I brought.
11:23 -- Warm fingers are good.
11:30 -- Get out phone to record ocean sounds. Discover that more time has passed than expected.
11:37 -- Wander the beach again, this time to warm up. The extra layers are helping, however. (I had on two pairs of pants, three shirts/jackets, and gloves. It gets cold out there with no bonfire!)
11:45 -- Renew story-writing efforts. Takes even less time to give up.
11:53 -- Get out camera to take pictures of nothing. I have to have something to show for this madness.

11:54 -- Flash disturbs coworker. Sheepishly return the all clear.
11:56 -- Check time again. Wish it were later.
12:04 -- Wonder about the boats again. The lights are totally messing with my night vision.
12:10 -- Coworker calls. He hasn't seen anything either. We decide to give it 15 more minutes.
12:13 -- Get up to wander the beach again; part to stay warm, part to resist checking phone every 30 seconds for time.
12:26 -- Coworker begins walking towards the sidewalk. Begin collecting everything. This is no easy task.
12:30 -- Return to car, which has thankfully not been towed or ticketed. Crank up music to stay awake while driving home.
1:00 -- Discover that I am now fully awake. Begin plucking eyebrows to put off going to bed.
1:30 -- Eyelids rebel and finally close for the night.

Not a bad adventure for 4 hours of overtime.

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons...

So I was having a terrible time focusing at work today (whoever designed this EIR with a sans serif font should be shot), and for some reason a really random experience from a few summers ago popped into my head. And what are random thoughts for but to be shared on a blog?


This trip down memory lane comes all the way from 2003...I think. It was one of the summers that I worked at Lecture Prep, and since I was alone and not doing anything, I'm assuming it was under Dave, not Mike (the dictator that he is). Which means it was 2003. I was stuck in my little closet reading a book and/or crocheting when the phone rings. It's Dr. Asplund, asking about spontaneous combustion demos. This wasn't unusual for him (this is a professor who walked into our cupboard every Friday with the exclaimation, "It's Friday; I need to blow something up!"). However, he then goes on to explain that his sister's brother (or something like that...it's been a few years) somehow got involved with a BBC documentary about dragons. Dr. Asplund got elected as the expert on how dragons could breathe fire. So we chatted a bit about various reactions that would possibly fit the description, and I got to work setting everything up.

A few hours later, four British men (balding and bad teeth, the lot of them) come in with oodles of camera equipment and set it up in one of the lecture halls. Dr. Asplund comes out in full chemistry geek style: bow tie, lab coat (with a few acid holes for good measure), and big safety goggles. We burned magnesium, we started a fire with an ice cube, we torched gummy bears. But my favorite was the ballons. I once had the ability to create a mean H2O2 ballon. The ones I created on this occasion were no exception. We set off the first one, which shook the outer doors. They warily asked for a second take. The second time, they knew what was coming. One poor fellow got his portion of the camera whatever set up then sat in the far corner saying, "I'm gonna sit here with me fingers in me ears." Finally the fun was over, leaving me with a pile of glassware and so on to clean (which I'm sure I left until the next morning, being lazy).
So today, sitting in my office staring out the window, for some reason I wondered if that particular show ever made it to the air. I'd like to see how it came out.


Work was really boring today. :)

I think I'll try defying gravity...

I went on my first, honest-to-goodness date in almost two years (that little blip with Toni last year doesn't count). Even better, it was the first date in even longer that went well. I had a really good time. Good conversation, good food, good company.

Now comes the fun part: waiting.

*cue Inigo Montoya voice: "I hate waiting."