Friday, April 09, 2010

Did You Know...

...the longest I've gone without coloring my hair (since I started in 1993) was 18 months?

...that I once went 5 months without wearing makeup (January to June 1999)?

...I can wiggle my nose like a rabbit?

...I went one month without eating meat? Just to see if I could do it. It was easier than I expected.

...that May 15th is my birthday?

...I only have one niece? She's my favorite niece and I'm hers.

...it's been 5 years since I've gambled in a casino?

...that the last time I gambled in a casino, I lost $500 (my own money, not previous winnings)?

...I'm planning on going skydiving this May/June?

...that "While You Were Sleeping" is one of my favorite movies?

...that I'm exactly 5 feet 6 and 3/4 inches tall? (measured a couple weeks ago)

...my current toenail polish color is pink?

...I used to bite my nails but stopped in 6th grade?

...I bought my first computer in February? It's a red laptop.

...I have freckles? If not, do you not know me at all???

...that one of my goals is to run a 5k this year?

..."only the boring get bored" is one of my favorite sayings?

...I have an 11-yr old sister?

...that I once won a print worth $650 and still haven't framed it and hung it on my wall?

...being stranded on a deserted island without contacts/glasses is one of my biggest fears?

...I've never karaoke'd?

...I love to turn nouns into verbs and force them to be past-tense? (see above)

...Spain is now #1 on my list of places I want to go? Cordova, Spain to be exact. Wanna come with me?

...that I wear a watch again after 5 years or more of not? I love knowing the time!!

There. Now you know everything there is to know about me! *wink*

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

How I Impressed My Future Boss

So many of you know this story, but I'm going to tell it anyway...because I can...it's my blog.

I can still remember how I felt as I walked down State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a beautiful, warm April afternoon (exactly 13 years ago today), and the sun felt glorious on my upturned face. There was a slight breeze, so I was glad for the light sweater I had worn that matched my flowing floral skirt and white cotton blouse. I was on my way to a job interview and was a little nervous but mostly confident...even back then I was a pro at job interviews.

That day, I had decided to skip my last class so had arrived downtown early. I'm a freakishly punctual person, but an hour is excessive even for me. I decided to eat lunch at the mall food court to pass a little time. Clam chowder in a bread bowl. Mmmm. It was yummy. When I finished, I had plenty of time to walk the 7 or so blocks down State Street to the small repertory theatre at which I had the job interview. State Street is one of the busiest streets in Salt Lake and at lunch time it was teeming with cars and people. I strolled amongst my fellow walkers, daydreaming about my latest crush, enjoying the hustle and bustle around me.

I was about a block away when I noticed a guy running across State Street's 5 lanes. He was kind of cute, from what I could see at that distance. I smiled when he turned and started to walk toward me; he really was good-looking. As we passed each other, I said a quiet "hi" and my smiled widened when he turned around.

"Excuse me, Miss." he said, walking back toward me. He had an accent I didn't recognize. I turned around and smiled again. I figured he was going to ask for the time or directions or something. I was wrong.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Um...your dress...it's trapped." he stuttered.

"Excuse me??"

"Your dress...it is trapped."

I slowly felt behind me. He was right; my skirt was trapped. When I had sat down at the mall, my skirt had been pushed up and now happily resided in the bottom my sweater, exposing my backside (covered by undies, of course) to all the world.

Turning bright red, I fixed my skirt and thanked this nice, cute guy for telling me. I appreciated him having the decency to tell me my skirt was trapped, unlike all the people, women included, that hadn't. True, some of them may not have noticed, but I can guarantee that a lot did and said nothing. I try to think charitably; I'm sure they just didn't want to embarrass me. To this day, I always tell people when they have food in their teeth, a zipper in the down position, or a trapped skirt. Better to have a moment of embarrassment than to get home and wonder how long that piece of spinach has been covering your front tooth.

For a brief instant, I considered retreating to a safe place - I was at 6th South and could easily turn up it and walk the 6 blocks to my home. I needed the money, so I went to the interview. When I told the box office girl who I was, she called the boss, Tom, to inform him I was there. He said he'd be a few minutes, so I waited quietly for about 2 seconds. And then, because I'm a chronic oversharer, I told her about my trapped dress. She was still laughing when Tom arrived. He wanted to know what was so funny, so I told him the story. He hired me after 10 minutes.

He later told me that he had been impressed with my ability to laugh at myself and had known immediately that I'd fit in perfectly at the theatre. I worked there the rest of the time I lived in Salt Lake and considered it my home-away-from-home. In fact, I spent more time there than at my apartment. The actors and stage crew members became my friends. Tom was like a father to me and his family like my family. I even had Thanksgiving with them that year. I loved that job more than any I've had.

And I owe it all to my trapped skirt.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Bucket List

Last summer, I had a dream that I was dying. I had an incurable disease that would give me about 6 months of truly live-able time. I quit my job, sold my home, and planned what to do in those 6 months. Spending time with my friends and family topped the list but the one thing I really had to do before I died was go to Paris. I felt I could be proud of what I had accomplished if I managed to check this one life-long dream off my list. I awoke from the dream realizing just how important it was for me to make it to Paris. I didn't know when or how I'd make it over there, but I knew it had to be done. I started to think about other things that I've always wanted to do and hence created my Bucket List.

Having a bucket list really appeals to my nature. Creating goals for my life and then getting to check them off? What's not to love about that?

My Bucket List: (in no particular order after the first one)

* Go to Paris - December 2009 WOOHOO!!!

* Shoot a gun - December 2009

* Go skydiving (hopefully this May/June)

* Rock climbing

* See a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas

* Paint a picture (that actually looks like something other than a blob of colors)

* Hike Angel's Landing in Zion National Park

* Run a 5k

* Go hang gliding

* Write a novel

* Earn a graduate degree

* See the Northern Lights

* Love one man with all my heart and soul

The idea is that as I accomplish one item on the List, I'll add a new goal to the bottom of the list. I don't ever want to be DONE. I want to live a life of progress and learning and adventure. Hopefully, by the time I kick the Bucket, I'll have a big long list of things I've done that I always wanted to do and an equally long list of things I would've love to do had I had the time.

What is on your Bucket List?

And, if I like what's on your List, do you mind if I add it to mine? *huge grin*