Why starting a new job makes you fat

I work at Utah System of Higher Education. I started out as a lowly "temp", and then got hired on "fo real", Full Time. I'm really excited to say the least. Though somehow I keep missing the "teacher" boat, what with my degree in English Teaching and French, I still get to work with education in some respect and THAT always makes me happy - or at least feel useful. My office is located at the Gateway - which is "Barnes and Noble neighbor" AWESOME - and I also get to work with some really enjoyable people. I think the "people" in your workplace really make or break a job, don't you? You may not like some aspects of your "work" - but if the people are great then it all evens out.

However...

I've also come to find that there are all sorts of cakes, celebrations, luncheons, jars and jars of candy, holidays, and everything possible you can attach cookies, cupcakes, tootsie rolls (which I ate my weight in the other day) dips, chips, sandwiches, candies candies candies, red vines, soda's, punch, diet cokes, and any other sort of disgusting terrible sugar laiden death you can think of; Every. Single. Day. I'm pretty sure I've gained 5.3lbs (I'm sure because I weighed myself yesterday) just since I started working here. Don't believe me? Let me tell you about my eating habits today shall I?

• Breakfast - Running late so got Pop Tarts (frosted) and Diet Coke from the vending machine.
• Lunch - had to go to a training at UVU - thus we stopped at WENDYS on the way back and I got a small fry, chicken nuggets, and passed on the Frosty. At least I had the where with all (read: lactose intolerance)to pass on the Frosty.
• Being in the Office for only 3 hours: consumed Laffy Taffy someone had sitting out for "all" to eat...and ate a cupcake LITERALLY the SIZE OF MY HEAD for "October" Birthdays. Yes - I could've avoided that cupcake BUT it was for October Birthdays - which I have - and thus felt I should eat only "half a head" of chocolaty frosting goodness the office had so nicely provided to show my appreciation. Though I should consider, I'm 25 now - and my metabolic rate is seriously not what it used to be.

and that's just the beginning...

Thus, I am going to start an intra-office health crash! That's right! With the Holidays upon us and potlucks abounding, it's time to focus on the fresh, green, crunchy, and non-sugar coated. My friends, when the pot-luck list goes around I will sign up for the veggie tray, when some schmuck...er...loving co-worker brings tons of left-overs from this that and the other - I will not eat a smidge of it! No, not a smidge! I will avoid the strategically placed candy jars and bowls loitering shrewdly on desk tops and around cubical corners. Yes! I am going to ban office-sugar from my diet. I am going to get up and eat a sensible breakfast! I am going to limit, learily avoid, and lightly decline all the goodies, salties, calories..ies...that are inevitably going to fill up the office as the Holidays march forth.

Starting a new job always makes you fat - and I'm going to break that cycle. They DO have a gym here in the building and I'm planning on taking FULL advantage of it - as soon as I digest this mountainous cupcake of jiggly doom....mmmm....jiggly doom.

And a great cry went up throughout the land of Provo...and there was great weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. For they did fear the future...

And because of their great pride in their recent prosperity, they new they would be brought low. For it was the mighty nation of the Utes, that humble and graceful people, that had been bidding their time, waiting for that choice moment, in which to make war with those Cougars of the South. The Ute Nation had pressed forward, enduring with all diligence, speed, agility, and humility, awaiting that time when they would, once again, become the BCS busting Mountain West Champions, and more importantly, aide that frivolous and hard-hearted kingdom of the South, to recognize their weaknesses before them.

The time is upon us. The Count Down Begins.

Rice Eccles Stadium
Utah vs BYU - November 22, 2008
So let it be written...

(Pic courtsey of Janers the Wench)

Presenting Joshua, Missy, and an altercation with a beanie wearing "Venue" worker

Last night I went to the Joshua Radin/Missy Higgins concert at In the Venue near the Gateway.

It was basically awesome. I love small venue's like that. It's a much more chill, relaxed, setting where one can have more "interaction" with the artist. Josh and Missy (yes - that's how close we became) were very down to earth and...well..."cool." Joshua Radin didn't have a "set song list" - so he took requests from the audience - played what we wanted to hear. He was kinda dorky - but in a "quietly confident" way. Missy was the same; confident, chill, but down to earth and relatable. Gasp! Just like regular folks. (I hate it when anyone meets someone "famous" and explaims with wonder "they're just like regular folks!"...like, what did you expect?) Here are some pics and video from the nights events...

I've got some serious red-eye in this pic - but check out my "concert wear." Gold shoes! Perfect! Group Shot! Camille, Misty, Rob, and Moi. Red-eye galore. I know I can fix that somehow. Meh. Goes with the Halloween theme. Joshua himself...

Blurry Missy - hey I tried. Not much you can accomplish with my Digital Camera of amateur...ism.

A bit of a duet. Most excellent.

And I've been trying to download my vidoe of Joshua singing my FAVORITE song - Today - amongst a few other tid-bits (I tried to yell PAPERWEIGHT for him to sing...my other favorite song, buuuuuut - it IS a duet and last night it was only him and his gee-tar. So...next time I will offer to sing it with him...), but the computer just isn't feeling it. I will post them somewhere else later.

And now...the Altercation Explanation

We also had a little "altercation" with a beanie wearing girl. Yes true. You know me - I don't get into altercations...often..unless passionate about something...or provoked...which I was provoked. Ahem. We had all decided to enjoy the concert from the balcony. This helps the "wee ones" of our group (read me and Camille...averaging 5 feet 1 inches respectively), and it's fun to "look out" over all the folks below. We were there early enough (read: Rob was there early enough) that we got some really good spots on the balcony for to watch said concert. All four of us were standing by each other with a little room to spare. We stood like that, 4 of us right next to each other, in the exact same spots, throughout Joshua Radin's set. When he was finished, there was a brief (read 30 minutes! Geeeez) break between sets and Camille and Misty decided they might have to visit the Ladies Room. Honestly - they were just discussing it and had merely "stepped back" about one foot from their "leaning spots" when suddenly two girls and a "dude" swooped in and elbowed Camille right out. RIGHT OUT! She stood there for a moment like "er..." then went and sat on some steps about 3 feet from us. It was as if this group of spot usurpers been waiting to snag some unsuspecting concert goers excellent standing spot the MOMENT it looked like they MIGHT be moving. Truth be told non of us had left...and had barely moved at all. We kinda looked at each other with the "uh...okay" look and then eyed the two girls - one of them wearing a very woolly large beanie INSIDE to a concert, clearly annoyed. Well, we didn't want to make a fuss - so we kind of squished in there together and tried to spare a little room for when Camille came back from her "I need to sit down" moment. What made it all really awesome though, was that beanie girl kept "sliding" our direction...trying to really elbow us out of are designated territory. Misty finally started to say something - seeing as she was suffering most of the "elbow" brunt. I caught bits and pieces of their conversation - one where Misty asked her to slide down a bit because she stole our friends spot in the first place - and beanie girl started to raise her voice: "Oh! You pushed US first! You had left! I work for a magazine!"

What? What ARE you smoking dearie? And shouldn't you have like... a "media pass" or "better seats" or something?

I jumped in at this moment and said "Uh...we've been here the entire time. You've probably been waiting in the wings to swoop in and take someones spot. You've been elbowing us out the. entire. time."

"Oh no! You pushed me AND you left!" She was very passionate about that point...the leaving.

I gave her a look that said "You know you're a liar." Then said, "No one left. We've been here the entire time and you keep trying to shove us further out. It's pretty lame what you're trying to do."

The "dude" finally steps in and says "Naw...er...you guys left."

Well we didn't acknowledge him and continued with our "fuss" with beanie girl. Finally she said, all puffed up, beanied, and important, "Well I WORK for In the Venue! So you better watch it!"

So wait...a magazine for In the Venue or In the Venue? Or neither? Yeah...neither.

Now - I can be rather sarcastic at times. I have sarcastic humor - and if I were really a mean person - I'm pretty sure I could turn my sarcastic powers to evil. I try not to do this. I would like my powers to be used for good - for " good natured laughs" if you will - but beanie girl said just the right thing to turn my mean sarcasm dial to full power:

I conjured up the most "ohhhh YOU'RE the Queen of the Universe? I had no idea!" look at responded: "Ohhhhhh! Oh had I KNOWN you WORK in the VENUE we would've let you shove us right out the door! Oh! Had I ooooooonnnnly knooooooown THAT!" And with that I turned back towards the concert.

Beanie girl mumbled something like "yeah...you better watch it.." to which I giggled audibly but softly and shook my head. Beanie girl and dude stayed for about 10 seconds of silence - and then they left. They also left their other friend behind - but she seemed okay with this. I assume "beanie" was going to try and find her "Venue" buddies that didn't actually exist. She never came back.

So aside from that little "altercation" - the concert was awesome! And I would go see both of them again in a heartbeat! Maybe next time I'll wear a wool beanie with my golden shoes and cover all the bases.

Apparently Doughnuts Don't Cure Nostalgia

I woke up this morning thinking about my job at BYU Independent Study. Ya know, the one I gave up to "travel the world" about 3 months ago. (3 months ago? What the?!??!?).

Does that ever happen to you? You suddenly wake up in the morning with a thought already in your head? It's as if you've walked in, in the middle of your own conversation - only just catching the last bit of a phrase or thought. Actually I even felt like I had woken up halfway through a sentence..."and that's why we don't give out student information..." The memory was vivid and as the mind can do in an instant - all the faces and good people I'd interacted with at BYU IS suddenly flashed through my mind - like a slide show set on "super-speed" flash forward. Inter-mixed with the familiar faces were snippets, almost snapshots, of familiar areas in the Harmon Building where I worked: Lauren's Desk and her "special chair for special people", the Tutor cubicles, Caye's Office, Rachael's work station, the breath taking mountain view out of my office space windows that never grew old - never grew routine, the sun rising at 7:25am over the peaks, the bustle of "testing" employees beginning to arrive, Teri coming by carrying her lunch and offering an always cheery "good morning" as she strolled by, Joseph and his sarcastic remarks, friends peaking over my cubicle wall to see what I was up to, Naomi's sardonic and wonderfully entertaining emails, SPARK, and the dozens of little employees coming back to ask questions or change their schedule or tell me about their life. All of these details passed through my mind in an instant - and left me clearly nostalgic - but also rather melancholy and empty.


As I crawled out of bed, rather immersed in these new and sudden feelings of nostalgia for a place I dearly came to love and no longer part of my everyday, I began to remember even more details, more little "routines" and catch phrases that created the "every day" of BYU IS. It's so rare to find a place you love working, even with it's own little ups and downs, with good people you enjoy working with, in an atmosphere that's overall welcoming and progressive. I started to think of my quiet mornings from 6am-8am - when it was me and my handful of employees at a wee hour - just trying to wake up and start the day. I thought of how shamefully I would buy a Diet Coke from the...oh what was that place called...I can see the label in my head...Oh! The Crest Station...and a pack of hostess crunch (can I tell you I always have called them crumb doughnuts? Crunch? There's not crunch! But many a crumb) doughnuts for my morning "pick-me-up." Luckily - by starting the morning out so unhealthily - I was motivated to be healthy and even exercise later that day. Is there a name for that? Disgusting Calorie over-load reverse psychology? Just plain nausea and shame? Maybe a combo. Anyway, upon remembering this "early morning" tradition - I resolved to try and bring back some of that feeling of "home" I finally felt at BYU IS, this morning. Yes. That would life my Spirits and solve the hungry nostalgia that had so sneakily bombarded me first thing this morning.

However- even when I bought the "crunch" doughnuts from the vending machine and swigged a Diet soda - it just wasn't the same. True - I still feel shamefully nauseated at what I'd just consumed. True - I feel like for the rest of the day I should eat salad greens and drink purified water - but it didn't fulfill that little void, heal that tiny little ache, that BYU IS had left inside me. It wasn't so much the doughnuts or the soda - but the buying it from the Crest station at 5:55am that I missed. It wasn't the sugary satisfaction or the caffeine ZING that I craved - but my good friends, my little employees, and my sun-lit windows.

The truth is - the doughnuts or the beverage didn't cure my nostalgia like I thought it might. Sometimes I feel like I was taken away from my "Provo life" a little early - like I didn't have time to sit back and thoroughly enjoy finally finding some stability in my job, a good circle of friends, sports nights, and other such lovely little things of life, before it was gone. I guess that's some of the risk of the choices we make - and I did CHOOSE to leave all those things behind for something I'd been dreaming about my entire life. So, you can't blame me for leaving, can you? Childhood dreams and fairytale wishes is a fairly GOOD reason to take a risk. Though, in the end, the dreams ended up evaporating in the light of day - as dreams tend to do -and as it turns out, fairy tales are just that...fairy tales. Though - I've never been one to completely give up on the whimsical... as much as reality tries to make me.

You can, perhaps, blame me for not loving what I had when I had it, when it was "right there" and finally feeling good - feeling comfortable - feeling like I finally belonged again - feeling like home. What I wouldn't give to feel like "home" again.

And no more of those early morning doughnuts.

Come to find

I really hated that background I had going. Too....MUCH, wasn't it? It was. I also felt like I was squinting to read. Don't noooobody want to squint to read. Back to some clean cut and classic designs, yes? Yes. Much more...me I would say.

A rather musically inclined weekend...

I've come to find that my weekends have taken on "themes." I only just noticed this as I started to report on my weekend happenings just now.

Last weekend was all about the sports! Volleyball games, football games, played some of my own sports. It was a Sporty McSport weekend. This weekend was very musically themed. I honestly don't do it on purpose - but perhaps my subconscious OCD mind likes things to be properly grouped, categorized, and at least matching...weekends are no exception.

My friend Terilyn and I saw the Opera, Madame Butterfly, on Friday night. I love love LOVE love going to the theater - in any form. LOVE the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, love musicals any which way, love the ballet, very much enjoy the symphony in any and all respects, and...I'm "okay" with the Opera. When it comes to Opera I will likely only go see those more "popular" productions: The Marriage of Figaro and clearly, Madame Butterfly, etc. Our seats found via KSL.com were pretty good, and the music was fantastic. If you don't speak Italian - which really in Utah I bet more often people do - you have to see pass the rather cheesy translations and just enjoy the beauty of the music. One thing to be said about Opera is how completely blown away I am by the power of the performers voices. How they can project such a rich and vibrant sound out of their bodies is a talent far beyond me. Oh - also - Elder Oaks and his wifey were in the audience. It's always exciting to "Apostle-spot", and in SLC it's not uncommon. I saw Elder Holland in the Avenues Smiths once. Fancy that! Terilyn and I found our seats on the West side of the bottom floor and as I was taking off my jacket and scanning the audience (I'm a people-scanner), about two rows in front of us and sitting in the middle section I saw a familiar face. I looked at Terilyn and asked her "So...who is that gentleman over there? Is that Elder Oaks?" Terilyn glanced and confirmed that indeed it was. Pretty. Neat. O. Also - I had a rather notable experience with the girl sitting on the other side of me. She was dressed to the nines and probably about my age or a little younger. I appreciated that she'd dressed up for the Opera. I also dressed up. I have a huge pet peeve about how incredibly casual we are here in Utah when it comes to cultural events. Would it KILL us to dress up and go out? I think it's fun. And maybe most folks think that Sunday is enough of a "dress up" for one week - but honestly - we're even starting to look a liiiiiittle shabby on the Sabbath as well. A rant for another time probably. Anyway - chica sitting next to me seemed excited about the production and sat quietly with the rest of us enjoying the first and second acts. During the final 3rd act - where all the sorrow and tragedy come to a head - this girl next to me starts gasping, and making "crying noises." I say "crying noises" because she wasn't even in the remotest way actually crying. She was just making the noises - through the last 20 minutes of the production. I glanced at Terilyn to see if she'd noticed - but she hadn't. I tried to peer through the corner of my eye at "the cryer" to see if in fact she was so "culturally touched" and discovered complete dry cheeks and no girl-wiping of the eyes (ya know - how girls have to wipe tears in such a way as to not smear this and that - staring at the ceiling and wiping beneath the eye lash line), yeah, none of that. And she had plenty to smear if tears should've actually escaped her totally dry tear ducts. Sister, I was impressed that 1. You being dressed up and attending this Opera 2. Without a date, but with another female buddy and 3. Did not text through the entire thing. The fake tears to show how "culturally sensitive" you are - yeah - not necessary. When the lights came up her "tearful empathy for the dead Madame Butterfly" was most abruptly at an end and she simply turned to her friend and cheerfully exclaimed "Well that was good! Lets go!" Huh. Okay.

Saturday wasn't too incredibly musically inclined except I GOT MYSELF A GUITAR!! TA DA!!! That's right! You recall my thoughts upon wanting to get one for Christmas and finally try to learn an instrument I'd been "meaning" to for years. YEARS I say! Well, whilst perusing ksl.com (lovely site really) I found a bran spanking new guitar including tuner, picks, and Basic Guitar for Dummies booklet, for an incredibly reasonable price. The girl selling said guitar explained she had bought it with all the intentions to play, but because of a wrist injury due to a motorcylcing accident (yeah - she's that kind of cool) she couldn't do it. Huzah! We had a bargain! She lives in Brigham City while I'm in SLC (er..Taylorsville) so we decided to meet in O-Town (That's Ogden to the non-Utahn). We did just that on Saturday morning. Thus, I'd like to present the newest edition to my traveling gypsy lifestyle...naturally...

Clearly it needs a name. Any suggestions? I was thinking something striking like...Daphne or...Zoe. Sophia? Ginny? Gwendolyn? Hmmm...thoughts?

Here I am tuning the thing. It seriously took me over an hour to do it. And every time I've sat down since I've tuned and tuned and tuned. I like it to sound just right. My left handed finger tips are numbed. They had some deep grooves in them all weekend as I strummed and practiced and strummed. I'll have you know I'm already rather proficient with the A, D, and E chords. I feel G and Em will come along this week. I can also already sketchily play Kumbiya, My Lord. I'm well on my way to being a professional. I've composed a "song list" I'd like to be competent at by this time next year...

• Paperweight - Joshua Radin and Shuyler Fisk - a duuuuuuet.
  
• Today - Joshua Radin - here he is performing it on Ellen (so...cheesy lame moment. If any man were ever to sing me a song - this is the song I would have him sing. Someone should mental note that...anyone...)
  
• I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay
  
• Come Come Ye Saints - I had to throw a hymn in there - one of my favorites
  
• Winding Road - Bonnie Somerville

Maybe one day I'll even write my own little composition. Ooo - look at that ambition! I remember making up all sorts of little diddys on the piano in my High School days. I'm just incredibly happy to have BOTH a piano AND a guitar at my disposal now. Come to find my Aunty has a piano - so Sunday - to stick with my "musical weekend" theme, I dug out my piano music and loosened up the old piano fingers. And BOY did they need loosening. My goal for Piano-ing is to APTLY (very key...get it? Key? Snort.) play Dawn from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack as well as Pachalbels Canon in D. I'm getting there. I forget how therapeutic playing the piano is for me. It's like reading...and sports. I can put whatever stresses and worries I have in the world on hold and just enjoy the music, and enjoy focusing on something worth while and controllable. I may not know what lies ahead in life yet I must continue to live it - however, when I practice the piano (and now the guitar) I know eventually I will get better and better. There's some comfort in that...some stability...some distraction in the moment.

I also made cookies!!! And SOUP! And Bread! And took some loverly fall pics at Liberty Park!Only the cookies (dough) and leaves are featured here...

To top off my musically inclined weekend I watched a fabulous Indy film called "The Visitor." When I rented it I didn't know it was about music in any respect - and it wasn't entirely - but clearly part of the overall theme. I HIGHLY recommend this film. It's wonderfully simple and well-done. It's one of those movies that leaves you pensive, yet satisfied in the end. It was a lovely topper to a lovely musically inclined weekend...with cookies on the side.

What to wear...what to wear...hmmm

My favorite holiday is Halloween. True Story. I think it has to do with the under appreciated and not fully explored thespian spirit within me. I always feel I'd be a good "stagey" (I made that up - but you get it), but have never taken the risk and tried out for anything. I mean, I've not been blessed with the seemingly pointless ability to do a multiplicity of fairly decent accents for nothing right? RIGHT!?!? Self-discovery note: I'm finding there are a lot of things that I'm interested in (seemingly everything) and for some reason have never explored. Why is this? What have I been waiting for? Will you allow me to foreshadow for a moment? In light of this recent "why have I not just been doing and trying all those things I want to" I've purchased something that I'm picking up this weekend from Ogden. Intrigued? Excited? Indifferent? Well stay tuned my friends because I've finally decided to buckle down and learn something I've always wanted to and never had the where-with-all, the confidence, nay the TIME to try. You better believe there will be a post about it - and pics. Always some pics.

Ahem. Where was I? So Halloween. Love it! I love dressing up. All year I try and gather ideas for what I will be the next year. I've hardly had any "big" Halloweening plans - but so long as I can dress up at some point (or many points) I'm one. happy. camper. That said, here are a few thoughts I've been mulling over. I require YOUR input as well. What do be this Halloween Season?

• Eliza Dolittle as the Cockney Flower Girl (kinda wanted to save this one until I had an 'Enry 'Iggins to go with it but hey, who knows how long THAT could take)

• Little Red Riding Hood - classic, simple and cute. Now if there were a Wolf to go with Little Red that would be a great coupling...alas...again with the lack of coupling as of late...or...ever, really. Cough.



• Punked out Cat (I'm thinking some great big colored hair, kitty ears, a tail, and some "punky" clothes...it's a vision..and I thought this pic was GREAT!).


• 20's Flapper - inspired by one Angelina Jolie in her new film "Changeling " I really most seriously LOVE her hat. Eh? At least there's a "decent" pic of this.

And that will do it. I'd like you to know, dear Internet, that is a whittled down list. I also tried to find some decent pictures a la Google image to help you make a more "informed" decision - but honestly couldn't find much. I know right? Even of Eliza Dolittle (as a flower girl)! I tried to Google image Little Red Riding Hood and well - Google and I have very different ideas of what constitutes an image search like that. Cough. So that came to an immediate halt. I just picked something "close enough" and ran with it. Ran far away.

So! With a little imagination and serious consideration - lets figure out this Halloween costume. And can we do it in a timely fashion? I'm on a deadline.