Here's to Good Health

I was born with a unique gift.....super human health. I blame my mother. She has an immune system that rarely, if ever, breaks down. Genetically, I have followed in her footsteps and have had a relatively disease-free life. When I was little my sister caught the chicken pox and passed them on to me. They lasted three whole days. I see people get flu shots year after year and the single, solitary year I decided to get one I caught the flu. I was really excited when I was putting in my mission papers because I thought I'd have to get my wisdom teeth out before I left. I had visions of being bedridden in front of the tv for several days, with my mom bringing me soft serve foods like apple sauce, yogurt, and my personal favorite, ice cream! Alas, I am wisdom free and did not have to get any teeth pulled. I didn't even catch any sort of worm or bug in a third world country chock full of little guys just waiting to latch on and take over your body. I'm making myself sound like the victim here when in reality my good health is actually a blessing. However, I am a very lazy person and I get frustrated that I'm not able to slack in my responsibilities due to an unforeseen illness. This gift of immunity comes with two unhealthy side effects. First of all, because I rarely get sick I have little compassion for those who do. I just can't empathize (or is it sympathize?). I try to sound compassionate and understanding and charitable and caring....but it's all a big fat lie. The second damaging side effect is that fact that my tolerance for pain is extremely low so when I do come down with something, I tend to milk it for all its worth. The slightest body ache, sore throat, headache, cough, sneeze, or unidentifiable rash results in me calling my mom in tears, begging for help and advice on what to do to get better. When I get sick, it's a big deal and I want the world to stop until I'm ready to re-join it. On the other hand, maybe I have a super human tolerance for pain and so when I actually do get sick it really is just that bad. Maybe I've been a walking virus my whole life and have passed disease after disease on to my friends and family without it even affecting me......

Probably not.

Well, I guess the time has come for me to confess that I am sick, and at the most inopportune time too. I first felt the effects on Saturday, the weekend. Of course, there's plenty of time to rest and get better without missing a single ounce of work. Also, family dinner on Sunday consisted of my least favorite meal of all time, sloppy joes. My mom was practically begging to send some food home to me (in a normal situation I would have been thrilled. I take all the leftovers I can get because that means cooking less while simultaneously eating better food). However, I had to pass on the sloppy joes and ended up settling for some Chex that I had in my cupboard at home. Sigh. I really don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me, but just a little sorry would be okay. If anyone happened to be in my neighborhood and wanted to drop by with some good movies and chicken noodle soup, I wouldn't be mad. Cough, cough.

Reunited With A Former Love

A couple of years ago I fell in love. It wasn't the take your breathe away, love at first sight kind of love, but after time I gradually realized that I was in over my head. It's like I became addicted. For various reasons we had to part ways but in the back of my mind I have always been contemplating getting back together. I have been a little hesitant because, what if it's not the same? What if my feelings have changed? What if I can't be as committed as I once was? My fears have held me back for over a year and a half. A couple of days ago I mustered up some courage and decided it was time to get back together. The reunion was a little bittersweet. I definitely felt different but also felt that there was potential for things to develop into something similar to what they once were. It's going to take a lot of work on my part but I guess I'm finally willing to take responsibility.

Hello dear friends, I have missed you! I went running for the first time in a long time the other day. I couldn't run nearly as far, or fast, or quite as effortlessly. But it was time to let bygones be bygones and I'm hoping to make this a daily habit once again.

A Stay-At-Home Mom, Minus the Mom

So for the last 5 days I have been able to experience what it is like to be a stay-at-home mom. Almost. Technically, I'm not a mom so I guess I didn't exactly experience what it is like but I was able to stay home from work for 5 glorious days. No work, no stress, and definitely no schedule! At my job we were released from our work for the rest of the week following the tax deadline so I was able to "de-tax" myself and try to get some sort of normalcy back in my life. I might have enjoyed myself a little too much. For starters, I was able to get more than 4 hours of sleep a night! Also, I went to lunch at Costco with my mom and sister. This is a weekly get together that I'm always forced to miss because of my work schedule. They weren't going to get together but when they heard I had the day off they planned a special lunch just for me! Another fun surprise was getting a text from my secret admirer, aka my cousin AD, and being able to go to lunch with her and her daughter who were coincidentally in town during my week long hiatus. I was also able to visit Sonic during happy hour, where drinks were half price. Yum.....caffeine free diet coke with lime and crushed ice......I was in heaven. Of course, what would any vacation be without loads and loads of shopping? I packed it in and it was magnificent. I'm embarrassed to report that I also went to a movie.....in the afternoon.....by myself. The movie pretty much sucked but the experience was a treasure. I'm sure that if I was forced to account for every hour that I had off, the statistics would indicate that I wasted 90% of my time because I really can't remember much else of what I did during those precious 5 days. However, I can't really remember anything that I've done besides work for the past 4 months so I guess it's okay. Maybe I'm coming down with Alzheimer's, would that buy me some more time off?

If not, it sure was nice not to have to go to work last week, I could definitely get used to that kind of lifestyle!

A Night Off

So my parents have season tickets to the Jazz this year and have generously let me go to a couple of games. Although the seats are in the upper bowl of the arena it's still a great time to be had! I haven't been able to go to any games for the last couple of months though because of my hectic work schedule. Well, things are starting to slightly slow down at work and my dad asked me if I would be interested in going to last Wednesday's game. I really didn't feel like I could leave work early on a Wednesday but I graciously offered to take the tickets off of their hands for Friday's game. The Jazz were going to play the San Antonio Spurs and not only would it be a great game.....I was really interested in seeing Tim Duncan play. He's the center for San Antonio and he's captured my heart! Well, it turns out that my Dad and Mom weren't too keen on letting me go to such a highly anticipated game. I hinted several times that I would be willing to go but I felt a definite NO in their brush-off laugh. I shrugged it off and didn't think much of it since I probably shouldn't even take time off on a Friday night right now. So then I'm working on a tax return at work for a client who is closely involved with the Jazz. He is always offering tickets to my boss and my boss always declines (I know, I've had to talk to him about this). I was on the phone with the client several times last Monday and kept wanting to mention something about Friday's game but didn't just couldn't. I guess I couldn't get the guts to casually mention something. I get so nervous and it would've sounded more like begging than anything. So I gave the return to my boss and just happened to mention to him that if this client happens to offer tickets to Friday's game against the Spurs, I would be more than happy to accept his offer and go! We had a good laugh but I new my request was falling on deaf ears so back to work I went. The next day my boss walks into my office and announces, "your wish is my command." Huh? Well, I guess a different client had called him up that morning and said that he had 4 tickets to Friday's game against San Antonio and would he be interested in them. I'm sure that had I not said anything the day before he would've said that we were too busy and to give them to someone else. However, he accepted and said that I could go! Yahoo! I was so excited! He told me that it was an early game because it was on ESPN so we'd have to leave a little early. No problem for me! So Friday rolls around and we leave at 4 pm. The game started at 6 so I was a little confused why we left so early. Come to find out, the seats were VIP, 10th row, center court, and included free dinner before the game with free snacks during half time. I'm dying! So we go to get dinner and it's a full on fancy feast at the top of the arena. We're talking cloth napkins, 3 forks, appetizers that include sushi and shrimp, the whole nine yards! I told my boss I could definitely get used to this kind of lifestyle! So we eat and then go down to our 10th row seats. I see Tim Duncan on one end of the court and Kyle Korver on the other end.....my heart is beating because this is like a dream come true! I'm taking pictures like a fanatic and then call my parents to brag about my excellent seats. The game starts and it was pretty intense the whole first half! We (the Jazz) scored two points in the last 20 seconds of the half that put us ahead at half time. It was the only time the whole first half that we had a lead. Tim Duncan was playing great but I knew I had to cheer for the Jazz since they're my team. Anyway, I go and get some nachos and soda for my parents during half time and have a little visit. I tell them that next year they should buy season tickets where my seats were at! The second half of the game started and the Jazz totally pulled ahead and kept the lead the whole rest of the game. It was so much fun and the excitement level of the game was just like it was a playoff game! It was such a great night and I think it was my destiny to go since the cards aligned just right in my favor!

Tim Duncan. Some call him incredulous, some call him a jerk, but he holds a special place in my heart! I don't know why but for some reason I just can't get enough of this guy! It was great to see him play in person and although he didn't get as much playing time in the last half, it was worth skipping out on work for a couple of hours so that I could see him in action!!

....Sigh. Kyle Korver. Isn't he just so cute? I tried to get a better close up of him but I'm no photographer so this will have to do. He is one of the newest players for the Jazz and boy can he shoot 3 pointers! He's also the newest rage in Utah, all the girls love him!

My parents were sitting near the top in this section, can you see them? Ya, I couldn't really either.
The final score of the game! Although it was a neck and neck first half the Jazz totally dominated the last half and ended up just killing the Spurs! My man Timmy didn't play the whole 4th quarter, basically the team had given up and was only playing 2nd and 3rd string players. It was a great game though, and a much needed night off!

News Flash!!!!

I thought I would post a quick update on since I've kind of been out of the blogosphere for the last couple of weeks. Well, first of all I have great news to report....I'm engaged!!!!! I'll post all of the details at a later time but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the new and exciting news in my life!

Okay, so I'm not engaged but it is April Fools Day and in the spirit of the holiday I thought I would participate via the blog.

Really, there is not a lot going on with me right now except for that I finally finished "Persuasion" and I LOVED IT!!!