second annual MUD and SURF 2K6!!!!!

Well, kids, it's that time of year again. Time to start thinking about the upcoming Mud Run this June and of course the surfing extravaganza. So, who's in?

I am!

And Mary.

Who else?

We really do need to start thinking about it because we need to register ASAP aka the first part of January. Who wants to be on my team? There will definately be pink jerseys involved. So let me know... STAT!

I'm so excited!!!

Yeah for Mud! And yeah for surfing!!!

Ambiguous post, but that's how I like it. . .

Don't you hate it when you're counting on someone and then she totally flakes out and it leaves you screwed?

I guess I need to pull together a Plan B, and quick!

rambly jo

Okay, so as I'm sure most of you have noticed that I haven't really been blogging much lately. Yeah. Who has time for that stuff anyway? I do, but I don't really feel comfortable doing it at work... Shopping online, yeah. But writing a whole bunch of "personal" stuff when anyone could be looking over my shoulder? Heck, no!

So I guess you all may be wondering what I've been up to in my absence. Here's some random tidbits.

I had a Super Cool Sweater party at my house and I took first place for the super coolest sweater (I have a blue ribbon to prove it). I only mention this because a few years ago I went to my friend's Super Cool Sweater party and tied for third place with the same sweater. I felt robbed and am still bitter about it to this day. That blasted Aaron Call and his tightly fitting little girls sweater... blast him! *shaking fist* Just so you know, it was my light blue, sparkly astro-turf sweater.

I've literally devoted my life to backcountry.com as most of you know. Who needs a day off anyway? BCDC for life! I was actually given fifty bucks today because I was one of the people that actually came in everyday--even both Saturday and Sunday-- like we were asked. I guess doing what your boss tells you to do has some perks sometimes. I hear if we stick it out and work all our ten's and the weekend through Christmas we'll get an incentive like this one... I hear it'll be 100 bucks this time. We'll see.

Katie Dickson told me this outrageous story about a man in India who doesn't eat food because he stares at the sun. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and will hopefully have more information soon. I will probably devote a whole blog entry to this so get excited. (Becca, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.) Maybe humans are more like plants than we think. Is that possible? Stay tuned to find out...

I started playing soccer again. I'm so happy to be back kicking a ball around with my friends. It's not quite the reunion team, but Jared, Beth, Kevin, James, and Nate are on it so it's a lot of people I have played with at one time or another. It's fun. We're currently the numero uno team. (But don't tell anyone, we're in the lower co-ed division for Thursday nights. It's still fun, though.) And I even score goals. I love running around with a ball at my feet!

I haven't gone skiing yet, but I did buy some telemark skis for under fifty bucks. (Just the skis, mind you.) I have a feeling I might be going a few more times this year than normal. Best day of my life! *subliminal ski nanny message* Because I really love skiing. And I think more people should love skiing too. Especially young people who have time to develop their talents. I love sharing my love of the outdoors and god's creations with others *ski nanny*. Learning to ski can help you in other areas of your life as well. *ski nanny* It is an enriching endevour to say the least. *SKI NANNY* Yeah, anyway. I might be going skiing a few more times this year because I work at BCDC and can get hooked up with comp passes or at least half price passes. Now all I need is a day off...

Oh! I want to take a community class from East High School since it's right up the street from me. I'm trying to choose between a pottery class or this travel writing class for women. Or woodworking. I just don't know! Any suggestions? I just always think to myself that I want to take these classes, so now is the time to do it. I love life-long learning!

My roommate Natalie Cornell is getting married to Michael Bird in a few weeks. She's moving out tomorrow. Tonight we're having a sleepover in the pillow room. Katie Dickson is moving in January to Kansas. I'm going to miss those girls. At least I will still have Rui and Tori. And the two new girls seem way cool. I mean come on, we're going to freaking knit and crochet our faces off! DOMESTIC PARTY!!! Rumor has it Chelsea knows how to make beannies. (Let's be honest, when Katie Dickson tried to teach me a few days ago it didn't go over very well. "I'm going to be honest, I've been kind of avoiding this because I don't really remember how to do it... You just do this and you keep adding rows whenever you want... and then you just make it up, that's what I did." Her beanie did turn out way cute, but come on! Just "make it up?!")

Oh my gosh! Barb and Neil came over on Monday night to talk to the new girls. They stayed way too long because we all know how they love to talk. But they did tell us the story of our house. I guess some lady built the house in like 1978 and she lived there with her sister because she never got married. So basically we live in this Old Maid house... not a good sign. But there's hope, the story get's better--When this lady was like in her seventies she got married... to her dead sisters husband! Can you believe that? Don't worry, though, I'm not planning to marry Cade, Robert, Paul, or Chris in the event of any of my sister's deaths. Sorry guys! But yeah, I love my house.

Um, I found out last night that this guy in my ward has a blog too. He has mono. And he blogs about it. Check it out at www.ihavemono.blogspot.com

Is anyone even still reading this?

To anyone who cares, Marcus Wright is on the outs. It's about time, though. I've been holding on to this idea for far too long. We just don't have that spark. And I need some spark in my life.

I met a boy online. It's the second guy from ldslinkup I've ever met. The first time it turned out really well (let's get a shout out for Mike Eastman!) and I think this guy seems pretty cool too. I'm still not sure how I feel about online dating. I don't want to tell my kids I met their father on the internet, but I guess it is more socially accepted now days. Besides, it really just widens your social circle. But this guy seems very interesting and I pretty much might be going to Nepal with him in the spring. *I hope!* Yeah, he just seems like a cool guy. We'll see.

Oh, but I do want to tell y'all about the place he took me to. It's called One World Cafe. It's on 300 East inbetween South Temple and 100 South. Go there. Basically there is no menu or prices for the food. They cook everything fresh that day and it is all organic and from local places (ie they have a donated plot where they grow a lot of the food). The goal of the people who own this place is to end hunger. If you don't have any money you can go work there for an hour and in exchange get a hot meal. If you do have money you pay whatever you feel the food is worth, or you pay what you can. It's such a cool idea and such a cool place. I had heard about it before and always wanted to go so I was excited when he suggested we go there. There's a really cool ambiance as well. I really do urge everyone to go support this place. It's a social experiment and a testament to the human spirit. It's a magical place.

Well, I'm here at the Marriot Library with Rui and Katie. Everyone else here is probably way stressed and freaking out about their last finals or that fifty page paper they've procrastinated to this, the very last minute. I guess sometimes it's a good thing to be all gradumatated. Though I do miss being in school... sometimes.

Okay, enough!

The choice for me is gossip free!

You can tell this place is run by a man. Trying to solve one problem by creating a new one...

I don't think they've really thought things through, either. But I have. What's going to happen when you pull everyone over from Returns (even Anna Jo, the GearTrade Specialist) to help with Shipping? A huge backup of returns sitting in carts just waiting for someone to do something with them. AKA people are going to be pissed because they sent that stupid North Face shirt that they just didn't like back a month ago and why hasn't their card been creditted, they wonder? So we get behind and have to work overtime just to get caught up (this is what happened last month... a lot of stress on us poor little employees). But what's even better about this is that once Christmas is over the returns are going to come pouring in! Multiply this little problem exponentially!

To top it all off they have us working nearly 70 hours a week. Yes, that's true. Literally everyday of my life is now going to be dedicated to this stupid place. I hope they're prepared to deal with high rates of employee burn-out. Why can't they just hire more seasonal employees you may be wondering? Well, that would just make too much sense.

But I'm not complaining (even though I am); the overtime pay will be really nice.

Irresponsible pet ownership

Lisa Bayley and Adam Buchanan want to get a dog. In fact, they're moving out of their apartment so they can. They're planning on getting a puppy from someone they know in three months. The only problem is that they want a dog now. So they're getting one. They asked Tori the other day if she thought I would want to take the dog in three months since they'd be getting the puppy. I just don't understand. Dogs aren't things you can disregard when something better comes along. They're a living, breathing animal. It all kind of saddened me.

Oh, and I would love to take the dog in three months if only Barb and Neil would let me!

Warehouse Therapy

As some of you may know, Katie Dickson and I have dedicated ourselves to Backcountry.com. Have you ever heard of Wilderness Therapy? Yeah, well we're doing Warehouse Therapy. It's much the same concept except you're not out in the wilderness for an extended amount of time trying to survive. There isn't even much time for journaling. (Unless you do it on one of your many breaks, I suppose.) I'm not even sure the benefits are the same. Instead of truly finding who you are and your sense of place in the world, you are making money. That's right, cold hard cash.

Yesterday was our first actual day of Warehouse Therapy. We got to work while it was still dark outside--6:30 in the AM--and left when it was dark--9:30 in the PM. Luckily the weather was nice enough during our first lunch break to eat outside. I don't think I can go a whole day without seeing the sun. Ever.

But the overtime pay will be nice. And basically that is why I have become such a hardcore, die-hard employee. Not to mention the sweet gear deals.

So the consensus is that Warehouse Therapy isn't even all that bad. What I do in the whole scheme of things is actually pretty chill and I even get to listen to the radio (yesterday and today 101.9 The End has been talking about Ghost Stories on their morning show... and we all know how I love ghost stories!) or CD's if I would remember to bring them. And time doesn't drag on how it sometimes might while you're at work.

The best part about this is that Katie Dickson and Anna Cleverly have become working women. We're the two in our house that have been unemployed for extended periods of time recently, just going wherever the wind has blown us. It's nice to be rooted. In a warehouse. Or something.

One funny story from work today: Some little old lady from who-knows-where sent Greg (the customer service guy) and the whole warehouse some sort of nut candy type something and some garlic/cashiew mix she had apparently made herself. They were packaged in the same box she was returning some
climbing shoes in. Everyone was scared to eat it because who knows if it was laced with arsenic. I guess she really appreciated the service. Or she is just bored and lonely. Anyway, it made for a good laugh. Thank you, Claire David, wherever you are.

An update on Don, the guy with the cat (AKA Don, the guy to avoid)

I guess Robert was right. Do we all remember the guy who fell in love with me in Texas? Don? Well, I thought I had made him pretty aware that there was a guy back home in Salt Lake City that I was dating and really liked a lot. I thought he was aware that whatever was going on with us was purely a friendship. Besides, he lives in Texas and I live in Utah. What would be the point? So I was okay with keeping in contact with the guy. I believe he's in my life for a reason, just not a romantic one. My brother-in-law, on the other hand thought he was still trying to weasel in on me.

So Don calls me on the phone fairly regularly. I often don't answer when he calls, but sometimes I do. We email. And sometimes we chat on MSN Messenger. So we have kept in touch. I thought he was still aware of my feelings for a certain boy here in town. But I get an email the other day, and he flat out tells me that he likes me. He wants to know what I think about that.

What do I think about that? Hello, of course I know he likes me. I knew that from day one. Okay, maybe day two. But I seriously thought he was on board with the friendship thing. I like someone else. Isn't that obvious? It should be, because I've flat out told him about Marcus Wright.

I got oats on my head but don't call me an oat-head

I woke up late this morning. I was tricked into going to FHE in a BYU ward last night and didn't get home until well past my new bedtime. I was tired.

I went to my cupboard to get out the oatmeal. The canister is too tall to stand upright on the shelf, so I have to lay it down on it's side. Apparently the lid doesn't stay on too well. As I grabbed the oatmeal, oats started spilling out everywhere. There were oats on the one and only chair, oats on the floor, even oats in my hair! I did not have time for it. I swept it up, made breakfast, threw a lunch together, and was out the door in a reasonable amount of time. Katie Dickson asked me when I got in the car what was in my hair. Was it leaves? No. Oats.

It's nice to go to work every morning with your roommate. Especially your roommate wtih a car. (Tomorrow I have to ride out there on the bus, which means leaving my house about an hour earlier. . . oy vei!) Today it was my turn to drive. After I had pulled out of the driveway Katie turned to me and said, "You can listen to whatever you want." So I took that as I can listen to whatever I want. So I turned it to my favorite radio program, X96's Radio From Hell. After a minute of listening she turns to me again and says, "Do you want to listen to this?" As if it was by accident that I purposely changed it to this station and didn't really want to listen to it at all. I told her that I did in fact want to listen to this station and that I don't even like it when they play music--I just like to listen to Kerry, Bill, and Gina talk! I told her to give it a try and maybe she'd like it. She informed me when we got to work that she didn't. I think there will be more listening to my favorite morning radio program in the future if I'm ever given control. I'm sure it will be more out of spite than anything else.

Oh what a morning it was. . .

What's the color of YOUR collar?

I would like to think my collar is a nice shade of light blue. Yes, it's true I do work in a building with no windows and things that could fall on your head, but I also get to sit at a computer. . . So maybe I'm somewhere inbetween blue and white, perhaps a lovely [insert fabulous shade of blue here]?

#47. Go to Havasupai. CHECK!

Virgil Ash would be so proud. After 22 years (okay, so only after about 5 years but the story gets bigger every time I tell it) I finally made it to the Grand Canyon. Havasupai to be more precise. Thank you, Virg, for sparking the dream!

It truly is a tropical paradise in the desert. I fell in love with the brilliant orange cliffs and the amazingly clear greenish-blue water. I know the pictures won't do it justice.

We started out on Thursday with a fun little road trip to Kingman, AZ. After driving up and down Route 66 looking for a cheap motel (But one with a hot tub. Hey, we have standards.) we settled on the Quality Inn. We woke up early the next morning to find that Cyndi had gotten sick. Food poisoning? Stomach Flu? Whatever it was, it was not good for a ten mile hike into the Grand Canyon.

From Kingman it was about another hour and a half to the trail head. Once we got there we discussed what we would do with Cyndi. Should she go in her state? Would she even be able to carry her pack? She would need electrolytes and fluids. So we decided to put her pack on the helicopter (for a $20 fee) and she would just hike down with a daypack full of water, gatorade, and toilet paper. She realized halfway down the trail that every time a helicopter flew over head she would need to high-tale it to a bush quick! I guess Pavlov and his dog were on to something with that whole operant conditioning thing. Pretty funny, in that sad-for-Cyndi sort of way.

The hike was long. It took us six hours. My feet were aching by the end and I don't think any of us were in a very happy mood. We rolled into camp around 6 o'clock and by then it was already dark. We were informed by some tourists in the village of Supai that it gets dark at 5:30pm. They were right it turns out. So we found our group, set up camp, made some Pad Thai, and pretty much went to bed.

The next morning we went on a little hike to Mooney falls. Cyndi stayed at camp for this one. Too bad, because she really missed out! The falls weren't too far from the campground, and we could've gone on a longer hike to some other falls (the rest of our bigger group did that) but I was more concerned with playing in the amazing water than hiking. The approach to this waterfall was cool. You had to climb down through this rock tunnel and down some old ladders that had been placed. Closer to the bottom it got really slippery and wet from the mist and spray of the waterfall. It was actually kind of scary, but well worth it.

The water was a little cold, but not too cold to keep us out of there. We jumped off little waterfalls into pools of water and splashed around in the larger pool. The waterfall was amazing.

After our hike back up through the rock we went back to camp. Cyndi was nowhere to be found. We just figured she was in the bathroom. It turns out she was at Havasu falls, bathing. A funny thing about our sick friend, Cyndi. She was famous among the bigger group in camp, but also mysterious. No one had seen her, only heard about her and how hardcore she was for hiking down there in her condition. Later that afternoon she was feeling better, though, and she was up and about and went with us to play in Havasu falls so everyone got a good look at her. We were hoping to sneak her in and out of camp undetected. Oh well.

Havasu falls was awesome! There were so many little pools to sit in and we were brave enough to swim out to the big waterfall and climb up on these rocks behind it. We actually got to jump into the waterfall from behind! Too much fun. Y'all should see my pictures sometime.

The last night we camped in Havasupai was spent in battle against raccoons.

"What's that noise?"

[Maggie or Tori proceed to bang on tent]

"Cyndi?"

"Yeah?"

Did you leave your backpack out?"

"Yeah..."

Somehow those rascally guys got into her pack and pulled out some trail mix. At least they didn't shove her pack into the river like they did to Maggie last year. I think she's still bitter about that one. But we had to wake up at 5 am anyway to get out on the trail, so the battle had to end. We took down camp and were on the go before the sun even came up.

Luckily Cyndi felt much better by this time. What took us 6 hours to hike down only took us 4.5 hours to hike up. I guess things move a lot quicker when you don't have to duck behind a bush every ten minutes. The hike wasn't bad until that last push straight up the mountain. But we buckled down and did it. Yeah for Havasupai!!!

The ride home was fun. . . I got to spend nine fun-filled hours with some of my favorite people. Mags played DJ and gave us our own little personal concert/DJ mix and Cyndi drove the whole way home. I got to sit in the back and eat food. Life is great sometimes.

In true girls camp fashion we gave each other "awards" of sorts. This is what we came up with:

CYNDI - Trip Trooper - I am amazed that anyone could hike that with food poisoning and still have such a good attitude!
ANNA - Trip Hippie - My "Do it for love!" motto was in full effect, and I ate anything that was offered to me, and I was all about the environment and LNT on the trail.
TORI - Trip Guru - She thought of everything and thought ahead to any possible situation. She's a smarty-pants!
MAGGIE - Trip Mom (or Trip Nazi) - Some might say trip nazi, but really she was the one to get things done and make a decision. She really helped out with Cyndi and was just totally there for her in her time of need.

So plans are in the works for a trip next spring, we couldn't wait a whole other year. I hear my eternal crush, Christian Sabey wants to come. . . If I had only known! So yeah, Havasupai. A tropical paradise in the desert. Pure love.

An update of sorts

I haven't posted in a while. I'm not around a computer that often and when I am it seems I can't find the words. But here I am, groping for the words anyway. . .

The day I got home from Sabbatical I went on the annual Ruth Lake hike with my dad and Eliza and Paul. I'm glad we started that tradition; it's a good excuse for a scenic fall drive and a photo on the fridge. Later that night I went on a hot date. Life back amongst the mountains is good.

I've settled into the new house. Once again there is a good dynamic between roommates. There's a good vibe to the place even if we don't have much furniture. Come sit in our hammock or watch a movie in our pillow room. We're simple people striving to live sustainable lives. I wish we had a garden.

I still haven't found a job. Well, I haven't been looking too hard yet. Last week I was busy unpacking and organizing and resting for "the big race." It turns out I got a little bit o' the stomach flu. I guess that's not too good the week of a marathon. But I resolve to do better. As soon as I stop procrastinating (Read: writing blogs and such) I am looking for that danged job!

Even though I fell short of my goal time, the weekend in St George was really fun. We stayed with my dear friend and ex-roommate, Maria Nelson and her family. Mary and I got to sleep in the magnet bed (I swear I could feel my blood circulating better!). Gloria Staci even made a brief appearance! What more could you ask for?

So now it's the start of another week. Yesterday I got my hair dyed by my friend and also ex-roommate Lisa Bayley Buchanan. (Or just Lisa Bayley for short) I'm looking quite sassy.

Last night we all went rock climbing up Big Cottonwood Canyon for FHE. And by "we" I mean me, Lisa Bayley and her husband Adam, Tori, and this Brett kid. I was a little worried as I was hiking down the trail and crossing the river--my legs still hurt from the run and it is hard to walk up and down stairs let alone a rock face! But, surprisingly, while I was on the rock the legs didn't hurt at all. I like this new FHE tradition complete with lesson (usually to do with something relating rock climbing to the gospel, but this week it was about marathon running), activity (rock climbing for now, snow shoeing in the near future) and treat!

I'm going to Havasupai in a few days. I'll get to cross yet another thing off of my list of things to do before I die. I'm excited. It's a tropical paradise in the desert. I get to share it with good friends. Life is so dang good!

Okay, I think I've probably rambled enough about the last week of my life. Now I need to focus. . .

Sabbatical: At the end of it all

My sabbatical is over. I'm at the end of my journey. Tomorrow I'll be home.

It's weird to think that practically a month has gone by. Time moves too quickly. I just got here. But practically a month has gone by and now it is time for me to leave. I wish I could tuck the wee one in my carry-on luggage because I am going to miss her terribly. I'll miss the toddler as well but not the abuse. Dangit, I'm going to miss my sister and Hobear too! Can't they all just fly back home with me?

When I got here I didn't really know why I had come, other than I had an opportunity to. I felt I probably had something to learn here, but I didn't know what. Maybe these are some reasons why I came. . .

• Volunteering with the American Red Cross in the Katrina Relief effort
• Playing ultimate with Hyzer Soze -- not only did I meet some awesome people, but they needed me to play in that Sectionals Tournament in Austin pretty badly!
• Babies
• Learning from other people's relationships -- before I say yes to any marriage proposal, I will make sure to ask such important questions as "what are your feelings on tepid water?" etc.
• Missionary opportunities -- maybe Don was placed in my path for a reason
• Reality TV! I think I'm all caught up now and won't have to watch tv for the rest of my life! (especially children's programming!)
• The appreciation of vast expanses of open sky and flat plains
• Many many more valuable lessons that will help me in the road of life. . .

So with that I encourage everyone to take a step back from their daily routine and go on their own sabbatical of sorts. Sometimes you don't even have to travel very far to realize that everything you love is close to home; but that the great big world has a lot of amazing things to offer as well.

Felines make for great traveling companions

The Austin Roadtrip 2K5 was a lot of fun. Thunder Jones and I sat comfortably in the back while Don drove and Colby played navigator. We played the Who-is-this-band-and/or-artist game, and a few missed turns later we eventually got to Austin.

We didn't get much sleep on Friday night. We rolled into town late and had to be at the fields early the next morning. I'm just glad we got to stay at Don's Dad's house. Though I hear that the people staying at Mike's parents had a hot breakfast in the morning and his mom made them dinner as well. But what can you do? He did buy us all Gatorade, which was pretty nice of him.

After a full day of ultimate, we went back to the house sweaty and stinky. We took showers and then went with Vijay and Lars out to eat. We went to Chuy's, a fun mexican restaurant with sanitized silverware and blessed food. Afterwards we went and rented Memento from Blockbuster and vegged out on the couch. That's pretty much all we had energy for. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Don, Vijay, and Lars, though. (Colby was at the UT football game with his cousin) They're pretty funny guys. Then by ten o'clock we were all in bed. It was a pretty wild night! I guess I didn't get to experience all that Austin has to offer. Like 6th Street with all the bars. Maybe next time... (or when I'm 76 and going on roadtrips with my sister in her motorhome!)

We had another full day of ultimate on Sunday. We were all planning on only two games, but we surprisingly won the first one so we got to play a third. I'm glad we lost that one, though, because I can tell you right now I didn't have a fourth game in me!

After the tournament we went back to the house and showered before we headed out of town. Since I was with a bunch of boys I had to sit there and watch football while everyone took turns showering. Not so much fun. But then we got to nap. So much fun!

Don and I were conspiring to either ditch Colby or just hijack him and head for the coast. I thought it was a really good idea until I found out it was just the Gulf and there aren't any big waves in the gulf which means no surfing. It just wasn't worth the extra three hour drive (one way) for no waves to play in.

So Austin is a pretty cool place. I really liked it. If it weren't so bloody hot and humid I would probably live there. Or I would just deal with the heat and humidity and hopefully get used to it. But I'm not looking to move to Texas anytime soon, so...

Destination: Boston 2006

Last year I got a crazy idea. Why not try and qualify for Boston? I mean, my PR is only 15 minutes off the qualifying time and that's when I wasn't even really trying. (I swear it was the plyometrics!) So 2005 was going to be the year to do it. I would have two chances: Salt Lake in the spring, and if that didn't go well then I'd shoot for St George that fall.

Well, Salt lake didn't go well and now here we are three weeks from St George.

I started another blog earlier this year dedicated to my Boston efforts. I wanted to take my training seriously. But with chronic injuries Boston kept feeling out of reach. I wasn't getting those quality workouts in that I knew I would need to get me where I wanted to be. There were no speedworkouts. There were no hill repeats. There were no plyometric jumprope routines.

So I was left feeling discouraged. There would be no way I was capable of holding the pace I needed to qualify. It was such a big dream that it scared me to think about it. But was my fear of failure holding me back? Were my chronic injuries manifestations of that fear? I suspect the mind-body connection is a lot closer than we let on sometimes. But maybe I've been capable of doing this all along, and I just need to push past the negative energy. Besides, frisbee has been my speedwork, and carting kids around a pool all summer has been my plyometric exercise. I think I'm closer than I know.

A few weeks ago I ran my best race to date. It completely rekindled the dream! If I can race like that in St George, then I am Boston bound. I'm still scared but I've found that excitement and anticipation that had been lost for a while. Without that mix of feelings I'm not sure it would really be worth it.

So come October 1st we'll know if next year is my year for Boston. If not, I will refocus on my goal of the Fifty States Club, and there will always be other years and other races for qualifying.

You never really know how you're going to feel on race day. I'm just counting on adrenaline and gravity to pull me through.

Montana has nothing on Texas!

They say that everything is bigger and better in Texas. If by everything they mean the sky, they're right on.

When I came here to West Texas, I traded in my mountains for a great expanse of open sky. At first I missed my broken skyline. I missed the safety I felt as the Wasatch loomed over me. But now I'm starting to appreciate the flat. The big bowl of blue. The large sunsets that encompass every piece of sky.

Japanese Princess

I found out a few days ago that my roommate, Rui, was bucked off a horse and kicked in the face. No neurological damage but she did break her cheekbone and her jaw is completely off-line. Supposedly she's having reconstructive surgery sometime today. Natalie said when she went and saw her at Mckay Dee Hospital the other night she was sad and anxious and upset. Her family is in Japan, so that must be hard. I hope she is alright. I've come to the conclusion that horses are evil.

throwing the plastic, as it were

I was supposed to toss a disc around with this guy from frisbee today. He called and we set it all up. We'd meet each other at Frank Higinbothum Park a little after 5 o'clock. So I go over to the park and wait. I try and look for him from my car and then realized if I couldn't see him he certainly wouldn't be able to see me. So I get out and find a nice shady piece of grass out in an open area of the park. I wait some more. No sign of the guy. I'm pretty sure he hasn't stood me up because he seemed pretty animate about throwing a disc around. I'm guessing he has some other interest in me other than frisbee, if you know what I mean. But that is only speculation.

Finally I give up waiting and go home. I ask my sister if he called while I was gone. Twice. So I called him back thinking I was clear of this whole thing. Well, I was except for the fact that now we're going to have dinner tomorrow after practice. I am too nice and agree to things even if it might be against my better judgment. And besides, I might be taking things out of context. Maybe he does just want to eat with me. It's not a date, is it?

I can't just assume this kid wants to kiss my face off. Hopefully he doesn't 'cause I don't want to go breaking any hearts while I'm here in Texas! And I wouldn't want things to be awkward as we drive to Austin together... with his cat.

Volunteering

Yesterday (was it just yesterday?) I volunteered again with the Red Cross. I went to Reese at 1:30 in the a.m. I was helping out with Mass Care which meant I got to stock a table full of food for the evacuees in case they wanted something to eat; there were other tables with supplies, clothing, etc. But when it is the wee hours of the morning nobody really wants food, supplies or clothing. So we sat. And slept. And pretty much did some more waiting.

Around 7:30 a.m. there was more for us to do. I started helping out at the volunteer check-in table and was a gopher for a bit. This other girl and I had to go over to the dining hall to get a contact number for the person in charge there. I got to see some evacuees. They all seem so nice and grateful. Well, the few I actually saw.

So that has been my experience with volunteering for the Katrina relief effort. I should probably call the Red Cross and see if they have any other shifts available.

and after all the waiting I just wanna come back home again

The day consisted of waiting... and eating food. Then waiting some more. Then eating more food. Then waiting.

There was a rumor circulating that the planes were arriving at 11 o'clock; they'd take them to Reese first and then the overflow would be brought to us at the Coliseum. We had everything set up and ready to go. As the time ticked by we heard that the planes had been re-routed and were headed to Chicago instead. It made no sense. We had the resources, we were willing, and we were able. Why re-route?

Our supervisors at the Red Cross didn't have any answers either. They barely had communication in regards to the planes. It was all a waiting game.

But when you think about it, we didn't have it too bad. Yeah, we waited all day with nothing to do, but we had our needs met. We had shelter. We had food. We had running water and bathrooms. We weren't climbing onto roofs just to survive.

I'm volunteering again, this time at Reese. I'll go back tonight from 1:30am-9:30am. At least I know I'll be put to some use instead of waiting.

Evacuees

Three planes of evacuees flew into Lubbock today. Robert was at the airport doing triage, assessing them as they came in--sending the one's who really needed it to the hospital.

Ever since last night I've had the feeling that I needed to help out. Today in sacrament meeting they asked for volunteers for the Red Cross. We left church after the meeting and went over to the 58th Street chapel to watch the training video and get an assignment. I was scheduled for the 10:30pm-7am shift doing registration.

So when I got home from filling out my volunteer paperwork at the local Red Cross chapter, I ate some food and then went to my room to sleep so I could be up all night helping hurricane evacuees.

At around 7 o'clock I got a phone call saying my shift had been cancelled but I could volunteer tomorrow. So now I'm working from 6:30am-3pm. So much much for sleeping all afternoon to be up all night! Now I just have to wake up extremely early!

I'm going to be a Team Leader for my registration shift. What that means exactly, I'm not sure. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

Please read my sister's posts for more insight on the situation:
Here come the 'Fugees
Correction and update
Update again