Close to home...

Last Saturday night I got a phone call from my mom. She told me that my little sister's marching band had been coming home from Idaho when one of their buses rolled. Luckily, my sister was on the bus in front of the one that rolled, but there were still a lot of injuries and one fatality. Heather Christensen had been the woodwind instructor for the band. The driver of the bus had passed out and Heather got to the front to try to correct the bus before it went off the road. The bus still rolled, but the damage wasn't half of what it would have been if there had been no attempt made to keep the bus on the road. Heather was a hero that night and I am incredibly grateful for that.

Last night the band performed in honor of Heather at their competition. I am pretty sure that everyone in that stadium was in tears. Many of the other bands wore red and black ribbons to show their support. All in all, it was an incredible evening. The band swept the competition, winning 1st place and all of the "Outstanding" awards available in their division. Those students were great and it was amazing to see them come together and perform after such a tragedy.

You can read about it here.

Oh, Hi.

Ok, so it's been a while. A long while. But I have been busy. Very busy. So busy, in fact, that I am at home convalescing. I am 99.9% sure that I have been busy and stressed to the point that my body finally said. "If you do not slow down, I will slow you down." I didn't slow down.

I am taking the GRE in 12 days, my sister is getting married in 14 days, I am taking an Intro to Teaching Seminary class, and I have more to do at work than I have ever had before.

And to top it all off, I now have the cold to end all colds. Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but it feels like it is. Especially when there is so much to be done! I have slept so much in the last 4 days that I am starting to feel like Rip Van Winkle. I have also imbibed an amount of DayQuil that is most likely illegal in at least 7 states. I hope to be back on my feet soon. Until then I am going to go hit the DayQuil again and crawl into bed...

The Countdown Continues...

I leave for my cruise in t-minus 2 days. We will spend 2 lovely days in Seattle and then we will be ON A BOAT!

One Week!

The count down has begun. In one week, I will be on my way to Seattle. After two days in Seattle-town, I will board a cruise ship with three of my very-soon-to-be-best-friends and sail for Alaska. My hope and dream is to see a whale, preferably a lot of whales.



Please put good whale sighting thoughts out in the universe for me.

Thank you.

Update on the Purse Burglar

I completely forgot to follow up on my purse burglar post! Here is my reply to the ransom note:

Dear Purse Burglar(s),

First, I would like to thank you for your very polite ransom note. I always feel more inclined to respond when I am addressed as "Dear" Victim. However, I must admit that your terms are rather steep terms and I fear that as a lowly recruitment coordinator, there is no way that I will be able to live up to such exorbitant demands. Might I suggest a compromise?

1. Slurpees at Staff Meeting - A. Pina colada lemonade at the Outback Steakhouse
2.Raises for everyone - B. Raises that come in the form WORK! Effective August 26th, 2009 (approximately)
3.Paid vacation - C. One (1) all expenses paid trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
4.Oreo cookies - D. Layer cakes. Tomorrow.

Should these compromises be satisfactory, I will await the return of my currently secured valuables. I will be walking out of my office at precisely 3:45pm, giving any interested party the opportunity to return the stolen goods without compromising their identity.

Those are my terms.

Yours truly,

The Victim

After a bit of negation over my proposed terms, my purse was safely returned. The next day began the most amazing Ambassador Training Retreat that this school has ever seen. Here is why:



I have a pretty cool job. Even if my purse does get stolen every once in a while.

Handi-spots

There is a joke that goes around in the single world that men are like parking spaces - the good ones are taken and the rest are all handicapped. Personally, I have no problem with handicapped men. I have no problem with handicapped women, or even handicapped children. What I have a problem with is a serious excess of handicapped parking spaces in parking lots.

The recent renewal of frustration comes from the new employee lot that I have been attempting to park in since we moved into our new building. There are about 50 regular spots and 12 handi-spots. The regular spots fill quickly everyday and only 2 of the handi-spots are consistently used. Why must we have SO MANY spots that are reserved? Couldn't we have the two spots for the people that use them everyday and 4 more for others, instead of 10 perfectly usable spots lying unclaimed?

Because of the parking shortage I have been parking in a lot across campus after arriving each day to find my lot filled. I drive wistfully past those 10 empty spaces and then think about how the world could be different as I make the long trek over to my office. Here is what I propose after many mornings of thought. Since I have had this issue on my mind I have been seeing empty handi-spots everywhere, and I realized that if they were full, I wouldn't mind the inconvenience at all!

So, my point is this: I would like encourage all those with disabilities that require special parking to get out more! If you are out and about and enjoying the world and reaping the benefits of these reserved parking spots(that I sincerely believe you rightly deserve), I would be more than happy to park further away to accommodate you. So, for goodness sake, please stop teasing me with all of your empty spots.

Beware the Purse Burglar!

Today was Valerie's last day at work. I am a little unsure what life in the office is going to be like without her. She is the only other person in this office (excepting our director) who has been in the office since I got here almost 4 years ago. You will be missed Val!

And to let her know that she would be missed, we threw a little Fiesta today. The party was super classy and consisted of one present (earrings, fashion mags and flowers) and Lays Potato Chips and Krispy Kreme donuts.

Well, in all the excitement of the party I left my purse on the table and walked away for a bit. When I returned it was gone, with this note having been left in it's place:




Whatever shall I do?