Previously Untitled.

So thus far my off week has been profitable, I feel. Tuesday I got to go fishing with my dad and nephew. As every good fishing trip should end, I out-fished them both. Of course, with my last cast a fish took my line and dragged it into the weeds at the bottom of the lake, where I lost both the fish and my silver kastmaster. I'll miss that lure. But sitting out in the middle of that lake I came to a realization. The only times I tend to do well at fishing are when I'm praying I'll catch something. Every time I get a bite it's only after I've prayed, "please let me catch something," or "please let me catch more than my father." Not a very nice thing to pray for, true, but he's had over 30 years to hone his fishing skills, and I enjoy the competition aspect more. My nephew was pretty funny though, and I got stuck taking his fish off his line.

Wednesday marked my last day volunteering at JHES. The kids there are so cute. Who knows, maybe I'll go back to visit without Duckling being there. I got a ton of pictures though. Many of which I will now delete (I let the kids go crazy with my camera, and as a result they took pictures of every square inch of the resource room.) It was 100% free time, with donuts and juice boxes.

Yesterday marked the sign up for Summer League. I think there are less girls in the summer, which worries me. Before that I got some quality throwing time in. Wheel throwing that is. I threw a hat. A gnome hat. I planned on throwing more of the thing than that, but then I cut it off the top of my mound of clay and resumed throwing, only to botch it up by pulling it too thin. Oh well. I'm just not used to all the effort involved in a kick wheel. It requires quite a bit of patience, which I unfortunately lack, not to mention giving as much as your attention to keeping the thing going at the right speeds as to your actual project. Plus you have to wear real shoes to use one, and as I hate real shoes, especially when I'm outside enjoying the sun, I rebelled and wore flip flops yesterday. I was only hurting myself, but I feel I made my point.

So now it's Friday, and actually I just got back from eating school lunch with Duckling and the 5th graders. Wednesday might have been my last volunteering time, but this was all about the fun. Good ol' chicken drummies. Chicken nuggets in the shape of drumsticks = ingenious. I don't think they had a desert with them though. Sadness. Two of the most adorable kids are 5th graders, so we ate with them, and then got to play jump rope at recess with one of them. She wanted to play some jungle jim game that's all the rage for the kids these days, I guess, but I was all about the jump rope. But it's been a long time since I've jump roped, and it was a lot scarier than I remembered it. For a while there anyway Duckling and I just stood there holding the ropes for the children, but then bucked up our courage and jumped on in there. I got tired pretty quickly there, and I don't think it helped that it was about 100 degrees outside. Then I guess they were doing their 5th grade state reports, and they built little floats, so we answered questions and they gave us candy with them.

All that said, I have some important things to do today if I can make myself do them, and I might go play tennis with Duckling, Pinkie, and FK later tonight. Of course, since only one of them actually knows anything about playing, this should be interesting. And I'm pretty sure she hasn't played since high school. I myself had pneumonia for that rotation of gym, so I would just throw the ball back to her whenever it got hit over the cage wall. However, I can't think of many things more entertaining than watching Pinkie and Duckling pretend like they know how to play tennis.

TGIF...Hooray.

I never thought that there would come a time when I would be so happy for Monday to come. So my weekend it starting...which will end next Monday. I never thought there'd be a time when I would be so unhappy for Monday to come.

I just woke up an hour and a half ago. I thought "shoot, there goes all the overtime I put in over the weekend." I was at work forever yesterday putting a dent in the list of all the pipette calibrations I waited to do at the very last minute. I finished 8, which means I have 5 left for today, 2 of which are multi-channel. Other than that...not a lot of samples to run, so I'll most likely be very bored today while I'm wishing I could go home early, a plan which sleeping in ruined. Of course, I don't really mind staying late on my last day of the week. Too much to look forward to. Despite the fact that I woke up late, traffic contributed more than anything to me reaching my destination of work so late. I'm used to being the only one on the road, and instead it was me and most of Salt Lake County going 20 mph. I hate driving slow. Or anything but fast.

So my week off list so far consists of: sending my too small cleats back from where they came from. It's nice to have free shipping both ways when ordering custom cleats. I like the little puma tiger jumping on the back. It makes me feel more active a person than I am. Also, I need to order those blasted shirts finally. I have one more thing to tweak on the image and we're good to go. Then I think I'll try my hand at making some garden gnomes. I have some black mountain clay, rod's bod, and a porcelain-like b-mix...all waiting to be made into works of art. I need to make some chess sets and a cow milk pourer as well, so I should have quite a bit to keep me busy this week. It had better be sunny.

Paragraphs...4 to be exact.

I'm going to try this paragraph thing.

So yesterday I forgot my phone when I went to work in the morning. I thought I was being so good by getting up early for once and getting to work on time. Then when I went upstairs to get breakfast at our on-site cafe, I somehow lost my grip on my OJ and it hit the ground erupting like the magnificent geyser that it was. I should have known that the two combined equaled a bad omen for the day. I discovered seconds later that I had left my debit card, and my driver's license, at home. At this point I had my food, French toast and a hashbrown patty, so I was curselessly cursing my bad luck. It turned out okay though. Embarrassing as was the possibility of paying with quarters, the fact was that I had about 10 dollars worth of them in my locker. I explained my situation to the cashier, and to my surprise she told me just to go sit down and eat, and come back and pay later. I was surprised, but grateful. Of course, I eat there practically every day, so it's not like they wouldn't be able to track me down if I dined then ditched out on the bill.

I actually made my dad drive down with my phone and card later that morning. I needed both later that day in order to be able to have tea with friends. I never honestly enjoyed tea during the month and a half I spent in England (if you don't drink it black it's just flavored water. Heated flavored water), but we diligently had it almost every single day...Solely for the scones and clotted cream that came with it. I can think of no surer way to a heart attack than clotted cream. So good, but so bad for you. I'm pretty sure we all gained at least 10 pounds before we gave up tea time. Anyway, down town they have this little store called the British pantry, specializing in all things British, and they have a little tea corner. We had tea, and more importantly, I built up my waning supply of Hob Nobs and Kinder Buenos. I unfortunately picked up the bread with fish paste on it first, which I ever so impolitely then took out of my mouth and put on my plate when my throat muscles uncooperatively refused to swallow. Everything else was good though, although I was not so fond of the little pies that tasted like fig newtons. And I like fig newtons.

Today is less eventful. Yesterday I got in early and left early (at 2 in the afternoon). Today I slept in, and thus I can't go home for another 20 minutes. It doesn't really matter because I'm going to play some Ultimate, which is here in SL, and that's not till 6, so I'll just head to it straight from work. I took about an hour lunch break today though, so really I should be staying later than I am. I blame it on my friend who I'll call Sheidi, with the help of my other friend Shanne. I always take long lunch breaks when I'm with them. But talking to Sheidi I learned of a specialty grocery store on something like 17th East and 11th South that also has clotted cream. I think it may be less expensive, so I need to check it out.

A Return to Relative Normalcy

This past week was one of the most exhausting of my existence. I spent the majority of it making eclairs. I was told to make 400...I think I made 300. Good enough. The first day of baking I was flying, but somehow on the second day I lost my groove. I managed to sprain my ankle on Tuesday, so I got to experience this all with a fat foot...Which in and of itself is not a big deal, but the pain of standing on the fat foot was more than just unpleasant. So on Monday I got to go to A Track Practice. Some of my League buddies play on a traveling team, and one of them is a high school track coach. The second I heard about this I got so excited I couldn't stand it. But I did. It's been a while since I've worked on my sprinting form, and ever since high school I've actually craved the pain of a good speedwork session, so this was seriously great news. I rather enjoyed it, and am sad I missed this weeks session. Stupid fat foot. So Tuesday was an open practice for both traveling teams, and while I enjoyed that as well, I tweaked my ankle making a cut during a drill, hence my current situation. Also, at some point during this week I got a new phone. I started out with the slvr, which decided not to work; it would suddenly flip so all the words were backwards. So we (my sister and I) went and switched it out with another one. It was a nice phone, and it doubled as an ipod, but it wouldn't play music in the ipod library as ringtones, which ticked me off a bit. And I already have an ipod, so ultimately I traded it in for a razr. I like flip phones better anyway, especially since I drop my phones a lot and the open screen worried me quite a bit. And for some reason it was too expensive to have insurance on it, which was not an option for me. So back to the cingular store we went and traded it yet again. It was frustrating, but I went to the drive-in that night and without a doubt that was the least stress-filled day. I think it was Wednesday. Flash forward back to Thursday making eclairs: I took a break and went shopping at the mall with my sisters, to buy ties of all things, and birthday presents for my nieces. Shopping makes me irritable, so this was not helpful in the long run to the process I'd been tasked. Less so since I was hobbling about. I got back to my sister's house where I was making them and only lasted about another hour. So this whole experience totally reminded me of a stake conference in Florida where FK drew a stick picture of me with one really huge foot and one all shriveled up. It wasn't out of malice, I don't think, she's just not very talented at drawing feet. Then of course in addition to this she drew me hovering a foot off the ground and stuck to the side of the stairs I was next to, so we afterward joked about my giant magnetic foot. I now know that it would suck to have a giant magnetic foot, so if ever I get a super power, that will not be it. My sister's wedding turned out well, and my brother came down from Virginia where he is going to Med school, so I also got to meet my new nephew. He looks like a little old man. We took new family pictures during this whole endeavor. We had a lot of family time this past week. Saturday and Monday were mainly devoted to some much needed relaxation, achieved through fishing, with my dad and nephew. It's been a while since I've fished along a shore, so Saturday could have been better without all the standing. Sunday was my nephew's baby blessing. Monday we employed the float tubes. And I've just started to come down with a cold, as of yesterday. First it was just a sore throat , but that's the part I usually don't have and really don't like. Today I've gotten the sinus stuff too, which is bad because my brother leaves tomorrow and I can't be around the baby sick. So now I'm back at work, and I'm really tired. Normally I would be able to take cold medicine, which makes me really happy, but I would not be able to stay awake guaranteed. I think I'm getting better at not sleeping when I'm tired though. I know that doesn't sound like a good thing, but I only have 3 more hours of work and I'm coping better than expected. Unfortunately I have errands to do after work, then I can take a glorious nap.

To list, or not to list...

I'm pretty sure there are a million things I need to be doing right now, but I can't think of a one of them. It's Tuesday; I could have sworn it was Wednesday when I woke up. I have to start making eclairs today; oh the joy. And I need to go print off a lot of my pictures from my digital camera. Those are the only two things I can think of, and one I can't do till tonight, the other I need to further motivate myself into doing. I still have to complete the selection process. It's what I get for just clicking and pointing continuously in a rapid motion. I also have to buy my sister a wedding gift and my twin nieces birthday presents; alas, their birthday was yesterday. And of course there's the ever present problem lately of my room. No matter what I don't do, it refuses to fix itself. And who else misses the game store? That obviously won't happen today, but I thought about it the other day when I drove by it with a friend who knew not of it's joys. Oh, and I have to finish my t shirt design and order them. And I need a phone. My old one is in Provo right now, and I have no idiea when I'll see it again, or if I want to for that matter. Hmnnn...then there are a few matters that need to carried off for Operation Clark in a Wagon. This week off had better be a productive one. I do get to play some disc today, which reminds me... I have this friend who was on my league team. And she has a team now that will be holding try outs soon, but for what I don't know. A traveling team? Anyway, they have practices they've invited me to, to improve my techniques. Even better, on Mondays they have Track practices. Now it's been about 5 years since I've been to a Track practice, and when I heard about it I got sooooo excited. One observation a track buddy and I had after we'd graduated was that we actually began to crave the pain we used to feel in speedwork work outs. Bizarre, but complete truth. So apparently a girl on their team is a high school track coach, so she holds these to help increase everyone's speed, which is important in Ultimate. I have forgotten a lot of basic form rules since I last ran sprints, so yesterday was awesome. I'm seriously so excited to get back to where I once was in this particular area that I could do a jig. But I won't.

"To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost."

Hopefully I’m not stupid. So therefore I can’t be happy when I’m selfish. But lately I’ve begun to notice, I’m incredibly selfish. I guess that’s what comes of knowing selfless people. One can’t help but hold them up to oneself and find oneself lacking. I always have a hard time finding gifts for selfless people. I guess that’s what’s got me thinking on this subject. I can never figure out what to give my mother for her birthday or Mother’s Day. Me on the other hand…give me an hour and I’ll give you a list the size of your arm. That’s if you have pretty long arms. And how happy am I when I get items on my list? Oh sure, I’m momentarily pleased till I move on to my next conquest, but as a college student I can only go so far. Money is a stressful institution. But oh man, I hate shopping. I guess that helps me out in the long run.

New goal: stop being selfish.

Some

So I'm going to this allergy conference at 4. I'm having the hardest time staying at work today. I've been bored for so long, and only my lack of hours this week and the fact that I'm going to League straight from work have kept me here. I'm becoming more and more distracted and innatentive towards life in general at the moment. I have a list of things I want to accomplish this summer, and I don't feel like doing any of them. Of course working I can put them off, but I have no excuse come my off week. Well, except for the wedding I have to help with this next week. Along that same note, my sister-in-law is in town for the wedding (my bro will be along next week), and I got to meet my new nephew yesterday. He looks like a little old man, with more hair than my brother could ever covet. A cute little old man though. I've gotten a lot of reading in today. I don't think I'm going to bed tonight. I need to be into work tomorrow bright and early, and I can't trust myself as of late to wake up early. The baby shower for little Cornea, as I will call him, is tomorrow since they live in VA. It will be nice to get off a little early; I still need to buy a present.