Treadmill Dance.

I thought this was hilarious when my cousin sent it to me a year ago. Watching it again today, I still found myself laughing. Enjoy!

Let's be real here!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a work meeting. A lot of people new to the company were in attendance, so we were asked to take turns introducing ourselves, telling how long we've been with the company, and answer the question: If you could meet someone famous, who would it be? I have to admit, I tend to dislike these types of questions, especially when you only have thirty seconds to think about your answer. Maybe I take it too seriously, but somehow I just feel that my answer will stick with me and say something about my character. I wished I had more time to think! As everyone started answering, celebrities such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matthew McConaughey, and the occasional sports figure such as Tiger Woods quickly took their places among the most popular answers. Getting more and more bothered by the answers and how ridiculous people were, I started panicking because my turn was coming up so quickly. I don't really care about meeting celebrities or movie stars! I sat there trying to think with whom I could have an englightening or inspiring conversation. I turned to my colleague, Kendra and said, "Who should I say?" She replied, "Well, someone scholarly..." I smiled. Kendra knows me well.

When my turn came, I stood up, introduced myself, and named Elie Wiesel as the famous person, whom I would like to meet. As I explained that he is a WWII Holocaust survivor and accomplished author, I successfully silenced the group. So I continued and explained further that I'm not really interested in meeting any celebrities, so I tried to think of someone with whom I could have a really great conversation. One of my colleagues laughed and loudly proclaimed, "I chose Matthew McConaughey not because I want to talk to him, but because I want to see him with his shirt off!" Please! This is just ridiculous to me. Let's be real here.

A friend once told me that if she had to describe me in one word, the word would be real. It's true. I don't like to live in fantasy-land. Disneyland was fun, but only because it was fifteen minutes away from my grandparents' house and there were some fun rides. I never once wanted to be a Disney princess for Halloween. And Halloween, for that matter... I still have to force myself to dress up if I go to a Halloween party. Why do we all want to spend an evening surrounded by ghost, goblins, and witches? :) Saturday morning cartoons weren't really even my thing. I watched a few, but really they just didn't interest me a whole lot. Apparently, I didn't even really like Sesame Street all that much. I mean what kid doesn't like Sesame Street?! My mom has frequently marveled at how she would turn on the television in the morning for me to watch "every kid's favorite TV show" while she tried to get things done around the house. But instead of watching the whole episode, I would generally get up and turn it off after about fifteen minutes. She claims that I rarely watched an entire episode. I vaguely remember this. I do remember thinking that Cookie Monster was kind of stupid. I liked Count Dracula, but that's only because he seemed smart and he could count.

So after I announced to the crowd that I'm different, I sat back down in my seat. Satisfied. I might have had a different type of answer to that question than most everyone in the room, but I'm happy with that. I'd like to meet Elie Wiesel over Matthew McConaughey any day. I mean really. Let's be real here. :) What are you going to do if you meet Matthew McConaughey? Just stare at him? We can do that online or in a movie any time. Nothing can take the place of a good conversation!

Recipe for a Great Sunset: Clouds.

"Clouds came floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."

~Rabindranath Tagore

Is this not the truth?! I love clouds. This picture is the first sunset of my wonderfully relaxing vacation to the tropical paradise of San Juan del Sur. Absolutely beautiful!

Sunset in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
January 2008

Potassium Blues.

So my Grandpa started kidney dialysis recently and in trying to learn more about kidney failure and hemodialysis, I ran across this cartoon. When on dialysis, doctors pay close attention to your potassium levels in your blood (along with many other things) so, I laughed out loud and had to share. I emailed him the cartoon because I was sure he'd get a kick out of it.

Dale Chihuly.

May I just say that Dale Chihuly is amazing? I know that not everyone connects with his work, but one cannot deny that the man is skilled and talented beyond words. Although broken glass ravaging his face during a terrible automobile accident left him blind in his left eye (hence the eyepatch he dons) and a shoulder injury left him unable to actually blow glass since 1979, he certainly has a vision which has transformed him into the entrepreneurial impresario upon whom a fortune, and the entire contemporary-glass-art market, has been built.

Abravanel Hall is home to the only permanent Chihuly sculpture in Utah. The Olympic Tower was commissioned for, yes, the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Gazing through the glass windows as I walked up to Abravanel Hall on Friday evening, I just found it amazing. It's certainly not a piece of work I'd want in my front living room, but it's breath-taking, I think.

But how do they dust it? No, seriously... how do you think they keep it clean?

Oh, the joy of apostrophes!

Since most of you know me well, I'm sure you know that I strive to speak, as well as write with proper grammar. (Thanks, Mom!) Though English grammar rules can confound even the best of writers, inappropriate apostrophe usage sticks out like a sore thumb to me. This cartoon just made me laugh since it just really hit home with regard to grammar and work. Aaaaah!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is a fun day for me. For one thing, I love the color red. I like hearts, but never heart jewelry or hearts on clothing or hearts in the hands of a stuffed animal. Blech. And, I love love. I love the love of my mom. I love the love of my dad. I love the love of my roommate. I love the love of my friends. I love the love of my family. I love the love of little children. I love the love of God. I just love love!

I rarely have a "Valentine" on Valentine's Day, but I do remember in 4th grade when Christian was "in love" with me. Unfortunately, I had pneumonia so I couldn't attend our class's Valentine's Day party. My mom kindly took my Valentine cards and my assigned treat to the school for me. My teacher had collected all of my cards from my classmates and presented them to my mom to deliver to me at home in bed. As my mom was about to leave, Christian stood up across the room and said, "You're Emery's mom, right?" Yes. As he produced a box of chocolates and a card from inside his desk, he said, "Can you give these to her?" With cheers, jeers, and whistles from the class abounding, he confidently retorted, "At least I had the guts to do it!"

If only we would all "have the guts to do it!"

Yes, to some it's Single Awareness Day,



but it's just Love Day to me!


Here's hoping that you have a marvelous day and remember how very much you are loved!

Don't diet!

I've recently had success in getting more healthy and losing weight by not thinking about dieting at all. Working out and being more active cause me to crave healthier food, so it seems to work for me. However, since the holidays and a week-long vacation in Nicaragua, I have put on some pounds. I'm not too happy with that, so I've been trying to focus on eating more healthily. Bad idea. When I actually focus on it, I get weird and start craving all the foods I shouldn't be eating. It's weird. I love candy, but I rarely ever eat it. Dessert always sounds good, but I never have it unless I go out to eat (rarely, these days) or I'm on vacation. White bread is yummy, but seriously who buys white bread anymore? I hardly buy bread at all. But somehow, when I tell myself I'm on a diet, that's all I want. Desserts, candy, white bread, chocolate and toffee covered almonds. I am pulled to the fridge like a magnet. I'm not even hungry, but I start searching for food, like my body just knows that my diet is going to make me wither away and die or something. I found this cartoon on the internet today and it pretty much sums up how I feel about dieting. So my vote is don't ever go on a diet. Just seek to feel happy, healthy, and fit... it will lead to the end result you have in mind.

The words we speak...

Can you read these right the first time? Have fun!

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a strange language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, two geese. So one moose, two meese? One index, two indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?

Sharona tagged me...

The lovely Sharona has tagged me. I always loved playing tag because I could outrun just about everyone else since I was taller than most everyone my age until I was a freshman in high school. But this kind of tagging is different. It takes time and thought, not just mere physical strength and stamina. So here goes.

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the game the player tags 5 people, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Where were you 10 years ago: Let’s see February 1998? I was living in Provo, Utah, probably freezing cold. I remember leaving for school one morning with slightly wet hair. After standing at the bus stop for a few minutes, I reached up to brush my hair out of my face and realized it was frozen!

Five things on my to-do list today: 1) Blog 2) Finish Year-end PMPs (Performance Management Plans) for my direct reports 3) Go to the gym 4) Get ready to go to Grandpa's on Thursday 5) Take some vitamin C to hopefully ward off this sore-throat I have.

Five snacks I enjoy: 1) Dry-roasted almonds 2) cheese 3) Clementines or Cuties(tangerines) 4) Starburst (see blog entry below) 5) Vanilla Häagen-Dazs ice cream - this one is a real treat!

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire: I would pay off my debt, buy a new car, put a down-payment down on house, furnish that house, invest, take a vacation to Bali, pay off my family members' debt, and then sit there and wonder how I got so much money.

Four of my bad habits: 1) I allow my alarm to go off at least four times before I even consider waking up 2) I sleep in my contacts more than I should 3) I frequently put on my makeup while driving -- except it was one of my New Year's resolution to stop that practice and I've been very good. 4) While driving, when coming to a stop, I rarely engage my clutch as I shift out of gear.

Five jobs that I have had: 1) Mother’s Helper 2) Laundry Lady 3) Public Relations Media Assistant 4) Retail Assistant Manager 5) Partnered Staffing Manager

Five things people don't know about me: Hmmm. 1) I love even numbers and odd numbers divisible by five. I eat candy in twos. 2) I smell everything. 3) I still own and sleep with the blanket I had as a child. I’ll never give my kiki up. 4) I have 39 stamps in my passport and one resident visa. 5) As a child, I was an avid collector of business cards. I know. Sounds sooooo interesting. :)

Thanks, Sharona! This was fun.

Five people I tag are: Suzy, Kate, Amiee, Becky, and Sherine.

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz.

As many of you may have noticed, I tend to avoid discussing politics because I fear too many people don't know how to have a real civilized discussion as opposed to an all-out debate (read: fight) where one or more parties leave offended, think less of you, or simply aren't equally matched with regard to their knowledge of current events and politics. However, a colleague sent me the link to this quiz to find out with which of the 2008 Presidential candidates my political views most closely coincide.

"GoToQuiz.com encourages you to get politically aware and follow the 2008 presidential election. With primary season heating up, make sure you are voting for the candidate who best matches your political opinions. Above all, don't let the media tell you who to vote for!"

Is not the internet a form of media? :) Oh well. I figured it was worth taking, just to see what it said, right? It's just an internet quiz, so who's to say, but... it did fairly accurately conjecture that I'm a pro-Romney Democrat.

66% Barack Obama
65% Hillary Clinton
64% Mitt Romney
63% John Edwards
62% Joe Biden
61% Bill Richardson
60% John McCain
59% Chris Dodd
58% Rudy Giuliani
54% Tom Tancredo
53% Fred Thompson
44% Mike Huckabee
41% Mike Gravel
41% Dennis Kucinich
30% Ron Paul

And there you have it.