Internships

My time at BYU is about to end. I graduate in April. I'm really not mature enough to be a college graduate, but life waits for no one. I will be graduating in Dietetics, which means I am well on my way to becoming a Registered Dietitian (RD). The big thing that stands in my way is an internship. It isn't that I'm not incredibly excited to do an internship and finally practice everything that has been drilled into me for the last 4 years, but I have never been good at making big life decisions. I actually kind of suck at it. I spent months researching and praying about what to major in, terrified of making the wrong choice, as if I couldn't change it anytime I wanted.

And yet, somehow, I stumbled my way through making the decision enough to request recommendations from my professors. The current decision is as follows:

1. UC San Francisco

2. Bay Pines VA Medical Center


3. Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital (in Chicago)


4. Utah State University

UC San Francisco is definitely my first choice. They offer a stipend ($1300/month) and healthcare. Plus, I could live at home, seriously cutting down on expenses. However, I think I would be happy with any of the options. Bay Pines is in Florida, and is right on the coast. So great weather, and a stipend (all VA hospitals offer stipends). Chicago would be cool. I have never been there. USU would allow me to stay in Provo for my internship.

The problem is that my first three choices are really competitive. Any internship that offers a stipend is going to be competitive. I think that with UCSF and Bay Pines, the fact that I come from BYU will be in my favor. They have had BYU graduates in the past and have really liked them. Thank goodness for impressive former students reflecting well on the BYU dietetics program.

Applications are due mid-February. I'll hear back in April. What a long month and a half that will be.

Wish me luck.

Home Again

Finally. It is nice to be home, sleeping in my own bed. On Wednesday morning I woke up thinking "Tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed!" If only I knew then what the night would hold for me...

My flight back to Oakland was scheduled to leave at 9:30 on Wednesday night. According to the departure screen, my flight was scheduled to leave on time. Unfortunately I forgot a book and my ipod, so after waiting to board the plane, at 9:30 I went to an airport shop and bought "The Alchemist." I sit in my spot in line (I was flying Southwest) and read for a half hour, when I started listening to the conversation between a disgruntled, waiting passenger, and whoever was in charge of taking boarding passes and loading the plane. Apparently there was no pilot. Great. For the next 20 minutes, several airport workers are coming and going, talking to each other, using the phone, and looking stuff up on the computer. Finally, some guy makes an announcement that because of the Las Vegas airport shutting down (3 inches of snow in Las Vegas, and of course no one in Las Vegas knows what to do with snow, or had any equipment to use anyway) our pilot is stranded. They were looking for another pilot, and they would get back to us. Through more eavesdropping, I learn that there are several flights terminating in Salt Lake, but that each of the pilots had flown too long that dayto legally fly a two hour flight. What do you expect? It's 10:30 at night. Now they are checking with pilots that live in the Salt Lake or Park City area. Fortunately, a girl from my ward was on the same flight. We played cards while we waited. At midnight, they make the announcement that the flight is officially cancelled, and they will rebook us on the the 6:30 or 10:20 flight the next morning. Start Part 2 of my trip home.

My friend and I get in line to rebook our flight. Right behind us are two other college students from BYU, so we make friends and commiserate together. We had all decided that we just want to get on the 6:30 flight and stay at the airport that night. We don't want to hassle with getting back to Provo or getting over to a hotel just to be back at the airport 4.5 hours later. At about 1 am (yes, that was 1 hour standing in line to rebook) I finally rebooked to the 6:30 flight. The airport employees had brought a box of sodas, ritz crackers, peanuts, and airplane blankets and pillows. Luckily, there were no arm rests between the seats, so we could lay down on the benches. I settle in with two blankets and a pillow and attempt to sleep. They had provided ear plugs, but I could still hear CNN playing on the tv and the crying baby (poor, poor woman and poor baby) pretty clearly. At 2 am, a flight from Seattle arrived, and I happened to be "sleeping" right by that gate. It was freezing and loud for the half hour the plane emptied. I couldn't get warm again after that. I slept for about 5 minute incriments over a 2.5 hour period, but I layed awake for most of that. Eventually I got sick of trying to sleep, so I just sat up and listened to CNN while I played Monopoly on my phone. The next 2 hours passed really quickly, and finally it was time to board the plane! I was asleep before the plane took off, and slep until about 10 minutes before we landed. I arrived in Oakland at 7:45 pacific time, about 13 hours after I had arrived at the Salt Lake airport the night before. Which means that without the snow in the Sierras, I could have driven home in less time.

I think that the most awesome part of the whole experience is that I can now say that I have had a flight cancelled because there was no pilot. That is like cancelling school because they juts couldn't find a teacher. With no snow storm in Salt Lake at the time, who would have thought that a flight to Oakland, CA could be cancelled. Well, when there is no one to fly the plane, what else can they do?

On a completely different note, I was watching VH1's top 40 vidoes of 2008 this morning. Apparently Britney Spears has made a comeback with the song "Womanizer." I was a little confused when I heard it because at first I thought she was singing about herself. Turns out she was singning to a man, while she is sitting in a steam room, wearing....nothing. Britney, you don't need a womanizing man to exploit you. You are pretty good at doing that yourself. Thank you for trying to stick up for women, but you just objectified yourself instead.

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

I've decided to dedicate a post to the lyrical genius that is "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." Apparently the lyrics to this song were written by Dr. Seuss. You learn something new every day.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.

I wouldn't touch you, with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile.
Mr. Grinch.

Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crockodile.

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk.
Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you,
are as follows, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.

Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing
with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable
rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled up knots.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.
With a nauseaus super-naus.
You're a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse.
Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool
sandwich
With arsenic sauce.

My Maxims

First: If you want me to call you back, leave a message. Otherwise I assume that either you didn't consider the call important or it was only relevant at the moment so there is no need to call back. For example, someone calls because they are going to a movie in a few minutes and are inviting you to go. No point of leaving a message if you didn't answer because it would be obsolete in ten minutes. However, there are times when I don't follow my own principle. I rarely leave messages on my parents phone because I know that my mom almost always calls me back if she misses my call.

Second: Certain rules of the road should apply to pedestrian walkways. Generally people should walk on the right side of the sidewalk and pass on the left. And if you are walking with a group of people, the person on the edge must yield to oncoming pedestrians. Don't push someone off the curb or into the mud because you can't handle stepping behind your friends for two seconds.
Be careful when you stop in the middle of a walkway. People may be walking quickly behind you. (It really irritates me when I almost run into someone because all of a sudden they stop, but I am definitely guilty of doing stopping without warning)

Third: When you line a trash can, push the bag down before securing it to the bin so that there isn't a huge air bubble trapped under the trash bag. It just makes sense, because otherwise you throw away a paper towel and the garbage can looks full.

Fourth: Gum should be spit in the trash can, and if there is no trash can, then it needs to be spit in a bush or something, not where people are going to be walking. Nobody wants gum stuck to the bottom of their shoes. It really isn't that hard to find a trash can or bush.

That is all I can think of right now. Feel free to add to the list. I am curious about your maxims.

Viva La Vida

Coldplay-a band of exquisite talent and musical genius. My favorite band.


Viva La Vida- their most recent album, and the name of their current tour


November 22nd, 2008- the day Coldplay performed in the Energy Solutions Arena, at Salt Lake City


My Birthday Present- going to the Coldplay concert!



Emily and Janneke- my companions to this amazing display of musical ability


Awesome, epic, incredible, amazing, mind-blowing, super cool, so good- word I have used to describe this concert


Sorry for the poor quality pictures. It is hard to get a good from the third row from the back, in a dark arena. Technically I wasn't even allowed to take a camera in, but I was only one of the thousand who snuck it in. I definitely wasn't allowed to take any videos, so I certainly wouldn't be publishing any on the internet if I had...

Thanks Mom and Dad! And thanks to Janneke's friend who decided she shouldn't spend the money and sold me her ticket.

One Year Older and Wiser, Too

In honor of my birthday which is coming up in a few days, I decided to make a list of the things I have learned about myself in the last year:

1. I can run a marathon!
   
2. I enjoyed training for and running a marathon
   
3. I really like outdoor rock-climbing and canyoneering
4. Teaching Sunday School isn't as scary as I thought it would be
5. Becoming a dietitian may be scarier than I thought it would be...
6. I hate hair that is stuck to my couch or clothes
7. I really, really like quesadillas with enchilada sauce....and enchiladas!
8. Coldplay is my favorite band
9. I remember how to play the guitar
10. I am not very good at playing the guitar
11. I have really strong bones!
    
12. I don't hate bacon as much as I thought I did...I actually like it potato salads and broccoli salad (as long as it isn't overwhelming)
13. Following a budget is harder for me than I thought it would be...
14. I like Gilmore Girls, now that I have seen it
    
15. I have a lot of useless natural talent, like cutting long baguettes lengthwise evenly, being good at Guitar Hero and Link's Crossbow Training, and catching marshmallows in my mouth. I am sure there are more, but since they aren't talents that have any purpose or relevance in my life, I don't remember very well.
16. I can use Microsoft Publisher (I can make my own template and everything!)
17. I am really absent-minded. I am on my 5th BYU ID, and there have been many a forgotten appointment, assignment, etc.
18. Scooters may not see me, even if I am in a crosswalk and other cars are stopped, and other people are in the crosswalk
19. I can take someone's blood pressure
    
20. I am pretty good at making potato, pasta, and fruit salads. I sure hope the kids at the Cannon Center can appreciate that.
21. I enjoy cross-stitching, but I find the finished project a little cheesy-a little too relief-society for my taste.
22. It is by the grace of God that I have gotten to this point in my life (academically, and the fact that I am alive and well)- this may sound fascicious, but it is actually very true. When you take into consideration my absent-mindedness, it is amazing I have done so well in school. And with some of the risks I took during my canyoneering trips, I am actually really lucky that I didn't go away without any broken bones.

I hope you enjoyed this little list of mine (did you notice that there are 22 points. Can you guess how old I am going to be?) For the most part I enjoyed discovering these things about myself. What wonders await me in the next year of my life?

My Newfound OCD

It is official. I have gone crazy. What is the cause? Hair. "But Katy," you are thinking, "don't you have a head full of flowing, luscious hair?" So let me clarify...Hair not attached to a head has broken me.

It started this summer. I would get up around 5:30 in the morning, quickly change into grubby clothes, throw my hair up in a ponytail, and go make sandwiches for a few hours. At work, I would constantly notice something tickling at my arm. (Girls know what I am talking about. That pesky hair that is stuck to your shirt in just the right spot so that it is constantly rubbing against your arm, but really hard to reach.) But at work I am wearing gloves so I can touch the food. I can't just reach around to pick at the hair that is brushing against my arm. So I just have to bear it.

I started scrutinizing my back and shoulders in the morning and remove every detached hair I could find. It got to the point that if I ever felt a hair accosting my arm, I would have this compulsory need to get rid of it. My roommates can tell you about the night I freaked out during a card game because I would feel the hair, but COULD NOT find it, and neither could they (Hallucinations? Paranoia?)

So when I moved into my new apartment, this illness had already begun. It was stagnant for a while, but then I started to notice the hair that infiltrated the apartment, especially the couches. One day I was looking for the remote, and in stereotypical fashion, I stuck my hand between the couch cushions to feel for it. I shudder even now, thinking about it, but my hand resurfaced from the cushions with quite a bit of hair intertwined between my finger. It really was sickening and horrible. Our remote has a habit of getting lost in the couch, so I have had to dig for it several times since then. Same story every time: a handful of hair.

Another day I was cleaning my room, picking up all my clothes from the floor and putting them in my laundry bag in preparation to do laundry. I noticed that each article of clothing was covered in hair. SICK! Boy was I glad it was laundry day. After all my clothes were picked up, I got out the vacuum and sucked up all the hair in my area in front of the closet. I decided to vacuum a little in front of my bed, so I kind of moved my roommates things to the side. Well, underneath her stuff was more hair. A lot of it. I couldn't take it. I picked up all of her stuff (which was actually quite a bit of stuff. Sorry Katelyn) and put in on her bed, and vacuumed up all that hair.

Fast forward a few weeks, and with each day I am becoming more and more aware of the hair covering the couches. I am not even kidding when I say that on more than three occasions I have sat down and discovered a ball of hair stuck to the couch, or attempting to transfer itself to my pants. Each time, pinching the hairball between my thumb and forefinger and holding it out in front of me, I promptly throw it away. One night my roommate vacuumed the couches. It should have made a difference right? Well our couches have SO much hair that I could barely tell the difference. I was still able to pick off a handful of hair, and that was with just the hair that immediately caught my eye.

After a time, I wouldn't even look for the remote anymore. I would just sit in front of the TV, changing channels, rather than touch the couch cushions with my hands. One day, during a two hour period set aside for studying before a test, I lost it and spent 45 minutes vacuuming and removing hair from ONE couch cushion. See, the vacuuming wasn't really working, so I got a comb and started scraping the couch cushion. It helped, but not that much. While I was on my hands and knees in front of the couch, I was able to see close up just how much hair is on the couches. Seriously, as I was looking along the front of the couch, you could see the MANY individual strands sticking out from the front of each cushion. Lets not even talk about the hair that dwells in the area where heads actually touch or come close to the couch. It is actually better if I don't think about it much.

But really, what is up with these couches? When was the last time they were vacuumed? Did the girls before us vacuum it? What about the girls before them? All I know is that unless one of my roommates sheds an inhuman amount of hair, there is waaaay too much hair on those couch eseven for 6 girls in a 3 month period. We were on the list to get new couches, but apparently there was not enough couches for our apartment, so I am stuck with the couches who have pushed me over the edge of sanity.

It's my theory that all the hair has mutated the couch so that it now grows hair of its own.

Anyway, I think I will be permanently OCD about hair for the rest of my life. Maybe I should consider therapy...

Katy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

So today was definitely one of those days. I got sick on Saturday, but with a whole lot of homework due Monday and Tuesday I have been staying up late and getting up early and in general ignoring my health. Last night I stayed up late completing several assignments and getting a few prepared for the next day. I got up early today, but didn't get on to campus quite as early as I had hoped. I printed off my assignments that were due, went to buy a poster board for an english project due at 1:35, but didn't have time to print off my color pictures. My english project was a collage of pictures that I have taken over the last few years.

I went to class, met with a group after class to plan a presentation. I thought I had just enough time to print off my pictures before my next group meeting. But I remembered as I walked to the computer lab that it would be close because of devotional. So I just went back to the Eyring Science Center, met with my group, and was heading up to the library to find an open computer and a color printer around 11:30. Now don't get me wrong. I love devotional. In the past. However, today it was a BIG frustration. You see, all stores and computer labs on campus shut down during devotional. So I wandered around the library to those computers that were still open, but there wasn't an available computer. I ended up waiting in line for a computer for 15 minutes. While I was standing in line with 10 other people, I thought of all the nasty things I would say to that guy who surfing Facebook and that girl who wasn't even logged into the computer, but was using the desk to do other homework (you know, because the library is really sparse on tables without computers). Eventually, with no help from the jerks I already mentioned, I get to a computer, pull up my picture files and try to print them. Apparently trying to print so many pictures at once made the printer freak out. First the file didn't even show up at the kiosk. I resent it, went back to the kiosk and this time it showed up twice. I stood at the printer for a 5 minutes, but it never printed. I decided to go downstairs to a different printer, thinking that a printing area that wasn't so busy might print it faster. It didn't. I waited, and it didn't print. On my way out of the library, I stopped by the first printer to see that two of my eight pages had actually printed, but it was taking too long, and the prints didn't even look good. (This fiasco at the library cost me about 6 dollars, with only two pages of low quality prints to show for it)

At this point, I decided to go to Cougar Creations and print it there, because those printers are much more expensive, and maybe won't breakdown on me. At that time, it was about 12:05 (meaning my project was due in exactly 1.5 hours). Turns out Cougar Creations doesn't open until 12:15. In the meantime, I walked to the bookstore and bought some glue (because I was an idiot and forgot to bring glue with me that morning). After this point, things finally started to work for me. My pictures printed, somewhat slowly, but they looked nice. I arranged and glued them to my poster board, wrote my project summary, printed off a few scriptures for my presentation (because, again, I was an idiot and forgot to bring my scriptures) and arrived at my class at 1:37.


As I was going about my day, trying to think of as many negative adjectives as I could, I was reminded of a book I read as a child called "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

My teacher liked my presentation, so it all barely worked out in the end. So I guess the day wasn't quite as horrible and terrible after all.


Thank you for listening to me complain.

Happy November!

Reasons why November is a great month:

1. Thanksgiving: Who doesn't love homemade rolls with real butter, yams with so much brown sugar and marshmallows it is almost criminal, cranberry and walnut sauce over perfectly roasted turkey, creamy mashed potatoes with gravy made from real turkey drippings (not from a can or packet), Martinelli's, and various delectable pies. (Disclaimer: I have never attended a Thanksgiving dinner that was as ridiculously coordinated as the one pictured at the right. There are no Martha Stewarts in my family.)
   
2. Snow, if you live somewhere where it snows. During November, snow is new again. The full impact of a dreary and monochromatic winter hasn't hit yet. It still exciting to see a veritable winter wonderland out the window while you are wrapped in a blanket drinking hot chocolate.
3. There is still two months left to get Christmas shopping done!
4. Pretty much the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations and lights go up.
5. Trees still have some of their beautiful red and yellow leaves. The ones that have fallen color the ground. Plus, we can walk on the leaves and hear them crunch.
6. You can start wearing your winter clothes, which you haven't worn in 8 months, so it is like having a new wardrobe!
7. Last, but absolutely not least, in the month of November, we celebrate the birth of my sister Donna, my nephew Jacob, and, of course, ME. That is right, happy birthday to me, this month. This year, my birthday is the day before Thanksgiving. Next year, my birthday will be on Thanksgiving! So, in thinking about all the things you are thankful for, don't forget about ME! (I really hope that is the most shamefully self-promoting statement I ever make on this blog)

YES on Prop 8

The following is an opinion letter on Proposition 8 I read in the Daily Universe. I thought it was one of the best I have read, so I am including it in this post:

"This election Day, California voters will vote on Proposition 8, deciding whether gay marriage should remain legal in their state. The First Presidency has asked California residents to "do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment," yet some members of the BYU community appear confused about why our ecclesiastical leaders are taking a political position on the matter: What's wrong with equality? If gay people are allowed to marry, how does that affect anyone else?
If I only make one point in this essay, it is this: legalizing gay marriage in California is not about equal rights. That was already guaranteed. It's about changing our society's values. It's about using the apparatus of government as a tool to reprogram how the rest of us think about marriage.
Even before the California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in May 2008, gay civil unions enjoyed all the civil rights enjoyed by married couples. Proposition 8 does not take away any of those rights; it would simply ensure that the title "marriage" is reserved for heterosexual unions. It is important to maintain the distinction because there are differences between gay and heterosexual unions. When we make it our state's official position that there is no difference, we open the door to the elimination of any distinction. California schools that choose to teach comprehensive sex education - and 96% do - are required to teach respect for marriage. If Proposition 8 is defeated, the legal definition of marriage will include gay marriage. You can bet that it won't be long before gay rights groups begin demanding that schools teach gay marriage as equal to traditional marriage. The objective is to push the limits of what our society considers morally acceptable to the point that anyone who disapproves of gay marriage is considered prejudiced. It is not enough that we say, "You are legally free to do as you choose, but I believe homosexual activity is immoral." Gay rights advocates also want to remove all stigma associated with their lifestyle. They want to use shame and public opinion against those who believe that sexual relations are only acceptable within the bonds of traditional marriage.
Those against the Proposition 8 campaign have tried to distance themselves from the situation in Massachusetts, where gay marriage has been legal for 4 1/2 years, claiming that what is happening there won't happen in California. They emphasize that if Proposition 8 fails, schools won't necessarily begin teaching children acceptance of gay marriage. It did not happen immediately in Massachusetts, either, but now public schools in that state teach about homosexuality beginning in kindergarten! Courts have rules that parents have no right to object, and schools do not need to notify parents before teaching such curriculum. Opponents of Proposition 8 counter that California law allows parents to request that their children be excused from such lessons. But they know that the battle is over once the curriculum teaches homosexuality. It does not matter if a few students are excused. That will not stop the curriculum from altering the environment at our public schools. I grew up in California and remember being accused of being homophobic, because I supported traditional marriage. If Proposition 8 fails, it will be far easier to mobilize shame to silence supporters of traditional marriage. With such a public and visible victory of gay marriage, it would only be a matter of time before new legislation more aggressively punishes those who view gay marriage as morally wrong. Regardless of whether the failure of Proposition 8 would immediately lead to those results, that is the path we would be on. In the words of San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, "This door's wide open now! It's gonna happen, whether you like it or not!"
The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles did not make a mistake. This is not about tolerating homosexual relationships. We already do that. It's about endorsing homosexual relationships. It's about forcing the rest of us to accept gay marriage as morally equal."

(I apologize if anything is mistyped. I could not find a copy of this letter on the Daily Universe website at this time, so I had to type it in myself. A copy may by found at some future date on their website. The letter appeared in the Monday October 27th, 2008 edition of the Daily Universe).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This election will be very pivotal in California's history, as well as our country's future. As the above letter said, it is not about equal rights. California Family Code 297.5 already ensures the equal rights of gay unions in California. I think it is naive of people to assume that this is the end of the fight, that this change in the constitution will not lead to the infringement of the rights of people who believe homosexual relations are morally wrong. It has already begun in Massachusetts. A Catholic adoption charity was forced to shut down because they would not compromise their beliefs and adopt to homosexual couples. Of course I believe in being tolerant, respectful, and kind to those whose lifestyles are different than the one I have chosen for myself. I do not consider supporting Proposition 8 as violating this belief, especially since gay couples are already legally guaranteed equal rights as married couples. My reason for supporting Proposition 8 is because I believe that legally defining marriage as anything more than traditional marriage opens the door to all kinds of legal action that will impose on the rights of many people in this nation. I believe marriage is a sacred bond, instituted by God. I believe in promoting the principles that God has given for marriage. I do not deny gays the right to live as they choose. I do resist legal measures that have no other purpose than to rewrite the morals of the nation into something that I do not agree with and will likely threaten my right to believe what I choose and my rights as a future parent.

I encourage citizens of California to vote YES on Prop 8. The LDS Church teaches that "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." Please ensure that this right is not threatened, not by eliminating gay rights (as has already been established, gay unions have the same rights of traditional married couples) but by ensuring that marriage is defined as between a man and a woman.

My friend also wrote about Proposition 8. Check out her blog. For more information on Proposition 8, check out this website. For information on the LDS church's involvement on Prop 8, read this article.

Taste Terrors

You know those times, after you have had the stomach flu, food poisoning, or tasted something just downright disgusting, you are somehow reminded what it tasted like, and you start to feel nauseous? Well, maybe there is already a term for that, but I decided to call it a taste terror. At work I sometimes make this truly heinous chickpea salad. When I first saw the recipe, I though that maybe I would like it. It was a mix of garbanzo beans, carrots, jicama, with a soy dressing. Doesn't sound that bad, right? It is actually a very, very salty mixture of normally good flavors that should never have been put together. Every time I see the Chickpea salad on the order list, I have a taste terror. Last time it didn't go away for the rest of the day, and everything I ate was a little tainted. Today I was supposed to make it. I was dreading it all morning. Fortunately I ran out of time, and it got passed on to someone else. What really bothers me is that I can't even enjoy garbanzo beans anymore, and I used to really like them. The hummus and couscous salad that I make at work don't taste good anymore. It is really tragic.

What I don't understand is what person over at the Cannon Center is eating this salad and thinking: "Yummy, let's keep ordering this!"

High School Musical 3

"Sixteen minutes...this is the last chance to get it right...may I have this dance...we want it all...the boys are back...we're all in this together...high school musical"

Some random lyrics that I remember from seeing High School Musical 3 on Saturday. Yes, I contributed to the grossing opening weekend income of the movie. Here are some highlights from the movie:

Opening scene- high school basketball game, the Wildcats are struggling to win the game. The crowd is cheering. In one moment, Vanessa Hudgens, aka Gabriela, rises out of the crowd, singing no less, and tells Zac Efron, aka Troy, that he can do it because she believes in him. His response: That's all I need, make me strong

Of the main characters, 2 received Juliard scholarships, one received early acceptance to Stanford, one was accepted to Yale (with honors, or something like that), and another was accepted to UC Berkeley.

The closing song was called "High School Musical"

A girl gave her boyfriend the cold shoulder because he assumed she would go with him to Senior Prom. To make up for this, he brought her flowers and asked her in front of the whole lunch room. All the other students thought this was really cute...Apparently I was way off by expecting to go to my boyfriend's senior prom. I could have gotten a lot more out of that deal.

A kid drove from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Palo Alto, California, and back again, in a run-down truck that had a history of breaking down and smoking across town.

Sharpay was humbled for the third time in this movie, and the audience was made to believe that she turned over a new leaf, but none of us believe it because in all three movies, her character was exactly the same.

Well, that's all today folks. Go see High School Musical 3 if you want some nice closure to the Troy and Gabriela love affair. If not, well, you may have better self esteem for not witnessing two attractive, stylish, and ridiculously talented teenagers have their happy ending.

Latest Project

This school year consists of about 10 big group projects, including handbooks, training games, and community presentations. The project I am currently working on is a health week at a local charter school (which happens to be my nephew Daniel's elementary school). We put up the bulletin board on Friday. This is what the final product looked like:It is my design. Very simple, but clean cut. I am pretty pleased with it. We had to make some compromises because not all the materials were available to us on campus. But all in all, I really like the way it turned out.




Oh, and I made it to and from the football game in one piece. Can't say the same thing for the football team, but at least they scraped by with a 34-25 win. Go Cougs.

My Recent Encounter with a Scooter

For my first entry, I am going to write about the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last month...I got hit by a motor scooter. On Saturday, October 11th I was walking to the homecoming football game, but I never made it. Here is what I remember: I was talking to my mom and following a large mass of people to the stadium. I was walking alone, since I was meeting my roommate at the game. I walked into the crosswalk, about 20 feet behind a large group of people. I think there was a car slowing down or stopped in the right lane, because there was something blocking my vision of the left lane. So I was caught a little off guard when I saw a moped heading right at me. The driver looked equally surprised. So much so that he lost control of the bike and laid it down. The scooter kept skidding along the road and knocked my feet out from under me. I have a knack for putting myself exactly where I shouldn't be, so when I tried to get out of the way of the scooter, I actually put myself even more directly in its path.

That is the last thing I remember before regaining consciousness and seeing a group of people standing over me. Everything between then and the time I got home is really fuzzy and dream-like. I remember hearing sirens and being aware of the blocked lane of traffic and rubber-neckers. I was really embarrassed that I was the one laying on the ground; I was the reason for the back-up. The EMT checked me out and released me. They offered to take me to the football game, but I elected to go home. My roommates later told me that I was repeating myself a little, and didn't always make sense. It is a weird experience to try to prove that you are coherent and can understand what is going on, but realize that you are kind of failing.

The only injuries I had were some bruises on my head, hip, and thigh. Those are mostly gone now.


The cool part of this experience is the fame that accompanied it. When people in my ward found out, I had many comments like, "That was you?" "I heard about that," and, my favorite, "I will always remember you because of that." I also made Police Beat, which was amazing. As it turns out, I was the third member of my family to make Police Beat, so I guess I was filling my role as Stovall. Anyway, here is the post: Oct. 11: A person riding a motor scooter hit a female student in the crosswalk at 450 East and 1430 North. She was on her way to the football game. The student was checked by the paramedics at the scene and released.

Okay, so I am grateful that it was a motor scooter, because if it had been a motorcycle or car, my injuries probably wouldn't have been so minor. As it was, I was lucky that I didn't get a concussion or break any bones. However, I feel like the scooter part is kind of lame, like getting hit by a bike. How hard are those to avoid? When I heard those stories, I always wonder how the bicyclist and the pedestrian were unable to miss each other. My only consolation is that the scooter was on its side, so it actually was harder to avoid.