Getting In Touch With My Inner Monkey

After not climbing at all last year (I think), I finally started early this year. Mark got sick of hearing me complain about spending all that money on climbing gear and not using it. When he finally asked me to go climbing a few weeks ago, I gave him even more crap by saying that I had no idea where my climbing gear was because I hadn't used it in SO LONG! I told him I would have to dig to the bottom of my closet to find my climbing gear. Poor kid, he can never win with me! Oh well, who can?!

The first time Mark and I went climbing was to the local climbing gym. I wasn't a fan of climbing on a fake wall because I totally sucked on the fake walls on the cruise ships. To my surprise, I did very well. I climbed about four different courses and then my arms were all tuckered out. It felt so good to get back on the wall and climb. After Mark ties me up with the rope (his favorite part), I always look up to the top of the wall and say, "I have to go all the way up there? How is that ever going to happen?" Then I blink (or so it seems) and I'm at the top. Here's an action picture from the climbing gym. Luckily Mark's hands were busy belaying me so he couldn't take any butt climbing pictures of me.

The second climbing adventure actually happened last weekend during a freak warm day here in Salt Lake City. (That day is all but forgotten under a few feet of snow that has fallen since then.) We climbed on a short wall in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was actually the same place where Mark first took me to climb. Piece of cake! Mark's friend and her son joined us for the climb. Again no pictures of me, too bad!

We ended the outdoor climbing night by (illegally) having a fish fry. We were caught by the ranger, pleaded ignorance, and got off with a warning. Who knew that when the sign said, "Closed for the Winter," they mean you can't start a fire?? We do now!

Sweet Tomatoes

So Mark and I have made quite a career of going to Sweet Tomatoes. We like to shut the place down. A few weeks ago we were at Sweet Tomatoes for about four and a half hours. It didn't seem like we were there that long. The good thing about Sweet Tomatoes is that it is a buffet. That meant after a few hours after our food had digested, we just got up and got some more food. We could have stayed there all night but the employees wanted to go home. Dang it! We really got our money's worth! Sweet Tomatoes doesn't like us but you can't win them all. So what do you do for 4 1/2 hours at Sweet Tomatoes? Naturally, you take pictures. Granted they're not very pretty but I thought you might enjoy.

Show Me the Money!

In case you are keeping up with my resume (that's a full-time job in and of itself), I was hired as a part-time assistant at the Jordan School District working in the Curriculum Department. I have the overwhelming responsibility of tracking a multi-million dollar grant given to them by the State of Utah. The job is only 17 hours per week so I still have plenty of time to do my own thing. It is only temporary until the end of the school year. I am hoping it leads into something full-time as I enjoy having health insurance. If it doesn't, at least I can say it was a good learning experience. (I hope!)

As most of you know, I worked at the Jordan School District a few years ago in the Printing Department. That was one of the funnest jobs I had. Considering that the Curriculum Department and the Printing Department are very close to each other in the District Office, I seem to find myself drifting between the departments frequently. I'm sure it annoys everyone involved, and that's probably why I do it.

Introducing Baby Bella

After seven laborious months, she finally arrived! Baby Bella joined my family on February 25, 2009. She is a joy! The more I learn about her, the more I love her! She is another reason why 2009 is a great year so far! Bella is a navy blue Nissan Sentra with tan interior. Here are some pictures of Bella.

She really is fun to drive! I really don't like driving overall, but she makes driving a little less horrible. I already had to take her to the shop to have her tire stems replaced. Apparently they weren't sealed correctly at the factory. Anyway, it was under warranty so all was well. Although, I had to have this done Friday after work. Why do they always get sick after hours?? Luckily Nissan was open until 8 PM and I was able to shut them down Friday night. They asked me to turn out the lights when I left! Ha Ha!

The Best Hockey Game EVER!!!

Last night, I attended the absolute BEST hockey game ever! It was between the Utah Grizzlies and the Idaho Steelheads. That doesn't really matter. The Steelheads won. That doesn't really matter either. I go for the cultural factor. I feel I am very well-rounded. I feel just as entertained at a hockey game as I do a Broadway play. Here is the night in review.

My mom and I didn’t like the seats we had purchased, so we moved over a section. We always do this. Plus when my Mom bought the tickets, the girl selling her the tickets totally pointed out the wrong seats. The original seats were down too low in the corner. Bad seats. We moved over a section toward the center and up higher so we could see the entire stretch of ice before us. Plus we had a better chance of getting hit by the puck if it happened to sail off the ice into the stands in our new seats! :)

Before the game started, we saw these little boys with huge earphones on. The earphones were like the kind you go to the shooting range with to muffle any and all sound. The little boys were about 2 and 4 years old. At first, I thought they were just wearing earmuffs, but no, it was definitely huge earphones. If you’re that overprotective of your kids’ hearing, why are you bringing them to a loud hockey game?? I was sure the noise wasn't any louder than the domestic abuse that was occurring in the apartment above them. Whatever! The kids weren't phased at all by having to wear those ugly huge things. Here's a picture of one of the kids. Sorry its a little blurry. I'm trying to protect the kid's identity! Just kidding! I was far away from them. I didn't want it to look too obvious that I was taking a picture of them with my cell phone. Child abductor??? The Mom in the gray is holding the blond kid in the black shirt. The two black dots on either side of his neck are the earphone things. I'm sure she would win the Mom of the Year Award but I just think it's ridiculous!

There were plenty of fights during the game. I loved how they would just hit each other in the face. That seemed to be the popular action during a fight. It was very entertaining. Many players from each team spent some quality time in the penalty box. One player from each team was ejected during the first period but returned for the second and third periods. I enjoyed the many times that I had the pleasure of yelling, "Hit him!" or "Trip him!" or "Get him!"

Between the first and second periods, the Guns vs Hoses game was played. It was between the police and the firemen. We cheered for the firemen because my cousin is a fireman (not in the game though). They didn’t have skates and they used snow-scraper sticks for hockey sticks. It was quite entertaining. I think the Hoses won, but I can't really remember.

Mom and I finally made it onto the jumbotron during the YMCA song. We got a lot of air time too! It is always our goal to get on the jumbotron at least once during a hockey game. Mission accomplished!

We sat in the section with the only group of people cheering for the other team. They were fun to watch and didn’t bother me at all. Apparently it bothered some people. Towards the end of the game, a guy (I use that term loosely) came over to sit among the other team cheerers and annoy them. I called him Joe Butt Crack because he couldn’t seem to keep his pants up. The majority of the section was behind him so we got quite a view.

As he was annoying the other team cheerers, he was annoying EVERYONE around him. He thought he was doing such a service to his fellow Grizzlies supporters but he wasn’t! He just looked more and more like a stupid idiot! His little sidekick managed to keep his pants up but he kept doing what I refer to as the Pee-Pee Dance so I called him Pee Pee Herman. He kept hopping from one foot to the other. He either had to go potty or he was high on something (but not life)! Just before the original game ended, both of them got ejected from the game. Everyone cheered as Joe Butt Crack and Pee Pee Herman got escorted from the stands by security. One of the security guards was pretty cute. I wouldn’t have mind if he escorted me somewhere….

Oh yeah, back to the game-The game ended up a tied score. During overtime, no goals were made. Then it went to a shoot out where the other time won. My other team cheerers were ecstatic!

On the way out, Mom and I decided to take the scenic route (we were lost) underneath the stands to the outside door. We didn’t really know where we were so we just kept walking. We met the nice Hispanic clean up crew. We ended up by the door closest to our car. That's pretty good, if I do say so myself! As we were going out the doors, security ran past us out to the parking lot. We looked for another fight but couldn’t find it. Darn!

Hauoli Makahiki Hou

Or Happy New Year's to all my non-Hawaiian readers. I went to Hawaii for New Year's. It was the best vacation and best New Year's I have ever had. Let's just say that 2008 was a rough year. It doesn't even deserve a year in review.

2009 on the other hand needed to start out with a bang. It did in the form of a spectacular fireworks show high above Waikiki Beach. I was there with my mom and my friend, Ellie along with thousands and thousands of our friendliest (drunk) strangers, including a very cute Frenchman, Xavier, that I had the pleasure of getting to know. Luckily his English was much better than my French. :)

My parents, my friend Ellie, and I were on Oahu for five and a half days and Maui for three and a half days. Oahu was rush, rush, rush to see everything (and buy everything). Maui was lounging by the pool absorbing as much sun and heat as I could day after day. There was plenty of eating as well. I doubted I would ever feel hunger again.

Since returning home to the freezing arctic and unemployment, I ask myself many times a day why I even bothered to leave??

Celebrity in the House

You can probably guess by the above picture who was at the show last night...Nicole Kidman! She is one of my biggest fans! :) Anyway, she was sighted backstage before the show began. She hung out in the TV Studio backstage until the show began. Then while the lights were out just before the show started, she was hurried to her seat.

I watch the first Act from the audience. I was just behind them as we made our way into the audience from backstage. Nicole and I have the same strategy so that we are not bombarded by our fans and other gawkers. We wait until the house (where the audience sits) is dark and then make our way to our seats. I sat on the side while they went to the center section. She had two people with her. I would have sworn one of them was her hottie hubby Keith Urban. But everyone who saw her backstage didn't even mention seeing her hubby which I'm sure they would have done if they had seen him.

During intermission, she went back to the TV Studio backstage and then was ushered out again to the audience just as Act Two was beginning. It was fun to perform for a celebrity. If only I had known she was coming, I would have traded her tickets for my show for tickets for her hubby's show when he comes to Salt Lake next. Darn it!