Send it Soaring

First of all, I got a bad haircut last week. When DON'T I get a bad haircut? The end.

Moving on the to real reason for this post: I have a new calling.

I successfully flew under the radar for over a year with the easiest calling in the world, but unfortunately those days are over and I am now also an FHE group leader.

Remember how I don't love FHE? I guess someone felt like I needed to start feeling the love.

I have a list of things I wanted to do this summer. (PS - Summer is pretty much over and I don't know if I've done any of them.) One of the items on the list was flying a kite but I couldn't convince anyone to do it with me. So I took this opportunity of being in charge of FHE to force my group to do it with me. Brilliant, no?

I was singing Let's go fly a kite! to myself all day, but it turns out you need a kite and wind to make it happen. Of which we had neither. Three stores, no kites. So I guess it didn't even matter that there was no wind.

All in all, kind of a huge failure.

But I'm determined to get myself, and possibly my group if I'm feeling ambitious, excited about Monday nights. We'll see how long this determination lasts.

Get's Me Every Time

Last Friday at work we played Win, Lose or Draw for our monthly happy hour. Not to brag or anything, but my group was in charge of this particular HH and it can only be classified as a success. The prize for Best Artist was the jumbo pen you see in the picture below.


I LOVE this pen. I didn't win it, but every time I see it I laugh. For a long time.

So imagine this...

You're in a conference room full of team members reviewing a report over the phone with your client. As you reach your portion of the presentation you begin to speak and out of the corner of your eye you see a co-worker pull out the jumbo pen and begin to take notes with it.

Like it's totally normal.

Everyone else in the room starts to laugh silently and you're left to somehow find a way to 1) avoid laughing and 2) not lose your train of thought and sound like an idiot in front of your client.

It all worked out in the end, but considering the fact that my sister and I can't even get through a dinner prayer without one of us starting to laugh, this was quite an accomplishment.

Conversation of the Day

Me: You want me to listen to The Beach Boys? Who are you, John Stamos?
AB: I wish!

Conversation of the Day

Me: I'm nervous. I feel like I'm going to puke.
Les: But you look FANTASTIC today! So if you do puke, at least you'll look great doing it.
Me: Thanks.
Les: That's what I'm here for.



PS - I didn't puke, pass out or accidentally say something inappropriate today on the panel. However, I did do a lot of talking with my hands and say "um" several hundred times (I wasn't counting, but that sounds about right).

Let the Rhythm Take You Over

I spend a significant amount of time each day listening to music. I have my headphones in before I walk out the door in the morning, on the bus ride to work, most of the day at my desk, on my way to grab lunch, the ride home, at the gym and music is typically on in the background of whatever else I'm doing in the evening.

I can't claim to know anything about music, technically. I don't know what makes it good or bad. I can't produce any combination of sounds that anyone would want to hear. But, I love it anyway. I love how it can pull me out of a funk or push me deeper in. How certain songs automatically call up specific memories. Or the feeling when an entire room full of people are singing along with a performer.

That was a big build-up for me to say this: I worry sometimes that I let the rhythm take me over.

Yeah, you heard me. Bailamos, or something.

Exhibit A: The coffee shop in my building plays a lot of music I enjoy and one afternoon while meeting with a sales rep (PS - That's not weird. We have A LOT of meetings there.) I found myself distracted by the song playing. Pretty soon I was completely ignoring the man talking to me while tapping my feet and was on the verge of mouthing the words when I snapped out of it. Close call.

It's a legitimate concern. I fear that one day I'm going to be at my desk and start singing out loud without realizing it. Like Marcus in About a Boy when he accidentally sings in the middle of class. With his eyes closed.

But hopefully when (not really "if") that day comes the song won't be "Killing Me Softly". Although, when I take it to the bridge in the Fugees version there's really nothing quite like it.

33%

My job gives me the opportunity to work with a lot of different people from a slew of web properties and last week I got an email from one of the publishers that I work particularly closely with. Now, getting an email from them isn't out of the ordinary; I send/receive hundreds of emails on a daily basis. But this particular email was a little out of the ordinary. It's purpose was to ask if my boss and I would be willing to participate in a panel discussion and present the "agency perspective" for this company's internal sales training.

But you see, public speaking and I aren't really friends. I actually make fun of public speaking on the playground and steal its lunch money. Or does public speaking make fun of me on the playground?

Regardless, my first inclination was to delete the email and pretend I had never received it. But then I decided to be an adult....so I let it sit in my inbox for a few hours (or overnight) before responding.

Eventually I responded and said "No problem! Of course I'd be happy to help!".

I didn't mean it.

My boss and I jumped on a call this morning with the guy heading up this training to review the format and some of the questions we'll be asked. During the course of the discussion he casually mentioned that there would be roughly 60 people in attendance and three of us on the panel answering questions.

I CAN'T FLY UNDER THE RADAR WHEN I'M 33% OF THE PANEL.

As soon as we got off the call my phone rang. It was my boss and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi.
Boss: This is going to put you out of your comfort zone.
Me: Sure is. And I'm freaking out.
Boss: It's going to be fine. How many people are on the team you work with over there?
Me: Five or six.
Boss: See, it's just like them...times 10.
Me: Exactly. TIMES TEN!

And then she gave me a pep talk about how it's going to help me grow, which is all well and good, but doesn't change the fact that I've been on the verge of vomiting for the past two days because I'm so nervous.

Growth opportunities are totally overrated.

Conversation of the Day

Pamela:

So, I've been thinking. You guys need to get another kitten.

Except it will be mine.

But it will live at your house.

What do you think?!?

[Silence.]

Who are you and what have you done with Stephanie?

I don't know what came over me, but I was in a particularly good mood today. Maybe it was just a rebound from the serious funk I found myself in yesterday. Who knows? Either way, I was feeling (and sharing) the love.

I was sitting in the second hour of church, waiting for class to start, when a friend walked in with a new-ish haircut and I said something along the lines of, "Have I told you yet how cute your hair is? Because it is." And over the course of the next five minutes I proceeded to tell Pamela how much I liked her sweater and Cara how adorable her notebook was.

Cara then turned to me and said, "Who are you and what have you done with Stephanie?".

What? A girl can't compliment where a compliment is deserved?

Then in the third hour I spent five minutes flagging another girl down to tell her I liked her bag. Cara then accused me of passing out compliments like "golden tickets". Here's the thing, I meant every one of those compliments. And if I'm thinking them, why not share them?

But then I started thinking about how out of the ordinary my behavior seemed to my friends. FRIENDS. People that I see on a very regular basis and spend significant amounts of time with. If they were so shocked by my friendliness then clearly I'm doing something wrong.

For the record, I don't think I was acting out of the ordinary. Everyone was just looking exceptionally good today.

It's Good to Have Goals

This afternoon I was informed by my cube neighbor that Kate Hudson and A-Rod were shopping at a store downtown. My immediate response? LET'S GO. Her response? Looking at me like I was a moron.
For some reason I then felt the need to explain (as if it would make things better) that it was one of my goals in life to see a celebrity being photographed by the paparazzi. I've been to Sundance and people like me chasing Emily Blunt down the sidewalk (true story) do not count. Just to be clear, I'm not talking in a dangerous, stalking while driving recklessly way, but in a normal way.

You know, normal stalking. No? Fine.

Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I racked up a couple more Crazy Points in the eyes of my co-worker today. Meh.

I decided to take this inside scoop to someone who I knew would appreciate it. Lindsay. So I sent her an IM relaying the info. Her immediate response? Why aren't you down there? You could fulfill your dream of seeing the paparazzi!

And that, Internet, is why we are besties.

******************

In other roommate related news, Lindsay is trying to convince me to move to BFE. I mean, it's OUT. THERE.

I thought I had made a good case when I reminded her that I take the bus to work and was positive that there would be no convenient routes. But then she called me (from upstairs) to tell me the exact route number, where it would drop me off and how long it would take, which incidentally is less time than my current commute. Bust.

On the bus today...

...a few things happened.

Possibly the most notable is that I didn't fall asleep on the way to OR from work.
Not even a little bit.
I guess 9 hours of sleep will do that for you. But apparently I didn't learn my lesson because I'll be clocking 6.5 hours at most tonight. Oh well, there's always the bus ride in the morning, right?

I saw Ashley Parker Angel.
Remember him from the band O-Town and his hit show on MTV There & Back? When I say "hit show" I mean "reality show train wreck that was only watched by me, my brother and my sister-in-law".

Yup, it was him. Or someone that looked like him in business casual.

I also saw my future husband. He got on near the mall with a tackle box and finishing rod. Kind of weird, but since learning how to fish was on my list of things to do this summer I figured this could only mean that we were perfect for each other. Plus, he was totally adorable.

But then he got off at a random stop in the middle of the bus route in a non-residential area where I usually only see homeless people get on or off. This of course led me to believe that fishing was not just a hobby, but a way of survival and that I might walk past him one day sleeping on the sidewalk or peeing into an empty milk carton.

But I don't jump to conclusions or anything...

On Repeat

The latest song I can't stop listening to...

I Don't Think I Can Dance

I was a little disappointed with SYTYCD this season. I never had a favorite dancer (unlike last year) and I didn't fall in love with many of the routines. While I was kind of disappointed overall, there were a few gems.

I'm not a dancer. I've never taken a dance class (unless you count that tap class in college, which I don't). I don't know anything about what makes one dance better than another. But every time I watch this routine my eyes well up.


And I can't help but love everything Wade choreographs, especially this one.

Great Lakes State

+If you're flying from Detroit to Seattle you should never hear someone say over the loudspeaker, "And to the right you can see the Grand Canyon". That's a good indicator that you've taken the least efficient route home.

+Worst Airport Ever Award goes to....LAX! I got off the plane and had NO IDEA where to go, even after consulting a map. Twice. And there were no airport employees in sight. I finally had to hunt down a police officer for help. Turns out you have to go outside, hop on a shuttle and go through security again just to change terminals.

+I took over 300 photos on my trip, most of which were of my nephew. He was a little unsure of me at first, but I think I won him over in the end.

+My sister let me borrow all seasons of Two Guys and a Girl. Old school Ryan Reynolds? Still good.
+While roasting hot dogs over the fire (in the driveway...that's just how classy we are) we had a conversation about what condiments were best on hot dogs.
Me: Ketchup-only is the way to go.
Dad: Yeah, if you're in first grade.
...
Mom: You can bet that's going on the blog!

+We celebrated my grandpa's 85th birthday. It was fun to see so many people come out to celebrate with him. He's just such a lovable guy!
+All in all, it was a great vacation.