Growing Up So Fast

I just love this little one. Four months old. And this little one. Two months old.

The Other Red Sauce

Spaghetti sauce hates me today. I heated up some spaghetti, and after I did, I realized that there was a good chance the sauce would get all over my new white shirt. Yeah, I was right. I put my fork into the spaghetti in just the right way for the sauce to attack me. Thank goodness for Tide To-Go sticks... mine is almost gone. I need a new one.

Answer to Friday Puzzle 26

Bob and I go through: 2 minutes
I go back: 1 minute
Carol and Doug go through: 10 minutes
Bob goes back: 2 minutes
Bob and I go through: 2 minutes.

Total: 17 minutes

Friday Puzzle 26

While spelunking with three friends, you reach a tight, narrow passage that requires a flashlight. The problem is, there are four of you, and only two of you can fit through the passage at a time, and there’s only one flashlight among you.

So basically, two travel through, and one goes back with the flashlight, then two travel through, one goes back with the flashlight, etc. You get the picture.

You can do the passage in exactly one minute. Bob can do it in exactly two minutes. Carol can do it in exactly five minutes. And Doug can do it in exactly 10 minutes.

But here’s the problem: a local volcano has erupted and poisonous gas is headed your way. You must all get through the passage in 17 minutes or someone will die. Assuming you want everyone to live, in what order do you get everyone through the tunnel?

Pulling My Hair Out

Season finales!!!!!

Lindsay did a great write-up about the Office last night; if you didn't watch the episode, you won't automatically get spoilers this time on my blog. You're welcome.

American Idol Showdown

Not surprising: David Cook and David Archuleta. Stay tuned next Tuesday (also my birthday). May the best David win...

Somebody Ought to Pay Me Just to Be Interested in Everything

I still have too many things I want to do with my life, and I really don't know what direction I want to head after I complete graduate school. I realize I still have a year to go, but future planning isn't bad, is it? :) For some strange reason I see myself staying in the corporate world, or lately I've been thinking about online teaching somewhere since some schools only require a master's degree. I guess I can pretty much do whatever I want.

Half of me still wants to be one of those crafty people--I just finished some online training of Adobe Illustrator; we have an awesome online subscription of training programs, and I'm finally getting time to try some of them. Now I'm really excited to go play with Illustrator and create some exciting things, which are yet to be determined, but the fact that I have an understanding of how to use Illustrator makes me feel pretty good. I've always loved InDesign, but I haven't had a clue how to use Illustrator until right now. Those skills will probably remain a hobby, but I think I can put them to good use in my bookbinding--and someday when I get to design my wedding invitations.

But in terms of short-term, more career-oriented goals, yesterday I finally submit (for consideration) the three papers I've written in graduate school to the Society for Technical Communication's Intercom magazine. I hope to hear back from them soon. I have a book review I wrote late last year for a class that will be published in the Journal Technical Communication in August, which isn't exactly huge, but with submissions you gotta start somewhere...

The Stevie Awards

So in the business world there is a competition called the Stevie Awards. You have to pay a lot of money to submit anything you want to have judged, but any upsides outweigh the cost. I submitted three entries on behalf of company for the The American Business Awards program (there are four different programs): our first submission was our magazine as a whole, and the second and third were single ads from the magazine. Yesterday we found out that our first and second entries are finalists, which is very exciting news, considering this is the first year we've submitted anything.

Even if we don't win, being a finalist is a great honor; it means that independent judges agreed that our entries are worthy of national recognition. And it's good for my professional career because I am credited on these entries.

Final judging will be over the next four weeks, with the winners being announced at a dinner/reception on June 12 in New York City. So, we'll cross our fingers until then!

More about the Stevies:

"Hailed as “the business world’s version of the Oscars” (New York Post, April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business. Nicknamed Stevie for the Greek word “crowned,” the coveted award was designed by the same company that makes the Oscar® and other major awards."

More than 2,600 entries were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Most Innovative Company, Best Executive, Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program, and Best New Product or Service. Finalists were selected by business professionals nationwide during more than five weeks of preliminary judging.

This is Dedication

This isn't my typical culinary post, but it's about food...

Today I started the cleanse portion of a weight management system we promote at work. It only goes for three days, so no, it isn't like an Atkins diet or anything, but it's apparently a great way to clean out your system and lose a few pounds. I've never actually tried it, but other people at work have, so I decided what the heck. Except that I'm really getting tired of cottage cheese, eggs, and vegetables. I'm not a huge fan of salads, which is the recommended lunch menu. So, tomorrow I'll branch out and throw chicken into everything, and I'll probably have some soup for lunch. I'm really enjoying peanut butter and celery as a snack, and I'm actually looking forward to my dinner, which is basically the type of stuff I'd eat anyway--asparagus, squash, zucchini, and some sort of lean meat. Yum. Friday I'll throw myself a party if I survive this. Although, there are thousands of women who follow this eating pattern on a regular basis, and they actually like it, so I don't think I'm gonna die.

I just really, really want to eat the Swiss chocolate bar I bought from Trader Joe's that is sitting in my desk drawer. Right now.

To Jessica

Vendetta, my birthday is only a week away!

Answer to Monday Brain Teaser

Good job, anonymous. And we're not counting the bus driver, so the total number of legs is 10990.

That's a lot of cats.

Things I Did This Weekend

My weekend, being Internet-less, consisted of home improvement/organization projects to fight the losing battle of feeling like I actually live in my new place. So, without further ado, I give you the list of Major Things I Accomplished This Weekend.

1. I went to IKEA and bought my table. I accomplished this feat on late Friday afternoon; I was going to Salt Lake anyway to meet up with my old roommates for dinner, and since most of my coworkers were already gone, I followed suit. I spent 1.5 hours there and spent way too much money. But I did buy the table I wanted; both the legs and the table top are black, and let me tell you how much fun (and unsafe) it is to drive around with a five-foot table top in your car that totally obstructs your view. I eventually put the passenger's seat down and forced some rearrangement so I could feel better about being on the road without high dying potential. I will be returning to IKEA at some point in the near future because after I got home I realized I should have bought more of the things I purchased, as well as not bought one of the things I purchased. I hate making returns, but exchanges are okay.

2. I found an alarm clock to give my Mom for Mother's Day. You would think this would be an easy task, but apparently lots of other people had the same idea. I went to five stores; two of them didn't carry alarm clocks, and two of them were totally sold out of the sample that I wanted. I finally found one at Target. I knew I would end up there eventually; I don't know why I just didn't drive there and end the search altogether.

3. I survived Costco on a Saturday. Seriously, never go to Costco on a Saturday. People are ruthless. They'll try to run you over with their carts. I went to Costco to get some asparagus, whipping cream, and mixed frozen berries for our Mother's Day dinner, and trying to navigate the back of the store where said items were was a nightmare.

4. I worked on organizing my room, set up my closet, broke down boxes, got the mail, cleaned my kitchen, went shopping for food, bought a new book, went to Home Depot and bought some house numbers to put on our back fence by the carport, set up a recycling system (Chalyce likes to recycle too), did my laundry, and ordered our Internet service. Self explanatory.

Monday Brain Teaser

There are 7 girls in a bus.
Each girl has 7 backpacks.
In each backpack, there are 7 big cats.
For every big cat there are 7 little cats.

Question: How many legs are there in the bus? (Hint: zero is not the answer.)

From the Ground Up

Over the past few days I've realized how much work it is to furnish a place. Sure I have a bed and a dresser--and a side table with a broken wheel that I fixed--but everything else has been me. And everything costs money, from the small things like kitchen scrubbers and garbage cans up to the larger items like bookshelves and desks. For the record, I am not getting a desk. I am getting a table, designed by me. Research shows me that a table will give me more space, and I am going to build it via IKEA for $50. (They have an online table top/table legs mix and match feature that is really fun to play with.)

When I have more money (or at least when I'm done spending chunks of it at a time), I want to get new dishes. Target has some really cute ones right now. I've had the same ones for over seven years; I used to have a set of eight, but now I'm down to a set of four. I've always wondered where the missing plates, cups, etc. went. I guess that mystery is just a fact of life when you live with roommates.

I bought and assembled a second bookshelf last night during my Thursday night television spree (starting with the Office and ending with Jenna Fisher on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and put all my books away. That task got rid of the majority of the boxes still left in my room, so I'm making progress.