Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

No, I'm not sporting any new rings or anything. But, I will get to spend a lot more time thinking about jewelry when I start my new job at Helzberg Diamonds on July 7th!!!!!! I'll be a Project Manager/Developer in the IT department. They're located in North Kansas City, about 3 miles north of where I currently work. I am totally excited!!

I told the folks at my current job the news yesterday. They tried to get me to stay, but I'm convinced that it's time for a change. I did get sad as I was telling some of my teammates that I'm leaving. I'll miss my close friends there. I've been wanting the news to be public, because I've felt a little guilty keeping something from them. So, I'm glad everything is out in the open and I can continue with the "moving on" process.

I totally saw God's hand in this decision. For example, while I was in the interview process, I wanted to read a book written by the guy that ran Helzberg for about 40 years. The book is really geared toured coaching someone on entrepreneurship, but the author gives tons of examples from his days at Helzberg. So, I figured it'd be a good introduction to the company and the culture. I looked it up on the online catalog for the county library and discovered they have two copies of it. One at the main library (not near my house) and one at the branch closest to me!!! I totally see that as a God thing. Providing an easy way for me to get and read the book.

I was also worried about the timing of the new job because of some financial benefits I'd get from Block at the end of June. But, God worked that out, too. Because of some schedule constraints, the interview process took a little longer than the hiring manager intended. He even apologized to me for it taking so long. I thought to myself "no, that's really quite all right". Because the longer it delayed, the better it would be for me in terms of leaving Block.

Also, I already had a vacation planned for the first week in July (going to the swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha and then the wedding of a close family friend in VT). I was worried my vacation would conflict with starting a new job. But, the hiring manager was totally cool about that, too.

Oh, and it worked out so that I only have to work one day next week at my current job but they'll pay me for the whole week. I'm open to suggestions on what I should do (I've never been to the Liberty Memorial and am thinking this might be a great time to go see it). I'm also planning to start stripping the wallpaper in my dining room (the only room left in my house that still has wallpaper).

Life is good. Praise the LORD!

Better than the Book!

I finally saw Wicked!!! I gave my mom a ticket for Mother's Day, which considering she'd already seen it twice, might have been more a gift for me than for her. Regardless, I finally got to go and I loved it!!!! When I read the book about four years ago, I seriously disliked it. I have a rule that I never stop reading a book I've started (Moby Dick is the only exception), so I kept reading it even though the first 3/4's were really hard to get in to (and it's not short). By the last 1/4, I finally cared about the characters and wanted to find out what happened, so it read a little quicker towards the end. But, when I heard that it was a musical, I was shocked. My first thought was "oh, it's so terrible, who would want to see it?". But people who had seen it, and whose opinions I trust, told me it was fabulous and that I would love it. I had a hard time picturing this...the book is long, and philosophical, and not entertaining. I just couldn't picture how it could be a great musical. I sure was wrong!!

The music is fun, fast-moving, and up beat. The story also moves along quickly. I feel that a lot of musicals have random songs that serve absolutely no purpose. They're just there to be another song. That isn't the case with Wicked at all. Every song advances the plot in some way. Plus, all the philosophy which bogs down the book is touched on and presented in the musical, but without having to suffer through a long-winded author's preachiness. The viewer can think about the issues and come to his own conclusions. Plus, it's cool to see how some of the elements from "The Wizard of Oz" tie in or came to be. Overall, it's one of my top two favorite musicals of all time! If you ever have the chance, go to Wicked!!! And tell me, so I can go with you!!!

Lessons Learned, Part II

The purpose of an electric hedge trimmer is to trim the hedges, not the heavy duty orange extension cord.

It's been an eventful week at my house.

Lessons Learned

1. If you ever scorch your carpet, a lot of Oxi Clean carpet stain remover will get the stain out.

2. Don't leave your flat-iron curling iron sitting on the carpet when it's on.

The Beauty of Home

There's just something about being home. The spring colors in my backyard. My own pillow. Internet whenever I want it without being charged (other than that little cable bill I pay each month). My own car, which I can drive on the right (literally and figuratively) side of the road. More than 5 shirts to wear. My DVR with my favorite programs waiting for me to watch them. My comfy couch.

Sigh. Traveling is great! New sights, culture, words, food, adventures. But, coming home is great, too!

Australian Favorites

-Per Shelly’s request. My mom and I share our favorites in several categories at the end of each trip we take. Like a said in a previous post, we can (and did!) make this game go on for a while, so I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

Favorite place we went = Vasse Felix winery in Margaret River. If I lived in Western Australia, I would want to have my wedding reception there. The restaurant is sort of like a tree house, nestled in the trees overlooking the gorgeous green of the yard and vineyard. It’s also incredibly quiet and relaxing. The Blue Mountains are my second choice. I’d love to go back there someday to hike and explore some more.

Favorite activity = Biking on Rottnest Island. Peaceful. Hair blowing in the wind. Scenic. Uncrowded. Mom conquered a fear she’s had for 30 years. Good stuff!

Favorite restaurant = Vasse Felix winery, for the overall combination of a beautiful setting, friendly people, and great food.

Favorite food (main course)= The tuna steak I had at Vasse Felix winery.

Favorite food (dessert) = Rosemary ice cream at Vasse Felix winery. Okay, I know that sounds like a very strange type of ice cream, but it was GREAT!! I don’t even know how to describe it, but it was probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Favorite meal that wasn’t Vasse Felix = Tea at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. Fancy setting. Orange Pekoe tea that was really good. And, I discovered that milk and sugar in tea is a good thing! (I felt so British!!). Flaky pastries. Fabulous preserves for an incredibly moist scone. Tasty finger sandwiches. A time to just sit and relax and enjoy a rare treat.

Favorite shopping = Fremantle Markets. For the variety of items available there, for the cool things we found (and bought!), for the great prices, for the time that we walked from stall to stall and bought food for dinner.

Favorite beach = One of the bays on Rottnest Island. For the seclusion, sunshine, white sand, and blue, blue water.

Favorite animal = Kangaroo!!! So sweet and gentle!

Biggest Surprise = Snow in the Blue Mountains? Rain in Perth? Not having to show an ID at any point on our domestic flight from Perth to Sydney?

Favorite Sign = “Don’t be a tosser”. What’s your first thought at what this means? Well, when I first saw it, I thought it meant, “Don’t puke”. (Eloquent, I know.) Turns out it actually means don’t litter. My second favorite sign, which I unfortunately don’t have a picture of, is “Dangerous Goods Not Allowed in Tunnel”. Are they allowed other places?

Favorite Spoken Australian phrase = “They’re having a good tustle, yes quite a good tustle indeed”. The announcer at the swim meet said this during every close race between a couple of swimmers in a heat. I love it! I think I might start using it at home. My mom’s favorite is “No drama”. It means pretty much the same thing as “No worries”. I also might have to throw that in to some future conversations.

Favorite Australian spelling = Gaol. Despite reading several books using this word and knowing the meaning of it, I always thought it was pronounced “Gay-ol”. Little did I know it’s actually pronounced “jail”. Very strange. I like most of the Australian spellings for things (cheque, organisation, etc) but this just seems very odd to me.

Favorite Coin or Currency = The bills are kind of interesting because they have a little clear see-through spot in them. But, my favorite item of currency is the 2 dollar coin. It’s about the same size and weight as a British pound, so I kept thinking of it as a “two-pounder”. We’d be getting money out for a bus and I’d say “Oh, I have a two-pounder”.

Favorite thing they have that we don’t = There’s a tie in this category for me. The toilets have the ability to do a half flush or a full flush. I think that’s cool and quite practical. My other favorite invention is that each outlet has the ability to be turned on or off. This is cool because it’s a good way to get rid of all that “phantom power” that is used when items are plugged in to an outlet but not turned on. There, rather than having to unplug everything, you could just turn the outlet to off and voila, power saved!

Favorite wine = 2002 Shiraz at the Sandalford winery. We got to taste a special vintage that normal tasters don’t get to try. It was flavorful and super smooth. It’s not possible to ship wine to the US (well, I guess it is but it’s crazy expensive), so we contemplated trying to take a couple bottles home with us but decided not to risk them getting broken. We have the name of a distributer in the US, so we will definitely be looking it up now that we're home. So good!!

Favorite walk = Down 200+ steps (and then back up!) to the Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. The good exercise resulted in breathtaking views!

Favorite method of transportation = Mine was driving on the left hand side of the road. I pretty much got the hang of it after a couple of days. I even stopped turning on the wind shield wipers instead of the turn signal and figured out the roundabouts. My mom’s favorite method was all the buses we took in Sydney because she was quite proud of us that we figured out how to get where we wanted to go on them.

Favorite toilet = Queen Victoria Building. Hands down! A sliding door to gain access to the restrooms, granite countertops with basin-less sinks, stained glass windows in the actual stalls. High class!! Especially for a shopping mall!

Favorite items that I’m glad I brought: Laptop and fleece. Would have been uninformed and cold without them.

Favorite tour guide = Definitely Krissy from the Bridge Climb! She was cheery, encouraging, knowledgeable and fun! AnnaLea at the Opera House would be my second choice because of her great accent and resemblance to Julianna Margulies.

Worst restaurant = The Globe, next to the Hilton in Perth. Snooty people, bad food, and way too expensive

Most uncomfortable moment(s) = Walking down a very, very, very crowded street in Sydney our first night here. It was dark, we didn’t know where we were going, and I just really hate crowds. I was afraid I’d get mugged (irrational, I’m sure) so was very glad to eat dinner and get back to the hotel safe and sound.

Valentine's Day Party

As a single girl, I've spent many Valentine's Day's as an adult alone. This year, I decided to change that and host a Valentine's Day dinner party for my fellow single-and-awesome female friends. I just inherited good china, crystal, and flatware from my grandmother, so it was a "fancy" party. I wanted each of my friends to feel special. The evening was a success: good food, a beautiful table, and lots of fun!

Patting Myself on the Back

When I bought my "new-to-me" car over 2 years ago and talked to the insurance agent about removing my old car and adding my new car to my auto insurance policy, he mentioned that my plan structure was really old and I might be able to get better rates under their new plan structure. But after he ran my license number and saw the string of tickets and one accident I had on my record (I had a bad run there for a couple years...4 tickets...I drive slower now), it turned out the "old" plan that I was grandfathered into was less expensive. But he said, "Your last ticket will roll off your record in January of 2008, so call back then and you can probably get lower rates".

So, being the organized person I am...this is why I'm totally patting myself on the back today...I wrote a reminder on my planner for February 2008 to call about new insurance rates. I've even had to move that reminder to each of my new yearly calendar pages twice since then!

I called this week and am switching to the new plan, with the same deductible and coverage I currently have, and will pay $27 less per month!!! And, every year I don't have an accident, my deductible (currently $500) will go down $100. I specifically asked if it was allowed to get to $0, and he said yes!

This is one of those little things that totally makes me smile.

Growing

For those of you I haven't seen recently (say in the past 8 months or so), I decided in May to grow my hair out. The first picture is what I started from. It was taken in January and my hair was still basically that length in May when I decided to cancel my every-4-weeks haircut appointment and grow it out. My goal was LONG! Think, full ponytail long. I've never had a ponytail. Ever. I thought I should try it at least once. I don't even really know what I look like with long hair. I found myself looking at lots of women with long, straight, hair and thought "My hair can do that. I want to try that." My hair doesn't do many things well, or maybe it's that I don't do many things well with my hair. Whichever it is, I *can* do straight. So, I decided to give it a go.

The growing stages have been...interesting. It seemed to grow slowly at the beginning. I even googled hair growth and ways to make it grow faster. Eat lots of protein. Check. Eat healthily. Mostly check (except when I have a cookie attack). I even heard from several people that sweating helps your hair grow. So, despite my usual tendency to really hate being sweaty, any time I sweated this year, I got satisfaction from thinking "My hair is growing! Hah!".

The "experts" say the average hair grows at about 1/2 inch per month. So, I even held a ruler to my hair a couple of times, to try to picture how long it would be by Christmas time. I'm sure I looked pretty funny...staring at the mirror with a ruler to my head.

So, the bottom picture was taken last Saturday. I actually really like the length it's at right now. I discovered this week that I can get it in a little, itty, bitty, scrawny pony tail. I got REALLY excited about this feat! But, I've still got a long way to go before I reach my goal. Although, I might come back to this length if I hate it when it gets long. We'll see.

So there you go...that's more than you probably wanted to know about me and my hair. :)

Merry Christmas!

Busy Summer Days

So, I haven't blogged in what seems like ages. The past few weeks have been hectic. I decided to strip the wallpaper in the first floor hallway in my house and then paint. What I originally envisioned as a short, easy project quickly expanded. That hallway had 5 layers of wallpaper on it! Uggg!! I guess that's to be expected with a 60-year-old house, but it certainly wasn't what I was hoping for. After many evenings of cranking up my iTunes and filling my spray bottle with hot water mixed with lovely-smelling vinegar, I've finally got all the wallpaper off. Now it's time for a pro painter to come in, sand down the walls, apply a skim-coat of drywall mud, and then paint. I decided to "treat" myself and have him just go ahead and paint the walls, too. I've been told that drywall mudding is an "art" and considering that my artistic skills are severely lacking, it's worth it to me to have someone else do it. So anyway, that project has been eating away my time.

Work has also been really busy. I'm leading a big project and sometimes sit down at my desk at 5:00 and wonder "where did the day go?" and "how come I didn't check anything off my to-do list?". But, the project is under control now. Although some days were stressful and long, I really enjoyed getting to lead it and make sure it got done the way I wanted it done. (I do have certain control-freak tendencies!).

Also throw in an unexpected visit from my high school best friend, 4 swim practices a week, 2 bike workouts, a few movies (The Bourne Ultimatum, Harry Potter, Hairspray, and some random French film), "West Side Story" at Starlight, weekly church, a PEO meeting, weekly Bible study, a special church group that met on Sunday evenings during the month of July, and an internal debate about if I want to pursue a job in management or do I want to continue to be a "doer" at work... and there you go...that's what I've been up to.

Today, I'm sipping iced chai tea latte at Panera, catching up on life, and hoping that the next few weeks are equally rewarding but slightly less hectic.

Vive le Tour

Every July, I religiously follow the Tour de France. My Tour de France "obsession" started in the mid-90s when my dad would watch the 30-minute daily recap on ESPN. Over the years, it's evolved to the point that now I spend quite a bit of time (think multiple hours on the weekends!) watching the race, reading the live internet updates while I'm at work, and perusing daily race blogs for the little-known storylines. I've even been known to take mornings off of work to watch important stages unfold live.

I am captivated by the event. I love the beauty of a train of riders flying through the French countryside. I love the sacrifices that riders make to train for this event. Each rider has their own story for how they got to the Tour and what they went through to make that happen. I love the hurt that riders feel after a hard day. I love the endurance that it takes to get on the bike and ride at your best day after day after day. For 3 weeks! I love that just when I think I know is going to win, something happens to change that. In the Lance Armstrong years, I loved how he dominated from start to finish. He didn't let anyone beat him on the mountain climbs or in the time trials. No one compared to his talent and dedication. In this year's race, I love that the race is more wide open and riders that specialize in the mountains or in the time trials can limit their losses in the other disciplines and still come out on top. I love the fight and courage of riders to push through the pain of injury and crashes. This year, Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-race favorite, crashed early in the Tour and has about 60 stiches in his knees. But he is still riding!!! He struggled in the Alps but today in the time trial, he fought through the pain and beat the rest of the field by a huge margin. I admire the phsyical and mental strength that it takes not to give up. I love the strategy of the tour. Although individuals race the tour, the rider's teams play a huge role in the overall success of the individual. I love that there are races within the race (for the sprinters, the mountain climbers, the young rider and the overall leader).

What an all-around-great sporting event. Vive le Tour!!

Addictions

For some reason, as ideas for things to blog about have been spinning around in my head the past couple of weeks, the idea that keeps come back to me is: Addictions. I'm not quite sure why, but it seems like it could be interesting if I share 5 of my addictions and then you share 5 of yours. You can either post them in the comments, on your own blog, on your facebook wall (Shelly, that's for you!), etc. So, here goes:

• Coffee. I don't know how it happened. I even made a pact at a McDonald's with one of my friends when I was 10 that we would never drink coffee. Hah! My 10-year-old self didn't really know the pleasure coffee can bring. I'm a full fledged addict now.


• Harry Potter Books. I can turn this addiction off (so, does that disqualify it from addiction status?) when I'm not in the middle of an HP book. But man, when I'm reading one, there is nothing else I want to do. No work, no cooking, no housework, no chores, no get togethers with friends. Nope, I just want to sit in my chair and read read read. Even if I've read the book before, I still can't put it down.
• Swimming. I just don't feel quite right when I'm not swimming regularly. I take time off for vacations and stuff, but I always love to get back in the water when I get home. I love the feel of moving through the water.


• Peanut butter. I eat peanut butter in some fashion every day. Usually it's stirred in to my oatmeal. Sometimes I eat a couple of spoonfuls just because. I can plow through a stash of Reeses Peanut butter cups in no time flat. And the Reeses Peanut Butter eggs...man, those put me over the top!
• Buying online. So, don't get me wrong, I still love to shop in a real store. But, for things that I consider a "chore" to go and buy, I usually just find it online and purchase it. I weigh the cost of shipping versus the price of gas, and now that gas is so expensive, it usually comes out about even. Plus, there's the contentment factor that I get by buying it online and not having to make a special trip out to buy it.

Okay, so that's me. I tag KMS, Beth, Shelly, Cat, Stacy.

Little Things About Me

• Every Memorial Day weekend, I love watching the Indy 500. It's pretty much the only auto race I watch all year. The stories, the crashes, the family legacies, the strategy, the team dynamics. It's fascinating to me.
• I always take the jacket off a hard cover book before reading it. It has something to do with the feeling of the book in my hands. So tactile.
• Recently, I've had a hard time sleeping past 7:00 in the morning. Today (a Sunday!), my body woke up at 6:00 and was ready to get up for the day. Is it a sign of age if I can't "sleep in" anymore?

Little Things About Me

Wow, I don't know where all the time goes. It's been a while between posts. Can't say I've been exceptionally busy, but some how the time just goes...somewhere. So anyway, I thought I'd share a few more little things about me. This time, I'm sharing things that I love.

• I love "The West Wing". A friend recently loaned me the DVDs of the Second Season (I own and have already watched the First Season). The writing and dialogue is so witty and crisp. It puts a smile on my face every time.
• I love to organize. Pretty much anything. I helped my cousin move over the weekend and my mom and I unpacked and organized her kitchen. My mom is the queen of kitchen organization. One friend said she deserves an Olympic gold medal for her skills. I'm just an apprentice organizer, but I do love to find the perfect spot for each item. It gives me a sense of satisfaction!
• I love floss sticks. Have you tried them? They are soooooooooo much better than traditional dental floss. Easier to use, no wrapping the floss around your fingers, not as messy/slobbery. Great invention! I actually enjoy flossing now.

Little Things About Me

I've decided to share a few little things about me that you may or may not know. This type of post may reoccur periodically here.

• I *love* hot coffee, but I don't like cold coffee (iced or ice cream). I was once horribly sick the day after eating coffee ice cream and to this day, even the smell of cold coffee makes me slightly nauseous. I only mention this because it came up in conversation at work today in relation to the new iced coffee available at McDonald's. I will definitely not be trying it.
• My favorite religiously-symbolic church service of the year is the Tenebrae service. It's usually either on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. Tenebrae means "darkness" or "shadows" in Latin. It's usually a retelling of Christ's betrayal and crucifixion, through several readings, with candles snuffed out and lights dimmed after each reading. The service tradionally ends in silence and darkness. It's always meaningful to me. The stillness, and solemness, and aloneness that I feel while sitting in a dark church gives me a small glimpse in to what the world would be like without Christ. I'm glad I know that the story continues with His triumph over death on Easter Sunday.
• I love turning to a new month on the calendar. There's just something about the anticipation of looking at the next picture/illustration that I love. It makes me smile each month.

Looking forward to...

...a night of TV watching! Yes, I am a dork, but I am so looking forward to watching TV tonight. Survivor and Friday Night Lights are on at 7. I'll have to record one and watch it at 8. Then, the American Idol results show is on at 8. I'll record it and watch it after I finish Survivor and Friday Night Lights. Can't wait to curl up in my jammies and relax on the couch. Oh, and if Sanjaya doesn't get voted off Idol, I may have to stop watching. Does he remind anyone else of Michael Jackson?

Productive Weekend

I love weekends! I especially love weekends that are both fun and productive. Some weekends fall into the mostly-fun, not-that-productive category. I ennjoy weekends like that...but afterwards, I sometimes feel like I'm slightly behind in life-maintenance activites. Some weekends are mostly-productive, not-much fun. I relish the sense of accomplishment after such a weekend, but I prefer to have at least a few moments of escape from must-do activities.

This weekend has been the perfect combination of both. Activites on the fun side include:
~ Seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls. The exhibit is a fascinating glimpse in to life in ancient Israel. Seeing the actual scrolls themselves is amazing! I love that the words I read in my Bible, published just a few years ago, are the same words that were written on those scrolls 2000 years ago.
~ Having lunch at Boulangerie Philippe . We tried to go to a couple of different restaurants in the Crossroads District that are on my list of places to try, but it turns out that neither place is open for lunch on the weekends. So, we headed to a restaurant that I love but don't get to very often.
~ Watching the KU basketball team beat up on Iowa State.
~ Watching The Guardian . It's a kind of cheesy movie, but I liked it. It's about swimming, after all. How could I not enjoy it?

Things knocked off my to-do list:
~Donated an old TV. It's been sitting on the floor of the yellow room, where it's been getting in the way of my sit-up routine for three weeks.
~Grocery shopping. Some people love to grocery shop. I am not one of them.
~ Vacuuming my car! I can count on one hand (without using all of my fingers) the number of times I vacuumed my old car. It's amazing how my new car can motivate me to keep it clean inside. In the 13 months I've owned it, I've vacuumed it more than the 9 years I owned the other one.
~Touching up the paint on the windows in my study. I just got new windows in here and some of the paint got chipped in the installation process. Also, the holes left by the old blinds were screaming at me to fill them in and paint over them. Done!

A weekend like this one is definitely a little thing that brings me a lot of happiness.

Little Things Today

In honor of my first day of blogging, here's a couple of the little things that made me smile today.

• Getting my taxes done. There's nothing quite like sitting down, having someone else do all the work, and then away the return goes electronically. Refund will appear magically in my bank account in a few days. Love it!
• Left over pizza for dinner. Yummy!
• Receiving a phone call from my cousin in CA to get the famous family chocolate sauce recipe.