Top Ten List - My Year-in-Review

I got an email from my sister-in-law Laura that got me to thinking about what an interesting year this last one has been in my life, so on that note, I decided to post my list of the top ten things that happened in my life this year...or at least the ten I could think of today.

10) On what turned out to be my last business trip for Audatex, the TV in my hotel room burst into flames. Could have been foreshadowing for my career at Audatex. Glad I had this last hurrah with my old team.

9) Innocent trip to the dentist ends with me suffering from TMJ, locking my jaw at a 15 and preventing eating and talking for over a month. 97 xrays, too many sugar shots to count, and three orthodics later and I rejoined the world of the speaking and eating.

8) Went to work one day to find out that I no longer worked there. Great severance package though. Once the shock wore off, best thing that could have happened. Thanks to my great support system out there - you are the best!

7) Went to work for GMAP. Learned more about college football than a person should ever know. Also ended up working the garage sale every Saturday trying to figure out how my life had brought me to this point. At least it gave me a reason to leave my house on a regular basis!

6) Found job hunting had it's perks including taking three trips to Boston to interview for jobs and being able to tack on three trips to New Hampshire to hang with the family there. Perfect.

5) Friend Julie passed away in August. Reality check on what really matters. Think this might have been the point I subconsciously made the decision not to relocate away from family and friends. Rest in peace Julie.

4) Got two great job offers within 24 hours of each other. Chose Lawson. Great job, great salary, great location (aka home). Hurrah’s all around.

3) Week four of new job, traveled to Sweden on business. Best business travel location I’ve been sent to. Went to a Christmas market, toured the Vasa Museum, and met my fantastic team there. Certainly beats the December I went to Fargo.

2) Discovered the beauty of blogging and reuniting with old friends on Facebook. For someone who is terrible at calling people, this is the perfect way to stay in touch!

1) Spent three fun-filled and relaxing weeks in Sydney, Australia. Sat at the beach, ate guava ice cream, did what I wanted when I wanted. Priceless.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Snow Day...

I was tagged today to share a "Snow Day" story from childhood. Luckily, I grew up in a snowy environment so I actually have a story. I remember once when school was closed early due to the snow, it was in Uintah so I would have been about 10. We were all very excited about the extra hours of freedom and piled into someones car, a station wagon as I recall, for what should have been the short journey home. We were living on Woodland Drive in Ogden at the time and in order to get home, we had to get up a hill which seemed much steeper that it actually was when covered with ice and snow. The car just couldn't make it up the hill; we would go a few feet and then slide back down the hill. We did this a few times and then the mother driving declared defeat (as had the mother of the other cars parked haphazardly along the side of the road). We all got out and started the trek up the hill only to discover that we couldn't make it up the hill any better than the cars could. We were slip sliding all over the place and laughing at the craziness of it all. Being the ingenious children that we were, however, we eventually figured out that if we took our shoes off, our socks would stick to the ice and we could actually get enough traction to get up the hill. It was great, especially as we played "dodge the car" as the cars silly enough to still be attempting the climb up the hill slid back down the hill towards us. Were we worried about frostbite on our feet or getting run over by an out of control car? No way, not on a Snow Day!

A Dorm Room By Any Other Name...

...Is Still A Dorm Room.

I am on my first business trip to Sweden. It has been a great trip and I am really enjoying my job this week. That having been said, when staying in Sweden, we stay at the Campus Inn, which is literally in the office. The dorm room looks like a little IKEA show room (or like IKEA spit up and this is what it left behind). At least it had it's own bathroom! Only employees are allowed to stay there and it is a little disconcerting to know that everyone you see in the halls is a coworker. After the first few days, there were only three of us that seemed to be staying there so I felt like a college student who stayed at school over a holiday break alone in the empty dorm. It was an odd experience but I couldn't have asked for an easier commute to the office! The pictures really don't do it justice. I spent a week here and then switched to the Radisson Strand where my room is half the size. Yes, that's correct, it is possible to have a smaller room than the dorm room. More from Sweden later!

4th Picture, 4th Folder

My sister-in-law's blog tagged me to post the fourth picture from my fourth folder. Not a very interesting one. This is a picture of a tree's roots. It's in an Australia vacation folder so I am guessing it is from the trip last year or perhaps the one before that.

So, if you are reading this, tag...you're it. It's time to share your picture (if you don't have a blog just go ahead and send it to me!)

G'day Sydney

I am into my last few hours here in Sydney. It has been a grand vacation and the perfect way to prepare to start a new job. The above is a collage of a few of the places I have been in the last 17 days. You can click on it to enlarge it enough to read the captions of where each picture was taken. Now it's time to take one last stroll through Circular Quay, have one last meal at Pancakes on the Rocks, finish packing, and board a plane for home. G'Day Sydney. It's been great!

Views from the Ferry

One of my favorite things here is to just hop on a Ferry and enjoy a little cruise on the bay to wherever I need to be. Here are some shots I took today coming into and out of the Circular Quay area of Sydney Harbor.

Sculpture By the Sea

As promised, here are some of the photos I took at Sculpture by the Sea.

It was really an interesting and varied display of artistic impression. They are going to start holding a similar exhibition in Denmark - I just may have to put that on my travel schedule!

Bondi Beach

My friend Debbie took the day off today (thanks Debbie!) and we headed back to Bondi Beach. It was a gorgeous day in the high 80's, sunny, with a light cooling wind. We ended up spending about 4 hours just soaking in the rays, chatting, and, as I was there and couldn't help myself, eavesdropping on and commenting about our fellow sunbathers. Let's just say there were some very brave people there, many of whom felt no qualms whatsoever about stripping down on the beach and changing into their swimsuits right there. Changing rooms? Those are for sissies. I also learned that if you are a man, you are never too old or overweight to wear a bright red Speedo. If I had room in my suitcase, you would all be getting one for Christmas. Then there were the two guys next to us who set up their pretty pink umbrella that was so low to the beach that no adult could fit under it and then proceeded to roll a ball back and forth - identical to the game I am sure each of you has played with a two year old at some point in your life. It just seemed an odd way to pass the time at the beach. We also saw people playing soccer and paddle ball but no beach volleyball. So disappointing from an eye candy perspective.

Anyway, the time flew by and we ended up just enjoying the beach for much longer than either of us had anticipated (and for longer than my sunscreen was prepared to do it's duty). After that we grabbed lunch where the restaurant was out of both my first and second choices so I defaulted to "I'll just have what she's having", which ended up being a hamburger with BBQ sauce. Not the best meal I have had here but it served it's purpose. Then we headed back over to the Sculptures by the Sea exhibit (more photos on that later) and the coastal walk. Above are some of the coastal photos I took today. I find it to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. We ended this perfect day with ice cream. I had never had Creme Brulee flavored ice cream before and I highly recommend it. Well, that's it for today. I am off now to reapply the aloe vera gel to my sunburned knees and my right foot. Not sure where my left foot was all day but it is just fine.

Whale Watching - What Was I Thinking???

In a momentary fit of insanity (and apparent amnesia to my ongoing and persistent battle with motion sickness on all moving vehicles), I chose to go whale watching. Seriously, what was I thinking? The ride out of the bay was great, very scenic, no motion sickness at all and then I was even doing OK for a bit on the open sea. I was mentally thanking the Dramamine and the ginger pills for working so well when I made the monumental mistake of standing up with the rest of the passengers to look at the whales. Heave ho. Quickly sitting down again it became a mental exercise in stomach control. I finally popped two more Dramamine and went into a very nice semi-coma. I did see dolphins - as they were nice enough to come swimming on my side of the boat while everyone was on the other side of the boat looking at whales and I did see whales as they were gracious enough to surface where I could see them from my seat through the tiny hole in the crowd. After that I just closed my eyes and pretended I was somewhere else. When we hit the harbor my eyes popped open and the two ladies next to me were very happy to see that I was still alive. Suffice it to say, there is not enough Dramamine in the world to get me back on the open sea again any time soon.

What I Did Today

Today I sat at the beach and watched the waves roll in. It's Monday and preseason plus the day started out overcast so there was almost no one else there. I listened to a book on my MP3 player, ate a guava ice cream cone (the best flavor of ice cream ever), and just relaxed. It was the best day ever (and definitely made up for yesterdays crazy mishaps). I hope each of you gets a day soon to just do whatever you want - it's incredibly restorative.

Vacation Day Three: The 4 S's

Today started exactly like yesterday. I was up at 3:30, grabbed an early breakfast, and decided to take a walk at the beach to start the day. I walked for about an hour and then sat on my favorite step to relax and just watch the water. I took a bottle of water out of my bag, twisted the lid part way off and suddenly found myself completely wet. I had forgotten that the lounge was out of still water so I had grabbed a Soda water. It exploded so fast that I was totally drenched (and completely startled) in the blink of an eye and no one around me even noticed. Fortunately it was a bright sunny day so I shrugged philosophically and and sat back to let the sun dry me off and to soak in the rays. Apparently the soda water also turned me invisible as people kept almost stepping on me (yet going nowhere near anyone around me) and one kid decided right where I was sitting was the place to drop his boogie board. His mother was horrified and started apologizing profusely, and I said, as I had just been thinking it, "no worries, I'm invisible today". I am sure she will tell her friends about the crazy lady in the wet clothes who thought she was invisible.

But back to the original story of the 4 S's. I was prepared for soaking in the rays. Before leaving my hotel room, I liberally applied sunscreen. Australia is the one place in the world where I have a tendency to burn instead of tanning. They also have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world so they regulate their sunscreen and it is hard to find anything less than a 15 spf, so I brought my own. I applied 4 all over my arms and legs and 15 on my face, chest and neck. It was a great day with plenty of sunshine. I sat on the beach, rode the ferries, walked a lot, and pretty much spent the bulk of the day outside. I was proud of myself for remembering to reapply the sunscreen every 4 hours. Well, fast forward to the end of the day when I glanced in the mirror and it became apparent that my spf 15 sunscreen had expired. My arms and legs are a nice golden brown and everywhere I applied the 15 is Sunburned. Drat.

This caused the need for a little shopping this evening to get sunscreen that wasn't expired as well as an Aloe Vera cooling gel for the sunburn. Before I left the hotel, as I always do, I put everything of value into the Safe and locked it. Or tried to anyway. What I ended up doing is jamming it open which necessitated a call to maintenance and waiting around in my room until someone could come and unjam the safe. Apparently, as I was informed, this happens all the time when people aren't paying attention. I was advised by Mr. Fixit to start paying better attention. Really, I couldn't object to the snotty advice, as it would have come in handy for every part of my day starting with the Soda water, moving on to the Sunburn, and progressing to the Safe. Oh if I only I had listened at that point, I could have avoided what I hope is the last S of the day.

Once the safe was fixed, it was time to go buy sunscreen. I stepped out of the hotel and looked at the convenience store across the street. After a moment of debate, I decided to walk the 8 blocks to the grocery store as it was a beautiful evening, still light out for another hour and a half and I knew the grocery store would be cheaper. When I entered the store, I failed to grab a basket. Walking through the store, I picked up a couple bottles of water and then the sunscreen and Aloe Vera gel. I tucked the sunscreen under my arm in an effort to free up a hand so I could grab some snacks for the hotel room. I was walking down an aisle debating whether to go back to the front of the store and get a basket or if I was done and should check out when I noticed white on my arm. As it turns out, the sunscreen I picked up left it's lid behind on the shelf, and, thanks to tucking it under my arm, I was now wearing Sunscreen all over my arm, down both sides of my sweater, both the legs of my Capri's, and on both my shoes. There was also a nice trail marking my path through the grocery store. A very nice employee, doing her best not to laugh as I was wearing almost an entire bottle of very white sunscreen on my clothes, got me a towel to clean myself up with. I should note that the couple shopping, the cashier, and the guy renting a DVD didn't even try not to laugh.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, it's just going to be one of those days! I am hoping, however, since I have turned in for the night, that this will conclude today's mishaps.

Defy the Man Drought, Put the Kids on Ice

So, it is 3:30 in the morning in Sydney and I find myself once again awake. To entertain myself, I grab the newspaper that I picked up from my doorstep and dropped in my room without looking at as I left for my adventures yesterday. The front page headline from the Sydney Morning Herald that greets me "Defy man drought, put the kids on ice". The article then proceeds to cover the "handful of women who have chosen to freeze their eggs in a bid to beat mother nature and the man drought" but, as a friend of mine was told when she moved here, Australia is about a decade behind...in this case, a decade behind the US in the freezing process so not many frozen eggs survive the thawing process and those that are "socially infertile" are not covered by Medicare. The saddest quote from the article for me (and many of my friends) "If I have a single girl come to me at 39 or 40, it's just not worth her while". Of course, I am 38 for 34 more days so I guess I could squeeze it in before I hit 39. Except that once I return home I will be starting my new job and there are three weeks of hormone injections to deal with so maybe not. Anyway, the best quote from the article: "For now, though, I sometimes forget I have them until the bill arrives and I think, 'Ah, a postcard from my kids saying, Mum, please send money." Ah, the things that will entertain at 3:30 in the morning.

Vacation Day 2: Sculptures by the Sea

G'Day. Today started at 3:30 am when my eyes popped open and I was wide awake. I got up, got ready for the day, ironed my clothes, watched a video, and was the first person in the lounge for breakfast at 6:30. I dragged that out as long as I could and finally decided to pop a couple of ginger motion sickness prevention pills and hop a ferry over to Manly beach (upper left corner of the collage). I took an early morning walk/jog and then ended up sitting and watching the surfers for an hour - which was a great way to start the day (lower left corner of the collage). Next, I headed back across the bay and went shopping at The Rocks open air market. This is a great little market with lots of hand made items. Some are gorgeous, some are fun, and some make you wonder "who would ever buy that".

After my shopping spree, my friend Debbie (upper right corner of the collage) picked me up at my hotel and we headed to Bondi Beach (which I will note for my brother Jeff is not nearly as far from the hotel as you might suppose based on our last experience getting there) and the annual Sculptures by the Sea exhibit. The exhibit is a compilation of 100+ sculptures presented outside along a beautiful coastal walk. We stopped for lunch along the way where we were reprimanded for not following the "someone has to be at the table while someone else places the order or you can't get your food for eat in" rule. Who knew? Anyway, once we followed all the rules and were able to order, we had a great lunch and then proceeded along the coastal walk for the rest of the exhibit. The five middle pictures of the collage are a sampling of the art we saw.

Of course, once you finish the walk you realize your car is back at the beginning so you get to do the walk again in reverse which is entertaining as you spy sculptures you completely missed the first time around. For an added bit of fun, there was a pod of whales off the coast line that kept us entertained for quite awhile. I think this may have been the first time I have seen a pod of whales. Unfortunately my camera just didn't have the power to pick up much so I have no pictures to show. After that we decided to head back. At this point, my early morning caught up with me and that pretty well concluded the day. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

We got five inches of snow in Centerville, Utah today - which wasn't nearly the record in the state but is 5 inches more that I wanted to see in October. Last week we were in the 70's and 80's. Apparently I blinked and missed fall! Oh well - at least it's pretty and my heater works :).

And the winner is...

After several weeks of interviewing and two job offers, I have accepted a job offer with Lawson Software as their Director, Global Learning Development. I get to stay in Utah, working virtually. Apparently I will have to turn my home office back into a business office :). I will be managing a group of 11 people, 4 in the US, 4 in Sweden, 2 in the UK and 1 in the Philippines. It should be an interesting adventure. I start on November 10th which will make it 8 months after leaving Audatex. I have to say, the 8 months flew by. They were educational months though - I learned all about garage selling, college football playoffs, every job search engine out there, how to stick to a budget, and how to excessively clean my house! I also got to spend time with my nephew in Boise, visit my family in New Hampshire three times, vacation for the weekend in Rhode Island, and spend time in Stamford, CT. Next up - two weeks in Sydney, Australia if I can get it to all work out before I go back to work.

When Karma comes calling...

I was at Roberts (a craft store) returning some frames about a week ago when a woman fell in the parking lot and broke her nose. It was awful. Some of us in the checkout line got to talking and I said something along the lines of how bad I felt for her and I didn't know which would be worse if I had fallen - the injury or the embarrassment. If I was going to fall, I really wanted to do it in the privacy of my own home. I can now tell you that the embarrassment wins. I walked to Target to pick up something and then headed over to Sprint to check out phones as mine is having issues. To walk to Sprint from Target, the fastest way is to walk through the Roberts parking lot. You can see it coming now can't you? I was in the process of stepping off the curb into the parking lot when I looked down at my shoe cause it felt funny and that was all it took. One shoe slipped scraping the side of my foot down the cement (nice case of road rash) and the other foot took off in the opposite direction. I over corrected and pretty much landed on my ankle with the foot sideways and then went down (resulting in a bit of a sprained ankle). All it needed was for someone to shout "timber" to complete the experience. So, as I found myself suddenly making contact with the ground I had four simultaneous thoughts (I've always been a multitasker): 1) Please don't let anyone from the store see me; 2) Please let me be able to walk so I don't have to call Gail or Shannon to come pick me up and drive me two blocks home (cause no way was I calling a neighbor for this - only family!); 3) I wonder how that woman's nose is; and 4) Crap. Fortunately I was able to get up, ignore the bloody road rash and the slightly swollen ankle and get myself home. Ah Karma.

The New Love of My Life...

For all of you that were waiting with bated breath for the name of the latest man in my life, you can exhale and resume normal breathing. The new love of my life is not a man but a website. Why has no one told me about the beautiful merits of www.audible.com. I did not, until recently, own an MP3 player as I rarely listen to music. Audio books are a whole other matter. Thanks to credits issued with membership and great sales, I find that it is often cheaper to buy the audio than the actual book. When I think of all the hours I have spent on airplanes wanting to read and wanting to rest my eyes and having to choose one when I could have done both, it just pains me! All those silent hours spent working in my office in front of the computer when I could have had a book playing in the background - oh the wasted time! There will be no more choosing between reading a book and cleaning the house now that I can both at the same time! I have also become the person at the grocery store, Dr.'s office, etc. that has their headphones in. I love my MP3 player. Anyway, the next time you are thinking to yourself "I wonder what I should get Tracy for...her birthday, Christmas, a housewarming gift, Valentines, Arbor Day, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, because it's Tuesday, etc. you all feel free to head to www.audible.com and click on Gift Certificate :).

The Simple Pleasures

Every now and then in life a person is lucky enough to have a moment of pure joy, often set off by the simplest of things. For me today, it was notebooks and pens. That's right, school supplies. I mean, who hasn't known the pure joy of finding the right notebook and pen? I was walking through the school aisle at WalMart today when I discovered that my favorite little notebooks to keep my to do lists in were back in stock and on sale. Then to add that extra punch of joy, they now come with a pink cover...what could be more me? I just stood there in WalMart beaming (and rifling through all of the shelves to make sure that I bought every last one of them). Too add a little frosting to that moment, I was then at Smith's (a grocery store for you non-Utahns) and they had my favorite Pentel, medium point, blue ink pens in stock. These are so hard to come by that I always check for them whenever I walk by pens in a store. Then I noticed the sign: buy one pack of two, get one pack of two free. It just doesn't get any better than this. Needless to say, I bought all of them. It will now be a less joyous experience for anyone else hoping to find the perfect medium point blue ink pen in the Greater Salt Lake area. And yes, to answer the unspoken thought in each of your heads - I do need a life (or at least a job).

Nail Polish + Carpet = A Very Long Night

In one of my less than brilliant moments, I picked up a bottle of nail polish only to find that I had not actually secured the cap when I finished using it. This then caused a slow motion chain reaction worthy of Hollywood as the nail polish bottle flew one direction, the lid went in a different direction and my "ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh nnnnnnnoooooooooooooo" resounded through the room. The results - nail polish (a delightful deep pinkish red color) all over the carpet next to my bed, under the bed, on the nightstand and on my bed skirt. After some quick research on the Internet, I am now on chemical overload from the toxic yet effective combination of non-acetone nail polish remover, carpet stain remover, Windex, and hairspray. My trusty SpotBot is finishing up the job now while I blog and I think, with a few strategic snips with the old scissors, all will be well. Of course, I will be sleeping in my spare bedroom until the fumes dissipate which I am sure will happen by sometime next year...

I am not headed to Rhode Island

Just a quick update that I heard today that they have gone a different direction (an internal candidate) for the position in Rhode Island. I'm a little bit bummed as I liked the company and the people I met but understand their concerns over the expense to relocate someone and then finding out it's not a good fit. I am still in the interview process for the job in Boston so I will keep you all posted on that one. Thanks for all the support!

Farewell to a Friend

My friend Julie passed away unexpectedly last Friday. She and I had worked together for 12 years at ADP/Audatex and through the years had become friends rather than coworkers. I flew up to Portland yesterday to attend her memorial service. Those of us who flew in had similar thoughts on landing - we had never traveled to Portland without seeing Julie. It was a rainy, dreary day and I thought "this is the perfect grieving weather".

The service itself was a poignant tribute and a celebration of the life she led and the impact she made. It began with Amazing Grace and ended with Sweet Home Alabama - a song I will never hear again without remembering my friend. As her husband spoke about how fortunate he was to have had the time with Julie he did, the rain poured down and the lights flickered off and we all paused in silence for a moment in the small dark church. This was grief with proper ambiance.

Afterwards, it was an unplanned reunion of sorts for me. When I was laid off 5 months ago I had no idea that I would find myself in the same room with so many former coworkers so soon, from my old boss and friend who was laid off the same day I was to the person who who did the laying off (that one was a bit awkward for all of us). It was a chance to renew some acquaintances and to say goodbye to others who I am unlikely to run across again.

Finally, as we drove away from the church, the rain stopped, the sun broke through the clouds, and there was the rainbow we all needed. It reminded me of a very cheesy song one of my seminary teachers used to play about a woman who is dying and tells her young son that he will always know she is in heaven watching over him because she would build him a rainbow. I thought of Julie's 9 year old son we had just left at the church. Hmmm, maybe that song's not so cheesy after all.

Hanging in New Hampshire

After the interviews in Boston, I spent a couple of days in Rhode Island (should have more news on this by the end of the week) and then headed to New Hampshire to visit Mike and Laura and their family. I had a fabulous time and we got a lot in in just a few days (although I did extend my trip a couple days as I was having such a great time...don't you just love the house guest that won't leave!)

At their house, I learned that Laura is a fabulous chef (thanks for all the great meals including the icky monsters!) and I got to play the Wii for the first time...Mike can tell you that I bowl better than I play tennis and that I will be no threat to anyone who chooses to challenge me in the future. For the record, I refuse to believe that I look like my Wii person (picture to the right).

I was also introduced to onemorelevel.com a completely addictive website of games. We also went on a family walk where I learned that they have moved into a very friendly neighborhood. It was great to see them all settled in!

We headed to a museum with New Hampshire history in Concord, a furniture store in Reading, MA with huge displays made entirely of jelly beans, and down to Cambridge, MA to visit my dad's Alma mater (Harvard).


While hanging out at the Curious George store in Cambridge, Elli and I played a great game of "Where's your???" and I can't resist sharing some of the cute photos.

It was a great trip! Mike and Laura - Thanks for a great mini-vacation!

Driving Ms. Tracy

I arrived in Boston today for my interviews for the position that would mean a relocation to Rhode Island. I have 7 interviews with 11 people in two buildings scheduled for tomorrow. As the limo was taking me to the hotel (and I love any company that has me picked up in a limo), I saw the office building where my afternoon interviews will be tomorrow and was surprised as the driver stopped there. Then I realized that the hotel is attached/connected to the office building. This caused me a moment of consternation, enough that I pulled out my itinerary to verify the address and then verified with the guy at the front desk that the building next door is the office building that I think it is. Why, you ask, would this cause me such consternation? Because there on my itinerary is says "Confirmation 15493378 Pickup at 3:45PM 155 Seaport Dropoff at One Seaport". Yup. Tomorrow afternoon I am going to be picked up at the office by a town car and driven next door. It is going to take the driver longer to get out of the car, come around to open my door, get back in the car and fasten his seat belt than it would take for me to just walk.

This of course got me curious about my morning pickup so I looked up the address of the first building I will be meeting in. Sure enough, it is two blocks away. I have an 8:45 am pickup to drive me two blocks for a 9:30 am meeting. What am I going to do with myself when I arrive for my first interview 43 minutes early? I hope they have a lobby with comfy chairs!

I wonder if it will be the same driver for both trips. How lazy is he going to think I am when he has to drive me two blocks? How much lazier is he going to think I am when he has to drive me ten feet?

Mamma Mia...

Last night two of my sisters-in-law (Gail and Shannon), my friend Kristi (visiting from CA) and I went to see the movie Mamma Mia. I loved the play and I really enjoyed the movie. I only have one question...how do I get the Abba songs out of my head? All day today I have found myself singing or humming along to the soundtrack that is playing nonstop in my head. To add humor to the whole thing, I learned one of the songs in Spanish when I was in the 9th grade so that one I keep singing in Spanish. I guess I should be grateful that I can sing "give me, give me, give me a man after midnight" in two languages. And with typing that line, I am now trying to figure out how someone thought that was an appropriate song for us to learn as 9th graders??? Things that make you go hmmm. Anyway, it was a great girls night out and worth the cost of not being able to get the songs out of my head.

On a side note, for any of you planning to see the show, in order to enjoy it, I recommend that you love Abba, listen to your Abba Gold CD before going, and, if you have never seen the play, don't expect an Oscar award winning plot.

Crunch

Don't you hate it when you are backing up and suddenly you hear the unmistakable sound of metal crunching metal? I was leaving the hair salon on Saturday, backing out my parking space, looked over the old shoulder, saw no one there, when suddenly "CRUNCH". My eyes flew to the rear view mirror to see the stunned driver of a red Prius, cell phone at her ear, eyes opened wide, starring at me. The damages to my vehicle are relatively minor since we were only going about a mile an hour. My bumper cover is askew and will need to be fixed and then there are some scratches and gouges in the paint. The Prius has damage on the rear door, the quarter panel, and the wheel. Blah! Not my favorite way to spend time on a Saturday afternoon. Well, at least this time I won't feel obligated to go to a particular repair shop because they are a client. Anyone know a good auto body repair shop in the Bountiful or Ogden areas?

What I did at work today...

Doing my best to hone my more marketable skills, today at work I sorted through clothes, stood in our parking lot and identified when sprinklers turned on and off, ate pizza for lunch (kind of regretting that last slice now), moved my office as mine is being turned into a wedding studio, and got caught up on the life and times of my coworkers. Ah what a day :).

Moving to Rhode Island?

I spent yesterday on the phone in 7 interviews with a company in Rhode Island. The interviews went well and so far I am excited about the job and the company. It looks like I will be flying back east the week of August 4th to do the next round of interviews. So, does anyone know anything about life in Rhode Island? The job is about 11 miles north of Providence so I will likely be looking there to live if I am offered the job.

Have you hugged your niece today?

Last week, a friend of mine lost her precious 1 year old niece in a tragic drowning accident. There just aren't words to express my deep sympathy for her and her family. It's moments like these that remind me to be grateful for what I have. I have five amazing and talented nieces ranging in age from 17 years to 18 months and I can't bear the thought of anything happening to them. This post is my virtual hug for them.

Jessica, Annie, Caleigh, Ashlynn and Elliot,

You make my life better just by being a part of it.

I love you,

Aunt Tracy.

Jessica
Annie
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My idea of camping is a cheap motel...aka my trip to Uluru

Anyone who has spent any time with me can tell you that my idea of camping is a cheap motel. I am not a nature girl. I love to hike and to be outdoors but at the end of the day, I like to come home to a soft bed, a hot shower, and a running toilet. That having been said, let me share with you that the three longest days of my life were spent at the Ayers Rock Resort in Australia. The trip out to Ayers Rock was relatively uneventful...until we got to our room. I thought I had prepared myself, after all, I was heading into the Outback. My preparation, however, was countered with the knowledge that I was staying at a 4 1/2 star resort. What a difference that half star makes! We arrived at our room, and to make a long story short, it can only be described as the place where spiders go to mate. And they had. At the point where Jeff had killed the 45th spider or so in a five minute period, I was huddled in the middle of the bed having my own little nervous breakdown while he tried not to laugh at me. Needless to say, we were moved to another room. In the same building. A building I am sure hadn't been used in many, many months. In the new room we only had to kill a couple of spiders. And the cockroach that ran across the bathroom floor. And then the mystery bug that Jeff laid on in bed and squashed. It was at this point that he joined me in my nervous breakdown. It is humbling as an adult to find yourself sleeping with the lights on! But enough about the room, because I really could go on and on about it!


In an effort to spend as little time as possible in the room we joined several tours and explored the resort at length. We ran across all sorts of interesting wildlife, including lizards and great big spiders, and took pictures of Uluru from every looking point on the resort grounds.






One of the tours we went on was the Sunrise tour. There were about six of us on this tour and we went out to a viewpoint before dawn, had a little breakfast and watched the sun come up over Uluru. Our tour guide Cherry was great and taught us to recognize the different animal track we were seeing. The coolest thing on this tour was the fact that we got to see the Southern Cross in the morning sky. We also got a 360 degree tour of Uluru and a chance to do a little hiking around the rock. In the picture to the left, Jeff is touching Uluru.



We also went on the Sounds of Silence Sunset Tour. For this tour we were bussed into the outback, watched the sun go down, had a buffet dinner of kangaroo and other delicacies, and then got a tour of the Southern Hemispheres night sky. Unfortunately, there was a full moon and a full moon in the middle of nowhere is nice and bright so our tour went a little like this "if we could see the stars over here you would be able to see...and over here would be the...and if you could only see the stars over here you would see one of the most beautiful..." Added to that was the newness of the presenter who was having a difficult time trying to get her stories in order. It was painful - in a completely funny way. To add to the adventure of the evening we were seated at dinner with a British couple who were on our morning tour as well as with a man from California and the two women he was with. I've heard stories about those loud Americans and this guy was the stereotype come to life. I was so glad when this tour ended, I was almost happy to return to the hotel.


The adventure of the Sounds of Silence tour, however, was nothing compared to our Kata Tjuta trip. Kata Tjuta is another monolith not far (an hour or so as I recall) from Uluru. Our tour group was a small one consisting of a couple from Spain, a German mother and daughter team, an older couple, our tour guide and us. We hiked up as far as we were allowed to go and it was a really beautiful hike in the 100 plus degree heat. Unfortunately the mother from Germany wasn't up to all of that heat and couldn't make it back down (she's the one in the white hat in the picture to the left. We left her with all of our water and headed back to get help. It took forever for help to arrive. We got to know the couple from Spain really well as we waited. One by one everyone was pawned off to another tour group so they could join their evening tours but Jeff and I elected to stay as we really needed to know that the she was OK. Finally, several hours later, after the rescuers arrived, hiked up the mountain, and stabilized her, she came hiking down the mountain with an IV in her arm. That was one tough woman! As a bonus for the rough day, our tour driver made a special stop for us to see the sun set on Uluru up close and personal. It was a very peaceful experience...until the couple getting it on emerged from behind the rocks spoiling our view.

Finally, after three days of endless heat and spiders, it was time to depart. We arrived at the airport and all was well. We boarded our flight on time and I was having my own little private celebration when I made the mistake of saying "we are finally leaving - they can't make me get off this plane". This was followed by the captain announcing that the back of the plane was filling up with smoke, no need to worry it was good old fashioned Australia smoke, but we needed to evacuate in an orderly fashion. Apparently they could make me get off the plane. Karma sucks. After 6 hours of sitting in the teeny, tiny airport, we finally took off for Melbourne. Prayers of gratitude were said by all. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that really only needs to be done once in a lifetime.

Never judge a ring's size by its owner's size...

While looking for a sewing needle today I found an old CTR ring and when I picked it up I thought "how tiny - I wonder how old I was when I wore this". I then put it on and...it fit! This took me back to my recent trip to Australia. I was determined to buy a ring this time as a souvenir. I looked in just about every jewelry store in Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and at the Ayers Rock resort. Finally the day before we left, I went into the store next door to our hotel and there it was - the ring I have been searching for for three weeks. I bought the ring and luck was with me as the person who sizes the rings was coming in that day and they could have it for me in a few hours. As I learned, Australia ring sizes are different from American sizes so the jeweler and I spent some time with the sizing rings figuring out the right size. A few hours later they called to tell me that the ring was done and I could pick it up. I rushed right over. As I walked in one of the clerks saw me and before I could say anything she said she would get the other clerk as I really needed to work with her. There was just something off about the way she said it and my "uh oh" antennae was quivering. The original sales clerk came out and just burst out with "I am so sorry, he sized the ring but something must have been wrong with the size we gave him because it's turned out really small". She was holding up the ring so I could see how small it was. I held out my hand and said, "here, let me try it." It slipped right on and fit almost perfectly - it was just a tad loose. Her eyes were gigantic with disbelief as she starred at the ring on my finger. Two valuable lessons were learned that day - never judge a ring's size by the owner's size and it is possible not to squash little tiny salesclerks who do.

Top Ten Things I've Learned Since I Stopped Traveling for Work

10) Utility bills increase when you are home every day.
09) Getting gas more than once every six-eight weeks sucks.
08) I sorely underestimated my monthly grocery budget.
07) My house is messier when I am home all the time.
06) No one comes in and makes my bed and hangs up my towels for me.
05) Hotel beds are nowhere near as comfortable as sleeping in your own bed every night.
04) Utah doesn't have the same weather two days in a row.
03) People call more now that they know I'm always in town.
02) Eating at home every day does actually get old.
01) No one needs this much luggage!

People will buy anything...

After about four weeks of garage selling on Saturdays, I think I can say, without hesitation, that people will buy anything. Every week my coworker Ryan and I sort through newly arriving merchandise. Every week there will be something that will make us roll our eyes and question why the seller would think that someone would buy the item...and, invariably, that item is one of the first to be bought. It all started in week one when the first CD to sell, out of the many CD's available, was a Clay Aiken CD with two songs on it bought by a woman in her 70's. This week we got a box with old glasses and mugs in it including 6 very scary looking chocolate brown ceramic mugs that someone had made. They looked like a cross between a ghost and a pumpkin head. They were filthy, clearly having sat out in someones garage for years, a few were chipped and most were in various stages of having the details rubbed off of them. Ryan and I debated just tossing them out or taking them to the office and running them through the dishwasher. We ended up doing neither and just left them next to our work table with the other untagged items. Sure enough, a woman comes in on Saturday, goes straight to that box, ignoring the clean and unchipped mugs on the kitchenware table, and buys the six mugs. When she asked how much they were, it was all I could do not to exclaim "seriously???". (By the way, I sold all of them to her for $2.00). It's my new goal not to judge items as them come through the door because clearly there is an owner out there just waiting for the item to become available...ok, maybe I will still judge the items but I will do my best not to judge the people crazy enough to buy them!

When shoes become defective...

I flew to Connecticut this week. At 8:30 am I put on my reliable black pumps. I then proceeded to walk through the hotel and through the parking lot without incident (if you don't count the part where I banged my head on the trunk lid). I then successfully survived 5 hours of interviews which included walking to different offices and touring the facility without issue. I walked to my rental car. I walked from the rental car parking lot to the airport quite gracefully. I easily navigated security. I walked around the White Plains airport. I walked, and walked, and walked through the Chicago O'Hare airport in my trusty, reliable black pumps as I waited for my delayed flight to Salt Lake. I walked on carpet. I walked on pavement. I walked on tile. I walked on cement. I walked on laminate. You name a floor covering and I walked on it. Finally, many, many, many hours after putting the aforementioned reliable shoes on and after having walked, and walked, and walked in them, I arrived at the Salt Lake City Airport. I took one step onto their smooth surfaced floor and went sliding Dorothy Hamil style (with less finesse). I finally got myself steady, did the "I am so embarrassed" scrunchy face, took one more step and offered a repeat performance which was quickly followed by offering my now captivated audience an encore. There are really only two choices at this point. You can crawl to a carpeted area, take the ballet flats out of your carry-on and put those on instead or you can continue to slip and slide your way to baggage claim. For reasons I can't explain, I chose the latter. I am sure everyone behind me was just waiting for me to take a nose dive. I just want to know two things - what the #@!! happened to my shoes on the flight to Salt Lake and how many stories that night started with "there was this woman at the airport today..."?

The Job Hunt Continues...

I am now six weeks into the job search and am about to have my first in person interview (I have had phone interviews, but this is the first face-to-face). Let's hope I remember how to be impressive in person! I am flying out to Stamford, CT to interview with a great company out there that needs a Sr. Director for Performance Improvement - right up my alley.

I find it interesting that with all of the cities I have been to around the world, including several in CT, Stamford is not one of them. So, if any of you have ever been to Stamford, send me your thoughts! It's a great position but it does mean relocating and leaving behind family and friends here and selling my house which is always a daunting task. I have however embraced the fact that no matter what new job I take, it will require relocating so I am just thinking of it as the next adventure in my life.

I am also interviewing with a company out in the Bay area that is looking for a Sr. Director of Training and Development. We are still in the phone interview phase on that one. The crazy thing about this one is that their office in San Jose is literally across the street from my old apartment there. Wouldn't that be funny if life came full circle and I ended up working there?

It's great to have a couple of prospects out there and I will post again to tell you how the interview in CT goes...in the meantime, keep those job tips coming.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

My boss at my current gig (VP of Marketing for GiveMeAPlayoff.com), is a man of a thousand ideas and one of his latest is to hold a consignment style garage sale every Saturday morning. We spent a week gathering all sorts of items and held our first sale last Saturday. First, let me say that the number of people who rolled in at 7:00am was astounding to me! Who in the world voluntarily gets up that early on a Saturday?

Anyway, we had a good sale and I personally made $70. My favorite part of the whole thing is that most of the money came from my two coworkers! One bought the smelly shelf (this would be the black corner shelf that my brother Matt and I built and whose smell took over my whole house until I was forced to banish it to the garage) and another bought an old suitcase that I had. They bought an old laptop case, a decorated box that has sat in my basement collecting dust, books, videos, and DVD's I haven't looked at in years, etc. I asked them if this week they just wanted to come over to my house and choose what they wanted thus saving me the trouble of carting it all the way to the sale.

So this is all by way of saying that I now look at everything in my house with a more critical eye - do I really need that? How much can I get for that at the garage sale? My pile of items just keeps growing. If I am not careful, I am going to end up in an empty house with nothing to do but count my garage sale profits (paid of course in one dollar bills). (Oh yeah, if you live in Utah and you want to sell anything, let me know!).

A Few Thoughts on Friendship

In the last 60 days I have the chance to reconnect with many of the women I have been friends with at critical periods throughout my life. A common thread I found was that it didn't matter whether we had last seen each other 10 years ago or 10 days ago, our friendships slipped back into place, without apology or awkwardness, as if no time had passed.

In February I attended the wedding of my friend Nancy and reunited with the women who befriended me and supported me when, as a 24 year-old, knowing no one, I picked up and moved to the San Francisco Bay area to begin my next adventure. These are the women I spent my twenties with as we found ourselves, found our careers, found out we were capable of doing and being more than we had yet imagined, and in the end, became adults.



A couple weeks later I went to lunch with the women who were my high school pals and allies. These are the women who took a shy 15 year old and made her a cheerleader. They got me through high school, first dates, first heartbreaks, and all the drama that comes with being a teenage girl.

Finally, I had the chance last night to go to dinner and a movie with my college friends. These are the women who transitioned with me from girlhood to womanhood. Together in this period of intense academic learning, while we also learned how to run a school, stick to a budget, and how to work for a living, we also began to learn, step-by-step, who we were and who we wanted to be. We took those first tentative steps into adulthood together and instilled in each other a confidence that has served me well all my life.

Lesli (see picture below), one of my bay area friends, made the observation that we were very lucky to have gathered around us, at such a formative time in our lives, such strong, intelligent, capable women and how that doesn't happen very often in a person's life.

As I look back on the friends I have had throughout my life, I find that I have been blessed again and again to be surrounded by, and friends with, such strong, intelligent, and capable women.

So this post is a shout out to all of my girlfriends, past and present, pictured here or not, for being such stupendous role models and for giving me such a solid and unwavering support system through all of life's journeys.