SUBSTITUTE

I've been getting myself into a couple side jobs lately. My job as a cashier is still only part-time so I've been scrounging up the opportunities that come my way.

Opportunity #1: Jack of all trades/Substitute aid at the local elementary school

This one is the most interesting because I am able to sub for so many different positions. Today I subbed for a crossing guard and a recess aid. I put on my neon relective safety vest, grabbed my stop sign and went to work. While on the job mid-crosswalk this morning I experienced a bloody nose meltdown from a boy who had to drop his bike and book it to the health center. I also witnessed the following conversation. Let me first preface by saying the cars that were driving in to drop off kids were mostly Mercedes SUV's, Escalades, Denalis, Infiniti SUVs, etc. While watching the late kids come into school to get their tardy passes from the office, I overheard one of the office ladies tell two little girls, "We've really got to talk to your mom girls, this isn't good. This is getting really bad." Mom walks in and 60 yr. old office lady starts speaking to 27 yr. old mom softly about the issue so as to not embarrass her. Mom raises voice and replies, " I am NOT getting them here any earlier. This is ridiculous, I mean I just think having to leave the house this early is RIDICULOUS. I am NOT waking them up any earlier, and we are NOT leaving the house any earlier than we already do. You know what the problem is? It's the traffic, the traffic is really bad here." The older office lady was shocked and speechless, as was I. Wow.


Opportunity #2: Substitute Cycle instructor at 24 HR Fitness
I couldn't be more excited about this one. Remember when I went to my 24 HR Fitness certification and training for their cycle classes back in April? Well, I've finally settled into one city since then and so I felt it was time to contact the area manager here so I could schedule an audition/tryout. With the group classes, it's kind of a different ballgame than just asking "Are you guys hiring right now?" You have to tryout with the area manager and then if they like you and there is a position, you can have it. But if there isn't an available position you can still be a substitute and get hired and just wait until a position opens up before you get your own class. So I got hired as a substitute to teach cycle which I'm SO excited about. I wasn't excited when Suzy the area manager critiqued me saying my voice was way too high and to really nip that in the butt before it becomes a habit."Because no one wants to hear a really high voice, it's just annoying. I mean I couldn't hire one of the girls cause her voice was just too shrill and high." I thought my voice was on the deeper side, but I guess Suzy knows what she's doing. She also told me I talk "WAY" too much and to tone it down, "you know, keep it short and sweet." I felt pretty embarrassed after that audition and kept trying to listen to the sound of my voice. But I'm pretty pumped now though. Suzy's just doing her job trying to "nip bad habits in the butt."



Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that I turned 27. Nate gave me a great pre-birthday date since I had to work on my actual birthday. After all of you suggesting I go for the cooked/tempurah stuff I didn't hesitate to pick a sushi restaurant here called RA as my BDay restaurant choice. It's kind of like Happy Sumo in Utah, except there's way more of a club vibe going on. We could barely hear each other talking over P. Diddy blaring. But the food, was SOO good. Nate also got me my first road bike! He got an old bike and had some new tires and tubes put on it and it is ready to go. We've already taken it out for a ride. Nate really takes celebrating occasions seriously and I love that about him. He is the best. Here's my new little bike...

Boooooring

Nate and I saw Where the Wild things are on Saturday. I never really was super attached to the book like a lot of people I know were as a child, so hopefully I don't offend you and your emotional ties to the book. The movie was so so so boring. For two hours you sit through obvious allegories of parent/adult perspective/experiences versus children's perspective/experiences and wait for something to happen. Nope, nothing happens but a lot of pretty imagery and music in an attempt to supplement a lack of a storyline. I will admit that I got pretty sad in the beginning in the real life scenes and was involved in the story. But then it turned to the craziness that is the book, and that was the end of my interest. This is why some children's books do well as just that, because kids are the ones with great imaginations. Kids don't need story lines and plots, they are beyond satisfied with dreams and nonsense. But this was not a kids movie, this was an adult movie. Kids enjoy movies like G-Force or Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. But maybe it was for the adult child and maybe you're more of a kid than me and have a greater imagination, and maybe you'll like it.

Camping in Payson

We went camping in Payson, AZ and we only took pictures of our campsite. But we did go exploring on our mountain bikes and on foot and we are very excited to go back to this place called Water Wheel in the Spring.

why would my body do this to my own body

This hormone dosage my body is injecting into itself is really controlling my life. It's taken over my eating habits, my gym habits, my sleeping habits, my cooking for my husband habits, my even-keel disposition habits, my cleaning my house habits. I'd say it is a pretty cruel thing for my body to demand sushi daily when it knows full well that pregnancy=no sushi. Whatever body, whatever.

i feel nauseous

No morning sickness here, but I have a very sensitive tummy. Things are starting to make me gag. Don't worry though, two bowls of top ramen seem to cure a case of nausea. Mmm, sodium....

On a more serious note...
This book really impacted my way of thinking.



I was thankful for two things:
1. That someone recommended this book to me; I otherwise don't read books.
2. That it was really short. I have a really hard time finishing a book more than 200 pages. ( Except for when I read a 500 page biography on Che Guevara when I was 18 and trying to be part of this really awesome hardcore scene. Heard of Bane? Vomit, thinking about that phase I went through.)

I really liked the new perspective I came away with. I guess that is the point of a book, but this one was really unexpected. I had lots of preconceived ideas of how this book would approach the subject matter, but I was pleasantly surprised. It might not be for everyone though. I feel like some people might shy away from this kind of stuff. Maybe it's just the Mexican in me that draws me to tales of spiritual visions and dreams. Forget I said that, and read this: http://deseretbook.com/item/4199802/The_Message