Have you ever found yourself dreading an interaction without a clear sense of why, and then as soon as the interaction occurs, you realize exactly why you were instinctively dreading it, and it was because it was fated to be indescribably impossibly unreasonably outrageously awkward?

When I was in 8th grade, they had a "career day" at my middle school, where students were invited to come dressed up as the profession that they aspired to.  At North Sanpete Middle School, this meant there were a lot of people dressed in overalls (farmers or mechanics) or in belt buckles (bull riders) or in scrubs, which was by far the coolest thing to come dressed in.  There were a few teachers and a mightly number of ambitious 6th Spice Girls or solo country singers.  Enter me, wearing knee boots, breeches, a hunt coat and a number pinned to my back.  It might as well have been a target on my back at that school, but I was not, nor would I ever be a victim of Ophelia Syndrome , and never resorted to anyone making me a sheep (real sheep in sanpete=good thing, 7th graders as sheep= bad thing) and wore my abhorrently tight grey pants with pride. For about an hour.  Then I sort of wished that career day would become "moroni turkey plant blew the town c...

I should also let you know, if for any reason you can't get to youtube in your country or it's blocked at work, you can also access the video here: http://www.ted.com/talks/charity_tilleman_dick_singing_after_a_double_lung_transplant.html Couldn't sleep last night, thinking about my time at the House.  Le sigh. 

This might be the most extraordinary thing I've ever been able to share on this blog that I have a direct tie to.  The embedded video below is one of the many amazing TED talks, where the most exceptional individuals from all walks of life are invited to come and speak about their experience as doctors or rocket scientists or any number of other elite titles.  The woman in this TED talk is one I can say is one of my most cherished acquaintances.  Her name is Charity, she's an opera singer with pulminary hypertension, and her grandfather was the late Tom Lantos, my holocaust-surviving chairman at the Committee on Foreign Affairs.  He was a profound influence on me, as was every member of his family that I was able to meet.  Charity, her brother Corban, and a few others of his grandchildren would occassionally be in the office, lighting the room with their friendliness, charisma and zeal, even in the wake of Tom's death, and mere weeks l...

Things that I am currently recommitted to: Doing better at my job. Going back to Hungary someday, speaking that ridiculous language better, and riding a horse along the Danube. (the hungarians are serious horse people. Did you know that?) Using Failblog and Myveryworstdate as a reward instead of a tool of procastination. wearing everything in my closet or giving it away. Citrus as a flavoring for everything. Making my cubicle incredibly classy and cozy, and apparently refuse to hide my obsession with the equine.   Things I'm falling off the bandwagon of: blogging-sorry about that. it has to do with the better job thing. The Bachelor-I've decided that the Bachelorette is the only one worth really watching. Ouch. I admitted that. Lucky Charms- it had a good run, but gluten free Cinnamon Chex are getting me out of bed in the morning now. I still miss Count Chocula. Groupon- I'm so bad at using my gr...

2010 took flight on a cool california breeze, and 2011 burst through the door with a winter storm's ferocity. Between unforgiving work schedules, long commutes, flat tires, ailing grandmas and lots of driving, there were bright and warming moments that ushered Dan and I from December to January.  I was given little time to contemplate the year I was stepping out of, and what world I was stepping into.  I guess you know you're a grownup when life is coming at you so fast you don't have time to remember what you were doing here. That's what keeps the world going forward I suppose. But I'm not terribly interested in living like that. The next year of our lives is shaping up to be a year of preparation.  We will be readying ourselves for what we really want in the future and making light of what we've built in the meantime.  We're not even really sure what we want, but we're completely determined to live an authentic life.  Visited: San Diego, Eureka,...