peach pie!!!

Ok, so I must clarify right now that there is nothing in this world better than peach pie. Not store bought, double crusted peach pie but fresh, chilled, open-faced peach pie. Like the two that are now residing in my fridge at home. Well, they were there when I left for work this morning but Sam is home alone and has been craving peach pie since peach season ended last year. My aunt was nice enough to give my mom a box of peaches and my mom was nice enough to give us load of those peaches. Now, I married into the biggest pie family of all time and so for now I am glad that no one but Sam can see these pies because they're not the prettiest things. But all that matters is that they taste amazing, right? One day I will perfect the making of peach pie and present it to the Schofield family for scrutiny and approval. Until then, though, I will enjoy my ugly pies with Sam. Can't wait to get home in 6.5 hours to have some. Mmmmmmmm!

ode to starting school, again

So, I have just survived the first week of my 3rd year of college. It has been a crazy week. New school, new campus, new teachers, new schedule, new homework, new appreciation for those who are smart enough to have rolly backpacks and not lug around a 25+ lb. bag of books and binders. Thus far I am excited for my biology lecture and biology lab. Chemistry and math are still not my friends. Stats is a whole new world and language for me and I'm going to have to swim hard to get it. Chemistry hasn't presented anything I didn't already know. . . yet. I ordered my chemistry book online and it still hasn't come in the mail so trying to defeat the system I bought the textbook from the bookstore today and will sell it back when I receive the other one in the mail. Take that bookstore!! Stupid outrageous prices. *Mumble grumble* Sam is liking his classes so far and we leave about the same time and my first break of the day is the same time he heads home for work so we get to have lunch together. Speaking of food, the school has had activities daily to give away free food and we've really enjoyed it. Also, free shirts. Yay free stuff! This alone makes SUU cooler than DSC. Haha. On a downside, I have a biology textbook that weighs about the same as Chris Farley did before his death. That, plus my math and chemistry books and another binder is enough to make me wish I owned a jazzy scooter to wheel around in and save my neck, back and legs the torment. It also causes a problem when trying to "sprint" between classes in efforts to make it there early if not on time. Good thing my classes are on opposite side of campus! I've had more cardio work outs this week than I have in a very long time. Who needs a gym membership when you can run up and down stairs 3 times a week with a backpack full of knowledge?! I've seen a lot of people I knew in high school or at DSC and have talked to a few of them. When not in class I'm focused on getting to my next one. Socializing will have to wait. I must leave now. I need to figure out how I can use a rolly backpack and not look completely helpless or the age of 6.

r.i.p. jazz

So, Tuesday my sister texts me just before I get off work telling me that the family dog has died. We'd had him since forever so its going to be hard going to my parent's house and not seeing him puttering around in the backyard with the cats. He was like 14 years old, that makes him 98 years old in dog years, and he was way past his prime so its not sad that he's gone. The only sad part is that my 6 year old brother found him. He was on thyroid and arthritis meds to keep him happy and he was mostly blind and deaf. He was the nicest dog you'd ever meet. He'd bark up a storm at any body but that was just to get their attention for a good pat or scratch. His friend and companion, Sadie, died years ago and he mourned that loss for weeks. He was really smart, quickly learning all the tricks and commands I taught him no matter how old he got, and loved to have bodily contact with any living person or animal that was outside with him. Rest in peace Jazz. We'll miss you buddy.

the stresses of my modern office

Ok, while I love my job and I love staying busy I prefer to stay busy with non-mundane things. Also, the busy parts only last for so long therefore dumping me into the torturous hands of boredom. I used to have a friend that would alleviate said boredom and I would keep her entertained as well at her boring desk job but she decided to leave me to fend for myself. On the eminant day of my death, I blame her. She shall remain nameless but I'm sure she knows who she is.

Boredom is lethal. Ever since working a desk job I have come to realize the truthfulness of this statement. While it has yet to be proven as lethal to humans, it has been proven lethal to brain cells. In desperation for something to do I have resorted to things not many would find entertaining. Exhibit A being the following picture of a post it note covered in Sharpie marker. That lasted all of 2 minutes so I had to resort to Exhibit B. A note pad paper highlighted to the max. Now, some of you will argue that the fumes from the Sharpie are the real cause of the death of my brain cells. While this could be true I don't feel any less intelligent having colored the post it note. But, after double checking a table of contents and index for errors I could scarcely keep the drool from flowing.




I will now illustrate a few things that are not among my favorite things to do at work. (This is really just an excuse to use a bulleted list):

• Item #1 that I do not love: When agents go to their mailboxes, empty them, then proceed to use MY DESK as a filtering station. Its not like I'm sitting here trying to work. Despite popular assumption I do not enjoy your papers strewn about my desk touching my arms and keyboard. You have a desk. Use it.
• Item #2 that I do not love: Agents getting mad at me for not advertising their listings. When I was hired here I understood advertising fell under my umbrella of responsibilities. BUT as I also understood it is the agent's responsibility to give the information about the listings to me so that I may advertise them. Don't whine to me that your clients are mad at you for not advertising their property. YOU are responsible for their lividity.
• Item #3 that I do not love: Taking rent money. Pure and simple. I dealt with this annoyance at my previous job at the beginning and end of each month. Property managers seem to like the title and the money but not the work. They tell their tenants, "Oh we're here from such and such a time on these days." and yet they are NEVER here. Therefore, tenants must come to me to give me their rent money. Also, these tenants are usually angry at ME for the property manager's negligence. "Why aren't they here? They said they would be. I need to talk to them. No I don't want to talk to them on the phone." and they storm off in a huff with their receipt. 1: don't lie to your clients, 2: don't make me take the heat for it.
• Item #4 that I do not love: Doing all the things that no one else wants to do. While this new job gives me a higher position than I had previously I am still the newest one here and "have much to learn." I understand that filing, copies, and the like are not fun but if it is in YOUR to-do box YOU do it. I do have work to do.
• Item #5 that I do not love: Not being paid on a schedule. Its never "every two weeks." I've been paid on almost every day of the week now. Every other Friday would suffice. And I'd be quite appreciative.
• Item #6 that I do not love: Being called in early when it isn't necessary. "I have to leave an hour early tomorrow so could you come in an hour early?" Sure. I will not be thrilled. I show up at said time and work the rest of the day. The next day, Lady-That-Asked-Me-To-Come-In-Early-To-Cover-For-Her is no where to be seen. So, you ask me to come in early for NO REASON the day before and now you just leave at your leisure because (I knew this when she asked) its isn't necessary that I come in when you leave. You don't leave that big a hole. Nice try though.

Ok, enough of my griping. I do love my job for the most part but there are just some things that get under my skin. But now that I've blogged them I can let them go into cyberspace and never worry about them again, right?

newborn blogger

Well, here I am. Freshly entered into the world of blog. I only hope I can some day become the sort of blogger that Sohmer is. His wit and humor are unmatched. Though they are rubbing off on Sara and I and we are becoming one. Haha.

So, for an update on the lives of Sam and I. Vacation this summer (Aug 2-12th) turned out to be quite interesting. Went to Snowbird with the Schofields and were enjoying a relaxing week then low and behold the morning of August 5th Sam is flattened on the bed with a stomach ache that could cripple a horse. He thought he'd just ride it out and it would go away but it was not to be. We ended up taking him to Alta View Hospital around four o'clock and a few hours later it was found to be appendicitis. Another hour or two later he went into surgery and came out around 11:15 p.m. The picture above is Sam waiting in the ER to go to surgery. He's smiling under that mask. After surgery we found out he's really funny when he's high on anesthetics. He kept saying, "I have three holes. Like a bowling ball." Although I did want to burst into fits of riotous laughter I contained myself because I wasn't sure if it'd hurt his feelings or not. The surgery went wonderfully and all he had to show for it was three small incisions. One in his belly button, one a little lower to the left and one 6 inches below his belly button. He remembered every name of every nurse and doctor that talked to or treated him that day. After getting back to his room and having his vitals checked he was asking for food right off. Totally unlike him, I know. So I helped him start with water and then with the sandwich they'd brought him. He kind of fell asleep with it in his hand so Marle (who had been with me through the whole ordeal, that I was very grateful for) and I decided it was time to go back to the lodge and get some sleep before picking him up in the morning. He was released around noon the next day and walked out all by himself. He said he was sore but feeling WAY better than the day before. Two days later we went to his best friend's wedding in St. George/Milford where he stood in the reception line for over an hour, crazy boy. Then we met up with friends in Zion and hiked there for two days. Obviously, he was feeling pretty good and kept up with the rest of us. He went back to work on the 13th and is doing great. Two of the incisions are almost completely healed but one is taking longer than expected. Neither of us want to visit the ER ever again so we plan not to. Also, lucky for us his health insurance was still active (it expires on the 24th of this month) so hopefully they'll help us out with the bills.

In other news, Sam and I have decided to make the next big step in our lives. We've decided to bring two adorable creatures into our house and home. Yes, we got fish. We got a Pearlscale and Fantail, both goldfish. Gordito is the pearlscale. His name means "little fat boy" in spanish and no other name would fit him better. He looks like a grape-sized golf ball with a face and tail. Chuck is our fantail and he is at least twice the size of Gordito. We named him Chuck because he has a white body with an orange mohawk and Chuck Lidell (a UFC fighter) has a mohawk so Chuck it was. They're both hearty eaters and seem to enjoy their life with us. It is now common to find me sitting on the floor staring at the fish take just watching them swim around, much to Sam's amusement (but he does the same thing).

Both of us start our 3rd year of college next Monday and I am excited. Sam isn't quite as enthused but it will be a nice change for the both of us. We'll be really busy but I am looking forward to expanding my mind and getting my last math class over with. Right now we're just worrying about being able to pay for it. Luckily I got a great transfer scholarship and Sam got a scholarship as well. Its always great to lessen the total cost. I wish textbooks were free. Thanks to online shopping we saved a bunch of money on our books but its still a lot of money to fork out.

I'm really enjoying my new job. My favorite part is that I say busy all the time so the work day goes by quickly. I wouldn't mind more hours but they set up my schedule to work around my school schedule. They also say I'm allowed to do homework here as long as I have everything done for work. I had to play catch up since I was on vacation for a week and a half but now everything's back to normal.

Well, this is the end of my first blog. I hope that this has entertained at least someone if not only me. Also, It just started raining out of no where. Love it. :)