Comment on my birthday.....

So while last year I greeted my 32nd year of life with a nasty case of the flu followed by a developmental conference for work, I knew that this year could be nothing but a step up.

I was able to get a few days off work which happened to coincide with my birthday-and I got the heck out of dodge and headed to Orlando, FL to hang with my parents. I spent the day of my birth at Daytona Beach which was amazing-it was a perfect beach day-very warm and humid, hardly a cloud in the sky. I took myself back to my younger years and made my mom go out and play in the surf with me-that was my favorite part-we got some great waves.....

My birthday gift from my parents was a mani/pedi (I hate phrase it's so weird). As shown in the pictures I got a french manicure on my hands which looks so good! And those aren't even fake nails! I can't stop looking at them-I'm really sad to go back to work because the avaguard and frequent hand washings will take that nail polish off in the first hour-but at least it's pretty right now.

Although I love the after effects of the mani/pedi-I think it's awkward to get them. It reminds of that episode in Sex and the City called "The Caste System" when the girls are getting pedicures and discussing how they don't think there's a caste system in America, yet their feet are getting worked on by a row of asian women. It just makes me feel kind of weird. And then when they talk to each other in their native language I worry that they're talking about my feet (I mean I'm a runner-I have callouses! I feel like that needs to be printed on my t-shirt every time I go in for a pedicure). I don't like feet therefore if I were doing the pedicures, I'd for sure be making comments-especially if the person attached to the feet couldn't understand a word I was saying.

In a way I wished I spoke Vietnamese so that I could just bust out with something and call them on it. But until I'm blessed with the gift of tongues I'll just awkwardly get my mani/pedi and vainly go on my way enjoying my perfectly coiffed nails and toes.....

Comment on the great NuSkin firings of 2000......

NuSkin Headquarters in downtown Provo, UT

So as you readers out there (if there are any of you left) may have noticed, I haven't blogged for awhile-I got stuck because I wanted to write this post but couldn't figure out how to connect a video from youtube. Lame excuse I know-but what can you do?

But I digress.......

Back in the day when I graduated from BYU, I really wanted to work for NuSkin (a multilevel marketing skin care/vitamin company in Provo). Don't ask me why I was fixated on NuSkin, but I was-no big deal.

I got a job in Product Support training the employees on the products and going out to do trade shows. Over time we hired 2 co-workers who have over the years become 2 of my best friends*. We had a good thing going there-pin-ups of Tom Cruise in our cubicles, taking naps under our desks (actually that was just me), hanging out at the pool (not on work time of course), lunch at Red Robin with the pina coladas, I mean seriously it could not have been any better.

Unfortunately the tides turned and things started happening amongst our happy little group and the 3 of us may or may not have started getting worked up about things. I won't go into details but let's just say that one fateful July morning (the 14th I believe it was), the 3 of us got our butts fired. Seriously-they descended upon us in a rage of fury-separated us (I was locked in an office-I know this because when they came to get me they couldn't get the door open) and then fired us off one by one. The phrase 'gross insubordination' may or may not have been used. Needless to say it was actually quite devastating. I realized that things had gotten out of control and I realized that I had been acting quite immaturely, and it was a hard lesson to learn, but it ended up being a really good learning experience. If I hadn't been fired I don't know that I would have served a mission or gone on to get my degree in nursing. And of course I can actually laugh about it now-especially when I get a message from one of my two friends saying that I needed to check out this video:

This would be my former supervisor doing a demonstration of a new NuSkin product. This used to be my job folks-I was all about getting rid of those fine lines and wrinkles. I think I've moved on to much bigger and better things. Besides, I don't think I fit the NuSkin mold-they don't want anyone who will rock the boat.

And as for what I've learned-it can be boiled down to the following:

1. If you ever walk into a room and you see your supervisor, her manager, and an HR rep, it can't be a good thing

2. Don't ever have long conversations about how bad work is on a work line-someone could be listening in

3. Olive Garden is willing to let you sit for 3 hours refilling your diet cokes and limes as you mournfully recount the events of the last 24 hours

4. Friends that get fired together, stay together
*The names of said friends aren't being mentioned to protect their privacy-but they know who they are

Comment on my Saturday activity.....

The kitchen has been thoroughly sanitized, the rest of the apartment properly dusted and vaccumed. I even scrubbed out the garbage can.

And just a heads up for those of you with a HEPA filter in your vaccums-did you know you have to change that like every 6 months? I sure haven't and wow was I amazed at the build-up. Maybe frightened is a better word.......