The Unadventures of Tracie

I hate flowery perfume. What I hate even more are women who wear flowery perfume so strongly the smell persists even if they have vacated the room. Ever worse than that is women who wear said perfume in an attempt to cover up the smell of cigarettes. Then I have to deal with overly strong perfume AND smoke. Wonderful. Today’s experience reminded me of my English Honors class in 11th grade with Mrs. Bestor. I would dread every single day that I had the class, and not just because Mrs. Bestor was kind of a jerk. The smell of perfume in her classroom was so strong that it leached out the closed door into the hallway. But that wasn’t the worst part, oh no. Besides the perfume that was so thick you could see the fumes, Mrs. Bestor had to have the temperature stifling hot every day of the year, which made for a toxic combination: extreme heat and overbearing perfume. It was like a torture chamber of the worst kind. I would get headaches and struggle to stay awake, knowing if I fell asleep th...

Today at work I got tired of sitting on my butt, so I walked down all 16 flights of stairs and took a minute to walk around outside. It was glorious there. It was warm (unlike the often subarctic temperatures inside) and sunny with a gentle breezing carrying the scent of what I like to call “the great outdoors.” I then bemoaned the fact that I spend much of my life inside during the wonderful daylight hours. How I mourn for my lost youth. I miss having a summer: no school, no work besides maybe 2 or 3 hours, and all the free time in the world to spend outside. I can’t wait until I can be a stay-at-home mom if nothing other than the fact that I will be able to take my kids outside several times a week so they and I can enjoy one of God’s greatest gifts. (p.s. I do understand that being a mom is time-consuming, entails hard work, and requires lots of patience. My desires to be a mom go beyond my simple desire to quit my 40-hour work week plus 2-hour daily commute job.)

For once, Austin's giving me a chance to tell everyone what's going on. For all of you who have been complaining that I haven't been posting as regularly, blame Austin. It's no fun to write about stuff he's already written about. So, the other day I found randomly a list of events going on in Utah county. One of them was at the Museum of People & Cultures on BYU campus. The activity was called "Culture-Me-Mine." It was a date night activity consisting of looking at the museum's exhibit, a clay sculpting competition, a scavenger hunt, and couple's feud. (It also consisted of eating yummy brownies and cookies.) All for the low, low price of $5 a person. It was a pretty fun night. Austin and I had the chance to do something different for a date, and it was cheap! What more could you ask for? (Well, I guess you could ask for more, but I won't.) You can see the "Man on a Couch" sculpture that Austin and I made together. It was pretty...

So life does come with its little bits of sunshine. Once a month my work has a professional massage place come in and give ten-minute free massages to employees that sign up for them. I’ve never done it before, but Charity came and got me today and we both signed up. Man, it was great! This is probably the best I’ve ever felt at work. So relaxing and so good, even for ten minutes. I so needed it today. I’ve been stressing about a lot of different things (so glad I’m going on vacation next week) so it was good to have a breather and get my tense muscles relaxed.

Does anybody else remember this movie? I remembered it because I started listening to an audio book which involved an FBI training academy. I haven't seen this movie in years, so I don't really remember all that well. I remember I liked it and thought it was funny. It was one of the movies we recorded on VHS and I watched a lot as a kid. (The movie came out in 1988.) I find it even funnier now as this movie would so not be PC in this day and age. (Egads! There are WOMEN in the FBI!!)

Yep, another survey thing. I don't really have time for super original material right now. But I thought I'd keep the masses happy. Bloglifted from Amanda once again. Kicked someone in the. . . well, you know? Yep. I was five years old at the time. He had gone through the fence the “wrong way” and this simply couldn’t be tolerated. (There was an opening in a fence surrounding the field of my school. The opening had a bar through it and had footprints preserved in cement. One was walking into the field, the other out. The unlucky boy was walking on the “out” side when he should’ve been walking on the “in” side.) Gone on a blind date? Yes, many sadly. Most of my dates consisted of friends setting me up with other friends. Or blind dates with guys I met off the Internet. (Don’t judge me.) Made someone cry? Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the circumstances), yes. Opened your Christmas presents early? Not too early. Maybe a few days early or at a Christmas party or ...

I bloglifted this from Amanda. Sorry I haven't been posting more. I've actually had stuff to do at work, and since I'm on the computer all day at work I usually don't get on at home. My ex is . . . a thing of the past. Except for the one I stayed good friends with. Maybe I should . . . try something different. I love . . . my husband and the beauty of the world. I don't understand . . . why people are so mean. I lost my . . . figure. I hope to find it again someday. People would say that I'm . . . quirky and a fun and compassionate friend. (At least I hope they do.) I look forward to . . . each and every second I spend with Austin. Love is . . . the greatest thing in the world (except maybe chocolate). Somewhere, someone is . . . being born. I will always . . . love my family. Forever is . . . something that is actually attainable. I think the current President is . . . an okay guy. I woke up this morning . . . feeling more awake than I have all week. Life is fu...