2010 Education Week

Whew,

It's 7:22 p.m. on Friday, August 20th and I am about 1 1/2 hours away from completing my first Campus Education Week. It has been long and hard and tiring, and eye opening. I worked overtime all last week which by Friday and Saturday had almost killed me. No breaks, not much food and I kept forgetting to drink water and go to the bathroom. I was dreading Monday and when it came, I couldn't believe I still had 4 more days. Tuesday was worse, by a million. My job during the week is to sit at the chair at the end of the Info Desk/Hosting table and answer questions, listen to complaints, and help the volunteer hosting staff. I don't get breaks so I end up working about 14 hour days. By Tuesday night I had received so many complaints from so many rude, entitled people who all want an exception to the rules, that I was ready to bury myself in my bed and pretend to be deathly ill. I knew I couldn't do that--I would have to go back to my chair at the end of the table in the Garden Court (at least there are real trees and bushes growing around the INDOOR Garden Court to give me plenty of pleasant scenery and oxygen). Wednesday proved to be much easier, and Thursday too. Today the hardest part has just been trying to keep myself from looking at the clock every 2 minutes wondering how much time has passed.

I have been fed well, or at least fed. It was pretty much like I ate at a fast food restaurant for all 3 meals for 5 days in a row. I am grateful for the food because I know I'd forget to eat if it wasn't just brought to me. I could have gone for a veggie, or fruit or cheese tray, but we cut down on costs this year. Today I got a maple and sprinkle covered doughnut from Sugar' N' Spice in the cougar eat. I used to do that while I was at school on the occasional Friday morning.

I feel sad about missing the greatest parts about Education Week. I didn't hear any classes or get to meet very many of the presenters I've been emailing or phone calling since February. I just sat at my chair at the end of the table and got pounded to the ground with complaints. I keep telling myself to just let go of them, but I feel so badly when I can't help someone. I trust that all 20,000 ish of our participants had a marvelous experience though. In the end my experience wasn't that bad either. Looking back on Monday and Tuesday it seems it wasn't as bad as I thought. My poor dear Watson told me on Tuesday after I broke down in tears that he couldn't wait for the week to be over. I haven't seen much of him aside from our morning kiss goodbye while he's still asleep and then the hour we have after I come home and before I fall asleep. I like my job, but I'm definitely glad that Education Week only happens one week a year. Next year I'll know better what to expect and I'll be ready to hit Monday and Tuesday head on. Here are a few tips from an expert about attending Education Week:

1. Register early.
2. Pay attention to ALL deadlines by checking the website or calling the office.
3. If you register early and don't get your badge in the mail, DON'T CALL THE WEEK BEFORE or you'll have to wait in a long line.
4. Prepare to have a hard time finding parking, and to get a ticket if you park where you're not supposed to.
5. Read all the signs and daily updates before you register in case the whole reason you bought a pass was to see Brother Hall, only to find out his class is canceled and now you want a refund--we put it on the signs.
6. Tape or staple your lanyard to your name badge. If it falls off and you lose your badge, you have to pay $4 -- no exceptions.
7. HOLD ON TO YOUR PERSONAL ITEMS--if you lose something (like your IPAD) this is a gigantic campus and we can't promise it will be found.
8. If you have a serious medical issue (like you can't make it to the bathroom without piddling on the floor), don't stay on campus because we can't promise we'll be able to meet your every need. You'd be much more comfortable in a hotel!

I Think His Tractor's Sexy

Yesterday my dear Watson got to ride his grandpa's 1940 tractor in the Heber City Parade. I wasn't allowed to ride with him and I searched and searched for rollerblades so I could ride along side him. I couldn't find any so I had to admit defeat and just watch the parade from the side lines. He looked extremely handsome in his cowboy hat so the view from the bench wasn't that bad. He did circles and showed off his mad tractor skills. The parade was actually kind of boring. Most everyone was quiet, no one waved and no one cheered. At least they handed out popcicles. I love being in Heber though. It's small town fun.

UGA

THIS IS JENNY

This is Jenny with her cool African braids straight from Africa. I think she looks awesome. She's cutting a special cake I made for her.

These are cookies with cockroaches in them. If you ever get a cookie from Jenny, make sure you look inside them before you bite. She likes to hid things like pennies or little plastic men. She didn't make these cookies, but they were made in honor of her.

This is the above mentioned special cake. It's in the shape of GEORGIA can you tell? Once upon a time I made her a Sponge Bob cake and it was amazing. This Georgia cake is less amazing, but it was good enough. She cut it the pieces like the counties in Georgia and everyone just ate with their fingers.

My best friend Jenny went to Africa a few days after I got married. When she came home she stuck around for like 4 days and then she went to Georgia. She's not coming back from Georgia though. She's going to show off her crazy math skills at University of Georgia (abbreviated UGA for University of Georgia A?). It's in Athens, Georgia not Athens GREECE. I'm really sad about her leaving, especially because I'm not sure when our circumstances will bring us back together in the same state. That's okay though, it will give us excuses to go on girl only vacations just to hang out with each other.

My dear Watson is going to Missouri next Friday for a quick weekend trip. His dear friend and long time investigator, Phil, has finally decided to get baptized. We visited him when we went out there in May and I was so impressed by his kindness and generosity. He is almost 80 I think, but quick witted and always good for an interesting story. We both thought it was really important for Kameron to be there, for some reason Phil just attached to Kameron more than most other missionaries. He really loves him. When Kam told him he was coming he cried. I'm happy my dear Watson gets to go, but I'm jealous I can't go with him. Oh well, someday I'll take a trip to Athens all by myself to see my Jenny B.F. UGA! UGA! UGA! (I wonder if you pronounce that YouGay).

Nail Disaster

The Wednesday before my wedding (which was on a Saturday) I made a last minute decision to get my nails done. Acrylic nails look much prettier than normal nails, so even though I hate them, I decided to do it. I DEFINITELY wasn't going to pay full price for them though, $25-$30 is way too much to pay for something you hate. I called up Marinello School of Beauty (used to be Bon Losee) and I made an appointment. When I arrived I had to sign a paper that said "I realize this is a student and whatever she is doing to me might not look that great." How bad could acrylic nails look, right? I totally wasn't worried--my mom has been doing her own acrylic nails for years, so I figured this girl who has had training would do a good enough job.

As she begun filing away my nails and all the skin around my nails I started to get nervous. I watched her put the fake tips on my nails and file them unevenly. I thought she would just be getting around to that later but she never did. She slopped on the acrylic, made it two to three times as thick as it's supposed to be and then continued to file unevenly. The end product looked really great if you were standing 100 feet away. Any closer and you could see every bit of the disaster. They were lifting in some places, way too thick and extremely uneven. Oh well I thought, you won't be able to tell in the pictures. I was planning to rip them off as soon as I could after the reception.

I wrote Kameron a song on my guitar that I was planning to play at the luncheon. When I sat down to practice with my acrylics it was hopeless. I couldn't play the guitar with those beastly things on my nails. The next day, 2 days before my wedding, I decided to rip them off. I looked up how to do it online and it said to soak in acetone for a long time and then start peeling them off, soak again, and peel again. So that's what I did. The nail ruiner girl filed and cut the skin around my nails so soaking in acetone was an excruciating process. Mom was on one hand and Kameron on the other with nail pliers ripping and digging and cutting the nail. It felt like someone had shut a door on my hands, burned them and cut them with knives. It was the worst feeling. Fortunately, they got them all off, my nails didn't look that bad underneath, and I could play my guitar. I filed and buffed and put fingernail polish on so you couldn't see imperfections. Moral of the story: don't get acrylic nails, but if you must, pay the extra money to get them done by a professional. You can kind of see the nails in this picture. I like them much better than the fake ones.