Busy being unemployed

I have been officially unemployed (I hate that term) since May when my term was up in student government. But over the summer I took a few classes, looked for jobs, and had some fun. I fully expected to find a job once I was an official graduate but it's been over a month since I walked out of my last class and after dozens of applications I am still jobless. Hearing that others are struggling with the same problem isn't all that reassuring because it just drives home the point that I have lots of competition for the few attractive jobs that come open. I have had a constant job since I was 15 and am not taking well to the sedentary lifestyle.

However, in light of having so much free time, I am without a doubt in the best shape of my life! It's only Wednesday and this week I've already bouldered for 3 hours, played tennis, and will be doing a yoga class this evening. I can't tell you the last time I was this active and it feels great!

But it's all just a distraction from the fact that I feel utterly unproductive. I long for the days when I had back-to-back meetings, competing priorities, and deadlines to meet. It was only after a long day filled with tasks and stress that I would feel a sense of accomplishment. Lately I've derived that sense from perfecting my chili recipe and keeping my dirty laundry baskets empty. I never thought I'd see the day and I hate to admit it out loud for all of cyberspace but I. am. a. housewife. Ugh! Not that there's anything wrong with this "profession" because it does fulfill some very fundamental needs and some people (yes, men and women) yearn to stay home and take care of the house but I am not one of them.

Rather than sit around on my couch with Inga all day wallowing and waiting for an interview, I am going to be proactive about the situation and start volunteering with organizations whose mission I believe in. I'll start with the U's Office of Sustainability. I love them and know that they could always use more people. And you never know, I could meet my next employer at an Office function. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Bummer

I just completed a weekend-long rock climbing class where I learned how to lead climb, set anchors, and clean routes. It was very physically demanding but worth every minute of exertion, even in 98 degrees. Check out this sick move at Dogwood in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

So I can't/couldn't wait to apply my new skill set when I was asked to play in a pick-up softball game on Sunday night. I was exhausted but went anyway. Mistake #1. It was a lot of fun and I got back in the swing of things (pun intended) but I

was looking forward to the game ending. It was the bottom of the last inning, we had two outs, and I was playing 2nd base. Mistake #2. This large man

stepped up to the plate and hit a grounder that bounced off the pitcher's mound and came in my direction. At first I was excited because this was my chance to end the game. As I bent to scoop it up it hit a divot and struck me on the left side of my right ankle. I stood there for about two seconds before dropping to the ground. It didn't hurt at first, but I knew I was in store for pain. After being carried from the field, some angel produced a cold pack and wrapped my ankle. I drove home and watched as my ankle grew from it's normal size to looking like I had a coke can laying beneath my skin. Jason took me to the ER and the good news is that it's not broken, just severely contused. The very bad news is that I can't climb for a good while nor can I run the 10k on Friday that I just signed up for. Ugh. I find it amusing that I can climb, a rather risky sport, and run without sustaining any major injuries, but can't play a harmless game of softball without being struck down. Check it out:

To add insult to injury, I have a cold now too. Something great better be around the corner because I'm getting really tired of the way things are going right now.

Boobs for Biceps

(On the left, that is me in probably my junior year of high school. Below is SJP's bicep- mine is looking more and more like that everyday)

In high school I was described as the skinny girl with big boobs. As in, "Is it the Jessica with blonde hair, big boobs, a flat butt and really skinny?" Yep, that was me. I was scrawny, bony, and leggy. Any taller and I might have been described as gangly. My senior year of high school I wore a size 0 in jeans and sported a 32D bra. No joke.

To a degree, not much has changed. I can still fit into most of my high school jeans, although most of them are faded and out-dated by current fashion standards. Only now I have traded my prized bosom for some defined biceps and deltoids. Traded makes it sound like this was an agreed upon transaction. But really it's the result of a few intersecting factors: I switched to a vegetarian lifestyle nearly two years ago and became leaner (as if I really had much weight to lose); my appetite was replaced by the stress of school, working, wedding planning, etc.; and the final piece was my new climbing addiction. Put all this together and it looks like a pretty simple math equation. Big boobs divided by excess veggies + stress +physical activity= Biceps

Now I'm not saying that I would exchange my hard earned six pack for a bigger rack, but what am I going to do with the hundreds of dollars worth of bras laying dormant in my dresser drawer?

I am filled with nostalgia when I look at old pictures of me and "the girls"- they're just not the same. Adjusting has been rough. At first I was reluctant to purchase a smaller bra because I figured it would be a waste of money. After all, they are coming back, right? Right!? But I finally gave in a few months into my depleted cup size and purchased your run of the mill V.S. Pink bra- the line reserved for tweens with dreams of womanhood. I have now expanded my collection of baby bras but still sigh sentimentally when I see the pile of neglected brassieres gathering dust.

Boys just don't seem to understand either. At least until you put it to them this way: pretend you were naturally well-endowed and then for reasons beyond your control, three inches just vanished and you couldn't get them back, how would you feel? My hubby understood after looking at it that way. I go back and forth between wanting a boob job and trying to cope. Most of all, I just want my girls back.

It may seem trivial to devote an entire post to my anatomical switcheroo but it's something that has plagued me for a while now. Has anyone else experienced something like this?

Runner Up

Today I accomplished something I never really aspired to but am glad I did it anyway. I ran in my first 5k race, the 2009 Herriman Step Rock Run 5k, to be exact. My bubbly friend Madison somehow talked me into running 2.5 miles with her on Thursday morning at the ungodly hour of 7:15 and then pushed me further by challenging me to run 4.5 miles with her yesterday morning at that same ungodly hour. She's training for to compete with her mom in a 10k on the 24th of July and they signed up for today's 5k to practice. I was coerced into registering and am so glad that I did because I took 2nd place in my division and 27th overall in my very first 5k! Madison took 3rd place. We are now the proud owners of a silver and bronze generic "Running" medal. I can't wait for the next one.

Having spent the last three days pushing my body harder than I can ever remember, I am hobbling around like an old man. My shins hurt (shin splints!?), my hip-flexors scream at me, and my thighs burn whenever I force them to move from a standing to a sitting position and vice versa. I'm looking forward to getting back out there in a couple of days when I've recovered.

Wimbledon Redeemed

Novak Djokovic

I just saw this tennis hottie on Sports Center and have a newfound interest in Wimbledon. He kind of looks like Justin Bartha, that blue-eyed sweetie from National Treasure and The Hangover, but with a hot Eastern European accent.

He's just been added to my "list"- you know, the list of people, usually famous, that you are allowed to hook up with given the opportunity and not face consequences from your significant other. I wonder how he'd feel about an early 20s married girl from Utah.

Who's on your list?

Believing

Everyday I open a little card that contains a quote about believing and spend the day internalizing what it says. I would like to share them with you because I believe they have the ability to transform our thought patterns from destructive and debilitating to uplifting and productive. 

These will come in handy when I interview in Chicago two weeks from now for a position with the Green Corps! 

"There is more inside you than you dare think." - David Brower

"The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing, would solve most of the world's problems." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Expectation is everything. Every day can be your day, if you can expect it to be." - Bob Moawad

"No one really knows enough to be a pessimist." - Norman Cousins

"We do not believe if we do not live and work according to our belief." - Heidi Wills

"Believe it! High expectations are the key to everything." - Sam Walton

"Faith is building on what you know is here so you can reach what you know is there." - Cullen Hightower

"Look at things not just as they are, but as they can be." - David Schwartz 

"There is always one unexpected little moment in life when a door opens to let the future in." - Graham Greene (I carry this in my wallet)

Pick a couple and chew on them for a while. The last two are my favorite. 

WTF!? Someone hacked my blogger account!

Imagine my appal at discovering that not only was my blogger account hacked into by some psycho looking to capitalize on my obviously successful blog, but that they had replaced all of the content with a "Mega site of Bible studies." 

Before I called 911 to report my stolen blogger identity, I checked the URL and discovered that I had transposed two of the letters. Silly me! 

For the sake of humor please look at this website and you will get some insight into the minute and a half a I spent staring dumbfoundedly at my screen.

http://www.thedanishdame.blogpsot.com/

If someone were trying to mess with me, changing my content to a Bible studies search engine would be a pretty effective way to go.