It's Getting Wild

The list of things I'm getting used to since moving to Park City has just been expanded to include the abundance and proximity of wildlife to where we live.

"Bigoo"

I have the good fortune of living walking distance (I'm talking a 1 1/2 minute walk) from where I work. I also have the good fortune of bringing Bigoo (Big+Goo= Bigoo, a.k.a. Lucy) to work with me.

On our way to work Friday, we came out onto the sidewalk to find a 2.5 foot long snake just chillin'. It was just laying there minding its own business.

I made a quick assessment:

No rattle. Check!

Not a black mamba. Check!

Round pupils. Check!

(Tangent: Round pupils indicate that a snake is not venomous. Whereas, elliptical pupils indicate that they are. Good information, but let's hope you never get close enough to a snake for this information to be useful.)

Now I'm not afraid of snakes, or many reptile species for that matter, but I was afraid of the possible altercation between my hyper-curious labrador and this wild creature. But this was not the snake's first rodeo. It didn't move an inch and Bigoo stepped right over it (literally) without a hint of interest or recognition that it was even there. I, on the other hand, respected its "personal space bubble" and walked 3-feet around it.

Great, now I have snake encounters on my way to work. But that doesn't compare to the phone call I got from Jason a couple hours later.

Our condo backs up to a wooded hill-y area that is undeveloped for many many acres. Every now and then, people take their own noise makers for walks around the back of our house so it's not uncommon for our puppers to go ape shit at the back door. Our other little noise maker, Inga, was doing just that at the screen door.

Ferocious guard dog

As Jason attempted to quiet our 20lb guard dog, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a full-grown giant MOOSE (antlers and all) standing 30-feet outside our back door. Talk about an adrenaline rush.

He managed to snap off a photo before it meandered away. The photo mildly resembles those taken of Big Foot, but I swear that if you look close enough, you can see the outline of the moose in the background.

Forget the snake. I can handle a little garter snake. But a possible moose encounter is another story.

I'm not your sweetheart

I want to be taken seriously at work. Who doesn't? And when you're a woman working in a male-dominated industry, it's even more important to be respected.

Most of the women that work in construction are in support positions. They enter and pay bills, schedule employees for jobs, file, open the mail, etc. Many of them are also married to the owner of the company.

Now since I work for a pretty small outfit, I do complete all of these tasks (although I'm clearly not married to the owner of the company) but I do so much more than this. My title is operations manager (or COO, depending on the day) and my responsibilities extend beyond menial office tasks.

Which is why I was so insulted yesterday when a potential client called me a "sweetheart" after I was able to get something he needed. As in, "Thank you. You're such a sweetheart." Sweetheart? Sweetheart? If I were a man, would he have called me sweetheart? No. He would have said, "Thanks, man, you're awesome." Or "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it." It was a subconscious (I hope) way of him putting me in my place and it felt really demeaning. He may as well have just called me a little lady.

Did I say anything? No, of course not. For one, it happened so fast and then we hung up so I didn't really have a chance. And for two, I don't want to make a big deal out of something that he probably meant harmlessly. But maybe I'm just conditioned to resist causing contention and sticking up for myself. Maybe that's the "little lady" in me.

Has anyone ever said something demeaning to you at work? How did you respond/handle it?

Check, check, and check!

I just love productive Sundays. Don't you? Let's recap this wonderful day. (I know most of you are sensing a hint of sarcasm, but I'm being sincere. No, seriously.)

1. Slept in till 10:00 am.

2. Ate an incredible breakfast prepared by my incredible husband

3. Went skiing for several hours.

4. Took a 30 minute power nap while Jason caught up on the Masters. I am convinced that a golf tournament on in the background is the fastest way to fall asleep and provides the most sound slumber. Must be the inside voices used by the commentators.

5. Did our taxes. Pretty stoked about this. Thank you, Turbo Tax!

6. Made a tasty (technically vegan) dinner

7. Cleaned the house- including both bathrooms and some dusting action

8. Met some friends visiting from out-of-town for dessert

It has been a great day. Let's hope this week follows suit.

Mama needs a new bag of... cereal?

One of my favorite foodie/fitness/healthy lifestyle bloggers, Teri, is having a giveaway that I really want to win. So I am shamelessly using this post to earn two more entries into the contest. The prize you ask worthy of such valuable space? Why, Bob's Red Mill cereal products, of course!

I care about this product giveaway for a number of reasons. Let me list them (in no particular order):

1. I bake with Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed (my whole wheat flaxseed baked bread is the stuff of dreams)

2. They make wholesome, (moderately priced) natural food

3. I like to win stuff

You should enter, too. I'm not easily intimidated so bring on the competition!

25% of my life with 100% Devotion

Today marks mine and Jason's six year anniversary. Let's do the math: I am 24 years old. I have been with Jason for 6 years. Therefore, I have spent 25% of my life being Jason's significant other (girlfriend, fiance, wife). I find it to be pretty remarkable that two people who met at such a young age have been able to weather the storms that come with becoming an adult and growing together rather than growing apart.

I love you, Jason. Thank you for loving and accepting me despite all my quirks, flaws, and craziness. It's been one hell of a ride thus far and I am excited to see what our future holds.

xoxo,

Jessica

Sundance Fundance?

Living in a resort town comes with an expected flow of foreigners (i.e, anyone not from Utah) but the barrage was heightened ten fold in the last two weeks with the Sundance Film Festival. I had participated in this wondrous event when I lived in the Salt Lake valley. I saw Smart People with Dennis Quaid and SJP before it came out in mainstream theaters. I saw a documentary about the making of an opera about the making of the A-bomb and Oppenheimer's life (surprisingly interesting). I attended free concerts on Main street and reveled in seeing Adrian Grenier from Entourage walking down the street. I instantly became star struck and only stopped shrieking long enough to babble incoherently to my friend who had not noticed him walk by. Honestly, how can you not notice someone who looks like this, famous or not?

Anyway, since moving to Park City my Sundance experience drastically changed. I expected it to be two weeks of nonstop fun and excitement cruising Main street in hopes of spotting someone famous; seeing movies that may one day hit mainstream theaters or just make me feel more cultured; finding our way into industry-only parties. Boy was I mistaken!

My daily ritual mail run became nearly impossible because of the insane amount of traffic and overpriced parking spots that were few and far between. They were seriously charging $20 to park in a city owned lot that I had parked free in the day before the festival started. Unbelievable.

Getting anywhere or doing anything was both outrageously expensive and time consuming. We did go out a few nights to Cisero's on Main street because a friend is staying with us while bartending there. We were able to participate in Sundance without having to shell out too much for it. Thank you, Steve!

And instead of seeing three or four movies over the course of 10 days like the years before, I only saw one and it's because a friend had an extra ticket. I just couldn't justify the time, money and effort it would take to get to the theater and deal with the crowds. (I really hate crowds)

I did see some recognizable people, however. I won't call them famous because two are reality TV stars and one is someone you would know but not likely be able to name. I saw Gretchen and Slade from the Real Housewives of Orange County at Smiths last week. It was really bizarre. I had just watched the most recent episode of RHOC the night before and then there they were walking down the aisle toward the deli. (She looks better on TV and he is really tall)

The other guy I saw is named Danny Trejo and usually looks like this in movies:

He looked a little nicer in person, but not much. There were no smiles for those he granted photo ops.

I also heard that Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl had been at a party we stumbled upon around 2am earlier that night. Of all the movies at Sundance, his was the one I wanted to see the most. But I didn't think my better half would enjoy 90 minutes of me drooling at the screen. Hey, I may be married but I'm not blind.

But now that Sundance is winding down, we locals can return to our normal routines. I can get the mail in under an hour for free and with less road rage. We can get into bars where they conveniently remember our names now that they can't charge a $25 cover. And I can start planning my vacation to a warmer climate in time for next year's film festival.

PH 3

I am grasping at straws for something to do today for Project Happiness. Isn't it sad that we have to seriously contemplate ways to bring us good feelings? I'm going to the gym again but I don't want to count that two days in a row. Hmmm... Maybe I'll give myself that long overdue pedicure while watching Bill & Giuliana (love that show!) or go to bed early for once. By the way, I am open to ideas. Also, I'm curious what you think of the new look and domain name. Better, right?