I need a vacation

Work has been unbelievable this week. I can't believe how many ornery, arrogant, demanding people I've had to deal with in person and on the phone. Of course there are internal issues in the office too. Sometimes I feel like Tina...best not to stir the big kettle of crazy:

Even with everything that happens I still find things to laugh at. One of my co-workers told me that they completed a food stamp interview with someone whose child's middle name was "Mart." Seriously, we wonder if the parents spend a little too much time at Wal Mart. Some of the names that pop up on cases are a little surprising.

Today was a Dilbert day. I needed a break so I went to the Dilbert website and this is what I saw:

I was thinking the same thing a week ago...the part about not affording a big vacation this year, not about laying down in kittty litter. That's disgusting but funny! That was until I got the phone call that my car accident settlement finally went through. Yeah! It's been about 8 months since the accident and I still have some neck pain but overall I'm glad it's all behind me. They're going to cut me a nice BIG check and I plan to use some of the money to take a much needed vacation. My sister Jeanie and I are planning to go to New York in January to see a few Broadway shows. I can't wait! The rest of the money is going into savings for now. Maybe the accident was a blessing in disguise in a way. It's nice to have something to look forward to.

Monday Monday...

It's been an interesting Monday at work with a colorful variety of people. I gave a man instructions about how to apply for food stamps but I'm not sure if he understood. When he walked away he nearly passed out in the lobby since he was so drunk.
I've also had to deal with A LOT of people today who give me blank stares when I give them information. I guess they're either in shock or don't understand government policies (I'm guessing it's the second option...unfortunately too many policies don't make sense no matter how you explain them).
Today I've also had a few things that made me laugh out loud. At one point around lunch time I had a huge line and I was helping a lady at the desk. A little Hispanic lady passed everyone in line and told the lady I was currently helping "you need to step aside and wait a minute so she can help me." I told her that she needed to wait for me to at least finish helping the customer I was with. She said "no I don't because she already stepped aside and is willing to wait." Unbelievable! I told her she needed to wait her turn and she got all huffy then left the building without even waiting to be helped. Talk about having no patience!
I saved the best for last. One of my co-workers told me that she took a call today for a man that was calling in for an interview on a disability medicaid application. She asked him if he had a disability that prevented him from working and he actually said "none other than the fact I'm a guy." She fought to keep her composure while she told him that isn't a valid disability. She laughed when she told me and we agreed that something must be wrong if he willingly admitted that!
It's all in a days work for a Monday!

Lucky 09/09/09 with Keith Urban

Last Wednesday was the lucky day of 9's. I celebrated at the ESA (Energy Solutions Arena) in SLC. The band Little Big Town gave a great start to the night. Then on 09/09/09 at 9:09 pm I was sitting in the ESA with my friend Heidi listening to Keith Urban. What a show! Keith Urban played for 2 hours! We had amazing seats on the floor. We were close enough to see the performers faces!

After Keith's first few songs I was rapidly waving my radio station fan trying to stay cool. As the music got louder, my eardrums started pounding, and just when I thought I would go deaf something amazing happened. Keith stepped off the stage! He walked to the back of the room where he got on a second smaller stage which was right in front of us! Never in my life have I stood in the pit at a performers feet. I was literally about 10 feet from him. I happened to be standing next to the sound booth too and I watched him adjust the sound levels which made things more enjoyable and less painful.

I love how he's smiling over his shoulder in this shot. It's easy to tell he loves what he does!

Our luck got even better when later in the show they set up a platform right at the end of our row! This is the view we had:

I got some good pictures and when he headed back to the main stage he was only about 2 feet away from me. I could have reached out and touched him him I didn't have a body guard standing right in front of me! Notice the spiky hair of the bodyguard at the bottom of the pic, I had to reach over his head to get this shot:

My ears rang for almost 3 days but I'm happy to report my hearing seems normal now. I think if I go to a concert again I'll definitely bring ear plugs. I know my ears can't take another bashing!

Where did the car go?

Over the past weekend at my office they resurfaced all of the parking lots. Starting last Wednesday they posted signs to notify people that any car left in the lot over the weekend would be towed. So, when I got to work Monday I heard that a car was left in the lot and it was towed. Funny thing is that it was the state car! Somebody dropped the ball on that one. I think it's funny that signs were posted but then nobody moved the state car. All I can say is it wasn't my responsibility to move it! I enjoyed a good laugh though.

End of Summer Fun!

The last weekend in August (the 28-30th) I had fun on a quick trip to St. George to celebrate my roommate Mindi's birthday. Our friends Heidi and Angela joined in the fun. We drove down Friday afternoon. First thing we did was go enjoy some extra yummy food for dinner at the Cracker Barrel. Then we went to Tuacahn where we saw the Broadway production of Annie. It was a roasting hot summer night and I thought I would melt during the first half! During intermission I bought an icee that kept me cool during the second half of the show and made things much more enjoyable.
Saturday morning we drove out to Snow Canyon and did a little hiking. Walking through hot sand in flip flops made things interesting but the scenery was amazing! Next we headed to downtown St George to see Brigham Young's winter home. We also had fun walking through some of the fountains near the Tabernacle. It was a little shocking though to step out of the water and have my feet dry almost instantly. That day it got up to a boiling 108 degrees outside! Much hotter than I like it.
After having lunch at the Olive Garden we headed back to our time share condo where we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. That night we attempted to BBQ ribs. After nearly starting a fire they actually tasted pretty good.
We got an early start to head home on Sunday morning. We needed to get back in time for church because 3 of the 4 of us had lessons to teach! It was a quick trip but a much needed break.
Last weekend I had fun going to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. If you've never been to it you really should go. A great way to get involved is to volunteer. This was my 4th year driving the shuttle vans. I drive for a 4 hour shift and they give me free tickets. It's a great way to go! The festival is usually Thursday-Saturday before Labor Day every summer. This year they had a few extra events because they were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the festival. On Friday night I went to Shivers in the Night with Mindi. We heard lots of fun, creepy ghost stories. I wore myself out laughing on Saturday thanks to some amazing story tellers!
To top everything off that Saturday night I went to Iggy's with Heidi and Mindi to watch the first BYU football game of the season. It was great to see them win 14-13 over OU! What an amazing start to the season. Go Cougs!!!
I can't believe summer is coming to an end. I'm happy to be headed into fall though. I love this time of year. Strangely I feel like I need to buy myself pencils, notebooks, and other school supplies but I resisted. I can't wait to see the leave start changing. I'm grateful for cooler weather too.

Howling at the Moon

The joke in my office is that when the full moon happens all kinds of strange people and events seem to surface. So with all the weird things happening today I googled the moon phases calendar for September and guess what? The full moon is tomorrow! Now it all makes sense.
The fun started this morning when a little boy (about 6 years old) decided to take a flying leap around the sign in the lobby and it came crashing down on him. Thankfully he was ok. His mom just said it's fine cause he is covered by medicaid anyway. Haha...since that's what we do here.
I also spent time in the phone center today. I had a man calling continually who harassed me about how incompetent I was because I was giving him the information he NEEDED rather than the information he WANTED. Sheesh!
I also met a woman named Rusty and my co-worker met a woman named Michael. I thought those were names for men...interesting. I also talked with another women my age who has 11 kids!!!They are all hers. She told me she started young! Yeah, you could say that. It means she would have started around age 16. Wow!
The most annoying and unusual was a little 2 year old running around in rubber ducky shoes. Yes, they were yellow and EVERY step he took sounded like he was squeezing a rubber duck. After 30 minutes I was going crazy! What parent in their right mind would buy those shoes. The dad just laughed and told me they had to do something because he likes to run away!
Anyway, that's just a sampling of what I've run into today. I'm glad we're closed tomorrow on the actual day of the full moon. Plus I have a 4 day weekend to look forward to thanks to Labor Day. I can't wait!