Category Archives: me

I’ve been tagged…twice

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Lucy tagged me. Here are the questions she asked.

1. If you could change one part of your body, what would it be?
My mid-section. I hate it. I have these skinny little legs. I’m fine with my arms. I like my hair. My dad paid a small fortune for my smile. My mom gave me her fabulous green eyes. Lots of good stuff, but I hate the middle of me.

2. How much money do you think you need to make to be “really comfortable?” (Think annual salary).
First, it totally depends on where I’m living. And for me to be “really comfortable” that would mean living in a town of my choosing…today, that would be San Francisco. So, that said, I’m thinking around $300,000 a year. I know. I can hear the gasps. The thing is, this is dream land and I want to live in a normal sized home/apartment. Thus, $300,000 it is. Don’t you judge me!

3. What is your greatest God-given talent?
Talent…hmm. The truth is that I don’t think I have been exceptionally blessed in any area. I do feel that I have been relatively blessed in many areas. I am pretty smart, I can carry a tune well enough to have been able to get into a couple of choirs, I can bake, etc. Maybe my greatest talent is my ability to do most things I try well enough for me to really enjoy them.

4. Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics?
Summer. We are a family of summer people. I do love a good figure skating competition, but really, we were all about swimming, diving and gymnastics growing up.

5. My twist on the #5 question above – If you could have any career, and you were GUARANTEED success (no tests to get in, no auditions, no worrying about daycare, or money or time) what would you do?
This is a great question. A question I can’t limit to one thing. I would be a singing chef…pastry chef that is. That would be my dream. To bake and sing for a living.

Terri B. tagged me with this set of questions. This one is a bit more difficult because, while I love to read, I have not read a lot of classics and I do not retain a lot of information.

1. If you could host a party with 7 literary characters, who would they be and why?
Fanny Price – Because I think she is fabulous. The picture of propriety, with a head on her shoulders.
Edmund Bertram – Ask him why it took him so long to realize he was in love with Fanny Price.
Elizabeth Bennet – I think we would be great friends.
Mr. Darcy – Really, does this one need an explanation.
Jane Eyre – Same as above.
Edward Rochester – I want to see the appeal.
Harry Potter – Once again, I don’t know that this one needs an explanation.

2. Who is your literary role model?
Elizabeth Bennett. If I could have her wit, without my sharp tongue, that would be fantastic.

3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?
Pemberly.

4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?
Interestingly, there are very few mothers that I really like in books. I think I would want Mr. Bennett and Margaret March (of Little Women). Hey, I can combine parents, right? Don’t you think they’d make a great couple.

5. Pick 3 literary characters you would like to have as siblings.
Jane Bennett
Hermione Granger
Jasper Hale

6. Who is your favorite literary villain?
I don’t generally like villains. At all. But as far as who I think is a great villain, I would have to say…well, I just can’t. That’s the truth. Generally, I have very little respect for villains, as they are often backhanded and conniving.

7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like them?
I think I’m just that classic romantic. I generally dislike the same characters as everyone else. I can think of a character that most people like that I don’t. I don’t like Fritz Bhaer of Little Women. I just think it’s wrong that he and Jo end up together. But, maybe if I read it again now (not being 16 anymore) I would feel differently.

8. Which minor character deserves a book all to themselves, in your opinion?
Abbe Faria – the imprisoned Italian priest in the Count of Monte Cristo

9. Which character do you identify most with in literature?
Eleanor Dashwood…I’m the one who never thinks she will find love and pretends that nothing hurts her in the romance department.

10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?
Pride and Prejudice…so I could slap some sense into that Mrs. Bennett. Seriously…she drives me bonkers.

11. Name 3-7 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists, that are high on your own.
The Road from Coorain – Jill Ker Conway
Enchantment – Orson Scott Card
Jemima J – Jane Green (not literature at all…in fact it’s a total beach read with just a bit of trash, but a personal favorite)

12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered “classics”?
Wuthering Heights. I hate it. I think it is a miserable little story. Horrible. Well, I guess I see a little value in it, but really, I think it’s lame.

Rather than tag anyone, I’d love it if, should you want to participate, you leave a comment and let me (and anyone else out there) know that you have done one of these. And, with Lucy’s, I’m supposed to come up with new questions, but I LOVED her questions…so, I’m leaving them as they are!

it’s official

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I just registered for the GMAT! Suddenly, I am very, very nervous. Even though I did well on the practice one and I’m taking a class, somehow there is always this fear that something will go terribly wrong. Like when I was heading off to be an exchange student at the ripe young age of fourteen and I had to have my blood tested for any number of different communicable diseases. I knew I didn’t have any of them, but somehow, until I got the results, I kept worrying about what they would be.

I take the test in just over a month at 8 am on a Saturday morning. This test is all that stands between me and grad school. Well, this test, a few applications, several essays and letters of recommendation, at least one acceptance letter from at least one program, and thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans. Holy cow, I have a lot to do! So, if my posts are shorter, just know that I am busy studying like crazy, or writing a gazillion essays, or begging for letters of recommendation, or running. And if my posts aren’t shorter or less frequent, you shouldn’t be impressed. You should be concerned about my sanity and sleep habits.

Oh, the joys of life!

ms. elizabeth goes to washington

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So, Elizabeth isn’t my last name, it’s my middle name, but it worked better in the title..and I try to avoid using the last name on the blog. Moving on…

Winter semester of this year I took some classes through the university where I am currently employed (they have great tuition benefits – free). The point was to get my GPA up. I screwed around during the undergrad years, having every intention of marrying well and being a stay at home mom…Okay, not really, but I did plan on going to cosmetology school after finishing (which I did), and that required no college at all…so it didn’t really matter what my GPA was. What mattered was that I graduated and my dad was happy.

A little background, and no I don’t do hair. I became a licensed esthetician. I worked at a great salon and spa for about four years after finishing school, managed to move my way up the ranks into a management position and then I started to really like the managing end of things and a little graduate school seed was planted. A five year plan started to form, I just wasn’t sure how to make it happen with my crappy GPA and the fact that I knew my job wouldn’t be thrilled about me leaving. But all things fell into place when I decided that, after quitting my job, renting out my house and moving across the country for a boy, I didn’t actually want to marry that boy.

Having my life fall apart and finding myself living at home (with the dad) in Utah was the last “little” push I needed. The sad news was that those years of skiing while I should have been studying would not help me get accepted into any program, so part of the plan needed to include retaking at least one class (in case you’re in school and considering skipping out on a final because you are getting a bad grade, I submit to you that that is a very bad idea), and taking at least two more to a) raise the GPA, b) prove that I have changed my ways and c) test the waters to make sure this is what I want to do. The good news was that by moving back home and finding my current job, I was in a great position to do exactly what needed to be done.

And after that long explanation, we’re back to winter semester. I took 3 classes. One was an English class I basically failed the first time around, the final I went ahead and didn’t take (happy to report I got an A-…up went the GPA), the second was Accounting (another A-) and the third was a field studies course through the MBA program (I got an A – very promising). I’m not sure what the heck I was thinking signing up for a graduate level field studies course, working with a team of graduate students, but whatever. I signed up.

You would think that just participating in a graduate course would be enough for me…especially when this is the second semester for most of the students who are in this class with me. And really, it would have been. But then our team lead bailed on the project and we were left leaderless…so what do i do? You know, the girl who’s working full-time, not in the program, taking 2 other classes. I go right ahead and volunteer to take over. The next four months of my life were absolutely insane. The project we were working on was next to impossible. I felt lost and overwhelmed regularly. I won’t go into details here because a) I don’t want to bore you to death, even though I think it’s exciting and b) I can’t because the information is proprietary, but just know that the fact that I survived and that things went well was a miracle. And not a small one.

The project finally came to an end. We actually ended up making some very useful discoveries and the presentation went extremely well. So well, in fact, that I received a phone call a few weeks later to see if a few members of my team would be able to fly out to this company’s corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C. and present our findings (an abridged version) to the board of directors. Really. Truly. All expenses paid.

Well, many months later and after lots of schedule changes and much disbelief, the plane tickets are booked, the meeting is scheduled, the presentation has been revised and in less than three weeks, we will have made a presentation to the board of directors of a multi-billion (yes, billion) dollar corporation. I know there are lots of people out there who do things like this on a regular basis, but I am not one of them.

I am terrified and thrilled all at the same time…and I cannot wait for it to be over.

This is seriously the opportunity of a lifetime (well, of my lifetime thus far), not to mention a huge help in the “getting into grad school” process. And, while the main purpose of going is this presentation, I am super excited because I get to meet Anne, as she will play my tour guide and running buddy over the weekend…unfortunately the running must go on.

Sometimes, I look at my life and wonder why it has all worked out the way it has. I can trace back from where I am and see how every little event has played out exactly right (even the awful, horrible trials) to get me to here. I feel like my life has been a series of situations where I have been in the right place at the right time. Today is one of those days when I just feel truly blessed.

to whom it may concern:

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Dear FM 100,

My name is Chloe and I am stuck (yes, stuck) listening to your station all day, every work day. My employer chooses what station we are able to listen to and we can either listen to you or listen to nothing. Some days we (my staff and I) honestly choose nothing.

Now, it’s not that I mind most of the music you play (and no one ever likes every song on every radio station), but your music sets are way too short. There have been days when I hear the same song three times in eight hours, and that is just ridiculous.

Not only that, but songs will play at about the same time for days in a row. We paid attention one week and “Chasing Cars” played at approximately the same time for four days in a row…twice a day.

You say that you have “the most variety”, and if you’re only talking about variety as in, from different decades, ok. If you mean variety as in songs, you are lying. The variety stinks. If I had the option, I would never listen to your station. I don’t have that option, unfortunately, because I am not the only person in the office. I don’t want to hate you, I promise, but I do.

Please help me out. Just change things up a bit more. It would be super if I didn’t have to hear Celine Dion croon “My Heart Will Go On” every single day of my working existence. I would love it if you really would make it “the station with the most variety”…and if you’d stop playing “Chasing Cars” two to three times a day, always between 15 and 30 after the hour. Seriously.

Sincerely,

A very disloyal listener

p.s. This one was a real letter, that I really sent, to the real radio station…I finally had enough yesterday. Bill West emailed me back and said they’d work on it. Sure they will.

Dear body,

I realize that you are probably not super happy about the recent obsession with running and restriction of treats. However, you need to know that your counterattack is not appreciated. You could have at least tried talking to me before producing massive amounts of estrogen, causing me to be snappy, moody and ravenous. You have not attacked me like this for years…literally. Don’t you realize that this is not the only way to handle things? Don’t you realize that the consumption of sweet, baked goods that occurred yesterday will only result in more running, not less?

And if you had to attack so forcefully, did it have to be something that negatively impacted so many other people? I mean, you could have kept the casualties to a minimum, but instead the list goes from my sweet friends who so kindly put up with me because they at least know that I’m not always like this, to every woman who was in church this Sunday while I was conducting our meeting, and further to my kindhearted employees who have no idea what’s going on since they’ve never seen me like this before.

In the future, could we just stick with things like the stomach flu or knee pain. I mean really, hormones? That’s just low.

Thank you,

Your owner

Dear bangs,

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you so short. I know that I shouldn’t ever cut you, that I should save that job for my fabulous stylist. But really, Sunday morning I just couldn’t deal with you. You were laying the wrong way and in my face. I couldn’t see. I’m sorry. I lost it. Before I could stop myself, I was standing at the mirror with scissors in my hand.

The good news is you grow quickly, so we should be able to get you fixed in a matter of weeks, maybe even in time for our trip to Arizona. If not then, definitely by our trip to D.C. I hope you will be able to forgive me. Although, by the way you looked this morning, I’m guessing it might take a while.

Sorry,

The girl who didn’t have enough patience to re-wet and re-dry you

Dear Aaron, my ever faithful GMAT course instructor,

You are brilliant. I seriously feel like the little tips you shared last night will add 20 points to my verbal score. I need to ask you a favor, though. Can you please, please, please stop using the word “pagination”? Really, it was fine the first ten times you said it, the first night of the course, but at this point, it’s just irritating. Why can’t you just say, “my page numbers are off”? Why does it have to be, “my pagination is not the same as yours” or “this is an old book and the pagination is off”? I mean, I realize that it doesn’t sound as intelligent and I realize that pagination is a real word, but must you use it five times every hour?

Sincerely,

Your very grateful, but extremely irritated student

Dear Utah,

Thank you for recognizing Pioneer Day as a state holiday. This gave me the opportunity to sleep in this morning, and now to avoid all people all day if needs be. I can feel myself getting back to normal, so tomorrow should be better.

With immense gratitude,

A current resident

Dear friends, family and stalkers,

Thank you for putting up with my sassiness during these trying times. Thank you for laughing with me, rather than at me. Thank you for your encouraging words and your patience. Thank you for understanding that sometimes it’s better to just leave me alone for a bit. Thank you for not asking me why I’m tearing up while watching Rumor Has It. I am truly a very lucky girl to have such great people in my life. I promise to be back to my sweet, kind, normal self soon (Erika, now would not be a good time to argue that point).

Love,

Chloe

and the show will go on

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Apparently, people are not fans of breaking things up. I guess I was just worried that my running friends didn’t necessarily want to read about my weight loss stuff, or that the foodies out there don’t necessarily want to hear about my internet dating tragedies…that, and I feel like I post way too much and way to often. It appears, however, that I was mistaken. One blog it shall remain…which is nice since it took about 9 months to get this one looking and functioning the way I wanted it to.

Oh, and I do love the name of this blog. It was inspired by a quote from the movie Reality Bites. A lesser known film of the 1990’s that I don’t know that I would recommend to anyone, but a film that I thoroughly enjoy. Ethan Hawk, a soundtrack with U2, Ben Stiller before anyone knew who he was. A great flick, seriously. Although, I am easily entertained, so be warned.

Thank you all for your feedback. Admittedly, it was nice to hear that you all do like the one blog, even with the superfluous randomness that so often emerges from the depths of my crazy mind. Glad to know you’re enjoying it.

And Cristin…you really should try Google Reader. It changed my life.