I just took a typing test for a possible change in atmosphere at work.
My results:

You type 429 characters per minute
You have 77 correct words and
you have 0 wrong words

Hope that is good enough.

I got 2 new penpals over the weekend. One is from Russia and the other from Sweden. So let’s see the total count now is:

UK – 2
Belgium – 1
Russia – 1
Sweden – 1
Washington – 1

And hopefully soon there will be a few more from the UK.
I might look for some LDS penpals in other countries as well by finding
Bishops in the areas and writing to them pleading my case.

It seems like a lot but really I don’t think it is. I mean it’s not like I’m writing letters every day. Nor am I writing to everyone all at once. And who knows how long these people will write to me. I’m having fun with it. That’s all that matters.

I spent the weekend sick. I’m at work today but am still sick. I came in early though and I skipped my lunch so I will be leaving about an hour early today.

Saturday night my grandparents had a cookout for any family member who could make it. We had a lot of fun. Lots of laughing and yummy food was had by all. I missed the family that couldn’t make it. And even though I was sick it was totally worth it.

Last night I watched the Emmy’s. It was a great show. I laughed a lot.

I finished reading The Geometry of Sisters as recommended by my bff Karen. It was a really great book. The author really captured what it feels like to have a mom have better places to be then with her children in just a few words. That wasn’t even the plot of the story. Just a small addition to 2 of the characters. But it really made the story relatable for me.

Now I’m reading The Hunger Games. This is not a book that I would normally choose. But my cousin and aunt are so in love with this book and so now I’m reading it.

I’m just getting sick.

Depression. I hate it.

I’ve done so well over the last year and a half without medication. But I find myself incredibly down lately. I have a hard time getting out of bed this morning. When I’m at work I want to do nothing but go home and sleep. I don’t even know what is triggering it this time. But I’m finding it hard to have any motivation or care to do anything. The thing that scares me is that I’m struggling to pull out of it and I can’t.

I feel like I’m drowning and gasping for breath.

It’s really nice to get notes like this from your boss

“nice job this week on your ticket quality,  nice job of answering the customers questions and resolving their issues. your stats look great as well. you have nothing to work on for this week you have 3 occ. thanks for your hard work . let me know if there is anything that i can work on thanks. you are doing a great job keep it up”

So I was able to find some penpals. So far I have 3. Two in England and one in Belgium. I also have a friend at work who is about to give me information for 3 more in England. I’m so excited. I’m really enjoying taking time out of my day to write letters and it is nice to occasionally get something in the mail besides bills and junk mail.

I went with my brother to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the movie. I hadn’t heard much about it other then people really seem to like it. It was awesome! I can’t imagine anyone who likes video games not liking this movie. It was fun to hang out with my brother too. Sure do like that kid.

We have Direct TV at home but I don’t have it in my room. But I like to watch something before I go to sleep at night. So I’ve been watching TV on DVD this year. I’ve watched some really great shows (House, Big Love, United States of Tara, The Tudors, Six Feet Under, Big Bang Theory) but have run out of shows that I have access too. The one that everyone seems to think I need to see is Dexter. But I can’t. I have this abnormal fear of serial killers. The other one is True Blood. I’ve kind of avoided it thinking it looked lame. But after one of my neighbors highly recommended it I thought I’d give it a chance. I found the first season at the library for $2.50 and sat down to watch it. I had a week before I had to return it so I got it in quicker then I do most shows watching more then one episode a night. Holy crap do I love that show! Before I finished season 1 a friend of mine was able to get all of season 2 to me. Which I finished yesterday. Now I’m dying to see season 3 but will have to wait. bummer. It’s a really great show. Add in the eye candy that they provide and it is even better

I’m at work and on the phone with a customer from the UK. Her small child started crying and she was so kind telling the child “come here my darling come here my poppit”
it was so precious. You could hear how much she loves this child in her voice.

I’ve always been a fan of the Wallflowers.  I really enjoy their music.  I especially love the last two solo albums that Jakob Dylan has done.  But about 10 years ago I had a friend that looked exactly like Jakob Dylan.   His name was Ritchie.  I called him Jakob.  He hated that.    But it got to the point that if I said “Hey Jakob”  he would hear “Hey Ritchie” and just ignore the fact that I was teasing him.  I lived in Colorado when I knew Ritchie, and about the time I was moving to Utah he had joined the Army and was deployed to Iraq.   Well about 6 months later The Wallflowers came to Salt Lake City.   So my brother in law and I got tickets and went.  The show was AMAZING!   They put on a really great live show.  And let’s face it Jakob Dylan is HOTT!   There was one person between me and the stage.   *swoon*  After the show my brother in law and I hung outside the venue where their tour bus was.  There were probably 50 people out their waiting to meet the band.   Now I need to preface this by saying that I’ve gone to a million shows and have never taken a camera.   I always felt that was invasive if I meet the band.   Cheesy even.   This time was different though.   I knew if I met Jakob Dylan that I had to take my picture with him so I could send it to Ritchie in Iraq.  Funny right?  Back to the story..  All of the band members except for Jakob were outside signing autographs ( I always get autographs) and taking pictures.   I decided why not and got my picture taken with all of them.  Then I just sort of stood back from the crowd with my brother in law waiting.  And then the tour bus doors open and out came Jakob Dylan.  There was a crowd around him istantly.   I just watched and by the time he looked up and saw me I just smiled and gave the cheesiest wave ever.  Just a small little wave.   He gave me the biggest smile and walked past everyone else over to me and as he was wrapping his arms around me he asked me for a hug.  *SQUEEL*  was this really happening?  He hadn’t hugged ANYONE else and here he was with his arms around me tight and asking (my brother in law can verify this) ME for a hug!  He smelt soo good.  He also has the MOST beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.   After a nice long hug he stood there with his arm around me while he signed my cd cover and I told him the story of Ritchie and the reason I wanted a picture with him.   He was so kind and agreed to the picture.   I sent it off to a mutual friend of mine and Ritchies.  I heard he laughed pretty hard when he saw it.   I haven’t talked to him since.   I truly hope he made it out of Iraq safely.   He was a good kid.   It’s been nearly 7 years now since the night I met Jakob Dylan.   But it was by far my most favorite rock star moment ever.

It’s been nearly two years since I met Michael. We don’t talk any more. But when we did, we talked constantly via emails and text messages. I never met him in person and I only heard his voice a couple of times during very brief phone calls. But there was a connection there between us. Like a teacher and his student. I was entranced by his life story and he adored my enthusiasm. I spent my free time either reading the final draft of the novel he was working on or by typing out my own story. I was determined to write out my life story and find something in it to turn in to a novel. I got through most of the writing and then he and I drifted apart and had somewhat of a falling out. Which is fine. There are parts of that friendship that I miss. But there is more that I don’t. I haven’t really written much in the last couple of years. But I haven’t dismissed that dream.
When I first started writing, I was writing in the style of Michael. He really did teach me a lot. (His book was published last year and he sent me a copy, inside the cover is a quote and my name. pretty cool if you ask me!). But as I got close to the end I realized that that style didn’t feel right. It wasn’t me. I’ve been struggling with how to find my own voice in my writing. It’s taken me a long time to find my own voice in my life as well. I’ve been reading a lot lately and really taking note of how the authors write. Today however I have had an epiphany of sorts. To find my voice and become a better writer I need to just write. But I have a hard time just sitting down to write when I don’t have an audience. I don’t want to subject my friends to have to read my attempts. But at the same time I want some actual feed back. I think a good way is to start writing letters.
Most people I know aren’t letter writers. People don’t take the time to sit down and actually write. Myself included. But I’d like to. I’d like to get actual letters in the mail. To be able to sit down and take the time out of my day to write heartfelt letters and experience the thrill of checking the mail and getting an actual letter. So I’m going to find a penpal. I’ve never had a penpal. But at 34 I think it’s time. I’ve got a friend here at work who’s brother in law has a penpal from England. I like the idea of an international penpal. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with the UK. But really I’m just fascinated by Europe. I look forward to the day that I can go travel in Europe. Until then I will be happy to look and hopefully find a pen pal.