i am me

and nobody else in the ENTIRE UNITED STATES has my name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

so not only am I a VIP in my family, apparently I'm a VIP in my county. Boo yeah.

white trash lunch

Normally I spend my Friday lunch at a nice downtown eatery, or even at the Church Office Building cafeteria.

Oh no, not today. I had lunch in the projects (don't deny it, Tiff). OK it's not really the projects. More like "the other side of the tracks."

Highlights:
- crossing the railroad tracks
- the crazy neighbor wearing an over-sized T-shirt (and no pants), carrying a chihuahua and gardening.
- said crazy neighbor then bending over to do something, and showing her large behind (including crack) for all to see. (I'm not sure she was wearing undies)
- ducking for cover during a drive by. ... OK this really didn't happen, but how cool would that make my white trash lunch story.

The best highlight, however, was Wendy using a push lawnmower in Tiffany's neighbors yard. On her lunch break. In nice clothes. And flip flops.


Wendy will hereafter be known as Duchess Green Toe (thanks for the duchess tip, Tiff).

(word to the wise, don't mow the lawn -- especially with a push mower -- in flip flops and then return to work the rest of your afternoon).

a night at the theater

After a year of anticipation, The Drowsy Chaperone finally came to town, and it did not disappoint. I've been in love with this show since I first saw it in L.A. before it moved to Broadway. How you could not love the tap dancing, a crazy theater fanatic narrator, and a song about a monkey. Seriously. Can't beat that.


I was a little worried that the cast wouldn't be up to par with the folks I saw on Broadway (especially considering Sutton Foster -- my ultimate favorite -- was the original Janet Van De Graaff). But, to my pleasant surprise, the touring cast was actually really good. Highlights included Jonathan Crombie as Man in Chair (the narrator, who just happened to star as Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables) and Georgia Engel as Mrs. Tottendale (yes, THE Georgia Engel of Mary Tyler Moore Show, Coach, and Everybody Loves Raymond fame).

Sadly, the house was not packed. But the empty seats spell good things for me -- half price rush tickets. Expect to see me back at the show this weekend.

awkward

I always get these comments about how cool it must be being a reporter. Yes, I get to do a lot of cool things, and rub shoulders with some pretty important people.

But people don't ask about the bad stuff. The hate mail. The angry politicians that black list you and refuse to acknowledge your existence after you wrote an article that miffed them.

To top it all off, reporters can be in the middle of (and create) the most awkward situations.


Case in point: primary election night (last night). Two incumbents lost, and of course I had to write about it. My boss tells me to call the losers. First thought: what the heck do I say to them? Then without thinking too hard about it, I started dialing. Luckily the first loser shunned all phone calls. That made me feel a little better, thinking Loser No. 2 wouldn't answer when I called.

Yeah, things didn't work out that way. Loser No. 2 answers, and is mad. So I stumble through a sentence about the rough election night, and asked if he would share his thoughts and if he had anything to tell his constituents.

"What do you think," Loser No. 2 shouted. Then, after an abrupt "thank you," he quickly hung up on me.

That was fun. I immediately called my editor to ask if I could use that tantrum quote. Luckily for him, Loser No. 2 then called right back, to tell me I "misunderstood." He said he was upset, but he wanted to thank his constituents.

In the end, Loser No. 2 got a pretty decent quote in the paper, but it took two seriously awkward conversations to get there.

(interviewing the winner, however, is awesome, especially first-timers. One guy was so happy he barely knew what to say, other than a really PC comment about his opponent. The other had just found out she won right before I called, and she was just so excited. Definitely a change from interviewing Loser No. 2)

reality tv

You'd think my life was really lame by my lack of blog posts lately. But it's not. I just haven't taken the time to write about the little things that make my life awesome.

So to make up for it, here's a glimpse of something seemingly boring that makes my life awesome: reality television.

First I spent two hours watching the Bachelorette with Kate (ah, a heartbreaking episode. She cut Graham, the one guy she is totally hot for, because he seriously is emotionally unavailable, but kept the guy I'm pulling for -- a fellow Northwesterner named Jason).



Then I stopped by my adorable friend Marianne's house for a visit, and we ended up watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 (this was my first experience with the show and LOVED it).

Then we ended my reality TV night watching Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods. It's really sad how hooked I am on this show. The actresses really aren't great. I can't see any of them commanding a Broadway stage. But I feel like I'm watching in on something I shouldn't have access to. I get to see casting directors rip on actresses. Awesome! I'm pulling for my Utah girl, Rhiannon, with Lauren and Autumn close behind (although Autumn totally disappointed me this week).



I swear I do stuff other than watch television.

the view

I love the view from the 10th floor of my parking garage.

freedom

After many complaints, I have freed the blog from its bondage of password-only access. Enjoy your RSS feeds and quick-clicking without typing a password (for now).

wildcats everywhere

I'm not going to lie. I drove by East High several times and even turned around at one point to catch a glimpse of the crew filming High School Musical 3. It was magical. Betsy can vouch for me. I called her while I drove by and gave details of everything I saw. Pretty sweet.

Now, HSM fans, here are some major spoilers. At the end of the Wildcats' senior year, those crazy cats will graduate!

Crazy huh? Those amazing scriptwriters really threw me for a loop there. Graduation filming went on for a few days. The East High football stadium was full of parents and kids dressed in red and white caps and gowns. They even decorated the stands. Pretty sweet.

Then the scriptwriters went all crazy and, judging by the next picture, found a way for the Wildcats to win state AGAIN! That's back-to-back state champions. Go Wildcats.


Sadly, even with all my stalker techniques, I didn't see any stars of the film. I was really hoping to see Zac Efron. I know a guy who says he saw Ashley Tisdale the other day. So jealous.

happy day of the father

My apologies, Dad. I was going to post yesterday about the amazingness of you, John Leonard Dethman, but was too busy with church and the TONY AWARDS that I didn't have time to post.

I love my dad because:

- he doesn't care what you think
- he taught me just about everything I know, from sports, to spiritual and life lessons.
- he gave me my sarcasm
- he's wise, and always seems to know the right answer
- he's always willing to bail me out of a tough situation
- he's only a phone call away
- he is the biggest loser :)

and

- he'll wear a button-down shirt underneath a wet suit.



I love you, daddy!

layoffs

The boss announced layoffs today. Needless to say, I'm nervous, along with most of my co-workers. In total, 35 people must go. We won't find out who for another few weeks. Talk about fun.


To read the full story of the melee, click here.

summer lovin'

Man I thought the summer would be lame after all my spring trips, but it's shaping up to be a good one.

My family just can't get enough of me, and will be in town throughout the summer. Mom is coming in June and July to do the flowers at different weddings. Then my sister, Amy, and her husband, Andreas, will road trip to Utah with my mom in August to visit. I haven't seen her in, like, three years I think. Way too long.

Then, August 22-24, Betsy is coming to town to hang out with me for the weekend and we are trekking down to Vegas for a fun girls' weekend.

Oh and I'm going home July 4 for the traditional family bash. It's rough, I know.

Now I'm just trying to find time to slip in a trip to visit my best friend for a weekend at her folks' home at Lake Havasu, Arizona. I'm thinking Labor Day weekend, to celebrate my birthday.

This summer's gonna be great.

UPDATE: Change of plans. My sister, Amy, and friends will not be traveling to Utah to visit me. Instead, they are going to cousin Jeff's wedding. In order to get a little sister bonding time, I'm flying home to see her. Good times.

road trip

My friend, Meg, and I ventured south to land of the Cougars, and made what otherwise would have been a drab drive to Happy Valley a fun road trip.

And let me tell you, the gods welcomed our return:



We took pictures, and acted like tourists at different Provo hot spots. Here's the MTC (I made sure to wave at Jay and Stephanie Riding) and the Provo Temple.



The BYU smoke stack:



And perhaps the saddest picture of all, Deseret Towers:



The towers are gone! SAD. An icon of BYU is forever gone.

In a short two hours, we did most everything a Cougar could do. We even went to FHE, and joined Meg's sister, Katie, and her fiance, Tagg, for a mean game of four-square.



And can you believe it, we took a visit to our home states (Oregon and Texas).



Sadly, the night came to an end after Meg picked up her sister's wedding invitation envelopes.



We sure know how to make even the smallest trip fun.

on the road again

I seem to have a goal of going out of town every weekend.

I kept the vacation train rolling along by going up to my friend's cabin in Wyoming for the weekend with some folks for the ward. It was gorgeous weather, clear skies but a little chilly. Perfect for a nice weekend.



I did a little reading (I'm now on the 6th book of the Chronicles of Narnia) ...



played a lot of cards (hearts, 31, speed, etc.) ...



sat around the campfire telling stories and avoiding craziness "would you rather" questions ...



and handled a chainsaw for the first time. Pretty cool. Raw power, in my hands. Amazingly enough, nobody got hurt.

So far I have no plans to leave the state for the weekend, but I'm open to offers to achieve my goal.