Fun at Scheels

 

I just thought I would share these photos because they cracked me up a little bit.  If you want to have the same kind of fun, head over to Scheels in Sandy and bring a decent camera.

Cutting the Cake

I was looking at some old pictures and I came across this GEM that always makes me laugh.

It was taken at my sister Cate and brother-in-law Tyler’s sealing reception.  They had already been married for at least 4 years and then they were sealed in the St Paul Temple for time and all eternity.  Anyway, they had all this food and their friend Jesse was ready for the cake but the happy couple wasn’t really interested in cutting the cake so they told Jesse he could go ahead and cut it himself.  Then Tyler decided to give him a hand as my camera stood ready and he made Jesse feel a little uncomfortable as you can see.

I guess I just thought I would share all of this in light of“Chick-fil-A appreciation day.” Long live traditional marriage! 

Office Humor

These are just a few of my favorite stories from work that I wanted to share because we all need to laugh more.

I was at work one day listening to a mixed CD my roommate made for a dance party we had at our house. Surprise surprise, I know. I was listening to “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, when a guy walked by my cube and started laughing. I wondered why he was laughing and then I started to wonder if I had been singing out loud. I took my headphones off and asked another coworker if I had just been singing out loud. She said that I had. I asked her how loud I was and she said that I started out pretty quiet and I got louder over time.

There was another time I meant to apologize for an inconvenience in an email and I am sure I misspelled it and then it auto corrected to incontinence. I had copied a coworker on the email and she just busted up laughing when she saw it. My co-worker Melanie replied with “Well, Alicia… that “DEPENDS” on what you mean… I think you are “POISED” to be very helpful." The lady I emailed never would have noticed if Melanie didn’t point it out to her.

I think Melanie has the funniest story of all though. Keep in mind that I work for a religious based company. Melanie was spelling something for someone over the phone and she said, "S as in slut." after it came out they were both so shocked that neither of them said anything to each other about it. Then after she hung up she proceeded to repeat over and over again, "S as in Sam."

It was blood donation time at work and my co-worker Fernando who is from El Salvador was trying to decide if he should give blood. I said, “Why wouldn’t you give blood if you can.” He said, “Well my wife faints when she gives blood.” I said, “Well that is your wife not you, go and give blood, they need it.” So he went and then he was gone a really long time. Maybe two hours. Then when he came back he said that he passed out. I felt a little bad about the pressure I gave him but he didn’t tell me that HE passed out when giving blood. Then about a year later he was telling someone why he doesn’t give blood. He said, “Last time I gave blood I passed away.” He needs to work on his English a little bit but it does crack us up from time to time.

Ray Gibson

I met a new friend on Friday as I was running around the park.  I was stopped by an older gentleman who I saw off in the distance doing calisthenics.  He stood up when he saw me coming and asked me how far it was around the park.  I told him that it was about a mile if you stuck to the perimeter of the park.  He then proceeded to tell me that he started to run in his 40s and that in his glory days he could run a mile in 4.somthing seconds.  He said he ran a 5K in 15.something seconds.  He said that he was in the top of his age group in the region.  Now that he was in his 80s he was going to try and get back into it.  I told him I thought that was impressive and that my grandma was running into her 70s.  I assumed that as a runner he would understand my need to get back to my run.  I wished him good luck and he told me that I would probably see him around. 

During my next lap I got to thinking that perhaps he was staying at the Alzheimer’s care center next to the park because there were some things in his stories that didn’t seem quite right like the fact he was wearing jeans and no one serious about running would be in jeans.  I have seen residents sneak out of there before.   I decided that it would be a good idea to get his name the next time around just in case so I could check with the care center.  I found him again doing some serious runner’s stretches.  When he saw me he said, “You just completed another mile.”  I agreed and got his name, Ray Gibson.  I told him mine and said it was nice to meet him.  I decided that on my next lap I would just run over to the care center to make sure since it wasn’t too far out of my way.  I went and told the guy why I was there and he checked his records and told me that he wasn’t one of their residents but he very gratefully thanked me for checking.   Unless Ray was on to me and decided to give me an alias, I may have just found myself a new running friend. 

Ruth from Duluth

Today is my Grandma’s birthday. She was a pretty special lady so I just want to say a few things about her. There was a lot to admire about her. She lived to be 90 and she was one of the healthiest people I know. I remember visiting her in Minnesota as a young child and I was impressed that she was still jogging into her 70s.

I remember in her 80s she was hit and knocked over by a car while walking in a parking lot. She went to go and get checked out and while any other woman her age probably would have broken a hip, she checked out fine and made sure she got to her water aerobics class that night.

She had more spunk than any woman I know. She wore a bun in her hair with two chopsticks sticking out. She loved fashion and good quality clothing. She drove a maroon 68 Mustang that she adored. She seemed to have a need for speed on the road and sometimes I even worried that she was going too fast.

I would always like to hear my mom say, “You are just like your Grandma!” She told me that we were both Pisces and because of that we had things in common. I can’t remember all the things we had in common except we both enjoyed a good bowl of oatmeal and she always had to dance when she would hear good music. I feel like I am still learning lessons from her as I think back on her life. I remember she was very much into deep breathing and now I am looking into the benefits of deep breathing.

She believed in taking control of her life and made the best of every situation. When my grandpa died, she decided that she needed to take over his advertising sales business and start meeting with his clients. When she found out that the valium her doctor prescribed her was addictive she got angry and quit cold turkey. When she felt lonely she remembered to think of those who were less fortunate than she was. She had four beautiful daughters and definitely left her mark on the world.

What Dreams May Come

I know it may be a little silly but one of my dreams came true.  For my birthday I got some gift cards and with those gift cards I got myself some matching silverware.  I have never in my life had a matching set of silverware.   I have only had a roommate, hand me down, miss matched group of utensils. 

Living with roommates at one point, we had some ugly silverware.  It was Michele’s birthday and I was trying to think about what to get the girl who has everything.   I was talking to my roommate Brooke and I said maybe we should get Michele some new silverware because the stuff she had is ugly and mismatched.  Then Brooke said that the silverware was hers and she got it at the dollar store.  I think her feelings were hurt for a second but she didn’t hold it against me for too long thankfully. 

Thanks to my roommate’s bargain shopping eagle eye, I scored two eight piece sets for $35 each.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take the plunge and then we ran into a guy at the store who said, “Buy them.” He went on to tell us about a time he wanted to buy a lamp but he wasn’t sure about it and by the time he decided he wanted it, someone else had snatched it up and he can’t forget about the lamp that got away.  

I later that night I ran into a friend at Harmon’s and was telling him about how I just took the plunge and bought a whole lot of silverware.  He reminded me that I need to live a little.  I never thought of having new silverware as living a little but I guess in a way he is right.  I am going to definitely LIVE IT UP with my new set of silverware.  The other reason I feel good about this is that I was able to donate my mismatched set to my roommate’s inner city school where it will go to a family in need.  Sounds like I win/win to me. 

Side Business?

I got a random email from my dear friend Ester this week which said, “Would you be willing to let me buy some dried fruit and veggies from you for my trip?” Initially I wasn’t happy about the request because I had no idea what this would entail and she finished her email with “Don’t argue though……I don’t accept it for free. I will reimburse you whatever cost you want.” I also had no idea what would be reasonable to charge her. I had just figured that with the time it takes me to dry the fruit it would never be worth what people would expect to pay me.


Well then I was talking to my mom about some dried pears that I sent to my niece for her birthday and my mom was eating some. I think she felt a little guilty about eating so many of them and she said that she was thinking that she should pay me to send up some more dried fruit.

I also mentioned to my friend Brooke what Ester had requested from me and then she said, “I know I would totally buy dried fruit from you.” Then I started to think about when I gave my co-workers an assortment of dried fruit for Christmas and two of them came back to me and said that their wives loved the dried fruit and wanted to know how I made it.

I just bought my dehydrator so I could work on getting some food storage for myself and take advantage of seasonal low produce prices and avoid preservatives in most food storage products. Well I guess I will see if it goes anywhere but it is fun to think about anyway.