Just Another Day

...in the office.

Sometimes I feel like I actually work on the set of The Office and someone is pulling my leg.  Here's the story.

Young male client applies for a life insurance policy.  We get it issued and mailed to him.  No response for 2 weeks from him that he received the policy.  I follow up.  He hasn't seen it, but will contact the post office to see if its there.  No response, so a couple days later I follow up again.  His response...



                       "Thanks Rachel- I was planning on emailing you today - here's the story. I checked

                        with my sister-in-law and she said that her dog probably got it... for some reason

                        she had picked up the mail that day and just set this "white envelope" of about the

                        right size at the top of our stairs, then it was nowhere to be found. Crazy. So

                        we're thinking that it was delivered to our house, but it probably will show up

                        somewhere in the yard when the snow melts [he lives in Park City so this could be a while],

                        if we're lucky... Hopefully no identity theifs out there will find it.

                       "So, bottom line- my family is nuts, and it would be great if you could

                        reissue the policy. So sorry!"

Yep, just like Dunder Mifflin.

Fish Spa

My preparations for Malaysia found me looking up things do to on TripAdvisor.com.  I knew we'd be spending a few days helping to unpack and babysit the kids so I had a small list of "must do" items and a longer list of things to do if we had time.  My must do list looked like this.

Must do

Fish Spa

Yep, that was it.  Just the fist spa.  So when my brother teasingly said he knew where the fish spa was, I surprised him that I actually wanted to go. I had even convinced my sister to go with me on the basis that her "IQ Demands It!"  (Thank you Grandma for the greatest excuse EVER!)

Well, we found it, stuck our feet in a fish tank for 30 minutes and followed it up with a foot reflexology massage for 60 minutes.  It was by far the most exotic thing I've ever done, and totally a great afternoon!

Ready for some pics?

 

Competition

I've been off sweets now for 9 days.

I had the grand idea last week to give up something during Lent, simply for the sake of a challenge. I'm not changing religions or anything, I just like the idea of Lent.  It's like a spring new year's resolution that only lasts 40 days!
So, I chose to not eat sweets.  Its a tough challenge, but very doable and certainly its good for me.  I've been fluxuating around the same 3 lbs for over a year now and I definitely need to push myself more.  This challege can only be good for me.

After the first day, I invited my mom to join me.  I couldn't convince her to do a self vs. self challenge so out came the wagers. :)  That's right, I challenged her to a Rachel vs. Mom competition!

The wager: Pedicures. We will go together to get Easter pedicures.  If we are both successful, then it is just a fun excursion with each other.  If one of us fails, we pay for the other person's pedicure.

The Exception: Because we know our history with sweets, we decided to have one exception each for the days that is seems simply unbearble! Mom chose dark chocolate chips and I chose Red Mango, with fruit toppings only.  Both are things we won't eat in excess.  They are both about as healthy as sweets can be and still satisfy our sweet tooth on those dark days, which is much better than completely giving up!

So how is it going so far? Well, I feel much better without the sweets; and just importantly is the pride I feel when I know I have successfully evaded the food pushers that want me to eat this cake, and that cookie, and these treats. I can't deceive myself though. I know I miss the sugary goodness of Smart Cookie and the happy socializing I once did over sweets at church functions and at work. I've even had dreams that I ate candy, and for the next 24 hours I had to revisit what I did the day before to make sure it was in fact a dream.  But the sweets had to come to and end eventually, and I'm sure this change will be well worth it.

Interestingly enough, the socializing is just as good without the sweets!

Bring on the Run!

Running.  Get Excited! I know I am!

Last year, I think I ran about 4 various races. Maybe it was only 3, but still.  It felt good to run so much.

Then winter came, motivation died, desire was swept away.

But, it's back!

Bring on the Run!

So far, I'm registered for...

Ogden 1/2 Marathon

Ragnar Wasatch Back

Deseret News 10k

Ragnar Napa Valley

And I'm looking into a couple more

Race for the Cure 5k

Wasatch Women 10k

and open for other suggestions

Now for the training...Dun dun dun

Chinese New Year Traditions

Chinese New Year celebrations typically last about 2 weeks.  Lucky for us, we arrived in Malaysia for second week of all the festivities, which included seeing two Lion Dances and one Dragon Dance.

Lion Dance 1 - we happened upon it on the ground level of Dave & Shir's place one evening.  Drums filled the air and we watched as the Lions moved around.  It was so incredible to see first hand!

Later that week, we stopped at a nearby hotel for another Lion Dance.  I was amazed at the ease with which these performers danced and did acrobatics on top of poles...and with two men per lion costume no less.  They are extremely talented!

Part of the tradition is to have the "God of Prosperity" come and distribute souvenirs.

And yet another day, we cruised to the Central Market (China Town) to watch a Dragon Dance.  It was so hot this afternoon, that the dancers were sweating even before anything started! 

Pictures can only say so much.  Here are a couple videos.

Batu Caves

The Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples.  It's about 8 miles north of Kuala Lumpur, which is about a half hour drive (assuming you don't get lost like we did!).  Its name comes from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill.  The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India.

 

272 steps to the cave

39 more steps inside

311 steps total (up, then again on the way down)

And, they were super steep!

Because the cave is an active Hindu temple, there were all sorts of shrines throughout the whole place. Additionally, we saw a bunch monks and worshipers.

And of course, monkeys!

It was so incredibly hot when we got back down to the base, drinks were a must.

So what do you drink when you're in Souteast Asia?

Coconut Water!

We actually didn't love it so much, but its what we bought so we kept drinking it.  Its a good "IQ Demands It" sorta thing.  Check that off my list of things to do in life!

KLCC Aquarium

One of the first places we went in Kuala Lumpur, besides the grocery store, was the KLCC Aquarium.  Located next door to Dave and Shir's apartment building is the KL Convention Center.  Housed is the bottom two floors of the convention center is the Aquarium.

After unpacking the majority of boxes in the kitchen, living room, play room, and kids' rooms, Shirlee needed some quiet time to organize.  So off we went with the kids to the Aquarium.

I had enough fun pics of the fish that I figured a slide show would be best.  Enjoy!