Beauty or Beast?

As I was driving home from work yesterday, I looked in the rear-view and noticed my eyebrows were getting a teeny bit thick.  I was on my way to meet my parents at their house to pick up TC, but I was a few minutes ahead of them so I popped into the local nail salon on the corner for a quick wax.  I said I wanted an eyebrow wax and the little asian lady led me to a room where I laid down on a table with bright lights shining on my face.  Our conversation went a little something like this:

Asian Lady:  It's been a while huh?

Me:  Um, yeah.  I have been really busy... Sorry.

Asian Lady:  So are we doing the upper lip today too?

Me:  What???

Asian Lady:  Your upper lip.  Are we waxing that today too?

Me:  (Shocked because I was not aware I had a mustache) Um, no thanks, just the eyebrows today.

Asian Lady:  Ok.  Have you ever considered tinting your eyebrows?  It would make you look a lot better.

Me:  Um, thanks for the offer, but I just want them waxed today.

Asian Lady:  Ok.  Do you use regular nail polish or gel nail polish?

Me:  Just regular nail polish.

Asian Lady:  You should try the gel... (grabbing my hand) it wont chip like yours see?

SERIOUSLY???  I thought going to a salon was supposed to make you feel better about yourself - not the opposite! Thankfully she was finished at this point and had no time to point out my relief society arms or the cellulite on my thighs. 

Oh little Asian Lady... I realize you were trying to promote your business, but you just lost mine. 

The Festival of CoLoRs!

I was working last Saturday night at the Olive Garden when one of my tables was seated with individuals covered head to toe in different shades of brightly colored chalk.  While normally I would have introduced myself with something totally mundane like,  "Welcome to the Olive Garden, my name is Abbey, BLAH BLAH BLAH" I instead played a quick game of twenty questions with the whole table trying to get to the bottom of who-what-where-when-and-why they came in looking like this.  Management would have probably frowned on this behavior, but I was trying to "build a guest connection" a.k.a. find out more information for myself. 

They told me they had just been to the Festival of Colors at the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork.  That basically it was a celebration welcoming spring where everyone gathers together for a big party where everyone throws colored chalk at each other.  I liked it.  A lot.  I was really sad that I had missed it, honestly.  But no!  They told me they had spread it out to a two day event this year, and I could still go on Sunday from noon to 4:00.  Victory!  Now came the biggest challenge - talking Matt (a person who hates all things dirty) into going with me and getting blasted in the face by strangers with handfuls of chalk.  I knew I had a daunting task ahead of me. 

After a little use of my manipulation skills (which I am not entirely proud of) he agreed to go.  Then I showed him some pictures of the previous year and he said  "Aw, hell no."  But alas, he had already said yes, and I wasn't about to let him back out now.  We dropped TC off at my parents and headed down to Spanish.  I can call it "Spanish" because I have family who lives there so I am entitled to.  I can't, however, say I was really prepared for what we saw when we walked to the temple.  

There were 14,000 people covered in bright colored chalk having the time of their lives amongst the lamas and peacocks at a temple on a hill that in no way looks like it belongs anywhere near Spanish.  Possibly not even on the same continent as Spanish.  These Hari Krishnas know how to party - there was a band, food, and a little recreational drug use.  We made our way through the crowd as people threw handfuls of chalk at us.  At first I didn't really know how to react.  Should I be upset that we being targeted?  Should I ignore that it was happening?  Should I say thank you?  It was a little awkward until we bought some chalk for ourselves and threw it back at them.  The awkwardness fleeted and then we really got into it - Matt and I had the time of our lives standing near the entrance and picking out the new clean people as our next victims, trying to make them feel awkward.  I know it sounds a little weird when I say it like that... Guess you had to be there. 

In my experience, events like this tends to bring out the weirdies... which is half of the reason I like to go to them.  This guy sitting in his one-piece long johns and bare feet in the mud by himself was cracking me up.  He sat there the whole time.  I had to take a picture.  Not to mention the guy in front of him dressed in a wrestling singlet.  Um... where do they come from? 

A few hours after we got there they had a ceremony where they "burned the witch" (that I still don't entirely understand) and had a countdown to the throwing of the colors where everyone tosses their chalk into the air and makes a gigantic color-filled cloud.  Definitely the highlight of the event. 

Despite his hesitation, Matt had a great time.  We laughed all day and hours after.  See?  Sometimes trying something you would normally never do can turn out to be a great thing...  We will definitely be back!  I asked him what his friends in Georgia would think if they could see him like this and he just shook his head, laughed, and said, "I don't even know."  Cheers to new experiences!

A Little Story About the Cliche of Doors Opening and Closing.

Forgive me for I have sinned.  It has been five months since my last blog...

Five of the longest months of my life.  

November we got great news... Matt was getting a promotion!  I can't explain how excited I was.  More money = a little wiggle room in our budget.  I want wiggle room.  I love wiggle room.  I embrace wiggle room with a warm smile and a cup of hot cocoa.  I was thrilled.  Everything seemed to be working out perfectly for us.  Even though he got the job in November, we had to wait almost three weeks while the position got approved through the "higher-ups" of the company, so he didn't actually begin working at the new store until the middle of December.  No worries right? At least he got it. 

Uh, not so much.  In January, Matt went to work early for a management meeting.  He called me about 30 minutes later saying that Lowe's had just laid him off.  SERIOUSLY???  I thought he was joking at first because the whole situation didn't make a bit of sense to me.  Why would they promote him, make him wait almost a month to make sure the position was going to be approved to turn around a few weeks later and take away everything from us.  Not just the wiggle room, but EVERYTHING.  How were we supposed to live?  Not to mention I was 6 weeks pregnant and we had three more days of insurance until that was taken  away too.  I really felt like my world came crashing down on me in just a few minutes.  But I was not alone - Lowe's had laid off 1,700 of their management so they could hire 10,000 part time employees.  Matt had dedicated years of his life to this company and really cared about his job and customers only to be tossed out on his ass to save a couple dollars.  Disappointing is an understatement.  I guess that is what happens when you care about a company who does not care about you in return.  Matt had a better attitude about it all,  but I was very bitter.  And borderline violent.  I wanted to stab all the "higher-ups" in the neck with a pen for putting us in this situation.  And if they had lived within walking distance of us (gas is a luxury when you suddenly have no money) I would have.  And I might have keyed their cars too just for good measure.   

The next two months were really hard.  I started working 7  or more shifts a week at the Olive Garden so we were able to make our bills while Matt desperately looked for a new job.  Being on my feet all day and constantly lifting was exhausting.  It wasn't working, and it was not going to work for much longer.  We had to figure something else out.  I applied for a position at Salt Lake Community College for the Residency Specialist and much to my surprise I got it!  I started the first of March and so far I am loving it.  It feels good to trade in my elastic band sweat pants for a pair of heels again.  (No offense sweat pants, you still have a place in my heart.)   

Matt and I decided it was time to get out of retail and look at this as an opportunity to do the things that he loves.  My sister called him the day after he got laid off, and told us about a new professional football team that was coming to Utah called the Salt Lake Crush.  They were having a combine in three days and the owner wanted Matt to be there.  Matt was hesitant (because he had not been training in 6 months) but with much prodding from my sister and I he agreed to go.  He did great!  I went to watch and cheer him on and I was so impressed with my husband's athletic ability (something that I have nothing of)... But I wasn't the only one who was impressed.  The owner and coaches invited him back to the second combine three weeks later, and offered him a contract to play with the Crush.  Yeah!  I can't wait for the season to start... I am ordering matching jerseys for myself and the Bug so we can cheer daddy on at all of his games.  :)  I guess we should get a jersey for my sister too, because she is suddenly demanding one AND season tickets to all of the games since it is "because of her he even got to try out".  Maybe we can order them in bulk? 

Lowe's ended up offering Matt another management position, but he turned it down.  I know what you are thinking - uh, has he lost his mind?  (Mostly because I thought the same thing when he told me but with a little more colorful language).  But I do understand why.  He no longer felt like he wanted to move up in the company - why risk this same thing happening to us again?  This was an opportunity to finish school and do what he really wanted to do.  He has wanted to finish school for a while now, and the rotating schedule prevented him from doing it.  He is going to start in May for summer semester. Here's the best part... because I work at SLCC he gets to go for freeeeee!   

Who knew something so bad could end up being so good?  I would have never applied for this position if Matt had not lost his job.  He would have never tried out for the Crush or decided to go back to school if he hadn't lost it either.  Although it was a very stressful time, things are lining up perfectly for us.  It was a big BIG blessing in disguise.  If we hadn't been forced to, we would have never made the changes that we have been wanting to make for a long time to accomplish the things that are really important to us.  Matt took a position at Lowe's stocking - it is one of the few positions in the store that has a set schedule and he is off by 2:00 everyday, giving him the time to take classes and play sports. 

Although I can't say that I'm grateful for the stress and hardship we went through, I am grateful for the opportunities that were opened to us. Maybe God knows I don't handle stress well and I was on the verge of a nasty breakdown.  I don't know.  I do know in the end, I feel like we are going to be much better off. We are very blessed.