The One with the Curling Lesson

Did you know you have muscles in your armpits? I have recently become aware of them as a result of the pain they are causing with my every movement. Not to mention the pain coming from my calves, quads, ice burn, and one very bruised knee. To all the naysayers out there, curling is a legit sport, fully deserving of it’s Olympic status. And I am officially out of shape. Who knew hanging on to a 42 pound weight and hurling it, with yourself attached, down a sheet of ice could be so much fun? Now I know it’s glorious…despite the painful results. A group of us went to the Park City Ice Arena last night and had a two hour lesson in the art of curling. There was much fun had by all while sliding and sweeping across the ice. There is even talk of getting a team together for the winter league. I just hope it’s okay with the league if I spend more time sliding around on my rear than in proper form.

Looks like I’ve got it down right?

See what happens shortly after…

Ice hurts.

In other news, look how much progress we’ve made at the office. So many volunteers!

It's Time for Christmas Music

It's that time of year where I get tired of waiting for Christmas to come and I start playing Christmas music 24/7. In all honesty I started playing it occasionally about 2 weeks ago. It was time. I'm also baking gingerbread muffins complete with real molasses. My house smells and sounds like Christmas. I realize we haven't had Thanksgiving yet.

I did not win any winter sporting gear this week. I did, however, purchase knee high fuzzy socks, a space heater, an electric blanket, and a warm mist humidifier. Now I can bundle up on my couch and watch the snow fall. (And it is coming down out there.) The shipping was delayed on my heated blanket and as a result I'm a little peeved at Target. Apparently the combination of being raised in Thailand and my mother's genes does not serve me well in cold places. I sometimes find myself thinking wistfully of a fireplace. But then if I had one I would just worry about burning the house down so it's probably good I don't have one. My roommate swears it's not that cold, but I beg to differ. There is frozen water falling from the sky.

It's been a busy week at work placing volunteers. Every time we put a volunteer in a job we put a jelly bean in a jar. When the jar is full we (theoretically) have all our volunteers for the festival. Look at how well we're doing!



Each jellybean represents a placed volunteer! If they cancel before the festival, we eat them.

While we are all working hard, finding, calling, and placing volunteers, Tooper waits for the phantom mouse to come out of the back of Jennie's filing cabinet. No really, he will stand frozen for hours with his head in the drawer.



The gingerbread muffins are ready. Now if I can just figure out how to make a Chick-fil-a peppermint chocolate chip milkshake...

A Surprise Visitor

One of the things I like most about working at Sundance is the random fun had by all. Beer & Cheetos is a Thursday afternoon tradition where one or two departments a week host a meet and greet for all Park City staff, seasonal, and year-round. There are often activities and lots of snacks including...you guessed it...beer & cheetos. (Wine and cheese sounded too formal.) Last week the Volunteer department hosted with Corporate Relations. There was beer/root beer floats, 5 layer dip, fritos, cheetos, and Sundance trivia with some awesome prizes. Quick - Who is the only Sundance board member to have acted in a movie directed by Robert Redford? (If you can tell me the board member who just signed on for a new Redford project, you get major bonus points) Or, a little easier...What film marks Robert Redford's directoral debut? No google. All things you should know. At least if you work for Sundance. The previous week was a Halloween blowout complete with a costume contest (for dogs and people), pumpkin carving contest, and a pinata.

This morning, I was minding my own business, doing my work, when I began to hear laughter and a disturbance on the other side of my wall. Oh that Theatre Operations department. After a few minutes others began to stand up and look over the wall and also began laughing. What on earth? Naturally I had to stand up and see for myself. There, shuffling through Theatre Ops was a visitor who had brought with him a little piece of the happiest place on earth. That's right. Mickey Mouse had come to visit the Sundance staff. And he was handing out candy!! He posed for a few pictures and even stopped to answer some calls on the volunteer hotline. Glorious. We love you Mickey. Come back anytime.

Credit to Whitney for the photo. Apparently I should start taking my camera to work.

A New Adventure

At Hayley's request I have decided to try blogging about my adventures in Utah. Just don't hold me to the standards of her blog about her adventures in New York. I have no adorable pictures of Elliot. Okay, I do, but they have nothing to do with Utah.

Because I don't feel like going all the way back to the beginning (the 3 day road trip from DC, training, and my first week) I'm gonna start with the present. I slept 13 hours last night. That's right. Can't remember the last time that happened. I was in bed by 9pm and did not stir until 10am. Here's why...

This past week was the first full week with a working database. No more sitting at my desk trying to look busy while waiting on a frozen database struggling to pull up the requested information on a specific volunteer. It's go time. I came back from lunch on Thursday and had 6 messages. 6! And I haven't even started calling the new volunteers yet. Then...it started snowing. I realize there's maybe an inch on the ground this morning, but any amount of snow tends to make me burrow under my covers and not come out for a while. The high today is 27 degrees and it's only November. I often find myself wondering how I got here and then I remember...I applied. Seriously though, I do love the job and I gotta say, Park City is pretty stunning. Even in the snow.

Story of the week:
I won a snowboard. Ask me how many times I've been on a snowboard. That's right. 0. It all started when the Sundance volunteer department decided to go out and have some fun after work. We shared some stories, did a little bonding, had some wings, and then I fully intended to go home. Turns out Kyle, Miranda, and Sara were not ready to go home and were unusually successful at convincing me to accompany them to a popular local bar, that was having a customer appreciation night. The place was packed, but we found a corner and became engrossed in our own shuffleboard competition. I took a raffle ticket that was handed to me but paid little attention and continued focusing on my shuffleboard technique...until (long story short) I realized that the number they were calling was mine. I retrieved my prize and was offered $100 on the spot by two different people. Apparently snowboards are a hot commodity in a ski resort town. Who knew? Good thing I didn't sell, because I have now been recognized as the greatest sister ever. Downside is now Toby knows what he's getting for Christmas. (Hey, I didn't want to haul it all the way back to Virginia if he didn't really want it) Now I can't say I never win anything and Toby can't say I'm not awesome.

I assure you, the irony of this tropical beach kind of girl winning a snowboard in a bar where she did not buy a single drink, is not lost on me. I leave you with a post win moment as captured by Kyle.


A completely unrelated adorable picture of my nephew, Elliot...