Rebuttle to "bums"...the Difference Makers.

Ok, I didn't get a lot of comments about my "bums" post. But I did get a couple emails and a phone call and it's come up a couple times in random conversations with family and friends.

Here's what I've decided. Maybe I'm too nice. I really think some of the bums are real, but I'm also sure that some of the bums make more money than me...and I help 'em pass me up. My Grandpa told me he saw a thing on the news that these people all work together, they have a boss type person and they get assigned locations and they split up money at the end of the day or something. A women admitted to sometimes making over $250 a day...that's more than I make. And they caught a guy walk normal to the trunk of his car and get crutches out and then hobble across the street. But last night I saw a thing on the news about homeless teens who are born homeless and then sometimes are in and out of foster homes, back with their real parents, back to the streets, etc. It's sad. There are something like 1,000 or 10,000 homeless teens in Utah. I know that's a huge difference...and 75% were born to homeless parents...errr something, and there was a 50% of something in there too. I should pay attention if I'm gonna try and recap something. Anyway, I felt bad for these kids! So there's the delema, who's a big faker and who's legit?

I'll probably still give a few bucks away here and there, but I'm raising my standards. I'll only give money if it's below 40 degrees outside or if the bum is performing. Is "Bum" mean? Should I say "homeless" or "less fortunate" instead? Anyway, if they play guitar or the harmonica or they sing or their magic I'll drop a couple bucks. And if they're selling chiclets, I'll buy some. ...Ok, I guess I haven't really decided. It'll be case by case basis. :)

This was pretty funny though. My friend Zhenya from Ukraine has some strong opinions about bums. He found this after he read that post and emailed me the link. It made me laugh. Check it out. Thanks Z.

Let's do lunch.

I usually have lunch meetings for work at least 3 days a week, but last week I had none. So I had lunch with different friends, 4 to be exact. I love having lunch with friends. It's a good catch up time. So thanks Melanie, Erik, Braden and Joe.

It was interesting talking with Melanie. She has a lot of exciting changes coming up. We've known each other for 22 years. She's married, pregnant, and she and Justin are moving into their first house this weekend. I've seen a lot of friends get married, have babies and buy houses. I'm pretty happy with no husband, no kids and no house. But when I'm with Melly my biological clock ticks louder. She's a grown-up...and I'm older than her. Only by 22 days though, unless it's a leap year, then I'm a lot older.

Me and Braden had fun too. Way too much fun. I worked with Braden at IDFL until a few months ago. We were both bosses and some times each others boss. But even when he was my boss, I was always his boss. Right Bray Bray? Braden and I kinda dated...maybe...I don't really know. Everyone at work wanted us to date and sometimes we started steamy rumors about ourselves to get people talking. Anyway, I have so much fun with him. He thinks I should have a reality TV show called 'Andrea's Special Powers' it would be on the Discovery Channel. Another title idea was 'Andrea and Her Chamber of Secrets' but I nixed that. I wanna keep it clean. The show would be about me. duh. I would buy a plane ticket to a scary or foreign location and I'd fly there with no money. The point of the show would be for me to see how long I could survive before I'd have to fly home...or die I guess. Braden is absolutely convinced that I have powers to get what I want. And he thinks I could get people anywhere in the world to take me in and take care of me. He's crazy...but I kinda wanna do it. Maybe I will. We sat and talked for a couple hours and laughed so much. I miss him. When we worked together I laughed the painful stomach and face hurting laughs daily. Now, not so much. We went to the Himalayan Kitchen (maybe I spelled that wrong) SO GOOD! After arguing for a few minutes about who was buying, I looked at him and said, "wow, why did I ever let you go?!" ...he bought. Hah! I do have special powers. ;)
This is us. 1st pic, my last day at IDFL. All the rest, last year at his house on the 24th of July...we live on the edge.

And lastly, not lunch, but still fun. I had my family over for dinner last night. Not the whole family, just Mom, Dad, Scott, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Barbara and Paul. Paul isn't family, but he kind of is. My parents claim him. I made mexican food. Tried 4 new recipes, 2 of them I made up and it was an overall success. This is the cake I made. Scott thinks I have too much time on my hands, but it really didn't take long. It's not frosting on the cake, its moose. So good, and so bad for you!

MARATHON...some say 5K, I say Marathon.

That's right, I ran (walked) a marathon (5K) today. Dictionary.com defines marathon as, 1. a foot race over a course measuring 26 mi. 385 yd. (42 km. 196 m). OR 2. a long-distance race. OR (it keeps getting better) 3. any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration or requiring exceptional endurance: a dance marathon; a sales marathon. I think 5 kilometers is a "long-distance" -definition #2, check. A 5K race is a "contest" and an "event" of "greater than normal length or duration" AND it "required exceptional endurance." -definition #3, check. Who cares about #1, that's the lamest of all the definitions.

The marathon was a fund raiser for the Draper Historical Theatre. Justin is the chairman or boss or president or something of the theatre, so Melanie asked if I wanted to do it with them. Best $27.50 I ever spent. Bryon came down too, what a babe. I had to get up at 6:15 and it was so cold. (just at the beginning.) I hate running. What's fun about it? You can't really talk, everything is bouncing around, and it makes my ankle hurt, (the one full of metal). I tried to sign up for the boys 1/2 mile, but Mel wouldn't let me.

Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who all the other stupid people are. **Sidenote** And I apologize if this is insensitive. But during the Mark Hacking trial a couple years ago, I was talking to some co-workers about it. I made a comment that if I turn up missing and any man ever says that, "she went running and never came home" (tear, sniff). You'll know that that is your first and only sign you need that he's lying! ANDREA DOESN'T RUN. And then he'll be immediately convicted for my murder.

Today was actually pretty fun, I'm just a bit dramatic...shocking. And here are my stats. (Don't be too impressed until you get all the way through this.)

Andrea Greenhalgh Women's 5K #927

8th Place Overall

2nd in Women 21-30

Not bad, huh? Ok, they started in the 900's. I wasn't actually the 927th runner. "8th place overall" was just in womens. 9 women ran it, and "2nd in Women 21-30" ...well, there were 3 women in that age bracket. I did the race in 50:02.0 (16:06 Min/Mi). I swear it was more like 49:52.0, which would mean I "run" just under a 10 Min/Kilometer. 10 Min/K sounds way faster that 16 Min/Mi.

Here's the thing, Melanie is pregnant. And whenever she wants to get out of something or get a little pity she uses that excuse. ...you know you do Mel, you can't be mad. And same goes for Justin but he just says, "my wife is pregnant." Justin and Bryon wanted to run, and Melanie couldn't run. I didn't want to leave her in my dust. Thus, leading me to the conclusion of my race experience. "I didn't win the race because Melanie is pregnant."

After the race the 4 of us went to breakfast. Bacon, hash browns, omelets, scones, french toast...we didn't want that 5K to do us any good.

blogger gone wild!

I've had close friends tell me that I'm a little vague in my blog, but that if you read between the lines it's pretty obvious to see where I am in life. From relationships to family to religion to everyday boring stuff. But I also had a friend (Kathy) tell me, after telling her some stories about Peru, (not featured in this blog) that I need 2 blogs. A safe "family friendly" blog, and an "uncensored" blog, for people like...Kathy, I guess. The family friendly blog would feature the safe stuff, like, "I had an amazing time in Peru and met some incredible people." The uncensored blog would cover items like this, "Sara and I met this Brazilian hottie at the airport and we all went to dinner our first night in Cusco. He didn't speak much english so it was a bit awkward, but he seemed super nice and he had this adorable innocence about him. That night at the hostel he tried to kiss me (which kinda shocked me) and he was REALLY surprised that I kept saying NO! NO! when I realized he was digging in his bag for a condom. He finally looked at me and said, No?? Then I got the hell outta there."

I try to blog like no one is reading, which was some advice from a fellow blogger. But it's hard when I really try to do that and deep down I know that my mom and my former bishop visit my corner of the blogosphere from time to time. And also, some stuff is just personal, and I don't want everyone to know about it. Which, no duh, everyone has stuff like that. But I will admit, I do try to be pretty careful when I blog. I've never been a good journal keeper and I think blogging is the best I've done at journaling. So having said that, I have some things in my life that I've been dancing around lately and maybe its time I just lay it out there and let the chips fall where they may. I can't make any promises, but I've been surprised lately at how many personal emails I get from friends asking me more questions about things I blog about, so I decided that instead of sending personal email responses to people (that are often answers to the same questions from multiple people) I should just not be afraid to blog.

We'll see.

bums

I was walking along main street last night with a friend of mine. We'll call him Earl. A somewhat scary looking homeless man was sitting on the sidewalk and as we approached him, he asked me if I could spare a quarter. I told him I didn't have any change but that I probably had a couple bucks he could have. I pulled out $7.00 and handed it to him. He was very grateful. He thanked me and told me he could see Jesus in me. I told him to have a good evening. Earl doesn't like bums. He said its stupid to give them money and that these people could have jobs if they really tried. He also said that they'll just buy alcohol and drugs with the money. Maybe, maybe not. Earl told me that one of these days when I pull out my wallet one of them will grab it and run. Maybe, maybe not. I've never been afraid of these people. I almost always give when I have cash on me and none of em have ever grabbed my wallet. I probably give away less than $20.00 a month, which isn't much. Earl told me (and I vaguely remember this) that the LDS church once said not to give money to people on the streets, that the money would be better used if we donated to an organization or gave it to fast offerings, etc. I don't really have an opinion on that.

A few years ago my significant other and I invited a homeless man to Thanksgiving dinner. The man was living in a warehouse in downtown Salt Lake and I'd seen him several times around the Gateway mall. He came to the dinner and he looked really sharp. He was wearing dark jeans, a white button down shirt that was worn and stained, and a ragged black tie. He'd shaved his beard and combed his hair. Maybe not 'sharp' by most standards, but I was impressed. He was so gracious and thankful for dinner. After dinner he and I sat on the sofa and began to talk. He told me how impressed he was with our love and family unity. I asked him to tell me how he ended up where he was in life. He told me he had a wife and 4 kids and that one of his daughters got really sick, his insurance wasn't covering the bills so he had to get a second job. Things got hectic at home and ends weren't meeting. He turned to drugs and in no time lost his job, home and family. He was trying to do the right thing for his daughter and family but things got too overwhelming for him to handle. He said it all happened so fast and he found himself on the streets. I'm not condoning the fact that he turned to drugs nor am I saying it's ok, but I have no idea what it would be like to go through that.

I've volunteered a couple times at The Road Home and I've heard some devastating stories of abuse, illness, disabilities, accidents, etc. People who are really trying to build a better life, and a lot who have landed in these situations because of events totally out of their control.

All I'm saying is that no one has any room to judge. We don't know how they got in the places they are, but it's not our place to assume. If $5.00 here and there will put a smile on someones face and get me an occasional 'God Bless You' -that's enough for me. And if God gets mad at me for giving some cash to a bum and not all of it to a foundation, well, I'll deal with that later...but I'm not too worried about it.

God has blessed me a lot in my life. I know I need to recognize that more. We probably all do. Earl and I had a good talk about it at dinner and I think his perspective changed a little. ...and we're still friends. ;)

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me...and some other stuff.

1. I need heat. Good, dry, Utah heat. Like 80+. I'm so sick of being cold. I think going to Mexico last weekend was bad for me because I remembered what it's like to be hot and see the sun! I guess Saturday was pretty warm, but it was SO windy. I went to the driving range with Erik, Deb and Paul. It's safe to say that golfing is probably not my sport. I blame the wind...and also the fact that I suck. It was fun though. Those 3 have quickly become some of my favorite people.

2. Saturday night I went with Paul to a dialog between Bob Millet and Greg Johnson. I've mentioned them before. They wrote a book together called Bridging The Divide. It's an awesome book. Buy it and read it. I've had the chance to get to know both of these men better over the past couple months and I have a lot of respect for both of them and for what they do. One of these days I'm gonna blog about what they do a little more in depth...but not today.

3. I bought a Magic Bullet (it's a blender Kristin). I'm way excited. Sephra had one and when we lived together I used it about everyday. They are so rad! I think I'm gonna have a smoothie night.

4. My Steve. I heart him. We hung out last night and we were talking and realized that we've only been friends for about 10 months. Crazy! Around the time I met him I also met a ton of other Steves. Hugging Steve, Steve Key West, Internet Steve, Steve's Steve, Chimney sweep Steve. My old roommates and I give everyone nick names to keep 'em straight. And Steve Page is 'My Steve.' He's the one I mentioned here in number 61, and here in number 7. He's the best of all the Steve's. And yes, he's leaving me. I think it hasn't really hit me yet that he's actually moving. The only good thing is that now I get to visit Puerto Rico. He took me out for Sushi a couple days ago. First time for me. I guess I'm convinced that it's a mental thing cuz it tasted good but the thought of it is a little hard to swallow. (pun)
Anyway, Steve is one of those people that can always put a smile on my face. We'll be friends forever. Everyone needs a My Steve. But not mine. Get your own.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy DaDdY!

Happy Birthday to my AWESOME Dad.

i love you.

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you're dodging recliners on the freeway?

Ok...that really happened to me and Kristin once. It was like a sudden uncontrollable obstacle course at 75 miles an hour. We hit one of 'em. Oopsie! ...but we lived to tell.

Anyway, I've been feeling a little like I'm in that obstacle course lately. But it's not always really hard like a freeway/furniture obstacle course. Maybe sometimes its like Guitar Hero, and I don't know the song that well. Overall it's pretty fun, but there's so much pressure to hit all the right notes and it gets harder and faster and more people are listening and watching to see how its gonna end. When I miss a note some people are disappointed and others keep cheering me on. Some lose interest and some wanna stick with me til the last note. I'm not gonna give up, but sometimes it feels too hard and I wanna play another game (maybe Mario Brothers). But those distractions don't last and I keep goin' on with my song. Even though some of the people who are most interested in the outcome, don't even like the song I'm playing. Ok, wow, enough of that. Real life stays easier for me if I compare it to dumb things, like video games.

My life is good. Sure its been filled with unexpected twists and turns, some good, some bad, but who's hasn't, right? And lets be honest- if my life would have gone exactly how I planned in my emotional giddy hopeful teen years, I'd probably be bored and unhappy right now. I'm not bored and I'm not unhappy.

I've had two 'reality check' conversations in the past 24 hours and I'm kinda down right now. Nothing I didn't already know, just some stuff I needed to re-realize, and maybe something I just need to accept I guess. I bet I'll be fine by morning and maybe I'll delete this post. Even though this is vague and maybe incomplete, I just needed to get it out. Good night.

The Fun Ship!

I'm still convinced that cruises are totally the best was to travel. All you have to worry about is getting on the boat. After that, someone else takes care of all the rest. We had PB&J delivered to our room just because we could.

The reason we went on this particular cruise was because a guy I met in Peru, and about 40 of his friends were going on it for his birthday. It was good to see Asi again and to meet all of his friends. We had some good times.

The weather was perfect the whole time. It was so relaxing! My next cruise will be a few days longer...I decided that when they had to drag me off the boat yesterday morning.

Ensenada was fun too. We ran into our tour guide from last year at La Bufadora. It was so cool to see him again. We went and had tacos and drinks with him and a few of his friends. We had talked about how cool it would be to see him again, but we really didn't think we would.

Here are a few pictures from the boat, and of us in Ensenada. I love the ocean and the sun! ...Not that snow in the middle of April bums me out at all...oh wait, yeah it does. Oh well, I'll just start counting down the days til I go to Hawaii.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Blaine and Jan Greenhalgh
April 11, 1978

We have in fact had more recent family pictures taken, but I think this is probably the best one EVER. How lucky are my mom and dad that they had glasses like that back in the day...David looks the most normal...I'm thinking of going back to that hair style...Taylor needs to cheer up a little bit...and little Scott, how adorable is that tongue hanging out. Yep, it was down hill for all of us after this picture.

Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad. I love you and appreciate you both more than you could ever know.

the rundown. general conference weekend.

Along with General Conference weekend usually comes mission reunions for the LDS boys and girls who serve missions for the church. And while I didn't serve a mission I've been the date of an RM a time or two. Always a bit awkward, but not unbearable. This past friday was no different. My friend Zhenya is in town from Ukraine and I went to his reunion with him. I knew a few people. One guy who carried me out of an english class in college when I passed out, one I dated a bit and then "phased out" and one blind (really really bad) date. He kept calling, I kept avoiding, I wasn't worried cuz I knew I'd never see him again, I sat right in front of him friday night.

Saturday morning I went to the AM session of GC with Greg, Robyn, Paul and someone and his wife someone. I wish I was good with names. 3 evangelicals, 2 mormons, and me...I don't know what I am... It was pretty fun. There were a lot of protesters there. It kinda bums me out. And honestly the signs either make people laugh or piss people off. And everyone goes home believing the same way they believed before they protested. Oh well.

I slept through the afternoon session. But I pushed record on my DVR when I realized I needed a nap. I haven't watched it yet.

Yesterday morning I went to church at K2, and Paul came with me. (Have I mentioned how great he is?) We met up with some friends, Erik and Deb. After church we went to breakfast at this cute little place called The Park Cafe. It was really good to talk with them. (Everyone that I mention lately are friends of Paul's and he's just nice enough to introduce me to them.)

After that we went to my parents house and watched the afternoon session of GC and had dinner.

I got home last night feeling a little over-whelmed and kinda sad. It was a long and eventful weekend. (I left out a few things...other conversations, hanging out, reading books, not sleeping, etc.) I hoped that sleeping on it would help, but it's monday morning and I'm still blah. (The slush and snow and cold weather isn't helping.) But it really was a pretty good weekend.

mid-week musings...i hate the word 'musings'

1. I don't know how to say 'No'. I over commit, agree to dumb things, and I somehow think I can be in 2, or sometimes 3 places at once. Turns out I can't. Why is it so hard for me to just...grrr...I dunno. Carlie, Jill, Kristin, Ashley and Lexie know the most recent situation cuz I vented to them last night, but it's kinda boring. Anyway, I need help. Will everyone who reads this call me and ask me to do something for you? I'm gonna practice.

2. I finally booked my (free) flight to Los Angeles and I still have about $200 left on my travel voucher. WooHoo! I'm meeting up in LA a week from friday with Kathy and Cami and we're setting sail for a quicky to Mexico. (4 days) Kathy and I did this same cruise last year at about this same time and it was awesome. It'll be a good time.

3. My big brother is getting married in 2 months and I need to find a dress. I know 2 months is far away, kind of. But I'm gonna be busy and out of town, so I need to get shopping. I of course wanna lose a few pounds so I'm trying to put it off a little, but lets be honest, can I drop a dress size in 8 weeks?? Maybe...I think I can...I should stop eating this cookie.

4. My friend from Ukraine is coming to town tomorrow. It'll be good to see him. I just found out a few days ago. Everyone who knows me well knows I have an "open door/anyone's welcome" policy. Sometimes I don't get much notice at all, but I really don't mind. Even if I'm out of town I want people to feel like they can use my apartment, my car, eat my food, whatever. I like it that way.

5. I think Salt Lake has too many cops. And I think they have a new quota they're trying to meet on 7th east. Be careful. Also, on a somewhat related note. I'm gonna write a letter to...someone, about upping the speed limit. Who would I send that to?

6. My Spiritual Quest is going well. Or if you ask my LDS friends they'll say my Apostate Cancer is spreading. I'm not apostate, but I think it's kinda funny, and I can't be mad cuz I'm the one who first made that joke. I've had a really good week. Yesterday I went to BYU and met with Dr. Robert Millet. He's an amazing man. I've also been meeting with some members and Pastors of local churches here in Salt Lake, just to talk and ask questions. It's good for me. Bob Millet told me that he thinks it's good, and I respect what he says, so it's good. He said I'll either find more peace in my life on a new path or I'll be stronger in the LDS faith. I agree. He's written so many books and he gave me some to read. He has a new book coming out in July and the idea of it really intrigues me. He gave me a copy of it yesterday. It's not even published and I have it! I'm really excited to read it. Our next meeting is going to be after I finish it, hopefully in a week or two. I had lunch today with a Pastor and one of his first questions was, "Tell me what you like about the LDS church." That was a good question and we had a good talk. The evangelicals really respect LDS people. I'm sad that they sometimes get a bad rep in the LDS eye. I mean, I get it, cuz I've seen the protesters at General Conference and stuff, but as a whole they are wonderful, genuine, accepting people.

7. I found out yesterday that one of my best friends is moving to Puerto Rico this fall. I was hoping it was an April Fool's joke...no such luck. I'm kinda sad, but he's happy so I'm happy... :(