Dear 5K,

I can now check you off my life "To Do" List and you are precisely the reason why I will never run a full-marathon.

Dear Sincerely Cheryl,

I sincerely miss you.

Sincerely,
Val

Dear Identity Theft,

Dwight was right, "Identity theft is not a joke...millions of families suffer every year."

Recent events with my Facebook account have made me rethink the number of friends I need to have affiliated with my profile. I have accepted and extended many requests to siblings/relatives, childhood playmates, high school comrades, college buddies, and coworkers. All people with various degrees of awareness concerning my personal life, work life, family life and the personality quirks that make me who I am.

Back to the aforementioned "recent events." I was hacked. My facebook account was grossly violated. Some crack genius, probably a person with way too much time on their hands, assumed my identity on facebook and made a spam wall post to all my "friends" with this message: "What's up! You have a secret crush go here to find it at www.some lame fake blog.blogspot.com (remove spaces)."

Adding to my simple annoyance that a person did this...to me...were the idiotic comments on my wall the next day from people I rarely/never talk to (whether it be via facebook, phone, sidewalk chalk, email, carrier pigeon or those planes that fly around with a banner flapping behind). Now for those of you who I do talk to on a quasi-regular basis (and you better know who you are), I appreciated your comments; in fact they lightened my mood given the circumstances. But seriously, if you know me AT ALL and were a true friend, you would know I would a) NEVER write wall posts about a secret crush and b) I would never direct you to some blog to find out who it is. If I really did know someone who harbored secret feelings for you, I would tell you and if I did feel the need to write about it on your wall, I would never start off with greetings such as "Yo!" "Wots up" "Hey therre" or "Dude." Be smart people. In fact, if you're my facebook friend, you should BE smart. I've obviously been too generous in extending friend requests and accepting requests.

So...why am I proponent of strict qualifications for facebook friendships? Because in times of Facebook identity fraud, I would like to think that my friends or at least really good acquaintances would realize automatically I got hacked instead of checking with me to confirm whether or not I really did know the identity of their secret crush. It looks like my facebook friend list is in need of some serious purging - similar to the cell phone contact purges we are all guilty of. It's a fact of life - which now, I'm led to believe is the case for identity theft as well.

Dear reasons that I like/don't like my job

Like: I get to be part of the Kids Club and participate in after office hour cookouts.

Don't like: There should be at least 3 more people in this photo - SJL, NRNL and WSC - they might not be single and thus not official members of the 'kids club' but the fact that they are no longer coworkers is why I don't like my job.

Dear Weekend Plans

Here's to actually having some!

1. The Pie was delicious.
2. Bowling was a blast - who knew I had a score of 146 in me? I think it had something to do with the great bowling alley tunes. Good times are guaranteed at the Ritz...bring great friends...they will make all the difference.
3. I never considered myself to be an outdoor enthusiast, but I went hiking on Saturday up Big Cottonwood Canyon and I really enjoyed myself; a great way to get some exercise, again, be with great friends and enjoy the outdoors...even if there was a group of adolescents swimming in the lake that had a clearly posted "No Swimming" sign. So, in case those in the SLC area are wondering why their drinking water tastes funny it's because a group of 14-year-old girls thought it would be fun to take a dip and as a result tainted a part of the area's fresh water supply.
4. Provo is always a fun place to visit - especially when it means I get to see loved ones, eat some good food and go shopping!
   
• I didn't really know how to react however, to the little child who came up to me on the street, not speaking English but obviously wanting me to play with him and his bubbles. Odd. Very odd.
  
• Note to pushy sales people - no I don't want to buy a pair of socks or an extra pair of shoes or sign up for a credit card or take a survey to win a TV or join a mailing list - the fact that I'm purchasing something in the first place should be enough. STEP OFF.
5. BBQ Chicken Pizza and chocolate cake - great meal for a Sunday.

Too bad Monday is tomorrow and I have to return to the 9-5. Will I ever NOT dread going back to work?

Dear Lagoon

I love Wicked.

I love Colassus.

I love being able to scream away a week's worth of frustration with my coworkers and return to the office with a stamp on my hand.

And you weren't even crowded.

The temperature was just right.

Can't wait for next week's visit.

Dear Ryan Lochte,

Yes.
Yes, I will marry you.

Let every other woman in the US drool over Michael Phelps and his umpteen Gold Medals.












You're just so cute.