Volleyball

Last night Sabrina and I actually went on a date. It was novel. BYU lost the first game and then the third game, but came back to win the last two. It was quite exciting. One of my thoughts for the evening was that I really should hang out with volleyball players more often. They make me feel like I'm buff. I always wondered what tall skinny guys did for sports. Turns out that they all play volleyball. Especially for UCSB.

Sweet!

Well, by now, if you've read our blog at any length you'd know we are interested in politics. I use most of my free time as a stay-at-home mom reading political, historical and / or economics literature, or watching videos related to these topics. Last night, however, I had the opportunity, as did all Utah residents, to make this newfound hobby more than just one of accumulating information, but actually making it one of taking action. I attended my precinct caucus meeting in order to obtain a delegate position to attend and vote in the Utah County Republican Convention.

I had never been to one before so I read a little bit beforehand about what to expect and how to get elected as a delegate. It was suggested you bring along a few neighbors that could nominate you, second the nomination and then vote you in, basically plant people who could get you elected. I wasn't successful at finding anyone who could go (ok, I didn't try very hard) but I thought I'd go anyway and see what it was all about even if I didn't get nominated and / or elected.

We were in the library at Timpview High School so we all sat around tables. I arrived earlier than a lot of people and took a seat by myself at a table. Most in attendance were older and were neighbors that clearly knew each other well and had attended these caucuses multiple times. Eventually, an older couple (May and Reed) came and sat down at my table, one of them on each side of me. They were super cute and super nice. The husband kept asking me questions and was so sweet. While they were reading the Utah County Republican Platform, when certain things were read, the wife and I would react similarly. Needless to say, this couple and I got off to a good start.

When the nominating started there was a man behind me who appeared to not know anyone either, but he seemed interested in being nominated for precinct chair so I asked him if he wanted to be nominated. Only one person had been nominated at this point and I thought it would be good to get multiple nominations and hear their speeches. When he said was interested I nominated him. He didn't win for Chair, but asked me if I'd nominated him for Vice Chair. I said sure and asked him to nominate me for county delegate. Sweet! I didn't have to plant anyone. I could at least get a nomination.

When it came time to elect the county delegates (4 go the convention from each precinct) Bill nominated me and 7 other people were nominated. We each got to give a one minute speech, really about anything we wanted, but mostly to convince those at the caucus that we would represent our precinct well. Then, we all got to vote, and not knowing anyone, I got voted in as a delegate! It was a really cool experience, because I am not a very talented speaker. Probably any of you can attest that I can't even always say normal words well. It's just never been a gift I've had, but in that one minute I didn't fumble over any of my words, interject things such as "um" or "like" and I think I spoke pretty clearly about what I believed. I don't think the Lord is especially concerned about who the Utah County delegates are but I believe He knew this was important to me and He helped me make a clear, concise speech that was convincing enough.

Being a Utah County delegate is small change, and I don't find myself thinking I am especially popular or cool for having gotten elected, especially since I had a 50% change of winning. However, I think it's so neat to get involved in the political process. The conventions are where a lot of the big policy and candidate decisions are made. It's where the action is and where a lot of the people's voices are heard, so I am excited to be a part of it.

The coolest part of the night for me though was not getting elected, it's what happened after. As we were closing someone got up who had previously worked in Washington DC for the Department of Agriculture. He said while he was there President Ezra Taft Benson's 50 year anniversary of being the Secretary of Agriculture (during the Eisenhower Administration) passed so he got to help organize a party to celebrate that anniversary and it was a really neat experience for him. He shared this experience because the couple sitting at the table with me were relatives of President Benson's. Once I realized that, I asked Reed if he was his brother or something (didn't do the math so well there) and he said, "I'm his son." Here I was making friends with President Benson's son and daughter-in-law. This is truly exciting for me because I admire President Benson so much, not just as a prophet, but for his political teachings of which I've read a few. I told Reed and May how much I admired President Benson and that I was currently reading a book he had recommended to church members in the April '72 General Conference. I even had the book with me (because I didn't know if I'd be waiting and need something to kill the time) and showed it to them. They were really excited to see it. Anyway, I was really impressed with them and so happy to have met them.

This was probably a somewhat long and boring post for a lot of you, but I had to write it, because for me it was a really great night. I loved getting more involved in my community and I especially loved meeting the Bensons.

I guess it really is true...

For any and all of you who doubted it, money really can buy happiness. Findings from researchers at the University of British Columbia indicate that with more money, you too can be happier. It just won't happen like you thought. Link

Potpourri

There are lots of things to say that don't connect, so this is a potpourri of life currently. 

First, there were definitely perks to working at Novell, like the free Brainshare concerts every year. Because of Novell, we were able to see Train, the Counting Crows and the Goo Goo Dolls without paying a cent. I honestly probably would have never paid to see Train or the Goo Goo Dolls, but it turns out they both put on great shows and I would now maybe pay to see them if given another opportunity when our funds aren't so tight. 

Last night was the annual concert again. This year it was Collective Soul. Now, Brett and I are both fans, big enough fans we would pay to see them, and for some reason we just never have. Luckily, even though I am no longer employed at Novell I still know people who are and can get me tickets. So, we got a free date last night to see CS. They put on a really fun show, the highlights being "The World I Know" and "Shine". "Shine" was actually extremely incredible with pretty much everyone in the audience getting into it, which leads me into the lowlights of the night. The problem with going to a corporate-sponsored concert, where the attendees are often not super interested in the band and are just there because it's free, is there isn't a ton of energy in the concert. When you pay to see a band you are usually there because you really want to see them, as do the other people in the venue, so it's really high-energy and tons of fun. Novell concerts can be a little lackluster that way, but I don't expect it to be any different. However, because "Shine" is such a well-known song, tons of people were getting into it and I felt for a brief moment I might be at a normal concert. The other lowlight of the night was they didn't play "Run". I was sure they would. That was a big hit for them and it's one of my very favorite Collective Soul songs. Oh well, I guess that's an excuse to see them again.

In other news, Adie is in a really fun, cute stage right now. She is sleeping well (hallelujah) and she is starting to talk a little. Besides, dada and mama, she says Jesus, duck, magnets and amen after we finish prayers. Today she learned how to roar when I ask her what the tiger says. I know all kids go through these stages so it's not earth-shattering, but it's fun, as a parent, to see them figure it all out. Also, because she is sleeping better, she hasn't been throwing temper tantrums so much and she's not nearly so clingy. I think I'd better enjoy it while it lasts because I know as she approaches 18 months and beyond she'll probably start getting challenging again. She has always been really affectionate, but also, lately, when she is tired she'll walk up to you if you're sitting on the couch and lay her head calmly in your lap. It's super cute. 

Finally, today was the official start of March Madness. We love this time of the year in our household. Brett and I are both entered into a couple of competitions to see how our picks fare against our friends / family (no betting, don't worry). I am doing very poorly right now. I picked a few too many upsets and was wrong on most of them already :( Besides, I always like to be a little more optimistic than I should about the teams I want to go the farthest, so I picked BYU to win tonight and then beat UCLA. I know, it was a long shot from the beginning, but now those dreams have been shattered. That is how March Madness goes though, and I've never been good at picking so it's nothing new. I am still excited to see how everything turns out this year. I always find it so exciting.

The right to keep and bear arms

Come on guys. Admit it. You've missed our political rants. As a disclaimer, most of my information has been collected from several sources, including Wikipedia, The Boston Globe, the LA Times, and www.disastercenter.com/crime/

The US Supreme Court is currently deciding whether or not a hand gun ban in Washington DC is legal. This is a fascinating case because the Supreme Court has never actually ruled on whether individuals have the right to keep and bear arms. The Court has a chance to rule on individual rights, rule on the government's ability to limit them (preferably reasonably), and lay some smack down on indignant law makers who believe that their situations allow them to ignore the Constitution.

The Mayor of DC said:

"This is a public safety case. We have long had a law in the District of Columbia that hand guns are banned in the city. Thirty years ago, as is the case today, hand guns represent a disproportionate number of crimes in the District of Columbia; everything from robberies to homicide to rape. The fact that we have had a hand gun ban has significantly curtailed the amount of violent crime in the city as is evidenced by the fact that violent crime has significantly went down since the law was enacted. As mayor of the District of Columbia, I can attest that a majority of the residences of this city enthusiastically support the law that the council passed in the 70s, and want it to continue in order that crime continues to go down."

I have a couple of points I wish to make.
1) This is a case about the legality of the law DC passed, not about whether or not we think Washington DC needs to be a safer place.

2) So, if you have a hand gun ban, and hand guns still make up a disproportionate number of crimes just like thirty years ago, you think the law is working? So the criminals still have guns, but regular people don't anymore...

3) Oh wait though, we know that the law is working because violent crime is down significantly since it was enacted. I love when people confuse correlation and causation. We enacted this law and 30 years later, there is less reported violent crime. Just in case anyone is wondering, in 1976 (the year this law was enacted) there were 10,399 violent crimes. In 2006, there were 8,772 violent crimes. Sounds like it's working, right? Well, let's delve a little deeper. In 1976, there were 702,000 residents of Washington DC. In 2006 there were 581,530 residents. Which means, per capita, there were about 2% more violent crimes in 2006 than in 1976. Numbers don't lie, right? No, they just tell you what you want them to. Also, if you want an interesting perspective on why violent crime decreased (it hit its peak in the 90s in DC, 20 years after banning hand guns) read Freakonomics.

4) The DC Police Chief Cathy Lenier also made comments. She made sure to point out that handguns aren't completely banned. Police can have them. Retired police, federal law enforcement and security agencies too. So, there isn't a complete hand gun ban. Whew, I feel safer knowing that the government has guns. The criminals too.

4) Lots of people wanting something that's not legal doesn't make it legal. If they don't like it, change the Constitution. We have the mechanism to change the Constitution for a reason.

Please note, I do not own a gun. I don't know that I'll ever own a gun. I do not believe that people should have access to whatever guns they want and I think that mentally deranged people, violent criminals, and children should not have access to guns. I do believe that people need to respect the Constitution. We have rights which were thought out by far more intelligent (and dare I say, inspired) men than currently run our government. Let's not blow it.

Chocolate Skittles

This morning in my 8 am class, another student showed up with a bag of candy marked "Chocolate Skittles". Sure enough, it purported to have flavors of Vanilla, S'mores, Brownie Batter, Chocolate Caramel, and Chocolate Pudding. Well, after taste testing them, I can definitely say that I know why they didn't go to market. They were awful! Some of them were somewhat bearable (vanilla wasn't too bad), but Brownie Batter was enough to make you want to spit it right back out. It was bad enough that I could only have a couple. Fortunately for me, I had some Starburst (no weird flavors, thank goodness) in my backpack (you never know when you'll need them) to help get rid of the nastiness that was Chocolate Skittles.

One More Reason to be Grateful

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ for so many reasons. It really is the good news we all need in an often difficult world. Tonight I was thinking of one specific reason I love it, which is that we all have the chance to succeed, every single one of us, if we choose to. In this world there is so much competition and you can't be the best at everything. In fact, most of us aren't the best at anything. Often, we can't achieve our goals because there are a limited amount of slots for certain things and we aren't good enough to be in one of those slots. However, through Christ's atonement, we can literally all make it back if we choose to repent and become increasingly more pure. There are enough slots for all of us in the Celestial Kingdom (heaven) so there is no competition. We will all progress at our own pace and can eventually make it if we really want to, we work at it and we don't give up. That gives me so much hope.

Fresh Air

Last Friday Adie was feeling quite a bit better but I was still worried about her interacting with other children and making them diseased, so we went up to the grass above the temple to get some fresh air. I wanted to go somewhere outdoors where Adie couldn't contaminate toys or playground equipment. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure. I wanted to go out again today, but she decided to take a couple of really long naps (not that I am complaining about that) and the rest of her time was spent eating or grocery shopping.

Airhead

So, I've had a couple of airhead episodes the last couple of days. The first happened at church yesterday. I was sitting in the back waiting to see if Brett was going to make it with Adie or not (she was taking a nap and we didn't want to wake her with her recovering from her RSV) so I was kind of watching the doors. I also wasn't feeling well and was only planning on staying until after our choir number because I was going to stay home with Adie the rest of the time anyway. With these things in mind I wasn't paying a whole ton of attention to the welcome and announcement of the song and prayer. We sang the opening hymn and then no one went up to say the invocation. I was thinking in my head, "Oops, someone forgot they had the prayer!" Then, I saw one of the counselors in the bishopric looking in my direction, but since I was in the back I figured he was trying to get the attention of someone sitting directly in front of me. However, at this point I started to worry that I was supposed to say the prayer, even though I was never notified of this assignment. Someone a couple of rows in front me looked behind at me and said, "Aren't you supposed to say the prayer?" So, I looked down at the program and sure enough, there was my name. This had been the plan for at least a few days since my name made it on the program. By the time I had come to this realization probably at least a minute or two has passed with everyone waiting. It was hilarious. My friend told me later that when the bishop announced the prayer he even said something like "Our RS President, Sabrina Millar, will give the opening prayer." In none of this did I even pick up my name or calling were being mentioned. Nice!

My other episode of airheadedness happened today as I arrived at the grocery store parking lot. I was just about to step out of the car when I realized I had no way to pay for the groceries since my wallet was at home, so we turned around and went home to pick up my wallet. At least I came to this realization before I had a cart full of groceries all checked out.

Ties

As I was going through the ties in my closet today to pick one out for church, I realized how tired I am of all the ties I currently have. Not say that I'd give the ones I have now up. I like my ties. But it seems like I am always wearing the same ties over and over. Now, Sabrina contends this is why many girls feel like they have to have many pairs of shoes. One pair of brown shoes just won't cut it, they need 4 or 5 pairs of brown casual shoes, along with several pairs of black casual shoes and, well, you know what I mean. Anyway, I say this is bogus. As anyone who might have been a missionary might know, or anyone who has to work somewhere where you have to wear a white shirt and dark slacks/suit every day might know, it's really hard to feel like you're not wearing the same thing every day. I mean, all white shirts look the same, and you can only have so many unique pairs of dark slacks/suits. Anyway, time for church.

Adie's New Talent

This year we have discovered Adie has a real talent for getting sick frequently. She got the nasty, barf-y flu right after Christmas. Just as she was recovering from that she got an ear infection. Then, there were a couple weeks of respite while she celebrated her birthday, but slept very poorly, and then it was on to a cold, with a mild cough, to round out the month of January.

February came in looking promising, but, as I detailed in a previous post, on our way to Idaho she came down with a really high fever. It turns out she had another ear infection and the sore throat / fever / cough flu that has also been going around. And again, just as she recovered from that ailment, she came down with another cough and fever this past weekend. It seemed very similar to the previous one, only the fever wasn't as high and the coughing was worse. We waited it out a few days, but the cough started keeping her from sleeping and she stopped eating. Time to go back to the urgent care clinic! This time it's RSV which has progressed to Bronchiolitis. She also still has an ear infection to boot.

All in all, since the end of December I think Adie has been sick about 6 times, she's had 3 ear infections and we've been to the doctor 5 times (once for her 1-yr check-up and 4 times to urgent care). The urgent care doctor now recognizes us. I don't take that as a good sign.

Through it all, poor Adie has maintained a far better disposition than her mother. Besides when she is trying to sleep and can't or is coughing up a painful storm, she is very happy, waving and smiling at everyone in the doctors' office, playing with her toys and vying for her parents' attention. It's been a rough few weeks at the Millar household, but I ought to take a lesson from Adie to just be happy anyway. I think I'll try it out today. And, here's to hoping the spring will come soon and the fresh air will do Adie's little body some good.

Boston

For any of you who didn't know, I was in Boston for the last 3 days interviewing for a job. And when I say was there for 3 days, I mean my plane landed on the evening of day 1, I interviewed day 2, and left early afternoon on day 3. The trip was quite enjoyable.

One thing I've never ceased to be amazed at is how lucky I am when I fly on airplanes. This trip, I was 4 for 4 for having the people in front of me lean their seats back. Those are pretty good numbers. What's even better, is that on 3 of the 4 flights, the people sitting in front of me were the only ones on that row to lean their seats back. Meaning that none of the people sitting next to me on the flights were obliged to deal with leg room, just me. How lucky. Oh, and on two of the flights, the people didn't even move the seat backs to the upright position when asked to by the stewardesses. Anyway, enough of my plane rant.

Thursday evening I met up with an old coworker of mine. He was gracious enough to pick me up from the bus station and have me over for dinner. After having Burger King for lunch (I tried to get something a little "healthier", a chicken sandwich) I was definitely in the mood for something fresh. We then talked about Boston all evening as they tried to give me the sell.

The next day another old coworker picked me up and we headed into the office. My day was filled with exciting rounds of interviews. Though in the end, I felt like most of them were telling me why I'd want to work for their particular group. I suppose I should explain who I interviewed with. Scientific Systems Company Inc. (SSCI) is a research and development company focused on SBIRs, which are short term contracts to do research for the government. SSCI works a lot with NASA and DARPA. I'd be doing research in controls/unmanned systems/autonomy. I think it would be quite fun. Anyway, throughout the day I talked to managers over different areas. Each of which proceeded to explain what project within their area I would be great at. The last interviewer was the CEO. He grilled me, but indicated they he felt I would be a good fit, and as soon as they contacted my references, they'd get back to me and let me know their decision. I think I have a good chance of getting an offer, but we'll see.

After the interviews, I traveled into Boston to meet my cousin Peter. He went to Harvard and knows the area quite well, so we had dinner around their. We went to a place called "Fire and Ice". It was a Mongolian grill styled restaurant. After a full day of interviews and grueling questioning, it was sooo good to have all I could eat. I would rank it as one of the better all-you-can-eat style restaurants I've been to. Afterwards we took a tour around the Harvard campus, down to the river, and took in the general Harvard area (which is quite large). We took the T back downtown and then walked through Boston Commons (somewhat like NYC central park) and to his apartment. We stayed up half the night talking about pretty much everything, which was quite enjoyable.

Since we stayed up so late, we slept in till 11:30 or so. We hurried out and caught lunch, and then I headed to the airport. I don't have any other interviews scheduled, but have a couple of companies I need to return phone calls to. I'll keep you posted as the job hunt continues.