Saturday, May 31, 2008

spotlight

my guilty pleasure is bright eyes. especially when accompanied by solitude and an unfinished to-do list
i am the kind of person that will eat grilled chicken, green beans, tossed salad with light dressing for lunch, and then chick-fil-a for dinner, order a great-wall-of-chocolate from p.f. changs, then go run 2 miles
about twice a week i add a new word to my vocabulary. courtesy of google dictionary
i am blunt. and deathly afraid of being blunt.
procrastination is thrilling
i wear high heels when alone in my apartment
i am not as strong as i once was

Thursday, May 29, 2008

men are from mars, women are from venus

a conversation with my dad about my job

him: you need to have passion. you need to realize that you are providing these people a service, you are helping them protect their families from being bothered by pests. you need to believe that. do you believe that?
me: yes. i do. (read: apathetic)
him: do you wake up in the morning with an attitude of helping people? do you think to yourself that you're going to improve some one's life today by killing their bugs?
me: yes. i do. (read: more apathetic)

a conversation with my mom about my job

me: mommy, i don't want to sell pest control today
her: then don't.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

back by popular demand..

Top Eight Ways To Let Someone Down Easy (While Convincing Them They Don't Like You)
by Rodney Dial

8) Tell them you have an STD

7) Take them to j-dawgs and never call them back

6) Tell them they are too tan

5) Tell them you can't get physical because you went too far with the last girl

4) Tell them you can't get physical because they are too beautiful

3) Agree to get physical, but only if you can video it to improve your moves

2) Try to set her up with one of your friends

1) Talk nonstop about your music career and how you're really trying to focus on it

*****Attenion ladies of Utah County. Proceed with caution.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

our trucks will be in the area

i have spent the past week trying to find something good to blog about. so far, i've come up with nothing. my life is a bunch of pest control. i wake up and go talk about pest control. then i eat lunch and sell pest control. then i go home, shower, and hang out with other people who have followed my same regimen, so we end up talking about pest control. more. it's getting ridiculous and i desperately need to create waves. watch out world, things can get messy when elyse dial gets bored.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

The day was Wednesday and Elyse was strugglin

I can't remember a day when I had felt so down about myself. It was one of those horrible times when my only hope was knowing that at 12 o'clock that night I will be able to lay down and sleep for 6 hours interrupted only by those in my dreams and memories, but it's okay because dreams aren't real, and they pass quickly. Plus I never remember them anyways.

I called my dad. He's like the pep-talker of all pep-talkers. Probably because he has so much dang perspective. He's also my dad so he thinks I'm the greatest thing since ziploc bags, which is also inspiring. I started fishing for condolenses, as I usually do. He was true to Rod Dial form, simple and strong. He said "Elyse, you don't have to be the best ALL of the time." I fired back, "Yes.. Yes i do."

Then I thought about it for, like, three hours, ate some ice cream, and then thought about it some more.

One word about being the "best": overrated. Its like that perfect guy that you wait months for him to ask you out and when he finally does you find out he, like, watches American Idol. When you're on top, there's always people looking up at you coveting your position, wondering how you got there and questioning whether you really worked hard enough to deserve that. On the bottom, there is similar criticism. Critics are coveting the confidence it takes to wake up knowing you aren't the best. How is it that you got to be so lucky to not care what people think?

Most of my life has been full of people coveting my position on top. More so recently, however, I've also had the opposite. I've fallen short so many times in the past couple of years I didn't know it was possible to still be breathing.

It is because of this I've decided that dad's right (again). I don't have to be best all the time. I have decided to give up number 1. And with it, I give up the pressure, the attention and the expectations of that position. I adopt a new confidence in doing my best and setting my own standard.

Goodbye chastisement, Hello freedom!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

how to annoy me..

Sign up for a pest control contract and then chase me down in the neighborhood saying you've changed your mind. Leave me alone. Make up your mind. And then freakin leave me alone.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

letter to you

You are caring, passionate, sensitive, strong, independent, grateful, and optimistic. You have put up with me for me for 20.5 selfless years and for that I owe you my life.

i love you, mom.