I've Seen the Butt-Crack of Dawn in Idaho

Yea! Kara got it!

See? It's an Idaho Potato!
I was in Idaho this weekend. To recap previous clues, and fill in those new to the program, I had mentioned that I had to go somewhere this weekend, and I had to look nice for it. This inspired me to make a frou-frou scarf, which I planned to finish on the way in time to make a splash. Here's the story in its entirety (I'll try to keep it short):

About a month and a half ago I got a call from a recruiter about a great job [in Idaho]. I didn't think too much of it because I often get calls from recruiters and it never goes anywhere; one day I just stop getting called back, and I know I wasn't what they were looking for. But this time it got more and more serious, and it was a really super job which would be a huge move for me and a huge increase in salary. So I took it very seriously, but I didn't tell anyone really close to me because I didn't want to get anybody riled up over nothing. But I had to mention it on the blog because it had me making the Floofy Scarf.

So last Thursday I got home from school around 10:15pm and jumped in the shower and jumped back out and packed and looked up maps and got ready to go. I went to bed a bit after midnight. I woke up again at 4:24am which is a good thing, because I had planned on leaving at 5:00 am, but very stupidly set the alarm for 5:00am. I curled my hair, put on makeup and my Interview Suit and headed out for the airport at 5:20am. This was fine; I had planned some extra time into the schedule. I arrived at my gate in plenty of time and my flight left at 7:15am for Salt Lake City. The flight was three hours long, and I slept for a certain amount of that. My flight from SLC to Twin Falls was supposed to leave at 11:00 so I would arrive at 12:00, but it was delayed. We didn't board until 12:30, and I didn't arrive until 2:00. It was during this FOUR HOUR LAYOVER that I finished the Floofy Scarf. It's about 8 feet long.

I actually had a really great interview. I met with everyone in the office basically, and most were pretty laid-back. It seemed like a great place to work; I liked the philosophy of the person who would be my boss, and everyone seemed happy. The benefits weren't anything to write home about, but what are you gonna do? I went out to dinner with the HR guy and his wife, and it was lovely. I went back to the hotel and couldn't sleep, but I had Food Network to watch, so I was pretty happy.

Saturday morning I went out to their plant (about 30 miles? out of town) and that was interesting, and I got to talk more with one of the girls I'd be working with. Then it was time for me and my rental car to tour the town. And visit the yarn shop. Yippee!

Here's where things turned south. By 2:30 I was driving around bawling. I knew there was only one church in town that's "my brand", but when I drove by, it was in a building shared with two other churches. Talk about being a minority. And it took me about an hour to drive all of the main north-south and east-west streets. That's it. The yarn shop was ok, but I was in there for about 45 minutes trying to decide what to buy, and no one else came in the shop the whole time, and it was the middle of Saturday afternoon. That should have been its busiest time. It became clear to me that while the job would be great, and the money would be great, I'd be a single thirty-something Protestant in a small Mormon town in Idaho, about a million miles and a thousand dollars away from all of my friends and loved ones. I'd have to quit culinary school and stop studying voice. I'd be lonely, and I'd never leave the house. I'd get a lot of knitting done, I suppose. It broke my heart, but I couldn't do it. Here are some pictures from my sight-seeing trip:

Bridge over Snake River

The gorge in the other direction - there's a golf course down there...

Another picture of the river and gorge


So I got up before dawn on Sunday, and took that crappy little twin-propeller-airplane back to SLC and got back to St. Louis in time to go to a Super Bowl party where I got to tell all my friends the big news that I was not moving away. I like St. Louis. I love that we have the second biggest Mardi Gras party in the nation; I love that no one comes from out of town to go - it's just St. Louisans who come and make it that big. I love that we have more bars per capita than anywhere else in the country - they're mostly little corner neighborhood bars which I find to be endearing. Most of all, I love that my friends and their families are here.

I was supposed to hear from someone today, but I didn't. Maybe they'll offer the job to someone else, and I won't have to feel so bad.

The potato made of fudge actually contained potato as an ingredient. I'll just say that it wasn't worth the $3 I paid for it. It was cute, though, wasn't it?