sometimes in life work will teach you a thing or two about life...

a year ago i was sitting at my desk. answering the phone on a wintry day. i got a call from a salomon consumer. her son's skis were having trouble. i advised her to begin with the salomon retailer where the ski was purchased but somehow we began to talk. i knew right away she was cool. you can tell. we talked about cycling. turns out we both love bikes. we both ride for a local charity every year. i had just ridden my bike across the state of utah. she thinks utah is beautiful. there wasn't any reason that we shouldn't be friends!

with a little curiousity i found her local charity ride on facebook. oh, and there she was too. so i boldly requested her friendship on the social network. all the while hoping the move wasn't too bold. after all, as cool as i knew she was...we didn't know each other. well, there we were...facebook friends. my boss was impressed. and it wasn't long before i realized that teresa really is great. her comments make me laugh and she appreciates my sense of humor.

last week, after a year of facebook friendship, teresa sent me an s.o.s. message on facebook. she had a ski emergency. i was just the girl for the job. i had her call me at the office the next morning and i saved the day. it feels good to be able to say that. :-) i felt like i'd gotten a new pair of skis that day. i got to talk to my friend teresa. we enjoyed the opportunity to chat in real life. she's a dog person and i shared with her my plans to add a puppy to my life. she offered great advice.

the next day she emailed me to confirm they had in fact received the replacement ski and how thankful she was that i could help them. also, she included a tracking number for a package she had sent me. A PACKAGE!!! i love surprises. i couldn't even have prepared myself for how much i would love this one.

a few days later there it was. in the mail room. a little brown envelope addressed to me. i looked at the return address to be sure it was the package i was expecting from teresa...THE WEEPIES! i didn't order anything from the weepies, i shopped last week but i did NOT buy. so i took the envelope to my desk and matched the tracking number on the package with the one in teresa's email. yes. she sent me a weepies t-shirt and a sticker. most certainly ranking in the top 3 most thoughtful gifts i've ever received.

all i can say now is that someday teresa and i have to meet in person. have a glass of wine (or a cold beer). go for a bike ride. do all the stuff cool people would do when they hang out.

this whole experience taught (or reminded) me a couple of things about life:

1. i am really good at my job and sometimes i'm a little too hard on myself about that one.

2. there are some really rad people in the world and i am lucky enough to somehow be connected with the greatest ones.

thanks teresa. for the shirt and sticker. for the friendship. and for the reminder.