Day 3: The SWOT Analysis (not to be confused with SWAT Analysis...). Oh, yeah it's bridLE not bridAL. FINALLY.

Day 3 was another day of successes, so, on the whole, I think I would call Week 1 a success. I got nearly 8 hours of sleep again last night, although I think an entire semester's worth of sleep deprivation + the extra sleep deprivation of finals week + sleep deprivation from moving out of one apartment and into another + waking up at 5 to drive to MD = tiredness has finally caught up with me, and I'm ready to give in. Again, I had high hopes of getting to bed early tonight, but once again I was thwarted in my effort. So here I am at 11:30, finishing my post, and tomorrow morning, I'm sleeping in, baby!

So today I participated in a SWOT analysis meeting. SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The strengths and weaknesses are things that are internal to the magazine, and opportunities and threats are external things that could be beneficial or harmful to the magazine. The magazine staff does the SWOT analysis once a year and presents the list the publisher/owner of the magazine in their annual meeting. So together with the senior and managing editors, we met together and discusses the state of the magazine. Well, mostly THEY discussed and I listened, although I did input my ideas and suggestions at times. It was pretty interesting. And thus, I was inducted into the SWOT team.

I had another funny moment today, and, no, it wasn't involving food (although I did have a bit of a food FAIL—whatever you may think, microwavable noodles are NEVER a good idea, especially Pad Thai noodles. . . . Mistake). I walked by the managing editor on the way back from the bathroom and she was on the phone and I overheard part of her conversion and got the shocking realization that I'm NOT in Kansas anymore—or rather, I'm not in PROVO anymore. She was talking to someone and asked if the bridles had come in yet. After spending the last 8 months in Provo (actually, I've really been there for the greater part of 4 years now), my mind initially jumped to bridALS, and I wondered who was getting married, but I was confused because I was sure the managing editor didn't have kids old enough to be getting married. About a half second later, I realized my blunder and figured out that, of course, she was talking about bridLES! Hello, I'm working at a horse magazine! The sad thing is that, even after spending 3 strait days talking about nothing but horses, my mind still jumps strait to bridals and not bridles. Now that's just sad. Although, after I realized my error, I was so thrilled that for once, people were talking about horses and not weddings! This is my kind of place.