::Sniff, sniff:: “A-choo!”

Bloody allergies. Seriously. They are terrible right now. I finished my house/dog sitting and thought perhaps it would get better. After all, even though there are still house allergies and outside allergies, there are no more pet allergies. Still, no luck. Katie has it worse than me though. She never really had allergies until she moved to MN. I’m so used to them; I can’t remember a time without them.

I’m in the home stretch for my ‘day job’. Soon (sometime next week) I’ll leave the office in favor of a research assistantship with the U. It will count as my field experience, my project, and my job for the next one or two semesters. I have a whole bunch of stuff to finish at work before I can leave for good though. I didn’t quite realize everything I did here. I have my hand in many proverbial cookie jars, and need to write out what I do for each. Then there’s the mundane cleaning of the desk, and packing of personal shite. Oh, and training the new worker. I think he’ll work out good for my Unit. Oh yeah, I also have to make sure my files are complete when I leave and take some info with me. It’s rather bittersweet. Heh.

Jenni and Chad have most wonderfully found out that Chad got the job he wanted. They are working on moving this weekend and I’m thinking I may go up and baby sit during the festivities. Other friends are going to the Renaissance Festival during the day. I also need to clean and organize my room sometime before Labor Day so that I can fit my new desk (when I buy one) in there and buy a bookshelf so that I have room for all my books and plants. I also want a flat screen monitor.

School starts just after Labor Day, and the Fair ends then. Today marks the beginning of that Get-together. Luckily the weather was threatening rain so traffic wasn’t so bad this morning when I left home. As Fair progresses, though, it will only get worse. Still, I love where I live. The two weeks of the Fair are the only downside.

::sniffle, cough:: Right now the plan is to find someone who won’t mind my stealing a bag of tea, as I forgot mine. Tea helps allergies, I’m convinced. If not, at least it will sooth my scratchy throat.

Busy Busy

It has been one busy week. Last Thursday Rachel came to town to pick up the plants I’d been watching (they have a tendency to run away without careful supervision) and to visit people here in the Twin Cities. We have had great fun; playing chess, going to the zoo, watching movies, going canoeing, and playing Frisbee. We went to the farmer’s market Saturday morning and found some chocolate raspberry sauce that is so very nice. We decided that it would make a good topping for some nice, thick brownies. We were right. The brownies are gone now (sadness abounds, and I’m thinking that only another bake-fest will alleviate the problem) but there is still some sauce left. I started house- and dog-sitting for a coworker yesterday. Rachel got the joys of spending the night up there, since I can’t just leave them alone all night.

Puppies have the energy of 50 two-year-olds combined. I feel like I’m being run ragged, and it’s only been one day. I should be there through the weekend, though the exact end date is undetermined right now. Addy, the older dog, I’ve ‘sat’ before; she’s the sweetest, calmest, dog anyone could ask for. If they both had the energy of Dylan, the puppy, I’d be done for.

I’ve almost finished my online classes. Management is completely done, and I’m one quiz and one final away from finishing my Epidemiology class. With those completed, I’ll have two weeks off before fall semester. Fall semester I’m taking Environmental Chemistry, Social and Behavioral Science and Biostatical Methods I. I’ll also take my field experience credits then. I’m taking biostats online, so I’ll only have to go to class T/Th from 11:15-2:40. Not a bad schedule at all.

Those two weeks off coincide with the State Fair. Yes, those two weeks that are the “great Minnesota get-together” are also my two weeks of “get off my lawn! Stop blowing off fireworks when I’m trying to sleep! Could it get any dustier? Why are there so many people ALWAYS? Traffic Sucks!” The fiar is a great idea, I’m sure…it just blows that I live a block or so away from the fairgrounds. It means a free fireworks show every night, which is nice…but it’s also people and cars and dust and noise and tempers. I plan to go to WI for Labor Day to avoid the last, very chaotic, weekend of it. The rest of the time I’ll just have to deal. I went two years ago, and missed last year, so I may go this year. It depends on how much money I want to spend on entrance, food, and stuff. I may just go to the fair by association. I don’t need ________-on-a-stick anyway.

I told you I'd eventually post some pictures from the wedding. It only took 2 weeks. Here's the lucky bride and groom, about to cut the cake. Or maybe they are just teasing us and are going to stand there posing like that for 10 minutes? 

Jasmine and I pose for a shot in the flowers. See how nice our dresses look?  

Hm, one of these things is not like the others...I am so tan in comparison to mis amigas. Still, there we all are, the Green Bay girls. 

Who says you can't golf in a formal? After dinner, I decided to hit the range. 

Today's the Day!

I am going to pick up my new futon today! I'm so excited. It's a wood framed, forest green mattress - innerspring, not just foam - and it has a warrenty and everything. This isn't your run-of-the-mill Target futon. Nope, this one comes from Sleep Comforts, a most excellent store. It's setting me back quite a bit monetarily, but I think it will be worth it. There will now be more than one place to sit down in the living room. Well, two if you count both my la-z-boy and my wicker rocker. I have the end tables set the prerequisite 82 and 3/4 inches apart so as to accomadate the length, and I've moved the coffee table to the side for ease of placement. I have to go buy a sheet set to cover this thing now so that it doesn't get too dirty. Then poof! Instant living room. It will even match the green in the 'bricks' of our fireplace. Wow, it's almost like I planned this. (Mostly, I got the green to match my plants. How lame am I?) Jenny's dad will be loaning us the use of his truck (and probably his muscles) to get it into the house. Whee, I can't wait til 6:30 tonight!

Stagnation

I have been writing too many papers for school. Dry, drab, fill in the blank, memorize and regurgitate, form style papers have sucked all semblance of imagination and creativity from my writing. I try to write an interesting post for my blog, or to write poetry, or to work on other storytelling, and I hit a giant black hole in my head. I have ideas, but they can’t beat the gravitational pull of the Black Hole called School and burst out. The forest of my imagination is locked in a state of always winter but never Christmas. I start down a new literary trail and lose the path to the weeds that inhabit my life. I have too many distractions around to write coherently. Coursework, reading books for classes, cleaning the apartment, wanting to organize all my stuff, and a few other things suck up all my time and ambition for fun things like writing and daydreaming. My daydreams have been uninspired lately, and only in sleep to I find the escape my imagination desires. I think the increased number of strange, but strangely mundane, dreams I’ve been having reflect this boring normalcy and stagnation my life has fallen into lately.

This is not to say that I haven’t been having fun. On the contrary, I’ve been active physically with all the running and rollerblading and rugby (the three R’s) as well as climbing and walking. I’ve been hanging out with friends too. This past weekend Erin and Lance were married, and it was a beautiful ceremony, a great time, and a fun weekend. I saw so many people I knew, and we were all in the same place at the same time…I have a picture to prove it, which I’ll post sometime soon (read when I get all the pictures off my camera and onto my computer, when it cools down enough outside that I can bear turning my computer on in the first place). When I have some wedding pictures downloaded, I’ll talk more about that…hopefully sometime this week. I have fun, I enjoy myself. I am in no way depressed or despondent. I am just without inspiration. I need a muse. I can sit here and imagine great things, inspiring things, wonderful things. There are funny things I could write about, stories I’ve made up and dreams I have had. I just don’t. I think I have to get back into journaling. I haven’t since I got back from New Zealand. And the kind of journaling I was doing in NZ and in my other ‘home’ journal were more of the telling details sort rather than the free association or storytelling type. Maybe I need two journals? How many places should one have to record their musings, life happenings, etc. I think I’m too much the engineer and need to compartmentalize everything. I can’t have one journal that I write everything in because then I couldn’t find something easily. I want to have one for musings, and one for personal shit, and one for daily life happenings. I am like the ‘My Documents’ folder with 10 little folders inside it, and another 10 in each of those. I’m so bogged down by my compartments that I can’t find those things I used to hold most dear.

I also have no idea where this post came from. Originally it was going to be a recounting of the weekend, until I realized that all I’ve been doing on my blog lately is retelling my life. I had wanted to use this space for that too, but also for random postings like this one, or poetry, or whatever. Maybe I don’t know what I wanted to do with it and that was the problem. Or maybe I knew what I wanted to do with it, but never made a strong enough decision to do just that. I am pretty indecisive sometimes. This post is a good start, for all its rambling and incoherence. I didn’t create Whimsical Doodles to be a place of publishable final drafts. This is a place for shitty first drafts, for ungrammatically correct postings, and for random details. Ok, I think I can stop my free association into the whither-tos and why-fors my journaling has gone astray. Maybe I should take a few creative writing classes. I not sure if that would help. I need an impetus to begin writing what I want to write again, and in the style I know I’m capable of. Writing about writing it isn’t going to get it done. I feel like I’m losing my control over the English language and the basic skills I was so good at in high school and the first few years of college.

That being said, it’s time to wrap up this post and go do something about everything I’ve written here. Though, I’ll have to put it off a bit, as I have other things to do first (hm, I’m a procrastinator too…and I’m already making excuses). Seriously though, my brother and his girlfriend are coming to visit and I have to make ready my abode.

Weekends to come and weekends past

In two days, two of my good friends are getting married. It’s amazing how time flies. I remember all the way back to when they started dating as though it were just this last year, but it’s been years. I get to be the Best Person. Being that I’m not a man, I can’t be the Best Man. Still, I’ve never before had the opportunity to stand up in someone else’s wedding, and I’m excited. I have to make a toast at dinner, I think I’m going to wing it, and I have to hold onto the rings and not lose them long enough for them to actually get married. These are fun tasks J

Last weekend I got to do another best-persony thing…I got to throw the bachelor party. I don’t know many girls who get to do that. We had a great time though, I have to say, I am pretty good at it. Too bad I’ll probably not have another chance at bachelor party throwing. Bachelorette parties, now I’ll probably get to throw and go to a few more of those.

The weekend before that was July 4th weekend. Katie and I headed over to Door County to run in a 5K, which you probably read about on her site since she’s been a better poster than me lately. Ever since then, I have wanted to A. run better/longer/faster cause I suck at it and B. not run at all because it’s been so bloody hot.

I can’t believe that we’re actually having summer this year. It’s been so warm out for the last two weeks. Over 90 for at least the last 5 days, and I’m not certain if we even had a total of 10 days over 90 all summer last year. We have to be over 10 already this year, and the weather people say there isn’t an end to it in sight. I like the heat, I do. I just don’t like having to move around in it. Swimming, yes. Running and rugby and rollerblading and working, oh no. I do believe that I’m actually pining for a nice 65 degree day.

I’m so tired right now from being out in that same weather, that the whole purpose of this post has completely slipped my mind. I started out with a plan, and it’s turned into a random reportation of facts and events. I don’t promise more creativity later, but I can promise more coherence. With that, I think I’ll go lay down…once I leave work that is.

Family Reunions…

This past weekend was the family reunion for my dad’s dad’s side. There were 150 people there, and that was not even all that were invited. If we were to count everyone, there would be 250 or more of us. And that is just my dad’s dad’s side of the family. (Next year, we have Mom’s mom’s side of the family, as well as dad’s mom’s side of the family. Each will be between 50-150 people.) The reunion was hosted by my immediate family, one cousin, and a few aunts and uncles. We organized the invitations, the food, the location, and the entertainment. I think it went pretty smoothly. Relatives from all over the US came to visit, though as always happens at these things, most stayed in their own family groups. It was like we were at a great clan gathering from somewhere back in hunter-gatherer mobile tribe history…and yet not. For one thing, I am pretty certain those hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t have water balloon toss contests, or eat brats and potato salad, or bring a dish to pass. I’m fairly certain they didn’t have the convenience of indoor toilets either.
Still, some things don’t change. There were the usual stories, some of which I had never heard, and some about ‘cousin so-and-so’ that were traditional favorites. There were the littles running around with their newly discovered cousins, ignoring parents well intended advice, and generally tiring themselves out and getting dirty. There was the typical one side/group/person blatantly or covertly snubbing another side/group/person. There was that feeling that no matter how much you mingled, you just didn’t have enough time to talk to everyone, or you talked to too many people and didn’t really talk with anybody.
Our family reunion was set to start Saturday at 2PM until whenever. Of course, in typical clan fashion, we started a few days before and went a few days after the official reunion within my aunts and uncles, and those cousins we are particularly close to. The Montana cousins are some of these; they arrived Tuesday or Wednesday and the partying went on until Sunday or Monday (depending on the person and when they were leaving). As usual, most of this partying involved copious amounts of food. I think I probably gained 10 pounds this weekend eating cheese curds and brats and lasagna and artichoke dip with French bread and potato salad and vegetable salads and puddings and cakes and bars (I’m beginning to sound like a hobbit I think).
I had to leave Sunday afternoon after a rousing game of mini-putt with my younger cousins, and I was sad to go. As tiresome and complicated as having such a large family can be, I really do love having them. I almost feel sorry for those who don’t know the joys and pains of having such a clan. Still, I do feel for those who marry into the family, or those (like my brother’s girlfriend) who were experiencing us in full force for the first time this weekend. I admire them too; I think we’re probably pretty overwhelming to the uninitiated. And I wonder, when I do find someone whom I care about to be introduced to my entire family…will they stick around or run screaming? I had better add fortitude and strength of will to my list of qualifications…

Where Have I Been? There and Back Again.

I’m back. I’ve actually been back since last Wednesday, but it’s been a crazy time since then. I still don’t feel oriented back into “States life”. When I returned I had work, and then a bridal shower/bachelorette party, and I tried to organize my stuff, do my laundry, and catch up on sleep from the trip. Monday was work again, and also the start of summer classes (online). Hence, the not quite real feelings of being back.

The Trip
If I wrote down everything about my trip, I would be writing a novel. Rachel and I had more than our share of Adventures on this particular adventure. Somehow, we always manage to do that, even if it’s just camping at the property. I had my share of Adventure too, even before I got to New Zealand…

California: I had a great time there. The conference was overwhelming, huge and too much to choose from. I did manage to see a few presentations, walk the expo for a few days, and have a fairly extensive look at the posters – both professional and graduate. I saw most of the people from the U of M there, though I never did make it to lunch with them. I met a bunch of other students from UBC and UW (Washington, not Wisconsin) and chilled with them at night. I did manage to make it to the beach and the Aquarium at Long Beach one day, and to Disneyland another day…so the trip wasn’t all work and no fun. I also managed to get a bit of a tan, and almost avoided the strap-lines. The first night I was there Sabrina, Tim, and myself also enjoyed the pleasures of ‘drunken skeeball’. (In parenthesis because I wasn’t drunk, but it was amusing to drink alcohol whilst enjoying a game.)

NZ: I left for Auckland at 11:30 Wednesday night, and arrived Friday morning, their time. I would say I lost Thursday completely, but my blog has a post that day saying I arrived…so obviously that was a trick. Auckland played home base, but we spent as little time there as we could. We started out by going south on the train to National Park – base camp for excellent trekking. Unfortunately, this time of year, the excellent days for trekking are few and far between, and we couldn’t get up high enough (because of gale force winds) to climb Mt. Doom. We still did some excellent treks, through the rain, but had a great time. We left there in a snowstorm to head to Rotorua. Rotorua has thermal stuff, along with spas, Maori cultural stuff, Kiwi birds, and rugby (or at least it did whilst we were there). It was also our jump-off point for going to Hobbiton. Since we didn’t get to go climb Mt. Doom, we went there instead, and it was a great tour. I’ll have to talk more about it when I download my pictures. From Rotorua we went to Waitomo Caves, and went abseiling (rapelling), caving, blackwater rafting (tubing in a cave), and climbing. After that it was back to Auckland for a brief stopover to check email, see the war memorial museum, and get rained on some more before heading to the Cormandel Peninsula. There we went Sea Kayaking, Biking (and they get to be capitalized because they were Adventures), and walking on the beach. We also went to Hot Water Beach, a place where you can dig your own spa. After that it was back to Auckland again for some souvenir shopping and to catch a plane. Catching my ride home was also an Adventure, but I made it back on time, and here I am in the states, taking classes, working, and playing softball. Oh, and joining a rugby team…I think.

I have three minutes left at the net cafe I'm at. I'm not dead, and I'll be home tomorrow. Really. It will be tomorrow for me anyway. Oops, only 2 minutes now. Better post before this thing goes black. See everyone soon!

Auckland, New Zealand

I have a lot to fill everyone in on about my trip so far, but I'll do that on a different day. So, to sum up: Anaheim was loads of fun, and I got a lead on an internship. The flight to New Zealand is long. I am now chillin w/ Rachel at the Queen's Street Backpacker's and planning the rest of the trip. I will try to post again while here, otherwise...When I return!

Sneaking up on a Leprechaun

I bought a digital camera and took it home for the weekend. I took many pictures of random things, and erased them, but some didn't deserve the fate of the trash bin. The weather was really odd, it would rain, then clear, then be clear and rain, or really cloudy and dry. When we were at the lake, this downpour came from nowhere, and then cleared, and this was the result:


I came upon an unsuspecting rainbow, and snuck up a hill to see if the coast was clear.

Seeing that the coast was clear of leprechauns, I came out of hiding to take my picture. 

You can really see the colors in this shot. I couldn't believe how bright it was. And look at Lake Michigan, almost like glass. It was a strange day. 

Drowning in a sea of papers, and water, and…snow?

Yes, I’ve been getting drenched, and being drowned today by inches. Inches of water and inches of paper. Inches of snow? Not yet, and hopefully not at all. It is almost June after all. I woke up this morning and got ready to go to work, thinking longingly of the end of the day, when I’d turn in my design project and be done with the semester. I looked out the window and it was raining. No surprise there, it’s been doing that a lot lately. So I finished getting ready and went out the door only to find that there were snowflakes mixed with raindrops. Not fair! It was COLD too. Below freezing with the wind chill it was, and me with only my hoody to keep me warm. Still, I braved insane semi-truck drivers, near collisions, and wet windshields to get to work.

When I arrived at work it was to find an ocean of photocopying on my desk. So-and-so needed such-and-such right away, and they’d brought in the Lawyers. So off I went to the photocopy machine – who needs a time out by the way. I copied all morning, and then ate lunch and finished my elevation view for the design project, the last bit of homework for the semester. I then copied until just now. When all was said and done, I had 4 inches of paper piled up from all the copying I did. It wasn’t the easy ‘feed-the-machine’ kind either. No, someone had to go and staple every three pages together. I got rather adept with a staple remover.

It’s still raining outside, and we’ll be getting a half inch to an inch of water. There are already flash flood watches in effect in some areas. That old saying about it never raining but it pours is certainly correct today.

On a better note, I am going to buy a digital camera. I’m not certain what kind yet. I may indulge myself with a 10x optical zoom one, or maybe I’ll go with a ‘pocket sized’ 3x optical zoom. I know I want 4 megapixels. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit. Well, actually the limiting factor resides in my pocketbook…but I can dream, can’t I? I’ve always wanted a camera with multiple lenses and many settings and shutter speeds. This probably won’t be it. But it’ll be a start.

Under a week and a half til I leave for California and then New Zealand. I bought a new day pack and a travel towel-y thing for the trip, and I will most certainly head back to REI before they close tonight to buy more things (man that store is a money pit for me). I’m getting excited, and I think I’m going to stop blogging and start making a list of everything I need to remember to bring. This time, Rachel, I will not leave my glasses in the U.S.

I know, I suck

It's not that I don't have a lot to say - I do, but it is that I have no time to say it in. Or, rather, the time I have to say it in is taken up by other, equally important things like sleeping. The semester is officially done on Friday the 13th. Ominous, isn't it? I have everything done except for my design project for one class, which I was going to finish this weekend, but didn't even start. Oops. I was having way to much fun doing other things. I went to a classmate's graduation party on Saturday night. Great times; we spent the evening sitting around a fire and playing guitars and singing songs. Yes, I played a guitar too. I know now 5 chords. Then I knew two. But you can go suprisingly far knowing E and A major. Really. I played a whole song. Then I played along on the Peter Gunn Theme, which is quite nice and easy all on the 6th string. Then, my playing being exhausted, I sat back and used the guitar as percussion. I learned a few more chords as well - as the night progressed. I was charged to learn the lyrics and tune to John Barley Corn Must Die by Traffic. I am to sing it at the next get together, while another coworker plays. Now, to look up the lyrics...

I went day-pack and digital camera hunting today. I didn't get anything, but found some price comparisions and I'll look up more info on the web. I realized today that I'll be in CA two weeks from now, and really should start getting everything in order.

I applied for one internship, and have an interview set up for a second, so I may actually have a summer job when I return from NZ. That would be nice. Not that I don't like the MPCA, but...I need something in my field. Speaking of the MPCA, I had my first game of Softball with the team. Great times, I am 0-1 as a pitcher, but I blame that on the fact I was the relief pitcher, and well, the other team hits hard. Still, it was the first time I've put on a glove or thrown a ball in about 10 years, so striking two people out and keeping the game relatively close is not a bad thing.

Ok, I'm going to go and get some sleep now. We just had a lovely thunderstorm, and I went outside and played in it until I was drenched through. Man, I love doing that! Rachel - I missed playing in the first good storm of the season with you :( I'm all dry now, so time for bed.

Now that I’ve shown you the plan, I’m going to go…

And show the plan to somebody else. Well, I did it. Wednesday of this week I booked my airfare on Air New Zealand for 2 weeks. I will be headed to Anaheim on the 21st, and then late the 25th (11:30 pm!!!) I’ll leave LAX for New Zealand. I’ll get to NZ at 7:15 AM NZT on the 27th (Friday). Then, let the fun begin. I went out and borrowed a Lonely Planet travel guide from the library for both Auckland and New Zealand. I will be perusing them this weekend in between homework assignments to decide what exactly I want to do. I can not wait to get there and to see Rachel. It’s been far too long. I will be there till June 8th, then back to Minneapolis.

I still don’t have a summer internship, I have a job, but not an internship…go figure. I’m waiting to hear on some prospects, and will call next week to find out how those are going. In the mean time I have to finish this semester. It’s down to the wire. I have 4 more discussion postings for ethics, one more lab report for lab, a book report and a rewrite for my Applications class, a homework and design project for Ventilation, and then a smattering of presentations to do between now and next Wednesday. I plan on doing a good portion of it today and tomorrow. I have to have the book report done by Sunday at 5 because the library would like their book back. I had to beg to get one more week out of them. Picky picky, it’s not like any one has reserved the stupid thing. Who ever heard of writing a book report in grad school anyway?.

So, I plan on working my buns off between now and next Wednesday, and then celebrating the end of my first year of grad school by going out for a pint at Kieran’s Irish Pub.

Am I really doing this?

Yes, I do believe I am. I looked up airfare to New Zealand today, to Auckland. 684 roundtrip from LAX. I can't find it cheaper from here. When I call next week to set my airfare for the trip to Aneheim, I'll check to make sure I can fly out a week and a half later and from LA for my return trip. Then, From the 25th to the 6th, I'll be in New Zealand. Whee!!! There are still a lot of kinks to be worked out of this plan, but I can't help but be excited. Now I just have to focus really hard on the here and now and not on then. When will then be now? When I have finished all the shite I have left to do this semester. It is winding down, but I still do have a lot to do. And here I am blogging instead of working on said homework. I need to make a to-do list I think. Otherwise I'm not going to get it all done. Hm, and a "I need from my parent's house list" too. Ok, that is a good place to start - here I go!

Sunny CA here I come

I don’t post for a while and a whole bunch of stuff happens. I went home last weekend to pick up some things I need when Katie moves up to three. Dad was feeling kinda in the dumps all weekend and on Sunday decided to visit urgent care. He’s all better now, but they admitted him to the hospital for a few days because he was having a reaction to an antibiotic he was on. I’m just happy I was home so that I could help Mom out.

Monday I got an email about the internship I had applied for, and I didn’t get it. I was rather grumpy as I felt that I was deserving of it, but another classmate – also deserving – got it instead. No worries there, but I do have to find something ASAP. I decided to apply for a full time job, just to see if I’ll get it. It could make things difficult if I get it soon though, because I have about 3 weeks of time where I want to be traveling.

Thursday I got wonderful good news. I found out that I won the scholarship I had applied to. I haven’t been holding my breath because 1. it is not smart to hold your breath for that long, and 2. Only 5 people from the US (and one from outside the US) win this scholarship every year. Them’s long odds, as they say. Yesterday I got the call that I had been awarded the scholarship, and now I’m all giddy. There’s money for school of course, but there is also the opportunity to go to Anaheim, CA, for the national conference held by the American Industrial Hygiene Association. They pay for the flight, the hotel, the conference, and give me money for food. Yippee! Sunny California, here I come! I am not sure what I will be doing out there yet. I have the conference to go to, it’s a week long May 21-25, but I’m sure I’m not going to listen to every person speak about everything. I plan on going to Disneyland, since I’ve never been, and maybe doing some other sight seeing too. I’m not sure what else there is out there. I’ll have to do research.

I’ve also been meaning to visit Rachel in NZ about that time. Now I’m thinking, it would be convenient to link the two together. I could fly to Anaheim, do the conference, get to LA somehow (haven’t figured that part out yet), fly out of LA to NZ, spend a week and a half or so in NZ chillin w/ Rachel, and then fly back to LA and catch a connecting flight back to MN. That would mean being gone for 2.5 or so weeks, but that doesn’t bother me. I like to travel. I have to see if that is ok with the travel agent-y people that I get the airfare from for the scholarship. It is substantially cheaper to fly to NZ from LA than from MN though, so this works out quite well. I really do hope I can pull it off; I want to visit NZ before Rachel gets back to the states in July.

Oh, and I have some tickets to go to Hawaii between May 31 this year and the 31 May next year. I have to book them by them soon though, so I have to determine when I can go. So, the bad and the good were intermingled this week, but I think the good won out. Big time. Now all I have to do is get serious about my exercise so I don’t feel like a dunce should I wear a swimming suit a month earlier than I thought I would be, figure out what the temp is in CA this time of year, and figure out what I want to pack. Oh, and finish this semester…yeah, not to forget that.

I went running last night with Katie. It actually felt good! I can't believe it. We ran down the road and to the lake, then all the way around the lake. It's about one mile to the lake, and 1.6 around. So we did a total of probably 2.5 miles or running last night. I started out saying, let's get in one mile and see how we feel. We were both in the groove, so we kept going, and going, and going. We were very much like the energizer bunny, passing people, rocking out to our music. I'm not even stiff today thanks to a excellent post-run stretching session. I am pretty tired today though. I have to decide if I want to chase my coworkers around the lake on my rollerblades, go to the Public Health film festival (showing sex ed films tonight), take a nap, or read my book out on the porch. I will have to see what people are up to. If I can't wake up soon the nap or exercise will win though, or I'll be worth nothing all night.

What a series of glorious days!!

I think that Minnesota forgot spring this year. Yes, we are having the grass change from brown to green, and the flowers are starting to bloom, and the bugs are unfortunately coming back, but the 35-50 degree days never happened. Usually in spring there is a series of days between those temperatures with either a chill to the air or a long day of rain. This spring, not so much. I swear we went form 35 to the 58-70s weather without a transition. Suddenly, I went from heavy jacket to short sleeves and capris. I don’t think I’m the only one who has noticed it either. After the strangest winter in my memory (with only one ‘snowstorm of 6+ inches in our area) I’m beginning to believe that there is a definite weather change going on. I can’t say for certain if it’s El Niño or La Niña, or if it’s global warming or global climate change, or just some X number of year pattern the weather in these parts sees. Or maybe it’s that we’re on the end of an ice age (well, we are) or going into another one. Who knows; I have lived on this earth for less than a quarter century, who am I to dictate patterns. The earth is billions of years old, and we’ve only been keeping weather data for 200-300 years. Oh, I know we have some information about what the climate was like from fossil evidence and tree rings and the like, but no one was really there recording it. There’s no oral tradition talking about the winter of 850 and how the snows were so bad that year that…

Still, after all that blathering, I like what I feel. It’s nice to have 70 degree days sans mosquitoes and other annoying little creepy crawlies. (I guess they will show up earlier this year though, since we are having the nice weather.) I’ve decided that I’m absurdly out of shape, and need to get into shape again soon. (Don’t ask what type of shape I’ve turned into, I’m not sure I have a creative enough name.) The weather is perfect right now for running (which I dislike but find very good exercise), walking, etc. I would add rollerblading, but the sticks-and-sands-of-death haven’t been removed from the road yet. Katie and I have taken to trying to exercise three times a week together, and I’m sure once Jenny moves in, she’ll be joining us. I really think that 5 days a week is better, so I’m going to aim for that. I’ll be running three days a week, and then ‘other cardio’ such as fast walks or blading or biking for two more. I still have to fit climbing in there somewhere, and I think I may take up softball. I really don’t know where the time will come from; maybe I’ll have to alternate my activities. I basically have 2 months until normal swimsuit season to magically return to normal woman shape (thought that time could be shortened with the current weather unpatterns). At least it’s much easier to eat healthy in summertime with the farmer’s market and such.

Because I'm tired, but wanted to post something, and it makes me laugh.

My pirate name is:

Iron Grace Bonney

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

I need a job!

Or at least, a different job. I have to do a field study/internship to successfully complete my Master’s degree. I thought I could complete said field study at employed where I am currently, but no such luck. Things move too slowly within government for the project I wished to work on to be ready. Oh, and there were some access issues to the substance I need to do air sampling for as well.

So, I have looked elsewhere. I applied/interviewed for an internship this past Monday, and I think the interview went ok. My interviewing skills are really rough though. I will have to make up my 10 most hated questions to be asked by the interviewer, and come up with answers ahead of time. I really hate the “what is the most ideal situation or job for you right now” question. I know I should have an answer, but I just don’t yet. I haven’t actually done anything remotely like what I’m going to school for yet. I have no experience in the field, and not enough in similar fields to say “I would like this type of job, and this type of company, working with this system…”

My hope is any internship I get will last past the summer and into the school year/through the school year part time. Not that I don’t like my job right now, but…I wouldn’t mind a change of scenery. Plus, I have to find a new job before the end of October because my student position ‘runs out’ then, and I can’t be rehired. Poo. I really would like to start doing a job in my field. This is kinda sorta maybe in my field, if I push it, but the work isn’t challenging – it’s student work. I want a challenge, something to tackle, a project of my own.

< style="font-weight: bold;">Two Bells and All is well

Yes, I’m a procrastinator. Yes, it’s 2AM. Yes, I just finished my paper (which I had three weeks to do, is worth 15% of my grade, and I started at 8PM this night). Why then, am I actually in a good mood, even though I’m exhausted, over caffeinated, and only going to have 4 hours of sleep? Because…I got brownies!!! Yes, my awesome roommate took the time (at 9PM in the nighttime) to purchase brownie mix, grab a pan, and drive to the place I’m housesitting where we could make brownies and study together. After studying for a bit, we took a break and watched the second InuYasha movie that Lance borrowed me. While that was going on, I finished writing my paper by hand (yes, I can still write a paper using an old fashioned pen and paper, with tables and everything). We ate the brownies, then popcorn, and soda. I feel very sugared, and very tired, and plan onheading to bed just as soon as this ancient printer finished taking it’s 30 minutes to print 5 pages. There, finished. I’ll just batten down the hatches, and throw myself into my bunk for four hours before the bell wakes me for my watch in the morn. I really hope that tea and chocolate can keep me going through class and lab tomorrow. Wow…how bad is it when you haven’t even gone to bed and you’re already contemplating how good tomorrow’s nap will feel?!?

Let it Snow!

Or, perhaps not. You know, the weatherpeople shouldn’t give such a buildup like they did yesterday and then not deliver. It’s maddening. We started the week with a chance of snow today, and by Tuesday it was an up to 6 inches storm. By Wednesday it was a foot of snow. Thursday, yesterday, they were back to a cautions 6-9 inches. By last night it was 6-9 inches in the south metro and 3-6 inches in the north metro. This morning I woke up to NO SNOW! Talk about your letdowns. I admit that I’m ready for spring. I want it to be warm and nice and flower-like outside. But, this was to be the great-basketball-tournament-time-snowstorm. It’s tradition. Also, we’ve only had one snowstorm that amounted to lots of snow this year. One! That’s unheard of. We had one other that had 4 inches of snow. The ‘big one’ was only 7-9. Wow. This has been one of the worst winters (for snow) ever. Oh, it was cold, and bleary, but it rained or iced more than it did the pretty white stuff. If I lived on the West Coast, where weather like this is expected, I’d be ok. I, however, live in the Midwest. I remember stories of the “storm of XXXX where 30 inches of snow fell in one day, and 45 in three, and schools were closed, and you had to build tunnels to get out of your house….etc…” I wanted a nice snowy winter. The Farmers Almanac said we were to have one. Where did it go?

I drove into work this morning and it started snowing halfway here. Little October sized flakes, for an piddley little storm. I’m disappointed, distraught, let down. I was looking forward to shovel money. Now all I get is a dirty windshield, sloppy shoes, and a wet dog.

I say wet dog because I’m house/dog sitting this week. Good fun, and I’m actually not dying of allergies. She’s a wonderful dog, though apparently believes that my legs make a comfy bed. I tend to disagree. Still she gives you those eyes… It’s kinda fun to pretend that it’s my house, and that I’m all ‘grown up’ with a real house of my own, and real furnishings that match. I like the house, it’s a style I wouldn’t mind having myself someday…when I have enough stuff to fill an entire house. Right now, I could furnish the kitchen, one of the living/dining/family rooms, and one bedroom. Sparsely. But, I suppose that is why we tend to work our way into real houses.

Last night Katie and Jenny came up and we went to dinner. We were celebrating Katie’s second interview for a real, grown up, permanent teaching job. Good luck today mi amiga! I am working today, and then hope to have something to celebrate w/ her later tonight (though I’m sure she’ll not know right away, she’ll probably have a good inkling.) So that’s that. Oh, and it’s supposed to be 50 on Wednesday next week. Yippee!!!

Mexican food is worse than turkey ...

I spent the weekend doing nothing unlike the last post, where I said I’d be productive. Ok, I was kind of productive. I put some episodes of InuYasha in order on some tapes, so Katie could catch up. I cleaned up my room. I slept and read. I talked to people on the phone. Soon it will be time to get serious. Notice how I didn’t say “right now.” Yeah. I’m all about maybes and whithertos and whyfores. After the first half of this semester, I believe I have earned some leisure time. To bad I won’t be able to use it. I really do have too much to do. I will be house/dog sitting for a coworker for a week and a half, so I figure I’ll have time to do some homework while I’m over there – just me and the dog. Said house has a hot tub, so at least I’ll be able to soak out my aches and pains. I’ll be getting exercise too, as I plan on taking the dog for a walk every day. Maybe we’ll even go running! The most excellent of Thai restaurants lives up in that area as well. I will probably eat there at least twice (which is at least 4 meals…they make a lot of food).

I am really tired today. Another of my coworkers is leaving our section for a different job at the agency, and today was the Official Farewell Luncheon. We went to the Capital View Café – excellent food. They specialize in breakfast, but have lunch foods as well. Mexican American. My whole section is dragging right now. No one has the energy to move. It’s quieter in here now that it has been for ages. Plus, when we got back here, there was cake. I had to find some caffeine just to stay awake. Tonight I may go blading, otherwise perhaps for a walk or run outside. I can’t decide. It’s so nice out, it’s hard to justify staying inside.

What I really need now is a short nap.

Winter, Spring, or Fall?

It is that time of year when the weather really can’t discern one from the other. Today I woke up and it was cold and cloudy. I headed out, and it started snowing. Then it stopped snowing and the sun came out. Then, it got even colder and the wind started and it started to do that kind of wet snowing and blowing-the kind where the cold and damp knife into you and sit within your bones. I feel like I’m never going to be warm again. I’m sitting in a 72 degree office, with long underwear, wool socks, pants, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a fleece on, and I’ve had a large cup of tea, and I’m still cold. I’ve even eaten, so it’s not because I’m hungry. I’m debating if I can drink another whole cup of tea, or if I should just go get hot water to hold onto in my mug.

I am so happy it is Friday. I don’t know if it’s the weather, or the fact that I know spring break has ‘officially’ started for me, but I’m exhausted. It’s a Friday night and I want nothing more than to curl up in my recliner with a blanket and my book, and to go to bed early. This weekend I have a lot to do, homework wise. I am going to pretend I have school next week and try to get most of the week-after’s homework done. Originally I wanted to go to the Halloween, Alaska and Whisper in the Noise show tonight(Food Team is also playing), but I don’t know anyone who would go with me. Not that I need company to go to a show, but I need the motivation today. I’m either getting old, or I’m just being a very boring person.

One more week…until spring break

I just love this time of year. You can have a 60 degree, sunny, gorgeous spring day and wake up to snow and bitter winds the next. I’m convinced the reason that most Midwesterners are fickle and can’t take a strong point of view on anything is that they grew up learning from the weather. If you don’t like it (or anything here) just wait 10 minutes. Chances are it will change.

Last week we learned just how annoying certain cable companies can be. I really do need to have internet access at home for school purposes…it was not useful to have six days of, “we’re really not sure what’s wrong, except that someone made an open ticket on your account, and until it’s closed, we can’t let you sign on. Terribly sorry about all that, why don’t you call back tomorrow morning and see if anyone has gotten off their high horse and pushed a button. Can we help you with anything else?” On top of that, my computer hiccupped. After a reformat, and some hacking, I managed to get most of my files back off my hard drive, but I had to spend 4 or 5 hours reinstalling programs and doing the nice updates to windows. Did I mention I had a cold? It was lovely, really. Despite all that, it really wasn’t too bad of a week. I managed to finish most of the organizational stuff in the new room, and Katie and I have settled into our new place. We’re set for the next two months, at which point she’ll be moving back up to Three and Jenny will be moving into Two with me.

At least next week is spring break. It should give me a chance to catch up on a few assignments, and prepare for the new class I start (accelerated, and lasts from after spring break until the end of the semester). I applied for an internship in my field for the summer, so fingers crossed that I get that. Now I just need to find that scholarship application I set somewhere safe so I wouldn’t lose it during the move. I just wish that safe places in my house were not also invisible.

Welcome to the K&T B&B

Within the K&T B&B you will find the Rose Room, the Azure Room, and the North Room. The kitchen is always open, though the cook’s hours vary. The water is always hot. Linens are provided. Newly furnished, the K&T B&B sports turn of the century woodwork, buffet, mantles, and fireplace with a quiet and comfy furniture selection. Both the Rose and Azure Room will sport cable-internet connections in the near future. The North room features direct access to the spacious front porch overlooking the Yard and the Street. Hot tea and hot chocolate as well as a selection of pastries are always available from the kitchen. There is a quaint bar serving choice selections for those desiring evening cocktails, and the dining room is decorated with trinkets form travels around the world. Going somewhere? The Back Porch offers storage space for that extra luggage. Need to fix something? Find the tool you need in the utility closet.

The K&T B&B is conveniently located near many attractions within the City, such as a free zoo, a large park, a golf course, a lake for boating and fishing, a swimming pool, and the fairgrounds that holds many events throughout the year. The Rose and Azure Rooms are reserved well in advance, but the North Room is kept available for drop in guests. Please, visit the K&T B&B for your next vacation getaway.

Ah, the joy of moving.

I really do like the new place. I just wish I had some way to magically bob my blond hair or wiggle my nose and make the stuff from Three move to Two and go where I wanted it to without the pain and struggle of moving. I do mean pain, too. Yesterday I was moving some stuff in a crate downstairs (ok, I admit, I was doing it stocking feet) and I slipped on the step. It was classic feet out from under you; box in the lap, sliding down the stairs to the door. No one saw me, but I bet it looked pretty funny. I keep finding bruises today that emanate from that little debacle.

Still, organizing a new place is fun. I love deciding where things are going to go and Katie and I accomplished most of the kitchen and bathroom last night. The best part is, for at least a day (hopefully much, much longer) the place will be organized and we’ll be able to find things. Ok, we’ll be able to find things if we remember where we put them.

Tonight is the rest of the kitchen, the rest of the bathroom, small parts of the living room, and dining room, and small parts of our bedrooms. The bigger parts, things that are bulky and heavy, will be moved on Saturday. Hopefully (fingers crossed) we’ll have bribed some strong, tall, male (and/or female) determined types to help us with that endeavor. Anyone want free pizza?!? All you have to do is help us move bulky furniture (and put up with us moving it ten times as we decide where it fits “just right”).

Katie started putting up her window scarves yesterday, which makes me want a curtain or window scarf of my very own to design. I have nice blinds, but this time I want something more ‘homey’ for the room. I think I’ll, like Katie, actually hang some pictures this time. I want the place to look like home. Maybe we’ll go to a few garage sales this spring and see what else we can scare up for the place.

Anyway, I’ll be out of touch all weekend and probably through Tuesday. The nice cable man can’t come until then to change our cable. We’ll be hooked up upstairs still, but I doubt we’ll be running up the stairs every hour or so to check the email. So, wish me luck on the move, and hopefully I’ll manage not to fall down the stairs again. I’ll update and maybe add some pictures of the new place next week.

Snowdays, snowmen...

An entire winter has almost swept itself through this northland. It has snowed many times, but there has only been that one biggish snowstorm in our area. This past Sunday evening however, we had our first packy snowfall of the season (this late, I know.) It was 54 degrees F on Saturday, gorgeous and not typical for February in Minnesota. It rained all day Sunday, and we lost any snow cover we had. Then, latish sunday night, it began to snow. Big fluffy flakes that just begged for a person to run outside and stick out one's tongue to catch a falling snowflake and let it melt in the mouth. Katie and I looked at each other late that evening, roughly 11PM and thought about the fact that enough snow had fallen to shovel. (we like our snow-income) On went the snowpants, the boots, the hats and mittens. On went the jackets, and down the stairs we went. We grabbed a shovel each and headed out into the snowflakey wonderland to shovel our walk. The snow was water underneath and made that satisfying 'scrinch, scrunch' noise that all good packy snow makes. Well, most of it did. Remember the rain? Some of it was slush under the snow on the walk, and really quite heavy to move. We shoveled just as quick as we could, and I did take the opportunity to stick out my tongue and taste the wintery precipitation. Towards the end of our shovelling, Katie and I had an idea. This was the first packy snow of the season, and while it was WAY to wet for snow angels, it was just right for snowballs. The first one flew, and the second, but the third...began to grow into a bigger ball. Then another followed it. A third made up the head of our little snowperson, who was really the size of a snowhobbit. He was only about 2.5-3 feet tall, and fit just wonderfully on the end of the stone walkway by the stairs that lead up to our home. He was quickly outfitted with rock eyes and nose and mouth, branch arms, and a pot for a hat. I don' t have the picture on this computer, but here is a link to Katie's picture of Frosty Appleseed. Very quickly on the other side of the stairs, a one foot miniature snowbrownie (for those who have seen Willow) was errected. He received no rocks for his face, our rocks were way to big, but we did add some branch arms. The next day (Monday, and the day of being nicked in the arse) was 40 degrees F, and very quickly in the warmth of the sun both our snowhobbit and snowbrownie went the way of all snow on a warm day...melt-splat down onto the sidewalk. But at least I can still say that I have gone all my walking years of winter without missing the chance to make at least one snowperson. Our two snowpeople were not as big as the one a few years ago; Katie and I required special leverage devices to make that 8 foot tall snowgiant, but they were just as important. Here's to hoping that we have at least one more chance at snowpeople this winter. I would greatly like to try to make a snowman, or even a snowelf.

I wonder how hard it would be to add pointy elf ears to a snowman?

On getting nicked in the arse...

Today has significance to many people in the US of A. It is the day of buying candy (especially chocolate), flowers, and cards for that significant person in your life, and generally being sweet and nice to them. This raises the question, however, what do you do the other 364 (or 365 on a leap year) days a year for this person? Why is it that a day needs to be specified in order to remember and be sweet to your sweetheart? Isn't that for anniversaries, and just generally everyday? I am wondering, do other countries carry the custom of Valentine's Day the way it's carried out in the US? I remember when I was little it was St. Valentine's Day, but it seems in the recent years people have decided to shorten the name. I remember giving out candy and silly little cards to all the people in my class, even the ones I wasn't particularly fond of. We'd put the valentines into a brown paper bag taped to that other person's desk. Mom made sure you had one for everyone.
Now, as an adult, it's a holiday full of chocolates and roses and come-hither glances. At least, that's what mainstream American Corporations would like you to believe. I know the truth, though! This day is actually a celebration of hundreds of thousands of people getting nicked in the arse. Yup, you heard it here. You see, I am no fool, and I've seen the cards. Thousands of tiny cherubs who have forgotten their apparel lay-in-wait for unsuspecting arses to shoot pointy little sticks at with their toy bows. If this is indeed a reference to Cupid then I say, "Zeus, come and rein-in that miscreant youth!" Seriously, though, I feel no need to be shot in the arse. I've survived 24 + years without it, and I can survive at least that many more. This isn't to say that I don't ever want to fall in love...I just prefer my backside the way it is. I don't need a day to tell me when I should be nice to someone. I don't need a designated day to tell me when to feel romantically inclined either. (Though, I should warn you, I do indeed enjoy the idea of a day specifically devoted to chocolate - Dark Chocolate especially - Yum!) Nope, cherubs, keep your bows pointed firmly at other’s backsides. As for St. Valentine’s Day, while it’s cute watching the couples all out in their splendor and seeing girls riding home on the bus with roses in their hands, I really do wonder what the world would be nice if we adopted the ideals of Valentine’s Day during everyday. Just think, people being nice to each other…and all that CHOCOLATE!

Yup, this sounds about right...

Pink, or Blue?

No, I’m not having a baby. I’m trying to pick a color for my new bedroom. I get to pick the paint color and it is quite the decision. Katie and I think the bedrooms should match, and probably the Landlord would agree with that, so we’re in the process of narrowing it down. We have it narrowed to a classical color, that will look good with beige carpet and dark woodwork…perhaps a vintage rose or something. Otherwise, the rest of the place is being repainted a khaki color. We’ll see how it looks when they’re done. Katie and I are still not sure of the move in date…and there is lots to do before hand. I would like to go through my clothes and find out what I can give to Goodwill. I have papers and such that need sorting, and the ‘attic stuff’ that accumulates and noone ever really knows what it is or what it’s for.

Did I mention the homework I’ll be doing in the meantime? No? It’s probably too scary a story for this late at night. I will have to leave it for another time. Right now I think I’ll have some tea and get ready for bed.

Comments are back. yay.

I decided on a whole new look. The things I'll do to procrastinate from homework! Anyway, I took the time to place my comments back on the page. (after remembering my password to said comment website). I will probably change a few more things about this template...but not just yet.

I'm trying to add a picture to my profile, here it goes.

We are Alone

First off, Happy Birthday to Katie, my best friend and roomie. May her “older than dirt” year be as nice as mine has so far. I raise my glass to you, amiga! We had peeps over to celebrate last night, but that is a story for the Katie to tell.

Hm, my computer has taken to randomly assigning headings to my documents. Interesting. That is on a different note though, and only applicable because I’ve taken to typing my blog entries in word first so I don’t loose them to the vastness of space that is the WWW.

Also on a note not related to what I started writing this entry for – my title has put a song in my head. One I often hear at a certain club in town. The lyrics there are “I stand alone” rather than “we are alone”, but…damn. Now that song will be in my head all night.

The real reason for stating that we are alone is that Katie and I are now alone in the Green and Yellow House. Two’s tenants moved out this weekend, and One has been empty for quite a while. It’s odd, there are only two cars in the parking lot, and no one to say hi at when one enters the building. On the positive side, now Katie and I can play our music loud and dance around like idiots and not bother anyone.

We still haven’t made a 100% decision on moving to the second floor. If only the gas bill wasn’t so high. If he’s willing to wait, even a month or so, perhaps, but this place is cute and so no worries on losing out on two. The biggest advantage would be knowing who our neighbors are (if Katie were to move back up to 3 w/ me and Jenny in 2) but if we don’t know who our neighbors will be, I’d just as soon be on the top floor.

I’m not procrastinating nearly as bad so far this semester as I did last. Oh, I’m not necessarily finishing things the day after their given out, but at least I’m not (yet) into the habit of starting something the day it’s due, or the night before at 11PM. Go me! Here’s to hoping it lasts.
Well, I’d best be off. Katie and I have to put the recycling out and I have to floss my teeth and journal a bit before bed.

OUCH!!!

This weekend was really quite painful. I love snow, and it finally came, but something about it just makes me lose some of my common sense I guess. This past Friday we finally got snow in more than a 'trace' amount. (About bloody time, too.) Totals were around 7 inches. Katie and I shoveled it all on Friday night. Ok, most of it as the snow was still falling at about 1 in/hr during the time we were shovelling. Saturday, the wind had 'helped' us out, and brought all the snow back to where we had made clean sidewalks, so we had to shovel again. Only on Saturday, the snow was packy. Ugh, but still in that novelty of fun stage.

Sunday I went skiing with Jenny A. and Lance. Yay. I've been trying to get out skiing with Jenny for quite a while. Hmm, I ended the night skiing anyway. I started by snowboarding. Last year was my first attempt at anything remotely sideways and I remembered two things about it. One-it was MUCH different from skiing, and two-it's painful when one falls at high velocities. (The second lesson I've learned on waterskies, regular skies, and rollerblades more than once in the last two years, but I seem to have to keep relearning it.) I also remembered catching on rather quickly...at least to the basics. So, off I went onto Lance's old snowboard with rented boots. I tried, and fell a LOT. Then I had lance adjust the bindings from a slightly carving stance to a 'regular' stance, and I was doing a lot better. I made it off the bunny hill and onto the regular greens. But after two hours I had fallen more than 50 times (or at least it felt that way) and I felt I had abused my muscles enough. Plus, I had forgotten my wristguards and I don't have a skiing helmet, and I refuse to go any faster without both for protection. So I switched to skies. Great fun, though after starting my skiing year with a board strapped to both feet and going sideways, it took a few runs to figure out two seperate ski-velocity-making instruments and forward momentum. Still, it wasn't crowded, and I had forgotten how much fun skiing is. Now I crave going West. Anyone game?

Below are pics from last years firt snowboard adventure. I don't have any from this year...Yet.

Here is the end result of said first snowboarding trip...one very wet pair of jeans. I guess waterproof snowpants are only SO waterproof.
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This is last year's first ever snowboard attempt. Rather early in the evening. Note I look happy?
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School isn't so bad...

...at least not yet. The school week is over and I’ve had three of my five classes. I’ll start the fourth next Monday and the fifth after spring break. So far so good but then, I’ve only had one class for each. It looks as though I’ll be spending much of my class time on field trips. I should have expected it in a class that has “field problems” in its name. That is one of my three hour classes. I am relieved that I will not be spending three hours a week every week in lecture for that one. My two hour IH applications class is similar to the class I had last semester by the same teacher. Part of the class is lecture, part is group work or work time. Again, even though long, it shouldn’t be too bad. My four hour lab class instructor has assured us that we shall not go the entire time for ‘most’ of the classes. I certainly hope so. Lab or not, four hours is rather a long time for me to concentrate. My Monday class, which I have not yet had, is a three hour lecture on control of exposure to physical and chemical hazards. I’m not really sure what to expect from this one, other than: 1. night class, 2. three hours, 3. all lecture (I think). It will probably be quite a bit like Air Borne Contaminants last semester. I expect to not be good at sitting still, and be rather loopy by the time class ends each evening. My ethics class starts after Spring Break, and lasts for the rest of the semester. Accelerated and on a subject people can argue about for days at a time. I’ve also heard the tests are icky and the teacher grades hard. Hopefully all will go well.

Today, in preparation for the field problems class, I went to the footwear store to buy my first pair of steel toed boots. I found out that the State pays for up to 100 dollars of said boots because they are required for safety reasons. So, out I marched to the nice safety shoes store and informed the nice salesman of what I wanted. A boot (not shoe), steel-toed, acid-resistant sole, and something that is comfortable enough to wear for an entire day. Tall order, but I think he managed to find me something. What is more, he managed to price it for 100 dollars, so nothing will be coming out of my pocket on these. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just for school I need them. If I ever go along to an industrial spill site, I’ll need my steel-toe boots too. The boots of purchase are black, doc-martens, and have the necessary elements. They are a bit tight right now, but I was assured they would ‘stretch’ them for me.

Tonight, in preparation for the rest of my classes, I’m going to the bookstore to purchase my books. So far the only one I know that is required is a Ventilation book for my Monday night class. It will hit me for 112 dollars, so I really hope the rest of my books aren’t required. I know that three other classes “highly recommend” you purchase X or Y, but I’d like to see just how useful they are from borrowing the books on reserve at the library before hitting my pocketbook for over 100/book. Katie will be going along – if she is feeling not so under the weather as she did yesterday. She has one class at the U this semester, also a night class, also on Monday nights (but they don’t end at the same time).

All in all, I’m really happy to be back into the school/work routine. I like the money I receive when I work full time, but I was finding myself highly sick of filing. At least with part-time work, there are more varied jobs. (In full time, I’d finish the varied jobs too quickly and be stuck back with the filing.) Now, if I could only figure out what I’m doing about my summer field experience and my thesis topic, and find out if I have to do May classes, I’d be one happy little student. After all, I have a trip to New Zealand to plan, and I can’t start that until I know what I’m doing for work.

Float On
Whee! I did one of these silly tests and it actually came up with a song that I like and actually heard of.

Float On by Modest Mouse

"Bad news comes don't you worry even when it landsGood news will work its way to all them plans" Laid back and real, people appreciated you for you are in 2004.

What 2004 Hit Song are you?

Winter Comes to the Green and Yellow House

As my tale continues, it may be almost quiet inside the Green and Yellow house. The construction of One is past the noisy stages, and Two and Three’s tenants are at work for the day. The cars and busses provide a humming background, and the wind doesn’t make too much of a stir. Within Three, there live still two female tenants, and an uncounted number of small, four-legged squatters. The squatters have been unseen and unheard recently. Perhaps they know the end is near? The Owner of the Building hasn’t informed the tenants when the pest control person will come…perhaps the little squeaking ingrates understand their time is near, and are rallying for some final stand? Probably not. The tenants on Two inherited a cat from a boyfriend. Short term only, but they are hoping to scare the little squatters into submission. No report to Three has been made by Two’s tenants as to the successfulness of the cat, however. The feline is friendly (to humans) and does have its claws, and Two hopes that it prefers to chase small rodents rather than sharpen said claws on the woodwork. Three’s tenants hope that all the rodent poison (used as a first attack) by Two’s tenants has been thrown out, and that the little squeakers didn’t actually eat any (if indeed the cat does catch them).

Outside of the Green and Yellow House, the sky turns grey and imposing. It looks like winter may come to the City afterall. Just this morning, a tenant of Three had to shovel the path. The weather service predicts that another 4-6 in of the ‘white stuff’ along with a ‘wintery mix’ (read ice) shall fall between this hour and the end of Wednesday. This makes a certain tenant of Three pretty happy. It should be white outside in winter, and each time the tenants of Three shovel the path, they get to reduce the lodging fee due the Owner of the Building at the end of the month. After the snow though, things may get ugly outside the Green and Yellow House. Arctic temperatures are to blow down from the poles and the little lines on the weatherman’s chart showed a wind of >40mph. The regular temperatures are supposed to fall to <0F with a high temp on Friday of -8F. Still, the Green and Yellow house is built sturdily, and the little stove heater in Three can be set higher to anticipate the chill of the blowing wind. The tenants of Three think that this will be a lovely time to enjoy hot cocoa, or wine, and watch long anticipated movies.

The Writing of a Dissertation

Today I was talking to a coworker about the probable topic of my Masters Dissertation. As this isn’t even remotely decided yet, I’ll not announce that topic. That one all depends on if funding goes through and if the research I’d do is ‘good enough’ to be considered the Original Research I need for said Thesis. But that got me to thinking of my other Dissertation, the one that some of you may remember reading almost 2 years ago. It started in 2002, with parts being added to it in 2003. The subject of this dissertation had nothing to do with Industrial Hygiene, or even the Engineering I was doing at the time. Nope, this dissertation was on a more…universal topic. This week I was reading a friend's journal, and the comments on that journal, and it inspired me to bring up a few points from said dissertation, and then to post it again.

I have a Live Journal, mostly so I can read other peoples “friends only” Live Journals, but I figured that was as good as any a place to post it. Then it occurred to me that only the people from Live Journal know that I have one, since I’ve never actually done anything with it. There are readers of this blog that didn’t read my other blog, which has since been archived and stopped. This dissertation was originally posted there. So, here is the link to my Live Journal and the first three parts, or chapters if you will, of my original dissertation, “Boys are Dumb: A Dissertation”

To the males that read this blog, please don’t be mad at me. I report the truth as I see it, and I welcome any and all comments, opinions, and proof that this dissertation reports falsehoods!

A tale of two stories

My tale is of two stories, not the type you sit in a circle around a campfire and listen to, but rather the type that populate a house. The first is a quaint third story, the second a more vacuous second story. I suppose one could also call them floors, but they are so much more than the linoleum or carpet that covers them. They are the walls, the ceilings (my goodness, the ceilings), the adornments, the bathroom fixtures, the kitchen appliances. To some, they are home. Both of these stories are situated in a Green and Yellow Building located on a somewhat-active street near a park, a lake, and a zoo in a medium-ish suburb of a large city. Two below Three, following numerological law. Two and Three became populated about 17 months ago, almost at the same time. Two’s residents were female and both gainfully employed in the health field. Three’s tenants were also both female and both students at the local University. The tenants of both came to know each other quite well. 12 months after first tenanting Three, one of Three’s residents moved to a new story that would be by far warmer and more aqueous. Three gained a new resident. Not too long after that, both Two and Three gained even more residents…but they were not the type of tenant most buildings (or stories) would admire. These tenants were small, furry, scavengers and rabble rousers, mess-makers, and were not bathroom-trained. Further, they didn’t understand the concept of walls, doors, or furniture. Two and Three were heartsick, as were their tenants, that these interlopers would dare to move in without permission. The tenants set out to persuade the new furry home wreckers to leave the premises immediately. No such luck. The four legged squatters were comfortable, and intelligent. They ignored bribes left on little wooden planks, conveniently located on the floor where they could reach them. They ignored little blue pellets that taste good, but may cause indigestion. They ignored attempts to lock other entrances that had been found behind appliances. And having found a convenient shelter and source of food and water, they multiplied.

Here is where my tale takes a sad turn. It seems that the squatters have convinced Two’s tenants to vacate the premises, and find a new, less occupied, story to live in. They have given notice to the Owner of the Building, and in 30 days, will say goodbye forever to Two, and the Green and Yellow Building Two resides in. As the residents of One also moved on to a bigger story, soon Three’s two tenants will be all alone in the Building meant for at least 6.

Three’s tenants, after learning the plans of Two’s, thought about the larger space available within Two. While there is a smaller kitchen, Two sports both a dining and living room. There are two bedrooms, same as Three, but in Two they are more of equal proportions, and both have closable doors. The bathroom of Two is not a bane-to-the-existence-of-all-menfolk as in Three, and there is more room to move about. Whereas Three has slanted ceiling and a feeling of unfinished-ness to her, Two has straight walls and ceilings and woodwork. (Three’s slanted ceilings give her character and charm however.) There is a front and back porch available with Two (although the front porch is shared with Three’s tenants). The living room in Two has a fireplace, although the jury is out on whether or not it is a usable fireplace, or just for decoration. The squatter infestation, reported by Two’s tenants, is much worse than on Three, however. The Owner of the Building charges more for Two than Three as well. Three’s tenants haven’t decided what to do. They like their little hobbit-hole, and have become quite cozy. To move one story down would require effort (although since the Building wouldn’t change, frigid weather is not involved.) My tale has mentioned that ceilings were different, and they become an issue in the decision. Three’s ceiling/walls have born the stress of time, hanging always at a 45-degree angle to the horizontal. This past summer some of these ceiling/walls came crashing down, much to the dismay of Three’s tenants. There are still Cracks…sometime next summer more ceiling/walls will come crashing down, or will have to be removed and replaced before said event occurs. This annoys Three’s tenants as they have no wish to deal with the dust and interruption that occurs during these events.

Still, from adversity comes ingenuity. What if Three’s tenants did move to Two? That would eliminate the ceiling crisis completely. (Who knows what new crisis could occur, but that is for another tale.) What if The Owner of the Building then came into the now vacated Three and fixed the rest of the ceilings and repainted? Then there would be an empty, quaint story above Two where perhaps new-tenants-of-Two’s friends might wish to move in?!

As you can see, my tale is far from complete. A new chapter will be written in the morrow, when the tenants of Three go to the Owner of the Building with the monthly boarding fees and the above propositions. Stay tuned to see what, if anything changes in the Green and Yellow Building.

New Year’s Resolutions

Last year I resolved to floss more, amongst other things. I managed to hold onto this resolution though about August with great success. The success became intermittent during September, October, and sort of went poof! during November and December. Dental Hygiene just wasn’t as important to me as finishing a paper for one of my Industrial Hygiene classes.

Speaking of hygiene in general, dental hygiene as a profession has ruined it for us industrial hygienists. Now, no matter what I try to do, as soon as the word hygiene leaves my mouth when I tell people my major, they look at me and think, ‘what, like in dentistry?’ Oh, they may not say it, but they are thinking it. “Industrial hygiene huh?, Oh, I get it, you teach industry to brush its teeth!” Nope! The dictionary defines the word hygiene as 1.The science that deals with the promotion and preservation of health, and 2. Conditions and practices that serve to promote or preserve health. Therefore an industrial hygienist is one who creates conditions to promote or preserve health within the workplace, or industry. Similarly, a dental hygienist is one who promotes and preserves health within the mouth. See. Ok, I just had to clear that up. Oh, that and the fact that I went into industrial hygiene had nothing whatsoever to do with my resolution last year to improve my dental hygiene.

This year, I plan on renewing the aforementioned flossing resolution. It can’t hurt, and unlike those resolutions to ‘lose some weight’ or ‘get in shape’ it is a small goal and readily attainable. Floss more than zero times a year last year turned into flossing with pretty good regularity for 3/4ths of the year. This year, I’ll go for 4/5ths or even 5/6ths. (I’m having fun with fractions, boy but I’m a geek!). I’d like to make a second resolution, but for the life of me I can’t come up with one. Yes, I want to lose some weight. I also want to tone up the tummy and other bits of the self, and get into better shape. This is not necessarily a resolution which, by the way, the dictionary defines as: a course of action determined or decided on, the state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. I would very much like to do the North Shore Inline Marathon again this year, and I think I’m going to expand my racing to include the Great River Roll and the Roll for the Roses. (Two local Cities races, one is a half marathon, and the other only 6 miles I believe.) I’d also like to be able to finish the Hairpin Run 5K without having to walk at all – time is irrelevant as I don’t plan on winning. These are all goals though, not resolutions. This leaves me in a quandary. I get into better shape to do these things (which inherently includes the losing some weight and toning up) but I have no other resolutions to spout to friends and strangers Friday night. Hmmmm. I thought about saying “I resolve not to procrastinate on my Master’s Thesis work.” That would be an outright disaster though. I know me, and I know I can’t not procrastinate on things, especially big papers.

Ooh, I know…how about I resolve to journal more. Both on my blog and in a paper journal that I bought two years ago, started, and then ripped the pages I’d started out of so that it’s blank again and ready for the ‘me of now’. I could have left them in there (and I didn’t throw them out) but I am SUCH a different person now that two years ago when I started it that it would be very strange to read back from one to the other. Ok, barring an epiphany that includes a much better resolution than ‘journaling more’ I think I’ve found my resolution for aught five.

What are other people resolving to do?

Has anyone ever heard of a consistent office temperature?

Perhaps, but only if that temperature is labeled “cold”. It’s freezing in my little cave of a cubicle today. I know that all caves of a certain size and depth maintain one temperature year round (unless there are some sort of hot springs located there). That temperature is about 55, 60 degrees or something like that…which is what my office feels like today. I’m freezing! I own way to many ¾ length shirts and that leaves ¼ of my arms and my hands feeling like attached icicles. I have had lunch; I thought that maybe I was hungry because I had not eaten. Nope. I had tea this morning, and I spent a good 20 min reading my document with my hands cupping the mug and my body huddled over it’s warmth like some strange office fire place. I am seriously going to bring a blanket to work if it doesn’t get any better.

The only problem with a blanket at work is the succinct comfort that blankets create. I would be lulled into this state of warmth and happiness for a few seconds at a time, and then I’d have to get up to go get a file, or reach outside my cocoon for something on my desk, and my little happiness bubble would shatter. After lunch I just might find that having a little bubble of happiness translates far too easily to a little bubble of naptime.

I really need to get out from behind this desk I think. I’d even do a site visit in the rain (yes, I wrote rain. Bloody end of December in Minnesota and it’s drizzle raining here). Maybe someone has a new project for me that involves brains rather than mindless typing of labels onto the computer. Maybe I should rent a book or two on CD at the library for this label making. It can’t hurt, and I’m going to need some mental stimulation as I look forward to another 2.5 weeks of full time work with no more projects besides organizing and labeling files.

And WHERE is my snow?! I want to build snowmen, like the one I left for Rachel on her car last year because I could. I’d like to make one that encased a car, too bad they moved the derelict black car behind our house just before it could have become useful. Huh, sigh. I also want to go skiing on something besides manmade ice chaff. Oh well, enough ramblings for now, yes? I must get back to the overly stimulating task of making labels for files.

White Christmas: Accomplished

I had my white Christmas, and what a nice weekend it was. My car caught a cold on the way home to Green Bay. The symptom most shown was spontaneous loss of gage readings, (looked much like an anti-sneeze), the speedometer, odometer and gas gage would go down to zero and then they would come back. While that happened the brake light would come on. It happened 50 times on the way home. At first I was really worried that I wouldn’t make it home, that I was loosing the alternator or something. I called Lance to see if it sounded familiar, and he blamed a cold too (or rather THE cold as it was only 1 above freezing with a -20 wind chill). I called Saturn then to see if I should bring it in to have it checked out; they said at my leisure. So either they are so busy this time of year they don’t need or want more business or they really don’t see it as a problem. I’m betting the former as the nice guy said the storm in green bay caused so many cars to be towed to them to be fixed. So I gave my car new windshield wipers for Christmas, and a new quart of oil, and that perked up her spirits greatly. On the way back to the Cities, she didn’t sneeze once. I figure I’ll keep an eye on it, but it’s probably one of those electrical or computer problems that you can spend a fortune on trying to isolate and never every truly fix.

On Christmas Eve, my family had to break with tradition. The NFL, in its infinite wisdom and money grubbing scrooginess, decided to have the Packers play on Christmas Eve at 2PM. Usually my family goes to Mass at 4, then eats dinner (prime rib-yum!) and then opens gifts. This year we did it a bit differently. You see, it wasn’t just any Packer game, it was against the Minnesota Vikings, and the winner would be crowned the NFC Central Division Champs. So, We switched the order. Watch the Packers, eat, go to Mass, and open presents. My dad got his present early when the Packers beat the Vikings 34-31 (same score as the first game played in GB). He was like a kid with a new toy for the rest of the night. The rest of the fam was quite happy, cause none of us wanted to deal with a grumpy papa for the rest of the night. Would have dampened the Christmas Spirit…drown it really.

Present opening was great fun. Everyone got something they really really wanted. My mom got her record player (for the old fashioned 33s, 45s and 78s), dad got his Miter saw, Troy got a Soniccare toothbrush (if you know my brother, it will not surprise you that this present made his day) and he liked the sling ski-carrier I got him too. I got so many wonderful things. A new desk chair, some nice winter gloves from Troy, and the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King DVD being high on the list of things I wanted. I got a new shiny from my parents too, though I don’t have it yet.

Christmas Day we had dinner with some of the extended fam. There was only 10 of us; it was quite quaint and really relaxing (usually we have a minimum of 20-25 for holidays). After a super yummy lunch of ham and acorn squash (where I got the leftovers) we settled into the living room to play some Phase 10 while light snow fell outside on top of the 8 inches of beautiful white stuff that was there already.

Sunday we went to my mother’s brother’s house for Turkey dinner (where I also got the leftovers) and more family togetherness. I headed back to the Cities after that, and the roads were clear, empty of traffic, and the temperature was warmer. Probably one of the best Christmas’s I’ve had in a while.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas!

That makes me think of the Coke commercial now. Well that, and I'm drinking a cherry coke. Yuck - but I wanted bubbles. I think it's MFatGG that sings the I'm dreaming of a white christmas rendition for that commercial, I think I recognize the style. Erin, any opinions on that?

But more to the point, I want snow! I talked w/ Mom back in GB, looks like I'm going to get my White Christmas. While here in the Cities we only have a whee dusting of the white stuff, they got 8 inches! Woot! I'm going to go sledding on this hill I played on as a child. If I can't find my old sled, I'll use I plastic bag. Here in the cities if they want a whiter christmas they'll have to dream harder. It's bloody cold outside, and it's only going to get nippier. Something like -25 to -30F tonight w/ windchills. My car doesn't appreciate it. It can't snow when it's this cold, just no way. The the good kind of snow. The wet, fluffy, build a giant snowman that is so tall you have to engineer a way to get the balls on top of eachother, kind. (Katie, we are building a snowman in our yard this year!! Remember your Sorrels!) Problem is, it's so cold in GB now that my 8 inches of fluffy snow will be all icey crystals by the time I get there :(

I also think of skiing when I hear about this much snow. I have many friends I want to go skiing with, and to teach if they haven't before. I only was on my skies for a total of an hour last year. I did spend half an evening learning to snowboard. I will be spending more time learning that this year. It's a good workout. Anyone have any skate-style cross country skies they want to lend me (size 7.5 womens boot). I want to learn to do that too! Oh, and snowshoeing is fun.

I went to work out again on Monday with Katie. My poor stomache muscles. I'm going climbing tonight for the first time in like...2 months. I love how I take a bit of time off for doing the working out and then just start up again. No ramping up and down, nope. I love just jumping in. One of these days I'm going to jump in head first and find out the pool is made of ice. I may hurt my head, but when I recover, I'll go ice skating. :P

Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead!

Last night I watched The Wizard of Oz on tv. I finished my christmas cards, well, most of them, and then played some Champions of Norath with Katie. It was really odd not having a million bits of homework to finish up, or any homework at all. Yes, school is gone. (But why is the school gone you ask? Because it is a vile thing that makes even the most intellegent people tired, grumpy, and sick in the last two weeks). I have been a very bad girl, not posting at all since Thanksgiving, and I can't really say that I had too much to do. Ok, I did have final papers and final projects and all that, but I could have found a minute here or there to post. Bad Self!

Anyway, an update. Jenny A. is back in town, so I have been chillin w/ her and Katie. Last weekend we went out to the new club in S. St. Paul called Valentino's. Had a good time, but I was SORE from all the dancing. This tells the self that the self is out of shape. Really, really out of shape. This weekend I did most of the rest of my x-mas shopping, and Jenny, Katie and I had a movie marathon. We watched El Mariachi, Desparado, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I have to say, I liked El Mariachi best. Still, it was good fun. I went running on Saturday at the St. Paul Gym, it felt really good to be out and about at the gym again. I am going to go again tonight. I am climbing (for the first time in about 2 months) on Wed. I think I'm going to start going to the "rollerdome" soon as well. This sitting around with no physical activity is going to stop. (Even though it wasn't exactly on purpose, with school and all).

I can't believe that this coming Saturday is the day of Christmas. It doesn't feel like winter yet. We've had a few cold days, but no real snow. Today we have ice. About 1/4 inch of it. It all ice rained and covered everything, and I'm sitting at home working today becuase I didn't want to be out in it. I may go to work in the afternoon, or I may continue to work from home. We'll see. I'm going to go to GB for the holidays leaving Thursday, and I will probably head back there for New Years. We'll see.

Ok, so this is also a lame post, but it's something. I probably don't have any readers left. I'm going to go work on (yet) another blog. Later