road.trip.

In two days i'm driving the pilot 1,071 miles to wisconsin. I can't wait! I'm leaving as early as possible on friday, will drive as much as i'm physically able, and finish it off on saturday (to chicago, that is). Then i'll spend the rest of that day and night with my relatives in the chicago area, and make the 1.5 hr drive to milwaukee on sunday where i'll spend a few days with a.'s family before flying back on tuesday at the crack of dawn. Not only am i pumped to see lots of people i don't see much, but i'm actually excited to spend so much time driving. It's like a self inflicted quiet time. I'll also be working on a playlist for my iPod tonight- please send recommendations. On sunday (and likely monday) i'll be going without food due to the non negotiable kopp's frozen custard turtle sundae i'll be eating. I've been dreaming about it for days. Even if i lose this challenge based solely on eating the turtle sundae, it'd still be worth it. It's sooo good.

table.3.

Saturday was field day- part of andrea's birthday weekend- complete with bbq, games (water balloon toss, egg race, pinata, airplane, etc) and arts and crafts (t-shirt puffy paint decoration and tattoos). I was a tad under the weather, but managed to recover for the best parts- right around 4:30. Et#1 manned the grill and won the competition with the folks at table 4 (despite their lack of knowledge as to any such competition even taking place), andrea practiced cartwheels, ania hung the pinata, nora made the cake, and i sat around enjoying the perfect weather. The fact that five women in their late 20's to early 30's were doing things like bashing a pinata with a plastic golf club didn't seem to faze anyone. In fact, there were so many other people about that we didn't attract too much attention. There was another birthday party for a one year old (that andrea seemed slightly jealous of due to the sheer magnitude of it), large picnic gatherings, a wedding photography session, and what we believe was a quinceanera. Finishing the day off by blowing ashes at the snooty lady next to us was the topping on the cake!

friday.night.

Friday night was an adventure. It was andrea's birthday and she'd made reservations at gaslight. Because it was also restaurant week, we couldn't get reservations until 9:30pm, which turned into 10:10 since the people sitting at our table wouldn't leave. During our 40 mins at the bar (which won us free appetizers- mmm) we met this german guy named t. I'll refer to him as 7 foot tall guy since that's what he was. It's not often i'm surprised by height (being the shortest in my family at 5'9") but this was impressive. The best part was how we met him. The seven of us were grouped around the bar, talking amongst ourselves, and 7 foot tall guy was talking with one of andrea's other friends. All of a sudden, andrea started choking, and 7 foot tall guy flipped her upside down. That's right- in the middle of the bar, wearing a dress, andrea was suddenly suspended with her feet in the air. Not able to get my camera out in time, i made him do it at the next bar just for the sake of the photo. Here's two:


















There are more pictures from the night on my flickr page. Go look.

(*This is my 800th post. Yay blog!)

it's.andrea's.birthday!

Happy Birthday Andrea!!!!!!

it's.my.dad's.birthday.

Happy birthday dad!!!

i.am.a.girl.

I had to use men's deodorant this morning. It was an emergency. I was at my parents' last night and though i'd left my overnight bag there, for some reason, i'd removed my deodorant. So after showering, i rooted around in the kids bathroom cabinets for something promising. No woman's to be found, but there was a bright green men's stick in the bottom drawer. I instinctively closed the bottom drawer, a little concerned about how i'd make it through the day with no deodorant, and then stopped to think about it. What's the worst that could happen from wearing men's deodorant- you smell a little like a boy for a day. Much better than the alternative of smelling like b.o. What i didn't anticipate was liking the scent so much. It's a little concerning when you're smelling your own armpits several times a day.
On a related note, i bought myself new running socks. My old ones were ratty old cotton ones, so i figured it was time to throw them out and buy a few packs of new ones. I don't like the really thin ones (which seem to be the norm these days) but i found nice cushiony under armour cotton free socks that are perfect. The related part? They're men's. Should i be concerned?

my.new.favorite.spot.

There's a 2nd floor porch off of a and p's room that no one has ever really used (except the dogs, who've been in heaven for many years now). The screens were destroyed, so two sides are basically open. I've always thought this was a shame, but the house is big enough that there are other areas (including a porch with actual screens off the dining room) to be used and appreciated. During one of my recent unpacking kicks, i considered what to do with some extra furniture i had sitting in the garage- in particular, my favorite super comfy butterfly chair. I stuck it in a corner of the porch and found a $5 junk store table to put next to it. Immediately upon sitting in it, i realized that this porch is my new favorite spot. It's high enough that i have a nice view of the neighborhood and can hear people walking by, all while staying relatively hidden. I spent most of sunday morning sitting in that chair drinking my latte and reading my book. In fact, i'm sitting out here right now. The breeze is perfect, the temperature is perfect, and the smells are perfect. I haven't felt this relaxed in weeks.

birthday.present.

I bought myself some earrings today. They were a 30th birthday gift to myself- one i'd been contemplating for some time now. I'm very particular about my jewelry, especially earrings, and won't wear just anything. It has to be special and something i love to make it into my regular rotation (and no yellow gold, please). I hadn't bought them before now because i couldn't justify spending the money when i'm about to start school. Technically this should still be the case, but i worked double time this week and made some money i hadn't been planning on. That coupled with tax free weekend convinced me to spend some of the extra on something that will always be special to me. The ones i really wanted were $1075- a price i couldn't justify no matter how hard i'd like to- but i found these soon after and fell in love. White gold with little diamonds. They're just perfect. The only downside is that i can't easily see them. I guess i'll be walking past extra mirrors for a while.

poor.earl.

I'm cat sitting for earl, the cool cat next door. It's pretty easy- let him in (or out) in the morning, let him out (or in) in the evening, and fill his water and food bowls daily. I guess things have settled down enough that someone thought it was time to mix stuff up for me. Earl didn't come in yesterday. It's not that unusual- he often hangs out in the neighbor's house and gets food. When he didn't show up this morning either, i stopped next door to see if earl had been poking around. There he was, curled up on the porch couch, not looking so hot. He'd been there for a day and had refused to eat. Lordy. His owner thought he'd been in a fight, gotten scratched, and developed some sort of infection. He suggested keeping him inside and bringing him to the vet in the morning if he didn't seem better. After being away all day, i checked in on him around 6, and decided i didn't want to wait around for him to get worse. I bundled him up in a towel, stuck him on the front seat, and drove the 1/2 mile to the animal hospital. Poor earl. He was so mopey! The couldn't find anything in particular, but he did have a slight fever, so they gave him a shot of antibiotics and sent me home with medicine. The one thing that did worry them was that he'd gone from almost 13lbs in april to almost 10lbs now. That's almost 25% of his body weight- for a 150lb person, that would be almost 40lbs. Once his family gets back, they're supposed to take him back for blood tests to follow up. Cross your fingers that he's okay!

jack.of.all.trades.

My normal job (for the summer at least) is hanging out with two kids who live 25 miles away. This situation has worked out well since i'll be starting school in three weeks and so will the kids. This week, they're on vacation. I found out about this last wednesday, so it was a nice surprise in the middle of a crappy week. I planned to take it easy- unpack, run some errands i'd promised a. i'd do, go to the pool- just enjoy the time quietly. When it came down to it, i realized that the last thing i was mentally prepared to do was hang out in the house alone. I'd already promised my tuesday/friday family that i'd help them organize and pack for the day on sunday, and monday, tuesday and wednesday nights (they're moving too, but just in the area, not out of the country). So after spending saturday by myself, i was looking forward to some company. We made huge progress for the 7 hours i was there, but with so much to do in such little time, i went back today- for eleven hours. Tomorrow will be about the same, and probably wednesday too. On thursday i'm keeping my london friend company on her drive to the cape (to check out houses) and friday i have some appts set up. I also just finished dog sitting for one neighbor and am now cat sitting for another (earl- the coolest cat you'll ever meet). So what started as a week off has turned into a week where i'm busier than i normally would be if i was working. It's all great stuff though, and i'm happy to have this time to catch up with people i don't get to see much anymore.

online.therapy.

This has been a really hard week. The b.'s left on tuesday and i've pretty much been crying ever since. I almost hyperventilated right after they left (which i have done before during an asthma attack, so i recognized the signs) and literally had just an hour without tears from the time they left (2:10) until i fell asleep around midnight. Those of you who know me know what a big deal this is- i never cry. Even my mom describes me as stoic. I can honestly say that i've never been this sad before. It feels like i just lost five of the people i love the most in the world. Though obviously they haven't died, there's not much difference right now. I'm alone here cleaning up (literally) things they've left behind. Strangely- that's one thing that's harder than i considered it being. Moving back into the house when things are different sucks. I'm staying on the second floor (i was up on the third before) and little things like putting my shampoo and scale in the bathroom make me so anxious i almost throw up. Part of me wants to power through and unpack all my stuff- thinking that it might be easier if i get it all done sooner. On the other hand, it could be better to take it slow so that i can gradually get used to things being different. I'm also usually great about getting things done- laundry, painting, etc. Now i find my self sitting around doing nothing and letting the laundry (or painting, or unpacking...) pile up. During my slow bouts of unpacking, i'll come across something of theirs and start crying all over again. While it would have been a whole lot worse if they'd sold or rented the house, living with all the memories and expectations isn't so much better. When you break up with someone, you usually can get rid of the things that remind you of them. Not so much in this case. The loneliness factor is another thing that took me by surprise. I'm so lonely now that it just makes me realize how attached i really was to them. Blast. Crying again.
So, the good news is that all this makes me want to step it up a little bit. You know, work out more, get out more...do things to make me happier instead of sitting around moping for the next three years. I'm giving it until labor day, and then no more self pity. I'm up for anything come september, so start planning.