Went to Cade and Shellie's goodbye party Saturday night. Sigh. Lots and lots of people I have been missing these past few months. Per our usual routine we got ridiculously lost going home. This was partly my fault as I was the sober driver who left less-than-sober Peter in charge of navigating. Yeeeah. He was super-helpful. At one point he was convinced we were in Kalamazoo. After many left and right turns we found ourselves in Byron Center with an on ramp to 131. People always complain Vermont doesn't have any road signs. You know where else doesn't have any road signs? HASTINGS!!! I found myself wishing I'd get pulled over just so I could ask for directions.
Sunday after sleeping in far too late I picked up me mates Christina and Michael for viewing # 2 of SITC (red dress with polka dots, my "new" secondhand Calvin Kleins, and black heels) and then drinks downtown. In Holland. We felt deliciously naughty which makes sense given that the three of us together are deliciously naughty. It had been way too long since we'd gotten together. I suspect Sunday was a tame intro to our summer which may include any of the following: bike rides to Saugatuck, shopping expeditions, potential day trips to Chicago, porch, patio, and deck sitting, and hitting up the gay bars in GR.
The tomatoes are in! Yay! This is really my first year trying to do anything more adventurous than herbs and I'm giddy with anticipation. Every day I inspect and water and tend. I'm definitely not my mother's daughter when it comes to plants. That woman has plants everywhere and I swear most of them have been alive and well for years. I? I have trouble remembering to feed my cat some days.
This week is shaping up to be busy already. Tomorrow is a much needed market and natural food store day before work. I need to get in 3 runs and at least one longish ride this week. I'd like to finish this book I started last night before the weekend. Saturday night I think we're going to a Whitecaps game with the Berghoefs. Sunday I'm hopefully shopping and sushi-ing with Christina and Joleen.
And Monday I start all over again.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
and then she blogged right in front of us!
Oy. Busy.
It's the second week of summer reading and usually that means the crowds start dying down a little. Not here. Lines and lines of people and stacks and stacks of books and lots and lots of new registrations and tons and tons of replacement costs of items. On top of the business on the desk my duties behind desk continue to keep me occupied. My head is swimming with excel spreadsheets. Though I've been told I should feel really good about how much I've picked up on these past 2 weeks I still feel like I faking it. I'm nice ALL the time. My phone voice could be considered slightly pornographic. It ain't right.
Thankfully I have a small life outside where I get to cuss like a sailor and drink like a fish. Okay, okay the drinking like a fish isn't so true anymore unless someone like Becky comes to town. I fear Peter is becoming tired of drinking entire growlers of Founders all by himself (HA!). I haven't been to the Sandbar since I've been back from Vermont. And one pint of IPA can make me sleepy. Might have something to do with the more consistent running schedule. Might have something to do with the biking to work everyday. Might have something to do with working whilst at work.
Man. I'm even boring myself.
Confidentially? I still should be wearing a "Life is Good" t-shirt. I'm unnervingly content these days. I think it has something to do with summer.
Last night we watched "The Puffy Chair." I was worried it would be all pretentious-y and self-conscious. Thankfully it was neither. I really liked how it was shot as it reminded me of Old Joy--close and kind of hand heldish. I really hated the female character which may or may not have been part of the point. I cannot stand emotionally manipulative women who constantly need reassurance of their worth through their relationship. I kept turning to Peter saying, "There are women out there like this. I KNOW women like this. God, I hate women like this." Still, it was worth 84 minutes of my life to watch.
Tomorrow is market day and I'm going to be the grateful recipient of someone's CSA share. I can't wait to see what I get. AND the strawberries are officially in. AND tomorrow is the day I finally pick up my plants: coupla tomatoes and a buncha herbs. This means tonight I need to go out and get me some pots and some dirt. I also have 3 pounds of asparagus in my fridge that need blanching and freezing soon so I may have that on the agenda tonight as well. Plus tonight is longish bike ride night. And I just picked up the first season of The Shield, the next book in the Stephanie Meyers series (young adult books about a girl who's in love with a vampire. Buffy fan, anyone?), the new David Sedaris, and I'm only half finished with The Sportswriter.
There is talk of buying tickets to the Nick Cave show in Chicago which I can't believe isn't sold out yet given the stellar reviews from the last album, but there it is. I'm optimistic we'll commit to that sooner rather than later.
Wow. That might be the most exciting news of this entire post.
It's the second week of summer reading and usually that means the crowds start dying down a little. Not here. Lines and lines of people and stacks and stacks of books and lots and lots of new registrations and tons and tons of replacement costs of items. On top of the business on the desk my duties behind desk continue to keep me occupied. My head is swimming with excel spreadsheets. Though I've been told I should feel really good about how much I've picked up on these past 2 weeks I still feel like I faking it. I'm nice ALL the time. My phone voice could be considered slightly pornographic. It ain't right.
Thankfully I have a small life outside where I get to cuss like a sailor and drink like a fish. Okay, okay the drinking like a fish isn't so true anymore unless someone like Becky comes to town. I fear Peter is becoming tired of drinking entire growlers of Founders all by himself (HA!). I haven't been to the Sandbar since I've been back from Vermont. And one pint of IPA can make me sleepy. Might have something to do with the more consistent running schedule. Might have something to do with the biking to work everyday. Might have something to do with working whilst at work.
Man. I'm even boring myself.
Confidentially? I still should be wearing a "Life is Good" t-shirt. I'm unnervingly content these days. I think it has something to do with summer.
Last night we watched "The Puffy Chair." I was worried it would be all pretentious-y and self-conscious. Thankfully it was neither. I really liked how it was shot as it reminded me of Old Joy--close and kind of hand heldish. I really hated the female character which may or may not have been part of the point. I cannot stand emotionally manipulative women who constantly need reassurance of their worth through their relationship. I kept turning to Peter saying, "There are women out there like this. I KNOW women like this. God, I hate women like this." Still, it was worth 84 minutes of my life to watch.
Tomorrow is market day and I'm going to be the grateful recipient of someone's CSA share. I can't wait to see what I get. AND the strawberries are officially in. AND tomorrow is the day I finally pick up my plants: coupla tomatoes and a buncha herbs. This means tonight I need to go out and get me some pots and some dirt. I also have 3 pounds of asparagus in my fridge that need blanching and freezing soon so I may have that on the agenda tonight as well. Plus tonight is longish bike ride night. And I just picked up the first season of The Shield, the next book in the Stephanie Meyers series (young adult books about a girl who's in love with a vampire. Buffy fan, anyone?), the new David Sedaris, and I'm only half finished with The Sportswriter.
There is talk of buying tickets to the Nick Cave show in Chicago which I can't believe isn't sold out yet given the stellar reviews from the last album, but there it is. I'm optimistic we'll commit to that sooner rather than later.
Wow. That might be the most exciting news of this entire post.
Monday, June 9, 2008
a sassy dress can only do so much
It's the first day of the summer reading sign-ups. Every year it's chaos. Lines and lines of people with stacks and stacks of books. I've been at this for nigh on seven years and every single year I'm taken by surprise at just how busy we are. I'm really looking forward to a night of solitude. Smiling and being nice can be exhausting.
SITC was grand. Was it a good movie? I honestly don't know. I know that as a fan of the show I thought it was darn near perfect. The clothes! The shoes! The sex! The drama! I wore heels so high I was actually concerned I wouldn't be able to walk. I did. I also ended up in pain for a day or so as a result but they were the purrrfect shoes. Fashion sometimes means pain. We ended up at City Vu after where I was underwhelmed by the cocktails and overwhelmed by the flatbreads: roasted duck with mole, scallions, and goat cheese on one and smoked salmon, marscapone cream cheese, and scallions on the other. The duck was, of course, divine.
It's been raaaaainy here. Scary rain. Like our house should be leaking or demolished scary. Thankfully neither of those things happened. We got a little stir crazy, but other than that we're all good. Iron Man was good old fashioned super hero fun. I Am Legend was so awful I'm still sort of shocked it got made. I started reading The Sportswriter and I'm loving it.
Tonight I hear some folks are coming into town to see Peter. Unfortunately, yet again, I will be unable to enjoy the festivities as tomorrow will no doubt be a repeat of today. And as I'm still learning the ropes of my new duties I need to be on top of my game.
I'm so responsible.
SITC was grand. Was it a good movie? I honestly don't know. I know that as a fan of the show I thought it was darn near perfect. The clothes! The shoes! The sex! The drama! I wore heels so high I was actually concerned I wouldn't be able to walk. I did. I also ended up in pain for a day or so as a result but they were the purrrfect shoes. Fashion sometimes means pain. We ended up at City Vu after where I was underwhelmed by the cocktails and overwhelmed by the flatbreads: roasted duck with mole, scallions, and goat cheese on one and smoked salmon, marscapone cream cheese, and scallions on the other. The duck was, of course, divine.
It's been raaaaainy here. Scary rain. Like our house should be leaking or demolished scary. Thankfully neither of those things happened. We got a little stir crazy, but other than that we're all good. Iron Man was good old fashioned super hero fun. I Am Legend was so awful I'm still sort of shocked it got made. I started reading The Sportswriter and I'm loving it.
Tonight I hear some folks are coming into town to see Peter. Unfortunately, yet again, I will be unable to enjoy the festivities as tomorrow will no doubt be a repeat of today. And as I'm still learning the ropes of my new duties I need to be on top of my game.
I'm so responsible.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
the winnemere was good, but the constant bliss was better
I'll admit it. I welled up a little watching Barak Obama's speech from St. Paul. I have decided to keep him at arm's length, however. I've been burned too many times by the Democratic Party getting all Democratic Party-like the past 2 decades plus. I want to believe him, but I'm just going to have to see. The first test will be the running mate. If he goes with Hillary (slim to none chance imho) or some other tired old Washington politico, I will be shopping for another candidate. I'd LOVE it if he'd go with Chuck Hagel, but that could be political suicide for him. I'd be thrilled with Edwards. Mostly I'm happy to be moving forward with the election and will be even happier when Hillary disappears.
I've been enjoying my new job maybe a little too much. I like being busy. I like learning new things. I like my new schedule. Yesterday I left at noon and didn't come back until noon today. I've been asked to switch my Friday hours from the afternoon to the morning which would mean my weekend would begin at noon every.single.Friday. I'm technically "thinking it over" but my friend Julie said she'd hit me in the head if I pass it up. I've been living a good clean life, it's true. Going to bed early, running every other day, biking to work and longer when I can. I'm creepily content.
Tomorrow night I'm getting all girlied up and going to see SITC with some friends. There will be a strapless dress and heels involved. Hopefully a new haircut too. After we're planning on either City Vu or Butch's for a beverage. Becky was invited, but she seems to think going to a family wedding is more important. Saturday morning is market day where eggs will need to be purchased along with whatever plants and herbs I plan on trying not to kill for the summer. The rest of the weekend? Who knows. Trying to stay cool in our very hot and humid apartment, maybe getting a grill so I'm not cooking in our very hot and humid apartment, maybe hitting up the Dock on Sunday if it every stops raining.
I've been enjoying my new job maybe a little too much. I like being busy. I like learning new things. I like my new schedule. Yesterday I left at noon and didn't come back until noon today. I've been asked to switch my Friday hours from the afternoon to the morning which would mean my weekend would begin at noon every.single.Friday. I'm technically "thinking it over" but my friend Julie said she'd hit me in the head if I pass it up. I've been living a good clean life, it's true. Going to bed early, running every other day, biking to work and longer when I can. I'm creepily content.
Tomorrow night I'm getting all girlied up and going to see SITC with some friends. There will be a strapless dress and heels involved. Hopefully a new haircut too. After we're planning on either City Vu or Butch's for a beverage. Becky was invited, but she seems to think going to a family wedding is more important. Saturday morning is market day where eggs will need to be purchased along with whatever plants and herbs I plan on trying not to kill for the summer. The rest of the weekend? Who knows. Trying to stay cool in our very hot and humid apartment, maybe getting a grill so I'm not cooking in our very hot and humid apartment, maybe hitting up the Dock on Sunday if it every stops raining.
Monday, June 2, 2008
best vacation EVER
Double-rainbows, gorgeous fields of huge wind turbines, Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World and that all happened before we hit Vermont.
The race was a beast for me. I was under trained and sick and did just about everything wrong. I also had memory loss when it came to the course. I had volunteered to run the leg that included the Assault on Battery--a 1/2 mile climb at the end of my section. Unfortunately I forgot the rest of the hills through the south end neighborhoods I had to conquer before I got to Battery. I started way too fast, I threw up, I snotted, I hacked and coughed and didn't drink nearly enough water. The kicker? I missed the hand-off to my Dad which added about 1/2-3/4 of a mile onto my death march. My sister and bil had the extreme pleasure of seeing me at my worst--lots of expletives--but thankfully they came after me with water once they realized I had gone too far. Everyone else did amazingly well. Bryan was dead on his pace, Dad made up a TON of time for me, and Christina finished so strong I was jealous. I learned alot that day. Respect EVERY distance. Downhills do not mean you should cut 2 minutes off your expected race pace. And, most importantly, I love running races. Despite everything I had a fabulous time and I'm looking forward to back to back half marathons this fall.
The rest of the week was heavenly. I feel in love with Healthy Living Market so much so I didn't even set foot inside City Market. I bought $20 worth of Jasper Hill Farms cheese. I bought books. Lots and lots of books. We went to a used bookstore that had a wall of poetry like none I had ever seen before. We ate at Pennycluse twice. I will dream about the crisp creamy goodness of the grilled polenta for years to come. We ate at A Single Pebble where we took Bryan's excellent advice and devoured the mock eel. We ran in the mornings and biked the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in the afternoons. I bought lots and lots of dresses to officially kick off The Summer of the Dress. I found a pair of Calvin Klein jeans for ten dollars. We talked politics and religion and books and running. We ate my Mom's Amazing Heath Bar Crunch Pie just about every single day. I deconstructed and devoured a lobster. Vermont is the Land of Milk and Honey. And if I could only afford to live there and find I job I'd move back to be amongst my people in a heartbeat.
So it's back to life. Things are a little different here as while on vacation I was informed I had gotten a job I bid for. It's the same amount of hours with a slightly different schedule, different responsibilities and more money. I'm going to be busier which makes me very happy.
Summer is here. It's not only The Summer of the Dress, but it's also The Summer of Running, The Summer of Biking, The Summer of Lake Michigan, The Summer of Reading, The Summer of Writing, The Summer of Grilling, The Summer of Spending More Time With My BFF, The Summer of Canning, The Summer of Breadmaking, The Summer of Hopefully Learning How to Play the Guitar, The Summer of Very Little Television, The Summer of Fires Out Back, The Summer of Living a Good and Full Life.
The race was a beast for me. I was under trained and sick and did just about everything wrong. I also had memory loss when it came to the course. I had volunteered to run the leg that included the Assault on Battery--a 1/2 mile climb at the end of my section. Unfortunately I forgot the rest of the hills through the south end neighborhoods I had to conquer before I got to Battery. I started way too fast, I threw up, I snotted, I hacked and coughed and didn't drink nearly enough water. The kicker? I missed the hand-off to my Dad which added about 1/2-3/4 of a mile onto my death march. My sister and bil had the extreme pleasure of seeing me at my worst--lots of expletives--but thankfully they came after me with water once they realized I had gone too far. Everyone else did amazingly well. Bryan was dead on his pace, Dad made up a TON of time for me, and Christina finished so strong I was jealous. I learned alot that day. Respect EVERY distance. Downhills do not mean you should cut 2 minutes off your expected race pace. And, most importantly, I love running races. Despite everything I had a fabulous time and I'm looking forward to back to back half marathons this fall.
The rest of the week was heavenly. I feel in love with Healthy Living Market so much so I didn't even set foot inside City Market. I bought $20 worth of Jasper Hill Farms cheese. I bought books. Lots and lots of books. We went to a used bookstore that had a wall of poetry like none I had ever seen before. We ate at Pennycluse twice. I will dream about the crisp creamy goodness of the grilled polenta for years to come. We ate at A Single Pebble where we took Bryan's excellent advice and devoured the mock eel. We ran in the mornings and biked the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in the afternoons. I bought lots and lots of dresses to officially kick off The Summer of the Dress. I found a pair of Calvin Klein jeans for ten dollars. We talked politics and religion and books and running. We ate my Mom's Amazing Heath Bar Crunch Pie just about every single day. I deconstructed and devoured a lobster. Vermont is the Land of Milk and Honey. And if I could only afford to live there and find I job I'd move back to be amongst my people in a heartbeat.
So it's back to life. Things are a little different here as while on vacation I was informed I had gotten a job I bid for. It's the same amount of hours with a slightly different schedule, different responsibilities and more money. I'm going to be busier which makes me very happy.
Summer is here. It's not only The Summer of the Dress, but it's also The Summer of Running, The Summer of Biking, The Summer of Lake Michigan, The Summer of Reading, The Summer of Writing, The Summer of Grilling, The Summer of Spending More Time With My BFF, The Summer of Canning, The Summer of Breadmaking, The Summer of Hopefully Learning How to Play the Guitar, The Summer of Very Little Television, The Summer of Fires Out Back, The Summer of Living a Good and Full Life.
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