When stressed-out = Rollerblade

I've always known that rollerblading is good for lowering my stress level, that's why when it wasn't working, initially, today I began to worry. To start, I set out on my trek going way too fast and we all know what can happen when I do that. I slowed things down somewhat and then this pompous biker passed me going 100 miles an hour yelling "Left! LEFT!" I'm not deaf you idiot, I belong on the path just as much as you, and where the F did you want me to go? I was on the right side you pass on the left, you'd think with that much hideous I'm-a-biker-who-thinks-I'm-the-shit gear on your body you would know how the bike path works. Ok, so maybe he was just trying to warn me, but I may have yelled something at his bubbly biker butt anyway. After turbo blading a short distance longer I finally got over the strange decision that I should try to catch up with the biker and ask him what his problem was, after all, wasn't this supposed to be relaxing? even fun??

My turn-around spot is a drinking fountain which wasn't turned on until, OH I DON'T KNOW JUNE?!?! (Can you tell that peeved me too?) and it turned out that the dirty bastard had totally died altogether, dribbling little drops of water out like a drooling baby. I surprised myself by kicking something in aggravation. I stood there for a minute huffing and puffing, composing nasty letters in my head to whomever is in charge of that drinking fountain. Eventually, I felt like it was safe enough for me to head home without unloading any rage on the living or non-living.

It was then that life made me stop and see some good things about my surroundings. A water ski team seemed to be practicing, right off of the shore from where I was, so I made myself pop a squat as close to the water as possible. It was amazing how quickly my attitude started to change. One of the skiers kept making a point to wave at me as their troop circled by, so of course I kept waving back. Just that simple gesture made up for the biker and made me like the human race again. I laughed as 11 baby ducks and one mother duck swam in front of me (she's gotta have it worse than me, right?) and lastly, a cute family walked past me and two of the little kids said "Hi" to me - there isn't much that can make me smile as easily as kids can.

Before I left, I started poking around in the rocks looking for FOUND treasures, things started appearing everywhere: a tennis ball, a "Merry Christmas" sticker, the token straw, no buried treasures... unless you consider sanity and feeling like yourself again treasures, then, I'd say I struck gold.

We were SO cool

You've heard the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" however, yesterday Tiff and I discovered a thousand pictures summed up in one word = SCRUNCHIE. We were watching some of VH1's "I Love the 90s" and I couldn't resist busting out some of my photo collection from good ole 1997. Good Lord, I thought women my age were annoying with their picture taking, I guess I forgot what it was like to be a 13 year old girl with a Nikon. One set of nearly a thousand pictures of a walk home on the railroad tracks was particularly amusing. Who knew four girls walking through the countryside would be so inspiring to us budding photographers? After we made fun of our outfits and laughed at our pale, adolescent bodies Tiff groaned "Oh, and look I have a SCRUNCHIE in my hair!" I started to laugh until I noticed a GIANT WHITE POUFFY SCRUNCHIE on my wrist, "Gross! I have a giant, white, pouffy, scrunchie on my wrist!" I yelled as I pointed to a photo of three of us surrounding a dandelion head. "Oh my, it's disgustingly noticeable in every shot," I added, to which Tiff replied "Yeah, but I bet we were each secretly jealous of your giant, pouffy, scrunchie!"

Yup, we were indeed SO cool.

I'm FINALLY going to have a balcony!

Obviously, this isn't it. Here, we just have a gorgeous example of a balcony in New Mexico.

It may sound silly, but when I started my apartment search I decided that having a balcony would be my priority, followed by parking and price, of course. One company that I had been contacting actually said "Oh! You're the balcony girl." I said, "Yup, that's me!" I ended up looking at 5 apartments total and the last one was the winner, and let me tell you, it has one hell of a balcony. The apartment isn't HUGE, but that's fine with me because I want the balcony space to be where I spend most of my time anyway -- like right now, I could be fixing up a bagel with peanut butter for myself and wheeling my TV out on to my balcony to enjoy my morning. Or, after a long day of work I could bring out some tunes, pop a beer, and put my tired feet up on my balcony!

Another exciting possibility about this place (and also another thing that I am spending way too much time fantasizing about already) is that there is a chance that Tiff and Sarah might be LIVING ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME! I can only begin to describe how much fun (trouble) that would be. Growing up in the country, I missed out on being able to walk to most of my friends' houses and I think that is why I get such a kick out of how a lot of my friends are only a 5-15 minute walk away (in the Tiff & Sarah case possibly only a 15 SECOND walk away). I can already see Tiff trying to cross the street with a blender full of margaritas as I eagerly watch from my balcony.

I try to tell myself not to get too excited... as you can see, that's not working very well.

Happy First Day of Summer

It's a stormy one for us today. Have a good one!

She used to be My Little Shadow

Now, she's My Little Diva

...or, at least, she looks like it in this picture. In all reality, Whit couldn't be further from the standard Diva definition. She's so grown-up and mature I think I sometimes forgot that she's 11 years my junior when I was chatting with her.

THE FOUR GRANDDAUGHTERS (or sisters?)

She busted into our hotel room in Iowa, right as I was pouring my first gin & tonic, and I said the words I promised I'd never say to any kid over the age of 5, "YOU'RE SO BIG!" -- I always hated that when I was young (and still hate it when I hear it occasionally now) because I never knew (know) how to respond, "Gee thanks, I guess I grow like most children!" ??? But it was true, she'd grown miles since the last time I'd seen her, sure to pass me up in no time and she's become such a lovely tween that before you could say Tanqueray the words came gushing out of my mouth.

The reunion was such a blast, and although The Man tried to drag us down with "noise complaints" and "Alcohol use PROHIBITED" we showed him by getting good and drunk enjoying ourselves, and each other, to the fullest.

TWO LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPIN' ON THE BED

* I was flattered and horrified to find out that my aunt & uncle have discovered my blog after some crafty investigating. So, that last pic is for you J & J, looking forward to seeing you two and your little monkeys next month!

Off to a Family Reunion

I can't wait to hug and squeeze all of their cute little faces!

Coop de Ville

Grammy's 80th (Summer 05)

A Very Burnsy Bday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURNSY!

I had a plethora of pics to choose from when I started working on this post. This one is obviously from the New Year's that we spent in Ohio, and here you are demonstrating the fine art of Edward-Champagne-Hands. Too bad that only moments after I took this shot you were running, arms spread, into the bathroom to project your vomit into the Porcelain God (sidenote: this was actually New Year's DAY and the bottles are filled with leftover keg beer).

You have never failed at making all of us Wisconsinites laugh, that is such a wonderful quality. Thanks for all of the memories, I will call you later to make sure you have something good planned for your Birthday.

Love,

~Shakira

Workin' Woman

FINALLY. I don't know if it is just because orientation was such a downer yesterday, but I am riding high today. It honestly feels so awesome to be a productive member of society again. I didn't realize how people deprived I was (and money/learning deprived). I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face the whole bus ride home this evening, and for once I don't think it was just because I was done with my day. Oh, AND I've accomplished more personal errands in the past two days, after working 8 hours, then I would've in a week of retirement, which is crazy! It's not like I sat on my butt in front of the TV the whole time (that much, at least), I did do a lot of reading/blading...hmm, I could be blading right now while my laundry is drying, eh maybe tomorrow after I pack for the family reunion this weekend. The point is this, I'm glad to be a working woman again and I really think I'm going to like my job -- that's not to say that retirement wasn't fun:
...I'll still get to do this to Laurel just about whenever I want anyway, SFU dates!

Back into the Poop & Scoop

I start my first day of work tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit nervous, excited, curious = all of the feelings that go along with starting something new. Tomorrow is just an entire day of orientation, so not too bad, however, there is substantial trepidation associated with having to set my alarm clock for 5:30AM.

I was just sitting here gazing out my window and thinking about what to do with my last few hours of retirement when the couple, I believe, I spy on walked by across the street and had a minor incident with their canine companion. To recap, I was forced to spy on this couple when their arguing (or I should say her yelling) was so loud that I had to pull a chair up to my window and listen. On that occasion he ended up leaving, after substantial verbal abuse, and she continued to hysterically sob for a couple of minutes before the show was finally over and I could continue on with my life.

Tonight's events were much less dramatic, but amusing nonetheless. Apparently, their dog took a crap on their next door neighbor's lawn and they were called out on it by the disgruntled neighbor as it was happening. At first they seemed to be owning up to it as they professed that they would pick it up and the dude went to get a bag. I sat entertained as I watched the chick squirm with the delinquent doggy while she waited for him to come back. Then I heard her say, "Hey, bye.. we're picking up the shit!" and after the dude squatted down to do his duty he added audibly, "Yeah, next time try not to be such an asshole." Now, granted I only heard their side of the conversation, still, I don't think I like this couple very much. Spying on them tends to depress me.

Here's to hoping that first impressions of me tomorrow are more on the positive end of things. Wish me luck!

I love this city

I always thought that I'd leave here, migrate to warmer weather... and then, I fell in love with Madison. Growing up, I liked Madison. I enjoyed being downtown and partaking in the numerous indoor and outdoor activities available, but I didn't fall in love until about halfway through my college experience. I remember when it happened, it actually started to sink in when I was waiting at a bus stop one day -- I was looking at the street and thinking about how well I knew every detail about that street, somehow at that moment the street and the city felt like as much a part of me as the hair on my head. I realized then that I truly loved the color of the pavement, the sound of the traffic, the smell of the air, every inch was special and it was all mine.

Days like today remind me how in love I still am with this place. We went to the Farmer's Market on the Square and it couldn't have been more delightful. We finished off a bag of squeaky cheese curds in seconds, snacked on spicy cheese bread, sampled strawberries, and (one of my favorites) sucked down honey straws. My Mom used to get me honey straws every time we went to the Farmer's Market when I was little, they would keep me occupied for hours, smart woman. The sun came out and we walked to the Monona Terrace to gaze out across Lake Monona, spectacular.

I feel incredibly fortunate to live in this city, and I am very happy that I found a job here so that I can stay. Some people think that you can't appreciate where you are until you go somewhere else. I think that's crap, I am well aware of how lucky I am to be a Madisonian.

I can't see you bug!

I am not a bug killer... I'm not an anything killer really.

My parents often operated under the Catch & Release method when it came to bugs in our house growing up. Even today, when I release a bug somewhere I say "Fly! Be Free!" just like my Mom used to do with real Lady Bugs. The Catch & Release method is fine and all, but personally, I prefer the I Can't See You - Bug Amnesia method. I just had an opportunity to use my method when a smallish centipede came crawling across my floor. I first looked away and busied myself with something, and possibly pulled my feet up off of the carpet. Sadly, the second amnesia part is having trouble taking hold because he keeps crossing back in front of my line of vision. Not all bugs are safe from meeting their demise in my presence, however, I still feel a strong sense of guilt when any living thing dies by my hand (a leftover from pet deaths?).

Case in point: Wasp Killing (Summer 2005) I saved my away message:

I swung my legs onto my bed and I felt a little tingle on my right calf, (being such an optimist) I thought "Hmm, something scratchy is on my bed." THEN, I moved my leg a bit and something else moved, I thought "Hmm something moving is on my bed" yeah a GIANT BLACK WASP which happened to sting the shit outta' my calf!! Well, I trap the bastard in a cup (if you know me, you know I have trouble killing insects) and I decide letting him go would be too kind after the sting, I will flush him down the toilet and then I will feel like less of a participant in his certain death... Surprise! That didn't work so well. Amanda and I ended up freaking out all over the bathroom chasing and spraying the wasp with various cleaning products. Eventually, I gave in to bludgeoning his chemical coated body to death.

I can still vividly recall black, wasp abdomen and thorax flecks shooting across the white tile. I believe I yelled each time I bludgeoned him, partly because I was horrified and partly because it aided in putting the poor bastard out of his misery as quickly as possible.

I am not a bug killer.

Heavy Lifting

In effort to make the whole moving out process smoother, I always try to move a few things out ahead of time. Today, I decided I should bring home some winter stuff (and, of course, chill by the pool for a bit). I wasn't certain that I'd really have that much to bring - surprisingly, after I lost all motivation and had to force myself to organize, I had plenty to move, too much in fact.

I ended up awkwardly carrying a 5ft by 1 and 1/2ft storage bin full of junk, with a leather coat wrapped in a fleece blanket on top, a 30 pack beer box filled with winter gear on top of that, and two backpacks with ice skates and boots in them on my back, all at once. YES, I swore, and YES, I injured things.

I almost dropped the clusterfuck 20 times, my fingers are tender, my thighs got the shit scraped outta' them, and I had to buy more beer at the grocery store to compensate as liquor is the only thing that keeps my back from spasming :)

While balancing two empty boxes, an 18 pack, my phone, keys, and wallet, on the way in just now, I tried to stay positive about moving. I was telling myself that it is good to start over (I don't have the foggiest idea where I will be relocating to as of this moment) and that it will be nice to lose any enemies that I may have unintentionally/intentionally created and, more importantly, to get the chance (or in my case actually take the chance) to make new friends out of new neighbors.

We'll see how long this "positive attitude" lasts. As some of you know all too well, change isn't my strong suit. I tend to instinctually apply the if it ain't broke, don't fix it (or, more accurately, if it sorta' functions, why bother?) attitude to just about everything, yet, unfortunately for me the world will keep spinning, time will go on, and I'll continue to become a Real Person whether I like it or not. At least pretending to be prepared offers some comfort AND the added bonus of distracting physical pain.

First Attempt

...to make Dan taller than his two vertically gifted pals.

I had to do some shoddy editing to get this to fly, and I originally planned on making a few more passes at it to better my results. However, as geeky as I am, I don't think even I can justify spending more of my time on this project. How tall would this make you, anyway Bro? 6'6"?

With the end of my retirement date officially being bumped up to a week from today, I hope I still have time for endeavors such as this. I assume I will, why should being a working woman interfere with my geektastic hobbies? Heh, we all know being a college student never did.

long distance harassment

After talking to Timmy and Burnsy tonight, I decided to go in search of some classic OHIO pics. It was great talking to you two, you both totally cracked me up, and I am looking forward to your visit this summer. Please forgive me for the photos -- I couldn't resist!