Emilie

For those of you who don't know I'm one of five children. The oldest and youngest are boys and the middle three are girls. I'm the middle child and the middle girl. I'm blessed to have wonderful siblings who I adore. We all get along well when we get together, even if we didn't always when growing up. My childhood was wonderful because of them. But it would be really hard to tell the story of my life without my little sister. Emilie, this is for you.

My little sister's birthday is tomorrow and I've been thinking about her all week. I was two years old when my little sister was born. Almost from the beginning Em and I shared a room. From before I can remember to turning 16 I shared a space with my sister. Of course we used to fight like cats and dogs. Sharing a room may be one of the worst things for siblings. Em and I, although most of the time we got along wonderfully, fought bitterly about the room. I'll admit that I was messy, and probably annoying to live with. We'd divide the room down the middle frequently but she always got the bathroom and the door, so I was at a disadvantage. I remember how excited I was to move to my own room at 16.

Sisters Exploring the World Together

Fast forward...um...many years and I can't think of another person (outside of Jeff) that I'd rather spend time with. I adore my sister. She's one of the most positive and energizing people I've ever spent time with. She is curious, intelligent, kind, peaceful, and wonderful. She has been my constant champion in all my endeavors and I can't thank her enough for that. She teaches me something every time we get together and she inspires me. Every time I see her I wish we had more time to spend. She's often busy but we still get together. She works two jobs and is going to school. I couldn't be prouder of her. She's not just a wonderful little sister but she's a lovely person.

My lovely sisters (me, Emilie, and Alissa)

Tonight I went through all my old photos to see if I can find pictures of the two of us. We were often dressed alike and treated like twins. My parents referred to us as "the girls". They bought us matching toys and clothes. I found pictures of that. But the big thing I noticed was the smile that my sister flashes in all of her pictures. And the smile that gave me. I'm lucky to have a little sister like her. I'm lucky to get to spend time with her. And even though we didn't always get along, I'm lucky that I got to grow up right next to her. I love you little sis!

Isn't that smile wonderful?

Reconnecting

About two weeks ago my aunt and uncle were in Des Moines. Jeff and I had dinner with them and spent two nights playing games and enjoying their company. On the last evening they were here, my uncle mentioned an old friend that he had just gotten back in contact with. He said that there was another old friend he was looking for and hadn't had a lot of luck finding. So I offered to help him look.

I have access to some great public records databases and can find a lot people information without a ton of effort. So I started doing some digging to find his friend. It took me less than an hour to find his friend and to confirm that it was the man he was looking for. I had found an old email address, a current phone number, and a current address. I sent it over to my uncle to do with as he would like. He tried the email and it bounced back so he cold-called. And after a couple uncomfortable minutes, the two friends were talking. My uncle sent him some pictures and figured that was that.

He emailed me this morning to tell me that he'd gotten a letter from his old friend. It was an in depth letter describing the friend's life and talking about his family. And then this friend dropped a bombshell. The man was dying. He had about a year or so left to live. When I read that in my uncle's email I was shaken. I was so sad for this man, who is on the edge of death. But I was also happy that my uncle had reconnected at this point. That it wasn't too late for him to say that he was thinking of this man. I was happy he would have a chance to say goodbye. If he had waited a year, my uncle would never have gotten to say anything.

So today I've been thinking about all the people I've lost contact with. All the friends that I've let drift away. I'm suddenly interested in getting in touch with them. Of telling them how much their friendship meant to me, even if it never rekindles. Because you never know when it will be too late. I'm both happy and sad I could help my uncle. But more than anything it has made me think.

New Yarn

Sorry I've been gone. Two weeks ago I was done in the dumps and didn't feel like writing. This past week I've been on vacation from work and didn't feel like writing. So I took the time off. After all, I don't want this to feel like a job. So I apologize but I'm back and feeling better.

Today I met some of the ladies of my knitting group and a couple husbands and we had breakfast and then headed out to Heartland Fiberpalooza, a fiber convention in Winterset, Iowa. Imagine a room filled with yarn, rovings, and knitters. It was loud and colorful and a lot of fun. I'm not ashamed to say I loved every minute of it.

Breakfast was at a local restaurant that mixes Lexus drivers and farmers and hunters. It's out in the country but the area is surrounded by half a million dollar homes. Overalls mix with prada bags. It's a great environment and even better food. It's also right on the way to Winterset (yes where the covered bridges are). The convention was down at the fairgrounds and was really only one building. There were less than a dozen exhibitors but it didn't matter. The focus of the show was on spinning and dyeing but there was plenty of hand-dyed yarn. I wandered the show and then started the spending spree. Jeff and I had set aside some mad money and I managed to spend all of it.

After the convention, we all went to a local Mexican place for one of the best mexican lunches I've had in a while. Mi Pueblito offered a ton of vegetarian fare and the potato burrito and cheese enchielada were some of the best I've ever had. Add in some good salsa and a great cheese dip and I was in heaven. I'll be heading back. After lunch we hit the local yarn store, the one that had sponsored the festival. I bought more yarn (I might have a problem). After the money was gone and we were tired, we each headed home where I sat and knit for hours. It was wonderful. I walked away with five total skeins of yarn and no money leftover. It was well worth it though. A great day with yarn and friends.

Sorry this one is so washed out. I loved the mix of brown and blues. I just couldn't capture how beautiful it is with the camera. Here is a better picture. 

1200 Miles

Jeff and I have traveled 1200 miles since Thursday. We've see three capitol cities, we've attended both a juggling festival and a pinewood derby. We were stopped by three different cops (all three without tickets, thankfully). We had some great time with old friends and met a couple new ones. It's been both an incredibly enjoyable and incredibly stressful weekend. I'm exhausted.

We left on Thursday for Springfield, IL, a city that neither of us has ever been to. We arrived late and headed out to a late night dinner with a student that Jeff had just met at a conference. We were out until after 11. The next day, after lunch with another new friend, Jeff had a meeting and I wandered around around the city. After the meeting, we headed out of town. This was at 4 p.m. We were supposed to be in Minneapolis the next morning, a drive of nine hours. With the exception of getting a little lost once or twice, most of the drive went fine. Most of it...

On Thursday we had been driving down to Springfield when we had missed a turn in the road. It was dark and we hadn't seen the signs. Jeff pulled over on the side of the road with the idea that when it was clear we would turn around. There was only one car that we had to wait for. Then the car pulled in behind us and turned on its flashing lights. When we explained to the officer what the issue was, he said we should just u-turn and be on our way. We thanked him profusely and headed out. On Friday night we were almost to the Minnesota border when we were stopped for going 6 over the speed limit. The officer sweetly gave us a warning. Not three minutes later we passed a car that also pulled a u-turn and flipped on his red and blues. This time we had been going the speed limit but Jeff had forgotten to turn off his brights and had blinded the poor cop. By this point we were shaken. Jeff was apologizing the moment the window was rolled down. The officer laughed at our poor blubbering selves and send us on our way. We finished the rest of the drive at or below the speed limit with the feeling that we were cursed.

We arrived at the hotel in Minneapolis at 2 a.m. and dropped into bed. I was out in seconds. The next morning we picked up our friend Josh and headed over to Mondo Jugglefest. We go every year and always have a blast. This year I didn't take any pictures but we still had a great time. We met our friends Lon, Lisa, Dan, and Lon's parents there. It was a bit more low-key than usual but still did a fair bit of juggling. And watched lots of great tricks. After that ended we introduced Josh to Ticket to Ride while waiting for Dan to rejoin us. We had dinner with the two of them and then spent the rest of the evening telling stories, laughing, and enjoying. At 1 a.m. we reluctantly headed back to the hotel. I don't remember the last time I laughed as hard or talked that much. Fun!

This morning Josh met us for breakfast at our favorite french bakery Chez Arnaud. The pastries and desserts are just as lovely as they are tasty. I had a fraisier which is made of layers of almond sponge cake mixed with cream and strawberries. Mmmm. I also picked up meringue cookies and some cream puff pastries without the cream. Then we headed north to watch Lon and Lisa's children participate in a pinewood derby. My brother was a scout but I'd somehow never attended one. We had fun and got to see Logan win Best in Show for his angry bird car. After lunch it was finally time to head home. After the terrible driving and long rides, four hours home didn't seem so bad. I'm exhausted but it was well worth every moment. A busy weekend but one I won't forget for a while.

Then I'm Happy and Sad For You

It's been an odd weekend. A really odd weekend. It's been a weekend of both extreme happiness and extreme sadness. I've laughed heartily and I've cried miserably, within hours of each other. I've had warm bear hugs that warmed my heart and I've had consolation hugs that offered comfort.

My weekend started on Friday much like so many of them do. I had taken a half-day so we could drive up to Minneapolis for a friend's birthday party. The half-day was more fortunate that I realized. At 11:30 my department was called into a meeting to say that our boss had been let go. Now this was not just a boss the way I've had bosses before. This was a friend. We were all in shock. Some of the department was going out for lunch, just to get out of the office. I called Jeff to see if he could pick me up a bit early. I sent my now former boss an email to see if he needed anything. Jeff came right at the perfect moment, just in time for me to start crying. The office won't be the same without him around.

The drive up was okay but I was still pretty upset. Once we got up there though I was distracted. There was dinner at a sub place with a good friend of ours before heading over to the birthday party. We saw a ton of  people that we only see twice or three times a year. So it was an evening of hugs, good conversation, plenty of food and friends, with some Rock Band thrown in. Jeff and I stayed late into the morning, finally leaving the party around 3, which is only about six hours after my bedtime. It was a great time.

The next morning my body woke me up at 8 a.m.. Stupid internal alarm clock. We had plans to take the birthday boy out for lunch. Partly to celebrate his big round number birthday (which will remain unnamed) but partly because the party had also been a going away party. He's moving south. I figured that this would be the last time I'd see him for quite a while so I wanted to squeeze as much time as I could out of the weekend. Lunch was filled with great conversation. When we walked out to the parking lot I was sad again. I gave him a long hug and a Take Care but there was so much more I would have like to say. While I know we'll keep in touch via emails and phone calls, it will be a while before we get to spend time in person. And I'll miss him.

My sadness was short lived though as we headed up to watch the Huskers destroy Minnesota. I'm not really a Huskers fan but we were actually surrounded by them as we watched the game. It's odd to be in a house in Minnesota rooting for them to be crushed. But root we did. And crush they did. We had a wonderful dinner with friends, talked about sports and babies and knitting, then we headed back to our friends house to watch the Cardinals game and talk. We talked about some tough subjects but they were amazing. Jeff and I slept in the kids rooms that night, so I can now say I've slept on Dora the Explorer sheets.

They woke us for breakfast of homemade french toast and the chance to go see a trapeze school do some flying. On Friday at the party we had met one of their friends who trapezes as a hobby. He invited us out. Jeff and I had planned to leave on Saturday but watching trapeze outdoors was too much to pass up. We stayed. But our times were off. We arrived after they had taken down the net for the season. No trapeze for us. Instead we gave hugs and headed home. It took us two extra hours. The poor kitty had licked her food bowl clean by the time we had gotten home. We had only expected to be gone 24 hours. I hadn't been home in almost 72. And it was a weekend filled with highs and lows. It went from one extreme to the other. And sometimes that's okay. I know that this will work out. It's just odd right now.

New Favorite

I went out for a three hour dinner tonight which included two beautiful glasses of merlot, a mushroom lasagna that made me drool, a tasty tiramisu, and some absolutely incredible dinner conversation. My friend and I met at 6 and were still talking as we walked out the door at nine. The only reason we called dinner over was that she had somewhere to be at 9:15. Otherwise we'd still be there. Thanks Christina, for an amazing dinner!

So I have no real time for an actual post. That doesn't really matter though because I've been wanting to share this image from Joey Remmers that I found last week. I want a print of this. This might have to be my birthday present this year. He's selling them as part of a show he's doing at the Corey Helford Gallery. This print is called A Sheep Amongst Wolves. I really like the rest of Joey's work but it was this image that made me instantly take notice. I just love the colors and the lines. It's just gorgeous. Joey has a rather nice website filled with his painting and the tattoos he's inked. I love both. His ink work is a bit out of my price range but I bet you it is worth it. Perhaps when I finally have the money to get my ink done, I'll fly out to him. But until then, I think this print will tide me over.

Down Memory Lane

I received an email this past week from a good friend of mine in high school. She had managed to track me down using the marvels of Google and had taken the chance to email me. To make this feat a bit more amazing I've undergone a name change (last name and nickname) and my friend lives in Japan. I was a bit shocked that she found me and even more excited that she remembered me.

This friend was an exchange student from Japan and we became good friends almost instantly. I have some fantastic memories of the time we spent together. But I didn't remember everything. When she sent me a second email and mentioned some of her memories, it sent me scrambling back to my old yearbooks. There were things I had forgotten. So for the last two days I've been looking back at old pictures and reliving my high school years. I'm shocked at how porous my memories of that time have become (then again it was 16 years ago). I feel a bit old lately.

I was not a particularly popular kid in high school but I had a couple of good friends. I am remembering lunches spent with a candy bar and a notebook. The faculty trusted me enough that if they caught me out of the lunch room and in the building they left me alone. I'm remembering awesome days listening to 8 Tracks in the Journalism Room while laying out a newspaper. I'm remembering driving friends home and to events (I was one of the early ones with a car). I remember the hallways and the choir common room where I spent a ton of my free time watching MTV. Mostly I've been remembering friends who I haven't thought about in a long time.

The city recently remodeled the high school and it looks nothing like the school I went to almost two decades ago. The last time I drove by I didn't even recognize that it was the same school. And in a way that makes me sad. I realize that probably very few of my favorite teachers are still there, but I kind of want the halls to look the same.

It's been a bittersweet couple of days. I've been reminded of some of the amazing times I had in high school. I've been remembering old friends and old teachers. I've been reminded a bit of that passionate youth I used to be. And at the same time I'm reminded that I've gotten older and that nothing has stayed the same. But I have to thank Fumiko. I would never have gone back to those old yearbooks. And for that doumo arigatou gozaimasu.

Why the Circus Has Been Spoiled for Me

This past weekend we went to Mondo Jugglefest up in St. Paul, MN. It's an annual tradition for us. We started going at the insistence of our friend Lon, who has been going almost since the beginning. It used to be in February, right around his birthday, which made for dicey traveling but we always went. About two years ago they moved it to April (thank god) and we find traveling much simpler. It's a great trip filled with great friends.

Our group, not juggling

Mondo is the reason that circus jugglers don't amaze me quite as much. The festival is filled with people trying out new tricks, showing off old tricks, and learning from each other. At any one time there are probably 800 things flying through the air. Not surprisingly, you have to sign a waiver just to be in the auditorium. I've been hit by so many IFOs (identified flying objects) I've lost track. A majority of them have been from my own hand sadly, but you spend some of the time on the look-out for juggling props.

I've seen hundreds of unusual tricks done at Mondo. I've seen people standing on other people's shoulders and passing clubs to each other. I've seen odd object juggling (imagine juggling a feather, a potted plant, and a toaster at the same time). Every year I find something that amazes me. The hard part is that now when I go to circuses or see street jugglers, I'm not quite as impressed. My poor mother tried to point me to a gentleman juggling clubs one evening. All I could think is that unless he's on a unicycle or standing on a balance board, clubs don't really count.

I can currently only juggle three balls and do some basic contact juggling. I would like to learn clubs as well. I don't put in the time to get good at any of them, but each time I go to Mondo I come away inspired. These things are learnable. I've seen them done.

Ranting

I have a rant that I simply have to get off my chest. It's from this weekend. Now first I should let you know that I had an amazing weekend. I headed up to Minneapolis for the annual juggling festival up there and had a ton of fun. I got together with friends for dinner on Friday night followed by some geek shopping at a games store. We ended the night with video games.

The next day we met more friends up at the juggling festival and I spent the whole day working on my contact juggling. I've picked up a passing trick but its still so rough that I'll have to work on it for a while before I'm ready to show anyone. After the festival and the raffle we headed back to our friends Lon and Lisa's house for dinner, good conversation, and more video games.

Sunday we headed out of town about 11 and had lunch with my brother and his family. They bought a new house in September and I had to admit that it was our first visit up to see the place. It was amazing. The decorating they have done is just perfect. My sister-in-law (and brother) have great taste. We ate lunch with them but most of the afternoon was spent climbing trees, playing card games, and just talking.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. It was only spoiled by one thing. The one thing I have to rant about. The hotel. Jeff and I stay in the same hotel every time we go up there. This time was a bit different though. There was a convention of Minnesota Football Coaches at the hotel. I was a bit worried when we checked in but the concierge put us up on a private floor. You know the kind you have to swipe your key to get the elevator to take you to. Yeah, swanky. Except that when we came back on Friday night we were shocked, and a bit disheartened to see all three rooms adjacent to ours open with the coaches drinking beer in the hallway. Now normally I wouldn't have a problem with this, but it was nearly 1 in the morning. Gone was the idea of a quiet night.

I put in my earplugs and tried to get some sleep. No dice. My anxiety had already kicked in. About 1:30 they decided to head off to a different party (woohoo) but the damage had already been done. I lay in bed from 1:30 to 3:30 in the middle of a massive anxiety attack. From 3:30 to 5, I simply forgot how to fall asleep. The anxiety had passed, I was just too tired to sleep. I finally dropped off for about an hour and a half but was up again at 6:30. This time I just stayed up. I was exhausted on Saturday but still had a good time. It just makes me angry though.

My mother would shush us children in hotel hallways at 9 o'clock at night. "Be respectful, people may be trying to sleep." She'd say to keep us from running and yelling past rooms. It was the same in the morning. We were always taught to be aware of how our behavior affected other people. We were quiet to be nice to them. I'm slowly learning that a large portion of our population was never taught this valuable lesson in common courtesy. Jeff called the front desk one night on a group that were yelling to each other down the halls after getting home from the bars at 2 am. That one had woken me up from a sound sleep with earplugs in. Another night we called the desk about the room above us where the group was blaring some sort of thumping bass music and jumping on the beds. It sounded like a full marching band.

Perhaps I'm an old grouch. I certainly feel that way calling the desk to complain about my neighbors noise. I keep thinking that I'm too young to be bothered by this stuff. So I pack my earplugs and pray for a quiet night. But I'm beginning to wonder if this has nothing to do with age. And everything to do with respect. I was taught to be respectful of others sleep and piece of mind. I was taught not to disturb people. That was just common courtesy. Lately I'm wondering if I'm in the minority on that one.

So if you happen to be vacationing in a hotel, and you see a women walk past with earplugs in and a grim look on her face, know that it's me. And try to keep it down.

What Fools These Mortals Be

We're dealing with a blizzard. It's been snowing off and on since yesterday morning and it's escalated into a full blizzard. Many of the interstates and highways in the state are closed. The rest are Travel not Advised. I'm a home listening to the wind howl. I'm also contemplating my upcoming car repairs. The Corolla decided that today would be a great day to die. It's not been a good day. I could use some cheering up. Thank goodness this weekend was so much fun. The memories help.

Jeff and I headed out of town this past weekend to visit friends in Minneapolis. Two of our friends were performing in a version of Midsummer Night's Dream and we decided last minute to go up to see the show. Jeff dropped me off and picked me up from work on Friday and we headed out right at 5. The roads were good and we made fantastic time. We got there early enough to spend some time playing video games with our friend Jon until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open.


The next day we met the same friend for some breakfast at our favorite little diner in Uptown and then went shopping. We ended up in my new Mecca, a fantasy game store called The Source. As we were heading in I turned to Jeff and said, "You're probably going to want me to hand over my wallet." I could have spent most of my life savings in that store. I left with just a book and a business card. I'll be back.


After some shopping we met our friends Lon and Lisa for a quick but wonderful dinner. Then left just in time to meet more friends at the theater. I had been warned that the show was a bit of a different version of the Bard's tale. I didn't realize how different. I wish we had brought our camera. This was a show to remember.


Our friend Megan played Hermia, a lead role, and was just incredible. She sang, she wept, she got kissed. And she was fantastic. It was incredible to watch her up there. Our friend Josh played Snout, the Tinker. He got a ton of laughs and played the role with a constant smirk. It was a great role for him. The show was unconventional to the extreme. Helena was played by a drag queen. The faeries were goth dancers. And the ending is a surprise that even I wouldn't give away. Needless to say, this version wasn't exactly what Shakespeare had written. The performance was pitch perfect. I laughed so hard my face hurt by the end. Everyone played their roles well. I only wish I had gotten some pictures.


After the show we headed out for a drink or two with Jon and our friend Dan. It was nice to just get a chance to sit and relax. We told stories and talked until about 11 and then Jeff and I headed back to the hotel. The next morning (after being rudely awakened by a drunken wedding party that decided that hotel halls are for yelling) we headed home along the back roads. It was a great weekend, filled with friends. I loved the show and loved the chance to hang out. I sometimes wish we lived up North. Sometimes. Not today though. I'm not looking forward to all that snow tomorrow. Brrr.


PS. If you live up in the Twin Cities area, they will be performing Midsummers again this coming weekend. It is well worth the $5 admission.

Games Weekend

This past weekend was my birthday and one of my friends from Minneapolis came down to help me celebrate. He arrived on Thursday and hung out with Jeff and I until Monday (which is why I didn't get any posting done). It was an incredibly relaxing weekend. We left the house for meals but otherwise it was a quiet weekend at home with plenty of tea, movies, games, and talking. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday. Thanks Jon!

We watched a ton of interesting movies and television but the biggest hit for me was the games. Jon had brought down some of the games from his collection and we played something almost every night. Our first evening was the game I'd asked for by name, Cleopatra. This game has each player acting as an Egyptian architect building a palace for Cleopatra. You must collect the resources needed to build each piece of the building, which gives you money. But some resources also give you corruption, which you must avoid. The player with the most corruption is sacrificed to the crocodile god and the others are left to figure out who made the most money. An interesting strategy game with plenty of fun little pieces to play with.

One of the games that we played regularly was Chronology, Jeff's favorite game. This quick game requires players to figure out where things happen in a historical context. You start the game with one card which sets your baseline year. The next turn you are read a historical event without the date. You have to figure out whether the event took place before or after your baseline year. Each card after that also needs to be put into chronological order. You win when you have 10 cards all lined up in their spots. It's not a game I'm good at (I'm terrible with dates) but we had a great time.

On my birthday we played Apples to Apples with the family. This silly game has quickly become my favorite game although I'm terrible at it. One person reads the words on a Green Apple card while the other players find the red card in their hand that they feel fits the words. Then they turn them into the reader and the reader decides which they think fits the best. It's subjective and silly and a lot of fun. We laughed a lot and talked a lot and had a wonderful time.

The last game we had was the most complicated and ended up being my favorite one for the weekend. Agricola (pronounced A-grick-ola) is the latin word for farmer. In this rather involved game, players start a farm. On their turn they must decide how they will allocate their resources (crops, animals, home improvements....) and with limited turns it is all about finding food fast and building up your reserves. This game had us talking long after we'd finished. There are limitless strategies for ways to win and we each had plans for how we would win the next time. I focused on grains and bread and did well. Jon focused on animal production and easily blew both Jeff and I away. It was a great game though. A wonderful weekend filled with games and laughter and fun.

Losing and Living

I'm back! Hopefully for good. I decided I needed to step away from the blog world for a while after I changed jobs. As you probably know I moved into a new section of the office a couple of weeks ago and was trying to get adjusted. The new office came with a window, a new team, and a whole host of new duties. I took the week to settle into my spot on the team. But I didn't have long to be settled.

I started with the new group on Friday. The next Thursday one of my team members, and a close, close friend passed away. He was 31. When he didn't arrive at work that morning we called. When he still didn't arrive I called his fiance who's a friend of mine. And just about that same time we found out about his death. I was completely undone. Jason was an amazing friend, an amazing person, and well...simply amazing. He and I started talking because he happened to be a scuba diver, and I dive as well. That led to other conversations about books and flying and ghost hunting. And those conversations started leading to lunches. We talked about everything. And Jason always had great stories to tell.

Jason was friends with almost everyone in our department and as I was soon to find out with quite a few people from all walks of life. His memorial was standing room only. I wept for most of the service. And I laughed at the stories that others had about him. Jason would have wanted me to laugh. After the funeral me, Jeff, and a coworker headed out for drinks in Jason's honor. Then the next day I headed back to the office. An office that would never really be the same.

I've shut down for the last three weeks. I haven't read any blogs. I haven't read my comics. I haven't even spent much time online. I've focused all my attention on work, reading, and knitting. Over the last two weeks I've covered my work and Jason's work and I've still paused every time I walked past his cubicle. My new team has been fantastic and I'm really happy at work. But I still miss my friend.

So these past couple weeks I've read and knitted since I didn't seem to have a brain for anything else. And today I'm finally starting to feel like it's time to go back to living. Jason would have wanted me too. He lived fully. He did more in his short life than I will probably do in 50 years. He packed his life full of experiences. It's time I started heading back towards living. Time to reconnect. And I'll start to think about moving on but I'll never forget. This post is for you, Jason. I'll miss you, buddy.

Full Fourth

Fourth of July weekend came and went without any fireworks. It was raining so hard on Sunday night that we didn't even bother going out to see if the city was going to set them off. That's not to say that the weekend wasn't a blast. We had more fun (and it felt longer) than any weekend I can remember. It was just the less explosive type of fun.

The weekend started late Friday night when our friends Lon and Lisa arrived in town. It was late but we headed out for a quick bite of dinner only to find the noodle place we were planning to go to was closed for the night. Instead we headed next door for a surprisingly speedy pizza dinner. The kids did really well for being up so late and were great during dinner. After pizza we couldn't pass up the tasty gelato before heading back to the hotel to talk. We stayed up way past my bedtime (and I think theirs) talking but had a very nice time.

The next morning Jeff and I headed back to their hotel with the promise of finding a park to play in and then lunch. We didn't have to walk far to find a park though. While the youngest child took a mid-day nap, we took Lisa and their son Logan out for a walk around the pond near the hotel. What we didn't realized was that the pond was stocked with goldfish and filled with ducks. After one loop we were joined by the rest of the party and went around again. I'll talk about that walk a bit more in my other blog. Sorry no pictures. Then we headed out to lunch (noodle place was open this time) and then out to Raccoon River Park to play on the playground equipment. At about 3, Lon and Lisa continued on their way out of town and Jeff and I spent some time sitting on the patio soaking up the sun. That evening our neighbor came over and we spent a couple hours sitting out, drinking some good red wine, and talking. We hadn't seen Jeanne much since last fall and I was missing her. We talked and laughed and set up new drinks dates surrounding made up holidays (who needs an excuse to drink good whiskey?). It was incredibly relaxing although I will admit I had more red wine than I should have.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day. After all the red wine on Saturday night I had problems sleeping. So after finally falling asleep at 5 a.m. I slept until almost noon. It was only when my parents called about lunch that I finally got out of bed. After lunch at a barbecue place we headed back to their house for a quiet afternoon of visiting and board games. We played a couple hilarious rounds of Apples to Apples (my current game obsession) and a couple rounds of Bananagrams (my mom's favorite). Jeff and I didn't leave there until 9 and by then it was pouring. We headed straight home, figuring that no one would be lighting off fireworks, and started a jigsaw puzzle. It's been years since I've done a puzzle and it was one of the things that Jeff and I did when we first started dating. We stayed up way too late working on it but ended up with some nice quiet relaxing time together.

Monday was a work holiday for me so we planned to eat breakfast out, a traditional weekend luxury. While waiting for our table we got a text. It was Lon and Lisa on their way back through the city wondering if we wanted a late lunch. We left the sit down breakfast and headed over to Caribou for a quick bite, then back to the house to do some cleaning. We were having a box springs delivered that afternoon so we needed to be home and have the bedroom ready when it arrived. When lunch ended up being at 2 we ran down to the mall to meet them and then had to hightail it home since our delivery window was from 3-5. Of course the bed didn't arrive until 4:30. The evening was spent working on our puzzle which we finished surprisingly quickly. We actually started and finished another 1000 piece that afternoon. By the end of the day my back was killing me from bending over the table. But the new box springs helped soothe that. All and all a great weekend, filled with friends and visiting. We never BBQed or watched fireworks, but it was still an amazing weekend. I feel refreshed.

Bluegrass Picnic

Tonight will be my first evening at home in almost two weeks. I've been out of the house a lot lately and am looking forward to being home and getting some cleaning done. Isn't that sad, that I'm looking forward to cleaning?

Last night was my knitting night instead of our typical Wednesdays. There was a bluegrass band I wanted to see playing down in Indianola (for Bluegrass Tuesdays on the Square) and one of the knitting girls figured we could take our knitting outdoors for a change. I raced home after work to change clothes, grab my knitting, and pick up some snacks. After a quick bite to eat with Jeff I headed to our meeting spot and the group headed south to Indianola. We arrived at the town square just as the band was getting started.

We were there to see Mr. Baber's Neighbors, a local bluegrass band that has developed quite the following. And with good reason. These guys were good. We found ourselves a shady spot, spread out Jeff's old army blanket, and had a wonderful picnic. We had two types of cheese, crackers, fresh bread with yummy spreads, grapes, carrots, kettlekorn, and cider. It was far more food than any of us needed but we did a great job polishing it off (I should not have had that quick bite with Jeff. Stuffed!!!). We sat out with tons of other local residents, knitted, talked, ate, and listened to great music. There was something so relaxed about the whole evening. I loved the people watching, there were tons of families and couples and older people. It was a wonderful feeling of community. After my hands got tired of knitting I just sat back, relaxed, and people-watched.

The weather was perfect and when the band wrapped up at about 8:45 I don't think any of us were ready to head home. We were some of the last people on the square. Once back in Des Moines, we stopped for Dairy Queen and then separated for the night. A great evening filled with good friends, good music, and good food.

Winging My Way North

I am sitting over my lunch hour anxiously watching the clock. In three hours I will be heading out of the office for a physical therapy appointment. After that I'll have dinner with Jeff at our favorite Mongolian BBQ place and then I go home to pack. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be winging our way north. I have a four day weekend and am getting out of town for a convention. I'm incredibly excited.

Every year Jeff and I go to Minneapolis for the annual Mondo Juggling Fest. The festival offers jugglers a chance to get together, work on their tricks, learn new skills, and show off. Jeff and I can juggle three balls and Jeff has taught himself the basics of club juggling. My hope is to refine my contact juggling skills and learn how to pass. Jeff's balance board quickly became a group favorite last year. Although we have a ton of fun learning the juggling tricks, the big draw is seeing friends and spending the day just relaxing and hanging out. We have a great group of friends up in the Cities and love any chance we have of getting together. Other than one year when we were in Hawaii, Jeff and I have made the trek faithfully, sometimes through some pretty terrible weather.

This year I'm really excited that the convention is being held in April rather than the usual February. I'm excited to see friends. But I'm also excited to be getting out of town. Jeff and I typically travel heavily in the winter. This winter, because of my foot, we've been home and the cabin fever had started to kick in. We haven't been out of town since Christmas. I'm excited and it just seems like the hours aren't passing fast enough. So there will be no post tomorrow (I'll be on the road) and most likely no posts until Monday. Then I'll have lots of pictures for you. I'll even try to get some video of the unicycle hockey game that always starts up. Or some cool juggling trick I noticed. But mostly you'll get pictures of friends (some of which read this blog) who may or may not be doing some fun juggling.

If by any chance you happen to be in the area, stop by and check the festival out. The $5 entrance fee will get you a lot of cool juggling and unicycle tricks and some even better people watching.

Oddly Antisocial

I'm not typically antisocial. Most of the time I love being around friends and family. I revel in long discussions and good conversation. For an introvert (and trust me I am one) I tend to enjoy being around people. Mind you, drop me in a room full of people I don't know and I'll find myself a quiet corner to hide. But with people I know, most won't even believe that I'm painfully shy.

But for some reason both today and yesterday I've been avoiding people. I haven't been on Facebook, I haven't been blogging, and I haven't even been willing to check my email. Apparently I'm being antisocial. Which is hilarious considering my weekend. Most of the weekend was pretty quiet. I had dinner with Jeff on Friday and we settled in at home for some exciting Christmas Card writing and a touch of Bailey's. It's amazing how much easier that pen writes when the Bailey's is flowing (my apologies to anyone who gets one of my later addressed ones). Saturday was filled with cleaning. The house looks almost uncluttered now, which is miraculous. With two packrats living in the same house, things can get a bit overwhelming.

And all of that led up to Sunday. I woke up with the alarm on Sunday so I could have breakfast at a friend's place. And she treated me wonderfully. I had samosas and sweet potato curry. There was homemade Apple Carrot juice (surprisingly tasty) and homemade tortillas. By the time I left her house, I was well past stuffed. I got home just in time to get a call from a high school friend of mine. She had looked me up out of the blue and had emailed me about getting together. Considering that she lives in Alabama we haven't seen each other in years. Eleven years to be exact. We had lost contact. So for all of Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I hung out with her, her husband, and her two adorable kids. We spent a lot of time playing Wii, taking pictures, but mostly just catching up. It was wonderful. So after a day filled with talking and visiting you would think that I'd be more than ready to communicate with everyone else. Apparently not.

I'm thinking that I've come out of my antisocial mood. I spent a fantastic lunch today with my sister. We laughed and ate too much. And now I feel like writing. I feel like sharing. I may even get on Facebook although I'm not promising anything. Just know that I'll be posting the rest of the week. And possibly this weekend. And sometimes, it may even be interesting.

Playing With Skype

When I was raiding regularly with the guild, one of my favorite parts was the ability to talk over VOIP system Ventrillo. I enjoyed raiding before Vent but after we got the chance to talk to each other I was hooked. Not only did raiding become quicker but it offered a more personal opportunity to get to know my guildmates. We would crack jokes that we would never had written out. We quoted movie lines. And we generally had a ton of fun.

I've been missing raiding with the guild although strangely I don't miss playing WoW at all. More than anything I miss the people. Raiding for me was always about handing out with my friends in the guild and less about actually killing anything. I've been hesitant to go back though. I know how much time the game involves.

But the experience with Ventrillo got me interested in other VOIP systems. So when a friend and I started writing emails that took a couple hours to actually write (that long), we moved our conversations over to the phone. But I don't have a ton of minutes and neither does he so we decided a couple weeks ago that I would get a Skype account. For those of you who don't know Skype is a Voice Over Internet Protocol system (VOIP). Basically it is a phone service through your computer. If I am logged on and you know my account name you can call me. And here's the best part. It's free. I'm actually more surprised that people aren't using this system in droves. It's great for free marathon phone conversations. Well I had signed up weeks ago and then didn't do anything with it. I just haven't had time at night to talk. These past couple weeks I'm hardly ever home. And last night we decided, after an hour on the phone, to see how the system worked.

I have to say that compared to Ventrillo, Skype is so much easier and cheaper (Ventrillo charges a small monthly fee). There was no push to talk. There was no loss of connection or log offs. We just got a chance to talk. I used my headset but a built in microphone worked just fne. I could sit on the computer and work on drawing while I talked or sit on the floor and play with the cat. With the headset my hands were free. And one of these nights (when a major baseball game isn't on) I'll unplug the headset and just use the computers mic. Then I can wander throughout the living room and talk. For a free service, this is just incredible. Free phone service! Now I just have to get the rest of my family to get an account.

Bent Object Inspiration

Last Friday I posted an image from Terry Border's Bent Objects mostly because I loved the image and I love Terry's work. A friend of mine headed over to the website and got inspired. This is a good friend that I met through Jeff who has to be one of the most fearless people I've ever met. He's willing to try any art form, any hobby, anything. He'll become interested in something and then he just does it, unlike me who just reads about it until the feeling goes away. So to me, he's fearless. So I shouldn't be surprised that this morning he sent me a bent object of his own. Then he sweetly gave me permission to post it.


Thanks Lon! I think it's great. This is Lon's "The Escape".

Wonderful Weekend and Ulduar

Okay so it's been a couple of days since I wrote anything. I had no internet access again this weekend so no posting. And this will be short. I've been not feeling well since last night. I was out of town helping a friend move. I know what you're thinking, how exciting, but we actually had a really good weekend. The move itself only took a couple of hours and the hanging out lasted all weekend. It was great to see everyone. We spent a lot of time talking, playing games, and eating. It was really a wonderful weekend. And the last of my traveling weekends for a while. I love to get away but I'm looking forward to being home this coming weekend. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our guild made their first attempt on Ulduar on Thursday before I left. Several of the regular members had done section of the raid but we hadn't tried it yet as a guild. It went surprisingly well. We started late but managed to bring down four bosses in the span of a couple hours. The first boss we worked on was the Flame Leviathan, who is a machine fight. I don't normally do well with machine fights since my minion often interferes with the controls. But I dismissed my pet beforehand and had no issues. I got to be a gunner, shooting rockets and bombs and enjoyed the fight immensely. 

We then took down Razorscale and I got to play a major role in the battle, shooting the guns that brought the dragon to the floor. We had no real problems with him. XT-002 the girl robot who thinks we are toys, was much more a challenge. We managed to bring her down but I died twice during the fight and we wiped at least once. We bypassed the Furnace Master and brought down Kologran, the giant with the active right hand after several wipes. It was an interesting set of bosses but we had a good time. I look forward to going back. 

Catching Up

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. The internet is finally back up at home and I'm crossing my fingers that it will stay up. Work has been insane lately. I'm still working long hours and not catching up. No chance to post there. But it's also been good. For the first time in a long time I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. Perhaps I just need to be crazy busy all the time for my job to be enjoyable. 

Jeff finished his first class and did really well. He seems to have a knack for the subject. And to really enjoy it. 

We were gone all weekend in Minneapolis which is why I didn't post then. Every year for Father's Day our friends host a Trench party. Trench is a variation of dodgeball but with the added excitement of having people both in front of you and behind you. The game starts out just like standard dodgeball. But if you are hit you go to the outside area around the opposite team. Your teammates can pass you the ball to try to get the other team out. So you have to watch on all sides.The guys play and the girls sit around and talk mostly. Here are some pictures from the trip. 

The beginning of the day. It was warm and breezy and absolutely perfect weather to sit outside. 

And the end of the day. All the guys are exhausted. 

We stayed with friends (thanks Lon and Lisa) and had an amazing time hanging out with them and their two children. I got to play Hide and Seek with the kids, did crafts, and played video games. It was a fantastic weekend. On Sunday they took us out to see our first Twins game. Jeff has always protested "baseball in a can" but the game was a lot of fun. Here's the stadium.

The Twins lost but our friends and their kids got to run the bases after the game. 

The drive home was terrible, absolutely miserable. We even ended up with a ticket. (completely justified sadly) I made it up to myself by taking Monday off. And now I'm finally back on track. And you are all caught up. A great weekend with just a minor bump. 

Here is a brief video of the guys playing.