Smiling in Sympathy
All work and no play doesn't necessarily drive you insane, but it DOES make for a really boring blog. I'm proud to announce that is OVER for me. It's time to enjoy an summer in beautiful, green, open-past-6pm Minneapolis. Here's what I'm up to:
- Working out. I'm back with my trainer, twice a week and he is kicking my ass Soviet-style. He's got me doing kettlebells, which are oh so Russian, and weigh ins once a week, which is oh so Barta.
- Cleaning my house. It's weird how messy a house can get when you are never there, except to dump out a suitcase, do just enough laundry to pack again, buy more toiletries, and then leave again.
- Hanging out! Being gone for a cumulative 5 months is not great for your relationships. It's make up/back in the groove time.
- Feeling Minneapolis. Melissa and I are working on starting up a podcast about Minneapolis, which a few people seem to be very anxious to hear. The rest of this town has no idea what's about to hit them. No. Idea.
- Tweeting. I've decided I want to Tweet. In order to do so, I need people to tweet at. So go to twitter.com and get an account and you will get updates all the time from ME. Come on, what could possibly be more awesome than that?
- Eating vegetables. I'm on the CSA bandwagon at Featherstone Farms, and I can't wait for all the veggies this girl can eat and then can the rest. Yessss canning vegetables. Which reminds me, I need to find a pressure canner that won't break the bank.
- Reading. I have a quickly growing reading list, and I need to get to getting on making headway. I might need to give up TV to make this happen, which I'm begining to seriously consider.
- Decorating. This hasn't actually happened yet, but I'm a stylish lady and my apartment does NOT reflect that. Time to fix it! Summer projects!
I'm back in town, bitches. Hollaback.
And so it begins
Today is the begining of my marathon travel back and forth between Tucson. I've accepted all the travel and time away as a foregone conclussion for sometime now, but lately I've ben feeling less than completely indifferent about it. I'm sure I'll need to post a theraputic bitching post when trapped in the desert in about a month, so for now I will hold onto that card and focus on the positives. Positives like this tasty peach Izze. Yum.
I'm ridiculously early to the airport. I hate that. I like being slightly earlier than just in time. When I'm too early, I tend to forget things (like my iPod before going to India). I also packed my big luggage, which makes me feel like I'm going somewhere fun for a long time. I am usually on these trips with a pack of guys, many of them just old enough to think that they need to teach me about traveling; because, in my short life, to where could I have possibly travelled? I better not hear any guff about women and giant suitcases! 10 days vs 3!
End Credits
Ahhh, the New Years Blog entry. The classic year in review and/or resolutions and/or best of previous year list entry. My thoughts are nowhere near collected enough to really do this justice, but I suppose that's representative of my head, and therefore, totally accurate and appropriate!
Year In Review
2008 was pretty good for me. Let's hit some highlights, shall we?
I went to India for 2 months and made it back without contracting Malaria (as far as we know anyway...5 months to be officially in the clear), Hepatits A or B, Tetanus, Measles, Rabies, Flu, Japanese Encephalitis, yellow Fever, Diptheria, or Polio. All I got was a bitchin case of Strep Throat, which did win me a trip to an Indian hospital, which was actually very interesting and surprisingly cheap and easy. I hung out with Molly, who knows kind of everything and everyone going on in Minneapolis. I lived with my ex-boss, which no, I didn't KNOW would be ok, but I did know I'd be able to handle it. It turned out to be just fine, and I made some great friends: Todd (T-Roy), Michael (Curly), and Michael (Sunny), and learned how to play Wii Tennis as a result. I spent a day at a mango farm and was a celebrity white person, and went to the beach in Goa to play in the Arabian sea and be wistful about mildly European things (like the street signs. I know, I was in a weird state of mind).
I got home and went straight to...Vegas! for Jayne's wedding. Vegas continues to not be my kind of town, but it was fun nonetheless, hanging out with Natalie and Amanda. I saw a Cirque show (Mystere), won $100 at blackjack in 10 minutes (apparently, I'm an idiot-savant at blackjack, didn't get sunburnt. All in all, a wild success I would say.
I spent the summer making jam, trying to get my life and house back in order after so much time away, and work work working. I got a nice bike and started biking to work and around town. I definitely want to do more of this, especially to offset the car which is now in my garage.
The summer ended in a magnificent way. Carrie came to live with me for a month as she transitioned to live in Phoenix (crazy girl!). Carrie was one of my team mates in gym club in college. What perfect timing and a perfect companion to hang out during the OLYMPICS of 2008! I had a pretty awesome party, projecting the all around competition on the back wall of my house (so sweet, I don't know if I can ever top it!). Fake ages aside, the right people won the right medals...except for that vault bronze which should be Alicia's. The USA girlies were awesome, the Chinese girlies were awesome, Shawn and Nastia and Alicia were awesome...it was just magic. I have to stop, or I'll start tearing up about it.
Then work kind of became all consuming for a while, the effects of which then made me realize that that is NOT ok, and that I need to regulate on the situation, even if it means not being completely awesome, dependable, and on top of everything all the time. THAT is a VERY BIG pill for me to swallow. I'm still drinking water, trying to get that pill to stay down.
Lexi and Jeff got MARRIED in November! It was amazing, gorgeous, adorable, fun, and just...very Lexi and Jeff-like. It was so much fun and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! Lexi was um, GORGEOUS and the antithesis of a bridezilla, in spite of EVERYTHING - that's my girl! It was 45% primping, 10% actual wedding (very touching), and 45% me and Melissa making people dance. Me and my Kates were tired...we worked it! I'm pretty sure at some point I actually picked someone up, in the Kates and my dress, and carried him out to the floor (on a dare). Ha!
OBAMA got elected, which I think is great. Normally, I try to not publish or publicize my political leanings, but this is amazing. (Hopefully, some super conservative people at work never find this blog! I've had to listen to some serious bitching about the election!) I actually get why people talk about JFK the way they do. I'm ready to really believe in our president for once, and not be apologetic when talking to my friends from other countries about politics.
I turned 27 this year, which was pretty good. As usual, I hung out with my parents and also had a party, which was drastically more tame compared to last year, but no less fun. I guess the crew is just getting old! 27 is a good number. 3x3x3. Thanksgiving was low key and nice at Mom & Dad's. I made the rolls. They were tasty. Once I get an actual dining room table, everyone is invited to TG at my place!
I actually don't remember in which month I got the car, but sometime after the Olympics (yeah...you'd be surprised how often I have to think about what gymnastics competition happened around life events to answer questions about "when did that happen?") It is mighty convenient, especially for buying large or awkward shaped things at Target, and for going to the gym. That's right, I drive to the gym, which is about 10 blocks away. It just shaves time off the whole thing, and although it's not great environmentally, it is getting my ass to the gym, which is pretty important. Sorry, Planet :(
December has been a whirlwind of Christmas prep and...you guessed it...work! I was more on top of Xmas than I think I've ever been, but I still didn't get Christmas cards out. Oh well, room to grow for next year! Christmas was nice and uneventful, which is all one should really hope for. I do hope we can do a Christmas with my siblings and/or other relatives soon. It's been a really long time since we had a big
Christmas, and I miss it. I mean, quietly knitting in Iowa is good, but so is playing with the kids, lots of Trivia, and maybe a little drinking. I might just extend a blanket invite to EVERYONE to come to my little domicile in the city. If we get enough people to sleep in the basement, the cumulative body heat should be enough to keep everyone warm :)
I think that's about it. Have I forgotten anything? This is already long enough, I'll save the other two traditional year end entries. I'm sure you're already shocked enough that 1) I updated and 2) it's long. I don't want to push it.
Mousegate 2008
It has a nice ring to it, no? The weather has turned cold, and the mice are wussing out by invading my apartment. I woke up at 3:30 this morning to the sound of little cat paws running up and down the hall, which could only mean mice. This time was different though - as Trigo chased the mouse into my room. But oh, it gets better; the mouse ran into a very nice black patent leather pump to hide. It quite literally had the shit scared out of it. Ish. Good thing that shoe already had a casualty on the bus and needed to be replaced, or... Well I don't know what, but that just isn't something I should have to deal with at 3:30am.
A clock is ticking, but it's hidden far away
At first, I was freaked out because two of the locations of the
attacks are the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal Hotels. These hotels have locations in Bangalore, too. We used to those places all the time for dinner and brunch. Of course, it's scary that some of the gunmen seemed to be looking to kill Westerners first. The part that really got me though, was when they showed the streets in Mumbai, and they were silent.
There is no such thing in India as a quiet street.
What if they had decided to attack Bangalore? What if they had decided to attack 7 months ago? What if I had taken a trip to Mumbai? I don't want to be overdramatic; I don't feel like I dodged a bullet. I felt much more unsettled after the Madrid
11-M bombings, where I had been in that train station scores of times. The part I don't get about this is that there are people who would and could do this. That is the scariest, freakiest part of all.
