Tuesday, July 7, 2009

How I spent my Monday

So Robyn has been planning a new tattoo for a while. Something that would signify moving from one phase of life to the next, while honoring the struggle of the process.

And she came up with this.



It goes from the midway through the front to midway through the back of her left thigh. About 7 inches across and 5 inches high. The yellow was the most painful. Can you see all that yellow? After four hours of constant needling, lots of wincing and squeezing of hands. But a beautiful end result.

There was some IKEA time, some Trader Joe time and then a nice visit with Granny in Rochester. It was a pretty great Monday.

I know, I know...I need to get puppy pics up. Soon, I promise.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Friday is dog day!

Willy/Wally/Ollie will be moving to Ames on Friday. More pictures to follow, I'm quite sure.

This past weekend was spent in Chicago celebrating Pride Weekend. I have pictures, they'll be up soon too. But it was a great weekend. Friday night was Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile at Ravinia. If you haven't been to a concert there before, I highly recommend it. Wonderful environment. We then explored some local haunts before retiring to bed. Morning came really really early for a great round of golf. There were six of us so we split into a foursome and a twosome. As a member of the twosome, we were joined by two guys who couldn't have been more patient. They were not terribly more skilled than us which really lowered the stress of playing with strangers. Because we only slept for about four hours, we crashed pretty hard before hitting a block party and a bar. I don't know that I've ever been around so many lesbians in one place. In some ways, it was really comforting. In other ways, it was a little unsettling. I spent a lot of time people watching and became pretty aware that there were some obvious patterns having to do with neuroses and mental health. I want to think about them a little bit more before I make them public but it was really interesting. Sunday was breakfast with my folks, who happened to be in town for a concert at Ravinia on Saturday night, and then off to the parade. Plenty of sunshine and people to fill the afternoon. We had an amazing hostess, Tracy, who opened up her home and introduced us to some pretty cool folks. It was a pretty awesome weekend.

Oh! I'm not sure that I can do it justice by telling it here but I don't know that I've ever laughed so hard in my life. After riding a completely PACKED bus back to our parking spot after the concert, we were milling around before packing the SUV back up. Not any ol' SUV but a sweet pimpin' black Lexus with leather interior and bitching sound system. I'm not usually all that interested in cars but this was one amazing ride. Tracy offered to drive us back into the city so we were all gathering. Carrie, probably spelled wrong and the owner of the car, was riding shotgun. Tracy was having a hard time getting the car started. She had the key in the ignition and it was lit up to show that there was contact. But for the life of her, she couldn't get it to start. After Carrie shared her concern about breaking the key off in the lock, Tracy pulled it out to make the point that she was doing it right. Except it wasn't the car key. It was the house key that had a light up holder. And the Lexus key is the switchblade type where you have to push a button to make the key come out. No one had told Tracy that. She had been trying to start the sweet car with a house key. Her frustration and Carrie's directions made the moment hilarious. If you've ever known someone who when faced with an uncomfortable or annoying correction, mutters a rather defeated "oh....", you would understand the humor in the moment. If not, rest assured, Tracy was not drinking and that was not a factor in the incident.

This is how I spent my evening. Kim and Jared went to dinner and a movie so Robyn and I went to babysit. Apparently, both Ben and I needed a nap.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Activities as of late...

Let's see...it's been a busy week.

I've been spending a bunch of time with Baby Ben. I had a pretty lousy Friday morning having to do with a weird "bait and switch" situation with the new assistantship and after driving around, fuming for a bit, I realized I wanted to be around Ben. So I popped over to the Topp-Mike household, vented for a bit, and Kim handed Ben to me. I sat there for over an hour, just feeling him sleep in my arms. Watching his little face furrow as random dreams flew his head. Totally helped take the edge off the morning.

Friday night brought a baseball game. I'm not a huge baseball fan but I do enjoy being in the environment.



Saturday was a working day. Domestic work, garden work and then bar work. The first harvest of basil is shown here. I've been eating pesto all day. Lucky folks at work tonight with the garlic coming out of my pores.



This week will be a lot of heat and some more hard work. Next weekend will be Chicago Pride. I'm sure there will be good pics and stories from there.

Take care everyone.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

per multiple requests

I have stopped requiring that folks who want to comment must log in. So feel free to comment at will. but don't hide behind anonymity if you think my garden is too small or my soon-to-be dog is goofy looking.

some updates

Let's see...what's been happening.

Kim had her baby. :)



Not to get all mushy but there has been nothing in my life that has prepared me for being in the room as a baby is born. It was life changing.

And my mom sent me a garden gnome for the garden. He's keeping guard, discouraging the rabbits.


And I have an assistantship for next year. More details to follow after I sign the letter of intent but it would seems that things are falling into place.

Ooo! And looking at getting a pup. I think this guy is going to be joining the ranks.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Photo post


Prom Night at London Underground. Robyn and me with Audrey and Brian

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The radishes were the first ones to show up. :)


This makes it look pretty small but it's a straight on shot. There have been multiple conversations about the actual dimensions, which could be solved by measuring, but at this point it's assumed to be 4-ish feet from the sidewalk to the fence and somewhere between 10 and 14 feet long.


This is the view of the garden from my third floor patio. You can get a sense of perspective of where it is in the backyard.



This is the crew of folks I worked with at UW-Stevens Point. It was pretty awesome to have everyone together to celebrate Kyle and Krystal's wedding. It was an amazing time.


At the wedding above, the giveaways were little amphibians. Because this one was orange and bendy, it was named Jared.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

T-minus 10 days

So 10 days from now, I will join the throngs of professionals out there seeking employment in a tight economy. To my credit, I will be out there looking with a shiny new master's degree and a healthy amount of experience. To my detriment, I want to stick around central Iowa. I have it settled to this: I will either get a job or a won't. If I do, I will enjoy a healthier paycheck, substantial benefits and a sense of purpose that connects my education and experience to a career. If I don't, I will continue with my second career path, bartending, and try to make ends meet through a variety of creative endeavors. I will enjoy freedom and the luxury of being able to do pretty much what I want when I want to. I guess you could say it's a win-win proprosition.

This shift in mindset from being terrified of not having a job came from thinking about what I always think about....what do I have control over? I don't have control over the economy, I don't have control over the minds of folks who are interviewing me. I can only do my best and make the best with what I have. There's no sense in spending energy stressing out about what I don't have. If there are things I want to be different, I need to figure out how to make them different. Simple as that.

I'm mildly concerned that this is making me an optimist. Heaven forbid that that happens...

Thanks for sticking around folks. I think I may have turned the corner in making this big change in life.