Big Weeks!

The last few weeks have been pretty intense. I've attended three concerts, survived my first seminar and had my life totally changed.

Let's start with the concerts.

On the 17th, I went and saw Sugarland at Hilton Coliseum on campus. We had the highest seats in the arena, which didn't actually detract from the concert. In addition to seeing an amazing high energy show, we also coined a new phrase: country tramp. Apparently there's huge style market that I'm completely unaware of that combines cowboy boots and mini-skirts with a little midriff showing. Think Jessica Simpson in the Dukes of Hazzard (even thought that was over five years ago). I realize that with that statement, my age is showing. Oh well...turning 35 this year means I can be a little cranky now and then.

From the non-cranky side, here's a video of what we saw that night. I'm not a huge country music fan but this was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

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Fast forward a few days and I'm at a concert at Hoyt Sherman. Hoyt Sherman is a historic building in central Des Moines that houses a theater akin to an opera house. For the Madison folks, imagine a classy Barrymore. Now add three bands: Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra and Silversun Pickups. All these are up and comers with some current radion play. All are also good and loud. And unfortunately, I don't think the space was conducive to the type of music. It was super loud, super warm and a little too "thumpy" in terms of out-of-control bass. But I am a huge fan of the song below. And they totally rocked it out.



Finally, I got to see my third Brandi Carlile show of the year at the O'Shaughnessy in St. Paul. After a delightful dinner at the Happy Gnome, we went over to St. Catherine's for the show. The O'Shaughnessy is a staple in the Twin Cities music scene and I couldn't have been more impressed. Amazing acoustics, great seating (except for that the rows are VERY long and without a middle aisle, which made getting to the bathroom a little annoying for those to my right) and a classy feel for an older space. This was the first Brandi show I have seen that wasn't more acoustic in nature. She had a great drummer and some wonderful steel guitar pieces. Below is a clip from the concert of one of her newer songs, Dreams, off of the album that will be out on October 6. In addition to seeing a great show, we went with some folks who wanted to have Brandi sign an album afterward. So we hung out for a bit, me lagging back a bit because I have a kind of weird belief system about performers. I recognize that musicians like to hear how much they are appreciated and how wonderful their music is but I also like to think of it in terms of strong boundaries. I'll sit in the audience and enjoy your show, you sit on stage and enjoy putting it on. Maybe it's the growing introvert in me but I wouldn't have considered hanging out outside of a tour bus waiting to meet a musician. But I did on Wednesday night. And here is the outcome.



Gah! I managed not to stumble over my words and say something rediculous like, "you're pretty....." but it was still a little thrilling.

And it's also my Facebook pic.

Here's the video from the concert.

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Seminar....blah. There's a required seminar series that all PhD students are required to take. The outcome of the seminar was me rethinking whether or not I want to get my PhD. There was a bit of useful information to it but generally speaking, it was in direct opposition to the mantra of "you're an adult and your time is valuable" message that is shared by the department. All in all, a bit of a frustrating day.

Finally...life changing.

On Tuesday, September 22, the first day of fall, Madison Marlee Olds made her presence in the world. Eight weeks early, weighing in at three pounds and thirteen ounces, she's here! (leave it to an Olds woman to do things on her own timeline and in her own way....) Matt and Heather have updates on their blog that include some wonderful pictures of her looking up at her mom and dad with so much love and trust. And she has a head of dark hair, even at this early of a time. I could go on and on about how amazing it is to be an aunt and how I didn't sleep very well until I saw the pictures of her and her tiny little fingers. Or how talking to my brother and hearing the awe and love and fear all in one voice made my heart ache. But I will leave it at this. She is a lucky lucky little girl and I have spent so much time thinking about how lucky I am to have the family that I do and the life that I do. I cannot wait to see her grow into the woman she will be. But first, I can't wait to meet her. And for Matthew and Heather, I could not be more proud and happy than I have been this last week.



OK...back to studying for stats. Real world awaits.

Hello!

Hi there, have we met? I'm Kris...you must be Kris's blog. You look familiar but I can't place from where. We must have been friends a long time ago.

*sigh*

There have been a few things that have come up in the last couple of weeks where I thought, "gee! That would be a great blog post!" For example, Patrick Swayze dying. I distinctly remember being at an 8th grade graduation slumber party at Linnea Kuhlmey's and watching Dirty Dancing on VHS and using the remote, which had a CORD, because this was 1989, to rewind to see if we could Patrick Swayze's butt as he crawled out of bed after he and Baby had their big moment. The answer was that you couldn't, which was probably what kept it at a PG rating. But that movie was the first time I thought "Hey...there's an awkward smart girl who catches the attention of the super good looking hero. It Can happen." At various time through my own awkward years and even into my less awkward but confused and conflicted adult hood, there would be the line "no one puts Baby in the corner" and I would smile. I realize this reads as incredibly dorky and not a little teenaged-ish but it does hold a dear place in my heart.

Classes are going pretty well. I have a stats class that has started to kick my butt. The first few weeks were a pretty decent review of what I already knew but now we are on to formulas that mix numbers, letters and greek symbols. I never considered myself a purist but I just don't think my brain knows how to make sense of those combinations. So I've been spending a lot of work on that.

I'm helping facilitate a class for first-year Construction Engineering students around the area of leadership and learning. There a few of them that don't look a day over 15. They are really exciting to work with in terms of being at the beginning of their academic careers and the growth I can see occurring on a weekly basis. Some of them are also a little skeptical of the "soft" stuff we are talking about so it can be a challenge to keep them engaged. But it does feel great to be back in the classroom.

Willy continues to be great. He had his first vet appointment since moving to Ames is a healthy 30 pounds. He can be a bit squirrely, as most puppies can be, but his endearing factors outweigh his annoying ones.

That sums it up as halftime of the Packer game has ended. Go Pack go!

remember me?

As I write this, I'm sitting at the bar that I've been working at for the last year. Working here WAY more than drinking here, which is a nice change.

Speaking of changes, I also start my PhD program tomorrow. I have an assistantship, I have a classload, I have the beginnings of a Capstone project. Because I did my masters here, most of my classes will roll over and I should only have 3 semesters of classes and then I'm giving myself a year of writing. So in theory, two and half years from now, I will be Dr. Kris Olds.

CRAZY!

But it does have a nice ring to it....

edit:
this is my horoscope for today. Quite fitting, if I do say so.

You're about to embark on an extraordinary opportunity or relationship. Be receptive and open to the influences that are intent on presenting you with experiences that will shape your mind, body and soul if only you are willing to relax your sense of control and deal with what comes your way. There's no need to decide one way or the other what your course of action will be. Instead, watch, wait and listen for your golden chance.



Post in the next few days will probably tackle the "relax your sens of control" thing. Been thinking a lot about that lately...

I took 532 pictures in the last week

Here are some of the highlights from the annual trip home to Wisconsin. In the last nine days, I saw an amazing concert, attended a professional sporting event, caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in a few years, spent two days in Madison, spent three days in Stevens Point, ate at supper clubs, had a fish fry, attended two baby showers and saw my brother and sister-in-law from Seattle. It was a busy nine days. And then we came home and Kim and Jared made us dinner and I got to catch up with Ben, who is now learning to drive. Ok...not really. But he is smiling for real and his strength is growing.

Here are some of the photo highlights.


Willy with the windblown look...


Robyn and I enjoyed beer and cherries before the Coldplay concert at Alpine Valley.


Robyn at the soccer game.


Robyn, her dad and Willy on the Gator for a tour of the farm.


Joe and Robyn enjoying some backyard time before the Fish Fry.


Baby shower #1. Lots of women celebrating Crystal's baby-to-be.


The Smits family gathering for Matthew and Heather's shower. You can almost tell that Heather is expecting.


Tommy wanting to get in on the fun, being squirmy in Matthew's arms.

I think I feel this way everytime I return home from a trip to Wisconsin. I like my life here. I'm excited for what the future brings but I really wish I was closer to my family. I wish we could do dinner once a month and have that be the norm, not the exception. I wish that I lived where there are rolling hills and lots of pine trees.

*sigh*

It is good to be home...really it is. But I think this trip, more than most, really hit home that I want to be where family is. And ultimately, that's what "home" means to me.

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.

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.

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.