What's Been Going On?

I have no idea. I just realized I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. Just been busy, I guess. But doing what?

I've been reading a lot more, which is probably why I haven't spent much time on the internets (therefore not blogging). I finally got on The Hunger Games bandwagon. My typical MO on these popular book series is to resist all the hype and then succumb when all of the books are available for me to read one after the other. No waiting, instant gratification! I did the same with Harry Potter and Twilight. Those young adult fiction books are so easy and quick to read, it's a nice diversion from my other reading. I've actually been keeping up with my book club, too. Small wonders.

So OK, I've been reading. What else? Working, trying to do fun things with Lucy on the weekends, the usual stuff. With the summer-like weather lately, we've spent a lot of time outside. It's hard to reconcile the fact that it's just getting into the later part of March, and we've got daffodils coming up and trees budding. Oh, and we've been sick. Lucy with a cold and ear infection, and even as I sit here  my ears are about ready to explode and my throat hurts. I don't have strep and it's just a virus so the doctor's official treatment plan is "deal with it." Awesome.

So this post has no point, other than to let you know I'm still here. I'll try to come up with something more interesting next time.

I'm off to self-medicate and try to get some sleep.

Peace.

Cheater Post

I am copying this idea from my friend Michelle's blog. Since this is the first free time I've had all day, and this week has gone WAY too fast...thought I'd throw it out there for you all to chew on until I can create a proper blog post.

Outside my window… the front yard, and a bunch of little cotton puffs floating through the air from all the cottonwood trees

I am thinking… I need a haircut

I am thankful for… Husband taking Lucy for a bit

From the kitchen…. leftovers from lastnight about a 1/2 hour ago, which served as my lunch (!)

I am wearing… black pants and a T-shirt

I am creating…. a blog post!

I am going… to try and get to Target tonight

I am reading… Ines of My Soul (which is last month's book club selection) and Baby 411

I am hoping… Lucy will sleep well tonight

I am hearing…. Jeopardy on TV

Around the house…. a bunch of stuff I haven't had time to clean up yet

One of my favorite things…naps with Lucy

A few plans for the weekend…. going to a wedding, taking some walks, cleaning up around the house, playing with Lucy, yardwork

Where Does It All Go?

Last Friday afternoon I bit the bullet and we FINALLY purchased a new bed. Not just any bed. The pinnacle of sleepy softness, the granddaddy of comfort, the Sleep Number Bed. I headed home with my head heavy with anticipation of good sleep…and my "pockets" significantly lighter.

I got home that same day and Husband showed me a dog online. He was perfect. We were going to wait until June, but…we go to the adoption the next day and actually came home with a different dog; our beloved Buddy. Hefty adoption fee and purchase of doggy crate, food, collar, leash…you get the picture.

Yesterday an email arrived telling me I owe the first installment on our hockey tickets by June 11th. Fabulous. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I know what you’re thinking. This is all discretionary spending. I agree with you, but I’d also argue that at least the first two (and really all 3) are going to/have already made me a much happier person. The exception is when my dog throws up or doesn’t want to go back in the kennel. Both of these things happened lastnight. I was not a happy person. But I digress.

It seems that this flow of cash is not limited to "special" things that don't happen on a regular basis. Today I was in the break room nuking my lunch when I noticed a part of my shoe had blown out. Turns out these are already the back-up pair to the “good” black shoes…which suffered a blow-out about a month ago. So I must go a-shoe shoppin’, because everyone knows a girl can’t wear brown shoes with black pants.

After noticing the shoe, I walked over the pop machine to order up a caffeine high of the Dr. Pepper variety. I usually don’t drink pop, but today I am on 5 hours of sleep because I had a lot of crap to do lastnight, and because of the aforementioned dog issues. So I popped in my George Washington, and never got it back. Never got the pop either. That machine gobbled up my dollar. Can anyone say "nail in the coffin?"

Oh, and I coasted into work on fumes today, so I needed to fill up with gas to get home.

I sure hope that bed is as comfortable as I think it's going to be, because I'm going to have to stay home for awhile. Might as well be comfortable! :)

You Put What in Your Applesauce?

This afternoon I was listening to talk radio and they were discussing gross food combinations. The conversation was spawned by one of the hosts devouring apple sauce with green olives mixed in, and the second host thinking that was pretty disgusting. I tend to agree. For some reason it kind of makes my teeth hurt to think about it.

The hosts asked people to call in. Some of the more formidable combos were boiled cabbage with ketchup; peanut butter and bologna sandwiches; and chocolate covered raisins with melted nacho cheese...

I don't think I really eat anything too strange, but I guess it's all relative. It never occurred to me that dipping my grilled cheese sandwich in ketchup might be considered odd until I did it for the first time in the college cafeteria, to stares of disbelief from my friends. I also like to mix mashed potatoes with corn, which I know grosses out those people who don't like their foods to touch even on the plate (you know who you are!) The only other thing I've been told is gross is sprinkling sugar on my raw tomatoes.

How about you, dear readers? Any hankerings for weird food combos? Fess up!

Look out, Webster's Dictionary...

I am working from home this afternoon, and the TV is on for background noise...near the end of the show "A Baby Story" I caught this:

"After the birth of our third baby, life has changed...dramastically."

I guess that would be a combination of "dramatically" and "fantastically?" I kind of like it.

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask…

What is this? It's in a birch tree in our front yard.


Theories (in no particular order):
1) The sac is filled with what will eventually be a bajillion baby spiders.

2) A caterpillar made a wish and said “hey, supersize me!”

3) Beneath the silk, there is a writhing ball of centipedes.

4) Some bird is decorating early for Halloween.

5) There is a huge nest of worms in there, which will soon die and be littered all over the lawn.

6) It’s an alien pod of some sort.

What’s your vote? Can anyone provide an actual explanation?

What Keeps Me Coming Back Everyday

1. I was in a meeting with a lady talking about National Urban Runoff Program ponds, or "NURP" ponds (rhymes with burp). Throughout the conversation she kept calling it"NERF." What is a Nerf pond like? If you throw something into it, does it bounce back? I bet it's a really good skipping-rocks pond.

2. There is a woman in my office who has a framed photo of the band Def Leppard displayed prominently on a shelf in her cube. Don't get me wrong, I've been known to belt out a little "Pour Some Sugar on Me..." but putting the boys and their 80s hair right next to a photo of your kids? For everyone to see? Really?

What will tomorrow bring? TGIF, everybody!

I'm Willing to Skip North Dakota for Now

So I'm thinking of taking a long weekend trip this fall with a friend, and was daydreaming today about where to go. I'd like to go somewhere I haven't been, so I put together a map of the states I've already visited:

(Make your own map here)

This doesn't mean I've seen all there is to see in these states, obviously. But it does mean I've spent a fair amount of time there, not just a drive-through or an airport layover. Anyone have any good ideas for where to visit in the gray states, around September or October?

March Madness

Basketball rarely gets me excited anymore, except if I'm watching the Hawkeyes (and we all know how well that went this year). I HATE NBA basketball (traveling, double-dribbling egomaniacs), but I've always had a soft spot for college, especially at this time of year. It's exciting! Close games, heartwrenching stories. This is sports, America.

For the past several years I have filled out an NCAA bracket and participated in a pool, typically run by my brother Josh. Husband does not pay in, but he fills out a bracket just to compete with me. This year there was a big pool that my new office is participating in, so Josh and I joined that one. 65 people in at $5 each; I could stand to make a little pocket change. Thought I have to say, the guy I gave my money to looked thoroughly confused and didn't say much. I figured out later that I was the only female in the office that is participating. Like that's never happened to me before.

Historically I have done pretty well in "bracketology." There is limited rhyme or reason to my selections. Occasionally I may read a little bit about teams before I pick, but generally I have these tendencies:
1) Lean toward Big Ten teams
2) Always pick Gonzaga to win at least the first round, because I just like to say "Gonzaga"
3) Don't pick Oral Roberts because c'mon - say that 5 times fast
4) Of course, always count on some upsets. At least one 5/12 seed game is usually a lock.

I don't feel like I'm giving you all any secrets, because really it's just a crapshoot. And may the best woman win!

Get Ready For the Heat Wave

So today Mother Nature ended a 62-hour stretch of subzero temps by rewarding us with a balmy zero at 3PM. Of course the positive digit held for about an hour or two, before plummeting to subzero depths once again.

When I read 62 hours, I thought "Is that all?" Feels like it's been frigid for far longer. But I guess the actual temps don't count the windchill, which has had eyes tearing up and snot freezing ala Dumb and Dumber for days on end now.

But alas, the future looks bright. Tomorrow the high here in the Twin Cities will be 9. So roll out the beach towels and blend up that pina colada! Of course that 9 is discounting any sort of breeze, so you may need that cover-up after all.

I Be Up in the Gym Just Workin' on My Fitness
(from "Fergilicious" which is currently on workout rotation in my iPod)

So, I recently joined a gym and have been going where no Jess has gone before. Well, at least in several years. I am re-awakening my inner gym rat, which is probably the only thing on this body that has actually shrunk in the past few years. All in all things feel pretty familiar, but this new-found fitness routine does come with a few revelations.

1) The stationary bike makes my butt hurt. Seriously, I can't ride it for more than 15 minutes. How do people ride regular bikes, which have smaller seats?

2) I cannot walk straight on a treadmill. This is something I just discovered tonight. I kept drifting into the sidebars! Didn't matter which side either, I was walking like I'd curled a few beer cans as a warmup.

3) Watching TV makes the time go A LOT faster. I had never really utilized this in the past. My gym now is pretty small and the TVs are right above the machines, so you can't help but tune in. Even just reading the subtitles, I'm amazed at how fast the time flies.

Bottom line is, after a few weeks, I'm actually starting to look forward to going to the gym. Feels good!

You Say Union, I Say Onion

As an aside, I have to say that whenever I see or hear the word "union," I feel compelled to pronounce the word as "onion." This is tied to a singular experience in my childhood - my dad had a record album by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Reading the word for the first time, I pronounced it onion. It stuck I guess. Therefore, tonight I watched the State of the Onion.

Ah, home at last...

Well, I did have to go to Wisconsin yesterday. The snow continued into the morning, and as I slid into work I wondered...but by mid-afternoon the roads were pretty clear. The drive was not bad, but everything was pretty sloppy and dirty. One of those trips where you've got so much salt scum on the windshield that you've got to shoot fluid on it every few minutes just to see, and you get those dirt and snow boogers built up behind the tires. But I made it, and the meeting went well, but also went late. By the time I got to my hotel, it was after 11PM and I sacked out pretty quick.

I left this morning, and the trip back to Minneapolis was much better weather-wise. I did take an unintended detour for about 8 miles in the wrong direction - when I saw signs for Superior, WI I knew I was headed north, not west. I've driven to Wausau many times over the past couple of years, but I tried a different way this time and got a little turned around. Anyway, my scenic detour turnaround point was Tilden, WI, which in case you were wondering, is one of the points halfway between the North Pole and the equator. Its other claim to fame is apparently the gas station/restauraunt, a monolith white building with huge red letters on the side, reading "GOOD FOOD" and "GOOD DRINKS." What more do you need to know, really?

So that was actually my last trip to Wausau (the project is nearly done), and truthfully I'm a little sad. I've had good times on this project, and the people I've worked with are great. Wausau is a great town, but I had the best time working one-on-one with the folks in the rural areas. Hats off to you, Marathon County.

But it's good to be home!

This is What I Do When I'm Bored

Back in black, I hit the sack,

I've been too long, I'm glad to be back

"Your themesong is 'Back in Black' by AC/DC. Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!"

What's your theme song?