Archive for May, 2005
May 31, 2005 at 9:16 pm · Filed under movies, pete
Must admit, I don’t do much memorializing on Memorial Day. All the veterans I know are alive and well. Mostly, I lounge around and hope for good weather.
So. The Saturday Farmer’s Market is quickly becoming a habit. The market is more than just food. This time Pete and I took time away from the pastries to visit the guy in the Green Party booth. I was so impressed with their literature that our car now sports one of their bumper stickers. (A Prius with a Green Party sticker? Yeah, what a surprise.)
On Sunday, Pete had to work at the Brat Fest (his employer was a sponsor), so I took the kids to see Revenge of the Sith. Six thumbs up. It made us want to see the original three movies, which to me is exactly what it was supposed to do. I was horrified when I went to our DVD collection to pull out the trilogy and realized we didn’t own it. Now we do. The bonus disk was especially amusing because we got to see what everyone looks like 25 years later. Moon practially jumped when Mark Hamil appeared on screen. “Ahhh, what happened?! He was so pretty!”
Two interesting things happened on Monday. (1) Pete and I went to the UW Arboretum for the first time ever. (2) We then went to Target for a printer cartridge, where we ran into a guy from my high school graduating class. Actually, I’ve known him a lot longer than that — I think we started going to school together when we were nine.
The bizarre thing is that I almost didn’t recognize him. He waved toward us, and my first thought was that he must be a co-worker of Pete’s or something. When he stopped and talked to us, his voice and mannerisms were the same as always, but I kept looking at his face and thinking that he looks like any other dad I would see at a school concert or something. Like a middle-aged man.
It’s times like this that I think, My gawd, I must be getting old. Freeeee-ky.
May 31, 2005 at 8:56 pm · Filed under career
After a nice four-day weekend, going back to work was definitely a shock to my system. Especially since I had appointments scheduled nonstop from 10 am until 5 pm. A few people even stopped by without appointments, which meant that a few times I was juggling three potential students at once. Wahoo! Actually, I enjoy being so busy, because it definitely makes time fly. And it’s pretty fun talking to lots of different people.
It would have been cool to have been able to go to the bathroom before 5:30, though.
May 27, 2005 at 9:22 pm · Filed under blather
I slept in this morning, curled up with the dog until (!) 9:30. Then after showering and making coffee, I filled my thermos and headed off to do a few errands before my 11:15 salon appointment.
Today I did something different – I went to Josh, the kids’ stylist. See, yesterday I had a hair crisis. I suddenly hated it, and decided I desperately needed color. My regular person (who works at a different salon) wasn’t going to be available until next week. But Josh was able to get me in, and truth be told, I’ll probably go back. For one thing, when I confided that I was feeling fat and blah, he said, “No! I think you look great!”
And that’s always nice to hear, even when you suspect it’s simply kindness.
Anyway, I’m trimmed and colored. I was compelled to do a bit of clothes shopping after my appointment, because *ahem* I’m not fitting into some of my summer stuff. I picked up a few things to wear to work, plus some shorts.
Later, there was a cloudburst and then a gorgeous rainbow, and that’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now, if that makes any sense.
May 25, 2005 at 9:02 pm · Filed under idol
Oh man, I really wanted him to win. But the silver lining is that he won’t be stuck singing the lame-o songs that would have undoubtedly been forced on him had he been named this year’s Idol. I genuinely enjoyed all the finalists, but Bo Bice, he was my favorite from the first time I watched him step onto the stage. This was not an ordinary Idol contestant, not at all.
Moon even made an avatar for me. Pretty sweet. Well, now we can enjoy the stuff we’ve taped over the past weeks. It’s been fun being a fangirl.
May 22, 2005 at 7:38 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
Pete and I went to the Farmer’s Market again on Saturday — two weeks in a row, can you believe it? This time Angelica tagged along. We bought more bakery items, which kind of cancels out my 45-minute daily walks. But life is short, and you’ve gotta support people who leave their farms at 2 a.m. to make a three-hour drive to Madison. Especially when they make scrumptious twisted cinnamon pastries with maple frosting. (See more farmer’s market pics here.)
Saturday night was the Pride Prom at Shabazz, and Nicole invited Moon. They went as a group with Nicole’s sister Aimee and a few other friends. (No, not a date.) Earlier in the day I took Moon shopping, and she ended up with black pants, a black blazer, a narrow red tie and a black pinstriped fedora. Very cool. I like her style.
May 18, 2005 at 9:45 pm · Filed under blather, idol
As of yesterday, Pete and I have been married 19 years. Yes, 19 years. We went out to lunch, and lamented that our busy lives prevented us from doing anything too wild that evening. (Next year: a cruise? Maybe.)
In other news, I am over the moon about my American Idol making it to the final two. My Idol, no matter what happens next week. The moment I laid eyes on Bo Bice and heard his distinctive voice, I was a believer. Heck, I even joined the Bice Squad. SpiritMan and the kids are pulling for him, too.
We’ve become geeky AI people. I read aloud from rickey.org and Jaded Journalist episode summaries. We’ll be at the AI concert this summer in Milwaukee. Oh yes, we will.
May 16, 2005 at 9:09 pm · Filed under fitness
What a time for the bike pump to fall apart! I bought a new one on the way to work (in the car), so I was able to use my bike as transportation after going home for lunch. *Whew* — I made it through Day 1. I had registered and everything.
Before my current job, I had a 17-mile round trip to the office. Now it’s less than 1/5 of that. It’s not really even long enough for me to break a sweat, but the upside of that is I can wear my work clothes and I don’t need toweling off before greeting my co-workers.
May 15, 2005 at 8:41 pm · Filed under shopping
And why? Because after Pete and I went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and saw all the colorful, lovely plants there, our overgrown lawn and dead potted plants looked even more pathetic than usual. Which motivated us to mow, weed and plant. Amazing what a few flowers can do.
Did you know gardening is exercise? It is, and I have the sore glutes and thighs to prove it. I’m sure we burned enough calories to make up for the baked goodies we brought home from our trip to the square. (Huge cinnamon rolls — with frosting! Four kinds of cookies! Cheese curds! Cheesy flatbread! Oh, and we bought some excellent lettuce, too.)
In other news, our gym membership expires in two days, so I decided to motivate myself to start exercising outdoors by purchasing a new pair of running shoes. The visibility factor is an added bonus.
May 10, 2005 at 10:25 pm · Filed under moon (rachel)
It was an early birthday present for Moon: her first rock concert. As soon as tickets were on sale for last night’s Green Day concert, I nabbed three. One for Moon, one for her friend and one for a parental chaperone (me). The concert was sold out, and it was general admission, so we arrived a half hour before the doors opened. After we were searched and all that jazz, we went into the coliseum where I grabbed a few seats while the girls went to talk to a friend in the mosh pit.
The opening act was My Chemical Romance, which is another one of Moon’s favorites. Moon and Nicole ended up about 15 feet away from the stage — I stayed in the old people’s section, where I could see everything without getting kicked in the face.
I have to say, it was an incredible show. And it seems to have opened a whole new world for Moon. I think she’s going to be one of those people who go to a LOT of concerts.
She wore her new Green Day shirt to school today, and has been spreading the gospel of Billie Jo to anyone who will listen.
May 6, 2005 at 7:21 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
And now I have a cozy warm wrap to wear during those chilly May evenings. Must admit, I wore it for a while today, even though it must have been 70 degrees out.
I already miss working on the pattern, but the good news is that I have three skeins of bamboo yarn just waiting to become a Clapotis. A summer Clapotis. Because knitting is a year-round activity, don’t ya know.
May 4, 2005 at 9:35 pm · Filed under family
Birthdays at the in-laws’ are always fun, and lord knows I needed a break. Work is filled with drama and trauma. Of course that’s all I can really say about it. Just trust me on that.
Anyway, Moon and I taught the sisters how to play Blink and there was much laughter. I think we nearly sent Sister #4 into labor, because she was so thrilled to beat Moon at the game. The nieces were interested in what we were doing, so I played a slower version with them. Niece #2 said, “I love this game so much.” Niece #1 is a year older and caught on more quickly, and Niece #2 started to get frustrated. So #1 would say, “Let’s play again, and we’ll go really REALLY slow this time.”
And then of course she’d get competitive and end up winning.
Fun stuff, really. My old (as in long-term) buddy Deb was there, too, which just added to the fun.
