Families, Love & Summertime

A weekend with my family in Minnesota's beautiful lake country helps to remind me what matters.

I don't need to - earn six figures/end global poverty/travel the world/be CEO - to be happy.

I'll be just fine with-

a yard and some flowers ... kids and then grandkids ... church every Sunday ... birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baptisms ... friends to grow old with ... someone I am in love with forever ...

and a summer day up north at the lake.

______________________________
at a little wooden cabin
up in northern minnesota
we ran together down to the dock
and you jumped right off it
and from out in the water
you called me to join you
and i said baby i cannot swim
if i jump i’ll surely drown you
you said life has no limit
if you’re not afraid to get in it

and oh baby i jumped to you
since then there’s nothing i can’t do

i'm never gonna give you up
what do you got if you ain't got love

If You Ain't Got Love, Mason Jennings
______________________________

Mint Chocolate Chip

Best part of being a grown up (hands down):
ice cream for dinner.

I could probably do without the rest of it (business casual, 401k, moral responsibility) but mint chocolate chip anytime I want it makes adulthood a-ok in my book.

Bert, Buffalo

Blake went to South Dakota a couple of summers ago and came home with Bert the Buffalo. Little did Blake know what a part of our lives this small, stuffed buffalo would become (if he had, I worry Bert might not have made it).

Here's the thing - all of my stuffed animals were animated when I was little, thanks to my dad and brother. I had a Snork who wore a sock on his snorky thing all winter to stay warm (my dad's idea). I had a bear who was sometimes served his very own plate at the dinner table. All of my stuffed animals would pop their little heads in the bathroom door to cheer me up when I was in the tub and my mom was pouring water in my eyes. So it quickly just became a way of life. My stuffed animals talked to me, they went on trips with us, they were a part of the family. My bear went off to college with me and met Sarah's bear and the world was a happy place.

So, naturally, I expected that little, stuffed Bert would demonstrate the same behavior as my childhood stuffed animals. Imagine my surprise when I realized that Blake intended for Bert to just sit on a shelf and look cute. It took him quite a while to warm up to the idea of having Bert as an active part of our lives but finally, he could resist no longer - and I do believe that our relationship is better because of it.

This is why:

-Blake demonstrates his ability to be a nurturing caretaker by giving Bert kisses, sharing bites of his food with Bert, and massaging Bert's feet when the poor little guy has had a rough day. (And as much as he'd argue that he does all of this just to appease me, he's the one who panics when Bert is lost under the bed for a mere second.)

Bert & Blake

-Bert can express all sorts of disapproval - releasing me from the role of 'nagging girlfriend'. "Bert wishes you would remember to chew with your mouth closed." "Bert is worried that we're not spending enough quality time together." (It's handy that he speaks only in whispers and mostly to me.) Bert is often on my side - because I'm often right - and I always have an instant "2 to 1" argument.

-Bert is fun. Really. We have a constant prompt to be silly and ridiculous - to play and make each other laugh. That's the big reason.

Is our integration of Bert into our relationship strange? Yes. Are there stranger things in the world? Definitely yes. On the scale of strangeness I think we're doing alright. Maybe every relationship could even benefit from a little stuffed buffalo, who knows. Or maybe it's just us.

It's What's For Dinner

Fine and noble blog readers, I propose a pooling of ideas.

I'm so tired of feeding myself. I mean, what's the deal? It's like EVERY DAY I have to eat. I desperately miss the days of someone else (i.e. my mom) making dinner every night. And it just doesn't make sense for me to put all of that effort into one meal for just myself. I've been better about cooking in bulk but you can only eat super-healthy chicken and vegetable soup so many times in one week - and I had it again for lunch today.

So I arrived home from work again tonight without the energy or ingredients required to seriously prepare a meal and considered my usual array of sustenance options:
-Cereal
-Peanut butter and jelly
-Frozen waffles
-Pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese
-Canned soup

When I'm feeling creative, I will occasionally also eat:
-Pita bread and hummus
-A burrito with kidney beans, salsa and cheese

That's it. So what does the rest of the world eat for dinner? I'm in desperate need of some fresh ideas. Please post.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta dust my bedroom.

Rosianna

World, meet my new puppy-niece, Rosie. Here she is out for a romp in the fresh powder. Isn't she ADORABLE?

















She has been staying with her Aunt Annie this week while my brother and his family are hiding from winter in Turks & Caicos.

What a little bundle of joy (and terror)! She's my first puppy - since I never had a dog growing up. So it has been a week of learning, ups and downs. One morning she peed on the floor three times while I was getting ready for work. And she has chewed on every sock I own - I have no idea where she finds them. But then she learned how to traverse the three big steps up onto the back porch, and I was so proud! And we've been working on learning the difference between biting, which hurts!, and licking, which is pretty much the sweetest thing ever.

Then there was the time I found her EATING POOP. We were doing laundry in the basement and she got into the litter box of my roommate's cat and started at it. It wasn't until I smelled it that I realized she was lying in the middle of the floor eating poop. Yes, poop.

At one point in life (a few weeks ago) I was pretty convinced I wanted a puppy of my own. But I've realized that maybe it's not for me - because it's hard when I'm at work, it's 5:30pm, and all of a sudden I have to leave because someone at home is counting on me as her only means of getting to the potty. And stopping for groceries on the way home or meeting a friend for dinner? Not an option.

I don't think I'm ready for someone to be that dependent on me. It has been hard especially this week - when I've had a vicious cold and I want it to be all about me-me-me. But then there's puppy-puppy-puppy.

So that's settled, at least. But she is awfully nice to cuddle with in the evenings. And maybe I do kind of like it when she licks the water off of my ankles after I get out of the shower. And the way she tilts her head to the side when she's listening to me talk. And her cute little tongue and cute little tail. I'm going to miss her quite a bit, actually. Maybe I'll work on convincing my brother and sister-in-law to vacation more frequently.

These Days

This is me, these days:

That's a slight exaggeration, I guess. It's actually more like this:

Underqualified for Life - the intro

I thought I'd do well being a temp but I have to admit, it's starting to stress me out. There is something to be said for predictability in life. At the same time, do I really want to commit to something for the next year or more? (Panic sets in.)

Anyway, I had an interview last week for an Office Services Coordinator position at a great company. I would be good at it, it wouldn't be too stressful and I think I'd be happy. Unfortunately, the interview did not go well and I've been analyzing it since trying to figure out why. My conclusion is that the questions she asked me were ridiculous - but probably fitting for the position - and I hadn't properly prepared for them.

"Can you tell me about your experience with printer toner?"

"Sure... in the office I managed previously, we had a printer... and... it used toner... and I was responsible for replacing the toner cartridge."
(silence)
"...When it was empty."

"Okay, great. And what is your experience with ordering office supplies?"

"Well, in that same position I was also responsible for ordering office supplies... for our office of 4 people."
(silence)
"...Paper clips, post-it notes, pens."

"And how did you know when those items needed to be ordered?"

"Um, I would usually look in the office supply room and notice that we were running low on something. Or someone would tell me if they needed a particular supply... usually."

Tuesday begins Week 9 of life as a temp and my new assignment involves researching and applying previously unapplied payments.

Please tell me I have more to look forward to than this.