Time flies

It's been ages since my last post. Where has the time gone? Let's see......

First, we went to see The Swell Season with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It was phenomenal!! Neither the husband nor I could stop singing songs from the "Once" soundtrack for days.

Next, was the Flight of the Conchords show, which was hilarious but annoying at the same time. The constant chatter and shout-outs from the audience were, at one point, even too much for the duo as Jemaine made the comment that he felt like he was "in a room full of kindergarteners" and proceeded to "hush" the "little children". I truly felt embarrassed to be a Minnesotan that night.

The following weeks were filled with visits from out-of-town friends, buying a new (to us) boat and a backyard BBQ. But the highlight of this past month was this:

Seeing Barack Obama at the Xcel Center Tuesday night. What a momentous occasion. I don't think I've ever felt more like a part of history! This man amazes me - his vision for America, his eloquence, his refusal to join the mud-slingers....and I don't care if it may sound cliché, this man gives me hope; hope I've been waiting for a long, long time.

Retail Therapy

Spring keeps playing hide-n-seek around these parts lately, popping its head out one day and reeling back the next. While I've found various ways of coping, retail therapy is usually one of my favorite (though rarely utilized) and today I made a great score:
These cute Isaac Mizrahi flats from Target....on sale....for $7.48!! Who's day wouldn't be a little brighter with a deal like that?

Prepare for Takeoff

I just found out that Flight of the Conchords will be performing live in Minneapolis in May. Sounds like Murray finally got his act together ;)

The big question now is "Season 2, where are you?"

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

It's 'Sweater Day', did you know? (via Emilystyle)

It's the first day of spring but I've got my sweater on - mostly in anticipation of the 4-8 inches of snow that's arriving this afternoon - grrr!

Slow change

Him:  Have you been down to the basement lately?

Me:  Yeah...why?

Him:  The litter box is starting to look like the surface of Mars.

Me:  Feel free to do something about that any time you like. They are your cats now, too.

Him:  Not until you're pregnant.

Me:  Fine, then I'm gonna have 5 bajillion kids!

Him:  Uh huh....

Raucous Caucus

Well, as raucous as a room full of Minnesota DFLer's gets. Nonetheless, I was so proud of my neighborhood's turnout (and the nation's turnout for that matter). It was packed to the gills and then some! Makes me feel like a change is a comin'!

My 5th Annual 30th...

I was born the day after my grandpa's birthday. I was his first grandchild and we always joked about how I was his favorite belated birthday present.

I spent this past weekend holding my brand new nephew and I think it's safe to say that he's my most favorite early birthday present.

Welcome to the world, Finn.

Happy Belated Birthday, Grandpa. I celebrated for you yesterday. I know, in my heart, that you're celebrating with me today, too.

C'est la vie

My odometer turned the big 100,000 miles on Monday. At mile 100,038 the fan belt snapped.

Oh, did I mention that I just made the final loan payment two weeks ago? Yeah......

Perfectionist much?

My mom was rummaging through some of my old things the other day and found this note that I wrote to myself; I must have been 8 or 9:

We're doing business here!

Addicted

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT click on the link below!
But if you do, don't say I didn't warn you.

coffee shop

What I want to be when I grow up...

Since I'm on the verge of losing my job (not because of anything I did; the industry is tanking everywhere) and sit at my desk day after day with nary so much as 5 minutes worth of job-related work to do I figured I might as well pick up this blog again. I need to get my creative juices flowing.Yet herein lies the problem.

I've been working at a job that I never thought I'd find myself doing, not in a million years. It involves math, and math & I, well, we haven't exactly gotten along since the 5th grade. Every standardized test, career test, what have you, has always pegged me as a creative type. And you know those tests, they don't lie. But what they don't tell you is what to do with that information. Sure, they give you suggestions for careers: writer, artist, musician, etc. It's up to you to point yourself in the direction you want to go. Me? I took the easy route.

I went to college ("the easy route?" you say, "I don't think so". But stick with me here.) I spent not 4 but 5 years pursuing a degree in Communication Studies. Could there be a more non-descript major? (Well, yes, Liberal Arts maybe, but said degree was obtained at a liberal arts college, so there ya go!) By the time I got my diploma I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I got a degree, wasn't I just guaranteed a job?!

Well, that was 10 years ago. I spent the first four of those years dabbling in pretty much anything that remotely held my interest and gave me enough to cover rent.
First stop, Hollywood. It didn't take me long to figure out that my shy, self-concious, midwestern self with incredibly low self-esteem was not cut out for the the cut-throat world of movie making.

Second stop, title company. Basically, my job was to research the title history for residential properties being bought and sold. Interesting to a point, but I shared an office with a group of menopausal women. Not exactly the most exciting environment for a girl in her early 20's.

From there I moved back home to the midwest; something I vowed never to do once I left. Still not having a clue as to what I wanted to do with my life, and paralyzed with fear at the notion of having to think about it, I did what any good Gen-Xer with no job prospects, no health benefits and a BA would do, I became a corporate coffee slinger. While to the outside world it may seem like a mindless profession, to those on the inside with even the slightest sense of observation it was much less about the beans and much more about the bucks - in more ways than one (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). I learned a tremendous amount about business in the two years I spent pulling shots. But a girl can't survive on coffee alone - at least not when she's just a lowly peon, I mean, "partner".

At this point in my life things began to change drastically, not just for me but the entire nation. I quit the barista life one week before Sept.11. My plan was to work for my parents, who owned a mortgage company. I seriously must have been out of my mind at the time - math AND my parents? 40 hours a week?? Yet the idea of once again having to think about my future, to dig down deep and really figure out what I wanted to do with my life, still petrified me. And when I say petrified I mean absolutely, positively scared shitless (believe me, I would have to be in order to work with my parents!). Of course, I just kept telling myself it was only temporary; just until I found something better (yeah, right). But then I got swept up in the mortgage boom. No, I didn't make tremendous amounts of money because I was still too scared to talk to people (I decided that processing loans was a much more comfortable - and safe - position for me).

I also got swept into my (second) biggest fear, familial obligation. I'm the oldest child and with that usually comes a people pleasing personality, especially when it comes to parents. And mine certainly don't make it easy for me. For years my dad held tight to the dream that I would someday take over the "family business" even after the MANY times I told him that I had no interest in doing so. My dad is one of those people; the kind that hears only what they want to hear and disregards the rest (hey, I think there's a song in that!). But I have now been released from these nagging ties that bind! Both mom and pops have informed me that initiating a job search tout de suite would probably be a great idea.

So here I am, faced with impending joblessness yet oddly at ease - well, somewhat. I feel so incredibly relieved to have basically been given my parent's blessings to move on to greener pastures and yet I find myself back at that sad, uncomfortably familiar place of not knowing what the hell I should do with the rest of my life. But I'm searching. Digging down deep where it's dark and scary. Picking away at my "I must be perfect all day, all of the time" fortress, trying to hold my fear and reservations at bay and searching for what really lies at the heart of me. Not quite sure what that is yet but at least, for once, I'm on my way to finding it.

31Things

1. I am a HUGE NUT!!!
2. I am easily bored.
3. Big words turn me on.
4. My favorite word is mellifluous.
5. I can fit 15 'Nilla Wafers in my mouth all at once and then eat them all without spilling so much as a crumb.
6. I am all about conspiracy theories.
7. My favorite veggie is peas.
8. I tend not to have a favorite of anything as I find it too limiting.
9. When I was a child I thought that the woman on the SunMaid Raisins box was my mom.
10. I am fiercely independent, sometimes to a fault.
11. I have been told by many people that I have an uncanny sense of direction.
12. Give me a Sapphire Martini, straight up, with a twist and I will be your best friend.
13. I LOVE SUSHI!!!
14. I am somewhat lactose intolerant.
15. I had my tonsils removed when I was 8.
16. I pass out at the sight of my own blood yet I love watching real-life ER shows.
17. I have run a marathon.
18. I only started running for the first time in my life 9 months prior to the aforementioned race.
19. I LOVED it! And would totally do it again!
20. I tend to be an extremist, and yet at the same time ride the fence.
21. I severely disliked the song "American Pie" up until a few years ago, and for the life of me I cannot explain why.
22. When I cry my face breaks out in chicken pox-like spots.
23. I would someday like to be the proud owner of a garden gnome.
24. There are 4 members of my household, 2 of whom are named "Dharma" & "Greg" and only by sheer coincidence.
25. I have a difficult time making firm decisions.
26. 2/3 of my left incisor is fake. I lost it in a waterfight with my cousins when I was 8.
27. Let's just say a tea kettle was involved and leave it at that.
28. I cannot drink margaritas with salt on the rim. I get some weird chemical burn type reaction on my lips and they swell to ginormous proportions.
29. I am a fair-haired, fair-skinned, innocent-looking girl with a carefully camouflaged dark side.
30. I once gave my father an open-mouth kiss because I "wanted to kiss like they do on television." (I was young, VERY YOUNG, like 4 or 5. And I'm STILL embarrassed about it, ok?!)
31. I am obsessed with the price of gasoline. Whenever I drive past a gas station I MUST be able to see what the current price is. I have been known to slow down if another vehicle is blocking my view just to see the sign. If I miss it my entire day gets thrown out of whack!

hmmmmm...

just preparing myself.....stay tuned