Have You Been an Un-American?

The cats seem to be getting along better.

Monday evening was very nice. The Guy and I both went running right after work. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to after the accident, but he's gone a few times and says his back feels fine. Nice.

The Guy gave Coadster the laser pointer thingy to mess with Archie. Awesome.

After we finished running, The Guy took myself, Coadster and her boyfriend out for Sushi. My girls love sushi, but Coadster's boyfriend hadn't had much experience with it. He ordered teriaki chicken. the guy kept trying to get him to taste some sushi. He finally broke down and had a bite of Coadster's and said he thought it was all right. When Coadster was trying to show him how to use chop sticks, I suggested he just ask for a fork. He said, "No. I'll feel like a dork. I'm so American." Funny.

Archie's a little slow on the draw with the red dot.

Coadster and her boyfriend leave today. it was great to see them, even if only for a few days. stinky was sad that she only got to hang out with Coadster for about a half hour yesterday. I told her that when she comes back for a couple of months this Summer, they'll be fighting in no time.

Archie defying gravity to get that bad dot.

But I Know Our Filthy Hands Can Wash One Another's

Me scaring one of the guests with a loaded Archie.

Oh, but this weekend was a busy one. On Friday, the guy and I had a nice dinner and watched True Grit. It was a DVD someone I knew copied off the internet, so the sound was off and the quality wasn't great, but I still liked it a lot.

The Guy peppering the conversation.

On Saturday we woke up fairly early and ate some French toast and veggie (fake) sausage, then set to work cleaning the place up before The Guy's mom came over for the first time. She loved seeing Heidi again, and of course, like most sociopaths, Archie was very charming while she was over. We took Stinky and The Guy's mom out for lunch and it was so very nice.

Then The Guy went to ride his bike and I went to run. We met back at the house a bit later and ran some errands. We made a trip to Menards to pick up a few things and then came back home and ate meal of bread, leftover shrimp, salmon pate', cream cheese and smoked trout. Yum.

We headed over to a friend's pre ST Patty's Day party where I may have had a little wine and could possibly become a little louder than I should've, but people should assume that's what will happen when I show up, right? Anyway, it was a fun party and The Guy and I stayed out past 10 o'clock. Crazy, I know.

Yea! Coadster is back for a few days.

Today was okay. I had another bad migraine, but I guess I should be used to those by now. The Guy got up early and took care of a bunch of things and that was so very nice. Then he went on a long bike ride with his friend Bry and Coadster and her boyfriend got here and took Stinky to the mall with them. I tried to get a few things done, but the brain pain made that kind of tough.

Everyone got home about the same time, I took Stinky to work and then we had a a couple of friends over for dinner. I made cheese tortellini with pesto sauce, linguine with Alfredo and sauteed chicken and The Guy made an excellent salad. The Guy and his friend Bry went off to play pool and my friend G. stayed for a while and we had some good girl talk.

All in all, a pretty damn nice weekend. I'd say.

Let's All Get Up and Dance to a Song

The Guy and I with some friends last weekend.

Well, kids. I hope everyone in Japan and the West Coast is okay...And that includes any of my blogging buddies.

So, this weekend proves to be a busy one. Tonight I'm making tofu shrimp stir-fry and miso soup and we're watching a movie. In my mind, it's a perfect Friday night.

Tomorrow I'll try to get up early and get some cleaning done. Then The Guy's mom is coming over and checking out his new digs and visiting the cat and meeting Archie. Poor woman. We'll go to Oyama for lunch and then I think The Guy will go back with his mom and ride one of his bikes home while I run and get a few things done around the house. We're also kicking around the idea of getting a swim in later in the afternoon.

Saturday evening we'll stop by a friend's pre-St Patty's Day get together for a bit.

On Sunday Coadster and her boyfriend come home for a couple of days. Yea!

What are your plans this weekend? Will you be hanging with family, or hanging with family?

Her Lucky Stars Give her Just Enough to Get Home

Here is Chicago.

Soooo, last night was nice. We made black bean chili and cornbread and guacamole and The Guy made me a lovely cocktail of vodka, cranberry juice, lime and a splash of tonic water. Stinky stopped by on her way from one thing to another. She said she was starved. I told her to help herself to what we were eating. In the past, she's always claimed (without ever trying it) that she didn't like black bean chili. Last night, though, she actually tried some with some cheese and cornbread. She loved it. Of course. Silly girl.

This morning, The Guy and I got up early and swam before work. I'm planning on running after work and then I might try to get some relaxing in. I'll let you know how that goes...

Apparently, I don't have a lot to write about today, so I'll quit while I'm behind.

If Looks Could Kill They Probably Will

Archie ruling the roost.

Here's the dealio. The Guy moved in over the weekend. We talked with all concerned parties and everyone was happy with the situation....That is, except the cats. They have been adjusting and hissing and growling and establishing dominance and I think we're finally on the upswing with that. Here is a photo journal that documents the whole process.


Heidi is the new sheriff in town.


The Guy consoling Archie after he was deposed.

The Guy offering Archie up to the Heidi goddess.

Heidi giving Archie the smack down. Archie finally discovers being submissive to a hot babe isn't so bad at after all.

That's Entertainment

Here are some more pics of Union Station.

So, today I want to talk a little bit about my Megabus experience. For those of you who don't know, the Megabus is a handy little way to get from certain places to other certain places, quickly and cheaply. It cost us about what we would have paid in gas, but we didn't have to drive in Chicago and got there in about 3 hours and 50 minutes. not bad.

There is pretty much any kind of person on the Megabus. On the way there, we saw an older, seemingly fairly wealthy couple (judging by their clothes and the rock on her finger) as well as plenty of students and also Chicago inhabitants. So, with all those different kinds of folk in a small space, there are bound to be culture clashes.

On the way to Chicago, K. and I sat next to a very geeky guy from Des Moines, who was obsessed with his cell phone and would talk loudly about it to anyone who would listen...Or anyone who was just there. Once we got to downtown Chicago, the Des Moines guy kept saying dorky things like, "We don't have one of those in Des Moines," or "Hey, that looks like the Family Matters neighborhood." At one point he took a pic with his phone and said, "I need to get this on Facebook, right NOW...."

To which, the African American Chicago native sitting behind him said, "You might want to wait to do that until you get off the bus and can take pic of something better. You do know that's a parking garage, right? Yeah. you're gonna see plenty of those." Hilarious.

And yes, Bro-In-Law, it is where they filmed that one scene in the Untouchables.

Going home on Megabus wasn't quite as entertaining...Unless you count being scared shitless as entertainment. K. and I both commented on how unhealthy the bus driver looked the minute we saw him. He was one of those older guys who look 9 months pregnant and almost assuredly had diabetes and a bad heart. He also coughed up some powerful sounding loogies the whole way home (EW!).

Anyway, after we were safely in Iowa, I looked over at the driver and realized he was shaking something fierce. I tried to reassure myself that he was probably just moving with the vibrations of the bus, but it was way more exaggerated than that. Then, when it started to rain, it took him a long time to turn on the windshield wipers. I tried to turn my head away and stop my worst case scenario thoughts like, "He's having a seizure." Or, "He's having a heart attack", or "Holy crap! We're all gonna die!" But then we suddenly started to swerve to the side of the road as an ambulance passed us on the interstate. Soon after, another presumed Megabus employee in a uniform walked up right behind the bus driver and watched him for a bit. He then moved into the seat directly behind the driver and quietly asked, "Bob, are you okay?" I couldn't hear the bus driver's response, but he stopped shaking and the other employee sat behind him the whole rest of the way to Iowa City. Weird, huh?

I Smelled the Spring On the Smoky Wind

Here is the Megabus we took going back to Iowa.

Oh, kids. This four day weekend was insane...in a good way. I have so many stories and news to share, but unfortunately, the thing about having a life, is that you don't ever have time to write about it. Not that I'm complaining...

A very tired gentleman greeting us at Union Station.

K. and I took the Megabus to Chicago and then waited for K.'s boyfriend at the Union Station bar. it's always so weird to get out of a college town, because you suddenly see people your own age. I forgot old people like me still existed and were allowed to roam wild like that.

We took the train to K.'s boyfriend's place and after some furious texting, made plans with my friends Catherine and Poptart. We decided to go to K's boyfriend's favorite neighborhood pub for a drink and some appetizers and then we all met at a Cuban restaurant called 90 Miles that was in walking distance of the show.

The dinner was so nice. I worked with Catherine at La Caca in the late 80's and with Poptart at Great Midwestern in the 90's. We all had a lot to catch up on and we did that in really nice ambiance with a bottle of wine and over plantains covered in garlic sauce. Perfect.

We finally rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and made it to the show.

The Pogues!

It's weird to go to shows in big cities after 9-11. They separate the men from the women so they can feel you up for bombs or guns or whatever. How fun is that? We caught a little bit of the opening band, but weren't all that impressed.

We waited for an hour before The Pogues came on stage. Shane stumbled on stage and my friend Catherine said, "He'll never finish the tour." Then he said something into the microphone and she said, "I can't understand a word he's slurring." The crazy thing about him though, is that he has a really consistent singing voice and the band was wonderful. Since it is about the most perfect drinking music, I saw more old drunk people than I've seen in one room in a looooong time.

I'll tell you more later. I had a doctor's appointment earlier today and now I'm playing catch-up (mmmm ketchup) all day.

Just Want to Spend Eternity Right Where I Am. On the Sunny Side of the Street

Here is a picture of a picture.

So, kids. K'.s dad is doing better and we get to go see the Pogues after all. Yea! i'm so excited. It will be a short and cheap trip. We're taking the Megabus there tomorrow morning, getting into Chicago in the afternoon. We'll have about 5 hours before doors open. I will see my friend Catherine because she's going to the show with us and hopefully my friend Poptart. But that's really the only people I'll have time to hang with.

The doors open at 7 and the show will probably end pretty early as far as concerts are concerned. We'll go for a quick drink, then back to K.'s boyfriend's apartment where I will sleep on the floor. But it will be free and that's a HUGE bonus. Our Megabus leaves pretty early the next morning and then we'll be back in Iowa City in the afternoon.

I plan on running, and getting a few things done when I get back. Then on Friday evening, Stinky asked if The Guy and I would go to dinner at Mickey's with her. I thought that was pretty damn sweet. What teenager actually asks their mom and her boyfriend to hang out with her on a Friday evening. Sure, it's early...And Stinky loves to join forces with The Guy to give me a hard time, but I'm still happy about it all.

So, now I must sleep, so I can get up early and get a swim in with The Guy before I leave for the big city.

If I Go There Will Be Trouble. If I Stay It Will Be Double

Um, yeah. Here's Archie's latest annoying thing to do. How often do you suppose I'll have to get new blinds?

Soooo, tomorrow is my Friday. The plan was to go to Chicago with my friend K. and see the Pogues tomorrow night. Nothing like an Irish punk band to get the St Paddy's holiday started off right. The only this is that K.'s dad was just in the hospital with some horrible infection that wasn't responding to antibiotics. I guess it's better now, but I'm still not sure if we'll be able to go to Chicago or not. I don't know my way around Chicago at all, so I can't really go by myself.

Even if I don't end up going, I'll still take those days off of work. It would be nice to have a couple of days to stay home and get things done around here and run and swim. I'll have a better idea tomorrow night if I'm going or staying.

That Ain't Working. That's the Way You Do It

Coadster with her guy.

So, kids...It was a busy weekend and then I had a migraine on Sunday night and therefore, no blogging was done. Alack and alas.

Today though. Today was just fine. I spent most of the day helping Coadster do her financial aid through texting. I know. It was weird and annoying. She just wanted me to do it for her, but my orphan issues make me make her do it herself. I told her much of her life will include filling out papers (online, whatever) and the sooner she learns to deal with it and not put it off until the last minute, the better. Still not what she wanted to hear, but she did sit down and do it and thinks she'll get about $3000 in grants. Not bad for a few hours of work.

Anyway. I guess she doesn't have to like it now, but hopefully she'll appreciate me not just doing everything for her, so she can do stuff for herself when she's older. I'll guess we'll see....Maybe I better start saving for her therapy bills now.

Goin' Mobile. Keep Me Movin'.

we're going to try really hard to keep Archie out of the laundry room this weekend.

So, my starter in my car needed to be replaced. I also had them try to get my hatch to work again. It had been stuck shut since the tornado. I was afraid that if I ever got it open, I may not get it closed again. They said it was jammed with broken glass from when that back window shattered into a million pieces due to the force of the winds. Anyway, it actually works now. Weird. It wasn't horribly expensive, and I had the money to afford it, so It wasn't horrible.

So, this weekend...I actually some plans this time around. Tomorrow night, I'm making the brown sugar salmon, some almond rice pilaf and saute'ing asparagus, red bell pepper, and zucchini in garlic butter and white wine. The girl crush is going to visit and she'll finally get to see my house, meet Archie and officially meet The Guy. I'm so excited.

On Saturday morning, The Guy and I are going to drive to Des Moines to pick up his new car. He got it $500 cheaper than buying one here in town, so it's very worth the drive. I'm not sure what will happen when we come back in the afternoon. If it snows enough, we might try to ski...In the evening, we're going to go out for a nice dinner to celebrate our mobility. Yea us!

I'm not sure what's going on for Sunday yet. I'll have to let you know after it happens.

So, what do any of you have planned this weekend? Will you be hanging out with your girl crushes who are visiting from out of town or going out of town yourselves?

Let's Get Together Before We Get Much Older

Here is a mural with snow covering the bottom of it.

Another wonderful Wednesday night with The Guy. This time we invited my friend G. and that made it even better. The Guy and I made spicy peanut noodles, miso soup, salad, roasted garlic and bought some sour dough bread from the Co-op. It was really good. We had a great time with G. The Guy and I both love hanging out with her, but The Guy hadn't seen her in forever. She also finally got to meet Archie. Poor G.

So, tomorrow morning I take my car in to see why it's so hard to start over the last few months. Please wish me luck that whatever it is doesn't cost too much. Please and thank you.

Desperate But Not Serious

Here is a bucket of what? I don't know left out in the snow.

Tonight will be quick. I've had more problems with my internet. When I finally found a number and called the cable place, they put a hit on my modem and it started working again. I suppose if that's all it takes, I can get them to keep doing that whenever it needs it. It still amazes me how dependent I am on the internet.

Okay. Now I must go and tidy up my kitchen before The Guy and maybe my friend G. comes over for dinner tomorrow.

I Was Getting Ready to be a Threat

Here are my Valentine's Day flowers, more close-up.

So, my night was tons of fun. The Guy and I went to the Dublin and met Bry and my favorite bartender, S. We had a drink and then headed to Mickey's to eat. We had a great time...Even if most of it included the guys making fun of my orangutan like qualities (big cheeks and long arms) and being so loud and obnoxious that we'll have to wait a while to go back there again.

While I was having a great time, Stinky was starting her evening off at work in an interesting way. She got there and saw 6 cop cars and police swarming the parking lot. Apparently, some woman went to the store, bought groceries, but then hid a bunch of liquor in her baby's stroller. Then when she got caught, she started attacking the store managers in front of her 2 year old. Classy.

So, poor Stinky got the worst of this night...But at least she wasn't bored at work, right?

He Only Did What He Had to Do and Now He's Growing Old

Archie, step away from the laundry room.

So, this weekend was fine for the most part. There were a couple of rough patches, but in general, very nice.

Friday night the guy and I had dinner. I tried to make another surprise for him, but it was a big, fat fail. He liked these hot and dirty martinis we had at Orchard Green restaurant, so I looked online and followed a recipe (kind of) and it ended up not turning out very well. Damn! The beans I made also didn't turn out as planned, but the rest of it was good and then we watched an American remake of a Swedish vampire movie called, Let Me In. It was quite good.

On Saturday I woke up and tried to get some things done. I cleaned out my breezeway and took back my cans and bottles and then went running. It was much colder than it was on Thursday when I ran, but still very nice for February. The Guy and I were planning on going swimming at 3:30. Before Stinky went to work she asked me if I'd put her clothes from the washer into the dryer when they were done. I did that while I was getting ready to leave, but then wondered why there was a thumping sound when there weren't any shoes in the dryer...Then I wondered where Archie was. Oops! He must have jumped into the dryer without me noticing. I ran and turned it off and grabbed him out. He seems fine - if not a little sweeter and more clingy for a while. The Guy joked that we might need to give him a dryer ride here and there to calm him down now.

The Guy and I had a nice swim, steam and went for a drink at the Dublin, before we went to pick up Stinky and back home for pizza and a movie. All very nice and quaint and shit.

Today, I woke up with a killer migraine. Wah. I took some meds and went back to bed for a bit. I was awakened by a text from my friend E. to see if The Guy and I were going swimming at all today. I told her we were and to meet us. She is just learning, and I've been singing the praises of how well The Guy helped me learn, and so he helped her as well. Then we all went to steam and had a nice talk. All in all it turned out to be a pleasant afternoon.

Lifting My Head. Looking Around Inside

Here is a snowy sign at one of our museums. It's hard to remember what it was like to have that snow around now.

So, yeah. I was bad and didn't blog again last night. Sometimes it's hard to fit it in on Wednesday nights. I made squash soup that was heavenly and Greek salads and we had Calamata olve bread and split a bottle of wine. We had a great talk in the kitchen and lost track of time. We finally realized how late it was, and well, I didn't have time to blog.

Tonight was nice too. It was close to 60 degrees when I went running and it felt so nice and weird all at the same time. I started making drunken beans or frijoles borrachos that we'll eat for dinner tomorrow night along with our shrimp fajitas and guacamole and salsa de gallo. I'm ready to eat all of that right now, actually.

The rest of the weekend is a crap shoot. We haven't really talked about what we'll do, so it will be interesting for all of us to read about it on Sunday and find out what went down.

How about you all, good bloggers? Will you be eating food or shooting crap?

Got Motion. Restrained Emotion

Here is Stinky and her friend's peace sign.

I'm not sure if I've ever told you how much I hate bullies, but boy howdy, do I. So, there's been some harassment going on for Stinky and the main guy doing it, has been calling Stinky bad names every time he passes her. Not only does he do this at school, but he also works with her.

Since he's pretty sneaky about it, it's her word against his, and she's 17 and doesn't want to have a big deal made about it, she hasn't reported it to the principal. She had reached the end of her rope today, though and was texting me most of the day telling me how badly she felt about it and how she didn't want to go to work tonight. She went anyway, and I was proud of her for that.

Of course, my first impulse is to go up to the kid, even though he's probably three times my size, and slap the shit out of him...Or at least verbally go off on him. Unfortunately, they have these things called jail time and probation and restraining orders, so I have to show a little more restraint than I'd like to. Instead, I just happened to stop by her store and then just happened to get in the line at the register where he was cashiering. Stinky came up to me and under my breath I asked her if that was the kid. She nodded.

Luckily, there was no one in line behind me, so I was able to loudly say,"Yeah. It's too bad that people can be so mean. I know it's a sign of their unhappiness and insecurities, but that doesn't make it alright. In fact, in the real world, when people continually say mean and inappropriate things to someone, it's called harassment and people can lose their jobs and get suspended from school. So, Stinky. Let me know if that happens to you ever again, and I will be more than happy to talk to whoever I need to talk to get it to stop." The kid wouldn't establish eye contact with me (I get that a lot) and seemed to be very interested in a certain spot on the floor in front of him during my little lecture, but I know he heard me. So, we'll see what happens.

Before I left, Stinky said, "I love you, Mommy." It's nice to know my unbridled bitchiness can be good for something.

We Come and We Go. That's a Thing That I Keep in the Back of My Head

Here is a pic of me and my family. I'm dead center in front and my mom is in back looking a little tired.

Today would have been my mom's 79th birthday. I can't imagine what she would have looked like old. I would love to have been able to find out though...

Today was a good Valentine's Day. The guy and I didn't get all mushy or anything (besides the flowers he got me), but we had a nice Monday evening and enjoyed each others company and appreciated each other and flipped each other a ton of shit. It was exactly how I wanted to spend Valentine's Day with him...And any day really. Which I think is how it should be.

We had one drink at the Dublin, had a nice meal at the Atlas, picked up Stinky from work and brought her home and she told us about some bad part of her day. She really likes the guy and opens up more to him than I've seen her with almost anyone. That is really nice.

We went to play pool with my favorite bartender S. I sucked, but S.and the guy were really patient and trying hard to help me out...That is until S. just started giving me shit about how long my arms were and telling me I needed a 7 foot pool stick. He's pretty damn funny... Just ask him.

I hope you all had a wonderful night and spent it with people you love...Even if, or especially if, one of those people was you.

And I Know When I Give Her a Listen That She. She's What I've Been Missing.

Here is a sweet little pic, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I had another wonderful weekend here. Friday night the guy and I made dinner and had drinks. We drank a little more than we normally do and I'll take the blame for that. The guy likes these martinis at one of the places we go to that uses blue cheese stuffed olives. So, I figured I'd make some as a little surprise. We had a martini and some wine with dinner and a fun talk. Such a great night.
Archie "helping" the guy with his physical therapy.

Because of the over indulgence the night before, we didn't wake up as early as we wanted to on Saturday. It was just fine though. We made breakfast when we did get up - portabello mushroom and spinach omelets and potato pancakes and fruit. It was lovely. Even though it was warmer than we wanted, we were still able to ski. We checked out some different trails at Lake MacBride and liked them a lot. There were less trees on these trails and with the snow, it felt a little like being in the high desert. We skied until it was time to take Stinky to work.

We showered and then headed downtown for a drink. My favorite bartender, S. was working and we had a good time shooting the shit. We finally got hungry and went back to my place and ordered a pizza. We also watched our disturbing movie. Dead Girl was the name. It was a zombie'ish movie and it was pretty hard to watch at times. It does seem to be the kind of movie that stays with you for a while too - like a bad dream, in some ways. It was pretty powerful.

The flowers the guy bought me.

Today was a little annoying at first. I had more problems with my internet. It seems much better now, but I was pretty frustrated for much of the morning. I met the guy for a swim and a steam in the afternoon. It was exactly what I needed. When we finished, he asked me to come with him to the Co-op so he could buy me flowers. He said he wanted to make sure I had something to wake up to. Awww. Maybe we aren't completely cynical after all. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

But Friday Never Hesitate...

Here are some things that have frozen over.

Sorry I didn't post last night. The guy and I had a wonderful evening together, but we wanted to swim early in the morning, so I didn't have time.

Now, onto the weekend...Stinky is going to spend Friday night in a cabin with some of her other single girlfriends as their own little anti-lovey, anti-coupley, anti-Valentine's Day celebration. They plan to bring snacks, have fondue and play board games. It sounds like a perfect idea to me. The guy and I are going to make pan seared scallops, artichokes, salad and bread. We also want to watch some disturbing movies in our own anti-Valentine's Day weekend celebration. Just because we're happy in our relationship, doesn't mean we can't still be cynical in general, right?

Saturday morning we want to get up fairly early. I'll probably make a quiche and some potato pancakes and fill our bellies before we go skiing. It's finally supposed to get into the 30's around here. I'm happy it isn't so mind numbingly cold, but that means we won't be able to ski after this weekend until it snows and gets cold again. So, we figure we'll eek out as much skiing as possible before that happens.

I'm not sure what I'll do the rest of the weekend. After how fun the last couple of weekends have been, I'm excited to see how it pans out.

How about you all? Are you celebrating an anti-holiday or soaking up some snow this weekend?

I Tell You Love, Sister. It's Just a Kiss Away

Here is a snowy, slippery, spiral fire escape.

I read Slaughterhouse 5 while I was giving plasma today. I got to the part that said:

Billy answered. There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath - mustard gas and roses. It was a wrong number. Billy hung up.

That whole answering a wrong number thing, reminded me of a story an old lover told me about his parents. His mother met his father when she answered a party line back in the day. He originally called for someone else, but quickly forgot about her after talking to his mom. She was a beautiful Swedish woman who had had many suitors at the time. His dad was a short Chinese man studying engineering.

My ex said that his mother chose his father over all the other men because she knew exactly how her life would pan out with the other men, but had no idea where she would end up with his dad.

After many moves and degrees and advanced degrees and a marriage and two children who she loved and fretted over, a divorce after she found her husband having an affair with their close friend's daughter, starting a gallery with money from said divorce and ultimately retiring to Mexico; I would love to ask her if the gamble on the unknown had been worth it to her. Of course, we all know that the "safe" choices that she rejected in those other men, could have turned into something completely different than she imagined too. I doubt there are any really safe major life choices out there. Shit comes at us out of nowhere and all we can do is brace ourselves and wait for it to hit or be aggressive and meet that shit head-on. So it goes.

All Hands On Deck. Now. the Sea is Getting Rough

Here is Archie in one of his sweeter moments.

I don't have a lot to write about today. Archie has been a bit challenging lately. Tonight after I picked Stinky up from work, Archie attacked my feet for attention and then tried to rip up my paper towels. Finally, Stinky asked,"Can we please get him declawed and fatten him up enough so that he's lazy?" It's just a damn good thing he's so cute...

I Wanna Free Fall Out Into Nothin'

Here is a tree with a bunch of snow all around it.

So, kids. I'm exhausted. But it's that good kind of exhausted - from having such a wonderful and active weekend.

On Friday night, the guy and I met our friends for sushi and the food was good and the company was even better. I tried to get the guy home at a decent hour, so he could get some things done before we skied the next day.

On Saturday, I took Stinky to work, got a few things done and then picked up the guy and met our friend Bry to ski. Bry had never X-country skied before, so we weren't sure if he was going to like it...Of course, Bry and the guy like to squabble like that old married couple we've all met before called the Bickersons. So, even if Bry did like skiing, since the guy loves it, he couldn't actually admit it.

We finished skiing and the guy and I decided it would be nice to go to the rec services building for a steam to warm up. We got done with that and headed over to pick Stinky up. We decided a nap would be nice before dinner, and we were right. It was awesome to wake up about an hour later and be all rested for dinner. Speaking of dinner...It was amazing. We had another one of those 2 hour meals where we had a cocktail with our appetizers and soup and salad and split a bottle of wine with our entrees. I ordered the halibut that was served with artichoke hearts and potato pancakes. It was really, really good.

After dinner we went back to my place to watch some kind of kooky Norwegian Nazi zombie movie. There was much gore and eating of flesh - as one might expect, but what's more fun than a zombie movie after a nice meal?

The guy spent the night, as to make it easier to get up and get going the next morning. We had a nice breakfast at the Bluebird Diner and while we were eating, our friend Bry called to tell us he was just purchasing skis and boots and wondered when we were skiing. Apparently, he did like skiing after all. He met us at Lake MacBride and we skied those awesome trails for about 2 1/2 hours. I really loved it there and we plan to go back as long as the snow permits.

See what I mean? Great skiing, great food, great drinks, great zombie movies, and great company. It was pretty much my dream weekend.

But I Can Live and Breathe and See the Sun in Wintertime

College co-eds sledding down the alley behind my office on lunch trays they stole from the dorm food service.

Hey, what do you know...My second post in one day. This week seems like it went ridiculously fast. Maybe that damn blizzard upset the time space continuum.

They seemed to work very well.

I'm going to bed early tonight to rest up for the weekend. Tomorrow night The guy and I are meeting some friends for sushi. Stinky doesn't get off work until 8, so we should be easily done in time to pick her up.

I loved this girl's Ernie hat.

Saturday at noon, we're going Cross-country skiing with our friend Bry and anyone else who decides to show up. I'm excited to see what it's like to ski on this much snow. In the evening, the guy and I are going to Orchard Green restaurant for a nice dinner and wine. It should be lovely and relaxing after a day of skiing.

Throwing down another tray....Er, sled.

I'm not really sure what I'm doing on Sunday. I'm assuming I'll ski at some point and possibly swim. I haven't decided if I'll make an effort to watch the big game or not.

Right now, I plan on resting my arms, since they're about to fall off from shoveling snow for 3 hours yesterday. It's one hell of a work-out...

What are your plans? Will you be recovering from shoveling or getting right back out and tiring yourself out in the snow?

Every Picture Tells a Story, Don't It?

This here will be a photo journal of the blizzard. This first one was taken at 6 am when I started shoveling. I finished at 8:15.

Apparently, this business was closed.

I love the textures in this drift.

Here are some things that won't be getting used for another few months.

Graffiti guy peaking over the snowy garbage cans in an alley.

This garbage can looks like a snow covered Darth Vader.

Here is what downtown looked like at lunch...Or should I say, ghost town?

Believe We're Gliding Down the Highway, When In Fact We're Slip Sliding Away

These are what shelves look like when you go to the store at 9 o'clock at night after a blizzard in Iowa.

So, yeah. We're having ourselves a good old fashioned blizzard in Iowa. It meant that I couldn't give plasma today, and so I got home close to 5 o'clock. What did I do with my extra time you ask? Well, I certainly didn't put it to any good use. I tortured my kitten and watched House Hunter's International. I'm not sure how masochistic it is to watch rich people trying to find the perfect house in Southern Spain or in the Caribbean during a blizzard, but the escapism did hurt pretty good. I'm not much of a TV watcher in general, so it seemed a little decadent.

This is what your kitten looks like after he starts to get cabin fever...Or any time, really.

Of course, all good times must come to an end, and around 8:30'ish, I put on several layers and went out to pick Stinky up from work at the grocery store. I figured I'd get there early and shop first, but the snow had drifted halfway up the doors of my car and I ended up using that half hour to shovel snow in 1,253 mile per hour winds (or that's what it felt like, anyway). So, I finally made it out of my driveway, but even though I'd seen the plows come by at least twice, my street had a good (or bad) 6 inches on it. Luckily, I have one of those all-wheel drive Subaru grocery getters, so I never got stuck.

I was going to make tomato bisque soup for dinner tomorrow night. We're just going to have that with some grilled cheese sandwiches and salad, if the roads are drivable enough to see each other tomorrow. I realized I was too tired after all of that shoveling and stressful driving, so I'm letting it go until tomorrow night. The guy always wants to help anyway, so I figure we can just drink some wine, listen to music and make soup together. It sounds kind of nice, doesn't it?

I'll let you know how this whole blizzard thing turns out and if I end up having to go to work tomorrow - a real cliff hanger post, this one.