A square concert? It was hip!

My first concert on the square was great! I went with Bridget and Haley. There were seas of blankets and then seas of people, and classical music. Madison is so beautiful in the summer!

It is a very serious event though, I popped popcorn and made some pb&js and thought that was good enough, BUT IT WAS NOT! People go all out for concerts on the square. There were cheese plates, wine, fruit, sandwiches, etc. Some people had feasts on checkered blankets. I can't wait to go again and have a pimped out picnic.

Birthday, Birthday, YEAH!

Today was Eli's birthday, and Miss Meagan made him a delicious meal and cake!

Meagan got serious in the kitchen about cooking her meal! I was scared, but only for a second when I realized her fury was directed towards the chicken. That's the beautiful cake you see, decorated by myself and Meagan. There were no birthday candles so Eli had to blow out one giant candle, but it was acceptable. We sang the misery birthday song, that always goes over a lot better than the usual one, but I can never remember the lyrics so we had to make it up a bit "Happy Birthday to you, Uggh. Death and misery everywhere. People dying and despair. Happy Birthday, Uggh." something like that. Honestly though I hope there is no misery, death, dying, or despair and that Eli has a long happy life!

goin' down to chi-town

I had to get my student visa from the Spanish Consulate in Chicago. I made a day trip out of it with Meagan McAlister, and Charline (a girl a meet in my MHR class, from Guatemala). We started at 5am and got there around 8:30am. It was early but worth it. We had Grant park all to ourselves, except for a friendly seagull that wanted Charline's apple fritter (and got some!). Then we went to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), had Chicago pizza at Pizano's, and went to the Chicago Art Institute. It was a lot for a day and we were all very tired by the end, but it was so much FUN! I love Chicago!

Bernie's Beach

Here's a new place I found in Madison that I like. It's Bernie's Beach. It's small, close-ish, and good for sun bathing. The other pic is of a building on my bike ride there. I am going to Chicago tomorrow, so hopefully I will bring my camera...

Figurehead

So a lot of the fam got together this weekend. It was nice to see them all again: Grandma and Grandpa Dean, Mom and Dad, Oma and Opa, and Aunt Korean (John and I were there too, of course). It was a good weekend. I also hung out with Marla because she is going to Spain this Friday, but I am going to Spain in August, so we will meet again!

I did a lot of boating this week as well, my dad redid the seats and carpet on our pontoon, but it is still a pretty ghetto boat. This is reinforced by the figurehead you see pictured here. Someone told my father there was a naked women on his dock, turned out it was Barbie. She was, as you can see, affixed to the front of the boat by two leinenkugles bottles. My mother added the lifesaver to keep her safe. How special!

That's a bus pass

My MHR 300 class started this week. I really like my TA. He is a little awkward, and a little cute. He showed us his favorite picture of himself on the first day of class, which was him in a crowd at a race track (like nascar style) drinking/chugging out of a miller light can well sporting a Fu Manchu. Yeah, it was classaay.

Anyway, he posts the power points online and I go to the business library to print them. In order to print you need a print card, and at this particular library you have to have one of the employees process the print order, so you have to give them your print card. So I handed the employee, the same boy that did printing for me the day before and will probably do it every day from now on, my print card. He takes it looks at me and says "this is a bus pass" because I had given him my bus pass.

Oh well, tomorrow will be another opportunity to give him the right card first!

poop jug

I spent the last week at home with the family. I really love seeing my family and I love them all very very much. I spent time with all four of my grandparents and am really glad I did. Most the time I was with my mother's parents.

My grandfather is dying of cancer. It was gone and now it's back and he is choosing not to treat it. My grandma, who was already quite a...character is now even more of a basket case which I believe is her coping mechanism. Though there is a lot of sadness in my family, that is not the interesting part. The crazy is the interesting part. Though it is my grandmother who is the overflowing well of crazy it is my grandfather that coined the charming phrase "poop jug". A side affect of one of the meds he is on, (so he is being partially treated or at least treated for something) is constipation. My mom found this juice that she swears by to "regulate" the system and gave some to my grandfather. This is, of course where the "poop jug" comes from. He couldn't leave with out his "poop jug". John claims that he said if the juice didn't work he was going to "go in with a drill". Yikes, my poor grandpa!

I said I would come visit them this weekend too, so that means another LONG car ride. We are going to watch a movie together (probably "Singing in the Rain"). I hope he is up to it.

Also, the juice worked.

Oma and Opa

I'm back in Chippewaffles, but first made a trip to see the g-rents in Minneapolis. It was nice to see them. Looked at old family photos, old stamp collections, and old dishes. It was great.

Played the piano too loud and sang along after John and I got back to the good old casa. I miss the piano when I don't have one.

My ankle is sprained. It sucks. No handstands for a while.

The road to obesity is paved with cookies!

I LOVE COOKIES!

Janitor in a Refrigerator

I am currently finishing my last week as a janitor for the university. I have been cleaning refrigerators for the last two weeks 40 hours a week. I have developed a new sense of appreciation for janitors and a new sense of loathing for college students that live in dorms (of which I was one last year). I will say that I am glad I don't have a weak gag reflex. The worst refrigerator was without a doubt the one that the students didn't even attempt to clean out. As a dorm resident myself I know that house fellows are very forceful about students unplugging and emptying their refrigerators. Apparently this student(s) chose only to unplug. I'm going to give you a moment to consider what could have been left in this fridge...Some fairly innocent things such as soda, a Red Bull, a jar of jam, and some much more unpleasant things such as meat, cheese, and mayonnaise. This meat had been in an unplugged refrigerator for at least two weeks. My gag reflex was not strong enough for this and I couldn't clean it without getting a mask and shallow breathing.

While cleaning this fridge I found myself fantasizing about finding the people that lived in this room. Tracking them down and making them pay for their careless abandonment of perishables in a hostile environment and giving no consideration for the poor soul (me) that would have to deal with their mold covered fridge. Ah, well, two more days!

Who Nose?

It is my belief that very few people, if any, will read this blog and for that reason I will be blunt and honest. On the other hand I may lie but only because I refuse to recognize the truth. If I expect no one to read this, then why write a blog? Because everyone else does, so why not?

I will start with my nose. I recently got my nose pierced a little over a month ago. It has caused me to develop a bad habit. I am now a shameless nose picker. Before my nose piercing, yes I would pick, but very discretely and almost always with a tissue. Hand washing was always to follow a picking especially if a tissue had not been utilized. Now you can find me walking down the street finger up the nose digging as though my life depended on it. Typically though, I am not walking down the street while I pick my nose, but sitting on my front porch. This means I have a much smaller chance of being caught and can quickly remove my finger if I see people coming down the street. It also means my roommate is subjected to me talking about my boogers. My picking is an offense that my roommate believes should 1) Not be done or 2) at lest be done in the bathroom where there is little if no chance of witnesses.

If any of you have, or have had your nose pierced you may understand. Boogers get stuck in the piercing. I try to resist but by evening I usually have so much booger trapped in my nose that it is impossible to ignore the situation any longer. A nostril with a fresh piercing is sensitive and needs gentle persuasion to release it's boogers. This results in extended picking time. Though I can understand the somewhat repulsiveness of my new habit, the relief is too complete for me to give it up any time soon. I do try though, to take into consideration the feelings of others and be as discreet as my shamelessness and justified feelings allow.