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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cat Update

Lola: I emptied her favorite box. This has upset her since boxes appear to be leaving the apartment and this one has now moved closer to the door. It did have sweaters in it, so I haven’t needed it. It’s now empty, that adds a new layer of fun because she will wiggle her way into it and play in the inside. I went to take the box out yesterday and someone immediately jumped on top of it. She has a variety of special poses, the one that makes me laugh is when she rests her chest against the box and lets her legs dangle over the side.

TonyDanza: Two things on him.
1. I have found some of his dress up collars. His company collar, which is red came right out of the wash and on him. He loves it. Matt didn’t think it was cool and thought it made him look silly. I told him to shut up and that it didn’t. Here’s the more funny part. I also found his bowtie and immediately put it on him. The last time he wore it he had a smaller water bowl. This time he managed to dunk the entire bow into the bowl. It was pretty sad to have a droopy bow tie.
2. He’s been into hiding under the bed. Him and Lola get kicked out every night because I believe in sleep and they think it’s fun to play around 4 am. He doesn’t like to get kicked out. By hiding under the bed he thinks he’ll get shut in because he’s sneaky and doesn’t think that I know that he’s there!

 "You can't help that. We're all mad here."-The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland

Monday, July 23, 2012

Productivity = Weekend

You know those uneventful weekends where you don’t plan anything like a concert or a vacation but you go to sleep on Sunday evening and breath that same sigh of contentment from the plans and laughs, that was this weekend. 

Here’s how it broke down:

Friday: after tough weeks at work, both of us were pretty stationary and lumpy.

Saturday: big breakfast, to my parents house to see mom’s new carpet and start to prep the office for its makeover, scheels for some golf stuff, and then out to Sleepy Hollow for their production of Grease. We enjoyed the play and it had some great highlights. I was impressed with “Beauty School Drop Out” and we both agreed that it was great to see the difference in movie versus broadway versions. The icing on the cake for the production was to see the lightning bugs come out at night during the finals acts. They were beautiful and a great addition, it was almost like Sleepy Hollow’s production crew planned them. From there we had a few drinks at Peacock Alley and skipped home to bed, what a full day!

Sunday: quick get-ready for golf at Mandan Municiple, a rough 9 holes in some hot hot hot weather, a light lunch back at the condo, a trip to Menards for some garage shelving, some construction work which resulted in some very fancy shelves, some work on Matt’s car which took us back out to the farm, Matt learned what a fencing staple looks like as we pulled it out of his tire, he also learned that it was a good thing that we worked on his AC a bit…he was a little low on freon. We also learned that Wilton has a great sale on ice cream. We took in a little BWW and enjoyed the paper before heading to bed. Thanks to my parents for helping with the car maintenance, they are so good and knowledgeable. Matt and I also got some great karma points, awhile back we set up one of his employees and one of my good friends. We got news on Sunday that they got engaged and plan to get married next September! Couldn't be happier for the two to have found each other and us to have had a hand in it! She has asked me to be in her wedding and I was honored to accept!
During the weekend I continued to watch how the fair was going and was happy to see great ticket sales and great buzz on the event (despite the hot weather).

Best meal: 6 Mild, 6 Medium, 6 Caribbean Jerk, 6 Honey BBQ wings with 2 blue cheese and 1 ranch.

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." -Will Rogers

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Working for a Livin'....

In less than 72 hours the fair kicks off. I have been working on this project for a year and a half and will finally seeing a ton of effort come down to the end. It will feel good to have this one wrap up, especially after the flood last year. We will be going up with a small crew (me and another guy) to shoot footage for future commercials during the week. It will make for a long day but I’ll look forward to seeing everything play out.
Other events keep working through; the Scandinavian festival is on schedule for the end of September. Once next week wraps up, we’ll kick that event into high gear.

Matt’s been busy too. He actually got to spend an extra night with me this past week because he was wise to plan for some big meetings in Bismarck. I know his next couple months will be busy and full meetings but he handles it all pretty well. Spoiler alert: we are picking out his outfit for his next big TV spot, prepare yourself for a gray shirt.

This past weekend he was all business too. He trained on fire and combustion and hoses and psi and smoke and while he did, I played. I was able to meet up with a few friends for lunch. Was nice to gab a bit and catch up on lives that I’ve been away from for so long. Every once in a while I think back to “what was I doing last year?” I know at this point I was up to my tears in trying to sell my house. This year I’m in the condo and mostly unpacked. It’s amazing how long and short a year can be.

Best meal: I hate when I have weeks I don't remember food. I'll tell you what I've been eating a lot of lately, tacos and vanilla/honey greek yogurt (but not at the same time).

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day" -William Shakespeare

Monday, July 9, 2012

New cologne: Campfire

Know what I love, a successful weekend.
This past weekend (aside from 2 holes on the golf course) was! Matt and I made the maiden voyage pulling the camper with the new truck, and someone was pretty happy with the outcome. I was happy with leaving town with him but he was very happy with the new truck, the way it pulled, and how easy it was. This trip was even more special as it was our first camping trip with just the two of us.

We went down to Bowman-Haley Dam and reserved a spot from Friday through Sunday. We may have missed the group camaraderie but we perfected the campfire sandwich. We took in a round of golfing at Sweetwater, where I had a few great drives after an incredibly rocking start. For some reason my swing has been off and that results in frustration and anger and aching wrists. Things improved, until Matt had to sheepishly retrieve the ball that he hit the clubhouse with on the 9th hole.
We hadn’t been down to this site before and we were pleasantly surprised, we’d go back but should bring our own music (couldn’t pick up a damn station) and more wood and I was thinking bocce ball should make an appearance.
I also put up camper lights, much to someone’s dismay. I loved them! They looked so nice and were so romantic. They would have been nicer but because someone was “reluctant” to help, they only went up about 6’8” tall (which is as far as I can reach). I have a plan for next time.

We are planning 2 more trips for sure. He has annual dive weekend coming up, which will be a long weekend, and then we’d like to get a trip in with his parents. Both are still up in the air. There are a few things this summer that we’d like to get in (girls weekend, trip to Fargo, tubing) and then there are things that we have to get in (new employee training, working at the fair). We’ll see how the rest of it plays out.

Latest conversation that made me laugh:
Our camping neighbors had a small terrier, chihuahua, min-pin, weiner dog, jack russell, something cross dog. We sat and watched the dog tangle itself in it's own leash.
I said (and I've said before): I like little dogs, they are so cute and they are always puppies.
MJR: They are little and they are hard to find and they can be squashed.
ALM: This dog is very interesting looking.
MJR: Yeah.
ALM: Maybe a terrier and chihuahua? Hmmmm, what do you think it is?
MJR: Small.

“If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him.” – Lou Holtz

Sunday, July 1, 2012

200 posts and still going.

This is officially the 200th blog. I had to go back and read the 100th and I seemed so wise back then. I don’t feel as wise now. I could state how more things have changed since then: new houses, new job, new towns, new memories, etc, but I feel that that may be redundant. I think it’s obvious things change, sometimes the way you’d like them to, sometimes when you least expect it, sometimes when you don’t want it to, and sometimes you can’t force change to save your life. Silly change!

So back to this 200th blog thing. Here are some interesting facts that I’ve spotted as I reviewed the blog.
  • I’ve repeated a title once “Leaving is the hardest part.” Once was the trip to Mexico and once was the recent post about Chicago. And I’ve mentioned “Float on” twice, obviously I’ve got a thing with songs. 
  • I use the word “weekend” the most in my titles.
  • I have blogged the most about weekends, which was tagged 113 times. Family came in second at 108 times. 
  • Shortest blog title was “*sigh*” closely followed by “Thankful.”
  • Longest blog title was “Brass Doggies $7, Spanish Dictionary $1, Piece of Mind $.50”
  • TonyDanza has made 18 posts while Lola beats him out at 22 posts. I didn’t count their collective “pet” tag.
  • Since the blog has been created I’ve lived in 4 houses.
  • I’ve visited Guatemala, Mexico, Kansas, Minnesota, Chicago, and various places all over ND.
  • According to my stats there have been 2,158 all-time page views. My most viewed post happened in July of 2010. 87% of viewers use internet explorer and 4 views have come from Brazil.

Insider’s scoop for those that read this, I rarely proofread, which is probably obvious. I also like to write a post in one sitting. I break up vacations and trips so I can relive it longer but I sometimes write them all at once. I used to be better at pictures but have slacked since I’m not impressed with my camera. I have plans for this blog and hope to see it become more personalized as I mature in life.

What’s interesting is that I think I’m not really doing anything profound, just mostly transcribing my life from my point of view at irregular intermissions. My grandmother has been “blogging” for years. She has a calendar that she write on daily to mark the days’ events and temperature. She has a chronological record of Moser Simmentals Farms that exists before technology was even a picture. When I am amazed that I’ve had 200 blog entries, I remind myself that she has well over 18,250 (365 times 50).

The world shrieks and sinks talons into our hearts. This we call memory. ~Tim O'Brien