I wish I could sleep.

Some nights I sleep for 4 hours and then am just awake. Not wake up, roll over and fall back asleep. Just wake up and my eyes are open. I remember being able to sleep. I guess I get more done though because I have more time. Ha. I don't know if I always use this time productively though. I've been coloring, beading, knitting, reading, playing video games, cooking actual meals, spending time with friends, and crocheting. I've definitely had my zone out moments though when I just sit and stare at that TV.

Part of me is really freaking out about packing up all my shit and getting it into storage in a reasonable time. Another huge part of me is freaking out about finding someone to rent my place. Yet there is a huge zen part of me that knows I'll deal with shit as it comes. Things happen for a reason. If not then you just deal with it. Ya know? I used to freak out and really worry and not sleep at all, but I've gotten better and just dealing with stuff when the time comes and not worry about it so much before hand.

I'll be home in four days after two days of travel. I hate flying. The flights down were the bumpiest I'd had in a long time and they completely freaked me out. Especially leaving Anchorage to come back here to Boulder. It was making the plane creak and groan. If the flights are like that I'm going to be completely miserable. Took all I had in me to not cry. I'm turning into such a wuss. This is precisely why I will never be able to go on a roller coaster ride.

coffee mugs and friends

Do you ever change coffee mugs because you haven't washed the coffee mug you normally use for about a week and realize the fit of the replacement is better for your hand? Just feels more natural. I think I might be switching coffee mugs. I hope my other coffee mug doesn't mind very much. Maybe it'll just think that I'm taking turns.

I've recently decided to quit graduate school. I thought when I started graduate school that it might have been what I was looking for. What I was passionate about. Turns out it wasn't. It wasn't making me happy. It won't make me happy. And I think I could have done it and succeeded. But I would have been pretty miserable. It would have been safe. It's much scarier saying I don't want this I'm going to look for something else. Something I might never find, might never succeed at even if I do find out what I want.

Quitting graduate school really opened my eyes to how blessed I am in family and friends. Everyone that I consider close to me has been full of support and love and encouragement. I honestly did not think that would happen. I expected a lot of arguing. A lot of "I'm disappointed." It blew my mind. How I got so blessed I'll never know, but I'm thankful everyday for the people that I love. Especially my mother. I'd be lost without her.

Right now I'm looking at options on the home front. I've applied for a job at the post office at home. I've always wanted to work at a post office, since we were drawing what we wanted to be when we grew up in kindergarten. I need to get my fingerprints done today or tomorrow and get the paper portion of the application in the mail. That work would be temporary and part-time which would help me get my feet back under me. Also, there is a program in Alaska called AKT2, which is a non-traditional teacher certification program. The deadline is passed for this year, but I have some folks trying to get me into the program. I would take a 3 week course over the summer and get a temporary teacher's certificate. Then I would be able to teach in a school district in Alaska and over the course of 2 years I would study and get a teacher's certificate while working. It's amazing how these opportunities seemed to present themselves after I made this decision.

I'm slowly starting to purge myself of some of my crap. Not nearly enough I'm sure but I'm trying. I'm moving DVD's to a case and have thrown away two bags of raggy clothes and have two bags ready to drop off for thrift. I need to sell my walker, my papasan, and a few other things, but I think a lot of stuff is just going into storage. I'm actually really proud of the fact that I was able to get rid of so much clothing. If I didn't have craftwork I'd have a lot less to store as well. Curse of the crafty, I guess.

Today's going to be a long day. I couldn't sleep last night, try as I may. I tossed and turned and curled up and stayed awake through it all. I'm hoping my hours move into something more normal when I'm at home.

If anyone wants a crazy, wonderful, fucked up read. Go for Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl.

If anyone wants a good listen go for The Exponents. :) 80's genius dear friends.

If anyone wants a light hearted N64 game go for Paper Mario.

confusion

I've been asking a lot of different people what I should do right now in my life with regards to grad school. Deep down I know it will have to be my decision. And deep down, it'll have to be a decision that I have to live with, that I will have to be happy with. A decision that I ultimately have to make on my own. For my own reasons.

I feel in my heart that if I stay in school, that I will be staying in school because everyone around me is voting that I stay in school. Everyone wants me to stay in school and to be in school because I'm capable of so much. I can do this. I should do this. Job security. Why not? It's only two years. What else would you do? Will you be happy if you quit? Why shouldn't you do this? Is this something you really want to give up on? Isn't it worth it? Will you be happy settling for something else?

Everyone around me wants me to "succeed" and I almost feel like it's for their reasons. They want me to succeed because I can. And if I don't then I'm wasting something. I don't want to devote my life to math. Struggling over roughly 17 problems a week that take hours upon hours does not appeal to me. Not even for 2 years. I don't want to sit in an office. I don't want to teach, I don't mind tutoring, but I don't want to teach.

I don't know what I want in life. I hung out with some very dear friends and some new friends this evening. And the one thing that I came away with was "I DONT KNOW." I walked this in the snow as I walked home in circles and thought about what I wanted in life. The only real answer I have right now is I don't know. I know very little, I know I love my family. I know I want to be here for them. I know I want time for craft work. I know I want time to read. I know that I want to travel. I know I want time with my mother, with my nephew, with my community. None of this amounts to me knowing anything definite about my future.

I'm absolutely terrified of not knowing what I want in life, what I want with grad school and if I'm staying in grad school because I'm scared, that's yet another reason not to be there. I'm scared of people thinking I'm a failure because I don't want grad school. I think I know what I need to do. But I don't know if I'm ready to live up to all the implications that come with my decision.

thinks my fish are rad

And that I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them just hanging out. That's one thing that I'm going to really miss in the coming years. Time to sit and read or to sit and crochet, at least without feeling guilty. Whenever I take time to do something that isn't homework I feel extremely guilty and it just doesn't come with the enjoyment that it used to. I haven't even taken time to bead since I left home. It kind of makes me sad. Makes me question this whole grad school thing even more than I already am. Frustrating.

This weekend was a much need break that I took regardless of homework and reading and studying. I drove to Durango on Thursday night after my classes and help lab hours. I got in at about 1 and was completely zoned for most of the drive. Normally I do some of my best thinking when I'm driving but this time my mind just cleared. Empty. Long empty hours. Friday morning I slept in and then went to lunch with Gretchen, Matt, and Ozzy. I always feel better seeing how happy she is. We talked about some options for if I decide that I don't want to devote my life to math for the next 6 years. Here's what came up:

• getting my CDL
• being a mailman or a postmaster
• going to grad school for something else
• just getting my Master's not my Ph. D.

All viable options. I've wanted my CDL for years and I've wanted to play with mail since I was in grade school. I even found a paper this past year when I was at home saying that I wanted to be a postmaster when I grew up. Genius.

After visiting with G, M, and O, I went up to campus to see if any of my teacher folk were around. Erich was so I sat and visited with him for a while until the tutoring center got busy. Ha... I even ended up helping out some kids. Funny how you just fall into that. He said that the first year was the hardest and it's because you're focusing on passing the Prelims. Which is encouraging and also discouraging at the same time. It's nice to know that he said it was hard, makes me feel less badly about how hard everything is for me. Again... encouraging.

Mikey finally sold Baskin and is now working just fully at Wagon Wheel. He was there when I stopped by and visited for a bit. I wish I could go back and work for him. I think I'd like a brainless job right now at this juncture in my life. After that I entered grades and zoned out in front of the TV till Kirsten got off of work. We went to dinner at Season's (both of us hadn't eaten there before ever!) As we were walking there, we passed the Ranch and I knew everyone standing around outside. We were slightly delayed by hugs and catching up with people. So fun! After Season, we cruised through Orio's for purple fuckers, peeked in at the disturbing Ponga's remake, and then went to the Ranch where we spent the duration of the evening. A bunch of people came and it was great, great fun. And great, great stress release.

Day two: Saturday. Slept in, and then went to lunch at Steamworks with Carl, Janice, Gretchen, Ozzy and Kirsten. It was sooo good to talk to Carl, just like it was good to talk with Erich. He took more time off than me and was able to relate to me in getting a slow start. But he said that means I'm just taking in a lot more now and will be able to in the future so I'll surpass everyone else. I just laughed but it's a fun notion. We must have sat around for 2 hours. It was good. Poor Kirsten was probably really bored with all the math talk but she was a trooper! She was surprised how close I am with my professors. I know it's because the department is so small and they're just so amazing. I consider myself really, really blessed because of that.

Saturday night was dinner at China Cafe, only the best Chinese food in the state of Colorado. Yum. After that we cruised on over to her friend Heather's for some chill time before karaoke at the tavern. Karaoke was one of those magical nights when no one is there for most of the evening. We got to sing a lot. I got to visit with Brian, who is sometimes to busy to sit and have a chat. Lots of laughs were had and it was just an incredible evening. Love, love, love singing Journey. It was epic as always. Zeke had a few good laughs at me just because I'm so ridiculous all the time. Great stuff.

My day of driving started out at 1. Not as early as I'd like but early enough. It was beautiful and a perfect driving day. I thought more on the drive back here to Boulder than I did on the drive to Durango. It's strange to me that I don't think of Boulder as home yet. Right now home is in Unalakleet with my Mom. I'm going to give this grad school a year to see if it settles into me more. I'm going to work on being better at managing my time. And I'm going to stop writing this blog and get to work on my homework. Or at least run to the store and get some detergent so I can do my laundry and then do my homework.

Coffee, coffee, coffee

I don't know if grad school is getting a little better or if I'm just getting used to the grueling pace of studying all the time. I also feel like stuff is slowly clicking back into place and I'm understanding more but as soon as I understand something we've moved onto something new so I don't really feel like I'm making any progress although I have to be making some kind of progress or I wouldn't be keeping up, right? I'm still not sure I'm entirely capable of doing this but I'm doing my best.

I wish I could spend all day and night on math and love it and crave it. But I need time for other stuff. I have to socially interact with people and not talk about math. I have to do my craft work and cook actual meals not just eat crap from restaurants and insta-meals. I wish I had time to read something other than a text book. I wish I had time to take weekend trips. I'm suddenly realized how great I had it as an undergrad and am so freaking glad that I took advantage of it.

My mom has been my biggest support so far in this insane venture of mine. I can call her at any time and vent and cry or just tell her about my day or hear about hers. It's amazing to know that she doesn't care if I succeed or fail as long as I gave it my best and tried. We were going to try and to quit calling each other everyday and now that just seems silly. I want to talk to her everyday and miss her everyday so why not? :) Best friends should talk everyday.

Aune Mieke comes to visit this Friday and is staying till the following Saturday. I'm so excited to see her and get a big old hug from her. A real hug with lots and lots of love in it. I'm having a party to welcome her here/a house warming party. I'm excited because it's my first party in my still relatively new house! Then on Saturday I think Alex is having a birthday party, a dinner type party. And Sunday I think we're going with Adam through a corn maze and having dinner with him and possibly winning pumpkins! A fabulous weekend I think! Monday will be back to school and work and Aune heads to Colorado Springs Tues through Thurs and then back to me for Friday and Saturday. No plans for that weekend yet but I'm sure quality time will be on the books and maybe some exploring of Boulder. I'm sooo excited to have company.

New era of life

So I've started grad school. I'm a week into it. And I'm not so scared of the recitations I'm teaching anymore, but I am very intimidated by the level of math that I'm doing. I've never really had to work that hard at math. It's come naturally to me. I have the distinct feeling that I'm going to be doing a large amount of work studying and reading and re-studying and re-reading. Daunting, but doable I think.

Being in front of the classroom isn't nearly as scary as I made it up to be. I actually had nightmares about it before hand. In my dream (nightmare) I missed my recitations because I was busy doing something else. I woke up and was completely freaked out. So I got up early at 7 am, way early for me. And went to campus a half an hour early, just in case something went wrong. I got to class 10 minutes early and there were already people there! I pulled out my worksheets and the notes I'd written down so I wouldn't forget my name. Then I sat there for the remaining 8 minutes in silence staring. It was so freaking uncomfortable. It didn't help with my nerves at all. I started class about a minute early and was kind of stuttery and hestitant. They didn't have any questions for me so I just started them right in on the worksheet. They seemed pretty tired and slow moving, but once they started talking to each other and asking me questions I felt a lot better and was able to move into a fairly comfortable state of mind. The questions they were asking me I knew inside and outside, it was all material the was familiar to me and something tangible I could deal with. It fit me like a well worn shoe. Which was strange. I didn't think I'd feel that way about being in front of a class.

When I was in Bozeman visiting J, he passed on some books to me. One of them was The Living Dead, which is a compilation of Zombie short stories and I'm absolutely in love with it. Some of the zombies are semi-intelligent and others are the mindless come after you type. It's a good book to take with and read sporatically on errands because the stories are short enough that you don't actually lose your place. I'd recommend it as a fun read. Zombies are my new favorite scary thing if you hadn't guessed.

life on the road, again :)

I moved out of Unalakleet on July 29th, 2009. :) Officially homeless and officially loving it. My Mom and I flew to Anchorage and on the 31st we drove to Denali with Marty. We spent two nights there and were the only people that were sitting around a campfire, cooking on the campfire and actually enjoying the outside. Everyone else just stayed in their campers. No one actually camps anymore. It was a strange, strange realization. They missed out on such wonderful things such as squirrels humping.

Bow-chicka-wow-wow

These two were all over our campsite performing coitus. It was hilarious. The second day that were were there we went on an 8 hour bus ride. Four hours in and 4 hours out. It was really flipping sweet going in and not too bad, but the 4 hours out were torturous. We did see some really neat wildlife though. Moose, a bear with her cubs (triplets!), so so many rabbits, some eagles, mountain sheep (white dots) and some reindeer. Here's picatures for your viewing pleasure.

Young female moose

Triplets, busy mom...

Caribou

After camping in Denali we cruised on up to Fairbanks and stayed the night with Mindy. I finally got to sleep in the Eurovan. It was amazing. I popped the top up and slept up there with all the windows down. I so could live in a van like that for a year or two. I think for now school is going to interfere with that. On the 4th we cruised on down to Eagle River where Jim and Teresa were having a huge barbecue/birthday party. I ended up staying and hanging out while Mom and Marty went back to Anchorage. We planned on Karaoke but unfortunately the bar wasn't in agreement with that seeing as it wasn't open. So we sat around the campfire talking and a guitar was brought out. Very mellow. Very nice. Good fourth of July. The rest of the time in Anchorage was a blur. Mom's birthday was on the 6th and I got a new tattoo on the 9th and flew out to Missoula that evening. Flying with a new saran wrapped tattoo is not a pleasant experience.

Restless feet

I'm traveling and my feet are restless. This is pretty rare. Normally when I'm traveling and doing stuff my feet are happy because they're already moving. Maybe they're just looking ahead to the month that I'm going back to Unalakleet for. I'm almost wishing I hadn't committed to it and that I can just leave after this time in Juneau. I'm just ready to move towards school. And I have stuff I want and need to do before I am ready to start school. I don't know. I know I'm over Alaska for a while. I really hope I settle down before I get home, or I'll just be miserable there and make everyone around me miserable. Stupid. I know I'm doing something stupid and inconsiderate and do it anyways. Definitely one of my faults and my selfish spoiled habits.

My life gets stranger and stranger....

always, always in the best possible ways. :)

I won a vacation in Florida today. I never win things, and now I can stop saying that! How nifty. I'm still kind of surpised by it. Elated and surprised.

My birthday, well I guess month, has been absolutely incredible. My Mom gave me a new Eeyore tank and coffee mug, a beatiful carosel horse tapestery, her blessing and non-judgement on me not wanting to be here in Unalakleet on my birthday and support in being weird and random and getting a ticket outta here. I feel like there was something else and it's not jumping into my head at the moment. Needless to say she spoiled me rotten, and I loved it.

I left Unalakleet the Tuesday before my birthday and arrived in Montana on Wednesday. I cruised from Missoula on over to Bozeman and of course J and I started celebrating. :) A celebration that lasted from Wednesday till Sunday. Whatta friend, let me tell you! We went out on Wednesday. Thursday morning we made a great breakfast and had lovely mimosas, and Thursday evening we played cards with his friends and went to see live music. Friday was lazy and slow, perfect for gearing up for Friday night, which was Brewfest with lots and lots of lovely microbrews and his very nice friends who were incredibly welcoming and accepting. Saturday, he grilled steaks, made a salad and cooked asparagus for my birthday feast and then we went out Saturday night. I got good and toasted and had a marvelous time. Sunday was haggard but a good drive to Missoula. Couldn't have asked for a better actual birthday day.

Missoula was mellow and happy. Hanna is doing so good and it makes me so happy to see that. Luke is doing really well too and it just makes my heart happy. I think it makes Mama Rodli happy too. Lots of happiness there. We cooked a lot, ate a lot. Hanna and I were able to talk and it felt like old times. Good times. More... normal.

Here back at home I had a delayed pseudo party with my Mom, Hazel, Karis, and Sy. I cooked dinner and made a cake and we played games. Karis gave me an awfully marvelous hat and boa to wear and Sy gave me Disaronno. :) I love my friends, dearly. Quite a random bunch too, but once the ice was broken everything was perfect.

And now a vacation. In Florida. I'm pretty much happy right now. Even thought I'm restless, I'm happy. It's a good thing.

Boulder visit and of course karoake

I went to Boulder and visited the school a week ago Friday. I left Unalakleet on Wednesday and arrived in Boulder Thursday cross-eyed from sleep deprivation. I took a nap and then went to dinner with a little over half of the other prospectives and one of our graduate student liasons or whatever you want to call her. She was very nice and it was slight awkward at first but as dinner progressed, we started asking questions and talking. The two from Tennessee were severly annoying and everyone else was nice, kinda bland, but nice. I asked a few questions but one girl really took the reins and went to town asking questions. So I rode those shirt tails and she basically covered every question that I'd thought of. After dinner I was still fair tired so I read for a bit and honestly went to bed at 9:30. Pathetic considering the time change would have put me at 7:30. Rockstar. Let me tell you.

Friday dawned at about 7:00 and I took a shower and ate breakfast. Little did I know that starting my day with food with lead to an entire day of eating! Seriously they must have thought that food was the way to get us to go to school there. The other graduate school liason met us in the lobby and we walked on over to the university. Short lovely walk. :) We had a meet and greet thing with more breakfast in the Math building. I could barely eat but I totally managed to stuff coffee down in my tummy no problem at all. David Grant spoke for a while and then a professor and a grad student both gave short talks. They finished just in time for us prospectives to be rushed to Analysis and then Algebra class with almost no time to pee! After the classes, which were slightly awkward because we just jumped in with no real notice (one professor was quite nervous, it was quite cute), we met up with some other graduate students and went to lunch on the hill. I went with one of the graduate liasons and another prospective to a sushi place. Now this prospective was the most amazing question asker ever! She even had a list that she read over a few times. Every question that could possibly be thought of was asked by her along with several variations that expanded the graduate liasons answers. Amazing. And great. I didn't have to think at all and his brain was being picked clean. Nifty. After lunch we had some down time. I sat with two graduate students and talked with them and read a tad bit just to get my mind off of crap for a second or two. After downtime and some more coffee there were three more talks and then dinner with grad students and professors. It seriously felt like we just had eaten lunch! But I managed to eat a little and socialize. I was definitely getting a good vibe from everyone and from the campus and Boulder. Kinda nutty. Didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. After the dinner we had two options, happy hour with the grad students or bowling with grad students. I chose happy hour with the grad students. I was one of two to do that. :) Hehehe... It was a pleasant evening and I even ran into someone that I knew from Durango. Colorado is small. Almost as small as Alaska.

Amanda dancing

Speaking of Alaska here are some pictures of my Anchorage time. I went and saw Amanda dance at the Biker Show thingy. We also got coffee and went to dinner and hung out and it was awesome. :)

Me and Jason

This is Jason and I becoming intoxicated at a karaoke bar. We started out this evening at Koot's and proceeded to let Lucy out, seek out a karaoke bar, and get quite intoxicated. Pretty sure we were both still tossed the next am.

Such a rockstar

This is me singing karaoke at the karaoke bar. The classic Journey move. I think I do this everytime that I sing "Don't Stop Believing." Bitchin', I'm so bitchin.

I love karoake

And this would be Jason singing at the karaoke bar. We're awesome, aren't we? He also played a lot of air guitar. It was AWESOME. Shenanigans.

So this grad school thing.

The offer was pretty amazing. At least I think so. I'd get a Teaching Assisstantship that would pay just over 15,000 for the school year, they would waive the tuition for 9 credits (full-time), and I would get a 2500 fellowship. I'm going to look at the school in two weeks. Just bought my ticket. It's startling to think that I'll end up back in Colorado after all of my planning towards what I thought was my inevitable move to Montana. Part of my heart is forever stuck in Montana with Hanna, Luke, Mama Rodli... I bought car insurance in Montana. My car is already there. I've looked at apartments and kittens online since April (even thought I wouldn't have been moving there earlier than January.)

But I can picture myself in Boulder as well. It's 4-5 hours closer to Missoula. I wouldn't have to drive through Utah anymore but I guess instead would have to drive through Wyoming. It's close to Durango, so I could still visit. I know a few people in the Boulder/Denver area. Megan and her family, Nicole, Chris, Madison, Jenny (she'll be moving to Seattle shortly though.) Two of my professors went to graduate school there so I'm assuming the school was good and that they liked it there. Denver is a larger airport to fly in and out of and a lot less expensive than Durango or Missoula, both are small airports. I've looked at some classifieds for Boulder and I could afford to have a two bedroom all to myself. I love living by myself. I wish I knew where I was going to be 5 months from now. That way I could be planning on what I need and want. I just want to be there, buying a new bed, putting up my book shelves, taping up pictures on my walls, cooking, cleaning, reading in my bed at 5 in the morning, dancing while I do my dishes, piling magazines up in a corner, stupid stuff. I think I've had too much coffee this morning and am just too restless.

I did it.

I got into grad school. I'm slightly freaking out about it. Can I do this? I want this. I don't want to fail, I don't want to mess this up. All I keep thinking is I did it. But can I do it?

I wish I slept more, better. :)

Blizzard

School was canceled here for the first time in my knowledge. Amazing. The snow is sliding and swishing on my ceiling and I feel a bite in the air of my room. Gusts of wind are shaking the mobiles I have hanging. The wind sounds come and go like animals racing around the buildings. It kind of makes me feel small, and yet really happy to be an Alaskan.

Do you ever just stare at yourself so long you no longer recognize yourself? I feel as though my eyes change. They become empty. Hollow. Lost. And then all of a sudden the fill up with life. And it cycles back and forth till I feel exceptionally strange.

I'm really happy that I didn't bypass Anchorage. I was able to spend some quality time with Amanda, Chelsea and reconnect with Jason. Wicked rad. My flights home were on time and uneventful. What was eventful however was me winning $500 for the halftime score on the Superbowl. Mom apparently bought me a square on a board and my numbers won at halftime! Exciting stuff. Mom kept $100 for the squares and then we went halfsies so I walked away with $200. Pretty much awesome because of my unexpected car costs and plane change fees and such. Lovely surprise. Marty picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at her place, she had more errands to run. I had a snack drank like 5 glasses of water and pooped out hardcore. I didn't sleep amazingly well because I had to get up and pee like 3 times but I slept reasonably well. Woke up Monday morning not so bright and early and went and picked up my rental. And thus began what turned out to be my week in Anchorage.

Once in my first car rental ever I decided to get my mittens from Marty's and then do exactly what I wanted. I got some food and then started running around for my Mom. Ironic that that's what I wanted to do but hey, I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to worry about it because at this point I was still going home on Wednesday. So I went to Fred Meyer and picked up stuff for my Mom and a few treasures for myself. I got some really great earrings and a new pair of knee high socks. Then I went to Walmart and picked up some things that I couldn't find at Fred Meyer and then Carrs when I could find everything else at the other two stores. At this point it was almost two and I had a relative date to keep so I scooted on over to Pete and Doris's and sat and visited with them for about an hour and a half. It was great seeing them and Pete gave me some books to read and study, math ones of course and Doris gave me some of the best felted slipper socks my feet have ever seen. (I'm loving them, wore them last night and this morning.) I was somewhat over Mom shopping and decided to go to Value Village and do some Sissy shopping. Oh man, I found some treasures. Books, movies, and clothes. Amazing! I called Chelsea and left her a message and then called Amanda and connected on the phone with her. She was working but wanted to meet up later. So I went to Marty's and played online a bit and just relaxed. At the appointed time I cruised on over to Borders to meet up with Amanda and had some marvelous coffee and me time. I love coffee and me time, especially around strangers where I can write or read and people watch all at once. Oh man. Perfy. Amanda came and we visited and caught up, I totally got to gawk at her rock and Chelsea connected with us and invited us over to Lee's for dinner. She came and grabbed us, we picked up some beer and found ourselves in Lee's living room. It ended up just being us three girls kind of having our own little catch up party and laughing and goofing off like we were in high school. It was the first time us three had been in the same place just hanging back and chilling in years. Great stuff I say. At about 10:30 Chelsea, Amanda, and I cruised over picked up our cars and then went to Chelsea and Jason's. We played a game, I won!, and then Amanda had to get home cause she had an early meeting the next day. Everyone else hunkered down and watched tv till we slowly dropped to unconsciousness one by one.

Best friends

The next day I woke up and slowly motivated. I hopped in my car and did some more fun shopping. I got myself a new bathing suit, went to a different value village than the one I went to the day before. I had some more time so I decided to drop by Sportsman Warehouse to see if my friend Jason was working. Some of my other friends had seen him there and we'd kind of lost touch over the years. ( We're pictured below and yes we always act like that when we're chilling.) He's now married to a really cool gal named Frannie and has a new doggie named Lucy. :) It was flipping awesome to reconnect. He wanted to hang out that night (Koot's and Trivia, awesome) and got my number and such and I got his, but of course his cell was at home. Anywho... When he tried to find the place that I was staying he got a little lost and went without me but then called me afterwards. So I went over to his place and we totally rocked Wii for a good bit. He killed me at tennis, bowling and cow racing. But I was the champ at boxing because it's awesome and totally my favorite Wii sport. We played a few other ones to... Ping pong was somewhat even. Fishing was 2/3 him and 1/3 me. And shooting was fairly even as well. It was marvelous. Then we watched Kung Fu Panda. There is no price for awesomeness. Great movie. Fricking hilarious, good kid message. Be yourself, ya dig? He totally started snoring about halfway through the movie but I stayed up for the whole thing.

Typical :)

Wednesday, day three, the day I was supposed to go home but the day before I decided to stay through Sunday because things were finally going so well for me in Anchorage. Normally there is bitter disappointment because my friends don't return phone calls or don't show up and do what they say they're going to do. But this time things were different. Everyone did what they said they were going to do and were returning and answering phone calls. Awesomeness. So I woke up and went and got breakfast/lunch and read some of Deep River and wrote in my journal. I love sitting in a busy place and just watching people and having that background noise and movement all around me quieting my mind. It's close to perfection. That's part of why I love doing things by myself. There's no need for mindless conversation or just filler conversation. No awkward silences. No need to entertain or be entertained. I love it. Wednesday slowed cruised by, I went to Title Wave and browsed and read and browsed and read. I totally found a great book for Karis and mine's road trip in 2010. We're totally rocking the coast to coast thing all over seeing things like the biggest radio flyer and the Spam Museum and fun stuff like that. I think we're planning on staying in a treehouse in Oregon. Pretty much ridiculously rad. I also got 3 other books to add to the 50 or so that I have already that need to be read. And I read! It's crazy. I need to kick one of my habits. Beading. Knitting. Reading. Music. Movies. Writing. Crap. I love 'em all and don't think I want to quit anything. Oh well. Marty, Sandy, Kenny and I went to the Thai Orchid for a late lunch/early dinner. Amazing. I love that place. Garlic Calamari. Number 91. Everytime. So so f*cking amazing. Afterwards I cruised on over to Amanda's for some coffee and one on one catch up time. We kinda had a rough patch but things are really smoothing out nicely. I've really missed having her in my life. And spending time with her just made that all the more clear. We talked about what the little things and the big things and also just sat for awhile. Then we started looking at wedding dresses. She's getting married to a fella named Rob Pittman and asked me to be in the wedding. :) Couldn't say no, didn't want to say no. So I'll be in my second wedding within a year or two. Means a lot to me to be asked even if I am somewhat of a curmudgeon. (I think that's spelled correctly.)

Oh yes, this happened

I woke up nice and slow on Thursday. I looked at the clock at 7:30 and went back to sleep. Repeated the process at 8:00, 9:30, 10:30, and finally just decided it wasn't worth it anymore and got up at 11:00. I hate when my sleep is all funky like that. I wish I could just sleep in like a normal person. The big event today was Postsecret. I went over to Chelsea's at about 6:15 while it was dumping snow outside. Seriously dumping. I was practically crawling. We headed to the University after she scarfed down a yogurt and then met Amanda there. It was really interesting. Frank Miller talked for a bit and then read secrets that weren't able to be published and then there was a sharing time. It was kinda funny and kinda cheesey but actually kinda cool at the same time. I don't know. It wasn't exactly what I expected but it was awesome to share it with Amanda and Chelsea. Afterwards Amanda had to do a dance thing and Chelsea and I picked up Justin, Rueben and Lee and went to first tap at the Bear's Tooth. A hippy band was playing so we mostly ended up standing around in the lobby drinking beer of course. We hung out for a quite a bit and of course the evening ended up downtown at the Gaslight no less. And guess what I did? I'm sure a glance to the right will tell you that I rode a mechanical bull for the first time. And yes I was fair intoxicated but it was bloody brilliant and I loved it and now of course I'm considering becoming a professional mechanical bull rider. Ha. If only. That would only be too cool. Definitely too cool for me.

The next morning Jason made omelets, which were so f*cking good and just what the doctor ordered. Yum yum in my tum. Then I went to Marty's and was going to take a nap but I got a phone call from my mother dearest saying that I had to call someone at Boulder back. Apparently my transcripts didn't make it to the math department so I had to go to the University there and order transcripts and hop online and order some from Fort Lewis as well. So much for nap time. But I figure the grad school thing is kind of important so I went for it. I wasn't up for much so I got some coffee and went to see He's Just Not That Into You. Which I really enjoyed and laughed at and related to and actually, yes I'll say it, loved. Reading was in order afterwards and the night ended with me and Jason rocking the pants off of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii for hours and hours. He stayed up till 3:30 or so and I stayed up a little past 4:00 playing. So much fun. And we're such good kids about it too, sharing and taking our turns.

Amanda trying on wedding dresses

Jason got up and went ice fishing I said screw it and slept till 11:30 or so before waking up and playing a bit more Super Mario Galaxy before deciding I had to get the rest of my Mom's shopping done, seeing how I was leaving the next day. I called Amanda was supposed to call me for breakfast and we decided to get breakfast at about 2:00 pm. :) Rock. We went to the Snow City Cafe which was very yummy and highly recommended. Totally on a different tier than Leroy's, and yet I still like Leroy's better. Maybe it's all the memories there. Afterwards Amanda was awesome enough to come do some shopping with me so we could hang out more. She asked if we could stop by Anderson's Bridal shop and I was more than willing to watch her parade around and try dresses on. There were a lot of really bad dresses and a few okay ones. It seems like there was always something off about each dress that she tried on. The sales lady was either really annoyed with us or really amused by us. Quite possibly a combination of both. We however had a really great time, being goofy, being ourselves, doing whatever we wanted. After one more errand I had to drop her off so she could get ready for her evening. I boxed up everything, it miraculously fit into two boxes and then went to the airport post office, which is where I ran into Leona. We mailed our packages and then chatted for a little bit. She's going to come over sometime and we're totally gonna rock the Wii. I'm down. :) I'll challenge anyone anytime! Then Jason called and we totally zoned out to Super Mario Galaxy for one last evening. We were both up till 4:00 am this time and then instead of couch crashing I went back to Marty's because I had to get up and return the car and check in and all that jazz. Harder than I thought. I couldn't even pull myself out of bed until 11:00, which coincidentally was when the car was supposed to be returned. Oops. So I drug myself up, packed up my last minute stuff and headed out to refuel and return. Once that was accomplished Marty picked me up, I checked in (screw Hageland/Frontier), and then I picked up chinese food to bring home. I hate carrying food home. The plane was late but the plane ride was fine. It was bloody amazing to hug my Momma hello. :) I missed her. We visited over chinese and then I started unpacking. By unpacking I mean throwing my clothes in front of my closet and tossing everything else on my desk. Awesome. Needless to say, it's great to be home. I slept so f*cking hard that night that I had a headache in the morning. But it was sooo what I needed and the headache was cured with two advil and 3 cups of coffee.

So lately I've been residing, for the most part in Missoula Montana. I've been staying with this gal. Pictured below. :) One of my best friends, Hanna. And no matter what else I do on vacation... Chicago for a bit, with another best friend and a truly unique New Year in Michigan.

Me and Hanna

Somehow Montana always trumps everything. Maybe it's because I feel so at home here. It's my home away from home. I think that's one of the reasons that I want to live here so bad. It just feels so right to me. Not to mention I love having my car and the world at my fingertips. Durango was so isolated, which was great but frustrating at times. It was always at least 4 or 6 hours away from anyplace worth going. Here... a different story. Bozeman is 3 1/2 to 4 hours away. Spokane is like 5 hours away. Mental note: Drive to the coast one day just for kicks. It's only 7 hours to Seattle, where my friend Kylie is currently residing and working. I haven't been to Seattle in years. And Sophie is living and rocking the school teacher thing in Portland. Another place I haven't been and would like to go. I have a feeling that I'll be visiting both those places within a year! Knowing me and my spazzy I want to go on a road trip right now feelings that I can't seem to live without. Lol... But I'm getting ahead of myself. The biggest thing on my mind is getting into graduate school here at the University. I don't know why I'm freaking out about it so much, probably because it's out of my control. I hate things that I have no control over. Hanna things I'm nuts for even worrying about it. She things I'm in like flint. But I wanna hold a little paper that says that. Anywho... Mom thinks I have a 75 percent chance of geting in and that's kind what I'm feeling as well.

Dallas and me

Stupid time, it moves too fast and too slow all at the same time. I guess life is just supposed to be filled with uncertainties. What's the fun in knowing everything? I certainly didn't know ahead of time that Warsaw was going to be playing in Missoula when I booked all my tickets for my marvelous vacation and it was a flipping awesome surprise! So I got here to Missoula in one fell swoop because the driving conditions were absolutely magnificent. Clear skies. I got up at 7:00 to optimize my daylight time and made it over the last pass just as the sun was setting, fog was rolling in, and I was in snow covered mountains just in awe of the radiance around me. Hanna couldn't wait for me to get here, so I made the extra push and just kept going. I picked her up from her friends place and then we pitted in for some bonding, beer, and talking. So good to just sit with her not in a moving vehicle. I don't know how many more times I want to do that drive solo and in one day. Even with perfect driving conditions like that. I just gets a bit much and your brain just slowly fries away as mile marker after mile marker tick by. Maybe with someone or in two days. Or we'll just see. I don't think I'll be driving it as much now that my car is here in Missoula and the only thing I'd have to drive it again with is a UHaul stuffed full of all my junky possessions sitting in Durango. Hanna had the next day off so we puttered about not doing a whole lot but enjoying ourselves none the less. Thurs, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday she had to work but she got off work at three so we managed to get some shenanigans and tomfoolery in. We went to Ross and tried on dresses for the hell of it, I went and saw a movie by myself... I'm kinda pulling a blank on what I saw, which is pretty damn rare for me to do. Huh... OHOH! The Day the Earth Stood still. Not too shabby. I was quite entertained by it or by looking at Keanu Reeves. Either way I had a good time. We hit the bars up a few nights and hung out with Prairie and had a girls night. Went out to Mama Rodli's for a football game and also another night for dinner and laundry time. It was really good to see her as well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were Hanna's days off. I found a blockbuster selling 50 cent videos and went a little nuts, but I love my movies and that's a cheap way to get a fix. Chinese food has been eaten, meals have been cooked at home with extended movies nights on our blanket bed in the living room. Lots of conversations have been had. And I think my being here motivated Hanna to get registered for school and pull herself out of her vacation funk. :) She's sad to see me go tomorrow but knows that I'll be back. For all the times that she's held me together, I think I'm holding her together right now, merely by being myself and by showing up whenever and however possible. Onto fun...

Dallas

The Warsaw show. We got there early to get some visiting time in. Joey was the door guy and Hanna's friend so after getting us in two for one he chilled with us as the band set up and wandered around and such. The guys were a little surprised to see me out of my Durango box but a warm welcome was given. Dallas is the bass player pictured left and again above with me. Really cool guy, kinda sweet, you know the sort. Music started happening around... 10? 10:30? My time frame is slightly off I'm sure. And Hanna and I sat and listened for a few songs and then got our dancing shoes on and shook our groove things till the set break. New drinks were in order and Hanna wanted to smoke so I took care of the drink business and met her in the hallway where Joey, Dallas, and Hanna were smoking. Everyone chattered away having a great time till the next set. This is when we ran into Jojo, an absolutely hilarious and wild and fun guy that I'd met a year or two ago when Mom and I had come up for a weekend. Lovely surprise and it was quite wonderful because he remembered me and who doesn't love being remembered? :) More dancing ensued with a few breaks here and there. An older lady came and danced with us and sat with us on and off for the rest of the set and then we invited the band over to Hanna's to hang out after the bar closed down. They were all for it cause we're such fun chicks and I don't think they'd lined up a place to stay. So we sat around in Hanna's living room till oh 5, 6, 7 in the morning respectively. Hanna was one of the first ones down because she had work at 7. Trooper, that girl. I was one of the latest up because well... that's just how I roll. I turned all the lights off and distributed the blankets to myself, Dallas, Monkeybone and Aaron (pictured left). I think I started getting restless around 11 so I moved from the floor into Hanna's now vacated bed and slept in a little bit longer till 12:30 or so when Dallas and Monkeybone started stirring. Aaron just kept sleeping like a rock so we three decided to walk to the Oxford and get some tasty breakfast. We all chatted and ate and then met the rest of the guys at the Rhino. I was about ready for a nap afterwards so I wasn't overly energetic but it was nice none the less. I said goodbye a little before they were leaving and walked back to Hanna's for a nap and the Ellen Degeneres show. Hilarious and always kinda sweet. I think it might be becoming one of my new favorite shows. Nothing I can't live without but definitely entertaining. Relaxed the rest of the day and then bite the bridle and called Jeremy in Bozeman. I'd been saying for like the last 3 or 4 times that I was in Montana that I'd come and see him and hang out for a day or to. He was all about it and didn't have any plans for the weekend so the next morning I left in time to get there when he was getting out of his last class. We wanted to get some lunch and just had to wait for his roommates to finish whatever it was that they were doing so we went to his bar the Crystal and were having a few pints when guess who walks through the door? This guy pictured left, Mike, and the rest of the band. What are the odds. We visit for a few, they invite me and Jeremy to the show and J and I head off to the lunch restaurant we were going to. Then we go to a happy hour and then we head back downtown. This kid can drink a lot more than me. At this point he's probably had twice as many drinks as me and is still in fairly decent condition. We go back to the Crystal and he plays pool while I visit and after his friends leave there we head to the Zebra something or other which is where Warsaw was. We hang out, listen to music and eventually J goes to meet up with his friends upstairs because they're not into the 8 dollar cover than I got us out of. I stayed and hung out and ended up going to an after party type thing with the band while J decided to walk home in like 20 below weather. Not for me thanks, I'll get a ride in the Warsaw van warmth to another warm place. The next morning, got some coffee and then went and picked up J who was just pulling himself together. We went and met some of his friends at... who guessed? Another bar. :) This one served breakfast though so I totally ate and J started going all over again. Eventually we went and got sushi and then headed back to J's house and played some beerpong and asshole. Satisfactory evening that ended with pizza and Superbad. :) Not a bad weekend by anyones standards. I headed back here to Missoula the next morning fairly early because snow was just starting to build up in Bozeman and I figured the earlier the better when snow is concerned. Got back here in fine time with very little trouble on the roads and hung out with Hanna. Everything was going just marvelous. Laundry at Hanna's Mom's, boxes mailed to my Mom, and as I'm running errands my car starts massively overheating. :( Poop and guess what. It's Wednesday and my flight leaves at 4:55. And when I get my car towed to a shop they tell me that they can't get the part needed till Thursday morning. Aw.... SHIIIT! I end up paying an arm and leg to change my ticket to tomorrow and stay to take care of my baby. It was strange not having my car for less than a day, but the next morning, fairly early with the sun shining, I get a phone call saying my fella is all better and they'll come pick me up and give me my new and improved baby. So I what do I do, come park the car and Hanna's and walk around downtown a little. Hahaha... Oh man. Yesterday I mailed cake mixes and powdered sugar for my favorite Mom and then read part of a book. Then I decided to head to the bars for a beer or two, thinking to come home early. Hanna had to work so she was sleeping. And ended up running into this kid Jake that I used to go to school with in Durango. Wicked rad so I ended up staying out later than I thought, but I still got up early this morning and did the dishes and straightened up the house and then have basically been playing online all damn day. In my car, where I miraculously manage to pick up signals that work.

I head home and by home I mean Alaska, tomorrow and I'm really excited. I wish I could bypass Anchorage but there are some things that I'd like to get done and people I'd like to see so I have a feeling it's just going to cruise by and that'll be that. It'll be Wednesday before I know it and I'll finally be home, in my bed, with my Momma and doggie close by. And I'll be able to visit with Karis in person and hug my little man. I'm excited. Truly.

Aaron

Mike

Drago

Jesse

from Montana - about Durango

Genevieve, Aune Mieke and me

Aune Mieke, me and Matty

My first day in Durango was delightfully mellow filled with Chinese food and Bones. I drove into town and tried to stay awake and it seriously did not happen. Gretchen and Matt came home and found me asleep on their couch. :) I believe my Mom even called me and woke me up kinda and I mighta snapped at the poor lady. I'm really not someone that wakes up cheery at any time, morning or night. Wednesday was all about lazing and running some errands. I went to lunch with G and Matt and then went to Walmart where they had on sale transformers, a ipod connector radio thing for my car, new wipers for my car, and some new toothpaste. All amazing stuff I tell ya. Then I spent a few hours in my storage unit digging around for vitally important stuff... some socks, my printer, my button maker, my cooler, my sleeping back, some more hoodies, and of course my coffee mug for my car and my travels. I was most excited for my button maker. Then on my way up to Gretchen and Matt's out in D-West I almost crashed my lovely loving car. I was driving at like 50 or 55 around what was apparently (although not to me) and icy corner and started fish-tailing. I think I flipped and flopped about 4 or 5 times before I got control of my vehicle back. Kinda really maybe sorta definitely freaked me the hell out. I was extra super cautious (probably annoyingly so to other drivers) for like the whole week afterwards. Not a pleasant experience but I'm thinking it's make me a more cautious aware drive than even though the roads look fine they might not be. Eep

Pat and me at the Ranch, where else would I find him?

Davis - my favorite bartender

Coun

Fresh

The ranch is just awesome folks. I dig it.

So Thursday night I went out with Isaac and Nadia and we hung out at the Ranch, Steamworks, and of course the 8th Ave Tavern. Brian, Ryan, Gin, Chad, Joe, Steve, all my homies were there. I totally rocked singing Journey - Don't Stop Believin'. I mean who doesn't rock when singing karaoke, but I believe I was particularly amazing. :) Friday was spent finding some great deals at JC Penney for me and my favorite little man Kollin Duke. I found the most hideous pukey yellow sweater that's absolutely comfortable for me and some bitchin' transformer T's for Kollin. Speaking of... I need to get a box mailed that direction. Bride Wars came next with lovely buttery popcorn and ice water. Then Gretchen, Matt and I had dinner and watched I am Legend and Bones. Great stuff I say! G even stayed up till 10:15. It was a rager! Saturday was lunch with my professors, whom I absolutely love and adore, at Carver's. It was nice catching up a little with them and just small talk visiting with them. :) They're really just awesome for taking the time to see me. Then I hung out with Sarah, after a bit had dinner at No Way Jose's, and ended my evening at the Ranch on Saturday night running into all kinds of fabulous people. That's what the pictures are above. Lol... Just about the only pictures I took when I was in Durango, unless you count funny pictures of Gretchen and Matt's cats.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and watching Bones up at the house. I packed up and kind of reorganized and got some early sleep in. Monday was spent running errands all around Durango and getting myself and my car ready for the drive to Montana. I ate lunch and then drove to Cortez to hang out with TK for the night. We watched Pineapple Express, which was fucking hilarious, went and got some dinner and sodas, then watched The Dark Knight. Flipping awesome as well. Went to sleep fairly early because the sun was up at 7:38 and down just after 5:30 so I wanted to optimize my daylight drive time. The drive was perfect as far as a long drive goes. The weather was sunny the whole way, the roads were dry, I never hit any major traffic while driving through cities and I had an amazing sunsetting, fog moving in, purple sky, pink snow in the mountains situation just as I was driving over my last mountain pass. Uh-mazing. I got here to Missoula at a little before 9 pm. One of my best times and I rocked between the speed limit and five over. It was effing great to see Hanna and get a big old hug from her then Luke. We had a few beers at her place and then went to the Rhino for a few drinks and met some hilarious really wasted people and then put a movie in and curled up and passed out. Quality stuff I tell ya. And now I'll leave you on the note that I'm sitting in Blockbuster's parking lot and I have to pee.

Currently in Durango

I miss my Mom's (and my) dog. This is him. Mister Blue.

Continued...

So the New Year started out just about as perfectly as possible. I slept in, later than Aune of course, and then we went and got Chinese food. The place we went to is Aune's favorite and the lovely lady that either owns or runs it remembered me from three or four years ago! How amazingly cool is that? It made me feel quite special. We paused for a bit at her Aunt's and then watched Marley & Me. It was really cute and really sweet, kinda sad and kinda feel good. No good guys. No bad guys. No desperate attempt to save the world. Just a movie. Great start to 2009.

Aune, Trix and I drove back to the city on the 3rd and I had my first taste of Chicago's own deep dish pizza. Lou Mahnati is the deep dish that we decided to go with and I believe I spelled it correctly. It was really good with it's garlic, cheese, tomato, onion, mushroom goodness. Officially became a fan. I dozed when we got back to Aune Mieke's, got up, watched Bridge to Terabithia, and then began a new obsession I thinks. Heroes. I wanted something more upbeat after the sadness of Bridge so I went with Season I: Espisode I. Totally has the cutie from Gilmore Girls in it and I'm in love with the hilarity and passion of Hiro, the japanese time/space bender. Anywho... that first night with Heroes I had myself a mini marathon and watched the first 5 or 6 episodes. Uh-mazing. I can't wait til I can watch a lot more of it.

On the fourth Aune Mieke and I went to meet up with Genevieve for a drink. As we were looking for a place to go Aune spotted some fellows with strings in the front window of a place call the Grafton. So we meandered on in and there was a booth waiting for us just at the front. Genevieve thrilled Mieke and I with her adventures and adventurous spirit. We were definately enthralled with all of it and with a fellow that was sitting at the bar reading. He kept glancing our way. :) But the silly guy never came over and said hi.

My last day in Chicago was mellow with some Heroes, packing, and walking around umm... Belmont I beleive. Then Matt came and picked me up and we stuffed our faces with sushi. Oh man. I'm officially in love with all you can eat sushi places. Probably a bad thing. :) I had Miso soup, Edamame, a Rainbow roll, a Palatine roll, a Rock N roll, and Salmon, Squid, Tuna, and Eel Sushi. It was fabulous. Oh! And desert was Green Tea and Mango Monchi balls. Matty was somewhat conned/asked to giving us a ride to the airport so we took him out for a beer before he dropped us off. Where did we take him? The Hopleaf of course. I had to bracket my trip somehow. The bartender remembered me and the sweetheart gave me a Hopleaf pint glass! Aww.. I can really work my magic. It was the perfect end to the perfect trip. Aune Mieke and I went over highlights and Matty talked up beer (his profession).

The airport stuff was poop. We got there and no one was at the Kiosks then when I was able to check my bag in, no one was at the security check point, then we found a water fountain and the water was warm. :( However I was able to talk to someone at the gate and Aune Mieke and I were able to sit next to each other in an exit row with lots n lots of leg room. Pretty much rad. We hugged each other goodbye in Phoenix. Sniffle. I'll miss her but I'm exceptionally happy with my visit with her. I ate a sandwich and then slept hard for about an hour and a half on a bench. A lovely fellow woke me up and told me our flight was boarding (my phone alarm didn't go off.) Three seats were all for me, so I stretched out and slept for the hour long flight. After getting to my car and realizing the battery was dead again, I wanted to scream but instead called the parking service people and they came and gave me a jump. Worried about my car, I scuttled back to Durango and went straight to Wally World to talk to the mechanic guys. Both times my battery has been tested it's been good but it dies in a week. Sooo.... I'm trying to hold off getting a new battery until four months or six months from now when I come back to move stuff around. Hm... We'll see though.

It's definitely weird being back here but it feels good. :) I miss it here. I miss my friends here. But at the same time I know it's not the place for me, at least right now.

Vacation - Chicago

Mom and me

The Journey

Day 1: Leave Unalakleet on a delayed Hageland flight. Hug my Momma goodbye. Leave Anchorage on a delayed Delta flight and get stood up by my best friend Chelsea.

Day 2: Leave Salt Lake City on a delayed flight, which causes me to miss my on time flight out of Denver to Durango. Miraculously make it on the next overbooked flight to Durango and get big huge hugs from Gretchen and Matt. :)

Day 3: Shovel off and jump car with the help of a trusty shovel, Matt, and Gretchen. (After being fed homemade and very yummy raspberry coffee cake!) Mosey around Durango making a few crucial stops at Baskin Robbins, Wagon Wheel, and my storage unit. Ride off into the daylight on my way to Alburquerque. Get some food and promptly fall asleep in my fries. Classy.

Aune Mieke and me

Day 4: Get up late. Scuttle my butt into my car and off to the Airport Parking place. Flight out of Albuquerque is on time. After a slight delay and purchasing a shot glass from Atlanta, my flight to Chicago departs. I arrive on time and yet it takes a fricking hour for my bags to come out of the plane and onto the baggage claim. Yes, two flights came in after us and got their bags before us. I was thrilled. After rescueing my bags from the throes of neglection I scuttle outside and Aune Mieke pulls up and gives me a big old hug. :) Happy Sissy. Tired Sissy. Sissy would like a beer.

Chicago!

Aune and I decided to stay up late and catch up at the Hop Leaf. A very beery bar, just my size and scene. :) We got some very good tasting beers and chatted, catching up on those fun little things that don't always come out over phone calls. Amazing time. The bartender also gave me a shot, or rather took a shot with me. Mad skills, without even trying.

Matty

We slept in and lazed about in the morning drinking coffee and debating what to do. Eventually we decided to go to Lincoln Square and get some Thai food. Excellent idea and excellent food. We shared spring rolls as an appetizer and then killed our entrees. I had the seafood with noodles, and let me just say I have some love for oceanic creatures. Squid, shrimp, crab... all good. Then we walked around the area and met up with Aune's friend, Genevieve. Absolutely fun girl, very real and meeting her was definitely a highlight of Chicago time. That evening Matt came and picked Aune and I up and we ended up going to the Goose Island Brewery. It was quite busy but in a short amount of time we were able to procure a table in the bar area. More food, more beer, more conversation made me a happy girl.

Holland Memory

The next day Aune, Lisa, Dena and I made our way to Grand Rapids. I kitty napped in the car and when we got there Trix and I challenged our brains with a game of Holland Memory over dinner. I totally walked away the champion. As you can see it was by quite a bit. Effing rad and of course, a highlight. That evening was New Year's Eve and after being lazy Aune, Kevin (Aune's older brother) and I began our evening of well mannered frivolity. Our first stop was their cousin's, just a short, in, out, hello, goodbye. The second stop of the evening was downtown Grand Rapids, we parked and walked around for about an hour. There was line dancing with a DJ, some big beautiful trees, tons of people, and my very cold thighs. The third stop was our final stop. An engineer named Andy, for the second year in a row, blocked off half of his pool and then heated it up to between 103 and 107 degrees. Very much fun! Very much unique, and it turned out to be a very good New Year, a first for me. Throughout the course of the old year changing into the new year, I cheersed about 3 times. Lovely. :) Mellow evening with beer, really good people, a unique place and theme. Good stuff.

Okay enough for now.