Catching up on drafts: The first

First:

Woo-freaking-hoo!!!! I am done with this semester! The last semester of classes (for now, but maybe forever)! It just hit me walking back from dropping off some paperwork. I am SOOO happy!

Next:

Lots of people and websites do "best-of" lists or "a look back at the past year" this time of year, and usually these are fun, silly, and sometimes pointless. However, if you only look at one this year, you need to see The Big Picture's The Year 2008 in Photographs (click here for Part 1 of 3 to get started). This collection of 120 pictures (40 per installment) is an incredible look at the many, many different facets of this amazing world we live in. These photographs have a way of making the world feel so small, making the connections between all people so real and palpable. "Intimate" is an excellent word. So is "moving," "profound," and the ever popular hyphenated, one-word impostor: "don't-miss." So don't miss it!

Organized Living

I don't know why, but lately when I've seen something about "being an organized person," I feel a couple tiny hackles being raised inside me. I think organization is keen, I think organization is neat (pun intended), but I don't think organization is everything.

I don't think creativity can thrive in an organized world. Maybe for some people, but certainly not for me. The best ideas come from a jumbled up place inside. They are a brilliant flash uniting disparate threads of thought, coalescing in an unplanned instant.

I don't want to be an organized person. I wouldn't mind being able to find things when I need them, but I don't want to lose the spark that comes from the spontaneity and flexibility that comes from a little disorganization. I'd rather spend my time living my life than organizing it.

If you like pretty pictures

Check out Google's new archive of photographs from LIFE magazine. Pretty incredible stuff.

Also...

I am also very, very thankful that they finally caught Bri's killer. I am thankful for all of the people who put in thousands of hours of work, both the police and volunteers, and am thankful for the technology that made it possible to match his DNA. More than anything, I am thankful for the friend of his girlfriend who was suspicious enough to call in the tip to the police. I honestly cannot believe that they were able to find the man who terrorized our town within a year and before he struck again. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Time to Give Thanks

I am thankful:

For my wonderful friends, who I can always rely upon for anything.
For my amazing family, though I wish we could all live closer.
That both my husband and I have found a profession that we love, are good at, and can get paid to do.
For our good health and general happiness (seriously, quite, quite thankful).
That both of us have much more job security than most (kids will always need teachers, and we are in high-needs areas).
That our families are in good health.
That everyone in our lives is moving on a forward path towards what they really want.
For Nutella.
To have the opportunity to live in one of the best places in America.
Last, but certainly not least, my beloved husband, who is more than I could ever have asked for.

Chicago, Chicago

I thought I had no concept of Chicago. I thought it was merely a placeholder on the flat face of the Midwest; a blank metropolis in the middle of the generic "American-ness" that is the supposed heartland of this nation. It held no allure for me; I did not feel the tug of curiosity that impels the traveler to fill in the details of place along with name.

Or so I thought.

Even upon landing in the dark of winter evening, as the low houses flashed past the windows of the taxi, even then I could feel the city's essence. Hard working neighborhoods, staunchly neat and unpretentious, neither city nor suburb, gave way to huge, hulking shadows of scattered high rises looming over unseen streets.

Unbidden, fully-formed myths of Chicago sprung to my mind from the depths where they had been fed for years by poetry, songs, and stories I didn't remember digesting. In the pizza shop, I saw a tall man in an impeccable coat whose immense breadth immediately called to mind Sandburg's "City of the Big Shoulders":

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders

A small detail on a bridge reminded me that this was the home of the Prairie school of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright and that gorgeous aesthetic I had loved in so many other places. And yet it seemed to be so at home here, in a way that I had not felt seeing the style elsewhere.

Everywhere, details sang out to me that this, this place I had never given a second thought was the home of poets, architects, writers who have inspired me and fed my artistic soul for years.

Chicago

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Carl Sandburg

Great minds!

Filler time

I have several drafts started for posts talking about this amazing election, but I also have a paper due tomorrow and have written exactly one paragraph. So I decided to post this adorable video of a little girl singing the CU fight song. They played it at a game recently on the jumbotron and it was pretty awesome to hear the whole stadium singing with her. She has a great future as a cheerleader (in the original sense of the word).

Trying to process it all

I started this post last week, and I've decided I just need to post it:

I have started a couple posts about my reaction to the election this week, but I find I can hardly put it into words yet.

I still feel as though I am in a dream and am operating in some kind of alternate reality. Did this really happen? Am I just imagining all of this?

I really felt as though the very foundation of my world had shifted on Tuesday night. No longer did the old paradigm hold.

It feels like a movie; I now realize I had this same disconnection from a sense of reality when watching the attacks on 9/11. I simply could not believe it was happening, in the realest sense of the phrase. However, that felt like some awful disaster movie. This feels like the best feel-good, hopeful movie ever. And more indie or based-on-a-true-story than the cheesy, unbelievable Disney movie Palin would have been.

I mean, being raised as a die-hard Democrat over the past twenty years, I truly have no idea what it is like as a conscious adult to agree with the people in government, let alone have helped elect them. I keep wondering if Republicans felt this way when Bush won, either time. Was there rejoicing in the streets? Did they celebrate then end of the "reign of terror" of Democrats? Or maybe in retrospect, one can see that extramarital affairs just are quite on the same level as destroying the world economy, shredding the Bill of Rights, entangling us in an extended war in an area of the world that already hated us, etc. etc.

To sum up my feelings about the last time we got a new president, please read this frighteningly accurate article from the Onion from Bush the Second's inauguration:

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

You can safely say that my feelings

Another first

Also...

This is the first time I've voted for a WINNING presidential candidate.

I am SO hopeful!!!!

A Day of Firsts

This is the first time I've really voted FOR a candidate, not just against one.

This is the first time I've understood what it means to run a positive campaign, not just a less-negative one.

This is the first time I've felt like a part of something bigger, something momentous, something historic.

This is the first time I feel hopeful, and the first time I understand what that feeling actually is.

This is the first time I've seen a politician actually act *presidential*.

This is the first time I have felt so, so proud to vote.

This is the first time I've felt like I've seen the potential future of this country and cried for joy.

The unseen eye

I had a weird experience today that is becoming more and more common. A girl I had never met before was waiting in the hallway with me to speak to a professor. She looked and me and said, "I think I've observed you in the clinic downstairs." Since undergraduates in the program need to have a certain number of observation hours (25 in all), and since they can watch our sessions in the clinic on the first floor, this is not unheard of.

The weirdest part of it all is realizing how very many people have likely watched me in sessions that may or may not have gone well, and knowing that they now have some impression of me as a clinician, as well as knowing that I might have shaped their view of the field in some way. Frightening, since I'm by now means an expert at what I am doing and and still learning so much every day.

Then again, maybe I'm not nearly as well known in reality as in my head, and perhaps it's only a few people who have observed me. Either way, it's nice to get to meet some of those people who you never even knew were behind that one-way mirror.

On having no time

I just have time for a quick note this morning before I set off on my typical twelve-hour day of meetings, clients and class.

I have been thinking a lot about the passage of time, how short life really is, and the way we spend our time. I think seeing my husband only for an early morning goodbye kiss when he leaves for work and a goodnight kiss when one of us comes home late at night while the other is still in bed might have something to do with it. On good days, we get to eat dinner together at 9 PM before we both retreat to our computers to finish our work for the night. I know this is a necessary time in our lives to get to where we want to be, but I don't love it.

Is my time best spent in endless meetings and three hour classes? What exactly is all this "work" I need to do everyday? What purpose is it all serving? Some of it is useful, either to me or to someone else, but some of it simply is not worth the time spent doing it. Not that I have a choice in the matter right now. And I will probably always have to do pointless work to some degree, but I hope I can do it more mindfully and balance out its utility and importance with the time I spend doing it.

It's a small, scary world.

You may have read about six-year-old Cole Puffinburger. He was kidnapped last week from his home in an awful, drug-related attack in Las Vegas. This all happened literally one street away from my brother-in-law's house and two streets from my mother- and father-in-law's house. As in, Google the street name (I found it on the Review-Journal's story) and their streets are in the same close-up screen. Add to this the fact that my mother-in-law teaches kindergarten and could have been Cole's teacher if he had lived on the other side of a street. And Cole's father was in the same graduating class from high school as Peter. These are, quite literally, the people my husband grew up with.

Thanks be to God, Yaweh, Gaia, Allah, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or whomever else you'd like to thank, Cole was found perfectly unharmed and is safe now. Sadly, I think he is in the minority for missing children. I seriously cannot believe that he is OK and that they found him so quickly (relatively speaking).

The most frightening part of this for me is that my in-laws want to leave. They already have a house in Michigan waiting for them. But the housing market in Vegas is so awful, they can't leave. They say it seems like everyone on their street is just waiting for their chance to put their house on the market. What if they can't leave in time? What if the neighborhood just keeps deteriorating and there is no option to leave? This scenario has played out in many other cities hundreds of times through history, no doubt, but that never makes it less frightening for those living it.

Do five people read this? Here's hoping!

The Invisible Hand

As someone who really does not understand economics, I can't elucidate the murky dealings that led us to our current state, but with each fresh collapse and merger of another major bank, the same image keeps popping into my head. I see a mansion built on shifting sand whose foundation has been eaten away and is now collapsing dramatically into the ocean. Unstoppable tides tear it down; the only thing that could have saved it was to have built the thing with caution and foresight in the beginning.

I feel as though all of this could have been foreseen. And it is all connected: housing loans, sub-prime mortgages, bank failures and now the collapsing stock market. Each built on the other, and when pieces of the foundation of our economy were washed away by the inevitable tides, the entire house began to disintegrate.

The question is: now what?

Joy and Sadness

Joy: I have found a wealth of incredible new blogs that fill my heart and mind with wonderful inspiration for adorable and practical projects.

Sadness: I do not have the time to complete such adorable projects, no matter how practical (or adorable) they might be.

I will share the love in case you might have the time. In the meantime, I will download some of the patterns, bookmark sites and add feeds to my Google Reader and put them away for a rainy day (or after graduation).

How About Orange with adorable and FREE patterns, ideas, downloads, links, etc. etc. etc.! Already, I am desperate to find some sweet fabric to make my own bag like this:


I mean, how awesome???

Other sweet sites (mostly found through the above blog):
Free easy sewing ideas and patterns (The Sewing Republic)
More Teh Awesome sewing lovelies (handmade kate)
FREE lovely gorgeous print ornaments (Briar Press)
Fun things that I don't know what to do with yet, but I like looking at (and FREE!) (A Print a Day)

And if you do nothing else, look at the tutorials on How About Orange. I can haz some free taime?

Beautiful, true video

Don't be scared of the ASL. It's gorgeous and eloquent (and mostly voiced by another poet). Great message. Incredible poem.

Update on life

Sorry the posts have not been very regular, or very good when they do appear (for those of you still reading). I'm hoping we will soon get over the initial bumps that are inevitable at the beginning of every semester (where am I supposed to be now? What should I be doing?).

I am taking five classes, plus I have four clinic assignments and an off-site clinic assignment (where I do therapy stuff with a non-school organization). AND working my three very part time jobs. Phew! But it's my last semester of classes (yay!) and I think I've had enough experience that I can handle it.

The husband is busy teaching at school, writing lesson plans, grading tests, preparing classes, and doing all that work that never gets counted in the estimation of how many hours teachers work. Granted, the first year of teaching is always the hardest (so I hear) because everything has to be made from scratch and there are no lessons to fall back on. HOWEVER. When people talk about how "overpaid" teachers are, I would like them to see my husband waking up at 5 AM to finish prepping for the day to get to school by 7 AM, where the kids come at 7:30, then teaching 5 sections (I think, maybe four?) back to back, to coach cross country after school (when he doesn't desperately need that time to make copies, set up labs, etc. He gets home about 8 PM, depending on what meetings, prep work and other obligations he has, eats dinner, then goes upstairs to work again until collapsing at 11 PM. Then he wakes up and does it all over again. Yeah, he's totally overpaid.

So that's the skinniest of the skinnies here. School, school, play, school, sleep. Eat, rinse, repeat.

Worth a watch

People I don't understand

Woman who were for Hillary, now are so anti-Obama/pro-female that they are going to vote for McCain-Palin. I guess they have their reasons, I just don't understand them. Voting for a party that has been beyond outspoken about taking away a woman's right to choose? If they agreed with that stance, they wouldn't have been Hillary supporters in the first place. I just don't get it.

I would hope women aren't sexist enough to vote based solely on gender (isn't that what they are afraid some men might do?). And yes, it's still sexism when you will vote for a woman over a man for that reason alone.

Funny, I just realized something. The Palin nomination suddenly made this campaign a thousand times more divisive than it was before. All of a sudden, everyone is up in arms about their various candidates. I'm all about public dialogue and debate, but more division is not what this country needs.

Reasons to be thankful

After this story about the RNC and the St. Paul police's reaction to protesters, I think the protesters at the DNC in Denver need to be very grateful to the Denver police force for acting the way they did. Granted, the demonstrators in St. Paul might have been a lot rowdier than the Denver ones, but for all the complaining people did about their civil liberties being "violated" in various ways in Denver, they should see that it could have been a LOT worse.

Major kudos to all the police officers from all the surrounding areas who came in to help at the DNC. You guys rocked.

Obama-Rama

I was there. I can tell my children and grandchildren this in the years to come, but I was in that packed stadium that was exploding with excitement for this man, our first African-American, first bi-racial candidate on the anniversary of MLK's historic speech. I was there. It was awesome.

We almost didn't make it, and had to stand in line for literally FOUR HOURS, most of which was within a stone's throw of the stadium we were trying to get into, but it was worth it. Sure, we missed almost everything bu the big even itself, but it was worth it.

I'll try to post some more pictures and some video later, especially the one where I'm filming as the fireworks go off one row behind our HEADS and I'm pretty sure the camera goes all crazy as I attempt to hit the decks, PTSD style. Srsly.

OH! And THEN! As we were walking out, we see a bunch of people looking in this one direction, and THEN I see a silver man atop a tall, regal looking man and I'm like, I KNOW that dude! And then I tell my friend Amanda, "I think that's John Kerry," hoping to God I said the right name and did not just make a total jackass out of myself. AND IT WAS! And then his dudes say, "Excuse us, coming through," or something, and the throng parts a bit, and THEN he passes close enough to Amanda that she could touch him if she wanted (she actually could have licked him, she was so close, but opted not to be jumped by "Social Security" folks, as she put it so well). And THEN this guy behind me says, "Senator Kerry!" all journalisty-like, and THEN OH THEN!!! He TURNS! And makes EYE CONTACT WITH ME because he is looking for the caller-outer, and I am standing nearby! (And smiling quite stupidly, I'm sure). And according to Amanda, he says something like, "Hi, how are you?" But I don't remember any of this because magic Massachusetts-Democrat-good-hair-preseidential-nominee dust has frozen this moment in time and I shall always remember the blue-blue of his eyes and the tan-ness of his face and his overall *handsomeness* (that was the first thing Amanda said about him too). And I totally don't remmber him speaking, but I'm sure he did.

EL FIN.

It's my party!

Yesterday (by a few minutes) was my birthday. I'd have to say it was one of the better ones in recent memory, if only because it served to highlight where my life is now and what a good place I really am in. We had a small get-together at our place, gathering friends from my old department, my new department and from the various connections one makes in a community after three years. It was so much fun to see people from so many different aspects of my life playing together in a band, even if it was just a simulation of guitar strumming and drumming.

Beyond those present in body, I also heard from many wonderful friends over the phone, via email and on Facebook (bless Facebook!). I hope to spend a chunk of time tomorrow replying and reconnecting with all of you tomorrow. Thank you so much for remembering me, it means so much.

It's amazing to think back a year and see how much more settled Peter and I are in careers (even if I am just more settled in the direction, without a specific job yet). He's working in the field he has been preparing for for the past two and a half years, and I am on the brink of getting out there on my own as well.

As with all aspects of our lives so far, everything that came before prepared us for what we will be doing, even if we had no clue what was in store for us. We are so lucky to have found careers that will challenge us and reward us (though not always monetarily), and even luckier to have found such incredible friends in our travels together.

Met the tiny new person

I met the new baby today. It was awesome! I hope her parents weren't freaked out by the fact that I held her for an hour (I swear I didn't know it was that long). She is adorable and funny-looking, in that wizened way that all brand-new babies are. She made extremely funny faces. I had no idea that all those little muscles were so mobile so young. Her big sister was awesome too; when the little one started crying (as little ones are wont to do), Sister came over with a very worried expression and when the crying didn't stop, Sister started to cry too. Poor babies. Being an older sister myself, I know she is in for a difficult transition time, but I think she's going to do great. She was already helping mom with the baby's diaper change (when she's still in diapers herself!).

I hope I can continue to go and get my baby/kid-fix from our wonderful new neighbors. I feel so incredibly lucky to have such an awesome family living so close by! I really hope this is the start of something great.

Downside to the Olympics

Since I usually don't watch any TV, I'm usually sheltered from all the inane, infuriating political ads. I've started so many ranting blog posts about some of these ads, wanting to debunk them point by point, but I just get so tired and frustrated that I just can't keep writing.

On a good political note, I somehow managed to get "credentials" to the Obama DNC acceptance speech in Denver, so I'm very excited to be a witness to history. Also scared, but excited. The security restrictions on what is and is not allowed are pretty tight, so I'm hopeful that they know what they are doing. So I'll just have to sit in the stadium for hours on end with nothing to entertain me or distract me, including "outside food," like water bottles. Expect a call from me to be entertained!

Happy Birthday

To the little one born last night:

What a night to enter the world! Michael Phelps setting an incredible, unbelievable new record 8 gold medals in one Olympics. The crowning of a new "World's Fastest Man" who looked like he was out for an afternoon jog while blistering past the world record. Plus, you are a Leo, which as all Leos know, is the very best thing to be.

Congratulations to the proud mommy and daddy, and thank you so much for letting us be a part of this incredible day.

Olympic Moment of the Moment

Togo's whitewater rafter, coming out of nowhere, 27,000 people chanting his tiny country's name, him breaking his oar over his boat as he realizes he's won a bronze medal. No video up yet on nbcolympics.com, but if/when it goes up, worth a look for exactly what the Olympics are all about.

I freaking love the Olympics

Seriously. I was tearing up watching the tiny web version of the parade of nations from the opening ceremonies (since I couldn't see them live). Man. People walking makes me teary in the Olympics.

Noise Pollution

Friends, Romans, countrymen: you may want to cover your ears. We just ordered Rock Band for my birthday present. I am psyched. Who wants to join our new band? I claim singer!

(Must enjoy life before school starts again in T minus 3 weeks)

Things I keep meaning to blog about

Chocolate chip cookies:

Made the NY Times recipe that has been going around the food blogs like crazy. I shorted the butter 2 Tbs, the sugars a little bit (maybe 2 Tbs each?), used almost 4 cups of flour and shorted the baking powder and baking soda just a little to adjust for altitude. I used our ice cream scoop for measuring (awesome!) and baked for about 12 minutes (a lot less than they recommended, maybe our scoop is smaller?). I also chopped up a "pound plus" of Trader Joe's bittwersweet chocolate and added about a cup of Hershey's chips. Pretty sure that's what made the chocolate chunks so awesomely melty, but it was a pain in the butt and good chocolate chips would be a lot easier.

Verdict? Very delicious. Got RAVE reviews from the party I brought them to (saving some for ourselves, of course!). Ours probably turned out pretty different from the by-the-book cookies would, but that's the way the high-altitude cookie crumbles :-)

Scramble:

I am addicted to this game on Facebook. Apparently it is just like Boggle, only I have never played Boggle. I think I would like it very much.

Thesis:

Actual progress is being made! Very exciting on all fronts. Now that teensy steps of progress have been made, I need to pick up the pace if I am ever going to finish this marathon.

Hmm.... what else...

Belly Dance:

I have been taking a class from a new teacher. It's a limited edition, meaning that she's only doing it for a month (I missed the first month, thanks to my oh-so-lovely summer school class). It's a different style than I've done before, so it's been good to move my body in new and exciting ways, except that I look like a much more awkward and jiggly version of my teacher (and only when I can manage to get CLOSE to doing the movements she's doing). I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I would need a lot more practice to get moderately decent. Too bad this coming week is the last class :-(

Costco:

Method at Costco! When I thought about blogging about this, I realized I would have to take pictures to show the wondrous-ness that is Method-at-Costco, and thought about how much work and time it would take, and how insufficient my photos and words would be to describe it. And then I saw this video. Before you watch it, let me say that *all* of the core elements of this video were things I too did (the snuggling, caressing, and comparisons). However! (and this is clearly a big "however") I absolutely did not do any of the more... disturbing parts of this video (no fetishizing took place, only snuggly cuddling) and CERTAINLY that crazy switcheroo at the end did not occur. Other than that, yeah. I concur. Without any more extraneous ado:



So there's that.

Self-explanatory

My dad sent me this picture a while ago and it explained so much about me and my interests (namely, dance). He just scanned it and sent me a link to the photo.

My mom is in the maroon leotard. I'm the munchkin. Thank you, Mom.

Hard to say which one is better

Or the original.

Go Buffs!!!

Hooray for Jenny Barringer! She's going to the Olympics! It was so exciting to watch her qualify for the Olympics in the 3000m steeplechase in Oregon, representing CU in her Buffs uniform. So cool! Go Jenny!!!!

Pretty nice day

This morning, I went to see WALL-E with a friend. Um... can we say, awesome? I know all the reviews have said it, but this is a really great movie and definitely worth seeing in the theaters. My friend and I were debating whether or not kids would even like the movie because so much of it is very sophisticated (even though it's mostly non-verbal).

This evening, I made one of my favorite meals: braised fennel with diced vegetables (there's a French word for what this is, but I don't remember it) and a white wine sauce. It was very delicious and now the apartment smells really good.

Sure, there was a lot of school work and other less fun stuff in between, but two very nice things make apretty nice day overall.

Sweet nectar of the gods

We don't drink much soda. About a year ago, we bought eight or ten 12 packs of soda because of some sale. Last night, I got a hankering for some soda with my popcorn (precisely why I stocked up on said soda), crawled under the sink to our food-cavern only to discover all we had left was diet Canada Dry. Blech. Well, bad soda is better than none when a hankering is progress, right? Wrong. God, it was terrible. As I choked it down (why did I persist? I don't know.), I suddenly thought fondly of the only ginger ale worth drinking: Vernors. However, I've never seen it outside the Detroit/Toledo area (where I first tasted it while staying with relatives). Sadness.

So today I went to the grocery store, determined to get some kind of drinkable soda. I'm cruising the aisles, getting some root beer and grape soda (NOT a cola gal here). Out of the corner of my eye--and I think angels sang and a spotlight shone--I saw a PILE of Vernors, both regular and diet. AAAAAAAHHHHHH (angels sing in a chorus). Of course, then I have to debate with myself about spending SIX DOLLARS on 12 cans of soda. Actually, the debate was whether I should get THREE 12 packs, because they were buy 1 get 1 free, or just the one. I went with the one, but now I am second guessing myself. We'll see. The sale runs through tomorrow, so if it's everything I dreamed it to be after my first cold can, I may go back. We'll see.

PS In spite of desiring delicious soda where it does not live, I LOVE regional foods. This world would suck much more if you could get everything anywhere. Then why would a can of Vernors be anymore special than a can of Coke?

Amazing video

I don't really know why, but I laughed, cried, and did both at the same time watching this video. So, so worth the watch. An incredible video we all need to see as people living on this little blue planet.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Courage

One of my summer assignments is "Writer's Workshop," primarily a group for adults with aphasia (language and word-finding impairments, usually from stroke). Working with these individuals has been very inspiring, but never more than today.

Today, I shared my first prose piece with the group, a short "tour" of Reno. They were all very complimentary, but one gentleman more so than the others. He told me, in essence, that I should submit it to a magazine or some other place for publication. I brushed off his compliments, well aware of how difficult it is to make a living as a "writer."

He then shared with us some of his work from before his stroke. It was beautiful; full of descriptive language and imagery. While his poetry today is also lovely, he struggles for a very long time to put together even a simple phrase because the words come so hard won. As we were talking about his work, he said something about my writing again. He mentioned how he used to write "years ago," but "then work, and you know."

One of the other clinicians was sitting next to me, and she reframed his words for me. I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but in essence, she was telling me that he was saying that I needed to keep writing because life can so easily get in the way. We never know what could happen. There, but for the grace of God go I.

This gentleman was writer too. Then he stopped writing too. Years slipped by, and one day, he lost those words he thought he would have forever.

Wow. I think I have work to do.

OMG, Internet Part II

Woah. I just saw that George Carlin died today. Weird coincidence that I wrote about him on my blog the very same day. I'm assuming he did not read my obscure post about his appearance on Shining Time Station and have some adverse medical reaction to my writing, so I'll call it coincidence.

Very shocking news indeed.

OMG, Internet

You will not believe what I just found out. I am not crazy in one small miniscule area of my life.

So, years and years ago, I happened to catch the kids' show "Shining Time Station" on TV. I couldn't believe that my beloved Ringo Starr was on a TV show for kids playing a teeny-tiny train conductor. Then, who knows how long later, I saw it again and realized I must have been crazy because it wasn't the incredible Ringo Starr, but some OTHER guy, who appeared to be suspiciously like George Carlin (really?). So I figured I was just crazy and had a very poor memory and imagined my hero into some random TV show.

Flash forward to today, when I found through a random link that: HELLO!!! They were BOTH on the show! Ringo started the role, and then was replaced by Carlin! Oh, thank goodness, I'm not totally nuts!

(And yes, I realize what a crappy post this is to come back after a month away from updating. Apologies.)

Oh dear!

It has been QUITE a while since I last posted!

Let's see... right now I am in between a very fun (and story-filled) road trip with my brother from Austin, TX to Reading, PA and starting school again on Monday (boo to that). I also just reformatted my external hard drive, which thankfully only had two months worth of pictures that were not backed up, but it was a very, very scary time when I thought I had destroyed everything.

I've greatly enjoyed my three weeks off, but as usual, it didn't feel like that much time at all. I realized on this break exactly WHY my breaks never feel like time off. It's because I *don't* have any time actually off! I always work through, and often I have to work extra because I need to make up for time I needed for finals, etc. So yeah, I may have a day or two here and there where I have nothing specific to do, but in real life you get those EVERY WEEK. They're called "weekends."

I will post later today (hopefully) about our crazy trip through the Eastern half of the country. It was definitely an adventure, I'm glad I could help my brother out (just imagine what it would have been like WITHOUT me, Peej!) and we got to do some very fun things along the way. Right now, I am uploading all of my pics to Flickr, having learned the lesson of the deleted hard drive.

Halfway

The end of this semester marks the halfway point (sorta) of my MA program. We have this summer and next fall of classes and clinic, and then we are out on internship (which I hear is pretty much like working, without the paycheck).

I couldn't believe how quickly my first master's went by, and I feel the same about this one. Granted, we still have a ton of work ahead of us, but we're halfway there! It's incredible how much I learned this semester and I sincerely hope that feeling continues in my next two semesters. There's still SO much I don't know, but luckily, I am beginning to realize that now. I guess that's one indication of how much I have learned.

Well, back to the take-home finals!

Babies!

No, not me. One of my classmates is pregnant and I got to feel the baby kick today! It was very, very cool, especially since I am the first person to do so, even before the daddy (not for lack of trying, though. I guess I just have awesome timing). It was a little weird, though, just to realize and another tiny human's leg was just attacking me from inside another human.

Mmm... delicious

In an effort to (allegedly) make use of the 20 key limes we bought for one whole dollar at Sunflower Markets, I made key lime pie (and also managed to break up the monotony of doing 3,000 projects due tomorrow. I kid. But not much.). Not just any key lime pie! Oh no! Very complex, labor intensive MINI key lime pies. So labor intensive that at nearly every step, I thought to myself, "These can't be worth it." (Then again, I am just not used to juicing 18 tiny limes. That was really the hardest part. Basically, I thought that as I juiced every lime half.).

Were they? Oh yes, my friend. They were indeed. If only for the intensely satisfying "banging of the muffin tin" step. The most miraculous thing? It worked *perfectly* even though I was absolutely convinced I would just end up smashing my adorable little pies into the table. This was a tester run, to see if it would be worth making a second batch for our end-of-semester party. If I have time on Thursday (which I think I will), I'll do it.

Recipe here!

I hope people like pie :-)

Into the Woods

Last night we went to go see Boulder High's production of Into the Woods, the Sondheim musical. Holy Cow. Like many people, I was first introduced to this musical by the version they had on TV with Bernadette Peters. This production was so much more entertaining than even that!

The the cast was so talented that for the most part, you'd never guess they were high school students. It's an extremely challenging production on so many levels (difficult music, ensemble cast requiring a lot of talent, a lot of acting). Honestly, when I heard the high schools put it on, I couldn't even imagine how. It just takes an amazing amount of skill and hard work, I guess.

They had pyrotechnics (much better special effects than the movie version!), complicated sets with moving floors, quick costume changes... the works. Practically Broadway-quality for not-at-all Broadway prices (especially since the husband's a teacher there. It only costs us free-ninety-nine!).

Says the atheist to the Catholic

Him: I think I should learn how to use a gun.
Me: Why?
Him: To protect myself in the coming apocalypse.

Visitors

I just randomly checked my Sitemeter stats. Since I assume I have very few readers (Hi Aous! And PJ!), I assume that my two visitors a day are just those two compulsively checking in (and since I know at least one of them uses Google Reader, I know that's not really the case).

So I was shocked, shocked I say, to discover that I have had visitors from all over the world. I'm sure most of them randomly stumbled upon this blog, and left quickly thereafter, but I am intrigued as to how any of my readers get here (regardless of how long they stay). Maybe you googled "slash wedding," which is apparently a hot search, and also one I am ranked shockingly high on (to this post). Maybe you even googled "Sazzing" itself. If you are one of these clever people, I am very curious: were you looking for me? If not, what were you hoping to find? I won't be at all sad if it really was not me you were anxiously googling for.

In summary: hooray for visitors! And since people actually read this, perhaps I should try to make it a little more interesting. Sadly, I am very poor at writing scathingly funny things about people close to me (who might get wind of this blog). That would be interesting to read, I think, but you shan't find any of that here, alas.

So, tell me how you got here!

Linguists in da HOUSE!

Saving dying languages

Major kudos to these awesome linguists (check out my former teacher, Dr. Rood, in the video and story) for devoting literally decades to this important work. Hooray for good linguist publicity!

Fun ways to spend your time

Check this site out:

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/general/press/webcam/owlcam/

It's a live webcam of two great horned owls and their two babies. So far, we have been lucky enough to see the babies twice, including an evening feeding! Very cool. Here's a screenshot from this morning:

I like to just leave it on and check in from time to time. Have fun!

Studies in late night paper-writing

Pop Rocks are an '80s party in my mouth.

Also, a tasty alternative to coffee (blech) for the awakeness.

Spring?

I can't wait for the weather to be warm again... but I remember how hot it can get in the summer, too!

Here's another picture taken after today's morning snow melted (notice the droplets):

Pulse of the land

I was in a meeting with one of my supervisors/professors and several other classmates a few months ago on a lovely day. I kept glancing out the window, looking at the view of the trees and mountains beyond. My supervisor noticed this, and commented, "Wow, you are really drawn outside, aren't you?"

This got me thinking. Who wouldn't glance outside during a meeting (not that it was that boring)? But if there is a window nearby, I need to know what the weather is like. I love watching the rhythms of nature unfold before my eyes, delight in the unexpectedness and excitement that weather can bring and feel connected to something so real when I can see the outdoors.

We had a sudden hailstorm yesterday. As everyone was thinking about the damage to their cars, I could only be amazed and delighted in this incredible, unpredictable phenomenon. The little bits of hail danced everywhere, furious and brief in their attack. And then, just as suddenly, it stopped.

We have lived here long enough that I have been through all of the seasons twice, and now, the third time through, I feel as though I understand the breath of this place. I can feel what different clouds may mean, know what different smells predict, and can anticipate the next delightful changes. I love feeling the rhythms and knowing that there is something bigger and more eternal than the everyday life.

Not the best of all possible worlds

First day back from Spring Break. Snowed the past two days. Five weeks left of school. At least 6 major papers/projects to do for classes, final reports for at least four clients to do by then, not to mention finals. Thesis.

Motivation: zero.

Worst part? After spring semester is over, I get to launch right back into summer classes and clinic. Woot.

My heart is singing

DeVotchKa + Au Revoir Simone = Amazingness

We just came back from seeing these two incredible bands at a live taping of Etown. I'm amazed my head didn't explode when they were both on the stage and doing a song together.

If you haven't heard them before, they are both well worth a listen. DeVotchKa did the music for Little Miss Sunshine (AKA my favorite movie ever). Au Revoir Simone is pretty, keyboard-y dreamy music with girl vocals.

I think I love both of them even more after seeing them in person. DeVotchKa was all drama, rich and evocative with their somewhat formal clothes and the string quartet backing them up (not to mention the mouth-accordion, I think, and the double bass-playing sousaphone player). Au Revoir Simone made me feel like I too could get up there and play incredible music (even though I so could not) with their so-out-they're-in long hair and bangs and their school-girl jumpers. They looked like the very much cooler version of who I wanted to be in junior high.

This is where I would post one song from each of the bands just so you can be exposed to the amazingess that is them, but I don't know how to do that. Instead, Google "Hype Machine," then type in "Au Revoir Simone" and "Devotchka." Enjoy.

Super-Awesome Baby Day

Today, my little guy who is almost 2 and was non-verbal 4 months ago said my name. Actually, he said, "Hi Shannon," clear as day. I seriously very nearly cried. I take no credit for his amazing advances (and they are truly amazing from day to day), but I am so excited to be able to be a part of it and to see his development. He continues to amaze us and it is super, super cool. I've never seen anything like it. Literally, every day we see him (twice a week), he does something else that makes our jaws drop. Never underestimate a child. They will always surprise you.

I love, love, love my school-clinic.

Click Click Click Click Camera

I am updating my iPhoto library and so am watching all 1,271 of my pictures from 2007 flash before my eyes. It's fun watching your whole year in review and has brought back a lot of great memories.

Also, I take a lot of pictures. My poor laptop and external hard drive are whirling like mad to try to stay cool under such pressure.

Edited to add: Apparently, those 1,271 pictures were just in one folder. I really took over 7,000 pictures last year. That seems more like it, sadly.

Spring forward!

I saw my first crocuses of the season, and didn't have my camera with me :-(

We have a clock that automatically knows the time... but I can never tell if it knows about Daylight Savings and so I woke up at 9:30 praying it knew (otherwise it would have been 10:30 and I have SO much to do today!).

The sky is bright blue with puffy white clouds today. Idyllic spring sky.


Spring break is only two weeks away. THANK GOD.

The semester is already more than half over. Uh oh. But also: Yay.

There will be at least two more major snowstorms. This is March in Colorado, and this is historically our snowiest month.

Spring=summer soon. Hooray!!!

Netflixing a relationship

I never really realize how different Peter's taste in movies can be from mine until we go through rating Netflix movies. We'll even have watched a movie together and discussed it, and still I will be surprised when he "likes" a movie and rates it 2-3 stars, when I've given it 5. Those movies we both love are relatively few and far between, and frankly, I can't predict when that will happen. I now know when he will hate a movie though. Usually it's the movies I love for a specific reason: they are quirky, they have unique cinematography, and/or they have a beautiful color palette. I think the only movie like this that he liked as well was Little Miss Sunshine. I'm very, very happy we could agree on that one.

That said, it's always nice to get a different perspective on someone you know so well. It's nice when people surprise you.

Story of my school life

I get excited by a class, talk a lot, ask questions and answer them, maybe question some of the teacher's points to clarify. Then the teacher tires of this, feels threatened, wants to teach the class at a more basic level, or something else unknown happens. They then use different tactics, but the result is always the same. I feel stupid for talking, I get frustrated or am belittled (granted, I am extremely sensitive, and I'm sure they never ever actually mean to hurt me). And so I stop talking. And usually cry. I stop paying attention because it is the only way to survive. Otherwise I would just cry all the way through class, which I certainly have done before.

I shouldn't be surprised by now, though I don't really know what, if anything, I can change to prevent this from happening. I know whatever I do is just because I am interested and interested in the truth and clarity, but it must not be received that way. Oh well, I'll just be quiet in class now and try to avoid getting her attention.

Edited to add: Oh, and then I get depressed for the rest of the day because I feel worthless. Nice.

Never boring

Colorado weather, that is. Yesterday, we got a sunburn and lolled about on a 75 degree sunny day. This morning, I couldn't see out of our window for the blizzarding snow. Don't like the weather? Wait a day.

Luckily, this unpredictable springtime means... spring flowers will soon be here!

Reasons why people stand alone in public places

1. Taking a smoke break
2. Talking on their cell
3. Waiting for someone
4. Waiting to attack someone
5. Lost
6. Lost in thought
7. Taking a picture
8. Contemplating the universe
9. Just looking suspicious

Oscar Opinions

Maybe for the first time in a very long time (ever?), everyone I really wanted to win did. There were a couple categories where I would have been happy with pretty much anyone (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress), mainly because I hadn't seen any of those movies yet. Bet the ones I loved and was rooting for all won. No Country did wonderfully, Diablo Cody got her screenwriting award, and Once won for best song. When your song from a movie (a musical no less!) makes it onto the KBCO Studio C CD, you know you have a winner of a song. And Marion Cotillard deserves the best actress award. She had the most incredible transformations in the movie, and the most astonishing thing is that it never felt like "Oh look at me, now I'm acting very old. Isn't it great that I can act old too?" Honestly, they did the older scenes first and when they showed the her as a young woman, I could hardly believe it was the same actress. And the makeup totally deserved to win for that movie for making her look so believably old that they did closeups and you could never tell. Bravos all around.

In sum, Jon Stewart is awesome, I love movies, and the montage of best picture award winners gives me a lot of ammo for my Netflix queue. What did you think?

Scenes from a heartwarming day

One of my clinical assignments in in our toddler group, with kids from under 2 up to about 3ish. Some have different challenges, others are typically developing peers. Here are some incredibly touching things that happened today:

One little girl was cry very, very hard this morning. Her friend seemed unsettled by this, though neither said anything to the other; the second girl just kind of ignored her crying friend. At the end of the class, the first girl said, "I'm sorry I scared you when I was sad." So perceptive, and sweet!

We've had some trouble with some of the older kids not being as accepting of some of the children who aren't talking yet, due to different challenges. One of the girls had said some not-nice things (for 3 year olds) about not wanting to play with those friends. Today, one of the clinicians explained that one of the boys just needs some help with some things (he has a syndromic condition). Immediately, she takes him under her wing, helps him with *everything*, hangs out with him ALL DAY and calls him "my little buddy." The same little boy she refused to play with last week. SO cute.

Finally, I was playing "hurt leg" with one of the more verbal boys. They love to play doctor and fix people, and as I was laying there with my "hurt" leg, this little guy treated me with such tenderness as he "fixed" my leg that it melted my heart. His ultimate solution? To cut off my feet and attach new ones (but he did it so skillfully!). I think he has a career in surgery ahead of him.

Three Day Weekend

I wish I had one. Instead, I'm in class all day and wishing I could take a nap. At least I'll have Spring Break in a month (is that right? Maybe 2 months?). Whatever it is, it can't get here soon enough!

Reno Sadness

Sad news out of Reno today. They found the body of the young woman who was kidnapped from her friend's house about a month ago and think it was the work of a serial rapist.

Two reasons (other than the obvious) why this is so sad:

1. There have been *so many* rapes and sexual attacks near the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) campus in the last few years. And it seemed like there were several serial perpetrators in those times. Like, multiple cases of men coming in through open windows/doors, touching a foot, doing very specific things that seemed like an MO. I don't think they ever caught anyone.

2. The girl was taken near an unopened door. Even sadder than the police not catching these horrible rapists is the fact that even after all of the highly-publicized stuff in the past few years, people are STILL leaving doors and windows unlocked. I'm not trying to blame the victim here AT ALL (since he might have broken in the glass door or a window to get her anyway, who knows), but still!

People: Lock your doors and windows at night. In the day. Whenever you don't want some rapist/kidnapper/murderer to come in your house. PLEASE. Especially if you live in an area where stuff like this has happened a LOT, but do this ANYWHERE!

My heart hurts for my hometown and especially for my alma mater and the students/university community who are now trying to grapple with the fact that they have a "serial rapist" in their midst (not like they didn't before, but at least the police are now acknowledging it). Let's hope this tragedy is enough to really change people's ways, both the police and the students.

Saturday mornings

Me (7 AM): (thinking of everything I forgot to do yesterday) I don't really want to be awake.
Me (9 AM): (to Peter) What do you love about me?
Him: That you love sleep as much as I do.

Hint.
Hint.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Or "Happy VD," as Peter's work calendar said. Are they trying to say something?

We are spending a romantic night of report-writing, clinic paperwork (me) and sleeping (Peter). Thank goodness for weekends!

Best break

I just got back from laying on the lawn outside our building in the 66 degree sunshine. It was SO hard to come back inside. We really tried to convince our teacher to teach outside, but she didn't bite. What made it even better was that tomorrow there is supposedly a 100 percent chance of snow tomorrow. 4-9 inches. WHY must we waste this weather inside a classroom with no windows???

Wind, wind, go away

Woke up at 5 thanks to the wind. Also because I went to bed at 9:30. I was tired! But it is really windy and it gets very annoying after a while. Mainly because the wind seems to only blow at night, especially when you are just going to sleep or a few hours before you need to wake up. The wind knows, man!

I had my thesis proposal meeting last Friday, and miracle of miracles (or not), they approved it! So now I guess I actually have to do this thing. Actually, I'm really glad they did because it's going to be a heckuva lot of work and I will really need the time to get it done. I'm way ahead of the game, but I want to defend by November so I can head out to internships without this hanging over my head. Another bonus if all works according to plan: if I have completed a thesis and all course requirements, I only have to do one internship, which means my first internship could hire me if they wanted to (fingers crossed!) which means I could actually be employed with money and everything in ONE YEAR! Amazing.

Well, my 12-hour day begins in 15 minutes, so I'd better be off. Payce!

Post 300!

I should so be asleep. I have a big day tomorrow with a quiz, two assignments, oh, and my thesis proposal defense. Yeah, I didn't really know about it either. Long story short, due to some miscommunication and misinterpretation, I ended up writing a sort-of thesis proposal, when my adviser was intending for this to be much more informal. But we're here now, so might as well get a head start, right? And really, if they want me to rewrite or hate it, I didn't pour my heart and soul into it, since I had no idea what I was doing, so I won't be heartbroken at all. Luckily, my adviser is AMAZING and totally has my back, so regardless, I feel good.

Related: Blogger's speller does not like "advisor," but is fine with "adviser." For some reason, I like the -or version. Maybe it's British For equally unknown reasons, I like to spell a lot of words the British way. Like "judgement." I definitely think that "e" belongs there.

OK, I am going to bed. And then waking up early. This madness has got to stop.

Caucus

We caucused tonight. It was pretty interesting, definitely democracy in action. I'm glad we did it regardless, but it was really cool to be part of such a(n) historic event with both the first female AND the first African-American mainstream presidential candidate. It's pretty sweet. I have some pics I took up at my Flickr page. They aren't too interesting, but I guess that's how democracy works. There were a ton of people, 99 in our precinct alone. The lady running it said they normally had 25 people at these things.

I'm very tired, so I'm going to try to finish my paper and go to sleep soon. I'll find out who "won" in the morning.

So. How've ya been? I know, I know, I've been neglecting you. It's nothing personal, I swear. I just tend to think of things to blog about at the most inopportune times, and then I forget what I was going to say until it's too late and no longer very timely.

We're caucusing on Tuesday, like half the rest of the country. At least Colorado moved up their caucus from March. Really, who cares by March? So we're gonna super-size it on Tuesday. I wonder what the Boulder Republican caucus will look like. I bet they all know each other already anyway, all ten of them. Literally, at the last election, there was not *one single* Republican candidate for ANY office. Even street sweeper. We only had Democrat, Independent, Green, Socialist, and some other ones I could make up for you.

The Clintons have visited, but I guess they are putting their campaigning efforts into demographics other than our own (broke-ass eternal students). We've gotten at least 3 phone calls apiece and one personal visit from the Obama camp, and not a peep from the Clinton side. Chelsea did speak at CU and wish I would have known about it ahead of time, but alas. I did not.

In other news, tomorrow is Monday. Sorry for the bad news. I thought you should know.

Restfulness

It's amazing how much more manageable the world becomes after a nap.

Bad, bad blogger

So sorry. But I am posting now.

I'm trying to return to some of my former pastimes (blogging, my Flickr page) in order to try to keep some balance in my life. Ive taken more photos in the last week than I have in quite a long time, and it feels good. Now I just need to be able to keep this up, but I hope the lengthening days and slightly more flexible schedule will help.

The weather here was *gorgeous* today. Literally, in the mid 60s, sunny and not windy. Yesterday, we had some insane winds, but they died off by mid afternoon, so we could enjoy a little of the day. Today, I sat on the porch in a short-sleeve t-shirt and jeans and soaked up the sun reading school articles. It was amazing. Especially when you consider that one week ago, we had highs in the single digits. I love Colorado.

I really wanted to write because one of my teachers is stressing me out badly. In an email she sent tonight, she mentioned something about a "lecture" for a clinic that has never been mentioned to me before. Another 1.5 hours a week that will count toward nothing, if it is what I think it is. Like I have an hour and a half on Friday afternoons to spare. They kill me sometimes. I just hope it's nothing I have to do, but I'm afraid it will be. I kind of can't breathe right now.

One month, to the day!

It's been that long since I last posted. So sorry for the silence; no excuse, really.

It's a new year, and already shaping up pretty well. We organized our kitchen last week, during which we were introduced to the wonder that is The Container Store (so worth the drive to Cherry Creek, as long as we only do it once in a while). As Peter said, the space under our sink now looks like a commercial, and our baking things and spices are no longer crawling out of the cupboards and spilling across the counter. Nice. It's not completely done, since we apparently need some dry wall-somethings, or something, but if those ever appear, I shall take pictures of the gloriousness.

Also, we may have tamed the mail beast with a new system. However, while I am very good at thinking of new systems and trying to encourage them, I am very poor at being very strict about these things, and Peter is self-admittedly not very good about adopting them either. So. However, he has signed up for eleventy-bajillion new magazines with about-to-expire airline points, so we will be forced to be good about it, or we shall not only have no table to eat at, but also no chairs to sit upon, nor air to breathe.

In other news, why am I up so late? Perhaps because I apparently never learn from my eating mistakes (I think). I ate the stir fry that was sitting out for perhaps a smidgen too long, because I was hungry. I was rewarded yesterday with a day spent alternatingly on the toilet or snoozing in bed, awaiting the next call. Lovely. The result? My stomach is still out of whack and my sleeping is totally off schedule. Le sigh. I can only be incredibly thankful that this happened now and not when I, you know, have things to do. (PS: not excited about that time returning).

So other than cleaning, organizing, planning for the year ahead, we have been playing Wii (we've neglected you for so long! And our Wii-elbow-itis proves it!), I've been playing Sims 2, perhaps the greatest Christmas gift ever from my beloved bro, and Peter finally finished grading. Good thing, too, since the kids return tomorrow. He's definitely gonna have to pick up his speed when he becomes a full-fledged teacher, but luckily he said he learned a lot from the grading experience.

Also, very exciting, this is an Olympic year! Yay for international competition, heartwarming backstories and random sports you'd otherwise never see! Hooray for the Olympics!

Fun and exciting times!

I actually have something happening in our lives to write about! We have officially begun the hunt for a house, which is exciting and frightening all at once. We have been sort of half-ass-edly beginning the process, looking into affordable housing, vaguely investigating mortgage options, and occasionally randomly perusing home listings, but things kicked into a much higher gear this week.

A few weeks ago, we went out on our first "shopping trip" with a wonderful Realtor (apparently that MUST be capitalized!) Peter met at a housing seminar. Since then, we've looked at houses in two different towns, as well as condos here in Boulder.

It's pretty amazing to see the difference in what we can get in our price range, based on the locations. In Boulder, we can afford older condos with two bedrooms, two baths (our minimum requirements) in less than 1000 square feet, usually not in great locations in Boulder. Twenty to thirty minutes outside of Boulder (i.e., the next towns over), we can get a four bedroom, two bathroom house with a bigger yard than practically any in Nevada. With trees. And grass. And usually a fireplace and/or wet bar (those seem remarkably common in the houses we've seen).

I will try to record some of our house-hunting trips here, especially the funny ones, wherein you get to see the obsessively staged house with the fresh-baked cookies artfully arranged for us, the house with a creature spotted in the crawl space, and the several houses where owners were surprised by our arrival (yay awkwardness!). Stay tuned!