August 2013 – Life in the Cheese Drawer

fair time!

August 28, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

the great minnesota get together was certainly hot when nate and i went. ugh…
we got there around 9:30 and stayed until almost 1:00, by which time i’m pretty sure nate had some level of heat exhaustion or dehydration. lovely.
the food scene was pretty minimal since it was so hot a person didn’t really want to eat anything. i had a chocolate sundae upon entry at the dairy building, and then i got a huge bucket of french fries (a mistake – should have gotten a smaller bucket). nate got a chunk of cheese deep fried on a stick and a scotch egg while i sucked down a summer shandy.
we stopped at the craft beer booth and each got something we didn’t necessarily like – he got a surly furious and i got a something something pumpkin pie spice beer. i drank it with my mini donuts (tom thumb, of course). we walked down to where our landlord’s food stands were and got some crab fritters for free (the star of the day, actually! they were really good!).
i missed cheese curds and especially my deep fried milky way. wouldn’t have minded something a little more substantial, like a hot dog or something.
overall the food experience was pretty bad and we didn’t see that much of the fair because we were hot and felt gross, although the crowds were minimal. it was sad because i was so ready to forgo my devil’s syrup rule and eat all things that i would normally avoid. 🙁
we went to the poultry, rabbit, and sheep barns, but steered clear of the horse barns (we didn’t need a trip to the ER for nate in anaphylactic shock).
(look at the sheep’s hardware! omg! nate said as i was taking a pic: “are you getting a close-up of his balls?”)

escaping from the someplace

August 25, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

we all come from someplace. where do you come from? how did you escape?
if you’ve been following my blog at all, you know of the posts related to the “crap my aunt says” variety. (for those unacquainted, my aunt is very conservative in most aspects and very catholic.) this i what i grew up with, and because i was entrenched in it early on, i was, well, entrenched in it for quite a while.
i remember the bush/dukakis presidential race. of course everyone in my family was voting republican; of course we were. there was no reason to support dirty democrats. then a tiny moment of clarity: i asked my mom if she voted for bush. she said no. but! bush is pro-life! i remember clearly stating my point in the kitchen of the falling-apart kitchen of our austin farmhouse. my mom looked at me and said, no, bush is anti-abortion. he supports the death penalty, and that is taking a life as well. dukakis is anti-death penalty. (i don’t think she voted for dukakis either, but she presented the facts.) i had something to chew on.
when we moved from austin to new london, separating ourselves from the clench of my dad’s family, i felt like we were more able to explore ourselves as a family unit, not just an extension of the wallace family name. this encouraged more individual exploration and open-mindedness, something my parents fostered. add on to that that we’d had our lows (welfare and food stamps), and you can see that we had a unique viewpoint on the human effort. plus, i’ve always been happy that my parents were almost on two ends of the spectrum politically because it gave me the viewpoint of both sides.
once in college, it sort of snowballed, and experiences and circumstances led to a complete 180 from my 8-year-old self who was wailing about why her mother hadn’t voted for bush. but there’s something of a warning when encouraging your children to be open-minded, critical thinkers: it can come back to bite you in the rear. my parents are disappointed that i lean more toward the agnostic theist way of higher beings rather than catholicism (or christianity in general, i guess). ultimately, that was what was at the root of where i came from, but was it escape? or a lapse and apathy?

fair time

August 22, 2013 kate Comments 2 comments

nate and i are going to the mn state fair next tuesday. guess what happens at the state fair? i toss my devil’s syrup rule out the window for the day. what do i most look forward to this year?
1. mini donuts!! (tom thumb baby!)
2. deep-friend milky way!!
3. french fries!
4. beer! (summit or leinie’s)
5. deep fried lobster!
6. new – they have a candied bacon canolli – omg
7. corn dog!
nate’s looking forward to the 1. deep fried cheese chunk and 2. koshari from the holy land delit place.
i love this: http://www.mnstatefair.org/find/food/?-skiprecords=0 (food finder)
and this: http://www.mnstatefair.org/fun/new_food/ (new foods list)

a tale of a run and tattoo

August 18, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

i’d been waiting for this weekend for a while. i’ve been wanting to do a color run for a while, and jane needed to get an “official” 5k under her belt, and both my sisters and i were able to actually participate! so once i knew jane would be coming down friday night, i thought about taking her to infinity tattoo here in town (recommended by jane herself as well as an ex(?) who is a huge tattoo fan) to see about my tree tattoo (finally) and a triple forward helix piercing.

i might still try to get this – at least two of them – in the next month or so.

i thought i was going to get the piercing that night; that was my plan anyway.
liz ended up coming over on friday as well, and she pulled in just as jane and i were pulling out to head over to infinity (after a hard 2 hours of LBP karting). we piled into the tattoo parlor, i gave the artist my sketch of what i was thinking (the 4 quaking aspens) and she said she could do it for $150 – CHEAP. (i had gotten a quote from jeff’s a couple years ago with a crappy drawing the dude did of one tree and he estimated $200.) on top of that, i asked the piercer about the forward helixes. he said he didn’t do them; so that plan was shot for the night! so instead, i made an appointment for saturday for the tattoo.
the color run was awesome! i’d say we ran about 1/3-1/2 of the 5k and got all colored up. two things i would change: the route was way convoluted and there was no water station! definitely recommend at least a water station. but it was fun and an awesome experience, especially for jane with her first 5k, and i am looking forward to the big gay race in september (i hope jane can come!).
liz had to leave, and jane and i took a little tour over to st charles and drove past the future wallace residence. once we came back, it was tattoo time.

it took about 45 minutes all told. the artist – jackie – was really quick with outlines, and my leg didn’t start twitching at all (i was a little worried about that). see the grip i have on my chair? that isn’t fake.
when she was done, the cost ended up being only $130. i was going to leave her a huge tip because i love it, but there was no tip line on their credit slip! that was unfortunate, but maybe it’s one of those places that don’t accept tips. ah well.

so there we go – all in all a productive weekend. and i might be ready for fall!

ideas

August 15, 2013 kate Comments 1 comment

tomorrow i’m making jane go to infinity tattoo with me to check out what they have. if the price for a triple or double forward helix piercing is reasonable, i might just walk out with one. the other thing i’m trying to nail down is my tree tattoo.
i was going to get it last year after i got my job, but the foot book held my brain and i got that instead. so now back to the tree and the dilemma of where to put it and what exactly to get. i think i have a place nailed down, especially if i do a single tree: on my right outside leg above my ankle. it’s an overdone location, but i don’t know where else i would put it that makes sense with the roots.
the second half of this is do i want an orangey-yellowy-reddish maple tree? or a stand (4 of them – for my sibs and me!) of quaking aspen?

the single tree, obvs, would not be bare – just like the shape of it and especially the trunk.
quaking aspen remind me of walking through the woods at st. john’s during autumn. if i make them small enough, above the ankle still might work. but i like the single tree idea too (that would def. go above my ankle).
opinions? ideas? i’m driving myself crazy.

lalala

August 13, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

summer’s almost over 🙁 i love fall, but winter just sucks. although this winter nate and i are hopefully looking at buying a house and moving. i’m excited for what we might find in regards to some acreage. we’ll see what happens. i’m tired of living on a busy corner.
here are my new running kicks:

famous footwear was having one of their buy one get one half off sales along with a 20% off coupon. i got these and nate’s skate shoes for work for $107. considering these shoes alone were $110, i’d say i got a pretty good deal!

goodbye again

August 11, 2013 kate Comments 4 comments

i only technically lived in new london for a grand total of three years. after my family moved from austin to the new london-spicer area, we rented in spicer for a year before my parents bought 224 n. main in new london. after three years, i went to college. i did come home for the summers between my first year and sophomore years and soph and junior years, and i stayed in new london for maybe a month and a half after graduating from st. ben’s, and that is the extent of my actual living time in new london.
my parents, however, have lived in new london for nineteen years. this means that while i had not lived in new london very long, i have made the drive to and from the area quite a bit and spent many a day there.
last april my mom got a new job in rochester, and their house sold last month. their closing date is august 30, and they take possession of a new house in st. charles on sept. 12. this last saturday, i went to the house one final time to help pack up. i won’t miss the house and area as much as my parents will (especially my mom), but i will miss it.
i’ll miss christmas – most of my christmasses were spent in new london. i’ll miss the drive along hwy 23 from st cloud. i’ll miss o’neil’s pub and their awesome bloody marys. i’ll miss memories surrounding july fourth in spicer – working the beer garden at the street dance and seeing people from high school. i’ll miss the heightened sense of familiarity when walking into a local business and knowing i might just know someone from long ago. i’ll miss green lake. i’ll miss lake andrew. i’ll miss sibley state park. i’ll miss the drive from my parents’ house to angie’s parents’ house. i’ll miss driving through new london, up the hill, and coming around the bend to see good ol’ 224. i’ll miss sitting on the deck with the sun filtering through the cedar trees in the backyard. i’ll even miss the little red barn. i’ll miss the autumn orangey-yellow of the maple tree in the front yard. i’ll miss seeing the high school and thinking about what a huge nerd i was. i’ll miss “grandma’s curve” – the curve on hwy 23 right by the roscoe roadside tavern that my grandma once commented was just the perfect curve for driving along. (i won’t miss the midget stairs in my parents’ house, however.)
all my high school memories are nestled in new london. my 21st birthday was spent with angie in spicer with a 6-pack of zima, some apple pucker, and jimmy’s pizza. i attended four high school graduations in nl-s (including my own). when someone asks where i grew up, i have a hard time saying where, which is especially odd since i spent the majority of my childhood in austin.
i drove out of new london last saturday, laden down with a bunch of stuff from the house, and got a little melancholy – it’s the second house i’ve had to say goodbye to within a year. (and as i got closer to the st cloud area, i got even more melancholy.) unfortunately, i can see no real reasons to come back to the new london area, and the thought that this could be my last journey up 23 was making me sad. they say change is good; a new page has turned; turn over a new leaf. all true, but i feel like it’s been nothing BUT change lately. i hope life settles a little.
goodbye, 224 n. main.

sorry

August 6, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

i was totally going to write something profound tonight. i was logged in and ready to go, and the laptop crashed. so here i am in bed thumbin it on my phone, but i’m not gonna write on my phone. sorry peeps. maybe tomorrow.

good times!

August 4, 2013 kate Comments 2 comments

FINALLY i am able call up my sisters and be like, “hey. want to go to the moa?” and they will both be able to say, uh, sure! woo!
went to the moa yesterday where i found a fabulous hat (pictured). then jane’s housewarming party was happening, so we went there and a good time was had by all! (except hannah at times – it was a new and strange place.)
i am 2 lbs. away from -60 lbs. i have taken progress pics every -10 lbs since -30 lbs. should i post (gross, half-naked) pictures of myself once i get to -60?

progress

August 2, 2013 kate Comments 0 Comment

people keep asking me if i’ve lost more weight. i keep having to say “noooo” forlornly. i lost 50 lbs in about 10 months (which ended last summer) and so far am not much past that. why am i stuck? i am running at least 10 miles a week and trying not to eat after supper. obviously i’m not eating corn syrup, so a lot of my food is whole. i know if i want to lose more weight, i either have to run more during the week (6 miles 5 days a week? ack) or eat less. yuck. i don’t want to eat less! i like my eating habits, slovenly though they may be.
that said, i finished my “healthy” chapter in my DS book, and i feel like a fraud.