Life in the Cheese Drawer

every year my mom’s family gets together for a family reunion up at leech lake, where we spend 3.5 days swimming, camping, hanging out with each other, and bonfiring.
this year, we have two weddings almost directly after: one in august and one in september. unfortunately, the powers that be (aunts and uncles) have nixed the reunion this year. also unfortunately, the reunion is the only real vacation i can count on every summer.
don’t get me wrong; i loooove going to weddings. i love getting all fancy and dancing and drinking. but it’s just not the same! i want a lake with a boat and a loon and swimming and fires and beer and being with a bunch of people i like. while i’ll still be seeing those same people, it’ll be for a shorter amount of time and with other people there i don’t know. plus there is just not the same venue for jokes. (we always tell horrible jokes at our reunions.)
so now i’m on a mission to find a lake this summer that i can swim in. one deficiency of this area is its overabundance of rivers and creeks and lack of big lakes.

it’s supposed to rain with temps in the 40s all week, then on saturday, which is my first 5k of the season, the sun will break forth with a high of 58. i know they say april showers bring may flowers, but this is ridonkulous.
i have gotten tired of the treadmill. i was down there last night, and i just am blah about it – i would much rather run up the crappy hills in this town and be outside and look around than stuck in my basement running in place.
i’m trying to sell my lawn mower i bought last fall so i can get some cash. craigslist, i’m counting on you. i’ve gotten a lot of emails about it, but i haven’t gotten a firm “yes i want to come see it this day” from anyone yet.
hmm…what else is there. oh yeah! the dark tower series has gone meta. it could end wtih captain picard waking up from a faint on the holodeck and i wouldn’t be surprised.

if you know me, you probably know that love to use a semicolon; it is my favorite punctuation mark. comma splice? BAM – fixed with a semicolon. long list of convoluted stuff involving oxford commas? BAM – fixed with a semicolon. i am also a huge grammar nerd; why not indelible punctuation?
so i was looking into a semicolon tattoo; HOWEVER, a semicolon tattoo has been overtaken by the former cutters and suicidals, especially if it’s located on the wrist – the semicolon movement. something about how that life is over and now it’s time for my second related, but independent clause. i’ve seen a lot of comments on these tattoos along the lines of “OMG this a great suicide tattoo!”
this allows for two questions: 1. do i want a semicolon tattoo if it’s going to get me marked (oh ho ho nice pun there) as a former cutter and/or suicidal? and 2. it won’t go on the wrist; nate says no to a behind-the-ear, back of neck, or lower arm tattoo; so where do i put this thing?
a stipulation: i must be able to see it without a mirror. i was thinking on my shoulder, so if i look over my shoulder, i can still see it. here is the photo that got me hooked.

 
 

what is monday? we have TMI tuesday, wordless wednesday, throwback thursday. moody monday? melancholy monday? meh monday? meme monday? (ooh i like that one.)
well, you get bulletpoint monday, i guess, because i’m really tired and i’ve got a presentation tomorrow that i’m anxious about.

• next weekend is a long weekend and charlie will be home! excited.
• my dad got lumber for the garden beds. checked online at the rochester compost place, and they sell compost for $25/ton. i think that’s manageable.
• cream cheese-pickle-ham wraps are maybe the best taste sensation ever. seconded by grapes and blue cheese dressing.
• i was going to start my cookie making thing tonight, but i have no eggs. BOOOO.
• my dad’s new kitten is forthcoming in the next couple days. cute little furball!
• picked up the next book in the “dark tower” series – its 900 pages. oy.

this was taken in 2010 on the st. ben’s campus in front of the chapel. i had just gotten my 50mm f/1.4 lens and made jane be my test subject. one of the nuns came out of the chapel and offered to take our picture.
last night i was driving to rochester with nate and realized that i STILL feel like any day now we’re going to go back to st. cloud to our house in st. joe. i’ve been down here for 2 years now and it’s just not the same 🙁
 

i keep having dreams i’m back working at merrill. i am put right back into the mix, and i’ve forgotten everything i learned there. i miss some of the people there!
that’s the only dream part of this post. i talked to my brother the other day about his easter plans, and he mentioned that he’s thinking of moving back to MN sooner rather than later. he’d probably live in my basement! that’s exciting.
welp, it’s sunday night and i’m trying to get rid of this wannabe cold that’s got hold of my sinuses right now. could be allergies, too, for all i know. what i do know? i’d like it to go away, thanks.
i have a farmers’ market cookbook that i bought a couple years ago, so when i start getting my good from my garden this summer and picking up stuff from the market here in town, perhaps ill do a run through of the recipes in the book. that might be a fun way to blog for a month!

1. woke up after 9 hours of sleep
2. read 100 pgs of “waste lands” – omg!!! intense!
3. drove into roch to check out the menards moving sale. boo hiss they didn’t have what i was looking for so had to pay full price at the menards that wasn’t moving.
4. went to target and picked up some food
5. came back and saw the track next to the school was a little bit cleared. it was still 57 degrees out, so i changed into my running clothes and ran 4 miles (bleargh) (but 550 cals burned!).

6. grilled!!! had steak, hashbrowns, baked beans, and some dinner rolls.
7. let chasey have an outdoor adventure. discussed a brick facade and flower box with nate.
8. spent too much infuriating time trying to figure out my printer. might be time for a new one.
9. now i’m off to watch mad men!! season 6 is now on netflix. oh, by the by, i canceled my netflix account about 3 weeks ago, and i am still able to log in. hmmm, perhaps being a 10-yr customer has its perks??