real rural brewery

time has flown by far too fast. when i booked the trip, nearly 3 weeks seemed extravagant and luxurious, but in reality, it's the blink of an eye. i have to return to partial reality later this week...boo

 

hot hot hot

it's a scorcher in Paris today - 93 degrees in the shade... so we are sloth.  avoiding unnecessary movements, only leaving the apartment when absolutely essential, planning cold meals, and groaning.

just another street.  breathtaking. 

yesterday, the picnic in the park was terrific.  it was my first time biking thru Paris, and i only felt near death once.  we went to a little park that is the courtyard of a hospital.  women with giggling tumbling children, patients pushing IVs along the gravel paths, old fat trees.  guards with whistles reminding us of the park's closing time.

so we retreated to another park along the canal until we were motivated for the bike ride home.

watch out frenchies, i'm back!

so so SO happy to be back in Paris.  reveling in beauty and quality time with M, likely my favorite person ever. our lovely friends from Oslo met us to join in the fun for the first week. last night we went out for a crazy fancy dinner, and today we're cooking for a picnic with some other friends.

so while i'm here, i hope to rekindle my blogging fire. my twos of readers will be thrilled.

the ladies

the boys

beef with green beans, roasted onions, pickled cherries and chunks of feta

view from my bedroom window

babyfistfuls

so, last saturday i was cleaning up for an open house that was to take place sunday. i threw out my back when i decided to adjust the TV position a little. i only wanted to move it a few inches, and as i lifted it with my back, i felt the right lower side pop. i dropped to the floor, short of breath and soon became nauseous from the first waves of pain. i had to cancel the open house since i was not able to walk, drive, or sit anywhere. sunday i was still gasping with each step - unreal how much serious back pain affects nearly every single movement or bodily function.

took a sick day on monday to see my chiropractor and my doctor. my primary Dr was on vacation, and i wasn't able to get an appointment until 3pm, the pain was still intense on monday, although i was finally able to walk without holding on to something. my chiro did a slight adjustment, and the Dr gave me some nice meds to get thru the week. so, needless to say, i was feeling FINE on monday night - sitting up and everything. feeling that i have missed too many days already this year, i decided i would go to work on tuesday. the meds i got are too strong for me to take while working with students, so i suffered thru the day with advil and slow movements.

today i was feeling extra stiff and sore in the morning, so took one more sick day - ahhhhh! i am getting close to being able to stop shuffle-walking. time for a nap, me thinks.

been having to kill a ton of time of course, loved these random moments of poor dumbasses over-focsed on their cell phones, like the guy who almost bumped into a bear when he was leaving his house.

so much fun to watch other people's idiocy, no?  in china, a woman chatting on her phone fell into a sinkhole.

kirk cameron does not like boner (anymore)

back to school this week after having our spring break last week. i spent several days in CT with my boys, then flew back last weekend with the hound stowed discretely in a duffle kennel. normally Minnesota days in March get to about 45 degrees, but it has been over 70 for the past week - hooray for a summery spring break.

i saw that today would have been Mr Rogers' 84th birthday if he was still around. i often giggle at the thought that when i was getting older (LOVED his show when i was very young - especially the land of make-believe and the transgender cat that ran the carousel) i would mock his arrival routine of changing his shoes and putting on a smart cardigan. i giggle because that is basically what i do the instant i arrive home after work - change out of work clothes and into sweats and slippers. i AM Fred.

another tangent making my idiot detector flash wildly is kirk cameron's recent "news making" comments about gays. a wonderful discussion of it here. being a young gay boy in the 80's meant that i loved him and the coreys and more. i mean, was there anything gayer than mike seaver?!? mr cameron has obviously been struggling with tea bagging urges since Leo joined the cast of Growing Pains. not to mention that kirk's BFF on the show was named boner - little too on the nose?

his hilarious defense of his comments was essentially, "i have always been a brainless spewer of nonsense. people should not be surprised i say shit like this. i like jesus, have i mentioned that?"

his TV stops are also "promoting" his "movie" where he explores the true principles of america by uncovering the beautiful wisdom of the pilgrims. i swear, people are the worst...

bite my word

unbelievable as it was, today is a snow day! unbelievable because we had one (or two?) last year, and there wasn't that much snow over most of the metro. what better gift can a teacher receive than a magical wednesday surprise day off? answer, there is none. hooray for leapsnowday!

we only got about 4 inches of snow in my area, but it was preceded by an inch of freezing rain thru the night. i got up grumbling as i made the coffee at the thought of the ridiculously long drive ahead of me, then got the "school's closed" text from several people. no better way to build bonds with coworkers at a school than to keep us home for the day. had we been open, my normal commute of 15-20 minutes would have taken 90 minutes, easily...

after the fabulous news, i decided to whip up butternut squash soup - it's simmering in the crock pot as i type. mmmmmm

i take no credit for the nerdy graphic below, completely copied from a favorite blog - but then really, what else is a blog posting if not a pile of other blogs' crap and sprinkle blather. but i will post it anyway, because it is so fascinating to contemplate the perspective on our existence compared to the age of the earth.

one final favorite thing of late - this amazing short film called "Alma". it is not new, but is beautiful and wonderfully creepy. i love where all the shitty little kids end up...

just 50 million years away

hooray for long weekends. i have never loved or internally honored our presidents harder...

a recent story made me giggle and perked my perk. scientists have known for a long time that the continents are moving slowly and readjusting themselves on the planet. most of us learned about the supercontinent named Pangea in high school. if your school didn't teach you that, you probably were told that the continents were intelligently designed and put into place by big bird.

Pangea split apart into the continents we see today, and they continue to move around. scientists believe that they will collide again and form another supercontinent, but they weren't sure where it would occur. a recent study predicts that the new supercontinent will form over the north pole, and (my favorite part of the story) it is referred to as amasia. fucking love that name -- i have a lovely friend in paris who needs to use that as her stripper name... you know who you are

the following week, a taiwanese basketball player did well somewhere, and this quietlyracialslur appeared. white people are so creative.

get on this horse

heres the start

been too long

since I babbled here. So a break in a Hoarders marathon and the thought of a real post seeming to overwhelm me, bring a mini one. I am taking care of our baby, Micah, this month while b travels the world. Tonight while curled up under his blanket, he dreamt something that made him bark. It scared us both and was hilarious to one of us.

road trip to RI

Out east for the holiday. I flew with Micah for the first time coming out here. I was more nervous than the trembling beast. But it went smoothly. Yesterday we feasted and a friend from Providence joined us. So today we drove her home then drove down to the coast. Had yummy Thai food in RI for lunch and then gorged on leftovers once we got home. Happy fat birdly day.

Place holder

Absolutely cannot believe summer is already crashing to an end. And I haven't blogged yet... Here's a warm up - shots from San Diego in June.

maybe thunder curdles milk

i cannot wait to order my "ride on carry on" so that b can haul me around the airport whenever we travel. i would be a fussy passenger, i fear. but i would definitely get closer to having six-pack abs doing a constant V-up to keep my legs from dragging. mush, faster to the starbucks!

part of putting your house on the market includes filling out a "seller's property disclosure statement" - a form that is required so buyers know of any issues with the property. no doubt a reasonable demand, some of the questions are, let's say interesting.

first, when i bought this place in 2002, this form was 2 pages long. now it is 9 pages long, over 300 lines to fill out. i know that this type of bloated paperwork is always the result of some random lawsuit somewhere that adds another "cover your ass" requirement. most of the questions are understandable -- was there ever water damage? what is the age of the roofing material? has lindsey lohan vomitted on the property? has methamphetamine ever been produced in the property? are you aware of any human remains, burials or cemeteries located on the property? (i can only assume the movie poltergeist is responsible for that question) but my favorite part - there is a statement at the end of the form which specifies some of the things the seller does not have to disclose - that includes any "perceived paranormal activity" or whether there is a nursing home nearby. so much for preventing another poltergeist. don't come crying to me when you wake up in the bathtub covered in grape jelly.

i cannot wait to be there again...

i hear what you are daysing

the blur of a whirling dervish that has been my days lately finally came to rest. a long weekend is just what my body needs, and finally gives me time to babble here for the pleasure of fives of adoring readers... a big update on the move -- b and i have decided he will move here to continue his (so far fruitless) job search... there were some possibilities that arose but then fell thru - one near LA, one in Washington state, another somewhere else. most recently he made it thru some phase in the process for a job at Yale. now a panel of wizards will decide if they will interview him in person. whatever the outcome, i cannot wait to have him and micah here -- probably at the end of june.

i will keep my place on the market - so far 66 days and zero showings. 4 open houses, some of which had ok turnout, but nothing materialized. the most recent one last sunday was highlighted by two tornadoes that hit the area - neither were near me, but the day was ugly and ominous.

a tangent comes to mind, triggered by the news coverage of the tornadoes. after natural disasters, we are always shown people saying it was god's hand that protected them, or it was their faith in god that kept them from being sucked away by the storm. if people could stop for second and think about what that means -- you were saved because of your special prayers? your house was spared because of your magical direct phone line to god? was the person killed by the storm (or the 100+ killed by tornadoes in Missouri this week) not praying hard enough? their faith not strong enough? yes, i am an atheist, but that is just stupid. stop promoting the delusion of god's exclusive love for you. you are not special.

now what is special is the fact that absolutely fabulous is making a new series. while i am among the fans who think the older shows were the better ones, i cannot wait for this

The pair will reprise their much loved roles as Patsy and Edina for a three episode run of the hit show – the first new shows for six years. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer although Miss Saunders has yet to write the script.

nerdy news revealed the tectonic rift forming in Ethiopia will one day become a new ocean like the nearby red sea and gulf of aden. this isn't new news, but more studies are trying to understand the processes involved. the earth's crust is thinning in east Africa as plates drift apart, which allows for flood of magma to erupt on the surface.

what could be nicer summer vacation spot than a volcano in ethiopia? pretty sure there is a motel 6 nearby.

until we found him like this

woohoo for spring break 2011! boo to its end being so near. sadly, i am not in san diego for break this year; we decided it made more sense to not blow the money on a visit since we plan to move so soon. plus b will hopefully be able to come here in mid-may after he's done with school. the disappointment of no warm destination over break has been softened by catching up with long-lost friends and plenty of lazy. since all of my home improvement projects are done, the lazy came so easy. (photo note: the above pic is from a trip to san francisco, alcatraz and a gaybow)

several of my closest friends recently had babies (and as they well know) my enthusiasm for babies is terribly low, yet it was wonderful to catch up with my mommies and meet the wee ones. i also hung with a friend who is also trying to sell her house soon. we moved boxes, taped for painting, and cleaned - it felt good to help someone else with the same headaches i just went thru.

funny that at one point, i actually imagined that i would be annoyed by all the showings if i stayed here during break. i thought i would have to avoid the house often, but now i would just die to have one showing. my place has been on the market for nearly 3 weeks, and not one yet. so instead, i am left with the annoyance of having to keep my place as clean as possible. every time i leave the house, i have to assume there might be showing, so must straighten up and hide all clutter. realizing very soon that maintaining pristine clean is just not plausible, my brain has already allowed me to overlook basic things - like leaving dishes in the sink. very minor little things, that most likely won't make a difference to someone willing to settle for this dumpy catch. i know it all comes down to having a lucky flow of coincidence, and all we can do is wait and see what happens.

on the left, my sister's new puppy. i am so jealous. the older dog is loving being a big sister. and above is edgar, another friend's gorgeous lil buddy.

i am annoyed every year by the idiot cycle of tax returns in the US. i knowingly pay too much in taxes during the year, so that i can get a refund each spring. the government is fully aware that this refund feels like a magical bonus, that i have to spend. but in reality, that money has always been mine. no doubt, there are worse things that can happen, but it has been hard fighting to not waste this little bump on something. the ipad 2 is calling me, but so unnecessary. instead, my spendy nerdy pangs have been satiated by fun new mac programs, from the new app store. i love bowtie, desktop curtain, and notebook. again, not really necessary, but so pretty.

another highlight of break was going to the rogue valley show at the varsity last week. they are a local band who just released their fourth album in one year, one representing each season. they are led by chris koza, an incredibly talented singer/songwriter. if you're curious, they are on itunes, but listen and/or buy here - a site where you can name your price, and they get a better cut. chris is a friend of a friend, so i "know him" on some level. i turn into such giddy schoolboy when i am at one of his shows and he greets me. he is so gracious and sweet. and SO sexy on stage, mostly because he doesn't even try to be. if only he knew how badly i want to throw my panties in his face...

post-apocalyptic radiation canary

the warm breath of spring is finally upon minnesota. and what seemed like an endless list of home improvement projects is finally complete.

i ignored the slowly growing problems on my basement walls for years, but trying to sell this place meant i finally had to bite the crusty fuzzy bullet. the basement is unfinished, with cinder block walls, so attractive - especially when crusty with salts and fuzzy with mold. i always just refused to look at the small black patches, imagining them to be peripheral shadows. ewwww, i know.

i was amazed at how easy it was to make the mold disappear, but the crusted salts and flaking paint were another story. i spent hours scraping brushing vacuuming and bitching. i learned that cinder blocks should never be painted - unless you are using dry lock paint first. because the idiot who lived here before painted them with latex paint, they can never be sealed. if cinderblocks are left unpainted, they are ugly, but moisture can pass thru and evaporate, so no mold.

but when you paint with latex, you seal the walls just enough to trap moisture behind the paint, and the latex is food for mold, so mold farm. my nonsolution solution was to clean them up scrape them down and paint with more latex. hoping the spring melt doesn't bring the ugly right back.

other lovely projects included painting the bedrooms, having furniture that i will not move with me thrown away, and serious cleaning. the house is now officially ready. i had a photographer over this week to take shots for the listing. amazing how clean this place can get. the plan is to put list it this week, then have an open house very soon. then just wait and see what happens. could sell soon or not move for months and months. in the unlikely event it sells quickly, i guess i panic and move into a friend's basement? if it will not sell, i really really really don't want to become a landlord and sublet. yet that remains a possibility.

does anyone else love liz lemon as much as i do?