Everyone's been noticing a dearth of blogging this summer, and I'm no exception. I'm trying to keep up on everyone's lives and leaving comments so you know I'm around, but life has been extremely hectic this summer. Nearly every weekend is booked up for the rest of the summer; it's kind of overwhelming. Some nights there are three or four things happening. I don't want to miss any of it; yet sometimes I feel myself missing some free time, some me time, some putter-around-the-house time. I'm trying to combat it by being organized--lists, calendars, planning ahead (gasp! not that!)
Unfortunately, blogging falls off the list when we finally tumble home. We've both been working a lot and then there are the social funnesses to attend to. But we have no intention of leaving you. Or our laundry. (Which, incidentally, sadly, may be worse off than this blog.) So, with everything swirling around, this blog has been on a bit of summer hours.
This weekend was near-perfect, though. Friday night was the celebration of a very dear friend's impending BABIES. That's right, two'ems, two girls! In the merriment of finding out, she hosted a cookout and we had a good time, eating crispy-skinned brats with sweet relish and pasta salads...all the good things cookouts entail. To cap off the night, we sat around the bonfire, laughing and trading stories.
Saturday proved to be a planning day, errands, organization, cleaning. Then, my bathroom was converted into Salon Kat as I dyed Cindy's hair. It turned out really well. I can at least indulge my inner beauty geek sometimes!
Saturday night led to seeing The Hangover. I'm always leery when people tell me something is SOOOOO funny. . . but this lived up to its expectations. Lots of people laughing in the theater is always fun, too. Then we headed to fireworks for a local city celebration (tuned to, funny enough, God Bless America, Thriller, and Sweet Caroline) and carnie-watching. Finally, drinks at a nearby watering hole. Bomb pop shots and pizza... and two mischevious girls manning the juke box. There was lots of dancing by two of us, and lots more laughing.
Sunday dawned beautiful (at least...the morning was pretty when I finally opened my eyes around 10:30, ahem), so we headed out to the Farmers' Market, one of my favorite, favorite, favorite activities. I just absolutely love wandering around, smelling all the smells, taste-testing local farmers' wares, and coming home with far too much fresh produce and an armload of flowers. Since we were latecomers to the party, flowers were steeply on sale...I got tons of lemon-yellow dragonsnaps, blue salvia, purple gladiolus, and broad-faced sunflowers for like $10. William and Molly waited for me at the kitty-corner coffee shop while I bought veggies to my heart's delight. It was so beautiful outside that we sat and enjoyed the sun at the coffee shop a little longer. Molly loved ice cubes from our frosty Thai coffees, and we met lots of interesting dog-parents and artisans, and watched throngs of people ant-marching to the Cirque du Soleil show that afternoon. (Mom, we must have missed you!)
After our slow stroll home, we ran some more errands (soon some photos of a new furniture project we're embarking upon), then friends called with good news: they were only a couple of miles away, with their month-old baby in hand--and they wanted to stop and visit. Oh baby! We were excited they were feeling up to going out and about and hanging out with us and, truth be told, I wanted to hold the baby. :) They ended up staying for dinner, and I made BBQ ribs, baby bok choy with ginger and garlic, cornbread with honey butter, and caprese salad. YUM. Then we watched the Twins game on the teevee, and called it a night.
Belly laughing with friends, eating good food, good conversation and happiness with William, sitting in the sun, holding a new baby. It's one of the best weekends I've had in a while. Sometimes, summer is just so good.
Photos and more fun to come.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 5, 2007
feeling minnesota (is not always a bad thing)
these last few days have been classic minnesota-summer beautiful. i know some of my readership resides in cali, and maybe can't even imagine that minnesota is ever warm or beautiful, but i promise it is. in the thick of summer, if it's not monsooning or the evenings aren't infested with mosquitoes, it has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. the green trees, all in full leaf, the flowers blooming, the farmers' market on the weekends---
that reminds me. that's one of my favorite things to do with william on summer weekend mornings, though this summer we haven't gone as often. we get up in the morning, and walk to the farmers' market, pick out our produce for the week--and we always overbuy. cut flowers, potted flowers, herbs, veggies, maybe an egg roll or two. we have a really large hmong population (one of the largest in the nation), and they bring all their goods to the market--leafy greens, bright orange carrots, red radishes, and, if you're lucky, homemade egg rolls. mmmmm. farmers work so hard. i hope they realize when i come to their booth, i'm so excited to take home all the stuff they've worked to grow, and prayed the weather would hold out for them. thanks, farmers' market farmers. you make my happy week.
in any case, the problem with minnesota is that she's mercurial. weather can change in a literal instant. the weather does not care for your picnic or your plans; you cannot plan on a sunny june or a rainy june. same goes for the rest of the months. temps can swing nearly 100 degrees here in a matter of a couple of days. so we haul out the wool sweaters or the tank tops... not entirely surprised even if ti's the middle of january or the end of august. i think maybe we spend so much time rotating away from the sun, either preparing for our loss of summer or sleepwalking our way through winter, that when you get a super summer day.... you try to be outside for about fourteen hours and you see how beautiful this place really is.
i think i'm going on a bit because i missed the annual fourth of july family vacation at my parents cabin this year. it's one of the only weekends i usually get to go these days, since i've become a workin' girl. but this year it was too hard with the wednesday holiday and all the stuff going on in my life. it made me sad that i wasn't watching the pathetic fireworks from across the lake, that i didn't fish with my dad, that i didn't eat corn on the cob with my family, that my mom and i didn't giggle over a book we read. i hope to get up there, where it's so untouched, so raw, so naturally beautiful. every place is a scenic overlook. every drive is a safari of northwoods animals. when i was little, i had a hard time going to the cabin all summer and missing out on softball leagues or pool parties. but looking back now, it was all the education i needed for so many things i think are important, the most obvious being the environment. at my cabin, you can see the arms of the milky way. you can see venus and mars. sometimes you hear fish leaping out of the lake. i've seen otters, deer, foxes, geese, bears, snakes, in my front yard. i once saw a duck push her babies out of a duck house (high up in the boughs of a tree), to the ground. apparently, seriously, these ducks need a sharp blow to the head to function properly, so the moms nest in the trees, and then push them out when it's time to learn to swim. i've seen an eagle teach its baby to fly. come to think of it, i've seen an eagle flying with a snake in its talons (yessss! one less for me to worry about). i've seen spiders so large i didnt' know they existed in north america (also not good for my fears). wild ducks have eaten out of my hand. i have an almost-caught-it story.
so yes, i'm a beach girl. i can't wait to go to hawaii. when i was there, i wondered why we didn't live there. but i grew up on a different kind of beach. one where you might get sunburned on a cloudy, fifty-degree day. but where it smelled so fresh, clean, and wonderful, that if i think really hard, i can smell it. pine, grass, flowers, clean water, sand. that will always be the scent of my childhood.
that reminds me. that's one of my favorite things to do with william on summer weekend mornings, though this summer we haven't gone as often. we get up in the morning, and walk to the farmers' market, pick out our produce for the week--and we always overbuy. cut flowers, potted flowers, herbs, veggies, maybe an egg roll or two. we have a really large hmong population (one of the largest in the nation), and they bring all their goods to the market--leafy greens, bright orange carrots, red radishes, and, if you're lucky, homemade egg rolls. mmmmm. farmers work so hard. i hope they realize when i come to their booth, i'm so excited to take home all the stuff they've worked to grow, and prayed the weather would hold out for them. thanks, farmers' market farmers. you make my happy week.
in any case, the problem with minnesota is that she's mercurial. weather can change in a literal instant. the weather does not care for your picnic or your plans; you cannot plan on a sunny june or a rainy june. same goes for the rest of the months. temps can swing nearly 100 degrees here in a matter of a couple of days. so we haul out the wool sweaters or the tank tops... not entirely surprised even if ti's the middle of january or the end of august. i think maybe we spend so much time rotating away from the sun, either preparing for our loss of summer or sleepwalking our way through winter, that when you get a super summer day.... you try to be outside for about fourteen hours and you see how beautiful this place really is.
i think i'm going on a bit because i missed the annual fourth of july family vacation at my parents cabin this year. it's one of the only weekends i usually get to go these days, since i've become a workin' girl. but this year it was too hard with the wednesday holiday and all the stuff going on in my life. it made me sad that i wasn't watching the pathetic fireworks from across the lake, that i didn't fish with my dad, that i didn't eat corn on the cob with my family, that my mom and i didn't giggle over a book we read. i hope to get up there, where it's so untouched, so raw, so naturally beautiful. every place is a scenic overlook. every drive is a safari of northwoods animals. when i was little, i had a hard time going to the cabin all summer and missing out on softball leagues or pool parties. but looking back now, it was all the education i needed for so many things i think are important, the most obvious being the environment. at my cabin, you can see the arms of the milky way. you can see venus and mars. sometimes you hear fish leaping out of the lake. i've seen otters, deer, foxes, geese, bears, snakes, in my front yard. i once saw a duck push her babies out of a duck house (high up in the boughs of a tree), to the ground. apparently, seriously, these ducks need a sharp blow to the head to function properly, so the moms nest in the trees, and then push them out when it's time to learn to swim. i've seen an eagle teach its baby to fly. come to think of it, i've seen an eagle flying with a snake in its talons (yessss! one less for me to worry about). i've seen spiders so large i didnt' know they existed in north america (also not good for my fears). wild ducks have eaten out of my hand. i have an almost-caught-it story.
so yes, i'm a beach girl. i can't wait to go to hawaii. when i was there, i wondered why we didn't live there. but i grew up on a different kind of beach. one where you might get sunburned on a cloudy, fifty-degree day. but where it smelled so fresh, clean, and wonderful, that if i think really hard, i can smell it. pine, grass, flowers, clean water, sand. that will always be the scent of my childhood.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
i'm still standing
hi kids.
to those of you reading this blog, whomever you may be:
i know i haven't been around much lately, i know i've seemed really busy.
the truth is: none of it is that interesting, and certainly not more important than you.
huge changes are afoot at the job.
having a dog. huge responsibility, esp. when she refuses to behave when you leave her alone.
i haven't sleep decently since returning from the cabin (where i slept like the dead).
basically, without excuses, i am overwhelmed and frequently exhausted. (and, that leads to upsetness too).
so.... remember, i love you!!! and i'm working on getting it all straightened out.
i want a wonderful summer.
a few good things:
watching molly run around like her tail was on fire at the cabin. not because her tail was literally on fire, but because she was enjoying the pure freedom of no leash roaming. watching her jump off the dock and swimming to chase ducks away.
seeing william going fishing with my dad and brother.
reading lots of books (just finished the world according to garp, almost done with plainsong, both very very good, very very different).
recommending good books to people.
getting a blog written about me!
winning a tablecloth from another blog. (www.hostessblog.com)
my parents taking molly every day while we work
yummy veggies and fruits from kowalskis
smelling lake smell
hot stone massage
a year from getting married!
that's it for now. thanks kids. love ya.
to those of you reading this blog, whomever you may be:
i know i haven't been around much lately, i know i've seemed really busy.
the truth is: none of it is that interesting, and certainly not more important than you.
huge changes are afoot at the job.
having a dog. huge responsibility, esp. when she refuses to behave when you leave her alone.
i haven't sleep decently since returning from the cabin (where i slept like the dead).
basically, without excuses, i am overwhelmed and frequently exhausted. (and, that leads to upsetness too).
so.... remember, i love you!!! and i'm working on getting it all straightened out.
i want a wonderful summer.
a few good things:
watching molly run around like her tail was on fire at the cabin. not because her tail was literally on fire, but because she was enjoying the pure freedom of no leash roaming. watching her jump off the dock and swimming to chase ducks away.
seeing william going fishing with my dad and brother.
reading lots of books (just finished the world according to garp, almost done with plainsong, both very very good, very very different).
recommending good books to people.
getting a blog written about me!
winning a tablecloth from another blog. (www.hostessblog.com)
my parents taking molly every day while we work
yummy veggies and fruits from kowalskis
smelling lake smell
hot stone massage
a year from getting married!
that's it for now. thanks kids. love ya.
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