two dolla

the title is always the worst part

I can’t even explain to you how many times I’ve sat down in front of my computer, opened up WordPress and then just stared at it because I don’t know how to title my post. It’s like I’m trying to title a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, except harder because I’ve already done that (in my head) at least five dozen times.

Things have been busy around this neck of the urban woods. We have 27 days until we go to Vegas and 33 days until we can move into our new house. We’ve already made one trip to Goodwill and have plans for at least one more before we move, because as much as I love my stuff I’ve had for years and have never taken out of a box, I like not having to carry as much boxes even better.

I found a box of various greeting cards that possibly date back until the 1980s. Thanks to a suggestion from Dez (courtesy of Mrs. Dez), I’m totally scanning them and putting them into a hard cover book, so I can just throw the box away. I think it comes from growing up with two grandmas that had the most fantastic photo albums ever, but I just love being able to go back and look at those kinds of things. And, yes, that’s including the note from my fourth grade teacher, who thanked me for taking care of our classroom guinea pig (Chipper) over Christmas break. I also passed several years of swimming lessons with flying colors, in the event that you’re curious. And my letters to Santa? Very well thought out for a six year old.

And the Beanie Babies. Damn those things. I don’t even care about them, but I spent way too much time on Ebay trying to find certain ones to just throw them out… possibly over 15 years ago. Sigh. Who wants some Beanie Babies? Most have the tags!

I think I said this when we moved into this house, but I really mean it moving into this next one. I seriously don’t want to move again for at least two years. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

there’s some catch up happening here

I have approximately 4.5 billion things that I need to write about. I keep starting blog posts in my head (hello, nerd!) and then never putting them into WordPress. If I could get a trained monkey to take care of that for me, I’d be forever appreciative.

Last weekend was one of the most fantastic weddings of all time. I’m totally always a bridesmaid, by the way. Twice that’s been my role in the whopping five weddings that I’ve actually been to that I can remember. In other weddings, I’ve been a candle lighter and a guestbook attendant. The fifth wedding was a Catholic wedding and I’ve blocked most of that out. (More on this latest wedding later.)

I had three days of fever over a week ago, started waking up with sore throats, tons of muscle fatigue, etc. Went to the doctor, stole some medical supplies while waiting, and then found out it’s nothing. THANKS, DOC. Since then, I’ve managed to lose my voice. If you know me in person, you’ll know how much of a travesty this is. It’s slowly working it’s way back and I’m slowly no longer sounding like a prepubescent boy.

Yesterday, the General and I went to the Lynx playoff game. I won tickets via Twitter from a VP of the Timberwolves. They were in a suite, which was way, way awesome. And I think being that far away from the rest of the fans probably prevented me from screaming my fool head off and losing my voice all together. The Lynx won and they’re headed to the Western Conference Finals, starting tomorrow, and don’t worry. We’ll be there. I even ponied up the cash for these tickets. (And more about this to come as well.)

The Kid’s been a rock start in high school so far. He’s got some new friends and the ones I’ve met have been super awesome. It’s weird to think he’s hanging out with people that are old enough to buy cigarettes and porn now.

The whole damn family is heading toSedalia,MO/Belleville,ILin a couple of weeks to catch a high school football game and a city-wide chili cook-off. As always, it’s sure to be action packed and loads of fun.

More blogging. It’s coming. I promise.

well, i’m so, SO ready.

I’m totally piggybacking off of Jenni’s most recent post, but I can’t help it. I FEEL THE SAME WAY.

Camping is this weekend. I am thrilled. Beyond thrilled.

I don’t know if it’s the settin’ by the fire or the lookin’, or maybe it’s the five billion different kinds of cards we’ll play, or the 982 bad decisions that will be made, but I’m so glad the 2011 Camping Season Opener is this weekend. At some point over the weekend, we’ll be joined by many of our most awesome friends in one of my top three favorite places in Wisconsin. Much meat will be consumed.

It will be a good weekend. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for me or for The General.

a typical camping morning

it’s finally that time of the year

It’s the time where we can leave the house windows open all night long, where I have to remind The General that we wait at least until after Memorial Day before even considering turning on the air, and the time where I try to figure out a way to turn cargo shorts into a business professional outfit.

It’s also the time where the 10-day forecast is very, very important. You see, one week from now? I’ll be throwing the aforementioned cargo shorts into a bag, along with flip flops, bug spray, and my whittling knife, in preparation for our annual Camping Season Opener. It’s possibly turning into one of my most favorite holidays of all time.

We have a spreadsheet; this year, it’s called “Memorial Day 2011 – Socialist Camping Cooperative” and has proven to be very helpful in the past when arranging necessities (like food, beer, bocce, radio with mp3 capabilities…) for the ~15 campers we have joining in every year.

This year, at least according to weather.com, seems to be shaping up juuust fine.

first Friday night meats of 2011

Somehow, for the past several years, I’ve missed out on the phenomenon that is Friday Night Meats. No more. We may have needed blankets and coats once the sun went down, but I will gladly celebrate the end of my work week with grillin’ dinner, having a couple drinks, and hanging out every week.

First night in our new home

My computer still hasn’t made its way to being on top of my desk just yet and I have a quarter of a battery left, so this will be brief.

The move went surprisingly well. We hit one snag which resulted in a bannister being removed. It’s back in place now and our queen size box spring is where it should be.

It’s only 10:00 but we are where we should be too after the last couple of days. In bed.

bieber and his bouncing bangs

After touring what will be The Kid’s school’s new location next year, The General and I dropped him off at home (with a healthy dinner of McDonald’s) and headed out for dinner. We ended up meeting up with Matt and Jenni and helped the finish up with Trivia. It’s good we showed up when we did, because they had to identify 8 pictures of people that had Bieber-esque hair. Who has two thumbs and knew everyone of them? That’d be me. The four of us ended up winning first place and reeled in a whopping $25 grand prize.

Tomorrow’s full of The Kid’s end of the school year picnic and celebrating his birthday with a friend of his. Per his request, he wants to go to Chipotle and then to see Iron Man 2. That’s the kinda birthday party I can stand behind. Saturday is full of 3 Day meetings and Sunday is Hugo’s first adoption day and a couple of hours I have to put into work.

Sometimes, I seriously don’t know where the time goes. At all.

my saturday night

I would normally complain about spending the majority of my Saturday at a wedding. Last night, I was incredibly excited to go.

There was also an open bar and really great cupcakes, too.

only a month behind

Sometime in mid-July, the homies and I went camping. The General stayed at home leaving me to my own devices. And my own tent, which I set up all by myself for the first time ever, thank you very much. It didn’t leak and there weren’t any wild animals inside it when I went to bed each night, so I’d say it was a success.

Here are the pictures from said event. I really wish I would have kept a journal – or more specifically a poop journal – so I could write about the time in more detail. Jenni has awesome pictures, too. Here are some my personal favorite from the trip:

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a few things

1. Yesterday, I woke up and went to the store to get some donuts and coffee before The General woke up. While I was determining which delicious pastry from Super America I wanted, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a very scantily clad lady, standing about 6 feet tall. She had on gold strappy high heels and a purple jumper/dress that possibly exposed her uterus. And lots of gold chains. I’m thinking hooker, but I try not to judge. She apparently needed a morning refreshment of a slushy – a 1/3 cherry and 2/3 grape slushy as a matter of fact. I love the things that I can see in our gas station that early in the morning without feeling at all threatened. Things like that really make me love this neighborhood.
2. We went to Jenni’s birthday party last night. Not more than two hours after I got there, I walked downstairs to find Pete laying on the basement floor with his shorts pulled down enough to expose his entire ass and Klein standing directly above him dripping candle wax from a tealight candle onto a patch of hair that was on his back. The wax that had already been dripped onto him was covered with note paper that they give away at Holiday Inn. I have pictures and video, but then again, they do show a grown man’s bare ass and the grown man’s best friend attempting to wax his back hair.
3. I finally got a new cable to re-attach my CD Rom drive yesterday. I haven’t been able to use it for months. I’m not going to lie — the only reason I got it is so I could buy Sims 3, which means if you think my posting is slim-to-none now, just you wait. I love me some Sims.