Lifestyles of the Young and Renting

I don’t have much direction for this post, I just felt I should say hello to all of our friends and family. I will let Matt post about the race, but let me just say that I am incredibly proud of him and was so glad to have been able to be there. I would also like to say that his father and I deserve small medals of our own: we figured we completed a quarter-marathon with all the walking back and forth that we did. At one point during our trek to meet Matt at the finish line, we had to rest at a park bench. Within minutes, we stopped talking and fell into a 30-minute nap in the heart of Honolulu.

Now I am back, and have one week here before heading to Minnesota. During this week, I will have my last sessions with three of my clients, two of whom I have known for over two years and will miss deeply, and my last full week with my friend Michael, who has become like family to me. When I get on the plane Tuesday morning, I will not only have to have all of my Christmas shopping done, but I will also have to be prepared for my first internship interview on that Thursday. 

This is just an odd time…a slow-motion kaleidoscope where things aren’t moving too fast, but there is a lot of change - and who knows what the next frame is going to look like (anyone?). The only reason I am not anxious is that I am surrounded by amazing friends, deeply supportive family, and my most incredible husband. You can do anything if people go with you.

I send my love to you all.

-l 

Yesterday, I was spending time with some of my favorite people under the age of 10 (Morgan and Molly, you are of course, my favorites), and I was reminded why children are a fabulous part of this world: my friend Michael, with his limited vocabulary, spent 20 minutes directing his 6mo old yellow lab to get into her kennel. As he is still somewhat skeptical of this animal, he would follow the dog around the house, staying about 5 feet away. With one little finger pointed at the kennel, he would demand, "This way! THIS WAY!!!!" (only recently have these become two distinct words - it used to be "thissay")

When the dog refused to obey, but skirted away from him, staying close to the wall and the couch, Michael finally went for the tail and tried to get her in backwards, still calling, "This way!"

I had finally convinced him to engage the dog in a little game with a slimy ball, when his mother walked up to whisper something in my ear. She and her older daughter had been in the kitchen, working on homework, when Kate needed to sharpen her pencil. She went to the sharpener, whizzed her pencil to a fine point, and said proudly, "Ah, pencil, I love you. Nice and sharp. Sharp as a wheel."

 So there I am, on the floor with a dog I think may have fleas (or at the very least, leaves mysterious bumps on my skin), wearing a shirt with someone else’s boogers on it, in an absolute moment of joy.

 

-l 

Acording to the website www.globalrichlist.com, I’m the 55,146,441st richest person in the world.

However, even though there are more than 55 million people richer than I, I’m still in the top .91% of the whole world. 

From the website:

"Three billion people live on less than $2 per day while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 per day. Seventy percent of those living on less than $1 per day are women."

Food for though.

-m 

This next thought is wholly unrelated to what I will write after it, but I thought I would tell everyone that I have decided that after graduation, I will not give myself a busy life. I am going to engage in activities that require minimal deadlines and am going to hopefully reduce all opportunities for double-booking. I am going to have a schedule that allows me to go to the gym at times other than 5am, and one that makes me available to have lunch with my husband. I will not choose a job in which I commute oppressive distances.

That being said, I will now tell you about our trip to "The City."

On Saturday morning, Matt ran his first half-marathon in Santa Barbara! Although he was in considerable pain in mile four, he made it all the way through.

To congratulate his sweaty self, I surprised him with an early birthday present: two tickets to see the Vikings play the 49ers in San Francisco the next day. After having lunch with friends, we hopped in the car and continued up the coast. I had planned this for months…even charged things on a credit card we hardly use and pulled the statement out of the mail before he even saw it (as an aside, I have now found a fool-proof way to fund my shopping addiction, should I choose to develop one). His parents and sister were in on it, and sent cards ahead of time. I was a master of secrecy and planning.

So, off we go, past the cows, past the grapes, past the lettuce farms, and into the Bay Area. We stayed at a very charming hotel that was downtown…one of many in a row of tall, narrow historical buildings restored for urban life. We had to open the door to the elevator ourselves, pushing back the spring loaded gate long enough to squeeze both of us into the tiny box. Definitely a two-person elevator. Our room wasn’t much bigger, but it was very clean and well-decorated, and right where we wanted to be.

The game started at 1pm, so I didn’t expect we would get to see much of the city, but we didn’t do too badly for ourselves: 

The Trolleys were about four blocks from our hotel…we had enough time to see them, but unfortunately, not ride on them…

 

 

Ah, Ghiradelli Square….chocolate was eaten here…

 

 

 

 

 

Good seats, good weather, happy birthday! 

Do you think people drive too fast on your street? The City of Pasadena has a new plan. Prove it to them. They’ll give you the radar gun and training. Lazy or genius?

"Residents may submit a request to check out the radar gun to collect traffic speeds and identify the severity as well as the frequency of speeding problems."

More info.

-m 

My football learning curve has been somewhat long and protracted. My knowledge of the game has developed to the point that now, after five years of marriage, I can watch several games a weekend and comprehend the general sentiment of what is going on. Heck, I even cry at the end of nail-biters. This is a big change from where I began, which was often hoping that a natural disaster would occur, wiping out the electricity.

 However, this afternoon, while watching the Longhorns play Oklahoma, I realized that not only is football a bastion of American culture and comraderie, it is also a bellwether for controversial and progressive scientific advancements. As the camera panned the crowd and settled on the Texas cheerleaders, I realized with amazement that the University of Texas has exquisitely perfected human cloning: 15 young women, the same height, same color, same teeth, same eyes, same voice, performing in synchronized perfection. This is wise on Texas’ part; to subtly introduce their advancements to our culture, especially in the form of endearing cheerleaders. You will make us love your product before we shut you down for ethical violations. Who wants to begrudge the world squadrons of genetically-engineered perky perfection?

However, it does make me wonder…what other subversive activities are occuring under the auspices of college football?

-l