Goodbye, heart

Windows cranked open. B is gone again. This space feels good. This soft throw I slept under feels good.

Last night was almost too much fun. Just a group of women in a semi circle, laughing over and over again.

I am going to stomp my foot to the fiddle and the guitar this evening. Wild horses couldn't make me stay away.


I like how it makes me
feel.
How I feel it in
the back of my
throat,
throbbing at my temple,
in the webbing of tiny vein
at my wrists.

How do I print?

Um, can someone help me with Office 2007?

Seriously.

Hello?

Tucker calls me this morning to tell me "Guess where Trevor is? The emergency room because his foot is broken, maybe, because he jumped off the deck last night playing ditch at the birthday party. But, I am going to Belfield to watch the parade, so I just wanted to tell you that. Mom gave me twenty bucks, you know how I run through money. Bye!"

And then yesterday, I couldn't find my car in the Hy-Vee parking lot because of my damn SD plates. I walked by my stupid car about fifty gazillion times.

And then a few days ago, I was cleaning the house and I thought I was actually Febreze-ing all the furniture and carpets, but it turns out I was really Wrinkle Release-ing them.

Dear Drivers of Vtown:

Here's a thought:

Learn how to share the _____ road with someone on a _____ bike!

Jesus Christ.

I am on a bike. My bike weighs probably 20 pounds. You are in a vehicle.

There's that old saying, "anything with more lugnuts will win." Guess
the ____ what? I don't even have lugnuts! (I don't think.) So, you win!

Good for you, you _____ in a ____ two-ton SUV. You don't have to speed by me, or honk at me, or anything. I know you are in a hurry to get to the McDonald's drive-thru. Clearly you are ____ superior.

I fear for my life nearly every time I venture out on to the road;
give me a ____ break, huh?

Please do not speed by me only to turn at the next stop.
Please look out your side windows before pulling out of your driveway.
Please do not hang out behind me driving 10 miles an hour because you think it's polite--it's ____ creepy.
Please do not watch me slam my brakes on at a four-way, and then wave me through. I will take my turn.
Don't you ____ wave me through. I swear to God, I am this ____ close to throwing down, _____.

If you have to wait 3 seconds until it's safe (for all involved) to pass me, then please wait.

I don't like driving on the sidewalks. I realize bikes don't belong on the sidewalks.

But, for ____ sake, you need to start seeing past your ____ steering wheel.

Sincerely,

Girl on Bike Who Hates You

Camera Happy

Fresh veggies from our garden, baked goods, and pianos.


Mmm ... tomatoes and peppers:




Mmm ... colorful:




Mmm ... Bridge made banana muffins:




Mmm ... piano in the living room:

Oy.

Thank you all for your thoughts on candles and TP.

I guess I should have expressed that those questions had right answers:

1. I do not do vanilla/sugar cookie/warm apple pie/glazed donut/iced mocha coffee cake/peach cobbler/raspberry sorbet/cinnamon/pumpkin pie/butterscotch candy/ birthday cake/ scented candles. I like grasses, sandalwoods, green teas. Please change your tastes to line up more with mine, hmmkay?

2. Toilet paper always goes over the top. And I will change it at your house if given the chance. I am that tactless.

I have decided to be more like my socks. They do not eff around:




If you care (again) to participate, how much do you love green olives?

(Word to the frat boys back in town: No one pops their collars anymore. Leave your collars be. Now.)

Audience Participation

I need to know your thoughts on:

1. Candles that smell like baked goods (or any ingredient you would use while baking).

2. Toilet paper. Do you prefer the roll's tissue squares to hang over or under? Or don't you care?

Please let me know.

Thank you for you participation!

One Night in Vermillion,

And the world's your oyster.

(Baby.)

The weekend's about done and my sister and bff are on the road, back to North Dakota and Iowa, respectively. We took in all Vermillion has to offer:

Our driveway
The Doo-Wop
the CSG
Pro's
Carey's
The Pub
The Clay County Fair
The Demolition Derby ("These colors don't run! Don't like America? Get the hell out!")
Poker Alice (where I chatted with M. who told me that Poker Alice at Carey's the previous evening was like "being in a Salvador Dali painting.")
101 omelets at the Cherry Street Grille.

I'm glad most of you got to meet Randy and Jen, as they are two of my most favorite people. We swapped stories about everything from elementary school to our farm dogs. We also finally agreed on the correct lyrics to Liz Phair's "Whip-Smart." This has been an issue since 1998. It's "when they do the double-dutch, that's them dancing," in case you and your friends are also debating this. It wouldn't surprise me.

Did she wake you up to tell you that it was only a change of plan?

I rambled around town on foot today, listening to music, walking down to the river, and up through campus. I had Neil Young playing and I think maybe that Vermillion is the town he sings about in "Harvest."

I guess it's a young girl's town.

I walked past the fountain in the front of the music museum and two little girls were going for a swim.

Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup with the promise of a man ...

You Can Stand Under My Umbrella

I took my time getting back to Vermillion, stopping off in Fargo for DQ blizzards, in Sioux Falls for 8 am water aerobics at the Y where Erin and I were the youngest people by 40 years, then finally home with my Alaskan girl in tow.

I led her through the house, her eyes closed, to the bedroom, where she spun in circles and said, "I love it, I love it."

I am thankful for:

This rain. This right, right August rain.

Sergeant Ryan "Rafty" Raftevold, of the Minnesota National Guard, is home safe from Iraq.

Friends in Minneapolis who have all checked in.

New teenybopper songs from Avril and My Chemical Romance.

I am mad at:

The University Center bookstore.

Jewel.

The Indigo Girls for being so damn good. So, so, so good.

Unstrained Coffee Shop tea. For the love of God.

The moments you looked at me and I stayed quiet.

No, the circle won't be broken:

My sister and one of our BFFs Jen are coming to my place this weekend. We are going to have the most fun. Some plans include bringing sexy back, I suppose.

On Friday evening, we are going to sit around a fire, or at least some candles set up in the fire pit. As always, you are welcome.

Better Homes and Gardens

The newest, nicest restaurant in town is R Pizza.

Don't believe me? Go check it out.

My whirlwind week of home projects is coming to an end. I finished painting the kitchen, put up new drapes in the living room, cleaned like my great aunt Bernie (if you knew her, you would be super impressed), converted the downstairs spare room into a fun, colorful, usable guestroom, weeded and trimmed the shrubs lining the driveway, "saved" the tomato garden, cleaned out the storage room, and took bunches of recycling to the center.

Bring on the school year, fools, I am totes ready.

Yes! Sir!

And ... I painted and rearranged the bedroom. It is classy. And sexy. Can't wait for B to come back so I can show her just how classy and sexy it is.

Tonight, I am going to see the Simpson's Movie with L. (and L.--you better come!). Thanks to JCF, K., L&L, M., S&S, and K. for all the wonderful company this week!

And then ...

I'm off to NoDak for the weekend to see more of my rowdy family. Here's hoping the fireworks will be up to OSHA standards!