"I've always wanted to be a statistic."

This was said by Matt in reaction to the news that one of his fellow cyclists was recently diagnosed, treated, and cured of H1N1 in a matter of 72 hours.

Matt's birthday was in August, so I had the first time ever pleasure of visiting the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois. I won't bore you with too many details, but we did see the famous butter cow, which featured a young Abe Lincoln in thought, and everything was fried- twinkies, snickers, hot fudge sundaes, butter, and soda (somehow). Upon our arrival, I was whisked through all of the midwest wonders by Matt in a B-line to a tiny stand that made ribeye sandwiches served in gingham, paper trays. We were able to take our time looking at everything after that. We took in a prize pony show, saw some sheep being shorn, ate brown, crispy food, and enjoyed a perfect birthday.

Recent Guilty Pleasure: 17 Again

It's great.

Pleasantly Surprised: Inglorious Basterds

Wasn't too Tarantino in the bad way but plenty of Tarantino in the good way. It was quite graphic though. He may have finally grown up a bit.

Where Have I Been That I Haven't Heard This Record Yet: Wilco the Album

I bought it two days ago finally, and it put my mind at ease while I was working on Matt's soon to be new old house. Can't help but to let my mind wander back to the days of fall and friends and love in Chicago. Pictures of Matt's house soon to come.

Take care, friends and strangers. Miss you all.

Always a Bridesmaid...

To be fair, I can't truly claim the "always a bridesmaid" thing considering this was the first wedding in which I was a bridesmaid. I was in my friend Michele's (Shirley's) wedding on July 18th which featuring herself and her groom Jon. As you may be able to tell, my dress was every shade of pink that you could cram onto a dress. I was also given an updo despite my explicit instructions. Either way, we had a blast, and it was fun to be in a wedding. Above are some pictures of me with some work friends who were also invited. Michele and I really haven't been friends for very long compared to most wedding worthy friendships; we were roommates for about six months and became good friends during the last year we worked together. I was fortunate to be with her when she met Jon for the first time, so I did feel like I had something on her cousin from birth and her friend since elementary school.

By the end of the night, I had decided that we three bridesmaids should become an 80's style girl group called Pink Fusion. We have yet to have our first practice.
The blonde Ashley bridesmaid was about six months pregnant, and the brunette Ashley bridesmaid was about eight feet tall. Michele the bride is very funny, beautiful, tan, and punctual. Matt Dawson was dependable, easy-going, and dashing in his pink tie if I do say so myself.

Though we were in a wedding party, the ceremony place/reception hall refused to let us bring in our limo champagne due to liquor licensing restrictions, but they did supply us with some classy styrofoam cups for the bubbly.

Dancing at weddings is on my Top Favorite Things To Do list which I haven't actually started but have a general idea of what I would include. It's up there with swirling red wine in a giant glass and using my label maker.

I cannot imagine what we're dancing to. It appears as though I'm holding up two fingers as Matt is uttering the word "two."

I've also started playing Wii sport. I recently had to switch to being a southpaw because I'm suffering from Wii elbow as far as I can tell in my right arm.

Until next time...

Tag Sale This!

My Summer rituals are in full force. The Farmers' Market and rummage sales on Saturday mornings with my mom, sister, and Beth (for the moment), Jazz Fest on Wednesday nights followed by beach volleyball, trivia on Tuesday nights,and walks with Matt and Pixel have kept me occupied during the few hours I have free from work. We've already been to three Cardinal's games this year.

Last week I got a green mirror with doors and finials for $10, a set of three, hand-made, yellow ceramic birds for $.50, and a Jade plant for a quarter. It was a good week. Although my closet shelves recently collapsed due to the overload of clothing (I have a small obsession). Everything that was hanging is now resting on the floor, and I fear that only the installation of a steel bar will resurrect them from the depths of the closet. Goodwill here I come.

If you go to http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=56475 you can check out some of the new images for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland which is due out next summer. I'm quite excited, even though I'm sometimes disappointed with Burton films though never disappointed with his artistry.

Transformers 2: Good

Very long. Too much action. Just enough of Megan Fox running in slow motion to make you role your eyes just a little. And an excessive amount of references to balls. Small amount of racial stereotyping. Overall, it's your typical Michael Bay movie . I still very much enjoyed it.

Heading to Springfield for the weekend with some pals for a small engagement party. Keep cool, my Babies. Someone just died in Edwardsville from hypothermia, and on the same news report they brought up Chicago and how excessive heat killed over 500 people about 14 years ago. I hear those tiny misting fans are very effective.

New Blog Post: Star Date 6-7-2009

I have finally decided to start blogging once again as part of my Summer Rejuvenation Project (also the name of my band). I've been organizing and minimizing the physical clutter in my life thus reducing my emotional clutter. I also like plants and recently purchased a new stand for my basil and thyme. Matt and I have increased our walking of the dog and are also playing sand volleyball once a week which I love. I can also put my hair up in pigtails, so that too is exciting.

April brought the passing of my Grandpa Mac which put a large stop to many things, but we as a family are adjusting surprisingly well thanks to his strong Irish blood. We also drank a surprising amount with which I will also credit my heritage. I miss him.

On a more futuristic note, I have been avidly watching the first season of Star Trek Original Series.

10 things I like about it:

1. When the crew is jostled on the ship

2. When Spock says "Cens-OR" or "Detect-OR"

3. How Kirk makes a pass at every woman in the galaxy, even young girls as the episode I watched last night proved.

4. How Kirk really just wants to make tender love to the Starship Enterprise

5. In every episode Jim Kirk manages to tear his shirt open in some way

6. The little chirp their communicators make

7. How unacceptably short the female crew's uniforms are

8. Every planet they visit has a desolate, rocky terrain

9. Dr. McCoy's racist remarks toward Spock about his Vulcany ways and his green blood

10. The disposable nature of being a red uniformed security guard

Randomonium:

Yesterday I went to rummage sales with my mother. Sitting between a George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine and a candle holder was a sweet potato donning a green 10 cent sticker.

Davis out.

Mexico Nuevo: Picture Blogo

Greetings, all. Matt and I have returned from our New Mexican trip nearly in one piece, or since I am speaking of two separate entities, I will say two pieces. We began our trip in the early morn, barely squeezing everything in my car including Matt's bike and two six packs of St. Louis brewed Schlafly Hefeweizen per Beth's request. Many do not know that once you pass the fifty or so billboards in Missouri trying to entice you to visit Meremac Caverns where Jesse James hid out, there are a series of porn shop and gun billboards juxtaposed with Jesus billboards. Then you hit Oklahoma. Make a fist with your right hand and hold it in front of your face. Now point your right index finger to the left....That's Oklahoma. It should look something like this:

But in actuality I would be selling Oklahoma short if I didn't include a mind-blowing landscape picture.

Matt and I stopped in OK City and went by the memorial which was very impressive and very well thought out and executed. It was beautiful and haunting all in one. Still very sad.

This is a picture of the "Survivor Tree" which caught on fire that day and was surrounded by burning cars and still lived.

The following picture is of Matt freaking out when my car finally broke down in Shamrock, Texas. You may not have heard of such a place because it is a town of 2,700 people.

By the grace of God, right when my transmission went out, we were at the Shamrock exit and literally coasted the length of the exit where my car finally came to a rest in the parking lot of the Irish Inn. I highly recommend it for your next destination vacation. It was thankfully very clean and cozy, and the woman at the counter gave us a ten percent discount given our predicament at the time. We got to our room; Matt drank some of the beer; I drank vodka.


In the morning, we tried to eat breakfast and then walked ourselves next door to an automotive repair place (also very lucky). The kind gentlemen there informed us that they could not do transmission work, but that he could help get us lined up for a tow to Amarillo which he did. The rest of our good fortune in the midst of our disaster was because of Bob Edwards of Edwards Towing.




He towed us to Amarillo and talked of politics, religion, wild fires, and towing disasters. All subjects were light-hearted and welcomed.




He told great little jokes as we drove by "the largest cross in the Western hemisphere." Bob already had one of his own.




I sold my car to Bob in Amarillo, Texas for $150 or "a hundr'd and a half," as Bob put it before dropping us at the Budget Rental Car. A Chevy Cobalt had to serve as our noble steed for the rest of the trip. We still made it to New Mexico by 8:15pm.






After some New Mexico micro brews and a well-needed sleep. I woke the next day and went to watch Beth instruct her Drawing 1 students.





She then took us to the historic area of Mesilla. The weather was incredible. This is a picture of us in front of an old monastery.





The next day Matt and I headed to Dripping Springs to do some major mountain hiking. I can't describe how perfect this day was, but this picture does pretty well.

Broccoli Tree.

This is Matt in front of Dripping Springs. "Can't see the spring," you say?

We realized rather quickly that the name Dripping Springs was more literal than we had anticipated. It was dripping out of a pipe no stronger than a leaky faucet. We laughed 'til we cried. Here's a zoomed in picture. I've circled the pipe. There was a little bit of foliage beneath it and then some flies.

We couldn't help ourselves.


Flying Saucer Cloud

Later that day, our friend from Edwardsville, Chris, who has been living in Tuscon, drove up to Beth's as well and stayed for a few days too. Friday, we all headed to White Sands National Monument.

Looks like snow. Is actually sand.

We rented a sled and waxed the bottom and shot down the dunes. It was like being on the moon. The sand is actually gypsum, doesn't absorb heat, and is as fine as table salt.


Beth!

I had the best Mexican food and margaritas I've ever had in my life. The weather was perfect. We played some pool and hit up a couple pubs. We also fit in a heated game of Scrabble and a few hours of The Office Season Two. Everything went perfectly once we got to Las Cruces other than when Beth's neighbor backed into the rental car. We headed back early Friday night to get a few hours of driving out of the way in order to get the car back by Saturday night. Funny enough, we went from driving through desert to driving through a snow storm all in one day; there were six inches of snow in Springfield, MO.

The Children Lose Their Minds in Such Uncertain Times

I would like to submit a formal apology for my lack of blogging. Now that all that is out of the way, this blog is to do a super quick catch up before Matt and I head to New Mexico on Monday for our super awesome road journey to Beth in Las Crusas. First and foremost, I want to thank all that sent out birthday wishes. I personally am bad at remembering birthdays even though there are many handy tools out there to remind me such as Myspace, Facebook, and other people. I kicked it off the day before by going on a snowy hike with Matt in the woods followed by sushi. We had waited for a good snowfall all winter, and it luckily came right before my birthday.


The next night was spent with mostly family and a few friends at Fast Eddie's which is a local bar in Alton, IL. They claim to have the coldest beer. I wouldn't know because I drank lady drinks.

The following day I was laid up with a severe cold which put a quick end to my birthday festivities, but I'm getting old and shouldn't be celebrating as much anyway for chrissake. I was actually without voice for about five days. Old people call it laryngitis.

A few weeks prior, I hosted a very important slumber party with guests of honor Layla and Ella. We ate popcorn and pizza and watched movies together and played dress up. I emptied one of my big closets and filled is with costumes which wowed the crowed. They liked going through the tiny door and turning the light bulb on and off by the chain. They woke me promptly at 7:00 a.m. the next morning by jumping on my bed and demanding Fruity Cheerios which I had purchased for the occasion. I was happy to oblige.



The Mardi Gras celebrations have already begun in St. Louis and the big parade and wandering of the streets is on Saturday. I have no visitors from the North this year, but I shall have fun for us all. I very very much miss Chicago right now, and am almost sick that I haven't been up there in so long. Has anybody heard about summer concerts in the park? I've become quite the workaholic so I've been told as of late by family, boyfriend, and friends alike. It's time to get away. Hopefully New Mexico will remedy some of my blues. I also hope to do some productive writing to share with you again. What is happening to me?

So, I promise to keep in touch more regularly. Lent is coming up, and as a semi-good Catholic girl, I can't think of a better reason (excuse) to get my life back in order. Miss you. And who is making comments and then erasing them? Shame on you, person. Shame on you!

I have a drawing pad on my phone...

The holidays seem like a blur now. Christmas was great. I think my favorite gifts were my rain boots from Matt and Friends Scene It from my pop. We played Cranium which, if you've never played, is one of the most awesome board games ever, and nothing is better than when all of the teams have to hum at the same time while you try to guess the song. I worked on New Year's Eve but was off in plenty of time to ring in the New Year with Matt and some pals at the local wine bar. Beth came into town from New Mexico which was the greatest gift of all. I miss having her around and being able to talk about anything which we did a lot of but not nearly enough. Matt and I are headed her way at the end of February. Beth bought me Sylvia Plath's Unabridged Journals from a second-hand book store, and it's pretty awesome. Not nearly as melancholy as one would guess. I've been carrying the fat book with me in my over-sized bag that I got from my sister. Here's a picture of me and Beth at trivia during her last night in town looking a bit confused about our prompt to smile:

My grandma was thrilled with the whiskey and was quoted as saying, " I just can't get over it!" in her excited, tiny grandma voice. The following Sunday, she had two glasses picked out for us, sitting on the counter. I originally had gotten up to get some nog, but she quickly intercepted and had me pour each of us a shot to sip on at about 11 a.m. and I wouldn't have had it any other way.




Seems as though all went well up North for the holidays. Wish I could be there right now. Hopefully I'll make it soon. We have yet to get any good snow, and I hear that you guys are surrounded by it, or at least you were. All we're getting is ice everywhere and it's a pain.

Here's a few more randoms from Christmas beginning with Dad...

My Aunt Peggy brought everyone Santa hats. My kid sister proudly sported hers as well as Matt.

Above is my cousin Layla. I bought her and her sister finger puppets, miniature Slinky's, hair glitter, & tiny pens, but instead of drawing pictures, she found the tiniest spot and proceeded to write her thesis which consisted of line after line of letters, numbers, and symbols.

Below is proof that my grandpa can fall asleep at any moment such as when he's playing with a reindeer.

So I wish you all well in '09. It's been pretty interesting so far politically speaking, to say the least. And, though I have no set plans, I have requested off work in order to watch the inauguration. I miss all of your faces and will inform you as to when I will be there next. Rock!