New Laundry Room

Before: Lots of crappy looking dark wood that looks like it might have blood dripping from it.

After: Paint definitely brightens things up. Doesn't it look nice? It's not like it's elegant, or modern, or even kitschy, but it is so much better. Still, there's a LOT more painting to do before we can officially check this one off the list.

Alright, excuse the crappy concert picture, but it was dark in there, and sometimes, when I do remember to bring the camera, I just basically suck.

Mondays aren't so hard to swallow when they're the follow-up to a fantastic weekend away. We booked the tickets so we could hear Patty sing. The concert was wonderful, partially because I know every word to every song and had to try my hardest to not sing along, but also because it was such a tiny venue. I need to go see more live music... HOWEVER, that didn't really even compare to the fun, fun, fun time we spent with Zander's long-time friend Matt, and his lovely wife Brandi. We all stayed up late, slept late, talked for hours, drank loads of coffee, and even got some thrift-store time in. I can't wait to see them again!

True to my New Year To-Do List, I'm learning how to crochet. This is my first hat, but I've already made a scarf and some little crocheted flowers. I started out with a nice looking ball of $7 wool, but it's so scratchy that I've switched over to acrylic, which is nice and cheap. The color of yarn for the above hat is officially camo. Camo with turquoise stripes. The hat is a little bit tight, but the camera angle was kind enough to not show my forehead fat actually popping through the little holes. I think I'll make another one. A bigger one. It was pretty fun, and much more relaxing for me than knitting. I really like the Happy Hooker crochet book for explaining how to do the stitches and most of the included patterns are pretty cute, too.

Man oh man. If I owe you an email, please know that it's on it's way, and that I'm more tired than I ever thought was possible. After a lovely weekend, getting to see a handful of my favorite ladies, we started back to work on our basement ceiling. This time, armed with a kind-of-crappy-for-this-kind-of-job paint sprayer. We started at 9AM and quit around 6:30. My back and neck hurt from looking up for so long, and my hand feels like a taxidermy claw. I have paint in my ears and in my hair. I've also got both pair of glasses splattered with paint, so maybe tomorrow I'll need to break out the old contacts. I also ran this morning, pre-paint, to make up for a few of the beers consumed last night at my step-dad's 50th birthday party. It's exactly 8:38PM right now, and I'm heading to bed in abour 2 minutes. I owe much of this exhaustion to my mom and my girlfriend. Without the two of them here to help, we might have quit around lunch time. We're still not done yet, but the light is definitely at the end of the tunnel. This week starts semester II at school, and there's been a bit of drama at work lately, but I'll try and post some pictures this week! Take care friends!

Check these hats out. Man, I've been wanting to make a hat for a while now, and these totally inspire me. It won't happen this weekend though. My family is giving me one of the best bday presents EVER. They're coming over to paint my oh-so-ugly and unfinished basement's ceiling. We'll all have white paint in our hair and on our glasses, but I can't wait to see how it looks when it's all one. I'll take some before and after pictures.

To do list: 7 in '07

1. Complete all of the mountains of paperwork and be not-so-patiently-waiting for an International Adoption to happen.
2. Run a half marathon.
3. Learn to crochet.
4. Drink lots of wine... In France.
5. Sell some of my stuff at a craft fair.
6. Go see Patty.
7. Keep working on my photo booth project. (Took first set of pictures on Saturday)

Some things that aren't on the list, but I still want to do: lose 15lbs, make a quilt, try out some winter sports, floss everyday, laugh lots, buy less, keep adding onto the gardens in our yard, water-proof our basement, do all the yoga salutations a couple times a week, get together more with friends, and call my sisters more often. Whew.

Photobooth Help

Attention all twin city folks! I'm looking for photobooths. I want to compile a complete list, and visit them all. Here are the ones I already know about:
1) The state fair (I'm assuming this is seasonal, but does anyone know for sure?)
2) The Kitty Kat Club
3) The Turf Club
4) Lake Street Kmart
5) Is there one in downtown Minneapolis near the shoe entrace to Macy's?

Please comment if you know of any more!

Balance

On New Years Day I was on my way to get groceries when I saw a man running off of the highway and away from his smoking truck. I pulled over and asked him if he needed help, and probably (buried deep inside) I hoped that answer was no. But yeah, he did need some help. He needed my cell phone, which I handed over, no problem. Then, he needed a ride home. At that point, a tiny little voice inside told me that it's not safe to pick up strangers off the side of the road, but an even bigger voice yelled about how much of a jerk I'd look like if I refused. So I let him in the car and started to drive him home. (Some of you are now thinking how stupid I am, and some are probably wondering what the big deal is) Anyway, I was a little bit scared, so I called Zander to let him know what I was doing and then he rode along. Of course we're safe, but I keep thinking about all the what-ifs. Crap! What if something happened to me or to Zander because I said yes to something that I really didn't want to say yes to in the first place? I've seen that movie about passing it on, and I think karma happens, and of course I want the world to be a better place, but WTF, how do ya do it all and take care of yourself, too?

Happy New Year!

This picture will be just one of 2007's many reminders to not take myself so seriously. Could I possibly look any dorkier?

Going up to Two Harbors was a great weekend getaway, and such a fun way to bring in the new year. The weather was crap, but who cares when there are fun people to hang out with.

By the way, I got to the gym tonight at 4PM for a free weight training lesson, only to find Channel 9 News there interviewing the trainer I was scheduled with. They followed us around for a while and I'm absolutely sure that I looked ridiculous, which isn't so bad, I mean I am trying not to take myself so seriously, right? It'll air tomorrow at 5PM.