Blast from the Past

I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. They often involve people from my past. Its odd. They are people I haven't seen or even thought about in YEARS. Suddenly, they are popping up in my dreams. The other night I was at my childhood friend's house, even they weren't there. Um, I haven't been at that house in 15+ years, as he became too cool for me in 9th grade. Last night, I was hanging out with a bunch of the band nerds from high school (I was one too, so I don't say that in a judgmental way). We were our current ages and hanging out at the dunes on Lake Michigan. Very odd. I can't share details because its weird and awkward....HA!
I think it has to do with the fact that my 10 year reunion is coming up! Its not so much that I'm nervous/scared/excited about it, more that it has brought to mind people that I haven't thought about much in the last few years.
Its odd how our mind works.

Its Fine.

When my brother and I were younger, we'd come home from school and make a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. Then we'd eat half the dough...raw. Then we might cook the remainder for our parents. We LOVED this.

I also remember distinctly riding in the back of the pick up truck numerous times. We used to car pool to school on days we had choir or band or whatever and sometimes when it was my mom's turn to drive we would have to take the truck and pile in the back...there was a topper, but it was just wide open back there. We were always told to sit close to the front or on the sides though. I also very vividly remember getting sick one morning after going out to brunch and on the way home from Omaha I had to ride laying down in the back of the truck because I'd throw up if I was sitting up.

In the good old days, my friend Ali and I would get on our matching bikes and ride around the neighborhood for hours. If it was a hot summer day, we'd wiggle in our swim suits and stop at all the houses watering their lawn and run thru the sprinklers. It was the best. We also would stop at the ditch and swing into it on the branches of the willow tree that hung over it. (That is until someone new moved in and yelled at us!)

The point is, I did all this and more and am still alive to tell about it.

Parents today don't let their kids do that. They don't get to go out and just play. Everything is scheduled. Parents are too worried about their kids getting sick, or fat, or abducted to really let them do anything fun or spontaneous. It makes me wonder what this generation will grow up to be like... I hope I won't be like that as a parent. I hope I remember what its like to play in the backyard until it got dark, to ride bikes all afternoon and to just have time to be a kid.

The Crazy Girl

Inside every female lives a Crazy Girl (I considered calling her Psycho Girl, but that brings to mind a psychotic knife wielding character from an old horror movie and I wasn't going for violent). For most of us females, we can keep Crazy Girl at bay, but she inevitably peaks her head out randomly.

What am I talking about?

If you're female, you know. If you're male, I'll try to explain. Crazy Girl is the irrational part of every female. Most socially accepted females are able to keep her in check and hidden. Some women have a little more trouble with her. She tries her best to come to the forefront and take over all thoughts. She causes women to freak out over nothing. To over analyze notes, phone calls and the like. To read into comments and behaviors of those around them. Crazy Girl likes us to think that just because our friends don't call within a certain amount of time, they don't like us any more. That our boys have someone on the side because they don't want to see us every minute of every day. And maybe that we're going to get fired because she's sure the boss gave us a funny look today.

Crazy Girl is the ultimate Drama Queen. Stirring up shit where there's only a bit of dirt to be seen.

If you're good, Crazy Girl only comes around once in a while. Our rational mind can generally keep Crazy Girl in check and remind us that no, our friends are not mad at us, our boy does not have another girlfriend and our boss is not going to fire us tomorrow. Sometimes we can stop her before the thought even fully forms, but sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes we need help to keep Crazy Girl at bay. Friends, drugs, whatever...

But be warned, when Crazy Girl is in control, she does not easily give up. Sometimes a calm rational voice of reason can shrink her away, but sometimes it only fuels her fire. There are times when she gets on a roll and will turn every word, look and action into a negative. There's not much that can be done at this point. Chocolate. Wine. Sleep. They generally work.

Good luck. And may her visits to you be few and far between.

Evil On Earth

There are few things in this world that I actually hate. I may strongly dislike something or someone or I may abhor it, but hate is reserved for a very few select things.

Like this:

Poison Ivy

Last year, for the first time, I had a terrible run in with the stuff. There were these vines suffocating my trees, so I pulled them down.

Important note for everyone: Hairy vines = poison ivy.

I had it everywhere. It wasn't so bad at first, but then it just seemed to continue to multiply. I finally ended up at the doctors office where I got a shot of steroids. So not fun.

Needless to say, I quickly realized exactly what poison ivy looked like and where it was located in the yard and either stayed away from it or vowed to spray it everyday with weed killer until it was gone. That worked fairly well last year and most was cleared away.

But its back. Last weekend we tilled up some ground for a vegetable garden and another little spot that needed help by the barn-shed. I was out yesterday messing with the smaller spot and noticed some poison ivy near it. I did not want it mixing in with my new plants. I had my gardening gloves on, so I pulled up a couple sprigs. If you don't know about poison ivy, its all connected through a shallow root system, so when I pulled up the few small pieces, I ended up finding some larger roots which I also had to pull up (provides me with some sense of satisfaction when I can get the roots out). I messed with it for maybe five minutes then took the gloves off, went inside and was in the shower within minutes.

Yet some how it got me. The evil poison ivy got me. Today I have a few small spots on my arm. I knew what it was immediately! I'm just hoping it doesn't spread.

Stupid evil poison ivy. I hate it.

Mall Madness

Sometimes its the small things that remind me I'm getting older.

I went to the mall today to return some stuff and really just waste some time. This is something I used to do ALL THE TIME as a child. I lived up the street from the mall and whenever I'd get bored, I'd call up a friend (usually Katie or Michelle cuz they were my best friends and close in distance) and we'd walk down to the mall. Yup, walk. We started this when we were like 10.

Generally, we'd start by cruising through Target and then head out into the actual mall to do some sight seeing. If it were Katie and I, you could almost guarentee that we'd be in Dillard's or Deb's for some time trying on Prom Dresses. Yes, this is how we spent our childhood Saturdays! It was thrilling. I loved getting dressed up in the silky smooth dresses that always made me feel pretty. I'd try on a million different types each time. I never tired of it. When we were younger, we obviously didn't do the Prom Dresses, just all the fun clothes we knew we'd never get our parents to buy for us. I always felt elated during and after these events.

The afternoon usually consisted of a stop at the food court for maybe some crab rangoon or a soft pretzel also. We'd wander around until we were bored or tired and then begin our trek home.

Ahhh...those were the days.

So, like I said, today I went to the mall to waste some time. I walked in and out of a bunch of stores but tried nothing on except some lotion. I got tired quickly and was disgruntled with the fact that I didn't have the money or the body to get the clothes that looked exciting anymore. I sat down for a pretzel, but it wasn't the same without a friend to share it with.

While I really wouldn't want to live through jr high and high school again, I do miss some of the things that came with that time period. The thrill of just trying things on. The enjoyment of an afternoon spent with a best friend doing nothing productive.

Can you tell I'm having an "I don't want to grow up!" day?

Vegas Baby!

I needed a vacation. Like bad. I just needed to get out of Central Illinois and not have to think about anything. I really wanted to go to a beach and just sit on it and soak up some sun. I wanted my biggest decision of the day to be "what am I going to drink today?"

However, apparently everyone has the same idea in March/April. Stupid people. So the condo things were all booked up down South. Emily declared she would come with me, so we just had to find a place and a weekend. Finally, we settled on Las Vegas!
While it wasn't the warm sunny beaches of Florida or Aruba, it also wasn't Central Illinois, so therefore it was pretty darn good. Some how we ended up there on a 'cold' weekend and the temps the first two days didn't get above 65. Slightly unfortunate. We did however have a indoor heated pool and hot tub, which we took advantage of.

We did A LOT of walking up and down the strip and just taking it all in. Saturday night we went to go see LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. It was pretty darn awesome! I would love to see some more of the shows. It was just cool. I highly suggest seeing a Cirque du Soleil of some type if you can.

There is honestly so much to do out there that we atually had to make a conscious effort to sit down and gamble. And it was more to get the free drinks than to really gamble. Of course we hit the penny slots. :) In the end, Emily finished $5 up and I was out a whole $7. To prove we did so, the following:


It was an awesome trip and I only wish it could have lasted a few more days! I can't wait for the next trip.

Yup, thats right.

Here are some of this past weeks oddities in pictures:

The giant strawberry. It was the largest I've seen! Photos don't do it justice.

Snow! On Sunday, March 29th! Seriously!

My bowling score. I am the second "R" - see that ending!?! FOUR. Count them, FOUR strikes in a row! I rock!