Oregon

Ok, trying this for the umpteenth time.  I'm going to focus on writing about my half marathons because what better way is there to make running boring but to go on and on about it to non-runners... Actually I take credit for converting several people to becoming runners and of course they rapidly surpass my abilities when they do start but oh well.
This past weekend I did the Portland, OR full marathon.  26.2 miles.  I wanted to run about half of it but ended up walking about 3/4 of it due to not feeling very well but I did manage to get done even if it did take forever. The bad thing is that I know I can do so much better when I don't feel like I'm plodding through cement or have a rock in a stomach so I guess I need to do another one. It will be a while before I do a full but one of these days.
I do have a lot of half marathons on the calendar which I find pretty doable. There's definitely room for me to improve in those too so I'm going to focus on improving my times over the next couple of months.
I'm excited for the next one because it's in Savannah so I'll have a few people cheering me on as well as know a lot of the other runners.  Will be a change from the last two big runs where I attended with just one other person.

January in review

No new pictures to post since I really don't feel like doing the whole download right now but just an update of January activities.
I went to visit cousin Megan in Los Angeles for New Year's so I rang in 2011 with her and Dustin. We did some wine tasting, hiked in San Diego and ate a lot of good food. Some of it courtesy of Dustin, some from Megan and some at really good restaurants.  A nice way to spend a long weekend although it got to be a bit complicated getting back. All's well that ends well I suppose.
I also went to Paris two weeks after that for work which was ok. I really don't get the fascination with Paris. So many other places I'd rather go but that's where the meetings were so I didn't have much choice.  My coworker and I got in a day early due to the flight schedule so we were able to hang around the city some which was at least nicer than only being out by the airport.
I've done some quilting which you've seen in my last entry and I've actually even been... wait for it.... you'd better sit down... doing some cooking and baking. I did a little baking and realized that the main thing I need is an outlet and my coworkers/neighbors seem happy to oblige so I've been making things to take to work. Two friends have birthdays in February so I decided I will make them birthday cakes and when one gave me an idea of a kind he liked I figured I might need to try the recipe in advance because it seemed kind of muzukashi (complicated in Japanese).  I made it this weekend and it all went at work so I guess I did alright. It was a Guinness chocolate cake. Actually not my favorite but the soon to be birthday guy seemed to like it.  Erika came over to help bake and have dinner so I did an easy chicken bake which turned out tasty as well.  I even had leftovers to take to work the next day which was a nice change from the norm. She was in Minneapolis this past weekend and per my request, brought back some wild rice so I'm going to try a few things with that. That's what I call Taste of Minnesota.  The best thing about Erika coming was that she loves to clean. Doing dishes is one of her favorite activities. I know, crazy but when you're cooking and baking, great to have somebody like that around.
Wordy and no pics. Sorry but I'll try to do better next time.
Oh, another crazy idea or so I've been told. I just call it exciting. My friend Mandy is doing the Portland Marathon in October and asked if I wanted to join her. I was going to say yes to the half but decided to go all the way and yesterday I signed up to run the full marathon. Granted, I will be doing my walk breaks but in some fashion I will be moving myself the entire 26.2 miles.  Hey, that's about the distance from my parents' to Bemidji so maybe I'll need to make that a training run if I'm in Minnesota sometime. Just kidding. Not going to happen when there's a perfectly good lake there to go around.

Quilting Projects

Here are a few projects that I've done in the past few months. The first is a baby quilt for some friends who are expecting their first and the second is for my niece's birthday.  Very simple but I still try to make them bright and lively.

Maybe Annually?

Wow, so I know. It's been forever but new year so new chance? I was reading a quilting blog and have been inspired so maybe I'll post pictures of some of the projects I've done lately. I do the simplest projects imaginable but I love the fabric selection process so they end up cute regardless. I'm also pretty proud of the fact that they are tailored to who I'm making them for. I've asked my nieces and nephews for favorite colors and such. I ended up doing one with frogs and purples, greens and blues that was pretty fun and a baseball/red one as well. Now for myself I might do baseball and blues but never the combinations I did. I even use pink a lot which is a stretch for me.

On another note, I did another typical Jen move and signed up for a half marathon even though I haven't really run at all for nearly a year. I did one 18 months ago so I should be fine right? Whatever. I realized that I only have six states to cross of my list and the combination of needing to go to Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Half was too tempting. It's an out and back from the site of the Murrah Building which is definitely the place I want to see there. May 1 so I need to get a move on. Last week I did about 9 miles total with the longest being a bit over 3 so that was a start but with the ice here this week I haven't done any. Hopefully I can still get my 4 or so in on Saturday morning so it won't be a complete loss.

I promise to have some photos next time. I've finished or nearly finished (thanks to my aunt for doing the tying and binding at times for me) 4 quilts in the past month so I have a few that I can show pics of when I'm not so lazy that I don't want to look for the cables to download them.

Not Quite Quarterly

Yes, I know it's been a long time but if y'all would get on facebook you'd be able to keep up just fine :) Since February nothing much has happened. Just kidding. I've been busy and I guess since it was that long ago, first and foremost I must mention that I have a permanent job that I love. Well, as permanent as any job is but I'm cautiously optimistic. It's challenging, interesting and exactly where I want to be. Actually I don't know if Atlanta is exactly where I want to be but so far so good. There are quirks about this place that I will never like but there is a lot to like too with the main thing being that I have a great job.

I think my church is the thing I like second best although that's going through a change too but I think it will be ok. Fr. John is retiring after being priest there for 11 years and we will now have Fr. Jeffrey. I've only seen him once but knew Fr. John ok and will miss him. Since the new guy is from New Orleans though I have high hopes.

Another thing I love is my apartment. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite of all the places I have lived. My bathroom in Japan may have been a bit better but not much. It's got all the things I love. A balcony, huge windows, it's on the 4th floor so I just look out at the tops of trees, a walk in shower, an open kitchen with an island and more. The only thing that I really don't like about it is the address. I live on Confederate. What's a Northerner to do when you move South though? (I thought about using the Y word but I hate the baseball team to much to call myself that.)

Speaking of baseball, I've caught a few games this year. I went to a Braves/Cubs game courtesy of work, then a Twins/Boston game courtesy of a friend and a boss who lets me fly to Minnesota for a day game in the middle of the week, then a Braves/Phillies game courtesy of a friend, then a Phillies/Twins game in Philadelphia, then a Braves/Nats game courtesy of work and finally last week a Rochester Red Wings/Gwinnett Braves game. (Twins/Braves AAA teams) Gwinnett is a suburb of Atlanta so not too far. As far as watching AAA ball, it was great because the seats were cheap and good but I hate to tell you that the Twins have already called up their main talent. They were swept in a four game series although Jacque Jones did have a 4 RBI night the day after we were there. Also saw Wilson Ramos in his last game before he was traded to the Nats. Toby Gardenhire and Brendan Harris were the others we knew. Pat Neshek is with them but didn't play the game we went to.

Oh, the pic is the new comforter set I bought today. I was using a great quilt that Grandma made but it was too small for a queen sized bed so I took advantage of my Target gift card and a sale. And yes, my whole wall is pretty much a window which I absolutely love. My living room is floor to ceiling windows, even bigger!

Dublin

Since I was reminded today that I've been to Dublin by my lower pay check, I figured I should finally write about it. Even though the airline doesn't charge us, there are still fees at international airports that they don't take care of for us. Hence, my Dublin trip was paid for by a $49 deduction from my check.

Dublin was great. It wasn't real warm but it stayed dry for the most part, we stayed at a hotel that was extremely convenient to everything and I discovered a new favorite drink. Old cities tend to be more walkable with everything closer together and that was the case in Dublin. I think all the sights we saw were within a 15 minute walk of the center of the city. In another trip I would love to see the countryside but with just two days, staying in the city was really the only option. Another cool thing I did was take a tour of the old Jameson distillery. It's not where they make their whiskey any more but it was from the late 1700s until the 1970s when they built a new modern facility further south. It was really interesting and I had a free sample at the end. There was talk about what people mix their Jameson with and even though mixing it with anything was greatly frowned upon a few years back, it's been gaining acceptance. The tour guide said her favorite (mixing it with ginger ale) is popular in Britain so I gave it a shot and loved it. I guess that will be my St. Patrick's Day drink at the local Irish pub.

Here are a few pics and you can find the rest of the gallery here.

Note the date and place on the memorial from the church. Pretty sad to think that the situation remains in some ways the same.

2010

So the not quite daily is really not even quite monthly. Maybe I should make a New Year's resolution to blog more although I can tell you right now that will probably not happen. However it's kind of funny that while I spent most of 2009 unemployed I feel like I've taken on more in 2010. I hope that it's a better year for me and a lot of people out there who had a miserable past 12 months or so.
So update on me personally: In November I started a contract position at Delta, my dream job. I'm still waiting for it to turn permanent but crossing my fingers that it will be soon. So far I love my job, partially because I love the industry, well, probably mainly because of that. I have never had a job outside the airlines that I found so stimulating, challenging, maddening, interesting and exciting. It's definitely the right fit for me. Not to mention the travel perks. I've only taken advantage of them once so far with a trip that could have easily been driven but next week I hope to get out of the country for the first time since I moved back from Japan. My poor passport has been feeling sorely neglected. It's funny that I used to use it so much that I ran out of pages in less than three years and now three years later those extra pages have been used maybe once. Oh, the trip I'm hoping to take is to Dublin, Ireland. It'll only be a few days but fun to go somewhere I haven't been.
Another project that is taking some time is that I've finally started running pretty consistently again. I found a great running store here that is only about half a mile away and they have a run club once a week. I've been a pretty regular attendee so one of the staff asked me to be one of the coaches for a beginning group of women training for a 5k. It's great to have that extra commitment to get me going and so much fun to find other people to get out there with. Phidippides is the store that I run with (I know it's a strange name but that's the guy who ran the first marathon so it's appropriate.)
A few other items of note: My friend Marnie has really exciting news to share with her crafts now being sold in New York at the Museum of Modern Art. The link to her blog is on the right (Karger-Tift) so you can check them out. Way to go, girl! :)
On a completely different note, I've been completely glued to the coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. I guess I'm pretty fascinated by tragedy as anybody who knows of my fascination with New Orleans can tell you. I'm watching the telethon right now. I remember watching the one that took place after 9/11 and I think that was the first time that all the networks had gotten together to do something like this. Since then it has happened for the Asian tsunami I think as well as after Hurricane Katrina. Just a note to put the magnitude of this disaster in perspective: Death toll: 9-11 attack: 2,992, Asian tsunami:230,000, Hurricane Katrina: 1,836, earthquake in Haiti: still very uncertain but recent estimates have put it at 200,000. While this is less than the tsunami, the devastation is so much more concentrated. Haiti as a whole is smaller than the state of Maryland and has a population of less than 7 million. That's like Dallas-Ft. Worth losing 200,000 people. The other part of the tragedy is how little Haiti had to begin with. Heartbreaking. One story that particularly resonates with me is the loss of UN life. It is the single worst loss in the history of the UN. When I think of soldiers giving for their country, I also think of these UN workers who are giving not only for the sake of their nation but for all of humanity. Not fighting but keeping the peace. They are definitely heroes.

That's probably enough of my rambling until St. Patrick's Day or so.... Take care and give if you can. I would encourage people to give to The Bush Clinton Fund bushclintonhaitifund.org or Doctors without Borders doctorswithoutborders.org

Greenville and Asheville

I finally uploaded pics from this fall. Very late as these are from an October trip. The top one is from Greenville, SC. I have friends there that I met in Tokyo (the husband was studying there but they are from South Caroline and Georgia) so I was up there for a housewarming/fall get together. Some friends from here went along as well and we continued on to the Biltmore outside of Asheville, NC which is the Vanderbilt family mansion. My favorite story about it is that as there were only a few family members living there in the 1930s and this was obviously more than they needed, the local folks asked if they could open up the residence to the public hoping that it would spur tourism and bring jobs to the area. It has succeeded in that endeavor and still boasts a ton of visitors. It's an expensive admission price and they continually bragged about the fact that it is private and not a government institution but for the price of admission they should be able to pay the bills!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Oops, it's been a while. I have pics from visiting the Biltmore and Asheville in North Carolina and family in Savannah but I'm really glad that I visited Alabama last Saturday to look at a lot of civil rights history. A friend and I went to Selma where we the walks to Montgomery had originated in 1965. We then followed the route and saw the Civil Rights Memorial and Museum in Montgomery which is dedicated to the memory of those who died fighting for civil rights, especially during the years 1954-1968. Fortunately my cousin had visited a lot of these sites while planning a social studies curriculum for her school so I knew to look for a small, out of the way museum that I never would have found otherwise. It was the Museum of Slavery and the Civil War which was a very intense experience. We caught the end of a reenactment of several parts of the slave experience and its something that more people, actually everybody, should hear, see and feel. From the loading onto the ships to the Middle Passage to the auctions to the separation of families, they are all intense experiences that should be remembered.

The first photo is from the National Park Service's Interpretive Center which is located between Selma and Montgomery. The second is some of the people who died during the movement. This group of children died on September 15, 1963. The four girls died in the Birmingham church bombing and the boy was killed by other kids later in the day. The last is a view of the memorial which has the names of people who died etched in it. It was designed my Maya Lin, the same woman who designed the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

Here is a link to the gallery of photos from the trip as well.

http://notquitedailyjen.smugmug.com/Travel/Alabama-Civil-Rights-Trip/10448136_P3mCL/1/724734691_3TDLG

Atlanta Road Trips

The past two weekends I've gone on short road trips with friends. Two weeks ago we spent Saturday in Warm Springs which is only an hour or so away from Atlanta. The main draw is "The Little White House" where Franklin Roosevelt had a home and also died in 1945. There is also a resort near Warm Springs called Callaway Gardens which has golfing, trails, a conservatory, etc. Both were nice but the history buff in me definitely liked the FDR museum and home the best.

Last weekend the trip was a bit further. Some friends from South Carolina who I knew when I lived in Japan live in Greenville, SC which is a great little city. The downtown is spectacular with a park with waterfalls and everything. It's only about 2-3 hours to Greenville where we spent the night before heading up to Asheville which is about another hour away. That is the site of Biltmore Estate, once a Vanderbilt home. In the 1930's, the locals asked them to open it to the public to bring tourists to combat the failing economy. At one point it consisted of 10s of 1000s of acres but now is about 8000 acres with a winery, gardens and America's largest home. Over 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms. That is really impressive considering that it was built in 1895 when indoor plumbing at all was rare.

Since I don't feel like posting a ton of pictures all at once, below are pictures of The Little White House. After talking about Biltmore, it is hard not to notice how small it is although I guess I didn't get many pictures of the outside. The whole house was only about 25x80 per level although I think it had two floors and we only saw one. I thought the pics of the sentry outpost were also pretty cool. There were several of these outside the house where a guard would have been stationed.

Photos

Finally a few photos: The first four are obviously the Braves/Mets game I went to. I took a few extra pictures of Luis Castillo since he's a former Twin. He has had a pretty good year although the Mets have suffered immensely from injuries and are out of playoff contention. I was rooting for them however and will always root against the Braves for a couple of reasons including the 1991 World Series as well as the Tomahawk Chop. I knew I didn't like it but it surprised me how much I hated it. Kind of a sick to my stomach feeling when it started. I would equate it to having to listen to a racist joke or something. Not a pleasant feeling at all.

In addition to not liking the Braves, it was a rainy day/night so we got wet. Ironic that everybody thinks baseball games under a roof are stupid... Lots of bugs around too.

The last pic is of the Martin Luther King/Coretta Scott King tomb with the eternal flame in the foreground.

10 Good Things About Atlanta

I went for a nice walk in Piedmont Park this evening after working out in the building's gym and was thinking how much I like this place so far so here are some things I like so far about Atlanta in no particular order. Keep in mind that this is from the perspective of somebody who's been in town approximately 10 days.

-It's so green. I thought Minneapolis was green and it really is, especially for the climate, but Atlanta has trees everywhere. You are on the middle of the freeway near downtown and can only see trees. This was unexpected because Minnesota usually ranks really high in park space but I haven't noticed Atlanta at the top of the list.

-Hills. Yes, these are both good and bad but I find a little terrain refreshing.

-Southern cooking. So far I've had sweet potato pancakes with pecans which were amazing and Chick-fil-A which was free yesterday for wearing a team shirt. Erika and I had Twins shirts on and thus were able to get free sandwiches for dinner. These same tshirts caused a discussion at the the diner in the morning regarding the 1991 World Series and the Kent Hrbek/Ron Gant episode. Funny.

-Piedmont Park and Chastain Park. Piedmont Park is very nice although small and located near Erika's apartment. Chastain Park is bigger but on the other side of town. When I look for my own place either area is definitely near the top of my list.

-Swings in the park. In addition to regular benches, there are swings at all the parks I've been at so far. By swings, I mean the big glider kind that you see on the front porch of the Walton's house. I've always been a fan of them.

-Sacred Heart. This is the Catholic church that I found. It's old and beautiful but casual and progressive. A great combination.

-Big Peach Running Company. A local running store that works hard to make sure the fit of shoes is right. My knees are still bad so I'm doing more walking than running but now I've got shoes that aren't falling apart.

-MLK memorial. This is one of the few touristy things I've done so far. The tomb of Dr, King and Coretta Scott King is especially impressive.

-Carter Center and Library. Shouldn't have this on the list as I still need to check it out but I've heard great things and hope to get there once it reopens after remodeling in October.

-Economy. Yes, the economy is bad everywhere but so far I've had more luck in the last week here than in the past several months in Minneapolis. I think that there is a more diverse set of industries so that helps. Minneapolis is strong but skewed towards some industries that I don't have experience or interest in.

Sorry. I know pictures would be nice and I'll get around to taking some of those soon. Maybe I'll get a few posted in the next few days...

Have a great evening!

Commentary

It took me the better part of the week to catch up on all the Ted Kennedy footage but I think I've seen all of it now. Also yesterday I saw this column by a pastor who is politically active and some of what he was saying was pretty good in my opinion so I've pasted it here for your perusal if you're interested.

Faith is about Redemption: The Life of Ted Kennedy
by Jim Wallis

I have never really trusted those who are intolerant and condemning of other people’s shortcomings. It makes me suspect they are likely hiding their own. This weekend was full of the story of redemption for me, as the nation said its good-byes to Sen. Edward Kennedy.

I watched everything -- from the moving memorial service on Friday night to the amazing funeral Mass on Saturday, to the private burial that same evening, to much of the news coverage and comment on Sunday. The stories from Friday are worth listening to again, especially the touching tributes from Kennedy’s Republican adversaries who grew to respect and even love him, and the hilarious tales of sailing adventures. The Irish always say there should be lots of laughter at a good wake.

But it was the funeral on Saturday morning that most moved me. I don’t know what I was expecting -- likely more speeches -- but not a traditional Catholic funeral liturgy, complete with the Holy Eucharist. Of course, what else should I have expected from such a Boston Catholic family? Here was the divine irony. At the funeral of the nation’s most liberal political leader of the last half-century, a watching nation was treated to a full Catholic Mass. And even more, the readings are what most struck me. When was the last time the whole country got to hear the 25th chapter of Matthew, with Jesus imploring us, “I was hungry ... I was thirsty ... I was a stranger ... I was naked ... I was sick ... I was in prison ... and you came to me.” And then the song of Mary: "He will put down the mighty from their thrones, exalt those of low degree, fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich empty away.” Ted and Vicki Kennedy carefully chose those readings for this solemn and special occasion, and the whole nation listened to them.

Then I watched the greatest collection of national political leaders in decades from both political parties -- 60 senators, countless congressional members, and four presidents -- hug each other in the passing of the peace. Then they came forward to receive the body and blood of Christ, as cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanied Placido Domingo in Cesar Franck’s "Panis Angelicus." I started changing the channels then, just to see who was watching. CNN, MSNBC, FOX!, NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX again! were all tuned in to the Mass. Who could have brought about such a thing -- a man with serious personal flaws who had experienced great pain in his life, who had been the greatest political lightning rod of his time, and who had, nonetheless, been the most successful senator both in forging a list of accomplishments like no other, and in bringing people together from both sides of the political aisle.

The Kennedy children's prayers followed for grandpa, Uncle Teddy, or just “Teddy” -- articulately summing up his life’s work and mission, and calling us to the same vision and values. As a father, the most emotional moment for me, and for many others, was when Ted Kennedy Jr. recounted a story about his dad helping him up a very icy hill with a sled, just after the 12-year-old's leg was amputated. “I know you can do it,” he tearfully recounted his father’s words. "There is nothing that you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day.” I would ask each of you to read that very touching story right now, even before reading the rest of this piece.

Ted Kennedy’s now-grown son concluded, “He was not perfect; far from it. But my father believed in redemption and he never surrendered. Never stopped trying to right wrongs, be they the results of his own failings or of ours.” Doris Kearns Goodwin quoted Hemingway in saying “Everyone is broken by life. But afterward, many are strong in the broken places.” And she said of Ted Kennedy, “he had absorbed his broken places.” A letter was read at the private burial service at the end of the day, back at Arlington, that the dying Ted Kennedy had asked President Obama to give to Pope Benedict when the president visited the Holy Father earlier this spring. In the letter, Kennedy humbly asked the pope to pray for him as his health was declining and he was preparing for “the next passage of life.” It read, “I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path.”

President Obama’s remarks at the funeral were almost pastoral in their tone, and one could feel the emotion he was feeling for himself and the whole country as he spoke of the loss we had suffered and the qualities of the senator, the father, the husband, the family rock, the colleague, and the friend that we would all now so sorely miss. He spoke both of the long list of public accomplishments that will likely gain Ted Kennedy recognition as the greatest senator in American history, but also, again, of the human weaknesses of the man, and how his beloved wife, Vicki, had likely “saved him,” something that everyone, including Ted Kennedy, seemed to agree with.

Obama was almost nostalgic for an earlier time in Washington, where adversaries still saw each other as patriots and political enemies still respected and even liked each other as friends. Sen. John Kerry remarked that although another Bostonian, former House Speaker Tip O’Neill, famously said that “all politics is local,” Ted Kennedy taught us that “all politics are personal.” Story after story came from people Kennedy had touched in just that way -- by doing so many countless things so very personally for them.

And from this weekend, I received a final insight: that the roles of being a prophetic advocate who stands passionately for social justice, and the vocation of being a bridge-builder and convener who brings diverse people together are not, perhaps, so mutually exclusive after all. Most people tell me they are, but feeling called to both, I have often struggled to reconcile them. But here was Ted Kennedy, the fiercest fighter for the poor and vulnerable in the U.S. Senate over the last half-century and yet when fellow senators on both sides of the aisle were asked whom they most wanted to work with, it was always him. Why? Because they liked him, he never let his sometimes profound disagreements keep him from caring personally about them. He was a man of his word, and he was lots of fun!

As many remarked over the course of this amazing weekend, Ted Kennedy was the classic American success story who, though sorely tested by adversity and plagued by his own moral shortcomings, found a way to overcome his personal flaws and pain to achieve extraordinary things. But Kennedy was even more than that. His life was also the classic Christian story of redemption, of being saved from sin by faith, grace, and love, and by being faithful to the commands of Christ: “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” As the casket of Edward Moore Kennedy climbed up the hill toward his final resting place next to the eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery, one could almost hear those words of Jesus, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food.” Rest in peace, ye flawed, faithful, and redeemed warrior for the kingdom of God.

Video

This is quite old now but I know a couple of people haven't seen it so I'm posting it here to make it easy for you. Very hilarious.

Atlanta

I made it to Atlanta. After a really long trip, Erika and I finally arrived at her place at 5 am. Uff da... She wasn't able to get to Minneapolis on Friday so she flew in Saturday am and after a quick stop at her favorite coffee shop we took off around 9 am. We made stops in Wisconsin Dells and had Culver's for lunch as well as KFC in Kentucky for dinner. Fast food but in their home locations at least. After about a 10 minute nap in Tennessee we did the last few hours. We did end up parked on 75 at one point because of an accident but other than that it went pretty smoothly.

So far I haven't done a ton. On Sunday I went to church at Sacred Heart which is the oldest Catholic church in Atlanta and I liked it. They are downtown and very committed to social justice and serving the city. I was hoping for a bit more diversity than I saw but I think it's better than a lot of churches. Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America according to a multiracial couple I know down here and I tend to agree. Very unfortunate.

Last night I went to a sports bar with another friend from Minnesota who moved down here a few weeks ago and saw part of the Vikings game. Not that I was keen on seeing the Vikings but it was a nice casual hangout and a good sandwich. Tonight it's another restaurant with Erika and another friend from Minnesota as it's restaurant week so nice places have really good deals.

I'm homeless!

I moved out of my apartment today. I gave the keys to the landlord at 1 and I don't have anything going on until I met some friends for happy hour at 5 so it's coffee shop time. I'm at the Riverview Cafe which is two blocks from my old apartment and then happy hour is at the Riverview Wine Bar next door so I won't be moving much today.

I have some stuff in storage at my mom's but other than that I have everything in my car and that is one full car. A cousin mentioned that her sister (I guess that would be a cousin too... :) had used the Space Bag (As Seen on TV) so I picked up a few. They are a bit spendy but they are pretty worth it. They vacuum the air out of the bag so you have one dense package that is more compact. I have one bag that has two pillows, a quilt, a full set of sheets and two jackets and it takes up a little more space than one pillow. Not bad.

My friend and new roommate Erika was supposed to fly up today and meet us for happy hour but the world of an airline employee is not confirmed so she wasn't able to make the flight today. She's going to get on the first flight tomorrow and get in around 8 am. I pick her up at the airport, go to Isles Buns and Coffee which is her favorite coffee shop and then we leave town. Talk about an awesome friend. Flying in purely to take a 17 hour road trip. Not to mention letting me stay with her while I look for work in Atlanta. She'd still like to get it done all in day but we'll see. We may spend the night in Kentucky.

I went to my last Twins game on Monday night with my cousin Megan. They won 2-1 so not a bad way to end my dome experience. I was hoping to see Johan Santana pitch for the Mets when they are in Atlanta but no luck with that as he's out for the season with elbow surgery. I'm still hoping to get to a Braves game but I don't care about many NL teams so I won't be picky.

As long as I'm killing all this time at the shop I might as well relate a fun Ted Kennedy/Eunice Shriver story in their memory. I was fortunate to be an intern on his 1994 Senate Fundraising Committee and had the opportunity to go to a few houseparties. On St. Patrick's Day, one of the Lawford women, I can't remember if it was Sydney or Robin, hosted a party and Ted spoke. It was a small gathering so no sound system and it was St. Patrick's Day so there were some Irish jokes mostly making fun of himself. Eunice was standing next to me and couldn't hear the punch lines a few times so she asked me to repeat them. I immediately caught a case of poor hearing myself and apologized for not being able to hear because if Ted wanted to tell them that was one thing but I wasn't about to repeat them to Eunice.

My facebook status the day after Ted died was a repeat from an email that went around saying "In lieu of flowers, pass health care reform." Several people liked it but it also caused a bit of a debate between two others. I didn't get into an argument over it mostly because I remembered Ted's tendency to forgive and forget. He was pretty remarkable with close friendships across the aisle. In fact, the only two times I saw the entire Senate I noticed him and Bob Dole chatting and laughing. To be fair, that's also a testament to Bob Dole and another time when the world was less partisan and saw the work of the Senate as a process rather than a place to create sound bites.

See how wordy I can be when there isn't a TV in front of me :) I haven't seen TV all week as I sold mine and that's been tough. Thank goodness for the internet. It reminds me of when Princess Diana died and I had just moved so no cable then either. At least now the internet is much more robust than in 1997.

I'm going to look up the route for tomorrow! I know in general it's Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and finally Georgia. Unfortunately that's only one new state to cross of my list. Actually two I guess since I've never been to Georgia but I'm moving there tomorrow so that one gets double crossed, It's actually only the second state I'll have lived in since D.C. and Japan aren't states. Interesting... By the way. for anybody that is worried about me living in a Red state... I'll be in a really Blue district and I'm really excited to have John Lewis as my Congressman. A very important figure in civil rights history even if he did beat my old professor for the job.

A Long Break

Wow, it's been a long time. The summer has kind of disappeared on me. Not really any news to report but I promise I'll get better about posting stuff once I move. That's right, I'm moving to Atlanta at the end of the month. I spent quite a bit of time in Bemidji this summer and will again for the next few weeks and then I'll be driving to ATL with my friend Erika at the end of the month so I can look for work there while I stay with her. Pretty awesome friend, huh?

I notice that I last posted the day before I left for Bemidji a few trips ago. It also happened to be the day before Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died. Very crazy and sad. I was a big fan and even saw him perform live twice in 1993 for some Clinton inauguration festivities. He was definitely one of the greatest entertainers of all time and the sort of celebrity that we will never see again. With the rise of the internet and so many channels, it is impossible for an entertainer to reach the same proportion of the public that they once could. It's similar to the way that Walter Cronkite was known to so many television viewers but there is no news personality that has the same kind of connection with viewers today due to so many sources of news.

Sorry about the lame postings and lack of them but I promise I'll have lots more when I get to explore Atlanta. I already have plans to run a 5k in October and see a Braves game before the end of the season. They are playing the Mets in September and we're hoping that Santana will pitch and we can cheer for the good New York team.

Off to Bemidji

Oy, it's been a while. Oops. Nothing exciting to report anyway although here are some pics I've taken recently. The first are some taken from the Guthrie when I impersonated a tourist with my friend Margaux who was visiting from DC. The pic of the bridges shows the new 35W bridge although it's been open about 9 months now I believe.
The first pic is the top of the handquilted sampler I'm doing. I still need to lay it out with the batting so I can actually quilt it which will take quite a while. The second quilt is the baby project I did for a friend of mine. That one was a lot quicker because I do the cheater method of knotting it rather than actually quilting it. The fabric is all from Crafty Planet in NE Mpls which is a great store. I've got some more fabric from there for my next project and I've got two other tops pretty much done that I need to lay out and knot sometime soon. One is another baby project but the second one is 64x64, my first big project.

Since I'm still feeling the effects of this economy (am unemployed) I've decided to spend all of next week in Bemidji. It's a long time for me in a small town so we'll see how that goes. I actually plan on being there the next three weekends in a row which is a bit daunting. This weekend is my grandma's 80th birthday party, the following weekend is the 4th and the weekend after that is a cousin's wedding. Too much Bemidji...

One Half Marathon Down, Countless to go...

Since I last wrote I finished my first half marathon for my longest run ever. For non-runners, a half marathon is about 13.1 miles and my previous longest was about 12.5. It was in Stillwater on May 24 and it went really well. I've been fighting some knee injuries so I took it easy and a friend was willing to be slow with me and we both completed our first halves in just under 3 hours. Not a very good time but our goal was to finish and improving that time can be left to races in the future. I definitely want to do another one sometime. The weather was great and even though it was Stillwater, the hills weren't awful. At least I didn't think so but others were complaining about them. Stillwater is a hilly city though so I was prepared mentally and my friend and I decided to schedule our walk breaks around them as well so that helped a lot.

I raised almost $750 for the St. Bernard Project so that was also a great incentive to push through everything and complete the run. They use every penny they get very wisely and generously give so much to the residents of SBP that I was happy to be able to help them out in whichever small way I could.

I've been pretty lazy on the quilting. I have the whole front put together but need to add the borders and then do the actual quilting. I did a small machine project though and now I'm really not energized to do any more by hand. Eventually. I'm pretty excited by the success I've had with the machine project so I'm hoping to repeat that soon. I'll post pictures of those soon.

Oh and Twins- I'm now at .500 with 2 wins and 2 losses when I've been in attendance. I guess I can go again because that's better than their overall record although it is worse than their home record so maybe I should go sparingly...

More squares

The novelty of the quilting has kind of worn off because it's so hard to get my assignments done each week. Thankfully we have an extra week to work due to Memorial Day.

I'm also trying to keep up the running. With a bit of an injured knee I've had to ease off it. I was able to get a 12.5 mile run/walk in last week. That one was a huge victory because I hadn't even really planned on it and I did all except the first 3.5 solo. I've never done that much by myself. This weekend is the Stillwater Half and that's my goal. I know I'll be really slow but I think I can do it as long as I have enough time.

Off to spin class!