Yep, it's a T-Rex eating a multi-scoop ice cream cone.

(go ahead, click on it and make it big - you've got to read what it says!) :)

... that it's time we're aware...

Right now I'm at a conference in Baltimore, Maryland. It's actually not very far from DC - about an hour by (a very fun) commuter train.

(though what commuter train isn't fun?)

And at this conference, there are people from all all over the country, I mean, New York, Chicago, San Antonio, Laramie, Seattle, and even Alaska! ... and among them, one sweet lady from... Dubuque, Iowa.

So of course, I went over and introduced myself, and we got to chatting... she lives up by the John Deere plant but works only about a mile and a half from where I used to live... and we had a good little laugh about what a small world it is, how she didn't think anyone at this big Baltimore conference would've ever even heard of Dubuque, haha.

And then she asked where I was from originally, and I said "outside of Milwaukee"... and then she asked what suburb, and I said "Brookfield," and then she asked, "East or Central?"

She graduated from Central three years before I graduated from East. Her parents live about four miles from where my parents live and she got married at my home church.


So... yeah, that was pretty much the end of my story. Also though, she was wearing leopard-print shoes... apparently they're selling those in Iowa these days... seriously, you're gone for five months and it's like you never even knew the place...

but then also there was the time...

(a couple nights ago)

... when I spotted a giant cockroach on our kitchen floor, I mean, giant. I mean, I have a bit of a reputation in my house for being the one who can handle bugs, but this was out of even my league. Seriously. Giant. Just sitting there on our kitchen floor.

And Luke, seeing the chance to step it up a bit (and maybe redeem himself from all the other times he's chickened out and cried like a little baby girl?), helped me out by plopping a cup on top of the giant cockroach, sliding a piece of thin cardboard under the cup, taking it out to the back deck, (doing a victory dance/talking some smack), and tossing it over the railing, far far away from our kitchen floor.

And when it was all over, and we were resting from our celebrating, Luke looked down at the cup and said with dismay - "Oh no, I think I broke off a little piece of his antler!"

So as you see, between Luke with his cockroach antlers and David with his singing in the shower, it's quite hard to pick a "most lovable" moment.



I'm currently also loving how last night, late at night, we all played an intense, high-speed game of cards while singing along with Elton John's Greatest Hits, each in our own special way, of course (not all of us were in the St. Olaf Chapel Choir).


God, my roommates are the best.
(This is me and Jill)
(She's lovable too)



(Jill says sometimes she kills bugs too, she just doesn't always feel the need to announce it to us... I don't know why not... )


Meanwhile, my job is SO INSANE, too insane to blog about it right now, because I'm just too swamped. Someday, when I've got my head above water a little more, out of the swamp, I guess, I'll let you know more about it.

... please do not interpret that to mean that I don't still love my job. Because I do. Still.




Also, here are the promised pictures of last week's bicycle adventure.

And just so you can be appropriately impressed, I'm including here a map of the trail. All tolled, I think I clocked about 43 miles that day...



We're still rockin' temps in the 80's here in DC... so maybe I'll get one more bike adventure in before the snow falls... (and don't you even tell me there might not be snowfall...)


We do have a lot of falling leaves though - dying leaves falling from trees that will come back in the spring even, not just dying leaves falling from dying trees, which is most of what we've had since I got here in August. So maybe there's hope for fall yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I mean, I always love my roommates...

... but this afternoon I was washing dishes, and I could hear David, of St. Olaf Choir fame, in the bathroom singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah while he showered. And right then in that moment it was one of the most lovable things I could think of... except for, you know, like, puppies and kitties and stuff.


(PS, per David's correction, he was not in the St. Olaf Choir, but rather in the St. Olaf Chapel Choir. Please forgive the confusion.)

DC Wildlife, and other things

(for those of you who are from the suburbs, this is a cockroach)

(a big one)


(though we've seen bigger...)


If you didn't totally love that photo, I've got this for you:

Pictures from the heavenly weekend we spent in West Virginia, October 5-7.

Well, it was almost heaven. You know. West Virginia... Blue Ridge Mountains... Shenandoah River...

Seriously, I'm just telling you where we were. For real.

And it looked like this:


See? It's pretty much what heaven looks like. And I would know. I majored in theology.

Also, if you like pictures of "the sun on the water," then you're going to LOVE this album.


That's all for now... coming soon, pictures from my most recent adventure out of the city... and by "soon" I mean, you know, some other time...

OH but we have internet at our house now! So "soon" might actually be sooner than it would have been! (notice how I still failed to commit to any time table... ) ;)

... and then there's the list of reasons why my job is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS

#89,153: I got a voicemail from an "Officer Simpson" about scheduling a program for the youth group at her church, Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Baby Jesus Baptist Church of God in Christ, etc etc, but when I returned her call, she said she couldn't talk because she had someone on lockdown, but she'd be sure to call me back later.

#89,154: My supervisor and I were supposed to meet this morning at 9, but she was late because *someone really important* had some sort of meeting at the Washington Post, and there were (heavily heavily armed) guards on the sidewalks and rooftops, and also, the road was closed.
(Our building is back-to-back with the Washington Post.)
She said heard maybe it was the president of Iran?

Excuses, excuses. Like I haven't heard the old "president of Iran at the Washington Post" line before! Does she think I was born yesterday?!?

Seriously though. Between presidential caravans (with the White House just down the road), controversial foreign leaders visiting the Washington Post, and "suspicious packages" left outside the Planned Parenthood across the street, our block gets closed down a lot. Good thing I walk to work, right?

(Speaking of ridiculous)

P.S. It's been two days and I'm still waiting for Officer Simpson to call back. Must've been one hell of a lockdown!

A message from the other side

And by "other side" I mean, "place where they don't have internet at their house."

I'm at Caribou. Obviously.
But it kind of feels more like the secret place where I secretly go to secretly reach out to the rest of the world. And drink mochas.

We haven't had internet at our house for a couple of weeks. This is why I haven't been posting. Sigh.

Hopefully the situation will be amended soon.
(by that I mean, we've ordered internet and the guy who was supposed to come install it never showed up, and now I'm planning a nasty letter-writing campaign against Verizon demanding they do something about it!)

In the meantime, I offer you this:

Reason #4,509 why I love my job:
Tuesday night staff yoga.

mmhmm.

Also, I did manage to upload and caption some photos (from my last trip to Caribou), and you can find/look at/enjoy them here.

Alright, some of us have to go to work. Myself included.