Tuesday, August 27, 2013

back to the grind tomorrow

This entry is going to be a little scatterbrained. I downloaded a bunch of pictures from my phone and I have a comment about each to give people an idea of what has been going on with me. Also because I'm sick... again. 
First, I'm about 90% done with organizing and decorating the new house. About twice a day I'll tell Potato "I just want it to be done." Yesterday I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen and started organizing the bedrooms. I noticed while going through the rooms that Potato and I don't really have a set style. The things that we have a pretty eclectic because almost everything we own are hand-me-downs. Even the paint I used in the living and dining room was leftover from Potato's parents house. It'll be nice when someday we'll be able to establish our own style like the Birdos or JoMaura. 
This photo is of the shelf above the TV. While I like the way it is organized the pieces don't really go together and I'm very aware of it.  
This is Mom's drawing of Justin Bieber on the drawsomething app. She has gotten so good. I want her to take a drawing class. I think she'd really love it. 
These next pictures are from the D.C. trip. It was honestly one of the best vacations I've ever been on. It was really nice to have so many members of my family all together in a new city (at least a new city to me). Everybody kinda did their own thing and hung out when they felt like it. Potato and I had Moose as a travel companion for the most part. We did sneak away for a few hours to check out the National Mall. We stopped to appreciate Lincoln, WWII, Korean War, and the Vietnam War Memorials. The Vietnam Memorial was one of the most sobering things I've ever seen. It's something that everybody should see and take their time with. Seeing the names, your own reflection in the wall, and seeing other people point out their loved ones was very moving. 




Every time I see a statue of Lincoln I think of Moose - So I made him sit by him.
Cocktail hour at the hotel - the boys in red, white, and blue. 
The last stop on an epic an long day. MB and I sat on barrels of hay and yelled at people (which I hope we continue to do into our senior years). 

The next morning we headed to the "Erin's Face Museum." Joeby turned 1 billion minutes old. It was a great moment and I was happy to share it with him. 



Look closely at who the letter from Edward Weston is addressed to. 



Bearzors


More Bearzors 


Uncle Jerry's illuminated centerpieces. They looked awesome. 

Potato and I got to the airport with the Birdos and had an hour or two to kill. So, we played draw together. I drew this one knowing that if anybody were to get it would be Potatohead. He got it within seconds. It reaffirmed my love for him.  

On the flight home I got the window seat. I have trouble expressing how much I enjoy having the window seat. Flying is amazing. There is something so special about being able to be transported by flight that I hope I never take for granted. The views are breathtaking and are constantly changing. I get upset by people that sit in the window seat and pull their window down. How do they not appreciate what is going on beyond the glass? I don't care if you fly everyday. As long as the sun isn't blinding you, you should have the window up and you should be staring into space with an open jaw. 
For whatever reason, this flight had me in a reflective mood. Now that I've finally realized that I'm going to be here for a while I've started to set goals for myself. I decided that I wanted to appreciate and celebrate my surroundings and strive to better myself.
Even Gary, IN (I've been known to call it Mordor) looks beautiful from this high up. 

Every time Potato and I have made the drive from EL to Chicago this Summer we've seen these "wings" on the highway. The first time I saw one I said that it was a once in a lifetime type of thing mostly because Potato missed it. However, we saw 3 more on the trip alone and have seen at least one every other drive we've taken. I think that they are the sails on a windmill... but I'm not 100% sure. Either way they're massive and quite the sight to see. 


This picture I'm throwing in because it was my only option in draw with mom. I was embarrassed to draw it but I think it came out nicely.
One last thing, Sparky and Matty Boy are engaged! I couldn't be more happy for them!!! 




Saturday, August 10, 2013

updates

Fall is rapidly approaching E.L. Potato and I are all moved in to the new house down the block, we signed up for some fall softball, and are gearing up for a new school year (vomit).
The new house is great.  It has more than enough space for 2.5 inhabitants. The basement has a ping pong table and the second bedroom is being used as Potato's closet/shared office space/exercise room. My level of general stress and anxiety has deflated greatly probably due to the fact that we're no longer living with roommates. My roommates weren't bad but they didn't like helping with chores or doing their dishes. Naturally, this lack of help got old and left me in a constant state of moodiness. Another thing that has been good about the move is that Potato and I can have nice things. I don't know if other people feel this way, but I've always felt that if something broke while I was using it I would be upset but would get over it. But if something that I liked broke while somebody else used it I'd be furious and resentful. I'd end up thinking about all the times I had used the item and it hadn't broken and then wonder what the hell was wrong with this person that it broke on them. This isn't really a fair way to look at things but I don't think that I'm alone in this line of thought. So anyway, I got some nice things that I am excited about.
Potato and I subbed for a softball team a couple weeks ago. I didn't actually want to play but I was told the team would forfeit if I didn't help out. So we played and won. After the game we were told that since we won, it was going to be a double-header... WTF. We played the second game and won that too.  We both played pretty well. I was at 1st base for both games and only let one ball pass me on a horrible throw. I hit pretty well to the gap between the infield and outfield and got on base almost every time. So anyways, since we did so well playing, we were invited back the next week for the championship game... which they would forfeit if we didn't play. By the second inning in the championship game Potato and I had a combined 3 muscles pulled and a busted knee. I sat out after a replacement came in the 2nd inning. As I sat on the bench, whimpering, I contemplated how much I hate getting old and how exercise is overrated. Regardless, we'll be playing in another league soon that will only be double-headers. Believe it or not I'm not excited about it.
My second class this season is wrapping up next week. I got a fair amount of work that has to be done before that 8am deadline but I've been having trouble sleeping so it shouldn't be hard to find time to get it done. Next semester I'm taking some good classes including photography, wheel throwing, and painting. At the moment I'm most nervous about painting. It's something that I've never really gotten into. I think I've done less than 5 paintings in my life. Considering how many art classes I've taken, that's kinnda shocking. As far as photography goes, I'm excited to learn how to use my camera. I feel weird having this fancy thing that I have no idea how to use. I'm hoping that wheel throwing will just come back to me - like riding a bike. But we'll have to wait and see.