Friday, April 30, 2010

Random Thought Friday

1. I'm not even going to pretend that I'm doing this weeks RTT on time. Often, I forget on Thursday and push one out early Friday morning but mark the post date as a Thursday, hoping no one will know.

2. I'm also not going to pretend that anyone really cares what day RTT comes out. They don't. But they do care about RTT. I get called out by people if I neglect to post.

3. I got a new camera! This is good except that I have to install the software to download the photos. Boo...

4. Last Sunday, the Polack and I went to King's Island (an amusement park). We chaperoned the senior trip and it was tons of fun. Rain was predicted for the entire day however it held off until about 2:30 and even then, many of the rides were still running. And since it was so early in the amusement park season, we hardly waited more than 10 minutes for any ride. And the best part is that the students were awesome and when we decided to leave a few hours early, everyone made it back to the buses on time.

5. I'm really, really, really, really trying not to stress out about all the external things going on in my life right now. Summer is coming and we still haven't sold our house. Once school is out, the plan was that the Polack and the boys would move to Bloomington so we could all be together. But with a house payment in Lafayette, it really doesn't make sense. We can't buy anything until our house sells so I thought maybe we would sublet an apartment for the summer. But it seems so silly to pay rent when we have a perfectly good house to live in. But not being with my family during the week is REALLY wearing on me and I keep trying to tell myself that this situation is only temporary. But with the lack of progress with the situation is sure doesn't FEEL temporary. Oy. *deep breath*

6. Mia wants to go garage saling tomorrow. I'm not thrilled with the idea but it's an item on her "things to do while in America" list so I must help her achieve it. Only for Mia...

7. The birds are chirping, the sky is blue and its supposed to be 80 today. Yeah, spring!

8. I feel so bad for Nicklas. He had a big project at school and spent hours working on it. And then he got a D+. We contacted his teacher for an explanation and although we don't agree with his grading rubric, it's not something we're going to fight. We're still very proud of Nicklas and let him know that we know his grade doesn't really reflect his efforts.

9. Baseball season has started for Nicklas but unfortunately, all his games are during the week. I've made a vow to myself that I'm going to make several trips back to Lafayette to see him. And yesterday, I listened to the game via phone so at least I got to hear his hit.

10. I really hate being away from family but at least professionally, things are going really well for me. And for that, I'm thankful.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Random Thought Thursday

So the good news is that I love my job and I'm really happy about where I'm at professionally. The bad news is that I no longer have the time to devote to blogging or facebooking like I used to. I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep this up. I've gone from blogging nearly every day to blogging maybe once a week. I don't have many fans out there but I'm sorry to those loyal followers that I do have.

Anyway, on with the show....

1. I've lost my lead in the Prediction League. Boo!

2. Today at work, we had a spring picnic AND a cake walk. I won! Yay for Cake Walks!

3. Last weekend was super busy - soccer games, a cookout, a visit to Purdue's Spring Fest, and a birthday party. My camera is broken so I took pictures with my iPhone. They aren't the best so I'm debating on whether I should post them.

4. At Spring Fest, Mia ate a chocolate covered cricket. I couldn't believe it! I was very proud of her. I ate one too as well as a brownie with worms in it. Luckily, my piece of brownie was missing the key ingredient. Mia also had her first elephant ear. It didn't have any insects in it!

5. Tonight is the Scholarship Honors Dinner for the School I work for. Somehow, I was elected to read the names of the students as they walk across the stage. I'm not happy about this and tried to pawn the job off on someone else but was told there needed to be a female on stage to balance the other two men. I hate public speaking!

6. Nicklas told me that he really misses having me home during the week. I hate that we're not together as much but as much as it sucks, I know the job change was the best thing for me and eventually we'll all be together again.

7. I don't what it is with Blogger lately. I can't paste text, I can't see my photos (only the html) and there are fewer formatting options. Boo to Blogger!

8. I've tried a few new Bloomington restaurants - Lennie's, Sweet Grass, Scholar's Inn, Upland. Yay for me but bad for the budget!

9. About once a year, I get a blister on my lip that usually pops up when I'm stressed out. Of course I got one yesterday. I don't know if it's because I'm stressed about the whole reading-the-names-as-the-students-walk-across-the-stage thing or if it's just general stress from trying to sell a house and being apart from my family. Perhaps it's a combination of everything?

10. This week is prom. I can't wait to see Mia's dress (she's having it made). The Polack and I are chaperoning and we're also chaperoning the senior trip to Kings Island on Sunday. I haven't been there since I was in high school. That's a shout out to my friend, Christy. Remember yelling Farfegnugen when we rode all the rides? Good times!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

20 Years Ago...


Today is the 20th anniversary of the passing of Ryan White. I can't believe it's been 20 years. I was in elementary school when I first heard Ryan White's story. The AIDS epidemic was ramping up and there was so much confusion, fear, and bias surrounding the disease. I was young but I knew this thing was a big deal. And I truly felt for Ryan White. The deplorable way he and his family were treated angered me. I remember feeling ashamed of living in Indiana because of the prejudice he experienced. I figured everyone around the country would lump all Indiana residents into the intolerance, bias category. He was a peer - only a few years older than me - and he was told he wasn't allowed to attend school. It seemed impossible that anyone would deny him this right.

I never would have thought that 20 years after his death, I'd somehow be involved with honoring his legacy through my role at IU. I feel honored and blessed to help continue his message of tolerance, awareness, and strength. Tomorrow is the event we've planned and as a result, we've also established a scholarship to continue his work. When we first began planning this event in partnership with Ryan's mother, Jeanne White Ginder, we wondered how much interest it would generate. Judging by the media attention we've received, people still remember his story and still care about his message. Our press releases have been picked up by the the AP, there was a blurb in USA Today, and NPR interviewed Jeanne (who has also had interviews with a few Indianapolis television stations). Tomorrow is going to be a big deal. I'm bringing my Kleenex.

Random Thought Thursday

Oh my gosh, I just realized it's Thursday! And I haven't even begun to think about my RTT post. And even though it's early enough, I have a day full of meetings. In fact, this one of two short breaks I have. I should be prepping for my meetings but can't seem to get motivated. So I guess this is as good a time as any to whip out a RTT...

1. My trash in my office only gets emptied once a week. So the remains of my Lean Cuisine from Tuesday is stinking up the place. Ick. I think I'm going to have to empty my own trash.
2. I need to visit the ladies room but I'm being lazy and postponing the inevitable.
3. The trees are blooming in Bloomington and it's so beautiful!
4. I just realized the irony in saying blooming in Bloomington....
5. I want to create a list of things to accomplish/do/achieve in my lifetime. This is called a bucket list, right? I've never seen the movie but I'm guessing that's what the term means. However, I haven't given any thought as to what to put on my list. Suggestions?
6. In two minutes, I have a web-based training I'm supposed to participate in. This means I'll be distracted by emails (and blogging) and probably won't pay attention. I'm such a bad student.
7. Our house selling activities aren't going well. There haven't been any serious bites. I know we're coming out of a slow real estate period so I'm really trying not to freak out. But I am. Of course.
8. Summer is quickly approaching which is nice to know but oh so bittersweet because it means that Mia will be returning to Norway. I can't even think about it yet. Her graduation ceremony is Memorial Day weekend and I think we're having her open house the following weekend. So I've got a party to plan which is good because it will distract me from thinking about her leaving.
9. Speaking of Mia, the other day we were talking about her plans after she graduates from Norwegian high school (spring of 2011). She's always said that she plans to travel but our recent conversation, she said she's thinking about college. I was so surprised and asked what happened to the travel plans. She commented that she's feeling pressure to go to school but that's what everyone's telling her she should do. I had to point out that she's getting pressure from American's because college right after high school is a very AMERICAN tradition. But that doesn't mean it's right for her. She loves to travel and experience new cultures and if that's what she wants to do before going to college she ABSOLUTELY should. She's young and has plenty of time for college and she should take advantage of the opportunity to do so. She seemed to really think that through and I was feeling pretty proud of myself until she mentioned that she was thinking about applying to IU. The Polack and I would be THRILLED if she came to IU but I feel like the longer she's back in Norway, the less likely she'll return to Indiana.
10. Okay, I'm not paying attention to my training when I should be so I'm signing off for now. Aloha!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Pizza, pizza

BackBlogged...

Homemade pizza's with the Kubatski cousins.

Culver's

Another BackBlogged photo shoot.... This is from a recent visit (circa late February?) to Culver's...




Saturday, April 3, 2010

In B-town

Two of our favorite places in Bloomington....

1) MOTHER BEAR'S! They have the BEST pizza around. (Although it's a bit pricey!) Seeger loves to sraw on the menu's.



He likes the pizza too!



2) OLIVER WINERY! It's just a pretty setting and the boys love the waterfall. They can't wait to come back this summer and have picnic by the pond. Incidentally, this is where the Polack and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner.



BackBlogged.... These photo's were taken during a visit by the Polack and the boys, during President's Day weekend....

Friday, April 2, 2010

Random Thought Thursday

I'm a day late with my random thoughts but you don't care, right?

1. The Polack and I went to see Ingrid Michaelson at the Bluebird in Bloomington last night. I've been looking forward to this concert for A LONG TIME and it was a much needed distraction from all the other stuff going on in our lives. And it was a BLAST. I'm love with Ingrid. She's so cool. And she has a sense of humor. As her band started playing the music to The Way I Am, she proceeded to break out and sing Ice Ice Baby. And not just the beginning BUT THE WHOLE SONG. How cool is that?

2. And because Ingrid deserves more than one random thought... she's also cool because at the end of her show, she sang Toxic. Yeah, as in Britney Spears and the whole band played the song and then dropped their instruments and did a choreographed dance complete with bows and goodbyes to the crowd and EVERY ONE LOVED IT. Including me. Too bad the Polack missed it because he was in the bathroom.

3. In other news related to our time at the Bluebird, the Polack ran into a friend from college which we were all whoa because we certainly didn't expect to see anyone we knew but it was cool and quickly became even cooler because he was hanging out with two girls that WERE AWESOME and so much fun and promised to be my new best friends since they know I'm all alone during the week with nothing to do. They like to take advantage of living in Bloomington and all the fun stuff there is to do and promised to let me tag along on their adventures so I'm excited about this but also wondering if it really happen.

4. The two girls were younger than me so I'm also wondering why I always seem to hang out with those inbetweeners - girls that aren't married or they're just married or they've just had babies -- when I'm a little further in life. Am I trying to hold on to my youth or should I just forget about age? I should point out that one just turned 30 and I'm only five years older. But when I told her my age, she said, "You don't look that old" which means A) she thinks 35 is old and B) now if I ever do see her again, I'm going to be worried about "not looking that old" all the time which will take some effort in terms of make-up and attire.

5. It's 80 degrees today. BEAUTIFUL!

6. The Polack and the boys are on spring break so we've been having fun in between the days I'm working. We went to French Lick for a few days and spent some time at the indoor water park. I have pictures. I'll post them soon - I promise!

7. The Polack is making fun of the fact that I never post pictures or tell stories on my blog anymore. He suggested I just change the name of the blog to Random Thought Thursday.

8. Mia got her report card and there are two F's on it but it's because her teacher hasn't put any grades in for the whole nine weeks. (She has the same teacher for two classes.) That's crap - how lazy can he be to not put in grades before the end of the nine weeks.

9. Did anyone get punk'd for April Fools? I thought of a couple I could try but never got around to it.

10. I bought Breaking Away at WalMart for $6 which is awesome because I've been waiting to play this movie for Mia and Nicklas. I can't wait until we have a free evening to watch it!