Let's just skip September...

...Why not?

I am not going to feel guilty for not blogging throughout the months on August or September because, gosh darn it, I've had better things to do. (Not that I think blogging is a waste of time... because it isn't.)

Aaanyway. It's fall. ...and up until recently I have not been looking forward to this change in season. As I drove up north to see my beau I saw how the trees are already changing. The further north you get, the sooner they want to be red and yellow and orange! Which means, the sooner they are getting ready to be dumped on with snow!!! (EEP!!!)

I normally love fall. I even love winter! and snow!! I think the reason for my bad attitude was because I haven't experienced the events that I am used to seeing accompany the seasons' changes. I have been done with school for more than a year, but last year when fall was starting up I had just finished a great summer at home and I was about to embark on a new journey at my job! When I was young, the Fall was when school started, Winter kicked off with Christmas Break, Spring sprung in with Easter Break, and Summer... well, school's out!! This is the first season since I have finished college that I have had to mentally decide that the season was changing whether I liked it or not, and to embrace it.

I have to admit that reading other people's blogs have helped me overcome my attitude problem. The first time I smiled at the thought of Autumn approaching was when I bought a fall candle from target. Even the smell of the match when it was lit helped. Thanks, Summer, for the inspiration. And then I got the idea to get outside to enjoy the fall when I read Jenny's blog. On Saturday, weather permitting, I will be going to Sever's Corn Maze thanks to her entry about going to the pumpkin patch.

All this being said... I stayed home from work today because I had a fever. Maybe it hasn't been so bad because it's been pouring all day and now it's starting to thunderstorm. Those are the days I just want to be curled up on a couch with a blanket, anyway.

I am off to take some tylenol and wait for my roommate to come home. I miss her.

Happy Fall!

Fast Summer...!!!

Summer, what do you think you are doing?? It's August already?? Everyone at work today was talking about how we all couldn't believe it, how the summer has gone too fast, we haven't had enough hot weather yet, etc... Why do we always need to be complaining about something? I know that I work with a bunch of government employees and it's definitely in their nature to find something to complain about. I am positive that if every day of this summer was 10 degrees warmer, the summer would suddenly become: TOO HOT, a sticky & humid one, miserably expensive because of high electricity bills due to keeping the air conditioning on, etc...

BAH!!!

Enough! This summer has been FANTASTIC! I know it's flying by, but gosh! isn't that what happens when you're having fun? Who the crap wants to complain about having FUN? I know there are things I would still like to do before the end of the summer that I probably won't get around to, but I refuse to think about what I didn't do and to focus on all the great stuff I did.

1. flew out to California

2. saw the Twins play more than once

3. watched my BFF get married

4. helped prepare for BFFs wedding!!

5. got to go out on the lake at least once so far

6. finished physical therapy!

7. fell asleep during a thunderstorm

8. helped plant a garden (does pulling weeds count?)

9. going to see the Brewers play in a couple weeks

10. got a rad tan

11. almost done with my first year at DCMA!!!

12. received awards for being a good employee!

13. got a super sweet boyfriend!

I could totally keep going! What a great summer, right? And I am keeping a full-time job going, too! Definitely didn't think that could happen (glad I was wrong about that).

Long story short: Summer 2009 rules. :)

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Ps 111:2

Staying Cool...

Today it is sooo hot out. I couldn't sleep at all last night and I think I'll blame the heat. In spite of this, I still wore brown trousers + black short sleeved turtle neck + suspenders to work. The idea of wearing it came during my wide-awake middle-of-the-night-day-dreaming. It seemed like a good idea at the time. In my determination to go against the fashion faux pas of wearing black and brown, I found myself baking in the sun. I can't wait to take the train again so I can avoid that 100º car.

My birthday was this past Friday and even though it was the most "adult" birthday I have ever had, it was a lot of fun. (Adult=no party, no cake, work, spending hours in an airport...) Kate got me a Jeff Buckley CD/DVD (love love love) and my parents got me a pair of real Ray-Ban Tortoise Shell Wayfarers (see photo).

I don't know about anyone else, but there are some things in life that never fail to make me feel cool. When I wear my Wayfarers it's like this instant self-confidence boost. It MAY have to do with the fact that I feel like Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe when I wear them... or the fact that my aunt said I reminded her of Raquel Welch (I shouldn't have to remind her that Welch is a Foster Grant girl... not Ray-Ban. ugh).

Other ways I am "staying cool"...

My temperature: changed out of turtleneck into shorts + tee shirt and opened the window

My attitude: wearing my 'Bans indoors while listening to Daniel Lanois and getting ready to head to the couch for a nap.

Memorial Day

Today I was sold a bottle of perfume by a gay man in Macy's. Go ahead, all of you liberals. Scold me for being insensitive to cultural norms. The fact that I am bringing up this fact must therefore also mean I am not okay with all people and their sexual preferences. But seriously... Jean Paul with bright pink lips, matching nail polish and heels (and shirt and tie) sold me a bottle of Daisy by Marc Jacobs (his personal fave).

To be quite honest, I don't know how I feel about the whole situation, besides a little put out. Taking advice on a clearly feminine practice that I know little to nothing about seemed a little weird coming from a ... um... man. I listened to his advice, even though the men he attracts are swinging on the wrong side of the plate. The one I bought ended up being quite nice. I will probably not tell men that like my perfume that Jean Paul's boyfriends do too.

...Happy Memorial Day?

Kris Allen is my American Idol!

I have to admit that I have had a crush on Kris Allen since day one, even before all of his improvements over these past few months. I think he should win tonight, but I am fairly certain that Adam will take it home. I forgot to try voting again after my attempts right after the show... I kept getting a busy signal and I never tried again. I'm sorry Kris! If Adam wins, it's all my fault.

I did enjoy Kris' performances last night. To hear Kris' live version of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, click here.

Oh, and I read this on someone's blog, referring to Ryan Seacrest's opening remarks: ‘This is the final performance show, and this is American Idol…’ Then he comes up with ‘this is the acoustic rocker versus the glam rocker, Conway versus California, the boy-next-door versus the guy-liner!’ Wow, no boxing metaphors this year, just a light version of good versus evil…

BAHAHA! GO GOOD!!

Stretching my knee...

I have been doing my stretches while out of town, and to prove it, I have photo documentation of my progress. About 95 degrees without pain!! This is fan-tas-tic. Yessss...

Into the Month of April... I mean, May.

I suck at blogging. 

This is what has happened during the past five weeks...

April 3: Had ACL surgery. Half of the day was spent either feeling fine (with a bit of nervousness) or unconscious. The other half was spent sleeping or puking.

April 4-8: Entire days spent only doing either A. sleeping or B. pill-popping. No post-op pain was felt because of said activity B. Also, activity A generally resulting from activity B. Selected pills were Ketorolac, Oxicodon, Asprin and Tums... Food is important when you are taking Ketorolac. My food of choice happened to be LIFE cereal and goldfish for the week.

April 9: Post-op appointment with the surgeon. All looks normal according to the physician's assistant (if you call a half-numb, yellow and purple swollen mass of a leg with a 4-inch scabby scar on the knee all up in a mummy-wrap normal).

April 10: Tried to telework. Spent most of the time getting caught up on e-mails.

April 11: Spent the entire day reading Twilight. [entire = 14 straight hours. bathroom breaks excluded.]

April 12: Easter! I couldn't play trumpet and I was super jealous seeing Susan and Andy up front. I wonder why I thought I would be able to practice the music while on drugs?

April 15: Started Physical Therapy! I did not know what to expect, but found a fellow American Idol fan in my therapist (she likes Danny Gokey the best, while I remain faithful to Kris Allen).

Therapy update: I was able to bend my knee to 75 degrees (flexion), only straightened to 15 degrees (extension). Hurts. A lot. Once the session was done, I felt good and loosened up, though. Still on 2 crutches.

April 17: Had second session of PT.

Therapy update: max 85 degrees flexion, 10 degrees extension. Ouch.

April 17-19: Went to Covenant Pines for an all-church retreat with First Cov. Had a great time getting to know more of the first cov family. I had to bring both crutches to the camp so I wouldn't fall on my face while i maneuvered around all the trees and wild animals.

April 19: I forced myself to trudge through the beginning chapters of New Moon. I couldn't get into it originally because Bella was pissing me off. I kept reading and was able to get past my frustrations, and then my attitude toward her flipflopped... my heart broke for her when Edward left (Yes, I cried. Harrowingly. Josh, Kate, and Shelly are my witnesses.)

April 20: Down to one crutch! No more pain pills necessary, either. 

Therapy update: max 95 degrees flexion, 7 degrees extension. Mega ouch. Definitely hurt enough that the tears surfaced.

April 23: No more crutches! Spring Diversity Day at work. It went surprisingly well. Speakers on Title 9, Japanese Internment camps in WWII, an African American speaker from the Senior Executive Service of DCMA, and an actual Holocaust survivor.

Therapy update: Digression. Max 92 degrees flexion, 10 degrees ext. Super frustrated at myself. >.<

April 25: Got home from work and a package was waiting for me at the back door. Sarah had overnighted my own personal copy of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. (!!!) Finished New Moon. (actually April 26.) Stayed up to 4:30AM to finish "the last inch and a half" of the book. Didn't think it would take that long. Worth it.

April 26: Drove to Hutchinson to visit MorMor & Ellen. MorMor took a tumble out of her wheelchair a few days earlier so she was feeling a little down. It was nice to see her, and I don't think she minded that I napped off my post-New-Moon fatigue while I was there.

April 27: Physical Therapy went super well. :D

Update: 100 degrees flexion, 6 degrees extension.

April 28: Finished Eclipse. Wished Bella would just quit being so stubborn about getting married. She is selfless, yes, but seriously... give up your preconceived notions about the idea of marriage and just get excited about something, already.

April 30: Found a new band crush for May, 2009: Kings of Leon.

Therapy update: 103 degrees flexion, 6 degrees extension. (i think?)

May 1: Got another insurance statement (not a bill) from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Almost passed out when I saw how much the statement said the surgery cost. $30,000?! Rough estimate of what i will have to pay? $4000. "Thank you Jesus for a job and HEALTH INSURANCE!"

May 1-3: Dad drove to the cities in the Audi to see the Twins play the Kansas City Royals. (5/1: W 7-5; 5/2: L 7-10; 5/3: L 5-7) Got to see the Germanns on Saturday and Brittany & Matt (her BF) on Sunday.

May 4: Left with Allison (coworker friend) to drive to Quad Cities for a 2-week class--CON120: Mission-focused contracting. Joy.

May 6: Finished Breaking Dawn. I tried to draw it out... the sadness at the idea of being done was a stronger emotion than the excitement of finding out what happened. I am pleased with how the ending turned out. :) Sarah told me about this guy named Kaleb Nation, the first guy to publicly read Twilight. He blogs reactions to each chapter of all of the books (hilarious). His sites have made him famous and he's met Stephenie Meyer and the cast of the movie, been in Business Week Magazine, he's written a book, writes his own songs, and keeps a very active youtube channel. As a fellow Tweeter, this is my favorite youtube video of his.

May 8: (today... phew!!): I have successfully finished my first week of class. I had a very detailed dream about being late to work (at a local candy store). My commute was on foot through people's houses and through windows. I dreamt that I could run. It was a very exhilarant and  liberating dream, in spite of the going to be late fear.

Knee update: No therapy for 2 weeks because of being out of town. A giant ten-inch patch of the left side of my knee remains completely numb. This really disturbs me. I will have to wait many more months before the nerve-endings grow back. I do my exercises faithfully every day but I miss my American Idol camaraderie with my physical therapist. :(

Have a lovely weekend!! :)

Hannah