Life is so wonderful at the moment... not a thing to complain about.

Evils of the desert

Last night I encountered my first snake sighting. Up until this point I've just been running past millions of snake holes and hearing their warning rattle. I've gotta say that it was a bit unnerving seeing a real one. It was nearly dark out and I was running behind schedule so I still had about a half mile left to run. Thankfully I was looking down at the ground. If I hadn't been, I would have stepped right on a 3 foot snake. Snake expert I am not; therefore, I couldn't tell if it was a rattle snake or a side winder; either way, I'm almost 100% certain that it would hurt to get to close to it. My pace increased significantly after that and I started thinking about how ill prepared I am for snake encounters. In Minnesota we had garden snakes; not exactly dangerous although you would think they had the bite of death the way the northerners react to them. Anyway, I've never been taught what to do if you are struck. Do I try and suck the poison out? Then the poison would be in my mouth anyway right? Would I be able to make it out of the desert or would I croak right there? These are scary thoughts. You can bet your boots that I'll be learning something about this subject. Every time I set foot out in that desert I'm playing with fire.

One word: EXHAUSTED. Don't ask me anything. Not even if it's an incredibly easy question. My mind is shot. I know I'm done when I start talking to the student hoping they will understand better. WOW. Cres and I counted the classes that we interpret every week. The grand total comes to 27 classes. Basically we are going to class for 9 students.

All of that said, I LOVE my job. I really do. I just need a little more support than what I've got.

fancypants

fancypants, originally uploaded by nosnewsasil.

Little Miss

pretty girl, originally uploaded by nosnewsasil.

Today the little Miss is sporting the sweater I bought her. Adorable and extremely classy...

what a face!

what a face!, originally uploaded by nosnewsasil.

Her infamous attitude is coming out. I can't wait until Luke has two of these little tykes to deal with! :)

a bit of sad and mad

Tonight I've been amazed at how the simple things make life so much better. The sunset across the desert was blazing orange surrounded by bright pink wisps of clouds. It reminded me of an old 80's beach towel that we used to have at home that I absolutely loved in spite it's thread bareness and ineffectiveness. Brings back memories of late nights spent on the lake when everything was so much simpler. Standing out in the middle of the desert surrounded by beauty that cannot be duplicated by man's hands was soothing and unsettling at the same time. I was hit with the realization that I am very much so alone.

I finally met Katie in a very unofficial way. Running on treadmills next to each other isn't exactly meeting her. I can't even explain the anger and sadness that hit me. Not anger at her; sadness for her and anger for him. Once again, I'm surprised at the amount of emotion that I seem to have saved up for situations like these. This brings up the question: Will I ever truly be finished so that I won't feel anything when I see him or something related to him? Guess not... it's mine to deal with. I'm not tortured by it; just saddened every time.

travels

I'm itching to take a major vacation out of the country. It's become an obsession over the weekend. I was hit with the realization that I haven't really been out of the U.S. First up on my list is Greece & Turkey. Some of my Mesaba friends have been to Turkey and absolutely loved it. I've got to do this before something disastrous happens like marriage... that seems to kill any sort of adventure or spontaneity. So, here is a list of the top 10 places I want to see:

1. Greece/Turkey
2. Croatia
3. Thailand
4. Norway
5. Brazil
6. Peru
7. Spain
8. Italy
9. India
10. Germany

My mother is going to have something to say about a few of them... I can hear it now.

family observations

I'm going to be an aunt again!! This isn't recent headline news. I've known for awhile. My brother called to tell me that the new one is "a dude".

Last night I was thinking about how vastly different my life is from my brother's life. Any sort of commonality that we shared in the past dissolved the minute he got married. Not that we really shared any interests before that anyway. We spent the first 18 years of our lives together and I dare say that we don't even know each other. Maybe it's the silent Norwegian in us that kills an open line of communication. The silence suites me just fine... I guess we just can't crack each other's shells to figure out what is really going on with us.

public speaking fears

I can't believe that I am back at work. Last week felt like one long continuous workday. My job requires me to be up in front of people everyday and I'm totally fine with that as long as I am working. The minute I have to stand up in front of a crowd without my flying fingers to hide behind, I succumb to stage fright. Ridiculous; I know. So Saturday, I had to speak to about 150 football players being held hostage by their coaches in a theater. They weren't there because they couldn't wait to hear what I had to say. It was out of obligation that they found themselves plunked in front of me. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would bust right out of me. I plunged through it with an expression that had fear written all over it.

After the stress of that, I went out and had coffee with the girls... it's been so long! Stef was the amazing coffee organizer and now that she's gone it's kind of gone by the wayside. With a sufficient amount of espresso down the hatch, I headed to John's house for some delectable dining. Once again, I have to say that I live a charmed life. Lisa & John, as a kitchen combo, beat out every restaurant in town.

Last night ended with a Sinful Sydney Sundae... Life doesn't get better than this.