October Bucks

October is such an awesome month, and October weekends feel like valuable currency that you'll lose if you don't spend them by the end of the month. Nothing against November, but it's no October. October has so much to offer that just the other day, after looking at the calendar I said to someone, "I'm freaking out because I want to make sure I don't waste any of this month!"

So far this season, I have spent my October bucks on hosting a bonfire, admiring the trees, going to a pumpkin patch, eating caramel apples, watching football games, going to a cider mill, making spiced hot apple cider, watching a couple scary movies, eating almost an entire bag of candy corns, and walking along crunchy leaf-y sidewalks (the leaves are crunchy, not the sidewalk).

Today I went to Greenfield Village to see the fall colors there. As I've mentioned on here before, Greenfield Village is a historic village in Dearborn, Michigan. It's one of my favorite places to visit. My mom and I went today, and had a blast. We even rode the train, which I haven't done since I was a kid. I couldn't help but take pictures all day of course and here are some that captured some of the beautiful fall colors.

Magical, and totally worth the money. What are you spending your October bucks on?

Fall

I know I've said this before, but October is truly the prettiest month of the year (at least, in Michigan, that is). The leaves haven't all changed yet, but they've started to. Have any of you gone "leaf peeping" before? "Peeping" has such a negative connotation, like you're leering through your window curtains with binoculars staring at the leaves without them knowing it, watching them change (colors).

I've never gone on any special drives to go leaf peeping, but I like the idea and I'm kind of thinking about maybe trying it out this month! Any tips? Driving a car to do this seems like a bad idea because the driver shouldn't be distracted, and plus, you're going too fast to really enjoy the leaves (at least, the way I drive). Walking seems to slow, roller skates are out of the question and a tandem bike seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Maybe a rickshaw?

Anyway, though I haven't done any official "peeping" this season, I've seen some pretty leaves, as pictured here. Every day I like to see which trees in the neighborhood have started changing. The bright red leaves are my favorite, but I also love the ones that are a myriad of colors - seemingly unable to land on just one. They're all pretty though, really. Do you have a favorite?

I hope you're enjoying fall as much as I am. Peeping or not.

Warm Memories

Remember summer? Yeah, me neither. This time of year, summer becomes like your old friend who moved away, and who's face you're starting to forget.

I do have some memories though, and I think if you tell me some of yours, together we can remember summer's face. Here's what I remember:

1. Feeling the warmth of the sun.
2. The smell of someone BBQing nearby.
3. Flip flops and painted toe nails.
4. Corn on the cob.
5. Sunglasses.
6. Riding my bike.
7. Swimming in the lake to cool off.

Going into water to cool off. Imagine.

It's so sad but that's all I remember. It's so cold here now. So, so cold. And snowing nonstop.

Up till this very day, I haven't really minded winter this time around. But suddenly I've hit a wall. I'll have to find a way to get over it because we still have a solid three months of winter ahead of us. But for today, I'll allow myself to daydream about summer, and remember the good times.

Things I want to do this Halloween season...

I will not be making this. It scares me.

Make some mod podge pumpkins. If I actually do this, it will be a miracle. A Halloween miracle.

Watch The Changeling, Ghost Busters, and at least one other scary movie (haven't decided which yet). Oh, and at least one t.v. Halloween special.

Decide who to have a crush on this fall.

Eat candy corns. Side note: when I was growing up there was an attorney named "Larry Corn" who had some really cheesy commercials on t.v. As kids we thought it was hilarious to call candy corns "Larry Corns" and in my mind I still call them that.

Come up with a really good Halloween costume. Or not. I could go either way on this one.

Carve a pumpkin into something unexpected.

Put the past in the past. Fall is my most nostalgic time of year, for better or worse.

Find the Disney movie, "Mr. Boogedy" on dvd - or vhs, I'm not picky - and hope it's as good as I remember it. Know it's not going to be, and watch it anyway.

Tell me what you hope to do this season!

Wednesday Thoughts

Ok, here's what I've decided - I think my new feature is going to be "would you rather." I'll start it on Friday and try it out for awhile. If you guys get bored with it, we'll move on to something else. I think it's going to be fun though - I already have a good question dreamed up for the first one!

That's not to say that I'm not going to blog about the other things though. I mean, I already blog about dating questions all the time. And I blog about T.V. from time to time too. I wonder how many of you watch the shows I watch? I'm going to put a poll up on the upper left. If you have a favorite show that you think I might like, let me know! I might be up for adding a new show to my schedule.

So, I noticed that only women commented on my last post. Do men not have issues with self esteem? Or is it that they don't want to talk about feelings in a public forum? Insights?

And my last thought is this: this morning on my way to work, I noticed that a local farmer has set up his pumpkin stand for the fall. There's no more denying it, fall is here. Whenever I hear that Katy Perry "California Girls" song on the radio, I think, "move on. Summer's over, Katy." It seems out of place now. Do you know what I mean? (Like Katy is the d.j. playing it - I know, that doesn't make sense. But you know what I mean.)

Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday Thoughts

Yesterday was voting day - I love voting. I love filling in the little circle next to the candidate who I like best and feeling like I'm doing my duty. The only thing I get nervous about is voting on the ballot initiatives. I read up on them before hand so I'm not taken off guard but I sometimes find the wording to be a bit confusing. "The citizens of said community will henceforth agree to never not pay more or less than 50% of 20% increase on the tax on every 3rd school in a five - seven mile radius..." Huh?

A few years back there was a ballot initiative which I believe was called "stump the hippies" (like me). It involved the environment and I remember being quite concerned about it. I read through it several times in the days leading up to the vote but couldn't sift through the double negatives. It was so bad, I couldn't even determine if voting 'yes' would save or destroy the environment. I asked some friends about it, hoping they could help me sort it out but after reading through it together, we were even more baffled. In the end we determined a "no" vote was the way to go but it turned out we were wrong. As I was watching the election results on the news that night, I remember thinking, "wait - why are those guys in suits laughing and pouring oil all over the trees and why are they draining the Great Lakes? And why do those people in the tie dyed shirts look so sad?" Tricky tricky ballot initiative. Everyone was standing around baffled, going, "Wait, I thought we...? What happened there?"

So yeah, it's a pretty serious thing, voting.

Some other things on my mind today:

• I wish people would stop saying summer is almost over. We still have one more month!
• I just got back from vacation but am leaving again soon to go to Utah for a week! Way excited to see friends and sites.
• I've written in my blog four days in a row - what's up with that?
  

Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday Thoughts

The "man" is really getting me down this week. I need a vacation. I took a long lunch break today and went to the farmers market and out to lunch at my favorite restaurant. It helped but I think I need a day to sleep. Doesn't that sound so nice? Just a day or two. Or a week. Yeah, a week would be nice. Is that asking too much?

In other thoughts, I had some amazing gazpacho a couple weeks ago and I have been craving it ever since. It was like eating a bowl of summer - all the ingredients were so fresh! I've been trying to find a good recipe for it since then but can't decide on one. Do any of you either:

1) have a good recipe for gazpacho, or
2) trust a certain recipe website that you could recommend?

I'm excited to make some. I've only made it once before and it was so long ago I don't remember how to do it. It should be an adventure.

There is one thing I make every summer that symbolizes summer to me: zucchini bread. I love zucchini bread and I associate it with the hottest days of summer. What is your summer specialty?

And lastly, I've started labeling (tagging) my posts as you'll see on the lower left side. It's going to take me a long time to go through and tag all of them but it's been kind of fun to go back. Dang, I blogged a lot about the swine flu last year, didn't I? The funny thing is, just this past weekend I was with a group of friends and someone said, "what ever happened to the swine flu?" I'm not sure if he was waxing nostalgic or if he was just wondering.

Oh great, I just realized that by talking about it again, I'm going to have to label this post as being about the swine flu. Hopefully this will be the last time.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

Summer Goals

Yesterday was the official start of summer! To me, it had already begun. I mark it's arrival by things like:

• the return of fireflies (which I started spotting a week or two ago),
• temperatures over 80 degrees,
• ice cream cravings (started back in February),
• and of course, summer romance plottings (sort of hard to plot but I do my best)

Several of my friends have told me that because summer tends to fly by, they like to make a list of summer goals at the beginning. I thought this sounded like a good idea so I thought I'd make one of my own. But to make it slightly more interesting, I used one of those word cloud programs:


These types of programs have a tendency to over emphasize words that don't really deserve it. For instance, I am planning a trip to Utah but I'm only going to be there for a week so "Utah" probably shouldn't be the biggest word on there. I kept randomizing it to make it smaller but it kept making it big. Maybe that means something really special is going to happen on my trip to Utah?

Those of you who are familiar with this blog know that I talk about summer romance every summer, so that one isn't new. The rest is pretty much self explanatory. Well except that the program separated "hot dogs" so the word "dogs" is on there randomly which looks pretty weird since dogs pretty much live year round and aren't exclusive to summer, as far as I know. It also separated "farmers market" into two. Oh well. I think you can get the spirit of my summer expectations well enough, right?

What are some of your hopes and dreams for this summer?

Spring Fever

Now that it's officially spring, I have spring fever. I'm no longer fretting about whether or not it will snow again. It will. But it won't last.

I find myself daydreaming about taking road trips to northern Michigan (which I think it has the most beautiful scenery on earth - although where you live is pretty nice too) and smelling the water and pine trees and campfires. I've been playing those "Pure Michigan" commercials over and over again in my head. I've got spring fever and I've got it bad. Am I the only one?

Here are some pictures I took during warmer times last year. I love Michigan in the non-winter months. What are some of your favorite places to visit in the summer?

Thoughts on Spring

I often talk on my blogs about how much I loathe winter. Honestly though, I don't think loathe is a strong enough word. I don't like what winter does to me, AKA, suck my will to live. Or to live fully at any rate.

Years ago, I met a friend who came to Michigan for school. He left in the summers so we only spent time together during the school year. One summer he came back early and after hanging out once or twice, he said to me in a surprised voice, "you are a completely different person in the summer."

And I think he's right. When the weather is warmer, I feel more hopeful. I laugh more easily; I accomplish more; I have a more positive attitude. I feel that life has more to offer and that I am capable of accomplishing goals and fulfilling my destiny (whatever that may be - it's still winter so I can't remember).

Don't get me wrong, I don' t become a total slug in the winter. I like to think that I am still relatively pleasant, although some might disagree. (I hope not.) I try to prevent my muscles from completely atrophying and I get out of bed for the important things like work and a certain amount of socializing. Unless, of course, the roads are covered with snow and ice, which they often are.

This time of year I start to feel my happier side emerging. It makes me wonder why I live in Michigan. If I lived in a warmer state, would I be the more hopeful and happy me all year? Or would I miss the change of seasons? After all, I absolutely love fall and I'm pretty sure I would miss it.

But winter... Winter, I could do without.

Wednesday Thoughts

How do you feel about "whole nother" verses "whole other" (or is it "another whole?")? You would think as someone with a degree in English it would annoy me when people say "whole nother" but it actually intrigues me.

Who here's going to participate in No Shave November? Ladies? Guys? I love to see a guy with a good (well kempt) beard in the winter. Speaking of winter, I saw some snow flakes on my way to work this morning! It was magical.

I got too scared to finish The Changeling the night before Halloween when I watched it with Katherine. I've seen that movie one million times (to be precise) yet this time I couldn't finish it because I was too scared. What in the world!? I think I need to watch it with a big strong guy next time. Yeah, that's it...

I'm not ready for winter. I like the snow, but I hate the cold. I think I need to plan a vacation to someplace warm to get away to when the cold and gray get to be too much. Where's a good warm place to visit that's not too expensive?

Happy Wednesday.

Summer lovin...

Is it too late for a summer romance? I'm heading up north this weekend and just like last year, I think I'm going to look for a summer fling while I'm on my vacation. Last year I had mild success, but I didn't really put my heart into it. As far as I see it, these are the rules for summer romance:

1.) We have to meet by chance on the beach or at the local carnival/fair.
2.) It has to be destined not to work out because we come from different worlds.
3.) At first we won't like each other because we think we're too different, but after some zany mishaps, we'll realize we're in love.
4.) We'll have a heartfelt goodbye at the end of the week and vow to write. (But we won't...although we will most likely become facebook friends.)
5.) He'll show up at my high school and I'll change my whole personality to make it work. (Wait...I might be getting this one mixed up with a movie...)

Think it'll work?

UPDATE: Some friends have been giving me a hard time about this post, so I thought I should add that it's a joke! (...Or is it?)

It's all relative

Cold. Cold. Cold. This week has been so cold. The light at the end of the tunnel is the promise of temperatures rising above freezing this weekend! Happy day. Of course they will dip back down, but a few days of semi-warmth is something to celebrate.

One of the things I love about this time of year is how our idea of what is warm is dramatically different from how we feel about warmth in late summer. In August, if the temperature dips below 65 degrees we put on our sweatshirts and complain about how cold it is. In February, if it gets above 40, people are walking their dogs in short sleeved shirts and shorts. If it gets above 50, we call it a heat wave, open all our windows and wonder if it's warm enough to go swimming.

It's all relative I guess.

But I've lived in Michigan long enough to know that we still have two solid months of winter ahead of us. Which brings me to my good news. I received notice this morning that my Snuggies have been shipped! I've been brainstorming all the things I can do in my Snuggies (I got the second one for free!). The commercial inspired me, but I've come up with some of my own ideas:

Go ice skating (I'll actually wear two when I go ice skating - one in front and one in back)
Wear it at the movie theater
Eat popcorn (or enjoy any snack, really)
Stay warm at work
Cheer on the Pistons at the Palace
Talk on the phone
Trip over it and fall down the stairs
Use a remote control for the t.v. (something I can't do with a blanket)
Go out to eat
Shop at Target without the bulk of my winter coat

Please let me know if you have any other ideas of ways in which I can take advantage of owning two Snuggies! Oh, and if you come over, you can definitely borrow the other one. We can play backgammon!

Wednesday Thoughts

Yesterday Kathy asked Justin and me if we are doing anything for the Super Bowl. After discussing Superbowl parties, food, and commercials for a bit, Justin looked at us and said, "Do you guys even know who's playing in the Super Bowl?!" Can you believe his nerve? I mean, it's true that we don't know who's playing, but still. Of course at that point, we started acting even more ignorant that we are, with Kathy suggesting that the Super Bowl was a golf tournament and saying that she heard Tiger Woods and Shooter McGavin were going to be playing. (I would watch it if Shooter McGavin were playing in it.) Anyway, my point is that men always think they know more than women. Maybe my point would be stronger if Kathy and I had actually known who was in the Super Bowl, but still. I'm sure some women know.

In other news, I was really hoping this whole thing with Blagojevich would blow over before I had to learn to say his name but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I try to stay up on current events, but whenever I try to say his name it comes out Glaboyglavich. It's embarrassing.

It's snowing today. Again. Maybe instead of hating winter, I should make some kind of challenge for myself to distract myself from my impatience with the cold and snow. Here are some ideas:

• Break a world record for most snowmen built
• Break a record for most time spent under a Snuggie (mine hasn't arrived yet)
• Spend two to three hours a week sledding
• Wear a different crazy winter hat every day for the rest of winter

Any other ideas? I did get a new sled a couple years ago, so the sledding idea is a real possibility. But honestly, I think you and I can agree the second one is the most probable.

Sick

Reason #467 why winter stinks: it keeps making me sick. I've been sick with the flu, or the flu's evil cousin, since Wednesday. The last several days have been filled with sleep, reruns of Sister Sister, more sleep, and Kleenex boxes. And now I'm getting cabin fever. (I guess it's better than the actual fever I couldn't get rid of until this morning.)

I think the thing that would make me feel a lot better would be my Snuggie, but it hasn't arrived yet. It feels like it's been a couple weeks since I ordered it, but I'm pretty sure it was just Wednesday. Time moves in slow motion when you're sick I guess!

I keep telling myself that summer is only months away to try to cheer myself up, but it's not really working. One of my coworkers named the months of January and February "Janufeb" because they seem to just blur together becoming the longest months of the year, which is ironic since February is actually technically the shortest month of the year. Technically.

Ok, I think I've done enough complaining for one post, so here are a few lighter things. First of all, when February finally does come, here's the picture on my "Just us Chickens" calendar for that month. Something to look forward to, indeed. Oh, and if you are interested in seeing the cake Amy and I made for the Lost party, here's a link to her blog, which has some great pictures of it!

And lastly, because I did so much complaining in the first half of this post, I feel I owe you one more funny thing. This video made me laugh. Enjoy!

Wednesday Thoughts

Today's the day! LOST starts tonight!! Last night Amy and I got together and made a Lost cake. It's an exact replica of the Lost island (to scale). Ok, maybe not exact, but close (ok, maybe not close). The point is, it's an awesome cake. I can't post pictures of it yet because I don't want to ruin the surprise for people who are going to see it later today. But I will post pictures eventually. I can't wait for tonight! I really hope the Smoke Monster makes an appearance (cross your fingers that this is the year the Smoke Monster will finally get that Emmy)!

In other news, I just ordered my (drum roll please) Snuggie! Finally, I can find out if it lives up to all the hype! Hype which was mostly generated by me, admittedly. All I know is that I'm cold all the time and I need help getting through the winter. I can't wait for my "knight in fleecy armor" to arrive.

Question (Schrute style): is winter almost over? We're at least rounding the bend, right? Groundhog day is only 11 days away, and I really hope that groundhog has good news. Is he ever right? When did we start relying on a groundhog for important weather news?

The next holiday after Groundhog day (which I always thought was Groundhog's Day until checking out the website), is Valentine's Day. I've heard it referred to as Single Awareness Day by some of my single friends, but personally I don't mind it. I think all the reds and pinks kind of brighten up one of the darkest, coldest months of the year. What do you think?

Winter Survival Kit

"Arctic Temperatures coming." "Cuddle Alert!" "Winter storm warning." What is with the weather reports lately? You'd think it was January or something. I've been thinking lately that it might be time to put together a winter survival kit - otherwise, I simply won't survive the winter. I'm going to find a big Mary Poppins style bag and pack it with all the things I need to get through the winter months ahead. I will of course bring it with me everywhere I go because you never know when or where you're going to need it. Here's what is going in it. Let me know if I'm forgetting anything:

hot chocolate/marshmallows
someone to snuggle with (I'll let him out to go to the bathroom and whatnot, don't worry!)
snowsuit
denial
plane tickets to Tahiti
tons of warm blankets
wood burning stove and marshmallows
a good book
Skittles
memories of warmer times
pictures of summer
tanning bed
tickets to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua
hand warmers
boots, shovel, gloves, etc...
variety of leis (goes along with denial)
two copies of Magnum: PI, the book (there's actually no such thing, but if there were, I'd have two copies of it on hand at all times)

I think that with this kit and the support of my friends, I will survive the winter. If not, I guess I'll have to just adopt the "if you can't beat it, join it" mentality and do my best to enjoy winter. ("Enjoy" and "winter" in the same sentence?!)For me that would mean getting out my sled and finding a good sledding hill. I've gotten pretty good in past years at standing on the sled, holding onto the rope, and surfing down the hill (I'm lying, I'm horrible at that).

Oh, and maybe I could fulfill my life long goal of owning a team of sled dogs! I've always wanted to yell "Mush! Mush!" repeatedly, but no one ever lets me. This would give me an excuse. But remember, this is my back up plan. I'll try the winter survival kit first.

C-c-c-c-c-c-c-oooold!

Alright guys, no joke - I need a Slanket in a major way. Not only is it freezing outside, but my office is almost as cold as the great outdoors! I glanced over at Justin earlier, and saw this sight (as pictured). We're all working in our scarves, coats, and hats and occasionally warming our hands over the space heater. Due to some construction over the weekend, the doors to our building were left wide open and it's f-f-f-f-freezing in here. My fingers are almost too frozen to type. But I'll power through. Just for you.

It's slightly warmer outside than it was yesterday, when the wind chill got to -17, but it's still a bit much. I just checked the weather and saw this:

Light Snow
9°F

Feels Like
-7°F

What do you do to stay warm in this weather? Maybe I should buy some of those disposable heating pads and just cover myself with them? Other options I've considered are:

• Run up and down the stairs over and over in 15 minute intervals.
• Adopt a baby panda and cuddle it all day. (I wonder if it would sit still on my lap while I was working?)
• Listen to Shooby Taylor until I'm laughing so hard I forget how cold I am. I know some of you are trying to forget about Shooby Taylor, but I can't allow that.
• Stay in bed under the covers all day (sadly, not really an option).
• Drink hot chocolate till it comes out my pores.
• Give up and build an igloo to live in for the rest of the winter.
  
• Get one of these (Thank Kathy for this one):

Until the heating is back on in here, I'm going to have to do one of these. I'm leaning towards the adopt a panda bear option. It's the most practical, and let's be honest, the most adorable of all the options. If you think of any others, let me know!

Wednesday Thoughts

How much of a social faux pas is it to admit that I'm terrified of the Tran-Siberian Orchestra? I keep seeing commercials for them and their show looks pretty out of control. Colored lights, explosions, smoke machines, electric quitars...but with Christmas music. I'm sure they're quite talented but I don't get it. About 50 seconds into the youtube video I got scared out of my mind and had to stop watching.

What's with all these new websites that let you upload your picture into the scenario of your dreams? And where have they been all my life?

On the radio yesterday they were talking about both the Snuggie and the Shamwow! Small world! They said that the Snuggie is on back order for six weeks. I'm pretty bummed about that. Which one of you bought the last one? I hope there are still some Slankets available.

I was at the dentist the other day getting my teeth cleaned and when it was over and I was complimenting the hygienist on a job well done, she told me that a patient recently told her she'd rather have a baby then get her teeth cleaned. Which would you prefer? I've never had a baby, but I'm pretty sure it's a lot more work, and a lot more painful than getting your teeth cleaned.

I won a radio contest this morning! And in other good news, when I signed in on Facebook this morning, I saw that a couple I hardly know got back together! I've followed their saga (against my will) through constant updates in my Facebook newsfeed and have determined that they are meant to be together. It was like seeing Ross and Rachel get back together. Today is shaping up to be a good day.

Summer thoughts

I was tempted to write (again) about the movie being filmed nearby because Michael Cera was there on Monday, but I am trying to avoid turning my blog into a People magazine - the Michigan edition. :) So I thought I'd write about something else. (Notice I snuck that celebrity spotting in here while at the same time claiming that I'm trying to avoid doing that?)

Moving on...Yesterday, for the first time this summer, I made it over to Washtenaw Dairy. As most of you know, this place is known not only for its delicious ice cream, but also for its generous servings. I got a peanut butter brownie SINGLE scoop (pictured above) and look how ginormous it is! Also, look at that delicious strip of peanut butter on the lower right side. It was so good. Granted, I could only finish about a quarter of it but it was heavenly.

As I was eating the ice cream cone, I started wondering if there was anything else I had to do before the summer's over. We still have one more month of summer, so I have a little time left to make and accomplish some goals. So, off the top of my head, here's a list of things I still want to accomplish this summer.

1) Have a summer romance (see earlier post for expectations on this subject)
2) Have my own celebrity spotting when "Whip It" is filming in Saline
3) Become best friends with Drew Barrymore (#2 and #3 go hand in hand)
4) Go to Mackinac Island
5) Go to another Tigers game
6) Ride my bike to work (Justin doubts my ability to do this)

Lest you think I'm totally shallow, know that I do have some slightly deeper goals (slightly). But I won't bore you with those. So if any of you want to go to a Tigers game or Mackinac Island, or maybe you know the perfect rebel for a summer fling - let me know! One month to go!