Summertime Fun!

Sweetie and I have been getting out more despite the scorching temperatures. We didn't really start doing much until mid-June, but here's the recap of that busy final two weeks!

We attended the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and saw Midsummer Night's Dream. We picked a weeknight, invited a bunch of people, and packed some fancy crackers, cheese, & a cheap (but delicious!) bottle of wine. We really have the best group of friends! The evening was full of conversation and laughter.  We're hoping to go back before it ends in mid-July to see Antony and Cleopatra.

We joined a Meetup group to help Max with his doggie socialization issues. The Pittie Pack is the best group we could have hoped to find. It was formed to create a safe environment for leash-reactive foster dogs to learn how to be around other dogs in a pack environment. They are sympathetic and not judgmental, which is what we love about it. I just want to crawl into a shell when Max lunges at the end of his leash at neighborhood dogs during our evening walks. I feel like our neighbors think he's some sort of vicious dog, when really he's just completely freaked out about other animals. So far, we're having to walk about 20 feet behind the group during the walks and even with that, Max is constantly pulling and/or attempting to lunge. He doesn't bark unless we get too close for his comfort though, which is improvement. I'm optimistic that eventually, we'll be able to walk closer to the pack and socialize with the people. It might be a year or so, but I think he'll get there.

A few people I knew were putting on a production of Pippi Longstockings through The Theatre for Young America. One of them gave out a bunch of free tickets to try and help fill up seats for a particularly slow day and I snatched up five of them. We went with my mom, neice, and nephew. My neice got quite a kick out of it. Her giggling was contagious! My nephew was very interested in the backstage tour that we got to experience, and also thrilled that he got to talk to one of the actors. I later told my friends (pictured above) that the scene where Pippi gets the "official document" stating her dad was presumed dead made Sweetie and I both cry. Like, real streaming tears cry. They were thrilled that they did such a good job, LOL

My mother invited us to a Royals game with some of her coworkers. United Way had given out a bunch of tickets so all we had to pay for was parking. My parents didn't end up being able to come due to a last-minute snafu but insisted we go and have a great time for them. We chatted up the entire game with a friend we hadn't seen in too long and had an overall great time! The Royals won against the Rays but I really dont' think that would have mattered!

Last Wednesday, I was on my way home from work and got a flat tire while on the inner lane of a 3-lane highway. I did make it to the shoulder but ruined the tire doing so. I'd been looking forward to joining our friends at "Supper Club" all month so I got right to work fixing it up. In 100+ (before heat index), khaki pants and flip flops, I set about kicking the lug wrench to loosen the nuts. I found out after removing the flat that the car wasn't jacked up high enough for the spare to go on. And it wasn't going to get any higher either. I have since learned from a few more experienced people that this is common with bottle jacks. Here I was, trying to buy the bottle jack to save me time and effort during my next flat - when all I'd managed to do was delay the process. Luckily, I was about a 10-minute drive from home. I called Sweetie and she drove out to meet me with her scissor jack, which would get the car up high enough to finish the job. While I waited on Sweetie, I climbed up the hillside and found a good shade tree to sit under. I was upset and angry that I was missing Supper Club. I was stressing about how much I'd have to spend to fix the tire the next morning. I was seconds away from letting a hiccup of crying begin when a sort of calm came over me. I thought, "eh, I should just calm down and sit here and enjoy sitting in the shaded grass. I'm fortunate that I didn't lose control or get stuck on the inner lane. I'm fortunate that Sweetie was available to bring me another jack. I'll just sit here and freaking relax." That lasted about 3 minutes, then the ants started biting. Really tiny, itty bitty, black ants. I had no idea how ferocious the little buggers could be! I started out just flicking them away but quickly realized they were swarming me. They were pinching away at my toes, ankles, lower back and neck. I was determined to continue with my forced relaxation though, so I just moved to another tree. However this time, instead of sitting, I squatted. I wasn't there long enough for my feet to get tired from squatting - maybe 2 minutes or so, when a wasp came and chased me away. Apparently it wasn't my calling to relax just then. When Sweetie showed up, I breathed a long sigh of relief and climbed down the hill to finish getting the spare on and head home.

Thursday, we had friends over for dinner. Sweetie made ribs in the the crockpot, which she then glazed with barbecue sauce and broiled just before we ate. They were freaking delicious! She also had whipped up a pasta salad and some ears of fresh sweet corn. Our friends brought dessert in the form of oreo fluff. All around, a delicious evening. We had a lot of catching up to do with them and talked around the table all evening.

Friday, we had more friends over for dinner. Sweetie grilled steaks, made some french bread, a scalloped potato dish and some steamed broccoli. Our friends came from out of town but insisted on bringing something. We ended up with appetizers, wine, and a key lime pie. More friends showed up later and brought a DQ ice cream cake just in time for me to leave for work. I had a slice shoved into a cup and took it with me - I was NOT going to miss out on a DQ cake!

Saturday, we got up earlier than usual to head out for my sister's wedding. The ceremony wasn't until 2:00 but I was needed during the 11:00 rehearsal since I was in charge of starting & stopping the music. Sweetie dropped me off and headed out to get some sewing toys. The entire day is kind of a cluster of images and flighty events until about 5pm, which is when we headed to St. Joseph for a barbecue and visiting with family who had driven in for the wedding. Once again, just as I'm settling into some good fun and conversation, the clock reminds me it's time to leave for work. I packed up some food for the road and gave hugs all around.

Sunday, we crashed. Sweetie took a 3 hour nap while I watched the entire first season of The IT Crowd on Netflix. I had key lime pie and french bread for lunch. After Sweetie woke up, we decided dinner would be ice cream and popcorn while we watched the original Moulin Rouge. The movie was horrendous, but it was nice to just sit back and do nothing.

We definitely spent more time in real life those last weeks of June! It might have seemed a bit much all at once but I enjoyed every minute of it. July 8th starts our Sunday gathering day and I've got a few messages out to people for other get-togethers. And after this post, I realize I need to take more pictures while I'm out there living it up!

It's How I Roll, Yo

When was the last time you went roller skating?!

A friend of ours went to Landmark Skate Center in April for a kid's birthday party and found out they have a discount night every Wednesday from 6:30-8:30. She invited Sweetie and I to join in the fun and we decided "What the heck, sure!"

That first time back on the floor was a little exhilarating and a little terrifying. I didn't fall but I didn't try anything "special" either. I took the turns cautiously, I never went too fast on the straightaway, and my feet stayed parallel to each other. I sweat up a storm! When we finished, my undershirt was completely soaked. We stopped for ice cream after and the dollars I pulled from my pocket were all soggy. Sweetie calls that "pool money". Ew. It was pretty disgusting but an awesome form of hidden exercise!

We went again on May 2nd. This time I got a little braver. I started crossing foot-over-foot during turns. I got to practice quick swerves and stops due to the amount of pint-sized kamikaze landmines skating that night. I lost my balance much more often. I even fell once. The fall happened fast but apparently not fast enough because I had time to stiffen which made it hurt so bad! I think I pulled the upper part of my hamstring where it meets up with the glute. I'm not very knowledgeable about which body parts are where so that could be completely wrong - but in my world, that's where it hurt.

I think this might turn into a once-a-month thing for us. The two of us can skate for 2 hours AND have twist cones for $10 total. June is right around the corner and I'm already looking forward to it!

We've found another rink, Winnwood Skate Center, that holds 2 Adults Only nights a week which is pretty exciting. It's about double the admission price ($6-7 so still pretty cheap!) and further away (north of the river) and later at night (8:30-11:30). The further drive combined with the later hours will make it less visited by our group but it's great to know it's there! I'm most excited about their Thursday adult night because it's "Old School Skate". They play 70's & 80's music - mostly funk.

The Good Stuff!

This was an abnormally horrible week. Things aren't bad anymore though, and it's not going to do me any good to gripe about it now anyway. Instead, I think I'll share the good stuff that happened!

Missie B's celebrated its 18 year anniversary this weekend and the special anniversary show was excellent! I was also invited to a dinner for performers, which made me feel wonderful to be included. Here are pics I found on FB of some of my favorites:

Daisy Buckët as Carol Channing

Austin as Ellen Degeneres and Seto as Michael Jackson

Loretta Martin as Adele

Sweetie and I watched The Hunger Games at Screenland Armour. They had 2 vinyl club chairs with a little table in between that we all but squealed over and snatched up right away. It wasn't really much of a race since we were the only ones there for the next 10 minutes, LOL

Swivel club chairs!

Next time though, we'll pick the normal seats. We were too close to the screen and we couldn't hold hands or talk during the movie - two things I never realized we did so often until today.

And finally, I have some conversations & observations to share!

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The scene: I'm driving behind some loaded trucks on a highway in the middle of nowhere. "Single Ladies" is on the radio and I'm demonstrating the dance motions to Sweetie when the trucks in front of us start braking to turn.

Sweetie: Slow down!
Me: I am. I'm braking. I'm braking while I'm dancing. I'm brake dancing!

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The scene: Giving a bouquet of peonies to a drag queen in celebration of her birthday.

Bernadette: They're beautiful! Are they from your yard?
Me: Yup!
Bernadette: They smell so good.
Me: Yeah, (Sweetie) said it smelled like old-lady and I said, "Then she'll LOVE it!"
Bernadette: *stink eye*

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Facebook observation: If you change your middle name to "DramaFreeZone", chances are you're anything but.
Posting one of these every minute for an hour aren't helping matters either:

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Frustration and Mormons (Not Correlated!)

We found out on Sunday night that our dog Max believes wind storms to be almost as scary as thunderstorms. Sweetie and I had enjoyed a great evening and finally laid down for sleep around 2am. Max decided at 2:30 that he needed consoling and jumped his gate. So I stayed on the couch and slept intermittently between his pacing fits every time a wind gust hit the house.

Monday morning I headed to my car bleary eyed and beaten, only to see that the recycle bin contents had been blown across 3 neighboring lawns.

And yes, it had occurred to me to put the heavy trash bags on top of the bin ...

... at about 2:00am. So there's that.

After picking up the recycling and wedging the bin against the house, it occurred to me that I still hadn't pulled cash for the office lunch. I specifically only wanted to pull $15 and had previously been able to do so at a few bank ATMs.

They apparently chose Monday as the day to thwart me. I went to 3 banks before giving up and heading across town to my last ditch effort which resulted in success!

Have I mentioned yet that I'm already running 20 minutes late to work by this point?

So I got the cash. Our office had lunch and I handed over my contribution to the boss's birthday lunch. How much was left over in my pocket? $7. Seriously. I could have just stopped at the first ATM and pulled $10 to begin with. I was so irritated. I'd love to say I was excited to have extra cash to spend but I didn't - I needed to buy stamps. Oh well, at least I had the money to buy stamps I guess :-)

All day long I looked forward to going home, picking up Sweetie, and heading out to watch Hunger Games at a theater 30 minutes away. When we got to the door, the manager came up and apologized because they had just cancelled the evening showing 10 minutes prior. I wanted to cry. Two days of sleep deprivation were catching up with me.

One of the awesome things about being an adult:

Consolation prize for two cruddy days in a row.

I can make a freaking root beer float whenever I damn well please and for whatever reason I deem appropriate! Consolation prize acquired. Then Sweetie and I watched a Netflix that's been sitting in our living room for almost 3 weeks. We watched The Tourist which was just good enough to give my attitude a much needed adjustment.

Yesterday I got frustrated again while trying to slog through the various prepay phone service options. When I got home, we took Max for a walk which helped alleviate the tension. I noticed the Peonies were blooming so I cut a few and brought them inside. They smell so beautiful!

Peonies from the yard

This morning, I went to my obgyn for then annual checkup. He asked again about my cholesterol. It's odd that he's concerned about that but I like that he takes an interest in my heatlth ouside the girly parts. At least I've got one doctor looking out for me!
He had a nurse practitioner (a woman, ugh) learning with him so I got everything twice. Woo! I'm pretty sure all women reading this understand that this is not a form of special treatment.
All that talk of cholesterol concerns had me craving crap food something fierce! I dug out enough change in my car to buy a double chocolate donut from Lamar's and ate it with satisfaction.

Tonight, Sweetie and I went with friends to the open house tour for the Kansas City Missouri Temple.

The tour consisted of a short video explaining why Mormons build temples and a little about their beliefs, followed by an hour guided tour explaining the purpose of each room. We were requested to not take pictures inside or I would show you my favorite parts, which consisted of paintings and architecture. I didn't think it was as architecturally beautiful as Catholic temples but was beautiful.

When we got home, Sweetie set right to work getting chickens in the oven to roast. They were on a good sale so she's roasting them, I'm carving them, then we'll freeze the chicken pieces in portions we can pull out for dinners. She just posted this image on Facebook so I guess it's time for me to get carving!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

The Book Thief, A Job Well Done, and Pruitt-Igoe

There was was a severe weather warning that covered most of the Midwest this weekend. We cancelled plans to go out of town and waited for weather that never came. We barely got a sprinkle, which for my plants is sad news indeed (since I don't water from the house until summer). Having seen photos from areas that were in the path of the storm though, we are very fortunate that it passed us over.

Since we weren't going out of town, I was able to catch up on some reading. I finally finished The Book Thief on Saturday morning. This was another book from the Phenomenally Indecisive Book Club hosted on the Pancakes & French Fries blog. I found it difficult to want to pick it up and read, and so it took a long time (18 days!) to get through it. I would put it off every day, but once I finally did start reading I would enjoy what I read. The story definitely picked up once Max was introduced. I would venture to say I enjoyed his separate stories more so than the story they were introduced within. I also liked that it was telling the story of Nazi Germany from the point of view of the average/poor German family. It’s easy (for me anyway) to forget that war leaves its marks on both sides – and often times, even the side that “started it” isn’t unanimous in believing it necessary.
I didn’t care for the way most of the side stories were told though. It seemed like the author was trying to force emotion into the story. I also didn’t care for some of the descriptions given by Death (the narrator) – but that’s merely a personal preference. The lyrical-styled descriptions just fell flat for me.
In then end, I enjoyed the overall story and the characters. I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.

Sunday, I woke up at 7am from the fitful night of non-sleep that I've come to expect on Saturday nights. Every Sunday as I get ready to go to church, I look into the dark bags under my eyes and wonder if I'll be able to stay focused on my job. I operate the light and sound boards for the two services and rehearsals. I was trained in March and then started out April on my own. I have forgotten to do something in every service since I started. It's never been anything huge - more than likely some of the things I forgot aren't even noticeable to the congregation - but I notice and leave feeling dejected for a bit.
This Sunday, however, went excellent! I received "good job" type comments from four congregants (one of which plays bass sometimes and knows what to listen for). I also got acknowledged by three of the musicians and the minister. It felt great to have done a good job and that feeling was topped off with all the gratitude given!

I ended the weekend watching a movie with Sweetie. We had purchased discount gift certs to a movie theater in town for the anniversary of my brother & his wife. They ended up not being able to come before the gift certs expired so Sweetie and I are using them. We will see Hunger Games sometime before Thursday and watched The Pruitt-Igoe Myth tonight. (Trailer below followed by my thoughts on the movie) It sparked some good conversation with Sweetie while we wandered Crown Center and window shopped the closed stores.



The Pruitt-Igoe Myth is a documentary about the housing projects (specifically Pruitt-Igoe) that sprung up post-WWII in St. Louis, MO. It illustrated the ideas, successes and failures of the times through interviews of tenants from that time, as well as narration voice-over with footage from that era. A few things I took from the interviews:

• The tenants who moved in when it was new had fond memories of living there - even though they were still there as it dissolved into crime, drugs, and ill-repair. They had already created a sense of community, of togetherness, and I feel it was because of this that they were able to see the good in it outweighing the bad.
• The tenants who remembered thinking along the lines of "Why did we have to live this way/here?" tended to resonate with the bad of Pruitt-Igoe. On the flip side, the tenants who remembered thinking things like, "I just thought that's they way all black people lived" or "I just thought that was the way it was for everyone" tended to resonate with the good of Pruitt-Igoe. I found that very interesting, and I would love to know if these recollections correlate with having moved into Pruitt-Igoe when it was newly constructed versus after it had already begun to decay.
• People value nice things - even if they don't own them. Had St. Louis planned more effectively for how to maintain the building in the event rent income wasn't sufficient, they may have been able to keep it in nice shape. I'm not saying I think the blame of Pruitt-Igoe's fall lands on the city of St. Louis, but definitely a portion of it. 

Double burn!

I did Hip Hop Abs "Total Body Burn" on Tuesday night. Holy hell that burned! I'd estimate about 20 minutes of the 45 were spent in either a stationary or moving squat position. Wednesday was reminding me of what I had done every time I stood, sat, or walked! LOL

Wednesday night I did the combo "Fat Burning Cardio" which is a pretty common one on the schedule so it's getting 'easier'. Then I did the 2nd workout scheduled: "Hips, Buns, and Thighs". Holy double hell! SO much worse than Total Body Burn (in a good way). Obviously, the title gives away what muscle groups they're targeting with this workout so I should have been expecting it but I wasn't. When there was about 10 minutes left of the workout, I had sweat literally dripping off various areas of my body. I had to take my glasses off because they kept slipping down my face when I was in plank position. My knee would slip every once in a while due to the puddle accumulating under it. Just crazy. Every part in that title is noticeable today.

So the workout is excellent. Hip Hop Abs is so much better of a workout than I expected it to be.