The Mighty Blackfoot

My life has become crazy busy. It happened all of a sudden, and now I feel like I don't have time for anything. It's good because I like being busy, but I miss having the time or energy to do some of the things I want.

I'm working full time and I'm loving my job. It is exhausting some days, though. I'm working with 3-6 year olds. Going in, I thought that I ultimately wanted to work with older kids, but this job has made me reconsider. It's really exciting to watch kids take their first steps on their education and to think about that their destiny in school is largely determined by their first few years there. I understand on a whole new level now that teaching is all about relationships. I love that they are all little people, trying to figure out how they fit into things and who they are.

I also have class at Hamline on Monday and Thursday evenings. Getting there involves hauling ass from Bloomington in 30 minutes and usually being a few minutes late. It also involves skipping dinner and not getting home until about 9:30 pm. My professors are really great, even if some of the other students are uber annoying. There are times that I just say "shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up" over and over inside my head. Do some people ever stop talking?

So, the result of the work/class/homework combo is that on my free nights I usually don't want to do very much. Maybe this will change once my system gets recalibrated to this schedule. Or maybe not.

A little over a year ago, if someone would have told me I would be doing what I'm doing (in terms of my job and school), I would have laughed them out of the room. If a little over a year and a half ago someone had told me that I would be living with Pete, or even dating Pete, I would have said there was no possible way that could be true.

It just goes to show how life takes strange twists and turns and quite a bit of the time we don't really even know what we need. I've never been the best at "going with the flow," but if this past year has taught me anything, it's that that's how life is, and that's not such a bad thing. Between getting back together with someone I had sworn off completely, hating the grad program I had wanted and worked for for so long, and getting blind-sided in my car on my way to work, things have changed a lot in totally unexpected ways. In whitewater rafting, they always tell you that if your raft flips, you should hold onto your life jacket with your hands, and keep your legs up in front of you. They say this so that your legs won't get caught in the rocks, and your feet will hopefully be able to push you around and away from any obstacles in your path. So, in the most cliche-ridden way, I'm just trying to keep my feet up. I think if my life were a river, I'd like to think of it as the Blackfoot River. For my money, there's not a better river out there. :) By the way, I recommend to all the book A River Runs Through It. The movie in no way did it justice.

Tonight Pete and I are headed to the Summit 20th anniversary party to hear Cake in concert. I can't believe it's almost October already! I'm looking forward to the fall colors. They're much more resplendent here than in Montana. Before we know it, paintball time will be here, and then pheasant opener in South Dakota.

HHR

Yesterday morning we made the journey to Prescott, Wisconsin to pick up my HHR. We got to visit the fine folks at Cernohous Chevrolet, and they were very nice and helpful. I LOVE my HHR. The name stands for "Heritage High Roof" and the designed is supposed to look like Chevy's trucks in the 1940s. Love it.

It handles and very nicely, and is a super comfortable ride. XM stereo is my new favorite thing in the world. It was like Christmas morning when I saw five different Big Ten stations and was able to listen to both the Wisconsin football game and the Minnesota football game. I can't wait for my next big trip when I will have so many sports choices. I haven't set the Onstar up yet, but will do so this week. I can set it up so that it uses my Verizon cell phone minutes, so that's pretty sweet.

So yeah, I'm a happy new car owner.

Picking up your car in Wisconsin has some benefits. Namely, it affords you the chance to purchase New Glarus beers that you can't find here in the Twin Cities. Spotted Cow, how I have missed you! We also picked up some Yokel for the first time, and it's great. I think we will be making more east-of-the-border beer runs in the future. Between our New Glarus and the Fat Tire my parents supply us with, we don't have much on hand for beers you can purchase in Minnesota at the moment.

Last night we headed over to Mike and Aimee's for some grilling goodness, even though it was rainy. We enjoyed the ambiance of their garage and got to meet their new puppy Zoey for the first time. So cute! It was lots of fun. Thanks for the hospitality, guys!

The Newest Member of the Welton Fleet

The newest member of the Welton Fleet is waiting to be picked up in Prescott, Wisconsin tomorrow morning. I am so excited!!! Of course I'm still sad about the fate of my Blazer, but now I will have a new car to take care of and love :) And tonight I get to get rid of my hated rental: a Dodge Neon. I feel like I've been driving a golf cart. Scary on 494 and the 35s.

It's a 2007 Chevy HHR, silver, fully loaded. Now I will experience the awesomeness that is Onstar and heated seats, and a sunroof, etc.

I have a few people to thank (in no particular order): my dad, who provided information, advice, support, and sweet contacts with Chevrolet; Pete Kelly, who is the nicest guy at a car dealership anywhere (he does fleet sales at Karl Tyler Chevrolet in Missoula) and found me a car and arranged to have the paperwork all go through Missoula (I get to keep my MT plates!!); and Pete Ryan, for a shoulder to cry on and all the research he did. Thanks so much to each of you for taking such good care of me!!

My Poor Car

Today was a bad day. On my way to work this morning, some asshole ran a stop sign and f&%*ed up my Blazer pretty bad. It wasn't a busy intersection. I don't know what happened. One minute I'm thinking about the 3-6 year olds that I work with (I was only a block from school) and the next moment I see something out of the corner of my eye.

It was a Nissan Xterra, and I realized, "Oh, that's going to hit me." From that point it was like everything was in slow motion. My window shattered as her car hit my driver's side door. Then I watched in horror as the momentum of the impact sent my car over the curb and directly into the power pole. Once it all stopped, I looked around and realized that my hand was bleeding. Then I realized that my door was caved in and I couldn't get out.

The ass-hat who hit my car then appeared in my window, shrieking at me and sobbing and asking if I was okay. Get out of my FACE!!! The first thing I did was call Pete. I didn't even think about it; it was automatic. The phone was dailing before I really realized what I was doing, and for once Pete answered right away. He suggested that I use the passenger's side door for an exit. He's so smart :) When you're shaken up you don't really think of those things.

So the plot thickens...the girl who hit me didn't own the car. It was her boyfriend's. This is going to be fun from an insurance standpoint. She got out of her car (or not her car, as it were) and started sobbing and chainsmoking. While she called everyone she knew and had five people there in under 2 minutes, I called 1) the police, 2) my dad, 3) my insurance company, 4) Pete again.

The cop had a tow truck come and get my Blazer, and that was the point where I teared up. I love that car. I have had it for a little over 3 years. It has been lovingly serviced every 3 months or 4,000 miles without fail. I have washed it regularly, including every single time it snowed last winter. That car is my friend. It drove me to school in Montana ( the other UM). It drove me to my adventures in Madison, and on every trip I took to see Peter. Pete and I took it on trips. Fredo has hung out in that car for hours. In Madison, I would go grab dinner and sit with Fredo in my car and eat it pretty much at least once a week. It has ferried groceries and all my worldly possessions. I love that car, and now it's hurt because some *&^(%$ didn't stop when she was supposed to. Tomorrow I'm supposed to find out if they're going to fix it or if it's totaled.

I honestly don't know which way it's going to go. The front is mashed in pretty bad, and so is the driver's side door. I'm guessing the frame is bent.

So I went to work after I went to the doctor to get checked out and got a rental car lined up. There's nothing to put a smile on your face like 20 little kids looking at your like you're a unicorn and asking, "Are you okay, Miss Anne?" So the whole thing got turned into a learning experience about how rules exist to keep people safe and we need to follow rules.

The take home message from this whole experience is this: Well, 2 things actually:

1) Pete is the best to have helped me out so much today. There's a reason he was my first phone call, and it's not just that he lives the closest :)

2) WEAR YOUR SEATBELT. I have a cut, some scratches, and lots of soreness. If I had not been wearing my seatbelt, I could have easily gone through the windshield and I would definitely be in a lot rougher shape.

Boy Games & a Quiet Weekend

I have managed to borrow my laptop back for a few quick minutes from Peter. He has been using it a lot more lately because he has installed one of his games on it. I'm not sure which game it is, but I hear a lot of gunfire and manly voices talking about "missile launches" and "forts" and such. So I have concluded that it is a boy game.

Our weekend was pretty quiet. Friday night we went over to Corey and Mel's for some bonfire action. Their place looks great! I'm getting so anxious for Pete and I to get into our own house. Thanks for the hospitality guys! Saturday I had a one-time class all day long. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it wasn't fun. It was made worse by the fact that I felt awful all day. I had all kinds of aches and pains and a sore throat. I came home and read for the rest of the day before finally going to bed early and sleeping for about 12 hours. At least it was cold. If you have to be sick, nothing is worse than having a cold in hot weather. Today we had a pretty low-key day, the highlight of which was us making corn chowder for supper. I'm so excited to be able to make soup again.

Tomorrow will be a bad day. I now work from 9:30 to 5:30, and I have class until 9:00. Pete, have the Bailey's ready for me when I get home! If you can tear yourself away from my laptop and your boy game, that is :)

Random Blah, Blah, Blah

This is a post where I vent. Not because I have it bad or anything, but just because things get under my skin and words are a good way to get them back out.

Today was my first day of classes at Hamline. Or rather, it would have been my first day of class had my professor bothered to make an appearance. So me and the rest of the Educational Psychology class stared into space for about 45 minutes before finally giving up and departing. And I killed myself to get there on time (and I still wound up about 4 minutes late). It's going to be so stressful leaving work at the last possible minute, braving 35W North and the parking lot that is 94 before cruising around for parking and sprinting to my building. Grrrrr. And as I write this it is 9:24 pm. Had I had class tonight, I would only just be arriving home, and I'm ridiculously tired for some reason. Those are going to be some long ass days.

I'm really enjoying my new job, except for I get super negative vibes from my boss. I really don't get it, because employers always love me. I haven't done anything for her not to like, and everyone else loves me. Why can't she love me, too?

The Pussycat Dolls song "Buttons" is getting on my last nerve. "Loosen up my buttons" sounds like something that you do after a big Thanksgiving dinner and nothing at all to do with getting it on. Plus, how do you loosen them? They're either buttoned or they're unbuttoned. Enough said.

I have to go to class all day this Saturday. I know it's a one-time thing, but I still resent the loss of an entire day of my weekend.

Fredo just came and joined me in the bedroom. He hopped up on the bed and is now doing a Fredo "pancake." (For those of you who don't know, a "Fredo pancake" is when he lays completely flat, with his back legs extended out behind him.) I love the Fredo.

Sometimes I suspect I have some OCD tendencies. Mostly they revolve around personal finance and problem-solving. For instance, given that I didn't work this summer while I divided my time between here and Montana and figured out my school situation, I had to use savings. When I'm concerned about my finances (like now) I feel the need to compulsively figure out how much money I have against all of my debts. I say compulsively because I do it over and over and over and over, and I do it by hand. I have to add and subtract everything manually, and often I will do it several times per day. If you were to walk around our apartment and look at the random papers lying around, the odds are excellent that at least 3 of them at any given time will be covered with my latest money calculations. Maybe I should be a CPA. If sewing a dress by hand makes it couture, then surely computing finances by hand all the time is something similarly good in the field of finance, right? Right?

Having said that, I think I'm done for the evening. A la prochaine...

More St. Croix-tastic Pictures

Here are the rest of the pictures from our St. Croix Labor Day Weekend, including the promised Fredo pictures.
Here you see the Fredo retrieving a stick. Once upon a time, Fredo didn't like to swim. He would wade out and drink a little, but very rarely would he swim, even with his life jacket on. Then my parents got two black labs who love to run, chase tennis balls, and swim, especially when they can retrieve sticks. When we would go to the river in Montana, Fredo would hang out on the shore while the labs chased sticks and received lots of praise for their efforts. One day, Fredo decided that if Huck (the senior lab) could do it, so could he. He took off after a stick and brought it back, and ever since he has loved to swim. He has especially enjoyed his swimming here in Minnesota. He has gotten to swim in lakes and lazy rivers like the St. Croix where there isn't much current. In western Montana, our rivers generally move pretty fast, making it really tough for a little Fredo with his little Fredo legs!

Aside from chasing sticks, Fredo's efforts when he goes swimming are largely devoted to the Fredo Beachfront Restoration Project (FBRP). It all started when Fredo noticed that lots of debris floating in the water took away from the beauty and enjoyability of the shoreline. He has devoted countless hours ever since to spotting debris, swimming out to it, and removing the eyesore by snapping it up with his mouth. The debris he has cleared in the past include waterlilies, floating leaves, underwater plants, and other plant material. Fredo is devoted to beautifying your beachfront, one leaf at a time. At the St. Croix River, Fredo chased down many leaves floating downstream. We kept him on his leash while swimming, just in case he got out too far so we could "reel" him in. He kept seeing leaves that were really far out and going for them, so I rolled up my pant legs and waded in with him so that his leash would allow him to swim out far enough. I might as well have not even bothered, because as you can see, I had to wad out far enough that I got soaked anyways. I didn't want my desire to stay dry to keep Fredo from being able to swim out to his leaves. The water actually felt really good.
Fredo in the process of switching from "panic ears" to normal ears.


Pete took this picture of a mussel and a little minnow in the St. Croix River. Apparently there's a problem there with something called a zebra mussel. I don't know if this is one or not...but good camera work, Peter!

So to conclude, here I am with Fred-olf the Gray enjoying our campfire. Pete took some great movies of Fredo barking at rocks in the river, but I don't know how to post them, so I will leave that to him. The trip was a great time, and I look forward to more camping action next summer.

St. Croix Weekend

We're back from our Labor Day Weekend of camping at St. Croix State Park. The campground there is HUGE (215 camping sites, I believe). They have canoe rentals and even a little store there where they sell pretty much everything you could need for camping except for tents and sleeping bags. The campground was nice, but not quite as nice as the one we stayed at up at Lake Bemidji State Park. The showers and bathrooms were definitely not as nice, but they were fine. It was nice to have a shorter drive than the one to Lake Bemidji, and there were some very nice bike trails to explore, too. We weren't at one of the best camp spots since we made this reservation with relatively short notice. I thought since it was Labor Day weekend and it's less than 2 hours from the Twin Cities that it might be packed, but there were plenty of spots available all weekend long.


Who's that peeking out of the tent? Fredo had a great weekend and loves to go camping. The sniffing opportunities are endless and he gets to go swimming.

Pete took this picture of me while he was riding, too. This was one of the bike trails in the park. It went to the site of an old CCC camp and then continued on to a lake. It was all nice tar and gently rolling hills. We took it for about a 10 mile ride on Sunday.

Pete got to climb another fire tower this weekend, and of course I stayed down below. My excuse this time was Fredo, but even without him I wouldn't have made it up to the top. Pete took this picture while he was up there.

Here Fredo and I are standing at an overlook point for the Kettle River. It's a dirty river filled with chiggers. My only experience with chiggers was last summer at this river, so I'm holding a bit of a grudge. On our last camping trip, Pete and I learned that the Native American meaning of Lake Winnibigosh is "miserable dirty water lake." The Kettle River, in my opinion, is the miserable dirty water river. So there.

Here are Pete and Fredo enjoying the Kettle River Overlook.

So I'll call that good for tonight, but tomorrow I will post up some more pictures of note. Yes, that means pictures of Fredo swimming in the St. Croix River.