Humidity is gone :)

The past week has been horrid for anyone who lives in Minnesota. And it made me grateful that I was staying at a house with air conditioning. I don't think I would have survived without it (dramatization of course). In any case, I would have been tired and cranky all of the time rather than just some of the time - and anyone who has ever been around me when I'm tired and cranky knows how bitchy I can be. Eek!

To celebrate that the humidity is gone, I am going to take Shep out for a long walk in a little bit and read outside some more. Having breakfast on the deck is absolutely wonderful.

Not much else has been going on. Work is work, and over the next week or two, I'm am likely going to have to put in some overtime in order to prepare the Mayor's Recommended Budget. All of our section drafts are due August 6, and we haven't been able to start on them yet. Of course, I am responsible for all of the really major departments, the ones that are likely going to have tons of changes, so I might get a little frustrated. But that's all part of the gig, and I'm enjoying the job thus far.

Tonight, Chris and I are driving down to Rochester for his ten-year class reunion (man he's old! or I'm just really young). It will be fun to meet his friends. And I'm really excited that I get to sleep on the way back home (hee hee). We have to come back tonight because of the dog, which is fine because some of our friends are going to be racing in the Chisago Ironman on Sunday. Crazy stuff! So wish them luck!

Ok, enough of this - I'm going outside. Have a great weekend!

What's going to happen to Harry?

If you didn't know already, I'm in love with the Harry Potter series. To highlight this fact, I pre-ordered the final book as soon as I able to do so. It just arrived yesterday, and I just happened to be at my aunt and uncle's when it did (that part I hadn't planned). So after picking up a few more things I would need, I went back home (Home #4 or something - I've lost track) and quick unpacked and plopped down on the deck to begin the adventure.

At this point, I'm about 175 pages into the 759-page book, and regret that I have other chores to do. All I really want to do is sit and read to find out what happens next. There are plenty of theories out there too, but I'm trying not to pay too much attention because this isn't a soap opera.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and now that I'm partially settled, I hope to post more frequently (I got several comments from a certain someone about not posting for five days or so, so I'll try to keep up). Bye :)

Housesitting

I started my house-sitting gig for one of the professors at Humphrey - and no, there will be no crazy house parties ;) It's just a couple of blocks from the St. Paul campus in a really nice neighborhood. I'm taking care of their dog Shep and their lizard Rizzo. Shep is slowly getting used to me after being really skiddish the first night. But he's a very well-behaved dog and is now sleeping at my feet while Chris and I watch Little Miss Sunshine. I love this movie :)

I'm starting to get into the routine of having a house to myself, and I'm loving it! This weekend I'm going to do some more cleaning and get some more stuff from my aunt and uncle's, and I'm looking forward to being able to sit out on the deck. I have to joy of cutting the grass with a push mower too, which should be an interesting experience for me.

Work is going well. Right now I'm in the middle of revising narratives for the budget and am amazed at how no one can follow a template or directions. The best way to describe it is being in a group project where there is a long paper due and one person is a slacker, and I'm not the slacker. Incredible that nothing ever changes: we're all just a bunch of kids with bigger vocabularies. On the plus side I've been given the nickname the format nazi. Exactly what I want to be called. ha ha Anyway, time for some ice cream :)

First Outdoor Climb!

A group of us (me, Chris, Kim, Issac, and the very entertaining Klinkers) went down to Red Wing for some outdoor climbing this morning. I was a little nervous just because it was my first outdoor climb (guess you could have figured that one out given the title of the post). I loved climbing outdoors and am really excited to try out some different sites, and hopefully start getting back in shape. I lost a lot during the month that Chris was gone because I just didn't go to the gym much if at all.

I successfully completed three routes, and I have to say that learning some about how to crack climb at the gym was a major help. I felt really comfortable and strong after the first warm-up route and even though there were a couple of times when I needed some help, for the most part I did fine finding ledges and smearing. Until we plan the next trip, we are likely going to continue practicing in the gym a couple times a week. Soon I will hopefully have some pictures of the trip to post once Chris has a chance to look through them.

The other biggish piece of news is that I am going to start housesitting in St. Paul for a professor at the Humphrey. I will be taking care of their dog and lizard (woohoo!) for six weeks. I'm really excited to have a small backyard and a deck.

And the reason that I haven't been posting must is because I've been enjoying the summer.
Chris and I have gone on a couple of bike rides. One of them was all around St. Paul cheering on Kim and Rachel during the Lifetime Triathlon. They both came in under three hours (they rocked!). It was really fun being there to cheer them on :) Chris got some good pictures of them - one of Kim is on his blog.

I'm finally posting again :)

After a week-long hiatus, I decided it was time that I write something. Needless to say, I have been enjoying the fact that Chris is home :) We just got back from a weekend at home home which was awesome. We pulled out the bows and arrows and I throughly embarrassed myself by missing the target more than hitting it, but it was fun all the same. We also went shooting with the .22s and playing with some handguns (hee hee). Chris and I were pretending we were sharpshooters. I think I might have done better with the guns - who knew!

I got a ton of knitting done on the car rides up and down, and no, I wasn't driving! It's coming along nicely with two skeins into it. I really hope I get it done before fall (I'm pretty confident I will). Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a good evening!

He's home!!!!

Chris got back last night, and as Kim can attest to, I acted like a total idiot at the airport. It's good to have him home though :)

Morning swim

This morning, my aunt and uncle and I went on a bike ride to the Coon Rapids dam. It was a quiet morning with fewer people on the trail than I would have imagined. When we first left, it was actually a little tiny bit chilly (surprising!). By the time we got to the dam, the temperature had risen quite a bit and the water was looking pretty good.

The last time we had ridden to the dam, I had been seriously considering taking a dip in the water. There is a public access and a dock and the water was warm, but I had decided not to because just dipping my legs in was good enough, and I decided to save myself the strange looks I would have gotten from the people that were sitting near the water's edge. This time, there was no one there. I went in and it was great :) I didn't swim for very long because I didn't want my aunt and uncle to have to wait for me. It was just enough to feel good and sopping wet.

We rode a little bit past the dam on another trail that turned out to not be exciting since it went through a neighborhood and onto a major road after winding along the river. So we went back, and the temperature had risen even higher causing me to shed some layers despite my midsection being unbelievably white. It was a nice ride.

I just finished the Rory Stewart book, and I'm sad that it's over. I'm definitely going to have to find his other book.

The exciting news is that Chris is on his way home :D I am a little bit excited (hee hee). I'm really looking forward to see pictures and hearing stories. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend :)