The Myth & The Majesty

17 days until I make the trek to Wausau. 25 days until I have to be done with my Christmas shopping. And until I want to be done with my grad school apps. And until Mia Sorella gets home. 31 days until a whole new year of adventure. Bring. It. ON.

In the last week, I've spent almost $3000 in other people's money. Most of that was the plane ticket we finally bought for Mia Sorella -- the rest, Cyber Monday Christmas presents. It's been surprisingly fun. I like being the resident Net Nerd. On top of that it's kept me inside, out of the crappy weather. We're getting our first real snowfall and, like usual, it's mostly been blowing sideways across the prairie. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

It was Christmas-decorating day for the family, which meant I spent a chunk of time handing things out the window to my dad so he could hang lights on the upper level. (The second part of that role is a readiness to yell for help should he lose his footing and land in the garden below.) As I was standing there, enjoying the crisp November air (no, really, it was nice), I could hear the windcharms from the house across the sleep. Without warning, I was sent down Memory Lane and I almost immediately started giggling. That house was where we gathered to get on the bus in the morning. You see, we live in a moderately rural neighborhood (well, it was twelve years ago when I rode the bus) and it was easier on the bus driver if the five to eight of us that needed a ride met up in one spot. Our custom was to toss our book bags in a line when we appeared (it was worthwhile to be early, as we were one of the last stops on a very full bus and no one wanted to have to sit next to Smelly Kid o...

This week was marked by turkey, family gatherings, and insomnia the likes of which I haven't seen in years. And random run-ins with friends, some of which were even intentional. The unintentional ones have been ... awkward. At least three times this week I've found myself in some version of the following conversation: "So ... You're in Sioux Falls now!" "Yep." "For how long?" "Oh ... Indefinitely." "Oh ... Um ... So ... How's your sister?" Leaving me wondering if I should have explained further. However, trying to explain my life plans inside thirty seconds -- particularly to people who aren't up to date on anything else in my life -- just doesn't hold any appeal. (Really, it would probably suffice if instead of "indefinitely" I said, "At least till January, hopefully not past August.") Aside from that, I'm wrestling with the fact that no, I'm not packing up and leavi...

There's a lot of random stuff going on around here. On the surface, there's the Thanksgiving prep. A little further down, there's a sleep-deprived me from trying (unsuccessfully) to get a plane ticket set up for Mia Sorella for Christmas. And Dad, who had to put in a couple hours of driving this morning and hope he didn't have to call out his salt-and-sanders. And Mom, who got up when he did (a couple hours earlier than the "standard" Thanksgiving) and baked pie two pies before the turkey even got going. And Shorty, who left school a day early thanks to the weather that forced Dad to drive this morning. But -- ... this is the clincher ... All of us that could be here are here. We're all healthy. While there's plenty more going on (family issues, unemployment, potential travel problems, plane tickets that refuse to be purchased) ... the basics are covered. And then some. While I'm looking forward to Christmas and the five of ...

So here's what's going on. - I'm looking into area jobs and just haven't had a lot of motivation yet, particularly because there are so many other things I'm trying to get done in the meantime. All the same, I'm tired of telling people that I do nothing for a living. - I'll likely be shooting for substitute teaching first. Which just sounds weird. - Mia Sorella is working on getting home for Christmas. She's officially been given the time off ... Now she just needs a plane ticket. 'Twould be awesome, particularly since it's been a year and a half since I've seen her. - I'm going to Wausau in three weeks for C4 (a pretty amazing Christmas party) and I don't anticipate sleeping. At all. - Hopefully I'll end up in Rapid City somewhere in there. - That's a lot of gas money. - I've had nothing useful to say because I'm mostly just studying and filling out applications. Whee. - The bright spot? Turkey and all...

As you may have guessed from my dumb little haiku, I was in Madison this past weekend. The boys (Moonie and the Admiral) and I had been planning that weekend before I left Wausau and decided to go on with it. Which was fantastic, if only because I needed to do something fun for a weekend. (It had been awhile.) I'd like to give you a rundown, but at the moment I'm actually sitting upright for the first time today and I'm not in the mood to download the handful of pictures I took over the weekend. Spent the day mostly unconscious trying to fight off a ... migraine? bout of the flu? sinus something or other? I'm not sure. I'm reasonably certain it's not strep throat like Shorty was coping with last week (after being home for the weekend -- made us a little paranoid here) but aside from that, who knows. My body does have weird reactions to stress (it'll be fine until after the bulk of it has passed) so a migraine wouldn't be out of the realm of possibili...

Badgers killed Indy Red Eye at the Old Fashioned Good times in Madtown

I'm at Best Buy. And I'm posting because I can.

A guy, his brother (presumably), and the first guy's three little boys were just sitting next to me. Two of the boys were suitably rambunctious for being about five and six. (Rambunctious enough that both of the older guys apologized to me at some point.) The kids were too cute to be annoying, however, and I mostly just had a good chuckle (all the more because I was trying not to laugh out loud). But the funniest part of it all? The middle child loudly singing the theme song for "Indiana Jones" as they left. "Ba ba-ba-baaaa, ba-ba-buuuuuuuuuuum!!!" ...

I've been home for a week and it's almost as though I've been here for the last three years. Aside from the fact that I'm still not sleeping in my own room (I need to paint one last coat in there before I'll be willing to finish "moving in"), things feel weirdly normal. I'm even taking dance lessons, and while the instructor is quite good and I'm having a lot of fun, she's no Todd or Julia. [Who knew? One of the bigger adjustments is getting used to a new dance class. I'm a very different person than I was when I last lived here.] During the day, there's an obscene amount of television available, plenty of cooking and baking to do, and my job search is in full force now. I'm getting ready -- in earnest -- for the GRE, and I'm still getting the last of my address changes done as I find out what they are. And I am once again frequenting a B&N. This particular store has been one of my favorites since high school, and I ...

Generally speaking, my first week at home has been ... uneventful. Perhaps I'll have something of use to say again someday. For now, I settle in to watch football with my dad. Go Pack Go!

I'll admit -- I slept in today. (I also slept in yesterday, but Sunday night was a considerably later night than last night.) However, since then I've taken a long walk, made my requisite run into Sioux Falls, planned some painting, started moving things around in my room, and soon I'm going to go unpack some books. At this point I'm trying to force some normalcy. My parents have helped -- Mom was quite excited about me coming home for awhile, in no small part because she gets to use some of my stuff (my television looks quite at home in the living room, and her stand mixer has an oil leak so mine is now on the counter). I walked in the door and some of those changes had already happened. Plus at the moment I'm in my old room (which is technically my brother's room but fit for guests), there's Red Eye beer in the fridge, and I have a movie I've seen approximately 87 times waiting for me downstairs. Oh, and tonight, I get to go dancing at one of t...