The Myth & The Majesty

1. Mia Sorella's visit was awesome. I'd like to say I'll blog exclusively about that sometime soon, but she left two weeks ago and I still haven't. So ... we'll see. 2. Included in that was a rather intense trip to Minneapolis that's also worthy of its own post. But ... we'll see. 3. Thoughts are with my Colorado friends ... I know some of you were on pre-evacuation alert. Hope your neighborhoods are still intact. 4. I now know far too much about the TV stations in Topeka, Kansas. 5. Let's add Kristen Stewart to the list of pop culture phenoms I just don't understand, shall we? 6. Is saying you want to see "Magic Mike" for the storyline a bit like saying you read Playboy for the articles? 7. Almost July. Big month ahead. Egads.

It's been a couple weeks. Mia Sorella's been home, and with an interruption like that I ... totally forgot about the blog. Yup. Which means it's only natural that I'm not going to write at this exact moment. I will, however, send you on to this article . Because everyone needs a little nerdvana in their day.

In Wausau, I could never see a storm coming, nor was it very impressive when it reached me. Plenty of rain, little flash and bang. In the Hills, you can hear a storm coming from miles away but you can rarely see it until it's right overhead. On the ranch, storms are the opposite of those in Wausau -- too much flash, not enough rain. Storms are something to be watched carefully in the event that they get too close to dry fields. Aside from the propensity for high winds, I love a storm from here. From the front porch, you can see one coming for miles. Sometimes a storm will divide and go around Sioux Falls (which is pretty dang cool). Once, I stood in the driveway and watched funnel clouds go by both north and south of us with blue sky visible right overhead. And the lightning never disappoints.

I'm ready for a weekend. A long weekend. A long weekend with questionable weather but chances to kayak anyway. As luck would have it, such a weekend is only hours away. And at the end of said weekend, Mia Sorella will be landing at the local airport for three weeks of random fun stuff. So that should be awesome. Now, to survive the afternoon...

Amanda over at Life In Lajes  was minding her own business, trying to get to the UK when she was unexpectedly memed. Not being a naysayer herself, she decided to continue the madness. Strictly speaking, I'm not a meme-er. (Tee hee.) But when I found her comment waiting for me, I couldn't say no. And not just because I've known Amanda for longer than most of my non-family readers and she knows where I live. First, here are THE RULES as shared with me: You MUST post the rules.  Answer the questions the tagger sent for you in the post, and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you've tagged. Tag 11 bloggers; however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want. Make sure you hyperlink their names/blogs. Let them know you've tagged them! Have fun! (Ashley's note: I would add "6. Don't ask a question you're not willing to answer.")   Now, these are the questions posed by Amanda: 1 . Where d...

Things I've Been Wrong About This Week 1. A stranger's just a friend you haven't met. 2. Squirrels have innate survival instincts when faced with objects 2000 times their size. 3. People can function as intelligent beings on the internet. 4. I don't watch much television. 5. Men don't watch "The Bachelorette." 6. Tea parties are for small children. 7. Soy milk keeps forever. 8. You can't have too much of a good thing.

Some Mondays make it especially hard to go to work. Take today, for instance, coming off a fantastic weekend. 1. Awesome new shoes. 2. Some rugby-watching. 3. The first kayak outing since I got my boat back last weekend. It was nearly perfect. Then just to make it harder, I woke up this morning (late) to 65 degrees and very little wind. I didn't want to go to work. I wanted to go for a hike. Anywhere. So right now, it's hard to convince myself that "at a desk" is a good place to be. I'll compromise with lunch on a deck...