Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (read: Remembered)

Well good gravy.
It's been about ten years and a day since I posted here. Guess I should make my life count, or at least for the last day of 2012 by blogging today. So that probably includes like the 12+ events of 2012 or something like that. We'll see where that goes.

1) Baby niece Amelia born.  She's so suitably fat now and I'm such a proud aunt!

2) State 2012. I think I cried for the whole damn thing. Every moment and it was super. We get to do that again in 2 months? I'm so ready to cry for several hours.

3) Watching my friend Ch-low Rad-cliffee do what she does at AFA. That was neat.

4) Surviving NFA to the surprise and accolades that we didn't expect. I've never been so genuinely surprised and overflowing with pride for what we speechies do.

5) Baby nephew Pete born. Although he looked like a grumpy old man for a while, he's learning to smile and getting cuter all the time.

6) May 18, 2012. I have a voicemail of Vanessa giggling.

7) Duluth with Lady Chelle Chelle. It was more than a moment, but it was important. It includes the apple pie baking and the porch sitting.

8) Climbing trees. Want a new perspective? That helps.

9) Giving a bike to a new teammate. Warm Fuzzies all over.

10) Oreo died. I forever miss my giant feline who hated snow, loved any holiday with bags and wrapping paper, and took two arms to hold. Now my heart holds you.

11) NCA. Dinner theater. Nuff said.

12) CinCC. I successfully cried in every performance in front of large audiences because that's where you cry. Love me some Guh chuh-wire fam.

Bonus: Throwing Better Cheddars because they're worse, not better. The moments leading up to that one were good too.

Ok so I should tell someone and this is as good a place to tell people as any about my new goal to blog more consistently than this semester.  No point to having a blog that you don't use and there should be amusing things going on in my life that you may or may not appreciate.

To those of you going abroad this semester, blog because you want to read your experiences in full and not through collapsed memories that get compressed and diluted. Do it then so you can laugh about it later. Also, then I won't have to throw Better Cheddars (or rocks) at you.

So cheers to a happy survivable 2013.  Love you all.

Boxes of Things

So basically every thing is packed. The little nitty gritty shitty stuff is left to pack, and I guess most of that is just handfuls of uh, dump that in that sort of not quite full bag over there. There is not so much method to the madness, but rather this method is a byproduct of the madness.  Don't judge me.

None the less, tomorrow I travel north to the great land called Gustavus where I will officially embark on my third year of college (this is the parenthetical where I say something like, "holy shit is that real? third year? Uh.... I'm almost certain they shouldn't have passed me in the first two. I'm likely still a freshman or at the ver least a sophomore.) That being said, I should probably not blink, otherwise I'll be graduating and won't have any idea what I'm supposed to do with my life. Classic.

In other news, I've finished my scrapbook! I think I will bring it with me to the hill where I will allow it to collect dust and I will occasionally force it upon my friends who are sick and tired of listening to me babble about Italy this, and Rome public transportation that. Oh well, it's pretty and I'm fat and sassy. (that one was for you Molly).

I Took Notes

I wish that I had some sort of exciting story or experience to share with you about my day so that we could all somehow live vicariously through one person's experience without leaving our laptops.

But, alas, I have had no true adventures this eve, and instead turn to a listing of the things I did learn today.

1) Some news place things that eating 2 egg yolks a week is as bad for you as smoking. This makes for a scrambling of jokes.
2) I'm confident my grandmother still remembers nearly everyone who has lived/worked/played in a 25 mile radius of "the old house."
3) Patience, by definition is building a house from scratch and not only doing it perfectly, but doing it by hand.

And thus completes my learning for the day.

Whirr of VHS Film in Reverse

Fun game: Drive to Bonner Springs and to eat Chinese food and listen to pretty music.

Does it sound like a Monday night flash back from high school? It should, minus the whole Bonner Springs thing, I didn't have to drive there for music or Chinese food.

But the hours spent in the car were well worth it. A mini reunion with people that after years of not talking or hearing from pop out of the wood work and make your day that much brighter. Spring, welcome back. Missed you!

But that was not  the only  surprise of the day! I had the pleasure of not only reunionizing with Allegrians, but with some Barstownians too!  Looooooonng time no talk and suddenly-KA-POW!!!!  Bamalamadingdong there they are catching you up on the oh, say, 6 years you missed in the middle. Woof. So that's my day. A series of flash backs and rewinds just to keep me on my toes.

And I couldn't have imagined a better one.

Pushing Them Out of the Nest

Woah, slow down crazy, slow down.

Tournament day. Boom. Now that it's over (and we're talking not the tournament that I'm competing at, but the little baby heart and souls that I've coached and worked with all week are throwing their newly found skills around in a room at the mercy of an unfamiliar audience and a scary person with the almighty pen. Terrified yet? It's like being crushed, without being told that you're being crushed.) Good news: My little GOAT pride didn't flinch. They did what they came to do, they laughed in the face of danger, and they want to come back next year. To this? I say I raise you a moderately less successful competitive day for this reaction. They laughed, they cried, and I think they learned something. (And the incredible people they met and the friends they made don't hurt either). So here we go, G! O! A! T! GOAT! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

As for my now somewhat mushy mental state: I think I've been staring at a computer screen with my mouth gaping open and my eyes crossed for 10 minutes before I realized I should type, or blog, or maybe just go to bed.

Remind me that I should tell you all about that time that I went to a judging certification for MN... Still pondering that one a little bit.

THEMED THURSDAY: Are You Looking At Me?

THEMED THURSDAY (friday) GET PUMPED YA'LL!!!!

So SSI starts TOMORROW and in honor of such a memorable time, the theme for this week is "Fictionalized version of the meeting between Kelsey and Michelle. Must include the line, 'she's cross-eyed in both eyes.'"

Ready? Here we go.

I was sitting calmly in my room. Finally arrived at this infamous speech camp, and intensely curious if there were people that were both sane AND speech nerds. I knew the pickings were going to be slim, but provided that I put on my charming smile and winning personality and hope for the best. So sitting in this quad in Uhler hall, I waited. Suddenly, she burst through the door and into my life. Forever.

Now there are good and bad things to this bursting thing.  First of all, bursting is bad for blood pressure. It’s a pressure problem, and there’s just no fixing much of anything once it’s done been burst. The good thing is that you get there quickly and efficiently with maximum rubble. And this, my friends, is Michelle.

I think I should explain something key to the choice of burst. It’s not her fault. She’s cross-eye in both eyes. Both, it is not a repercussion of her actions that she’s cross-eyed in both eyes. But that she can’t help but move in a rambunctious manner through doors and walls because she is in fact, cross-eyed in both eyes. Does that make sense? I think it does? Ish. Anyway, she comes bursting into the room and I knew, in that very same moment that my life was about to significantly improve. There was only one problem. There can only be one mega diva here. This quad is just not big enough for the both of us.

Thus the most epic battle you’ll ever hear about occurred. I can say this confidently because you don’t “hear” about the Iliad or the Odyssey, you read it, because it’s assigned reading. So boom. And the battle of Isengard? Hogwarts? Yup, you read that too. And I’m going to give you the police report bullet points (kapow, did you catch that one? I didn’t know you could catch a speeding bullet.)

-Extensive burning in the surrounding areas due to fire throwing contest/fight

-Other trampled areas likely due to the extensive crowd heard by locals

-Quotations from spectators include, “Intense. I’ve never seen a pop off like that before.” “Looked dangerous, but it’s good to know where you stand with that.” “Wouldn’t want to get in the middle of that.” “Would have loved to get in the middle of that.” As you can see, there are mixed reports.

-Case left unresolved.

And because there’s no reason to get innocent bystanders, like Katlyn, involved in this act of aggression, I think it’s important to leave the details out. Because I’ve told you too much already. And the police report is still out there and I’m trying to be nice, and that’s a struggle for me so take advantage of it. The important point is that there was fire. And flame throwing. And I won.

But how hard is it to be a two-time cross-eyed chick with a bursting problem?

"I Was Making a Lasagne! (For One)"

Singing duets with Justin Feit must be one of the best ways to pass a work day. Seriously. I think we could go on tour, but it would make Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus break up for jealousy. We sat in the team room for about an hour stuffing name tags for SSI singing our creative loosely covered renditions of Flight of the Concords.  Good use of time? Absolutely. My only regret is that Cadi and Kris missed our version of "The Most Beautiful Girl" by about 35 seconds. So that's a bummer. But we enjoyed it, and art is really for the artist most of the time.

"I'm not crying... it's just the rain on my face"

It rained!  And other than standing around watching it pour for 45 minutes, we just admired the after affects of a good rain storm on both the heat and my hair. As the rain fell, my hair grew... just like the grass except exponential curls. Woe.  But that's ok, because it's closer to 70 than 100.  Winners. Except for the person sitting behind me in a theater... Then that sucks.

Remind me, I have an amusing story about answering phones and what you should learn about that.

When You Buy Lemons....

Validation at last!  Just kidding. I've been in a bake-y mood for about a week and finally caved (with the help of Mariecus telling me what to bake, sort of). I made lemon bars!  Delicious? Yes. Duh. But according to our other roommate, Lauren, they are the best thing I've made to date! How do you like that? After zesting a lemon and hand squeezing the necessary juice, I suppose the effort makes a bit of a difference. Or it's just that in this god-forsaken heat wave lemon was the only way to go. I mean, I love chocolate as much as the next person and their chocolate loving friend combined, but lemon bars just sound so cool and refreshing. It has nothing to do with the cup of sugar, or the effort, or the air conditioning. So lemon bars it was (not to say I didn't stock up on chocolate... just in case this baking crave continues).

Between the lemon bars and the super duper pasta I made (with lime juice, rosemary, and spinach) (hey dad, it only needed pine nuts, seriously!), I've been a busy chef.

And other than that, Kris, Justin, and I have been prepping for SSI on SATURDAY. Holy cheezewhiz. This is going to be a whirl. I think I'm either going to blink and it'll be over, or it'll feel like I'm watching the entire week pass from under water. The really slow motion scene in movies where everything is nostalgic and the sun is shining from up above, but nothing feels quite right? I'll let you know if that actually happens, but it's going to be amazing regardless. Holla!

So in anticipation for such a week, I'm going to attempt to get more sleep than usual. Wish me luck.

Themed Thursday: PICK ME!

THEMED THURSDAY! THEMED THURSDAY! THEMED THURSDAY!

But Kelsey, it's Friday. We've been waiting for 48 hours for this moment and you can't even title your blog post right?

To that I say, I'm sorry. I'm doing my best to keep up with your demands, but sometimes I'm human, and that means I don't eat people--

What?  What was that? A segue to today's theme!?!?!?!
Yes, yes it was. And that means we need to start picking sides for the Zombie Apocalypse. And this my friends, is more important than dodgeball. So stand up straight and pay attention. This information could save your life. Sort of.

Rules: Pick 3 other people (besides yourself) living, dead, or fictional for your Zombie Apocalypse team. These are the people that know the rules- double tap, cardio, and other basic survival skills, like open fire cooking (and I don't mean cooking in the front lines, I mean over an open flame). Are you ready to face December 21st? Go.

1) Dexter Morgan: Crime fighting, crime killing individual with extensive knowledge of knife wielding and blood analysis. Other skills: being incredibly attractive. He's an ideal candidate for all of these reasons in addition to his witty monologues and scheming mentality.

2) My Uncle Kent: Damn good cook, tells bigger than life stories, has experience fixing things and tough guy problem solving, as well as being a general "I'm not dead yet, so I must be fine" sort of person. Always has a good story and that's pretty ideal when you spend the rest of your time avoiding/hunting zombies. 

3) Cadi: According to her facebook profile pic, she has experience shooting a gun, typically funny, has some good stories, and general absurdity. That means being able to talk to someone for hours to delay pure and utter boredom. After all, this is what we do on a regular basis when driving to and from places that are super far away. So boom.

And I would like to make a clarification: This is all based on the idea that I am secretly an elf who can run really fast, see really far (without glasses or binoculars), and has exceptional bow and arrow skills. I say this for 2 reasons: 1) Those are useful things in a Zombie Apocalypse and I don't have any of those skills now.  2) I just really want to be an elf. 

Ok, that's it for me. I'll probably blog about the remainder of my week(end) with Michelle in Duluth tomorrow or Sunday when I'm sitting all alone in my apartment making cupcakes out of my tears. 

'Murrica Pie

Let me regale you with the adventurous day of Duluthyness.

Michelle and I woke up at a respectable time (and I mean as in my parents, not my peers would be impressed) and headed out for a scenic river drive and a festive nature hike (pretty neat). So around Gooseberry park we walk. Taking in the sights, making fun of the awkward family photos being captured in front of root beer waterfalls and general frivolity. After that exhausting trek, we make our way to Betty's Pies where we had lunch and ate pie. A stunning blackberry peach crumble for me- but the pie theme had only just begun. This is real life, and we need more pie. So a plan was developed that we have a fancy house dinner where everyone contributes something. Much like family dinner, but I've only known some of these people for 24 hours-I'm not sure if they're ready to adopt me. And Michelle and I, being the industrious Americans we are, needed to make apple pies. And I do say pieS because we are so focused on individuality that we made mini pies. So eight apples and 3 home made pie crusts later, we have 12 stunning examples of freedom.

And if you're wondering how you roll pie crust without wax paper or a rolling pin? Let me show you young Skywalker. You improvise!

And they are delicious. We are proud bakers and proud wearers of patriotic attire-minus the eagles. If I can't carry around a real bird, I don't want it on my shirt.

And that wraps it all up. Happy 4th, whether you believe in the country or just believe in the people who inhabit said country-have a good one.

Mini Housewife

The Internet is being poopy so I'm speed blogging on my phone. It goes something like this: I make a pretty good mini quiche. Jealous yet? Here's a picture of the only one I could save before it was devoured by a hungry female.

Yeah, that good. I'll make a few adjustments for the next time- like buy muffin cups. But that's it. Family dinner is always a blast. I just love the idea and this whole potluck thing so much. We're a cool group, and we have some good times. Haters gonna hate, but I was proud to bring a pan of hot mini quiches outside and down to the heart of St Peter. Too damn bad.

No, That's Not the Lecture Hall. That's a Mechanical Closet.

Michelle has composed some fighting words including that of "Sass."

And let me say, I can win this and bake cookies at the same time. How do I know? Because I made home made Chocolate Chip Cookies in under 20 minutes today. From scratch. GET AT ME. Yes, that means that I came home, made some bad ass batter, threw those beauties in the oven, and pulled them out in under 20 minutes. Boom. And they were quite delicious (if I do say so myself).

Why the hurry for the cookies. Because I was hungry, don't ask stupid questions. Just kidding. We had our first family dinner tonight! What a delightful time. Over to Cadi's to play with the cats and have some grub and we each brought something. I brought cookies and we had a veggie platter (so healthy) and some chicken and potatoes. Noms ville. And then it was story after story and looking through Cadi's old yearbooks, and Ava rapping, and brainstorming. Just all beautiful things. Now if it wouldn't be so blasted humid everywhere, it would be magnificent. So let's hope that works.

In other news, life's good. I'm a busy little bee and volunteering strangely in unexpected ways to help with registration. And by that I mean that I help the lost looking individuals on campus find their way back to the herd. Or in some instances, show them class rooms in the building I'm in. Nice? You'd better believe it. Good Karma? I sure hope so. Likely to change soon? Sure thing.

"I'm a green jellybean"

Ah, the sweet smell of summer. And by summer I mean that point where you laugh so hard you cry and then laugh summer (it sounds like some-more ok? whatever).  And to start out this festivity, I got my keys! Huzzah, aren't we proud?

After a thrilling day at work and a festive gathering at Cadi's our apartment managed to have a few brief moments together, as well as enjoy the company of Matt. What an ideal situation. But I think the biggest news, was the history of Ava I heard tonight. Let me be clear, nothing is to be taken for indisputable fact. Use extreme caution when accepting stories from Alaskans.

For instance, I learned that Ava had a rapping career. You said what!?! Yes, that is what she said. And judging by the rhymes she spun, I'm sure short was an understatement. BUT, that's not the point, because this is to be a summer of adventure! And the only logical adventure is that we revitalize Ava's rapping career! Le duh. She may have gone by the name ATAR (Ava the Amazing Rapper) I think with a little respin, she could live up to her name! (Ava the Abysmal Rapper) Too much? You tell me the words you know that rhyme with blue.... If you have any, that's a good start to where we did tonight. I'm now going to finish the only rap I actually helped write (the first part of which is the title of this blog)

"I'm a green jellybean, I can be kind of mean, but when you drop me in the grass I can't been seen-because I'm green!"

BOOM!

Needless to say, I'm going to do the beat boxing. Don't look at me like that, I'm not that good either. But hey, it's all in the spirit of trying things. I mean am I right?

So here's the question of the day, "What are you going to try today?" Something new? Pull out the old violin and at least pretend? Imagine again? Give it a spin around the block, who knows what you'll learn.

Imagine a Beach-and Two People Hurtling Toward Each Other

Ah, the sweet sound of reunion.  It's the kind of thing where you won't and can't run out of things to talk about. This is where best friends come to come back. Where everything you say or do is acceptable, and great, and funny, and worth every minute of the experience multiplied by the number of times they are willing to listen to the story without complaint. That's what home is all about.

And naturally this little soliloquy is prompted by something else-that is Brittany. Now I haven't talked much about Brittany here, but there are two things you need to know. 1) She ranks in the top two hug-givers competition.  This is an extremely competitive sport, and it's remarkable to hold this position for so long, but if you don't feel loved after one of these hugs, you are made of gears, wires, and mold.  You essentially are emotionless and hollow if you don't feel loved after a Krutty hug. 2) She's also one of the top two most genuine and honest people I know. I know a lot of genuine people, and a lot of honest people, but she doesn't have a bad bone in her body. And plus side of all of this is that we could talk for decades. I kid you not, when Brio (for those of you who don't know me personally, that's a girls choir I sang in in HS) went to Austria, on the way back Brittany and I talked for 10 hours straight. No sleeping, no watching movies, nothing but talking for 10 hours. And we could have easily talked for another 10 without thinking twice. Those are the people in your life that you must keep around for as long as possible. And I'm not letting this one go! Our skype date was just what I needed for the first week of real work to begin. Plus, the obvious benefit of skyping her was that I also got to say hello to the rest of the family which is always a joy. Good people come with great families.  Good luck to Brittany as she goes on to teach her first class in the morning! Make those kids the smartest Physics kids in town.

Also, as a side note, the whole running along the beach thing has happened. But even more so, it will happen-when Michelle and I reunite this summer. It's going to happen, and the cacophony of talking that will ensue will astound the masses. (mostly because you're not supposed to talk in mass) (unless it's a chant) (see what I did there?) It's going to be magical. Regardless of the Pin vs Stumble debate.

So that was my day. Talking, getting frustrated with my knitting project (that damn hat) and living the dream. Ava moved in today, so the whole gang is here. Well, minus Mariecus who went home for the night (I'm all alone, so all alone). And tomorrow, 108 will be complete at last!

Roots and Katniss

Please, notice the title of this post, it'll be useful later.

I caved. I gave in. I quit.

Those are not things you usually hear me say, but I guess it's true in this case. I'm officially reading the Hunger Games. "But Kelsey, why? You're an English major! You should be reading things like Austen, Delillo, and Hawthorne- not that book by Suzanne Collins. How silly of you!" I know. I know. But I've actually caved to peer pressure. And by peer pressure, I include my mother. Yes, my mother. I figured if the book is meant for the 9-15 crowd, and my mother has already read all three, it's about time I at least skimmed them. Though let's be real, I know what happens, I do use the internet and I do have friends. The fact that I have friends that like to talk only makes this problem worse. But with any luck, I'll have all three done before I return to the land of the lakes and I will be back to reading the literary pillars of the world.

I would also like to mention that I am writing this in conjunction with my food baby, procured from my Aunt and Uncle's restaurant.  This is the point where I will shamelessly plug the Gobblers Roost.  My uncle Kent and aunt Kathy do a magnificent job over-feeding the hungry who arrive at the door. I'm pretty sure the cooking thing runs in the family... Genetics are weird like that. (For instance, my father is the only one of his three siblings who has not had his own restaurant for a while. Think about that one.) From the atmosphere in the practical middle of nowhere, to the five-course dinner, to the fact that I get to chit-chat with the family for a few hours makes it all worth it. It's not too often that all of those happen in one place, but Green Springs Missouri, well I'll be! Sure does happen there!

And going out to visit, driving along the dirt roads in between fields and pasture reminds me of my roots a little bit. I've survived in a giant city, and a tiny town this year, strictly rural isn't that far away, and I'm sure I'd love that too. At least for a while. Then we'd have to figure something else out.

So I'll leave you by reminding you how clever the title of this post was. Katniss Roots are edible. DUH.

Ok, I'm done. I've been making "good" jokes all day, and no one laughed at those either.