Minneapolis, I hardly knew ye

Dear Twin Cities,

The time has come for us to say goodbye, too soon. Two years isn't enough to really get to know you; it's barely enough to get used to your winters. And yet the time has come for me to move on to other things. Things that are possibly bigger and better, but considerably less friendly.

I'll miss some things about you, Twin Cities. Your bike paths and parks, your lakes and fantastic summer weather are really some of your main draws. Not to mention the ice cream places (within walking distance!) I have come to know and love. From now on, my life will be incomplete without Guinness ice cream. I'll also miss Summit Ave., walking to the movie theater, Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, the MOA, the Irish Fair, Grand Old Days and good old Bus #63. We've shared some good times, you and I.

But we both know that relationships aren't perfect, Twin Cities. I'm willing to grant you your somewhat irrational love for the State Fair. And, if you twist my arm, I'll even ignore the strange names you have for things, like the kids' game 'Duck Duck Gray Duck' or calling all casseroles 'hotdish'. However, I am just not okay with the passive-aggressive tendency, or the fact that 'Minnesota Nice' is just a cover for any sort of backstabbing that may be going on. Also, the fact that your drivers tailgate like they want to see themselves in my bumper, or all the merging and exiting that happens on your highways from the left? Twin Cities, these have caused me hours of stress. I'm not pointing this out to hurt you; I'm just trying to be honest. I haven't lived in MN long enough that I can sugarcoat everything. Sorry.

I have to say, though, that you broadened my life. My first job, apartment and car were with you. Thanks to your (relatively) close proximity to the SPAM Museum, I tried that 'food' for the first time. I met many, many fantastic people, thanks to you. There really are much worse places than you, Twin Cities, and I'm glad to have gotten to know you. Don't ever change.

Well, except for the awful drivers and the ridiculously convoluted highways. That's annoying as hell.

Love,
Bridget

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

Things I Saw At The State Fair:

• Newborn lambs, calves, chicks, and piglets.


• MN's largest boar: 1200 pounds! It could probably have eaten me if it had wanted to.


• Food on a stick: corn dogs, roasted corn, 'hotdish', pork chops, pizza, caramel apples. Yes, each of these was on a stick.


• Rides, carnival games and crappy prizes.


• Demonstration on how to milk a cow.


• All sorts of random vendors.


• MN's best jarred vegetables, pies, etc.


• A giant slide!


• Cowboy hats.


• More leather accessories than you have ever seen.


• A barbecue grill shaped like a pig.


• Miniature horses that only come up to your thigh.


• A sculptor carving one of the fair's princesses in a block of butter.

I honestly don't see the appeal. I mean, it was mildly amusing, but 3 hours was enough and I definitely couldn't come every day. Cross one more thing off the list of things to see!

Just like old times

The Great Storm Of 2007 ^tm has now passed, and there's been no major damage, at least in my immediate vicinity. However, we still have no power, and it's been about a day and a half. This means: no TV, radio, internet, garage door, fridge, freezer, stove, microwave, or coffee. So not only is all of my frozen/refrigerated food going bad, but I can't even get caffeine in the morning! This is bad news. Also, peeing in a windowless bathroom is no treat. Anyway, here I am again, on the Internet at a cafe, having schlepped my laptop a couple of blocks. It's just like old times, when I didn't have Internet or a car at my old place. Ah, nostalgia.

Until recently, I had been working on a curriculum project for school. I had sort of volunteered for it, but I'm getting paid as well. (Let's hope that works out.) I brought it in yesterday, along with all sorts of teacher crap that I've collected over the years at college and while working at the school. It was so nice to get rid of all that stuff! Now I own nothing that ties me to the school, apart from all those files on my computer... it's quite freeing. I did run into a couple of my former students, as well as some other students, and it was great talking with them. They are just so cute! They also seemed relatively happy to see me; at least, they didn't run away screaming, which was also nice. I think the most interesting part was that although I became kind of sad to think that I'd never see or work with these kids again, I was past caring about all the changes/new policies/new ideas that are being implemented at the school this year. And it is wonderful not being in that pre-school-year-stressed-out phase. I suppose it's just further proof that I'm making the right decision.

Also further proof that I'm making the right decision: I got my tentative class schedule in the mail the other day, and it looks fantastic! And by 'fantastic', I mean 'packed and probably harder than anything I've done before, but so interesting in that geeky language-nerd way'. Only I would be excited about something like this.

Oh no... I just realized that I never posted about Müs's MN Adventure. Bullet form will have to do:

• Wednesday: Arrival, walked around a lake in my neighborhood ('You should get out here more often'), watched the news about the bridge collapse, tacos, ice cream
• Thursday: Drove almost 2 hours (one-way!) to visit the SPAM MUSEUM! One of the best museums I've ever seen, and I don't even like Spam. Fantastic. Also: Had some exotic beer at a local pub, bought cheap CDs from a local used CD place
• Friday's theme was '9-year-old birthday party': Science Museum (including Pompeii exhibit), Putt-Putt (aka 'mini-golf'), ate chips and salsa, watched movies and 'The Office' at home
• Saturday: Blueberry pancakes, Capitol building, Cathedral, drove out to Stillwater (local cute little town) to look around and visit a friend of mine
• Sunday: Brunch (mmm), Irish dance (me), being 'that creepy guy' in the park (him), met up with his childhood friend who moved to St. Louis in 8th grade or so, but is now in grad school at the U, watched the late show of 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (which is great, by the way)
• Monday: frantically transferred music from CDs to my computer to his iPod, Müs's departure...chaos then ensued in Chicago and he didn't get home until super late, but I'm sure he'll go off on a tirade on his blog, so keep checking for that.

So there's that. Clearly I am the best hostess ever. You've only got a couple more weeks if you want to come out and visit, so buy your tickets now!

*Edit: After a day and a half and a garbage can full of thawed food from the freezer, the power is back on! Yay!

Boring weather post

So there's a huge thunderstorm system headed our way, with at least three tornado cells. We're not under tornado warning yet (I wouldn't be blogging; I'm not that stupid), but it seems to be getting closer. I have no previous experience with tornadoes. This is no fun.

This is the part where I wish I wasn't alone out here.

I'll probably post again later, feeling silly when this whole thing is over.

*Edit: Thankfully, no tornadoes hit my neighborhood. However, lightning struck a power line 3 houses down from me and so we have no power. Joyous.

I hate to be such a sqealy fangirl, but...

...tonight's episode of 'The Office'? Made me so very, very happy. *sigh*

Off to NY for the (extended) weekend, to see Müs graduate! My little brother's all grown up. Except he's going back to school in the fall, so not quite. Wait a minute, so am I...

The funniest thing I have heard all day

Local news weatherman, amidst wimpy little snowflakes: 'It's really coming down out here. I'm guessing it's about an inch an hour.'

WTF?! An INCH per hour constitutes really coming down?! Give me a break. I literally burst out laughing at the TV. And if that makes me a huge dork, well, so be it.

On a less funny note, these people suck at plowing the streets. It's not 'really coming down' or anything, but the streets are as slippery as... something really slippery. A wet seal, perhaps.

BRRRRRRRRRRR!

Local forecast courtesy of weather.com:

Today: Bitterly cold. Mostly cloudy skies. Dangerous wind chills as low as -30F. High -2F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph.
Tonight: Bitterly cold. Mostly cloudy. Low -14F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Tomorrow: Bitterly cold. Sunshine and clouds mixed. Dangerous wind chills approaching -30F. High -1F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Tomorrow night: Bitterly cold. Partly cloudy. Low around -15F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low single digits and lows -8 to -12F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.

I feel like I'm living in the tundra here. Someone won't be going outside during the next few days!