I got back to work just in time for more BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

Birthdays are celebrated in the FAO. I was never really into celebrating birthdays. Not mine, not even much when I'm at home, let alone at work. Someone brings a cake, everyone stops working and goes to the meeting room, we all sing, and then eat cake.

Scott always eats the most cake and the pieces with the most frosting. Conversation goes, "Who wants the first piece?" (usually a corner) Everyone looks to Scott. He eats the cake in 3-4 bites as other pieces of cake are passed around the table. People talk about the frosting. Today it was a whipped frosting.

Others slowly eat their piece of cake, careful not to get frosting on their face or hands as they will soon return to work.

There are usually several pieces left after everyone has had theirs. Scott and Mike go in for round two on the heavy frosting pieces.

Conversations lead to, "So, do you have any special plans for your birthday?" yadda yadda yadda.

Birthdays...I've never been in to celebrating them, but I sure do enjoy the cake!

Thanks Econo for letting me use your cake picture!

Ah yes. Money matters. Got money on the mind this morning.

To have it, or not to have it. Why do many of us feel that we need what we want, and not necessarily have the peace of mind to similarly want what we need? Contentment is an elusive animal. I've had these types of abstract rantings on my mind for the passed month or so. Even had a few conversations with folks about how to arrive at a place where you are balanced, content, and enjoying the attainments you've been fortunate enough to procure. All this as opposed, let's say, to having all you once wanted (and still want) but always keeping they eyes open for the next "thing"...of course only to realize that the securing of said "thing" only brings you around full circle.

Many of us live for the "chase", the "hunt". Once the "catch" is caught, we enjoy it...but soon thereafter afix our gaze on the next "catch". The "catch" is many things to many people...

After a large meal, the last thing I want is more food or beer. How can I learn to translate that satiation to other "things" I want to need?

All apologies for the tacky metaphors to illustrate such a deceivingly simple point.

Enough blogging for me for awhile...in Hale's absence I've gone a little overboard. I'm sure she'll restore pleasantry to the blog. Oh yeah...did I mention that she's back!? ;-)

SINLGESPEED UPDATE!

OK. Got the bike last night. the box was mutilated, but the bike sustained no damage, thankfully.

I thought that it would only take about an hour to get everything dialed in. WAS I WRONG! I was wrenching on the bike for probably four hours, maybe a little less. Many many many adjustments were made: cut the handlebars, add spacers under the stem, change seatpost, change seatpost, dial in brake alignment, change grips, replace el-cheeapo skewer, etc. I spend so much time on my bikes that I find it sifficult to get a new bike properly dialed in an hour. I did get to ride to last night and it feels pretty good...a totally different ride than my Stumpjumper. A good different...but not an everyday kind of bike.

Anyhow, the bike is done being tweaked for the most part. I will take it for another jaunt this evening, perhaps out to Harlow Lake, to see how it handles the truly excellent singletrack out there.

Hale is in Marinette until tomorrow. I think I'll have to clean the house tonight so it looks nice when she gets back. Needless to say, I neglected my house cleaning duties last night. Watch out!

I couldn't leave without posting a photo of the new single speed...currently waiting on my porch while I stew at work.

Less gears = more beers. Or bad knees? Or empty bank account? Or something like that?

So...Welp. Hale is out of town. She left this morning to go down to her folks' house in Marinette. They recently sold their home of 30 years and will benefit from her help in cleaning and organizing.

I'm left in Marquette to "bach" (pronounced batch). What to do? I no longer know how to be bach, so I think I'll just stick with what I do know how to do. Bike, clean the house, and drink beer. What a life! ;-)

It's fascinating how our lives have come to revolve so keenly around one another. I love you, Hale!

Here'a a picture from my UN 100 class hike. We went up Sugarloaf this morning and came across some cool scenery. This photo is from the top, looking out towards Presque Isle and Middle Island. You can see Middle Island, but not Presque. The fog was awesome!

Busy day at work today. Had a great weekend and am heading down to Marinette to pack up my parents' house which sold before it was even on the market!

A while ago Rebecca told us about a time when she was a kid and her friend accidentally sliced her leg open with the lid of a "tin" can that was in the trash. Blood was everywhere! Rebecca sprung into action and applied pressure to the wound and called a neighbor who brought her friend to the hospital. (That's the gist of the story). Well, I always remember it when I'm tossing a can in the recycling...am I going to slice something open with the sharp edge?

Well, last month in Real Simple they outlined the best can openers. I can't remember which one was the good one. But I tried to remember because our old can opener was crapping out. Last Sunday Bill and I were picking up laundry detergent and a few other things at Target and he remembered our crappy can opener. At first I saw a $4.99 one. A typical run of the mill can opener. Red handle, would do the trick. Well, we kept walking down the kitchen section, checking out the features on the other can openers, all seemed to be working the same. I got distracted in the aisles of Target and wandered towards the clearance items while Bill kept with the can openers. Lo and behold! He found a special can opener that can go in the dishwasher and is "safe"!

I checked out the package, gave it a few twirls and said sure! So $14.99 later we have a new can opener. AND after opening the can you can run your finger along the edge of the lid and on the edge of the can and neither are sharp! Oh! and there is a special grabber that actually takes the lid off so you don't have to get your fingers slimy with pizza sauce or whatever you are opening! I think you can click on the picture and see it close up.

I have new house pictures on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/91482037@N00/

They're baaack! Honeycrisp apples are back at Econo!

I've eaten two in two days and don't normally eat apples regularly. Yumm! I wasn't paying much attention when I grabbed the second to last tote bag in the apple section to notice that they were $1.69 a pound. My bag of tasty treats ended up being $9.81. Ugh. I'll really enjoy eating them though.

It was a beautiful weekend in Marquette, the sky was blue, the temperatures were moderate and nearly warm! Today it is supposed to be in the 70's! YES!!!

I went to the Fall Harvest Craft Show with Kimber and got some things...bracelet and some gifts. We were there for three hours and I was exhausted when I got home! Whew!

Saturday afternoon Bill and I went on a shopping extravaganza. We finally got a rug for the dining room, end "tables" for the living room, lights for the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom, and some other stuff. I think we are done shopping for a while! Bill also got his first pair of jeans in 8 years--and he got 2 pair! I had never seen him wear blue jeans.

Bill went for a bike ride with Peter, Andy, Chip, and John Justin in the morning and I read and installed some under cabinet lights for the kitchen. The third time was the charm with the lights. We had tried two sets of battery-powered lights that didn't put off nice light and the batteries died quickly. This time we bought some that you plug in. They did, however, require quite a bit more assembly. I had to actually build the plug and cut the wires. Well, they turned out great! The light is warm and they have lasted at least one day.

Tonight we are going to BB's annual bonfire for the department. I think we are driving out with Eric and Rebecca after going to the guitar exhibit. I think it might snow tonight. It is supposed to get in the 20's tonight with a frost advisory. We'll see!

Tomorrow Bill and I are hanging out with our new friends Sam and Tim. Sam was at a graduate student breakfast and I was working at the FAO table. I recognized her and then remembered that she and I were in a sorority together at DePauw. I went up and talked with her then e-mailed later in the day. We got together a couple of weeks ago for beer at the Vierling. I'm excited to get together again tomorrow.

The picture is of Bill taking a step off of a curb in Ashland, WI. We had stayed at a bed and breakfast that reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Groundhog's Day. We recreated parts of the movie when we were walking around downtown Ashland at 6 in the morning. This one is the part where Bill Murray steps off the curb into the big sloshy puddle and Ned says "Watch out for that first step, it's a dusey!"

I was fortunate enough to graduate from college with less than $20,000 in college loans. Working in the FAO I have come to realize that some students end up with college loans near $100,000 after their undergraduate education.

You may have seen or heard on the news lately that mortgage companies are under pressure with regards to borrowers not paying back their loans. I think that in the next few years educational lenders will be in the same spotlight for graduates going into default on their loans. Yikes.

When to turn on the heat? That has been the question that Bill and I ask each other everyday when we come home from work. It has been cold and rainy outside for the last week. It feels like summer is over and winter is here...just skipped right over the beautiful fall's that we have had the four that I've been here in Marquette.

Today at noon it was 48 degrees and dripping outside. Inside it was 60. So at 12:20pm today, September 12th, we turned on the heat. Well, at least we cranked it up for the 30 minutes we were at home for lunch. Enough time, though, to raise the temperature in the dining room from 60 to a toasty 63 degrees.

Last night we were in bed at 9 o'clock because it was warm there.

Next week is going to be in the 60's and 70's so we'll definitely keep the heat off. I imagine in mid-October we'll have the heat on a regular schedule so it will be warm when we get out of bed, cold all day, and warm up right before we get home from work.

Bill woke up on Sunday morning saying that the weekend was too short. Friday night we celebrated our third anniversary by going out to dinner where we had our first date, The Northland Pub. We walked up Front Street and when we got to the Landmark the pub was packed. The hostess suggested we have a drink in the lobby. That is just what we did.

We each had a pint of the Centennial IPA as we sat in the lobby of the Landmark. The beer was strong! Now that I have done a little bit of research on the beer, I know why we felt like CRAP all day Saturday after having 3 pints of this beer. The beer is 7.2% alcohol compared to Sierra Nevada, which is 5.6% and Coors Light, which is 4.2%! Jeesh! I found all of this cool info at http://ratebeer.com/.

Saturday we went out to Walker Furniture to see about out futon frame warranty. Our fancy August Lotz futon frame split when we were folding it down for company last weekend. Judith was so friendly and helpful, we couldn't believe the customer service! I hope that the guy who comes to check it out for the service call is as pleasant! Saturday afternoon Bill went mountain biking with Peter, Andy, Chip, Nick, and Ryan in South Marquette. Then he and Peter did another loop out on the Noquemanon Trail.

Sunday was chilly outside so I made some chili. We ran to Econo to get some groceries and stopped by Jeremy and Kimber's new house on the way back. They are making so much progress. I am sure they are ready to be done working and ready to relax. They've replaced the carpeted floor with hardwood, replaced the linoleum with cool fieldstone looking tile, replaced kitchen and bathroom countertops, appliances/fixtures, replaced lighting, and painted. I'm sure I'm missing more of the work they've done. They have done it all in about 4 weeks! Crazy! I dropped off some chili for the two of them later that night.

Bill did much more than I did this weekend. I did a little shopping: bought new curtains for the living room, bought a dress, and bought a bulletin board that I hung some of my jewelery on, made chili, and started a new book, "While I Was Gone".

Now it is Monday. This week we're going to get the internet hooked up at home!

Well, here I go. It's Thursday and that means Bill and I are going grocery shopping! Hoping it won't be too hot when we get done working so we can get a bike ride in. Last night Bill went mountain biking with Peter and Andy and then again by himself. I went to pilates for the first time with Rebecca and am feeling a bit sore today. When we got home from exercising it was 8:00 and we were hungy. Dinner options: Boca burgers, chicken, black beans and corn, fish, cereal, or pancakes. We went with black beans and corn. Yum!

Black Bean and Corn Burritos

• I opened and drained a can of corn and a can of whole black beans.
• Into a sauce pan, I poured corn, beans and about 1/4 cup of salsa.
• I heated up the mixture and heated some flour tortillas.
• 10 minutes from start to finish! Ole!

Tomorrow in the FAO we are doing potluck sub sandwiches. Everyone brings and ingredient:

• Ham
• Turkey
• Cheese
• Rolls
• Lettuce & onions
• Pickles & Peppers
• Condiments
• Tomatoes
• Dessert

I need to remember to pick up extra ham when I'm shopping tonight!