play ball

game in action, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Last night was the final regular season Colts game. I went over after work, so I missed the first couple of innings. When I got there, the scoreboard wasn't working and I didn't know where things were. So basically, I very quickly lost interest in following the action. There were some good plays, and the Colts won, but we saw just as many foul balls fly into/over the crowd as hits into fair territory. It was kind of scary there toward the end. A bashed in head isn't a fun souvenir of the game.

Maybe we'll have a better time at the Aquasox game next week. Yes, the big road trip is nigh and the plan is to go to the game on Thursday, August 7. Everett will face off against Vancouver, and Rick's hoping he'll be able to buy a Canadians hat. Their gear is certainly cooler, but I will of course be rooting for the 'sox, since they're part of the Mariners organization (and are also in last place). Any PNWers interested in coming with us to the game are welcome!

Monday music

Start your week with some Posies

I found this linked on Jon's wife's blog.

sunsets

Laramie at sunset, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

The sunsets in this town are beautiful. Last night when I was at Coal Creek with Meggie and Addie, it started raining really hard, and then the sun came back. Sunset was a little while later and it was gorgeous as usual. My pictures never really do it justice.

A week from today, I'll be up in the Tetons. Last year, the sunsets up there were unbelievable. I'm sure I'll be speechless again this time around. It's not like I haven't seen sunsets all my life, but I think I've only really started paying attention recently. It's worth taking the time to stop and just look.

stormy weather

I almost thought the day would be a wash. I was tired and crabby, and had a pretty wicked headache. My extended lunchtime nap didn't work out so well because a thunderstorm broke. It was loud, but I probably could have had a really nice sleep if I wasn't so preoccupied with getting back to campus for evening reference.

When the lightning stopped, I drove back to campus. I had to stop at Engineering, so I wandered the wet campus and took some pictures on the way back to the library. The sculpture installations are moving on and I was able to snap the latest.



Patrick Dougherty's sapling sculpture smelled wonderful after the rain. I spent some time just walking through and around it. It's pretty cool--reminds me of the haystack structures outside the Museum of Glass.



I like the new sculpture a lot, too. I don't know which artist did it, but it's cool. Very amoeba-like. Walking around in the fresh, wet air made me feel so much better. It was too bad I had to go inside.



The reference desk didn't do my headache any favors, and I started getting more naseated the longer I sat inside. Finally, I realized there was no way I could go to the student dance showcase, which made me sad. I like to take advantage of every opportunity to see dance in this town, but I know I would have felt crappy the whole time. It sucked to flake on the friend I was going with, also.

Once I'd been home, ate some soup, and rested in front of a fan, Peter called. He wanted to come over and borrow some music. We baked some cookies, too. Yum. So the day ended on a good note after all.

hot in here

view from the monument, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Tonight the house is hot and I don't feel like I can sleep yet. I suppose I could go downstairs where it's always cooler, but I've sort of banned computers from my bedroom. It's all part of the master plan to improve my sleeping habits. Although, I suppose actually going to bed at 10 or 11 would be a good move in that direction, too.

I'm wishing I'd gone out and taken some pictures during the thunderstorm this afternoon. I even had my camera on me, but just ended up sitting on the porch of the library, texting back and forth with a couple of people until the power came back on.

After work, I just came home and had a totally lazy evening. The only productive thing I did was a couple of loads of laundry. It felt good for a while, but then I got restless and bored and wished I'd had something better to do. I have to report that I'm a few more episodes into Mad Men, and it's more interesting now. I think I'm just resistant to all those jerky characters.

outside

rocks, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Did a little more hiking this morning up at Vedauwoo with Rick and Meggie. This trail (Turtle Rock) was kind of too easy and too short, but it was a nice way to start the day. Never thought I--of all people--would claim a hike was too easy, but it's true. If I didn't have to be at work at 1:00, I would have suggested somewhere else. Still, it was a very pretty location, bugs and all.

After work, had kind of an uneventful afternoon. We tried to buy an atlas with good city maps included, but were unsuccessful. Then I grocery shopped without a list, so I came home with things like shrimp and green salsa, but no toilet paper. Hmm. At least I have the stuff to make my lunch tomorrow.

Finally, I started the first season of Mad Men. I've been looking forward to it, what with it being all critically acclaimed and stuff, but I'm undecided. What I'm sure of is that the raspberry sorbet I had for dessert was FANtastic.

3 things before bed

1. Dr. Horrible is amusing, in that very particular Whedonesque way. But now I can't get the "Mr. Horrible, Mr. Horrible/telephone call for Mr. Horrible" part of TMBG's "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair" out of my head!

2. Well for a while, I replaced it with ABBA's greatest hits because I saw Mamma Mia tonight. Oh, yeah I did. It was really hard not to sing along to all the songs. And it made me want to dig out ABBA Gold and add it to the car stereo (no one will know if I sing in there).

3. I saw some Shakespeare in the park today (As You Like It). Like Rick said, I'm glad they did it and I'm glad I went. But it wasn't very good. Also, I got three moquito bites on my hip while sitting there in the grass.

pie!

pie!, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Apple pie is baking in my oven right now, along with two tiny ramekin pies for Rick and me. (The big pie's for a dinner party tomorrow.) The house is really hot, but it's worth it. It smells amazing. I just hope it tastes as wonderful.

I haven't made a pie in a long time. My mom has a rad crust recipe called "never fail pie crust." And it's true--the secret ingredient is a little vinegar, which makes the crust flakier. But this time around, I used Martha Stewart's pate brisee. It turned out really soft, and I was afraid it would be sticky and not roll out nicely. I was wrong, because even though I didn't chill it (oops), it rolled out pretty easily and it was a snap to roll onto the pin to transfer it into the dish. Even so, I'm out of practice, so my crusts are a little messy. We'll call it a rustic look, okay?

As usual, I didn't follow a recipe for the filling, because I'm contrary that way. My preference is for tart apples, so I used granny smiths. Then I just mixed the apple slices with some lemon juice, sugar (many recipes call for a cup, but I use about half that) cinnamon, and a splash of liquor (usually bourbon, but this time vanilla vodka). Then I melted butter in a skillet and cooked up the filling until it was golden brown and the alcohol burned mostly off. That whole shebang went into the crust, and I topped it with the other crust, brushed it with egg yolk & water glaze, sprinkled with a tiny bit more sugar, and cut a couple of vents. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until the crust is golden, then turn down to 350 for another 45-50 minutes or so. Voila!

P.S. This pie would be perfect served with a slice of sharp cheddar and a glass of reisling. But that's just me. I suspect my friends will want it heated with vanilla ice cream.

not over it

medbow 017, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Seriously, isn't this pretty? Still thinking about the weekend.

working it out

The summer is flying by too quickly. I'm trying to take advantage of it and spend as much time outside as possible. As a result, I keep getting sunburned and mosquito-bitten, but I guess that's an okay trade-off for getting out to hike and bike and walk. On Saturday, I got my dose of sunshine and thin air on the Medicine Bow Peak trail. There were five of us, and we had a pretty great day. While it might not have shown as I was huffing and puffing my way up the mountain, I really enjoyed myself. I managed to take some nice pictures, too.

The other thing I've been doing is ballet class. Today was my second week at the drop-in int/adv class. Basically, it kicks my ass. I feel so weak and off-kilter trying to to anything in combination. It's really disconcerting to have the technique and know how to do the movements but lack the strength to make my body cooperate. And there's something else going on, too. The ballet studio feels kind of like my hometown: familiar and full of memories, but I don't belong there anymore. It was strange to feel more comfortable and strong in the yoga studio last week, even though it's something new. Maybe I should just close the book on ballet for good, even if it is a great workout.

I'm meming again

I saw this at Pop Culture Librarian, and decided to do it. She said I should, so I did. Not that she was talking to me specifically. Anyway.

1. Who was your first prom date?

I never went to the prom. Sophomore year, it wasn't really on my radar. A senior in my drama class asked me, but I wasn't into him or the idea of buying an expensive dress. Then junior and senior year, prom was the same weekend as regionals for crew, so I was out of town and it wasn't an option. And truthfully, I have no idea who I might have gone with even if I was around.

2. Do you still talk to your first love?

Depends on what you mean by first love. First crush? No. First boyfriend? No. First real, adult love? Yeah.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink?

Besides sneaking sips of beer as a little kid, which I've been told I loved to do, I think my first drink was Boone's Farm Wild Island. Classy! The first time I was ever drunk, it was on vodka shots (gross) that cost $1 Canadian at a dance club in Vancouver B.C. when I was 19 and could drink up there legally.

4. What was your first job?

I was a very industrious babysitter as a pre-teen and teen, and made enough money to buy all sorts of ill-conceived fashions. The first job that required W-2s and all that was in the commissary of a summer camp during high school. The bummer about that job was that I crashed my parents' mini-van and everything I earned the whole summer went to pay for the deductable.

5. What was your first car?

I had a 1989 Chevy Cavalier in maroon.

6. Who was the first person to text you today?

Addie.

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning?

See number 2.

8. Who was your first grade teacher?

Mrs. Hansen at Sunnyside Elementary. She was pretty nice, but I don't remember too much from that year. I split the year between two elementary schools, but I don't remember who my teacher was at Garfield. That year's a blur.

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?

It must have been the trip to New York when I was almost two. I have no memory of that trip, but I drowned in a lake and had to be revived. I do remember the drowning nightmares that followed for many years afterward.

10. Who was your first best friend, and are you still friends with him/her?

I guess I had a best friend of sorts as a very small kid, but the first best friend I remember is Amy. We met in elementary school and took ballet classes together for ages. We are still friends, even though we don't talk that often. She's a great person and has a nice husband and three kids. I really admire her.

11. What was your first sport played?

Well, I danced from age two on. Mostly ballet, some tap and jazz, and modern from about age 11 until I quit. The first team sport I did was swimming, but only for a year. Then I did crew for the rest of high school.

12. Where was your first sleepover?

Who knows? My friends and I were always having sleepovers and slumber parties.

13. Who was the first person you talked to today?

Besides myself? The barista who made my latte.

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?

Amy's, the same Amy who was my first best friend. I was her maid of honor, and her sisters and the groom's sister were bridesmaids. I'm not a huge wedding person, but it was really special to be part of Amy's, because she means so much to me, and I was really happy she was marrying Matt.

15. What was the first thing you did this morning?

Probably rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Who can remember? The first 30 minutes of any given day, I'm totally zoned out.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?

Def Leppard, on the Hysteria tour, at the Tacoma Dome. Lasers, in the round, with L.A. Guns openining up. Aww, yeah. My mom and my friend Jamie's mom took us and two friends. It was on a school night, we were in ninth grade, and we gleefully wore our t-shirts to school the next day, and were totally exhausted.

17. What was your first tattoo or piercing?

No tattoos. I got my ears pierced when I was five or six--somewhere around there. I had gold, heart-shaped studs.

18. What was the first foreign country you went to?

I can't really count Canada, since I grew up so close and we went to British Columbia like once a year, at least. So I have to say Sweden. We flew through the Netherlands first, but being in the airport doesn't really count.

19. What was your first run-in with the law?

Other than my penchant for speeding tickets, I'm pretty law-abiding. But when I was 14, I did run into a manhunt for a guy who killed somebody near my house. It was the middle of the night, and I had sneaked out of my house alone and was heading up the highway to a boy's house, where many teenagers congregated because of a lack of parental supervision. My regular sneaking-out accomplice lived on the same block, and was supposed to already be there.

So when I saw the roadblock and the cops, I geniusly decided to evade detection by going into the woods. Not a minute later, several men were yelling "freeze!" and shining lights on me. Scared shitless, I froze. They had guns pointed at me! Then, one of them said, all disgusted, "it's a little girl." They were pissed. Evidentally, my white t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and long, blond ponytail matched the description of the perp. Upon questioning, I said I was headed to my friends' house up the street. The police were busy and let me go.

But I didn't get off totally free. No. When I knocked on the basement door, the boy's DAD answered it. Busted! He said he already caught my friend and sent her home, and he said he was going to drive me and three other boys home. He took me home first, but decided not to wake up my parents and just let me sneak back in. In retrospect, that wasn't the best parenting move, since I learned nothing. Well, I never sneaked out alone again, but I still did when I had my accomplice over.

20. When was your first detention?

In sixth grade, I got Saturday school detention for fighting. A boy, with whom I shared mutual hate, flipped up my skirt in the hall when I was at my locker. My response was to grab him, slam him against a locker, and punch him in the face a few times. He didn't get a chance to hit back. We were apprehended by a big old coach, who left bruises on my upper arm from his meaty fist as he dragged me to the principal's office. The boy and I both got detention, and he never got over his beat-down. We didn't have another class together until senior year of high school, and he refused to sit next to me, as the alphabetical chart had placed us. When I told him to get over it, his response was, "never!" Ha.

21. What was the first state you lived in?

Washington. Born and raised. I lived in three different counties, but never lived outside the state until I moved to Wyoming.

22. Who was the first person to break your heart?

See number 2.

23. Who was your first roommate?

Jamie. We shared a studio apartment in the U District, but she really lived with her boyfriend. I had the place to myself. Then we got a really beautiful apartment on Capitol Hill and did live together for real. She's the only roommate I've ever had.

24. Where did you go on your first limo ride?

Limo ride? I think some girlfriends and I had a limo one New Year's, but that might have been a town car. I've ridden in lots of town cars. My parents and I got a limo a few years ago when we took the dinner train.

So, that's it.

vanity

Last night, I was talking to Peter and Rick and one of them said something about it being weird that I take so many photos of myself. I was asked to rate my vanity on a scale of 1-10. I said 8, but not because I think I'm fabulously beautiful or that I admire myself all the time. It's more that it's interesting to see the way I change over time and I am really aware of my looks. I know I'm not alone in this. Spending so much time in front of mirrors in dance classes from the age of two surely feeds into my self-awareness and self-scrutiny. And I see it as a victory of sorts that I'm fairly dispassionate about my level of physical beauty and have a pretty positive body image after all the weird socialization that happens in ballet classes, and just surviving being a teen girl in general.

Another reason I take more pictures is that I've really tried to change my lifestyle over the past year or so, and those changes are visible. Talking about body and weight and fitness is complicated and uncomfortable, but that's something I've been trying to get over. We all have bodies, right? And we all have issues with our bodies, regardless of our shapes or sizes. My own motivation to make a change was based more on feeling better than looking better, but I can't pretend I'm completely unaffected by my looks. But what affects me most is how other people react to my weight loss. I understand that people mean well when they say I look good or exclaim that I've lost "a lot" of weight, but it always makes me wonder what they thought of me before. And back when I was heavier, I didn't even worry about that, so it's almost like I'm retroactively getting my feelings hurt. Again, this stuff is complicated.

But that doesn't mean I don't like the changes I see in myself weekly, if not daily. It feels good to have more energy and actually want to get out and be active without being certain I can't keep up. I like being smaller and realizing I've gone down four (almost five) sizes. Sure, of course that's nice. And maybe taking pictures of myself is part of a bigger commitment to these changes and will help me maintain them.


Rafting on the Snake, July 7, 2007


In the Snowies, May 24, 2008