Realizations

So we're heading to Switzerland in a month. You know, before Italy and after Germany... Yeah, that trip that I can't stop obsessing about because I haven't had a decent good long vacation somewhere delicious in FOR-EV-ER? While I'd realized that the Swiss are famous for their mountain cows and fondue and watches and chocolate, it only just occured to me what that meant... chocolate factory tours. We're talking Willy Wonka shit here, people! The Lindt and Sprungli factory has a tour, and at the end, they give you free boxes of chocolate. Oh dear God, why are we going to Italy at all? Oh yeah, that's why. :-)

Patience

I woke up with the song Patience in my head this morning. As in Axel Rose, Patience. As in, jr. high school 8th grade dance Patience. You know, the whistling song. As in, where in the HELL did THAT come from? And then I realized it was an omen. As in, this is going to be my theme of my day. This was confirmed after I begrudgingly woke up at 4:40 a.m. and choked down an awful protein shake and drove to the lake only to find out bootcamp was canceled due to the lightning. WHAT lightning? So I drove back home to fall asleep for 10 minutes and then get back up again to get ready for work and C-man's first day at Y camp. Yeah, with a start like that, a little patience is going to be necessary. Oh yeah, and the roofing project starts again tonight...

Fair-ly Fun

The Brewers Win Big Again.

Friday by bullets

• My child has learned how to cross the monkey bars by himself. Seemingly overnight. Amazing.
• I haven't been to a Brewers game in a month. Now I'll be to 2 in 2 days. At least they won big. Unfortunately my co-workers had to leave early, so I didn't get to hear the bells with T.Hoff. At least tonight C-man gets to see Cecil Cooper. For some reason, that kid is in love with Cecil Cooper.
• In-laws are coming into town tonight. It'll be nice to get together. I'm thankful we won't be home much, because my house is a disaster with Beerman having been gone all week and, well, me not liking to clean very much.
• I got the dreaded koobvirus yesterday. Whoever the pimply-faced teenager is who created that nasty worm should be shot. And why would you name a worm "koob"? He was clearly trying to make it sound like boob, but too much of a tool to call it the boobvirus, probably. Anyhow, $50 in virus software upgrades, and supposedly I'm okay. Just don't open any links from my facebook account. Yeah, sorry about that.
• My mother-in-law and I are running a 5K to Irish Fest tomorrow benefiting the Arthritis Foundation. You're welcome to come if you want. 1 in 5 Americans are affected, including me, so I'm a bit partial to the whole thing.
• After the 5K, I'm heading to State Fair to consume about 4000 calories. Makes sense, right?
• When you enter the women's bathroom at work, you are confronted by all the men leaving their own bathroom. So what is the appropriate response? Do you smile? Avoid eye contact? Ask if he washed his hands for the appropriate 30 seconds? I choose looking down at the ground. A bit antisocial, but the least awkward option.
• Boot camp starts again on Monday. Dear God, am I dreading that. Which is why I have to do it, of course. But I'm still dreading it.
• Today is C-man's last day at his school. The school he's been at since he was 5 months old. It's been a really, really, really great place for him. I'm so sad we're done with it. Maybe someday we'll be lucky enough to go back.
• Beerman is home safely again. Yippee! I don't know which one of us was the happiest, but I think it might have been Harry.
• I got our hotel booked while we're in Zurich. The place is decorated in all Swiss cows. Hilarious. Now I need to reserve somewhere in Florence. Any recommendations?

Chorizo wins!

And so do the Brewers. Thank God.

Cheers!

Happy birthday, Dad!

The tickets are on their way

What's this, you ask? These, my friends, are our train tickets through Europe... on their way to our door. Wahoo! http://tiny.cc/RU6m4

Responding to the "So what do you do?" question

Last night was the official "ice cream social" at C-mans soon-to-be-school. Beerman is once again in Denver, so C-man and I had a nutritious McDonalds dinner so we could make it to the school on time. And the "So what do you do?" small talk started to happen.

And I.Hate.This. Because I get to respond "corporate trainer". Which nobody really gets. Then they ask me if I know so-and-so at the corporate office, and I respond, "There are 4000 people in that building, and nobody seems to have time or interest to take training, so chances are good I've never seen this person."

And then they ask me what Beerman does. And then the gushing starts. And I get surrounded by men. Googely-eyed men who all have a gazillion questions that I've answered a lot before.

Seriously. The guy wasn't even there. But it's all the dads wanted to talk about. And it's always the same MO...

Do you get free beer? Yes. A lot? At least 3 cases a month. All employees do. It's often more. Do you have a lot of friends? Yes No, because too many people are free-loaders Does he get to taste test? Yes, twice a day. It's a requirement of his job that he's gone through some pretty extensive training to be able to do. Is it the coolest job ever? My husband is not with me right now because he's working. How do you get a job like that? You have to be really smart, and take a lot of chemistry and micro-biology, work a ton of hours, have a passion for what you're doing, really like single-cell organisms, and have a little luck with who you know. So how much free beer do you get? (sigh...)

The whole time I'm looking at these guys going through the checklist of who is there... "lawyer", "doctor", "ridiculously successful small business owner", "engineer", "university big-wig" and thinking 'seriously, you guys can afford your own beer. Why does this make you shiver with excitement?' Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I've got something fun to talk about and it conveniently is about my husband. And what's great is that it usually ends up being a conversation that includes both men and women instead of the annoying pink and blue, kids and sports divisions of a party. But if I have to answer, "Does he homebrew?" one more time, I very well might just go batshit on somebody. (The answer is no. I mean seriously, do you bring your work home and do it for fun?) I'm a corporate trainer, damnit! That's cool too! I swear it!

Giddily making more plans

I'm a planner. Air is bought. Rail is bought (I think, as long as they'll confirm my confirmations). Some museum tickets are bought. I need to book some hotels now. But as long as the weather cooperates, here's the Jennifer's European Vacation, proving to be better than National Lampoons.

• Tuesday 15th: Bus to Chicago, fly overnight
• Wednesday 16th: Arrive in Munich, find Beerman's hotel room, spend afternoon in search of sausage and beer, learn German (this should only take an afternoon, right?)
• Thursday 17th: Take bus #726 to Dachau in the AM, Mike's Bike Tour in PM
• Friday 18th: Neuschwanstein Castle and the 2 hour hike up the mountain
• Saturday 19th: Ein Prosit! It's Oktoberfest time, baby
• Sunday 20th: Train to Zurich; buy Swiss watch chocolates, eat Swiss fondue, deposit money take pictures in front of Swiss banks on the Bahnhofstrasse, do Rick Steve's walking tour of Zurich, swim in Lake Zurich
• Monday 21st: Take 60 minute train to Lucerne. Walk around Lucerne. Take cog train up the Alps. I'll eat more chocolate and cheese. Beerman will probably eat the local (gak!) tripe and other disgusting local "delicacies".
• Tuesday 22nd: ???
• Wednesday 23rd: Train to Florence, tour the Accademia to see David, eat good food, drink good wine, revel in the fact that I just checked David off my list
• Thursday 24th: Rick Steve's walking tour of Florence, tour the Uffizi, eat good food, drink good wine
• Friday 25th: ???, night train to Munich
• Saturday 26th: Fly to Chicago, taxi home

I've lost my motivation. If you find it, could you send it back?

When I say I've lost my motivation, I mean I've totally lost all motivation. The hellacious effects of the past week's weather might be one part of it. The effects of spending more unholy hours in the car the past two weekends might be another part of it. But I think it goes beyond that. I've been off boot camp last week and this week. And quite frankly, I was feeling like the last week of boot camp couldn't finish fast enough. I've been eating like crap. And feeling like crap. So I eat like crap. Which makes me feel like crap. (Seeing a pattern here?) The good news is that I finally feel like I've caught up on a bit of sleep, thanks to Beerman not blinking an eye when at 8:30 I proclaim, "I'm heading to bed!" a couple of nights in the past week. So I need to break the evilness of this cycle. I will not let the fact that Eurotrashrail cannot create a website that gives accurate information regarding its availability from Florence to Munich on the night train on September 25th and won't return my emails or calls inquiring about a different option, get me down. I will not hold a grudge about the enormous egos that I encountered the past week while in my new role. I am going to stop being a hypochondriac about my ankles, when nothing has changed regarding their state except a doctor's confirmation that they're indeed in crap shape. And I will not erase 4 months of hard work by eating takeout and chocolate and fried foods. Because while I haven't found any motivation, I guess it's going to have to be one of those situations where I fake it 'til I make it. Because I cannot keep backsliding. Sigh... It's just so much damn work...

Getting the family together

Yee-haw! Cheeeeeeeeese! Ladder golf Red Sands beach

Faster! Faster! 3 amigos Family fun

C-man "hanging out" with his cousin. Unleashing the homemade 2 liter bottle turned rocket

The next generation The cousins (mostly) all togetherAunt and Uncles and Dad

It's Saturday. So he got his Golden Eagle.

Taken in the Brew Bayou, the old coffee shop I spent way too many hours studying in... In the true spirit of the day, even Beerman got an MU shirt. We are a family with pride, damnit.

You are SO not getting a Bucky Badger doll

Yesterday our doorbell rang. It, of course, was the neighbor kid. He was playing with his Bucky Badger doll, and it "happened" to end up on our side of the fence. Could he go and get it? Of course. As he left, C-man asked, "Can I get a Bucky Badger doll? Can I please, Mom?" (enter record screeching noise here along with my horrified wide-eyed look) "Dear, we are NOT getting you a Bucky Badger doll. We are Golden Eagles. We are Marquette. We ring out a hoya for the MU rah-rah. We wear blue and gold. We do NOT cheer for rodents that dig in the dirt." "But neighbor kid has one. Can I get one too? Please, pleeeze, Puh-leeze?" "Did you not just hear me? We are not Badgers in this house. It would be like you telling me you wanted to be a St. Louis Cardinals fan." "Then can I get a golden eagle?" "Yes. Let's go Saturday." I sure showed him.

Veggies!

Last week's half of the veggie box included: Basil, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, spring lettuce, kohlrabi, and parsley.

Today's half of the haul includes:

Patty pan squash, globe zucchini, red beets, bush beans, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, carrots and tomatoes.

Thinking and Planning and Stuff

So Beerman and I are heading to Europe in September. Let me clarify. Beerman is going to a beer conference in Munich, conveniently held the week before Oktoberfest. So of course, I've invited myself. Florence and seeing David has been on my bucket list. And since it's my first time to Europe (I know, I know, I've been to some real shitholes in the world, and never touched Europe), I am heading to Florence. So this is my current plan. Beerman flies to Munich. I fly there at some point during the week, I do Munich (including a visit to Dachau which for some reason I feel completely compelled to go see) and the surrounding area for a couple of days, do the Oktoberfest goodness for a day or two, take the night train to Florence, spend a couple of days, take another night train to Zurich, spend a couple of days, fly back to Munich to fly back home. Now that we have a general plan, I'm getting giddily excited. I just need to figure out hotels and stuff. Maybe we should actually buy the tickets first...

Wordless Wednesday - Mascot night at Miller Park

Wordless Wednesday

Week in Review

So far this week, I've driven ridden back from Chippewa Falls, gotten in the doghouse with Beerman, gotten out of the doghouse with Beerman, done 5 loads of laundry, watched the Empire Strikes Back, completed a major presentation at work, drank 4 lattes, and whined a lot about the low pressure we've been sitting in for days. And might I remind us all that it's merely Tuesday. Whew.

Adding a little "oomph" to the bean bag toss game

Birthday girls

I'm late on the photo sharing, of course, but here they are regardless. Hopefully they were fabulous ones!