Friday Favorites

My favorite things today:

Seeing my neighbors get Calder Dairy (a local dairy in S.E. Michigan) products delivered

Enjoying a quick chai tea pick-me-up at one of my favorite local cafes

Breakin' out my birkenstocks!!

Waving to 4 different people I know on my walk down the street on way to the bank. When I got to the back, I talked to the teller about local Girl Scouts for 10 minutes! I love living, working, and playing in my city :)

Good morning Baltimore!

All right, so we're in Ypsi, not Baltimore. But I woke up with tune in my head, after seeing the YHS production of Hairspray yesterday. It was pretty entertaining, and there were several great singers. The guy who played Mrs. Turnblad was just cracking me up the entire time. It was nice to see a high school play, I don't think I've seen one since I was in high school!

Yesterday was also Parent/Teacher Conference Night, which was pretty awesome, but also kind of sad. All of Sam's teachers say that she's so attentive and she turns most of her work in on time, and that she doesn't give up when she finds something difficult. Several said she one of several "bright rays of sunshine" in class that keep the teachers going. The sad part is not any of those things, the sad part is that trying at a moderately hard level and turning things in on time seems to be a huge accomplishment at YHS. I really admire the work of the teachers there, and I think it would be a hard job. From what I hear from Sam, there are disruptions from students all day during class, and I don't envy the folks who teach there. I think there are some students that just don't care, and also there's issues of homelessness, poverty, and other factors that makes for a stressful learning environment, I'm sure. I think that in turn makes it hard for some teachers to persevere and feel like they're making a difference.

At any rate, it was very very nice to hear that Sam is doing so well, and my heart swelled up with more pride than it already has, which is a lot! Sam came with us to conferences and I think it was nice for her to hear how proud her teachers were of her. She has really turned things around and although we've had a few little hiccups this year, she is a great student, a really intelligent and funny young lady, and a kind, thoughtful, awesome sister.

Tomorrow we're going to Explore Eastern, a college fair day at EMU, Mike and my Alma Mater! I'm overly excited to say the least- this will be her first college visit as someone who is potentially considering a college. I think there is a tour of the campus involved, and maybe we get to visit some classrooms? I will need to tape my mouth shut- I'm such a talker and I know I will not be able to stop myself from telling millions of stories if allowed to speak.

I am just so excited for her future, and I know whatever she does will be great. She has been a joy to have in our home, and I'm very lucky I've gotten this time with her.

False Alarm everyone....

..... it is NOT, in fact, Spring.

Pic from the library looking out onto snowland, and our old apartment, as a matter of fact! I am at the library for a bit, reading gardening books and thinking of sunnier days. I already did most of the chores and baking I needed to do yesterday- I don't have anything left to do today and I'm not sure what to do with this time! Maybe I'll wander over to the Co-op and get some ingredients for granola? Then its time to venture home. My stomach is getting all rumbly!

SAF '09!

Ypsilanti does a cool Indie art fair twice a year called Shadow Art Fair. The most recent one was yesterday, and I really enjoyed it! It has a bunch of weird alternative art things, from a bike-powered film (which was an image of a winter ride through town) to reindeer poop on a stick, there is a greater variety every year of weird things to look at and buy. The event is held at the Corner Brewery, and this year the "brewing rooms" for lack of a better term, were set up with a bunch of old counch and chairs and tables, etc so people could hang out, drink beer, etc. I enjoyed the event very much, although next year I'll need to go earlier because we went around 9:00 and it was packed to the gills, which makes it hard to actually see any art!

After the SAF we tried to go the Tap Room, but it was super-packed so we ended up at Keystone Underground martini bar- which turned out to be pretty awesome!  It' under J 'Neils Mongolian BBQ, and I had checked out the space before it opened but I'd never been before. It had a really great atmosphere, the music was electronica which is not my absolute fav but I liked the DJs, and the martinis are only $5 on Saturdays! There were some very exhuberant dancers there, which was pretty entertaining. Overall, a great time. I will definitely go back again.

It's really exciting to live in a place where there are a variety of things to do, all within walking distance, which is the case in Ypsilanti. Yesterday reminded me of that. We walked from our house to downtown, got some holiday shopping done, had lunch, picked up some groceries, and then walked back home. Then we came out later for the art fair and for Keystone and that was all in like a 2 mile radius. Maybe even less!

I was thinking about all the cool stuff that is going on in my life, and I wanted another way to share, besides Facebook, and talking in a monologue to people for hours. I've started a few blogs before but I always write one entry and then I forget to update.. ever again.

Since this is not topic specific, maybe I will update more?

This has been a very busy year for me, and it's also been one of a lot of fun and loving and learning and doing stuff! Doing-wise, I graduated with my Masters in Social Work, Mike and I got married and we got our own apartment for the first time! I have a pretty great job at Girl Scouts that I like too, which is nice after 500 years of school.

There are a lot of activities that I began to get into this year that I have really enjoyed; canning (with Ashes!) eating local food, having a community garden, learning about seasons and what food grows when. I think these help me to feel more connected to life and like I am becoming more of an "informed consumer", and maybe also less of a consumer!

Jen and Jesse have been great friends to me, especially this year- it has been great to see so much of them and I hope we can continue to see more now that they have moved to A2!

There are also a few big things coming up that I am very excited for; starting my position as a Commissioner for the Human Relations Commission for the City of Ypsilanti, buying our first home right near downtown Ypsi, living with Sara again (and maybe Shana) and being a pet owner!!!

I've also had a chance to reconnected with some people this year that I fell out with a bit during my last year at Eastern. That was a really stressful year for me, and I kind of ignored almost everyone and just tried to plug through and get done. Luckily, Sara, Shana and Ashes still like me. I've really liked being able to get to know Ashley more during our canning adventures, getting together with Sara, and spending almost ALL my time with Shana, although now Shana moved and left me :)

I'm really excited to live with Sara. Sara might not know this, but she is one of my favorite people. I haven't made the time to see her like I want to and like I should. It should be a LITTLE bit easier to see her when she lives in our house! I think it will be nice to have a Sara-friend to come home to and spend time with, and I'm looking forward to getting to know Sara even better. Ultimately, I'm hoping our cats could date.

and the most exciting thing right now- KITTIES!!!!!! We are taking care of two baby kitties; Helo and Athena. One of our friends' friends found them on her doorstep, when they were about a week old! They are sweet little lovies. I was NEVER a cat person- I always had dogs and fish and birds and rats and turtles and birds growing up, haha, but never cats. But our cats are the sweetest little kittens I've ever seen. They're loving and friendly and it's really fun to see them develop personalities and grow up with us! I already have an unhealthy attachment to them, and Marie might have to fight me to get Athena from us when she's old enough.