A little reprieve

I went home to Madison on Thursday afternoon. It was planned. My parents are out of town and my sister has the dog and house to herself. So I went to join her. It was just relaxing to leave Hyde Park and my apartment with all its inherent tensions (piles of books, the boxes waiting to be packed, the papers that need to be written) behind and drive the 3 hours.

I was joyously welcomed home by the house pooch. And we took ourselves and the puppy to Wingra Park for dinner. We picnicked facing the lake and the trees. So so nice. Afterwards we took the puppy on a stroll on Monroe street (not the business district part) for his walk.

Friday, after my sister went to work, I read for paper-preparation. But, we didn’t read in the library, the apartment, a coffee-shop, or the div school reading room. I read on the screened porch in the perfect sunny weather.  I was also able to take a short break (love the lack of traffic in Madison! and the closeness of things) to buy some moving supplies and walk the dog. After work, we put together a quick picnic and headed to the union to sit by the lake and listen to Jazz Fest until the sunset.

And now, I’m back in Hyde Park with all its inherent tensions and expectations. One week to go. I move out a week from Sunday and then this year will finally be over.

First Hike of 2009

Here in Chicago I’ve been craving the woods. Everywhere in the city there are people, even if you don’t see them. They are there, living in the 3 flats and high rises, walking along lakeshore path, or driving down the street. Even though I knew that I’d see some people on a trail in the woods, I figured it would be a good place for peace.

I went home on Friday evening, arriving just in time for Shabbat dinner. Yum! Saturday was a lazy day, beginning with laundry and Riley’s graduation from “teenager” class at obedience school. I’m so proud. I ran errands and then in late afternoon my sister and I got ready for a hike. We had planned to go to Governor Dodge, which is our favorite state park. But it wasn’t going to work out timewise. We tried out a new park: Indian Lake County Park which was about 20 minutes outside of town. It was perfect. There was a pretty lake and it was situated on the edge of the driftless region, which always makes things interesting.

We chose the easiest hike as we were still short on time. The hike was about 1.3 miles. Although labeled as easiest, at other parks it would at least be considered a hike of medium difficulty. There were lots of steep hills. The views were great, and we saw many fallen trees. My sister and talked and walked and she took some photos. Here are a few that Allison took:

And sisters on the first hike of 2009:

Happy Nu Nu!

It’s nearly 2009. I’m sitting in the dark in my parent’s family room half-listening to Dick Clark’s New Years Hollywood. It was a quiet new years, just like last year. Although last year I had better company–sorry parents! Tonight, besides eating hors’ d’oeuvres and watching a movie, I gave the dog a bath. He’s coming into 2009 smelling fresh (well, except his breath, but we’ll work on that too). I’m actually going to bed in a minute. Like many other New Years Eves 0f my past, I may be asleep at midnight.

I’ve been thinking about the best NYEs of years past. Here’s my top 3:

1. buddhist New Year’s eve service in Chicago

2. jumping in the pool at the millenium with tons of cousins as the clocked ticked onto the hour

3. Blues fest in Boca. So much fun.

I have some resolutions, but they’re personal. In general, I’m always striving to be a better person, true to myself, and not so boxed in (on myself).

Happy New Year!  May 2009 be a hopeful, peaceful, successful year.

Today I’m 27

Today is my birthday. I turned 27. It’s strange being pushed from the “mid” twenties to the “late” twenties with just one day of transition. I’m such a goal oriented person that it bothers me that my life isn’t in order and I’m not doing what I “should” be doing professionally right now. I’m on the path but have years until I reach the goal. I’m still in that transitional 20s phase of life. It’s definitely been painful, although lately things have smoothed out some. I’m in grad school, I’m back in Chicago–a city I love, I have friends. It’s good.

My birthday was very pleasant, especially compared to last year. My parents took us out to Lazy Jane’s, the favorite breakfast restaurant of my sister and I. We had our usual–lemon creme scones and 2 eggs and potatoes. My mom thought the restaurant was very urban. I think it’s very Madison, it basically looks like a diner in somebody’s living room. Upon returning home we debated between bowling and a movie–Marley and Me. The movie won. It was cute, funny and sad. Afterwards we lazed around and read until dinner, which was enjoyable because we had 8th night of Chanukah latkes! And tasty carrot cake. So, it was a nice day.  Thank you parents and sister!

What I’ve Done on my Winter Vacation, thus far

Since the speedy (10 weeks!) quarter has ended, I’ve been at loose ends. I mean, I have stuff to do. I have to study for the French reading exam (blech) and fill out the application for my summer program (essays) and I should fill out the application for the fellowship I’d like to have next year. But, thus far, here’s what I’ve done:

• I’ve watched Regis and Kelly and part of the View, because that’s what my mom likes to watch
• I’ve read one book fully (really good! called Happy Family) and one book of short stories halfly, but I was too ambitious, should of picked up chick lit or mysteries or something
• watched John and Kate plus 8, many episodes
• watched Cold Case, NCIS, and Without a Trace, during the daytime of course
• watched the food channel and Top Chef
• cooked dinner for my family once
• gone to Borders to work on stuff, got some stuff kind of done. Will go again
• gone shopping with my mom. BDay present. Sweaters. Definitely a necessity.
• played with the dog. LOTS
• laid on the floor and giggled with my sister. Tortured said sister about being sick (I TRY to be annoying, since she spent so many years being my annoyance!)
• taken 1 walk (our temperature here has hovered at 1 degree F. And then it snowed a lot)
• bumbled around the internet for kicks
• met with a former starbucks co-worker to hear their story, now I have to write it. Tomorrow.
• Watched Milk. Very good. Highly recommend it. And the Sundance Movie Theater is mighty cool too.
• Written random emails, because what else am I going to do?
• slept until at least 8AM since I got home on Sunday afternoon. Nice.

P.S. Everyone is coughing here in this house except for me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and if I believed in it, I’d pray.  Because I have places that I want to be next week and I don’t want to be sick!

This Week/end

I didn’t manage to get out a “Friday 5″ I began a “Saturday Seven” but never finished that. So here’s an update:

Things have gotten better at the summer job this week and have allowed for my life to calm down just a little bit. I had a lovely Dad and Daughter concerts on the square listening to my favorite bassist (the only one I follow) Katherine Nettleman solo in the “Songs without Words” concert. The night was supposed to be stormy and humid and unpleasant, but instead the storm blew through and it was pleasant and almost chilly!

On Friday I went with a group of seniors to Circus World museum. It wasn’t on my top ten destination list, but I enjoyed the day nevertheless. One of the most interesting things at the “museum” (it’s really a campus) was the live circus. They have several performances a day, including a “classic american circus” and a variety show and a clown show. We saw the first two. They included the same, incredibly versatile, performers. One of the performer sets was a large Argentinan family, another was a russian couple. I wonder what they do in the museum’s off season or if there are different families each year.

The people that I traveled with were very nice and had a zest for life that not all the seniors have. It’s really too bad when that disappears.  I hope that it doesn’t happen to me.

Saturday was a lovely day of errands and “getting things done”. I spent a lot of time with my parents at the grocery store, TJs, a house they were looking at. Just running around.

Today, I was taken out to the Mikado, performed by the Madison Savoyards. They perform Gilbert and Sullivan productions. It was a very nice performance, although a little long. I loved the scenery. And it was fun to recognize some of the cast members from about town.

I’m counting down until our vacation (family) up north. It’s in a week. And I can’t wait to get away and really enjoy the outdoors. I’ve really missed that this year.

Good things

The first day of the session (Sunday) is always the worst, in terms of complaints. I need to remember the good things: the sweet old ladies who hold your hand, the woman who strode out of the last lecture of the day on Monday and proclaimed to me “very good! all the lectures today were all very good!”. The invitation to go to a movie. Yesterday, some met my sister, which they loved. “You two look so much alike!”

I sat in the dining room today and listened to them talk during dinner. I loved hearing them plan their evenings, looking forward to their options. They have such interesting choices: a talk on the farmer’s market, a lecture about Irish storytelling, and finally, a recently released DVD showing after the lectures.

craziness

It’s so strange here in Wisconsin/upper midwest right now. The weather has been crazy, as you probably know. Rivers are overflowing, highways are closed. Basically, even though today was mostly beautiful (except for the brief rain/hailstorm). I don’t even know what to say.

In the rest of my life, Senior Summer School has taken over it. Basically, I’m going to be at the coffeeshop or downtown for the next 8 weeks. I just hope I have time to breath/shower/sleep. It’s fun, though, and I am so much more calm than when I last planned events. Which is nice. I like not feeling frantic.

Officially Madison’s Snowiest Winter

See, I’m not crazy. Nope, not at all. This winter has really stretched my tolerance thin, which is especially telling, because I love winter. They have officially declared this Madison’s snowiest winter and spring is still a ways off.

Now, if I could cure my cabin fever…

Madison snow removal rant

I feel like I need to join the choir. We have gotten amazing amounts of snow this winter, so much snow. And cold. We have been quite cold, which means that there are piles of snow and ice under the fresh piles of snow. And, Madison has done a horrible, actually despicable job of taking care of the roads. There are very few roads in the city where I can see that they are made of asphalt. The rest are white and bumpy. On Wednesday, when I went outside at 10 to 6 AM, a plow blew past me on my unplowed street. Not dropping sand or salt, with the plow up. Just going up the street. Why? Why couldn’t it have worked on our slippery street just a little bit?

Moving back to Madison has been educational in a lot of ways, especially about what I’m looking for in a place to live. Being an adult here has taught me that driving can remain dangerous all winter long in Madison. And that the ease with which I got around Chicago in the winter cannot be replicated here. It’s messy, slippery, and you see a lot of flashing lights.

End of rant.