Some summers are disappointing because of icky weather, others are too short because I’m tied up with too many events, and yet others escape me because I’m too caught up in work/stress to really stop and take them in.

Not this summer.

I skipped the icky weather of early June because I was vacationing in Paris and London. Thanks to the persistent rain, I was thrilled to come home to a lush yard which lasted all summer long. I attended plenty of great parties, hung out with friends/family and got in some solid cabin time. I dipped in the lake and even managed a tan. I spent a lot of quality time with my camera around Minneapolis.  The novelty of my new windows and my new bathroom have not worn off, either. And as for work – I think I did a pretty good job of managing my stress levels by appreciating and enjoying all of the things I just mentioned.

I’m bracing myself for the colder weather…but I think (and hope) the memories of this past summer will keep me warm for a time.

To Auntie Bon & Uncle Doug – Thanks for working so hard to give us such a great weekend! The food, the hospitality, the bedroom/running water/electricity, the fireworks, the boat rides…and so much more. Also, thank you for the memories, the conversation and the hugs.

To AdamK – Thanks for slaving over the grill – twice!

To Auntie Carol – Thanks for the games, the popcorn and for our talk on the dock.

To my Mom – Thanks for Cribbage! And the best potato salad ever…And for cooking/cleaning up all the time.

To Uncle Matt, AdamL and AJ – Thanks for the drinks, for Treetor-totter, for the starry boat ride and for the forest fire.

To Uncle Tom – Thanks for introducing me to the Gimlet, the Evan Williams Honey Bourbon and the Amaretto Cherry Coke. My blood sugar, on the other hand, has choice words for you *wink*

To my sisters & cousins – Thanks for the generous helping of laughs. It was so good to see you.

Finally, to the makers of AfterBite – Thanks for making my dozens of mosquito bites tolerable. I’d have a lot less skin without you.

Since returning from Europe, there’s been lots of jet lagged catching up both at work and home. The vacation was amazing, but I wish we would’ve spent 1 week sightseeing and 1 week of being beached whales somewhere (lesson learned here, folks). Multiple friends, family and coworkers have commented “Sounds like you need a vacation from your vacation” or “You look tired” or “Are you hungover?” It’s that bad.

Which brings me to this weekend. I’m not going fishing. I’m not riding 4-wheelers. I’m not berry-picking. I’m not even contemplating my normal road tour of Brimson. Oh, I’ll make food and work on the clean up crew – but that’s it. I will only be available for the following activities: bonfire-gazing, beer drinking, dock-sunning, Cribbage, eating, talking (let’s keep this to a minimum though), and sleeping.

So, to my beloved family members: if you see me laying on the ground somewhere random, don’t fret. I’m doing what I intended to.

This country taps into my emotions. The wine and food are all-consuming. The architecture is extravagant and deliberately expressive. I’m so happy here I could die.

So far, we’ve taken in Versailles and Paris. We’ve seen the most beautiful gardens, enjoyed the most delightful sandwiches on the street. Our hotel is just down the street from l’Arc de Triomphe, a glamorous marker to “home.” We’re a mere 4 train stops
away from Le Tour Eiffel, where my camera never captured anything
so perfect.

As for now, we just finished a Bond movie at 3am, accompanied by champagne, Pastis and an assortement du fromage. It’s probably time for bed…but I don’t want to miss a thing.

If my nagging shoulder pain wasn’t enough, the klutz in me was also inspired. Early this week, I was in the office bathroom washing my hands. As I pressed down on the soap dispenser with my palm, my hand slid off the wet metal and rammed into the marble countertop. This caused half of my thumbnail on my right hand to rip right off. You never realize how much you use your thumb until it’s in quite a bit of pain. However, I admit I enjoyed making people squirm as I showed off my injury.

***
In other, more volcanic news, Chrissy and I have been watching the Reykjavik airport arrivals and departures like hawks. They closed the airport on Monday because of Eyjafjallajökull, the glacier with a volcano spewing out of it. And what’s with the name Eyjafjallajökull? This is when you realize that copy & paste is a true gift.

Anyway, we care about this airport so much because it’s where we’re connecting on our way to Paris. We might never get off the ground in MSP. Or, we could get stuck in Iceland. OR, we could get stuck in Europe. None of these outcomes would be the worst thing in the world, but air travel is stressful enough without a volcano playing into it. Who knows, maybe we’ll get there without a hitch. Either way, I hope the right side of my body doesn’t betray me anymore before this trip.

As I approach the ramp’s exit, my car ends up behind the Boxster so I divert my eyes from any possible contact. He pulls ahead, then I do. Now on the street, I have to pull up behind him again at a stoplight to make my turn for my usual route home. He checks his rearview mirror nervously, probably thinking he’s being stalked by some weird chick from the parking ramp.

Oh, it gets better. It turns out that he takes the same route home I do – nearly all the way to my neighborhood! Which means that I followed him for about 6 miles on side-streets! He’s probably filing a restraining order against me today.

Think I need to start taking the bus again.

It started on April 10th: Audra & BIL’s Moving Day. I arrived at 10am and didn’t go home until after 8pm. That’s not a complaint actually, since I was sincerely glad to be there. Their first house! And it’s closer to our house! YAY.

Sunday: Adam and I did some stuff around the house (as far as I can remember) and we prepared to have friends over for supper. Afterward, we had a fire on the patio with cheesecake. Delicious, creamy cheeeeesecake.

Monday: After a hectic day at work, I raced to my hair appointment. I have a new stylist (the old one went back to school, or joined a convent, or something). The new person, Jessica, ratcheted up my highlights to a brighter new level. So now I’m a little…shiny. Maybe I’ve mitigated my risk for getting hit by a car now? Ew, that was both glass-half-full and it resembled something I’d say at work. Sorry.

Tuesday: I had dinner with my mom at Cecil’s. She let me try her Reuben, which was so beyond wonderful that I nearly passed out. Then I imagined the big burly server-dude there trying to revive me via mouth-to-mouth and I snapped right back. I delivered a few gifts to my mom for Kirby’s bridal shower this weekend and was glad to check it off the list.

Wednesday: Met up with an old friend to deliver some photos of an event I shot for him. We attempted to meet at Majors on 394, only Majors on 394 is closed. How did I not know this? FAIL. Anyway, we went to a scarcely populated Timberlodge and enjoyed 2-fer-1s. WIN.

Thursday: Current day. We were supposed to meet up with the windows/doors guy for measurements but he had to reschedule. That’s why I’m sitting here blogging into oblivion. I don’t know what to do with all this free time.

Coming up…

Tomorrow night, we’re having dinner with my cousin, her husband and their adorable boy. Saturday, we’re rescheduled with the windows dude and will be attending a Dr. Who Premier Party that night. Sunday, it’s Kirby’s wedding shower, my Grandma Mason’s birthday dinner, my BFF’s birthday (though I won’t see her because she’s out of town) and my cousin Adam’s Drunken Karaoke Birthday event.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Since we’re so close to being done with the bath and because I’m crazy, I have another small project in the works: Home Gym. The Futon Room is no more! We moved the futon to Audra & Donnie’s new place last weekend (is that a weird housewarming gift?), where it now lives in their lovely guestroom/office. This opened up a nice big hole in the Futon Room for workout gear. I already have an ab/back hyper bench and some small weights in there, as well as a couple of exercise balls (stop snickering). I’m getting a treadmill from my Daddio – for free even! – and I’m on the hunt for an elliptical machine and a weight training gym. Other than outfitting the room with various pieces of equipment, I also have a master plan to extend the wood flooring from the hallway into this room.

I’m getting tired just thinking about it.

Adam: Hi, what are you doing?

Me: Working. Where are you?

Adam: North Minneapolis.

Me: What are you doing there?

Adam: Drugs.

Me: *laughing*

Adam: What?…What?

At the end of the day, the bathroom was nearly done:

1. Sadly, the backsplash shattered into 1,000 pieces while our contractor was trying to shave it down to fit the wall-mounted faucet. Not his fault really, since the faucet specs weren’t followed by the glass company. The good news is that we’ll have a new one next Thursday. I can’t wait.
2. The vanity didn’t quite fit the plumbing needs, so it too has to be messed with some more before we can use the sink. Plus, there’s no drain yet because I bought the wrong kind. Rats. A plumber will be stopping in tomorrow.
3. Oh, and no one realized it until we unboxed the TV mirror, but we have to install in-wall speakers. That information would have been helpful when they were dealing with the sheetrock. Now we have to figure something out (and when I say “we”, I mean “Adam”).
4. Finally, there’s some trim work that needs to be finished off in the closet and hallway…and then it’s really, actually complete.

Looking beyond our short list of final tasks, I absolutely love the result of the design. The way it came together was simply amazing. Thinking back on it, I had a bit of a hard time visualizing how all of the pieces would fit. Normally I’m good at picturing how things will look together as I pick them out, but I didn’t get too deep into all of the details on this project and it ended up being a very fun surprise.

Next week and over the weekend, we have to participate in some “lifestyle” shots. Basically, they want to shoot us in our natural habitat(s) to describe who we are for the show. They plan to play up the geek angle for Adam by shooting some of his Retro Gaming party this weekend. For me, they’ll stage me shooting photos someplace outdoors. We tossed around ideas for capturing our work-lives…which quickly deteriorated into me drawing a unicorn-like creature on a whiteboard. Should be entertaining, anyway.