The biggest spider I have ever seen...

...in my house. That's right! It was so big I had to get out the vacuum cleaner to get rid of it. I just turned the corner to the bedroom and there it was on the tile floor. I didn't freak or anything I only said, "wow, that's a big one". I had to asses the situation at hand. It was against the wall so I knew that a shoe would not work. Next I tried a rolled up magazine and figured it was too narrow for the width of the spider. When I decided I would have to suck the thing I chose the "plug into the wall" vacuum rather than the hand held. Usually I prefer to return bugs and spiders to their natural habitat but this was just too risky. I'm sure it's making a nice home for itself in the bag of the vacuum and some day it will slowly fade away to spider heaven. My only regret is that I didn't take a photo of it!

Chicago: the city of randomness

Last night Vic and I went out in Lincoln Park with Nikki, one of my best friends from high school in Wooster. We started with dinner at La Crapierie, moved on to the Kit Kat for some martinis and drag queen shows and finally to Trader Todd's to sing our hearts out with some quality karaoke. It was a fantastic night and only got better when, at our final destination, Victor ran into Jennifer, one of his best friends from high school in Great Falls.
Now I'll have to say that the events leading up to our meeting were strange: two hour drive into the city from the suburbs, being indifferent about going out after dinner, the random thought of going to a karaoke bar after martinis. Even the car ride home in traffic at 1am was worth the chance meeting.

Where would we be in life if we didn't go all out?

No concept of time

Have you ever had one of those days where you have no concept of time? Right now it's 7:43am and while I should be sleeping still, I'm awake and typing up a blog post.

The other day I was at work and deep into a project when I realize that I needed to take a break for lunch. I looked at the computer clock which read 12:30 and thought, "Gee, where did the time go?" I finished up what I was doing and proceeded to head home for some grub. When I got out to my car the clock said 1:40. Now, let's think about this for a moment. I don't believe it took me an hour to wrap things up and why did my stomach not growl sooner to let me know it was lunch time? How did I lose and hour?

Well, the time was wrong on the computer and I guess I fooled my body into thinking that it was earlier than it really was. This has nothing to do with my concept of time, I guess, but more with the fact that I trust computers way too much.

It's time for breakfast.

Cat puke

So I didn't really want to wake up this morning because I'm still a little under the weather but I got out of bed anyway. As for my morning ritual I skipped the shower (having an afternoon washing yesterday) and went straight for the cereal. As I peeked under my bed to get my shoes I moved some items out of the way that I had stashed the night before. One item was a notebook and as I picked it up I felt a slimy substance mush through my fingers. Low and behold, under the notebook was cat puke. I screamed a little scream of surprise and disgust and cursed the cats! As I walked out of the bedroom door they were there to meet me with looks on their faces that said, "Oh no! She found the puke!" Luckily, it wasn't too much of a messy clean up and all was well.

But someone it not a happy cat.

Wedding Planning

The drama has begun!

Vic and I were planning on having our wedding in Albuquerque for a little Southwestern fun but alas, the first bump has appeared. It seems that my cousin Mark is graduating from high school on the weekend we want to get married: Memorial Day Weekend. My first thought was, "what high school holds graduation on Memorial Day weekend?" Obviously Orrville Ohio. So, low and behold, after going over the options with my mom I call Vic and his first question was, "what high school holds graduation on Memorial Day weekend?" (we are so made for each other). And thus began our drama.

However, it wasn't that difficult to decide that we're just going to change the location to Ohio...oh, the irony. But I'm not regretting the decision yet. I think Ohio is a wonderful place and who cares it we won't have mountains in our wedding photos. We can always photoshop them in! Now all I have to do is plan the rest of the wedding and we're set!

Back in Berkeley

I came to visit Berkeley this week for a friend's consecration service. It's been a great time so far and I really have been spending some quality time with people I haven't seen in a long time. Of course it's always strange to come back to a place that you have somewhat left behind. I was ready to leave after graduation and not look back for a while. There were some hard times my senior year and I wanted to forget most of them. I didn't know what to expect this time back and I have been pleasantly surprised with how nice it is to be here without the pressures of friends who have hurt me in the past. It's sort of freeing to know that I am able to enjoy this beautiful place with no ambitions.

I have also been renewed in my quest to keep finding the way through my approval process with the Ohio Synods. It's been a long road and I have a feeling that while it might eventually become smooth, it will never be easy.

I no longer have a boyfriend

Tonight Victor asked me to marry him and I said yes. After two hours of calling family and friends it's time for me to go to bed! It was an interesting proposal that only Victor and I could have had. But it was funny, lovely and perfect in it's own strange little way.

Final Take Off of Balloon Fiesta 2007

Virgin Flight

Friday morning I did it! I lost my ballooning virginity and it was amazing. I don't have any photos because I had the video camera so hopefully I can post something soon. It was fantastic. Usually I'm afraid of heights but for some reason there was nothing to be afraid of. The pilot, Becky Curling, is outstanding and I really felt comfortable with her flying us safely.

Crewing this week has been quite an experience. It has to be one of the coolest things I have ever done and if you know me, I've done some pretty cool things!

Dawn Patrol

If you have never been to Albuquerque during the International Balloon Fiesta you are missing out. This morning I woke up around 4:45am to crew for a balloon and before I got to the park I had no idea what I was in for. Pre-dawn the balloons started to glow and the first few were launched into the air. Their flight would help other pilots see which way the wind was moving at different altitudes.
We waited as the international pilots began to set up and take off in rows. Around 7:00am we started to get our balloon in position for inflation. I was in charge of holding on to the fan as it blew air into the balloon so the pilot would be able to start the heat. Once the basket was ready to stand up we all had to hold on to the side so it wouldn't take off to o soon. A referee would walk down the line of balloons and signal when it was clear to take off.Around 8:00am our balloon started to fly! It was so cool to see it take off and know that it took a whole crew to make it happen. We loaded in the trucks and followed it up to Rio Rancho where it landed at 9:30am. The balloon came down in a field and luckily there were other people there who could catch it for us since we had some trouble getting to the spot on time. There are no exact measurements or timing, it's all guess work and luck.


I'll be going back on Friday and Saturday with my video camera. It is something that is truly amazing to experience. It's times like these that I wonder how something so beautiful can exist when so many ugly things overpower our world.

Up Up and Away!

I have a friend from Berkeley who grew up in Albuquerque and he is getting married on Thursday. Yes, this is interesting because not only am I invited to the wedding, but I am invited to go ballooning with him tomorrow morning because his mom owns a balloon! How fun is that?

Well....you might think it's fun but the past two days have proved to be eyeopening. Yesterday a balloon crashed and someone died, today I've heard of two balloons down and I'm thinking that it's going to be crazy up there. This morning I woke up and there were HUNDREDS of balloons in the air all over Albuquerque. It's just amazing.

However, I'm still looking forward to my balloon experience. I'm sure it's going to be a good time no matter what...well, maybe it's ok to be concerned about the "what". Say a little prayer for me.

Sub Job

So I started another job last week...yeah. I'm going to be a substitute teacher in Rio Rancho since it's smaller and closer to my home than the quite large Albuquerque school system. Anyway, last week I was in a culinary arts class at Rio Rancho High School and it was so boring! And I'm not talking about I want to fall asleep boring but scratch my eyes out with a fork boring. I was subbing for a sub because their teacher broke her back four weeks ago. These poor kids have been doing busy work for four weeks. I felt so bad for them but it was nice to know that it wasn't my problem. As if I can just float into the classroom with no worries and leave with the same.

But the thing that I found interesting is how apathetic some of these kids were about their lives. How did kids get this way? And then I started to talk to them about what's going on in the world around them and it's almost depressing. Don't you ever feel like we owe kids something for being so out of control of their lives? Maybe it's just my idealistic attitude on life but why do I feel that we're falling short of our potential?

What a world.

Balloon Fiesta Breakfast!

Friday night I stayed at the church (All Saints Lutheran) with eight kids from the youth group. We woke around 5:15 to get set up for the Balloon Fiesta Breakfast! What a beautiful morning for the mass ascension and about 60-70 people showed up. It was so fun to be outside at dawn and watch the sun rise over the mountains. Balloon Fiesta is for two weeks (I think) and I'm so excited to be around for it. Although I've heard traffic is horrible!! At least it has started on a good note.

New Beginnings

I need to start a new blog because for some reason MSN isn't working out for me. So here I am at blogger. This move may have been set in motion a long time ago but I never got around to it. Hopefully this will encourage me to start blogging more often. You never know.