Another Loss for Storytelling

You know when you plan out exactly how something's going to go down, just to have the idea dashed?

I do, because I have an over-active imagination, so I like to dream up lots of silly, unlikely situations that I know are 99% unlikely to occur, but I feel slightly devastated when they don't happen, all the same.

This is a really poor example of one of those times:

I had a great story from my day to tell my roommates when I got home today - a silly, likely unnecessary story that they didn't have to hear, but which I thought they should know all the same, since I feel like they need to know every part of my day generally.

I wanted it to be worth telling, or, rather, worth hearing, so I planned a nice dramatic introduction. A strong, intense, but straightforward statement that I would say as soon as I threw the door to the house open, then I'd give a heaving sigh as I dropped my purse heavily on the couch. They would all ooh and ahh, give the best mock concern they could, press me for details, then settle in for the rest of the story that my entrance full of teenage angst implied. 

But as I walked up to our house, I saw a glitch in my plan - my audience wasn't home.

Boo.

One roommate was at our neighbor's, and the other was still on her way home.

I regretfully opened our front door and closed it quietly behind me.

The drama was lost.

At this point, the story is completely useless. Without the emotional introduction, it was nothing anyway, so I'll chalk that up to another devastating loss in the world of storytelling.

It would've been great.

On a side note, a general overview of my super hot (weather-wise) Duck Beach trip is TBP (to be posted). Maybe I'll have better luck with this story.

Dancing With Myself...As Usual

I started dancing at my desk at work at one point this afternoon. While seated in my chair. Tucked safely behind my hutch, so no one could see me.

Ah, the power of a good song stuck in your head all day.

And the joy of well-practiced car dancing that made this afternoon so natural - being seated doesn't have to be a hindrance to movement.

Please, enjoy the song I've been singing loudly in my mind all day. Listen to it twice - I think you'll find it difficult to not bust a move yourself:

Kate and the Local Grocery Store Dilemma

So, it's nothing, really.

It's just so annoying when you want something, but you can't get it.

Especially when it's someone else getting in your way, whether they realize they're keeping you from your goal or not.

I know it's not worth getting all worked up about.

I just can't seem to help it.

But it's like, every time I go to my local grocery store, if I see that yogurt's on sale, I totally want to buy some. I like yogurt a lot, and it's a great afternoon snack at work. But when it's not on sale, the cost outweighs the deliciousness. Usually though, yoplait yogurt is often on sale - my yogurt brand of choice.

Here's what totally gets my knickers in a twist: every time I go over to the dairy section to pick out my favorite yogurt flavors, there is a worker restocking the cold foods shelves - that aren't empty! - with his giant cart and 10 boxes full of whatever sitting right in front of the yogurt! Right next to the shelves! So I can't even shinny in between and grab some yogurts!

The whole situation really sticks in my craw.

I just get bothered when I go to the store and yogurt's not on sale, so apparently nothing on the shelves near it needs to be re-stocked, and no one's buying full-priced yogurt so that definitely doesn't need to be re-shelved. I have absolutely no need to go to that part of the grocery store, so of course it's completely deserted, free of workers and boxes.

BUT as soon as the yogurt goes on sale and I want to spend a few minutes in that part of the store, the cottage cheese and the sour cream and the pudding and whatever else resides there need to get restocked, so that blasted cart and boxes get set up right where I need to be, and the stock boy (or old man, more often than not) has to stand inches from where I'd like to get to so instead of getting awkwardly close to him and the boxes, I just thrust his back a mean glare that he must be immune to, because he never seems to react to the anger beams zapping his neck hairs.

It's like they need to show that they have sales and deals, but they'll do whatever it takes to keep their customers from enjoying them.

When I went to the store last night, the yogurt was blocked again, inevitably. But this time, I blasted my way through to the yogurt, disregarded the stock man, and pulled off all the yogurt I could get to. I felt the silent cheers of the women around me as I fought my way to victory against the Man - point one for me.

I'm pretty sure the stock man then subtly slid his cart closer to the shelves, destroying anyone else's chances to take advantage of the half-priced yogurt deal.

Honestly, I need to get over it. I know my anger could go to something more worthy of it, like adulterers and Al Qaida and early morning garbage trucks, but it's difficult to keep my feelings restrained when I know the situation will be the same every time I walk into the grocery store. Every time.

It just cheeses me off, you know?

Sprimmer 2011, the Ultimate Season

I had my first roasted marshmallow of the season tonight (and, necessarily, the first Sandlot reference of the season), which means Summer has officially unofficially begun!
At least, the actual, real Summer planning has begun.

I have some heavy duty plans for this Spring/Summer - I'm going to go ahead and call it Sprimmer to save time - the opening night kickoff was just the right toasty softness to make for a very promising season.

Plus, the mallow was one of those GIGANTIC mallows, which I'm taking for a sign regarding how awesome this Sprimmer will be.

The season's first huge event is Memorial Day Weekend - I'll be kickin' it at Duck Beach, in North Carolina, at this GIGANTIC condo with 30 other peeps, and a million of other LDS playas (literally, one million - not an exaggeration...) ready to get this 3-day weekend on. Apparently this is the mother of all East Coast LDS singles events - I just googled duck beach to make sure it was in North Carolina, and Google's predictive search thing popped up with "duck beach," "duck beach nc," "duck beach rentals," "duck beach mormon," "duck beach lds." That's how popular it is. From what I hear, this year a documentary is scheduled to made about it - by a non-mormon, which means all the intrigue and scandal that comes with way too many single people shoved in one place will be found. Whether intrigue and scandal are actually even happening anywhere or not.

But disregarding this mythological quality Duck Beach's reputation seems to have, options I've come up with to make the weekend a success are pretty simple and straightforward to choose from:
a.) Play in (and maybe win) the giant sand volleyball tournament going on
b.) Read a book or two while relaxing and attempting to get a tan on one of our 5 balconies or by our personal pool
c.) Be social, make some friends I may or may not see ever again, and have a casual Duck Beach fling - which, of course, my brothers know to mean a friendly tossing of a boomerang among friends...ahem....uh, is it hot in here??
d.) All of the above
I'm pretty sure I can make at least one of these options work out, so I'm quite looking forward to the big event for the Spring side of Sprimmer.

Not to be outdone by random people I don't even know, Summer's Sprimmer event will be HUGE - here we come, Barlowpalooza 2011! This Summer Festival boasts the biggest names in the country coming to participate. If everything plays out right and we all actually make it to Zach and Jamie's *NEW* home in the new Midwestern festival hotspot of Rolla, MO, this will be the first fully-attended Barlow reunion in 20 years, give or take 8 years...

I was thinking about it the other day, wondering why other families seem to do reunions all the time, but we never seem to get reunions going in our family, when the answer struck me in all of its greatness - we do have family reunions, which maybe not everyone can get to (like most other families), but we have them. We just treat them like British homes; we give them cool names to really differentiate them. Think of Zachfest 2006, Barlowpalooza 2010, the Great Barlow Caper 2011 (I just made that one up, but I'm starting to think we need t-shirts made now...). We're so beyond the "family reunion of whatever year" style, we like to really celebrate.

All this to say I'm really looking forward to the Great Barlow Caper 2011, coming to you live 4th of July weekend.

Of course, Sprimmer will include much other, smaller scale events, some of which haven't even been thought of yet, all of which will be awesome. But it will end with a bang. Sprimmer's closing event, as of yet, looks to be a lovely week in Utah, visiting both family and friends - the event that ties the friend/family theme of Sprimmer's other blockbuster events. Congress is in Recess all of August, which makes for a very slow, very quiet DC office. So I'm anticipating heading out to Utah for about a week, maybe dragging my parents down to enjoy the rhapsodic eloquence of Cedar City's Shakespeare festival, definitely playing a little volleyball with my dear volleyball-playing friends in Davis County, and absolutely enjoying a good barbeque with the parents every opportunity I can get dad to fire up the grill.

So as you can see, Sprimmer 2011 is going to be pretty awe to the some. And by pretty, I mean amazingly. And by awe to the some, I mean awesome. In case you couldn't figure that out...

So this is what 25 looks like

I am 25 today.

So far, I don't mind it. In fact, my first taste of 25 has gone so well, I think I'll stick with it for a year or so.

And as a great start, there's nothing that makes me feel more loved than the countless texts, calls, facebook messages, and face-to-face birthday wishes I received today. Thanks to all of my wonderful family and friends to helped make this day so special for me by reminding me that you kind of like me a little bit.

The day was just a good one all around, too. I woke up to a beautiful, sunny day, which stayed sunny and warm all into the evening. I got to work on time/early for the first time after a couple weeks of running in on time/late. I was quite productive; I got a lot done that I'd been needing to, which felt so great.

Around 12:30, I realized I needed to go to lunch if I wanted to get my whole hour - if I waited much longer, it would get cut short by meetings I needed to be around for in the afternoon. So I left work and took myself out for a birthday lunch at Good Stuff Eatery, like my sister-in-law Laura told me to in her happy birthday text earlier that morning. Then I sat at a table in the sun in front of the Library of Congress and enjoyed my handcut fries and mango dipping sauce. Mom called at the perfect time while I was sitting outside, and we chatted a bit - I was pleased to hear she and Dad would also be enjoying my birthday by going for a walk and hopefully treating themselves to a lovely birthday treat.

When I came back from work, I found a sweet little surprise waiting for me at my desk. My cute friend Stephanie, who works exactly 2 floors above me and lives exactly one street away from me, had dropped off a bread pudding mountain with a strawberry on top and a 'happy birthday' note converted from a previous, unrelated note written to her earlier by her congressman. It was completely unexpected and absolutely darling, and I giggle-smiled for about 2.5 minutes as I read and re-read the kind note. Then I went to the back office for something and was promptly stopped by co-workers Tyler and Matt, who needed to know who this Stephanie character was, dropping off such yummy treats for someone who wasn't them. For the rest of the day, the only thing that mattered to them was how my bread pudding tasted - for the record, it was quite pudding-y and tasty. And the strawberry was melt-in-my-mouth juicy, however that works.

I had wondered yesterday whether anyone at work would remember it was my birthday today and do anything for it - we usually do a Herger office birthday party, but I'm in charge of it, and you can't throw your own party - but luckily co-worker Rachel tipped me off by asking me what my favorite dessert might be...and choosing to not insult my intelligence by trying to find out slyly and hoping that I didn't connect her question to the fact that it was my birthday the next day. So around 5:15, when the day had finally slowed down, I got a little 'surprise' party (I had promised Rachel I would still act surprised today) and I blew out my candles, keeping my wish a secret from co-worked Tyler, who tried to catch me unawares and find out what I'd wished for - sorry Tyler, I'm too quick for you! The chocolate birthday cake Rachel got me reminded me of the giant chocolate cake Ms. Trunchbull makes a boy eat in Matilda - luckily it wasn't that big, but we still couldn't eat all of it, even with 8 of us working at it.

Then I got dinner at cafe pizzaiolo, a little pizzeria near my house, with 3 of my favorite gal pals. It was a blast being all together, and I'm glad I could have a small dinner with people I really enjoy. And of course, we finished it off with a little place I like to frequent (and by frequent, I mean 'go to 3 times in the last 8 months I've lived out here...I'd be ok going more often...) called "the Dairy Godmother." It's an authentic Wisconsin frozen custard place, which just makes me so happy. I got a cup of the caramel heath bar flavor of the day, and I smiled knowingly at the freezer in the back with a #90 and "Raji" written in green masking tape. It's the little Wisconsin touches like that which make me feel so at home. And good friend Jillian bought a 4-pack of Sprechers Root Beer as a gift to me - it might've been the best gift I've ever gotten. I'm stoked to crack open a bottle tomorrow; I might take a bottle to work and enjoy it in front of my co-workers so they can fully appreciate how great it is.

And then, to finish it off, sister Abby called and chatted with me - I had to add her in here, or she'd never forgive me for broken promises about ending my birthday summary with her phone call, since it was most recent and fresh on my mind. Plus, it was fun talking to her, as it always is, so I'll give her the honorable mention. It was great to hear from all of my siblings at some point in the day, by phone, text, and/or facebook - thanks for thinking of me!

So 25 is looking good from where I'm at right now. I had a lot of excitement and adventure in 24 - I wonder what will define 25?

St. Louis and Other Musings

Well, I made it back from St. Louis - it was a successful girls' weekend, and it was much needed.

I would like to say thanks to St. Louis for being such a great host. Despite all the cries of concern I heard on my connecting flight from Atlanta to St. Louis about it being the city with the highest crime rate in the country, and all the crazy weather news I've followed in the last week, my purse was never stolen (nor was there any attempt on it - which offends me a little, is it really such an ugly purse that no one wanted it?!) and I didn't see one cow get pulled up into the air by a violent twister. Well done, StL, way to keep your crap together during my visit!
I did, however, see the St. Louis Arch, the Gateway to the Westward expansion. I can now boast that I've been to the top of the tallest U.S. monument, which is no small thing.

And I will say that I was less worried for my life at the top of the very tall monument than I was whilst I rode in the tiny little Men in Black pod-styled trams up and down. It would seem my claustrophobia beat out my acrophobia - my fear of heights is only relevant when I play an active role in whether I'm going to fall from the height or not. But it was a gorgeous view from the top of the arch. And I saw so many Milwaukee Brewers hats and t-shirts (they were in town to play the Cardinals) that I just felt right at home.

The other highlights of the trip would have to be setting up and enjoying the reception; watching She's the Man with Courtney and Berkley (you looked soooo serene...!) for the umpteenth time in our friendship life; eating at the Steak 'N Shake - or the teak 'n and hake, as it were (silly missing s's on the sign) - for the first time; playing a good game of sand volleyball Saturday night; Berkley's overenthusiasm for the number of trees in the Midwest; and just plain having a lot of fun with some of my favorite people - whether I knew they were my favorites before I came, or whether I found out they were my favorites after meeting them.

And last but not least, kudos to AirTran Airways for getting me everywhere I planned to go on time, at the latest. Almost every flight left a little early with everyone totally loaded (one flight only left right on time, and it was kind of a letdown), and I made it back to DC a full 30 MINUTES EARLY! What the what?! And with such friendly flight attendants. Impressive. I especially appreciate the little bit of humor the marketing team sneaks into the small things:

Anytime I can get a how-to on eating something, I'm sold on it. Help me to think as little as possible about I'm doing, and I'm yours. You had me at "how to," you had me at "how to."

All in all, I'd give this weekend two thumbs up; it was good family fun all around. Thanks Courtney, for getting married and having a reception I could go to. Let's do this again sometime soon, girls, okay? Berk, are you up next? I'm looking forward to it!

But on a serious note, this was definitely a fun way to spend the last weekend of my life as a young 24 year old. Because - can you believe it - my birthday is on Wednesday...my 25th birthday. It's just so weird to say, since I'm pretty sure you don't turn 25 when you're only 23, and I'm pretty sure I'm still 23. I haven't really considered myself as getting older. I don't think I ever really accepted 24 - I just kept forgetting about it. I didn't let go of 23 quite as easily as my other ages. 25 actually sounds easier for me. I don't know what it is about the even numbers, but I struggle to take them seriously. At any rate, I've only got one more day before I'm no longer able to pull off the "early twenties" thing - I'll truly be a twenty-something-year-old. I'm going to have to start getting embarrassed about telling people my age, what a bother.

If I'm honest, this birthday's going to be weird not so much because I'm feeling old (because I'm not, it's just not sitting in me that I'm getting older), but because my siblings must be old now...no offense to you, since you're my main audience. But I'm the youngest, so for me to hit this pivotal age is a big deal - because I only have older siblings, so I'm supposed to stay 15 forever. For their sake, if not mine. So, in my final days here, I just want to apologize. Sorry for aging. Sorry for moving on. Sorry for becoming a young adult instead of stopping at the youth phase. But if it makes anyone feel better, when we all get together in July, I'll still follow you all around because I want to be part of anything you do, and I'll still listen to all of your stories intently and laugh at your jokes and memories because you're the funniest people I know, and I'll still think nothing but amazing things about each of you because you're my idols. And, if you're extra nice to me, perhaps I'll re-enact my awesome 'I'm a Little Teapot' glory days. Just to remind us all that we're still pretty young, when it comes down to it.

He disappeared...and then made up for it with a kiss

Co-worker Tyler came over to my desk to talk this afternoon to chat a little bit, and halfway through a thought he was expressing to me, he walked away, going into the chief-of-staff's office/kitchen.

My eyes stayed on the spot where he had just been standing, a little perplexed by sudden emptiness that spot now seemed inhabited by.

A few seconds later, I hear a quick apology for just walking away like that, and I responded that I was used to him pulling stuff like that on me. His laughter just confirmed that this happens often enough between us that I'm pretty used to it by now.

But he made up for his hasty departure with a nice treat - a surprise kiss!

A Hershey macadamia nut chocolate kiss, that is.

And what a kiss it was.

T had hidden his bag of these tasty treats in the freezer earlier in the day, then remembered they were there while he was talking to me, and he was kind enough to share one with me (T and I are good snack sharers - we were fruit snack buddies on our staff retreat, and we've been treat bonded ever since).

According to legend (aka T's explanation), a friend of his had gone to Hawaii and brought a bag of these yummy delicacies back for him. Apparently, they're only sold in Hawaii, so the fact that I had just popped in my mouth a piece of chocolate that had flown through 5 time zones to get to my stomach just sweetened the smooth milk chocolate bite. And the small piece of macadamia nut that sits in each chocolate kiss was just perfect for my taste.

All of this to say that when I'm back from St. Louis this weekend, I'm planning my Hawaii vacation so I can go and get a few bags of Hershey macadamia nut kisses for myself.

Because getting some kisses in Hawaii just sounds too fun to pass up, doesn't it?

Let Me Tell You a {Very} Short Story

This is the story of three purses.

One day their owners went to a dear friend's wedding and while they waited for it to begin, they took pictures outside. One picture was of the purses as they sat next to each other where they had been set down earlier. As close as the purses were in the picture, the owners were in friendship.

But as life sometimes does, soon after the wedding and the picture happened, the purses were pulled apart, as the owners separated to different states: one purse stayed in Utah, one purse went to St. Louis, and one went to Washington, DC.

But then one day, one of the purses' owners decided it would be a good idea to get married. So she did. And she decided it would be a good idea to have a reception in St. Louis, and her two friends decided it would be a good idea to fly out to that reception and reunite in the beloved Midwest - the heartland of America.

And that is how it came to be that three great friends will be reunited this weekend. Probably with new purses to introduce to each other - for purses evolve and change just as friendships do.

This weekend, I plan to live life to the fullest with bffs Court and Berkie D - and if a full life includes the Public Zoo, Science Museum, and Magic House, then my life will be full indeed. Rain or shine (likely rain), I'm determined to have a blast.

Here's to meeting in the middle (of the country...), taking far too many pictures, and staying up late laughing until my stomach and cheeks hurt with 2 of my favorite chicas! Cheers!

Got Pretty Eyes?

You know how sometimes a nice compliment can just make you smile the rest of your day? Even if the person and situation are both a little bit random? Yeah, me too.

We had protesters in our building yelling all day (see post below), giving me a headache and generally wearing me down with their consistent cheering. Our office was generally quiet inside, with a few people coming in for meetings, but not too much activity in all. It was just kind of a blah, boring, normal Monday.

At one point in the afternoon, I ventured out of the office, walked in the opposite direction of the protesters, made my way upstairs (it was much quieter up there - lucky offices) to drop a few things off in an office, then wandered back down to my office. As I walked through a hall, I saw one of our mail friends who comes by with packages and deliveries for us to sign for. Usually staff assistant Bryan signs for things, but if he's gone or busy, the guy comes to my desk and chats for a second while I sign for whatever he's brought us. He's shorter, bald, probably in his late 30s, a little pudgier. Really nice guy, talks in a bit of a mumble, checks up occasionally on how my running is going ever since I told him I had gone for a run one weekend months ago. Good memory.

We said hi as I passed, and he asked if I'd been running lately, and I told him, in more words than necessary (as is my usual way of communicating) that I hadn't been able to run lately, but I was hoping to get some running in this week (total lie - I'm actually hoping I'll have good valid excuses for not going, so I don't feel so bad about skipping it...). He smiled, I said "see ya!" and then walked off, finding my way back to my office by following the shouting breadcrumbs of the protesters.

A little while later, our mail friend came to our office with a large delivery. Co-workers Jay and Darin were at my desk talking to me, when Darin realized the package was something he'd sent back to our office from California, something to show the Congressman. So he got the package, and Jay got distracted by the new present. I turned back to my desk to keep working when mail friend popped his head around the desk hutch and said hi. I stopped and chatted with him for a second; he asked me about life, what my long-term plans were, and I quickly noted that small chitchat was unlikely today. So I gave him a pretty vague, general answer (basically, it was a "who knows?" answer because, if I'm honest, that's pretty true), and then asked him about his plans. I strained to pay attention - this is where his slight mumble makes things difficult. But he explained some of his career plans, his business goals, and whatever else goes with that.

And then suddenly, he says, "You got some pretty eyes on you, did'ja know?" And I smiled and said thank you, slightly flustered and embarrassed, and he just agreed with himself and smiled, and I didn't know what to do with myself after that, so I said thanks again.

Then his next comment took me a minute to decipher: "I won't say more, don't wanna get your boyfriend mad at me or something, haha..." When I finally figured out what he had said, I stalled quickly before spitting out, "Oh yeah, well, there are a couple of those you'll need to watch out for, hahaha..."

He smiled and laughed, and then we said good day and he walked out.

I'm not the best at responding to allusions to boyfriends and such - I'm just never expecting it, so it always, always throws me off and I stammer stupid responses. While I stand by the deflection my response gave on this one, I still felt stupid.

But I will take that compliment for all that it's worth. It's a nice way to start off the week, right? Being told that I got some pretty eyes on me.

And don't you forget it.

Protest Monday

Sometimes people like to come to the building I work at and hold "sit-ins" or other forms of protest over issues they care about.

Today a large group of people decided to hold a "sit-in" in the Rotunda...right next to my office.

I don't know if you've ever been in a Rotunda of a building, but they tend to have the personality trait of echoing a lot. It's kind of an annoying characteristic, but sometimes it's cool.

Like a few weeks ago - the echo was really cool when a choir was singing in the Rotunda. It sounded like the choir was 10 times bigger and more powerful than it actually was. And it was sounded beautiful. So I didn't mind those people using the Rotunda.

I hope you've also caught on to the fact that I like the word "Rotunda." Ro-TUN-da!

Of course, I like saying Rotunda less when the noises it echoes are obnoxious cheering and yelling. Not just because it makes the yelling 10 times louder, but because it also garbles the yelling, so whatever is being yelled is even more obnoxious. So I couldn't tell you what they were protesting exactly. It had something to do with disabled people (most of them were in wheelchairs), but I have no idea what the actual problem was. Which is just as well, I suppose.

I got that all day. With a break for lunch and a few times for what I assumed were smoke breaks - at least, the women's bathroom would say that a large number of women spent a good amount of time smoking and then using the facilities. It reminded me of a bowling alley every time I walked in. You know how some people smell cigars and think of their grandpa because he always smoked a cigar, or smell campfire and think of home because they grew up camping? I smell stale smoke and (after wrinkling my nose in disgust) think of going bowling in Wisconsin, where smoking was either completely permitted, or permitted in one side of the alley, which permeates to the entire place. It didn't make me smile or nostalgic though - it just bummed me out that I had to endure the smell without throwing down strikes or spares with the family while the turkey cooked on Thanksgiving. To be specific.

But moving on.

This was my first real experience with a big group of protesters in our building, so co-worker Josh had a nice time telling me about all the past experiences the Hill has had with this particular group and how they can get nasty and how the police will eventually start arresting them. The police had come and surrounded the group on the main floor, and around the balcony on the floor above, so they were keeping a close eye on the rambunctiousness.

So I kept waiting for it to end, with the police dragging these people out.

Didn't happen.

They were there all day.

Shouting. And Protesting. And taking up all the Rotunda and some of the hallway space people need to use sometimes to get places. And smelling up the bathroom with stale smoke smells. And shouting some more.

Finally, when I left at 6:30 this evening, I saw the Capitol Police starting to scatter people and "help" them leave the building. It was pretty un-exciting in their clearing out - it definitely didn't match the intensity of the sounds I was hearing, which was slightly disappointing. I was looking for a big scene, with people being dragged out, kicking and screaming, grabbing on to pillars, yelling things like, "Help, I'm being oppressed!" or something else Monty Python-ish. Alas, I was disappointed in the civility of it.

As I left the building and jumped on the metro, I checked my blackberry quickly - I had a new email from the Capitol Police, informing me of a demonstration disturbance in the Rotunda causing the doors to be closed temporarily.

My first thought? Shoot, if it took this long for that to be considered a distubance, what was I listening to all day?