Not that it will be all that noticeable, acknowledging my poor updating skills lately...but I'm peace-ing out for a week -Rollapalooza, I'm coming for you!
Hopefully I will be back with a terrible sunburn that mom will hate for ruining the family photo (so much for wearing pastels instead of bright colors!), 5 extra pounds of delicious bar-b-q and life-shortening Fair food, and about 4 hours of sleep...total. Plus some awesome memories, with accompanying photos.
Time to go celebrate Independence Day in America's Heartland. Next year, I'll stick in DC, but I'm getting away from the crazy this year. I don't like crowds...
For all y'all who aren't part of Rollapalooza, two things: 1.) I'm sorry. 2.) Have a fabulous 4th of July, your way! I know it will be awesome for you!
And just in case you are struggling to get in the right attitude for this particularly awesome Summer holiday, I've provided for you the ULTIMATE 4th of July emotion-booster:
Yes, Bill Pullman's iconic "Independence Day" speech, a staple in presidential speeches. Because nothing gets me more pumped to celebrate the 4th like taking down aliens intent on destroying us and taking over Earth. It really puts in perspective what those forefathers of ours were fighting for. I can relate to what they went through, because of what I went through, watching a movie about people going through something for the sake of the country.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, PEEPS! May the fireworks be bright, and the shrapnel not burn you as it rains down on your heads :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Yogurt - My Newest Frenemy
It never fails.
Every time I eat yogurt at work, a small glob decides to abandon the spoon it was clinging to and land - thwop - on one of my pant legs (or skirt, depending on the day).
I don't know when I started eating like a geriatric; maybe it has something to do with the gooey, gloppy texture of yogurt that makes me feel like an old person with tremors and no teeth who has to gum food and eat only liquids and semi-solids. And like a geriatric in a dingy nursing home, I just can't seem to get those semi-solids from the container to my mouth accurately enough sometimes, and the evidence currently resides in the ever-so-slightly discolored spot on my right pant leg.
Perhaps I should also stop trying to read something while I'm eating and start paying more attention to the food I'm trying to throw down in such haste.
Paying attention to what I'm doing may or may not solve quite a few problems of mine in general, actually.
Every time I eat yogurt at work, a small glob decides to abandon the spoon it was clinging to and land - thwop - on one of my pant legs (or skirt, depending on the day).
I don't know when I started eating like a geriatric; maybe it has something to do with the gooey, gloppy texture of yogurt that makes me feel like an old person with tremors and no teeth who has to gum food and eat only liquids and semi-solids. And like a geriatric in a dingy nursing home, I just can't seem to get those semi-solids from the container to my mouth accurately enough sometimes, and the evidence currently resides in the ever-so-slightly discolored spot on my right pant leg.
Perhaps I should also stop trying to read something while I'm eating and start paying more attention to the food I'm trying to throw down in such haste.
Paying attention to what I'm doing may or may not solve quite a few problems of mine in general, actually.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Zach's Visit to DC - June Edition
So far, 3rd brother Zach has everyone else beat in visiting me in DC - 4 times. 4 TIMES!
Though I suppose that's to be expected, when his job brings him out here every other month this year. Otherwise he'd be at 1 visit, tied with the other Barlow boys. Mom and Dad, Abby - better step up your game.
Z was out here this last week, and we met up after work on Thursday for some dinner and dancing. The dinner was planned. The dancing? Impromptu, but great all the same.
It had been a long, relatively busy day, and I hadn't really had an actual lunch, so by the time Z could make it out to my part of town, I was starving. So I took him across the street to a Mexican restaurant a short block from where I work. I'd seen it many times, but hadn't been in, so I took him with me to try it.
Turns out, it's quite the popular happy hour/dinner spot for Capitol Hill peeps. I haven't been in such a loud restaurant before. It was crazy. So we pulled out our Chris voices and did our best to hear each other.
Dinner was great, it really hit the spot...and then some. After we finished, we decided to take a walk around the Capitol, to enjoy the view of the mall in twilight and take a look around the place. Plus, it was much easier to hear each other, so we saved any real stories for then.
We passed the front of the Capitol, spotted some friendly fireflies, and then started going to the back of the Capitol to finish the loop.
This is what we found:
GO DC STATEHOOD! I honestly don't think DC will find itself becoming the 51st state anytime soon - far too many scandals in its governing body every year - but it is certainly a great reason to throw rallies and concerts on the Capitol lawn.
We approached a medium-sized group of people boppin' to a few rappers/hip-hop artists and their supporting trumpet, sax, and whatever other instruments they incorporated. It really was pretty catchy; Z and I found ourselves enjoying the beat and the music for awhile. And the group there had some good dancers as well - at least, there were some dedicated dancers grooving to the beat.
After we busted a few moves of our own on the outskirts of the rally, we continued on our walk, circling around the House-side buildings and traipsing through the Botanic Garden (Note: I looked this up, Z - 'botanical' and 'botanic' are interchangeable, so I'm assuming it would've been hard to fit the extra 'al' on the gate and signs, so DC kept it to 'botanic' for simplicity. And I'm claiming that as fact).
The Botanic Garden was fun to check out. And Z, ever the smartypants, correctly guessed that one of the 2 windmills spun at 200 kw in its energy-gathering efforts. We basked in his amazing reasoning skills/mental capacity for the next few minutes, and then continued on our walk. I pointed out the Magnolia trees lining the sides of the buildings, and we huffed and puffed our way up the very slight hill back to the metro by my building - in our defense, our little tum-tums were still stuffed full, and that hill is deceptively difficult. All the same, good luck on your upcoming bike race, Z - hopefully your endurance can build up a little more somehow between now and then :).
Finally, we left DC and made our way home, sharing a metro ride for 2 stops before I rushed off to grab my transfer (it was timing at its best - my train pulled up 30 seconds after I got to the platform) and left Z to make his way home down the Orange Line.
And that was the last I saw of Z; he flew home this morning. Hopefully no tornado got in his way returning to StL this time...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
H.O.T.T HOT
I looked up the weather today around 4pm, wondering if we had been successful in hitting the 92 degree high anticipated today.
This is what I got:
Current: 98
Feels like: 107
Yikes. It is H.O.T. HOT out here. Sizzling hot.
It's so hot that I put a bag of microwave popcorn on our driveway, and when I came back out 2 minutes later, it was fully popped.* That's how hot it is out here.
It's currently after 7pm, and it "feels like 104 degrees." You ain't kiddin', Weather Channel.
I think Summer has arrived. Time to go get me a kiddie pool for our backyard.
*Perhaps that didn't really happen. But if it had? How awesome would that have been?! Talk about energy- and cost-savings...
This is what I got:
Current: 98
Feels like: 107
Yikes. It is H.O.T. HOT out here. Sizzling hot.
It's so hot that I put a bag of microwave popcorn on our driveway, and when I came back out 2 minutes later, it was fully popped.* That's how hot it is out here.
It's currently after 7pm, and it "feels like 104 degrees." You ain't kiddin', Weather Channel.
I think Summer has arrived. Time to go get me a kiddie pool for our backyard.
*Perhaps that didn't really happen. But if it had? How awesome would that have been?! Talk about energy- and cost-savings...
Sunday, June 5, 2011
A Thought and a Recap
Thought: I really like fireflies, and they are abundant here! I went for a quick stroll to the grocery store the other day, and I kept seeing tiny flashes of light at my side. I enjoyed their company during my short time outside.
My first year at EFY, in Illinois, I had a counselor who was going crazy with excitement about the fireflies dancing around us. I thought it silly-weird that a grown man (21 years grown) would be so giddy about little bugs, though I recognized that they were really cool. Now though, I understand - albeit in a much more muted way - that they're just as fascinating for any adult as they are for children.
Recap: I went to Duck Beach last weekend - did I mention that? Technically, I stayed in Corolla, NC, and I don't even know if the beach we were on ended up being in Duck at all, but for the sake of the event title, it was Duck Beach.
I am now molting, it's a little bit disgusting - my skin is literally falling off me, it's like being a snake, but not so creepy. But it was totally worth it - which I keep telling myself every time I look in the mirror at the girl who's forehead is coming off...
But that's not what you really wanted to hear about, was it? You wanted updates on the romantic trysts, dramas, boys, right?
Well, those stories can best be found here.
But I can tell a little of my time at the beach. I got a lot of sun, a little volleyball, a lot of Mormons, a little water, a lot of sunburn, a little sunburn pain, a lot of delicious food, and little vacation weekend that rocked all Memorial day celebrations of yore.
I left for Duck Beach Friday afternoon with dear Jillian and Tali, and we spent the next 5.5 hours listening to whatever Duck Beach Road Trip CD I pulled out of my grab bag/purse (I made 10 CDs, it's basically my music library backup), not sitting in all the traffic everyone promised we'd run into (we passed all we could in the blessed HOV lane, and then didn't really run into any traffic beyond that, which was excellent), and then getting a little rained on (it would seem that Jillian's awesome car leaks a little in violent rainstorms that come out of nowhere and threaten flash flooding - I call it a cute car personality quirk). We dropped Tali off at her house, got to our house at about 11:30pm, sat in a bedroom with some other people staying in the house, met some random people who came to our house thinking there was a party going on (there was not. Far from it, in fact), and then figured out how we were going to get any sleep with 3 of us girls on a king size bed.
After about a total of 3.5 hours of sleep, I woke up with the sun glaring through the curtained windows and decided it seemed like a good time to go the beach. So I ate some breakfast on one of our many balconies, saw who was all staying in our house - though I'm still not sure I saw 34 people through the course of the weekend - and then we trekked down to the beach, about a block away. It was about 9:30am.
At 3:45pm, I left the beach. Yup, I spent the 6 hours between sitting, roaming, and generally enjoying the beach and its friend, the Sun. I watched a volleyball tournament, watched crazy people run into the Atlantic's icy water, sat in my sweet beach chair (which I got at a grocery store on the way on Friday - awesome!), and occasionally read a book I'd brought. It was so pleasant.
Until I realized I was getting quite sunburned. In a really splotchy sort of way. Spray sunscreen is sporadic in its coverage, turns out. That's when I decided the beach was no longer quite so pleasant, and I took my sun-drained, exhausted body home. We went to another group's house for dinner, chatted for a few hours, and then people split for various parties. A new friend of mine, Kaitlyn, and I intended to stop quickly at a party near our house hosted by West Virginia U. peeps, but when we got to our house, we turned up the driveway and thought no more of leaving. Somehow the walking zombie that was my body made it up to the top balcony to look at the stars with 2 girls in the house for a while before going to bed - the sky was within reach, the stars were so close. It was really gorgeous.
Sunday, we went to church, where all the Duck Beachers took over the local congregation's building. They were so sweet to accomodate us, and we shoved into every nook and cranny of that building. It was kind of cool in the craziness of it. Later that afternoon, I was talking to a boy in our house, and he started hinting heavily at walking on the beach for a bit because it was such a beautiful day and it seemed like such a good thing to do when the beach is so close. Finally, I said, "Boy (I called him by name, actually), would you like to go for a quick walk on the beach?" I was feeling the ill effects of a long day in the sun previously, so I couldn't handle too much more. Which was perfect - our walk didn't drag, but it was really great to be out there.
This boy apparently took a liking to me from somewhere near the start. He certainly was attentive to me Saturday afternoon and evening, so it seemed inevitable that he would slip in a request for a beach walk.
To give some details, Boy lives in Minnesota, he's Asian, and he's about 5'7, so I'm not sure why he went for the tall, local girl. Not that location was ever going to be in his favor out here, but you'd think the height thing would stick out enough. Apparently, he likes tall women. Or just extremely cool, beautiful girls, and height is no matter. So I'm still confused about why he decided to go for me. It must be the Wisconsin background - he did mention that Midwestern girls are just the best, and I couldn't argue with that.
At any rate, the walk consisted of various deep, difficult questions that I struggled to answer adequately, followed by vague, throwaway responses to my questions - which was basically how most interactions with him went, so at least I was used to it by then. And then we came home, and I don't think I even really saw him again that night.
I was too busy working on my pool and foosball skills with a few other people.
Can I just say, spending 2 days in the sun, with some serious sunburning, really wipes you out physically? I was exhausted all Sunday and could've gone to bed by about 10pm (it might've also been the 7 hours I'd slept total in the last 2 nights...), but I rallied and made it to about 12:45am - roughly 2 hours before most everyone else in my house. I did find my new favorite tv show that night, though, so I think it was a winner of an evening - My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding. Pure TLC gold, I tell you.
Monday, I was leaving for home again in the early afternoon, so I stayed poolside, close to home. It was fabulous. I think I prefer the pool over the beach, or I at least love having both options. I took my time in the morning, sitting around and chatting, then Boy confessed his sadness in my leaving and asked for my phone number. I should've told him long-distance friendships, et al, aren't my specialty, but I gave him my number anyway - we'll see how this goes. It was interesting talking to him in person, when I could distract the deep conversations with silly, superficial observations of the world around us. The phone will be an entirely new challenge.
It was blessed having a pool and hot tub at the house. I loved soaking my legs in the pool whenever I felt like it, and just generally enjoying the pool's glow in the evenings. I miss it so much.
Anyway, we left around 3ish, made our way home with a little more traffic, though nothing terrible, and I spent the rest of my evening at home wishing I didn't have to come home and go to work the next day, and picking at my newly peeling skin.
And 5 days later, I'm still working on that pesky, leprous skin. So gross...yet so worth it.
All in all, Duck Beach 2011 was a success. And I'm a fan of North Carolina. I could certainly be filthy rich and spend my days lounging in a gigantic house with a pool and beach to choose between each day. I'd feel really good about that, indeed.
My first year at EFY, in Illinois, I had a counselor who was going crazy with excitement about the fireflies dancing around us. I thought it silly-weird that a grown man (21 years grown) would be so giddy about little bugs, though I recognized that they were really cool. Now though, I understand - albeit in a much more muted way - that they're just as fascinating for any adult as they are for children.
Recap: I went to Duck Beach last weekend - did I mention that? Technically, I stayed in Corolla, NC, and I don't even know if the beach we were on ended up being in Duck at all, but for the sake of the event title, it was Duck Beach.
I am now molting, it's a little bit disgusting - my skin is literally falling off me, it's like being a snake, but not so creepy. But it was totally worth it - which I keep telling myself every time I look in the mirror at the girl who's forehead is coming off...
But that's not what you really wanted to hear about, was it? You wanted updates on the romantic trysts, dramas, boys, right?
Well, those stories can best be found here.
But I can tell a little of my time at the beach. I got a lot of sun, a little volleyball, a lot of Mormons, a little water, a lot of sunburn, a little sunburn pain, a lot of delicious food, and little vacation weekend that rocked all Memorial day celebrations of yore.
I left for Duck Beach Friday afternoon with dear Jillian and Tali, and we spent the next 5.5 hours listening to whatever Duck Beach Road Trip CD I pulled out of my grab bag/purse (I made 10 CDs, it's basically my music library backup), not sitting in all the traffic everyone promised we'd run into (we passed all we could in the blessed HOV lane, and then didn't really run into any traffic beyond that, which was excellent), and then getting a little rained on (it would seem that Jillian's awesome car leaks a little in violent rainstorms that come out of nowhere and threaten flash flooding - I call it a cute car personality quirk). We dropped Tali off at her house, got to our house at about 11:30pm, sat in a bedroom with some other people staying in the house, met some random people who came to our house thinking there was a party going on (there was not. Far from it, in fact), and then figured out how we were going to get any sleep with 3 of us girls on a king size bed.
After about a total of 3.5 hours of sleep, I woke up with the sun glaring through the curtained windows and decided it seemed like a good time to go the beach. So I ate some breakfast on one of our many balconies, saw who was all staying in our house - though I'm still not sure I saw 34 people through the course of the weekend - and then we trekked down to the beach, about a block away. It was about 9:30am.
At 3:45pm, I left the beach. Yup, I spent the 6 hours between sitting, roaming, and generally enjoying the beach and its friend, the Sun. I watched a volleyball tournament, watched crazy people run into the Atlantic's icy water, sat in my sweet beach chair (which I got at a grocery store on the way on Friday - awesome!), and occasionally read a book I'd brought. It was so pleasant.
Until I realized I was getting quite sunburned. In a really splotchy sort of way. Spray sunscreen is sporadic in its coverage, turns out. That's when I decided the beach was no longer quite so pleasant, and I took my sun-drained, exhausted body home. We went to another group's house for dinner, chatted for a few hours, and then people split for various parties. A new friend of mine, Kaitlyn, and I intended to stop quickly at a party near our house hosted by West Virginia U. peeps, but when we got to our house, we turned up the driveway and thought no more of leaving. Somehow the walking zombie that was my body made it up to the top balcony to look at the stars with 2 girls in the house for a while before going to bed - the sky was within reach, the stars were so close. It was really gorgeous.
Sunday, we went to church, where all the Duck Beachers took over the local congregation's building. They were so sweet to accomodate us, and we shoved into every nook and cranny of that building. It was kind of cool in the craziness of it. Later that afternoon, I was talking to a boy in our house, and he started hinting heavily at walking on the beach for a bit because it was such a beautiful day and it seemed like such a good thing to do when the beach is so close. Finally, I said, "Boy (I called him by name, actually), would you like to go for a quick walk on the beach?" I was feeling the ill effects of a long day in the sun previously, so I couldn't handle too much more. Which was perfect - our walk didn't drag, but it was really great to be out there.
This boy apparently took a liking to me from somewhere near the start. He certainly was attentive to me Saturday afternoon and evening, so it seemed inevitable that he would slip in a request for a beach walk.
To give some details, Boy lives in Minnesota, he's Asian, and he's about 5'7, so I'm not sure why he went for the tall, local girl. Not that location was ever going to be in his favor out here, but you'd think the height thing would stick out enough. Apparently, he likes tall women. Or just extremely cool, beautiful girls, and height is no matter. So I'm still confused about why he decided to go for me. It must be the Wisconsin background - he did mention that Midwestern girls are just the best, and I couldn't argue with that.
At any rate, the walk consisted of various deep, difficult questions that I struggled to answer adequately, followed by vague, throwaway responses to my questions - which was basically how most interactions with him went, so at least I was used to it by then. And then we came home, and I don't think I even really saw him again that night.
I was too busy working on my pool and foosball skills with a few other people.
Can I just say, spending 2 days in the sun, with some serious sunburning, really wipes you out physically? I was exhausted all Sunday and could've gone to bed by about 10pm (it might've also been the 7 hours I'd slept total in the last 2 nights...), but I rallied and made it to about 12:45am - roughly 2 hours before most everyone else in my house. I did find my new favorite tv show that night, though, so I think it was a winner of an evening - My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding. Pure TLC gold, I tell you.
Monday, I was leaving for home again in the early afternoon, so I stayed poolside, close to home. It was fabulous. I think I prefer the pool over the beach, or I at least love having both options. I took my time in the morning, sitting around and chatting, then Boy confessed his sadness in my leaving and asked for my phone number. I should've told him long-distance friendships, et al, aren't my specialty, but I gave him my number anyway - we'll see how this goes. It was interesting talking to him in person, when I could distract the deep conversations with silly, superficial observations of the world around us. The phone will be an entirely new challenge.
It was blessed having a pool and hot tub at the house. I loved soaking my legs in the pool whenever I felt like it, and just generally enjoying the pool's glow in the evenings. I miss it so much.
Anyway, we left around 3ish, made our way home with a little more traffic, though nothing terrible, and I spent the rest of my evening at home wishing I didn't have to come home and go to work the next day, and picking at my newly peeling skin.
And 5 days later, I'm still working on that pesky, leprous skin. So gross...yet so worth it.
All in all, Duck Beach 2011 was a success. And I'm a fan of North Carolina. I could certainly be filthy rich and spend my days lounging in a gigantic house with a pool and beach to choose between each day. I'd feel really good about that, indeed.
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