a minnesota winter

"what do you do up there?"

said the man on the plane.  the man who told me about his nanny and his housekeeper.  the man from chicago.

once, i cross country skied; once, i ice fished; once, i went for a wild atv ride.  i rode on a train, had ok sushi, a couple of great steaks.  i shopped, because i needed hiking shoes, new carhartt bibs, a lot of wool socks, and some mukluks.  i spent a lot of time with my parents, possibly even more with my husband's parents.  i saw my grandmother almost regularly.  i got too drunk at my book club meetings, went to an orchestral duo (trio less the snowed out cellist?), a laser light play, a folk concert, an indoor water park, the north shore.  my kids had gymnastics and swimming classes, skating and violin lessons, too many birthday parties.  i did a painfully small amount of yoga.  i spent too many late nites chatting with my girlfriends in restaurants and at a couple of winter bonfires.  i drove heavy equipment, snowshoed, learned and researched (stuff).

i did everyday kind of things:  read books, helped with homework, attended dentist and doctor appointments, grocery shopped, ran on a treadmill, tried to make occasional meals, car pooled, dated my husband, made desperate attempts to keep up with the laundry.

"i don't know."  i said.  "not much."

Terrible Hobbies

Did you know:

The funnest thing I do in my life is check people's court records (only in MN, and I'm so, so sorry if you have one, because I know about it). I just think of random people and plug that in and hope for something good. I don't care about your traffic violations, really, I don't, but I can't help but feel like I scratched a winning ticket when I see something like "Domestic Assault-by strangulation" WTF?!?!?

If you would like to participate in such an activity, click here.

Consider that a little gift from me to you.

What's With Today, Today?

This looks like another angry blog title. It's not, I assure you. I am merely quoting the one and only Empire Records. One of the greatest movies ever. Kind of like Dazed and Confused. They're the best. If you were in your early teens in the mid-90s.

I love nostalgia. My favorite movies are those which usually sucked but that now have the romance of being inextricably entwined with my youth. Said romance has been carefully created by my subconscious. My id thoughtfully edits out any untoward events, thoughts, and moments that my super-ego may not have been so kind about, leaving behind a glowing warmth that emanates from old-school entertainments. That is what makes my childhood favorites the BEST in the world. Yours, too, I'll bet.

Now, without further ado*, these are my top 10 favorite 90's songs (today):

1. Must Have Been Love-Roxette (90)

2. Ghetto Cowboy-Mo Thugs (98)

3. Look Into My Eyes-Firehouse (92)

4. Wind of Change-Scorpions (90)

5. Because of Love-Janet Jackson (93)

6. All I Wanna Do-Sheryl Crow (93)

7. Nobody-Keith Sweat (96)

8. Ready or Not-The Fugees (96)

9. To Be With You-Mr. Big (92)

10. Life is a Highway-Tom Cochrane (92)

Please share any life changing (or id-edited) favorites that you hold dear.

*I think this is the only appropriate use of this phrase in the history of time, since I believe it to mean: "enough of all this bullsh*t" or "blah, blah, blah." And I'm pretty sure I'm right. On both accounts.

Welcome, Twenty Eleven

Happy New Year, World! 1-1-11 is pretty much a total reset. We'll all be nicer, smarter, thinner, richer. I invite you to share my delusions and offer your own. I intend to be: smoke-free, better organized, frugal, cognizant of what I put in my body, kind, less obnoxious, more ambitious.

I kid, but I will not degrade making the resolutions that mark the start of the New Year. I encourage that you all make as many as possible. The potential gain of a resolution kept makes up for the millions of resolutions inevitably lost...

With that said, I hope you all are successful in your pursuits of the ultimate you and that you remember to date your checks correctly sometime before the start of February.

Sending you the manic love that I feel for 2011,

KmR

Thankful

You know what I'm thankful for? I can't believe how many smart, funny, and talented people are in my life. I have been preposterously blessed to know so many artisans, artists and intellectuals...I am a home grown small town kinda girl and it blows my mind that I was able to meet you folks and hold you dear. I am not worthy.

E*'s STUNNING book about my brother in law reminded me of this today. I thought about his experiences and her skill in showcasing them, which made me think about the good fortune I have in knowing both of them.

I thought about people I know that have excellent writing and musical abilities, ones with bananas decorating prowess, ones that paint freakishly well, ones that should have their food featured in Bon Appetit, ones that have slick business skills and savvy that belies their years and experience (I am leaving attributes out, I know I am, because it would be impossible not to. I won't list any more names, because leaving out a set of initials and a talent would be sacrilege).

I am so lucky to be able to hear all of your travel, work, family, life stories first hand and absorb what you have gained and lost through them.

Thanks for doing all the stuff you do, going all the places you go, and sharing what you share. My mind and heart are full because of it.

p.s.

Even when you're stark raving mad, any and all of you, doing the most crazy ass, stupid sh*t...it's pretty interesting. Thanks for making the world fascinating. You inspire me.

Is This a New Post? Seriously?

Wow, I suck @ blogging. I'm renaming my blog "Suck @ Blogging," actually. And why am I presently writing? Well, because I have a LOT of other things to do, obviously! That's how I roll. I just make up additional tasks to avoid the current ones.

So...today I'll be talking about me, as usual, and these are the things that I am thinking of directly from the top of my head:

1. I've decided that I need to retire by about 50 or 55. The thing is, I need to have a second career. I figure if I have about 20 years to do that before my mind really hits the skids, I should be ok. I think my second career is writing, but I might be a liason for contractors and builders or own a shop. Isn't it terrible that I'm plotting a second career when the first one hasn't even gotten off of the ground yet?

2. I discovered yoga. Isn't it annoying when people find out about something that you've known about FOREVER and then they act like it's a new thing? This is what I am doing. Since I have now taken four weeks of kettlebells and kundalini, I pretty much invented them. And this stuff is better than the wheel. Should you like to join me when you are in town, see The Center.

3. I'm moving to the UK. I don't know when. Probably never. I've gone and hampered myself with children and a husband, so the timeline on this is highly questionable. The following are the reasons that my mind is moving to England: Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Chaucer, a monarchy, Kate Middleton, Harry Potter, Tudor style, X factor, Cher Lloyd and Cheryl Cole, Top Shop, All Saints, the British pound, stupid phrasing like calling things "blooming" or "bloody" or "brilliant," and WAGs. Plus, in Britain, I would have an accent.

4. On NYE this year, TJ and I will be attending Cirque de la Symphonie. I think this is hilarious. He does not. I'm an old bag, though, and I'd rather watch grown up Ice Capades* than go to a raging bash. I'm searching for meaning in this.

5. That's it. People keep calling me and interrupting my flow. I hope you all have a good day. Should anyone ever read this, feel free to post any random thoughts about yourselves that you'd like to since I've wasted so much of your time in this fashion.

*editing credit: Leeanne P.-S.

Bucket List, Phase 1

I am a bucket list kind of girl. The following items need to be finished up before my 40th birthday. A very few have been completed (you will see the date/place next to the item). I'd best get to it.

1. knit something
2. go to Egypt
3. get a BS
4. get a Master’s
5. take an art history class
6. be licensed for Real Estate
7. sew on a button
8. parasail
9. zipline
10. drive a boat
11. whale watch
12. deep sea fish
13. Morocco!
14. read 100 classics
15. be married!
16. go to an NFL game (Vikings! 1/4/10)
17. go to an opera in Prague
18. baseball game @ Wrigley field (...no game: tour Oct 2010...)
19. take my kids on a trip
20. go tropical with my husband
21. have house at least 2/3 pd off
22. stop chewing gum (i think i can check this...MAR 2012)
23. get a promotion (or 5)
24. run 5 miles
25. go to salem (Oct 2010)
26. go to England
27. go on safari
28. go see E & E! wherever they be (SWITZERLAND 2010)
29. learn how to garden
30. write a letter and mail it
31. write a song
32. publish a letter to the editor
33. ride in a hot air balloon (Cappadocia, Turkey 2011)
34. inca trail
35. white water raft
36. go to Antarctica
37. ride in a helicopter
38. bake a pie
39. ride a camel (DUBAI 2009)
40. volunteer (2009, 2010, more to come...)
41. learn a 2nd language
42. do jury duty!
43. write my will
44. stop sharing too much
45. stop sharing other ppl’s stuff too much
46. take yoga class (NOV 2010)
47. ride a bike again
48. start a business
49. have board game nite regularly with my kids
50. have a spa sleepover with my kids
51. swim with penguins @ the Galapagos islands
52. haggle (1/10/11 NYC)
53. go to a high school reunion (July 2011)
54. be free of credit debt
55. pay off student loans
56. quit smoking (attempt #50..1/1/11...)
57. learn to belly dance
58. try to surf hahahahaaha
59. figure out my beliefs
60. see the rainforest
61. see the desert (DUBAI 2009)
62. see the taj mahal
63. skip down the great wall of china
64. see Pompeii
65. learn how to back comb
66. spend a whole day at the Louvre
67. eat caviar
68. eat an oyster
69. eat healthier
70. see a broadway play
71. picnic in central park
72. own the alma
73. cruise the nile
74. go to a hindu temple
75. attend synagogue
76. visit a mosque (DUBAI 2009)
77. tour eastern and central Europe
78. fly business class overseas (DUBAI 2009)
79. learn how to order sushi (ATL 2010)
80. take a cooking class
81. camp with my family
82. have 8 mos. expenses in acct
83. save index funds/CDs for my kids
84. make sure my babies understand value
85. sleep in a castle
86. have fiscally responsible children
87. go sailing
88. go lobstering
89. go to Disneyworld!
90. walk on a glacier
91. dogsled
92. use my mixer (all year, and it was amazing!! 2011)
93. make one good dish my family loves
94. send tj to the Stanley cup
95. trek Nepal
96. learn the basics of Wicca
97. figure out what Mormons believe
98. get reflexology
99. get acupuncture
100. do a cleanse
101. learn how to make potica
102. have a meaningful conversation with my grama
103. celebrate my 30th birthday someplace amazing!!
104. go to an ashram in India
105. run a ½ marathon
106. be enlightened
107. see SNL tape
108. go to a game @ Target Field
109. watch Kasey Jo graduate
110. go to Ireland with my husband

Do you have a bucket list? What's on it? Any tips on fulfilling this stuff?