Ahhhh Spring

I love this time of year. You are sooooo tired of the cold weather. One nice day comes along and you start to think that winter will be over soon. It gives you hope. I was walking the dog yesterday. It was still light out. The sun was shining. AND I was only wearing a sweatshirt! Sometimes, it doesn't take much to make me happy. I had to pause, raise my face to the sun and smile.

As much as I hate winter in Milwaukee, I LOVE summer. And this year I won't be stuck inside working on house renovations. Happy day!

It's been another busy week so no time for a real post. I'll try to find some time this weekend to tell you all about my adventures with some new Irish friends.

Who's having the best week?

Well, it's not me. My friends are a whole other story. Al closed on her new house that she recently bought with her boyfriend. As the new owners walked into the house, he proposed! He actually put the ring on the keyring but Al didn't notice as she unlocked the front door. She finally spotted it when he dangled the keyring in front of her face.

Another big winner this week is Firecracker. She won 2 round-trip tickets to Ireland! From a person who has only won a free Pepsi with my next purchase, I think that's AWESOME! I need to convince her to travel around the same time we are in Ireland so we can meet up and party it up in Dublin or somewhere.

Speaking of Ireland, I'm taking up a new activity - scuba diving. I've always wanted to do it but haven't had an opportunity to go anywhere with good diving spots. There's definitely nothing around here worth diving for. Recently, a friend decided to try diving and asked if I wanted to do it with her. That was the only reason I needed. I asked B if he wanted to do it with me but he is not a big fan of water when it comes to swimming in it. Drinking it is acceptable. I was resigned to completing my certification in some local strip mine lake or (*UGH*) Lake Michigan.

While I was looking for places to stay in Ireland, I clicked on a link for local activities. Low and behold, there is a big scuba diving place near Galway! It may be a bit cold, but MUCH more interesting that murky Lake Michigan. I've even convinced B (reluctantly) to get certified with me. I never would have thought of scuba diving in Ireland but I'm up for the adventure. Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!

Happy St Paddy's Day

The one day a year that every person (at least in the US) wants to be Irish. As a person with some Irish heritage, I have the right to poke fun at those that don't. I think it's funny that this day has turned into an excuse to drink heavily and wear green. Especially since St Patrick, being tagged as the guy who brough Christianity to Ireland, would probably frown on heavy drinking. These thoughts made me curious. Why do we celebrate St Pat's the way we do? Since I thought the story was interesting, I'm going to share it with you.

Turns out, it all started with a parade. The Irish have been remembering the day of St Patrick's death (March 17) for thousands of years as a religious occasion. Some Irish guys in New York City serving in the British military (probably against their will) decided to parade through NYC on March 17, 1762 to celebrate their Irish roots. This event grew in popularity over the years as the Irish-American population grew.

Here is the kicker: Up until the 1970's, all the pubs in Ireland were required by law to be closed because it's a religious holiday! In 1995, the Irish government realized that money could be had if they started a St Patrick's Day Festival in Dublin. It is estimated that almost 1 million people celebrated St Pat's Day in Dublin last year.

One more tid bit for you Catholics recognizing Lent. The rules against eating meat were waived so that people could dance, drink, and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

To everyone, have fun today celebrating how great Irish people are!

He Loves Me

This weekend Firecracker, Auzzie and I spent a fun girls weekend in Chicago. Auzzie has developed a liking for hockey and we feel that it is our duty to educate others about how great the game is. We decided to introduce her to NHL hockey with a game between the Blackhawks and my favorite team, Detroit Red Wings.

The plan was to come down on Saturday, do a little shopping and girly stuff, then have dinner and hit the bars. Not too long after I had arrived, I discovered that I had left my driver's license on the kitchen table. DOH! Yes, I know. Very stupid of me. As many of you know, getting into bars in Chicago requires ID no matter how old you are. We started thinking about options for the evening and it was a bit depressing.

We jokingly thought about calling B and asking him to meet me half-way between MKE and Chicago with my license. I decided to give this idea a try so I called B. Turns out he was at a friend's house about a half hour from home and it didn't make sense for me to ask him. Instead, I asked that he check the kitchen table when he got home to make sure it was indeed there (and not lost).

In the meantime, Firecracker gets a call from her friend CG informing us that she was at Murphys (by Wrigley Field) chatting with a fun bunch of hockey players that were in town for a tournament AND to get our butts down there as soon as possible. After hearing about my ID dilemma, CG confirmed with the bouncer that I would be able to get in with no problems.

About an hour or two later, I get a call from B. He (and the dog) is just north of Chicago with my license and wants to know where I am so he can meet up with me. WHAT?!? He had to go home to feed the dog and didn't really have plans for the evening so decided to bring my license to me!!! I was extremely surprised to put it mildly. He didn't call until he was almost to Chicago because he knew I would tell him to not bother (which I would have).

I would have liked to meet him half-way but we had taken a cab to Murphys and by the time I would have gotten back to my car, he would already be here. So, I gave him directions to Murphys which is easy to find and told him that he should stop in for a beer while he was here. A while later he pulls up and I run out to try to convince him to park in the lot across the street and come in for a beer. No dice. He doesn't want to leave the dog in the car and it has started raining so he wants to head home before the weather gets bad. Plus, he doesn't want to interrupt girls night out.

What a guy. If that is not an unselfish demonstration that he loves me, I don't know what is. I am still trying to figure out something really nice that I can do for him in return.

Dilemma

Made it to Hip Hop last night (barely) and met up with Auzzie's friend, Blondie. As usual, dance class was a bit challenging for this white girl. It lasts an hour and a half and my tired brain is only able to absorb new dance instructions for the first hour and 15 minutes. The last 15 are a wash.

This was Blondie's first time at Hip Hop. In general, she seemed to do pretty well (bitch!). She mentioned that she was a former cheerleader and the moves were a bit more funky that she was used to. Cheerleader??? As Firecracker can attest to, the cheerleaders in my high school were big time losers and a regular source of hilarity and scorn for the rest of the school. Add to that the stereotypes of the typical cheerleader and you may realize why I would consider this new element to Blondie a strike against her. It also explained why she picked up the dance steps quickly (another strike against her just because I'm jealous!).

I still can't decide if I want to invite her to the cooking class. I know she likes to cook but the event involves spending 2 hours in the car (1 hour drive to Madison). That's a big committment for someone I don't know very well! What if I end up stuck listening to..."this one time, at cheerleading camp..."??? I know I'm delaying making a decision because B will go to the cooking class (even though making hors d'oeurves isn't his thing) with me if I ask.

Maybe I should ask her if she's heard of the show, Square Pegs? LOL!

Out and about

Friday night B and I went to dinner with some friends. The other couple is someone we always talk about doing something with but never get around to making plans. We finally did. Dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants. Our friends live pretty far west and very rarely come into Milwaukee anymore so this was our chance to share one of our Milwaukee gems with them.

It was a great night and we all agreed we need to do it again soon. By 9pm, I was ready to head home. It's always hard for me to party on Friday nights especially after a long work week. Next time, we'll have to find a better night so that the meal doesn't end with all of us yawning.

Saturday we spent most of the day shopping. I really need some new shoes and I want some new clothes to spruce up my wardrobe. Instead, we found a bunch of stuff for B. Isn't that typical? Whenever you are looking for something, you can't find it. When you shop with someone else who is on a mission or you are just window shopping and don't want to buy anything, you find all sorts of stuff. Why is that???

Sunday was Oscar night. Normally, I would flip back and forth to the Oscars or not even watch it at all. I'm more interested in watching the fashions in the pre-show. This year, I was invited to a girly Oscar party that included fondue and pedicures. The hostess is Auzzie's neighbor who I've met a few times. The party was going to be a bunch of women I didn't know and I thought this might be a good opportunity to meet some new people. The night didn't quite live up to my expectations.

It was a situation where most of the people there knew each other except me. I did know Auzzie but she was busy most of the night working on a presentation for today. Since I didn't know Neighbor very well, I felt weird and uncomfortable in her house. At many parties, I end up in the kitchen helping out. This time, there were so many people in the kitchen, I just felt in the way. That changed a bit as the night continued. Most of the girls were big movie watchers and were getting into who was winning what. Me, I'd rather wait for movies to come out on DVD. I didn't mind missing some of the awards.

In the end, it was an ok night but I just didn't click with any of the other women. I thought most of them were around my age (30ish) but one comment made me wonder. We were talking about Sarah Jessica Parker and how she started her career. I said she started out in TV - remember Square Pegs??? This was one of my favorite shows as a kid (I even remember the theme song). NO ONE ELSE IN THE ROOM HAD EVER HEARD OF IT! Fellow bloggers, please say you remember or have at least heard of this TV show from the early 80s. Am I the only geek out there?

I'm taking another shot at making new friends on Tuesday. A new person who I've met a few times is coming to Hip Hop. If that turns out well, I'm going to see if she wants to go to this cooking class thing in April. I'm also starting Ice Skating lessons on Wednesday. I know the basics on skating but have never had a lesson. Hopefully I don't break anything!

The good, the bad, the sick

I've been brought down low by the stomach flu. Being sick sucks. I felt bad enough yesterday that I would have rather gone to work than be sick (and that says a lot!). I feel much better today but still having some residual effects so decided to stay home again today. On the up side, I hopped on the scale this morning and discovered there are some benefits to having the flu. Let's see if I can maintain this weight once my desire for food returns.

And for those of you who might be wondering, NO I'm not pregnant. This flu bug has been going around the office and decided to latch on to me. B was even having some stomach issues this morning so I may have unfortunately passed it on to him.