My vote goes to the candidate who supports 3 day weekends!

Honestly, I might be able to put politics aside to vote for someone who pledged to implement mandatory, permanent 3 day weekends. Two days just aren't enough to get everything done, have fun, and rest. Hell, three might not even be enough. Let's go for four! Okay, okay, I'll settle for three. We do need some form of an economy in America after all...

This weekend was once again filled with activities. On Friday night, B and I went to the Twins game for the second time in one week. This time, we didn't bring good luck, and the Royals smoked the Twins 7 to 1 or something close to that. Ouch. Liriano looked awful, which might not bode well for the playoffs. I mean post season. Sorry B. Regardless, I still believe they can make it - Go Twins! Also, go Tigers, beat White Sox! Woo hoo!

On Saturday, B and I lazed around my place a bit and then ran a few errands. Later on, we got dressed up for our evening activities: dinner at Bellanotte and then Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco! It was a great date - great food and a great show. I had never seen any Cirque show, and B had always wanted to go, so I ordered tickets long ago. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but it was truly quite amazing. The performers did things that simply seem impossible: trapeze artists flying through the air and catching each other by their ankles with no nets below, climbing poles and hanging off them by their feet, crazy tricks on a bicycle, a man balancing in the air by holding onto another guy's head, and flying through the air over stacked people off of a swing amongst other things. Simply amazing. The performers have to be both incredibly strong and totally graceful all at once - not an easy combination to master! If you have a chance, I highly recommend checking out any Cirque show. Definitely better than any circus I've ever seen! :)

I slept in late on Sunday, and that was really nice. Definitely needed I guess. Finally finished the antibiotics for the sinus infection, and I swear it's still lingering. Maybe it's allergies. Anyway, after I woke up, I headed out to Chaska to visit my parents and especially my mom, who had her surgery on Wednesday. She seems to be in great shape, compared to her knee surgery anyway. Her pain seems manageable, and she's in good spirits. This is quite the relief, considering how awful things went after the knee replacement. Please continue to send good thoughts her way as she recovers!

While in Chaska, Dad and I stopped over at the church festival in town (for the parish I grew up in - my parents still belong). Immediately upon arrival, I ran into a grade school classmate. It's definitely a small world - great to see her. We also saw a bunch of other familiar faces, and I enjoyed a greasy homemade cheeseburger. Awesome. It's crazy how things change but stay the same all at once.

After the festival and a bit more time at my parents', I stopped at Target for groceries and a few other necessaries and then headed to B's. Once there, I made dinner, did some laundry, and did the dishes. Now it's already quite late, and I feel like I need an extra day. Thus the title for today's post. Two days simply aren't enough. I think we should all revolt and demand more leisure time. Together, we can do it! Ha. A girl can dream...from her office on Monday morning! :)

PS: An early Shana Tova to B and all my Jewish friends!

Family news

In fun news, Samantha was home this weekend, and I got to see her and Travis at my parents' house on Sunday. They brought over Famous Dave's, and we all had a nice meal together. B brought Matty along too, and she managed to find her buried pig's ear in the yard; I guess she might not be kosher after all (though I don't think she ate it).

I'm still quite sad that Samantha and Trav moved (well, Trav leaves in mid-October), but I understand why they did. Still a bummer for me though. In good news, B and I are going out to visit them over New Year's Eve. I've never been to Seattle, and I will want to see S and T, so I'm really looking forward to the trip. We managed to find decently priced airline tickets too, which isn't easy these days. Yay!

In other good news, which is actually related to their move - I get their living room couch and love seat! This is fantastic, as my couch is falling apart rapidly. Also, getting up from the middle is quite the challenge; let's just say it can definitely be considered an "opportunity couch." It's been a great couch, especially for the cost, but it's time for something new. I just need to set up movers and find a new home for the old stuff. Yay! Thanks, S and T!

In bad news, my mom is having surgery on her heel this Wednesday. If I understand correctly, they need to remove extra bone growth and repair the tendon. It sounds painful to me, and I expect her recovery will be awful. The fibromyalgia and her knee replacements tend to exacerbate and complicate all major medical procedures, which totally sucks for her. Basically, if my recovery time would be 2 weeks, hers will be at least 4. Yikes. Please send positive thoughts her way this week and in the near future, as she can use all of them now. Thanks!

On a positive note re: the surgery, Manda and Blair are coming home this weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing them. I don't think I've seen Manda since our trip! Crazy! I have a crazy weekend (Friday - Twins game, Saturday - Cirque du Soleil), but I definitely think we can squeeze in some quality time.

That's all for now - I've written an entire book of posts today, and the crazy thing is that I keep thinking of more to write about. Instead of continuing, I must go to bed so I can function at work tomorrow. After all, I'm pretty sure they aren't paying me to nap at my desk...

Wii Fun

Karen and Paige came over on Friday night to have tacos and play Wii with me and Beth. I've recently discovered a new drink (malibu and coke) and K and P brought Sangria, so we all had a good time (really, I think I had a maximum of 3-4 drinks, so I wasn't even really buzzed).

We ate a ton of good food, and then we attempted to play Carnival games on the Wii. Attempted really is the key word, as we sort of sucked at it. Most of the time, our scores ranged from 1-3 (which is really low). Regardless, we had a good time, and it was nice to see them. Plus, it reminded me that I need to play Wii more often - I still love it! I need to master MLB, but it seems really difficult. Maybe when it snows!

I need to revisit Guitar Hero as well, as I heard that the firm had a GH party in the recent past and is considering another one in the future. Awesome! Gotta get practicing! :)

Sunday night fiestas suck

B lives in a diverse neighborhood which includes people from all over the world. Her neighbors two houses to the north must be Latino or Mexican, as they play Spanish music quite loudly every Sunday night (and sometimes Saturdays too). We've come to expect the tunes on Sunday nights, and normally it's not that big of a deal, as they end by 10 or 11. A slight annoyance, but really, nothing to write home about. We jokingly call the weekly event the fiesta, and we chuckle about it every week.

However, last night was another story. For some reason, the music was louder than ever - I swear they have a sound system with actual loud speakers in the yard, and the music was still going strong at 12:30 am. It was so loud that I could hear the words, and at one point, I told B that I had already heard one of the songs. I could actually make them out at this point, and my earplugs didn't really help. Beth's landlord Gordie had already yelled out the window to turn the music down, but to no avail. We looked up the non-emergency police number and placed a call. They said that someone else had already called and that the police would come check it out. 20+ minutes later, no police and blaring music. We weren't sure what to do at this point.

Suddenly, we heard Gordie get up upstairs, and then we heard him coming down the stairs. He decided to take matters into his own hands, and went down the block. I thought he was brave for doing this, as you never know how people will react to such a confrontation. I guess it helps that he brought his big, scary looking dog along. The music stopped abruptly, and we were quite relieved. Finally, we could sleep. Alas, about five minutes later, the music started up again, and within a matter of minutes, it was as loud as before.

We decided to call the police again at this point, and they said that the previous caller had canceled their complaint because it was quiet. B assured them that it had only been quiet for 5 minutes, and they again told us they were on their way. Perhaps another 5-10 minutes passed, and nothing changed. Finally, the music ended suddenly again. We are not sure if the cops finally showed up or if another neighbor went over, but we didn't care - we were exhausted by this point. In fact, poor B wound up being sick today because of the lack of sleep. Idiotic neighbors.

Honestly, I normally am not one to call the cops or get involved in conflicts with neighbors (or anyone for that matter), but this whole situation was just obnoxious. WTF were these people thinking? It was 1:00 in the morning on a Monday! I don't get why people don't consider other people when they act, but most people just don't. Ick. As I was lying in bed, unable to sleep, I composed a strongly worded letter to these people...then I realized that it wouldn't really matter. I can't imagine they would change, and who knows if they would then harass B, etc. It sure would have felt good to write and deliver it though.

On another note, WTF is up with Minneapolis cops? I know they are notorious for having a super slow response rate, and I know that a noise complaint isn't a high priority in a decent sized city, but at the same time, it's definitely a quality of life issue. I don't think it's too much to ask for the police to respond to a call within an hour. Perhaps I'm naive, but that just seems ridiculous. I've called the Saint Paul police and the Fridley police once respectively, and both departments showed up much more quickly - and neither was for a huge emergency. Either the Mpls PD doesn't care, or it doesn't have the resources required to patrol properly. I'm guessing (hoping) it's the latter, and that is truly sad. I guess it's just another reason to stay on the east side of the river - I heart Saint Paul! :)

LRT adventures

I take the light rail train to work everyday. In fact, the only time I've ever driven to the firm was for my callback interview. I took the train every single day during the summer of 2007, and I've taken it everyday so far this month. It's sort of a point of personal pride now - not only does driving downtown seem like it sucks, but I feel like I'm doing a good thing by keeping my car off the road. I can't explain it really; it just makes me feel good to utilize mass transit.

However, not everything about it is sunshine and happiness. An example: the other day, it was quite hot, and the train was quite full. As more and more people boarded and several had to hold the overhead hand rings, I experienced a disgusting odor as it grew and wafted through the train - body odor. Yuck. It certainly wasn't as bad as the subway/trains in Europe (yikes), but it wasn't good either. People - daily showers are important, and so is deodorant. Just do it! If not for you, then think about your fellow riders (and everyone else you come in contact with). Or, to paraphrase a hokey commercial from my childhood, don't raise your hand unless you're sure!

Stay tuned for more reports on my LRT adventures, as I'm sure there will be more. :)

Go Twins!

The Twins are fighting for the American League Central Championship, and the next three games against the Chicago White Sox are crucial. To control their own destiny, they really need to sweep the Sox. A tall challenge, but I think they can do it if the pitching staff gets its act together. The bullpen has been brutal to watch (well, the starters haven't been too swell either), and they can't afford any more performances like that.

In exciting news, B and I are going to two more games: one on Wednesday night when they play the Sox and then one on Friday night when they play the KC Royals. I hope the game against KC matters, but that all depends on the Sox series. My point: GO TWINS! Time to pull out the homer hankies!

Busy busy-ness

So somehow it seems that most of my days are filled with not only work, but tons of other things too. Weddings, birthdays, family stuff, baseball games, cirque du soleil (sp?), friends, etc. Now, I'm not really complaining, as I love my life, but it sure would be nice to just have a few days (weeks?) to sit still (if I could figure out how to do that). I'm really glad I traveled for most of August (wouldn't trade those experiences for anything), but I probably could have used a little more rest too. I have close friends that I haven't seen in forever, and I'm having to schedule dinner with them really far out in advance at this point. I haven't even met Kelly and Amy's baby yet! Yikes. I'm not sure why I thought things would be better after I finished law school...guess I was wrong! Being busy is really not a bad thing, it's just sort of crazy. Ultimately, I feel blessed to have a great family and so many good friends and to be included in different events and activities. So, no complaints, even if I fall asleep randomly...zzz zzz zzz. :)

PLOG update - September

Since I've returned from all my travels and started my job, Tony's pooping problem has improved, but he hasn't completely given it up either. I now keep a tarp on my bed when I'm not home (I need to keep the door open so both cats can use the litter box in my bathroom), and Carolyn closes her door when she is gone. Thus, the pooping on the beds has ended. However, every once in a while, when I'm gone for a day or two (at B's overnight or at a camping wedding with bats), he will poop on the hallway rug. To me, this really isn't a big deal at all, as the rug is easily washed. Carolyn might be becoming slightly annoyed, as she often has to deal with it, but overall she seems okay.

In good news, his anti-anxiety medicine finally came in at the vet, and I finally had a chance to go pick it up. We started treatment yesterday, and I really have no idea if it's working yet, in regards to pooping anyway. I do know that he's lying next to me while I'm writing this and he seems quite groggy. Poor guy. If he would just stop pooping all over the house he could avoid being drugged...Carolyn just asked me if I thought he would get fatter from lying around drugged. Yikes, another thing to worry about! I hope that doesn't happen. Regardless, I have to give this a shot because we don't know what else to do. I love Tony, and I want to keep him, so I really need this to work.

Stay tuned for future updates, hopefully positive!

PS - he's not drugged in these pics - just sleepy. :)

Another Wedding!

B and I went to my friend Anna's wedding on Saturday, September 13. The wedding was supposed to be outdoors at a country club/golf course in Cottage Grove, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead, it was held indoors and still turned out very nicely. Plus, the weather cleared up enough for Todd's big surprise for Anna - fireworks! They were actually real fireworks - neat! To make the night even better, several law school friends were also there, and it was great to see them. Life since law school has blown by, and I think it's important to remain in contact with people. So, it was nice - all in all a very nice wedding!

Just call me Snooker

Why Snooker you ask? Well, that would be my name if Sarah Palin was my mother. Actually, my full name would be Snooker Hinge Palin. If I just put in Lisa Marie and not Lisa Marie Schmid, my name becomes Pump Bust. Awesome. A tiny part of me feels bad for making fun of Palin personally, but then I remember that she constantly lies and attacks Obama non-stop, also with lies. Then I don't feel as bad, and I just giggle a bit. If you want to find out your Palin name, click here.

In other Sarah Palin related news, someone sent me an article that truly frightened me. I'm guessing that the author is extremely liberal, but if even half of the stuff in it is true, she is absolutely a horrifying choice to potentially lead our nation. Check out that article here.

One more silly thing re: Sarah Palin: I actually received a letter from the lovely Governor Palin. I guess we are BFFs now. In reality, the letter just urged me to visit Alaska if I hadn't already. Before my trip, I requested a visitor's guide from the state and I guess my name was added to some sort of database. Whatever the reason, I now have a letter from Sarah sitting on the ledge. Awesome!

Finally, and in all seriousness, McCain's selection of Sarah Palin changed the presidential election. She appeals to the voters Obama struggles to attract, and John McCain now has a decent chance of winning come November. Just as its true with GWB, most Americans don't seem to mind the lies, deceit, and lack of experience because Sarah presents as an "average joe." In reality, and also just like GWB, this couldn't be further from the truth. Regardless, it's clear that she has changed the race, and Obama needs help.

Most people know I strongly supported Hilary Clinton in the primary, but I'm now asking you to join me in supporting Obama with your time, your advocacy, or your money. As dramatic as this sounds, the future of our nation really is at stake. America cannot handle another 4 or 8 years of Bush/McCain policy. It's up to us to make a difference, and Obama needs all the help he can get. Click here to donate, find ways to volunteer, or to find information on voter registration. Speaking of voter registration, and it's quite possibly more important than time and money, the registration deadlines are rapidly approaching in many states (not Minnesota; we can register the same day). So, if you haven't already, get out and register ASAP. Obama needs you on election day! Together we can ensure that Sarah returns to Alaska, where she belongs.

Wilderness Wedding

This past weekend, B and I went to my friend Melissa's (aka Grover) wedding. I've known Grover since middle school, and she's always been extremely active and outdoorsy. So, when I received the invite, I shouldn't have been surprised to find out it was a camping wedding, meaning that people were going to St. Croix State Park for an entire weekend to camp and celebrate her wedding. I didn't think much about it when I RSVPed for me and Beth. However, as the day actually approached, B had many questions, and so did I. Dress code? What kind of cabin are we staying in? Does it have heat? Will we have to share with others? On and on. So, after a semi-panicked call to Grover, I got some basic information, and off we went.

We dressed like we would for a non-outdoor, non-camping wedding...which meant we were quite overdressed! Oh well. Grover was in a gown, and Mike was in a tux, so we weren't that out of place. The ceremony was quite nice, and afterwards we had a bit of time to check out the cabin and change into more casual attire, as there was a social hour between the ceremony and dinner. As we entered the cabin, we heard this loud squeaky sound coming from the window. I thought, uh oh, a chipmunk must have entered the cabin somehow. I kept checking out the window, which had a wooden shutter on the outside, but I couldn't see anything. I went outside and opened the shutter, and then I heard B shrieking - it turns out there were bats in there. I immediately slammed the shutter shut and went back in the cabin. Unfortunately, the damn bats were still in there, and B was shouting for me to go back out there and open the shutter. So, I mustered up my courage (butchness?) and opened the damn shutter. One bat flew away on its own, but I had to flick the other one off the screen with B's shoe. YUCK! Once the bats were gone, I closed the shutter and we didn't experience any more problems.

After the bat incident, we went back up to the wedding/dinner/reception area. I didn't know too many others at the wedding, so we just walked around the camp - quite nice actually. Things were going well, and then the catering truck pulled up. I kid you not, the sign on the truck said "divine swine" and had a picture of a pig. Poor B - good thing I made her eat something before we got there, as it certainly wasn't a kosher meal. They did serve roast beef, so she didn't starve. So, so funny. What are the odds? Honestly...she was already super hesitant about the whole outdoors thing, and then the pig truck pulls up! LOL!

The rest of the evening went quite well. We had amazing views of the stars, and shared a twin bed and sleeping bags to stay warm (it was FREEZING). All in all, a good day and night - a nice little adventure if you want to call it that. :)

The next morning, we hit the road early and checked out more of the park. It was quite pretty (I'll add a few pics later - they are on B's camera), and it was nice to just spend some time driving around. After that, it was a hot breakfast at Tobie's and back home (civilization as B calls it).

Congrats Melissa and Mike - you guys deserve all the happiness in the world. I was honored to share your day with you, and I wish you all the best!

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Beth turned 30 today! We had a very nice date - Indian food and then cheesecake factory for dessert. Oh, and she looked super hot in her outfit. ;) It was an excellent date, and I think she had a good time too. Happy birthday, honey!

Acme Comedy Club Adventures

Tonight, I went with B and some others to Acme Comedy Club to see a show. Overall, the evening was great, and I laughed quite a bit. However, I felt quite offended by all the anti-gay jokes (and some of the Jewish jokes approached the boundaries as well) The numerous references to something being "so gay" and things like "any fag" really, really bothered me. I don't understand why such remarks are necessary. Obviously, people can be funny without being derogatory...I guess many people just don't get that yet. The emcee, Brooks something was his name, was just a total douche bag - he was the worst with the anti gay jokes. Oddly though, he was almost eating the microphone. B commented that if he was anti gay, why was he practicing blow jobs with a mic? LOL. It was quite gross, and I can't imagine having to use the same mic right after him. YUCK! Also, I swear he was high on something...

After Brooks' performance (if you can call it that), some amateur comics performed as part of the contest for the funniest person in the Twin Cities. I loved the woman named Phoebe Bottoms (I think that's right). She was unbelievably irreverent, but fricking awesome. Unfortunately, she didn't win, but she had my vote.

The headliner for the night was a guy named Derek Hughes. He put on an excellent magic/comedy routine. He's there all week, so if you have some free time, I highly recommend checking him out! He didn't poke fun at different ethnic groups or anything like that, and he still had the audience laughing quite a bit. I also thought his magic tricks were quite impressive. Good stuff!

Speaking of comedy, obviously the RNC is in town - enough said there. :) There are police all over the place, even on Shepard Road far from downtown, and I ran into some sort of motorcade on my way home from the train station tonight. Tomorrow Governor Palin speaks, and I guess the delegates are all fired up for this...clearly they've never seen Wasilla, AK! ;) I'm really not sure having the convention here is a good thing...cops everywhere, tons of protests, some completely idiotic protests (I'm all about free speech, but don't be foolish or violent), and who knows what the economic impact will be when all is said and done. Oh well - nothing to do about that now, and thankfully it all ends on Thursday.

Time for bed. I am completely exhausted, as I haven't been sleeping well at all. I think the job makes me nervous, and it's sort of making me shut down a bit - yuck. Maybe as I get more comfortable, I'll calm down. I sure hope so!