In which I really enjoy football

A few weekends ago, I spend some time in downtown Lincoln celebrating all that is Husker football.  Which to me, is friends and drinks that are red.  Or have red on the bottle.  Or have names that relate to football.  I had a fantastic time at brooke and Brian's tailgate, also with the Nebesniak's.  Many laughs, always. 

Hmmmm.  Look at the cloudy sky.  To some, that might signal that one should have a poncho.  I was soaking wet by the end of this day.

Brad got to join us for the second half of the game at Red9 and we shared this giant bloody mary (a red drink!)  Look at the beautiful drink garnish.  That is how to do a bloody mary.  After Red9, we visited the tailgate of a coworker of Brad's, and then we took a long and rainy walk to the car.  And in typical "I drank all day long and forgot about food" fashion, we went to Amigos and then spent some time with my parents and Willa.  Football is growing on me.

Loads of Vitamin C

We recently harvested the last of the 2011 inaugural garden.  They were some mighty tasty carrots.  Kinda funny shaped, but delish.

Willa, M.D.

I can't look at this picture and not laugh.  Brad set up this little "office" scene for Willa the other night and she took it very seriously.  Yes, her office consists of an old keyboard, a Nintendo DS, a pumpkin and a sippy cup.  She told us that she is a doctor and she has very important work.  She typed furiously for several minutes while we were making supper.  When we asked her to join us for supper she got very frustrated with us and again reminded us that her work was very important.  We were able to convince her to eat a few bites at her desk and warned her of the dangers of becoming a workaholic.  After a few bites she moved the plate to a side table and went right back to typing.  Where does she come up with this stuff???

Stickers Van Boening

We finally did it!  We took in a cat.  I was super nervous to get another pet, after Luther's tragic end.  And also, just because new pets are a lot of work.  Growing up, Brad and I both had cats, but really they were our parents' cats, not really our cats, our responsibility.  Turns out, if you get a really good cat, they are practically no trouble at all!  And get a good cat, we did!  Stickers came from a farm somewhere south of town, where he lived the first 5 months of his life outside with his parents and many siblings.  I think he had a name before Stickers, but he is adjusting to his new name well.  (It just "sticks" Chris:)  He is a darling cat, such a lover.  He is constantly purring (loudly) and he takes up residence on any lap he can find.  And oh my lord, he tolerates Willa.  Her new favorite thing to do is to tell him what to do and carry him around by his neck.  Stickers is a saint!  I have yet to see him kill a mouse, but I'm sure that will happen in time.  It better.  Or maybe his presence will just scare the mice away.  

Do drop in and meet Stickers.  You won't be sorry.  Unless you are allergic to cats or you are a bleeder.  His kitten claws are very sharp. 



This picture was taken during the football game on Saturday.  Stickers obviously is such a Husker fan.  Pay no attention to the fact that I am still in my pj's and it is well past noon. 



Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk

Hi, all!  This is really short notice, as I almost forgot about this event, but I am walking with a team from BryanLGH in the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk next Sunday, Oct. 23 and would love your support!  Every little bit helps.  The statistics on breast cancer are mind-numbingly scary, we women need to do all we can to educate ourselves and to take steps to help prevent (and find a darn cure already!)  Thanks so much.

https://secure3.convio.net/tacs/site/Donation2?idb=1403729913&df_id=1009507&FR_ID=36163&PROXY_ID=23388643&1009507.donation=form1&PROXY_TYPE=20&JServSessionIdr004=zpxb1jxt42.app314b

Let food be thy medicine

Hippocrates is pretty old school, but "Let food be thy medicine" has long been one of my favorite quotes.  I just spent the last hour and a half watching a new documentary called Forks Over Knives and I would love for each and every person that I care about in my life to also watch it.  The film gives a very in-depth and science based explanation as to why our cultures' current diet is killing us.  Sounds dramatic, but it really is.  I urge you, if you have a Netflix account, watch this film.  Its not action packed, or funny, or visually entertaining but we all need to hear these statistics.  Normally, when I read about plant-based diets, I am doing so to learn more about the welfare of the animals or the impact on our environment that meat production has, this film took a different approach.  If you are a dude, or someone of the opinion that you need tons of protein, there is even an interview with a vegan MMA fighter, a professional triathlete, and a whole fire station full of Texas firefighters who have all adopted a vegan lifestyle. 

So...go.  Watch.  Then call me and we can discuss:)

Te Amo!

I did it!  I finally made something that I like enough to hang on my wall!  I am willing to go all the way and say that I am in love with this painting.  Wow, this has been a long time coming.  Art was my favorite subject all throughout school.  Heck, I even took a studio art class nearly every semester at Hastings College just for fun.  But I hadn't been able to produce anything I liked well enough to display, aside from a fish from my beginning glassblowing class and he is a little bit sharp and cuttey to have out with Willa around. 

Now, I really can't take much credit for this painting.  The idea was completely, 100% not mine.  I can only claim to have put in the labor, and it did take quite a few hours of painting (which I found very soothing in the evenings for a few weeks.)  The idea (and tutorial) came from The Pleated Poppy which I stumbled upon on dear brookie's Pinterest.  If you don't have a Pinterest account yet, that means....you still have a life outside of your computer.  Good for you!

There she is.  She is so pretty.  I want to get back home to her, whisper things to her.  If you want one of your own, I suggest you check out the tutorial on The Pleated Poppy (link above) but I will walk through the process anyway, as I like to hear myself type.  I didn't use a canvas, I can't remember what my initial reasoning was, but I'm glad I didn't.  This is a piece of 3'x4' Masonite that I roughed up a little with a few layers of gesso.  The gesso step is totally skippable, I just didn't want the surface to be quite so smooth.  Then I painted the entire board with a very neutral tan color.  Next, I found a very nice coffee mug with a picture of a basset hound on it in my cupboard and I measured its diameter.  Divided that in 2 and made a grid over the whole board using the measurement of half of the coffee mug.  Then I drew a whole-lotta interlocking circles inside of the grid lines

This isn't the best picture, but it might help to understand the pencil/ruler/coffee mug set-up.  Once I had all the circles drawn, I went back over it and lightly erased the lines that were inside of the circles (they didn't erase very well which initially freaked me out.  More on that later.)  Then came the fun part which was to mix up a color and randomly fill in a bunch of the little circle do-hickies.  And repeat a million times with lots of different colors.  Back to the lines not erasing...I have always been kind of a perfectionist when it comes to projects like this so I thought I was going to have to scrap the whole thing, or go back and repaint all the tan color in the middle of all the circles (which would have taken years) so that it would look perfect.  But, the more I looked at it, the more I really loved those pencil lines in there.  So, I cured my stupid craft-induced OCD thing!  Yay!  Also, Willa colored in one corner of the board with a purple Crayola marker and I didn't beat her even once, just sort of covered it with darker colors and called it character.  Lastly, we added a little claw hanger thing and threw her up on the wall!  And OMG.  Did I mention that I love her?

Reggie Ellis Kidney Transplant Benefit

I mentioned a night out coming up this next weekend so I thought I would try to share the flier for the benefit.  I am computer not-smart and when I tried to save the image of the flier, it was very blurry.  So I took a photo of the flier.  It is not really legible either so I will just tell you what it says, ok??? 

Reggie Ellis Kidney Transplant Beer Bracelet Benefit at Grata Bar and Lounge

Friday, October 7th 9p-2a DJ starts at 10p

Grata Bar and Lounge Back Room 2755 Jamie Lane

$10 donation gets a bracelet good for Bud Light till the keg runs dry!

Happy Hour Specials till 2am!

Now for the important stuff:  In April of 2010 Reggie was diagnosed with FSGS, a disease that attacks the kidneys' filtering system.  Reggie is on the kidney transplant list and is patiently waiting for his gift of life.  The average cost of a kidney transplant in 2008 was $259,000 and the anti-rejection meds that Reggie will need to take the rest of his life average approximately $10,000 a year.  The amount of money it takes to have a functioning kidney is astronomical.  This benefit night has been organized by friends of Reggie to help offset the medical cost that have been and will be incurred with his transplant.

On a personal note, Reggie is a fellow Hastings College graduate and also a co-worker of mine at the hospital.  He has a beautiful wife and son, with another little one on the way.  If you'd like to help them out and can't make it to the benefit, there is a fund set up at a local bank and I can get you that information.  Tosha and I will be taking money at the back room door for the beer bracelets.  Come and see us and help out a great guy!

The entire family has a thing for hot serial killers

Dexter premiers tonight.  Party at my mom's.  Bring dip.

A first

On Saturday, after my big nap, I went for a run around my new 'hood.  Not being someone who grew up in the country, I sort of forgot that each side of a section is an actual mile.  I hadn't done any running since, oh, June?  4 miles was brutal but I made it and loved every second of it.  The land around our home is beautiful and I would like to share it with you!  I need to find time every day to run a similar route.

I might try to steal this cute little camper-thing I stumbled upon.  It doesn't look like the owners use it, right?  And yes, I was actually running when I took these pictures.  Notice that they aren't the slightest bit blurry.  That gives hints at my pace.  Molasses slow.

Who did you hug on Sept. 30th?

As an interested vegetarian, I get text messages from PETA.  They keep me informed of things.  I do wish they would send out the annual reminder for "Hug A Vegetarian Day" a day or two in advance.  So maybe I could plan something or get a button or something.  I did not receive a single hug related to what I do (or in this case DO NOT) eat.  I asked a coworker and covegetarian if he received any of said hugs.  He said that he in fact did not and also that he would "fall over f-ing dead" if I ever voluntarily hugged him.  Or anyone for that matter.  He said he would think it was more normal if the housekeeping worker whom he had never been introduced to gave him a hug than me.  Ok, ok.  I have issues with personal space, public displays of affection, and spontaneous physical closeness.  That is beside the point.  The point is...I kind of forgot.  Oh yes.  At the end of October, it will officially be five years since I gave up meat for good.  Take THAT all of you (Amber S.) who think I can't stick with things!!!  In the past few years, I have reintroduced some seafood, maybe once a week but I have also eliminated cow's milk and butter from my home.  And I ate a hamburger at a bbq when I was like 10 and a half months pregnant.  And I had a piece of hamburger pizza at a Husker football game once but I was kind of drunk and the crust looked like a good beer sponge.  Kindness to animals (and not eating them) is something that I feel defines a big piece of me.  And yes, I get enough protein.  Any questions about eliminating meat from your diet?  Even once a week?  I have read a lot of nutrition books on the topic.  And I get a kick out of reading vegan cookbooks.  That is what working night shifts does to me. 

We tried to leave her here

Yet another fantastic fall day!  The universe is going to punish us somehow, for all of these beautiful days.  We went to the Lincoln Children's Zoo.  Every time we go, Willa has a new favorite animal, and a new one that she is surprisingly scared of.  For some reason, the reindeer when you first enter the zoo scares the ever living piss out of her.  She clings to us like the thing has a gun to her head.  The same for the goats.  On this visit, she was really into the penguins and the camel.  She even got in the camel's pen and put grass in its mouth.  Personally, I would be more afraid to put my hand that close to a camel than to give a goat a food pellet, but whatever, Willa.  Go ahead with your bizarre phobias.  We love you anyway.  And reverting back to this blog's origins and our Bobcat fiasco, it really confused our child when there were Bobcats in the parking lot doing construction (something she totally GETS) and then there was an animal in one of the cages called a bobcat (she did NOT GET why it wasn't moving dirt into piles.)  All in all, lovely day.  Bonus to visiting the zoo:  the train.  Brad has decided that he is going to be a stay at home dad who volunteers to drive the zoo train on Sunday afternoons.  Gotta love a guy with goals that involve such altruism. 

Now, may I please tell you why this next week is going to kick tail???  There are ever so many reasons.  Two - yes two - of my most favorite people on earth are going to find out what flavor of babies they are giving birth to in February.  Right now I am predicting "girl" for both.  We'll find out on Monday and then again on Wednesday.  Monday night I get to spend the evening with two other favorites for a little girly shopping fun.  That's right, Tosha and I (and Adah) are going shopping together.  The fact that we are going to buy new clothes that we aren't going to scrub any toilets in may cause the world to implode.  We'll see.  I suppose I should include that Brad gets to go on a mini-trail ride on Tuesday.  But he doesn't write this blog, so there.  Friday night is another girls night, this one involving cocktails for a cause.  More on that later.  Saturday I get to tailgate for the first time this football season.  Sunday I have a bike ride scheduled with Katie.  And sometime during the week I am going to finish the painting that I started last week that I am IN LOVE WITH.  Yay!  Never have I been able to produce a painting that I liked well enough to hang in my own house.  I think it's happening.  If I can get Willa to stop drawing all over it with markers, I'll post a picture when its done.  How's that for a golden week?!?