Children Hate Me

I've never had much luck with kids.  They just don't like me, I don't know what it is.  Take today for example.  I was working up in Nickelodeon Universe for awhile this afternoon.  A lady was filling out an application with a child and I thought I could entertain the child for the time.  At a loss for what to say to a child, I picked an abundant topic at the Mall of America.

"Do you like Nickelodeon?" I ask, a valid question for a 3 or 4 year old.

"It's too noisy here. I hate this place," she responds, turning away.

Well, so much for conversation.  A little while later, my co-worker, Harry, just looked at the kid and she smiled.  Some people have all the luck.  Like my brother.  I don't know what's so special about him that kids like him so much.  It must be that since he's so tall, kids think he's a playground.

In general, the feelings I have with kids are mutual.  They don't like me, and I don't like them.  But every once in awhile, I warm up a bit.  Then things like today happen and reaffirm my feelings.  I'm glad to live in a child free zone.

I wish I had a dog.

April Snow Showers?

This is why I hate spring:

What the heck is that crap?!  I was done with snow a month ago.  I started thinking about a garden. Thanks a lot weather for dumping on my home-grown vegetable dreams.  A couple weeks ago I was outside raking leaves in a t-shirt with my pants rolled up.  I didn't realized I would need to keep my snow boots out until May.

The above picture was taken at 9:11 am.  The following picture was taken at 6:36pm that same day:

Talk about strange!  The snow melted so fast it sounded like it was raining.  I'm done with kooky weather.

Here are some fun things we've done recently:

It's Maple Syrup time!  At least it was, until we went to the Maple Syrup demonstration.  Andy and I enjoyed the information, along with 20 children and their parents.  And we actually took a decent picture together!

We've also gone on a few bike rides:

My two favorite forms of transportation together!

Lake Nokomis by our house.

Iowa?

I've never been more proud of Iowa than now and I feel as though I've been a bit too harsh on the state.  Maybe it's time to actually visit.

The Iowa Supreme Court rejected a ban on gay marriage.  The court said things that sound amazingly logical; such as: “We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective,” Justice Mark S. Cady wrote for the seven-member court, adding later, “We have a constitutional duty to ensure equal protection of the law.”  (From the New York Times)

I enjoy reading new that is happy whenever possible.

Spring!

Spring has finally arrived in Minneapolis and it's quite an amazing sight.  It came slowly, with days above freezing followed by days below zero.  But now it's quite warm, most of the snow piles are fading into the ground, and there's hope in the air that maybe this weather is here to stay.

Spring isn't my favorite season, but here's what I do love.  I love the fact that in fall 40 degrees feels like freezing and we all bundle up in coats and scarves.  Then in spring, when it is 40 degrees we're outside in short sleeves and feeling hot.  I also love seeing people again.  I've seen more people out and about in my neighborhood in the past week than I did all winter.  When warm weather comes people start emerging from their homes and exploring outside.  That house down the street isn't actually a foreclosure, it's just a family of homebodies in the winter.

I enjoy seeing grass again. I can't wait until I can see buds on the trees and the first tiny leaves of the year.  We've been out and about on our bikes and we didn't want to die from the cold.  Warm weather is truly amazing.  It amazing me that I walked home Friday in the rain. That's the form snow takes when it's too warm to freeze.  In the winter I forget what it's like to live in the summer.  I can picture going to the beach and people wearing swimsuits and wonder why the heck people would want to wear so little outside.  Now that spring has started, I can image what heat from the sun feels like, and it's amazing!  It'll be swimsuit weather before long!

Andy and I are already planning our first camping trip of the season.  We're planning on going bike camping, possibly in May.  I look forward to planting things, my lavender has 2 sprouts already!  I'm really excited about eating fresh foods, tomatoes, corn, and trying new vegetables.  I plan on spending as much time as I can this summer outside, because this time is limited and everyone should take advantage of it while they can.

Watching YouTube

It's how I've spent quite a bit of time recenlty.  Andy and I found this gem this evening.  It's rather amusing and set to a really good song from a Minneapolis band, Radio On.

I've also enjoyed watching videos of pandas sneezing. Look it up, you'll not regret it!

An Update!

I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I kept putting it off because there kept being more and more to update.  So I'll ignore a lot of things that have happened to me since the last update.  Maybe I'll post more often that way.

Here are some things that I like:

Blood oranges! They're my new favorite fruit, they're delicious!  Slightly tart and still citrusy, it's good stuff.  I wasn't a big orange eater until recently, Andy got me into it.  I suggest trying a blood orange at some time.  The organic ones have more taste than the regular ones.

The New York Times Health news.  I'm an addict when it comes to reading the news.  Most of the time I skim over the major headlines because I hear enough of it on MPR.  Some of these articles are really interesting and fun.  I haven't found a recipe I'd try yet, but I'm sure there's one out there.

One thing that I constantly like is the BBC's In Pictures.  They have a lot of very good pictures from around the world.  When there are crises, then they have pictures that focus on those.  I've tried to submit my own pictures a few times with no luck.

CBC's As it Happens.  Who knew that Canadian radio could be so interesting?  I'm a sucker for their theme song.

In other updates, I'll be flying to Indiana Friday morning for my grandpa's birthday party on Saturday.  I look forward to seeing my family!  Also, we in Minnesota got snow dumped on us on Thursday.  Winter is getting frustrating.  It had been quite warm and we were running out of snow, which was really great; until Thursday.  I really dislike spring, because it's like a tease.  One day it's super nice and you're walking around with a light jacket. The next, you're trudging through 6 inches of snow on your way home from work.  I just want summer.

That's all I have for now.  Maybe next time I'll post pictures.

This explains a lot

I love my family.