A Birthday and a Bit

Today marks a mile stone in my blogging history. Today, I blog directly from a Starbucks. Ironic? Iconic? All of the above? Maybe so...

As I'm sitting here, looking around at all of the people, mindlessly typing away on their keyboards and iPads, working on their homework, work work, or–like me–no work at all, all the while weaving themselves, and our generation deeper and deeper into the literal WEB that we live amongst in this technological age...I am amazed. Who knew 5 or even 2 years ago, that we would not only be able to get online from anywhere at any time, but that we could do it for free! Now THAT is innovation. I didn't even have to pause to think when I left my house if bringing my computer made sense, if I would be able to find a place I could get online, and even if I could, how much it would cost me. No. Instead I packed up my 13" MacBook (not pro, because I don't fathom that I am necessarily "pro" at anything, and who am I to be arrogant?), got in the car, drove to UV, and was blissfully sipping my PSL before I could even think, "oh yeah, there is free internet here." More of a surprise was the fact I was able to get a seat, since apparently no one works or goes to school in the physical sense anymore, and why should they? Since they can apparently accomplish anything seated in their neighborhood coffee house, away from the office or classroom, family, dogs (in my case), or anything else that could cause a distraction from the importance of the tasks at hand. It is truly a new age we live in.

It's Monday by the way. A beautiful October morning in Seattle, which by the way, I was unaware had such beautiful Falls. I'm sure, since I've said that "out-loud" now the rain will begin tomorrow, and not cease until Spring. But, I wanted to make the point before it was too late. I love fall, and Seattle has not disappointed me one bit. Actually nicer than summer this year, since summer decided to take a vacation...again, ironic? The leaves have all turned, and the weather is getting cold. Wearing a sweater, coat, scarf and boots today. As if to put an exclamation mark on that point, a young man, clad in Husky attire, just got up from his seat at one of the tables, took his lap-top and bag outside, got all situated with a hat sweatshirt...only to unplug his earphones, fold back up his stuff, and truck back inside after only a couple of minutes. Like I said, COLD! But I enjoy it, fall fashion, staying snuggled up in bed a little too long, and taking longer hotter showers than usual. Making fires at night to sit in front of, and turning the heat up in the car so that my toes are roasty toasty from the floor vents. Plus, my two favorite holidays come in the fall (halloween and thanksgiving), everything turns my favorite color (orange), and, as if by design, my birthday is tomorrow.

Yep. 23. The big 2-3. I tend to not have the best outlook on birthdays usually. I see it as a time to look back on the year and think how little has changed, or how little I have accomplished. However, this year, I am attempting to turn over a new leaf (yes, I went for the play on words...) and instead look at what I have accomplished and what I can be happy about looking onto the next year. So, I have decided to sit down and bang out 23 reasons why my 23rd year on Earth was a good one...here goes:

23. Jackson is still alive. This might not be the best reason to start with, and even though I can't stand him a lot of the time, I see it as a testament to my parenting and caregiving skills that I not only didn't kill him in a whole year, but that he is happy and healthy, up-to-date on shots etc., and has actually turned into quite a good dog. So, way to go us, we raised a puppy this year. :)

22. The Saints won the Super Bowl. Again, kinda a cop-out reason, but I was really pullin for them all last season, and even though I hated to see Far-va almost get killed several times during the game, it was epic for the team and for New Orleans when the Who Dat nation pulled through for the win!

21. I had a great time visiting the Fogle family for Sue's birthday in Utah last October. Even though I missed out a little on Halloween, it was a great trip and we all had a blast!

20. On that same note, the Ducks kicked the shit outta USC (that same night) and went on to the Rose Bowl! What happened next should be on my list of what I didn't like about this past year, so I'm not going to elaborate.

19. Had an absolutely fabulous Christmas. My first official with Bob, which made it that much better, sent out Christmas cards, had a great trip home to see the family and friends, went skiing...pretty much a perfect holiday season. :)

18. Kristi and Peter got married!! (these are happening in kinda chronological order...this one is much further up on my importance scale) I was a bridesmaid and got to make a killer scrap book for their guest book...so much fun, and such a beautiful day! By the way, Happy Anniversary you guys! (October 17th)

17. Enjoyed a year working at the University with all my friends in the Dance Department. Such a great way to be employed, and such fun things to do! Can't even believe how much I miss everyone there and the place in general.

16. Finally found a dentist that could help me with my early onset gingivitis. Ha ha, I know this sounds weird to everyone else, but it's one of those medical things that when you finally get it figured out it feels so good! I've got a great schedule now for regular maintenance appointments, and everything is going a lot better in that department. Yay!

15. SPRING BREAK WHOOO-HOOOO with Celie! Seriously a high-light of my year! Going to Maui to visit my sister, stay for free, and enjoy an actual vacation! So many amazing memories of that week!

14. Dancing with the Janas for a dance for film project...my dancing happy time of the year. :)

13. Nannying for 3 amazing kids, who I have continued to keep in touch with, and have seen a few times since I left the Euge. I hope they will always be a part of my life!

12. Hiking Spencer's Butte on Mother's Day. Another big highlight of my year. It's the little things that I love the most. :)

11. Working on Alex Taylor's MFA project. So much fun, and such a privilege to be a part of something so beautiful and successful.

10. Acting as Technical Director for Val Ifill and A.T. Moffett's show Intrinsic Environment at Conduit Dance Inc. in Portland. Thanks for the opportunity girls, way to prepare me for the real world!!

9. UORDC Tour!!!! 'Nuff said! :)

8. OSF with my Mom in Ashland, always a highlight...usually one of the best weeks of my year!

7. Moving to Seattle! Yes, it was stressful, and at times not very much fun. But it was a good decision, and I'm trying to get as much out of it as possible.

6. Strictly Seattle with Bekah, and everything that went along with her visiting Seattle for 2 weeks. So much fun!

5. My new Job! Crazy, crazy, and more crazy....but oh so nice to have that title. Couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to come along, or for things to work out better. Just have to get through the year now...ha ha!

4. My cousin Christy's wedding to Ryan Farrell. The most beautiful day of my year. So happy for both of them, and so lucky to have been a part of it!

3. Fogle Family Reunion. My first, and I had a blast! So much fun to spend a weekend up at the lake enjoying the water and sun. SUCH good food! Can't wait for next year!

2. My family reunion. Although not everything went the way it was supposed to, it turned out perfect, and I couldn't have been happier to have everyone there, enjoying family and good times. (If only Mom hadn't broken her fingers...)

And #1...of course...Bob. You are my number 1 reason that life is good at all times. Another year we've been together...I can't even believe it. So many happy memories and amazing experiences we've had this year, I can't even count. Thank you for always being there for everything and everyone, and for offering the support that I need just to make it through every day. You are the reason I'm looking forward to birthday #24, and many more after that. I love you. :) (even if you did leave me on my birthday week to go hunting....I forgive you, just hurry home!!)

Here are some other pictures from highlights of my year, that didn't make the list! :)

Bob's Birthday on Argosy

Easter Brunch

Hoopfest

October Wine Tasting with Sarah in Eugene

Girls Night at the Can Can

Wine Tasting Grad Weekend

SSDC

U of O Graduation

So, those are my thoughts for today. One last thing about birthdays: stores send you gift coupons. I think this is a brilliant perk of having a birthday, and am currently off to see if I can put my $10 off at Victoria's Secret to use! Yes. 23 is going to be a good year. :)

"Football" on the radio....

It's Sunday. How do I know this? Well, other than the fact that I'm in the midst of a show weekend, and have completed 3 runs (Friday night, and Saturday afternoon and night), had to wake up early this morning to Pilat, and know that it is exactly 2 days until my birthday (a tuesday), the way I know it's Sunday is because I had to make sure I was home at 10am to turn on the DVR to record the Seahawks game for Bob. Yes, as in most American households, Sunday is football day in our family. We usually sit on the couch in our jerseys and sweats, glued to the TV, maybe getting up to use the facilities or refill the chip bowl...but other than that, motionless to make sure we don't miss a single play. However, this weekend, Bob is elk hunting in the Idaho wilderness. Yes, out of touch in every way, without enough cell service to even catch the highlights on ESPNmobile. So I have diligently been DVRing as much TV as possible, so he's not behind when he gets back from the wilderness. This of course includes as many college and NFL games as the schedule will allow, as we are only able to DVR 2 programs at once. Yesterday I was lucky enough to get the Husky game, which ended up being fairly epic, but I think the end (it went into double over-time) was cut off due to another programming conflict.

Today, however, I came home to start the DVR, and then instead of sitting on my couch watching, I headed up to Bothell to get my new iPhone (23rd birthday present!!!) activated by the resident family Apple specialist. :) On the way, as with last night as I drove home from the show, I turned on the radio and found the game. This clearly inferior way of experiencing the American past time, started to remind me of a particular chapter of one of my favorite books. In a Sunburnt Country is a Bill Bryson adventure comedy about his travels through Australia. The way in which Mr. Bryson describes an Australian past time, via radio, is truly the way I feel about most all sporting events on the radio....here is a little sample:

"As if to emphasize the isolation, all the area radio stations began to abandon me. One by one, their signals faltered, and all those smoky voices so integral to Australian airwaves–Vic Damone, Mel Tormè, Frank Sinatra at the mindless heights of his doo-bee-doo phase–faded away, as if being drawn by some heavy gravity back into the hole from which they had escaped. Eventually the radio dial presented only an uninterrupted cat's hiss of static but for one clear spot near the end of the dial. At first I thought that's all it was–just an empty clear spot–but then I realized I could hear the faint shiftings and stirrings of seated people, and after quite a pause, a voice, calm and reflective, said:

"Pilchard begins his long run in from short stump. He bowls and...oh, he's out! Yes, he's got him. Longwilley is caught legbefore in middle slops by Grattan. Well, now what do you make of that, Neville?"

"Thats's definitely one for the books, Bruse. I don't think I've seen offside medium-slow fast-pace bowling to match it since Baden-Powell took Rangachangabanga for a maiden ovary at Bangladore in 1948."

I had stumbled into the surreal and rewarding world of cricket on the radio."

THIS is truly how I feel about football on the radio. A fairly ridiculous alternative to watching on TV or live, radio football is unbelievably hard to follow, or even understand, and very commonly prompts unwarranted rage or, even worse, praise when you're just so sure that you're team has the ball, runs it down within the 10, breaks a tackle and TOUCHDOWN!!! You're honking the horn and jumping around, just trying to keep your car in the right lane, before you realize that actually it was the OTHER team that had that player "Williams" who just scored 7 for your enemy. A very real kind of danger when you're in control of a vehicle. Just hope those drivers around you are not also listening in to ESPN radio, thinking "Williams" was their Williams.

It can be safely inferred that I am a visual person. When it comes to football, I'll stick to the TV, because when it comes to sports on the radio, it's all Australian to me. Thanks Bill, for putting it so well:

"So as we break for second luncheon, and with 11,200 balls remaining, Australia are 962 for two not half and England are four for a duck and hoping for rain."

....huh?