It is going to be April in less than forty eight hours. That’s just weird. You know what that means, though… it’s time to talk about a new challenge. New month, new challenge, right?

This month my goal was just to get things done. I’m still working on that. I won’t know for sure how successful I’ve been until I pay my rent and bills on the first–something I’m still working on, hence the absence. Still, somehow, I’ve managed to get out of the house every single day this month in some fashion. This wasn’t something I had anticipated, but I’m glad that it happened. I like the change that my February challenge has wrought in other areas of my life.

For April I think I’m going to be doing BEDA (Blog Every Day April). Blogging every day and doing something creative every day isn’t something new. It’s certainly challenging sometimes but it is something I know that I can do. So, because I want it to be challenging (glutton for punishment, party of one?) I want to do something that I keep saying I need to do but that I haven’t ever actually been able to do.

I talk a lot about how I need to not wait until the end of my day to work on my blog or my vlog, that I need to pay attention to those things first because they are my pet projects. They are what I want to build. They are what I want to take places. I tend to put them off until the end of the day (like today, hello) because I feel like I shouldn’t get to do the fun stuff until I’ve done the gross responsible stuff. Still, if I want to turn my blog and vlog into something more than they are now (not that I don’t love where I am at with them now obviously but I have dreams, people) I need to treat them with the same respect and put the same importance on them that I do on the work that pays me each day.

So. For the month of April, I’m going to be doing my blogs and vlogs first.  I want them to be the start of my day (this is going to be extra fun on days when I’m doing both the vlog and this blog) so that I can start each day on a fun and creative note. This is the primary challenge of this month–to put the creativity and fun first. It goes against everything I’ve been taught and everything in my work ethic. I foresee much internal writhing and hand wringing.

And that’s why I’m doing it. Because why settle for one thing that’s comfortable when you can add something that is UNcomfortable and potentially grow as a person?

My roommate is moving out this weekend. I think. I can’t seem to get a straight answer on the actual date he plans to move but I know that eventually he’s going to be out of here and that he isn’t helping out with rent this next month.

This is a good thing for both of us. He needs more space. I need my own space. We’re both happy about the development–in a friendly way, not in an “omg go away” kind of way.

The problem is that, since I’m solely responsible for the rent (I haven’t gotten up the gumption to ask about this past month’s utilities yet, I think I’ll just eat them to avoid the conflict of it) I have to be in head down, pedal to the internet, tunnel vision focused “git r’ done” mode with work. I am getting quite a lot done and am proud of the progress I’ve made so far. I’m not there yet, though, so I need to get back to work soon.

While this makes me feel good and grown up and like I’m taking care of business, unfortunately, it doesn’t really make for an interesting blog post…or few blog posts.

Know that I know that I’m boring you. Know that I know this is lame. But know that I have plans for some great posts after the first. I’m contemplating doing BEDA again this year–making it my challenge for April.  A blog every day, if I can make them worthy of reading, might be a nice switch up in the pace around here, yes?

Oh. You guys.

It was a whirlwind. A whirlwind of awesome. I took more than 350 pictures and some of them actually turned out okay! I bonded with family I already knew and met a bunch of new people to whom I am related but didn’t know it until this past weekend. I ate so much food. I slept in a camper. I played a new (to me) board game. I did crafts and scrapbooking. I taught my aunt how to use an external hard drive. We had an impromptu family jam session/sing along on my Mom’s birthday. I watched at least a dozen balloon animals meet an untimely and often spontaneous and explosive demise.

I got and gave so many hugs.

I spent quite a lot of time in the car. I forced my Mom to listen to nerd music. I saw a pizza with saurkraut on it. I politely declined a piece of it. I played with dogs, saw horses, cows, sheep, rabbits, deer and turkeys (some of whom I am related to, har har har). I learned how to set up a projector. We taped balloons to my grandmother. It’s okay, she thought it was funny.

It was such a good trip.

I have such an awesome family.

I am so so so so so so lucky.

You guys! I love the future! I’m writing this in the past but you’re reading it in the future!

This is just one of the reasons that technology rocks.

I wish I had something more insightful to say, but I think I’ll save all of that for when I get back. You know, so you have a reason to revisit me.

As I sit here I am burning CDs and I’m thinking how “old school” this feels…and then remembering the days when I used to sit for hours in front of the radio, tape deck in hand, ready to record that one song that I really really liked just so I could listen to it whenever I wanted to.

Still, one must have tunes for road trips and I am not taking any chances. I have my phone, sure, and a dock for it (thanks Jak!) but just in case I can’t get them to work… CDs it will be.

This has been lame-o post two.

But, just for funsies–which songs do you remember waiting hours to hear on the radio? Surely I’m not the only one who did this?

Internet I’m just going to tell you now: this is going to be a lame-o blogging week. I’m travelling, working like crazy to get stuff done before I go and trying to figure out when I’m going to clean my apartment so that my Mom doesn’t run away screaming as soon as she gets here.

This doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a lot going on, just that my brain power is being expended in other areas. So for today, this is it. It is a phoned in post. I know it’s a phoned in post but I will have so much to tell you next week, I swear!

When I left the house this afternoon for game night I thought “last week when we did this I was home by eleven or so. I’ll totally have time to blog tonight!”

Um. Yeah. About that.

I guess I could cheat and set the time on this blog post back to make it so that it looks like I blogged on the right calendar day. Or I could say “since I’m still awake it’s still my Friday so this totally counts!” Or I could even say “It’s still Friday somewhere in the world!” Instead I’ll just say…. “Oops!”

The good news is that tonight I actually have built in content to blog about and I got a Canadian coupon! Hooray!

My friend Katie, who blogs over at Fifteen Feet has been giving awards to different bloggers for different things and today she gave one to me! It is, appropriately, The Angry Tree Octopus Award (if you do not know why this is appropriate then clearly you haven’t been paying attention…but it’s okay I still like you)…and it involves research….which I kind of forgot to do. But! I will do it tomorrow (aka when I wake up) and post it separately. This way I will be fulfilling my recipientship (it’s a word because I say it’s a word, spell-checker) and be posting extra as a “punishment” for having the hubris to think I had all of my bases covered.

And now to sleep! Because wow! It’s late!

I realize that by my telling you what I am about to tell you that I am opening the door for all sorts of torture upon my person but… I need a blog post topic for today.

Have I ever told you that I have the curiosity of a bazillion curious cats all rolled into one person? No kidding. I like to know stuff. When something piques my interest I have to know all about it.  There is no “huh, interesting” in my world. There is only “OMG NEAT TELL ME MORE!” and then hours of Internet surfing and book reading.

Sometimes this is good. It’s what helps me be good at my job.  I write about an awful lot of different things and my love of knowing stuff and my nearing-radioactive-superpower-levels of curiosity are what help me keep doing that every day.

Sometimes though… sometimes…. it is not so good.

Like when a friend sends me a text that reads “OMG I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!” followed by one that says “But not right now! I have a meeting! Tell you later!”

This… this… cannot handle. Sad face. Pathetic whimper. Twitching tantrum building. It’s like putting a great big fancily wrapped present in front of a toddler and saying “this is for you, but you can’t touch it until I say so.”  The squirming, the big eyes, the squirrelly spastic AHMAHGAHWANNATOUCHITness…

I am sure that to the person who does things like this to me it’s funny.  In fact, if I weren’t writhing in a pool of Inquiring Minds Want to Know! I’d probably find it funny too.

Instead I kind of sort of but not really okay maybe a little hate my friend right now.

You know–the kind of hate that comes from deep reservoirs of love.

And revenge.

At no point in my life did I ever think I would be able to (or, really, want to) say: “I spent my whole weekend gaming and it was great! Let’s do it again!”

My friends C&D had a re-wedding this weekend. This is not the same as getting remarried. They’ve been happily married for seven years already but as part of their wedding contract they agreed to “re-evaluate” the relationship every seven years and if things were still working for the both of them they’d renew their contract and if they weren’t… I don’t think we ever learned what would happen if things went the other way.  Really though, these are two of the warmest, awesomest and most in love people you’ll ever see, so I don’t think we really need to even wonder about that.

C&D are giant nerds. They are giant nerds who love playing games–games of all kinds but they have a particular affection for board games (perhaps because, for the most part, those are easily portable). So, in celebration of their re-wedding they rented out the Administrator’s House at the Edgefield McMenamin’s in Troutdale for the weekend and invited pretty much everybody they know out to play games, eat food and just…hang out and have a good time.

And a good time was definitely had. Not just because there were board games being played by groups of people on every available surface in the house but because–it was just fun.

I played… I do not remember how many games (trying to remember them all gives me a headache) and while the games themselves were fun what I’m going to remember the most about the weekend was the laughing. There is a special kind of laugh that comes from people who are comfortable with each other, who trust each other enough to let their guards down and who just…make each other laugh by being themselves. It makes me all heart warmy and gooey inside.

It’s also important to note that this was the first wedding(-esque) event that I have attended since my split from my ex-husband. I expected to feel a little bit tense and a little bit sad. I expected to maybe need a few minutes alone at some point to just…breathe. But I didn’t.  There was exactly one awkward moment after the ceremony in which it was accidentally pointed out that I was the only single person at a table otherwise filled with happy coupled up couples but it passed quickly and didn’t take away from the happy that I felt for my friends. It was so great to sit in that room and watch these two wonderful people reaffirm that they really are happiest with each other and that they really do feel like all of their friends are their family. I felt like part of a great big family sitting there and that? Was pretty neat.

Dear Canada,

As a US Citizen I am grateful for the things you have shared with my country and, well, me. Michael J Fox is my childhood hero. Nathan Fillion is in my five. Joni Mitchell is a legend. Leonard Cohen rocks my socks. I even have the tiniest of soft spots for Avril Lavigne (but shhh… don’t tell anybody, okay?). You welcome a bunch of Americans into your midsts to film great stuff like Battlestar Galactica, X-Files and Eureka. I’ve lived below you (Oregon, California, Nevada). I’ve lived above you (Alaska).  I know how awesome you are. I know that people here in my country make fun of you and yours quite a lot but I hope you know that none of that comes from me. Personally, I’d like to see my fellow countrypeeps be a little bit nicer to each other. And really it should be pronounced So-ree (sahree is for chumps).

Canada, you’re responsible for much of the awesomeness that is in the world. We both know it, but you’re too nice to speak up about it. So I’m saying it for you. You’re awesome. You are.

As a thank you, I have lent you two of my favorite people on the planet, Angela and Aubrey, for a little while.  They have this sister act called The Doubleclicks and they’re phenomenal and adorable. I know that you will like them. I know that they are taking your land by storm even as I type this (actually as I type this, they may be asleep but you know, when they wake up I’m sure they’ll resume taking you by storm in a very fierce way).

I want to make it clear, though, that as much as I love you Canada, you cannot keep them. I expect them back and in the same condition in which they were lent.

After all–don’t you want to borrow them again sometime? You know you do! And not only will I not lend them again if you don’t treat them well…. I’ll…….well I won’t let you pawn Nickelback off on us anymore.

Love,

Me