Good times... '10

Too bad I can't title this post "Good times '09," because "Good times '10" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

I had a particularly fun-filled weekend. And week, come to think of it. Well, despite the fact I have been completely lackluster and unmotivated at work. Need to snap out of that slump asap.

So I'll document the fun:

Monday: "Taste tweet" at a local restaurant, where I met some very nice Twitter people and enjoyed a delicious (yet super, super indulgent) meal on the house. And tweeted about it, of course.

Tuesday: Trivia, as usual. After a three-game streak of winning first place, we didn't place at all. Also had a really awkwardly heated conversation which did not end nicely. But emails were exchanged afterward to clear the air.

Wednesday: Went to the doctor for my knee. It was a really unpleasant experience as far as waiting, waiting and waiting, then feeling super rushed when I finally saw the doctor. But I do not have a stress fracture. I'm supposed to go to physical therapy (conveniently located .2 miles from mi casa) and do stretches to heal my IT band syndrome (or IT band tendinitis... not sure if those are the same thing). Relieved to know what's wrong finally.

Thursday: Started my day bright and early with yoga for runners. Went out to dinner with my book club (aka friends) after work. The food was only so-so but the company was tops.

Friday: Started the day bright and early again with yoga for runners. Then went to an early morning tweetup in the lobby at work. Met and talked to some lovely people and enjoyed free coffee and a doughnut. After work met up with the hubs, his coworker and his coworker's girlfriend, with whom we have become amigos, and stopped by a Twitter friend's guest bartending stint for a drink. Ate a highly enjoyable dinner at a great restaurant on the river. Then went back to said friends' apartment for some Rock Band. Till 2 a.m.

Saturday: Slept in a little, cleaned house, did more yoga (I am addicted!) and then my family came to visit! We relaxed and played cards, then headed to THE MOST AMAZING DINNER EVER at Umami Moto downtown. This was an exquisite dining experience at a very trendy Asian fusion restaurant. Everything we ate was absolutely superb. The service was top-notch. We racked up a $250 bill for 6 of us, but enjoyed every last nibble. I am looking forward to my leftover sushi. Oh, then we saw a play at The Rep. It was okay. Hubby didn't like it, but it entertained me enough. Followed by custard from Kopp's! Eat much?

Sunday: (today) Prepared an oatmeal buffet for the fam for breakfast, then all went to church. Primary Praise actually went well! After church ate at Noodles with the fam, then went on a gorgeous 1.5-hour cross country ski loop with hubby at the state park. Hubs broke a ski pole, so for the last 45-minutes he used one of mine and I more or less single-poled it. But we both had fun and it was a beautiful day for skiing.

The one thing that has been both a great enjoyment and also my downfall this week has been the food. I ate at a restaurant 5 out of 7 days! That never happens. I also ate really indulgent things both in and out of the restaurants. I'm pretty sure I gained a good 3 pounds. It was all very enjoyable (and I only paid for 2 of the meals), but I need to get back on track.

The good news is, this week has some fun in store too, including recipe contest and quarterly awards judging at work, a meeting for a fun new local fitness group, a Friday off work and two great friends coming to visit and run an indoor marathon relay on Saturday! I'm also volunteering at the marathon. Oh, and I'm singing on Worship Team on Sunday. That is always enjoyable.

Conclusions:

• It's fun to have a full social calendar and great new friends.
• Eating out is fun and delicious but I feel nasty after more than a day or two of doing so.
• The Twitter community here is really nice and enthusiastic and I'm looking forward to getting to know people.
• Yoga is good for overcoming injury (at least so far).
  

Our first holiday dinner

I've been a bad old blogger ::slaps wrist::

I can't promise to update more regularly, but I can promise to tell you something very exciting right now.

I am hosting my first holiday this Sunday! The whole Fredenburg fam (minus Uncle Jim & Aunt Jan) are trekking up here for Easter dinner. That's only a total of 11 people, but I think that's the perfect size.

I've got a whole lot planned, too.

So far here's the menu:

TBD appetizer
Matzo crusted salmon
TBD second meat (cornish hens?)
Asparagus
Honey wheat rolls with honey butter
Roasted potatoes
TBD pasta salad
Carrot cake
TBD other dessert (cookies? sorbet?)

Kind of a lot, but I am too excited to limit it!

My favorite memories of Easter celebrations are Pa's Easter egg/scavenger hunts. They were so creative and surprising and fun. I would love to bring that tradition back and come up with some sort of scavenger hunt/game for everyone. I just need to sit down and brainstorm on that one.

I also want to arrange some flowers and make the house look nice and spring-like. I am hoping to scoot over to Goodwill sometime this week to start my random china collection and buy a cute butter dish and things along those lines.

Lots to do! I'm in the midst of finding recipes and making a shopping list right now. I test baked the rolls and they didn't rise properly so they didn't taste great :( Wish me luck!

Power I didn't know I had

I'm still getting used to experiencing situations from a new perspective now that I no longer identify myself as a student or a dependent. Recently I've noticed myself looking at families (at church, the grocery store, wherever) and identifying more with the mom than the kids. How freaking crazy is that?

This morning I had a surreal adult experience of another kind.

I went to the bank to try to get three $20 service fees removed from my old checking account before closing the account for good.

After trying to explain my situation to a goober of a personal banker for about 10 minutes and being noncommittally told that he only has the authority to refund me $5, I was calm but a little annoyed. I knew these fees could and should be removed; I just wished I wasn't stuck dealing with this man who seemed inept and none too eager to straighten out my finances.

He called over the manager and determined the problem was because it was an Illinois account, a joint account with my parents, one of my several remaining legal ties to my youth.

Honestly, I just wanted the fees removed so I could get to work on time. I explained that I thought the fees were an error, or at the very least unfair, hoping there would be some legitimate banking reason to back me up.

"Well, let's take a look at the accounts," the manager said.

The goober told me it would be inappropriate to discuss my parents' accounts with me, but he and the banker pulled them up on the computer next to my accounts.

"Here is their account..." Goober said with an exaggerated sideways glance to the manager. My parents' account apparently flicking on a light bulb in her head, she now nodded in enthusiastic approval, "Oh yeah, yeah, we'll definitely remove these fees."

The goober murmured in agreement and they both assured me everything would be taken care of.

I was in slight disbelief as I watched the situation unfold. Now, I definitely think those fees should have been removed regardless, but I was just shocked by how easy it suddenly became once the bankers feasted their eyes upon the undoubtedly large dollar sign that is my parents' account. The money they saw in my parents gave me a new power -- one you see in the movies but never think little old you could actually wield. 

I think all customers should be treated well if a company intends to keep their business, and it makes perfect sense to bend over backwards (not that they did in this situation) to keep their more invested clientele happy, but it just made me feel a little uncomfortable. I'm grateful to be treated well, but I wish it were because they cared about me and not just my money.

Welcome to the real world, I suppose.

I see the family in me

Every time I see my grandparents it amazes me how much of them I see in me. I am fairly close with all four of them and have always been that way, but it's not like I was raised by them so sometimes it freaks me out when I realize how much we have in common and how many of my traits - good or bad - seem to have been plucked directly from them and placed in my gene pool.

Let's start with Nanie, my dad's mom. She is the grandparent that bears the most animosity from the family. She's very clean and organized, and unsurprisingly controlling. She knows what she wants and she is very outspoken - so much so that it can come off as rude at times.

I definitely would not consider myself outspoken, but I completely identify with Nanie on the controlling/organized/clean-freak level. The first thing she does when she comes over is head for the kitchen to start cleaning. She used to drive my mom crazy by actually reorganizing our kitchen whenever she would visit. She once told me that she finds ironing relaxing. She always has a plan and sticks to it. It's hard for her to rely on others to get things done. And as crazy as all that sounds, I identify with all of it.

Then there's Papa Tito, my dad's dad. Pops is the one that everyone likes. He was always fun to play with when we were kids. He would push us on the tire swing and tell us funny stories (looking back I realize how many weren't actually true). He let us watch movies our parents probably wouldn't.

It wasn't until I headed down to Florida and visited my grandparents on my own a couple years ago that I realized he's a lot like me in a very big way - he's involved. He's like the senior citizen version of the college me: on the board of directors of his condo building, in various social clubs, an avid exerciser. Okay so he's not in 15 different organizations, but I suspect I'll slow down a bit by then too. He overextends himself and takes on leadership positions and gets flack from Nanie for being underappreciated.

On my mom's side we have Nana, who doesn't have a bad bone in her body. She's soft-spoken on the outside but she does have her opinions. She's a total germaphobe -- brings "handy wipes" to restaurants and embarrassingly makes us use them before we eat. She loves to sing and write silly poetry. She's cuddly and oftentimes paranoid about things that old women are paranoid about.

Sometimes I wonder if I'll be exactly like her when I'm a grandma. Then I realize I have too much Nanie in me to be completely like Nana, so I'll be some sort of weird combination of the two of them. If you met them both you wouldn't think that's possible.

My mom's dad, Pa, and I have bonded over many things through the years. Growing up he would teach me magic tricks. I was his little magician and we'd perform magic shows for the family. More recently he's gotten into Shakespeare, and often writes sonnets that fall somewhere between goofy and profound. He's learned how to properly use thee, thy and thou and puts them into practice whenever he gets the chance. He's a good writer. At my eighth grade graduation he gave me a long typed-out letter that I can't quite remember the details of now, but I know I'll cherish in the years to come.

How am I like Pa? I write and I think. Pa used to be much more brazen and fiery, but I've noticed a mellowing out in him as he ages (he's nearly 88). I've seen his thoughts turn more introspective and somber. I relate to that quiet intellect. I often pray that God will open his mind and his heart so his thoughts can find peace.

So what am I saying? I'm an organized, controlling, clean, involved, silly, cuddly, germaphobic, melodic, paranoid, introspective, literary combination of my four grandparents. I love them all more than I can describe.