Tonight I've found a rare quiet moment to get caught up on this blog and myself for that matter. It has been such a busy summer. Jason and I were trying to add up the thousands of miles we've driven this summer and I think we got lost somewhere after 5,000 (hey--he produces green energy for a living so don't even try to wag your finger at our carbon footprint). So what's the tally? Where have we been? Between the two of us, we've been to Oregon twice, White Fish, Salt Lake City, Great Falls three times and then drove to Seattle and flew from there to Hawaii. We've been home fewer weekends than we've been away. And we've also had a house guest or two, making the summer all that more enjoyable. And it has been so much fun, almost so that I'm a bit sad to see the summer end. But now, with the distinctive chill in the air and pumpkin motifs popping up in the grocery stores, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to a cozy and maybe even quiet fall.
Tonight Jason is in Great Falls for his niece's birthday. I was at the synagogue for services tonight so I'll follow him there tomorrow for the rest of the weekend. We recently said goodbye to one of our roommates (the same roommate that accused my cat of pooping in his room) and the other two roommates are either on a trip or gone for the night. So strangely, I'm here alone for the first time in at least two months. It's been a challenge living with four other boys, a cat and occasionally a dog (long story about the dog--don't ask). The one roommate, a.k.a. The Perfect Roommate and/or Best Roommate Ever is so quiet and discreet that it's like he doesn't live here at all. He also pays on time, never causes a fuss, and when we do see him he's a pretty cool guy to talk to. The other roommate is a friend of Jason and I. He works for the Montana Conservation Corps so he's gone three weeks out of four. But when he is here, we have a great time cooking and hanging out together. It's sort of akin to being back in the dorms where ones home was also the center of their social life. And when Jason and I are both here, we're usually cooking, gardening, cleaning, watching a moving, talking, chasing the cat--basically keeping very busy. Needless to say, these quiet moments are very rare for all of us.
What's funny for me is that nights light these, where it's just me, good music, a glass of wine and the laptop used to be my standard evenings. It was easy to keep up on my writing and reading then. The routine was come home, eat, kick up my feet and start typing or grab a book. These days I actually have a social life and home isn't as quiet as it used to be. Not that I'm complaining--it's just startling to make the comparrison between then and now. I'm a lucky girl.
So besides lots of travel, parties, plans and activity, what did we do? Well, we went tubing on the Madison, ate lots of salads from our garden, swam with sea turtles in Hawaii, bbq'd our hearts out, made new friends, visited with my parents in Oregon, hung out with Chris in Maupin for an afternoon, wandered through Pike Place Market, perfected Thom Kha soup, saw the Bison with Jeff in Yellowstone, soaked in some great hot springs and watched plenty of suns set to the sound of bellowing donkeys. To sum it up, we had a great time.
Ma and Pa will be flying out next month to spend a week with Jason and I. Dad is looking forward to bird hunting with him at the ranch (Jason's company owns a ranch where they have a hydro project) and Ma is looking forward to some quality girl time. It will be great to be able to show them around Bozeman and to hang out with them some more.
Lately I've been attached to an album by Ethan Hipple & Podunk Road (http://www.ethanhipple.com/) circa 2005. It's called Prairie and from when I can tell, it's the only cd the group produced. That, and their myspace page hasn't been visited since 2007...BUT it's a fabulous collection of music. They do a gorgeous version of Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show) that just splits me.
They also have this verse on one of their tracks: "I got the blues so bad one time I put my face in a permanent frown, but I'm feeling so much better I can cake walk into town." Well isn't that just the truth for me.
Cheers,
Nicole
Friday, September 19, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunsets, Donkies and Strategic Pooping
When I was in high school I used to sit on my parents front step and watch the sunsets. I'd usually go out at night after dinner, just before the mosquitoes started to get really bad. It was quiet and peaceful out there and I could hear myself think. I sat in a nice rocking chair we had given my dad one father's day and I could watch the sky turn pink and and pale peach through the haze of Ohio humidity. It was wonderful.
It's been a really long time since I've done that, but tonight after my walk I found myself sitting on our front stoop watching the sky turn colors again. At the end of our subdivision there is a little farm that hasn't sold out yet. Just about every night, without fail, the donkey who watches over the sheep and chickens will scream out his distinctive call. The first time he did it I nearly jumped off the ground from fright, but now it just seems soothing in a weird way. Within a few minutes of sitting down he shouted out his messy declaration that the day was done. His formality was a comfort.
So I sat there watching the sunset and just thought for a while. I could hear myself think and breath and I was relieved to have the space to do it in. There are five people, one dog and one cat living in this house these days. It's crowded to say the least. I like my space and my solitude. It's not that I'm anti-social, it's just that down time is important in my little world and there hasn't been much of it lately. Not that this is a bad thing. Jason and I have been enjoying the summer with lots of trips, bbq's and parties. It's been good. But if I'm not with him, then I'm at work. It doesn't leave a whole lot of time for curling up with a book and Fatty Cat, which is how I used to unwind in my single days.
And speaking of Roscoe, a.k.a, Fatty, Roo, Rooster and, most recently, Roscoski, he has settled into life in Montana just fine. He just occasionally takes issue with the dog. Oh yes--the dog. Leila is a small, three-pound, Pomeranian Jason adopted. She's sweet with tiny little marble eyes and a delicate, somewhat petite personality. Roscoe, on the other hand, is 20 pounds of opinionated, bossy, hungry fur. The two create quite a contrast. However, he has been a good cat since getting here regardless of the ill-founded accusation from one of my roommates that he pooped in his room. I maintain that it was Leila (the cat and dog poop looks similar--not that I'm looking that close...). But I will say that if that particular roommate ticked Roscoe off enough for him to poop on the carpet, (something that he has never done once in his five years of life) then whatever he did was probably bad enough to deserve that and more. In his day Roscoe has chewed on shoes, knocked breakables off the counters, unpotted/mauled/eaten house plants, attacked various pieces of furniture and drank out of the toilet bowl, but he has never once pooped out of spite. He has drug his butt across an ex-boyfriends pillow, but that is as close as he has come to using poop as a weapon. So again, I sincerely doubt that Roscoe was the culprit. If he could, I'm sure he'd sue for libel...
So there I was, on the step, thinking about cat vs. dog poop and the motives behind it. I watched the birds, listened to the Canadian geese and contemplated how nice it would be to befriend the pleasant lesbian couple across the street (they have two Subarus, a Smart Car, a cat that they walk on a leash and beautifully maintained flower beds--why not?). I also thought about the garden which was pummeled to a bloody green pulp by that awful hail storm the other night (the lettuce and corn was all that survived) and the pock marks on my car from said hail storm and the nauseating fact that it will cost a few hundred bucks to fix. I contemplated all that work that is waiting for me tomorrow at my desk and did my best to try to calculate how much I could get done before the week was out. I thought about taking a second job again to have a little bit more money in my bank account. And on the topic of money my brain wondered down the path of assessing my not so strong assets and wondering if I will ever really get ahead. And then my eye caught a glimpse of the lovely rock I took with me from Sinks Canyon, Wyoming as a souvenir of my time in the mountains. I picked it up and turned it over and over in my palm until my mind started spinning around the man who disappeared last fall. I helped with that search and it a was major effort, but they couldn't find him before winter hit. They found him last month at the base of cliff. And then, of course, I started thinking about people I miss and also some people I don't. And then I started going through that list in my head of all the people I need to meet at the trade show next month. I was ticking through the appointment list and making mental notes of what I need to do to prepare until I inevitably switched to the "what to wear" category of worry that comes with being a woman and before I knew it I was mentally packing my suitcase.
Me? Oh just fine. Really. Fine and freaking dandy.
So I sat there, stared at that gorgeous, gentle sunset and did my best to breath. And then I thought, "I am an adult, this is life, and every single person in these lovely craftsman style homes has worries similar or even worse than mine. Nicki, put on your big girl panties and get over it."
And then a blue heron flew across the sky. For whatever reason, these creatures have always seemed like guardians to me. Tall, handsome and so full of grace without a hint of smugness they are a mark of calm elegance. He was alive, high above it all, gliding through all that ethereal pink.
Down the street the donkey cried out again. He's a persistent bastard, I'll give him that, but he's right: The day is over and it's time to give it up and go to bed.
Cheers,
NC
Song of the day: Apologies by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
It's been a really long time since I've done that, but tonight after my walk I found myself sitting on our front stoop watching the sky turn colors again. At the end of our subdivision there is a little farm that hasn't sold out yet. Just about every night, without fail, the donkey who watches over the sheep and chickens will scream out his distinctive call. The first time he did it I nearly jumped off the ground from fright, but now it just seems soothing in a weird way. Within a few minutes of sitting down he shouted out his messy declaration that the day was done. His formality was a comfort.
So I sat there watching the sunset and just thought for a while. I could hear myself think and breath and I was relieved to have the space to do it in. There are five people, one dog and one cat living in this house these days. It's crowded to say the least. I like my space and my solitude. It's not that I'm anti-social, it's just that down time is important in my little world and there hasn't been much of it lately. Not that this is a bad thing. Jason and I have been enjoying the summer with lots of trips, bbq's and parties. It's been good. But if I'm not with him, then I'm at work. It doesn't leave a whole lot of time for curling up with a book and Fatty Cat, which is how I used to unwind in my single days.
And speaking of Roscoe, a.k.a, Fatty, Roo, Rooster and, most recently, Roscoski, he has settled into life in Montana just fine. He just occasionally takes issue with the dog. Oh yes--the dog. Leila is a small, three-pound, Pomeranian Jason adopted. She's sweet with tiny little marble eyes and a delicate, somewhat petite personality. Roscoe, on the other hand, is 20 pounds of opinionated, bossy, hungry fur. The two create quite a contrast. However, he has been a good cat since getting here regardless of the ill-founded accusation from one of my roommates that he pooped in his room. I maintain that it was Leila (the cat and dog poop looks similar--not that I'm looking that close...). But I will say that if that particular roommate ticked Roscoe off enough for him to poop on the carpet, (something that he has never done once in his five years of life) then whatever he did was probably bad enough to deserve that and more. In his day Roscoe has chewed on shoes, knocked breakables off the counters, unpotted/mauled/eaten house plants, attacked various pieces of furniture and drank out of the toilet bowl, but he has never once pooped out of spite. He has drug his butt across an ex-boyfriends pillow, but that is as close as he has come to using poop as a weapon. So again, I sincerely doubt that Roscoe was the culprit. If he could, I'm sure he'd sue for libel...
So there I was, on the step, thinking about cat vs. dog poop and the motives behind it. I watched the birds, listened to the Canadian geese and contemplated how nice it would be to befriend the pleasant lesbian couple across the street (they have two Subarus, a Smart Car, a cat that they walk on a leash and beautifully maintained flower beds--why not?). I also thought about the garden which was pummeled to a bloody green pulp by that awful hail storm the other night (the lettuce and corn was all that survived) and the pock marks on my car from said hail storm and the nauseating fact that it will cost a few hundred bucks to fix. I contemplated all that work that is waiting for me tomorrow at my desk and did my best to try to calculate how much I could get done before the week was out. I thought about taking a second job again to have a little bit more money in my bank account. And on the topic of money my brain wondered down the path of assessing my not so strong assets and wondering if I will ever really get ahead. And then my eye caught a glimpse of the lovely rock I took with me from Sinks Canyon, Wyoming as a souvenir of my time in the mountains. I picked it up and turned it over and over in my palm until my mind started spinning around the man who disappeared last fall. I helped with that search and it a was major effort, but they couldn't find him before winter hit. They found him last month at the base of cliff. And then, of course, I started thinking about people I miss and also some people I don't. And then I started going through that list in my head of all the people I need to meet at the trade show next month. I was ticking through the appointment list and making mental notes of what I need to do to prepare until I inevitably switched to the "what to wear" category of worry that comes with being a woman and before I knew it I was mentally packing my suitcase.
Me? Oh just fine. Really. Fine and freaking dandy.
So I sat there, stared at that gorgeous, gentle sunset and did my best to breath. And then I thought, "I am an adult, this is life, and every single person in these lovely craftsman style homes has worries similar or even worse than mine. Nicki, put on your big girl panties and get over it."
And then a blue heron flew across the sky. For whatever reason, these creatures have always seemed like guardians to me. Tall, handsome and so full of grace without a hint of smugness they are a mark of calm elegance. He was alive, high above it all, gliding through all that ethereal pink.
Down the street the donkey cried out again. He's a persistent bastard, I'll give him that, but he's right: The day is over and it's time to give it up and go to bed.
Cheers,
NC
Song of the day: Apologies by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Maybe Montana
Hello All,
I have a bit of announcement to make. It's been a long time coming, but being a fairly un-trusting individual (a couple years in corporate sales will do that to a person) I wasn't willing to post about it right away. But now, after oh, a whole freaking month, I feel it's high time I made it official: I, Nicole HAVE A REAL JOB. Yes, it's true--a legitimate, paying, health insurance included gig. No longer am I trapped in intern-hood at the age of 26. I am now employed. I know, I was shocked, too. But here I am: Employed, coupled, and living in Montana. And, if you can believe it, the craziest thing of all is that I AM HAPPY.
I believe the phrase you're searching for is "holy shit".
So here it is: the end of a year. I started on June 17, 2007 driving like a mad woman out of Oregon headed toward Wyoming to start a new life. I wanted freedom, anonymity, a fresh start and a new career. I wanted a better, healthier and happier life and frankly, I didn't care what I was giving up in the fabled, mythical land called Eugene, Oregon. Quite suddenly I went from being an employed pre-adult working in corporate sales to being a publications intern/cocktail waitress/dog and house sitter in Wyoming. Odd...to say the least.
Then I headed north, against better judgement (that judgement being to go back to Oregon for grad school instead of yet another internship) and found myself in the painfully frozen town of Bozeman, MT. And if there was a theme to go with my first six months in Montana, it would have been "rough starts". My internship, finding a second job, getting health and car insurance, finding a social life (never did quite get that one off the ground), my living situations and even my relationship with Jason, were all bumpy and painful or unpleasant to begin with. By February 15th I decided to throw in the towel and planned to leave on March 15th. But life happened and I ended up in Ohio helping to take care of my Mom and Dad and I completely forgot about plans to leave. I came back to Bozeman on the 14th exhausted, but somehow rejuvenated by gratitude. On the 15th, the day that I was supposed to be leaving Bozeman in a trail of frozen dust and neurotic cynicism, I started dating Jason. It's funny how life stepped in front of me the way it did. Sort of like a train hitting a brick wall... Anyway, after coming back from Ohio I wasn't going anywhere. And then in June the magazine I was interning with offered me a job and suddenly, I was living and working Bozeman, MT.
The day after meeting with my bosses over coffee and cheesecake I woke up with the strange sensation that I had been given a second chance. I was happy. HAPPY. Me, the girl who has been hopping from one fit of melancholy to the next since infancy, was content. Sure, I still had my daily freak outs and ranting fits (just ask Robin), but all and all, I was good. When I had left Oregon I had gone with the desire to land a job at an outdoor magazine. I wanted to be in a town that wasn't too big or too small; that had art, culture, entertainment and the outdoors spilling out its seems. I wanted to be in a place filled with natural beauty and surrounded by trails. I wanted to find a guy and fall in love. And much to my surprise, I found it.
That's not to say that I've reached some sort of pinnacle in life and that I'm done building and changing who I am. There are new goals that I'm working toward now. It will be interesting to see where I end up, but if I can come this far in a year I'm fairly hopeful for where I will be another twelve months.
So here I am. I live in Bozeman and work as the advertising/publications sales manager for an outdoor magazine. I also do some writing and editing for them so I'm not completely out of the literary industry. I have a desk in front of a window and co-workers that I not only like, but enjoy working with. I like going to work in the morning, but I also like coming home at night. It's great to finally have that balance.
So now what? I used to post to this blog every day (it's easy to do when you don't have a social life and it's disgustingly cold outside) but life got busy and then it got weird. I needed some time off to reevaluate who I am, where I am and just what this blog is about. And now that I've done that I think I have a better grasp on it and on me. I'm not the same person I used to be, but I'm not that different either. Life is just altered and new.
Lucky me.
NC
I have a bit of announcement to make. It's been a long time coming, but being a fairly un-trusting individual (a couple years in corporate sales will do that to a person) I wasn't willing to post about it right away. But now, after oh, a whole freaking month, I feel it's high time I made it official: I, Nicole HAVE A REAL JOB. Yes, it's true--a legitimate, paying, health insurance included gig. No longer am I trapped in intern-hood at the age of 26. I am now employed. I know, I was shocked, too. But here I am: Employed, coupled, and living in Montana. And, if you can believe it, the craziest thing of all is that I AM HAPPY.
I believe the phrase you're searching for is "holy shit".
So here it is: the end of a year. I started on June 17, 2007 driving like a mad woman out of Oregon headed toward Wyoming to start a new life. I wanted freedom, anonymity, a fresh start and a new career. I wanted a better, healthier and happier life and frankly, I didn't care what I was giving up in the fabled, mythical land called Eugene, Oregon. Quite suddenly I went from being an employed pre-adult working in corporate sales to being a publications intern/cocktail waitress/dog and house sitter in Wyoming. Odd...to say the least.
Then I headed north, against better judgement (that judgement being to go back to Oregon for grad school instead of yet another internship) and found myself in the painfully frozen town of Bozeman, MT. And if there was a theme to go with my first six months in Montana, it would have been "rough starts". My internship, finding a second job, getting health and car insurance, finding a social life (never did quite get that one off the ground), my living situations and even my relationship with Jason, were all bumpy and painful or unpleasant to begin with. By February 15th I decided to throw in the towel and planned to leave on March 15th. But life happened and I ended up in Ohio helping to take care of my Mom and Dad and I completely forgot about plans to leave. I came back to Bozeman on the 14th exhausted, but somehow rejuvenated by gratitude. On the 15th, the day that I was supposed to be leaving Bozeman in a trail of frozen dust and neurotic cynicism, I started dating Jason. It's funny how life stepped in front of me the way it did. Sort of like a train hitting a brick wall... Anyway, after coming back from Ohio I wasn't going anywhere. And then in June the magazine I was interning with offered me a job and suddenly, I was living and working Bozeman, MT.
The day after meeting with my bosses over coffee and cheesecake I woke up with the strange sensation that I had been given a second chance. I was happy. HAPPY. Me, the girl who has been hopping from one fit of melancholy to the next since infancy, was content. Sure, I still had my daily freak outs and ranting fits (just ask Robin), but all and all, I was good. When I had left Oregon I had gone with the desire to land a job at an outdoor magazine. I wanted to be in a town that wasn't too big or too small; that had art, culture, entertainment and the outdoors spilling out its seems. I wanted to be in a place filled with natural beauty and surrounded by trails. I wanted to find a guy and fall in love. And much to my surprise, I found it.
That's not to say that I've reached some sort of pinnacle in life and that I'm done building and changing who I am. There are new goals that I'm working toward now. It will be interesting to see where I end up, but if I can come this far in a year I'm fairly hopeful for where I will be another twelve months.
So here I am. I live in Bozeman and work as the advertising/publications sales manager for an outdoor magazine. I also do some writing and editing for them so I'm not completely out of the literary industry. I have a desk in front of a window and co-workers that I not only like, but enjoy working with. I like going to work in the morning, but I also like coming home at night. It's great to finally have that balance.
So now what? I used to post to this blog every day (it's easy to do when you don't have a social life and it's disgustingly cold outside) but life got busy and then it got weird. I needed some time off to reevaluate who I am, where I am and just what this blog is about. And now that I've done that I think I have a better grasp on it and on me. I'm not the same person I used to be, but I'm not that different either. Life is just altered and new.
Lucky me.
NC
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Shacked Up Domestic Bliss
Last week a friend asked me what my days were like. "So what are you doing tomorrow? Tell me everything. What do your days look like now?" he asked me. And as I rattled off the details of my day, from the getting up around 7Am to fiddling with my little red french press at work, to stumbling on home, I realized just how different my life is from anything it has ever been. How strange. So what does my life look like now that I've settled in Montana?
This morning I'm sitting in the relative quiet of the house, sipping coffee with the windows and doors open. It SNOWED last week, so the mild and warm 54 degrees is a welcomed and pleasant change. After all, it is June so you would think we would be lapping up the heat by now, but not in Montana and not this spring. My roommates and Jason are all still sleeping upstairs so it's quiet except for the click of the clock and the birds outside. Jason put up a bird feeder yesterday while I was at work at the shoe store, so now little multi-colored birds are singing his praises from the edge of the yard. For my birthday, a friend of mine had given me a hanging plant for the porch, but a family of birds took up residence and laid five eggs (originally there were five blue eggs, but somehow that switched to two blue and one larger white one with brown spots. hmmmm.....), which then hatched into three baby birds. Jason now says that his bird feeder is feeding the parents, and he checks on the nest every day. The plant, of course, has since gone toes-up, but the baby birds are doing well.
Our veggie garden is sprouting up, almost so fast that I can see it grow. We planted it a couple weeks back with everything from beans to lettuce to watermelon along with the standard assortment of tomatoes, spinach and the requisite zucchini and squash. It's 13 x 50 feet so before I know it I'll be sorting, cleaning and storing vegetables at a pace I may or may not be able to keep up with. Last night we had our friends Max and Ariel over for dinner. Max (short of Massimiliano--he immigrated to the US from Italy when he met Ariel) stood there admiring the garden with me and remarked that when the basil and tomatoes comes it we'll have to call him over so that he can show us how to make 'some real Italian food'. Max and Ariel just found out this week that she's pregnant with a boy, so this fall there will be a little guy arriving that we'll all get to meet this fall.
Jason has woken up since I started writing this post. He's going through his bird book trying to figure out who is making the sing-song "heee-heee" noise in our yard. Apparently it's a Starling and it has friends. The bird family on our porch is of the House Finch variety, and earlier this morning he saw a Red-Wing Blackbird. Apparently we'll be going back to the Home Depot today (they're beginning to know us there) to buy a birdbath. In addition to that project, we'll be painting, spackleing, doing laundry, cooking out, cleaning, weeding, hiking, baking and vacuuming just to name a few things.
So today, that is my day. Simple, calm and lovely. Life is good.
Cheers,
NC
Song of the day: You Have Stolen My Heart by Dashboard Confessional
This morning I'm sitting in the relative quiet of the house, sipping coffee with the windows and doors open. It SNOWED last week, so the mild and warm 54 degrees is a welcomed and pleasant change. After all, it is June so you would think we would be lapping up the heat by now, but not in Montana and not this spring. My roommates and Jason are all still sleeping upstairs so it's quiet except for the click of the clock and the birds outside. Jason put up a bird feeder yesterday while I was at work at the shoe store, so now little multi-colored birds are singing his praises from the edge of the yard. For my birthday, a friend of mine had given me a hanging plant for the porch, but a family of birds took up residence and laid five eggs (originally there were five blue eggs, but somehow that switched to two blue and one larger white one with brown spots. hmmmm.....), which then hatched into three baby birds. Jason now says that his bird feeder is feeding the parents, and he checks on the nest every day. The plant, of course, has since gone toes-up, but the baby birds are doing well.
Our veggie garden is sprouting up, almost so fast that I can see it grow. We planted it a couple weeks back with everything from beans to lettuce to watermelon along with the standard assortment of tomatoes, spinach and the requisite zucchini and squash. It's 13 x 50 feet so before I know it I'll be sorting, cleaning and storing vegetables at a pace I may or may not be able to keep up with. Last night we had our friends Max and Ariel over for dinner. Max (short of Massimiliano--he immigrated to the US from Italy when he met Ariel) stood there admiring the garden with me and remarked that when the basil and tomatoes comes it we'll have to call him over so that he can show us how to make 'some real Italian food'. Max and Ariel just found out this week that she's pregnant with a boy, so this fall there will be a little guy arriving that we'll all get to meet this fall.
Jason has woken up since I started writing this post. He's going through his bird book trying to figure out who is making the sing-song "heee-heee" noise in our yard. Apparently it's a Starling and it has friends. The bird family on our porch is of the House Finch variety, and earlier this morning he saw a Red-Wing Blackbird. Apparently we'll be going back to the Home Depot today (they're beginning to know us there) to buy a birdbath. In addition to that project, we'll be painting, spackleing, doing laundry, cooking out, cleaning, weeding, hiking, baking and vacuuming just to name a few things.
So today, that is my day. Simple, calm and lovely. Life is good.
Cheers,
NC
Song of the day: You Have Stolen My Heart by Dashboard Confessional
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Rainy With a Chance of Damp
It's raining in Bozeman today (and will apparently keep going the rest of the week according to the weather forecast) and everything just looks so green. Bright, springtime lime green that you see just before things get hot. Last night we had high winds that were strong enough to flip the hot tub cover up into the air, fold it in half, slam it against the wall and then crash back down. The bowl of chicken I had placed there just moments before was also thrown through the air and we now have bbq sauce halfway up the side of the house. Yeehaw.
On Monday Jason and I went to see Barack Obama speak at the Field House here in Bozeman. It was crowded and hot since we were in the very last row near the ceiling, but we were still able to see him fairly clearly. He's a great public speaker and the crowd was all hyped up to see him. There was even an annoying group of people who was each holding a 6-foot tall Styrofoam letter, spelling out "BARACK 08". Of course they obscured the view for the fifteen rows behind them (us included), causing me to consider at one point just how hard I'd have to hit one of those letters before it broke.
And before going in to the auditorium I actually ran in to someone from high school--which is crazy for me considering I went to high school in Ohio. As I was standing in line waiting to go in I spotted Katy Red, a girl who was a year ahead of me in high school. We had a few frenzied moments of "how are you!" closely followed by a unison, "what are you doing in Montana?!". I got her phone number and I'll call to see if she has time for coffee one of these days. For those of you who know Katy, she's been in Montana for a couple years now, but will be going to South America in two months to finish grad school. Weird, huh?
Oh--and the shoe store totally kicked the coffee shop's butt in kick ball on Sunday. Though I have to say that I don't think we would have won without Jason. And considering I actually MISSED kicking ball once, it was dang good thing that he was there to make up for it. After the game we came home and took a ride around town on his motorcycle at sunset. Yep--you heard me. I had my very first motorcycle ride and it was AWESOME. *And yes, Ma, I did wear a helmet* To those of you whom I have ever scolded or nagged about riding a motor cycle, I apologize. They are just a great as you said they were and more.
In the meantime it's just life as usual...sort of. My internship is up at the end of June and hopefully I'll find out what's next in the near future. I'm nervous but excited. It will be nice to know what the next step is.
I've also decided to rescind my previous declaration to post every day. I just can't live up to it right now. So, I'll be posting as often as possible and doing it in a way that is actually meaningful as opposed to frenzied and crappy or not at all.
Okay--time to fall over and go to sleep.
Cheers,
NC
On Monday Jason and I went to see Barack Obama speak at the Field House here in Bozeman. It was crowded and hot since we were in the very last row near the ceiling, but we were still able to see him fairly clearly. He's a great public speaker and the crowd was all hyped up to see him. There was even an annoying group of people who was each holding a 6-foot tall Styrofoam letter, spelling out "BARACK 08". Of course they obscured the view for the fifteen rows behind them (us included), causing me to consider at one point just how hard I'd have to hit one of those letters before it broke.
And before going in to the auditorium I actually ran in to someone from high school--which is crazy for me considering I went to high school in Ohio. As I was standing in line waiting to go in I spotted Katy Red, a girl who was a year ahead of me in high school. We had a few frenzied moments of "how are you!" closely followed by a unison, "what are you doing in Montana?!". I got her phone number and I'll call to see if she has time for coffee one of these days. For those of you who know Katy, she's been in Montana for a couple years now, but will be going to South America in two months to finish grad school. Weird, huh?
Oh--and the shoe store totally kicked the coffee shop's butt in kick ball on Sunday. Though I have to say that I don't think we would have won without Jason. And considering I actually MISSED kicking ball once, it was dang good thing that he was there to make up for it. After the game we came home and took a ride around town on his motorcycle at sunset. Yep--you heard me. I had my very first motorcycle ride and it was AWESOME. *And yes, Ma, I did wear a helmet* To those of you whom I have ever scolded or nagged about riding a motor cycle, I apologize. They are just a great as you said they were and more.
In the meantime it's just life as usual...sort of. My internship is up at the end of June and hopefully I'll find out what's next in the near future. I'm nervous but excited. It will be nice to know what the next step is.
I've also decided to rescind my previous declaration to post every day. I just can't live up to it right now. So, I'll be posting as often as possible and doing it in a way that is actually meaningful as opposed to frenzied and crappy or not at all.
Okay--time to fall over and go to sleep.
Cheers,
NC
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Breezy Sunday
Today has been my first day off of work and at home in a month. Actually, it might be longer than a month. I love my Sundays. It's the one day a week that I'm not at work and the chance to sleep in, clean, cook something nice and drink coffee is a fabulous luxury. It's a time to breath and I love it.
Today Jason and I have been doing laundry and taking it fairly easy. I caught up with a friend on the phone and started making some plans for the end of June. It's been quiet and peaceful, and since it's a windy Montana afternoon the breeze is whipping through the house. There is a kick ball game that the shoe store I work for is in later this afternoon, and both Jay and I will be going. I'm terrible at sports, but apparently he is a kick ball bad ass so he'll just have to make up for my falterings. Just add it to the list of reasons why I like him so much.
Cheers,
NC
Today Jason and I have been doing laundry and taking it fairly easy. I caught up with a friend on the phone and started making some plans for the end of June. It's been quiet and peaceful, and since it's a windy Montana afternoon the breeze is whipping through the house. There is a kick ball game that the shoe store I work for is in later this afternoon, and both Jay and I will be going. I'm terrible at sports, but apparently he is a kick ball bad ass so he'll just have to make up for my falterings. Just add it to the list of reasons why I like him so much.
Cheers,
NC
Friday, May 16, 2008
Maybe Spring?
It snowed last week. Yep. Snow. And the warmest it's been is somewhere around sixty degrees. We're also high in elevation here so at night things can get pretty chilly. However, people still buy tee-shirts and flip flops as if summer just might happen so I've been holding out some degree of hope. Yesterday as I was driving home I looked up at the mountains and they were actually green. GREEN, as in not snow covered, or dried a putrid shade of dead grass beige. Nope. These hillsides are awake. And then there are all those flowers poking up here and there. They suggest that the weather should be warm and sunny, but somehow it's been cold and gray. Jason even went so far as to plant cheery little flowers in the garden. And yes, I do know that summer will eventually get here and all I have to do is be patient. But still, I can't help be surprised that today is sunny with a hint of warm.
Cheers,
NC
Cheers,
NC
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Hair Balls
I have no idea why, but this photo made me laugh hysterically:
K...now I'm going to fall over and go to sleep before I end up snoring on the laptop. Such is a hazard of writing late at night in bed.
Cheers,
NC
K...now I'm going to fall over and go to sleep before I end up snoring on the laptop. Such is a hazard of writing late at night in bed.
Cheers,
NC
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Title and Such
I am not a fan of titles. I can write an article just fine but coming up with a catchy, all-encompassing, this-is-what-this-article-is-about heading that will draw readers to actually stop and read what I've written? No. Not so much. This past week at work I've been trying like hell to come up with a title for a new column I'm working on but just about every idea I've had has been nixed by my boss. And rightfully so--most of them have been crap.
And I'm not a huge fan of subtitles either. All of my previous editors will gladly attest to this. Her? Oh she was alright, but damn it if she couldn't name what she'd written to same her life. However, I am good at throwing up lousy suggestions for editors to see explode on the floor. That way their minds can pick through the scraps for something that might inspire them to come up with a phrase which isn't overused,
But now here I am, in the comfort and security of my own blog, and I have no freaking clue what to subtitle to this thing. I'm sure it will hit me eventually. Something will pop into my head, or someone will say something at the coffee shop and it will start me thinking. It'll just tap me on the shoulder and there it will be. But for now I've got nothing.
NC
Monday, May 12, 2008
Uh huh...
Hi All,
Have you ever gone so long without talking to a friend or relative that you feel embarrassed to write or call so you just don't? You want to know how they're doing and to catch up on what life has been like, but you just feel so dang awkward about how long it's been that you just don't make that move to call. Yep. That's been me with this blog. However, I have heard rumblings from those who have been in the habit of reading this blog that I had better get back in the swing of daily posts. And by rumblings, I mean this email from Robin:
"You sure you haven't run off to Vegas to get swallowed by a giant hole with Jason while joining a motorcycle gang, donning those funny Groucho Marx glasses and changing your name to Esmeralda? My jonesin' for my daily dose of Nicki Moments must be met!"
Uh huh. Well, I agree. And now that things have sort of settled down in my life I am going to go back to the daily posts of this blog, but it's going to be a little different. Life has been changing a lot for me and because of that I haven't had the time to write, nor have I known what to write about. This blog has been about my nomadic life since I left Oregon last June. It's been about a girl who is trying to become a writer, works 50+ hours a week and mostly hangs out by herself in her off hours with a book, laptop, glass of wine and her roommate's dogs. It's been a single girl blithely living a crazy year of her twenties and...yatta...yatta...yatta... But now life is different and so am I. So what is the blog about now?
As most of you know, Jason and I moved in together on April 21st, just a couple days after Courtney moved to Bozeman. I've gone from being a single girl with a next-to-nothing social life, to a girlfriend who is quickly meeting all of her boyfriend's family and friends as well as hanging out with Courtney and building a social life with other new and exciting people. Life is nothing like it was a month ago and it just keeps changing. But that doesn't mean I get to stop carving out a little bit of time to write each day. So even though I'm not sure what my life is right now I'm just going to keep writing anyway. And when I figure out what the plan is, I'll certainly let you know.
The subtitle and header will be changing as will my bio and maybe my photo (that head shot is at least two years old now). It just doesn't seem to fit anymore. In the meantime, I need to get back to other projects, though I will be posting an update of what I've been doing, who I've met and what I've been working on these last few weeks either tonight or tomorrow in the early AM.
See you tomorrow,
NC
Song of the day: Girls and Boys by Ingrid Michaelson
Have you ever gone so long without talking to a friend or relative that you feel embarrassed to write or call so you just don't? You want to know how they're doing and to catch up on what life has been like, but you just feel so dang awkward about how long it's been that you just don't make that move to call. Yep. That's been me with this blog. However, I have heard rumblings from those who have been in the habit of reading this blog that I had better get back in the swing of daily posts. And by rumblings, I mean this email from Robin:
"You sure you haven't run off to Vegas to get swallowed by a giant hole with Jason while joining a motorcycle gang, donning those funny Groucho Marx glasses and changing your name to Esmeralda? My jonesin' for my daily dose of Nicki Moments must be met!"
Uh huh. Well, I agree. And now that things have sort of settled down in my life I am going to go back to the daily posts of this blog, but it's going to be a little different. Life has been changing a lot for me and because of that I haven't had the time to write, nor have I known what to write about. This blog has been about my nomadic life since I left Oregon last June. It's been about a girl who is trying to become a writer, works 50+ hours a week and mostly hangs out by herself in her off hours with a book, laptop, glass of wine and her roommate's dogs. It's been a single girl blithely living a crazy year of her twenties and...yatta...yatta...yatta... But now life is different and so am I. So what is the blog about now?
As most of you know, Jason and I moved in together on April 21st, just a couple days after Courtney moved to Bozeman. I've gone from being a single girl with a next-to-nothing social life, to a girlfriend who is quickly meeting all of her boyfriend's family and friends as well as hanging out with Courtney and building a social life with other new and exciting people. Life is nothing like it was a month ago and it just keeps changing. But that doesn't mean I get to stop carving out a little bit of time to write each day. So even though I'm not sure what my life is right now I'm just going to keep writing anyway. And when I figure out what the plan is, I'll certainly let you know.
The subtitle and header will be changing as will my bio and maybe my photo (that head shot is at least two years old now). It just doesn't seem to fit anymore. In the meantime, I need to get back to other projects, though I will be posting an update of what I've been doing, who I've met and what I've been working on these last few weeks either tonight or tomorrow in the early AM.
See you tomorrow,
NC
Song of the day: Girls and Boys by Ingrid Michaelson
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