the good that won't come out

My world has sort of been a mess as of late. Its been really hard for me to keep in touch with people lately, and I'm not always the best at dividing my attention between people. For example, its very easy for me to get caught up with my friends at work, because I'm guaranteed to see them on a regular basis while we're at work. Outside of that -especially because my schedule is so opposite most people's- I've been feeling a lot of the stress that comes from not being able to see or talk to some of you as much as others. That being said, I apologize if I have fallen out of touch with some of you. It is not at all intentional, and please don't take it personally.

This week was a bit hectic. As most people are aware, Madison has been pretty crazy this past week with all the political stuff that is going on. I am decidedly apolitical, so this is a bit out of my realm. But I know a lot of people [my parents, for example] who are very closely affected by what is going on, whether it is that the bill personally affects their own union rights or whether their job entails them to be at the protests. It is a constant thread of discussion everywhere I go [especially at work, because I work with a lot of very politically minded people].

This weekend was particularly busy. On Friday I went out to lunch with a friend. [We wanted to go to a a really good burger place off of State St. but weren't able to get in because it was packed with protestors.] Afterwards, I went home and took a nice, lonnng nap which was very overdue after the busy week. Saturday I had to be up early (for me) to meet Marley for coffee. That was one of the most personally important events recently, because Marley and I have not been able to see or talk to each other much over the past three weeks. We chatted for almost 2 hours, trying to get caught up. It was just so nice to be able to see her. Afterwards,  my mom came down to spend the afternoon with Alyssa and I. We ordered pizza and breadsticks and hung around at my apartment for a few hours. Saturday night was especially exciting, because Steph, Lisa, Alyssa, and I got together to have another Sisters Night! We've been wanting to get together to go out for a drink now that Alyssa is 21. So we went out to a bar downtown famous for their Fishbowls. We shared one of those and went out for some burritos before heading back to Alyssa's house to hang out for a little while longer.

Me, Lisa, Alyssa, and Steph

As usual, I was sort of looking forward to my work week starting again,  because it means a little respite from my crazy weekends. Work is going to be pretty busy this week, and it'll be followed by another intense weekend of plans, so I am going to try and get a bit more sleep this week. ;)

I am off to do some reading [which I am way behind on] while I finish up my glass of pinot grigio.

borne on the fm waves of the heart

Spring is approaching at a much faster pace than I'd like. If we could go straight from the wonderland of winter to the freshness of spring, I would be happy. But there is that seemingly endless period where the mountains of snow melt into rivers of muck, and it makes me really unhappy.

BUT a lot has been going on lately which has been keeping me very busy, and I've been spending my time with people who keep a permanent smile on my face.

One of the best things to happen this past weekend was my first live show in a longggg time. [Far, far too long.] I saw Against Me! on Saturday night. This is one of my favorite bands, and they have been one of my top plays over the past year. I've never seen them live before, so this show was especially exciting to me. I originally had plans to see them with Marley, but she wasn't able to go after getting sick. Luckily I was able to bring Steph along last minute. It was one of the best experiences I've had in a long time. It was so awesome to see Against Me! live; they show was phenomenal. Their stage presence was super-intense which is one of the biggest things for me. They also played a large variety from all of their albums which was nice. And, most importantly, Steph and I had a bonding experience over our love for punk rock - it's always hard to find another girl [especially a friend as close as Steph is] who really loves punk the way I do, so we had an amazing time. 


And, lastly before I head off to bed...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

winding down

This week has been quite a whirlwind.  With the big snowstorm this week, work was ridiculously busy. I ended up picking up some extra hours on Wednesday and worked from 11 am to about 1130 pm. In addition to it being an extremely long shift, I was running on only about 4 hours of sleep. But I survived the day, earned a little extra money, and made it to work and home again safely.

I did get into a few debates where I had to defend my undying love for snow. I firmly stand my ground - I love snow. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but the sheer magnitude of the snow with this last storm was incredible. My only concession in this whole argument came after my drive home from work on Tuesday night. It normally takes me about 7 minutes to get home at night, but on Tuesday it took about 40 minutes. I didn't go more than 20 mph, and there were times when I could not see past the end of the car. However, it was never once the fault of the snow; it was allllll the wind.


Wednesday night, despite being exhausted after my extended, sleep-deprived work day, I stayed up extra late to chat with my friend, Joanna, who is currently teaching English in China with her husband Tomek. Steph came over and we video chatted on Skype. It is so awesome to not only be able to talk to close friends who live so far away, but also to be able to see them. We were able to see their apartment, but it also feels like you're sitting in the same room talking. So that was really nice for the 3 of us to get together like that. 


Friday I did some shopping with Alyssa and after taking her home, I had a friend over. We played some board games and got distracted by lots of different things, and I ended up not going to bed until 830am. Oops! Luckily I was able to sleep for a good portion of the day before beginning the best part of this week: Alyssa's 21st Birthday!


We did a little more shopping on Saturday evening and then the two of us grabbed some dinner. She had a  few friends over to celebrate before we went out to the bars at midnight. Afterwards,  I spent the night at Alyssa's. Sunday morning mom took Alyssa and I out for brunch and Bloody Marys. [I had requested off several weeks ago for this Sunday, purely to be able to celebrate Alyssa's birthday.] In the evening I went over to Alyssa's house again, where her and her roommates had a Superbowl party. Despite getting ridiculously nervous in the last quarter of the game, it was super exciting to see the Packers win the Superbowl!!! [And let's be honest, Alyssa couldn't have asked for a better 21st birthday present.] Afterwards we went out to the bars again to celebrate a little. One of the greatest things about living in Madison is that there is so much hometown [home state?] pride - we walked outside and we could hear and see people throughout the downtown area out in the streets celebrating the victory. Go Pack Go!


I can't believe that my little baby sister is completely grown up, and it was soooooo nice to be able to celebrate so much with her this weekend. One more time [because you can never celebrate a birthday too much]:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSSA!!!!!

Now I'm off to bed to hopefully recoup!