Looky At What I Found!!!

So, I mentioned my 7th grade school picture a bit ago. I decided to look for it, so I went over to my photo boxes and thought to myself, "Oh great. This is going to take forever to find." I opened up the first box and what was laying right on top?? You guessed it! My 7th grade photo! It was like my past self knew that my future self would be looking for it. I'm so helpful that way.

Without further ado:


Seriously. What's with my smile? I know I'm smiling without showing my teeth because I have braces...but what's with the crookedness? Huh. Nice shirt, too, eh? :) So Laura, now you know what I was trying to recreate while making my mii.

I keep wanting to prepare food items that require milk. Which shouldn't be a problem because I have milk in my refrigerator. But which IS a problem because said milk has gone sour. Ew.

This is not a good week to be a substitute teacher. Not many (or any) jobs to be had.

What's with the weather? First, it was mega-foggy for like a week. Last Sunday, this fog caused 2 major accidents on I-90 right around the beltline entrance. Over 100 cars were involved, a couple people died, and 4 hospitals were involved with taking in victims. I think most were fairly minor injuries, but still. This stretch of I-90 was closed until Monday morning.

Then it was raining for 2 days. Seriously, rain in January?? In Wisconsin??? It was 50 friggin' degrees the other day! Unnatural. Then, on Monday (I think it was Monday...maybe it was Tuesday) there were tornado touchdowns in SE Wisconsin (Kenosha County). Wha???? If rain is weird in January, tornadoes are even weirder! Huh. It finally got a bit sunny yesterday and today. Good. Winter is depressing enough without the weather making it as drab as humanly possible (if one were to personify weather...such as in the form of Mother Nature).

The Panty-less Umbrella Wielder
Flag unable to be fully raised

Am I a bad person for not knowing why flags are flying at half-mast? I noticed it on my drive back to Madison today and had to look it up online. I'm still not completely clear as to why--is it because it's (around) the 1 year anniversary of President Ford's death? Seems weird to me. For how many years do you fly a flag at half-mast on the anniversary of a president's death? It seems like flags would have to be constantly flying at half-mast. Huh.

I watched the presidential candidates' debate tonight. I watched the Republican debates on mute. From the tiny bits I actually listened to, I came to the conclusion that I hate Mitt Romney (and his name) and prefer Giuliani and McCain over Huckabee.

I actually watched and listened to all of the democratic debate. Richardson annoys me. He rambled on way too much. I'm "blah" regarding Edwards. I'm still unclear as to whom I like more--Clinton or Obama. They didn't really delve into any issues in this debate where they had a big difference of opinion. Obama speaks very well--he appears very presidential. Clinton said "ah" and "um" too many times. It was distracting.

The Onion has a couple of good headlines at the moment:

Area Family's Trip To New Hampshire Sparks Rumors Of Presidential Bid

McCain To Send Self Back To Vietnamese POW Camp To Revitalize Campaign

Giuliani To Run For President Of 9/11

The last is my personal fave.

I was reading an article about Britney Spears (I know, I apologize). It was funny because 1) Apparently Dr. Phil spoke with her and is very concerned. I don't know why I find this so humorous. I mean, Dr. Phil. He like, does stuff in real life and not just on talk shows? And 2) Check out the concluding paragraph:

Spears and Federline married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

I mean, yeah. Sad and all (I guess), but it also kind of sounds like an snl sketch or something.

Happy New Year!!!
How long will it take me to get used to writing 2008?

This New Year's Eve I drove to the Twin Cities and went over to Laura and Michael's apartment with Liz. It was fun. We played Guitar Hero, SingStar (or something...I can never remember the name of it), and some sports games on Wii. It was funny making a mii of me on the Wii. I dubbed it my 7th grade picture mii, since the smile we chose was my 7th grade photo smile. I should put a picture of it up here if I can find it... I was very excited because I successfully graduated from 'easy' to 'medium' on Guitar Hero. Hey, it was only my 2nd time playing! I came in last in bowling, but won the baseball game vs. Liz and even had a 3-run homer. Woo-hoo!!!

Here's the gang, sporting the New Year's gear I brought over. And drinking the $5 bottle of champagne I bought earlier. I'm all about quality. Plus, we all flew to the Swedish fjords for a quick New Year's snapshot. That was a hoot. And a holler.

Christmas in Rochester
During which I was one of the lucky few who didn't get the Christmas Flu

So, we celebrated Christmas. The extended family came over. We played some games. Revelry was had. We opened presents. Yay. Here're some pics:

Brian and Nora:

Brian, Shannon, Nora, and Riley:

Riley, playing with her new tool set while wearing necklaces from her new dress-up bin:

Why Wicket Deserves All the Treats She Wants
Cruelty to animals?

Wicket is a California dog. She does not like the cold Minnesota weather and snow. Therefore, she does not go on walks. So, my mom bought her a sweater and little tiny boots. Yeah. To say that Wicket doesn't like to wear clothing is an understatement. And boots? Even worse. Apparently my mom has a video of this. I should find it and post it.


As if that weren't humiliation enough, prior to leaving for Australia, Sunny had made her a jazzercise outfit. Out of one of those stretchy gloves. Fingers = leg warmers. Wrist part = head band. Hand part = shirt. She wouldn't move. No jazzercise for Wicket.



And to appease Sarah, here is a pic of my new haircut. Although 1) I posted a pic of me on New Year's where I have my new haircut, and 2) I'll probably see Sarah soon, anyway. Whatev.