out of towners

Well, Joe and I are headed to the good ol' city of Duluth this weekend! I am really excited to see the buds and roam around our old stomping grounds. The cabaret show is this weekend so we will check that out on Saturday night. Fun times. I concur marmar I think theatre as well as grey. You're a trend settin kinda gal, I think whatever you say might just catch on...remember cock in the box or more lovingly referred to as cack in the bax. Hmmm, I suppose that wasn't your initial phrase but it started with good ol' marmar. I talked to Coe at the bar the other night and we are in agreement that a 'crew' reunion is necessary in the near future. Dana Johnson was there too, weird....he's a crazy coot. But I think we should plan such a shindig (in Reid fashion). What do you guys think? For old times sake we need to gather the troops. I wonder how successful we would be at getting everyone together. God that would be fun. We'll have to brainstorm. Miss you guys! Love, anna

i heart gypsies

grey.

definitely grey. how about theater or theatre. i'm with theatre. but i can't yet pull off 'colour.' maybe if i was creamy crackers.

i'm taking a day off from life and skiing at Big Sky today with my aunt/uncle/cousins staying down here at "Gary's Big Sky Condos." There's this 8x10 photo of Gary, the apparent owner of the condo, on the wall in his 1972 ski attire just cruisin down the slopes. Gary's a pretty swell guy from what we gather, we're just a few steps from the slopes and Gary got us access to the sweet outdoor/indoor pool and spa at the ritzy resort across the way. Gary's really hooked us up. we may invite Gary to our next family shin-dig.

birdfluappoc-eclipse?

did you get so see the solar eclipse em? or maybe it wasn't in your hemisphere either. but i see the bird flu is. mind the swans around prague...

alltogethernow "hi joe!"

i think i speak for the rest of the blog group when i say "welcome joe" (said in the spirit of group therapy, unison style)

p.s. using my dictionary.com word-of-the-day your super xc ski excursion is but an invidious reminder of what i haven't done lately. there it is. invidious. good word. and i would have to agree morels are tastier than antler sheds

I'm here. Really I am

Okay. I'm on. I made a comment on Marmar's last story but I'm not sure it worked. Check it out. I wrote quite a bit so I won't worry about writing too much here...

If you all can't see anything from me, well, I guess I'll just try again later!

Glad to be connnected, as it were, to you all!

JOE

and that was the highlight of my day

so i'm sitting at the kitchen table sizing A36 steel beams yesterday evening when the power goes out. no biggie, not yet dark. look outside big kitchen window and see the electric men in the alley: one monkey man shimmying up the power pole with spiked shoes, and the other regulator man 20 feet up in air but safe in the box at the end of the extended arm of big truck. they're pulling wires, pounding spikes, replacing the transformer, just doin what they do. i'm enthralled, half waiting for one to light up like christmas lawn ornament, fall, or swing tarzan style from lines. none of this happens but a huge claw raises up a new transformer and electric men put it in place. my roommates and buddy have since gathered to see the tightrope performance and we crowd the kitchen window of my dim house as me teapot gets cold. they (assumedly) successfully affixed the new transformer, played with some more lines then brought out a long rod. electric monkey man shimmied down through the barrage of wires below (a dazzling performance) and, with the rod of magic, box man reached up and with the simple flip of a ridiculously obvious lever our lights, music, and teapot were back in the game. at this beautiful finale we all cheered, i punched the air out of joy, relief, excitement, and electric box man looked down toward our window, 2 backyards away...and gave us a sweet thumbs up and grin.

pataterbonanashmemarjoe

cream crackered

Just leared a great peice of British slang I thought you guys would enjoy, "cream crackered" it means drunk. hehe speaking of kirks avisiting right now and I think he and I might just work at doing that tonight. love to you all, em

Am I cut out for this...

Hey girls! Katie it is so fun having you on the blog! I love hearing your stories and I can hear your voice in your writing! Well, I continually ask myself weather or not I am cut out for this whole grad school thing and haven't come up with an answer. I struggle, but things are looking somewhat up. My stats exam is tomorrow and that can definitely make or break me in a sense. You see, I have to get a B or higher in all of my classes or I have to retake them. This one is definitely on rough ground. If I have to take stats over it might mean that I can't study in Denmark next year so you see how it is kinda getting me down. But some good news traveled my way this weekend. I might be able to be a teachers assistant for a young naturalist program this summer as well as a TA for an environmental ethics course that goes to the boudary waters for a week... I will let you know how that turns out. Nothing is even close to being for sure yet. So yesterday was Jake Miller's wedding. Do any of you remember him? He was Jesse's friend from Kansas? Anyway, I called him up and had a nice chat, haven't spoken to him in years. We travelled to the Canyon together back in the day. Speaking of which dad and eric get home today from the canyon, apparantly they had an exquisit time! I just got done writing a letter of recommendation for Reid's Peace Corps application! It was a tad stressful because I had never written one before and I don't want to be responsible for him not getting accepted but it was mostly fun because I got to try to explain to someone who didn't know him all of his wonderful characteristics. Well, life for me has had its ups and downs lately, but I find release when I come here and get to read how all of my girls are doing! Katie, I hope you got my message, I tried calling you this morning but got the answering machine, we'll have to connect soon! Love you guys!
anna

I like tater-tots

Leave it to Katie to make a fashionable late entrance. So good to hear from you it has been too fricken long. I was walking down the street last weekend listening to my i-pod and Lauren Hill's version of killing me softly came on and I tear came to the corner of my eye. I keep have those moments while I'm away. Do you guys ever have those where something reminds you of someone and for that moment you miss them really intensly and then it goes away. i have to say on the whole I've been so busy that I haven't had too much time to be very homesick, and lately going home has started to mean facing the reality of my future so I've been dreading it, but those moments happen often, especially when I haven't talked with some of you in months. Anyway enough schmaltz. I just have to say that when I read Anna's last post she said and I quote "I told marit but em, I regret to inform you that Joe and I-" and then it continued on to the next line but for a split second before I read the next line I thought she was going to say split up. Because on the line before you talked about being really bad off, with school and work and not enough water :) So while I'm really dissapointed we won't have a our european adventure I am relieved you and Joe are still together. I confident that we will make to europe together, I can picture you and me in Italy when we're old women feeding the cats in Rome and checking out the hot Italian boys while we eat a lot of Gelatto -becuase at that point we'll be so old that we won't care about our figures then.
So the news for me, I've felt ultra mega busy lately kinda like I'm back at school doing the 21 credit three job thing. Can't wait to be done teaching - 2 more weeks after this week. So, I have spent the whole of this week doing the school play, Medea, a greek tradgedy, but the really tradgedy has been the fricken red back drop that has been the bane of my exsistance for the last couple days, first a I had to drag a czech student around with me to go to fabric stores to get the amount of fabric I needed (I don't know if Katie feels this way but I am excited to be around english speakers again for a while, sometimes the simplist thing, like wieghing banans at the grocery store becomes an ordeal with the language barrier)Anyway, the performance is tomarrow and the backdrop is being hung in the gym while I type this. I have to try to buy some fake blood tonight, for the mass slaughter of the year two's tomarrow. It's been fun, the kids are so cute in their little white togas.
~changing subjects: Yesterday I had to give my favorite student, Tung, detention becasue he didn't do his homework for me. That was hard, he's such a sweetie. He gave me a rose for international womens week.
Hmmm what else... Last weekend we had a surprise party for my cooperating teacher.Than he and I went dancing at a gay club and when I was leaving someone definitely grabbed my ass. Is that an insult or a compliment at a gay club? Yikes, this is going to be a hurried post because I need to get going. I'll write some more when life slows down a little. -Hey Kirks coming to see me tomarrow, he'll be here for a week, really looking forward to that, he's one of those Duluthians i really miss. Ok gots to go. -Anna I'm going to try to call you this weekend. I want to hear how you are. -Katie go on your hot mexican date, and where lots of red. Marit make oatmeal raisen cookies and watch ,movie this weekend. this is my parting advice to you all. Miss you more than words can say. Em

Welcome Potato

Hey Katies here!! YAY, we are that much more close to becoming complete. I have to say you guys, I miss you all so much it makes me physically ill sometimes. Marit, the talk we had on Sunday couldn't have come at a better time. you really helped me through a tough time. It just makes me realize how lucky I am to have all of you. Thank you for everything girls! You help keep me going in even the most devistatingly depressing times. I told marit but em, I regret to inform you that Joe and I aren't going to be able to make it to europe this spring. There is just no way we can afford it right now, which totally sucks. I am really sorry and can't wait until summer (folk fest!) when we can reconnect, share adventures and laugh. Things are rough right now with my Stats class and my job getting me totally stressed out. But I am restructuring my life hardcore and it is helping quite a bit. Studying, working out and drinking water, who would have guessed common sense would prove to be such an epiphany. I tell you after being in school my whole life I am just now learning how to be a student. Pretty crazy. Anyway, enough for now, I must return to work. I love you girls!

boklava rocks my world

hey gals,
It feels so good to be done. That peter guy left yesterday. My lesson he observed went really well. I got glowing reviews. My year sevens were so well behaved it almost looked fake. I'd ask a question and all ten hands would shoot up I set them to work on a project and it was completely silent. I never thought of myself as the type that would get overly attached to her students but these kids really are lovely. Last night our school had an international evening and I think it's been my favorite night here. It's a really big deal at the school all the parents and students put a lot of work into. The best way I can describe it is a huge international potluck. There were probably fifty some tables set up and each nationality had their own table and equiped with ethnic cuisine and drink. My favorite drink was a tie between this honey liguor from uzbeickestan and sangria from spain. And my favorite food is so hard to pick, the boklava was deliscious and really good spring roles from vietnam and sushi from Japan. Wow i had never seen so much food and drink free for the taking. It could have been the best night of my life. I'm afraid the American table didn't really represent. There was a bucket of KFC and some choclate chip cookies Leah and I baked. Anyway I did a lot of celebrating last night and have been a pretty hungover teacher today -grrrr. So after friday I only have four more weeks in the school I can hardly beleive it, times been a flying. Hope everything is going well on your ends. ~Em

Consciencsious Imbeciles

Hello Hello, been busy typing up lesson plans and giving the illusion that I am a very organized well put togather person. That lame Peter dude I wrote about earlier is here to observe Leah and I teach this week. He observed Leah today and then I'm up on Thursday. So in my ESL lesson today I was trying to explain what thorough meant. I was impromtu writing a definition on the board and one really shy kid suggests consciencsious as a way to define someone who is thorough -there was no way I was going to spell that word correctly on the board and so I told him "that's not quite right" -even though the definition was right on. I'm affraid I'm becoming a fraud of an Eglish teacher who can't spell. any tips? So I have to go out to dinner with this big bafoon. Leah and I are ordering a large bottle of wine on him. I'll keep you posted as to how my lesson on Thursday goes. It's hard to beleive that after that observation I'll be pretty much free as far as obligations to the University go. Miss you guys. I've been in hybernation mode the last couple of days lots of napping and reading. just started Quarters of an Orange by ???Harris -the girl who wrote Chocolat. A lovely book for anyone looking a get away from their studies. Miss you gals.

glory bound biscuit hound

pataterbonanashmemarjoe: February 2006

v successful martin concert. so great. probably the highlight of my life since christmas vacation. just great. then to a banff mountain film festival last night, collection of short films. my favaorite short, apart from the multitudes of attractive young men pseudo-succeeding at extreme sports, was biscuit and felix the rock climbing dogs. these pups are ridiculously good at bouldering. probably better than i'll ever be. maybe someday i'll meet biscuit the rock climbing wonder dog...

but until then i'm looking forward to a weekend at studio about as much as being trapped in a room swarming with woodland caribou provincial park mosquitos. then going to check out a new allegedly irish pub tonight. should be good.

here's to you my loves...

glory bound biscuit hound

most successful martin concert! so excellent. probably the highlight of my life since christmas vacation. i went to a banff mountain film festival night of short films last night and decided my favorite short, apart from the multitudes of attractive young men pseudo-succeeding at extreme sports, was of biscuit and felix the rock climbing dogs. they're seriously good at bouldering. probably better than i'll ever be. i wish i could meet biscuit the rock climbing wonder dog...

looking forward to my weekend at studio about as much as being trapped in room swarmed with woodland caribou provincial park mosquitos. but we're going to go check out a new supposedly irish bar tonight. should be good.

Hey girls!
I couldn't be more excited for you Marmar! Martin Sexton....what a historic figure in our childhood! I wish I could be with you to experience this momentous ocasion! Speaking of firsts, I had my first truely beurocratic meeting this week with a foundation who might fund my summer work. Wow, was that a headache. So much jargon I don't understand! I am playing around with the idea of living in a tent this summer which would be pretty sweet. I don't know yet. It might prove to be more trouble than not. Mar-I am so excited you will be home cause that is my spring break as well! I am going to Rochester for a workshop on Wed but I should be home the rest of the week! We will definitely have to take advantage of that! I can't wait to see you! Em- I can't wait to get our tickets and solidify our plans for may!!! I will talk to you later!