Spring Into Action

There's something about springtime that just motivates that little part inside of me that wants to do, do, do!

I want to diet and lose weight.

I want to re-organize my house.

I want to cook.

I want to clean.

I want to walk my doggies.

I want to fulfill my church calling to the fullest.

I want to dance.

I want to blog.

I want to achieve the most at my job.

I just want to DO it all!

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May the [Fargo] Force be with you.

I attended my first hockey game last night. My office had a box at the Fargo Force game. Going into the game, I knew very little about hockey. I learned a lot.

Things I didn't expect to see at a hockey game:

• An organist. For some reason an organ feels like a baseball-only kind of instrument. Who knew.


• An indoor blimp. This was pretty sweet.


• A between-period tricycle race on the ice (four little kids). Big wheels don't drive very well on ice. It was like watching the mercedes try to drive in the winter.


• Actual fist-fighting. I kinda thought it would be like watching the WWE, kinda fake.

Things I didn't know about the game of hockey:

• There are very few rules. The only real rules that [appear to] exist are the ones that prevent you from actually maiming your competitor and not obstructing the justice of the puck. You can shove one another, kick the puck, catch the puck (if you immediately drop it on the ice), pretty much wreak havoc.


• The walls are a vital teammate in the game of hockey. They can be used to pass the puck, check a foe, stop the momemtum of a players movement, and protect the crowd.


• Hockey jerseys are called sweaters. We decided this must be a Canadian thing.


• Players can [seemingly] come and go from the ice as the please.


• When someone gets put in the penalty box, their team does not get to put another guy on the ice, but they have to play minus a player until that player's "time-out" is complete. At which point the announcer states that "The Force are back at full strength." I liked this.


• Hockey is way fun.

The Force won 3 to 1. They scored the 3rd goal right at the very end of the game (like last 10 seconds) when the other team had their goalie abandon ship to let an additional player try to score a game-tying goal.

I had a great time. I can definitely see more hockey enjoyment in my future.

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Girls' Night Out

On the menu for AP tonight:

• Rejuvinating 30 Minute Facial (Cleanse, Mask, Peptide Serum, and Moisturizer)
• Relaxing Neck Massage
• Make-up Application
• Diet Soda

All courtesy of Image Medi Spa. This is my first of four treatments that I magically get for $49 (for ALL four, not $49 a piece). Next time I get a peel, or microdermabraision, or laser hair removal...fantastic. I'm very excited for some pampering.

I'm going with a co-worker since we both agreed to buy the gift cards on the condition we'd go together, otherwise we'd wuss out and never go. It's going to be a lot of fun!

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The Wet Blanket

"Wet Blanket": n. A person who takes the fun out of a situation or activity, as by pessimism, demands, dullness, etc.

I explained to Geoff last night that I think I'm a wet blanket.

The conversation went like this:

Geoff: Huh?

Me: You've never heard that phrase? It's someone who sucks the fun out of everything.

Geoff: Really? I would think a dry blanket had more sucking power then a wet one.

Me: Psh. No, imagine this, you are ready to have a picnic, and you pull out the blanket to lay on the grass and it's wet. Ah, man, now the whole picnic is ruined because of the wet blanket.

Geoff: (smiles) I could see how a wet blanket would not be so desirable in that case.

Me: But, seriously, I'm a wet blanket. But I'm going to try to be more fun. I took you away from everyone - so I have to be that much more fun to make up for it.

But, seriously, guys. I tend to be that person.

Ya know -

In high school I was that girl in the back seat telling you to slow down, or that I had to get home by midnight (not because I was going to get in trouble if I was late, I was just that person), or that my parents were out of town, so we couldn't hang out at my house.

In college, I was that girl who never missed an assignment and wouldn't sneak around campus with my roomies late at night.

On the freeway, I'm the one never going more than 5 over the speed limit, and my heart makes a getaway from my chest into my throat any time a police officer is within my sights. Even though I'm not doing anything wrong.

I'm the one who drove around the river with Geoff on Friday and refused to get out of the car and investigate with him. For no other reason, then I'm that person.

I'm not saying I want to start speeding down the freeway or disregard good judgment, but I think there's a time and a place to say "let's do it!"

So - I'm gonna start today. Let's do it!

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Recently in Fargo

Okay, so I have really nothing much to say. But I know that inquiring minds out there wonder what's going on out here in Far to the Go, so here's a little update.

Rom has embraced his love for the balcony. If given the choice, he will sit out there all day and just stare. Sometimes people walk by, or cars drive around, but for the most part, I've got no idea what he finds so interesting. Must be that schnauz of his, smelling all the delcious smells. [Please note: This photo was taken over a week ago, 90% of that snow is now gone.]

Rubio has yet to embrace the balcony. You see, it is made of slats of wood, and each time Rubio reaches the end of a slat, he seems certain he is about to fall to his [untimely] death. We'll wean him into it.

Geoff and I hunkered down and got the final room in the house (his office) organized. We've lived here long enough now, that our stuff had started creeping out from its' hiding places and invading our living area. Now we have "a place for everything, and everything in it's place" (quick, name that movie).

Work is going just swimmingly for me. I'm really settling into a nice pace and feeling more confident helping clients on the phone and testing out the software and writing training manuals. Geoff's new pharmacy is fantastic and him and his pharmacy peeps are getting into the swing of things.

The flood has remained at bay and no dikes or levees have given way to the tons of water pressing upon them. In about a week we should be clear of any flood warnings and can start letting spring in!

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Ode to Mama G

A picture really is worth a thousand words, Mama G. I know you love these guys...but in Fargo, they have HEADS.

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Confessions

I have some confessions I've been meaning to get off my chest:

1) I LOVE the ABC Family show Make it or Break it. Geoff doesn't mind that I like it because he can sit next to me and play violent video games while I catch up on the latest episode.

2) If Disney created her, I like her music. This includes (but is not limited to) Aly and AJ, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale. (Although I am trying to act like a grown up and try out some new music. Mika is AMAZING).

3) I regularly feel bad for inanimate objects. If there's a misshapen teddy bear for sale, I feel bad as I walk past and really want to buy him because what if no one else ever does and he is an outcast and never gets any love....

4) I'm currently obsessed with self help books. I have read 2 in the last week and I'm on number 3.

5) I own 5 items from the Miley Cyrus/Max Azria collection from Wal-Mart.

Don't judge me. Please.

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Philanthropic Parkers

Geoff and I joined the Allegiance Software team on Monday as volunteers for Prairie Public (the local PBS station). They are in the middle of their pledge drive, so we took pledges. It was a good time. And, we got to have this snazzy picture on TV. Hello. First our apartment is on the web, then my picture is on a poster at BYU...and now, local TV? Fantastic.

I'm practically famous.

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Pros and Cons of the Weekend

Pros of our Trip to Minneapolis:

1) Fantastic hotel room for the price of a smelly, unwashed room.

2) A four-story mall with a theme park in the middle and an aquarium underneath.

3) Free refills on Diet Mt. Dew as long as we didn't lose our cups and didn't mind walking back to the same stop to get the refill.

4) A much welcome break from regular life and a "honeymooner" feeling in the air.

5) IKEA.

Cons:

1) We didn't buy nearly enough stuff. ;-)

2) Leaving our poor dogs at the evil kennel.

3) No hot tub at the hotel.

Overall we had a FANTASTIC weekend and I actually felt rejuvinated and ready for Monday to roll around.

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Hauling @$$

So, Geoff and I have got ourselves a pretty nifty home gym setup going on. We found (at a local pawn shop) a Bowflex. Geoff was super excited to have one, and this was a killer deal, so we bought it right up. With the Passat out of commission, we went to pick up our Bowflex in the Mercedes. I have an, admittedly, poor sense of sizing, apparently, because I was sure the Bowflex would fit without a problem in the Merc. And, while it did fit, it did hang out a bit in the back.

The helpful young man who sold us the Bowflex grinned a bit when we pointed him in the direction of our two-door coupe to haul home our fitness equipment. This reminded me of a story I don't believe I ever told you, dear readers.

When Geoff and I purchased our treadmill, the whole evening was quite an ordeal. We wanted to finance it on a Walmart card because my work was going to reimburse us in monthly installments for the treadmill, and we just wanted to apply that money toward the card, rather then fork out the dough up front. But, we ran into some issues getting a card that night. We had to wait to get the card in the mail to make a purchase, but Geoff was leaving town the next day, so waiting meant we wouldn't get the treadmill for a long time. Anyway, after 45 minutes of discussion with the helpful Walmart folks, we finally paid cash. All the while, two male Walmart associates stood by with our treadmill waiting to load it into our car.

They weren't expecting to watch Geoff pull around in the Passat. "Is THAT him?" the young associate asked me. "Yup" I replied, thinking nothing of it. At this point I looked up from my receipt just in time to catch the look on his face. I've always known what incredulous meant, but I'd never actually seen it before.

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