Quickest Update Ever

Work: Busy as heck. New class is probably roughly the same size as last year's record-breaker. Final count will be official next week. Coworkers still annoy me but the actual work is fulfilling.

School: Grad school online classes started this week. Financial Management is no good. Interpersonal Communication feels like busy work and forced, unstructured forum conversations. Glad to be doing it, but hope it improves!

Fitness: Alma has free fitness classes at lunch. Kickboxing and strength training are my favorites. May try step aerobics. My body hurts. Still have two mountain bike races to go, but training efforts have been weak.

Faith: Went to church with a friend and realized I really like Northpointe. Looking forward to being home on the weekends and starting a small group. Trying to be a better Christian.

Music: Please tell me you've checked out Third Day's new album, Revelation. Love it. Want to marry Mitch for a second time and dance to Born Again for our first dance.

House: Offer rejected. Didn't dampen my spirits. The right one is out there. Don't have time to pack up the apartment right now, anyway.

Politics: Is the election over yet? Campaign ads are annoying. McCain/Palin 2008.

I love: Fall. My new sweaters from J. Crew. My strangely affectionate cat. Marching bands. Alma's new student section, the Cole Mine (it's named for Coach Cole). Fresh apples. Erwin's doughnuts. Hot apple cider. Cold nights. Cuddling with that guy I married. :)

Girls Day with New Friends

I am really looking forward to Saturday. Yeah, I have to work and attend part of the Alumni Board meeting, but after that I am getting together with some super-fun girls for an afternoon of shopping, an evening of dinner and a night of movies and drinks!

As an introvert masquerading as an extrovert, making friends - good friends - always feels more challenging to me. This year, however, I was blessed to make the acquaintance of Amanda, a fellow Alma employee. She is so friendly, outgoing and welcoming that she's made it easy for a friendship to grow and, in the process, I've met other women she's charmed and drawn together. So, while Mitch heads down to Matt's for a guys' day, we've planned our own girls day. I'll join Amanda, her twin sister and two other colleagues from Alma, and we'll shop for fall clothes, chow down at P.F. Chang's and eventually head back to my apartment to relax for the rest of the night. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Mitch just asked if I was writing about him and was disappointed when I said no. So now I'm writing about him. Today, he made me burrito casserole for dinner and then used the fajita shells to give himself giant elephant ears. He even made elephant sounds. Then he took me to the library but said I took too long picking out my books. I love the library, though; why would anyone want to rush through such a wonderful place? He says I don't need to write about him anymore, so I guess that means he wants to rub my feet now. :)

Welcome Back to the 21st Century!

After almost a year of watching no more than four fuzzy channels thought the rabbit ears, we finally have cable TV. And wahoo, we got it just in time for the season premiere of Bones!

Actually, it never really mattered whether we had TV or not. We still don't have any fun channels, like Discovery or History, but we got what we needed: a real Internet connection. Since grad school officially begins on Saturday, this was a must-have. Now we can return to buying songs on iTunes, too!

In other news, we put an offer in on a house last week. Yeah, I know I should have written about it earlier but the chance of us actually getting it is slim to none. It's a beautiful, amazingly priced home but our offer is most likely too low (as our realtor has felt the need to tell us multiple times). Still, we tossed it out there and expect to hear within a few days. I'll be sure to post if, by some miracle, the news is good.

The logistics of the house thing and my duties with the Orientation Committee took most of my attention last week. Yes, Preterm is over and the entire student body has returned. How are things looking? Well, we have virtually the same size incoming class as last year, which, if you remember, was a record-breaking event. The College is handling the numbers quite well - one of these days, I'll post about Dr. Tracy's vision for 2012...it's interesting.

OK, now I'm just typing for the sake of typing. I'll spare you any more rambling - good night!

Tech Toys and Tight Turns

Let's begin with the latter: last weekend's race at Maybury State Park was a smashing success! Well, there wasn't really that much smashing - just one crash when I was a bit heavy on my front brake and toppled sideways over my right handle. The damage was limited to a pretty, late-forming bruise on my lower leg and a chunk out of my new grips.

I got third place, but the big achievement of the day goes to Mitch who got first place by three seconds. Here he is with Rick...both got medals and cash prizes for having the two fastest times in the whole beginning class:



Rick started thirty seconds ahead of Mitch, per the time trial format. They each had only on respective thought for the entire eight and a half-mile course:

Summary of Rick's race: He's catching me!

Summary of Mitch's race: He's pulling away!

Now onto the "tech toys" part of the post: in preparation for all the online work I'll be doing for grad school, we bought a MacBook on Friday night! It's a very cool computer, and we've already managed to transfer all our iTunes songs over...PLUS sync up our TWO NEW iPods. That's right, we now own a ridiculous number of mp3 players (though our sleeping bag count is still higher). We got a free iPod Touch with the computer purchase - what an awesome back to school incentive - and I bought a Shuffle for working out, so I don't kill the good one. Plus we got a free photo printer.

Man, can that Touch do some sweet things! I know I haven't even scratched the surface of its capabilities, but I'm still amazed.

OK, work time. Then a quick lunch. Then a trip to the rec to try out my pretty blue Shuffle. Wheeee!

Concert and Orientation

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind! Actually, the past week has been super busy, but the highlights really began last night around 9:00 pm when Third Day took the stage, and we were there to rock along with them!

We'd never seen Third Day in concert before, so we couldn't pass up the chance. Along with some friends from work, Mitch and I took half of Thursday off and drive out to DTE Energy Music Theatre for the show. Jars of Clay opened, and I'm sad to say it was a disappointing performance. I guess I'll give them a pass, though, since their other shows have always been awesome. Then this guy named Robert Randolph gets up and is completely awesome on the slide guitar. It was bluesy-gospel and I really liked it. After their set, Switchfoot performed, and while I never really thought I liked them all that much, they put on an amazing show. I was impressed.

Third Day was 100% the best part of the night, though. Wow. Period. If you don't have their new album, Revelation, I highly recommend it. On their website, there's a nice video with some of the songs and a discussion of the project.

I fell asleep in the car on the way home, but didn't get to snuggle into my bed until 12:30 am, which is way too late to stay up when one has grad school orientation in the morning. After my hour-long drive to lovely Flint, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. But I got my ID, parking pass, books and all sorts of gifts - flash drive, calculator, fancy bag - so I guess I'm officially ready to get moving on my MBA. Wahoo!

Now I'm just waiting for Mitch to arrive at my parents' house so we can eat some dinner, ride the trails for a little bit and rest up in preparation for tomorrow's mountain bike race. The rest of the weekend will consist of a trip to the Mac store (it's new laptop time!) and lots of floating on the potoon boat. Ah, I will miss parts of the summer...

Ray and Kristy's Wedding!

The event we've been anticipating all summer was just as fun and exciting as we had built it up to be! Kristy was a beautiful bride, Ray was a handsome groom, and my own date wasn't too bad, either.

The photos really tell the story, but I'm too swamped right now to post the highlights directly on here. So, you can see them all at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/skibunny112882/RayAndKristySWedding

(Sorry, no ceremony photos. Both Mitch and I were standing up and, due to the downpour that resulted in the bridal party's late arrival, I didn't have time to pass off my camera to another attendee.)

Kristy's Bachelorette Party

This week's been so busy that I haven't had time to post about Kristy's bachelorette party 'til now! Well, it was a great time. She loved the decorations in her apartment, the champagne glasses with homemade stem charms, the gifts from all the girls (including the photo album I made her) and all our evening escapades:



Here's the blushing bride opening her gifts at the restaurant. She was initially reluctant to hold them up in front of everyone, but eventually complied.



All the girls at the bachelorette party, full and wine-happy from dinner.



Obligatory bridesmaid show - we can't wait for her wedding!



After our go-kart race; Kristy was bitter that some little girl bumped her and made her get stuck in a corner...



Member of the A.C. softball team get ready to show us how it's done at the batting cages.



Mim and Kristy sang "Friends in Low Places" at the bar...we laughed pretty hard!



The lady running the karaoke got us all to sing "I Touch Myself" for Kristy - again, hilarious!



And here's the whole group, one more time, right before we left the bar. More photos are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/skibunny112882/KristySBacheloretteParty.

Overdue, but still cool

I took this video of Mitch during his second lap at the Boyne Marathon race. He's already done over 20 miles at this point, so I didn't even get a smile as a cheered him on. The guy who was 30 seconds ahead of him is his main rival for first place in the overall standings. Shortly after this road crossing, he caught the guy and, after stopping to help him out of his pedals (Rick's calves were so cramped up that he was lying there, stuck in his clipless pedals), Mitch crossed the finish line several minutes ahead of him. (At Stony Creek, he beat Mitch by 50 seconds. They're good-natured competitors, chatting before and after the races and pushing each other hard on the trail.)

Completely Random

A family friend sent me this video as a suggestion for our next hiking trip. Can we say, insane?



Yes, Robin, this does look beautiful...but I am pretty terrified of heights and some of that would leave me quaking in my boots!

Can't find the words

Earlier this summer, I was a bridesmaid for my best friend from high school. I had mixed feelings about being in the wedding: she and I had definitely drifted apart during college and I even felt, often, that she and I didn't really know each other any more. Everything between us felt so automatic, from the semi-regular phone calls to the obligatory visits in our hometown. She's never the first person I think of spending time with when vacation or a free weekend rolls around; in fact, some of the time we'd spent together prior to the wedding left me feeling melancholy and misunderstood.

A few days before her bachelorette party, I sat down to wrap the gift I would cart to Chicago. Maybe this shouldn't come as a surprise, because writing has always played a role in our friendship - we published a newspaper together in elementary school, wrote poetry together and have presented each other with various writings at important times in our lives - but I had no trouble writing something really meaningful for her. I tied it into her gift, alluded to some marital advice and tried to make her think about the kind of marriage she wanted to have. I was rewarded with a hug and a few tears, and the uncanny feeling that maybe she and I still knew each other better than I thought.

Now I'm getting ready for a college friend's wedding and once again, I have the honor of being a bridesmaid. I've played a much more active role in this one, planning the bachelorette party and helping out the maid of honor with wedding day plans, as she is currently out of the country for school. Truthfully, I've been looking forward to this wedding more than the last one: after all, she's one of my favorite people to spend time with. We had some great memories in college and have become even closer since graduation. Her husband-to-be has become a good friend and we all do some of the most fun, crazy things together.

I've put a lot of time and energy into creative decorations for her party and thoughtful preparations for her wedding day. Ray's apartment will be covered with photos of him and the other gorgeous men whose hearts broke when Kristy announced her engagement. (Who knew Brad Pitt only hooked up with Angie because he couldn't have Kristy?) On her wedding night, she and Ray will return to their apartment to find it a romantic paradise, and when they open the big group wedding present I organized, they'll be blown away. (Seven of us went in on a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads and cookware - it's the best gift ever!)

For her bachelorette party gift, I collected photos from the other ladies attending the bachelorette party to make a scrapbook of all Kristy's best times with "the girls." So tonight, as I neared the end of the album, I decided to take a break from the sticky gluestick and messy black stamp pad to write the accompaniment to this gift. I expected the perfect words to flow off my pen, just as they had for Adrienne...but nothing came. I started and stopped, stared off into space and puked out something that sounded like a trite explanation of her gift.

So what's the deal? Why is it that I had an easier time writing something heartfelt for the friend I, honestly, like less? Why is it so much harder for me to even come up with a concrete message for the woman I now consider to be my best friend? I've posed the question on here before, but what really makes a best friend? Is it the person I'd rather spend time with or the person who's weathered the most with me? Is it the person I most readily laugh with or the person I've often cried with (and sometimes about)?

Maybe it's just that I've been so wrapped up in the logistics of this wedding that I haven't sat down to really think about what I want to tell Kristy before she gets married. Maybe this one will be harder because I'm not practiced at writing for her, as I've written for Adrienne for over sixteen years. Maybe it has nothing to do with the depth of our friendship and more to do with its length. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow feeling inspired...

Another weekend, another race.

This weekend, we headed to Stony Creek Metropark in Rochester for a time trial. In a TT, everyone starts at separate times (or in this case, in pairs) and you're truly racing the clock, versus starting in a pack in a cross country race and battling the other racers for position. Anyway, we did a preride on Saturday and were not impressed by the fact that 2/3 of the course consisted of gravelly two-track. Both of us do our best on more technical single-track...plus, riding down a gravel road is BORING!

The race went well, despite all the two-track. We both got second place in our classes and while Mitch still had some gas in him at the end, I was completely dead. Laying in bed that night, my legs just ached! I guess that means I need to do a bit more conditioning before the next one. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure that one is mostly "real" mountain biking.

Not much else is going on. I didn't post last week because I was not having a good time in the office, and I suppose it's not fun for y'all to read constant complaints about my slacker co-workers. This week promises to be better, as I have adjusted my attitude. AND I have no appointments on my calendar, so I can be super-productive!

Chicago Accomplishments

While I'm in the Windy City for the Annapolis Institute (a conference for higher education professionals trying to develop/improve alumni, parent and student recruitment efforts), I'm stepping outside my comfort zone and doing some "big girl" things!

*I rode a taxi from the train station to the hotel all by myself. (I did, however, get scammed into paying someone $5 to hail one for me...dumb, but a lesson learned.)

*I rode the train back from one of the northern neighborhoods and found my way from the stop to the hotel all by myself.

*I found a good place for breakfast and joined the throngs of Chicago locals walking purposefully down the sidewalks in the morning.

It's neat to be in Chicago and I can understand how the amount of excitement and energy can draw people here. But for me, even the urban beauty of the city lights doesn't pull me in as much as do the fireflies that dot the yard outside our apartment complex. I head home tomorrow and couldn't be happier about it!

Boyne XC Marathon

Bike races are interesting events. You have a whole spectrum of riders there: there are recreational cyclists, on good-but-not-great bikes, with most of the basic gear but with a look of uncertainty on their faces, and friends of those recreational cyclists, encouraged by their buddies to participate but unsure of what they're getting themselves into and looking a bit awkward with athletic shoes, platform pedals sometimes even cotton t-shirts. There are more serious riders who have been around the circuit but are still a little rough around the edges and independent, having not yet established themselves as part of any specific corps of riders; the cycling teams, sporting matching jerseys and pedaling around in disciplined, deliberate lines as they warm up for the race; and the elite racers whose sponsors adorn their busy jerseys and shorts, intense and quick off the starting line with unparalleled confidence in their riding abilities.

Almost everyone wears spandex and bright colors. Men unashamedly reach down the front of their shorts to adjust equipment or apply ointment to ease the chafing. Women forget to obsess about the size of their rears and are comfortable in thighs built up by hill climbs. No one seems self-conscious about their physical flaws, making no apologies for the small pooch of a belly or the hint of a love-handle. Riders of all shapes and sizes squeeze into busy, loud jerseys proclaiming their team affiliations, their love for a brand of beer or their preferance for a gear manufacturer. Their shoes can be just as attention-getting, often clashing with the rest of the ensemble while the clickity-clack of metal cleats on the parking lot provides a soft, crunching rhythm.

The racers shoot from the starting line, jostling for position and streaking into the woods. The more experienced riders are aggressive enough to end up in front while those new to the sport hang back to see what happens. There will be passing and repassing throughout the course, though sometimes riders will be spread out enough to feel alone on the trail. There will be crashes and cursing, "pleases" and "thank yous" from passing riders, frustration because they can't get around an unfortunate topple and concern when a real injury necessitates stopping with a fellow rider. While everyone is striving to cross the finish line first, no one places the well-being of a competitor below the cheap plaques awarded after the race.

And when all is said and done, they sit in their dirty clothes, whose bright colors are streaked with dirt and sweat. They trade their bike shoes and soaking socks for sandals, letting the wind and the sun dry their sticky bodies while recapping the moments on the trail. They wait for results and compare pre-ride, ride and recovery strategies, some downing more electrolyte-laden formulas while other crack open cans of beer. Sometimes they bother to wash their mud-spotted faces, legs and arms or tend to bloody, oozing scapes; most times, they wear these badges of honor proudly, spinning tales of downhill spills and uphill battles. If they place, they pick up their awards to a smattering of applause, shake some hands with their competitors and head home to think about training for the next one.

(Mitch rode over 20 miles at Boyne Mountain and placed second in his third race of the season. We both look forward to the Stoney Creek XC race in two weeks.)

Life in St. Johns

I've been writing a lot about our weekend activities and kind of neglecting the day-to-day. So this morning, I'll write about living in St. Johns. First, it's a pretty small town, possibly the smallest in which we've yet lived. But it's safe and clean; we like our apartment complex and the neighborhood. There's an elementary school right behind our building and sometimes we go out on the playground and fly our kite. There's a tree line between us and the school, so we can sit on our balcony in relative privacy, while still hearing the excitement of Little League baseball games.

We live on the north edge of town, so it's easy to get to the back roads for bike and motorcycle rides. I'm learning to appreciate Mid-Michigan's own special beauty: the growing fields of corn, green and "knee-high by the Fourth of July," the fields of wheat waving in the wind, the old red barns leaning on the edge of the pastures. Granted, we sometimes long for the hills and forests of Cadillac, but this feels more like home than that ever did.

St. Johns is a bedroom community for us: we grocery shop, rent movies, get haircuts and go to church in DeWitt, the next town south. But we've made some friends and have been enjoying an actual social life. Amanda, the web content writer at Alma, and her husband, David, have been hanging out with us since early spring. They're tons of fun and Amanda is a talented cook, making dinner at their place a delight. And John Kruse, an old friend from college, just started working in my office and lives not five minutes from our place. Amanda, John and I carpool to Alma each morning and we all make a point to get together regularly outside of work. Mitch and John hang out quite a bit, too: watching sports, playing Guitar Hero and sampling scotch. In addition to eating and drinking, we've played mini-golf and gone line dancing! Oh, how wonderful to have local friends! Tonight is dinner at Johns: grilled salmon, rice pilaf and wine.

So that's life in St. Johns for a transplant. And now, because I can't resist, here are some photos from our Fourth of July weekend with Ray and Kristy:



We watched fireworks on the lake on Friday night - they were amazing! And it was just a person doing them, not a town or anything.





Who knew tubing behind a pontoon boat could be so brutal!





Launching waterballoons off the porch is a great time! SPLASH!

Adrienne's Wedding

I know those of you who read this blog don't know Adrienne, my friend from high school. Still, I'll post some photos from her wedding because it really was a beautiful affair. All the ones are took are posted on Picasa.



Here are all us girls with our hair styled for the wedding. The bridal party included two friends from high school (me and Amanda), a cousin (Erin) and a friend from college (Amber).



Adrienne got dressed at the Frog Pond, an outdoor wedding chapel. We had this nice little bridal suite for our preparations.



Isn't she such a beautiful bride?



When Adrienne was mostly ready, we sneaked out to decorate the car the would take from the ceremony to the reception.



Here's the ceremony. It was a perfect day, even though we got a couple of sprinkles at the end of the ceremony. No one was really worried about it, though!



The new Mr. and Mrs./Dr. Kyle and Adrienne Jones!



After the ceremony, we did some photos at a local garden then came to Crystal Mountain for the reception.



Before the reception began, we all had snacks and a champagne toast at the top of the mountain. We got to ride the chairlift up and everything!



Of course, Mitch and I were goofing around a bit. Would you expect anything less?

My camera ran out of battery before the reception actually started, but it was a great time. We danced quite a bit, mostly with Lindsay and Rich (a friend from high school and her husband). He and Mitch were the kings of the dance floor, at least in our eyes. It's a good thing we're not easily embarrassed!

Chicago!

Saturday, June 21: Let's Party!

6 am: The alarm sounds, dragging me out of bed. I'd spent the night before packing and deciding on party clothes with my friend, Lindsay, in preparation for Adrienne's bachelorette party. Dragging a suitcase jam-packed with a sleeping bag, a Thermarest, a fifth of Bacardi Razz, raspberry Jello and a few pieces of clothing, we loaded up the car and sped off to the train station.

8:15 am: Half an hour late, the train pulls out of the station. We settle in for a nice, long train ride to Union Station.

1:30 pm: Hampered by a few delays, we arrive in Chicago and manage to find the bus that runs past Amanda's apartment. Half an hour later, we're getting settled in and helping her set up for the party. We decorated glasses for mojitos, hung some lights and hit the streets to pick up flowers, cash and more rum.



8:00 pm: The bride-to-be arrives with the rest of the girls. We eat dinner on the roof and surprise Adrienne with a few gifts. Some nice guys take cool photos of us with Chicago in the background.







10:00 pm: We all hop into two taxis and head to the Hancock Building, where we have reservations at the Signature Room, a restaurant on the top floor. Unfortunately, we never got to eat because they require an entree per person and we had only planning to have dessert and drinks. So we relocated to the bar and watched fireworks from the women's bathroom.

12:00 am: Time to go dancing! We headed to Rush Street and found this club called The Level. After a round of lemon drops, we hit the dance floor and quickly found a small group of guys who attached themselves to our party. They bought Adrienne a shot, danced with her and congratulated her over and over again.



2:30 am: Adrienne's getting woozy...too many shots are taking their toll, so we head outside for some fresh air. Amanda makes some plans to meet up with the bachelor party at a bar nearer to the apartment, so we pile into cabs and make our way across the city. When our cab - the second to leave - arrives, we find that one of the guys had gotten sick, so the groom walked him back to the apartment. They lacked keys, however, so Amanda and her husband were heading back that way as well. They intended to let the other guys in and return to the bar, but I called shenanigans on a long night and said we would head back to the apartment, too. The walk was a mile long and most of the girls had their impossible heels off, trudging through the streets of Chicago barefoot. Another girl and I carried the bride over some rough roads to save her little toes!

4:00 am: We're back at the apartment and ready for bed. The birds' eye view of us must have been hilarious; thirteen people wrapped in blankets, scattered all over the apartment. A good time was had by all!

How did I miss this?

How has this been out for three weeks and this is the first I've seen it?!?!

"Joe, American"

I still miss her.

I find it fascinating how little things can bring back little, poignant memories.

Last night, I was cutting up a pair of Mitch's old underwear to use as a rag and as I was trimming the waistband off, I remembered how my Grandma Eccles used to sew old underwear bands to the bottom of the seat covers for the red wooden picnic table at the lake. That used to be my job as a girl: spreading out the old tablecloth, opening the umbrella and slipping on the seat covers while burgers sizzled on the charcoal grill.

Suing Chaperones?

I think this is completely ridiculous.

Wicked Weather

On Friday, my carpool buddies and I (look at us saving gas - three people riding in one car!) left work half an hour early to try to beat the approaching band of thunderstorms home. We ended up skirting the edge of the storm all the way down US 127, only to drive smack into a tornado warning. Here's the article (yes, we are in Bingham Township) and here are some pictures of the damage, only a few miles south of our apartment. Scary - I heard the tornado siren as I was running through the rain from my car to the apartment. I turned the news right on and was ready to toss my cat in his carrier and go down to the lower level of our building, but the siren stopped and nothing outside seemed to get any worse. We never lost power, but the wind snapped some power poles like toothpicks though a tornado touchdown was never reported. If I can, I'll get some photos tonight...though we're supposed to get more storms.

Adventures in Mammoth Cave

Preface

In the midst of a snowy Michigan winter, Mitch and I sat curled up with our favorite coffee table book, featuring America's national parks. We had just canceled plans to go skiing in Colorado and were looking for an exciting vacation spot. That one's too far...we don't have enough vacation time to do this one...that would probably cost a fortune. Then we found Mammoth Cave National Park - perfect!

Only one thing could make our potential vacation better: spending quality time with the Long-Slade family and meeting their newest addition. So, with a few phone calls and emails, we made the plans; and here's the story.

Chapter 1: Mammoth Cave Campground

Our home for the week, Mammoth Cave Campground (also known as Headquarters Campground) was pretty much perfect. While the camping was considered rustic, we did have flush toilets nearby and token-operated showers a short walk away. Hot water was at a premium for the first few days but once the weekend traffic subsided, we were blessed with ten minutes of hot-water glory...for $2 per shower, of course.

The campground connected to a network of short hiking trails, and we took a brisk stroll on Saturday afternoon. By trekking off the beaten path, we made our way down to the Green River, giving CJ the chance to dangle his little feet in the water.



And speaking of the little man, he was an absolute joy to have along. Good-natured, friendly and cuddly, we couldn't have asked for a better baby to have along. I don't think Anna slept much, but this kid was chillin' in serious style: he got his own mini-tent, complete with blow-up mattress and mosquito netting.



Chapter 2: The Backcountry

On Sunday, we decided to delay the park's main attraction and explore the backcountry before heading down to the cave. Rightly, we assumed the tours would be congested while the trails remained relatively empty.



Our route, a point-to-point six-mile hike along the First Creek Trail, was supposed to take us most of the day, as we planned to play along the river and enjoy a long, relaxing lunch. The prolific tick population, however, spoiled our plans; we coated ourselves in bug repellent, put our heads down and booked it out of there as quickly as possible! Despite our best efforts, poor Anna brought some back to camp with her and had to suffer through three rounds of tick extraction two days later.

Chapter 3: The Cave

We scheduled two cave tours: the Snowball Tour, a two-hour walking tour suitable for the young'un; and the Wild Cave Tour, an intense six-hour crawling, climbing and squeezing adventure. We were all impressed by the Snowball Tour - it was amazing just to walk through the cave. Even CJ did great! He slept a bit, but didn't even make a peep when our guide, Ranger Joe, killed all the lights and immersed us in the blackest black I've ever experienced.



Tim, Anna and CJ packed up after Tuesday's Snowball Tour and headed home. Their departure came at a fortunate time for them, because later that afternoon, the rain that had plagued us on Monday returned with a vengeance. It eventually flooded us out of our tent, forcing us to relocate to the big tent we brought for the Long-Slades. I can't believe that tent was large enough for us to share the space with the bikes, who had already staked their claim to the dry shelter!



Wednesday dawned grey and drizzly, so we rescheduled our Wild Cave Tour for that day and donned our oldest clothing, packed our pockets with PowerBars and a disposable camera, and pulled up the kneepads. As luck would have it, we were part of an amazingly small tour: five people plus our two guides, Ranger John and Ranger Taylor.



For the next five miles, we duck-walked, crawled, squeezed and climbed our way through some of the most challenging parts of the cave. I was one of very few who could make it down into the Mole Hole and out again.



Mitch crawled around in Sharon's Lost Sea, but I had no such inclination as I preferred to stay as dry as possible.



By the end, I was beaten up, sore and ready for that hot shower. The Wild Cave Tour was definitely the highlight of the week in terms of activities, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!



Epilogue: The Aftermath

Thursday was our final full day, and we took advantage of the only mountain bike trail in the area. The first five miles were fun, but then it got muddy and rough. I took a nice tumble into a creek, bashed my butt with the seat, and came home sporting a killer bruise.



Back in Michigan on Saturday, we hit another mountain bike trail with my dad and I took another spill, this time cracking my knee and giving myself a pool ball-sized goose-egg. Multiple other bruises currently adorn my thigh and calves - aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing?!?! Well, I don't think I'd enjoy it any other way!

(All our photos are available here. Tim and Anna, I've set it up so you can download any photos you'd like. Thanks for the amazing trip!)

Personality Tests

My computer was being sticky and telling me some pages were potentially unsafe, but it seems to have changed its mind, so I was able to check out the Enneagram personality test Grant recommended. I did the sampler test ('cause, you know, that one's free) and ended up as a cross between a one (The Reformer) and a two (The Helper). After reading the descriptions, I think I'd classify myself more as a Reformer, but I definitely see some of those Helper tendencies come out in my relationships with other people.

What are you?

Zoo-de-Mackinac

I did it - I completed the whole Zoo-de-Mack! Here's me and Andi (Bobby's girlfriend) at the finish:



Distance: 50.72
Time: 3 hours, 43 minutes
Average speed: 13.65 mph
Maximum speed: 32.5 mph

It was a great ride. The first 10 miles were pure hell: hill after hill after hill. Then I coasted into the Tunnel of Trees, right along Lake Michigan, and had a lovely 15 miles of beautiful views. It was still tough and I was glad to hit the halfway point and stretch out. I even had enough energy to smile for the camera:



It was also nice to meet up with the guys again, as Mitch, Bobby and Dad all left me in the dust. Here we all are, getting ready for the second leg:



The final 25 miles were great, especially because Mitch and Bobby rode with Andi and me. They served as a wall for us, blocking the wind and pushing us to keep about a 15-17 mph pace most of the way. We had a lot of laughs, too...I think this girl could be The One for my brother, and I couldn't be happier.

***

On a separate note, I would like to officially acknowledge our status as D.I.N.K.s. Please welcome the newest addition to our collection of two-wheeled toys:




Yes, we bought a motorcycle. It's a Suzuki Katana 600, for anyone who knows bikes. The high gas prices finally broke my resistance, and Mitch is using it for his daily commute. Of course, he placed a high value on the "fun-itude" of having a motorcycle! Once I get my helmet (it's kind of hard to find one small enough), we'll be cruising the back roads of mid-Michigan!

***

And on another completely unrelated note, we leave for Mammoth Cave on Friday! That's only four more days - I can't wait!

It's Official!

Moments ago, I paid my enrollment deposit at U of M-Flint...I'm really going to grad school now!

I am also pumped my upcoming five-day weekend, followed by a total of eleven days off for our exciting Mammoth Cave trip!

Life is good - now I should get myself in gear and WORK!

The Fine Art of Salary Negotiation

Aside from my feeble attempt at getting more money when I first hired on at Alma, I just had my first real experience with salary negotiation. It felt uncomfortable, and I don't know how well it went.

Here is the situation, in a nutshell: everyone across the campus received a certain percentage increase and then, due to my promotion, I received an additional raise. The problem is that the merit portion of my raise is at a lower percentage than my previous promotion, back when they moved me from regular ol' rep to assistant director in 2006.

So I pointed this out, along with the fact that they had been saving money by paying only one person to do the job of two for the past few months. My VP tried to use the, "Well, I got you the car" line, but I was quick to point out that I was clear about my expectations for that right from the beginning: either let me keep the car or pay me what it's really worth, or I won't take the position. I also enumerated the hurdles before me: unique challenges that no other position faces, and a negative history with which no rep must directly deal.

We'll see...she took my request under advisement, and I provided her with documentation of my previous salaries, with increases broken down by percentages. Strangely, she hadn't even considered the idea of percentages - her merit increases for promotions were strict, round dollar amounts. Even if I look back and apply this new salary rubric to my previous salaries and positions, their current offer is still off by a bit.

My bike is SO FAST!

Well, my first mountain bike race was a success! No crashing, only minimal pain, very few "I hate this" moments, and a second place finish!

So here we are, just a few moments after I got in. The course was about 8-9 miles or so, and I finished in 55:41. Mitch also got second place, and finished in 42:25. Full results are here, if you're interested. Keep in mind that beginners (we're in that class) do one lap; sport racers do two laps; expert racers do three laps; and elite racers (men only) do four laps. Yikes!



You can't really tell from the picture, but we're both a bit wet and muddy. Near the end of the course, there was a water crossing, where the creek was about 5-6 feet wide and about a foot deep. You just have to barrel through it...and then there's a climb. Huff puff, huff puff!

I actually felt pretty good throughout the whole thing. In cross-country racing, everyone in the same class and age group lines up and starts at the same time and you have to jostle for position before the trail narrows down. In a time trial - the kind of race Mitch did a few weeks ago - they start everyone 15 seconds apart because you're racing the clock, not each other. Anyway, I came off the start in second place and managed to hold it. I got passed by some women in the next age group up, and I probably got passed by some sport riders on their second laps. But I also passed some people (sport riders on lap #2?) and even beat some guys. Best of all, I found that my climbing ability is not as bad as I thought. Yes, I'm a bit slow and I still hate hills, but I actually overtook some riders on hills and sustained my lead afterwards. I did have a bout with stomach cramps that really slowed me down for awhile, but I rode through them and finished strong.

Here's me, proudly posing with my second place prize:



Unfortunately, our next race is not until the end of July. We're skipping the next two races because one is the day after we get back from Mammoth Cave - which, by the way, is only 18 days away - and the other one is a "marathon" XC at Boyne Mountain. Marathon=extreme misery!

So it was a good time, and we have some great times ahead! A wedding and Mother's Day this weekend; Zoo-de-Mack next weekend; and then it's off to Mammoth Cave. Summer fun begins!

You'll have to wait...

...for puppy pics, because I don't know how to get the one I have off my phone. When I go down for Mother's Day, I'll try to remember to get some digital ones from my parents.

House hunting was fun but we didn't really see anything we liked well enough to want to buy it. Our new agent is awesome, though; he gave us a ton of information, including background on constructions companies and the reputation of certain seller's agents. We'll definitely keep working with him.

Today is the Board of Trustees meeting and I'm sure everyone will be happy to report our deposit milestone. I get to go to the Enrollment and Marketing Committee's session: good, because it will be neat to hear the inside scoop; bad, because I'm in a suit rather than the standard Friday uniform of khakis and a polo.

This Week's Awesome-ness

Finally got scholarship applications into U of M-Flint. Also applied for tuition reimbursement from Alma (50%!).

Had great spaghetti dinner with new friends, Amanda (works in Alma PR Office, carpools with me) and David (husband). Watched Super Troopers while Mitch and Amanda drink two bottles of red wine.

Rode Murray Lake trail at Brighton Rec, including "Lost Loop." Crashed once - softly, into a pile of leaves - and still felt pretty good.

Took parents' new puppy, Roxi, for a walk in the woods. Cute little thing fell asleep on my lap on the car ride home.

Registered for my first mountain bike race, the Fort Custer Stampede. Also sent in forms for the Zoo-de-Mackinac.

Got 400 gross commitment deposits by May 1 - huge success! By reaching the office goal, the boss will now be decked out in a kilt, dancing to bagpipes in the lobby on Monday. GO SCOTS!

Going to see five houses with great new realtor tonight. Trying not to be excited, but some of them look very nice!

Count down to Mammoth Cave: 22 days!

Fort Custer

We rode Fort Custer today, in preparation for our race next Sunday. Holy cow - I think it would be an awesome trail if I were in better shape. There are only two really big hills and the rest is pretty fast with both curvy and long, straight sections. I bet I'll end up liking it, just like I enjoy Hanson Hills in Grayling despite some wicked climbs.

So here's the training idea for the week: Hit the rec Monday and Tuesday for good core, leg and shoulder workouts. Skip work on Wednesday and ride Brighton Rec for the hill workout. Hit the rec again on Thursday and maybe ride the trainer at home (the weather's not supposed to be nice enough for a road ride). Take Friday off, then ride an easy loop at the Fort on Saturday. Get ass kicked on Sunday.

Wish me luck!

Saturday Project

Staying with my parents invariably involves some sort of manual labor. This weekend, they decided it was time to tear out the patio and add some landscaping cloth to the inside to keep the sand from running our with the water. This involved our entire immediate family (Mitch was off the hook, since he was in Kalamazoo for the race), a jackhammer, a Kubota tractor, my brother's huge truck, a dump truck and a lot of work!


Here's the patio about a quarter of the way done. Dad busted out the first section into little pieces with the jackhammer and we had to heave them into the tractor's bucket by hand. Then Bobby got this great idea to elevate the slabs with the tractor bucket and jackhammer them into larger pieces, so we didn't have to deal with all that little junk.


There's Dad, standing on the elevated slab with the jackhammer. Once that piece breaks, Mom and I will use bolt cutters to break the wire holding the concrete together, then Dad and Bobby will manhandle the big chunk into the bucket so Bobby can dump it in the waiting dump truck.


Mom wanted to try the jackhammer, so here she is, putting a useless hole in the concrete. Dad is very amused!


Here's the patio, almost done! The last part was the most interesting, because Bobby couldn't get the tractor bucket in that far. So we used chains to hook the corners up to his big diesel truck and pulled the whole slab closer to the edge.

There are no photos of my largest contribution, which was to help dig a trench all around the interior perimeter of the patio and lay the landscaping cloth against the inside of the stones. Now the sand won't leak out and the patio won't sink!

It felt so good!

There's nothing like getting back on the trail after a long winter! I rode at Island Lake Thursday (not a good ride - female pains), Friday (7 miles, a great ride!) and Saturday (9 miles, another great ride). Let the season begin!

Mitch also competed in his first race. Our circuit is the Michigan Mountain Bike Association's Championship Point Series, and this time trial at Yankee Springs was the first of the season. He raced in the Beginner Men's class and got second place! Had he raced in the next class up, we would have been at the upper middle of the pack, by our estimations.

Next up: MMBA CPS race at Fort Custer in two weeks. With our busy schedules, we're hoping to find a time to pre-ride the course earlier than just the day before, like Mitch did this time. And I need to do some serious riding if I want to be in any sort of shape!

Useless Craphead

Below is the email I sent to the "Team Leader" at our former realtor's office:

Dear Kim,
As Team Leader for the Lansing Keller Williams office, I feel it is appropriate for me to give you some feedback on one of your agents. My husband and I began working with Mary Jo Garascia in October 2007. She showed us some houses, but the one we set our hearts on happened to be FSBO. We walked through the home with the homeowner but knew it was out of our price range. We also knew, however, that the house was in the process of foreclosure. We asked Mary Jo to keep her eye on it and help us purchase it when the bank took it back. She agreed to help, but my regular inquiries to her regarding the home's status went unaddressed.

While her lack of progress on the foreclosure home was dissatisfying, we continued to work with her because she seemed generally enthusiastic about helping us find the home of our dreams. However, we terminated our relationship with her when she failed to notify us, in a timely manner, of a house that met all our criteria. I understand that clients can't always get the houses they want, but I feel a good realtor should not solely rely on an automated system to notify her clients. As the price on this particular home inched closer to our price range, Mary Jo should have notified us, especially given the amount of time this house was on the market.

I communicated our reasons for ending our business relationship to her via email and phone, referencing both the foreclosure home and the other missed opportunity. Then, without the assistance of a realtor, I began researching the foreclosure home. With only a few hours of work and less than half a dozen phone calls, I found out the status of the home (bank-owned); the name of the bank; and the name and phone number of the individual handling the property. However, to my bitter disappointment, an offer had been accepted on the home that day. Worse, the house had sold for $65K below the FSBO asking price and $20K below the offer my husband and I were prepared to make.

Once again, I understand that one cannot always have the home he or she desires. But I'm sure you will agree that the outcome regarding the foreclosure home would have been dramatically different had Mary Jo simply done her job. How was it that I, with no formal training or experience in foreclosures, was able to make such progress in just a few hours when Mary Jo had nothing to report after over five months?

This feedback comes with no specific request for action on your part - I just felt you, as Team Leader, should be aware of the poor performance of one of your realtors. Based on this experience, my husband and I see little value in buyers' agents and will not be using one in the future unless it is absolutely necessary.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my feedback. If you have any questions, you may contact me via email.

Regards,
Laurie DeYoung

Five Day Weekend!

That's right, no more work for Laurie this week! I took Wed.-Fri. off so I could get some stuff done (and look at me, blogging instead of working on that monster to-do list) and because I had to burn some vacation time. So what is on the docket?

House stuff. No longer hindered by the incompetence of our former realtor and spurred on by the possibility of an informal subletter to take care of those pesky rent payments through October, I've taken matters into my own hands. This morning, I went to the Register of Deeds to get some updated information about a foreclosure we've wanted since it was on the market as a FSBO back in October. The extensive information I gained there led me to an attorney's office, who contacted the mortgage company. I am supposed to be getting a call from the mortgage company soon. From there, I took a little jaunt out to the house and, though I obviously can't go inside, I peeked through all the windows and satisfied myself that, yes, it is still in great shape and we want it. Finally, I placed a call to my dad's real estate agent, who is also supposed to call me back. I hate waiting, but I have to have patience.

Grad school stuff. I haven't started on it yet, but tomorrow and Friday I plan to figure out what I need for my scholarship applications and get that commitment deposit submitted. I also need to get the scoop on how to convince Alma to pay for part of it. And I should probably file the FAFSA to see if I qualify for any government student loans. Unlikely, but it's worth a shot.

Vacation stuff. I need to add an extra day onto our Mammoth Cave campsite and book our cave tours. Man, I cannot wait for this vacation. Aside from the fact that we're spending some much-needed time in the great outdoors and seeing Tim and Anna, I also get to cuddle that cute little guy who's completely snared my heart, just by virtue of his photos!

I'll also be doing some biking, spending some QT with my family and attending a bridal shower for my high school friend, Adrienne. I hope to get my bridesmaid dress, too - fun! Well, time to put the last load of laundry in, finish packing and head out! Happy Wednesday!

Yummy!

Check out our amazing dinner from Saturday night:



The ribs are hard to see, but they were the best part! Some people think ribs are hard to cook well, but they're surprisingly easy. You just season them up, put them in foil packets and bake them on a cookie sheet for about 2 hours. Then you stick them on the grill (or under the broiler), slathered with BBQ sauce, and crisp them up a bit. The meat falls right off the bone!



Of course, the party potatoes (cheesy baked hash browns) and tomato basil bowtie salad were great, too. We have such good dinners when we're home to cook!

This weekend was a really nice one. We went to check out a new mountain bike trail being built in Lansing on Saturday morning, then spent the afternoon cleaning up the apartment and cooking our yummy meal. On Sunday, we went to church, did a bit of shopping (found the perfect bathing suit, finally!) and played our second-to-last church league volleyball game. Now we're just hanging out, watching some TV (a rarity, since we only have four stations!) and cuddling. Here's hoping this week goes as well as the weekend!

Ragin'

The Captain is working his magic and dulling the anger, but I'm still steamed. Three things:

1. My VP asking me, in a conversation about how busy I am, whether it's my new responsibilities with alumni that were making me so busy. No shit, Sherlock. You're getting two for the price of one here. Obviously that makes me busy. Common sense.

2. My director telling me a certain figure was being considered for an addition to my salary, to cover the eventual loss of my car and the raise my new position is supposed to give me. It's not even enough to cover the loss of the car - which I emphatically told him. Gee, that's a fine way to value me and the extra work I've been doing for the past few months and will continue to do through the summer, for no extra money until July. I made it clear I would not accept the position under those terms.

3. Our realtor finally doing something ridiculous enough to prompt an email terminating our relationship. Long story short, she neglected to inform us of a house that met all our criteria and was a steal to boot until three weeks after the price was reduced. When I did hear of it, I told her I wanted to see it and she told me, "Oh, it's been sold." In addition, she sucks at communicating and follow-up, and hasn't researched the status of a house in foreclosure that we would really like. See ya.

Oh Captain, my Captain - drink time!

Home Sweet Home

I stopped posting from New York because I was in such a negative mood, but now I'm home and happy!

I actually got back to Michigan on Monday evening, but spent all day today with my mom. We went shopping for wedding and shower gifts (the first of many, for this summer) and went to see my new second cousin, Charlie. He's just a couple months old and he's a doll!

Oh, the bathing suit came in the mail but I'm not sure I'm crazy about it. This weekend might include a trip to PacSun to try on some other options. Guess I better get back to working out on a regular basis if I want to be happy standing in front of a mirror, trying on bathing suits...

Pea Soup

At street level, it's not bad at all. But up here on the 25th floor, the evening fog is so thick I can't see a thing other than my reflection staring back at me from, ghostlike. Every once in awhile, a light winks through, letting me know I'm not just floating away up here.

One more night, then on to a new place.

New Pet Peeve

When you stand behind a table for three hours and speak to very few students, you do a lot of people watching. As my feet were killing me from my new heels (had to buy 'em - the old ones broke), I found myself focused on people's feet as they meandered by, and thus developed an intense irritation to the shuffling sound people make when they refuse to PICK UP THEIR FEET as they walk.

I'll give the flip-flop wearers a little break, but the biggest culprits: Ugg boot-wearers. Shuffle-shuffle-shuffle, I'm too lazy to walk like a proper person. I bet they wear through a lot of shoes.

And with that, I think I'm going to find a mall and do some browsing to kill the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

Lessons from the Road

Or: What I've Learned in Upstate New York

1. Without some sort of special programming, GPS units from the States don't work in Canada. Whoops.

2. Class in Oakland county doesn't even begin to compare to the kind of class they have here. A fully uniformed, smartly mannered concierge? Wow.

3. I am every bit the small-town girl, and it's apparent. Especially to the concierge.

4. At fancy hotels, no one swims in the pool. If you go down there to swim laps, you'll have the place all to yourself and be a source of amusement for the staff.

5. I am way too thrifty. OK, cheap. Even when the College is footing the bill, I'm having trouble coming to grips with the cost of breakfast here. $4.50 for a bowl of oatmeal?!?! I can buy a whole tub of instant oats for less than that. And an extra $3 to have it delivered to my room? Heavens, I am so much more at home in a Super 8 with a continental breakfast.

To be continued after tomorrow's college fair, I'm sure.

Overload!

This week has been so busy! On Thursday, I'm heading out of town for work and there's a ton to do before I feel comfortable leaving the office for almost a whole week. Financial aid calls, flash drive loading and mailing (we send all deposited students flash drives with the fight song on them - cool, huh?), web updates, portal updates, email blasts...and on top of this, my two student interns can't work for the next two weeks due to end of the term/senior year obligation. Argh! I definitely depend on them for a lot! Plus we have an event on Saturday, so I've had to train and prep my OCs to operate without me there. Phew!

Oh, I ordered the first bathing suit. It was my favorite, too, but the other one was more like suits I've bought in the past. I can't wait for it to arrive! The brand, Athleta, is expensive but I'm hoping they'll send me coupons now. I found tons of other cute stuff in their most recent catalog!

OK, time to start this crazy day!

Time for your input!

It's time for me to make a very serious decision, and because I value the input of my intelligent, thoughtful friends, I'm asking for your help.

What bathing suit should I buy this summer?

I've found two suits I like:

Choice One
Choice Two

Please feel free to leave your thoughts and preferences on color, style, etc. Thanks to our tax return, I'm not looking for a good deal...just a smokin' suit in which to spend my summer days on the lake!

A Wonderful Easter

Growing up, Easter service at Metropolitan United Methodist Church was a yearly tradition. We'd get up early, search for our Easter baskets, get dressed in our nice new clothes (I loved getting Easter dresses!) and head to church for a pancake breakfast with my grandparents. My grandparents have almost always attended Metropolitan, even before they were married. Grandma played in the bell choir, which always performed during worship, and Grandpa has been the bell choir director for over thirty years. Now he also directs the youth bell choir and is well-loved by everyone. At Grandma's funeral, which was fittingly held in the same sanctuary in which she married Grandpa, young couples from the church shared how the patriarch and matriarch of the Eccles family have been role models for their marriage.

At Easter breakfast, we'd wolf down pancakes and sausage, all the while being introduced to scores of people who knew my father from his youth. After breakfast, Dad would wander around the huge, old church with us, taking us to all the places he used to explore as a child. He told us stories of sneaking out of Sunday service to climb the stairs to the bell tower - or Deadly Tower, as he calls it - and lamented when the church changed the locks, negating the sweeping access Grandpa's set of skeleton keys gave us.

While Dad would sometimes help us slip quietly out for some more adventures, most years we'd have to sit through the whole, agonizingly long service. Old Rev. Quick's "Good News from the Graveyard" sermon made little sense to a kid, and even an adolescent, whose main concern was how to quietly unwrap the Easter candy she'd stashed in her pretty Easter purse. And there was little hope of hiding or appearing visibly distracted: the Eccles clan always sits front and center in the balcony, and we're usually the only people up there besides the bell choir.

As I got older and actually began to understand the Christian faith and the ramifications of the crucifixion and the resurrection - which, I am almost ashamed to say, did not happen until college - I was still less-than-moved by Easter service at Metropolitan. After the the energetic, expressive worship services at Alma and our subsequent church homes, the traditional Methodist service, with its impossible hymns and piercing soprano solo of "Alleluia," made me fidget in the wooden pews and wish I still had a cache of candy in my purse. The unfortunate "pastor drought," which produced a short but painful string of truly awful ministers with uninspired Easter sermons (and questionable ethics), didn't help, either.

So I love our Easter tradition for the familial ties we have to Metropolitan, for the architectural beauty of the old church and for the memories it awakens, but in I've been feeling like this isn't always the best way for Mitch and me to celebrate the most holy of Christian holidays. This year was pretty good - a better pastor and an amazing organist who performed a sanctuary-shaking arrangement of Tocatta Organ Symphony No.5 - but I'm glad that we've struck a balance and will be attending Metropolitan every other year, giving us a chance to form our own traditions and find ways to truly experience the weight of all Jesus sacrificed for us.

B-Law Break

I've been plugging away on my Business Law homework for the better part of two hours now, and it's time for a little break. I really liked this class at the beginning because we did a lot of application to real cases, and we had to be responsible with knowing all about specific cases when the material was covered. But for this section and the previous section, Dr. Cameron hasn't gone through as many case examples, nor has she assigned them to us and let us hash them out in class. That definitely hindered my performance on the previous test, and the speed with which she's flying through our current chapters, trying to get back on track, is not doing anything for me, either. Luckily, our next "celebration" is a take home, so I should do pretty well.

In other school-related news, I got accepted to U of M Flint's MBA program, so barring a personal catastrophe, I'll be starting that in the fall. Now I need to apply for scholarships, fill out the paperwork for tuition reimbursement at Alma, file the FAFSA to try to get some federal loans to cover the rest, get my deposit in, etc. etc. Lots to do - good thing I found out I have 14 and a half vacation days to use between now and July 1! I'll definitely be taking a couple of those to work on grad school and house hunting stuff.

(We're not actively looking for a house, really. There are just some in the area I'd like to see, because I think they'd be really good deals.)

What else, what else...nothing, really. Mitch has been working on his mountain bike obsessively over the past week or so, replacing the rims and getting it all ready for the spring thaw. As soon as the earthwormies come out, we'll be able to hit the trails. Oh, and his birthday was last Sunday, so we celebrated up at Boyne City with my family. It was Crazy Days at Boyne Mountain, so while we didn't ski (warm and too many drunks on the hill), we did go over to hang out with my brother and his friends. Let me tell you right now, stay out of the hot tub - it was gross! But is was pretty entertaining to watch a 12-year old boy going around to every girl saying, "You want some beads? Show me your boobs!" (Note to self: Future DeYoung children will be barred from attending Crazy Days until they are of legal drinking age.)

OK, back to B-Law. Must finish this chapter...

Weekend Highlights

Alumni Board Meeting - In my new position here in Admissions, I'm a "ex-officio" member of the Alma College Alumni Board, so I go to meetings, give updates and sit on the Admissions sub-committee. It was really neat to meet so many successful, committed alums, even if I had to answer a lot of tough questions. And those answers were not necessarily satisfactory to me, because I don't have concrete "plans" yet and won't be able to really work on them until summertime. Still, I got some compliments and the expectations are high.

Homemade studded tires - Mitch got tired of not being able to go mountain biking because of all this snow and ice, so he got his old tires from my parents' house (hey, we can only store so much biking gear in the apartment!), bought 300 sheet metal screws, and drilled the screws into his tires from the inside out. They are mean-lookin' things - I'll try to add a photo later - but he took them out to Island Lake and said they were awesome!

Summer planning - We booked our campsites for our Mammoth Cave trip this summer, so we're officially going! We're looking forward to hiking, caving, biking, campfires, adventure and time with the Long-Slades. Other than that, our summer will be consumed by weddings and the related festivities (we have four to attend and are in the wedding parties for two of them) and mountain bike races. Yeah!