100 Life Experiences

1. Started your own blog – you are here!

2. Slept under the stars -  I recommend it.

3. Played in a band – Highlands School, Lincoln Junior High and Naperville Central Concert Band and Honor Band  - I am hard core.

4. Visited Hawai’i - nope, but I have eaten pineapple someone brought home from Hawai'i

5. Watched a meteor shower  -  Perseid Meteor Shower as seen from the Oregon Coast

6. Given more than you can afford to charity -  I want to do this, but it is scary.  To me at least.

7. Been to Disneyland – well Disney World.  Third grade with Meg and my Cabbage Patch Kids.  We camped.

8. Climbed a mountain – not serious hiking just good fun church youth group shenanigans in the Rocky Mountains.

9. Held a praying mantis - we had a baby one in our apartment.  Sadly he did not survive.  I still have him in a tiny lab beaker.  Is that wierd?

10. Sang a solo - 5th grade musical. "If you're careless how you snack.  Germs are ready to attack.  If you want to keep decay away, then rush to brush us everyday!"  Also, I was the baker in the Eagles Wings rendition of Joseph.

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris – does the one in Vegas Count?

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea – have seen them near the ocean at least.  Watching a storm roll in near the ocean is fantastic.  Once in Cape Cod and once in Cape May, New Jersey.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch – piano, kind of. Then I married Chuck and he took over the musical responsibilites.

15. Adopted a child - none, other than those adopted from Xavier Roberts.

16. Had food poisoning - thank goodness

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - Sadly, no.

18. Grown your own vegetables - we has to grow bean plants in 4th grade science class with Mrs. Thompson.  I have grown herbs, too.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train – Chicago to Winter Park 2 times and Chicago to Portland, OR once.  The first trip was in a sleeping car - which is the way to do it.

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset  - one of my favorite memories is watching the sunrise in Estes Park Colorado with OSLC youth group.

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise - Spirit of Chicago dinner cruise?

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors -  If you count Oregon.

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen - Hell's Kitchen, New York City

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - I was a high seller for many years in a row thanks to the students at North Central College.  My mom would make me write thank you notes on post-its to my customers.

62. Gone whale watching - not on purpose, but I have seen them.  Quite large, whales.

63. Got flowers for no reason -  thank you. :*

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving.

66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.  

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy -  Molly Bear and others, but Molly is the most important.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial  - and heard a grandpa tell his gandson that if he didn't want to read the Gettysburd Address he could wait until they got home because they have it hanging in the bathroom.

71. Eaten caviar - Jan Randall's house for Winter dance dinner sophomore year.  Stag party!

72. Pieced a quilt -  I pieced pillow cases for my Anchomates in college.

73. Stood in Times Square -  yes.  Surreal.

74. Toured the Everglades - no, but I have been to the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia.

75. Been fired from a job - I was temping for a company when my dad had a stroke.  I let them know I was gong to be out of town, but that I would be working from there. (I worked from home anyway).  A day or so later someone who I had never spoken to e-mailed and was like, "Can you give me all your contacts and update me on this process because I will be taking over. "  Rude.  They also wanted me to give them access to my e-mail.  I don't THINK so!

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone – left pinky; very tramatic.  Bungee cords are nasty!  Covered by workman's comp. :)

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - will never ever ride on one.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person – want to go again

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car -  2008 Huyndai Elantra.  Soooo pretty.

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper - not as much as Craolyn Finzer, though.

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House – only the outside of it

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - ew gross.

88. Had chickenpox -  and how.

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury – never will.  My sad fate as a lawyer.

91. Met someone famous -  famous is a very relative term.

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby - much to my mother's chagrin. ;) Just kidding mom! 

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee - last time was many years ago.  I stepped on one and my foot was swollen like you would not believe for DAYS.

100. Read an entire book in one day -  it takes more than one day to read a book?

 53 Completed so far!  That seems about right.  I have done some cool things so far and have some things to look forward too.

Home for the Holidays

Walking with my mom down a snowy Chicago street.

"It is SO slippery out here," my mom declares while taking delicate and s l o w steps besides me.

"I think that it might be your shoes."

"No, I don't think so.  It feels like I could skate out here."  Skate skate skate.  We continue in the snow. "Aren't you slipping?"

"No."

"Well, it must be because of your shoes."

"Like I said...."

A True Election Night 2008 Story

At 11:45 on election night I started the following text conversation with a perfect stranger.

Unknown phone number: Barak Obama elected our president of the USA.

ME: Who is this?

Unk: Sorry wrong number.

ME: Still Exciting news! Gobama!

Unk: Yes and Amen

Ouch

We had a meet and greet skating session for the Esprit Teams on Wednesday night.  I paired off with a nice woman to work on spins.  During the exchange of the requisite pleasantries we each spoke of our jobs.  After telling her I was an attorney she said that she was surprised that I could make the time in my busy schedule to commit to skating on the team.  After I explained that I worked in legal services and have a fairly reasonable schedule she commented, "Yeah, I guess the make the young lawyers work the long hours."

They've got Personality + a new goal

I have recently taken note of what I consider to be a disturbing trend: Sanitary products are developing personalities. If you doubt what I have just extolled please visit Iris, the super sassy nurse, who will answer all your "girl" questions; or Have a Happy Period with Always on-line games. 'Nuff Said.
Because I need a new goal to not achieve I am focusing on shorter commentaries with the hope that it means more frequent posts.

Since I've Been Gone

It's been a while folks but I will not apologize. I started this blog to combat boredom and I my prolonged absence from blogging is in great part due to my return to competitive skating.
I joined the Esprit de Corps Adult synchronized team this year. Our competitive season began with 3-6 hours of practice a week back in September and culminated in February with a trip to the United States Synchronized Skating Championships where we won the silver medal.


While I was away from Blogging, several of my friends began blogging. Let me tell you, competing (not that blogging is really a competition) with people who have PhDs (see http://blog.afstolley.com/) adorable children (see http://hayfamily1221.blogspot.com and keep in mind I have LOTS of friends with adorable children, all oh whom I could not list here in this entry) or adorable children and incredible picture taking skills (see http://kavishah.wordpress.com/) is a bit stressful. But, alas the skating season is over and I am again bored. So until the weather in Boston acknowledges that is is spring, I am back at the keyboard. Please join me and I will attempt to make up for my lack of credentials and offspring.

Other Blogs

My blog commitment is still lacking considerably. I actually have had quite a few thoughts about good blog entries. Of course, they always come while driving or during meetings at work and are fleeting when I have time in from of the computer at home.

Tonight, however, I did have an epiphany while looking at another blog (shh, don't tell Zeena!) One Sentence is a blog that I have been visiting for a few months. In particular this entry 'spoke' to me.

My sophomore year in college I live in a suite with 5 other girls. My friend Guddi and I brought most of the tableware and silverware that was in the suite. We used it occaisionally for mac and cheese or cereal in the morning before organic chemistry class, but we still ate most of our meals in un iversity food establishments. Our roommates decided that food purchased for exorbitant prices at Bearmart and then prepared in our hot pot, microwave and toaster over would be the bulk of the menu for the year. Unfortunately, they did not include dishwashing into their meal plan. Every few weeks Guddi and I would gather all of our plates and pots, forks and spoons and plastic event cups and would wash them in our bathroom sink. We would scrub caked on pasta sauce and rinse out sour milk from all of the dishes and complain about what slobs our roommates were. At the time the task was utterly annoying, but now it serves as a fond memory shared with a dear friend and apparently the experience is not uncommon!

Reading

My short book blog got a few comments so I feel the need to reply with an actual posting.

I mentioned that Phillipa Gregory was one of my favorite authors. She writes historical fiction books that are long but extremely easy to read (good beach books!). The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen's Fool and the Virgin's Lover are some that I have read. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannson are starring in a screen production of The Other Boleyn Girl due out sometime next year. The are truly enjoyable reads.

My friend Amanda recommended Freakonomics, which I have also read. I like it a lot but found myself wanting deeper information that the book had to provide. The author's now have a blog on the NYT website.

I would also like to add The Time Traveler's Wife to my list of potential all time favorites (I cannot commit yet because I still need to process it a bit). I read it when I was on vacation and it was AMAZING! I highly recommended it. I also read the Girl with the Pearl Earring on vacation - a very simple but good read as well. And the week BEFORE vacation I read Stargirl - a book that everyone over the age of 13 should read.

Finally, my friend Amy recommended the author Zadie Smith. I will be looking up some of her books on Book Mooch. This is a book swap website and worth a look if you hate to pay $15 for a paperback and keep getting fines at the library.

12 of 12: Straight out of Charleston

Chuck and I vacationed in Charleston, SC this week. Here are some highlights from Thursday, the 12th of October.


The local library was having a book sale. We are suckers for this sort of thing. We got hundreds of dollars worth of books for under $20 including some piano music for Chuck and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales!





One of Charleston's nicknames is The Holy City because so many church steeples are prominent in it's skyline. We visited St. Michael's German Lutheran Church this morning.





In addition to churches, Charleston boasts many other examples of fine architecture. This is a federal Custom House one of Charleston's many Classic Greek style buildings.




We grabbed Subway for lunch and headed to Waterfront Park to enjoy the amazing weather. The pavilions you see have small tables for picnics as well as several porch swings!




Waterfront park gave us a great view of the Ravenel Bridge - the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. We rented bicycles and biked across the Cooper River to Patriot's Point on Wednesday.





Charleston's other nickname is The Palmetto City because there are so many of these.







The boat I would like to own someday does not need to be much bigger than this one. We were standing on the pier next to relative of the people eon the boat. A little girl was calling to her dad to be sure to hold tight to her little brother so that we would not fall in!







There are tons of beautiful iron gates in Charleston. There are difficult to photograph so I hope to draw a few to frame and put up in out apartment.







This is one of the fountains in Waterfront Park.
We took turns wading in it!






Chuck makes a new friend. He was a human sized frog sculpture at one of the many art galleries we ducked into during our walk around the city.





St. Philip's Episcopal Church. Beautiful. Lot's of the churches, including St. Philip's in Charleston have their own cemeteries right on the premises.







Charleston was a great choice for a vacation. I would love to go again and encourage you all to visit it. Plus I got a bit of a tan!

Books

Ugh. I really stink at blogging but I refuse to quit! I am waiting for my bookclub to arrive for dinner and discussion. In the spirit of the evening I am going to list (in no particular order) my favorite books, book series and authors. Consider this a work in progress...


Books
To Kill a Mockingbird
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Goodnight Moon
Interpretor of Maladies
The Mists of Avalon

Series
Harry Potter
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Twilight

Authors
Phillipa Gregory
Khaled Housseini

Tell me YOUR favorites!

12 of 12

Welcome to my first attempt at 12 of 12!

I woke up at about 6:15 and went to the gym. I was pretty sore from my Monday skating practice, but my time on the elliptical machine really worked out the lactic acid!






This is a shot of our bedroom before I am about to leave for work. Yes, I make my bed every day. Someday we will outgrown the star quilt, but right now it is the perfect warm weather bed dressing!






Hmmm. Whose keys are these? Chuck's! I hope that he enjoys toting around my cute star keychain today!







This is our apartment building. Our living room window is the one 'bathed' in sunshine. It is a beautiful day, but it smells like skunk in the courtyard.






Today the traffic on the way to work was bad. [Note: I was stopped during the taking of this picture.]






This is my desk at work. It is pretty under control because school just started so Boston Public Schools has not had much time to violate the legal rights of my clients yet!







I am on the retreat planning committee at work. This morning I put together a packet for all staff members including this flier! Our retreat is in a month and will based on the Meyer's Briggs personality test.







Most of our offices at work do not have windows. We have the lovely 'Alcove' where a critical mass of staffers gather for lunch most days. Sometime generous staff members leave baked treats in the Alcove also. But not today.










Marlies, my co-worker, felt that only her shoes were fit for picture taking today. They are pretty cute.







For dinner Chuck ate left over pork loin. Apparently he thinks that it is finger food.








I have been cleaning out our files and this is one of about 5 bags of shredded paper that resulted from the purging.









This is a terrible picture, but it is of the amazing CUBS game! It brought them back to sharing first place with the Brewers. Go Cubbies!

Bored

I am experiencing a momentary period boredom with blogging. I hope that it will not last long enough to require a name - like the 'Boredom Era'. I am counting on time to be the antidote so please be patient. Also, more comments might inspire me.

hint

Hint

HINT

Juxtaposition

Although it is totally inappropriate to blog about things you might see in the locker room in the gym I can think of a few situations that would merit narrowly broadcast (is that an oxymoron?) dissemination. One of this situations (theoretically speaking) may play as follows:

Short of breath and sweaty, our heroine climbs up the stairs of the gym to the locker room after her usual cardio, crunch and stretch session.

Can we talk about the stairs going to the locker room for just a sec? Our heroine works hard to lower her heart rate during the crunch and stretch portion of her workout only to have it raise again going up the stairs.....does that seem right?

As the heroine enters the locker room she braces herself for the compulsory visual assault of the token woman drying her hair in front of the tree way mirror TOTALLY NAKED. Instead her eye is immediately caught by a striking lower back tattoo on one of the gym patrons.

You know the type (see above): a black and white design that does not mean much of anything. That is, unless you ask the Wedding Crashers. They viewed the lower back tattoo as an indication of a girl's willingness to acquiesce to their wanton suggestions.

The tattoo that our heroine came across was, in itself, a run-of-the-mill back tatoo. It appeard to be well done in a opaque true black ink (as opposed to a off black/blue) with very clean edges (no whiskery outlines). Overall not anything to blog about - if a person would be so bold as to blog about what she had seen in the gym loker room.

What makes this tattoo notable is that it was paired with a very stirdy pair of white cotton brief underpants. What would the Wedding Crashers think of that?

Namesake

This morning I arrived at work to find a package on my desk from "Zee Parents". I am delighted to inform you all that the namesake of this blog, Zeena Porcelina, has arrived in Boston to serve as my muse. Zeena Porcelina is a doll that my Grandma Salem gave me when I was little. As her name might sigguest, she is an exotic thing and as soon as I can make arrangements, I will take picture and post it for all to admire! In case you were wondering: Yes, I did name her myself and No, I have no idea how I cam up with that name.

Missed Opportunity

My friend Amanda tuned me onto 12 on 12 wherein a person (just like you or me) takes twelve pictures over the course of the 12th day of the month. (last Sunday) This person then posts the twelve pictures with clever explanations on a blog. (like this one) It would have been nice for me to do that on Sunday, huh? (especially since I 'played' tennis with Chuck) Unfortunately, I did not. Look for that fun next month. In the meantime, I am starting a "100 things about Bryna" post the be revealed at a later date. Suggestions welcome.

Ribs

There is a broad appreciation for ribs–both pork and beef–primarily from the opposite sex, but when I find myself at a food establishment specializing in such I pour over the menu in search of a salad, fajitas or something similarly boneless.

My husband Chuck is a rib-loving guy. He is quick to suggest a a rib joint when we have plans for dinner and, despite his slender physique, can be counted on to order the "Texas-sized" platter.

Despite my practice of avoiding traditional smokehouse fare I always, upon Chuck's hearty recommendation, sample a rib or two. I endure the messy but sweet, sticky but delightfully tangy sauce to literally suck the tender meat from the bone. My regret for not ordering my own rack is immediate and deep as I unenthusiastically return to my boneless meal after wiping my fingers clean with a wet wipe.

I had an opportunity to change my ways Friday night when we went to the Village Smokehouse to have dinner with friends. Despite Chuck's reminder of how much I enjoyed sampling his previous orders, I found myself dining on fajitas and, of course, a few ribs from his "Texas-sized" order.

I have it it in mind, however, that next time given the opportunity, I will proudly order myself a rack of ribs, with coleslaw on the side and leave the boneless meals for the less adventurous diners.

Brynakkah

Yesterday I got a message from my parents telling me that my birthday is being rescheduled to July 31st this year. Normally I celebrate on July 29th being that is the date of my birth, but apparently they did not get my present in the mail in time for me to open it tomorrow so I will get it sometime on Tuesday. This is not at all a problem as it just gives me the opportunity to extend my celebration over several days.

I began my birthday celebration yesterday at work when my "Birthday Buddy" Fred (our Americorps Vista Intern/Sanity Preserver) brought in a virtual smörgåsbord of treats: cherry pie; apple pie; vanilla, coffee, and cherry chip ice creams; a cheese danish; and popcicles (inspired by the time my mom brought popcicles to all the campers and staff at my summer job one year). YUM! Since there were very few people around on a Friday afternoon we will be able to celebrate with them for a few days next week.

Finally, I think that my birthday present from Chuck is going to be a sewing machine! I have been wanting one for a while to do some simple projects. I think that I am going to order one from Sears online so that means that will arrive even later than my parents' package.

I like the concept of a birthday week and will be working on how to finagle this again next year.

Busy Weekend

I was hoping to have a delightfully empty weekend during which I could bury myself in the final saga of Harry Potter however, I had several social engagements to attend - *not complaining* - REALLY, I'm not.

Chuck and I were up and out of the house before 9am on Saturday to pick up our copy of the book which he immediately began reading because I had a baby shower to attend. Said baby shower was 'on the cape'. It took me two hours to drive 70 miles and thus I arrived too late to be fashionable but just in time for lunch. Thank goodness.

That evening, Chuck and I attended a Clambake with his co-workers. I learned when we first moved to Boston that a clambake is actually a Lobster Boil and that it is impossible to such and event hungry.

On the way home that night we made the tactical decision to pick up a spare copy of The Deathly Hallows - Chuck had decided that he could not share! We read a bit that night and then skipped church in the morning to continue our pursuit. Can we justify that by comparing the discipline of wanting to finish the book before work on Monday with the discipline of attending church regularly?

Sunday afternoon I went to see Ratatouille with my little sib. I enjoyed it. Great animation, but I like some of the other Pixar stories better. Home for more HP and then out to dinner with one of my best friends from home, Ashley and her husband Bill - awesome visit!

Home after for more HP Chuck finished before he went to sleep. I got up early and read instead of going to the gym - (see above for substituted discipline) - and finished before I went to work - late.

I am glad that I finished before I re-entered the work week - one of my non-Potter co-workers was making fake comments about the book which would have infuriated me had I not been done. Overall I am very happy with the last book but emotionally exhausted. I will miss Harry.

Work In Progress - Blog Goals

As I explained in my previous blog, I am back with the intention of being a better blogger. That being said, I am trying not to be too hard on myself initially. I am going to try and give my blog some time to find its voice. My initial goal is to regularly post. The posts may be random, but I would like to add pictures and/or words at least two times a week. After I feel comfortable with posting, I will add another goal!

Goal #1 Post 2 times a week.

Do Over

I started this blog a few years ago and did a miserable job. I am back now and intend to be a better blogger. Stay tuned!