From winter to summer

I spent the last weekend north of Lake Tahoe, where it was 20 degrees and blowing so hard I was worried my car wouldn't be there when I woke up the next morning.

I went up there to see my mom, with a quick stop off at Kirkwood on the way. I'd never been to Kirkwood, so it was cool to explore. It makes my seventh resort this season in three states, which may explain why I've been broke this winter. But its worth it.

So my mom and I spent the rest of the weekend shopping for bridesmaids dresses, putting together wedding invitations and drinking wine. We snuck a bike ride in there too. My only question: Why are all bridesmaids dresses made out of that thick 80s material they used to make prom dresses out of and decked with big bows?

This weekend, I'm determined to spend some time in the sun, since it's supposed to be more than 80 degrees. From winter to summer in one week.

Lesson learned: Putting together wedding invitations is much more fun with a glass of wine.

Bride to be

So this blog post is long time coming, but my sister is getting married! She's been with her boyfriend, Brad, for about four years. So he took her to South America about a month ago and proposed (good work Brad).

Since then, we've been plunged into wedding planning stress. We've picked a venue, selected dresses, talked about food, and made invitations. I've never talked to my sister on the phone so much in my life. But it is fun at the same time. I'm really happy for her, and I can't wait to be her maid of honor.

Lesson learned: My sister is such a romantic.

Ich fahre auf einem Flugzeug

Ich fahre nach Deutscheland! In drei Monaten, bin ich da. Die Leute von der Stipendium haben mich Gestern erzhalt, dass ich akzeptiert bin. Jetzt muss ich einem Platz herausuchen.

Translation: I'm going to Germany!

That was just a little practice to see if I still know any German. Hmmm, the jury is still out.

So a month or so ago, I got an e-mail at work asking me if I was interested in applying this year for a fellowship I applied for when I first started at my paper. At that time, they asked that I get more experience. So apparently, two and a half years later, I qualify. I got a call yesterday that I have been accepted.

I will work at a German newspaper, half the time writing stories for them, the other half sending stories back to my home paper. It's kind of like being a correspondent. The fellowship starts with an orientation in Washington, D.C. in late July. I'm to spend two months at the host paper. I get to tell them my preferences of where I end up, but the fellowship officials ultimately place me. So now the work begins, namely, figuring out if any of the above makes sense or is in correct grammar.

Lesson learned: I'm not totally sure if Fellowship equals Stipendium. That's a lesson I'll have to finish learning later.

Ghost busting

A guy came in the office while I was out today and left a manila envelop full of floppy disks. On the envelope said "These floppies have ghosts on them." I asked the girls at the front desk, and apparently, this guy said the disks are haunted and wanted me to write a story about it.

Strangely enough, I wasn't compelled to investigate further, so someone took the envelope to give back to him. Sure enough, he returned. This time, he left me a piece of paper with a picture of a glowing yellow square, which I take it was one of the ghosts. On the side was written, "Maybe this will convince you." Yeah, because what else could a picture of a glowing square be other than a ghost?

It does beg the question: Even if a computer that reads floppies still exists today, how does one determine they have ghosts on them?

Lesson learned: I think I'll stick to writing about criminals who are alive.

My first days of summer

I hate to break this to all of you freezing in the north right now, but it was 85 degrees where I live this weekend. My friend Megan and I celebrated by going to a local lake and laying in the sun for three hours. It was so worth the sunburn I got on my back. Then we barbacued, because that's what you do in the summer.

I wore a sundress to church.

On Sunday night, I went for a run in shorts and a tank top at 6 p.m., and it was almost balmy. My running route smelled like lilacs and charcoal, and was full of people just milling around.

Lesson learned: I'm so ready for summer.

Great American music

This weekend I went to San Francisco to a concert — which originally I thought was an Ingrid Michaelson concert, and later found out that wasn't necessarily the case. Nevertheless it was fantastic. It's called the Hotel Cafe Tour and consists of about a dozen artists rotating through, playing a couple songs each. Ingrid Michaelson was one of them, and she is more amazing live than on her CDs. She's a young artist who started out writing music in her parent's basement in New York. One of the inspiring things about her for me is that she writes a lot of her songs on piano.

The concert was at the Great American Music Hall, which sounds big, but is actually a pretty intimate venue. It also happens to be like 100 years old and decorated like it is, with high balconies overlooking a wooden dance floor.

At one point I managed to squirm my way up front and actually see something. Moving toward a stage with a popular singer on it is a little like sailing against the wind. You have to tack back and forth.

Ingrid played this song called "Chains," with some of the other female singers singing harmony. At one point, they broke off into a round. A recording can't quite capture it. With the way the speakers were positioned and how they overlapped each other, it completely enveloped us. I kind of wish Ingrid had played a little more, but someday when she's playing at huge venues like Shoreline, I'll be glad I saw her here.

Lesson learned: I like Meiko.

Goodbye to the laundry mat

Something very amazing happened in my life today. It's a rite of passage of sorts — one of those things that just makes me feel more like an adult.

I got a new washing machine. This is amazing because it means no more hauling three-ton laundry baskets to the laundry mat, no more not being able to wear those jeans because it's not laundry time, no more trying to scrounge for quarters. For all of these reasons, laundry has been my least favorite chore. I would rather clean my bathroom, and I'm not a big fan of that either.

I actually bought a washing machine when I first moved in, which didn't work from the first wash. It's been sitting in my storage room ever since. I fully realize that I could have solved this problem a long time ago, but it was sort of low on the priority list. What bumped it up was that my friend is moving and was giving one away. I can't say no to free, especially right now.

Lesson learned: Patience pays off in the end.

Crash watching

This weekend was the end of the season for our local ski resort. So today they held a pond skim — because what better way to transition into summer than by setting up some sort of snowboard-wakeboard hybrid? I got out to take a few runs in the morning, then headed down to the base to check it out. I didn't want to miss people in costumes from dinosaurs to 80s rockers to Hercules attempt to skate across 50 feet of water that had (strangely enough) frozen overnight. But much to everyone's relief, they were able to break up the ice, haul out the biggest ice bergs and put a second piece of plastic over the base of the pond (the first of which they had punctured while breaking up the ice).

To be honest, I think those of us who had the most fun were watching. The success rate was about 20 percent. Among those who didn't make it, there were some great crashes. The participants were kind enough to involve the audience in some cases by setting off a tsunami. When I first arrived, I was naive to this possibility and got a full body shot at one point. Lucky for me, snowpants are designed to be water proof.

As the event went on, a combination of the audience absorbing some of the water and people's skis and boards putting a couple holes in the plastic resulted in a steadily-dipping water level. That just made it all the more crazy, because the distance from the edge where people launched off to the water just got longer and longer, fueling more dramatic crashes. Fun for me, not for them.

I have some great videos, which I might post if I can figure out how to do it.

Lessons learned: There is a reason why there are two separate sports — one for water and one for snow.