Sunday, July 05, 2009

More proof that I'm probably just well overdue for a proper VACATION.

Well, I don't know about you, but I thoroughly enjoy this long weekend thing, and I would very much like another, please. In fact, it occurs to me that we may just have found the issue that would get me to cross party lines in the next election. Promise me a standard four-day work week, and you have my vote, madam or sir. (I do realize that this is an unlikely platform, but a girl can dream, can't she?)

Speaking of votes, I finally found out this week how one of the ones I cast eight months ago panned out. I'm pretty sure that when votes were counted by hand and delivered to the precinct reporting place via Pony Express, the results still came in earlier than this, but hooray for democracy however it plays out, I suppose. The important thing is I have two senators again. I would hope this means Amy Klobuchar could take a well-earned day off, but when she chatted with Garrison Keillor on the stage of the Prairie Home Companion 35th anniversary show yesterday afternoon, she explained that it was actually her fifth public appearance of the day. Fifth. As if I didn't have enough reasons already why a life in politics is not the life for me, Senator Klobuchar has given me one more. At noon on this particular Independence Day, I was sitting in a townie bar with three excellent friends, enjoying cheap drinks and free chocolate peanut butter cake (courtesy of the star-spangled bartender who baked it herself in honor of the day's events), while we waited in air-conditioned comfort for the time when the Oklahoma Avon, MN land rush would allow us to claim our spots in the city park for the afternoon's free show. At that same time, my sole senator was marching in one of four parades, waving and kissing babies and sweating in the sun, her criss-crossing journey across the state likely having begun before I even got out of bed that lovely Saturday. Yes, my life is a humble, low profile one with occasional annoyances of the routine sort, but I'll take that over terminally lost summer holidays any day, thanks.

In addition to yesterday's public radio-related day trip, my social calendar for the weekend also included a screening of Food Matters in the parking lot of a local performing arts space and a 35-mile bike ride along Minneapolis's Grand Rounds (interspersed with stops for fresh tilapia tacos and ice cream, of course). Those 35 miles were hard fought, I should mention. A quick tip: if you have not gotten on a bike in over a year, it is maybe not the best idea for your first ride of the season to be a rather long one, accompanied by three friends who either bike to work nearly every day, attend spinning class routinely, or are, as far as you can tell, wired not unlike a tiny, fast-paced, never-tiring robot. Word to the wise, as it were. I'd best get in some more practice miles if I plan to bike with those particular friends any time again soon. Meanwhile, I can finally now sit in one place for more than a half hour and then arise again without any piercing pain in every muscle below my pelvis, so I am thankful for that, anyway.

Aside from the unexpected effort of that bike ride, however, my weekend involved no manual labor whatsoever. (That is, unless you count a few fairly painless loads of laundry and some dishes as well.) The important thing is I did no yard work, digging, or planting, and tackled no other projects or errands either. (I have not even driven my car since Thursday. Let's hope it still starts when I attempt to leave for work tomorrow.) Today was a lovely, largely leisurely day, and it pains me more than a bit to set my 6:30 alarm for tomorrow morning.

And that's about all I've got at the moment. I'm starting to think I should go on a date again one of these days, if for no other reason than the material. I rather enjoy having my evenings taken only by things I want to take them, however. Perhaps I should just fabricate a date story instead? Hmmm.

15 comments:

Shana said...

No WAY! Oh, finally. SUCK IT, NORM. JUST SUCK IT. Congrats, Stef! I had the distinct feeling that things were going to end up this way, but oy with the waiting already! Good news, man.

shelleycoughlin said...

Ha! Pretend dates sound like more fun than real ones.

Animal Loving Young Authors said...

Sounds like a lovely weekend. I agree- we need to do something about these unreasonable 5 day work weeks- especially in summer...

Animal Loving Young Authors said...

Whoops! I am signed in under a kid account- this is really your WI fan.

Jess said...

Yay for having two senators! I can totally relate to the excitement... it is probably similar to how I felt when we moved to Colorado from DC and I regained full voting rights (after three years of taxation without representation in our nation's capital).

lizgwiz said...

Oh, PLEASE make up some dating stories for our amusement.

If you patiently and lawfully waited in line for your land run, then you are neither a "boomer" nor a "sooner," both of which were cheats in the Oklahoma land run, and now we say them like they're good things. "Boomer Sooner!" Yeah...I don't know why. ;)

Alice said...

you went on a THIRTY FIVE MILE bike ride out of the blue?! and your butt is still physically attached to your legs?? i am mightily impressed....!

-R- said...

I agree with Alice.

So how was Prairie Home Companion? Did thousands of people show up for the show? Do you feel more folksy now?

Sauntering Soul said...

I'm so accustomed to my short 6 mile commute to and from work that I don't even like to drive my car 35 miles unless it's absolutely necessary. Riding a bike that far is completely out of the question.

flurrious said...

I'm with Bev. I don't even like to drive 35 miles. If I had to ride my bike 35 miles, someone would not come out of it alive. Possibly me, or possibly the person whose idea it was to ride that far.

Poppy said...

I wouldn't mind a few do-overs of the three-day-weekend I just had. I loooooved it. The only thing I'd change: More reading time. :)

Stefanie said...

Shana--Oy with the waiting already indeed. But I thought only people in Minnesota wanted to tell Norm to suck it!

NPW--They totally do, right? They can go any way you want them to go! There are definite advantages to this plan.

Monkey? Or did you mean Badger Reader? I'm guessing Monkey. Anyway, whoever you are, that kitten in your avatar is too damn cute. :-)

Jess--You bring up a good point. At least I had ONE senator, right? It didn't occur to me that some people never have ANY!

Liz--It was a public radio crowd, so everyone was pretty orderly and well behaved. No big surprise there, huh?

Alice--Well, thank you. I am hoping the friends who thought the full 53-mile route was not unreasonable read that. :-)

R--I am terrible at judging large amounts of anything precisely, but I would definitely say the crowd was in the thousands. Surprisingly, it didn't seem that hectic, and getting out of there wasn't even much of a hassle afterward. Seriously, if the whole world was full of public radio listeners, it would probably be an amusingly more calm and orderly place. :-)

SS--Oh, how I WISH I had a six-mile commute! It just occurred to me, however, that I did bike further on Friday than I would have driven to work that day. Of course, the ride also took me several hours. I don't think being a bike commuter is in my future. Not unless I change jobs, anyway.

Flurrious--Ha. We did lose a couple people from our original party, but they veered off early and pretty deliberately. I am, indeed, glad I didn't collapse on the trail a mile behind my friends, not to be found for hours.

Poppy--I would like more reading time every day. Seems the Internet always distracts me from actual books far too often.

Courtney said...

35 miles?!? On a BIKE?!? Impressive, dear Stefanie. Very impressive.

Whiskeymarie said...

I could probably do 35 miles, as long as I could stop every 5 miles or so for an iced tea and a little nap.

LaraBoBara said...

I join the crowd of folks in awe of you biking 35 miles. DUDE. THat's a lot of miles.