i am living with an almost thirty birthday boy. thirty is a big year, isn’t it? i thought it should be celebrated in style, so…i planned. and i planned really well. first, i invited a friend to come surprise Andreas. don’t ask me how i kept it a secret for t-h-r-e-e months, but i did. Robi, arrived on wednesday and they have been the dynamic duo living it up midwest style including: jack stacks, baseball, worlds of fun, fork & screen, summer heat and the pool, mexican food, cuban cigars and good wheat beer.

second, another adventure was checked off the list today – skydiving. not my idea, not my idea at all. but i am supportive and we have life insurance, so i said do it once. Robi and Andreas flew up 10,000 feet in a dinky plane, risked their lives, experienced 45 seconds of indescribable free falling to be followed with parachuting to the end. it was hard – i made him say pet gracie before we left, ask where he wanted to be buried and told him he could back out any time. but they loved it, and if asked i’m sure they would do it again.

North Kansas City – I35 & Vernon

I lived in Kansas City for a long time – not all my life – but I will always consider Kansas City one of my homes. It has only been recently that my, what you might call love affair, with KC has begun. I’ve never thought Kansas City to be anything special – “in the middle of no-where” seemed to sum up how I felt about it most of the time. And I’ve lived in other cities where I felt something different – where I can instantly think about a park, restaurant, or sidewalk that bring back a flood of memories. But this has rarely been the cases in Kansas City  - my memories have always revolved around people.

But something has changed – maybe I’ve had one too many Boulevard wheat beers but I am becoming attached. I remember reading a memoir of woman that had this deep connection with her city – she felt apart of it, almost like it belonged to her and became jealous when others discovered its secrets. Sounds a tad bit crazy, huh? But I find this happening to myself – discovering little secrets about Kansas City and it gives me a little thrill inside. Now let’s be clear – if you were to give me a plane ticket to move somewhere with mountains or the ocean and public transportation – I would be packed by tomorrow. But today, tomorrow and the next day I am living in the land of Oz.

I have made a commitment to myself – I will pursue this love affair. I will have to be intentional and it will take extra effort but it’s worth it, right? It will be an adventure, like most love affairs are (of course, not coming from experience ), it will be filled with disappointed and unexpected twists and turns. Ohh…I am becoming giddy…

There will be more white coming this weekend – heaps of snow is what they are calling for.  Humph… I should not be surprised, this is Kansas after all where we say “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”  Maybe it’s okay to bundle up one more weekend, it will be my motivation to finish those wool socks since my deadline is quickly approaching.  And it gives me reason to make this and with all this snow talk and my heater going I’ve been craving this with something from here.

Happy Weekend!

Hello lovely.

I’ve been waiting tirelessly for you.  There was one point, a very low point – almost flooded with tears, that I thought you might not ever come.  So I decided to be proactive – I publicly voiced my concerns and my fears.  People talked like you were coming, but I am not so easy to sway.  I need proof – hard evidence.  And today, you provided just that.  It was too good to be true – I drank ice tea, put on my shades, read a magazine and basked in your glory.  I even pulled out the truest sign of confidence, my flip-flops.  I have been told, this utopia I relished in today is not here to stay.  I was fearful of this, but I ask that if you must leave, please….oh pretty please do not be gone long.  Or else I will have return to my old ways – grumpy, irritated and with deeper trust issues.

I will patiently wait for you return,

Lindsay

This weekend I had an idea – a brilliant idea. I worked on my idea all week – gathering supplies, scouring the internet for instructions and techniques, sawing wood, jumping every time I used the nail gun and today was the day it was all suppose to come together.  And it didn’t.  Something went wrong, I think I know what happened, but still…ugh.  I’m not giving up, but for today I’m going to join Gracie on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and finish writing my business plan, maybe with a little knitting on the side.  I’ll have to go out tomorrow gather more supplies, possible cut a little more wood and try again.  This is what I signed up for being crafty and all, right? So I’m going to call this a process, trial and error if you will.  

Since I’ve been a little sidetracked with my idea the past few days, I realized it’s almost been a week since I’ve made dinner. I have this love/hate relationship with cooking. When I’m in the groove of cooking, planning out meals, making grocery list, allocating time in my day –  I’m fine and I really enjoy.  I enjoy to the point of being a little ambitious at times, I’ve thought about making my own tortillas.  But I’m out of the groove and now it just seems like work. Why can’t cereal or toast or yogurt be a substitute for meat? I have a couple peppers that are nearing their end, so I’m going to put on my apron (always makes me feel a little better) and make this tonight.