Playing catch up
I kept meaning to write an entry about last weekend, since I actually did something, but I kept putting it off...mostly because I got distracted by tv once home from work. Kind of pathetic, I know, but the bright side is that at least I've been getting exercise lately. Not a lot, and not terribly varied, but it's a start. This is the worst shape I've ever been in in my life (at least during university I had a job where I was on my feet all the time and even in Japan, where I was often half at my desk, I was still forced to ride my bike to get anywhere fun) and that has to change, considering I'm not getting any younger....and this is my last year before I hit my 30's!
Okay...you're right, that last bit really has nothing to do with it. Just me being a bit melodramatic. :D
Anyway, last Friday Jamie got off work absurdly early (noon or 12:30 or something equally ridiculous) and arrived in town not long after 4:00. I got off work at five and dad drove me over to where she and mom had gone, an auction not far from downtown Bloomington. I was hoping it'd be of some interest...but it was the calmer sort of auction where you can understand everything they say, as opposed to the more...er, country version where they're announcing the bids in rapid succession. Considering I was dragged to this type constantly as a child, the former seems oddly wrong. Therefore, not long after I arrived...we departed. ;p
Later that evening, after we had dinner, Jamie and I went to see "How to Train Your Dragon"...which was adorable, and is quite possibly the understatement of the year. This is going to sound like a weak statement considering I haven't seen many movies in the theater since I've been home, but still...it's the best I've felt after seeing one since "Zombieland". A bit ironic, I know, considering *that's* a zombie movie, but hey, I'm a sucker for movies with people who form family units. Anyhoo, GO SEE IT, and if you can SEE IT IN 3D!
On Saturday we were up pretty early (well, earlier than I'd usually prefer on a day off ;) ) to head over to Fulton County to Dickson Mounds. Once-upon-a-time it was a Native American settlement and, even better the site of burial mounds. You may not particularly recall, but one of the things that Jamie and I loved seeking out the most in Japan were kofun, or burial mounds. What's incredible about the mounds is that many of them are older than those even in Japan...although the downside is you can't actually go in to any of them. I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing...I remember walking inside one in Shiga and not realizing we weren't alone. I'm not exactly squeamish exactly, but needless to say I beat a hasty retreat.
The museum itself is a nice one, though I'd suggest they update the short movie they show up on the third floor. That, and this large room they have with some sort of presentation I couldn't quite figure out the purpose of. Certainly it was to further explain the culture of the Native Americans who once lived there, but the execution was a bit confusing. I cut them a little slack though, the room used to house the exposed skeletal remains of some of the Native American's who once lived there. They were re-covered in 1992, but not before we visited as children and saw them for ourselves in person. I wouldn't be surprise if that was largely the reason I wanted to be an archaeologist for so long.
Thereafter we headed into the town of Havana to check out another mound, which was smack dab in the middle of a town park, with a bunch of picnic tables on top! Struck me as a bit odd, that's for sure~. We also stopped to take a better look at a local water tower, which was to ostentatiously painted for us to pass up closer inspection. On our way back Jamie and I wanted to attempt to get closer to another burial mound, but recent flooding seemed to have washed out part of the road, and while there was no water on the road, it was apparently in such dubious condition that mom nixed the idea in the bud....even though Jamie and I were willing to just walk over. SIGH.
Once back in town we dropped by the Bead Parlor in downtown Bloomington (SEE NORMAL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PRETENTIOUS AND CALL IT "UPTOWN") to pick up some supplies to make a specific kind of bracelet. The owner, who my mom knows fairly well, was nice enough to let us snap a picture of the white board the class teacher would be using to conduct her workshop...so we were able to figure it out without taking the class itself. I'd feel guilty if I hadn't paid for the supplies from the owner! ;p We dove right into figuring out how to make it once we got home and, honestly, I think I did a pretty darned good job. I like sparkly stuff (I'm such a girl sometimes) and the one I made suits my tastes particularly well!
The following day, of course, was Easter. My family is hardly religious (despite the fact we were sent to Sunday school for years and years), but we're traditional about having our family meals on holidays. The only drawback was that it was only mom, dad, Jon, Jamie, and me. I say "drawback" simply because we have yet to have an extended family dinner (that is, including my oldest brother and his family), though Jamie and I have been home for nearly nine months now. Still, it was tasty....and largely thanks to me and Jamie. I suppose not a whole lot of work had to go into doing the ham (aside from putting cloves in it and basting it in its own juice a few times), but Jamie put in a lot of work with the cheesy potatoes, and even made two pies! One was a raspberry yogurt pie I was a bit affronted she commandeered the making of as it's rather been my role for years and years, but...oh well, I suppose I was eventually just happy I didn't have to do the work to make it. The other was a pie form of German chocolate cake that was absolutely to die for....I still dream of that damned thing.
So Easter dinner was nice, though had you seen a snapshot of our table you probably wouldn't have known it was supposed to be for any particular holiday, which...is fairly all right by me. It was a good day because I: A. got to spend more time with Jamie B. the weather was stunning C. I got to go running and D. leftovers.
There wasn't much to speak of, excitement wise, in the week that followed with the exception of talk given at ISU by Frank Warren, creator of Post Secret. Now, I've never visited the website (well, I did for the first time today in order to provide the link), but I've seen the books. Well, two of them, thanks to Angelina. I've never sent a postcard, never thought about sending a postcard, but the talk Mr. Warren gave was interesting, though obviously practiced, and even though I'm cynical enough to think that some of the people who shared their secrets were plants, the idea and emotion behind some of the ideas he presented are valid and worth contemplating. Also? I ended up being able to exchange my second balcony ticket for one in the 5th row, so awesome (not awesome was having the audience being asked how many community members were in the audience...I did not raise my hand. I knew the next question would be "And how many students?". You can bet my hand went up then, despite its inaccuracy).
The following weekend (so...last weekend), on Sunday, I joined mom and her friend from across the street (who lives in the house were former friends of ours lived, who were twins. Also? We used to live next to a family whose father/husband was a twin. Heh.) for a trip out to Mackinaw Winery, just..you know, for the fun of it. It was quite pretty and would be a lovely place to spend an evening during one of their events, but I did learn that, as I thought, wine is not for me. I'm completely serious when I say that it tastes too much of alcohol, which makes me feel queasy if I drink more than about half a glass. Maybe champagne is more my style?
What was curious about the day was that, after a few days of being hinted of it by Leslie, a friend/acquaintance of hers messaged me on Facebook. Apparently he'd seen me in some of Leslie's photos and was interested. For what, exactly I don't know, (quite a bit later than most of this stuff happened: it's Sunday, April 18th as of this writing), but I suppose I'll find out. I received the message on Saturday evening or Sunday morning and returned it Sunday evening and, as of this date, I've just received a response. More on it later, I suppose. Whatever the case, Leslie assured me he's not the kind of guy who goes trolling through FB looking for people to hit on, so we'll see what, if anything, happens. Considering the length of this entry, I'm wondering how many of you will even see this bit. ;)
The following Tuesday I went with them to the old depot in Mackinaw, once a station for the interurban (fantastic), now the site of a tea room. The weather was perfect, the food fantastic (salad with raspberry vinaigrette, chicken salad that had walnuts, cranberry, and apricot, lemon meringue pie), and the day lazy, but generally lovely.
A curious occurrence happened during the week: I got back in touch with an early internet friend, someone I knew from my earliest chatting days, from the very first chat room I ever frequented. Not that I frequented many, mind you, but it was quite curious and lovely. It turns out that he'd been going through some old things and found a letter I'd written him, so I guess he just took "Normal" and "Megan Thompson" and tried that out in the FB search box. ;p It's quite something, to be honest! He isn't much in contact with anyone from those days anymore, save for a person or two, but that's not much different from me. That said, I'm still friends with a guy named Matze, whom I've never lost touch with (Matze lives in Germany), and Brian, who, like Matze, was one of my very first internet friends, right out of that chat room (Lounge D, on WBS). We knew Brian into our 20's, but lost touch with him around 2003 or so and only just recently got to know him again because he and his wife live up in the suburbs, so Jamie sees them from time to time. Life is crazy at times, hm?
That's about all I have, as I only had Sunday off and I didn't do all that much, except for a few other things. 1. It appears I'm going to get the opportunity to meet my JET workplace successor (he's Nick's apartment successor); he'll be in the states the week after next on vacation, at least I think that's the reason. Why so early I have no idea, but I'm sure I'll find out at some point!
Also, the following:
Alexa Meade: Those are real people, for goodness sake!
Jennifer Angus: One word: bugs. Jeebus.
Also, I was looking through a box from out in the storage shed, one that contained lots of folders and other such things from my apartment. I found the following quote, something I'd heard in a Dane Cook thing, that I'd scribbled on a piece of paper about two months before I left Japan: "Time for a new normal."
Words that are particularly potent for me, all things considered, but I'm still desperately trying to figure out how.