Behind the times

I just read this article and thought I mis-read it at first. How sad that this small-town school's administrators are promoting intolerance. At the same time, good for this teacher and her students to challenge them... Read the article.

Roller derby

I just bought these rollerblades yesterday and have taken them out twice now with Indy running alongside (and sometimes pulling in front) of me. At first, when I was looking online for rollerblades, I kept finding things like these, and I thought, "these look weird." Remember when rollerblades were made out of all black plastic? That's kind of what I was expecting. Now, they have shoe materials and prettier plastic. After two workouts that lasted about 45 minutes each, I think I'm getting the hang of it again, and the look of the new rollerblades is growing on me. It is a little challenging when Indy decides she wants to chase a squirrel or a bird. I just have to brace myself and make sure to balance. I haven't fallen yet! So keep your fingers crossed that I don't have a major wipeout! Actually, Indy's been a pretty good rollerblading partner -- she has lots of energy and pulls me a little bit more toward the beginning, but once we've been going for about 20 minutes, she starts to get tired, so then I take the lead and she heels next to me or slightly behind me. What a good girl!

Church milestones

Stacy called me the other day, and I just had to share this conversation about our 8-year-old cousin Louis.

STACY: Hey, are you going to Louis' confirmation on Saturday?

HEIDI: Don't you mean his first communion? He's only 8 -- confirmation is when you're in like eighth grade.

STACY (to Taylor who is in the car with her): Ugh...I told you it was his first communion, not confirmation! (to Heidi) We just bought him a confirmation card at Hallmark.

HEIDI: You could just cross off "confirmation" and write in "first communion." (laughter)

I wonder what they decided to do... We'll find out later today. I have yet to buy a card. I'm just planning on doing that on my way there. That's a little something I learned from my dad, who would always stop at a Walgreen's in between weddings and receptions. Then we'd just sign the card in the car right before going into the reception. So is it bad that I'm operating like a bachelor? At least I know what type of card to get for the occasion. :)

Coming soon...

WHO: Twin Cities Women's Choir
WHEN: Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5
WHERE: St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church, near Lake Calhoun, Mpls.
WHAT: Silent auction, 100+ women singing and scrumptious desserts from local restaurants

For more info: www.twincitieswomenschoir.org

Fan base in attendance so far: my mom, cousin Donnie, Grandma, Angie's parents and her aunt. Any others interested? Just let me know or go to the Web site!

*Disclaimer: Since it is Angie's and my first year singing in the choir, there are no guarantees about the coolness of the show. However, we were both very pleased and proud of our performance at the Ann Reed Show, which was recorded live at the Fitz for MPR. What we can guarantee is lots of women-power songs and of course, lovely desserts. There will also be random clapping and snapping and playing of random instruments. No flashing lights, though...well, at least not that I know of.

Colorado pics

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Colorado. Click here to see all of them.

Hats off to U of M!

I submitted my official acceptance to the University of Minnesota today, so I will be starting graduate school in September for speech-language pathology. In three years, I will have my master's and a new career. It's a little scary since I haven't said anything to my current boss or anyone at work, but I will have to turn in my notice at some point. As of now, I plan on waiting to do that until July or August. So wish me luck on saving money for tuition, finding an assistantship, etc.! I have 5 months to keep on working and saving money....then I'll be a poor college student again.

Go gophers!

Girls' weekend in Colorado

Last weekend, I flew out to Denver to hang out with Sam and Emily (two of my roommates from Butler). It was a great reminder of how important girlfriends are. We now live in three different time zones, and it had been about a year and a half since the three of us had hung out in the same city, so it was great to see them. We were already talking about planning a trip for next year...maybe a cruise from southern Cali down the baja peninsula? We'll see... :)

Our weekend was filled to the max:

Thursday: Emily flew in from San Francisco. I flew in from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Had margaritas at a cute mexican place in Denver.

Friday: Drove to Breckenridge. Had lunch and went snowshoeing. It started as a beautiful blue-sky day and then a bunch of snow started to come down (as you can see from the picture). Had dinner and a drink (oh yeah, and Sam's bf Bob met us) and then we just crashed. We were all talk thinking we could stay out late and have some drinks. After one drink each, we were all ready to just crash. I'll blame it on the altitude.

Saturday: Sam and I skiied while Emily and Bob snowboarded. Em was a champ since she hadn't been snowboarding in like 7 years. So Bob was a really great teacher for her (he called himself her drill sargent). :) After being out all day in a snow storm, we hit the outdoor hot tub as the snow continued to fall around us. It was so relaxing and cool to have the snow falling as we were burning up in the hot tub. We topped off the day with a great dinner at Fatty's, and then headed back to Denver, where we watched SNL and fell asleep very fast.

Sunday: Sam drove us to Boulder to drive around the campus, take touristy pictures and wander down the main street window shopping and occasionally checking out funky shops (like the fair trade shop we found). After a quick burrito at Illegal Pete's, we had to head to the airport to go home.

I have lots of pictures to post, but I forgot my camera at my mom's house. I'll get 'em up there soon!

I Believe

These are the lyrics to a song that my brother and I performed at my uncle Richard's funeral yesterday. He had been battling cancer for a little over a year now -- initially, he was only given a few months to live. So it was pretty impressive that he made it this long. Singing at the funeral was a hard thing to do, but I think my aunt Jean was glad to have us do it -- this was her and Richard's favorite song. I had never heard it before, but I think it's a simple song of hope -- no matter what your beliefs are.

I believe for every drop of rain that falls,
a flower grows.
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night,
a candle glows.
I believe for everyone who goes astray,
someone will come to show the way.
I believe,
I believe.
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer
will still be heard.
I believe that someone in the great somewhere
hears every word.
Every time I hear a new born baby cry,
or touch a leaf or see the sky,
then I know why
I believe.
Every time I hear a new born baby cry,
or touch a leaf or see the sky,
then I know why
I believe.

Holes

I have holes in the back of my mouth. It sucks. Currently, I'm trying to get oatmeal from my breakfast out of them...to no avail. These holes make good traps for just about anything -- noodles, bread, you name it. I have never felt such a craving to be able to just EAT. Normally. And brush my teeth like a normal person.

I pity all of you who have yet to get your wisdom teeth out. The procedure is not bad at all. It's after you wake up that the terrible part begins. And you think, oh, I can manage this for a couple days. And then the days turn into one whole week and a day....and this where I am. Let's hope it gets better from here.

The good news:
1. For the past two nights, I have actually been able to sleep through the night instead of waking up to take more drugs. So although it doesn't sound like it here, I am in a much better mood now. :)
2. The swelling is down so I no longer look like a fat face.
3. Ibuprofen is my new best friend and has helped the muscle pain so that I can sing at our choir performance tonight.

Have a wonderful weekend -- hope no one's getting their wisdom teeth out!

Top 10 Signs You're Watching Too Much College Basketball

This Top 10 from David Letterman includes a Butler basketball player, and it's funny, so read it.