Found - The Parents are Moving Edition

So my parents are moving out of the apartment that they have been living in for the past seven years. Because they are moving into a smaller place, my mom asked me to help her go through some of my old things that she had been holding onto (to see if I wanted to keep them myself, if I wanted to throw/give it away, or if I wanted her to keep it).

Along the way, I found some pretty awesome things:

1. A candy dish I made in some art class. It is severely deformed, and an awful shade of beige with aqua colored flecks. Yet when I pulled it out of a cupboard I still said, "Awwwwwwww." I told my mom she could get rid of it, but I think she is actually keeping it (such a-pack rat).

2. Notebooks from college, including a page from my Journalism Notebook that had a page that simply read "This Lecture is Useless".

3. A sign that I had up on my door my freshman year of college. It was made by the only two people in my dorm I had befriended. It was shaped like a shield and said "The Antisocial Club Welcomes Hollie and Jamie" on the back it stated, "Removal of this sign will result in immediate termination of membership". These are the types of people I befriend.

4. Patches and medals from various athletic and academic accomplishments in my high school year. My mom saw them and said, "We could never afford those jackets that you are suppose to put those packets on but you would never want on anyway right?" I believe my answer was, "Really no."

5. And the best thing I think I found, an old box (that used to carry candy I sold for softball) full of cassettes tapes. These tapes have been collected since the early 90's. Here are some awesome examples of what is there: Madonna - Who's that Girl, Hammer - The Funky Headhunter, Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 months and 2 days in the life of...,Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell, TLC - Ooooooohh..On the TLC Tip, Xscape - Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet, Naughty by Nature, Domino, and Foreigner 4.

And now I will have this stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

The only good thing about moving is the nostalgia.

Sarah Palin, I learned about her in my sister's bathroom

This morning when we heard the news about Sarah Palin being chosen as John McCain's running mate, unlike many in America, my family knew right away who see was. We read about her in the Alaska Magazine that has been sitting around in my sister's bathroom.

I think I have to begrudgingly admit that this choice was kind of genius. But it could also be the worst choice in history. I'm hoping for the latter.

Sometimes my childhood memories sound sketchy

First sketchy memory...rolling cigarettes with Grandma...But I have discussed that one before. Another sketchy memory...Sunday Night dart leagues.

My parents played on a Sunday Night dart league with my Grandparents, and Aunts and Uncles. Every Sunday they would go to a different bar to participate in the league. Every once in a while, mostly when their team was playing at my "Grandparent's bar" (not a bar that they owned but a bar that they frequented...their version of Cheers) they would bring me and my sister and brothers along with them.

We would sit around, drinking our Cokes and watch my parents play while late 70's classic rock played on the juke box. I remember one night my Aunt serenading her brother to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (this was before it became big again in Wayne's World) and I'm pretty sure she wasn't drunk.

Reasons it's sketchy sounding to an outsider: Children in a bar.

Reasons it's not sketchy:
A - It was Sunday "Nights" (everything was done by 9pm at the latest), not a big party night
B - The people in the league were older adults, who rarely drank, if at all (like my Grandparents who didn't drink. "Why did they go to bars?" you ask. Because that was their people.)
C - The only bar we went to was a place were everyone knew us and was surprisingly a family friendly place.
D - In Sheboygan, every other social event is held in a bar (or the event room of a bar).

Aw. Sweet Sheboygan childhood memories.

The Best Story Ever

Read this story about people saving a mother duck and her ducklings. Makes me feel happy.

Marie Claire Says Milwaukee is Sexy

That thought you just had..."WTF"...yeah, I had that too.

I was reading it on jsonline.com when my co-worker came over. We chatted a bit about Michael Phelps and the Russia/Georgia conflict then we had this conversation:

Me: In more local news, Marie Claire voted Milwaukee the sexiest city.
Him: shocked face Like 90 out of 100?
Me: No, as in number one.
Him: Well, obviously they've never been here.
Me: Actually they did say in the article that they didn't send a reporter here. They just did some research about how there was a lot of stuff to do during the summer, like festivals and stuff.
Him: Well that's just because its so cold during the winter that people just want to get outside during the summer.
Me: Yeah, but they are also using the term "Sexy" wrong.

Now...don't get me wrong. I liked Milwaukee before I moved there. And I love it now that I live there. But "Sexy" it is not. "Easy-going", "friendly", "cool" are words I would use.

Marie Claire is "silly".

I'm Going to Try and Have a Blog Happy Weekend

So, I don't have internet access at my apartment. I haven't for 10 months now. For awhile, I grew used to not being able to write my random thoughts on this thing, but I have noticed that lately I have missed it.

Only on here can I talk about the following without having to see passive-aggressive smiles or eyes rolling:
How while on the bus in the morning I randomly look at the older people around me and wonder about their past sex lives. (Probably my attempt to be Amelie-esque in my thoughts.)
My love of everything pop culture and how I try to keep it underwraps and nod when people talk about NPR, even though I rarely if ever listen. (I'm shamefully proud of my obsession.)
How lately my actions have been contradictory from my feelings to a potentially career-killing way. (Has to be some kind of undiagnosised something or other).
My absolutely love and adoration of my niece and nephew. (I love those monkies).
Random news stories and video clips on YouTube I find.

So, those that love my posts (Mom) and those that love to snark at it (I don't think there is anyone besides Mom) rejoice because I will attempt to make a post a day during my weekend in Sheboygan.

Soundtrack to my life

Recently, when I completed a project at work, I started to hum the Final Countdown to myself (and pumping my fists in the air ever so slightly). Then I realized that I do this all the time. Final Countdown is my "Victory" song.

Actually, I find myself humming songs (or at least singing them in my head) when I am in a particular mood.

Happy Song: Walking on Sunshine
Sad Song: Charlie Brown Theme (you know that sad song that plays when he is walking around)
Angry Song: Down with the Sickness (I have no idea why)
Songs I sing to make others feel awkward: Pony by Ginuwine and Silk's Freak Me
Nostalgia Song: When We Meet Again by G. Love and Special Sauce

and so on...


And according to this, the number #1 song on the day I was born: Maneater by Hall and Oates. And my life's theme song: Independent Woman by Destiny's Child. So true. So true.

This Makes me Feel Awkward

You can get the context of this video here.

I love reading the Best Week Ever Blog. If I am ever in a bad mood, it makes me happy. And this video is no different. I was laughing so hard that I was tearing out of one eye.

I Love Side-by-Side Comparisons

Even if it might not be all that accurate.

I like to think that Lainie looks like me when I was her age:


It's the checks!

But it is probably more accurate to go with my brother Andy and his wife Melody's thoughts on their son Ian:


That would be an uncanny resemblance to Little Foot from Land Before Time.

The Unfortunate Circumstance of Being "Of Color" in Sheboygan County

I always feel unlucky that I didn't end up with my mom's skin darker skin color. I think that she has a beautiful skin tone, and unlike me, she never has to convince people or deal with eye rolls when she tells people she is Native American. However, although my mom is very proud of her heritage, she tells me that I am lucky that I have lighter skin because I don't have to deal with a lot of the stuff that she has had to deal with in her life.

As you would expect in a mostly white town in the 60's and 70's she and her family were not treated that well. Even after more than 20 years, she still gets treated poorly. Take for example, an instance from this past weekend:

Late one evening she and my dad were leaving my sister's house following a visit with their granddaughter. My dad was going a little over the speed limit in city of Sheboygan Falls so was pulled over. Everything about the procedure was normal, until the police officer asked my mom, who was the passenger, for her ID. My mom, being any normal person, asked why. The police officer said it was just normal procedure. Funny...I don't ever remember having to show my ID being a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over. I was once even pulled over in Sheboygan Falls (for going 45 in a 45 mph zone, by the way) and they didn't ask my mom, who was my passenger, for her ID.

Later that night, my mom looked up what was standard procedures for police officers when pulling over a vehicle. The information she found stated that an office would only ask for other passengers IDs when there is suspicious behavior. I guess the suspicious behavior would be being a person of color in Sheboygan Falls.

"Holland, I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but you are hard to read."

I was recently told this by my boss. She thought that I didn't like my job. I told her, honestly, that I did like my job. I guess I have to make an effort to show it, but I don't know how.

I guess I have been thinking too much about it, because I asked my sister what she thought it meant. She didn't know either. She suggested that I go skipping down the halls.

What does that mean, "you're hard to read"? That statement is more what you hear when someone is giving you relationship advice, not so much personality advice.

In typical, break-the-tension-Holland-way, after she told me that I was hard to read, I told my boss that it was the way that I kept up the intrigue. Because what am I if I am not mysterious?

Dora The Explorer and Immigration Supporter

So I was recently watching an episode of Dora the Explorer with my niece. It was an episode in which we find out how she became friends with Boots, Benny the Bull, and all her other friends (and nemesis if you count Swiper).

In the episode she lists off all the places she has to go to, to get to the mountain to drop off the Fiesta Trio's instruments. One of her "obstacles" was a big river. She told all the audience that the had to cross the big river, or as she called it the "Rio Grande".

OMG! She just told the kids to cross the border illegally! For shame Dora. For shame! You know you can't speak like that with this administration.

The Cheese Stands Alone

This is probably the meanest children's song ever. I remember always being nervous whenever we sang this song in kindergarten. I really did not want to be picked last. Who wants to be picked last? Having children sing/dance around you singing about you being the cheese that stands alone...all smelly and lonely. The song is as torturous as dodge ball (I still recoil from the noise of the ball being slammed against objects). But I digress...

Not much has happened since the last time I wrote. I went to my first big conference for work in San Diego. This is as much of San Diego as I got to see:

We worked 12+ hour days, dealt with a leaky ceiling and (some) snippy people and I had a blast. I actually enjoy that time to what I am doing now at work, which isn't much since it is a down-time.

My niece turned one. I would have a picture of her attacking her birthday cake, but I don't have one because my digital camera broke. I still shed a tear thinking about it. So sad...so expensive...such a rip-off Service Plan.

Also, its been almost two months since the season started and I already have gone to three Brewers games, one of which I won tickets to through a raffle at work. Those seats were close behind the Brewer's dug out and we got a complementary parking pass right next to the stadium. I brought my dad, sister and brother-in-law and they were all "geeking out" as my brother would say. Yes, my family gets super excited over the little things, it's what makes us so endearing.

Speaking of Geeking Out: I saw Persepolis, which I wasn't even aware was being made into a movie until shortly before the Academy Awards. I saw the English dubbed version. So good...I highly recommend it.

And Now I Hate Spring

This is what greeted the first full day of spring in 2008 for Milwaukee. Wooo!

This is what Ian and Lainie think about the snow:


Shock and Snickers.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

So lately, I have been telling this little story to whoever will listen to me. I just can't seem to wrap it around my head, and also why I am so affected by it. I was talking with a co-worker (I think we were talking about appearance at work) and she had mentioned to me that I looked "wholesome." If someone had taken a picture of me at the exact moment that word was uttered, they would have the perfect expression for WTF?.

I don't look wholesome! I wear holey jeans and ratty shoes! I have a mean-don't-mess-with-me scowl! I drink and swear like a sailor! I have tattooes! Isn't that the antithesis of wholesome?

Wholesome is defined, according to dictionary.com, as:
whole·some
–adjective
1. conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial: wholesome recreation; wholesome environment.
2. conducive to bodily health; healthful; salubrious: wholesome food; wholesome air; wholesome exercise.
3. suggestive of physical or moral health, esp. in appearance.
4. healthy or sound.

And here is what thersaurus.com says:
Main Entry: wholesome
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: healthy
Synonyms: all there, beneficial, clean, decent, edifying, ethical, exemplary, fit, good, hale, health-giving, healthful, helpful, honorable, hygienic, innocent, invigorating, moral, nice, normal, nourishing, nutritious, nutritive, pure, respectable, restorative, right, righteous, safe, salubrious, salutary, sane, sanitary, sound, strengthening, together, virtuous, well, worthy

This doesn't sound bad does it? So what is my problem? Why do I fight being defined as wholesome? I guess for me when I think wholesome I think innocent, naive, pure. I would rather be seen as worldly, experienced (and not in THAT way), and realistic. Hey, I even would rather be definied as cynical and jaded.

But, in reality, I am just kidding myself. I like to spend, what others may see as too many, weekends home visiting my family. I like websites devoted to cute animal pictures. Babies make me smile and talk in an annoyingly high voice. Shows like Extreme Home Makeover make me cry (and if you tell anyone, I will kick your ass...ok, no I won't). I find myself smiling at strangers. Yes, I am more wholesome than I want to admit.

Introducing my nephew Ian James

So one of his auntie's on his mama's side is a professional photographer (you can see her work here) so he is going to be photographed well his entire life:




And, a picture that I took (just to compare the good from the bad):

I HATE WINTER!

These are put in chronological order.





And yet, these photos don't even start to touch the root of my hate. I'm looking forward to spring.

Warm Fuzzy Feeling of Grandma

When I was young, my brothers and sister and I would routinely go over to our grandma and grandpa's house. They would watch us while our parents worked or ran errands. All of us remember this with fond memories. We each remembered something different about the experience.

Michael would remember going over their to watch Lost in Space and Land of the Lost on cable (which we didn't have at our own home at the time). My other siblings would remember things like, grandma letting us have the sugar cubes that she used for her coffee. Or playing with her massive amount of knick-knacks (is that how you spell it?) or jewelery (she would wear a ring on each finger). But my memory was special.

Yes, I used to help my grandma roll her cigarettes. Not manually. No, grandma had a specail cigarette roller. I still remember pulling up a chair next to grandma. She would take out the rolling machine and her big coffee container-turned-tobacco-holder. I still don't remember exactly what my job was, but I have faint memories of the taste of rolling papers (and that memory would not be from recent memories), so it might have been my job to lick the paper. Perhaps I didn't have a job, and Grandma just told me I was helping to make me happy.

When I recently revealed this memory to my family we both ended up a little surprised. They were surprised because
A: None of them remember helping her with that task
B: They never heard about it until right then
C: It was kind of a weird "Good" memory to have
And I was surprised that
A: No one else helped her
B: I never talked about it until then
C: It was, in fact, a weird memory to have and enjoy

Then it kind of made me happy. I had a memory that was so distinct from my other siblings. Maybe that is why I never shared with others. Not because I was ashamed of it but because I wanted it to be my own. Sure, it is a complete bizarre warm, fuzzy memory to have but you would have to know my grandma to know why the memory is funny and cute at the same time.

I shall always think of my grandma when I smell stale smoke; when I see gawdy knick-knacks and land ornaments; when I pass by small little frail bodies that you have to lean down to hug; and when I see my mom look at her grandchildren with loving and adoring eyes. I can only hope that Lainie and Ian love my mom as much as I loved and love my Grandma.

My Very First Nephew...I Shall Call Him Tino

But really his name is Ian James. Melody, my sister-in-law, went into labor early this morning. I went to work, knowing that it would take a while, and that it would be hard to travel home due to yet another snow storm. Yet I still drove despite less than adequate road conditions to be with my family, my brother and sister-in-law and my new little nephew.

Unfortunately I can't share photos, because I forgot my USB cord. I shall save that for another day, another post.

Little Ian has blonde hair, which is totally odd for my side of the family as all the babies were born with dark hair. Who knows, he might grow out of it. He was 22inches and 8lbs and 1 oz. 5 days past the due date. On Valentine's on less. I like to think that Melody had this all planned out. She is such a romantic. Or maybe it was Ian's idea. He knew as an adult, he had to have a way to remember Valentine's. I have decided to call him Tino, short for Valentino. He looks more like a Tino anyway.

A quick note about the crazy ride home. Milwaukee to Sheboygan is about a little more than 60 miles so it takes about an hour at most to get back home usually. Well it took me two hours to get home today (35mph on the Freeway? Oh yeah). Family at the hospital knew that I left right after work so after a while people got worried. My mom and sister both called me and I didn't answer (I honestly didn't get any "Missed" calls even though their phones have "Outgoing" calls to me). My brother-in-law was about to drive to make sure I wasn't in a ditch. My sister, according to my mother, was almost crying. And my brother was worried, according to my mother, because he didn't want me to be hurt because I was coming home to see his baby. It turned out the last time they called me, I was sitting in the room with Melody, holding Ian. I wasn't in a ditch.

To conclude: If need be: my family will re-populate the earth.

Still Alive and Without the Internet and Now Addicted to Rockband

Not much has happened since I last blogged. I'm still working and loving the job. Its really surprising, because initially going into my position, I didn't understand the workings of association management companies. Now, I am thinking about how this job can benefit me longterm. It's exciting and kind of scary. Scary only because when I think of longterm anything, it scares me. I'm a bit of a commitment-phobe.

Currently, I'm early waiting the arrival of my brother and sister-in-law's first baby...my first nephew. I actually came home to Sheboygan because I was convinced that this was THE WEEKEND. However, it didn't happen. I feel bad for Melody, my sister-in-law. Everyone around her was so sure that she was going to deliver really early, and here it is a day after her due date.

When I first saw her this weekend, I asked her how she was doing, she just looked at me and sighed deeply while every so slightly rolling her eyes. She then went into how she can't sleep because it is too uncomfortable. Makes me stand even firmer on the stance of me NEVER having babies. I'm way to selfish to give up my body for someone else to feed off of for 9+ months.

Offhand, I just have to say that it feels weird to "surf" the internet now. After checking my email, facebook and myspace, I don't really know what else to do. I am acutally liking this new found freedom. For serious, I thought I was getting addicted to the internet for awhile. Its nice not having to rely so heavily on something.

Speaking of addictions...I just got to play Rockband for the first time this weekend, and HOLY SHIT! Is that stuff awesome. I am probably the worst player ever, but it is still fun. I got to play with my brothers and Melody last night (by the way imagine a heavily pregnant lady playing a tiny guitar resting untop of her stomach...too funny). My dad said that it was humourous to watch 4 young adults get so giddy about a video game. It made him flash back to our even younger years.

Highlights of the Rockband experience:
-The singer doesn't even have to sing really, just hum in pitch. Which is probably why its something I am better at.
-My brother was so focused on "winning fans" that he demoted me from drums to guitar to bass. My mom passed by us and asked me what was wrong, I just frowned and said, "Andy thinks I suck, so he put me on bass."
-My niece Lainie was over while her parents were out for a night at the Milwaukee Symphony. My mom asked me to keep an eye on her while she finished cleaning up. I was practicing my drumming while Lainie was fussing in her exasaucer. I just kept on playing but saying, "What's wrong Laaaaaaaiiiiiiinnniiiieee?" in a funny voice. It was my way of trying to pacify her while still playing. Hey...it worked.
-This morning I woke my mom up because I was rocking out so hard on the drums.
-I have now perfected my "power stance" and high kick while playing the guitar/bass.

I think I may have to visit Sheboygan more often.