SwimFinsSF

Norwegian or… what?

My mom’s side of the family is fairly fresh over from Norway (i.e. her grandma’s native language was norwiegan) and they ended up settling where all good Norwiegans do… Minnesota… But the strange part, which i can’t figure out, is they seem to have an arsenal of strange quirkey phrases.

For example, when I was a kid and would walk in and ask her a question which I could have eaisly answered just by looking she’d say “What do ya think I’m doin’ – milkin a duck?”…. Or, after a long day of walking around my grandma would say “I gotta sit down.. My dogs are barkin”….. Or when I’d be standing in the way when mom was walking through with something heavy she’d say “One side or a leg off” (meaning get out of the way)..

And then there was the well known phrase of exasperation – “Uff Da”…

So I know that ‘Uff da’ is Norwegian – that one is well known.. But where the hell did they get the other ones… Were they translated from norwegian? Did they pick ’em up somewhere else? They don’t sound very norwegian to me and even sound a little harsh.. But they really just make me chuckle.. Milking a duck? Who DOES that? :):)

My High School

Ranked 736 in the country according to this list… My sister’s Ranked 143… Funny part is the one my mom WANTED me to go to ranked 53.. I’m sure there’s an I told ya so on its way at some point…. Not sure I care though… High School bored me to tears and I don’t think a different school would have mattered much..

Did have a girlfriend back then though… My how things change!!! Heyya Beth – if you’re out there! 🙂

SOOOO Damn NICE…

FINALLY getting to take a day off from work on a work day (as opposed to just not working on a saturday) and it is SOOOOO NICE… Got up this morning… Watched some TiVo… Went to Cafe Flore for breakfast… walked around the stro… browsed the web….

have all of these ideas of things I should be doing (calling contractors… painting… running errands… etc. etc. etc.)… Not sure if I’ll do any of ’em.. not sure if I care….

its just REALLY nice to play hookey for a day and not feel guilty about it! 🙂

Lessons

Weekend was a success overall… Went to the beach and BBQ just like I said… LOVED Fort Funston… Took lots of (bad) pictures but had fun doing it.. There are SO MANY DOGS.. Hang-gliders taking off from the cliff… Hawks hanging out on the up drafts… Planes leaving from SFO on trips… I could have spent forever just looking at shells and rocks… Was SO WONDERFUL…

Then went to the BBQ at Scott’s… (or cookout as Kevin INSISTS it be called since there was no North Carolina BBQ to be found.. he REFUSES to acknowledge that, while perhaps not accurate, in California we call any party outside where there is food a BBQ)… Anyway … Party was fun too – though I HATE going to parties like that by myself when I don’t know many people… Always have. I’m REALLY bad at talking to people I don’t know so I wind up just lurking in other people’s conversations which seems kinda silly and sad.

AND – I made the mistake of smoking out with a couple of his buddys… BAD IDEA.. I don’t know why I don’t learn.. Pot is just NOT my drug… it just isn’t… I’m way to tightly wound to deal with that well… So I ended up just leaving the party and passing out at like 8pm (Probably didn’t help that I only got about 3 hours of sleep the night before)

So – couple of take home points for the weekend:

– Dogs, Sunshine, and the Beach – ALWAYS a good thing

– STOP Trying pot… Just cuz other people like it doesn’t mean you have to..

– Always take back up friends with you to parties where you don’t the others well. Either that or get better at party small talk…

– Clubs can be fun on occasion – just don’t go if your gut tells you not to! 🙂

– Little R&R from time to time is REQUIRED.

– Kevin has better taste in house paint color than I give him credit for – but don’t repeat that to him – don’t want it going to his head… (Did I mention we painted the living room saturday)

Ciao…

Things I wonder about

Anyone who knows me knows that my brain is constantly churning with random imponderables – some useful – some not… And frequently they bubble out my mouth. Kevin is always asking me what the hell makes me ask such oddball things… I dunno… I throw ’em out partially to make conversation and partially in the off chance that someone might know…

Here’s a few that have been flyin around today… ( Preface each with ‘I wonder’ and you’l lsee the little hell I’ve created for him! 😉 )

– When did we stop caring about plot and character development in the movies and resort to just throwing money and star power at the problem.

– How do Germans keep finding my blog.. Gotten a couple of really nice notes in my blog from german speakin folks and don’t know how t hey found it..

– What draws people to certain blogs and not others?

– Are guys, by nature, not monogamous creatures – or is that just a convenient excuse?

– What ever happened to my cat Sparkle?

– Is there anything wrong with spending as much time on the computer as I do… (kevin’s not allowed to answer this one! ;))

– Where would I be now if I had taken that job at Object Zoo in Munich 5 or so years ago?

– If there is an eclipse that shades the moon (like we had last night) does the temperature on the earth change.

– Why do Pigeons’ heads move when they walk? Do they move once for every step they take?

I’m gonna keep adding to these as I think of ’em cuz its fun! 🙂

Lucky

Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am having the family I do… Other times I recognize exactly how lucky I am..

Yesterday was Mother’s day and Kevin and I spent it with my mom and Webb and had a great time.. One of those San Francisco days.. Woke up and cleaned the house (not quite well enough i found out from kevin later – but thats OK).. Then walked down and got coffee, flowers, and a card… Then hung out waiting for Kevin to finish rowing and Mom and Webb to finish coffee and bagels in Los Gatos…

They all got done and to our place at about the same time.. Hung out and chatted for a little bit and then went to the Metro Cafe for brunch (no – not that silly bar in the castro – a cute little french restaurant on Div)… Outside brunch… good food… great little patio.. I HIGHLY recommend it on a sunny afternoon…

After that we went to the Legion of Honor to see the Di Vinci in Poland exhibit which was very cool too… That building is beautiful and in a beauttiful location… The exhibit was OK.. interesting but for a Di Vinci exhibit I was expecting to see more than one painting of his… still cool though…

thats it… nothing spectacular.. but a really great day… and was really neat for kevin and I to spend the day with them like it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.. My Mom and Kevin spent more time talking at times then she and I did.. He even got her a little pendant which she loved…

Gotta find something fun to do for my dad Dad’s day next! :):)