Four Days 'til Spring

My garden is eager to go outside. So am I.

"I get by with a little help from my friends."

I am pretty easy-going. I get along with most people. But I have a lot of unusual interests and hobbies -- so often, I find myself alone. It's not really a problem, I like doing things by myself. But it would be nice to find someone who shares all my ridiculous fascinations. Does this person exist? I doubt it.

• You love animals, especially dogs and cats. And I don't mean "Oh, sure, I had a dog growing up." I mean, can't picture life without a cat in your lap and a dog at your feet.
• You like hiking, biking, camping, horse-back riding... AKA dirty outdoor stuff. If you need to shower and do your hair everysingleday, this won't work.
• Gross and dark humor are a must. If you take everything I say literally, you'll probably think I'm a horrible person.
• You better fart and burp.
• Did I mention I like animals? If you're allergic... well, you better get over it.
• You think gardening is fun. I hope to one day grow more vegetables than I purchase.
• How do you feel about chickens? Because I want a small flock. Fresh eggs are the best, I promise.
• In case you couldn't tell, I like forests and countryside versus pavement and buildings.
• Sometimes I like to drink and dance. But mostly, I don't. You need to be OK with this.
• You enjoy being photographed. That sounds weird. But I take lots of pictures.
• You should like Jackass, Jim Carrey, Louis C.K., Anthony Bourdain, and Jurassic Park. And no, these have nothing in common with one another.
• You should have a job. Preferably, one you enjoy, and don't frequently complain about.
• Creativity is important. It doesn't matter how you express it, but it's important that you do.
• You like to think about the big picture. The universe, life, death, and your existence in between. 
• You must believe in evolution. And respect that I am an atheist.
• You know how to cook, and like to share the responsibility.
• You think dog sledding is cool and exciting, not lame or weird.
• Vacations can be anything from a trip to Disney World, backpacking through Europe, or a weekend down the good ol' Jersey shore.
• You're modest. And open-minded.
• Your eggs are not all in one basket. So to speak.
• You don't really care about sports, but you like the Mets and Jets. At least, you say so in my household.
• There's going to be animal hair on EVERYTHING you own. You're OK with this.
• You can talk in length about the joys of bread-making.
• I'm going to change my hair color a lot. You like it, no matter how bad it looks.
• You support gay marriage, although the concept of marriage scares you in general.
• You will play Pokemon with me.
• You get dressed up on Halloween. No matter how old you are.
• You observe the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" rule.
• No slobs. Get off your ass and clean up.
• Flea markets and thrift stores are the shit. You agree.

There are lots of other random things that are unusually important to me. I could go on and on.

My group of friends, collectively, meet this criteria. And so, like a completed puzzle or sewn-together quilt, I can get along.

Let Love Grow

As a tribute to Valentine's Day, here's a list of things that I love:

1. Sleeping with the windows open.
2. Old, black and white photos.
3. Mumford & Sons.
4. Creating things: art, photographs, meals, gardens, etc.
5. Hiking with my dog.
6. Riding bikes all day long.
7. Thunderstorms.
8. Hyper-realistic paintings and drawings.
9. Dinosaurs.
10. That point in the night, when you're with friends, and you're so deliriously tired everything becomes hysterical.
11. Jim Carrey movies.
12. Walking through deep snow.
13. Vacuuming.
14. Roller Coasters with big, steep drops. Loops are alright, but they make me black-out a little.
15. Muscular backs. With tattoos.
16. Spending the entire day at the beach and gorging myself on boardwalk snacks at night.
17. Christmas time and everything that goes with it.
18. All breakfast foods. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, etc.
19. Kittens and puppies.
20. Summer nights around the fire pit, making s'mores, and telling jokes.

That's all for now. Many of these things probably don't come as much of a surprise. But I enjoy making lists.

The Times They Are a-Changin'

Despite what seems like an endless onslaught of icy hell, spring will come. Punxsutawney Phil even says it'll be here early, but I don't put too much faith in rodents (they are the animal kingdom's biggest liars, of course).

By the end of February, things will be quite a bit different. Despite my eagerness to move out and start my life as an "adult", I will be moving back home. To clarify, I will be living on my own, relatively private floor of my parents' two-family house.

My parents are awesome and I have no qualms with living underneath them. It won't be much different than living on my own. There's just that stigma of "living with your parents" that I prefer to avoid. Until I can afford a decent house on my own, I will have to suck it up.

I will still be paying rent, managing my monthly bills, buying my own groceries, and cooking my own meals. The only difference will be the daily comfort of going upstairs and hanging out with my family. I'm only 23, I think I can soak it up for a year or two before I start feeling like a bum.

The reason for this move is obvious if you know me well enough. I'm not going to talk about it much on my blog, out of respect for the other parties involved. Just know that, at least for now, everything is OK.

Tug Hill

Last weekend we traveled 5+ hours to upstate New York for the annual Tug Hill sled dog race. Rob and Dan were nice enough to accompany me for the trip, even though I'm sure there were other things they'd rather spend their weekend doing. Hopefully, some free food and lodging made it worthwhile for them.

The drive up was relatively uneventful, aside for some snow and dark roads. We left Saturday in the late afternoon, and made it to Syracuse around 10 PM. I originally planned to stay at the first cheap hotel we could find. But, we decided we valued our lives, and opted for the Sheraton. The view from our room was pretty awesome.


We ventured out early on Sunday morning for the final leg of our trip, and made it to Winona State Forest at around 10 AM. We watched the 6-dog teams finish, the ski-jores start, and the 4-dog start and finish. I got to see a lot of my Jersey Sands musher friends. I also met up with some Ohio friends (Amanda of Hoof & Howl and Shannon of Diamond Dogs), whom I met through dog forums and blogs. Thank goodness for the internet, or I would never be involved in such a unique activity, nor would I have made so many dog-loving friends.