Early March

It’s national pound cake day. And grammar day. And four other “national” days. Did you know that pretty much every day is a national something day? Check it out:  http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/

I like the idea of finding something to celebrate every day because I like looking forward to things. There are not enough celebrations in life. I am looking forward to the weekend; we are going to a beer festival in Madison, WI with a bunch of friends. It’s not the drinking of beer as much as the getting away that I’m itching for. Well, that and the fact that we haven’t spent much time with our friends this winter. Since math dinner crew disbanded and Patrick’s closest friend moved to a different state, we’ve spent most of our time huddled in front of the tv at home, binge watching one show or another. These days it’s Battlestar Galactica and we’re almost finished. But at the end of winter I’m always feeling antsy to move beyond the walls of home, so I’m grateful for a quick excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

September 6

Today I’m thankful for beer. And lots of it. I spent the day with a group of friends at our city’s annual Beer Festival. It was the first year I have gone but I’m thinking it could easily become a yearly must go. Lots of beer vendors, both well-establish and local, food from various restaurants, and a live band that was pretty good all in an area covering a few city blocks, so it was easy to get around. The weather was perfect today too. And my boyfriend was sweet enough to get us VIP tickets, which made the experience even better: lots of extras (t-shirt, nicer glass, bag to carry stuff) and an early entry with an extra hour of sampling. It was the beer equivalent to the speed pass at Great America. For someone who doesn’t like crowds, it was great to have time to check everything out without fighting through tons of people. By the time the place got packed, we were able to just wander and enjoy hanging out together. That was the best part–it was a fun group of friends and we ran into even more people we knew while we were there. We had some laughs, found some new craft beers we liked, ate fantastic oven pizza and were able to drive ourselves home. It was lovely day.