The Great Minnesota Get Together

Do you know what time it is? It's time for the State Fair! This is the only acceptable answer to such a question at this time of year. That is, if you're from Minnesota.

These Minnesohhhtans, they are vee-ary seeerious fair goh-ers, don'tchya know! Also known as the Great Minnesota Get Together, aka the Great Minnesota "Sweat Together" since the temps almost never fail to rise up into the 90s at the time of the fair (and this year is no exception, extra entertaining given that a week ago the temps were barely scraping the 60s), the festivities last a sweat-covered, mullet-infested, fried-and-doused-in-butter, greasy-and-gluttonous 12 days, wrapping up each year on the unofficial last day of summer, Labor Day.

Attendance is basically "required" if you live in here in MN, lest you want your state residency status revoked. At least that's what we were told when we were issued our MN driver's licences 3 years ago. Like I said, Minnesotans mean business.

Confession time - B and I purposefully opted out of the fair tradition last year. We had a lot going on getting ready for our wedding, and neither of us are big on crowds. However, this  year we wanted to regain our residency status, so we plotted out our plan to tackle the fair.

We graced the fair with our presence last Friday afternoon (before the heat and humidity rolled in, I might add!), and met up with our favorite fair-going veterans, Aaron and Heather. These two born-and-bred MN locals are seasoned pros, and we were more than happy to tag along and follow their lead.

B and I had a pretty short fair to-do list, and might I add, highly manageable for our one-and-only afternoon of planned attendance for MN State Fair 2015. It turns out many Twin Cities locals will hit up the fair multiple times (A+H are going 4!!!! times I think?!), and as such, the multi-trippers tend to have a more intricate and detailed list of "fair requirements" to complete. B and I though, we're "one and done." Multiple visits to the fair are not our jam, so we keep our list short and sweet.

Here's what we tackled:

Visit the baby animals. CHECK!
This was a key item on my list. I have an odd love for barnyard animals, and if there is a place to see barnyard animals, it's the fair. To meet this requirement, we decided to bravely visit the "Miracle of Birth Center", where the sows, heifers and ewes birth their young. I don't do "biology", so I didn't actually want to SEE a live birth, but I did want to see the brand new babies! At the time of our arrival, a sow was nearing the end (hopefully) of her labor, having birthed 17 (!!!) little piglets and counting throughout the day. Thankfully, there was a big crowd around Momma pig, so no up-close lessons on the miracle of birth were learned. BUT, we did see day-old piglets from another sow momma (below) - and I even got to pet one (squeeeee)! We also saw fleecy new little lambs (a few pictured), and baby calfs (90# at birth, whoa baby! sorry I forgot to grab a calf pic, but they were pretty adorbs too).

So much cuuute! B, do you think Timmy and Little Cloud would be cool if we got a baby lambie or piggy? It could sleep in the bathtub!

Visit Princess Kay (of the Milky Way) and her "butter bust." CHECK!
I kind of forgot about this one, so visiting Princess Kay and her literal butter bust was a late add to the checklist (thanks, Heather, for the reminder on this one). In typical Molly fashion, I didn't take a photo, so a description and a link will have to suffice. Each year at the fair, a new Dairy Princess is crowned "Princess Kay of the Milky Way". The winner and finalists sit in a frozen glass room  for all to see while a sculptor commemorates her...in a butter bust. According to Wikipedia, sculptor Linda Christensen has been the official butter sculptor at the fair for nearly 40 years! The lucky ladies then get to keep the sculptures at the conclusion of the fair. What she does with it then, I do not know. Wrestle in it? Bathe in it? Butter a thousand baked potatoes? Bake a thousand cookies? Popcorn party? Lordy. Can you say "high cholesterol"? How about "heart attack"? Peep the link in the header above for more specs on this cray tradition, yo.

Ride a Ride. CHECK!
Ride a ride at the Minnesota State fair also happens to be #57 on my 2015 List, and I'm happy to say that I can check that one off...forever. To complete my mission, I selected the "Giant Slide" that you ride down on a potato sack type contraption. It seemed innocuous enough, and everyone, including the little kids appear so fun and fancy free gliding effortlessly and eagerly down the slide.  For my part, I screamed the whole way down. I was the only one screaming. I think I scared small children with my hollering. Also, I almost slid into the wall at the end. So, there's that.

Highly accurate reenactment of my Big Slide adventure. 

Play Midway games. CHECK!
Not surprisingly, this was a Brian-specific item on our combined list. He loves anything with a little bit of a competitive edge. We bought enough tickets for a handful of Midway games, but alas, the glory of the win would not be ours...well, Brian or mine anyway. The old hands, Aaron and Heather, nabbed a few small prizes. We played a ring toss, a ball toss and some other throwing type game, I think. Sadly, we spotted Skee-Ball after all of our tickets were spent, though I would have been happy to ante up if B had insisted. He is a former Skee-Ball Wizard, after all! (true story, apparently he was like a baby phenom or something, and once won so many tickets playing as a little kid that he commanded quite an audience!) I'm pretty sure a name candidate for B's future memoir is "I was Once a Skee-Ball Wizard."

B and A, trying to win the big bananas.

Eat all of the things.  CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!
Nothing quite says "State fair" like stuffing your face with all things fried, greasy, salted and handheld and getting wheeled out on a gurney when your clogged, buttery heart skips a few beats. Some people like to get experimental at the fair and try all the new food things that debut each year. I prefer to go for the classics, which for me include beer (just regular, not the mini donut beer), cheese curds, Corn Roast, fried pickles and Sweet Martha's Cookies. I did branch out and try a bite of Heather & Aaron's Tikka-on-a-Stikka and the Chicken Samosas from Hot Indian -- both very nom-nom-worthy! I kind of wish I had gone back for my very own Tikka. However, considering I ingested more than 2000 calories at the fair, according to MyFitnessPal, maybe it's better that I refrained. Egads!

B posing in front of Sweet Martha's. That "cone of shame" contains 15 chocolate chip cookies, and is the smallest size available. We ate all the cookies in 5 minutes flat. We are the champions.

And that, my friends, is how we earned back our MN residency cards at the State Fair. What are YOUR favorite fair attractions and foods?

Going the distance

After nearly 4 weeks of travel, I'm back in the "Minnie Apple" for the foreseeable future. I spent a fantastic 2.5 weeks in Michigan visiting friends and family, with a brief stop back in MN before departing on a long weekend to Vancouver BC to run the Seawheeze half marathon and have a kick ass weekend with a great group of runner gal friends, new and old. Incidentally, this also checks the box for #52 on my "100 Things" 2015 List to run a destination race.

The race itself was simultaneously a high point and a low point of the weekend for me. The course was breathtaking (and not just because I was running!), with the first half winding through the vibrant and eclectic Vancouver city proper, and with the second half scrolling along the perimeter of the rocks, trees and cool, deep turquoise waves and mist that define the Stanley Park seawall. In hindsight, I wish I had taken photos of the spectacular course during the race, not to mention the awesome entertainment along the course (synchronized spinners! bands floating on platforms in the harbor! bubbles! dancers! mermaids!). However, just completing the run took an intense slice of my focus and effort. Unfortunately, despite my consistent and diligent 10 weeks of training leading up to the race, I fell severely short of my time goal and finished the race in a disappointing 3+ hours.

Prior to this race, I've never been the victim of the dreaded "runner's stomach." Unfortunately, I can claim that feat no more. I felt great for the first 12 or so kilometers, but disaster grumbled and threatened soon after. Let's just say it felt like a true gift from the running gods to spot, right before the start of the seawall portion of the race, a full restroom facility with NO LINES, shining like a lighthouse beacon to this lost sailor, visible just beyond a lineup of porta potties. Strangely enough, I also witnessed a stream of runners waiting for said potties, because HELLO, there was a REAL BATHROOM with NO WAIT just 50 steps over yonder! What are you crazies doing in that long line to enter those stinky caves of despair?!

I'll leave out the dirty details (runners know what I'm talking about)...but I will say that little side trip not only added several minutes to my time, but really zapped my energy and my confidence for the remainder of the race. After dealing with my stomach woes and rejoining the race, I became keenly aware and overly focused on my flaring plantar fasciitis, my aching joints, my hunger, that super loud talker behind me who wouldn't shut up...and my inner monologue took a turn to the dark side.

I won't lie, I almost (almost) broke down and cried during those final kilometers of the course, disappointed because I couldn't go the distance. Until I realized that wasn't true at all, I just wasn't going to be able to do it according to my original plan, training and vision. Instead, I knew had to reinvent my vision to match my current circumstances. In this case, that meant to turtle-style the remaining kilometers of my run...slow, steady, breathe in and out, one foot in front of the other, even if that meant a slow walk. I gave myself the best pep talk I could muster, allowed myself to receive energy and inspiration from the beauty of nature that surrounded me, and I managed to very slowly chug along for another 3k or so before giving into an even slower shuffle/walk for the final 5k.

Sometimes sh*t happens (and sometimes it literally happens...ahem...oh, eff it all, I should delete that but I'm NOT GONNA). Let's try this again...sometimes life has a funny way of not giving a crap (oops, I did it again) about our carefully laid plans. And when that happens, we can choose to roll over and give up...or we can choose to adjust our plans and go the distance anyway.

I chose to go the distance.

LM and me (pre-race) in front of the Olympic Cauldron at the Vancouver Convention Center, 

sporting our freshly applied Lulu race tattoos. (photo credit to CWK!)

That's me! Day before the race, with the seaplanes and the Vancouver Harbor as the backdrop.

## Hashtag BLESSED (and also hashtag sorrynotsorry for that obnoxious hashtag) ##

Greetings from the Mitten State! I do apologize for not putting up my "out of office" so to speak, and leaving my blog to collect dust for a couple of weeks (as if that hasn't happened before!) I'm nearing the end of an 18 day Michigan trip, bouncing around along the I-94 corridor. I haven't been "home" to MI for a stretch this lengthy since I moved away to Chicago 9 years ago, and it has been such a pleasure to have more than a second to spend with my MI friends and family - and it still doesn't feel like enough time!

Brian joined me for the first half of the trip. We drove to MI together, with a quick overnight stop in the CHI to pick up our friend Matt. I dropped the fellas off in New Buffalo, a cute little beach town just inside the MI border, where they met with 8 of Matt's friends in a rented "beach bungalow" for Matt's bachelor weekend, complete with plenty of steaks, golf, boating, gambling and beach time. During their dude bro weekend, I spent some time near South Haven to camp with my sister and brother-in-law in their beast of a camper, and to celebrate my sister's birthday at their campsite, along with a gaggle of family members. I'm rather impressed with myself to say that, during my time camping with them, I successfully managed to slow down time enough to enjoy a beach side sunset, and a sunrise run the next morning before heading south down the lake to pick up B.

I picked B up on Sunday, and we spent a better part of the week at my Mom and Step-dad's in Portage. B had to work during the day, but joined in the festivities in the evening. My mom and I made him carrot cake cupcakes for a belated birthday celebration that night (they were pretty delicious!!) The next evening, B and I trekked back out to S. Haven to have dinner with my sister, brother-in-law and dads. The next day, I was in S. Haven AGAIN, sans B this time since he was working, but with my mom and step-dad, to enjoy one last get together with sis and bro-law before they packed up their camper to make the long return to their home in TX. And for our final evening together on the Westside, I took B on his first trip to Bell's Brewery (home of OBERON), and we treated my two early twenty-something cousins and their gorgeous gals to brews and dinner.  Of course, we also had plenty of trips to Meijer throughout the week - one of my strange addictions every time I come home to MI!

The two of us headed to A2 on Thursday to celebrate my mom-in-law's 65th birthday with dinner at Pizza House. We also spent some time enjoying dinner with one of my BFF's and her husband, and the next morning, we also squeezed in a 5K that this same friend organized, before heading to the D to attend a #geekwedding of a neighborhood friend of B's from childhood. The wedding was plenty of fun, with a geek theme mashup of everything from Dr. Who to Star Wars to Video Game couples. Bonus, the in-laws were also invited to the wedding, so it was a great chance to continue to enjoy some extended family time.

After dropping B off at the airport on Sun, I had the pleasure of grabbing brunch with a friend from my childhood, who I haven't seen in ~17 (!!!) years. Serendipitous circumstances made our brunch possible -- neither of us lives in SE MI, but we both happen to be in the area at the same time, and it was such a treat to catch up.

Following brunch, I headed back to the Westside, to again stay at my Mom's for a quick stop-over. My mom, stepdad and I gabbed way into the night while enjoying a couple of beers. Although our late night beers (and the wild rainstorm that night!) made for a somewhat extra challenging 9 mile run the next morning, it was well worth it.

I'm currently at my Dad and step-dad's in Gun Plain, and I will be here until tomorrow evening before I head off to a girl's weekend near Holland, at a lovely home right on Lake MI. We've been enjoying plenty of QT here in the "country", including some time on Pine Lake Beach, a private little beach that is only for the use of those who live in my Dad's neighborhood, along with some kayaking and also some running around the lake. We've enjoyed a few nice meals, including dinner out with my aunt and cousin last night at a little Plainwell Brewery. And today, my dad and I went into Kzoo to volunteer at the Food Pantry, where I helped to bag groceries for those who came in for food. Tomorrow, we'll squeeze in a final kayak around the lake in the AM (and maybe I'll fit in a run), and a trip to the movies in the PM to check out the new Amy Schumer flick.

I cannot express how wonderful it has been to spend time with so many different loved ones over the past few weeks. Clearly, one of the voids I've been feeling has been related to the absence of family, and my heart is now so full.  #BLESSED, y'all! I cringe cringe CRINGE when I see people type that trite little ##, but EFF it, right now I can think of nothing more fitting. Life is damn good!

Witching Hour

It's the middle of the night and I am wide awake. I woke up well over an hour ago, overheated in the summer of my bedroom, pillow too warm and comforter too heavy, further aggravated by my two large and furry cats, one outstretched on each side of me and both leaning heavily and against my shoulders, slightly pinning me down and making it difficult for me to turn over. Why they choose to flank me in this way each night, instead of B, is a mystery.

It's a common scenario that plays out almost every night around the same time, and usually results in me turning over the pillow to the cool side, gently nudging the kitties for a little more room, usually until at least one of the fluffballs gets annoyed and relocates. I then roll to my side and tuck the sheets and comforter between my knees and position myself so that one leg is elongated beneath the covers and the other is bent atop the coverings, open air. Feeling cooled and realigned, I can fall back to sleep within minutes...unless the little mind gremlins of witching hour decide to wreak havoc.

B and I leave for MI (via a brief Chicago stopover) tomorrow. The anticipation of the forthcoming itinerary has jolted the on-switch in my brain (in a good way! I'm excited for the events ahead!), and I am therefore wide awake.

Back in my working days, this scenario of witching hour sleeplessness would have revved up a cycle of understandable anxiety.You know, the kind where you tell yourself "I have to wake up for a long day of work in 4 hours, go back to sleep! SLEEP already!" Consequently all of that worry about not sleeping just haunts you even more. So then another hour creeps by...and another...with the night eventually ending with the decision to just get up and start the day well ahead of schedule (which can sometimes be empowering...until the inevitable crash at 10am), or the (even worse) alternative, finally falling into the deepest sleep ever, just minutes before the stab of the alarm clock. Either way, it's a given that day ahead will involve venti plus levels of caffeine infusion.

My alarm is set to wake me at 7:15 for an early workout followed by a morning of household chores and final trip preparations while B gets a half-day of work in before we hit the road. Despite a busy morning followed by a 6 hour drive to Chicago, I haven't cycled into the sleeplessness dread and gremlin mind takeover scenario. After all, I don't have a stressful day of demanding clients, meetings and heads-down analysis ahead (packing toiletries doesn't take a lot of brainpower), I'm more well rested than I've been in years so a little lack thereof tonight isn't that big a deal, and I'm a wizard at sleeping in the car. Something about the hum of the highway and a reclined front seat knocks me out every time I take a lengthy road trip.

It's a little feeling of victory, actually, to know that even though sleep has eluded me tonight, I've eluded the mind gremlins of witching hour.

Escaping a Hijack

Yesterday, I cried. No obvious reason presented itself in the moment, except that my brain decided I needed to open up the tear valves and relieve the shock waves of pressure I put on myself - an imaginary, illegitimate pressure caused by momentary cases of malfunctioning circuitry inside my head.

What gives? I have temporarily eradicated any work-related pressure, and all the other external peripherals suggest I should be, by all accounts, enjoying a carefree ride, at least for the near term. And yet it seems my brain is on a constant search for ways to get me all worked up. Such is life when an anxiety disorder is always running in the background, like a useless, oversized, preloaded computer program, wreaking semi-(un)predictable havoc on an otherwise smoothly running system.

My tears lasted just moments, and B helped me to pull me out of my drive-by-funk and had me laughing and smiling again in no time. I recently learned that intense emotions have a biological life expectancy of about 90 seconds, and my mini anxiety tornado and its short-lived trajectory before dissipating into the cloud recesses of my mind suggests this new found knowledge just might be accurate.

It's a compelling little rule of thumb, The 90 Second Rule, that even the crappiest and turdiest of feelings can let go just as quickly as they grabbed hold in the first place...particularly if we are conscious enough to pull the plug on the negative circuitry to keep the pattern from reocurring. In related news, this rule on the biology of emotions was discussed in Jill Bolte Taylor's book My Stroke of Insight, which I haven't yet read, but is now on my must-have read list after watching her incredibly popular and compelling Ted Talk of the same name (it's well worth the 18 minute view).

"Curiosity" is a cognitive behavioral tool I often use to help quell the potential for an "amygdala hijack" and the resulting deep dive into the abyss of destructive thinking. I've learned to read the signs that I'm about to get sucked into a black hole of my own making. Usually, it's a mix of biological responses (tightness in my chest, a feeling that my body temperature is rising) combined with hyperbolized self talk in the form of catastrophizing and/or speaking in absolute terms ("never" "always" "best" "worst"). If I have the awareness to recognize these signs, then my next step is to allow myself to be a curious observer to my emotional experience. I like curiosity as an approach, because by definition, curiosity is all about genuine, open-minded, non-judgmental exploration. Approaching my emotions with curiosity keeps me from getting caught up the negative hype of the annoying shock jock deejay that is waiting to hijack the turntables that are the hemispheres of my brain.

So, I slipped a little this time around, and opened the door to a temporary hijack. But, even when things are good (which they, like, SO are right now, omg) the anxiety program is always running in the background, waiting to hijack my system. Diligence, practice, therapy, awareness, curiosity...that's what helps me to escape a long term hijack.

It's Not Exactly "Eat, Pray, Love"...

I'm not traveling to Italy. Or India. Or Bali. My big enlightening will unfold (hopefully it will unfold, anyway!) right here in Midwest Minne, with a few jaunty, Western-centric excursions to Michigan, British Columbia and Mexico, and possibly a few other destinations dotting the map as well.

I'm not in the midst of a divorce. Au contraire mon frere! Quite the opposite for this newlywed!

I do not make my living as a writer. No one is paying me for my dazzling prose as I get down and dirty with my amygdala. Very few people are even reading my words (about 9 readers, according to my Google stats -- don't worry, I have no clear way to know who you are, though I can educate a guess that one my mother, one is my sister, and one is my husband...). No matter, since I'm mostly writing for my own amusement anyway versus attempting to achieve some sort of sense of posterity.

However, just as Ms. Gilbert detailed in her acclaimed "Eat, Pray, Love" memoir, I too am searching for that elusive thing called purpose. My version of the journey is just a bit more "everyday average gal", and with considerably less wit, lacking in the charm or any level of profound insight.

Here's where I'm at so far on my magical journey to enlightenment, give or take a few steps and stumbles:

Step 1: Wear stretchy pants daily and watch a lot of TV. Sometimes do laundry, and try not to forget to feed the cats.

Step 2: Feel guilty for wearing stretchy pants and watching a lot of TV daily. Even though I'm doing other stuff too. Come on now, with the Netflixing four straight episodes of Drop Dead Diva. Good lord, it's a cancelled Lifetime show, for the love of Pete! Bad, bad Molly!

Step 3: Screw the guilt! When else will I ever get to sit around and just wear stretchy pants and watch a lot of TV?  I don't have any kids! I don't have any major time or life commitments! And, I worked my butt off for years to earn this lazy payout, and I'm going to relax and enjoy it already, dammit!

Step 4: Cycle back and forth between Step 2 and 3 for a bit.

Step 5: Consult with therapist about the discomfort I feel for not being more 'productive', and not knowing clearly what I want, because hey, I mean it's been over a month now, where's my enlightenment already??? Discuss many important truths that stem from this pain and discomfort, including its origin and its pervasiveness. No Balinese gurus for me, I have the wisdom of my licensed psychologist, thankyouverymuch!

Step 6: Noodle on themes from therapy, including observing my emotions and reactions without such harsh self judgement and criticism, accepting that I can love who I am, just as I am right in this moment, full of flaws and conflicts and stumbles (e.g. maitri), inviting in my own preferences as being valid, even if they differ from the preferences of others, and generally reflecting on the impermanence of, well, everything. And what the heck, let's share these vulnerabilities of mine in a public digital forum!

Step 7: Did you read step 6? Shit's heavy. I think I better stay on Step 6 for a while, before I try for step 7. And when I do start to tip toe onward, let's be honest, Step 6 is going to be a tandem effort with all other steps, from here on out.

Month One Recap - Running, Sock Puddles, Par 3s and a Sense8 Plug

How is it July already? June's collection of sunrises and sunsets felt like a flip book, each day a page, turning so effortlessly! While I am still recovering from years of over stress and under concern for what I really want and need to navigate this topsy turvy life maze, the key word is that I am, without a doubt, recovering. And, I'm just beginning to rustle the dust and debris off my psyche, to see what's been hiding underneath.

Health-wise, I'm back in the habit of taking daily vitamins along with my regular meds, which currently consist of plenty of allergy cure-alls, sine mine have been HORRIBLE this year. My little old lady, days-of-the-week pillbox, featuring adorable lady bug renderings on each day box, has been a huge help informing this daily habit (Thanks, B, for picking up that little treasure for your old lady wife!) I'm drinking more water, and I'm getting a full 8 (plus) hours of sleep each night. I'm also meeting with my therapist every week to help me remember that I am allowed to take this time off for myself, that I am worthy of it, and that it's ok to focus on my wants and needs, first and foremost. She helps me with that pesky negative self-talk and quieting those raucous voices that have a tendency to bucket drum and drone and hiss and tsssk inside the old noggin.

During "week the second", I started incorporating daily workouts, and for the past 3 weeks, I've worked out at least 5 times a week, including a mix of 3-4 outdoor runs (I'm training for the SeaWheeze half marathon in VC, BC this coming August), along with 1-2 interval workouts at OrangeTheory (btw, I am obsessed with OTF! And I can tell it's helping to amp up my running game). On my "off" non-workout days, you'll find me at the driving range or more recently, practicing Yoga at my favorite studio, where I started up again this past week.

I am so happy to be running again, and what's especially great about training for a race and not working is that I can fit in my longer training workouts on my favorite lakeshore paths and trails during the work week (usually heading out around 9 or 10 am) -- which means I can avoid the work crowds and the weekend warriors that pack the trails during the early mornings, evenings, and weekends. It's glorious to have my favorite running paths (almost) all to myself!

I am reading a fair amount, though to be honest, nothing all that noteworthy as of late. I keep my reading list up to date on Goodreads, and if you're a big reader and a Goodreads lover like me, then look me up and we can swap titles. My sister just got me a copy of Gretchen Rubin's new book on forming happy, healthy habits, and I'm looking forward to digging into that. I promised my sister I'd read it before we meet up back in MI later this summer (I'll do my best, E!), so I'll probably get cracking this weekend. The book found its way to me with a perfect sense of timing, since I want to use this time off to form new habits that will bring more peace and satisfaction to my daily life.

Speaking of new habits, aside from the ones I've already mentioned, I am working on embedding a daily/weekly household chore routine into my life (thank you, Pinterest, for helping me to put together what appears to be an eventually manageable maintenance schedule). Right now, I'm hit and miss on locking down the chore endeavor. But, that's ok. I'll get there, and I want to get there, because having a clean, orderly home makes me feel like I am taking care of myself, and Brian, too. For the record, Brian is not "off the hook" with chores even though I'm not working, nor did he expect to be, and he is great about pitching in on the weekends (and is still the go-to chef in our house). But I like being able to take more of the pressure off during the work week now that I have the time, so that when he gets home, we can relax together, free of the visual noise of a sink full of dirty dishes or an abandoned sock puddle on the floor (defn of sock puddle: a pile of socks, usually mine, that builds up at the foot of the couch when I inevitably kick them off while watching TV).

I'm starting to jump into new(ish) hobbies and interests with more fervor than I could muster up during my work work work life. For the past ~4 years or so, I've been a passive learner of golf, with sporadic trips to the driving range, and a loosey goosey commitment to the sport. I've gotten to the point where my driving range record is not always horrible, and B took me to golf my 9 holes at a nearby par 3 course. We opted not to keep score (thank goodness!), and although I lost 6 balls (yeah, that's right -- 6 balls lost on a par 3!), I still had a blast and cannot wait to get out their again for another 'whack' at it. I've got the name of an instructor, so I plan to get in a lesson this July to help me adjust my swing, which I've been told is actually pretty good, but I have a tendency to hit a little left, and as a lefty, this means I'm leaving my club face a bit open. And, now that I've finally been out on a course, I have learned that I need to pay a lot more attention to reading distance and adjusting my swing accordingly -- for the record, my revised new favorite club is the pitching wedge. I knew it was versatile, but now I "get" it with much more clarity than before with all of its pitching and and chipping prowess!

In June, I also took a somewhat unplanned trip home to MI. I've got a big trip planned for late July/early August (for 2+ weeks!), but my grandmother died at the end of May (during my last weeks at work, just to add to the stress of my final days), which lead to this added sojourn to the homeland. Our family opted in favor of a smaller, family affair a few weeks after her death (versus a big church funeral), in part to  allow some of my family abroad more time to arrange and make the trip. The memorial included a really nice family lunch and a visit to the cemetery to visit my grandmother's grave, and the graves of other family members as well. While death is never easy, I'm so happy my grandmother had 99 years on this earth, and I shared just a few small threads from her life in my previous entry.

Let's see, what else in June...Oh yeah, I ate a lot of ice cream and I watched a lot (lot!) of television - so much that I earned an Xbox "achievement" badge for using Netflix 7 days in a row. I didn't even know that was a thing, and I have an inkling that maybe I shouldn't add that achievement to my LinkedIn profile. Yes, I admit I am a completely TV junkie. TV and reading are my reality escape methods of choice. Anyone looking for a summer TV reco? If so, check out Sense8, one of the newest Netflix original series, developed by the famous Wachowskis (of Matrix fame). The series chronicles the lives of 8 people from different walks of life and from around the world, who discover their lives are interconnected across many dimensions, and in extraordinary ways. Their rare and unusual connection is seen as a threat to some circles, and they learn they must work together to stay in tact (e.g. not get killed). The reviews I've read about the series are polarizing, and I fall firmly on the "like" side of the fence, though at times the sex and violence is a bit much for my taste, and it took a good 4-5 episodes to lay the foundation (e.g. a bit of a slow start). I do have to give an especially rave review for whoever is in charge of the music for this series -- powerful stuff! Is Sense8 available as a Pandora Station? I must investigate this!

...And that, my friends, is more or less how I rocked month one. More adventures, big and small, to come!