Yikes - I'm back in the Midwest

I'm back in Michigan. Don't I seem thrilled.

My road trip was a success, with a whopping 6,000 miles and two oil changes in two weeks, bald tires, and an empty wallet. Sleep deprived and slightly delusional, but overall highly satisfying. I will write all about it in a separate journal - I kept a travelogue for most of the trip.

Time to find a job. Use that mountain bike I bought but never used this summer. Hit the indoor climbing gym. Get rid of my pack-rat cache of crap. Sell Focus. I'm a little torn about getting rid of her - I mean, I picked everything out, had her built, and she acted so wonderfully on the road trip that I feel bad thinking of trading her in for something with more clearance and 4x4. I could always get the suspension raised... HAHA! Wouldn't that just look stupid.

Apparently I am an insomniac after 2 weeks of poor sleep. That, or I'm a vampire. Tired during the day, awake all night. Maybe the fact that I am anxious and fidgity already by being back at home. But at least I can finally watch some quality Red Wings hockey!

The Road Trip Countdown!

The countdown begins!

Tomorrow is my last day here at Rocky. It's really quite sad, and a bizarre mix of emotions. I hate to sound corny, but this whole summer really was about self-discovery and adventure! It is such a strange feeling, to live somewhere for half a year, see the seasons come and go, fall in love, and have to leave. Forcefully, too. They aren't even giving me 24 hrs to pack and leave. I do love Colorado! I may end up back here in a few months, before I journey on to Montana for grad school (probably). Not even much time to say goodbye to my friends, who are going to every corner of the US.

BUT IT'S ROAD TRIP TIME, BABY!

Yeah, it's intimidating going on a road trip by yourself. And I sure hope Focus holds up. I'm not worried, it seems the kinks are finally worked out of it. I'll probably sell her when I am done with the trip though. ;)  Wanna know the plan?

Leave here preferably Fri, probably Sat, and head to Arches Nat. Park (Moab, UT). That's a 6 hr stint, not too bad. From there, to Zion National Park, another 7 hrs. From Zion to Red Rocks, NV (Las Vegas). From there, maybe to Death Valley? Then to Yosemite to visit Jon, who is with the hotshots there. Then up to Redwood NP, then up to Oregon somewhere, maybe just straight to Portland to stay with Bill.  From there, I'm off to Seattle to visit Brian! That will be a good time. By that point I probably won't want to drive any more. But I must! I'm hoping to head east, hit Montana State at Bozeman, Badlands in SD and head home thru da' U.P. I think I am being overly ambitious but I'm excited! I might cut out everything between Arches and Yosemite, since that adds quite a bit of distance. That's the pre-plan though, so wish me luck! I'll send plenty of postcards!

I'm a Bum!

Didn't get the Westminster job. Awe shucks. That's ok, I didn't want it anyways. Seriously. In 3 days I will be happily homeless and unemployed. In good news, looks like I may have an advisor AND a project at Montana State for the fall! I mean, I can be admitted for Jan, but won't have funding until August. I'm excited. I'd like to live in CO just because well it's awesome, and I have a lot of friends here... but I'll take Montana any day! Maria may also go to MSU, and Brent said he's probably going to move back, so I'll have some rockin' people to hang out with still.

Umm people suck. Just because we are in the last week together and may never see eachother again, seems to bring out a totally rotten selfish side of some people. I'll be happy to get away from one specific person. Too much bloody drama!

I felt terrible this morning, so I went home sick and then got a haircut = all better now. So I think Fri or Sat I'm going to take off for Montana to talk to my potential advisor, then maybe just truck along the northern states, thru da' U.P., then back down to Noville. That, or I may just visit BRIAN in Seattle, park my car there, and take refuge in Alaska for a while. I don't have anything going on, why not?! ;)

Next week and it's over

I had the forestry interview today. Let me back up... I got called about the Westminster forestry job, took their exam, passed, then had the interview today. Went well... should know by the end of this week if they liked me. If so, then looks like I'll be moving to Boulder, have about 1-2 weeks to find a place to live, go back to MI and pick up my scheiss, then start working again. Craziness! Don't really want to do that, actually hoping for a few other things:

Waiting to hear from Colorado State and Montana State for grad school in January. Probably can't do it without funding... and probably won't get funding. My other hope is that I might get a seasonal job here for the winter (probably wont happen) on the fire/fuels crew, or this one day a week with benefits air monitoring job. Not crossing my fingers...

Last option, is to enjoy the love of unemployment. I want to stay out here, and I think I can live off of unemployment for a few weeks without worrying... so hopefully by november I will have returned from either A. my roadtrip up california, up thru oregon and washington, across to montana and down wyoming, back to CO or B. up north in michigan. too much! can't figure out what to do. but it's all good.

had a great weekend, went out on the wild and crazy town (sarcasm) of estes park and raged at their finest (not) bars all night, played shuffle puck and foosball (poorly). went out to eat at cavanaugh's, did some running, yadda yadda yadda. good times had by all! oh, and remember my "world class runner" friend? He went to that world race in Alaska this past weekend and did AMAZING - 2nd for the US, and umm 22nd or something overall. Which is unbelieveable. Hats off to Bill!

that's all that's new with me. now it's dinner time!

Go Lions!

I had an interesting weekend. One night I went to Jeremy's for a bonfire and met his crazy boondocks friend. This dude was a character, all I remember is his thick 'bama accent and some story about a butt-raping swamp donkey. Go figure. Had a boy hit on me that I haven't talked to all summer. It was funny and all together bizarre... stayed up til 5 am.

Went to Westminster to check out my potential employment site. It was like a hilly version of southeast Michigan. While I was out there I picked up another Incubus CD that I am currently listening to. It's pretty good, but I definitely like Morningview and  Make Yourself more. Neil is hooking me up with Fungus Among Us. Apparently I really like incubus. ;) Coincidentally, they had a sweet incubus t-shirt half price - $8!! Very cool.

Saturday was Scott's b-day, so a bunch of us took him out for pizza. Unfortunately, Neil was having a party in Fort Collins that night, so I had to take off after dinner and make the hour drive down. I was a bit intimidated because I knew NOBODY there besides Neil, but everybody was chill and good to talk to. Some people started doing things that I have no interest in, so I went to sleep to avoid them. ;) In the morning, Neil had to work early so he left, and I was there alone with people I didn't know. This is when the real fun began!

I decide to try and sneak out thru the back door to avoid dealing with people i didnt know, and it figures they are sitting on the back porch. These two guys are all tanked up still (6:30 am!) and need a ride home. this one guy, who owns his own landscape company, asks what i'm doing with myself. i tell him about restoration ecology, and he just lets loose about how HUGE that is! I need to be entreprenurial and start a business with him and Neil, apparently, and once Neil and I "talk about it and form a business plan in restoration ecology" then he will float some money and go in as business partners... it was the funniest thing i've seen and heard all summer!! and since he was yapping so much, he kept giving me wrong directions and made me turn around 3-4 times. Finally got to his house and he just kept shaking my hand! i had to drive away to get him to stop. ;)

West Nile Madness!

I had West Nile! And lived to tell the story!

So I think I wrote on here how I hadn't been feeling well, and got that nasty rash. My friends know two people with the exact same symptoms as myself, and they actually got tested for West Nile, and they both had it.  Everyone agrees that Cynthia, myself, and Neil all had it, since we all pretty much had the same symptoms. Neil and I got it at the same time, which is appropriate because we had been working together for two weeks, plus we went bouldering in Fort Collins, where the occurance of WN is really high. How neat! I'm very tempted to go back to the doctor, yell at them, and tell them they don't know anything. "Ummm, maybe it's a contact rash from the thistle." Even I knew that was wrong!!!

In other news, still haven't heard a peep out of my "potential" advisors for grad school, and I'm getting mad at them. But yelling at them would not help me get in, so I just have to suck it up and kiss more professor bootie. On the good side, I got a call to interview for the forestry position with the city of Westminster (outside Denver), and I think I might have a pretty good chance of getting it! I guess you get $1,000 bonus if you learn how to speak this crazy vietnamese language, i think i'm going to have a hard time communicating with the workers if that is the case. ;)  Wish me luck, cuz that's the only lead I have so far in any direction!!

Grad school...jobs... ???!!!

Well I haven't updated in a while, because I've been trying to figure out to do with my life. I am working in Rocky for 4 more weeks, and then... it's over. Odd to think about. I just spent half a year here, and then it's just over. I have to move out of my apartment no more than 3 days after my last day of work, which means October 5th I need to have Focus packed up, with a destination in mind. Here's the new deal:

Applied for a winter fire position here at Rocky. Probably won't get it, since I don't have my Red Card (fire training) and a gazillion people are applying, but it doesn't hurt to try. The job I guess is pretty hard, and cold, doing fuel reduction all winter, but I would get a lot of training so I could maybe be on a real fire crew next summer.

Decided to seriously pursue the grad school thing for January. My friend Maria told me about Montana State's masters program in Land Rehabilitation, and I really like it! Trying to make connections with professors there but not getting far. So I'm applying to Montana State, and also U of Michigan again for the Landscape Architecture program. I am also tyring to get a late application in to Colorado State for restoration ecology, but we'll see if they let me. Sortof considering Minnesota, or maybe Univ. of Colorado, but probably not for this spring. I am not crossing my fingers for this spring though, so I continue the job hunt!

Job hunting mostly in Colorado, not much going on in Michigan in the way of enviro jobs. I started half-assed looking at apartments in Boulder and Fort Collins, since I think I'm going to stay out here if Montana or maybe Michigan grad school doesn't work. I really want to learn how to snowboard so I figure Colorado is the place to be. ;)

This weekend: Scott's birthday, so we are going to party of course. Working overtime Friday, probably hang out with Neil, maybe start bouldering again? It's hard to have fun when you are frantically trying to figure out your life!!

Cool breeze and itchy spots!

I am in such a great mood! Which is funny, considering my whole body broke out in this terrible allergic rash and I itch like mad! The sunset tonite was amazing, swaths of red mixed with black clouds, a few drops of rain, and nice cool FALL weather! I love the fall, it made me feel so good. Makes me miss all my warm sweaters and fleeces back at home. So yeah, apparently I am sick. Maybe it was the painful shot they gave me, maybe its the steroids, but something tonite just made me feel amazing and have incredible clarity about my future for the first time since graduation!

I am thinking now I should go to Montana. It's too hot here, but I really like being in the mountains! I've always said I would move to Montana and who knows, maybe it will actually happen. All I know is that I applied to a few jobs tonite and feel so good!!

Why my weekend was good...

My weekend was good because Neil finally brought that Incubus CD and I got to burn it!  Actually this weekend was pretty dull but today made up for it all. I've been tired and sick (West Nile anyone? Apparently Larimer County where I'm at has the highest rate of WN in the country. FUN!) and a little stressed, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I worked a 55 hr week. At least the paycheck will be fat next week. Found a bunch of jobs out here to apply for, so once again I'm torn between going back to MI or staying out here. But I hate to repeat myself so I'll just leave that topic alone. ;)

So I didn't really do much, but today I got that incubus CD, then went out to boulder to replace my bloody CD drive ($10 for a new one, why not), and of course had to stop at Second Spin to pick up Nellyville. So I have two new CDs to add to my addictio- I mean collection. Tee hee. Now I'm watching Sopranos, making pizza, and job hunting. Neil stopped by, now Linsday is coming over. Fun!

Green Thumb

Today was a good day. ;)  To recap my last few weeks... I worked in greenhouse for the past two weeks instead of exotics, and it was strangely theraputic and meditative. Instead of killing things, I got to make things GROW and THRIVE! I haven't been feeling great lately though so when volunteers came in asking what to do (and I had no idea, since I don't usually work there) it got very tiring. I repotted a whole army of lodgepole pine, went berry picking with Neil, and got to spend a few days planting trees and plants, raking, and doing fun/hard landscape stuff with reveg. Ahhh.

My crew leader's last day was last week, and in their infinite wisdom, they left only ONE HOUR to go over everything we had to do for the next 6 weeks. Not enough time! There is so much random stuff that it was really quite ridiculous. I'm pretty irked though that when I finally get to work reveg, we aren't going to plant - which is what I said I wanted to do, and was told it would happen. I could go on for hours about how mad I am about work right now. Boss didn't give me my time sheet with my overtime hours on it, so I didn't show up for overtime because I didn't know! So I had to make it up this weekend, PLUS the one day I already signed up for... I swore I was working one 5 hr day and one 1- hr day but she told me 10 hrs both days. I asked her to check, she said she did check and yes, two 10 hr days... I saw the sheet, and guess what? One 5 hr and one 10 hr. I pointed it out to her and she got mad cuz i proved her WRONG. I can't believe she lied to me about that!! Not to mention the camping trip we are supposed to take without getting paid per-diem, and with very little notice. Sorry hun, I'm not going if I don't get paid!!

Now back to exotics, and I'm not excited. A lot of people have left for school, so our crew is getting smaller and smaller. Cisco left for Pueblo this week, so we partied hard at the Brewery. I was supposed to watch football with him last week and accidentally stood him up to party with Neil. Woops. ;)

I'm coming home... again

So when I went back to MI a few weeks ago, I found out my cousin is getting married in September. I wish I would have known so I didn't have to fly back twice within 6 weeks! But it's all good. Then I just get to drive back home 2 weeks later. I just can't stay away! Haha.

Arriving Wed, Sept 10th around 11:20pm, and leaving Mon, Sept 15th around 6:00pm. All for the plush price of $193! I think I lucked out, since last time I paid nearly $300.

The Interview

Today was THE INTERVIEW. Gasp! It was good, and it was... not bad, but kindof pointless. I thought that this company hired people to contract out for projects. That's sortof correct... Except it's more like a headhunter agency. I interviewed not for a specific project, but instead to be put into their database of resumes for when their clients need people. It's good in that they only do environmental professional stuff - no clerical or general jobs - but well it's probably going to be mostly short-term offers, nothing stable enough to justify getting an apartment out here. I couldn't get an apt anyways, since I probably won't be working!

Oh, that's the other big news. No extension of our jobs here at Rocky Mt. after the regular season. So after Oct. 2nd, looks like I'll hit the road on my Western Road Trip, then head back to the 248 and bum off unemployment. ;)

No, I'm not going to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band concert tonite - so sick of driving! 2 hrs to get to the interview today. Instead, I rented Daredevil to check out Jessica Garner's costume - that's what I am going to wear for Halloween in New Orleans! That's the plan at least.

Roomie moved out today, she was gone before I got back from Denver. Very bizarre, coming home to just a note. But she cleaned the apartment, and I have privacy for the first time in months! It's NAKED TIME! hee hee

BTW, HAHAHA Detroit! No power! Sucks to be you!! ;) Just kidding. Hope ya'll don't melt in the heat!

World Class Runner

My friend Bill out here is a world-class runner, and used to run on the Military team until his blissful discharge a few months ago. He did try to be on the U.S. world team, but did not place 1st in two races in Vail, so he was not given an automatic spot. This past weekend, though, he went out to Alaska to run the final qualifier race... and won! He not only won, he has the record time! So he's now on the U.S. world running team, and will compete in a few weeks against other countries in a race that just so happens to be at the course in Alaska! I know a (sortof) celebrity!

We celebrated heavily last nite. Cheers to that!

This coming weekend, apparently I might go to a "Dirty Dozen Brass Band" concert if I feel like it, then hang out all weekend with Neil in Ft. Collins. !! He has a brewery tour and bouldering and bars already planned out for Saturday. Hmmm??

Michigan Weekend Part II

So then Friday night, Steve and I went to our favorite haunt in Royal Oak, then Saturday I had tickets to the Lions pre-season game against the Pittsburg Steelers! YEAHH! The seats rocked, right at mid-field, watched hottie Joey Harrington whoop the Steelers in their first win of the season! Ok, so it's probably one of very few victories we will see this year, but it was still great to get rowdy and watch sports!

Sat. night's going-away party for Brynn and Casey was great! I was so happy and lucky to get to see everyone before they leave, or in case I never come back! Next time, I need to scrounge up some good pirate clothes! ARRRR!

So looks like I will be back in town the weekend of Sept. 13th, i'll probably take some time off work and mybe stay for a week? I do miss Detroit!! We'll see if I get this Denver job on Friday!!

Michigan Weekend Part 1

This past weekend in Michigan ROCKED! I'm all confused again whether or not I want to stay out here or go back to Michigan! To recap:

Sitting on the plane, with an empty seat in the middle, myself in the aisle. This dude in a Michigan State hat sits down next to me, so of course we have to tease eachother about our rivalry... Ends up he lives in Brighton and worked for Comcast. Comcast? Do you know Kirk? I asked him. YEAHHH! No way! he replies. So crazy coincidence. Then I mention I worked for the city, and he says "Hey, you don't know Gary, do you?" Yeahhh! I've gone out drinkin' with Gary! He's this cool 50-something year old I used to work with. So this guy is actually Gary's son's roommate in Colorado! Crazy crazy! He was cool, gave him my number, maybe we'll hang out some time??

Mom, dad and Matt were waiting for me at the airport, thought maybe Steve and I would go to BW3s late that night but noooo he bailed cuz "I have to work" whine whine. Haha just kidding. So then Fri, I made my rounds to the city to visit the good ol' boys, ends up that like 3 people did or are in the process of moving. It was good to see everyone, though of course, our plans to hit up the bar fell through. They PROMISE they'll take me out when I go back in September, but we'll see. ;)

My weekend

What does Lisa do on a typical weekend? Well, typical doesn't exist out here, but Thursday nights we usually go over to Scott's cabin and have a party, watch a movie and make fun of eachother (We work Mon-Thurs so that is like our friday.) Scott's old roommate came back though, so we are going to have to find a new haunt! This thurs, someone threw a potluck between our apartment buildings, so I went and gorged myself with lasagna, desserts, garlic bread... mmm mmm! afterwards, i was supposed to go to the Wheel Bar for this fire guy Phil's birthday, but I was tired and wanted to hang around the bonfire that was next to my apartment. Fortunately, Phil showed up so I didn't feel so bad. ;) Scott did have a few people over, but it was really boring - they were all hypnotized by "Grateful Dawg", a documentary about Jerry Garcia and bluegrass music. Not my thing, though, so I bounced between Scott's and the bonfire.

Friday, I was supposed to go climbing at Carter Lake with Scott, Brent, and Neil, but they are really good, and I am just a beginner - I don't know how much they really wanted me to go and slow them down, so I used my new mountain bike for the 2nd time. Yeah baby! Mountain biking out here is, of course, much different than in Michigan. First of all, we have mountains. ;)  In Estes, there really isn't much in the way of single track, which Michigan does have plenty of. It's mostly jeep roads with lots of sand and very rocky and steep. And with my first front suspension bike, it takes some getting used to. I might go out to Boulder today and try some of those trails, which I hear are fun. I also hung out with Linsday in the evening, watched TV, and looked for more jobs on the internet. It was my chill day.

Saturday, I went running. Gasp pant gasp. I should do that today, but it's already bloody hot and it's only 9:30! Then that night I went to a Chili Cook-off at Maria's house! I wanted to make chili but I am dirt broke so I settled with pre-cut chocolate chip cookies. There were 7 chilis to tastes test and vote on and lots of cornbread! So of course I ate too much. Hung out with Cisco and made fun of Ian's crappy country music he kept putting on. Good times!

Today, no plans, just whatever I feel like doing. ;)

What I do...

So what exactly do I do at my job?

"Pull weeds." That's the easiest way to put it. Not very glamorous, eh? Well it's actually not so bad... anymore. You see, the first 2 months or so, that's pretty much what we did. We'd go to fairly large sites around the park, and some smaller site in the backcountry, and just look for exotic plants. Find them, dig them, move on. Frankly, it got boring and I got restless. It was a treat when we got to install experimental plots, weedwhip (yes, a treat!), spread sugar (an experiment) and sawdust. I did have to use herbicide, dressed in one of those full body white protective thingies, with a 40 lb backpack sprayer, on a 90 degree day in the mountains. SUCKED.

Then about a month ago, the job paid off! Sortof. Now all the plants are flowering, so we have to pick all the flowers off and bag them, then wade thru a sea of prickly thistles and dig plants up that are taller than I am. But we do get to go to many more smaller sites that you knock out quickly, and we started TRAIL SURVEYS! and road surveys. Trail surveys are the best! I get paid to hike awesome trails and look for plants where there should be no plants! I did 13 miles two weeks ago, 7 miles last week, and probably 10 miles this week to Andrew's Glacier - which I had wanted to hike anyways. So right now, I am glad I am on my crew as opposed to greenhouse or revegetation. Of course, it took all summer to pay off...

Job Interview!

I had been playing phone tag last Friday with a woman from ETI Professionals, an environmental consulting company in Lakewood (outside of Denver), and finally I got ahold of her today. Good news! Interview on the 15th for a consulting position, seems very promising! Don't know if I really want to live in Denver or not, though - I was getting excited about the prospect of going on unemployment in October and travelling around the US! I had it all planned out - my friend out here was going to store my stuff for me while I visit people and places in California, Washington, then over to Montana, back down thru Wyoming and return to get my crap from Colorado! Then probably chill for a while back in Michigan, maybe plow snow for my friend Ian's dad... If I get this job offer, though, then I'd probably start mid-September and kiss unemployment good bye!

Hmmm... stability, or travel? CO, or MI? we'll see what they offer up!!

My New Journal

Hey! This is my new journal. Since I obviously suck at writing email consistently, I figured this was a good way to keep ya'll up to speed on what's going on out here. Let me know if you like this idea or not - I know it's not as personal as an email, but it makes my life easier. ;)