thunder and lightening

I withheld from mentioning this since I first found out, but once again... moving may be in my very near future! I got an email a few weeks ago from a guy with the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (an hour west of Yellowstone in Montana) asking if I was still interested/available for a fire crew position. He called to do a speed-interview on my lunch hour (talk about awkward when my boss asked "Who was that?"), which consisted of questions like: How do you feel about living in a remote area? Do you have fire training? Are you physically fit? I love federal intervies. ;)

Photo from US Fish & Wildlife Service

...And I got a message today, asking to call back about the job. Hopefully it will be an offer! Which means I'll be hauling out in two weeks! Yeahhhh!!

But other possibilites have also popped up that I will have to ponder. No worries, though!

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Any holiday that involves fire, explosions, and being outside automatically rocks! Thanks to my dad for raising me a proper pyro. ;)  Steve and I had to decide: Wixom fireworks, or Kensington? I couldn't remember which were better, but we chose the free route and went to the community park in Wixom, bug dope and blanket in hand. Yay fireworks!

Whizzzzz..... BOOM!

4 second silence.

swoooooosh.... BOOM!

crickets chirp.

Yeah, they were slow. One at a time. Hardly spectacular, but they did have a few nice varieties - a star, the one that looks like saturn and its rings, big color-changing sparkling ones. It was also nice how close and relaxed it was.

But dammit, we should have gone to Kensington!

It was done early so we hopped in Focus and zoomed to Kensington, and from the hiway we could see a barrage of fireworks. Was it the grand finale already? Nope - the whole show was just that awesome! In fact, it was so crowded that the exit ramp to the park AND the hi-way shoulder were both jam-packed with cars! We lined up and watched from a distance. Mental note: next year, Kensington! And get there early!

Besides that, I watched lots of movies, went for a bike ride in the rain, took a "scenic detour" on a hike, played catch, and lounged in a hammock this weekend. It's definitely summer. ;) Good movies: Jaws, Always, Intolerable Cruelty, and (even the 20th time) Pirates of the Caribbean. Bad movies: Bad Santa (bleh!) and Basic Instinct. Yeah, watched a LOT of movies.

Meatwad. Heh heh. Aqua Teen Hungerforce is definitely something. I can't decide if I think it's clever and funny, or just dumb. If you don't know what it is, I can't really explain it. Cartoon on comedy central about a meatball, a carton of french fries with a goatee, and a soft drink. Yeah.

Did you know they are supposedly making a "Guys Gone Wild" show? That's the rumor, at least. Who honestly wants to see frat boys drop trou and bare their hairy butts?

Time to watch Chappelle's Show! :)

Shower pics

Some pics from the shower we had a few weeks ago!

The wedding is this weekend! Months of planning and working (and spending $$) soon come to an end!

personality tests

I admit, I took that personality test at Match.com. I will also admit that I did check out my "personality matches" to see how well it actually works. And, if I were actually interested in dating anyone, I was impressed with a few of the matches. Outdoorsy, spontaneous, and goofy = a good match! But it was more fun to see what my personality analysis said.

ME, according to match.com:

You have a special zeal for life
You're smart, insightful, and have an insatiable curiosity about life. You have a vision for how you want your life to be, so you refuse to settle long-term for a boring job or doing something just because it's expected of you. Life should be "balanced" with plenty of time for fun, friends, spontaneity, and romance! You've always had lots of friends. They enjoy your good sense of humor and playful nature. At this point in your life, you're ready to experience romance and a powerful "spark" with someone special.
You're a strong-willed woman and at times people see you as being bossy or controlling.

You're a strong-willed woman and at times people see you as being bossy or controlling. (They got that right!)

At times you can become so focused on ideas, plans for the future, or a new project that you lose track of the day to day details of life (like doing laundry, balancing your checkbook, or even eating).

You have such a positive attitude that at times your upbeat mood may irritate those who think you're "too happy" or aren't taking problems seriously. (Does optimistically sarcastic and cynical count as happy?)

You can put things off and be late more than you mean to.

WHO I'm LOOKING FOR

You're looking for a man who can be your soul mate AND playmate in life! Unlike most men, he's not afraid of his emotions. In fact, the two of you will probably share an immediate, passionate connection. Romance will come easily to the two of you. The challenge may be fitting into his busy life. You'll have to share him with his adoring friends, job, and variety of social and community causes.  But when you're alone with him, you'll always have his undivided attention and be the focus of his loving and supportive nature.

He has a "back bone" and won't be pushed around by other people.

He believes in letting life happen and not being too pinned down by doing any one thing.

Anybody out there interested?  ;)

relaxing, almost

Phew, it's finally an extended weekend!

Oh, wait. I only work part-time anyway. Tee hee, silly me. My life is one continuous extended weekend. ;)

But somehow I have been busy, exhausted, and grumpy as hell. It's partly the heat, partly my aweful hour+ commute each way from work - fortunately I only do it twice a week. Otherwise I really think I would start running people off the road. I call myself a "tactical urban road warrior" (aka I have road rage) and I realize that I do things I probably shouldn't do, but I am ALWAYS am very aware of my surroundings. I am a consciencous asshole, I suppose.  But do STUPID drivers realize they are stupid when they nearly sideswipe my car while merging without a turn signal, or randomly slamming on their brakes without warning? I'm thinking not. I hate stupid people.

Oh anyway, so we've established stupid people annoy me, and this humid weather is making me cranky. I sat inside and watched movies nearly all day. All the Real Girls - really like that one. As goofy as that young couple is, they remind me so much of how Steve and I were. Boy, were we weird. ;)

But I've been busy - had the bridal shower a few weekends ago, which ended up being more successful (and having more leftovers) than I planned. I was cool with it until the day of the party, when I realized "Oh, gee, I have to play hostess! I'm terrible at being a hostess!!" and proceeded to freak out and beg my mom to help me. I'm not the "domestic goddess" type, if it's not blaringly obvious. And I usually don't relate well to older women, especially more "traditional" type. But I made it through, with the help of my fabulous fellow bridesmaids Jenna and Amy. We did manage to get all these ladies, plus my younger sister/alter-ego, Linda, and the groom, Kevin, to wrap eachother up in toilet paper and try to make a wedding gown. I think a few women were surprised and jealous when our "judge" - Tara's little niece - chose the best dressed as Linda, wrapped with love and mummified by Kevin, over their elegant and impressive paper dresses. Later, we blindfolded them, put on lipstick, spun them around, and had them try and kiss a big Orlando Bloom poster on the lips. Silly girl games. :)

Last weekend was the bachelorette party. Naked men and drunken debauchery, right?! Hey, I've got more class than that. Heh heh, actuallyour bride isn't really into that kind of stuff. Don't think we didn't think about it, though. ;) We did dinner at Italian Epicure, played 18 holes of glow-in-the-dark putt-putt in high heels, sat at a bar and watched all the clone blonde chics get hit on by Ford managers, and laughed our asses off at Joey's Comedy Club in Livonia. We even managed to get two of the comics to make fun of Tara - we sat right next to the stage. It was a good night!

Until all of us that ate the bacon-skins with sour cream got sick. Man, they really are one of the worst things to get sick off of. Trust me.

At work this week, I got to do my first prescribed burn! We wore our fire-resistant Nomex yellow shirts and green pants and spot-burned a few areas of buckthorn seedlings. We took turns burning - strapping a propane tank to a backpack, attaching a long metal wand, and lighting it up to shoot out a jet of flame - or watering - strapping a big metal water tank to our back with skinny, uncomfortable straps. Either way, it was 45 lbs or so attached uncomfortably to our backs in the 86 degree, humid sunny weather. It wasn't like a "wildfire"; we only burned a small area directly with the torch and then put it out. It was great burning stuff nonetheless. It was small but it was hot!

Speaking of fire... thought I would hear back about a firefighter job I interviewed for with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana this week. No word. I really wanted that job too, but oh well. We'll see what happens.

So that's a quick recap. Oh yeah, saw Spiderman 2 last night and it was spectacular. I've always liked Tobey McGuire since Cider House Rules, but I really don't think Kirsten Dunst is that good looking.

This weekend... house to myself! Almost. Parents are out of town and I get to PARTYYYYY! Ha ha just kidding, but it will be nice to have some peace and quiet.

Steve was accepted to Michigan State's grad program in Urban Planning! This is a big deal. He has been going to Wayne State but they don't have an environmental planning program, like he wanted. I'm very happy for him, and I'm going to help him find housing for himself and his 125 lb. mastiff-mix dog. Fun fun!

Time to run off and have some fun... "Go get 'em, tiger!" That's a quote from Spidey 2, but we all know I've been saying that for years!

(The photo is from my 4th of July last summer in Colorado. Myself, Jade, Brent (and Steve, who took the picture) went to Boulder and sat upon a big hill and watched fireworks from all along the Front Range - the view was amazing!)

Detroit Shooting

From the Detroit Free Press

On Wednesday, Steve and I decided to battle the traffic and crowds and head to downtown Detroit for the best fireworks show around. We made arrangements to meet up with Jeff, Donna, and a few other friends - it was gonna be great!

We navigated the maze of closed roads and gridlocked traffic and even found FREE parking only a few blocks away from the riverfront!

Jeff was parked far from us and, given how late we all arrived there, he didn't have a great place to view the show from. He decided to try and see what they could come up with, while Steve and I wandered downtown to try our own luck at securing a spot amongst the crowds. Whoever came up with a good location would call the other party and we would meet up there.

Eventually, Jeff found an open parking structure with a nice view; however, Steve and I weren't sure if we could walk to their vantage point in time, so we just decided to join the crowds near Hart Plaza, at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward. I was in a bad mood, and the fact that we weren't going to get to meet up with our friends didn't help. What fun is it to stand around, crammed together like anchovies, the only view is that of a balding head or baseball cap in front of you?? In years past, we did in fact put out a blanket and listen to music in Hart Plaza, but you must get there very early. My idea of fun at fireworks is a blanket, a frisbee or football, and lots of friends to laugh with. We had none of that. Grrrrr, said the Lisa. I don't wanna be here.

My bad mood proved to be the best thing to happen that night. Thank goodness I can be a bitch. ;)

I didn't like where we were, so we moved from the street to Hart Plaza. However, I was still unsatisfied and, much to Steve's annoyance, I made him move back to the road.

The fireworks started and I was still grumpy, but our spot had a better view than I thought and we could clearly see all three sets of exploding beauty above Hart Plaza. A few minutes into it and suddenly we saw a rush of people coming towards us; holding hands, running or walking quickly, some with fear and panic on their faces and others looked emotionless.  I was curious at first, but the look on their faces clearly showed that something bad happened. I looked at the cops near us; they didn't seem to know what was going on either. Steve and I worried a riot would break out and it would get dangerous. I've always wondered how a mass of people could just freak out and turn into chaos, but just seeing those people running away envoked a bit of panic in myself - unless you can control that fear, I saw first-hand how easy it would be for people to get caught up in their emotions. Scary. Fortunately, there was no real "riot"; people were fairly calm as they hurried away.

Then I hear somebody say that a man was shot. Not that there was "shooting" in a plural sense; just that a man was shot.

The spot that we had left a little bit earlier was right where the shooting took place.

At that point, the cops tried their hardest to get the ambulence, motorcycles, and officers to the victim. They pushed us away from the area but Steve and I still stayed nearby.

I know in the news reports they say the cops had a hard time getting through the crowd - which they did - but they really did have pretty quick response time, given the fact that there were a million people at the fireworks. I wanted to watch the show but between the crowd shifting, emergency vehicles, and a fear of what else could happen kept my attention on the ground, not the sky.

Steve saw a victim go by in an ambulence. A slew of other random, non-police cars - but driven by officers, with people in back - also went by. That calmed down after a little bit, but the show was ruined for many and people were leaving.

It did settle down enough for me to watch the last 5-10 minutes of the show, with one of the best grand finales I remember.

Only after we got home did we realize that it wasn't just one person injured; some man was randomly shooting into the crowd and injured 9 people. We couldn't even hear the gun fire over the echo of the booming fireworks. It was a sobering thought that, had we stayed there, we could have possibly been victims also. When we realized this, Steve and I could only look at eachother and merely say "...whoa...".

But fortunately, there were no fatalities and the bad guy was caught last night.

Thank you Donna for being concerned about us! Poor girl heard the news and thought "Umm... shooting in Hart Plaza? Where are Lisa and Steve? ...Hart Plaza?!" Means a lot to us! ;)