First Day Of School

First day at Madison Area Technical College or Madison College or whatever they're changing it to. I have classes on Monday and Wednesdays, the days I used to work at the TV station but I quit that after going back to school. Mondays are going to be my long days. Wednesdays are going to be long as well. So that Monday, I got up at 8AM to get ready for the day. Leave the apartment at 8:50. 20 minutes later, I'm in the student parking lot...the back of the parking lot. I walk the what feels like a mile to the building. The building has 3 levels and each level is confusing. All my classes are on the third floor. I walk around like a rat in a maze to find my first classroom. Phew, made it to my 9:30 class with 5 minutes to spare. I feel like it takes just as long to walk from my car to the seat of my classroom as it does to drive there.

My 9:30 class...Math of Finance with David Peterson. Walk into class and on the projection screen says Intro to Philosophy. Hmmm, interesting. I look around and see others have a Math of Finance book. Okay, weird. Whatever. He starts the class off saying welcome to Intro to Philosophy and then finally someone speaks up saying this room should be the Math of Finance class. Peterson stops, ponders then says 'Well maybe I have a slide for that...I could probably teach that'. And instantly I knew this guy was WEIRD. As are 80% of math teachers out there, no offense to those that are reading this. One of my good friends is going to be a math teacher and she isn't weird...yet. But I told her to try her best to not turn out weird in the future.

We spent that hour fifteen minutes doing almost nothing. Peterson talked about his life which is fine and dandy because I do like to know what my teacher's credentials are. But for 45 minutes? Come on, you can do that easily in 15 or less. Then the last 15 minutes, he gave us a quiz on what we'll be working on in the next few months. I talked to one of my regular customers when I was bartending earlier this Tuesday and found out he knew this Peterson guy from when he used to teach at MATC. He said Peterson was an interesting fellow. I did end up finding out some weird stuff about Peterson from this regular and everything makes sense now. As I was sitting in class yesterday, I finally figured out who this Peterson guy reminded me of. Woody Allen...the weird, craziness, stuttering, mumbling guy. Just watch Hollywood Ending. This class should be interesting, not for the topic but this guy's personality.

After my 9:30 class, I had an hour and half break but that won't be for long. I'll have a class right after my 9:30 one but that doesn't start til October. I like the break but I'll be glad when I just have class straight through.

My next class started at 12:30. Business management and organization with Keith Clark. This guy scared me when I first saw him but he's like a teddy bear. He looks like Mr. Clean. Just like the other class, he told us his story on how he got into teaching at MATC but unlike the other guy, Clark was A LOT more interesting and spent 15 minutes doing that. He is hilarious, sarcastic and very laid back. From what it seems, he won't be teaching what's in the book because he doesn't want to teach us what we can read. He uses examples from money.cnn.com and ties it together with the subjects in the book that we read which is what I like because I agree, I can read and learn from the book. I like examples to go along with what's being taught. This class isn't what I want to learn inside and out, it's more of a supplement class to get a general overview on businesses and how they work. But it's going to be an interesting class because of Clark.

Another break...3 1/2 hours. On Wednesdays I'll be done and going to work after that class but on Mondays, I have another class at 5:30. On my break that first day, I went back to the TV station because they were taping a Mayor's Report and on my last few days there, people were saying how I should say goodbye to the Mayor after putting make up on him and mic-ing him up for the last 4 years. I made it in time before the show started and the Assistant Director asked me if I wanted to AD for the last time and I said sure why not. The mayor was surprised to see me because he thought I was done and technically I was. At the end of the show, he gave me a shout-out for all the years of being the floor director and taking the shine off his forehead. I'll just pretend he said my last name correctly. After the show, he wished me good luck and I was about to shake his hand when he said no, and gave me a hug. How nice of him! Even if I don't agree with him all the time, he is the nicest guy I've ever met.

After the show, I went back to MATC for my last class. A 3 1/2 hour class. Accounting I with Linda Brown. She seemed off standish but not for long. She is extremely nice and is a CFO with Kaiser Automotive, so she knows her accounting stuff. We actually did stuff in this class, mainly because  it's a once a week class so if we would've done nothing, we would be way behind when others have this class 4 times a week. It seems long but she gives us a 5 minute break an hour into it or so and then lets us go early at 8:30 instead of staying all the way til 9. This class seems like it's going to be easy breezy for me since I've taken accounting in HS and at UW. It's like never forgetting how to ride a bicycle. You may be rusty at it at first but it comes back to ya.

Trying to balance class and work will be interesting. Sunday nights I close at Old Chicago...Mondays are class all day and night...Tuesdays I open bar then go home to study or do homework...Wednesdays class all day then most likely straight to work...Thursdays, more likely to work during the day...Fridays working...Saturdays working then back to Sunday. Joshua works nights usually 5 days a week. So the only time I'll see Joshua is if he's off on Tuesdays then I'll see him at night but I'll be studying and Sunday mornings for sure. Looks like any free time we have together will be well spent this semester!

Madison Mini Marathon

The big day, what I've been training for! I woke up at 5AM and got ready for the half marathon run. I made sure I filled all my water bottles for my belt pack, packed some snacks for during and after the run, had my iPod fully charged, got my ID for the beer after the run, grabbed my knee strap and woke Joshua up to take me downtown.

I was in the groove, concentrating and focusing to stay calm and not let the adrenaline overtake my body. We get into the downtown area and get stuck waiting to turn to get to the parking lot when...SH*T!!! I forgot my bib number!!! What to do?!? It's 6:35 and the race starts promptly at 7. Joshua tells me to get out of the car and talk to the race officials to see if there's anything I could do and he goes back to our apt which is about 20 minutes away to get my bib. 

One person I talked to said there was nothing she could do for me, that maybe I could run unofficially but I could be pulled off the course if someone saw me running without a bib number. She kindly lets me use her phone to call Joshua to get an update of where he was and he was just getting to our apartment and it was 6:45. There was no way he was going to make it back in time. Now I'm freaking out! I made sure to have everything that morning except for the bib number. I'm such a dummy!

The woman calls me over to her after she had been on the phone with someone and she tells me that the timing officials by the finish line may have extra bibs. I run over there and find that others are getting an "extra" bib number. I tell the official that I was an idiot and forgot my bib number and she nonchalantly took my information down and handed me a bib number. Just like that. Phew!

I run back to get into my time group and on the way there, I ran into a softball teammate who was there watching his girlfriend run the 5k. I use his phone to tell Joshua what happened so he wouldn't worry. 2 minutes to start time. I run down the street looking for my time group when the gun goes off. Crap...I'm stuck in the 2:40 pack (how long you think it will take you to run) when I was shooting to start with the 2:15 group. So not only am I in the wrong pack, I never got to stretch my body out. And during races, I like to stretch for at least 20 minutes if not more.

Let's backtrack to 3 weeks ago. As you know, my knee acts up due to an old injury. Well, 3 weeks prior to the race, I tripped up the stairs and re-injured my knee. Because of that, I wasn't able to run as much nor as far as I wanted to during those last few training weeks. I was not as prepared as I wanted to be for the half marathon.

However much my knee was killing me, the first 5 miles were AMAZING! We ran down Langdon Street aka frat row to the Capitol down State Street aka the main street of Madison then to the Arboretum. The Arboretum was lonnnnnnng. And that's when I started seeing people down on the ground. And that's when I had to stop and walk. I wanted to reach 6 miles before walking but only made it to 5. Miles 5 through 8 are a bit hazy. All I remember was that Joshua was at mile 8 to cheer me on!!! That brought a smile to my face and I got a burst of energy after that.

My energy came back down 1 mile later. After the Arb, we ran towards Picnic Point. This was where the turnaround was. Let me tell you, watching people run the other way when you still have to reach the turnaround point IS NOT FUN!! I think it was only a 3/4 mile to the turnaround point but it was the longest 3/4 of a mile I've ever ran. Then when we got to the turnaround point, we had to run the 3/4 miles back again. But now we knew the end was in sight. Only 2 miles to go. We got to run the Lake Shore path by the college dorms. That was bittersweet because I used to walk/run that path when I was in college and living in the those dorms.

There was this older guy that I ended up running with on the Lake Shore path which was nice. I would run in front of him then he would and this went back and forth for awhile then finally he slowed his pace way down and then I didn't see him with a 1/2 mile left. I knew how close I was just by looking to see what building was on my right. I knew that when I saw the library building, the finish line would be right around the corner. When I finally saw the library, I picked up my pace. Oh goodie, just in time to round the corner and go up an incline and I guess that was where Joshua was to cheer me on again but I never saw him. I was focused on the incline then rounding another corner to sprint to the finish line.

2 blocks away from the finish, I was discouraged because I saw the time at 2:16 or something like that and I wanted to finish in less then 2:15. I then look down to my watch and saw 2:13;15. Oh yeah, I did start a few minutes later than the actual gun time. I can still make my goal. I sprinted like I never sprinted before and crossed the finish line at 2:13;42...13.1 miles later. Ahhhh....I feel like throwing up.

Great job Cindy! Aw crap, I never got a meeting spot with Joshua because of the whole fiasco earlier that day. I walked around in hopes of randomly seeing him. I ended up borrowing someone's phone and got ahold of Joshua. He was inside the building, the one place I didn't check. We reunited and he gave me a big kiss and a hug.

After the race, we were suppose to meet a friend who was also running in the race but got the meeting place wrong. But we still hung around the Terrace by the lake. I got my free beer...yay! But I couldn't even drink it. I had 4 sips and that was it. I was starving but same thing, I couldn't eat. I forced myself to eat a burger that Joshua had bought just because I knew I was in the negative for calories after running.

All in all, it was a great day. A bit humid for running but it was cloudy all morning so at least the sun wasn't out to make it even hotter. I did the best I could with a bum knee and even accomplished my under 2:15 goal. I definitely want to do this again next year and I'm hoping that I'll be 100% better to beat my time. If so, I'll be shooting for under 2 hours to finish.

Walking out of the apartment

There I am at Mile 8

Joshua misses a pic op

Leaving Mile 8

Only 5 more to go

Going up the incline near the end of the race

The finish line!!!

Extremely tired and happy even if you can't tell

All cheery again after rest and rehydration

By the lake

Mallards Game

Joshua and I went to our first Mallards game of the year tonight which was the last game of the season before playoffs. The Mallards is a collegiate summer baseball team in Madison. The best part of the Mallards is the Duck Blind tickets which was what we had. For $26 on the weekdays or  $31 on the weekends, it's all you can drink and eat plus admission to the game.

Originally, we had these tickets from a friend's birthday bash in June but the game was rained out before it even started. So finally, with Joshua working mainly nights and I working randomly each week, we finally had a night off together when the Mallards had a home game. The tickets were not wasted!

The Duck Blind was pretty busy and surprisingly we were able to grab some bleacher seats. Usually, especially on weekend nights, it is so packed that you can only stand in the Duck Blind and have no idea what's going on in the game. But since it was Monday, not many people wanted to get drunk.

I had a beer and sipped occasionally out of Joshua's cup since I was the DD but Joshua on the other hand made up for the lack of drinking I did. And between the two of us, we scarfed down a burger, bbq pork sandwich, brat, fries and potato salad. 

The game was pretty fun. Mini Kiss performed. Luckily, I couldn't see them since I am scared of people in costumes/makeup. The Mallards played awesome that night. So awesome that they scored at least 5 runs giving the crowd a coupon for free ice cream at Culver's. And someone hit a triple which gave the crowd a coupon for a 99 cent movie from Charter which is the cable service we have. So two free scoops of ice cream and two 99 cent movies from charter...all for attending the game, not too shabby.

At the Duck Blind

Joshua didn't like the previous pic

Joshua getting his eats and drinks on

Maynard Mallard getting ready to go down the zip line

There he goes!

Bachelorette Party

Today was my fellow friend and co-worker Melissa's bachelorette party. It was a ton of fun!!! We first went to Sandy Beach in Lake Mills, WI in the afternoon. Melsa was a rock star! She managed to get all 11 of us in for free by convincing the person that the shelter area that she reserved and paid for in advance covered the admission. Not quite sure how the girl bought that story but she bought it and we didn't have to pay to get in when we should have. The weather wasn't quite cooperating with us for a beach day. It was a bit muggy and cloudy. We all had our swimsuits on but never got our tan on. But we still had fun! We drank Pomegranate Cosmos and had lunch...delish! Then played some volleyball aka hitting the ball back and forth hoping to keep the ball in play. We worked ourselves up a bit so we waded in the water to cool down a bit then went back to the shelter to drink some more. And of course, the last half hour we were there, the sun came out. At least it didn't rain like it did the day before that!

The cute happy bride to be

Some of the girls (Kelly, Steph, Meghan)

After the beach, we freshened up at Melsa's place and got ready for the night time fun. We ate and drank more at her place while waiting for...the LIMO BUS!!! We started off at a bar right in her town where we were the only patrons in there. I think the bartender was thrown off and a bit annoyed thinking he would've been able to watch and listen to the pre-season Packer game but instead got us ladies to entertain him. We left shortly and went downtown in Madison to pick up two people and once they got on the limo, the champagne came out! Or sparkling wine, something like that. We drove all the way to Old Chicago on the West Side of Madison. That way, we could enjoy the ride and we had plenty of drinks to occupy the time. From OC, our beloved place of work, we stopped at a dive bar on the way back to downtown called the Village Bar. Coincidentally, another limo bus was there and found a bachelor party inside. Between the two parties, this dive bar was packed! Had a quick drink there and continued on to the Essen Haus where we had 2 boots. We jumped back into the limo and took a 3 block ride to Madison's which was extremely packed so a quickie there and Melsa decided she wanted to head back to Stoughton where her place was. We stopped at a bar in Stoughton to end the night there and what did we find there? Dueling pianos!! It was awesome! The bar was like a bunch of crickets chirping. No one seemed entertained by the dueling pianos. But then we jumped in and started dancing and singing along! The pianists loved it and it seemed like if we weren't out on the dance floor, they'd switch songs until we got back out there. Coincidentally, that's how we got to hear a lot of our songs we requested :) We stayed til bar time and finally headed back to Melsa's place where either people crashed there or left. GOOD TIMES!!!

At the first bar

Blow Job Shot at Old Chicago

Kayla and Steph on the limo

Meghan, Me and Leslie on the limo

Melsa with the bachelor's limo bus driver
who let her steal some of their beers

Me and Meghan at Madison's

Dancing on the limo...or attempting to

Dueling Pianos at the bar in Stoughton

Life Update

It has been quite the month. Even with no running events in July, life has been pretty hectic.

Joshua's brother moved in with us in the beginning of July. He's trying to make a fresh start with his life, just like Joshua did when he moved to Madison in 2004. It worked with Joshua but we'll see how long his brother stays here since we're the only ones he really knows in Madison. It took awhile but Joseph (Joshua's brother) finally got a job which I hope sticks so then he can start contributing even though he has been good helping with cleaning and staying out of our way as much as possible. It's been rough but we'll get through it. I'll spare the details but those of you who do REALLY know me, my apartment lifestyle has changed a bit and I can't just do things anymore on a whim...I always have to remember he is or could be around.



Which brings me to the next news...exactly one week from today, we'll be moving down the hall from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 1 bedroom + loft! Woohoo! When we had resigned our lease for the current apartment 3 months ago, shortly after, the apartment manager alerted us that a 1 bed + loft was opening up on our floor which we had presented interest in a year ago and he remembered that! We only wanted that floor plan if it was going to be on the same floor of our building so then the move would be easy, otherwise we were satisfied with staying in our current apartment that we've been living in for the last 4 years. It'll give us more space, especially with all the wedding gifts that we have set aside since we had no room, not like we had room in our closets to store those as well.

Ours plans even before knowing Joseph was going to be staying with us is to convert the loft into our bedroom and the actual bedroom to be the spare bedroom. Hopefully we'll be able to upgrade to a queen size bed and a nicer dresser and put our current bed and dresser in the spare room. The kitchen and living room will be a tad smaller but just a tad so I can handle that. It was hard to imagine where things would go in the apartment we'll be moving into because the current tenants had every square inch of the place covered with something (and we had looked at that apartment 2 months ago so they weren't in the process of moving!). In the loft, they actually had a bed, dresser, many random things on the ground AND a treadmill that was folded up. I know we have a lot of stuff but I like to condense things and make it look like we have a lot of room. I hate clutterness! I know what needs to be done if ever in the future I need to sell my future house.

The thing I'll miss the most is our balcony view is not obstructive by any buildings or trees. The closest trees are farther out across the street. I like watching storms from the balcony and seeing the sky in weird colors. The cats also love sitting on their high cat play structure and watch the cars and people go by, especially watching people use the ATM at the bank 100 feet out from our balcony. Our future balcony is covered by a tree and looks out into the apartment building 100 feet away. Probably not going to be a spectacular view. And the balcony is going to be smaller. But that's ok, since we never really used the balcony except for the cats. That'll be the price we'll pay for wanting more room.

The thing I look forward to is watching the cats go up and down the loft stairs...that'll be hilarious! Hopefully Bella does not tackle Teddy on the stairs (she loves to tackle him) and go tumbling down and break something on a weekend. No pet hospital please, kids!



As I have mentioned before in older posts, I am going back to school! Woohoo! Can't wait! One more month! And in going back to school, I no longer can work my two jobs so I am quitting my tv station job and have scheduled all my classes around the times I would be working there so that worked out quite nicely. And just as I'm leaving the station, things are tensing up. Our budget is dwindling (we're funded by the city and bring in quite the revenue but don't see all the revenue we bring in since it goes to the city's general funding) and things at the office has gotten tense. The management (which are not part of the union) has proposed to get rid of some of the unionized employees that contribute a ton to the station. And the unionized employees, including myself, have responded back with a report of how that would impact the station and also came up with facts basically stating that some of the work that the management does either have no merit or could be re-categorized basically meaning we don't need some of the management which could save the station a ton of money to be spent elsewhere. Management basically sucks. It's been a crazy month with all the chaos at the station and have informed my co-workers to keep me informed when I leave. I'll continue supporting them doing whatever I can to make the station a better workplace because I don't want to see it fall since I think city government tv is vital to the community no matter how boring I think it is.



Last but not least, I've been trying to keep up with my running this month. It's been hard since I've been tired from work and of the recent storms. I'm training for a half-marathon which is 13.1 miles that is on August 21st. I know I can do it but it's been hard to wake up early in the morn to run before it gets too hot and humid then work on my feet for hours then go to bed at 11:30 (I always have to stay up and wait for Joshua to get home!) then do it all over again the next day. Not to mention my knee pains I've been having from an old knee injury in high school. But the training must go on so then I can feel confident about running the half in a month.