Fishing Lessons!

That picture is of my friend Don. I met Don through my Mom. When my mom was renting an apartment many years ago, Don lived in the same building. Don took care of all the maintenance of the building and really took care of my mom when she was living up here in Rhinelander alone during the week and then going to Wausau on the weekends. He is one of the biggest characters in the world. He has a great sense of humor and always seems to make people laugh, if not get some sort of reaction out of them(some people are taken aback by Don because he pretty much says anything that comes to mind, which can be shocking at times! Sometimes I wish I had the courage to do the same, but then again I do really like to have people like me.) One of the other guys that hangs out at the bar that my mom and I like to go to said to me last week: "You let yourself be alone with Don?"(as if he were some dangerous Dahmer type.) I replied by saying that I can run a lot faster than Don!(Don has trouble walking these days because his hips aren't working as they should) Don reminds me of the men in Grumpy Old Men. He is so much like both of those characters. He is also a master angler. He has been teaching me how to fish and I have been having a lot of fun learning.

I have fished before, but I think I have always been pretty much clueless about it. I have learned how to tie a good knot on the line attaching the hook. I have learned how to cast better. I have learned that when you are bringing the line in to re-cast that you should do so slowly because as Don says: "You just never know." You really don't know if a fish will bite the bait on the way in. I have also learned that you should guide the line in with your thumb and forefinger. (That would have helped very much last week when I got the line all tangled and I was by myself and I couldn't un-tangle the line. I guess that is what I get for going out without my teacher!) I think the most important thing Don has taught me though is that there is so much beauty in just taking the time to stop and enjoy life. Sitting on the shore he often says: "It is a shame that all the kids in the world go around saying 'I'm bored, there is nothing to do.' Look at the place and how much fun we can have out here, Man!" Really, life is like that. You really just need to sit back sometimes and realize how wonderful everything is. Sitting out there on beautiful lakes is a real special thing to do and I am so glad to have Don there with me to teach me and to help me remember important life lessons.

People are cool, aren't they? I am still amazed by how each person that is allowed to be a part of our lives can really effect us both positively and negatively. I feel lucky to have mostly people in my life who effect me positively. I am also amazed that somebody who is over forty years older than me can really get along with me and make a difference in my life. It's cool!

I caught four fish today. Three Bass and one Bluegill. It was weird to catch something beside a Bass. I just expect to have a Bass on the line now. Good times.

Didn't do much else today. Summer is going too fast. SIGH!

Family Weekend!

Well, we had our celebrations, we stayed up late, we slept in, we watched fireworks, we at too much food, but dang what a good time!

The weekend went to fast. I was able to see most of both sides of my family. Friday we were in Appleton for my Dad's side's annual 4th Celebration. It is an annual event that all the my dad's brothers organize. There are three of them. They switch off years. This year it was at Jim's. He has a nice house and is a great grillmaster. Good, good food. I had my first Brat of the season. YUM! It is always fun to catch up with all my relatives. I have such good ones! I am glad I have all of them and that fate brought us all together. What would have happened if my parents never met? That is scary to think about! I wouldn't be here either. YIKES!

Saturday we headed to Green Bay. I love that place. I would live there if I didn't have this whole other life in Provo. It is a great city. I love seeing Lambeau Field where the Packers play. I think I take a picture of it every time I see it. I am still in awe of it.

I had a lot of fun with my mom's side of the family in Green Bay. I love to see my Aunt Linda and Uncle Tom. They are always so good to me. Their grandchildren are precious. Little Thomas makes me laugh. He is just a cutie. I also like to see my cute little grandma, Rita. She is so funny and cute. It was fun to hang out with everybody. My uncle Danny was even visiting from Oklahoma. He likes to talk about religion and kinda grilled me about Mormonism last night. I was up for the challenge and it was not as scary as I thought it might be. He is pretty much a holy roller and used to be a minister, so it was interesting. Weird and interesting.

Tonight we are back in Rhinelander. I am tired. It is late. I get to fish tomorrow...what am I do writing to you guys?

Later!

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July! I hope your family outings are much less stressful than mine always are. I can hear the parents already getting on each other's nerves downstairs as they get ready. Family...isn't it about time?

I went fishing yesterday with my new pole. I am a horrible angler. Well, maybe not a horrible angler per say, but I really have a hard time with keeping the line from messing up in the reel. I caught one fish yesterday and as I was reeling him in, my line got stuck. I had only been out for about a half hour and then had to go home because I didn't know enough about my reel to six it and continue. I should have studied it before fishing because my dad fixed in in about thirty seconds. Dang!

I liked that Packer boat I saw a few days ago so I snuck up and took a picture of it. I find myself doing that a lot lately. Sneaking up on strangers and their things is fun work. I will try to add a video of people dancing the Polka that I did some sneaky camera work for.

My mom has an MP3 Player and she knows how to use it. She bee bops around the house with it singing and dancing. It makes me laugh every time I see her with her little earphones on. Hilarious.

Well, I better go finish packing and getting ready. We are heading to Appleton for the big party at my Uncle Jim's and then we are heading to Green Bay tomorrow to see my mom's side of the family. It will be a blast and an adventure.

Have a great day. Enjoy your day off those of you who are working for a living. Suckers!

Hopefully the video of Polka dancers will be in a future post! :)

Lazy Tuesdays.

Okay so everyday lately has been lazy. I just don't know why I like doing nothing. Oh wait, that is part of who I am.

I have been reading the first Harry Potter again. Very good stuff. I think you get much more out of it the second time around. I was inspired by one of my friends who just finished reading the series again.

Other than reading, I really did a whole lot of nothing today. Okay, so I did do laundry and I did even make my bed again. Sorry Moo, I do not know what has gotten into me lately. I did write a bit in my novel today. Did all of you know that I am writing a novel? It is pretty silly. I think I am pretty much a hopeless romantic or something because my main character, who happens to me a male, tries to pick up on all the chicks. What is wrong with me? I try to write a serious novel and it may turn out being like a Danielle Steel steamy romance novel. Okay so maybe not that steamy seeing I am a good Mormon girl, but it could be close. Why am I writing from the perspective of a male, you may ask? I really don't know. Maybe they are easier to write. Seems like they are pretty simple. They like sports, love to eat, love women(well most of them anyway) and that is pretty much them. I don't know if I am any good at writing from the male perspective though. My main character may totally be a pansy. I am a girl after all!

I also bought a new fishing pole today. Of course, because I am lazy, I was not able to go fishing today because I ran out of time before my softball game. SIGH. And it is supposed to rain tomorrow so I may not get out tomorrow either. DOUBLE SIGH!

It was fun to travel to Wausau and play softball as it always is. We actually won again. I guess this team is a little bit better than my other team in Provo, and that is fine. Really, winning is NOT everything. I am glad I have learned that lesson. Have I mentioned that I love to play? It was fun. I also like sitting and chatting with my good friends after the games. We usually get some concession stand food and just chat and chat. Tonight we also watched another softball game after we ate. I liked it.

Now I am here in my room in Rhinelander updating you all on my real exciting life. It is after midnight. Why am I such a night owl? Who knows really! I may even put the old Ocean's Eleven in and watch it. I got it from the library. I love libraries and the one in little old Rhinelander is surprisingly very amazing!

This is kinda random isn't it? I think my sister likes it best when my blogs are random. Maybe it is because all the people in her house are ADHD. I am sorry Seester, you all are! Reminds me of a joke my nephew always used to tell, when he was much younger, of course. He is almost a Senior in High School. How did I get so old. Here is the joke:

How many people with ADHD does it take to change a light bulb?
(with little hesitation the joke teller then says:)
Wanna go play soccer?

This joke reminds me of the joke I always used to tell my nephew. Here it is:

Hey, I got a great knock-knock joke for you. You start.
Nephew then says: Knock-Knock
I answer: Who's there?
Then there is a long pause and a confused look on Nephew's face. Aunt then laughs real hard.

I still tell him this joke years later. Now he just rolls his eyes and ignores me. Teenagers!

Speaking of teens. They are nice, but I tend to like toddlers more. My friend's little boy is so cute. I usually talk about him on Tuesdays because I see him at softball games. He is clumsy and falls a lot. Today he got a little scratch on his chin because walking is a challenge for him.

Walking is a challenge for me when I am wearing high heels. I think it is highly inappropriate for a girl who is nearly six feet to wear heels. The first reason is that said heels usually make her well over six feet and then she looks even more like a giant and is taller than all the cute boys(and the not-so-cute ones too, I guess!). The second reason is that this particular girl is very much like a New York Giant(football team for those of you who are not sports fanatics like me) lineman(the big guys) and when she is walking in these shoes she looks kinda like a lineman would if they were trying to walk in said shoes.

I am a shoe addict as well. I don't even know how many pairs I own. Some people collect antiques, or sports cards, I collect shoes. I have about ten pairs of Converse All-Stars alone.

Addiction is a funny thing too, don't you think? Some people are addicted to crazy things like cocaine and marijuana(yes I know marijuana doesn't have typical signs of addiction and people say all the time, I can stop anytime....I say "then why don't you?" stupids) while other people are addicted to food or sports. How do we get our addictions? Do we all have different ones because of our personality and upbringing? Are there people out there who have no addictions? Even if they claim to have no addictions, do you think they may be addicted to lying?

Lying is not a good practice. Honesty really is the best policy. I think the main reason for this, besides the moral issue, is that it is just too hard to keep all the lies straight. Who have you lied to? Who knows the truth? Maybe you even start to believe the lies you tell and then you have just lied to yourself. That is sad.

Back to addictions. I have lots. Ice cream, that is one. It is evil. If somebody offers ice cream, how do you say no? It is a nice gesture to offer this cream treat, is it not?

Another nice gesture is handing out money. If any of you want to hand me money go right ahead!

Blogging. I think I am addicted to blogging. I always want my blog to be up to date and funnier than everybody Else's blog. It really makes me upset when I have nothing to blog about. Like this past weekend my blog was not up to date. I just did not have creative juices those days. It was sad. I am funny right?

Paper. I am addicted to paper. I bought a notebook for myself(OK mom bought it, I am not a liar) this weekend. I already have lots of notebooks. This one does say: "Boys are stupider...send them to Jupiter." and has a picture of a boy in a rocketship headed for Jupiter. Very funny.

Funny like Happy Bunny. Happy Bunny always smiles but sometimes says mean things. I still am addicted to Happy Bunny. Sometimes I feel like Happy Bunny. I just smile and really inside say mean things. Like at work sometimes. I may be all happy and nod my head lots, but deep down I am thinking: Are you serious, do you really think this program is valuable enough for all the money we are spending? Are you crazy?

Craziness. Now that is a good topic. Who defines what is crazy and what is not? Do we have people who make the crazy rules? Oh wait...we do, they are politicians. Don't even get me started on Politicians; they make me tired.

As does being up at 12:54a.m.

Night.

Dominoes Domingo!

Not a whole lot of news here from Alice. This weekend, my friend, Marla(have you made the blog yet, Marla?) came to visit. We had a good time playing dominoes, going to a movie, and just visiting! It is wonderful to have friends that know who I really am and still want to be my friend. It is also really cool to have a few close friends from high school. Man, Marla knew me when I was pretty awkward and weird, and she is still around. Shocking! Oh wait I am still kinda awkward and weird! Oh well!

We saw the new Steve Carell Movie, Get Smart. It was very good and pretty much Hilarious. I don't think I have been to a Steve Carell movie that didn't make me laugh. I sure do like that guy! I made my mom watch Dan in Real Life with me on Friday and I think I might actually get her to watch The Office now. Let's hope she gets and likes the humor! :)

I found a really cool little mountain bike trail that is very near my parents house. I went thinking that it wouldn't be much(it is maintained by the local high school for cross-country skiing), but was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a pretty cool little system of trails. Many of you are probably bored already with the talk of trails, so I will move on.

I made my bed today. That is news sometimes. What else? I have been looking for hotels in San Francisco. I am very excited to go with my mom. We are going to have a blast. The only trouble with going is that I have to go to a conference. SIGH. Does it make me a bad person to dread the conference but be really excited about a free trip to California? I get to see the ocean for Pete's Sake! :)

Well, I think that is the major news of the day. You are all nice. Have a superb day!