On a stick

Hello to my favorite women in the whole world,

Today is my last day of freedom. Or boredom. It really depends on how I choose to look at it. I have orientation tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to. I'm excited for classes to start to give me something concrete to do with my days. I've recently been spending them mostly on my computer, with a little bit of screwing around and a whole lot of job searching. It's a bit hard to find something part-time with enough flexibility for my student schedule, that I'm qualified for but yet not overqualified for. (If nothing pans out, I just might apply to be a barista.) I've applied to some positions, so I'm crossing my fingers that one of those will work out. Please keep your fingers crossed too.

These past few days have yielded a couple of fun adventures. Yesterday Sean and I went to the Twins game because they were playing the White Sox, which is his favorite team. Yes, we are a split Chicago baseball couple, since if I am asked to pick a team I always choose the Cubs. Anyway, that was a good time. Last Sunday we went to the Minnesota State Fair, which is in St. Paul. The State Fair in Minnesota is a much bigger deal than it is in Indiana. Since it was a weekend and a gorgeous day, it seemed like half of the state was there. I had never been to a state fair, so it was entertaining. Excellent for people watching, since there were so many different kinds of people from the hipsters, to Asian gang-bangers, to hill-billies, to teenie boppers. I also saw lots of animals, including miniature horses pulling carts. And of course, I can't forget all of the fried food on a stick that Sean and I sampled: fried hot dish on a stick, fried snickers bar on a stick, pizza on a stick, and fried cheese curds (those were not on a stick, but definitely scrumptous). I shall end my state fair tale with the most attractive picture of me taken that day:

Que más...I am currently cooking pinto beans, a skill that I learned this summer in El Paso. Partially due to nostalgia and partially due to the fact that I have a bowl full of jalepeños on my counter that are getting wrinkly, I have also decided to attempt to make a salsa. Or "chile", since anything that comes from a chile pepper is called chile by Mexicans, whether it's powdered or in salsa form. Anyway, I am determined to become skilled at the art of cooking authentic Mexican food, especially because it doesn't seem that hard, well to make the easy stuff. Mole is probably a different story.

Some new purchases I have made recently that I am quite happy with: 1. a drying rack, which I decided to get after drying my first load of clothes in my new apartment's laundry room and discovered them scortching hot and somewhat shrunk upon pulling them out despite the face that I had set the cycle on permanent press. No option to control the temp on the machine. But my drying rack is fab, and surprisingly it only took my clothes about a full day to dry. Now I will save money, keep my clothes from shrinking, and save the environment. I heart Target. 2. yarn and my very own set of crochet hooks. :) 3. a Macbook, which should be delivered to me soon. So excited!

Hope you all are well! I miss you and love you lots!