There's No Place Like Home: II

Okay, let's get started...

The first time this many of us have been in the same place in quite some time. No doors were ripped off any hinges, so we are making some real progress.



The first of two trips up to Michigan Paradise, Robinson Lake. Thank you Theresa for letting us stay at your place!!!




Z and I supervising the dock fixing. Drinking on job strongly advised.


Celebrating a successful day of doing nothing. I love you guys so much!



The day we left, Frankie took us to shooting. I had never shot before, so this was literally a dream come true. Frank, you rock!




For the record, the target with no holes on it is NOT mine (ahem, Lacy)

Now for those dive bars I promised. Seriously, Oshkosh never looked so good. I've heard it said that you can never go back, but I don't know. It sure felt like the good ole days to me.















Aw, kissies from Trishie. Congratulations on being the only Tritt cousin to make an appearance in my blog. The Bloom Crew really is running this show...there are sort of camera hogs I guess.

There's No Place Like Home: I

You know, I really hate flying. I also hate crying babies. You know what I hate most? Flying, crying babies. I am brilliantly poetic. Anyway, so I did make it back to the States. Thank you Baldwin Street for the best Welcome Home party in the history of time. As you can see, I am writing this almost six months later - but I still remember that night as one of the happiest in my life. Some people might think that's sad - but I am oh-so-lucky. Andrew, Martha, Dad, Lois, Lacy, Melissa, Dale, the ex-Baldwin roomies - you guys rock. FedEx me some guacamole.

So after a short attempted recuperation in Madison, it was back to Winneconne. Due to my secret intense passion for waitressing, it was pretty important that I check out where my baby sis was serving burgers:

With the help of the fabulous service provided by Martha and her bff Karie, Winneconne patrons can enjoy their lunch in between bouts of target practice. That's Wisco, yo.












After spending some time in Milwaukee, Andrew and I hauled half the Bloom Crew with us to MadTown.

Me and my three favorite guys on the planet.

Stay tuned for fixing docks, dive bars, and funny faces. I promise a thrilling ride.

Notes Before Returning to One's Homeland

Things to do before you get on the plane:

1.) Eat some lamb.

2.) Find someone to cuddle with your kitty at night.

3.) Find someone to play with aforementioned cat during waking hours.

4.) Learn some earthquake preparation methods for when you return.

5.) Take a rest. You've had a long day.

Hey, I'm comin' home!

Narita - Where All Your Dreams Come True.

So, let's make this quick. I'm way behind. End of May I found a cat. I did some stuff that I don't remember. Then I hung out with these two awesome chicks that I know before heading back to the States. Enjoy.

This is Kumo. I found him on the train tracks. And that's 蜘蛛, not 雲. I don't care who you are - stop trying to argue with me about this.


Surprise! There's a matsuri in your back yard!

Hey, we're cute. We should like, do something...or something.

Rose and Celine - you've seen them before. They are pretty fine.


Alli: Is my apron straight?
Rose: Come hither.
Celine: Let me show you guys this AWESOME place, just down the street.

Yes, this is exactly what I had in mind.

Girl, you're crazy.

Totally.

Yeah, that was our night out in Narita, where Celine lives. I don't if you remember the Nabe Party, but that was in Rose's area. You know what that means...I'm next. Stay tuned for that...

Wait, what's that? You want another matsuri? Hang on, let me see what I can do...

Hey, I think I found something...

SWEET!

Hakone Can Be Hell

You wouldn't think so, right? "Looks all right to me!" you're thinking - not bad for a paid business conference! But you know what they say about some of the best-laid plans...(btw, still May here).







Here's my temporary roomie and I. I don't know - she like, peed on herself or something. Actually, it may have been someone else's pee. Either way, I'm not one to hold that sort of thing against a sister.







And there's the rest of the crew. We've got one Panda Superstar, a self-proclaimed Midwestern Playboy, fellow Witte A 2000 alum, Random Dude Who's Only Significantly Annoying, and a man put on this earth to infuriate me by the mere thought of his breath (and the fact that he tried to order me into oncoming traffic). I'll let you figure out who's who.









Here are some boats. We road the pirate ship on the left. That's what most people do on teaching conferences, cruise on pirate ships, right? There were a lot of children on the boat, and we all know how I feel about that crap.


Ah, and here we have the carpet outside my room. Classy joint, eh?





Okay, so you're probably thinking that didn't look so bad. You pretty much couldn't be more wrong. The weather was craptastic, our "fearless" "leader" had/has questionable sanity, and I think the inn we were at gave me TB. P and I are lucky we survived. Word.

Monet in May

I'm baaaaaaaaack...and I brought beer!

Yeah, this picture was taken a long time ago...like late April. I'm working on getting caught up. This is at a cafe in Shimokitazawa.

Okay, so I suppose the next "interesting" thing I did was go check out Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. Here I am getting ready to go say hello to the Monet exhibit:

Hi Monet!

Pictures from Midtown....

And pictures of...ya know, whatever...






























Okaaay, I guess that is it for now...I'm trying to get caught up with this thing. Which, by the way, does anyone read?? If not, that's cool. It's just an online photo album for myself anyway. But if you DO, leave a freaking comment or I might just start actually printing OFF my pictures. Well...maybe...


PS: I know my format is totally whack. I'm too lazy to care.