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treehuggingliberal
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read my profile
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Name: T
Gender: Female
Interests: Plenty....
Expertise: I'm good at 3 things:
1. MY WORK,
2. fighting for the Liberal cause, and
3. being a total goofball
Occupation: Esthetician / Spa Owner
Industry: Day Spa / Skin Care
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
4/25/2006
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i had a very dear family friend pass away over the weekend. an extended family member, really. a man who was very successful and larger than life. he was 76 years old. he had a massive heart attack. and an even more distressing facet of the whole situation is that he was doing everything right: he had stints put in his heart valves a few years back, he exercised regularly, he ate a healthy diet, he took blood pressure medication, he even went to mayo clinic in minnesota three months ago to have himself checked from head to toe. and he dies anyway. he should have lived for another ten years. he was a good man, and i regret that i didn't see him one last time before he passed....
it's cliche, i know, but life is so precious and fleeting. i mean, i'm 34 years old, for pete's sake. it seems like it was only yesterday that i was 24. i can hardly remember my college days now. recent years meld together in my mind as one. people have come and gone from my life; some deliberately, some randomly, and some for reasons that i will never know. but life continues to move forward. time is unsympathetic to us: it keeps going whether we like it or not.
during my college years and for several years after i kept "planning" my life and how i could leave my mark on the world. now, in the last year or so, it's dawned on me that my days of "planning" my life are over. they're over because i'm living it. this is it. this is my life. it is what it is: i get up in the morning, i sit in front of my computer and check e-mails, maybe i exercise, i go to work, i clean my house, i run errands around the small town i live in, and when i have free time i watch movies, read or garden. that's my life. it won't get much better than it already is and there likely won't be any major changes. and my life IS good, believe me. i lead a rather privileged, easy life (i don't have kids). i feel very blessed. but my life certainly is not what i thought it would be when i was busy "planning" every detail of it, nor will i ever leave any sort of mark on this world. people will not have to wait over two hours in line to see my casket at my funeral, like i did with our family friend tonight. he was one of those rare, special people who touches many, many lives. i now realize that is an honor to be earned in this life. you can plan for or desire that sort of love, admiration, respect and success all you want, but you won't get it without hard work and without having a kind, generous soul. and, as was proved with our friend who passed, you can do everything right and still not get the outcome you're hoping for.
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we arrived in mineral point yesterday afternoon. it was kind of rainy, but that's alright. we were still able to see the fall foliage along the drive. the trees up here have changed color only a bit, so there's still plenty of green with some sprinkling of red, orange and yellow.
we arrived at the bed and breakfast around 2:30pm and checked in. we've stayed at this location before and loved it. it's a 3-story limestone building that was originally built in 1856 and used as a warehouse. the first floor holds the restaurant and brewery, while the second and third floors have the guest rooms. we're in a different room this time around. our room is immaculate and fashionably decorated, just like last time. the only downside is that our room is directly above the bar at the restaurant, so it's noisy. we're embracing it though: we feel like we're staying at a brothel in the roaring '20s, with the saloon downstairs below us filling our room with the sound of billie holiday, clanking beer mugs and the muffled conversations of the patrons.
we didn't do too much yesterday. we lounged in our room for a bit, then took a stroll through downtown mineral point. it was cool and rainy, so i hugged tight to my man to keep warm. it was already after 5pm, so a lot of the galleries and shops were already closed. in a tourist town like this you immediately see the affects of the recession: there are more empty storefronts than there are occupied ones. we found a great thrift/antique/junk store that we want to go to today, but there were signs in the front windows saying "going out of business." it's sad.... matt & i decided that we must encourage our friends, family & coworkers to come up here for a weekend getaway, to make sure this gem of a community doesn't fall into disrepair. the upside to this town being a hidden treasure is that it's not crowded. you can peacefully stroll the sidewalks and peruse the shops without the obnoxious crowds. plus, i've noticed that it's an older, more educated, refined and politically liberal crowd that comes here, which is fine with me.
for such a small town, the dining options here are actually quite good! we ate dinner at a restaurant called Cafe 4 (http://www.fourcafe.com). matt got a flame-baked calzone stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and feta cheese, while i got risotto with butternut squash and grilled asparagus. it was deeeelish. oh, and matt discovered a tasty brand of porter beer at Cafe 4 that's only sold in wisconsin, so we're going to buy some of it before we leave.
after dinner last night we enjoyed a warm, aromatherapy soak in the whirlpool tub, then watched a movie on my laptop. this morning we had a scrumptious breakfast of fresh pecan pastries (so yummy!), brewed coffee, juice and organic cereal. now we're each going to take a shower and get ready, then hit the streets and start our day! i think we'll stay out for a bit, then come back and take a nap, have dinner, take another bath and be asleep by 10pm. after all, we promised ourselves that this weekend would be about rest and relaxation.
the living area in our lovely room
sleigh bed against a limestone wall
fresh, yummy pastries for breakfast!
Cafe 4
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i'm packing for our little trip to mineral point, wisconsin. it's supposed to rain there all weekend and have a high of only 52 degrees!  my man assured me that we will still have a wonderful time, even if it means, as he put it, "spending the whole weekend cuddled up by the fireplace in our room, and in the whirlpool bathtub, and snuggled together in bed watching movies on the laptop." he's the best.
i'm learning that it's difficult to pack cold-weather clothes: two sweaters take up half the suitcase! i won't be packing any extras this time, that's for sure. oh, and i just remembered: i need to put together our driving soundtrack! better get to it.... so many things to do, so little time to do them.
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it's a lovely, sunny, breezy day in my little corner of the world. i'm sitting at my makeshift desk in my new "office" at my boyfriend's house, while Wicket is perched on the window sill in front of me, enjoying some cat tv with smell-o-vision.
my man is the best: he's letting me convert his spare bedroom into my own office, to decorate however i please! my mind is whirling with ideas on paint color, window treatments, wall art, furniture and all that fun stuff. i'll have to hit the local flea market and resale shops over the next few months to see if i can dig up some fabulous finds. we're almost done painting his living room, dining room, foyer and half bath. we just have the accent wall left to do in the living room, then it's all done! we chose a light beige for all the walls, except for the half bath and accent wall which are a rich, warm green. we decided to keep things as neutral as possible, since my man will be listing his town home for sale next summer. i highly doubt that he will sell it within the next three years, thanks to the lousy real estate market, so we figure that we'll put in a little sweat equity and enjoy the place until it finally does sell. at which point he will move in with me. 
today i think we're going to run out and pick up some mums to put in the flower pots. my spring flowers are still green, but they're starting to die off. so we'll replace them with deep orange mums, and decorate the front porch with mums, white pumpkins and gourds.
it's warm and sunny now, but it is, in fact, the end of september and autumn is almost here. i see the squirrels scurrying about, carefully burying their food stockpiles for winter, which is always a sign that the colder weather is on its way (i believe animals instinctively know when a cold snap is about to arrive, more so than any weather forecaster). sometime in the next few weeks i will have to rearrange my closet: put my summer clothes away in storage and bring out my sweaters, jackets, scarves, long pants and boots. comfy, cozy clothes.
last night matt and i tried a new recipe for dinner: chicken tortilla soup with corn and black beans. it was warm and hardy, and it seemed like the perfect meal for a cool early-autumn evening. we'll be having more meals like that in the upcoming months.... along with baked apple desserts and hot tea. 'tis the season.
chicken tortilla soup
next weekend my man and i will go away for our last little road trip of the year (october begins the busy season at my spa, so i do nothing but work from now until the beginning of february). we are going back to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and we're staying at the b&b that we adore (http://www.brewerycreek.com). we were there for my birthday in july, and now we are going for my man's birthday. it should be a beautiful drive, with all the fall foliage. we will peruse the shops and art galleries and eat at the yummy restaurants. it will also be nice to take a long, hot bath in the whirlpool tub and snuggle up together next to the fireplace in our room. i can't wait!
 
downtown mineral point, wisconsin
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i was woken up early this morning by our feline alarm clock.... he just wanted attention and some snuggle time.
so i did some morning yoga and meditated, to put myself in a healthy mindset for this beautiful sunday. i also watered the potted flowers and made a yummy breakfast. i will leave in a bit to head to the euro grocery store and stock up on produce and goodies for the week.
yesterday my BFF and i went to this small "festival" in the town in which i work. there were craft booths, wine tastings, the shops were having sales, and there was also a group of crazy right-wingers with a booth that had a giant poster of our president with a hitler mustache painted above his upper lip. nice, hunh?
i wigged out. as we drove by their booth i shouted "you should be ashamed of yourselves!" thankfully, it looked like they were sitting there all by their lonesome. no one seemed to be paying them mind. good. i know we have freedom of speech in this country, and that is a glorious thing. but that also means i have the freedom to verbally bitch-slap idiots who perpetuate lies and propaganda.
ok, don't want to get myself worked up into a tizzy after trying to set a good tone for the day! of course, by the time i get done watching meet the press, i'm sure my blood pressure will be on the rise.... 
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