You all seem to be a rather astute bunch so I am sure you noticed the complete lack of a Rummaging Through the Old Maids Friday segment. This is because Anna and I went camping this weekend with her parents, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend. We left Wednesday evening from what was to be four days of semi-roughing it in the North Woods area, followed by me racing back to the Cities Sunday afternoon to pull a lovely nine hour closing shift. But to say our plans went a bit awry might be down playing it slightly.

Anna and I both enjoy camping but, unfortunately, never have much opportunity to do so. The biggest culprit is my job, as it requires me to work weekends, and while I do have health insurance and a 401K, in a surprising twist I do not get any vacation time. So not only do we have few days off together, but any trips are financial annoyances due to the lack of vacation time.

(more…)

The girlfriend and I had brunch at Gigi’s Cafe the other day and I had what one might describe as an epiphany. Gigi’s is a quaint little establishment that caters predominantly to those who are on the wrong side of thirty plus the occasional migrant hipster. Not exactly an eclectic clientèle but one that nonetheless manages to habitually visit on an almost daily basis.

On this morning we lucked out in that we somehow managed to avoid both the breakfast and brunch rushes allowing us to walk straight up to the counter and immediately order. Our server was a surprisingly tall, cute Asian woman whose nationality was difficult to discern. This afforded my girlfriend of launching into her thesis on how impossibly cute Asian children are. But while the girls are forever in bloom the boys ripen rather early and rarely retain their cuteness after puberty.

Now she repeats this lecture nearly every time we encounter a cute Asian child, clearly alluding to the fact that she would love to adopt one. But I also know she is incapable of controlling her urges, and what would start out as her wanting to help a poor abandoned orphan would quickly morph her into the Angelina Jolie of East Asia, picking out one from every country to add to her collection. This in turn would usher in the day that I come home from work to find her children hermetically sealed so that she might eternally preserve their cuteness … what a legal nightmare that will be.

(more…)