Hang in There

Success isn't always measured by how high you climb, in fact, sometimes
it's more important to measure how much fun you've had.
Boulder's Climbing Gym, Madison, WI

Birthday Bliss

If you don't recognize the picture above, you haven't celebrated a birthday in downtown Madison, WI. You are looking at a picture of the Nitty Gritty, aka "The Birthday Bar", which, in my personal opinion, is famous for two things: 1) the fact that they give you free soda or beer on your birthday and 2) the fact that they are open to and encourage LARGE parties. It's important to note that two freshman dorms are within two blocks of this eating establishment, one of which (the one I lived in), is right across the street. The scene above captures two celebratory parties at the Nitty Gritty, each consisting of 25 to 30 people, roughly one wing of their floors in the dorm. 12 years ago, I had a Nitty Gritty birthday party with 25 to 30 people from my dorm floor. 12 years ago my friends and I waited at the front door until every last person showed up, because they won't seat you until your party is complete. 12 years ago, they announced the 15 or so fellow birthday go-ers' names over the loud speaker and when they got to mine, my table erupted in cheers (as is Gritty tradition). 12 years ago there was a name that only had one or two cheerers and I felt sorry for them. This year I went to celebrate my birthday at the Gritty with my husband and my son. This year when my name was announced over the loud speaker, I had only one cheerer, myself, with an accompanying whistler, my husband, and a wide-eyed son who was so in shock at the noise erupting throughout the restaurant that he couldn't make a peep. I have such fond memories of my college days and I truly did appreciate the big Gritty party, but there is no doubt in my mind that this was by far my BEST GRITTY BIRTHDAY EVER. Married to the loudest whistler I know, and accompanied by the most appreciative free-birthday-ice-cream-eater I know (picture below), I learned tonight that I will NEVER feel sorry for a table with single digit cheerers again; being with the people you love shouts frequencies and decibels only heard in the heart.

Mascot Mania

I think it's fair to say that some pictures are meant to preserve a memory rather than dazzle you with their visual brilliance. The picture slotted to accompany this entry is exactly that. Caleb and I went to KEVA today to partake in their "Sports Fest", which from a two-year-old's perspective consisted of three bouncy castle's and a duck; the rest was irrelevant. Besides the jubilant jumping, besides the fervent running from castle to castle and wall to wall, Caleb befriended Maynard G. Mallard and was instantly smitten. Given Caleb's history of running away from Bucky Badger and crying on Santa's lap, his adoration of the Madison Mallard's Mascot was a memory that needed to be captured. I would have whipped out the camera and snapped a shot of him giving Maynard a high-five, or running in circles around his legs, or provoking him in a good ole goose chase; but unfortunately, the camera was MIA. I took the next obvious step by asking a completely random stranger to take a quick picture of Caleb and his duck and email it to me when she got a chance. And although she promised to send it as soon as she got home, at the time of my original post, it was still in digital format somewhere out in the Greater Madison Area. If you see the picture attached to an updated post, you'll notice it's lack of artistic flair. Otherwise, you'll just have to be satisfied with the somewhat more interesting story.

Meat Market

The Boyces joined good friends, Chris & Steph, out on the town for a celebratory engagement dinner at Samba Brazilian Grill. After ten long years of "courting", after nine long years of being voted "most likely to get married next", after EACH of them having caught bridal bouquets, the two are FINALLY commiting to get married..well, sometime in their lifetime; they have yet to actually set a date!

So in celebration of a commitment to remove oneself from the figurative meat market, we went to what felt like a literal meat market, a brazilian grill. Vegetarians beware, I've included pictoral examples of our dinner down below.

You flip the marker to "green-for-go" and the meat descends on you via dark, young, goucho's (Brazilian cowboys) with huge skewers.
Flank steak? Tenderloin? Top Sirloin? Duck? Lamb? Pork?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and YES!
After a few rounds of meat, meat and more meat, we flipped our marker to "red-for-I-CAN'T-EAT-ANYTHING-MORE" and called it a night.

I would give this guy a tip if he worked at the birthday bar.

http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2009/01/photographer-who-is-full-of-hot-air.html

OBAMA!

Today was a REALLY good day!

Goo Goo Waterfall

This is the famous Goo-Goo Waterfall. It is located on the shores of the great lake in the middle of "my train table". The falls are approximately 12 inches in height have been flowing at least 12 months now. Just look at that clear blue water! Goo-Goo Waterfall was named by Caleb Boyce in the later part of 2008 or the early days of 2009 for obvious reason. The falls are probably best known for the famous train line that flows under them TWICE! If you ever have a chance, you should really visit the falls. Caleb can give you a special guided tour... he calls it "wanna come play with you"?