Nobody's Fool

It's Been a While (and a long time too)

2007-12-27T20:10:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't posted on here since my boring summer office job. Sorry!

I've been so busy with teaching, performing, and getting my students to perform. It's been a really, really rough first year for me so far. I've been exposed to some major let-downs in the public school system (big surprise there). I'm surprised at how high the expectations are for an elementary school music teacher. I must admit that I was really exhausted right before Christmas break, but I'm feeling well-rested, and I actually miss my students!

I am looking forward to January and to not having to perform four times a week for parents and administrators. Still jumping through hoops, even after college- who knew?

I hope that I won't be too long. Until next time...

I'm kinda dumb...

2007-08-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I was on my lunch break today when I noticed that I had a new voicemail message. I listened in horror as an administrator from the Oconomowoc Area School District told me that "New Teacher Orientation" had started at 9:00 am that morning.

Here's the thing... I thought that the New Teacher Orientation was on August 23rd- which is actually the first meeting that I will have with my mentor. I knew before today that August 15th had some significance. But, I thought that I only noted August 15th as an important day in my mind because my husband wanted me to come with him to Minneapolis for a show, and I would need to request off of work for the 15th (I didn't go). I had even mentioned to my supervisor that I needed the 15th off, but I told her that I was mistaken about the date and that I needed the 23rd off instead.

The administrator from OASD seemed to understand and noted that two other people were unable to make it today. So, I will get caught up with the others at a later date.

I still feel sooooooo embarrassed. I can tell that this is going to be a great year.

Ugghhhh...

2007-08-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

I feel depressed today, and I haven't felt this way in a long time.

I have been reading "The First Days of School"- a how-to book for teaching. I am on the Classroom Management unit, and I realize that I haven't been doing a very good job managing my classroom. I blamed the students' ill-manners on the teacher who had abandoned them a couple of months before I arrived at Greenland Elementary. BUT, now I see that I didn't do everything right. I won't go into details...

I know that I shouldn't feel like I need to be the world's greatest teacher right now- only eight months out of college, but I do. I guess it's part of the perfectionist's way of thinking. It doesn't matter what I do; I have to be the best flute player, receptionist, student, wife, friend. The list goes on and on. I'm starting to think I therapy again...

I don't mean to scare anybody; I just wanted to share. Anyone share these sentiments?

I'm Pissed Off and Irritable...Again

2007-07-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here's why...

I sort mail as a part of my boring job- in the morning and in the afternoon. I find the morning mail awaiting at my desk to be sorted when I arrive at 8:00 a.m. The afternoon mail, however, is taken out of the mail box by our swingperson (we'll call him J) and given to my supervisor, who later gives it to me. Mind you that J walks right past my desk to get to my supervisor's office.

So... are you asking yourself why J doesn't just drop it off at my desk since I am going to sort and deliver it anyway? So am I!

Today, my supervisor was out for the afternoon, and therefore, was not there when J went to drop the mail off to her. He came to my desk to start a conversation about what he had planned to do with the mail, saying "I bet I could just hand it out." I replied, "Well, you could give the mail to me since I sort it anyway." At this point, you would expect him to give me the mail- but he didn't. He argued with me a good five minutes before saying, "I guess you're not sorting the mail today," and locked it away in my supervisor's office.

Naturallly I was offended and thought to myself, "He knows that I am an elementary school teacher; why wouldn't he trust me? Why would he think that I would lie to him about sorting the mail?" I came up with this answer at Subway...

He just wanted to make me feel that he has authority over me. Knowing that I have a bachelor's degree and a good full-time job in the fall, he has to make me feel inferior somehow. I have seen it before when I waitressed and the dishwasher would scream at me for putting something in the wrong spot in his dishwashing area, even though I had no idea what sort of system the dishwashers have, and he could've moved it himself.

I'm frustrated because I do treat everyone at my workplace the same- no matter how much they get paid or how much authority I have over them. I tell ya...some people!!

Vent with me in the comments section.

How does this work?

2007-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

As all of you have seen from previous posts, I do receptionist work. A part of my job is to help people who come in with appointments to meet with the appropriate person. But, don't you think that the people who made appointments here would make a point to be available at that time? Not here.

For example, a man came in with an appointment to see A.
I called A's office extension- no answer.
I called A's cell phone number- he said he was on lunch and to call R instead.
I called R's office extension- no answer.
I called R's cell phone number- no answer.
I paged R to call my extension- no call back.

I knew that R was in a meeting with my supervisor earlier in the day, so I checked the conference room, and there R was. Growing a little frustrated, I asked R if he had heard my page. And R replied, "yes." Then I explained the situation and finally he met the person sitting patiently by my desk.

How can a person be on lunch when they are supposedly expecting someone? I eavesdropped a little on the conversation between R and the patient man and found out that the patient man had made the appointment with A in April!!! Clearly, these people aren't doing their jobs and getting paid about 70,000/year. Is anyone else outraged?

Job Suck!

2007-07-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

I don't like this job. It seems that most of the time that I have absolutely nothing to do, but I feel bad just sitting here. Why? Because, the majority of the times my supervisor comes into the front desk area she yells at me for something or another.

Scenario- Yesterday at 8:00 a.m.
On Monday mornings, my supervisor does orientation for the new hires. The new hires come to the front desk. So, silly me- I decide to show this new hire where to go for orientation and not bother my supervisor because she's always on the damn phone or running around somewhere. Two minutes later she comes rushing through the door and says, "Please don't send them right in. I wasn't ready for him yet." Sorry lady that I did my job and you were running five minutes late for orientation. Completely my fault.

Additionally, many people at work treat me as if I am a sub-human. Being a temp, I understand where they are coming from, but Hey People! I am a full-time general music educator! I teach your children-okay not your children- passion for music! Show some respect! :)

New Job

2007-06-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have recently acquired a new job as an Administrative Assistant in Madison from 8am-3pm Monday through Friday. This job involves assisting the Human Resources Director, sorting and handing out mail, and manning the front desk. Let's get down to it- IT'S EXTREMELY BORING!

I've decided to keep a log of what I've done today, so all of you reading can see what I mean. Anytime that I am not working on something specific, I am either reading or blogging.

8:00-8:15- turn on the lights, sort mail, put new applications into Excel
8:15-8:30- hand out mail
8:45-8:46- ask HR director if I may take on more responsibilities (She said not today as she has a lot of work to do)
9:45-9:46- call Keith to tell him that his 10:00am interview is here
9:46-9:50- an elderly couple come in and look at the shirts that we have for sale
10:00-10:01- let someone through door to accounting
10:10-10:12- type up document for HR director
10:24-10:25- let someone through door to accounting
10:45-10:46- let Mike know that a customer dropped off some disfunctional equipment
11:20-2:15- mail out postcards, review data for the HR director- WOW I actually worked for three hours (with a 30 minute lunch break in there)

So today wasn't too bad actually. After I asked the HR director if I could have more work, I think that she felt bad that I was just sitting in the lobby by myself all day with nothing to do! There's no doubt in my mind though that I totally miss teaching and my students. In fact, in my time off during the day, I found that it's much more interesting if I read about education and brainstorm ideas for the fall.

Thanks for listening!

Guess Who's Back...Back Again...

2007-04-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so it's been awhile. A LONG while...

Since I've posted, as most of you know, I have obtained a full-time job (with no benefits) as an elementary long-term music substitute. It's been going great- I love the students I work with, and I think I'm going to get the full-time general music instructor position next fall.

But, on to more recent things- like what I did today, on one of my many days off for Spring Break.

I woke up at 8:00am and cleaned my entire apartment!! I'm talking dusting, vacuuming, and everything. At 11:30am, I decided to go somewhere, so I hopped into my car and looked at the map. I was looking east of Madison, as I've wanted to go wandering eastward ever since I moved down here. My eyes looked toward Spring Green (home of House on the Rock), and I sketched out an eastward-bound route. Besides the awful smells on the way there and the way back, the trip was pretty uneventful. The coolest part was when I stopped at a scenic outlook and got to see the House on the Rock from a distance.

But, my question is... Why do I need to travel around all of the time? Whenever I was home alone in Green Bay, I would wander up to Door County- most of the time to Peninsula State Park. I would stare across the Bay of Green Bay, over to upper Michigan. I think that I found my most moments of Zen there. I know it sounds lame, but I think I'm looking for another secluded place down here by Madison now. I think that I'm getting close- I might check out Tower Hill State Park.

Does anyone have any suggestions for this crazy young lady? Or a suggestion for a secluded place? Hit me up in the comments!

My Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

2006-10-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Or whatever the hell that book's name is...

I had a bad day today, and it's not because I'm "stressed out by student teaching" like I should be. I had to watch my cooperating teacher take over class today, and I was sickened by her lack of passion and general love of music in her teaching. My students would look over at me as if to say "help!!", and I could do nothing. I feel like the whole world is against me today.

My university supervisor has to observe me for the last time next week, and now I am being forced to teach my cooperating teacher's lessons because he cannot attend when I am actually teaching my own lesson plans. On top of it all, he is a moron. No, seriously he has a learning disability. He has a hard time understanding what people are saying to him., which was made apparent when I talked to him furiously on the phone today.

An estimator from State Fram came out today, and my case manager told me that my car may not be repairable (thanks for the heads up Celia). So, I think I have car shopping in my future.

I was so furious after I got off the phone with my idiot university supervisor that I couldn't find my keys to go out to lunch. So, I asked to onsite liason officer for help. He was in a hurry, so he got my car unlocked but was unable to get the metal rod out of my car window. So, I went to lunch with a totally unfixable front end of a car and with a metal rod sticking out of my car window.

To top everything off, my cooperating teacher who doesn't know how to teach music and my idiot university supervior will not let my student evaluate me. They don't see the value in it........
yes, that's what I said. I don't see anything wrong with it.. do you guys? I think that they are afraid of me. I think that my students will write that they would like me as a music teacher instead of Mrs. Meinel. I think that they will write that Mr.s Meinle is a horrible teacher, which may not be far from the truth.

Be nice and give me some encouragement in the comments section, or just tell me about your bad days.

Another Diary???

2006-09-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

I'm on my road to new-self exploration (because the anti-depressants are working), and I've since started a diary. I wanted to share the first few diary entries I have written with you.

Note: Sorry if they sound lame.

8/30/06
A diary. Is it just for me or for others to read and marvel at? It's 5:27 am, and I've been up for an hour- that's 5 hours before I usually get up. Am I going to need a nap later? Am I awake filled with anxiety or excitement- excitement for a new life without sadness, excited about starting student teaching in just one day? I know I'll make it through it, despite what my fellow student teachers think of their own fates, or what the EDU staff at UWGB thinks. Striking fear into our hearts, those Nazi bastards. And to think that I was a part of the "striking fear into their hearts" process. Stupid, condescending fellow classmates- "this class is going to be sooooo painful". Why didn't I tell them it wasn't that bad? Or was I the only one in existence that felt or will ever feel that way?
I can't wait for fall and that familiar chill of nature in the morning. I'm excited about feeling that chill every single morning as I work my way to Valley View (Elementary School)- wow.... I just let go of all my anxiety for student teaching. Should I have? There's that word "should" again. I Should be sleeping right now. My bird Should not be awake with me right now. My cat Should not be so close to my bird right now.
God... I can't wait for those beautiful colors. I want to go up to Washington Island and stay at that hotel with the culinary school attached to it. Even the idea of all the leaves turning around it gives me the chills. My God- that would be soooo beautiful and breathtaking.
I wanted to see the sunrise this morning. The view that I have from my apartment is much like the one that I had from my old house. Still so much pain. I could hear the birds then- waking up, going to sleep. All the green of summer and all of the colors of fall. I wonder what they would feel like to take in now. So much has changed since then. How didn't I notice that my parents didn't nurture me? Denial is such a powerful state of mind. In high school, I used to think that I had better relationships with my parents then everyone else. Is that a result of the freedom or lack of rules? So much to fix, so much to think about. How am I supposed to heal? - when I have these expectations of my parents still? I feel like their change of heart, mind, and soul is just around the corner. Why did my mom call me the other day??? Did my sister tell her everything; did my mom feel like she opened up to me the other day, and this is finally IT?
So much self-discovery, so little time. I think I need that little space (or room) now that Sharon (a psychic from MI who married Ryan and Celia) told me about - a little room. To gather my thoughts. I'll be sure to secure one when looking for an apartment in the Madison area. Am I going to have time for self-discovery? I'll make time. It sounds weird, but I LOVE myself enough now that I'll take all the time that I need. Maybe that's what Sarah C. was all about. She wasn't lazy; she just took the time to love herself. I think I owe her an apology. It's about time we had a long talk. It's about time that I had a long talk with a lot of people. God- I missed out on sooo much. How will I ever make up for 15 years of not seeing any beauty in life, when I'm only 22 years old? ......... In my children. I will fill them with so much love that it will be coming out of all of their orifices. Who knows, maybe they will fill my world with so much beauty that it will make up for all of those years. Sooooo many years.

9/2/06
Who is this person I've become? Loving every moment and every breath that I take. I feel connected to other human beings. I have interesting, genuine conversations with complete strangers. I care about their well-being. I don't have social anxiety anymore. I never knew that I could or deserved feeling like this. I feel like I'm on top of the world. I feel beautiful and kind and giving and deserving of everything this world has to offer and more. I want to enjoy everything. I want to take in all of the beauty of the world. BEAUTY. I never knew what it meant before. I find beauty in almost every moment. I'm still irritable, I'm still sassy, I still have road rage. BUT I am happy and I feel complete. I just can't wait to get over with student teaching- I WANT MY OWN CLASSROOM AND STUDENTS! I will love each one of them as my own. I can't wait for them to see beauty in the only thing I could see beauty in my darkness- sweet music.
Darkness- it was darker than that Lava Tube in Oregon. Darker than the vast depths of the ocean- and deeper too. So deep and buried in the depths of my mind. So many fake smiles, so many breakdowns. My heart ached so much. I cannot believe in hindsight that I didn't just reach out for help. I look at other people with depression or anxiety in disgust. I think to myself- Why ... why don't they just get help? I see their kids, and I see how their anxiety and depression affect them. I feel their hurt- the childrens' and the parents'. Such a hateful, hurtful world we live in sometimes. If only everyone in the world could stop and smell the flowers at some point every day.
I never want to feel worthless ever, ever again. I want to have babies and make them understand that they deserve the world. They will receive kisses and hugs every day from me. I will be there to witness every single accomplishment. Because they deserve my unconditional love, no matter what. I love them so much and they don't even exist yet. I can see my life ahead of me and the future is so bright. I can't see it- but it's definitely NOT filled with darkness.

Update!!!

2006-08-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry.... scrapbooking... freaking out about student teaching!!!!

I'll post soon guys!

Mystery Pain and Fun with Medication

2006-08-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

So, I've been writing about nothing but my vacation for over a month now. Here's all the stuff that's been happening that I haven't had time to write about.

Mystery Pain

I've had a dull pain in my side for over two years. Being the hypocondriac that I am, I had come to the conclusion that one of my organs had obtained cancer, and it was pressing against my rib as it grew from all of the cells mutating and whatnot. Either this or as my friend Matt suggested, an alien had laid eggs inside of my ribcage, and there were about to burst out of my chest at any moment. Anyway, I figured that the doctors wouldn't be able to tell me what my pain was, so I didn't even attempt to find out what the pain was...

...Until Saturday, July 22nd. I had seen my psychologist in the morning and told her about the pain that I've had in my side all of these years. I felt compelled to tell her because she's an MD, and after telling my coworkers about my symptoms the night before, they convinced me that I had an ulcer. Marilyn, my psychologist suggested that I see a friend of hers- Dr. Philips at the Bellin Health Clinic.

I went home and called the number that I thought would get me talking to Dr. Philips' receptionist. The lady who answered the phone yelled at me and told me that the number I had dialed was the doctors' hotline. She redirected my call, and I spoke with a nurse about my symptoms. She said that I should come in right away to the emergency room since Bellin does not have a walk-in clinic. I thought, "Alright, I get to get this taken care of today!" After telling four different nurses my symptoms, the doctor put me through a series of tests- blood and urine tests, chest X-ray, and CT Scan. Two hours later, the doctor told me that the tests revealed absolutely NOTHING! He recommended that I see my family doctor and take some Prilosec twice a day. Thanks, butthole.

I again attempted to make an appointment to see Dr. Philips- well she wasn't open until mid-August. So, I made an appointment with a male doctor- Dr. Wurth. I went to see him, and we discussed my symptoms for about 15 minutes. After reviewing my medical records from my emergency visit (which I had to go get from the hospital to give to him), Dr. Wurth noticed that they found a kidney stone on the upper right part of my kidney- something that the emergency room doctor failed to mention to me. Dr. Wurth was convinced that the kidney stone was roaming around my kidney at will and causing irritation. But, I was still convinced that it was an ulcer (hypocondriac). He said that we should rule out the ulcer before he has to perform a bunch of invasive tests, so he prescribed me ulcer medication that my prescription discount program didn't cover at all ($173.00). So far, I haven't noticed a significant difference in my side pain, but I guess only time will tell.

Fun with Medication

As most of you have read on my Blog, I am seeing a psychologist. She's been great, and we really enjoy trying to figure out my screwed-up life together. I've come a long way so far, and I'm really quite proud of myself for seeking help, finally.

But, Marilyn cannot prescribe anti-depressants for me, so she referred me to a psychiatrist to obtain some medication. This particular doctor is up in Oconto Falls (about 45 min away). I took the short ride up north to see him on Wednesday morning. I had to tell him about all of my problems, just as I did Marilyn about a month before with a lot less tears this time. Eventually, he prescribed me an anti-depressant (Lexapro) and an anti-anxiety medicine (Clonazepam). I am so excited that I don't have to feel like I want to die everyday anymore. I am really looking forward to the day that I can look around myself and just enjoy where I am and who I am. But for now, I feel like I'm both stoned and drunk from my anti-anxiety medication, but the side effects should wear off soon as my body adjusts to the meds.

In a few short days, I'll post about our trip to the DeYoung Family Zoo and our camping extravaganza/fiasco on Washington Island.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 6

2006-07-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last Part! Finally!

Day 9- Wednesday, June 21st (Oregon Coast)

Upon waking in Grants Pass, OR, Ben and I took a lengthy drive (about 2 1/2 hours) through the mountains to get to the coast. I'm talking about roads that were about 12 feet wide at the most, no lines, no signs indicating how fast to go around the corners, and no guardrails. But, we encountered two black bears (one went running, more like lumbering, down the street after spotting us) and a whole bunch of deer acting like mountain goats.

Ben and I saw many brochures for the West Coast Game Park- America's Largest Wild Animal Petting Park, so we decided to check it out. How can you go wrong? Ben and I were able to hold a baby African Lion...

pet a lynx...
and hang around with a whole bunch of animals roaming free like these llamas...

While Ben and I were waiting in line to pet and hold the baby African Lion, the chimpanzees that were right next to us started wildly hitting their basketball against a wooden cage wall. The lady that was monitoring the baby-African-Lion-holding warned everyone to stay back. These chimps were so bored that they save up their poo, and when everyone comes crowding around their cage in curiosity to see what all of the noise is about, the chimps maliciously throw their fecal matter into the unsuspecting crowd. Guess what? Despite the zookeeper warnings, it works everytime. Hee hee hee...

After the zoo fun, we stopped to look at Face Rock. Can you see the face?

Halfway up coastal Oregon, Ben and I stopped at the Sea Lion Caves- the largest sea cave in the world is located here and filled with sea lions.

Sea lions can also be seen lounging near the caves.

Racing against time, Ben and I sped our way up to Cannon Beach for a spectacular sunset. All our worrying, nail biting, and constant watch-checking paid off because we made it just in time to see the sun set behind Haystack Rock.

We stopped at Ecola State Park, where part of the Goonies was filmed.

Day 10- Finish Coastal Oregon and return to Washington State.

Speaking of Goonies, we stopped in Astoria, OR to do some more hunting for Goonies' set locations. Here is the museum where the main character's dad worked...

The county jail from which the criminals escaped...

and the main character's house with Ben doing the "Truffle Shuffle".

Next stop: Aberdeen, WA, where Kurt Cobain grew up. We bought a map and did a little investigating to find the bridge over the Wishkah River, under which Kurt Cobain would sleep after running away from home. As you can tell, a few other fans had visited.

Ben had to leave his mark too. We weren't vandalizing public property... nope...

To finish off the day, we made a few stops in the Olympic National Park. Here are a few pictures from the rainforest. Yes, I did say rainforest. Yes, an actual rainforest. In Washington.

We said our goodbyes to the ocean (I'm tearing up just thinking about it) and went up to get a great view of the Olympic Mountains.

Day 11- Mount St. Helens (again) and cruising time...

Ben and I woke up in Sequim, WA and headed for Seattle. The plan was to catch up on all the things that we didn't get to do in Seattle yet. The day was BEAUTIFUL- not one cloud in the sky. It's Seattle for goodness sake! Mount Rainier towered over us in the sky as we approached Seattle. The wheels were turning in both of our heads and finally I said, "Should we try to see Mount St. Helens today instead?" Since the idea was on both of our minds, he agreed. We raced to Mount St. Helens, and the view was 1,000,000% better than when we were there just over a week before.

We raced back up to Seattle and stopped at the Science Fiction Museum. The first time I saw this building was from the airplane coming into Seattle- that's how colorful it was. The first time I saw this building from down the street I thought it had collapsed- that's how odd it looked. Oh yeah, when we were dropping off our car for valet parking in order to walk around the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is also located), Ben forgot to take his camera out of the car. Yep, when we went to the top of the Space Needle, we didn't get any pictures. But, it actually wasn't that impressive of a view, and I'm not even being sarcastic. The Space Needle is only 550 feet in the air, and the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada (which I've been up in twice) is about 2,000 feet in the air. Which one would you be more impressed with?

To round off the day and our wonderful trip, Ben and I went on a dinner cruise. We waited to board the ship with 100 elegantly-dressed Japanese business types and felt really out of place before we spotted some other people dressed in business casual- as we were. The dinner cruise came complete with live entertainment. Ben and I were serenaded with such tunes as "Sittin' at the Top of the Bay" and others of this type. You know, the songs where the middle-aged couples get up to show their stuff on the dance floor. Nonetheless, the food was delicious,...

and we got some terrific views of Mount Rainier...

the sunset behind the Olympic Mountains...

and an awesome view of Seattle's night skyline from the water.

A side note: the flight home was a lot worse than the flight to Seattle. When taking off and working our way up to 30,000 feet in the sky, there was a huge bump of turbulent air. About two minutes after Ben and I thought we were going to crash to the ground, the captain announced that the bump that we felt was just from an airplane in front of us. Gee... thanks for letting us know a million years after the fact. Also, the landing was a bit too bumpy for my taste and again I thought we were all going to die.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 5

2006-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

So sorry for dragging this on for so long... but I must continue on...

Day 7- (Monday, June 19th) Winery time in Napa Valley!
So we didn't make it through Napa Valley fast enough to go through Sonoma Valley too, but had a great time in Napa Valley.

Ben and I arrived at our first winery of the day- the Robert Mondavi Winery.

We had heard that this was the best tour that one can take in Napa Valley, so we decided to go on the famous tour. Feeling like a fish out of water (we were surrounded by a people with a lot more money than we will ever have), we followed our tour guide through the vineyards and the winery. It was indeed the best winery tour I've ever been on (I've been on two others).

At the end of the tour was the wine tasting. Ben and I sat down at a table with our fellow tourists and tasted three different varietals- cabernet, chardonnay, and sauvingnon blanc. After tasting these very tasty wines, we stumbled into the gift shop, bought a few bottles of wine, and waddled back to the rental car. "Ben, I can't drive." "Sherry! Neither can I!" We chuckled and ate some peanut butter sandwiches to try and sober up. It worked, and we went on to the next winery.

The V. Sattui Winery was far more touristy than the Robert Mondavi Winery. Ben and I entered through the deli and tried some delicious cheese spreads- simply orgasmic.

We squeezed our way up to the bar for our free tasting. We each tried about five wines, and after not tasting one that I really cared for, we made our way quickly out of the winery.

We figured that we could handle just one more, so we stopped at the Beringer Winery. The short, informative tour led us through the hills of Napa Valley, where the Beringer brothers used Chinese laborers to blast into the hills to create a wine cellar. We got to touch the American oak barrels that contained aging wine. At the end of the tour, we enjoyed a chardonney and a cabernet that I wasn't too crazy about. We made a short stop at the gift shop and decided that we had had our fill of wine.

Ben and I made our way to the hotel in Fort Bragg, CA to do some laundry and some swimming!
Day 8- (Tuesday, June 20th) Bigfoot Country!

Benjamin and I had three goals for the day: find Bigfoot, get a good picture of Endor, and drive through a big redwood. Two of the three were accomplished.

We stopped at a Bigfoot gift shop along Hwy 101 that was close to Eureka, CA. We obtained a map with all of the recorded Bigfoot sightings and their locations. The locals told us about a Bigfoot museum located in Willow Creek, CA (about an hour and a half northeast of where we were), so Ben and I decided to go.

On the way, we spotted a big touristy sign for "The Drive-Thru Tree!". After paying the $1.50 per person, I drove through a gigantic Redwood tree while Ben took a picture. Upon getting out and looking at the other trees on display, Ben and I noticed that the tree was held up by three huge wires. These wires were choking off the trees that they were around- it was one of the saddest sights I've ever seen.

We arrived in Willow Creek at the Bigfoot museum, only to find out that it was closed on that particular day of the week. Frustrated, we wandered down the block to an information center. We asked the locals about the museum, and the old lady offered to call the museum owners and eventually got someone to open it up for us. While we waited for the museum owner to come, I questioned the older woman about her belief in Bigfoot. She indicated that her husband (rest his soul) had been in the forest service for 50 years before his death and never saw any evidence of an ape-like creature living in the area. But... she also mentioned that many residents in Willow Creek still believe that there is something out there.....

After giving the owner of the museum our $10 donation (required to have someone come and open the museum), Ben and I entered the Bigfoot exibit. There were numerous casts of Bigfoot's tracks, stories from the newpaper about Bigfoot sightings, and pictures of Bigfoot.

We finally reached Redwood National Park around 3:00pm. Ben and I stopped at the Founder's Tree, which is the tallest Redwood in all of the park.

We made another stop at Fern Canyon, which was along the ocean. Since it was a fee area, we stopped at the booth to pay the nice man $5.00. He warned me that I had to cross three "creeks" to reach Fern Canyon and assured me twice that I would be able to make it across in the Dodge Neon. I hesistantly said, "Okay..." and drove on. We reached what I thought was the first "creek", which was just a tiny stream of water going across the pavement, and I said "That's number one." We crossed two similar tiny streams of water, and I said, "Those weren't bad at all. Why did that guy even warn us?" That's when we reached the first of the real creeks. It looked as if the road were washed out! I screamed, "You've got to be kidding me!" Ben assured me it would be alright, and I slowly took my foot off of the brake. Crash! Into the water we went, as the water went flying across the windshield. Sccraaaaape! This was the sound of the front end of the car hitting the other side of the creek. To reach Fern Canyon, we had to go through two more similar instances. Believe me, I never got used crossing them, even on the way back.

But, Fern Canyon was beautiful, and we were able to get about 10 feet from really huge wild elk while on the path to the ocean beach.

Oh yeah, and here's our picture of Endor (last picture). Can you see the Ewoks running through?

Next on Nobody's Fool: Part 6- Adventures on the coast of Oregon, in Astoria, OR, and Aberdeen, WA.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 4

2006-07-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

Day Five (Saturday, June 17th)- San Francisco!

San Francisco has some extremely nice people. The hotel manager, a former San Francisco tour guide, checked us in the first night and made several suggestions as to what we should see in our short stay in the beautiful city.

Suggested by the friendly hotel manager, we set out to get to the top of the mountain very close to the Golden Gate Bridge for a fantastic view of San Francisco from the sky. We later learned that where we took this picture from was not the "mountain" we were supposed to go to, but oh well.... Ben and I got to chase around a couple of really cute lizards, and I saw a jack rabbit leaping into the woods.

Ben and I ventured onto the buses to get around San Francisco. Our first stop was the Exploratorium. The outside was really, really beautiful, and the inside was filled with all sorts of displays to explore different aspects of science, complete with screaming kids of all ages.

It was back onto public transportation and to the heart of the city- Golden Gate Park. We walked about a half mile to the Japanese Tea Garden, following a really cute couple who seemed to know where they were going- and they did.

We stopped at the De Young Museum briefly to get something to eat and view some modern and African art. A little advice.. don't ever eat at a museum! It's horribly expensive (Ben and I shelled out almost $25.00 for two small, disgusting sandwiches, a big cookie, and a Jones soda), and it doesn't taste good at all!

It was about 3:00 in the afternoon, and we wanted to try and make it to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, which was about a ten-minute bus ride north. We walked around the park for a while and decided that it would be impossible to go to that museum that day, and besides, the ocean beach was a half-mile away. Let me tell you, it was well-worth going to the beach instead (I had never set foot in the ocean before!). Here are a few pictures of our fun on the beach...

At around 4:00, I decided we should go, since we had to make it to Fisherman's Wharf for our night tour to Alcatraz. We searched out the nearest bus station and waited for the bus to arrive(which only came every 20 minutes). A little worried we wouldn't make it in time for the tour, I asked a boy who was sitting at the bus stop how long he had been waiting. He indicated that we had just missed the bus, but there was a bus right around the corner that would take us to Fisherman's Wharf. We thanked him and ran around the corner where the bus was sitting (the driver was taking a short break). The boy followed us onto the bus and said he would show us where to get off and added that it would be a long bus ride. I again got that feeling of "Oh my god, we're not going to make it on time!". For the remainder of the long bus ride, I glanced at my watch every fifteen seconds, hoping that time would slow down for a while. The boy led us off of the bus and pointed us in the direction of the next bus that we were supposed to take. We thanked him again and ran to the bus stop, only to see another bus that went to about the same destination, but was there at that moment! So, we leapt onto the bus, only to see the correct bus stop right behind us not 10-seconds later. Ben and I waited anxiously to get off of the bus and to Fisherman's Wharf. We were finally there! We ran off of the bus and to the pier. We had made it in time!

The Alcatraz night tour was nothing short of completely awesome. What could be better than visiting an old, creepy, abandoned prison at dusk? We took an audio tour that led us step-by-step through the old prison. (on the left- Alcatraz, on the right- Al Capone's cell, on the bottom- me in solitary confinement)

Day Six (Sunday, June 18th)

Ben and I traveled down to Monterey Bay to take another whale-watching tour! Instead of seeing orcas, we were going to see the really big whales, like humpback and blue whales. We set out on our tiny boat onto the big, blue ocean.

The ocean was rough that day, and Ben and I watched the waves that were well over the top of the small vessel come toward us before the boat floated over the top of them. At first, it was really fun, like a rollercoaster ride. But then.... it got sickening- literally, sickening. The boat floated around the ocean for about an hour-and-a-half before they received word of some dolphins swimming nearby.

All of the passengers looked excitedly over the bow and watched the dolphins swim along with the boat. The only thought running through my mind at the time was "Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke." The captain and his first mate of the tiny boat overheard from surrounding boats that there were three humpback whales about a mile from where we were and went racing towards them. We finally reached them, and they were so majestic, only coming up for air every 5-7 minutes. Everyone was waiting for them to appear for the second time when it happened.... I lost it and tossed my cookies. People were giving me disgusted looks and moved away from me, while I apologized to them.

On the way back from whale-watching, I kept my eye on the land that was slowly approaching, while saying to myself, "Don't puke again, don't puke again." Guess what? I puked again. This time I sent a happy family of four sitting near the bow running when I decided to vomit into the wind, sending my partially digested food in their direction. What? It was either on the deck of the boat or trying to make it over the side of the boat. I apologized to these people when docking at the pier, and they were very empathetic.

Ben and I slowly made our way back to San Francisco after I purchased a couple of Dramamine pills. We hit up the Museum of Modern Art and then headed to Fisherman's Wharf to visit the Aquarium on the Bay. We were just in time to see a spectacular sunset behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

Next time on the Nobody's Fool Blog... drunken good times in Napa Valley and our search for Bigfoot.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 3

2006-07-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys! I got real lazy! On to part 3...

Day Four (Friday, June 16th)

Ben and I stayed in a Quality Suites for the night in Klamath Falls, OR, and started the day off with a nice continental breakfast. Thinking that there were falls in Klamath Falls, we went on a wild goose chase looking for an actual waterfall... well, maybe the waterfall went on vacation because there were no "Falls" to be found. After feeling like idiots, Ben and I made our way to California.

One of the first spectacular views we had of California was Mount Shasta, which was way better than Mount Hood.

We took a tour in the Lake Shasta Caverns. It was HOT there in Northern California, and it kind of sucked on the way to the caverns because we had to take a boat, then bus to get there.

But once we got inside the caves, it was a comfortable 70 degrees. I feel bad for saying this, but our twenty-year-old tour guide...... kind of sucked. It was her third tour of the day (she had to keep reminding us of this), and she was less than well-versed. It was just Ben, me and two French Americans who could barely understand our awkward tour guide. She kept saying, "Pretty neat, huh?" and "Any questions?" followed by awkward silence. The caves were pretty cool though.

I think bears were a theme on this trip. This is Ben and I getting a bear hug from a dead rotting carcass while waiting for the bus.

We stopped at Sacramento, just to say that we were there. It was here that I saw my first palm tree. I was all excited as I observed the streets that were just lined with palm trees. Ben later informed me that all of these palm trees were half-dead, and then I was a little disappointed.

It was about six in the evening, and we were both dying of starvation, when we found a Subway not far from where we parked near the capitol building! Craving veggie subs, Ben and I went barging into the store, only to be informed that they were closed- two women were yelling at us, "We're Closed, We're Closed!" (then lock the damn door you stupid ladies.. geez!). After stepping disappointedly out of the Subway, we realized how absurd it was that a Subway would close at 6pm on a Friday night. Can anyone explain this phenomenon to me?

Our San Francisco adventure is coming up next- including my first steps into the ocean, my discouragement with the ocean, and running through the streets of San Francisco.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 2

2006-07-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Day 2- Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens (Wednesday, June 14th)

Let me just say that I didn't realize that one could not see the mountains when it's cloudy...

Ben and I made our way on south 410 towards Mount Rainier from Seattle in the 2004 Dodge Neon pictured above. On our way, we passed a sign saying that 123 is closed. We figured that we didn't need that road and kept on going. Well, it turns out that we did, and we had to take a huge detour to reach the park (we're talking like three hours out of the way). But, we passed some beautiful scenery on the way- I'm talking stuff that had our mouths agape.

Once we reached the foot of the mountain at the paradise Welcoming Center, we realized that we were not going to be seeing the mountain at all that day. We would sit and stare at pictures in the welcoming center of where Mount Rainier was supposed to be, and all that could be seen was white and more white.

Hoping to catch a glimpse of Mount St. Helens, we angrily left Mount Rainier on a quest to see Mount St. Helens. Ben and I winded up the foggy mountain roads on scary bridges with nothing underneath them...

...and arrived at the Johnston Ridge Conservatory Welcoming Center. It was like a ghost town! The only other vehicles in the parking lot were a truck and a scary looking trolley that served food on busier days. We went up to the lookout point and stared into the white. It was at this moment that I came to HATE clouds. I never had a reason to before, but they ruined the second day of my vacation!!

Day 3- Explore non-coastal Oregon
We left our hotel in Stevenson, WA and rode along highway 84 with the Columbia River Gorge surrounding us. Ben and I made our way to Mt. Hood, and we could actually see it! Filled with excitement, we went racing up to the mountain, only to run into a ski resort (yes it was still open). We stood in the parking lot looking around, "Where's the mountain?" Ben and I looked around and then looked up. And there was the summit of Mt. Hood about 5000 feet up in the air. In our search for the mountain, we ended up on the mountain itself.

We continued down Highway 26, looking at the mountains to the west- Mount Jefferson and The Three Sisters.

We stopped at the High Desert Museum/Zoo and saw a really cute otter, some huge ass birds, and darling little ground squirrels. Notice that I said HIGH DESERT museum/zoo. Yes, it was indeed a desert, complete with sand, desert brush, and turkey vultures.

Ben wanted to remind everyone that, "Only you can prevent forest fires!" This was taken at the High Desert Museum/Zoo. It's the original Smokey the Bear costume from the 1950's.

Ben and I got back in the car and drove to Crater Lake National Park, hoping that the roads were all open so we could see the highest, largest freshwater lake in the country. Ben wanted to go swimming, but I bet the water was only about 40 degrees because the air was about that cold. On the way up, we were surrounded by walls of snow that stood about 10 feet tall.

Don't go away, because Part 3 is coming up next.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 1

2006-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Okay.. I admit it... so I didn't write this diary while I was on my trip like I wanted to, but here it is now while it's still fresh in my mind.

Day 1- Whale-Watching in the San Juan Islands (Tuesday, June 13th)

So, remember when I was all worried that something would go wrong on the trip? Well, this was the day that something seriously went wrong. I printed off directions to everything from Yahoo! maps because we got lost a lot on our last trip to Toronto because of the lack of directions :). I also created a binder with all of the reservation information in it. Well-prepared for this vacation, right?

On Tuesday morning, Ben and I followed the directions carefully to the pier from which our whale-watching vessel would sail to the San Juan Islands in Bellingham, WA. When we got to the "welcoming building" at the port, our Great Orca Adventures company was nowhere to be found. I referred to my black binder, only to notice that our whale-watching vessel was not sailing from Bellingham, WA, but from Anacortes, WA (an hour south of where we were standing). You know that sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know that you've made a huge unfixable mistake... yeah, I got that right at that moment.

Lucky for Ben and I, there was a great whale-watching tour ready to depart in 45 minutes from when I realized we were not going to make it to the other tour. I called the tour that we were going to miss, only to get their answering machine. I left an apologetic message, and we promptly bought tickets to the whale-watching tour sailing from Bellingham. I continued to feel really, really, REALLY bad about the Anacortes tour and called them back to talk to an actual person. Needless to say, the man was kind of pissed off at me. "Just so you know, anyone else on the PLANET would not hesitate to charge you the full price of your tickets. But, I'm a nice guy, and I want you to enjoy your vacation and see some whales. Have a nice day!" He wasn't self-rejoicing or anything.. what a butthole. Anyway, Ben and I had a great time, and we saw lots of orcas.

This was our whale-watching vessel, the "Island Commuter". (on the left) This is Ruffles. (on the right) He's a "grandfather" whale and usually travels on his own. His dorsal fin is about six feel tall and is ruffled, hence the name.

More orcas!

After the whole orca adventure/fiasco, Ben and I drove down to Seattle. Since we took a longer whale-watching tour than previously planned, we didn't have time to see the Space Needle that night. We did some exploring while looking for Kurt Cobain's houses. The roads in residential Seattle are CRAZY! They quite literally contain sixty-degree inclines and declines (their roads are very steep). Not only did we drive almost straight up towards the sky or straight down towards the ground, the roads are also very narrow and contain very, very impossibly sharp turns. It looks like people just built houses very close together in random spots on these huge hills, then someone had to connect all of them with roads. After giving up finding Kurt's old house, we found the house at which the murder (yes, murder) took place.

Right next to his house is "Kurt's Park". Just a grassy space in between the so-close-together houses right next to his old house. Both of the benches were covered in messages left by his fans. Too bad Ben didn't have a pen (he'll get a chance to leave Kurt a message later in the trip at Aberdeen, WA). When driving up and down the street looking for his house, we saw a red SUV turning into the driveway. Could it have been Courtney Love?

Next up: Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey Diary: Part 2. I promise that I won't drag this out for two weeks. Part 1 just happened to have a lengthy story behind it.

I'm Back/Psychologist Visit

2006-06-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm back from vacation...yada, yada, yada. I'll post some vacation diary stuff and photos soon.

I received mental health counseling today for the first time (the blog wasn't enough)! And, while most people consider this very personal, I don't really mind yapping about it to anyone who will listen. For anyone who knows me as an aquaintance, it may come as a shock that I am not a very happy person.

I chose Marilyn from a website given to me by my crappy insurance. I thought that she looked a lot like my mom and was around the same age, and for some reason, I thought it would be easier to talk to her because of this.

After printing off directions to the clinic from Yahoo!, I stubbled into a commercial building complex with stairs going up and stairs going down. I heard birds in the upstairs part of the building, so I opted to go downstairs, thinking that the upstairs was some sort of petstore. Well, the downstairs ended up leading to nowhere, so I headed up to the "petstore". The "petstore" ended up being the therapy center! The doctor that Marilyn shares the office with owns a couple dogs, a ton of little stupid songbirds, a couple cockatiels, a macaw named "Edna", and another parrot named "Goby". Oh my, they were cute, but very loud. It was a little unsettling when I was filling out paperwork, and I heard someone say "Hello!" really loud- you probably guessed...it was the huge frickin' macaw.

Anyway, Marilyn (pictured above) and I talked for about an hour about all of my problems, and oh my, it was a huge sobfest. Crying in front of a total stranger, especially when I started crying within the first minute of talking to her, is a little embarrassing. But I got used to it because I cried the entire hour. But, I do feel reassured and more confident in myself even after the first session because my depression is not my fault- it's my parents'. And no, I'm not just an angry young adult whose lashing out and blaming them; my psychologist plainly said that they are both self-centered and not very good parents. She also mentioned that I have probably been depressed since I was about eight years old (I used to sit up at night and listen to my parents fight through the air vent in my floor and worry about our financial situation). Messed up, huh? But the good news is that I get happy pills to help me start to emotionally heal.

There are so many details I will not go into because I'm starting to blab. But I think that the moral of my story (and my life) here is that one should not wait so long to get therapy! She was angry at my parents for not caring to actually ask how I feel and seek emotional help for me. So, kids, go to the psychologist, sob, and get happy pills!

Tribute to Zoe and Franklin

2006-06-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking how much I am going to miss my babies while I am on vacation. We are sending my cat and white-faced cockatiel to my husband's parents' house for the 13 days we will be gone. We didn't want them to think we had abandoned them or anything, so this way they'll get some love and attention while we are gone.

Zoe

I love my precious little princess! For those of you who have never had a cockatiel, they are the most lovey birds one could ever own. Ben and I bought Zoe from PetCo in late December 2005, not knowing her age or gender. She was gentle and loving right from the start and could even "Step Up", or step up onto our fingers at the petstore. We brought her home and in the middle of her very first night with us, she had a night terror. Most cockatiels have night terrors and flop around their cages and squawk loudly when waking in the middle of the night, only to get more frightened when you come runnning into the room to see what's going on. I was scared because Zoe had lost a few feathers and blamed Franklin for what had happened.

It wasn't until a month ago, when I brought Zoe to the vet for the first time, that I realized she was scared of the dark and needed a nightlight. I brought her to the vet because she had broken another blood feather (newly growing feathers that carry blood supply), and I was worried that we'd have another incident if I didn't get it pulled (we had to run Zoe to the emergency room, and she almost bled to death). The vet was very gentle and understanding because she had cockatiels too. That's when we found out that Zoe actually was a girl and was only about eight months old. That means she was only three months old when we got her from PetCo!

Zoe loves to love. She rubs her head lovingly on my face when I lean in to give her sweet kisses. When sitting on my finger, she puts her head down so I can rub her neck and ears (I know it sounds weird). She answers me with a non-musical whistle when I say Zoe! from across the room. I'll stop before all of you projectile vomit on your computer screens.

Franklin

Now, unto my second child. I got Franklin from a friend whose cat had had eight other kittens. He was the runt of the litter, and I had the opportunity to bottle-feed him when he was just a few days old. I got to take him home when he was three months old, on October 24, 2000.

Franklin loves to lounge under Ben's easel in the computer room, by the patio door (waiting for someone to open the door so that he can slip out), and in the cardboard box our TV came in that we have yet to toss in the recycling dumpster. He greets me when I come home and follows me around until I sit down, so that he can lay on my stomach and stare up at me with his beautiful green or amber eyes- his eye color changes. He loves to play with his dragonfly-on-a-wire toy, laser pointer, stuffed mice, and stuffed cat. He also gets really crazy and runs and jumps up doorways.

One more thing... I feel bad for not mentioning her. We also have a Golden Greek tortoise named Socrates. She's not very interesting, but she's pretty darn cute.

So, that's my tribute to my babies that I will miss and worry about the whole time that I am trying to enjoy myself on the west coast. Next up- why I made an appointment with the psychologist.

Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey 2006

2006-06-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, just ten more days to go until vacation! Since I am pooping my pants with excitement, I wanted all of you to know what I am so excited about. We will be gone for 13 whole days on a tour of the west coast!

Day 1- Traveling to Seattle, WA.
Yes, we are flying to Seattle. This is a huge deal for me since I haven't flown since eighth grade (over eight years ago). Since Lost has been on, my plane-flying phobia has tripled in intensity.

Day 2-
A four-hour whale whatching tour at 9:00am! After the Great Orca Adventures tour, Ben and I will head back to Seattle to visit the home of Kurt Cobain (C'mon, it's the one suggestion Ben made for the whole fricken trip). Then, it's off to the Space Needle for a spectacular view of the night sky in Seattle.

Day 3-
Discover Mount Rainier and Mt. St. Helens National Parks!

I just hope that we can hike around these beautiful mountains without running into a mountain lion. This is why I recently purchased the Worst Case Scenario books (Travel, the original, and the extreme editions).

Day 4- Explore Oregon!

Day 5- Explore Nothern California!

Day 6- San Francisco Day1
We already purchased our CityPasses, which include a MUNI bus line pass (includes the trolleys) and are ready for a day of museums! We get to take a tour to Alcatraz at night!

Day 7- San Francisco Day2
Another whale-watching tour on Monterey Bay. After that, we visit the aquarium to conclude a fish-filled day!

Day 8- Napa and Sonoma Valley!!!
This will probably be Ben's least favorite day, but the scenery is fantastic! I picked several wineries based on their orchard's beauty.

Day 9- Redwood National park!

Day 10- The Oregon Coast!

Day 11- Olympic National Park in WA. With a stop of course to Aberdeen on the way (where Kurt Cobain grew up)

Day 12-
We get to see the rest of Olympic National park (it's huge) and stop at the Seattle aquarium. We conclude our vacation with a dinner cruise (yes, they have vegetarian choices).

Day 13- Back home to good ole Wisconsin.

So, you're asking yourself- Why are you going from Seattle to San Francisco to Seattle? Well, since we are flying out to Seattle, we need a car. When renting a car, one cannot simply drive it from Seattle to San Francisco without being charged a drop fee. You ask- How much can that really be you cheap-ass? First of all, I am not a cheap-ass! Where do you get off calling me that? I tip very well when I go out! And, I am wiling to pay the extra fifty-cents for name brand products when I know that they are a better quality! So there. Anyway, the drop charge is $500 (I called quite a few customer service representatives to try and get this taken off- it didn't work). Hence, the driving back to Seattle. It's not so bad- we get to see the beautiful mountainous interior of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, as well as the coastal regions of all three states! You can still call me crazy if you like!

I would just like to add that my little white-faced cockatiel Zoe (or Zo bird) sat quietly on my shoulder the whole time I was typing this post, rubbing on my ears and neck! What a cutie! More on the most awesome bird in the world next time, on a co-post with her best friend Franklin (the most superior cat in the world- sorry Tinker and Gabe).

Here we go...

2006-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here' s my very first post! I have no idea what I'm doing. I hope all of this looks okay so far. I have a few posts planned for the next few days:

1. My upcoming vacation to the West Coast!
2. Tribute to Zoe and Franklin!
3. Top Ten of My Reasons to Make an Appointment with a Psychologist! (Yeah, I am probably slightly insane.)

I think that this site is going to be very therapeutic for me. It'll be a nice stress reliever at the end of my irritating work day.