advisement.

Over the past four years, I've never been excited to go to advisement. Although the late start is a great incentive to make the day great, all of its other aspects have no interest to me. First, all of the class times are off and it's impossible to remember when you get out of class. Sure classes are shorter, but you can tell teachers struggle to get something productive done within that hour. Lunches are later, and my stomach gets ready for food at the same time and then boom! Wednesday, I can hear it growling in the later third and fourth periods. Also, the friends I used to get to see during advisement have all succumbed themselves to PSEO, and I never get to see them. So here I sit in the semi-quiet surroundings of Mrs. Ambrose's room. Working on homework, and like today, blogging, is the only way to make it through.

dad's birthday

Today's date is November 29th, 2011.
That means that 48 years ago,
James Victor Olson was born.
(aka dad)
My father is your typical,
football-and-golf-loving man.
All of my greatest memories,
include him by my side.
His quick wit and hearty laugh at his own jokes
makes the whole room brighter.
He's stubborn, like all dads are,
but has that teddy-bear under layer that sneaks out
every so often.
Today being in the "Thanksgiving season",
I know he is one of the things I am most thankful for.
So for my dad
I wish
a mountain of Twizzlers and Diet Coke,
(his favorites)

Writing groups take four!

Today was the first writing group of our fourth, and final paper. The film critique was written off for me and many others as a seemingly easy paper. However over break, when I began to examine my movie I noticed that it was completely overlooked.

With a tough plot, my film proved difficult to put what I saw on screen down into words. It is such a fabulous and odd piece of art, unlike anything I had ever seen before... It was hard to know where to begin.

Once again, in my writing group I found some clarity on the paper. And now that I've been working on it since I've gotten home from school, I have taken my jumbled paper and really am beginning to turn it into something I am proud of!

The little things. (11-27-11)

People always say that it's the little things that make life enjoyable. I've come up with a two hidden gems in life that make me smile. The first being the perfect hug. Which consists of an embrace that isn't too short, but ends before it reaches that awkward hug stage of "let go of me!". Finding that balance. Another would be the mornings I spent at the bus stop, before the sun has risen. During the winter I would get there first and watch the shining snowflakes dance down from sky, glittering in the light of a lamppost. That feeling of being stuck inside a snow globe. Moments like these can make any day brighter.

be thankful. (11-26-11)

Since it's that time of the year, I thought I would make a list of things I am thankful for. This list includes, but is not limited to:
1. MY MOM
2. Cough drops
3. College acceptance letters
4. Down comforters
5. Take-out Chinese food
6. My dad (his birthday is tomorrow!)
7. My crazy little Molly
8. Finishing books
9. Big decisions ahead
10. Upcoming winter break
11. The comforts of my home
12. Heart-to-heart conversations
13. 2 more tris of high school
14. Stumbleupon.com
15. Life

Black Friday (11-25-11)

Instead of joining the masses and waking up at midnight to go shop, I slept comfortably though the night. And my Friday night consisted of something better than saving 40%. A few of my closest girls on the swim team decided to celebrate. One being it was Abby's 18th birthday! And the other was for Sheng, who is moving to California in a matter of days... it was a combination of happy/sad that really made a memorable night.

One thing that stood out to me the most was how much I was going to miss Sheng. She had swam in my lane the past two years, and I knew I would miss her, but I didn't think this much. I think the majority of what makes me sad is the fact that I'm scared to say goodbye to this one friend... and in a matter of months, I will be saying goodbye to all of them.

T-DAY (11-24-11)

Thanksgiving, a holiday of eating and family. But not eating family, "and" is the key word here. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's the fourth longest break we get behind Summer, Christmas, and Easter, so time off from school is definitely a plus. Thanksgiving day is always spent with my mom's side of the family. Which is a large collaboration of women that love to talk, and men that love to watch football. Perfect. This year it was at my house, and filled with great memories. My favorite part is the walk we all take after eating way too much. It makes us feel better after all of the calories we just had.

social networking. (11-23-11)

Although I am a user of both Facebook and Twitter, when you take a step back and look at the changes in the way we communicate now versus ten years ago... it amazes me. Phone numbers have changed to profiles and Twitter names, and even though the sites are fun, providing a great source of entertainment (as well as distractions) a part of me misses calling people on their home phone. I used to have my best friend's numbers memorized, ready at any moment to call and ask if they could "play". Maybe a part of that is just missing my childhood, but it's just taken such a spin to where things are now. Instead of looking someone up in the phone book, I could now log onto Twitter and check out the "tweets" from the people I "follow" on my "homepage". And instead calling Erin like I used to, asking for her when her mom or dad answered, now all it would look something like this: @Erin_Baumgarten wanna hang 2nite? #boredouttamymind. I mean it sure is fun, but trying to express your thoughts in 160 characters of less seems more cave-man like.

sick adventure (11-22-11)

This morning I woke up barely able to take a breath through my throat. And when I did I sharp pain overwhelmed me. My eyes seemed watery, and I was dizzy as I stood. Sick. Just one day before Thanksgiving break and I felt like I was ready to go die in a corner somewhere, anything to just not have this icky feeling. I convinced my mom to let me stay home from school, or rather my appearance did. I crawled back into bed, hiding under the comforts of my blankets, uninterrupted.

Until a few hours later my dad told me I had to get up to go to the doctor's office. Joy, joy. He's a teacher, and his school had the entire week off (lucky ducks) so he drove me to the Maple Grove doctor's office. As we entered the doors, there was a whirlwind of kids running about and looking at the fish tank. Their arms were flailing about, and constant screams were giving me a headache. Don't get me wrong, I usually love the little kids, but at that moment, everything was bothering me. Barely any of the kid's heights surpassed my knee. It was funny that Partners & Peds. said they would see patients up until they were 23, however to me it appeared that the average age was 2-3. Dad and I sat down in the sterile waiting area, listening for one of my nurses to say my name...

And hour passed.

An hour.

When I finally heard someone say, "Madeline Olson", I thought maybe I was hallucinating. I followed the nurse back through the maze of rooms until she finally put me in room seven, and told me that the doctor would be in in a moment.

That "moment" lasted 20 minutes....

The doctor knocked on the door, making me sit straight up in my chair. After a quick five minute analysis of my sickness he gave me a strep test and then exited my room saying it would take around 7 minutes to get the results.

More waiting.

Longer than 7 minutes.

When I finally got my results, and half sprinted back to my dad in the waiting area I was ready to get out of this place! We had got to the doctors at 9:20 A.M. and the time on my iPhone now said 11:20 A.M. A perfect two hours. I honestly think that doctor visit made me more sick and tired that I already was...

glasses (11-21-11)

**Last week I attempted to blog, but we were having issues with our internet, so I will be posting those 7 blogs with the date that I originally wrote them. :)

After seventeen years and some odd months of life, I have finally joined the glasses club. Over the past year I have been getting these excruciating migraines that we just found out are from my vision. After an hour and a half appointment with a socially awkward eye doctor, he told me it was time to get glasses. Mixed feelings about glasses are what I have. On one hand it doesn't bother me at all, and glasses might be kind of fun. However, my younger sister Molly has had glasses since she was a little elementary school-er and she's had several issues with hers and sort of makes wearing glasses a pain! Either way, in a few weeks I will be braving the halls of Champlin Park with a new permanent accessory---or at least until I get contacts.

salons.

Saturday was my first time at a salon since Erin and I last visited Vivid Details for our ethnography. My salon, located in Elk River had just moved to a space four times bigger than the original. It was gorgeous. It looked so much more professional and the smiling employees seemed even happier in their new space. It totally made me affirm Erin and my conclusion about the salon we visited in Champlin. Those employees enjoyed a space like this one!

shoveling

Last night, while eating dinner I was smiling at the snow finally falling outside my window. The sparkling flakes where beginning to gather on the earth, building up a few inches. Too excited to stay inside, I pulled on my large boots and warmed myself in a big blue down jacket that I hadn't worn in ages. Then fuzzy mittens, my favorite winter accessory. I trudged myself out the garage door and grabbed the big orange shovel. Pushing the snow to clear the long driveway took over an hour. It was such a good workout, I could feel my arms beginning to ache, and my cheeks had that wonderful chilled feeling that made it feel like pure winter.

american beauty

For our fourth and and final paper of our writing portfolio, I am excited to be critiquing the film American Beauty.  It has always been a film that I have wanted to see and never got around to it. Film has always been a passion of mine. I've grown up in a house where my family watches all types of movies and we have the lines memorized of all of our favorites. My favorite type of movies are the ones that make you think about it; there's nothing worse than something predictable. When choosing American Beauty, I knew it was going to be one that I could watch over and over for this project. And after watching it for the first time on Saturday, my prediction was right. It's a movie unlike anything else I've ever seen before, and I am excited to watch it again. And again.

daylight savings

Ever since the switch a few weeks back, each night has gotten darker and darker, and it's been happening earlier and earlier. It's 4:50 P.M. right now, and the sun has already disappeared. I know we supposedly "gained" an hour of sleep in the morning, but I'm already tired. It looks like night time, so my brain keeps thinking one thing: bedtime! As much as I love winter, and that first snowfall of the year, that we haven't had yet... something in me is missing those summer nights where the sun is just beginning to set at 9:00 P.M.

what is something that you wish you were better at?

One thing that I wish I could excel at would be mathematics. Sounds boring, I know. However, I am one of the few people that actually finds math "fun". My favorite thing about it is how there is just simply one answer. I love how once you figure out how to do a certain problem, that you can do another one, and another. I'm obsessed with organization. And with math, that is quite easy. Forming exact ways of solving problems, organized on the page is nice. Some people even joke around with me saying that I have OCD, and for the most part I agree with them. If I was better at math, I would have an easier time doing something that I really enjoy, and love for the most part.

free time

Finally, the swim season is over. Instead of getting home at 6:30PM after practice every day, I get home around 2:30PM, which creates an extra four hours of my day! Today I drove my younger sister, Molly, home from school. I had a doctor appointment after school that my mom and drove to as soon as I got home. By the time that was over, it was not even 3:30PM. So, instead of rushing home to do my homework which I usually do, I convinced my mom that we "needed" to go to Barnes & Noble. There's nothing better than finding a new great book to read, and I was excited to finally be able to do some "recreational reading" rather than just reading for school. By the time we got home it was not even 4PM. That's two whole hours before I even am thinking about getting out of the pool. I wasn't even sure what to do with myself! This extra time feels like such a luxury, and I can't wait to indulge in it again tomorrow...

vacations.

The last real vacation I went on was in eighth grade. My family went to Mexico, and it was over both Easter and my birthday. Everything was so warm there, compared to now (I'm wearing layers upon layers of clothes and I can still feel the chill creeping in). I went parasailing in Mexico, and was suspended high in the air above the Pacific Ocean below me. The world seemed so huge in that moment, and I had felt so small.

Before Mexico, the next nearest vacation was Disney World. I was in third grade. I still remember the 'scary' rides that just my dad and I would go on, leaving my mom and younger sister to the baby rides. I remember all of the signatures we got of those people dressed up like all of the characters. (Sidenote: in my opinion, that would be THE worst job.)

Apart from that, we've gone to other places in Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I traveled to Las Vegas when I was in kindergarten for my uncle Mike's wedding, and the first time that I went on a plane was to Arizona, I was just a one year old. My family has never exactly been world travelers. That's maybe why I am so passionate about seeing the world and even just the rest of the United States in the future. My dream is to be able to bring my parents to wherever they want. They deserve a vacation, and someday I want to be the one that gives it to them.

snow snow snow (rant)

We live in Minnesota.
There should be snow here before:
Wisconsin,
Iowa,
and those people on the East Coast that think they are cool for experiencing a minuscule earthquake, a 'hurricane', and snow storm in the past few months.
We live in MinneSNOWta.
Well, that's not really the name.
I love snow,
I love snow.
Did I mention I love snow?
This cold air outside is taunting me.
Why should it be cold if there isn't snow along with it?
Last year we had snow by now.
It makes the world so quite, and sparkly.
But no, we only had a few flurries that didn't do a thing.
Until there's snow...
I'll be dreaming of a white Thanksgiving.

bonding time

Ever since I can remember, my mom and I have loved driving around looking at houses. Spring, summer, fall or winter, we will pile up in one of the cars and choose a neighborhood to explore. It becomes a game, finding which house we wish we could live in and the houses that we would fix up. Our favorite houses are on top of this large hill near our house. The neighborhood is constantly adding these gorgeous new homes to the mix. I was stressed out so my mom had suggested we go to that favorite area of homes. We know that the homes are ridiculously over priced, but to us they are gorgeous and it's fun browse. Relaxing even. I told her that I want a job that can get me one of these houses. I imagine in the future, when I'm looking for my first house, I know my mom will be there with me.

Nostalgia

I am officially done with high school swimming. I never thought this day would come, but after competing in the 100 yard breaststroke tonight at varsity sections I'm officially done! No more hard sets, no more three hour practices. However, I will miss the girls that I have grown up with. The ladies in lane seven are hilarious and caring. This team has always picked each other up when one member is down. As exciting as it is that I will get to enjoy my next fall for the first time in five years, I will miss these girls.

"when I grow up"

While working on our ethnography today in the IMC. Erin and I were talking about college, jobs and the future.

Erin mentioned, "Well when I grow up...." but we both paused and laughed Were we not grown up already? Or when were we going to be?

It's what we always say when we are younger, because this "grown up" part of us seems so far off. Now, however, we are talking about the "real world" and in only a matter of months we will be joining it.

Kind of a scary thought, but to me, it's more exciting.

home stretch

Bare with me, because this is the last week of swimming I am forecasting a lot of blogs coming up will be on the sport. :)

Two more practices. After five years of being a part of the Champlin Park Girls' Swim Team, I will only enter the Jackson pool two more times. And only one last section meet. I have been thinking about this final week ever since I can remember being on the team. It's always seemed so distant, something I never thought that I would actually get to. This is the time of the season that I desperately wish swimming was over. Seeing all of my other friends done with their sports long before I am even thinking about varsity sections. I have been in the pool six times a week since the beginning of August. That's about twenty hours each week in that pool. So many swim meets, practices, and pasta parties. Although I am still faithfully waiting for Friday, the first day I will get to go home right after school, a little sense of sadness is beginning to come over me. And definitely a lot of reminiscing. The girls in my lane are who I've grown up with... there are so many memories I know I am forgetting,  but so many that I will carry with me. I'm just hoping with this last week, we can really turn it into something great.

Friday Thought

sometimes I feel like a goldfish stuck in my bowl.
the walls are glass, clear tempting me with the sight of the bigger world.
but I'm stuck.
and yes it's safe here---
but there's only so much oxygen.

favorite holiday weather

The sky was a perfect shade of gray. The kind of gray that made you want to put on an extra pair of socks and snuggle up to the fire with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. The clouds loomed in the sky, threatening with the possibility of another snowfall, but I could sense it wouldn’t snow until tonight. I lived in this area to long… I could predict the weather here better than local news channel. I loved how the warmth of me at these very moments contrasted so much with the cold outside, just the wall of the house separating. Everything about the world felt so quiet, uninterrupted. The fire crackling in the living room gave me a sense of peace. Oh how I love, Christmas Eve.

ethnography character descriptions.

Peggy-

The frequent client is perched up in the vinyl chair, getting a perm. She sips on a cup of coffee and reads and outdated romance novel. Her bright pink lipstick contrasts with her dull colored grandma sweater.

Mandy-

The thirty-something manager’s heels click as she walks to the front desk. Her feather extension and gaudy jewelry show that she is trying to act younger than she is. Too bad it’s more trashy than hip.

Amy-

Known as the youngest in the salon, Amy doesn’t act immature. She treats difficult customers with respect and handles everything they throw at her. Her caramel-colored strands are pulled tightly into a bun and is both a part-time worker here, but also a physical therapy student.

Sharon-

Her thick hair is tendrils down her back. And Sharon’s black framed glasses sit upon the edge of her nose. Unlike the other worker’s, her outfit consists of a black velvet sweat suit. Underdressed. Her age also makes her stick out, being around sixty she is well above the mean age, but she somehow fits well among her young colleagues.

Megan-

Hidden behind her glasses and bangs, Megan peers up to greet us at the receptionist’s desk. Her bold, cropped hairstyle stands out against her no-makeup face. She talks with passion about her new found love of doing nails, and talks to others with kindness.

ethnography focus.

Erin and I have been going to a hair salon in Champlin for our ethnography for the past month. We've collected detailed notes and kept them in our matching blue and purple jot books. Every time we have gone the time has gone by much faster, and it has become a much more relaxing experience compared to our first time jitters. Now that we have done all of our "research", we somehow have to come up with a focus. And this focus has to span the ten-page-or-more paper length. Erin and I came up with our idea in class and luckily it uses a bunch of our notes from both observation and interviews. I can't wait to see how it will turn out!