33 for Angie.

It's not every day that a girl's best friend turns 33, and in honor of this once-in-a-lifetime event I present you with a list of 33 things about my friendship with Angie.

In no particular order. . .

1. Angie and I wore the exact same dress to homecoming (September 1995). The difference? She was a senior on homecoming court, and I was a lowly sophomore. We weren't even really friends then; it was just a total coincidence. It was a great dress.

2. We worked together at the drive-in movies for one summer (1996?). Fun times.

3. I was in her wedding. Five months later, she was in my wedding.

4. We celebrated one of her birthdays (was it 31?) playing BINGO at the casino. 

5. We celebrated another of her birthdays (30, I think) at a Japanese steakhouse. I made her a Scrabble board decorated with words about her as a gift.

6. I was the first non-related person to hold each of her kids, and I love every second of watching and helping her be a mom.

7. I cannot wait to be 70 (me) and 73 (Angie), sitting at Angie's kitchen table, celebrating Thanksgiving with Brad and Mike. Luke and Dottie will be there too, with their own families.

8. Angie is a way-better Scrabble player than me. It kills me to admit that, but it's true.

9. We are big fans of the road trip, particularly WI road trips taken for no good reason other than lunch at P.F. Chang's or shopping or visiting cheese factories. Some of our best conversations have been in the car.

10. My dad once spent the night at Angie's college house while he was traveling for business. She is such a good friend that she put up with my dad overnight.

11. We wrote tons of cards and letters when Angie left for college and I was still in high school. I don't remember any emails; I just remember mail. I think I still have some of them. I should look.

12. We've traveled together to at least six states together: Kansas, Maryland, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

13. We talk almost every day, sometimes on the way to work. There aren't many people I'd be willing to talk to before 7 a.m.. She's just that engaging.

14. We once devised a genius plan for an advertising campaign for the Dodge Neon. Unfortunately, it was rejected.

15. We were both Badger Girls State-ers.

16. We can have a great time doing basically nothing.

17. We have different tastes in snacks. I prefer chocolate. Angie craves salt.

18. I was her date for her sixth wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at Big Tomatoes and saw Anthony Bourdain.

19. We are friends because of high school forensics. We were both orators.

20. Angie hates that I watched the last episode of Lost. I only watched through part of Season 2 before I watched the last one. This infuriates her.

21. Angie makes me do ridiculous things because I am "the youngest." Whenever we are together and there is something she doesn't want to do, she quickly reminds me that I am the youngest.

22. Together, we blogged our way through an entire year. It was one of my favorite things we've done together.

23. Our high school has a tradition of student speakers for a Veteran's Day assembly. Angie spoke for her class. I spoke for my class.

24. We've been friends since 1996. That's fourteen years.

25. Angie always sings along at church. She's actually a great singer. That's another thing she's much better at than I am.

26. Angie is fierce about writing thank you notes. She always sends them quickly and says meaningful, personal things. She reminds me I need to be better at this.

27. I have a copy of Angie's family's cookbook. We're such good friends that I can have the family recipes.

28. Angie can talk me into almost anything, even trying sushi.

29. Angie used to have (I think used to is correct; I'm assuming she doesn't still have it) a huge collection of Absolut vodka ads. They decorated her dorm room. I wasn't there much, but I do remember the vodka ads and making instant mashed potatoes.

30. I once showed up at her house with two giant McDonald's Cokes. We agree that McDonald's Cokes taste different than anyone else's Cokes.

31. Angie is such a good friend that she would agree to watch our family's pets when we were gone. It pains me to admit this, but my dad had pet goats. She would feed and water the goats. Not just anyone would be willing to do that.

32. I went to Europe after high school for almost two months. Angie visited my parents while I was gone.

33. Angie is a great party hostess, and I love to be her assistant (CaCee to her Jessica). Highlights include: Headbangers' Ball, a Christmas cocktail party, and Luke's birthday party.

Happy birthday, Angie. Thank you for making me laugh, listening to me, and letting me be part of your life. I look forward to helping you celebrate many more birthdays!

Gun-due

Angie and I have had all kinds of adventures. Most recently, there was the hot pepper jelly. Last summer, there was the Sconnie Cheese Tour. Before that, we collaborated on Fancy Word for Simple. There have been parties and Thanksgiving dinners, too.

This adventure might just top it all, though.

Last night we learned how to shoot handguns - lots and lots of handguns.

 

I was pretty confident and excited about the whole thing. I had a moment of hesitation when the guns actually came out. The first one was a lot heavier and bigger than I thought it would be. It felt really "real" to see the guns (there were about six of them) and the ammunition just sitting on a table. The man who was our teacher was fabulous, though. He explained how the guns worked, their history, and safety precautions. He was patient, calm, and knowledgeable. 

 

When it came time to actually shoot I wasn't nervous at all. I was expecting the gun to have some kind of kick when it was fired. Some of them did but nothing that was difficult to control or uncomfortable. And, aiming the gun was actually pretty easy. I hit the target every time and even hit a bulls-eye. I was amazed by how different each gun felt both in my hand and when it fired. My favorite ended up being the "NCIS gun" - a Sig Sauer 226.

He talked with us about using handguns for home defense and shooting just for sport. I didn't come out of the experience feeling like I need to have a loaded handgun in my house for defense. In reality, I would need to become a much better shot for the gun to help me. Plus, what are the odds that I would actually be near where the gun is and be able to access it in time for the gun to actually be helpful. Our teacher also talked a lot about the legal ramifications of using a gun for home defense. I'm just not ready for all of that.

I came away really understanding that there are a lot of steps involved in being a responsible gun owner. I don't want to weigh in at all on the larger discussion about gun ownership, but I will encourage others to learn more about guns, gun ownership, and gun safety. I'm glad I went shooting, and I look forward to doing it again.

And, in case you're wondering about the post title. . . Gun-due.

Each of our adventures involves food. So, we ended the night with fondue at the Melting Pot. How's that for interesting. We shot hand guns and ate fondue.

Hot.

Today Angie and I turned this:

into this:

We made 48 jars of hot pepper jelly.

It sounds like kind of a crazy scheme, but it was definitely the best executed and most successful of all of our crazy schemes.

There were a few minor mishaps.

Mishap 1: Batch 1 was thrown away; we skipped 10 minutes of boiling. That was fixed by writing the recipe in giant letters and hanging it on the fridge.

Mishap 2: There was some yelling during batch 2. I picked a critical moment to visit the ladies room, and batch 2 almost boiled over leaving a sticky mess every where. Angie's quick thinking helped us avert a major crisis, though.

Mishap 3: The hot pepper facial also caused some watering eyes, coughing, and extremely clear sinuses. Turns out the peppers need to boil for awhile. The mixture lets off nothing but hot pepper steam and needs to be stirred constantly. It is great for both the sinuses and the skin. I predict it is the next big spa treatment.

Mishap 4: (not pictured) There were two minor burn injuries both of which were quickly fixed by Hot Wheels tattoo style band-aids. Turns out hot pepper jelly is hot in more than one way.

Mishaps aside, I'm really proud of us. We finished everything in about four hours (including clean-up) and had a great time.

I'm even willing to try canning other things.