092203My upper body ached from the weight. I cradled the three 2-liter bottles of pop in my arms like a small child, walking as fast as I could down First Avenue. Only a few more steps, I kept telling myself. I crossed the street to my building, knowing once inside, I would soon be out of my misery. I bumped the handicap access button with my hip. Nothing happened. �Nooo,� I groaned out loud. Shifting the bottles into my left arm, I tried to slide two fingers through the door handle. No luck. A voice from behind said, �Here, let me get that.� I scooted in the building, relieved I only had elevators buttons to push from here on out. �Thanks,� I sighed, turning to look at my white knight. My face flushed a bright pink as I stared straight into the eyes of Doug Mientkiewicz. �You sure you can make it up those?� he said as he motioned to the small flight of stairs. �Oh, I�ll be fine,� I stuttered with nervous laughter. �Thanks though.� I turned to walk away and hoped he couldn�t see my legs shaking. My attempt to climb the stairs resulted in my right toe running smack dab into the first step. I heard him chuckle behind me. Turning around once more, I tried to disguise my nervousness with Minnesota pride. I slid my right hand out from under the weight and made a fist. �Go Twins,� I said with a shy smile. Doug laughed and winked before turning around and heading back into the blustery morning weather. Walking towards the elevator, I shook my head in disbelief. I hit the button for the fourth floor and glanced at my reflection as the mirrored doors closed. Go Twins rang in my ears. As the doors opened and the offices of Tiger Oak appeared before me, I rolled my eyes. �I carried a watermelon?� 091803All I can say is it�s about damn time. I know I can�t make excuses, but I am insanely busy this semester. I returned to the University of Minnesota Press, my 10-hour a week job I had this past spring. In addition to that, I am also interning at Tiger Oak Publications. They put out such fine publications as Minnesota Meetings and Events, the Minnesota Group Travel Planner and, the reason I am working there, Minnesota Bride. I already have been assigned one section in the magazine, so when the Spring/Summer 2004 issue hits the newsstands, look for my bylines. I am doing the Girl Scout thing again, too. Jenny and I made an executive decision to switch the meeting time, since Fridays after school seem to make the girls very hyper. We now lead on Monday nights and have rented space in a church. I hope these changes will calm the girls down a bit. To help with that, they are in 3rd grade this year, so I imagine the rowdiness is slowly working its way out of their system. To add to the pile, I�ve taken on the role of vice president for SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists). We�ve been doing major recruiting, which, for me, translates into talking to intro journalism classes, painting a two-panel mural on the Washington Avenue bridge and speaking to the staff of the U�s newspaper. I�ve also campaigned for membership in my journalism classes, adding that we have free pizza at every meeting to sway those hungry guys. I even had a girl come up to me in the grocery store. I�d spoken to her class earlier that evening and she wanted to ask me a few questions. It was the most interesting conversation I�ve ever had in the frozen food section. There you have it. Now do you understand why I hadn�t updated?
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