dog food

Today I bought dog food. I am sure you are thinking, wow, and you are going to blog about that...must be a boring day. This is significant because it has been a REALLY long time since I have had to go to a store and pay full price for a bag of dog food. I found myself a true consumer overwhelmed by the choices presented to me. What was hard for me was picking a food that I know is a quality food, and coming to terms with the price of said food. I settled on a bag of Iams for old dogs. I know it is a decent food and the price was ok. I was surprised to see that Pedigree was in pet stores. This is not a brand of food I would recommend. Anyway, it was a little sad to buy food at a store, and pay full price for it. But the dog's gotta eat right?

Year End Review

For those of you that keep up with my blog, it has been quite the year. Nick was composing the "Christmas Letter" this past weekend. Before he started writing, he commented,"this was a horrible year, why do we want to write about it?" Well, I won't say it is a horrible year. He did come around and see this year for the blessing that it has been. The negative things, both of our grandmothers passed away and I lost my job. They are big things, but below is a summary of the good stuff:

We got to spend another whole year together.

Nick is 2 semesters closer to being done with Pharmacy School (YAY!!!)

We have a new nephew and we are honored to be his godparents.

We have a new niece and we are honored to be her godparents.

We have a niece that is almost 3 and adorable!

Michael and Aimee live 5 minutes away.

We got to visit Texas for fun, including feeding camels, the Dr Pepper museum, the zoo and spending time with family.

We got to visit Florida for fun, including NASA, Universal, the beach, Panama City and spend times with family and friends.

We got to be present for the baptism of Aaron.

We got to be present for the baptism of Taryn.

We got to celebrate the lives of both of our grandmothers, and celebrate they are home with Jesus.

The Relay was fun, even if it was short.

I got to see NKOTB in concert, finally, after all these years.

My plan of changing careers came sooner rather than later - that means no more 100# dog wrestling and wrangling cats that want to eat me...this will be a good thing once we get over the income issue.

We have wonderful, fabulous families that love us and support us.

We have awesome friends that love us and support us.

I discovered the miracle of saving money on our grocery budget at Aldi.

My faith that God has a plan for us and will provide has grown stronger. Through troubled times our relationship with God grows stronger, at least, that's what I've been told.

So, this list is by no means all inclusive...think of it more like a top several random things I want to celebrate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The humor of a 2 1/2 year old...

So Nick and I visited our nieces, Michael and Aimee tonight. We were there for a while. Micah loves to have visitors. She alternates between telling us stories and showing us her stuff and things she can do. Tonight while the adults were talking, Micah came and sat on my lap. I said "Micah, I love you." she said "My wuve you" and we went back and fourth a few times, then said "My wuv you more." That was just too cute. She also said "Uncle Nick My wuv you." Well, Uncle Nick was busy talking and didn't hear her. I said she could tell him in a few minutes when he was done talking. At the next lull in his conversation, I said, Micah didn't you have something you wanted to say. She said "My wuv you Alesha." "Awww, thanks! Didn't you have something you wanted to say to Uncle Nick?" Her reply: "Uncle Nick, My wuv Aunt Alesha."

Yup. Couldn't help but break out laughing. She was pretty proud of herself.

Anonymous thanks

On Tuesday I was not having such a great day. I had one of those days where the last three weeks caught up with me. I have sent out over 30 resume/applications. To date I have received 3 email responses saying I was not selected for the interview process. I know many of the sites say they will only contact me if I make the selection. So I was bummin' about this. I did interview for a temp agency, but so far, no word. I guess that means I was over qualified after all.

So after all that, I did get a wonderful email from one of my previous co-workers. She was very supportive and it was a great email. It made me cry though.

Later in the day I went to get the mail. I was going through the junk, cards and bills. I saw one was a card from my cousin. I opened up the other that didn't have a return address. There was a letter that basically stated God led them to gift us with this gift card. There of course, was more to the letter. It made me cry. I was so touched that this family would do this. I am so grateful and amazed at the ways God has shown us He is good and will help us get through this. It also helped me realize that God is good and He will help us get through this, so I need to quit fretting about the number of resumes I have sent. I need to be patient and know that He will provide.

So to this anonymous family, thank you! I give thanks a praise to God every day for the wonderful friends He has put in our path.

The power of a prayer

I have never realized the feeling of support and love when someone says something as simple as "I am praying for you" or "I will keep you in my prayers."

I have known for a long time that I have a great network of friends and family. This weekend and sure to come in the future, I have had to lean my network a bit. On Friday I was let go from my job. (I was not fired) The reason being cited was financial hardship on the clinic. Now I will be completely honest here, I have been thinking for the last few months that I wasn't as happy with my job anymore. I had been doing a lot of praying about where I should go next? Is now a good time to leave and embark on a new journey of employment? What leads should I follow up on? Admittedly, I would have liked this to be more on my terms, but at the same time, I did ask God for a clear sign about staying or leaving. I guess it doesn't get much more clear!

The bright side is my parents will never let us starve.

I also have the benefit of looking for and submitting resumes for anything I find interesting. I do not HAVE to go back to a small animal practice. I do hope to find some rest during this time of unemployment, but I also hope it won't last long. Student loans for Nick can only take us so far and I do rather enjoy having heat and a home.

I do want to have a job and be productive in society again, but I will rest knowing God had something planned for me. Something I probably would have missed had I still been working. I also feel much better knowing I have friends and family that love and support me. Knowing there are so many people praying for me really makes me feel loved.

funny haha?

I stopped at Cub to get some No Name steaks for 9.98 (yeah, its a great deal, go get them!!). When I parked I saw a gal get out of her Jetta. I also noticed a very dark head with floppy ears moving around. As I walked by this Jetta, I saw it was a Great Dane sitting in the car. I didn't think much of it until I looked close enough to see HOW a Great Dane fits in a Jetta. She had the rear seats folded down. This meant the Dane was laying on top of the backseats and into the trunk. Yeah, It was pretty amusing.

musings

Its hard to top my last entry about NKOTB, but there isn't anything on TV that I want to devote my time to, so I am going to blog.

I have gone in 2 Mondays in a row now for acupuncture treatment of my shoulder. Early this spring I was diagnosis with tendinitis of my rotator cuff. I did the Physical Therapy exercises and icing it. It did get better, but that was only temporary. Even with doing the PT it had been getting worse. My co-worker Cherie suggested acupuncture with her friend. I accepted the business card and called her for an appointment.

My first was Oct 27. I was impressed that she took the time to ask questions about my overall heath. Things that may not be related to my shoulder...still important. Certainly, there is a bit of 'lets see what else acupuncture may help with' but it felt very relaxed and very much like she genuinely cared.

She explained how acupuncture works. She showed me the needles and the model and how the meridians work. She started by doing some baseline movements with my shoulder. The first needle she placed was in my leg. Yeah, that's that what I thought too. I was totally amazed how well it worked though. Last week my shoulder was great until Friday when we were busy and I was stressed.

I went back this Monday. I mentioned the stress, she decided to place some beads. We have also been treating my left thumb, which gets very sore when doing nail trims or paying wii. The treatments have worked tremendously. My shoulder is much improved. She placed 3 beads in my ear. They are tiny, smaller than the ball of a ball point pen, held in place by an adhesive disk. The first is placed on the "happy feel good" point, the second on my shoulder point and the third on my liver point, which will help clear out stress. Hey if it works...I am more than excited to give it a whirl!

So far, things are going well, and I am very excited about the results.


Now that campaign adds are going to be over, the Christmas adds will start up. I find it a little sad that the retail world always wants to start Christmas earlier and earlier every year, but then by Jan 1 it is over and done and time to move on. Doesn't it make more sense to celebrate more after? If we are celebrating the birth of Christ, doesn't the celebration only get bigger AFTER the day of his birth. I realize the main goal of retail is not to celebrate Jesus, but doesn't it speak volumes that our society is so controlled by stores?


I am seriously considering being a Creative Memories consultant. Anyone have an opinion on that?

A childhood dream comes true

Last night was the St Paul show of the NKOTB reunion tour. Yes, I paid a fair amount to go see them (I never got to as a kid). Yes, I bough the way over priced t-shirt (again, never as a kid). Yes, I screamed over and over and over and was very excited by seeing them live, in person, performing for "the best crowd so far."

Yeah, I have been to enough concerts that I know almost every crowd is the best crowd. But, I couldn't help but be very entertained by my favorite band from my childhood. 15 years has done all of them well. They didn't do as much dancing as was done in their late 80-early 90s shows (so I am told). I believe this was a good thing. They did some boy-band choreography which was great, but they were actually able to focus more on singing. Jordan did use his falsetto in many of the places he did back in the day. There were a few places where he missed and you could see he was frustrated, but he really did well.

I could post lots and lots of ramblings about the evening, most of which would go unappreciated. So instead I will just leave it at it was a wonderful evening seeing them live (finally) and I had a blast with my cousins. I am glad they came to MN and would consider seeing them again.

For anyone that might be curious, here is the set list as posted by Star Tribune.
Single / My Favorite Girl / You Got It (The Right Stuff) / Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) / Valentine Girl / Please Don’t Go Girl / Grown Man / Games / If You Go Away / 2 in the Morning (kicked off three-song set on the small rotating stage) / Dirty Dancing / Tonight / Twisted / Baby, I Believe in You / Give It to You / Stay the Same / Cover Girl / I’ll Be Loving You / Click, Click, Click / Summertime
ENCORE: Step by Step / Hangin’ Tough

Donnie sang Games while Danny did some break dancing. Give it to You was a solo by Jordan and Stay the Same was a solo by Joe. Cover Girl was a solo by Donnie. I liked it, but not the silhouette of naked dancing girls on the screen in the back ground. With 98% of the audience being women, I kind of thought that was a bit much.

the "small rotating stage" made reference to in the set list was in front of the sound/light set up and actually pretty much right in front of where we sat. It was great!

We've been Culverized!

A couple weeks ago Culver's opened in the Grove. Nick has never eaten at one. Saturday I remedied that. I took him to eat there and told him he could have anything he wanted. We agreed on each getting a burger combo thing. I got the butter burger with cheese. Nick got the Culver's Deluxe. It was difficult to choose as they have a huge menu. Not just lots of choices, but the menu board is ginormous! We also decided to try the chili cheese fries and the cheese curds. (Might as well go all out.) I was very excited to see the have diet dew in the fountain.

Our food arrived in what seemed like a reasonable time for how busy they were. Although the fries were regular fries. We mentioned this to the 12 year old buy that was serving us. He shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the receipt and said, "it says fries." I was like, but I ordered chili cheese fries. Blank stare. Nick asked if we could the chili cheese fries. 12 year old scurried of to find out. He returned promptly to say we could. We could even keep the regular fries. Several moments later we had chili cheese fries.

Appropriately armed with deep fried goodness we dug in. It has been quite some time since I have eaten a butter burger. It was good. The chili cheese fries were ok, but the chili tasted like it came from a can and just wasn't that good. The fries are pretty good though. Crinkle fries are vastly underrated in my opinion. The Cheese Curds were not quite like Fair curds, but they were very good.

After the fried food assault, we went back for the custard. We got a concrete mixer each. I of course went for the chocolate with Twix and marshmallow. It was very good. Nick got the vanilla with cookie dough and marshmallow. Tasty, but not enough chocolate for me.

Now that we have eaten there, we can reasonably enter the debate....will Culver's put DQ out of business?

DQ is closed nov-march, Culver's is open year round (and new). DQ is a bit harder to get to and navigate around, though both of them require prior knowledge of how to get there. The Custard is far superior to DQ's Soft serve (at least I think so.) Culver's is across the street from DQ. Our DQ is the walk up kind and has very limited food offerings - only hot dogs, where Culver's has the ginormous menu with everything from burgers to chicken diners. DQ does have the walk up window factor where large groups can easily sit around outside waiting for their after baseball treat in the summer.

There may be a place for both fine establishments, but can the Grove support them both?? Time will tell.

Because he ROCKS!

Nick is the U of M School of Pharmacy Student of the Month. yup...because he rocks!
I haven't found out yet if that means we get the bumper sticker or not...but it is cool anyway.

The passing of my Grandma

My Grandma, Darlene Roepke, passed away yesterday, Sunday Oct 5th, ending her 15 month battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). The last 15 months were not easy for her or the family. I take comfort in knowing she is now with Jesus and doesn't struggle with every day tasks like talking, swallowing and breathing.

My grandmother has always been a "strong" German woman. Yes, I am sure some of my stubbornness was a direct result of her. She held this trait until the very end. I picture in my mind Jesus holding her hand saying "Come along now, it is time to go." and her replying "NO! I am not ready yet." Then the scene proceeds with Jesus and a host of angels pulling and struggling to get her to come along, and her still not being ready just yet. She didn't want to miss out on anything after all. And just because someone else said so (even if it is Jesus) why would she be rushed to do something?

One of my very fond memories of my Grandma is cooking with her. When I was a kid Grandma and Grandpa would pick me up from home and I would go spend the weekend at their house. I would ride on the "hump" in the middle of the bench seat in front.

I would spend the weekend with them. I would get up when I heard Grandpa and Grandma up and already hard at work. I would start the day with a hot dog for breakfast, the good too. Nothing like starting your day with a weeks worth of sodium. I would work for hours with my grandma mixing big batches of tuna salad and homemade bread dough. We would mix the tuna in a bowl so big I think I was mixing up to my elbows. She taught me how add seasonings, taste it and decide what else would need to be added. We would make something for supper for when my parents picked me up. We would make cinnamon rolls and buns from our fresh dough.

Then I would get tired of cooking and go outside and chase the chickens and play with the dogs and cats. Sometimes I would get to go throw the food waste to the pigs.

Is it any wonder two of my favorite things to this day are animals and cooking.


Below is her obituary:

Darlene Lois Roepke nee Will, 74, of New Germany, Minnesota, died Sunday, October 5, 2008, at 9:45am at Elim Home in Watertown, Minnesota.

Darlene was born July 20, 1934, to Wilmer and Olga (Harthun) Will, the oldest of seven children. She was born and raised in rural Young America, Carver County. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church, Mayer. On September 14, 1951, Darlene married Alden Walter Roepke at St Mark Lutheran Church, New Germany. They had five children. She was a lifelong resident of Carver County. She was a member of Ladies Aid at St. John Lutheran Church of Hollywood, 4-H of Carver County, local Homemaker’s Group, 500 Card Club, and was an active member of the New Germany community. She loved to cook and bake and share with her friends and neighbors. She enjoyed feeding and watching the many varieties of birds that came to her feeders.

Darlene was preceded in death by her son, Steven; parents; father and mother-in-law Emil and Hilda Roepke; brothers, Eugene and Arlen; and sisters, Arlyce Larson and Mary Ann Kes.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Alden, of Waconia; daughters and sons-in-law, Tom and Scheryl Moonen, of Waconia, Mark and Sheila Heuer, of Lake Crystal, and James and Shelley Borka of New Germany; and son Scott, of New Germany. Those who mourn her death include grandchildren, Joshua Moonen, of St. Boni, Alesha and Nicholas Schutz, of Cottage Grove, Amy Heuer, of Lake Forest, Illinois, Jayson Heuer of Las Vegas, Nevada, Heidi Heuer of Valparaiso, Indiana, and John and Jacob Borka of New Germany; sisters and brothers-in-law, Gordon and Millicent Miller, of New Germany, and Curtis and Lanette Thaemert, of Mayer; sisters-in-law Marcia Schiferli, of Excelsior, and Joan Will, of Chaska; brothers-in-law, David Larson, of Maple Plain, and Aronld Kes, of Baxter; brothers-in-law and wives, Donald and Mabel Roepke of Waseca, and Darrell and Sandi Roepke of New Germany; and many nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors.

Fantasy Football team

Yup, I have signed up for a fantasy football league. Our church has a league, but it is for men. A family at church decided to start a general league. I figured, it was free, it is pretty much fully controlled by Yahoo and sounded fun. I signed up. My team is Killer Tofu. I have never done a fantasy league. It has been pretty fun. Yahoo did the draft for us. I have a team of a few names I recognize and then a guy named Chad Ocho Cinco. Yeah, he is number 85. He legally changed his last name.

After only Thursday night of play, I have 5 points from my New York Giant Defense. They were the only ones that played.

Should be fun!

Acronyms

Most people are aware of the prevalence of acronyms in the medical world. This week it was reaffirmed in my mind. On Tuesday I helped the orthopedic surgeon do a TPO. We weren't sure if was going to be an TPO or an FHO. Then on Thursday I helped with a TTA and we were going to do a TPLO, but that surgery got canceled.

One may ask, "do you know what all those letters stand for?" as a matter of fact I do, I can even tell you what is it for and what those words mean. A TPO is a triple pelvic osteotomy. (That is 3 incisions in the pelvic bones - the pelvis can be repositioned to correct a bad ball/socket joint.) An FHO is a femoral head ostectomy. (Removing the head of the femur - this is used when dogs have really bad hips that cannot be corrected any other way.) TPLO and TTA are both surgeries to repair the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). TPLO is Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy. (Cutting a specific part of the tibial plateau and repositioning it). A TTA is Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (the tuberosity of the tibia is moved forward).

I got to scrub in for both of the surgeries that we did do. If we had done the TPLO I also would have gotten to operate the power drill. Power tools in surgery are fun. Some of you may be thinking, does that mean she is going to go to school to be a surgeon? NO! It would be another 10 years of my life in school. I just don't think that sounds like the least bit of fun.

Are you related to Ozzie?

This is a question I thought I had left behind when I left Waconia. Apparently not.

Our dog, Chester, has had some small heath issues over the last year. I decided with the help of the vet that Chester should have an ultrasound. When we had one scheduled at our office, I called the Ultrasound Vet and asked if she had time to fit Chester in too. She did.

Today was the day. Chester didn't get to eat breakfast, which did not make him happy. We were scheduled for 11:30. We got there early and shaved his abdomen. The Ultrasound doctor got there and looked over his chart. (She brings her ultrasound machine with and travels to clinics all over the metro area.) As she was looking things over and entering Chester's information into the machine she asked me "Do you know Ozzie Moonen in Waconia?" "Of course, he is my Uncle." was my response. Small world! Ok makes sense that I know him, he is my uncle, how do YOU know him? Keep in mind, Woodbury is almost an hour from Waconia, and Ozzie hasn't had a dog in quite some time, let alone a dog requiring an ultrasound.

Turns out Dr Rowe grew up in Waconia and went to school with "Ozzie's Step-daughter." Crazy small world! We talked about the ins and outs of growing up in Waconia. How it has changed and how it is weird going back. She mentioned her parents owned FloralView back in the day. It was quite a surprise to find out she grew up in Waconia. Of course, that being the case, it totally makes sense she knows Ozzie. Everyone knows Ozzie. It should have been a give away when she pronounced Waconia right.

After talking to my mom about it, it turns out my mom knew the family, and actually worked for them at Floral View back in the day.

Its a small world after all...its a small, small world.

The word on Chester is he likely has some form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). This IBD is what has been causing him to loose protein (PLE). He may have the beginnings of Cushing's Disease. The "nice" thing about these two diseases together, Cushing's makes them produce more steroid. IBD is treated with steroids. It is like he is treating himself. Kind of. We will try some special food and see if that helps him out.

As promised....

Here is a picture of Micah with her new baby sister Taryn. We haven't seen Micah in about 3 weeks and she already looks so different! We will be flying to Utah on Aug 30 to see her and meet Taryn.

Here is a picture of Taryn. In this picture she looks a bit like her cousin Aaron, but I think it is in that same way that she looks like a week old baby with her mouth and eyes open.

I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.

Nick is now "the Godfather." Maybe that makes me a "fairy Godmother?" Anyway, Nick and I spent a short weekend in Texas to celebrate the Baptism of our nephew Aaron.

We got to the airport at about 5:40 for our 7:05 flight to Dallas. We got a little delayed mostly because it was a small plane. Oh, and the computer system used to scan boarding passes was down. SO the guy read them off to a gal and she manually checked everyone in. AND many people had to get tags to gate check their luggage or children's crap because it was a little plane.

We actually arrived early. Crazy how that can happen. We got to see family, meet April's family and spend some quality time with Aaron. Saturday was busy with family arriving and getting last minute things ready. We ate lunch as Cici's Pizza. I took a nap. I was exhausted. We ate dinner with Nathan and April (brother and sister-in-law), Rollie and Sue (Nick's parents) April's parents, April's Grandparents and her aunt. It was fun.

Sunday was the Baptism during the late service. Rollie was honored to Baptize his Grandson. He has baptized all 4 of his children, and so far all of his Grandchildren. He also did the sermon. I really enjoy listening to him preach. Following the service was an open house with food of course. When the excitement died down, Nick did an amazing job of cleaning up. He jumped right in and picked things up. He then went for a nap. I stayed up with April and her aunt and talked while everyone else went for naps and Rollie and Sue left for home. This was my first time to really bond with Aaron. I held him for quite some time while he slept. We were then invited with April's family to the Cheesecake factory for dinner. It was very tasty. We were excited and grateful to be included with the family.

Monday morning I was able to have some time with Aaron. I fed him about 7:30 and then he and I hung out while mom and dad got a little bit of sleep. He was very good. He slept for quite a while and then got fussy while we were watching a little blip of the Olympics. From there it was off to the Airport.

On our trip back we again had a small plane. I am amazed at the luggage people consider to be carry on. I guess with charging for checked bags now, that is going to be how it is. I was very proud of my self for not over packing. Yay me! My small carry on was perfect and it wasn't even stuffed! The male flight attendant that spoke very fast and seemed to skip some words did tell us we were flying in a plane that was less than 2 weeks old. "What that means is try to be courteous and keep things clean and keep shoe prints off the walls." Ummm...ok, I will work on not stepping on the walls.

Anyway, that is most of the excitement of our weekend. Above is one of the many pictures of the weekend, but one of the few of the 3 of us.

It's a girl!

Our Niece Micah is a big sister! Taryn Elizabeth Schutz was born on Sunday, August 2 at 7:22 pm (their time). She is 8# 4oz, 21".

Micah and her family moved to Utah in July. We will be traveling to Utah at the end of August for Taryn's Baptism. We look forward to meeting her and seeing the rest of the family.

I was trying to upload a picture, but blogger gave me an "internal error" message.

Weekend getaway

Nick and I decided last week that we should take advantage of this weekend. We had Sat-Mon that we didn't HAVE to do anything. We have a gift card from Bedandbreakfast.com that we thought would be a great get-away. I started looking into it. I was house-sitting this week, so I didn't have much internet access. Funny thing, when you want to do a weekend getaway, it seems that you need to book it more than one day before your desired Saturday. We discussed our options: not do a getaway at this time and do it in August or use Marriott points and stay at a hotel. We decided on the hotel.

We booked our stay at the Marriott in far away and exotic Coon Rapids. Yup, nothing like the exotic north metro.

I brought some scrapbooking supplies. Nick brought some "learning books" with and we pretty much hung out in the room watching cable. It was a very relaxing time. We ate at Fuddruckers which was not only close, but in the front yard of the Marriott. It has been years since I've eaten at one. It was pretty tasty. Appropriately greasy and cheesy.

Sunday we had breakfast at ihop. Very good. I had the New York cheesecake pancakes and even had eggs and hashbrowns. Nick had an omelet with lots of meat. We spent more time in the room on Sunday, watching movies on cable and just hanging out. We had supper at Kahn's Mongolian BBQ which took some time to find. It was pretty good, but overpriced. We did go to the Hot Tub on Sunday night. The whole pool area was deserted on Sunday. That worked out well for us. Then we spent the rest of the evening watching Shark Week on Discovery. I miss cable.

So, not a very exciting weekend, but we had a great time! It was so nice to get away from reality and responsibility, even if it was only for 2 days.

Ode to my daddy

I realized today that I posted a Mothers Day post in honor of my mom. By the time Fathers Day rolled around, it was 3 weeks until Relay and I got very busy with all things Relay. So, here we are, a month over due, but the following is just a snippet of the many reasons my dad is awesome!

1. He doesn't mind this post is a month overdue. He will love that I still took the time to do it.
2. He has a true servant heart. More often than not, the needs of others come first.
3. When the time calls for it, he steps up to the plate and does what is right.
4. When approaching the aisle at my wedding, emotional and all, he still gave me the opportunity to back out if that is what I wanted.
5. Even today he is willing to answer my barrage of sports related questions.
6. Always the hometown fan. It doesn't matter who is playing, or what the sport, my dad is there to support them.
7. My dad is a purist. The best way to enjoy a game is lying on the couch or bed or in your underwear, watching on tv, but listening to local live coverage on 'CCO
8. After a heart attack at age 49 (followed by surgery) he maintains a good balance between doing what the doctors say and making life worth living.
9. There is quite the lesson in work ethics from watching him. If they offer OT, you take it. Work hard and always give your best.
10. There are many things that can and should be done, but always make time to Golf.
11. Family is very important. Take the time to harass them and make sure they know you care.
12. Let someone else handle the finances, it makes you much happier in the long run.
13. If you don't have the money in your pocket, do you really need it?

I love you dad. Happy Fathers Day, a bit late.

A sweet suite!

Nick and I had the opportunity to go see the Twins yesterday. We were very excited, as the Twins beat the Rangers on Friday and Saturday. Saturday's game was 14-2. We were also excited that we were invited to go with Mary and Nate. Nate got seats in his companies Suite, and also got VIP parking. It was a good deal. Free tickets, free parking and seeing the game with friends. The Suite is in the outfield, on the third base side. They stock it with some pop and have pizza delivered.

Overall, it was a great experience. We have decided that Nick is no longer allowed to go to see games. Why? Because they lost. We have yet to go to a Twins game that they have won. It was a good game in that the final score was 1-0. It certainly wasn't a 14-2 loss, but still, we didn't even score. We came very close to a tie, or even a win thanks to Mauer and Morneau, but they came up short.

Despite the loss, we had a great time! Thanks Nate and Mary!!!

It's a boy!

Welcome Aaron Schutz. Aaron was born to Nick's youngest brother, Nathan and his wife,April on Friday, July 11 around 6pm. He weighed in at 8# 14oz and 21". He is our first nephew. We will be traveling to Texas to meet him and visit the family in August.

A Sigh of Relief

Friday marked the start, and the end to Relay For Life of the Cottage Grove Area 2008. I left work around 11. I came home and did a few last minute things, made lunch and Nick and I headed over to the Junior High. It was HOT. It was humid. It was windy. We started helping where we could with set up. There were a few people there, and a few things to work on. By the time 2:30 rolled around, many teams were streaming in to start their set up. It was comical to see teams setting up tents. It was so windy, many tents were not staying as they should.

Fast forward to 5:30. The "DJ" (also known as Stan, from theAlley Church) got there and was set up. We started with the tunes. We had a few large tents rented. They made it up, and stayed, but it wasn't easy. The opening ceremony started a tad late. We had the ceremony. We kicked off the event with our survivors lap, then a caregivers lap and then our "team lap." At this point in time, we were all well aware that severe weather was knocking on the door of the metro area. We had several of CG's finest on the task of watching the weather and keeping us updated. At 7:30 we announced we had about 30 minutes before the weather was going to be rolling in to us, and everyone should pack up and head to safety. We decided to return at 6am for the closing ceremony. I asked the Captain of the police (and friend of ours) if this was dangerous enough we should go home, or could we had to Carbone's for pizza and a beer. Off to Carbone's it was.

Saturday at 4:30, Nick and I got up and headed back to the track. We walked a few laps with our friend Tina. Others slowly started to arrive. There was probably around 100 people that showed up. We proceeded to have our "remember" and our "fight back" ceremonies. We then merged into the closing ceremony. From there, off to Applebee's for free breakfast.

While it was kind of a disappointment that the event was canceled so early, I was exhausted.

Our points of pride for 2008:
We had 54 survivors attend our event. (last year 15)
We had 21 teams excited to be there. (last year 7)
We had 290 participants (last year 100)
We surpassed our fundraising goal BEFORE the event even started. (We are one of 2 in recent history to do that)
We have raised over $45,000 so far (last year 18,000)

I am so proud of our committee for their dedication to getting this Relay planned. I am proud of our teams for their dedication and spirit. More than one person wanted to stay despite the weather, and many wanted to wait it out and come back. I am proud of our community for the support and generosity they showed our event. I was excited and proud to see 54 survivors and their caregivers, and all of their support at the relay. I was and am excited about 300 people wanting to Fight Back against cancer!

Now to start on that list of "things to do after Relay is over."

Happy Birthday America!

Today was the fourth 4th of July that Nick and I spent as a couple. It was the first time we saw fireworks together on the 4th of July. Our first, Nick was in Europe. Our second, Nick was flying to New Jersey watching them from a plane. Last year my father-in-law, Rollie, was in town and collectively we didn't feel like going out for them. Last year we did see the fireworks from Strawberry Festival. That was our first time seeing them together.

Was the anticipation worth it? Yeah, I guess it was. We arrived and saw lots of people set up near the Junior High, even parking on highway 19. Nick suggested we also park along 19 and walk to the spot we want to sit. It may take us a bit to walk back, but at least we wont be stuck in a parking lot waiting to get on a street, waiting to get on 19. So we did just that.

When we arrived, around 9pm, there were several houses in the neighbor hood setting off their own fireworks. I think one neighborhood in particular effectively stimulated the economy by themselves with their fireworks purchases. It kind of seemed like a friendly competition was happening. At least 4 times in the hour we sat there, we thought for sure one of the houses had caught fire.

Promptly at 10 the "real" fireworks started. Cottage Grove put on a pretty good display. There were some colors, some sound ones, sparkley ones, shimmery ones....certainly not the best I have ever seen, but still, not bad. It was about 25 minutes of near constant fireworks.

By the time we got back to the car, there wasn't much in the way of foot traffic. We passed long lines of people in the parking lot trying to get out. I climbed from the passenger seat to the drivers seat. Nick got in and we were ready to go. I pulled onto 19 from the shoulder and stopped to let a family cross....and we were off. Talk about a good idea. Way to go Nick!

Happy 4th of July! (yeah, it's over and I realize that) but enjoy the weekend.

There is no such thing as a free kitten...

or puppy for that matter. If someone says to you "hey, want a free kitten?" The appropriate response is "there is no such thing as a free kitten." Why do I bring this up. First, because it is true. Second, because in the veterinary world it is "baby season." We see all kinds of puppies and kittens in the early summer. That means lots of people asking, how much does it cost for vaccines? What does it cost to spay my cat? Do I really HAVE to do all that stuff? Why would I spend all that money on the cat? It was free! My favorite response/request lately... "The cat was free and I don't really want to pay that much. Can I make an offer, or will you price match if I can find it cheaper someplace else?" um... thanks, but no. If you can find it cheaper, go there. No, we don't price match, we are not Best Buy willing to sell it to you for the printed add price of our competitors. We are not a car dealership, our only offer is pay our price, or we don't do it.

This may sound a little harsh. But it really is a simple fact of life in the veterinary industry. It will cost a price for us to do it, and yes, we do expect to be paid when we do it. Can you go to Cub and ask if you can get groceries today, but not pay for a few weeks because you are going on vacation? Do you ask the gas station if you can make an offer or price match if you find it for less in Iowa? I guess, maybe some people do try....

Back to my point.... cost of cat litter, food and various supplies aside, there are very few times when a free cat is really free. Kind of like free lunch...no such thing. Most cats will encounter a vet visit at some time in their life....just because you didn't pay to get the cat doesn't mean it is free for life.

It's already the end of June...

So, we are currently at 17 days until our Relay For Life. That's cool, except we still don't have a DJ. I am also only about half way to my fundraising goal. It is starting to get a little stressful. It is kind of like when you are planning a wedding, or any big event really. The only difference for me, is I had big things like the DJ and Caterer taken care of well before 2 weeks prior to the event.

I am working very hard at not being stressed. I guess the nice thing is there is only 17 days left to be stressing.

I am pretty sure Micah is a Genius

Our niece, Micah, turned 2 at the end of March. I am pretty sure she is smarter than the average 2 year old. Of course, having no children and no other nieces or nephews (yet) I have nothing to base this on. Sure, I may be a tad biased.

Over the past few months, we have made it a point to visit Micah and her parents about once a week. Every time we visit Micah runs to door excited that Ni-ko Nick is there. (she says hi to me too) From there, the "LOOK!" and show us whatever happens to have her excited starts.

Friday Nick and I were going to the Relay For Life in Woodbury. Micah lives between my work and the park it was in. So we stopped for a visit. When I got there, Ni-ko Nick was already there. I walked into Micah telling us that Chesh-er says woof woof and that Mem-itt says meow meow. Neither Chester or Emmitt were there, but she remembers being at our house and Chester and Emmitt being there. She also knows most of her colors. She does insist if she said it was blue, it is.

The stories could go on and on, but I will just leave it at, she is a genius!

Wii love it!

It's been a month. I know, I have been a very neglectful blogger. I do apologize for that. After we got back from Florida there was so much going on to blog about, and things that took priority over blogging, that it became a daunting task. Then there was so much to blog about....I felt overwhelmed. So, here we are, clean slate. Ready to blog!

Shortly after receiving the Wii for our birthday's, Nick was "allowed" to set it up. I called dibs on the first game. I played around a bit with making a Mii and the sports package that comes with it. Nick went out buy a game we agreed on and controller. $100 later he came back with Lego's Star Wars and a controller. He did let me play the first round. It didn't take too long to figure out where I was going and what I was doing. Having never before owned a game system, and played very little, it did take some practice. Nick was very patient and did not tell me what I should be doing. I finished the first level! It didn't take long for me to beat episode 1. It was with in the first few days that Nick finished about twice as much as I did. It has remained that way since.

Tonight I accomplished quite a bit of coin collecting and achieving "true Jedi" and other fun things. I do really like the game. We have 2 other games, plus the sports package. We have played the other games very little.

We have had some friends over and have played the sports a little bit. Thats about it though.

Let the celebration begin!

I have always been a fan of the theory, as soon as someone recognizes your birthday, you get to start celebrating it. Well, last night Nick and I received a birthday gift. The party has started.

Not only do we have birthdays in 1 week and then 2 weeks, but this is a "milestone" birthday for both of us. We both turn 30. Since we we will be in Florida for both of our birthdays, my parents decided to spring a gift on us early. We visited them last night to celebrate Mother's Day. And once again my mom proved she ranks right up there with the best of the best. What gift screams "my daughter and son-in-law turn 30?" Thats right, a Wii. Of course, both mom and dad said, once you get it set up, we want to come play it.

Nick has already started a list of all the games and accessories we need to get to go along with it. I did suggest maybe Nick get through finals before we set it up. Makes sense to me.

Here is to gaming fun for this milestone birthday!

THANKS MOM!!!

I love my mom

A short list of just a few of the many things I love about my mom:

1. She always has a suggestion for every "dilemma" I bring to her.
2. My mom has given so much of her time and talent to care for her parents.
3. She thinks the perfect gift is having us visit.
4. She uses "super mom powers" to know when we aren't feeling well.
5. If there is ever something we need help with, she finds a way to make it work.
6. Driving an hour to our house, just to take us to the airport and go back home....WOW!
7. She says "I was just thinking about you" when I call her.
8. She tirelessly helped with ALL my questions and concerns and issues with our wedding. That was a lot of stuff!
9. My mom tells me she prays for me.
10. Mom shares her frustrations with me, and lets me hone the skills she has instilled in me.
11. Even though mom wants me close by, she gladly loaded up my stuff and helped me move away. And then further away. And then she helped me buy a house and move even further away....
12. She can text and drive at the same time... a skill NOT reserved for the youth, but the young at heart.


Of course, I could keep going on and on, but I do have to get to church.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

Review of Cub's "NOW" clinic

I have been battling an "upper respiratory infection" for the past week. Last Monday I woke up with a scratachy throat and feared I had Strep. It seems that I don't. Over the week my symptoms turned into a cold type bug. This weekend things were getting much better. I used the humidifier in our room during naps and at night. I was starting to taste tiny bits of my food. I thought I was on the mend. Until about 1:00 today.

I was supposed to have lunch with Mary today. Luckily she and her kids were not feeling well either. So I finished my errands and and came home. When I got home I noticed my ear felt like there was more pressure in it. I thought, I need sudafed and a nap. So I took ibuprofen, pseudoephedrine and went to sleep. I woke up 3 hours later not feeling any better. The pressure in my ear was a bit worse and I felt pretty crummy again.

Our friend Tina has been dealing with ear infection issues for a few weeks now. What she has been dealing with does not sound fun to me. And with a trip to Florida scheduled for less than 2 weeks from now, I was a little worried. When my pharmacist student husband came home we talked about my symptoms. We decided to find a minute clinic.
Cub foods in Cottage Grove has such a place. My wonderful husband found out how late they are open and we headed out the door. (I did get dressed first)

At first it was a pretty typical "clinic" visit. I filled out a form that said I had insurance and would pay if they didn't. The nurse asked my symptoms and took my vitals. I wasn't that impressed with the nurse. The CNP came in. She said hi, then mentioned the horrible cough she heard. Yup, that was me. She asked some questions, then checked out my ears. Nick thought she was great because she let him look at my ears. She covered all kinds of questions/answers. She discussed what things I should do at home, what meds to take, side effects, allergic reactions, etc. She also asked about travel. Why yes, we do have plans to travel in less than 2 weeks. She gave me some great pointers on ways to keep my ears clear.

Overall, the experience was a very positive one. She listened to my symptoms and issues. She was knowledgeable with her answers and thorough with her explanations. She gave the proper medical advice and still had the "mom" type care and concern. Oh, and she let Nick look at my ear drums.

If I had an official rating for clinics, I would give it 4 out of 5 thermometers. (5 would have been if the nurse/assistant was awesome too)

After all these years...

I will finally get to see New Kids on the Block (or NKOTB as the cool kids call them) in concert. At least that is the plan. Yes, I was a middle schooler at the height of their popularity. Yes, my brother teased me endlessly about them. Yes, I had female cousins that fed my pre-teen (tween) obsession with all things NKOTB. Joey was my favorite. For a little while, I did like Jordan. Speaking of him, I do have the same birthday as Jordan Knight from New Kids. Oh yeah. I am cool! I think over the span of the several years I was a devoted fan, Danny was the only one that I never liked much.

So, NKOTB are playing a show in Chicago on October 4th. I just happen to have a cousin that lives very close to Chi-town. And another cousin that lives a few hours away. I am so hooked up for the show!

The sad thing is I have been sick the last few days, so I haven't really had a chance to celebrate. :( bummer.

Do you remember your Prom?

Nick and I took advantage of a gift card and went to eat at Sunsets. Apparently tonight is Prom Night for Woodbury. I spent a lot of time staring at some of the dressed girls were wearing. I don't remember quite that much skin at my prom, but maybe I need to pull out the pics and remember it a bit more accurately.

Anyway, Nick and I talked about our proms. My prom seemed to be a bit different than the way "everyone else" seemed to have it. Did anyone else have a "Grand March" or is that just my school?

The waitress said something like, don't you wish it was your prom again, or something like that. No. I don't wish it was my Prom. I would not like to go back to that time in my life I made it through the first time. That is plenty for me. Don't get me wrong, Prom was fun, but I don't want to go again.

Driving, Family, and the Lil' Red Barn

As some of you may have heard, Nick's paternal grandmother passed away last weekend. The funeral was planned for Wednesday. She lived in Elwood Nebraska. That is where the funeral was. We left early on Tuesday morning and arrived in Elwood around 3:30.

What does one do on a 9 hour road trip to Nebraska? We did listen to some ipod tunes, but we also did some reading. I am not a big fan of books on tape, but I did enjoy reading to Nick. Our small group decided to do some Old Testament studying. So I read the summaries I found for Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. I then continued on and read the entire book of Joshua. It isn't tremendously long, but certainly took a while to read. If you haven't looked at the book of Joshua for a while, I encourage you to do so. Some of the names of people and places are TOUGH! I stumbled through quite a few of them. After I finished reading we chatted about it a bit. Before we knew it, we were in Nebraska.

Our first stop...the Lil' Red Barn. I am guessing some of you may wonder, what is the Lil' Red Barn? It is in Elwood Nebraska, the options are endless. It could be a restaurant, a bar, perhaps a church? It is the local motel. It really is a red barn shaped building. There are 5 rooms. Nick and I were in room #4, which is upstairs. We got a "suite." The accommodations were decent and suited our needs.

We changed clothes and headed to the church for the Wake. The "nice" thing about funerals is getting to see family. In this case, it included meeting family. I had met a few of these relatives for Steph's wedding last June. Many of them I had not met yet. I did find out that some of these relatives are loyal readers of my blog. (Thanks!)

Nick's dad's family isn't THAT big, especially compared to my dad's family, but there were still a lot of people to keep straight. Makes me realize just what an enormous feat it was for him to learn all my relatives. (Nick is awesome!) I do know that Jim and Kathy were fabulous hosts. Kathy is a cousin of Rollie's. They were such generous hosts. Kathy even packed a meal for us to load up and take on the road for our trip back. They were very kind.

We left Elwood around 3pm. I started driving back. To help keep us both awake, Nick read the book of Genesis. I have read the first several chapters. I did not realize how messed up things were way back then. I realized people were pretty bad for God to have wiped out all existence with a flood, but man, crazy things were happening in the book of Genesis. For everyone out there that says people just keep getting worse and worse, read Genesis! I also realized reading the OT through Esther is best done in order. Once we read Genesis I realized there were a lot of the same names of places, as well as how this and that came to be...and then we learned more about it in Joshua.

We got back home around 12:30am (Thursday) and both of us were up to go to work/school. It was a long couple of days, and made for tired people rest of the week, but I am glad we could go.

I will get a picture of the Lil' Red Barn up soon. I know, you are waiting anxiously.

Tithe if you love Jesus

Anyone can honk


Seriously, that is what is on the "create-a-sign" sign out front of a local church. I am not a fan of those signs to start with. That statement is just one of the plethora of reasons why. As a non-member, I find it tacky. As a Christian I think it is tacky. Maybe the person that thought it was funny ran it by a couple of parishioners and they all had a chuckle and decided it would work. I think they missed the mark. People already think church just wants my money. Now the church is admitting it. Maybe I took it wrong initially. Maybe they really are exercising truth in advertising. They want your money.

Even worse (in my opinion) than that statement being posted, is they tend to leave the sign up for weeks. Last year they had an Easter sign. I don't remember what it said, but was worded very strangely. It was up for 6 weeks. Every time I drove by it, I thought how weird it was.

Some might argue this is great, I've thought about their Church everyday. I beg to differ. I thought about "that ridiculous sign church."

For more "inspirational" messages found on church signs...click here.

The long awaited update

I know many of my loyal readers are waiting on the edge of their seats to read what I have been up to over the last two weeks that would keep me away from updating my blog. Well, rather than give a boring account of the 480 hours since I last updated, I will do a photo update. Here we go!

This is at the MSP airport. The add is for my cosmetic dentist that did all my recent work.
Everything IS bigger in Texas! The first 24 hours we spent at my cousin's camel ranch 2 hours outside of Dallas.

Gimme kiss
Camels like carrots. Notice the size difference.


Don't try this at home. Nick is feeding a camel a carrot from his mouth.
They don't USUALLY spit.


Imagine this sight as you drive down the country road...Then we headed back to the "city" to see the in-laws.

mmmm....Green beer on St Patrick's Day....er...St Nathan's Day

Making faces with Uncle "Nit"

Awesome Cajun food at Buzzard Billy's in Waco Texas


Dr Pepper Museum in Waco Texas. We were going to visit the Branch Davidian Complex, but time and directions as they were, we didn't get to. Maybe next time.
The Fort Worth Zoo. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! 75 degrees and obviously sunny.


The 3 Schutz boys checking out the Rhino.
Yup, Texas is Wild!

After the zoo we went to eat at Uncle Julio's. They serve "fine mexican food"

After a busy week of spring breaking, we came home and tried to catch up with MN life. I had a Relay For Life meeting to prepare for. We got hit with about 5 inches of snow on the same day as my meeting. No worries, most people made it.

We also had the pleasure of hanging out with our niece, Micah. She stayed at our house Thursday night until Friday after work. This picture is Thursday night after a busy day of playing with some friends. We were ready for bed.

We also watched our "nephew dog" Buckley. Chester and Buckley spent some time playing.

This is Friday (Today) Morning. Notice I did take the time to comb and style Micah's hair in pig tails. They did not stay that way. This was my first real experience getting a 2 year old ready and out the door in a time frame that will get me to work on time. It was a success in that we got out the door. Not so much on time.

I left work early today so I could watch Micah. What a beautiful MN day to take off early. almost 60 degrees and mostly sunny. It was awesome. I picked up Micah from day care and we went to the park. She climbed up the play set....

and went down the slide all by herself. Over and over a few times. In both pictures she stopped to look at the camera and say cheese. Really, she said cheese.

This is how cool she is when she wears "Sha's" Sunglasses.

In the course of the last few days, Uncle Nicholas (or Uncle Nick) went from being Nit to Nick. I went from "Asha" or something like that to Sha. I guess my name is difficult to say when you are 2 years old.

So, thats about it. There was, of course, the Twins home opener, start of pot hole season and most of the snow has melted now. Good spring things.

Happy St Patricks Day!

Yup, today really IS St Patrick's Day. Well, kind of. If you are Catholic and celebrate Mass in honor of the Saints, the feast day for St Patrick will be held today. This of course is because of the conflict with Holy Week. Now, that doesn't mean that your favorite St Patrick's Day Festivities need to change. Only the feast day has been changed. We sill plan to celebrate green beer, beef and cabbage and everything else Irish we can think of. I am a tad bit Irish after all. I'm Irish all year, not just on March 17.

An Old Irish Blessing
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

I am the superstar!

Sunday evening Nick and I joined a classmate of his, and her boyfriend for dinner, studying biochemistry (i think) and playing the Wii. Now, of the 4 of us, I have played the least amount of video games in general.

We played Mario Party 8. Of the limited amount of gaming I have done, virtually none of it has been Mario anything. No Super Mario Bros, no Mario Kart, or any of the other countless Mario brand spin-offs. Not to mention, the first 7 Mario parties. If I am lucky, I was allowed to play one "world" where I was successful at jumping off something to my own death, or being destroyed by the "bad guys" in whatever level/world I was in. Apparently the point was to get to some mystical castle and save a princess....I had no idea. Anyway, all that to say, I have quite limited experience with Mario and his brother Luigi.

Well, I ended up being the winner, and therefore "THE Superstar" of the game. Yup. My strategy worked. I FINALLY did get a star. But mostly I spent the whole game traipsing around the board. I did a lot of moving around, which means I collected, and therefore ate, lots of candy. Based only on the merits of my success on the board, I was second or third. But then at the end they hand out "bonus stars." I traveled the most distance. Woohoo! accepting the ride on the water slide and DK barrel shot gun thing was worth it! and "eating" candy on almost every turn paid off! Go me!

Now, please don't misinterpret my description of the game for actually UNDERSTANDING what was happening. I don't. I kept thinking it was a lot like "the Game of Life" but you can't buy insurance. Anyway, it was fun, and hopefully Nick did well on the test he was studying for.

A Decade Ago

Today is the decade anniversary of my car accident. It seems like yesterday, and a million years ago at the same time. As is typical with life changing events, I've thought about this car accident quite a bit. At church, Pastor Ben has mentioned miracles several times. This has got me thinking even more about my car accident. Ben has mentioned when "miracles" happen, we tend to overlook them. Now, there is a bit more to it than that, but its the basics. Even when we do see them, overtime they go from "that was a miracle" to "we were lucky."

Well, for me, 10 years ago I thought I was lucky. Ok, it was probably like 10 years ago next week. 10 years ago today I was high on demerol and loving it. It took a week or so to sink in. I felt pretty lucky. People told me I was lucky. Now that it is 10 years later, I know I wasn't lucky. It was a miracle. It was a miracle that I didn't fly through the windshield. It was a miracle that after hitting the dashboard at 50 mph, I walked away, with injuries that were "easily fixed."

So here were are, 10 years, 7 oral surgeries, 5 sets of teeth and countless hours in a dentist chair later, and yes, I'm positive that this was a miracle. God obviously had something important for me to do.

the food, fun and fire

Nick has a classmate Zach, that likes to have "some friends over" as his parents put it. In reality, he invites the entire U of M pharmacy class of 2011 and their significant others. He invites them to his parents place in Lakeville. They live in the middle of nowhere, in Lakeville. Yeah, I guess it seems weird, but it does exist.

Zach's mom LOVES to cook and bake for everyone. (they had a similar party in November) This time she made pasta. We had pesto, mac and cheese, seafood lasagne, beef lasagne, spaghetti with meat sauce and salad. Awesome homemade bread and... the dessert spread...oh my! There were chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies with AND without nuts, oatmeal cookies with and with out nuts, almond bars and chocolate chunk cookies with and without nuts. She made the BEST chocolate chunk cookies EVER!!!

Now, this isnt just mom that enjoys entertaining, dad plays a pretty good host. It was like Thanksgiving with tables set up in every room possible. I felt a tad like I was at the kids table, but that was ok. Dad made sure to bring extra bread or whatever we needed downstairs. And he made sure to bring more wood to the bonfire for us. They are so very nice and wonderful hosts. Nick and I teased we were going to get a tent or a camper for a week and just stay on their property for a weeks vacation.

So, the younger, more "thrill seeking" kids spent a few hours sledding down the driveway hill onto and over "jumps" that were made by Zach. Nick and I prefered to keep our aging bodies toasty by the fire.

It was quite an evening that left us pretty tired by the time we got home at 10:30-a full hour past our regular bedtime.

On the schedule for today: legoland, dinner and golf at MOA.

Who doesn't love a day full of puppies and babies?

Sundays are usually church, football, (homework for Nick) and lazing about. Football is over. Now what am I going to do? Well, I decided we would hit up the "PetExpo" at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I like pets. Lets go! We spent about 2 1/2 hours there. It was pretty much what I expected. Lots of pet food vendors claiming their "all natural" food was the best there is. Everyone should feed all natural. Its the best thing for your dog.

I don't buy into the claim (for people or pets) that "all natural" means "all good" things. Arsenic is natural. It can very easily kill you. Bacteria are natural. Many of them will kill you. Anyway, my point is, "all natural" does NOT equal "good"

So I listened to a few spcheals about why their food was the best. Partly because I wanted some information on foods our clients see and will feed, partly because I wanted the free sample.

The Expo also had a large number of breed rescue groups. We got to see all shapes and sizes of dogs, fuzzy, and not. We also got to see 3 separate Greyhound booths. We got our Greyhound fix. We did go back a few times. If it weren't for our 12 hours away from home schedule right now, we would have gotten a Greyhound. Maybe a rottie. Nick got to see (in person, some for the first time) Great Danes and Pyrenees, pugs and shih tzu, Australian Cattle dogs, an English Springer and lots of Golden Retrievers.

So 2 hours of being submerged in all things pets/dogs was pretty fun. Nick doesn't work at a vet clinic, so he doesn't get to see all the different dogs like I do. I take that for granted I guess. I think he enjoyed that part too. We watched some "Frisbee dogs" and a little bit of "jumping into the water after a ball" dogs. Fun times.

We came home for a little bit and were invited to my in-laws for supper. A chance to visit our niece Micah, of course! At almost 23 months she is a little chatter box, and cute as can be. I loved that when we walked in and she was tantruming about something, she was excited to see us. She wanted me to hold her. She didn't want a book or a baby or her bunny, she just wanted to be held. So I did. We were talking about her day, and our day, and mentioned we got to see puppies, her face lit up. It may have been the puppy sounds Uncle Nicholas was making. While we were waiting to eat she brought over "Elmo book" and proceeded to climb up the couch and sit right between me and Nick. She went through the whole book. Then got another. and another. It never did get old.

We make a point to see her as often as we can. She has learned something new EVERY time we see her. She now says Sammy (the cat) instead of "Mimi." Buckley is still Bucbuc or baba. She picked up on puppy. Her most recent cute thing is her response to thank you. If you say thank you, to her or not, her response is "imelcome" or "mymelcome." As an almost 2 year old, NO or "MO" as she says it, is a favorite response. I don't think she knows what that means. When we ask for a hug and kiss when we leave, she almost always says mo, but we get them anyway.

Its amazing how a wonderful little niece and her entertaining antics can make an average day great. What a special little treasure she is.

And since I would hate to brag about her this much, and not put a recent picture up, here is one from December, the most recent we have.

Ode to the fish fry...

Friday night we decided to head out for some local pizza. The first place we were going to go was a take out place only, so we headed to the next one on the list. We came upon the "Red Barn." That is the VFW for those of you that aren't from around here. They do a fish fry every Friday. We decided to go.

We were a little uncertain how it all worked, but we asked a few questions and figured it out. It was pretty tasty stuff, but not quite like the fish frys of my youth. These were large breaded and fried cod filets rather than sunnies, but it was pretty good. And they had yummy tartar sauce. Likely homemade, with full fat mayo. Mmmm. They also offered baked fish, I don't recommend that.

So now we can cross fish fry at the Red Barn off the list. It was a neat experience.

wowsa!

Current temp is -5. Feels like -38. Thats about a 30 degree change in temp since yesterday. Its hard to believe that in this same place on July 15, 2006 it was 101 degrees, with a "feels like" temp of 110. Crazy Minnesota weather.

Deep Thoughts...

I have a blog counter thing. I admit it is really neat to see how many people visited my blog today. But at the same time, now I feel really bad that 9 people visited today, and I haven't updated in a little while. I like knowing people read my blog, but the guilt I now from not updating on a regular basis...wow. Thats a tough one.

Regarding the Super Bowl: I picked the team right. I was excited to see the Giants pull it off. I will admit, much to the surprise of many I'm sure, I didn't watch much of it. It was on in the other room. Nick and I spent the day with my parents. When the game kicked off, I was busy making egg rolls (fantastic by the way!) and Nick was going thru rescued old pictures with my mom. My dad and I both agreed, put your money on the Giants. They are the underdog after all. It was a toss up: a perfect team, to be talked about for a really, really, really long time, or to be so close to perfection, just to miss it by a few little points, and be talked about how close they were for a really, really, really long time. I didn't watch the game, the commercials or the presenting of the trophy, I only know the final score and my Giants pulled it off. Go Eli.

So my parents have a closing date set (it has already been moved though) for the house they want to buy. To sum it up, my mom is excited because "it needs work" which means she can make it anything she wants, that is within the budget. My dad thinks my mom was high when she decided she wanted this house. We got to see it on Sunday. It does need a lot of work. I guess it was a foreclosure. The prev owners appear to have lived like slobs. The floor was so gross! The stove looked like they never cleaned up the spills. They just waited for them to burn up and get black and crusty. MMMM, I want to eat off that stove. The downstairs "finished" basement had 2 bedrooms that had cement floors, no wood trim or frames around the doors or windows (yes, just holes cut in the sheet rock) and were BRIGHT pick and BRIGHT blue and green with a horse border. We called dibs on the pink room. There is also a bathroom downstairs. It doesn't have a toilet. I can see my mom's vision though. With a little hard work, patients and a LOT of elbow grease, the place will be awesome! At least no one died there.

Yesterday and Today have also been a bit frustrating for me. There have been issues going on with in the leadership for the Relay. I wont go into too much detail, mostly because it shouldn't be aired in this forum, but it does have me a little crabby. The sad thing is it makes me reconsider my desire to be part of something that ultimately is so wonderful. Its one of those things that I know this experience is something that make me learn, grow and ultimately be a better person, but sometimes I just can't handle when adults act like they are 5. Phew!

On a lighter, brighter note its 11pm and the temp is 28. Its great compared to the -44 with we had last week. Welcome back "global warming"

I think that about wraps up my ramblings for this evening.

Thank you to the many readers that bookmark my blog (hi Andy!) and make a point to read my ramblings and maybe even comment now and again.

A question..

to my loyal readers....

I'm wondering who it is that googles my name to find my blog. I know someone out there does...just curious as to who it is. I do appreciate people taking the time to read updates about my world. By the way, I was in the Cottage Grove paper last week. My picture was in there and everything! I'm famous!

In case you are wondering...

Tonight was the Relay For Life of Cottage Grove area kick off. In case any of you wanted to check out my personal fund raising web site, click here. Don't worry, I will be sending out emails to hit up everyone soon! Feel free to check it out.

1 day 'til kickoff

The Relay for Life of Cottage Grove Area is kicking off tomorrow! That means I will have my personal fund raising page up and running...and you can all look forward to donating! Yay! Anyway, If you want more info on how you can get involved, let me know!

I am making cookies for the kick off event. They are ribbon shaped with purple frosting. They are good.

This week I am also making a new recipe I got yesterday. Poppyseed chicken. It's very tasty. The 50g of fat per serving probably has something to do with that...but all things in moderation, right?

a much needed thaw

For those of you not keeping track, we have had almost a week of sub-zero temps. Yes, even the "highs" for the day were below or barely above zero. If you don't know how cold that is, its REALLY cold. On Friday it was starting to warm up. It was so "warm" in fact, you could step outside and not have your nose hairs instantly freeze. Yesterday was about the same. Today it is hovering around 32 degrees. The inch of snow we got yesterday morning is nice and slushy now. Tomorrow's forecast includes rain. Wednesday the forecast calls for a high of -1. Seems this global warming "early thaw" is going to be short lived. So goes life in MN. It is infact MN, it gets cold here.

Next Sunday is "The Big Game" (don't want to get in trouble for using a protected name) but I'm not that excited about it. On the one hand, it would be cool to see a team go 18-0 and be perfect. On the other had, I don't like Randy Moss and would rather it not be his team. On the other hand, I don't know that Eli and his team has what it takes to pull it off. On the other hand, the have gotten better, and the did almost pull it off last time...I think thats enough hands. My pick, Giants by 6.

Idol's back

American Idol is back. I'm not sure if I think this is good or bad. I like Idol, but at the same time, I don't need the reason to watch more TV. And really, the first few weeks are funny, but they do get a tad long. How many "worst auditions ever" can there be. The guy that waxed his chest...pretty creepy! And the "stalker" guy....CREEPY! Im excited that this year they are going to focus on "Who they are" and not on famous people talking to them. I do like Simon, usually. He could be a bit more soft and fuzzy, but then he would be Paula and throw off the whole balance of the show.

A Clean Bill of Health

For those of you that follow along and are concerned....Chester was at the vet yesterday. He, like many dogs and cats (and people) in their "golden years," has kind of a laundry list of issues. The first is the low Albumin level (serum protein) that we seemed to have ruled out all of the causes for, but haven't figured this out yet. The good news is his numbers are back up, close to normal. He seems to be pretty stable from that stand point. The other issue he has had lately is a front leg lameness. He limps pretty well on one of his front legs, we just couldn't figure out for sure which it was. The list of rule outs for a 10 year old dog is cancer, arthritis or soft tissue injury. There is no sign of cancer on his x-rays. He will be on pain medications for the rest of his life already, thanks to 2 knee surgeries, but don't think he will be like Dr. House popping a Vicodin every 3 or 4 hours. He will get his yummy chewable Rimadyl twice a day. He does like them. He ate 14 of them once. (i dont recommend this!) The other issue he was seen for was a decrease in appetite. If you know chester, or any of my pets, you know a missed meal is something noteworthy. For him to not gulp down his food the moment it hits the bowl...I get a little concerned. We again, didn't find anything to be concerned about right now. Don't get me wrong...he eats, just not with the enthusiasm we are used to from him. He also has bad breath with tartar on his teeth, he is starting to loose some muscle mass and has little lumps and bumps growing all over now. But these are all part of being a 10 1/2 year old Brittany.

an anniversary

Tonight Nick and I went to W.A. Frost to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of our engagement. 2 years ago tonight we got engaged. 2 years ago tonight the snow was slushy and melty and it was warmer than 1 degree.

A few things about tonight stand out for me. First, my husband can parallel park. As he will point out, it wasn't perfect on the very first try, but it was quite awesome. Me, not so much with the parallel parking. He says his brother's mutant power is the ability to parallel park.

Second - get the duck! Ive had duck a few other places and it has been ok, but this was awesome!

Third - we had a waiter that seemed to genuinely like his job. He wasn't hounding us every other minute, but paid enough attention for us to know he was still there. He made recommendations about the desserts, he kept the drinks adequately filled (but not so often that if you took a sip he refilled it) and he talked enough and made conversation enough to know he was still human and not just performing the tricks of a well trained waiter. I give him a 4.5 out of 5.

the other notable thing, both Nick and I have indents on our ring fingers from our wedding bands. neat.