SUN, Blessed Be the Sun
We have 4 straight days of good weather-today being the 2nd day. After all the rain we have had, I can't tell you how great this feels!
I had inquiry today from awesome TMer friend/former co-worker Jeannette as to whether blogging was something she should give a try. Since she is spending her summer in Hawaii housesitting, I told her that we, the dorks in MN, would want to hear all about her adventures in the beautiful Aloha state! After giving her 2 good examples of blogs, I hope to welcome her soon.
This week we hit our first milestone in the pregnancy-Mike and I heard the heart beat of the baby! It was very cool and made it seem so much more real. Mike announced that I have an 'alien' in my stomach. :) The first signs of a belly are starting. Very small, but I can definitely notice how the flab just isn't there anymore because it's starting to stretch and get tight! My energy level is starting to come back somewhat, and the nausea has taken a good backseat for the most part.
Madison began a 3 week refresher class called Better Dog 1.5-she has much to remember! We had an enjoyable first class on Wednesday with only 2 other doggie classmates. This will make for more attention and hopefully better results. The two other dogs are a 10 month old mix of spaniel and something really large, like a doberman. His name is Henry and weighs 70lbs, and is HUGE. The other is a little terrier/poodle mix, cutest face, 10 months too, name Maggie. Madison likes them both and wants to play of course! We hope to work on the jumping issue because we are concerned about that with the baby coming. She loves to jump on the neighbor kids because they are closer to her size.
Mike's big thrill this week was meeting one of his sports heroes, NASCAR drive Rusty Wallace! Rusty is retiring after this season and is making his "last call" tour around the US. Mike was able to get his autograph, shake his hand, and have his picture taken. It was very cool for him and I'm glad that I found out about it at the last minute!
This weekend we are driving down to Albert Lea to a 30th birthday party for a college friend. Otherwise, we'll be picking up Mom, Barry and Pam at the airport on Sunday evening where they'll return from their 2 weeks in Norway. I spoke with Mom on Monday and they sound like they are having an amazing time. The highlight so far had been that they were able to hold the violin of their great-grandfather, Benedik Thoreson, who was a famous fiddler in Norway. Mom searched for him for 5 long years and the rewards have been worth it. Probably the best reward was when Mom finally received a photo of Benedik, she showed it to her Uncle Ernest, who had never met his grandfather. Ernest just stood and stared at the photo with tears in his eyes and then said, "Thank you so much." Then he joked, "He was pretty handsome too!" Mom has said many times how much that moment made everything worth it. And now, holding the fiddle, there is just no comparing!
My grandfather turned 90 years old on Monday. What a milestone! Pat told me last night that Paige had said, "Well, now maybe he can make 100 his goal!"
Paige has been asking also what everyone thinks I'm going to have-a boy or a girl. It's so cute that she is excited about this!
We are in the process of picking out names and have come up with the girl name, and down to 3 boy names so far. Anyone that wants to send suggestions (Serious ones-not Seymour Butts or something) we'll be happy to hear them! Uncle Tom has already let us know that Tom is a great name! :)
And I'm excited to listen to the Podcast, 5 minutes with Witchita, which I downloaded today. I'm already really liking Adam Curry's Sourcecode a lot.
Congrats to Molly and Paul for a successful Bonnaroo 2005-I enjoyed reading about your adventures!
Have a great weekend everyone. Happy Father's Day!