Couple things...
-Dad, quit posting at 2:20AM and you might not get so frustrated. :)
-My parents are in Norway with my Aunt Pam. Uff da.
-Cousin Allie graduated from H.S. I feel old.
-Thanks to Pat for introducing to me to Adam Curry's podcast. I love it.
-MP3 players are just cool.
-I had to buy maternity pants.
-Mike has two weeks of school left. Yay!
-Today is Friday. I am happy. 3 more weeks and I have vacation.
-Today is Uncle Charlie's birthday. Happy Birthday!
-It is also my cousin Jenni's birthday and my cousin Ryan's birthday.
I have had a lot of time to think lately, as traffic has been particularly heavy. This time of year marks a date that I struggle with at times. June 10th was the day my step-sister Mary was killed in a car accident in 1991.
At the time, our parents weren't married, but we'd sure known each other long enough. I guess long enough to know that our parents would probably get married to each other eventually. We didn't always get along. Probably because we were so close in age and our maturity levels were different. She tended to act younger, I wanted to hang out with her older brother Matt. She still liked to play dolls at age 12, I was on to other things. But at 16, we had both gotten our licenses, it was almost summer, and we were starting to connect and looking forward to hanging out. I think a lot of it too was that our parents weren't forcing us to get together, but that we could do it on our own agenda.
Needless to say, losing someone at 16, who is the same age as you, was life altering and scary. It was unreal and threw me off course for a good 3 months. None of my friends knew what to say to me, they left me alone when I really needed them, and I was deathly afraid to sleep by myself that entire summer. Plus, my mother had to deal with her own grief, deal with me, and try her best to help Barry get through what was the most difficult time in his life.
I guess what struck me to write about this is a conversation I had with my uncle Charlie a few weeks ago. We were just chatting about stuff and started discussing dreams that people have about their loved ones that passed away. I had a number of good/bad ones about Mary for a year after she died. Charlie mentioned that he still remembered what he was doing and where he was when Pam called to tell him that Mary had died. It threw everyone.
When I drive down to Muscatine with Mike to visit his relatives, I have to drive that same stretch of road that Mary was killed on. They have now re-routed traffic and created a bypass around the city of New Hampton because there had been so many accidents attributed to that spot. And even though I know now that it's changed, I still subconsciously worry each time that Mike drives down there.
That day remains the hardest day of my life, with my grandmother's funeral ranking only second. My father splitting from my mother near Christmas is also on that list. But I can remember the details so vividly from that day it scares me. When I feel myself trying to recall June 10, 1991, I shut it down. The memories are too painful to even think about.
Overall, the reason I wrote this, was out of therapy. Yesterday I sat in my car on my way home from work and just cried for Mary. It's been 14 years, and a DAY does not go by that I don't think of her. And what got to me was how unfair, damn unfair, that she can't be here with me to celebrate turning 30. She's frozen at 16. I'm having this baby, and I wish she were here to have a family too and go through these milestones with me. We went to the cemetary to put in her urn on Memorial Day and I just couldn't stand it. I haven't felt this way for a long time, but the enormous burden of it all just came crashing down yesterday.
I miss her. And I guess I always will.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
"I can't breathe"
That's the latest pregnancy symptom I've experienced. I haven't been able to catch my breath all day, but apparently it's normal! Complete and total weirdness.
Things have been fairly busy at home and work lately. Mike is on the home stretch of school, with just 4 weeks left of classes. He will then have until August to complete his thesis. He's quite happy about all of this, as you can imagine! I have to say that I'm looking forward to having him home more often then he has been.
Two weeks ago I went down to Rochester for an overnight to go to my cousin Sara's shower for her son Jesse. I stopped at her house the day before the shower so that I could hang out and actually get to HOLD the child, since I knew he would be hogged by all the cousins and aunties at the shower the next day. He is growing, smiling, laughing, you name it. He's just about 9lbs, so he's definitely gaining the weight he needs. The shower was really fun and Sara received some really nice things. We shared our news that day as well, surprising a lot of people. Maybe they figured we weren't going to have kids at all?!? There was a time in my life where I had no interest in them!
Last weekend we stayed home, finally. We had to re-sod part of the front yard that Madison has burned out with her peeing. That was a very interesting job. Pulling up all the old dead grass was no fun at all. The challenge has been how to unload it. Our local compost pile wanted to charge $1 per bag to just BUY the bags to use, then charge $12 a POUND to take it. We are talking bags that way more then 20lbs, and we had 6 bags. So, Mike has them in his car today and is hauling them all the way up north in order to dump them in the woods on his Dad's property. What more can you do?
The sod itself is working, I think. Mike did a great job laying it, and now we are in the watering, watering, and more watering part. Madison hates that she can't be out front now, because when she goes out back, there isn't near enough stuff to look at! i.e. The neighbor dogs are out front where she wants to see them. Thankfully, our association gave us the opportunity to do this so that we didn't have to pay their ridiculous charges.
We also went to see Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith on Thursday last week. It wasn't awesome or anything, but a good flick and nice to see things all get wrapped up. I found Yoda to be his cool Jedi self, as always. I found Anakin's demise to the dark side quite fascinating, although they did rush it a bit. The saddest part to me is when Obi Wan is yelling to him, "You were the chosen one!" Of course, when Hayden Christensen first sat up in the Vadar costume, that was just the coolest thing in the world. It gave me goose bumps! Now, I want to go to Target and buy the Darth Vadar voice changer and mask.
This weekend I am heading to Rochester to hang out at home. My parents and Pam leave for Norway in a week, so I thought I'd spend some time with them before they go. I WISH to no end that I could go with them! Some day....
Otherwise, I'm just learning to deal with being pregnant, nauseous, and trying to do my job at work. This is a challenge at times, but the being sick part seems to be better. I've only thrown up once, the rest of the time I just don't feel well and I never realized a person could suddenly get so tired! I'm also eating a lot more then I'm used to, which is hard to realize. I often used to skip meals if I wasn't hungry, or just eat something small to tide me over. Not anymore! I have to eat regular, balanced meals. If I feel sick, I still have to eat something because my stomach makes noises and DEMANDS food. All this, and the kid is only the size of a kidney bean. (or so the experts say!)
That's life in for me right now....
That's the latest pregnancy symptom I've experienced. I haven't been able to catch my breath all day, but apparently it's normal! Complete and total weirdness.
Things have been fairly busy at home and work lately. Mike is on the home stretch of school, with just 4 weeks left of classes. He will then have until August to complete his thesis. He's quite happy about all of this, as you can imagine! I have to say that I'm looking forward to having him home more often then he has been.
Two weeks ago I went down to Rochester for an overnight to go to my cousin Sara's shower for her son Jesse. I stopped at her house the day before the shower so that I could hang out and actually get to HOLD the child, since I knew he would be hogged by all the cousins and aunties at the shower the next day. He is growing, smiling, laughing, you name it. He's just about 9lbs, so he's definitely gaining the weight he needs. The shower was really fun and Sara received some really nice things. We shared our news that day as well, surprising a lot of people. Maybe they figured we weren't going to have kids at all?!? There was a time in my life where I had no interest in them!
Last weekend we stayed home, finally. We had to re-sod part of the front yard that Madison has burned out with her peeing. That was a very interesting job. Pulling up all the old dead grass was no fun at all. The challenge has been how to unload it. Our local compost pile wanted to charge $1 per bag to just BUY the bags to use, then charge $12 a POUND to take it. We are talking bags that way more then 20lbs, and we had 6 bags. So, Mike has them in his car today and is hauling them all the way up north in order to dump them in the woods on his Dad's property. What more can you do?
The sod itself is working, I think. Mike did a great job laying it, and now we are in the watering, watering, and more watering part. Madison hates that she can't be out front now, because when she goes out back, there isn't near enough stuff to look at! i.e. The neighbor dogs are out front where she wants to see them. Thankfully, our association gave us the opportunity to do this so that we didn't have to pay their ridiculous charges.
We also went to see Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith on Thursday last week. It wasn't awesome or anything, but a good flick and nice to see things all get wrapped up. I found Yoda to be his cool Jedi self, as always. I found Anakin's demise to the dark side quite fascinating, although they did rush it a bit. The saddest part to me is when Obi Wan is yelling to him, "You were the chosen one!" Of course, when Hayden Christensen first sat up in the Vadar costume, that was just the coolest thing in the world. It gave me goose bumps! Now, I want to go to Target and buy the Darth Vadar voice changer and mask.
This weekend I am heading to Rochester to hang out at home. My parents and Pam leave for Norway in a week, so I thought I'd spend some time with them before they go. I WISH to no end that I could go with them! Some day....
Otherwise, I'm just learning to deal with being pregnant, nauseous, and trying to do my job at work. This is a challenge at times, but the being sick part seems to be better. I've only thrown up once, the rest of the time I just don't feel well and I never realized a person could suddenly get so tired! I'm also eating a lot more then I'm used to, which is hard to realize. I often used to skip meals if I wasn't hungry, or just eat something small to tide me over. Not anymore! I have to eat regular, balanced meals. If I feel sick, I still have to eat something because my stomach makes noises and DEMANDS food. All this, and the kid is only the size of a kidney bean. (or so the experts say!)
That's life in for me right now....
Friday, May 13, 2005
Oh, the times...they are a'changing.
In high school, I did a story for the school paper on the production the Drama club was doing on Frankenstein. As I learned more about the author, Mary Shelley, it fascinated me to find out that she wrote this story while she was pregnant. If you need background, think of it like this: creation of life, not knowing what will happen when you do, it could go great, it could go bad. You just have to have faith and courage as you begin the journey.
Well, Mike & I have embarked on that same journey. I'm happy to say that I'm 7 weeks pregnant and due January 6th.
In the same breath, I now also understand what all these millions of people have been talking about. Pregnancy is strange, exciting, and scary. I have never felt so many physical and emotional things at one time in my entire life.
And I could never have thought this many hormones running around in my body could produce the results they are. Basically, I have never felt so out of control of my body ever!
In high school, I did a story for the school paper on the production the Drama club was doing on Frankenstein. As I learned more about the author, Mary Shelley, it fascinated me to find out that she wrote this story while she was pregnant. If you need background, think of it like this: creation of life, not knowing what will happen when you do, it could go great, it could go bad. You just have to have faith and courage as you begin the journey.
Well, Mike & I have embarked on that same journey. I'm happy to say that I'm 7 weeks pregnant and due January 6th.
In the same breath, I now also understand what all these millions of people have been talking about. Pregnancy is strange, exciting, and scary. I have never felt so many physical and emotional things at one time in my entire life.
And I could never have thought this many hormones running around in my body could produce the results they are. Basically, I have never felt so out of control of my body ever!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Viva Las Vegas!
Yes, I'm completely behind on posting. I think it's the time of year with the weather and being busy. But, we're now back from our Vegas trip and I definitely wanted to post some comments and pictures of the event!
Before that, my brother was here for a nice long weekend a couple of weeks ago. We had a good time hanging out and even had a chance to go out one night with Mike, Dave and Charlie. A good time was had by all. And me being the only chick with my uncles, my husband and my brother was even more interesting! We also visited with the grandparents, celebrated Grandma Webb's 85th birthday, and were able to see the extended Garness clan as well.
In between, my cousin Sara was notified that her trip to Ethiopia to pick up Jesse was suddenly sped up and she had to leave within a week. They arrived home last night, so I'm anxious to hear how things went. Even more, we are very excited to see our new family member!
On to Vegas-we left late on Thursday night last week and got into Sin City at 11pm Pacific time. This means that it was 1 am Central, so I was whupped. Getting a ride to the hotel took awhile, checking in took longer, so when we dropped our bags onto the ratty carpet of our room at the Sahara (with iron marks on the carpet) it was now 12:30am PST. I went to bed. Mike did not! He stayed up and got acquainted with the hotel, took a short walk to the Straosphere (getting accidently side tracked on the wrong street and noticed "Asian Massage Parlors" and realized he better get the hell out of there!) and had a good time on his own.
We had breakfast at IHOP the next morning (believe it or not, we had never eaten there before and wanted to give it a try!) and headed for the strip. We went to the Stratosphere to take in the views, which were amazing. Mike even did one of the rides that hangs you out suspended over the side-crazy! He loved it. Then we headed down to the mid-strip via the new Monorail system.
Folks, Vegas has found a winner in building that Monorail. It's located behind the strip and has major stops at the Sahara, Hilton, Vegas Convention Center, Harrahs, Paris, and stops last at MGM. We used it for everything we could since the Sahara is at the north end and quite removed from everything. We bought 2 $20 ride passes that could be shared and it lasted us for the whole trip. Kudos to Vegas Public Transportation there!
We saw the Mirage, Treasure Island, Harrahs, pretty much mid-strip hotels. We headed to the Elvis-o-rama museum at this point (which took FOREVER to find and walk to) but it was well worth it. We took in a 1 hour concert and then toured the museum of stuff this guy has collected. Worth about 3 million dollars, there is stuff there that Graceland would probably like to get their hands on! The concert, however, was the highlight! This guy was amazing and did a first class tribute to the King. He sounded like him, sang like him, looked pretty close to him, and was very entertaining. At the end, he met people in the gift shop and I had my picture taken with him. I was on Cloud 9! (Mike laughed at me the whole time.)
That evening we went back down to the strip and got off at the Paris stop. That place is cool-Eiffel Tower, the whole bit. Then we went to watch the Bellagio Fountains. The fountains were beautiful and I could have stood there all night. We continued to walk up the strip and saw Caesars', many shops, The Mirage and it's volcano, Treasure Island and the ship, you name it. Vegas at night was a treat.
Saturday we spent most of the day at Hoover Dam. What to say? Really, a marvel. We had great weather and enjoyed getting out of the city for a bit.
Saturday night we went down to MGM Grand and New York, New York. We've decided that we'd like to stay down there next time because we loved the atmosphere. NY, NY has so much attention to detail, I don't know what more they could have done! Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, everything.
We went to the Venetian as well, and were so taken, again, with the details. I truly felt like I was in Venice with the gondolas and the canals. I think I liked it more then Mike because I wanted to stay there all night!
Also, at our hotel, we had the NASCAR Cafe, so we spent time eating supper there and watching the race Saturday night. That was super cool, but we booed Kurt Busch as much as possible since he is a Vegas native. Most of the bar was cheering for him!
Sunday we kept it low key and hung out at the pool. That night we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant (We even dressed up!) at Harrahs. Then, we finally were able to do some gambling at our hotel. In the course of about 1/2 hour, we lost a total of $45 in no time at all. That was enough for us, so we gave up.
Back to Minnesota early Monday where we picked up Madison in Zumbrota from Mom and Barry. She was spoiled and had a great time with grandpa and grandma! She was happy to see us though, and has stayed pretty close to me since we got home. Mike left for Iowa to spend the rest of his Spring Break there on Wednesday.
So, that was Vegas in a nutshell! Pictures posted above.
(Biggest Strip news was the opening this week of the new resort Wynn. This was created by Steve Wynn who built the Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Mirage. We think that the character Terry Benedict from Ocean's Eleven is based on him! Anyway, the new resort cost $235 BILLON to build. It's huge and stands out on the strip big time. His comment (after losing the Bellagio) was, "I'm going to build an even better hotel that will make the Bellagio look like a Motel 6." Scary, but he has!)
Yes, I'm completely behind on posting. I think it's the time of year with the weather and being busy. But, we're now back from our Vegas trip and I definitely wanted to post some comments and pictures of the event!
Before that, my brother was here for a nice long weekend a couple of weeks ago. We had a good time hanging out and even had a chance to go out one night with Mike, Dave and Charlie. A good time was had by all. And me being the only chick with my uncles, my husband and my brother was even more interesting! We also visited with the grandparents, celebrated Grandma Webb's 85th birthday, and were able to see the extended Garness clan as well.
In between, my cousin Sara was notified that her trip to Ethiopia to pick up Jesse was suddenly sped up and she had to leave within a week. They arrived home last night, so I'm anxious to hear how things went. Even more, we are very excited to see our new family member!
On to Vegas-we left late on Thursday night last week and got into Sin City at 11pm Pacific time. This means that it was 1 am Central, so I was whupped. Getting a ride to the hotel took awhile, checking in took longer, so when we dropped our bags onto the ratty carpet of our room at the Sahara (with iron marks on the carpet) it was now 12:30am PST. I went to bed. Mike did not! He stayed up and got acquainted with the hotel, took a short walk to the Straosphere (getting accidently side tracked on the wrong street and noticed "Asian Massage Parlors" and realized he better get the hell out of there!) and had a good time on his own.
We had breakfast at IHOP the next morning (believe it or not, we had never eaten there before and wanted to give it a try!) and headed for the strip. We went to the Stratosphere to take in the views, which were amazing. Mike even did one of the rides that hangs you out suspended over the side-crazy! He loved it. Then we headed down to the mid-strip via the new Monorail system.
Folks, Vegas has found a winner in building that Monorail. It's located behind the strip and has major stops at the Sahara, Hilton, Vegas Convention Center, Harrahs, Paris, and stops last at MGM. We used it for everything we could since the Sahara is at the north end and quite removed from everything. We bought 2 $20 ride passes that could be shared and it lasted us for the whole trip. Kudos to Vegas Public Transportation there!
We saw the Mirage, Treasure Island, Harrahs, pretty much mid-strip hotels. We headed to the Elvis-o-rama museum at this point (which took FOREVER to find and walk to) but it was well worth it. We took in a 1 hour concert and then toured the museum of stuff this guy has collected. Worth about 3 million dollars, there is stuff there that Graceland would probably like to get their hands on! The concert, however, was the highlight! This guy was amazing and did a first class tribute to the King. He sounded like him, sang like him, looked pretty close to him, and was very entertaining. At the end, he met people in the gift shop and I had my picture taken with him. I was on Cloud 9! (Mike laughed at me the whole time.)
That evening we went back down to the strip and got off at the Paris stop. That place is cool-Eiffel Tower, the whole bit. Then we went to watch the Bellagio Fountains. The fountains were beautiful and I could have stood there all night. We continued to walk up the strip and saw Caesars', many shops, The Mirage and it's volcano, Treasure Island and the ship, you name it. Vegas at night was a treat.
Saturday we spent most of the day at Hoover Dam. What to say? Really, a marvel. We had great weather and enjoyed getting out of the city for a bit.
Saturday night we went down to MGM Grand and New York, New York. We've decided that we'd like to stay down there next time because we loved the atmosphere. NY, NY has so much attention to detail, I don't know what more they could have done! Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, everything.
We went to the Venetian as well, and were so taken, again, with the details. I truly felt like I was in Venice with the gondolas and the canals. I think I liked it more then Mike because I wanted to stay there all night!
Also, at our hotel, we had the NASCAR Cafe, so we spent time eating supper there and watching the race Saturday night. That was super cool, but we booed Kurt Busch as much as possible since he is a Vegas native. Most of the bar was cheering for him!
Sunday we kept it low key and hung out at the pool. That night we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant (We even dressed up!) at Harrahs. Then, we finally were able to do some gambling at our hotel. In the course of about 1/2 hour, we lost a total of $45 in no time at all. That was enough for us, so we gave up.
Back to Minnesota early Monday where we picked up Madison in Zumbrota from Mom and Barry. She was spoiled and had a great time with grandpa and grandma! She was happy to see us though, and has stayed pretty close to me since we got home. Mike left for Iowa to spend the rest of his Spring Break there on Wednesday.
So, that was Vegas in a nutshell! Pictures posted above.
(Biggest Strip news was the opening this week of the new resort Wynn. This was created by Steve Wynn who built the Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Mirage. We think that the character Terry Benedict from Ocean's Eleven is based on him! Anyway, the new resort cost $235 BILLON to build. It's huge and stands out on the strip big time. His comment (after losing the Bellagio) was, "I'm going to build an even better hotel that will make the Bellagio look like a Motel 6." Scary, but he has!)
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
A Ramble from a Cluttered Mind
-at work our server has gone down too many times to count in the last week. My time has been occupied with this problem. Still no confirmed fix.
-watched the following movies this month: Stuck on You, Troy, Ray, Shrek2, and rented Collateral for this evening. All good movies, Ray sticks out as the best, by far.
-some parts of the state were pummeled with snow on Friday. Cottage Grove probably had 6-7 inches, nothing like the 20 plus that Rochester received.
-we received a notice from the Townhome Association that we needed to pick up our dog's feces. It's funny that we received this considering that we pick up her shit EVERY WEEK. Apparently, that's not good enough. And it's funnier yet when the people 2 doors down do not pick their dog's crap up at all! And when Madison eats most of what she puts out, it's make me scratch my head even more. My only guess is that the snow melting revealed some that we may have missed.
-my cousin Sara received word that a baby is available for her to adopt in Ethopia. She will go to pick him up some time the first week in May. He was born January 4th and his name is Esubalu. She is naming him Jesse Esubalu Seegmiller. She has one picture of him and he looks like a sweetheart.
-spending Easter in Babbitt with the Lemke's.
-watched the documentary "Supersize Me" last night. I don't eat much fast food anymore anyway, but after watching this I never want to eat it ever EVER EVER again! I highly reccomend renting it. (This is the guy that ate McDonalds for 3 meals a day for a month)
and that's all I can pull out of my ass for now!
-at work our server has gone down too many times to count in the last week. My time has been occupied with this problem. Still no confirmed fix.
-watched the following movies this month: Stuck on You, Troy, Ray, Shrek2, and rented Collateral for this evening. All good movies, Ray sticks out as the best, by far.
-some parts of the state were pummeled with snow on Friday. Cottage Grove probably had 6-7 inches, nothing like the 20 plus that Rochester received.
-we received a notice from the Townhome Association that we needed to pick up our dog's feces. It's funny that we received this considering that we pick up her shit EVERY WEEK. Apparently, that's not good enough. And it's funnier yet when the people 2 doors down do not pick their dog's crap up at all! And when Madison eats most of what she puts out, it's make me scratch my head even more. My only guess is that the snow melting revealed some that we may have missed.
-my cousin Sara received word that a baby is available for her to adopt in Ethopia. She will go to pick him up some time the first week in May. He was born January 4th and his name is Esubalu. She is naming him Jesse Esubalu Seegmiller. She has one picture of him and he looks like a sweetheart.
-spending Easter in Babbitt with the Lemke's.
-watched the documentary "Supersize Me" last night. I don't eat much fast food anymore anyway, but after watching this I never want to eat it ever EVER EVER again! I highly reccomend renting it. (This is the guy that ate McDonalds for 3 meals a day for a month)
and that's all I can pull out of my ass for now!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
I'm 30!
Holy crap, that number seems large. But, as of yesterday, I am no longer in my twenties. I'm not even pushing 30. I am now a 30 year old Elvis fan.
Thankfully, no one has teased me too bad. I received a few funny cards, but my family and friends were remarkably kind to me. Thanks one and all for remembering me on my birthday.
Saturday night we had a little get together at our place, nothing fancy. Last night we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. (YUM!) Mike gave me the following: 2 DVD set of The Best of Will Ferrell, 60 song Napster download card, and new headphones for my MP3 player. Very nice!
Mike's birthday is on Sunday, but he's only 29. The youngster. We are heading out to dinner tomorrow night to have a seafood buffet at the local casino to celebrate his day o birth.
Oh-forgot to report on our trip to Duluth 2 weeks ago. We had a great time with our friends. The guys all stayed at their friend Dave's house in Proctor while the gals (wives and girlfriends of the guys) hooked up and went to Canal Park. We had dinner at Old Chicago and then danced the night away at Grandma's. I felt old, compared to the all the 21 year olds. But, we all managed to get hit on at one point or another in the course of the evening. That always manages to boost your self-esteem!
We left Sunday morning at 9am in the middle of snowstorm. We drove to Rochester to pick Madison up and then fell asleep at home for the rest of the evening. I'm not used to getting only 4 hours of sleep after a night of partying. It's been many years since I've done that!
A good time was had by all. And I was told that I looked 23. I can't say I agree with that, but I appreciated the kind words (By some 27 year old guy on crutches who was hitting on me) just the same. :)
Holy crap, that number seems large. But, as of yesterday, I am no longer in my twenties. I'm not even pushing 30. I am now a 30 year old Elvis fan.
Thankfully, no one has teased me too bad. I received a few funny cards, but my family and friends were remarkably kind to me. Thanks one and all for remembering me on my birthday.
Saturday night we had a little get together at our place, nothing fancy. Last night we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. (YUM!) Mike gave me the following: 2 DVD set of The Best of Will Ferrell, 60 song Napster download card, and new headphones for my MP3 player. Very nice!
Mike's birthday is on Sunday, but he's only 29. The youngster. We are heading out to dinner tomorrow night to have a seafood buffet at the local casino to celebrate his day o birth.
Oh-forgot to report on our trip to Duluth 2 weeks ago. We had a great time with our friends. The guys all stayed at their friend Dave's house in Proctor while the gals (wives and girlfriends of the guys) hooked up and went to Canal Park. We had dinner at Old Chicago and then danced the night away at Grandma's. I felt old, compared to the all the 21 year olds. But, we all managed to get hit on at one point or another in the course of the evening. That always manages to boost your self-esteem!
We left Sunday morning at 9am in the middle of snowstorm. We drove to Rochester to pick Madison up and then fell asleep at home for the rest of the evening. I'm not used to getting only 4 hours of sleep after a night of partying. It's been many years since I've done that!
A good time was had by all. And I was told that I looked 23. I can't say I agree with that, but I appreciated the kind words (By some 27 year old guy on crutches who was hitting on me) just the same. :)
Monday, February 28, 2005
Oscar
Can someone please give Martin Scorsese an award?? For God's sake, this guy made such movies as GoodFellas, Taxi Driver, and now The Aviator. Yet he's never won an Oscar. I think he deserves one by now. I'm not saying Clint Eastwood isn't worthy (and I didn't see Millon Dollar Baby) but Marty deserves to be honored!
I'm a fan of the Oscars, but Beyonce singing 3 songs this year put me over the edge. Icky.
Jamie Foxx winning for Ray, awesome! Morgan Freeman, awesome! Cate Blanchett-she WAS Katherine Hepburn, it was startling. Just as Jamie Foxx did as Ray. As Gary Busey said when he did The Buddy Holly Story: "The spirit of Buddy was just in me. I've never had an experience playing someone where I felt that happen." (Yes, we all know Gary is a little out there, but I'm a big believer when someone nails a part like these people did.)
Yo-Yo Man performing his song while they played the annual 'who died' this past year was great. That's always my favorite part to watch because sometimes you miss out on who passed away in the course of a year. The only surprise I had was actor Paul Winfield.
Beyond that, I'm recovering from a hard hit cold that's had me down for quite a few days. I think I'm seeing the light of day today.
Can someone please give Martin Scorsese an award?? For God's sake, this guy made such movies as GoodFellas, Taxi Driver, and now The Aviator. Yet he's never won an Oscar. I think he deserves one by now. I'm not saying Clint Eastwood isn't worthy (and I didn't see Millon Dollar Baby) but Marty deserves to be honored!
I'm a fan of the Oscars, but Beyonce singing 3 songs this year put me over the edge. Icky.
Jamie Foxx winning for Ray, awesome! Morgan Freeman, awesome! Cate Blanchett-she WAS Katherine Hepburn, it was startling. Just as Jamie Foxx did as Ray. As Gary Busey said when he did The Buddy Holly Story: "The spirit of Buddy was just in me. I've never had an experience playing someone where I felt that happen." (Yes, we all know Gary is a little out there, but I'm a big believer when someone nails a part like these people did.)
Yo-Yo Man performing his song while they played the annual 'who died' this past year was great. That's always my favorite part to watch because sometimes you miss out on who passed away in the course of a year. The only surprise I had was actor Paul Winfield.
Beyond that, I'm recovering from a hard hit cold that's had me down for quite a few days. I think I'm seeing the light of day today.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Not much going on
Happy belated 16th birthday to my niece, Alissa. Way to go on the permit!
It reminded me of when I got my license. I spent the whole day driving around Rochester, just because I could. It also reminded my parents of when I was learning to drive and how they thought we were all going to die.
Nice.
Mike and I are leaving for Duluth tomorrow to visit some friends. The guys are playing poker, the wives are all staying a hotel. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but probably just hang out. Madison is on her way to Rochester to hang with Grandpa and Grandma Dahl. Hopefully she isn't a terror!
I've noticed that she is getting much better in the behavior column. I no longer worry if she goes downstairs while I'm upstairs. I might check on her a time or two, but she seems to be staying away from the countertops and tables. Plus, I think we're getting better at keeping things that are alluring to her off those same spots. She might not be able to be left alone for a long time, but at least it's better.
Work has been challenging this week. I thought by going on vacation that it would give me a nice break away from everything so that I could come back refreshed. I did, but it only lasted about 3 days. Frustrations. I'm glad it's Friday. And we have Monday off for President's Day too.
My parents came up last Friday night and brought with them a leather couch purchased from my mom's boss. The basement now is looking like a real living room because all the extra furniture keeps getting sent down there! The couch is nice and it does brighten up the living room. I also bought curtains and a curtain rod for the bedroom, which gives it a nice finished look about it. Things are slowly coming together.
Otherwise, things are pretty quiet. (I finished Willie Nelson's Autobiography the other night. Written in 1988, it was good. I have found that Willie is drop dead hilarious. And a damn smart guy.) On to the stack of books waiting to be read!
Happy belated 16th birthday to my niece, Alissa. Way to go on the permit!
It reminded me of when I got my license. I spent the whole day driving around Rochester, just because I could. It also reminded my parents of when I was learning to drive and how they thought we were all going to die.
Nice.
Mike and I are leaving for Duluth tomorrow to visit some friends. The guys are playing poker, the wives are all staying a hotel. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but probably just hang out. Madison is on her way to Rochester to hang with Grandpa and Grandma Dahl. Hopefully she isn't a terror!
I've noticed that she is getting much better in the behavior column. I no longer worry if she goes downstairs while I'm upstairs. I might check on her a time or two, but she seems to be staying away from the countertops and tables. Plus, I think we're getting better at keeping things that are alluring to her off those same spots. She might not be able to be left alone for a long time, but at least it's better.
Work has been challenging this week. I thought by going on vacation that it would give me a nice break away from everything so that I could come back refreshed. I did, but it only lasted about 3 days. Frustrations. I'm glad it's Friday. And we have Monday off for President's Day too.
My parents came up last Friday night and brought with them a leather couch purchased from my mom's boss. The basement now is looking like a real living room because all the extra furniture keeps getting sent down there! The couch is nice and it does brighten up the living room. I also bought curtains and a curtain rod for the bedroom, which gives it a nice finished look about it. Things are slowly coming together.
Otherwise, things are pretty quiet. (I finished Willie Nelson's Autobiography the other night. Written in 1988, it was good. I have found that Willie is drop dead hilarious. And a damn smart guy.) On to the stack of books waiting to be read!
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Calmed Down
I'm back from my trip, the work move is done, things are finally starting to look normal again. I'm thrilled!
My trip to NY was great. I left on Wednesday, the 2nd and arrived in Binghamton around 9pm. I was greeted by a young lady who was very dressed up, wearing funky sunglasses, and holding a sign that said, "Taybe."
"Huh." I thought. That's a different name. Then I started thinking, 'I wonder where Pat and Alissa are?' No one was around at all.
It hit me. The young lady dressed up was Alissa, looking oh, about 25. And the sign she was holding was referring to my imaginary friend Taybe!!!!!
They got me. Pat was standing around the corner laughing his head off. I was just totally in another frame of mind, not paying attention to my surroundings, and they nailed it to me good!!
Kudos to them.
Thursday was a nice day for me to sleep in and relax while they went to work and school. Pat and I hung out in the afternoon and greeted the girls from school. Alissa's boyfriend Nick came over for dinner that night. As I told him later (jokingly, but I meant it too!) he is a fine young man. He and Alissa have very similar personalities and get along well. And I was also impressed with how he related to Paige and actually talked and joked with her. He also did not have a problem with talking to any of the adults. (Can I call myself an adult?) Good kid.
Friday morning the girls headed off to school, while Pat, Lyn and I went to an assembly at Paige's school. They do this monthly. The coolest thing was the kids had been collecting money to try to raise $188 for a school kit to donate to the tsunami relief effort. This one kit can service 80 kids. However, the kids raised $1000! It was so neat-they were all very proud. A community service program in Greene also decided to match the funds, so they were able to send a total of $2000 to UNICEF. How awesome is that? And this is just grades 3-5!
Pat and I headed off to Cooperstown afterwards, to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This was my third trip, and just something I wanted to do. I had not been there since Kirby Puckett was inducted in 2001, so it was nice to see his plaque, with Dave Winfield's, up on the wall. Granted, Kirby is no longer held in as high esteem as he once was, but he is still my favorite ball player. The hall is going through some changes and renovations. There weren't as many exhibits as there usually are. I suspect this is a good time of year for them to make their updates and prepare for the summer months. Still, always a cool experience. And Cooperstown is just a great town to go visit.
Friday night we watched the Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington. AWESOME movie. Freaky. The kind that really makes you stop and think. Keeps you guessing. Highly recommend! Saturday we watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen with Lindsey Lohan. It was a little questionable at first (this was more of a Paige movie) but it ended better then I thought it would. Cute movie over all.
Saturday Alissa had dance class, so I was able to catch her practicing for her recital next week. It was so cool to see her strut her stuff! Very impressive, and I'm glad to see both girls becoming so involved in dance.
We made a trip to Barnes and Noble while waiting Alissa was at class. Again, this place is dangerous for all of us Webb's. We love books WAY too much. But, as I said to them, at least we are spending our money on books, not booze. Well, unless you count Pat and Lyn's wine collection. :)
Saturday evening we ate at the Spiedie pit in Binghamton. (Yummy.) Spiedies are marinated meat (chicken, beef, pork) on a sandwich. However, you must use the special Spiedie sauce and grill the meat on kabobs. It's then pulled off on to a bun. We have long been out of the marinade at our house, so I made sure to stock up on a few bottles before I left.
My flight back on Sunday sucked. Philly was packed, the flight to Mpls delayed. I didn't get home until after 7pm, about 2 hours later then I should have. I slept in, went into work at noon, and commenced the office expansion move that evening at 5pm. Got home at 9pm. We're still working out the bugs of the move, buying cords, etc. But it went smooth and I was much better equipped to deal with things having come back relaxed and refreshed.
Now, it's back to doing the things I've been putting on the back burner at home and at work!
And, thanks to Pat & Lyn for feeding me and letting me come to visit and relax. I needed the family time and the away time!
I'm back from my trip, the work move is done, things are finally starting to look normal again. I'm thrilled!
My trip to NY was great. I left on Wednesday, the 2nd and arrived in Binghamton around 9pm. I was greeted by a young lady who was very dressed up, wearing funky sunglasses, and holding a sign that said, "Taybe."
"Huh." I thought. That's a different name. Then I started thinking, 'I wonder where Pat and Alissa are?' No one was around at all.
It hit me. The young lady dressed up was Alissa, looking oh, about 25. And the sign she was holding was referring to my imaginary friend Taybe!!!!!
They got me. Pat was standing around the corner laughing his head off. I was just totally in another frame of mind, not paying attention to my surroundings, and they nailed it to me good!!
Kudos to them.
Thursday was a nice day for me to sleep in and relax while they went to work and school. Pat and I hung out in the afternoon and greeted the girls from school. Alissa's boyfriend Nick came over for dinner that night. As I told him later (jokingly, but I meant it too!) he is a fine young man. He and Alissa have very similar personalities and get along well. And I was also impressed with how he related to Paige and actually talked and joked with her. He also did not have a problem with talking to any of the adults. (Can I call myself an adult?) Good kid.
Friday morning the girls headed off to school, while Pat, Lyn and I went to an assembly at Paige's school. They do this monthly. The coolest thing was the kids had been collecting money to try to raise $188 for a school kit to donate to the tsunami relief effort. This one kit can service 80 kids. However, the kids raised $1000! It was so neat-they were all very proud. A community service program in Greene also decided to match the funds, so they were able to send a total of $2000 to UNICEF. How awesome is that? And this is just grades 3-5!
Pat and I headed off to Cooperstown afterwards, to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This was my third trip, and just something I wanted to do. I had not been there since Kirby Puckett was inducted in 2001, so it was nice to see his plaque, with Dave Winfield's, up on the wall. Granted, Kirby is no longer held in as high esteem as he once was, but he is still my favorite ball player. The hall is going through some changes and renovations. There weren't as many exhibits as there usually are. I suspect this is a good time of year for them to make their updates and prepare for the summer months. Still, always a cool experience. And Cooperstown is just a great town to go visit.
Friday night we watched the Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington. AWESOME movie. Freaky. The kind that really makes you stop and think. Keeps you guessing. Highly recommend! Saturday we watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen with Lindsey Lohan. It was a little questionable at first (this was more of a Paige movie) but it ended better then I thought it would. Cute movie over all.
Saturday Alissa had dance class, so I was able to catch her practicing for her recital next week. It was so cool to see her strut her stuff! Very impressive, and I'm glad to see both girls becoming so involved in dance.
We made a trip to Barnes and Noble while waiting Alissa was at class. Again, this place is dangerous for all of us Webb's. We love books WAY too much. But, as I said to them, at least we are spending our money on books, not booze. Well, unless you count Pat and Lyn's wine collection. :)
Saturday evening we ate at the Spiedie pit in Binghamton. (Yummy.) Spiedies are marinated meat (chicken, beef, pork) on a sandwich. However, you must use the special Spiedie sauce and grill the meat on kabobs. It's then pulled off on to a bun. We have long been out of the marinade at our house, so I made sure to stock up on a few bottles before I left.
My flight back on Sunday sucked. Philly was packed, the flight to Mpls delayed. I didn't get home until after 7pm, about 2 hours later then I should have. I slept in, went into work at noon, and commenced the office expansion move that evening at 5pm. Got home at 9pm. We're still working out the bugs of the move, buying cords, etc. But it went smooth and I was much better equipped to deal with things having come back relaxed and refreshed.
Now, it's back to doing the things I've been putting on the back burner at home and at work!
And, thanks to Pat & Lyn for feeding me and letting me come to visit and relax. I needed the family time and the away time!
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