Friday, October 3, 2008

Random Thoughts

  • I found out that they are discontinuing my favorite sandwich at our local coffee shop. And my favorite bread. Bummer. (The owner told me he'll work on a new favorite sandwich for me.)
  • Megan is doing an awesome job of adjusting to school and being 500 miles away. She even has a great attitude about living in the smallest room in the "Ghetto Dorm." She's getting involved in Navigators and a church and Bible study and making new friends. Yay!
  • I miss her terribly.
  • Caleb is sailing right through college. In Love. So Sweet. Has no hair. Hmmm... Loves playing that guitar we gave him on a "whim" when he was 13. He leads worship for Navigators and is on the worship team for his church. And last Sunday? HE SANG A SOLO IN CHURCH! In front of everybody! I was so amazed I cried. (what a mom, huh?) He sang a song called Pour Out. Go here to listen to Shawn McDonald sing it.
  • I miss him terribly.
  • Caleb's girlfriend, Amanda, got accepted into medical school. She is very excited and we are excited for her.
  • We had a great road-trip to Kansas. The time on the road was sweet.
  • My dear husband says he likes being with me. I like being with him, too. Whew. Good thing.
  • My favorite TV show is Jon & Kate Plus 8. Cannot get enough of those adorable kids. I've watched the same episodes many times.
  • My other favorite TV show is The Office. It makes me happy and make me laugh.
  • I'm loving the cool temps and the fall colors. What I don't like about fall is the fact that winter comes next. And up here it comes cold and long. **Sigh**
  • I am weary of the political commercials. Aren't we all? When I was watching TV the other afternoon I saw a commercial that had a baby eating a bowl of spaghetti. That was it. Across the bottom of the screen was a timer and the words "A break from the political commercials." It lasted for 30 seconds. It made me laugh!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

You Know You're a Minnesotan If...

I have only lived in Minnesota for 7 years, so I don't really consider myself a Minnesotan, but I have observed much of this while living here. This is quite amusing.

You measure distance in minutes.

Weather is 80% of your conversation.

Down south to you means Iowa.

You call highways "freeways."

Snow tires came standard on your car.

You have no concept of public transportation.

75% of your graduating high school class went to the Univ. of Minnesota.

You know more than 1 person that has hit a deer.

People from other states love to hear you say words with "o"s in them.

You know what and where "Dinkytown" is.

"Perkins" was a popular hangout option in high school.

You have no problem saying or spelling "Minneapolis."

You can list all the "Dales."

You hate "Fargo" but realize that a lot of your family has that accent.

You get mad at people who think Fargo is in Minnesota.

Your school classes have been canceled because of snow or cold.

You know what Mille Lacs is and how to spell it.

You assume when you say "The Cities" people know where you are referring to.

You know what the numbers 694, 494, I-94, 394 mean.

You have tried boiled fish in lye at Christmas.

You know the 2 sports-related reasons why we hate Dallas.

Nothing gets you madder than seeing a Green Bay sticker on a MN car.

You know what "uff-da" means and how to use it properly.

You can pinpoint exactly where each scene in "Untamed Heart" was filmed.

You can spot the three-second cameo appearance by "The Artist formerly Known as Prince" in "Fargo."

You're a loyal Target shopper.

You've licked frozen metal.

The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks or to fish.

You own an ice house, a snowmobile, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

You wear shorts when it's 50 degrees outside in March, but bundle up and complain in August when it goes below 60.

You know people that have more fishing poles than teeth.

You remember WLOL.

It feels like the Mississippi is everywhere you go.

When you talk about "opener" you are not talking about cans.

You have gone Trick-or-Treating in 3 feet of snow.

You know that when it comes to AM, there is only WCCO, besides, what else do you need?

You know what the word SPAM stands for (in more ways than one)

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You drink "POP," not "SODA"

There was a time when you were SO proud that Soul Asylum is from MN

In a conversation you heard someone say "yah, sure, you betcha" and you didn't laugh.

Everyone you know has a cabin.

You get sick of people asking you where Paisley Park is.

You know that Lake Wobegon isn't real and you know who made it up, where they live, and exactly what to do about it.

You have friends who schedule their wedding in the middle of January without a thought about weather conditions.

You may not have actually eaten it, but you have heard of Lutefisk.

Someone mentions Old Hubie or the Humph, and you know exactly who they mean.

You like the Winter Olympics better than the Summer Olympics.

You beam with pride when some King or Hollywood super star comes to the Mayo Clinic to save their lives.

You have ever worn shorts and a parka at the same time.

You have either a pet or a child named "Kirby."

Your town has an equal number of bars and churches.

You know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, and Shakopee.

You grew up thinking rice was only for dessert.

You never had to rewind any part of "Fargo" because you missed some of the dialogue.

You always believed that vacation meant "going up north."

Your bank has the name of your town included in its name.

The temperature in March is above freezing for three days in a row, and you think it's summer.

You laugh out loud every time you see a news report about a blizzard shutting down the entire east coast.

The first time you saw "Grumpy Old Men" you thought it was a documentary.

Your state's pro football team beats San Francisco, but loses to Tampa Bay.

You've been made fun of for your northern accent.

You've been to an ice hockey game.

You've been snowmobiling.

You know how the wind chill factor works.

You constantly make fun of Iowa.

You keep an ice scraper in your back seat.

You call the childhood game "Duck, duck, gray duck."

You've ever built a snowman.

You consider 50 degrees in March a warm day.

You make fun of Wisconsin people.

You know where yellow snow comes from.

You know at least one person in your imediate family hate the "Packers."

You "go to the cabin" on the weekends during the summer.

You've ever taken a family vacation to either North or South Dakota.

You're still mad at the LA Lakers for not changing their name.

You or your family owns a snow blower.

You, your dad, or a close friend has a snow plow on the front of their pick up truck.

You expect school cancellations and delays to happen at least twice a winter.

You still hear/tell stories about the "Halloween Snow Storm" of 91.

You've been in, on, or near a lake within the past week.

You know the names of the Twin Cities.

You've been to the city of Duluth.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Good News

We just returned from a great weekend visiting BOTH kids at the SAME school. It was so good to see them.

More on the weekend later.

But the Really Good News is we stayed in the same hotel we did in August. Thankfully I had NO trouble with the elevator like last time.

Okay, our room was on the ground floor this time. :)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

On Letting Go

Been thinking on this whole letting-go-of-my-kids-thing.

Some days I feel like I got fired from a job I loved and even got decent performance reviews.
But at the same time I really understand how this is all a process and that God is working through it.

I have exchanged some emails with a sweet friend of mine. She talked about how mothers start letting go of their children from the time of birth.

That made me remember how much I missed feeling my babies move inside me after they were born. I SO LOVED feeling the wiggles, kicks and hiccups. Then they were born, and I was never to feel that again.

But it was a good thing that they were born.

That was part of God's plan. And it
is good. And I got to experience the wonderfulness of the baby. They snuggles, giggles, laughs, smiles and not to mention all those "firsts" in their little lives. So, if I had kept that baby inside me so I could feel it move, I would have missed out on SO much.

I understand how my kids growing up and leaving home and someday marrying is part of God's good plan. Like the thought of keeping that baby inside me, if my kids don't leave home, I would miss out on the wonderfulness that they are and who God is growing them into being.

The process is painful, like giving birth, but it is necessary.

Oh so necessary.

If the baby was never born, that would not be healthy. If my kids don't launch into the world and I try to keep them tied to me physically, emotionally or financially, that is not healthy and would keep them from becoming the people that God intends for them to be.

(Some of the following are inspired by my sweet friend and new mommy, Rachel.)

I see my purpose right now as trying to give them a good start -- just like when they were conceived and then born into my arms. My children are a gift entrusted to me by God. Their dad and I have a part in their existence, but God gave them spirit and life. They are ultimately God's -- just as we all are.

My kids will follow God, leave us and do things that scare us, worry us, hurt us, and confuse us. But they are God's kids and they have to follow His path for them.

So while this process sucks sometimes right now, I want for them to be adults who serve God with their whole hearts and are WHOLLY devoted to their spouse and children. An unhealthy connection to me or their dad would so totally hinder that.

(Thanks Rachel for the thought and inspiration. I hope this makes some sense.)

Monday, September 22, 2008

The Weekend Happenings

Friday-
  • Made plans to visit friends who have a brand new baby.
  • Headed to Target to find cute, tiny clothes for The Brand New Baby.
  • That trip was filled with remarks from me that mostly contained the words, Oh How Cute!
  • After the grueling shopping trip for adorable baby clothes, we refueled with scrumptious frozen custard. Oreo Overload? Oh so yummy and not really an overload because it really is impossible to overload on Oreos.
Saturday-
  • Quiet morning at home.
  • Lunch of leftover casserole. (excuse me -- Hotdish here in the North Country)
  • Worked on putting together a hooded towel for Brand New Baby. (It took all of 15 minutes)
  • Headed into the Big City
  • Enjoyed an extremely good Chinese meal.
  • We knew this was a good Chinese restaurant from two quick observations. 1. The ducks and chickens hanging right inside the door 2. The fact that there were far more Asian people eating at the restaurant than Caucasians. We'll take the kids to experience this place for sure!
  • We had a fantastic visit with the new mommy and daddy and Baby Titus.
  • I loved holding a Brand New Baby. So tiny. So sweet. (Even when he filled his diaper while I was holding him...)
Sunday --
  • Went to church.
  • Hugs from sweet friends.
  • Had wonderful worship.
  • Heard an amazing sermon on Philipians 1:12-26. Title How To Avoid "Hobby" Christianity.
  • Gotta love a preacher who isn't afraid to preach The Truth.
  • Lunch at a pizza place where we joined (okay invited ourselves) two other couples from church. Fun.
  • Evening with a young couple from church where we talked about marriage.
  • Trying to help them learn to work as a team.
  • Thanked God for His powerful work in our marraige.
  • Indulged in ice cream with homemade Hot Fudge. YUM!

Good Weekend With My Best Friend.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Happy Birthday Zach!

Is it okay that I'm a day late with this? Hope you had a great birthday!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

A List -- Just For Fun! (sorry Megan)

Copy and paste the list, then bold the things you have done. Like so:


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain (LOVE the view from the top.)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula (Are you kidding? I was at a friend's house where they had one, but I wouldn't even go look at it!)

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (May I add that we are married?)

08. Said “I love you” and meant it (Many, many times. And I won't stop!)

09. Hugged a tree (but am not an environmentalist)

10. Bungee jumped (oh, no. no. no. no. and no.)

11. Visited Paris (So much fun!)

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I’ve seen one from an airplane!)

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights (Beautiful!)

15. Gone to a huge sports game (Does Major League Baseball count? I’ve been to three different Major League ballparks)

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper (more than I can count...)

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon (on my list of things I’d love to do!)

22. Watched a meteor shower (Only in season of course…)

23. Gotten tipsy on champagne

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (does front row of my in-laws’ church count as a “worst possible moment?”)

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight (Hello... I grew up in Iowa!)

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can (Used to do it in college quite often to release stress)

32. Held a lamb (I've touched one...)

33. Seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon

34. Ridden a roller coaster (been a long time, though…)

35. Hit a home run (ummm.. I'd have to actually hit the ball
with the bat, right?)

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (most moments)

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states (I've been to about 34)

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had/Have amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (does a teenager -- when I was one -- in Canada count?)

44. Watched whales (Off of Cape Cod and New Zealand. New Zealand was amazing!!!)

45. Stolen a sign (In high school. We moved For Sale signs and put a bunch of them in someone’s yard.)

46. Backpacked in Europe (I wore a backpack in Europe...)

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing (Nope, but I’ve been repelling)

49. Midnight walk on the beach (Does just night-time count?)

50. Gone sky diving (I am not crazy)

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (more than once)

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them (Bennihanna’s and in Asia and on a cruise ship)

54. Visited Japan (Does being at the Tokyo airport countless times – even spending the night at an airport hotel count?)

55. Milked a cow (Megan did in New Zealand!)

56. Alphabetized your cds (And my spices. It's a gift. And a curse.)

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Played touch football (I don’t exactly remember… but I’m pretty sure I did in PE in Jr. High or High School)

61. Gone scuba diving (I got certified in high school)

62. Kissed in the rain (I'm married...remember? I'll kiss him anywhere!)

63. Played in the mud (I even made mud pies when I was little!)

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (See #72)

69. Toured ancient sites (castles and cathedrals in Switzerland.)

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married (Best thing I ever did!)

73. Been in a movie (Does a “movie” made in Spanish class in high school count? It was so bad and so cheesy)

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch (Is there any other way? I finally found a recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.)

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice (do the boats at the Riverwalk in San Antonio count?)

80. Gotten a tattoo (Three. Okay, they were just temporary henna tattoos. I got them in Bali.)

81. Rafted a river

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” (In Missouri. We were at a new park in town. I was the expert Mom.)

83. Gotten flowers for no reason (I have the bestest husband!)

84. Performed on stage (In Choir??)

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music (Does the choir director recording the Christmas concerts and making an LP record count? I still have it.)

87. Eaten shark (Shark Fin Soup in Singapore)

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house (Only 2 in 24 years of marriage)

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship (Around the islands of Hawaii over Christmas)

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show (I avoided seeing this even though my boyfriend in high school really wanted to.)

96. Raised children (The two most amazing kids ever!)

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold (I’ve fainted twice.)

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (Driven across it)

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking (all the time)

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived (I was in a head-on collision when I was three months old. I was in a basket on the front seat between my parents. I rolled on the floor, but wasn’t hurt at all. My dad broke his arm and my mom got a bad cut on her head and shattered her kneecap and was in the hospital for three months.)

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (Once when I was about 14, and then just a couple of months ago!)

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery (Two C-Sections)

120. Had a snake as a pet (Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck!)

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (looked at it from the rim and from a helicopter)

122. Slept 30 hours in a 48 hour time frame

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (I’ve been to about 11 countries)

124. Visited all 7 continents (I’ve been to 4!)

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat (My husband has.)

127. Eaten sushi (don't wanna, ain't gonna)

128. Had your picture in the newspaper (When I was about 3 my siblings and I were in the paper dressed in our Halloween costumes. I was a ghost. The costume was a sheet over my head with holes cut out for my eyes. All you can see are a couple of big brown eyes peaking out. Then I was again when I was about four. I think that had something to do with the county fair.)

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach (I have stomped on many. Living in the tropics and all…)

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read “The Iliad”

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I prefer my meat resting on a Styrofoam tray covered in plastic wrap.)

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (The owner of our house in Singapore was Chinese educated and knew very little English. That made for interesting conversations.)

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head (My son has. **SIGH**)

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life