I am off on vacation this week, thank goodness.
Last week was particularly hellish, particularly with work issues. I had a big ol' project that was due on Thursday. I did get it done, for the most part, but it was quite stressful.
Wednesday, August 20 - my beloved (that would be Lawrence) and I celebrated out 14th anniversary. The day started out okay for us both, but turned bad for L around noon, when he broke his tooth. He called a dentist as ours was off that day and he was able to get in that afternoon. They scheduled him for a root canal the next day. (Oh, I forgot: L put a card in my car (in which he used the word "lame" 3 times) and propped it next to a bottle of Ivory soap. I'm looking at this like "What the hell?" Then it dawns on me: we had been discussing what was each year - 1 year is paper, etc. Apparently, 14 is 'Ivory.' Hence the soap.)
So, he's been off and on miserable and puffy-faced for the past few days and the global effects of antibiotics have been taking their toll on him. Couple that with my work-related angst and it was a bleah household. There was a lot of "Sammy, please watch Stella now." and L and I conked out on the bed. Not romantic, but at least we were together.
Saturday, he took me out on a Real Date. We went to Jimmy's Food and Cocktails, which is a very descriptive name for a restaurant. We went at 6 pm, along with most of the senior Gray Panthers. It was nice with just the two of us. Afterward we went to a Mazda dealership, where he showed me his new obsession: the 2009 Mazda 6. It looks smaller than my 6, but supposedly, it's bigger. Then we went grocery shopping for Sammy's party, which will be covered in the next post.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Moth Moon and Busted Water Bottles
Sammy and I completed our 4th Canoe While The Moon is Full program through Hennepin Parks. Yesterday was the "Moth Moon."
Sammy and I are starting to feel like old timers when we're doing this. Sammy sits in the back (stern) and tells me what to do. She steers and I'm the motor. We only ran into someone once or twice (due to no fault of our own). We practiced turning in circles: one paddles forward and the other paddles backward.
It was a beautiful still night and a gorgeous sunset. The moonrise was semi-obscured by a cloud deck, but looked beautiful and ghostly. We saw some cranes flying low over the lake and a large V of Canadian Geese flew directly over us in the twilight.
Afterward, as we were bringing our canoes to the trailer, I lost Sammy for a moment. When I found her, I saw that she had taken it upon herself to volunteer and help with collecting and hanging up the lifevests. She then took the mini-flashlight I had given her and was helping others see. She's always a helper; I'm very proud of my young lady.
Speaking of which, we have the busy end of August goings-on. Wednesday is our Anniversary (14 years) and a week from Wednesday is Sammy's birthday. We're having her party a week from today, so today is a preliminary cleaning day, based upon the theory that next weekend we will have to clean less. (The formula is f(cleaning early)x1/f(next week), I believe. However, one must account for the Stella Effect (SE), which is a well documented undoing of work that has been undone - this can be tempered by the throwing of everything into something with a door on it, and closing the door (DC):
Sammy and I are starting to feel like old timers when we're doing this. Sammy sits in the back (stern) and tells me what to do. She steers and I'm the motor. We only ran into someone once or twice (due to no fault of our own). We practiced turning in circles: one paddles forward and the other paddles backward.
It was a beautiful still night and a gorgeous sunset. The moonrise was semi-obscured by a cloud deck, but looked beautiful and ghostly. We saw some cranes flying low over the lake and a large V of Canadian Geese flew directly over us in the twilight.
Afterward, as we were bringing our canoes to the trailer, I lost Sammy for a moment. When I found her, I saw that she had taken it upon herself to volunteer and help with collecting and hanging up the lifevests. She then took the mini-flashlight I had given her and was helping others see. She's always a helper; I'm very proud of my young lady.
Speaking of which, we have the busy end of August goings-on. Wednesday is our Anniversary (14 years) and a week from Wednesday is Sammy's birthday. We're having her party a week from today, so today is a preliminary cleaning day, based upon the theory that next weekend we will have to clean less. (The formula is f(cleaning early)x1/f(next week), I believe. However, one must account for the Stella Effect (SE), which is a well documented undoing of work that has been undone - this can be tempered by the throwing of everything into something with a door on it, and closing the door (DC):
f(CE)x1/f(NW)xSE/DC
Something like that.
Oh, back to the Moth Moon: Sammy will be disappointed if I don't mention this, as this was the high point for her in the evening:
After we finished canoeing, we went to the gas station for a snack. I picked up a bottle of water and was holding it by the cap walking with Sammy. It slipped out of my hand, and crashed on the floor. The cap completely broke off and the bottle rolled under the ice cream freezer, from which Sammy was getting a ChocoTaco. Mortified, I retrieved the bottle and apologized to the cashier and told them I'd pay for it. He shook his head and said, "No. That bottle was defective," which was pretty nice. I asked for paper towels to clean up my mess and they happened to have the floor zamboni out and said, "Nah, that's okay." I sheepishly crept back to the cooler and selected another bottle and cradled it up to the counter verrrry carefully.
So: and hour and half of canoeing with her mom on a gorgeous summer evening and dollars to donuts, it will be remembered as Hey, Mom: Remember The Time You Busted A Water Bottle at Holiday?
Something like that.
Oh, back to the Moth Moon: Sammy will be disappointed if I don't mention this, as this was the high point for her in the evening:
After we finished canoeing, we went to the gas station for a snack. I picked up a bottle of water and was holding it by the cap walking with Sammy. It slipped out of my hand, and crashed on the floor. The cap completely broke off and the bottle rolled under the ice cream freezer, from which Sammy was getting a ChocoTaco. Mortified, I retrieved the bottle and apologized to the cashier and told them I'd pay for it. He shook his head and said, "No. That bottle was defective," which was pretty nice. I asked for paper towels to clean up my mess and they happened to have the floor zamboni out and said, "Nah, that's okay." I sheepishly crept back to the cooler and selected another bottle and cradled it up to the counter verrrry carefully.
So: and hour and half of canoeing with her mom on a gorgeous summer evening and dollars to donuts, it will be remembered as Hey, Mom: Remember The Time You Busted A Water Bottle at Holiday?
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Hello, Gorgeous...
I went to Cost Plus World Market today with Steph and gasped when I laid eyes upon this:
It was $5.99, but I HAD to have it. We gathered the troops in the break room and sampled the bacon chocolate. Yum! It wasn't sublime, or anything like that. It had a nice smoky saltiness to it and both Steph and I commented on how the bacon bits were sticking to our respective teeth.
From the website:
Like I said, it was okay, but we perhaps we didn't fully engage our five sense. It was break off and chew. Not a tiny piece either. We did consume it within 8 weeks. I was able to save 2 squares - for L and Sammy to try.
It was $5.99, but I HAD to have it. We gathered the troops in the break room and sampled the bacon chocolate. Yum! It wasn't sublime, or anything like that. It had a nice smoky saltiness to it and both Steph and I commented on how the bacon bits were sticking to our respective teeth.
From the website:
"I began experimenting with bacon + chocolate at the tender age of 6, while eating chocolate chip pancakes drenched in Aunt Jemima® syrup, as children often do. Beside my chocolate-laden cakes laid three strips of sizzlin' bacon, just barely touching a sweet pool of maple syrup. And then, the magic—just a bite of the bacon was too salty and I yearned for the sweet kiss of chocolate and syrup, so I combined the two. In retrospect, perhaps this was a turning point; for on that plate something magical happened, the beginnings of a combination so ethereal and delicious that it would haunt my thoughts until I found the medium to express it—chocolate.
From there, it was just a matter of time…and what began as a love of salt and sweet quickly unraveled into an obsession. No sooner could I wait to unveil the royal coupling in solid bar form, a deep milk chocolate with bits and pieces of applewood smoked bacon and just a sprinkling of Alder salt. Really, what doesn't taste better with bacon?"
Breathe…engage your five senses, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Be in the present moment, notice the color of the chocolate, the glossy shine. Rub your thumb over the chocolate bar to release the aromas of smoked applewood bacon flirting with deep milk chocolate. Snap off just a tiny piece and place it in your mouth, let the lust of salt and sweet coat your tongue.Mo's Bacon Bar: applewood smoked bacon + Alder wood smoked salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao
Consume within 8 weeks
Like I said, it was okay, but we perhaps we didn't fully engage our five sense. It was break off and chew. Not a tiny piece either. We did consume it within 8 weeks. I was able to save 2 squares - for L and Sammy to try.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Okay Weekend I Guess
We had an okay weekend.
Saturday we had a party to go to given by my co-worker for her hub's 40th birthday. She wanted it to be a surprise party, but having about 100 people in the backyard and tons on cars parked outside was a bit of a spoiler. Still, he looked sufficiently pleased. I'm glad as I saw how much work she put into this party - planning it for the past two months. She did an awesome job and it looked like everyone was having a nice time!
Sunday we got our butts moving and started the process of moving Sammy downstairs so she can have her own space. She's been sleeping on a futon downstairs (in our former lounge) for most of the summer. Today we moved most of her clothes down and bought her a hamper.
Last week, I neglected to mention that we went to IKEA for the first time (for both of us). And I bought Sammy a crystal chandelier - the IKEA name for it is "Rimfrost," so take that as you will. Sammy needs a place of her own to escape from Stella (and us I guess) and hang out.
IKEA was interesting. It was just Sam and me and we had no mission in mind, so we just went with the flow. I picked up hanging organizers for the girls, a tiny hippo for Stella, a baggie dispenser, a birch salad bowl, a birch lazy susan, a couple of whisks and a salad spinner. And the aforementioned chandelier. Oh, and chocolate. And impulse buy, but terribly necessary.
This week I have the day off tomorrow as Stella has her eye appt checkup. Sammy is doing the YMCA camp W-F and Monday and Tuesday, she's working with the city's Puppet Wagon and will be making puppets and scenery and will be performing on Tuesday night. I'm sure we'll get some pictures up for that.
Last week Sammy took an introductory Lacrosse class from M-Th and worked her little butt off. My dad took some pictures and and she was all over the place, running and blocking. She's glad that's over and that puppetry will likely be needing less exertion.
Well, this was a rambling post. Happy Sunday. Have a great week!
Saturday we had a party to go to given by my co-worker for her hub's 40th birthday. She wanted it to be a surprise party, but having about 100 people in the backyard and tons on cars parked outside was a bit of a spoiler. Still, he looked sufficiently pleased. I'm glad as I saw how much work she put into this party - planning it for the past two months. She did an awesome job and it looked like everyone was having a nice time!
Sunday we got our butts moving and started the process of moving Sammy downstairs so she can have her own space. She's been sleeping on a futon downstairs (in our former lounge) for most of the summer. Today we moved most of her clothes down and bought her a hamper.
Last week, I neglected to mention that we went to IKEA for the first time (for both of us). And I bought Sammy a crystal chandelier - the IKEA name for it is "Rimfrost," so take that as you will. Sammy needs a place of her own to escape from Stella (and us I guess) and hang out.
IKEA was interesting. It was just Sam and me and we had no mission in mind, so we just went with the flow. I picked up hanging organizers for the girls, a tiny hippo for Stella, a baggie dispenser, a birch salad bowl, a birch lazy susan, a couple of whisks and a salad spinner. And the aforementioned chandelier. Oh, and chocolate. And impulse buy, but terribly necessary.
This week I have the day off tomorrow as Stella has her eye appt checkup. Sammy is doing the YMCA camp W-F and Monday and Tuesday, she's working with the city's Puppet Wagon and will be making puppets and scenery and will be performing on Tuesday night. I'm sure we'll get some pictures up for that.
Last week Sammy took an introductory Lacrosse class from M-Th and worked her little butt off. My dad took some pictures and and she was all over the place, running and blocking. She's glad that's over and that puppetry will likely be needing less exertion.
Well, this was a rambling post. Happy Sunday. Have a great week!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Hell Week
Short post for now. I am so glad it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow. This week has been kind of rough - busy at work and on Thursday I was blessed with my Monthly Migraine. Not cool. Tonight I'm going to make chicken gyros and chill and watch the Olympics.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Three Days in Two Harbors
Well, technically, 3 1/2 days.
We had a nice vacation last week. Mom, Sammy, Stella and I headed up to Superior Shores in Two Harbors for some Lake Superior time. We had a nice room on the first floor - a Lodge Suite. It had a kitchen, living room with fold out couch, bedroom with king size bed (for me, Mom and Stella) and a bathroom with a jacuzzi. The room had a walkout to a patio with a grill and it faced the beach. We were a little vexed that you couldn't open it with the keycard from the outside, so when Stella fell and scraped up her arms and legs on the asphalt path, we had to carry her screaming around the hotel and through an (unoccupied) banquet room, so we could get inside. So then we just parked the table in front of the door to prevent Stella from taking off through the door.
Monday Sammy and I were going to conquer the geocache at Silver Bay marina (check out the link to see the gallery - lots of cool pictures from other, braver and with more upper body strength, cachers), which called for climbing up a 20 foot cliff on a rope after hopping on boulders to get to the island, but Sammy's leg was bothering her, so we scrapped that and Stella and I found a relatively easy cache near Cove Point Lodge. We then hit Silver Bay and got some pictures of Rocky Taconite, the Silver Bay weird looking mascot.
Monday night, we headed toward the pier and lighthouse of Two Harbors and I tried and failed to find some caches with everyone. Ended up leading everyone on a wide looping trail through the woods where we got very, very close to deer. I was walking ahead with Stella and saw a doe with two fawns. The fawns scampered away, but the doe turned and looked at me like, "Nu-huh, Lady..." When Sammy and Mom caught up, we saw more deer on the other side of the trail - one was probably about 10 feet from us, calmly eating grass. And yeah, no camera then. Boo. Monday night, the Lake was kind of choppy and we all sat on the beach at the hotel watching the waves roll in.
Very pretty - Stella didn't like the roar of the waves, though.
Tuesday was our Tourist Day. We went to Duluth to take a Harbor Cruise on the Vista King. I remember doing that when I was little - and L and I did a dinner cruise a few years ago. One of the perks is you get to go under the Aerial Bridge - they raise it with the horns and the bells and everything.
Stella did very well on the 1 1/2 hour cruise.
Here's some arty type pics from the boat
I was a smart cookie and pre-registered online, so all we needed to do is pick up our boarding pass and get on. We had beautiful weather. I misjudged Duluth - or global warming has hit the Zenith City - and had the girls wear long pants and bring jackets. We were hot! The cruise was very cool and I got some really nifty pictures from the back of the boat. After the cruise, we hit Park Point, but we were hot and crabby, so that didn't last long. Looking for chow, we decided to go to Sammy's Pizza in Lakeside 
(down the street from where my Aunt Florence lived) and got a medium pepperoni and a cold 6 pack of coke - we went to a wayside, just past Brighton Beach, and inhaled the pizza. Man, that was good stuff. We went up Scenic 61 and hit the Two Harbors gift shop right by the depot, where Stella bought a little teddy bear from "Tootsie" the elderly shopkeeper. Outside of the Depot Gift Shop - we saw this inspired graffiti, which cracked us up.
Later that evening, Stella and Sammy and I went caching at a site within walking distance from the hotel and we ran into another cacher - a first for us. After dark, Mom got Stella ready for bed and Sammy and I took a blanket and went to the beach as it was so dark and the sky was carpeted with stars. It's amazing to look low in the horizon and see constellations that you never see at home. We saw a couple shooting stars and satellites as well. It was nice just hanging out with Sammy in the solitude.
Wednesday was our head back day - we were out of the hotel by 8:30 - Sammy wrote in the room's guestbook:
and took a couple photo-ops at the Voyageur Motel dude with no paddle
(whose dead eyes and giant height really freaked out Stella) and another at the Giant Rooster. We went to the Rooster Gift Shop
(Weldon's - check this link out for an awesome story), which was Beanie Baby Bonanza. Holy cow, this store was full of Beanie Babies.
We stopped by Mickey D's and got breakfast, which Stella was not interested in, and then headed back home. The portable DVD player was a godsend - it allowed Sammy to have a little peace from the sibling warfare.
And of course, you know what greeted us when we came home....
We had a nice vacation last week. Mom, Sammy, Stella and I headed up to Superior Shores in Two Harbors for some Lake Superior time. We had a nice room on the first floor - a Lodge Suite. It had a kitchen, living room with fold out couch, bedroom with king size bed (for me, Mom and Stella) and a bathroom with a jacuzzi. The room had a walkout to a patio with a grill and it faced the beach. We were a little vexed that you couldn't open it with the keycard from the outside, so when Stella fell and scraped up her arms and legs on the asphalt path, we had to carry her screaming around the hotel and through an (unoccupied) banquet room, so we could get inside. So then we just parked the table in front of the door to prevent Stella from taking off through the door.
Monday Sammy and I were going to conquer the geocache at Silver Bay marina (check out the link to see the gallery - lots of cool pictures from other, braver and with more upper body strength, cachers), which called for climbing up a 20 foot cliff on a rope after hopping on boulders to get to the island, but Sammy's leg was bothering her, so we scrapped that and Stella and I found a relatively easy cache near Cove Point Lodge. We then hit Silver Bay and got some pictures of Rocky Taconite, the Silver Bay weird looking mascot.
Monday night, we headed toward the pier and lighthouse of Two Harbors and I tried and failed to find some caches with everyone. Ended up leading everyone on a wide looping trail through the woods where we got very, very close to deer. I was walking ahead with Stella and saw a doe with two fawns. The fawns scampered away, but the doe turned and looked at me like, "Nu-huh, Lady..." When Sammy and Mom caught up, we saw more deer on the other side of the trail - one was probably about 10 feet from us, calmly eating grass. And yeah, no camera then. Boo. Monday night, the Lake was kind of choppy and we all sat on the beach at the hotel watching the waves roll in.
Very pretty - Stella didn't like the roar of the waves, though.
Tuesday was our Tourist Day. We went to Duluth to take a Harbor Cruise on the Vista King. I remember doing that when I was little - and L and I did a dinner cruise a few years ago. One of the perks is you get to go under the Aerial Bridge - they raise it with the horns and the bells and everything.
Stella did very well on the 1 1/2 hour cruise.
Here's some arty type pics from the boat
I was a smart cookie and pre-registered online, so all we needed to do is pick up our boarding pass and get on. We had beautiful weather. I misjudged Duluth - or global warming has hit the Zenith City - and had the girls wear long pants and bring jackets. We were hot! The cruise was very cool and I got some really nifty pictures from the back of the boat. After the cruise, we hit Park Point, but we were hot and crabby, so that didn't last long. Looking for chow, we decided to go to Sammy's Pizza in Lakeside 
(down the street from where my Aunt Florence lived) and got a medium pepperoni and a cold 6 pack of coke - we went to a wayside, just past Brighton Beach, and inhaled the pizza. Man, that was good stuff. We went up Scenic 61 and hit the Two Harbors gift shop right by the depot, where Stella bought a little teddy bear from "Tootsie" the elderly shopkeeper. Outside of the Depot Gift Shop - we saw this inspired graffiti, which cracked us up.
Later that evening, Stella and Sammy and I went caching at a site within walking distance from the hotel and we ran into another cacher - a first for us. After dark, Mom got Stella ready for bed and Sammy and I took a blanket and went to the beach as it was so dark and the sky was carpeted with stars. It's amazing to look low in the horizon and see constellations that you never see at home. We saw a couple shooting stars and satellites as well. It was nice just hanging out with Sammy in the solitude.
Wednesday was our head back day - we were out of the hotel by 8:30 - Sammy wrote in the room's guestbook:
and took a couple photo-ops at the Voyageur Motel dude with no paddle
(whose dead eyes and giant height really freaked out Stella) and another at the Giant Rooster. We went to the Rooster Gift Shop
(Weldon's - check this link out for an awesome story), which was Beanie Baby Bonanza. Holy cow, this store was full of Beanie Babies.We stopped by Mickey D's and got breakfast, which Stella was not interested in, and then headed back home. The portable DVD player was a godsend - it allowed Sammy to have a little peace from the sibling warfare.
And of course, you know what greeted us when we came home....
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