The Orange

My family doesn't have a lot of family traditions. There's not one thing that we necessarily do on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. However, there are a few of us that have followed an old tradition of adding a fruit ornament besides the other glass ornaments. When my grandmother was born my great grandparents put an orange on the Christmas tree with her name and date on it. My father also has an orange ornament that he added in the 1960's. As the oranges have dried they have shrunk, but they are fun to see.

James and I thought that we would add an orange to our tree in 2006 to celebrate our first Christmas together. Now each year we look forward to unwrapping the ornament and putting it on the tree. While it is the most simple ornament on the tree, it is also our most favorite.

16 mile commute + rush hour + snow + a lack of patience = A VERY long one hour commute home

For all of those asking...yes it's cold in Minnesota.

Weather.com says it is -7 air temperature and -21 wind chill.

Twas a great day to decide that I needed to get gas. My toes are still defrosting. Thank goodness for Chicken Wild Rice Soup!

A few weeks ago we were watching TV and there was a show on public television about eagles. Fred usually doesn't get too excited about things on TV, but when we weren't looking he jumped on the table and tried to get the eagles (we do need to teach him that if this was real life the eagles would be getting him).



I did manage to get one photo of him though...

Today was a very productive day. I...

• Went to the grocery store
• Cleared off snow from the driveway
• Went to the library and got two new books
• Worked on Christmas cards
• Talked to my sister
• Did three loads of laundry
• Worked on Christmas cards (again)
• Made some peanut butter fudge
• Baked some peanut cluster bars
• Worked on Christmas cards (some more)
• Wrapped Christmas gifts
• Made a yummy supper
• Finished (my part) of the Christmas cards

Preparing for the Christmas card

Step one: Fluff and brush Fred.

Step two: Test picture with Elise and Fred (there were a lot of these!)

Step three: More test pictures wondering why the camera makes us blurry.

Step four (three days later with the help of my parents): Complete!

Fred the cat (in winter)

In the dryer on the warm clean clothes (and you wonder why we always have fur on us)

In a basket

Curled up as close as possible to any human.

On top of my head at night.

Yes, I know these are very flattering pictures of me, but it's all about Fred.

Recount Mania

On Primary and General Election days I volunteer my time to be an election judge. I don't know why I started doing this last year, but I enjoy being part of the process I guess.

On November 4, the U.S. Senate Race between Al Franken (yes, the former Saturday Night Live guy) and Norm Coleman (the incumbent) was too close to call. An automatic recount is called when the total votes are less than .5% apart, which is what happened in this case.

As more details about how the the recount would work became clear, and Minnetonka, where I work, was named as a site to recount 46,000 ballots, the city cleark came to me asking to help. My answer to him was why not, and now I am helping with a historic recount. On Friday and Saturday I spent part of each day, counting and sorting ballots. At each table are three "employees of the city". One of these is responsible for sorting the ballots into piles--one for Franken, one for Coleman, and one for other. The other two city employees are responsible for counting the piles into 25. The Franken team and the Coleman team are each allowed to have two people at the table. These people are allowed to "challenge" what piles the ballots are placed in. When all of the counting is done we compare our hand counted numbers to the numbers on the electronic tabulator from the end of the night on November 4.

Things I've learned from being a part of this process:

1. Every vote counts! Out of nearly 3 million ballots cast in this U.S. Senate Race, it could come down to just 100 votes between the two candidates. More reason to get out and vote. Late on Friday, a gentleman who had been a challenger for one of the parties earlier in the day brought his kids in to see what was going on. Here they were learning why it's important to vote.

2. The electronic tabulators are accurate. There's always been a myth that perhaps the electronic tabulators are accurate, but we are finding that they are dead on. It's the humans that aren't necessarily accurate.

3. When watching who the challengers are for each party you cannot see a pattern. I thought that perhaps I would be able to pick out the Coleman supportors from the Franken supportors, but I cannot.

It's been an interesting ride and more ballots to count on Monday!

The first signs of winter are here...no more leaves left on the trees, turning on the furnace, the first snowfall, and the first cold. I don't remember getting a cold last winter, so I was doomed to get one this year. Unfortunately, it came really early this year and it managed to make me take 2 sick days at work because I felt that terrible.

In the six years I've been at my job, I've never taken two sick days in a year, let alone two consecutive days. I was so tired, it was nice to be at home. Working nearly 20 hours on election day, only getting 4 hours of sleep the following night probably didn't help.

Nevertheless I have a great husband that kept the cold medication coming and made me chicken soup at night. Plus, Fred the cat kept me company during the day.

Fred is always helping (and James is always taking pictures like this)

Fall has arrived! I raked the yard on Saturday and by the afternoon all of the leaves and walnuts were back on the ground. We got our first taste of winter yesterday with a few snow flurries. Time to dig out the warmer jacket and start making plans to Lutsen for some skiing!

Vacation!

It's been a long time since I've taken a whole week off of work. Typically I only take the last half of the week off, but James decided back in August when we cancelled our trip to Africa that we should go somewhere closeby for a week. He did all of the planning and last week we went to Canada, Mackinac Island, and then down to Indianapolis.

In Canada we took an all day train ride into the wilderness to see the fall colors. It was SO beautiful! The pictures here definitely do not do justice to what we actually saw.

After Canada we went to Mackinac Island. What a great place! The island, with the exception of the 500 or so residents that actually live there, is only open May-October. We were there when all of the shops were still open, but also when they were counting down to the end of the season. I loved that there are no motorized vehicles on the island, that a bike ride around the entire island only takes 45 minutes, that you were on Lake Huron and could see Lake Michigan in the distance, and that they make awesome fudge!

We ended our trip in Indianapolis by visiting James' parents, two of his brothers, two nieces, and one nephew. It was a great trip, and of course reality hit when we had to go back to work this past week. Oh well. I am looking forward to our next adventure....wherever that may be!

I am due for a post, but am waiting until I download my photos from my recent vacation. I've been so tired this week trying to catch up at work and home, that I haven't had much time to do anything. I promise more soon!

I was in Target the other day (September 19) and noticed they had the Halloween candy and costumes out already; however, the thing that caught my eye was the Christmas decorations! Christmas is still over three months away and they are already selling stuff. Pretty soon there will be Christmas decorations for sale (at a non all-the-time-holiday store) all year round. When I was in China, many restaurants had decorations of Santa up all year round. I hope this doesn't happen here!

The Santa decorations are way at the top of the picture.

Productivity

My husband had the week off of work this week, so I put him to work at home. He painted the hallway to the basement, seeded the yard, sanded the deck, mowed the lawn, stained the stairs in the garage amongst the many other things he did.

So, this weekend is my weekend to live up to his productivity that he started during the week. Today I have stained the deck (most of it...everything but the spindles and the area near the cocooning caterpiller, made muffins and cookies, putting together our itinerary for vacation a week away, packing for the vacation, dust the house, and did some laundry...plus my daily three mile run. Tomorrow I need to finish the laundry, vacuum the house and continue planning the vacation if I don't get it done today.

There's always so much to do and not enough time!

My caterpillar friend is now cocooning on our deck. Here are some pics of it!

It's hard to believe that we've been in this house now for a year. Time flies! While I would like to think that we've gotten a lot accomplished in terms of making the house a home, we haven't done as much as I wanted to have done within the first year. This summer we worked hard and added six new trees (two of which have already died...thank goodness for warranties though!) and a new patio.


Our most recent addition was done last Saturday (yes...done in one day thanks to help from my mom and dad). We added landscaping on the south side of the house. The grass there was quite bad as the builder didn't do a good job putting down topsoil (I think there's maybe 1/2 of an inch) and they conveniently forgot to water it right before we moved in. We've been apologizing to our neighbors who have had to look at it for the past year. But, now we are done! If we can just get the north side grading fixed before the snow flies and the yard re-seeded then I would say it was a successful home improvement year!

The growing season is almost gone, but I was really proud of my garden this year. I had tons of tomatos, carrots, green onions, and a few green peppers and broccoli. The disappointment was the pumpkin...it grew big, but didn't grow any pumpkins.

I am trying to "go green" more. I have always been environmentally conscious, but not necessarily when I go to the grocery store. I always have used paper bags since they can be used to put recycling in; however, now that I have single-sort recycling, there's no need for those extra grocery bags. Now I have gathered up some reusable bags and take them to the grocery store.

The other day when I got home from the grocery store and was unpacking my stuff, my cat jumped into the bag. When I reached down to get the next item out of the bag, I ended up with a Fred-the-cat instead.

After a little internet research I found out what my caterpillar friend is. He (or she) is a Cecropia Moth. It looks he is already making a cocoon on my deck. In the spring he (or she) will emerge into a big moth like this. Here's a link to find out more. http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/5479/

This week we got a new patio. James and I have already made s'mores and just "hung out" on it. Even though I first balked at getting it, I really love it and it already adds so much to our backyard.

This little guy was hanging out on my patio tonight. Look at his colors...isn't he cool!

Frustration

The city keeps saying that they are going to come back and fix the side of the yard so that we won't have water in our basement anymore. It seems to be taking forever!!! Until that time, I guess with each big rainfall we'll just have to realize our basement will have water in it.

Yes, it's been two weeks since my last entry. I had an excuse though! I went to see the zoo last weekend. Okay, well kind of the zoo. Just my sister's house...with her and her husband, and their two cats and one puppy. Yes, it was chaos. I have really cute pics of them, but just need to figure out how to get them downloaded to the computer. I love technology!

The Olympics

I love the Olympics. I love watching the athletes compete and just taking in the sites from far away lands. Since the Olympics are in Beijing this year I recognize many of the sites as I have been there before just 8 years ago.

The Great Wall

As an aspiring gymnast a long time ago, I dreamed of being in the Olympics. Watching Mary Lou in 1984 and the Mag 7 in 1996. I still love watching the gymnastics events and follow everything that's happening even to this day.

Winning the Level 6 state all-around title in 1990 (Yes, that's me on the 1 spot)

Is it winter yet?

I thought that we would make it through the summer without a really hot spell this year. However....I was wrong. It's so hot outside that I cannot wait for winter to get here. I hope it snows tomorrow (wishful thinking).

Crazy Cat

Right before I left for work today I notice how crazy Fred was sleeping. He was facing the back of the couch with his face smooshed against the side. How uncomfortable! I don't understand how he can sleep like that and not get a kink in his neck. I went to grab my camera to take a picture, but he woke up. Here are some of his other crazy positions.

Yes, he really did fall asleep like this. I just don't understand.

Operation Baby Bunny Rescue

Last week as I was cleaning up more storm damage, I noticed some baby bunnies in our makeshift compost area. Somehow they had ended up inside the fenced in area and were not able to get out. So, I took things into my own hands and helped the cute bunnies out so they could eat someone else's garden besides mine.

The Storm

Last Thursday we had a severe storm come through while I was at work. Around 4 p.m. James called me to say that he had just read on the Star Tribune website that around 98th Street and Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington had gotten nailed by the storm. I freaked out because of the beautiful evergreen trees we had just planted less than two weeks earlier.

When I got home all I saw when I was pulling into the driveway were branches everywhere. But, as I did a walk through of the yard I just saw that they were very large branches from the big trees. Thankfully and miraculously the branches had all missed our new trees. We got away lucky as many neighbors and houses around us lost big trees.

Throughout the weekend I then had the privilege of picking up the rest of the branches and breaking them down so that the yard waste collector could pick them up. I just hope that the severe storms they are predicting for tonight don't do any damage.

The camping thief

Over the 4th, James and I went camping up at George H. Crosby Manitou State Park. We had to hike 1.5 miles into our campsite, so we thought that it would be a good idea to bring the bear vault with to store our food. We decided to invest in the bear vault (a small container that locks on top and is made of plastic) so that we constantly wouldn't have to hang our food so that the critters wouldn't steal it at night.

On Friday night we had the bear vault full of ice so that our breakfast (eggs and sausage) would stay cold for the next morning. We had brought s'mores supplies out with us, but we were so tired we only wanted 1 s'more each and therefore had leftover food. Because it wouldn't fit into the bear vault we figured that we would put it in James' hiking pack and put it up off the ground.

Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of an animal close to our tent making a lot of noise. I frantically woke James up and made him go out and take a look (being the manly husband that he is he did it without protest). We soon discovered the little squirrel pictured below had snuck into James' pack and took the chocolate and was on his way with the marshmellows and graham crackers. He was already the hyper little squirrel just squirreling away his new treasures...can you imagine how he would have felt after eating the chocolate and the marshmellows. Poor little guy probably had a stomach ache.

It's been a while since I've been on. I promise new posts later this week.

The Forest

While our property has some really mature trees, they don't do much to block the noise from the very busy roadway next to our house. So, James and I took matters into our own hands this past weekend. We ended up buying 6 trees and with the help of my parents planted them in less than one day. While they look tiny now, the hope is that in a few years they will provide not only a visual barrier between the house and street, but will also mitigate some of the sound of the street as well (especially those big semis).

Getting Older

As I approach a milestone birthday next year, I am suddenly reminded how old I am getting. Over the past six years I have attended (and had my own) a lot of weddings. Last night, I attended the wedding of my parents' next door neighbor's daughter, whom I used to baby-sit when she was little. Just last year my "little" sister got married. And...all of these other weddings...they are my friends who are now having kids.

This all goes to remind me that I am getting older. Soon, I will no longer be a twenty-something. I am now someone who has a career, someone who has to act like an adult, someone with a house, a yard, and a cat. There are times when I wish I could go back to being in college, but I enjoy what I have now and look forward to the times ahead.

Fred's Birthday

Today our "child" turns 8. As usual, there will be a birthday party for him, but he will have to wait until Sunday when his "grandparents" come over. Yes...in case you are wondering, we do spoil him rotten.

Fred's 7th Birthday in 2007.

My husband and I joke that the "job" of our cat is to go on patrol while we are at work. He's guards the house from all intruders and immediately greets us at the door when we get home to let us know how the day was. Here is Fred on the job...watching from the upstairs bedroom window.

I wish I was camping this weekend..somewhere up north like at Itasca State Park.

My garden

Two months ago I started growing seeds inside so that when spring finally came I could plant a garden. This weekend the weather was finally nice enough so that I could prep the garden and plant my seeds. Now, I just need to get something up before the rabbits eat all of the vegetables.

Memorial Day

For some people Memorial Day marks the end of school, the beginning of summer, a paid holiday at work, the Indianapolis 500, or a three day weekend to travel somewhere else. Sometimes we forget the significance of the holiday. This is the holiday where we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their life, for our country. James and I took a recent trip to Washington D.C. where we found time to visit Arlington National Cemetary. Looking out over 220,000 grave sites says a lot about the sacrifices those people made to keep us free.

A quick, but much needed trip

Last week James and I took a quick trip out to Washington, D.C. We arrived late on Wednesday night, but due to other pre-scheduled things we could not start touring until Friday afternoon. We toured Friday afternoon and all day on Saturday. We saw as much as we could, but really only made it to the big sites like the Capital, the White House, the memorials on The Mall, and Arlington National Cemetry. There are SO many places to see while you are there that you definitely cannot do it all in one day, one week, or probably even one month if you were to truly take time to see everything.

Every time I visit D.C. I get chills when I think about all of the great things that many of these memorials and other sites represent. Whether they are events or famous Americans they represent so much of our country's history. I do not have a favorite place to visit while I am there because they each mean something. While in many cases I have not had direct involvement with anything, they all have had an impact on my life as an American.

James and me at the White House.

Waiting

I'm always waiting for my husband. He moves at his own pace, which is usually slower than mine. Now I am waiting to go to the pool after a long day of touring.Waiting for James to finish GPSing our spot on The Mall in D.C. today

The Metro

James and I made it to D.C. on Wednesday. We opted not to rent a car, so we planned our trip around the Metro. The Metro will take you everywhere you can imagine, and if you are willing to walk up to a 1/2 mile, then you can get even further. Even better...it's inexpensive! The stations are clean, the ride is fast and I feel very safe taking it.

It's so much fun walking around pretending you are a local once you get the hang of the system. Put the ticket in and then walk through. You cannot go wrong! Yes, it can be crowded (especially during rush hour), but that is what makes it fun--well it seems fun because you are the tourist.

If only Minneapolis-St. Paul could get a system like this. Maybe some day!

Getting Ready

Everytime I plan a trip...even if it's only to grandma's house in Nebraska I like to start packing early. James always gives me grief since he likes to pack last minute (usually the morning or last hour before we leave). I like to be organized though and make sure that we have everything. I start to panic if not everything is ready at least a day in advance.

Wednesday we leave for Washington D.C. for just a short trip, but I started getting out my clothes on Friday night, and now that it's Sunday I am printing maps and getting everything else ready to go.

James only wonders how long it will be before I start packing for our January trip to Africa. Maybe I'll start next week...

Before our trip to Seattle in May/June 2007. Fred is sad that we are leaving.

Is it really spring???

Last weekend: 75 and sunny. Windows open, heat off, raking the yard.

Today: 35 and snow. Windows closed, heat on, glad the yard is raked. Plants are ready to go outside and vegetables are ready to be planted in the garden.

Signs of Spring

1. Daylight until after 8 p.m.
2. Temperatures above 50 degrees.
3. Plants coming up and buds on trees.
4. Raking your grass and fertilizing it.
5. The local golf course is busy and it's only 55 degrees out.
6. Opening the windows and airing out the house.
7. An all day rain which turns the grass from brown to green.
8. The only snow left is on the ski hills and in the parking lots.
9. Being able to run again outside.
10. Local flowermarts opening.

Vacation of a lifetime

So, I thought that our honeymoon to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt in 2006 and my study abroad trip to China to 2000 were my trips of a lifetime. But, as of today, I am looking forward to a new trip of a lifetime with James in January 2009. We are going on a two-week trip to Tanzania, Africa. One week will be spent climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and the second week will be on an African Safari. I am SO excited that I can hardly stand it--only 9 months to wait!!!