T-15 The Great Puzzle Challenge

Uhm I am a little embarrassed to post this photo, I made little progress. Wish me luck please.

T -16 The Great Puzzle Challenge

Christmas came and went like a flash. Once again we posed for our family Christmas photos. I know they are getting a little stale, we should start brainstorming for next year, now. I have been working on a 5000 piece puzzle for quite some time (actually since January 2006). In that time Ben has decided that me finishing the puzzle is a prerequisite for him accepting me in marriage. So let's just say I have alot of work to do in the next 16 days, like 4000 pieces of work. Best of luck to me and my back, I will finish this doozey. Here is where I stood Tuesday night, how about a little encouragement, huh?

CHRISTMAS?!?!

Holy Batman I can't believe it is Christmas already. I do have my shopping done and my roommate has all the holiday baking done. Job well done on the cookies Therese, not! Let's just say there were some serious problems involving corn syrup which led to other problems involving chipped teeth which was followed by a whole string of F-bombs.

Today was a pretty cool day for us at work as we delivered our gifts to our Big Brother Big Sister Sponsor Family. This year Lola, Samuel, Markeanna, Kimarra, Michelle, Brianna, Jontae, Khamena, and Jamal have a load of sweet gifts to open on Christmas morning. Way to go team you rock! And Miss Lola was more than thankful which made our efforts all the more worthwhile.

Last Saturday night was my last single night out with the girls. We stayed at the suave Chambers Hotel (thank you Sarah) and spent a little time out on the town. I did meet these two boys who were for sure too cool for their designer duds. Nice tan dude you look like an Oompa Loompa. Tanman suggested to Sarah that she check out the bar on the top floor as it was very happening. Her quick reply "Yeah I work here", got rid of them real fast which was no loss for any of us.
If you know me at ALL you know I prefer boys who look like this and don't pay for their tans, thank you.
We had a great time out, well I did at least, I hope the girls all did too. Thanks for all the neato undergarments, most were practical, some (Tami's) were a little, no alot risque for this small town girl and Kelly's gift. Well let's just say waaaaaay outta my league.

The wedding planning is really starting to heat up and I am sure the posting will be a little light in the coming weeks so I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here are a couple of interesting links....

This story hits close to home as I know some Shattuck grads. Can you imagine the pressure? I would not want to walk in this this kid's shoes..

What do you know about the history of religion?

Hey we kind of know her. Well not exactly but she is from my dad's hometown and went to high school with some of my buddies. She also has graced the cover of Runner's World and Running Times in the last couple of months. Nice going Carrie, way to make Dawson, MN proud.

Two down, one to go and it's the big one!

Well Darcie and I survived the Las Vegas marathon. Look at how happy we look at the start. Funny thing is I was not happy at all, I mean it was 5:45 am and I had been up for over an hour and I was crying inside just thinking of the 26 horrible miles of desert duststorm we were about to encounter. Okay maybe it wasn't that bad but it did hurt pretty good.

We are nearing one month to go on the big day, SCARY. It seems we have everything under control but I am hoping day of circumstances don't resemble either the PE or the marathon. You know what I mean, getting to the day not quite sure that you are fully prepared and then realizing that you didn't quite know what you were signing up for. I have heard weddings can be like that, but I have also heard they can be pretty cool. Let's hope for the later, huh?

I solemnly swear

I took and oath this morning, an oath to the county of Kandiyohi that I am a woman and Ben is a man and therefore we can be married. I wanted to laugh, I don't know why, but with my hand in the air, just standing there I felt like a doof. This is a little what I looked like, minus the ears, suit and tie. In 5 days we will find out if we have been approved and Ben will find out that I changed his name. I think Benjamin Kvaal sounds divine, plus he can now buy tennis shoes with his initials on them and eat at Burger King for free, how sweet.

Oh boy today's dentist appointment was not a fun one. I had the crazy not nice hygienist (if you go to Uptown Dental you know what I am talking about). Seriously she is the oddest duck and she mumbles, mumbles like nobody's business, mumbles twice as much as I could ever mumble and not about good stuff. She commented on my engagement ring, said she liked it and then followed with the longest run on sentence.

I was married once, well I probably shouldn't say that but well, he picked out a really nice ring too, that was the only thing he did right, but we should not have gotten married we didn't even live in the same town, we both just thought it was time and then I got to know him and then I realized I didn't even like him.... but I mean I wanted it to work but he just wanted to hunt and fish and hang out with the guys, he was a Northern boy... but I wanted it to work and we were together for 7 years but he liked to party too much, he actually had a drinking problem but I think he used it as an excuse to run away from me and luckily we didn't have children because he lives in North Dakota and if we had kids I would have to live there too and I hate North Dakota except Fargo I went to school there and I liked it well except the wind...maybe it isn't that windy there there are just no trees so it feels windy but the sunsets are really pretty because it is so flat and well what do I know? I had a dream I ran into him and it was morning time and he was drunk and I felt so bad for him but don't worry you have been dating your boyfriend for 2 years in the same town and I'm sure you will work out.

Wow that was the most encouraging wedding story I have ever heard. Her great story was followed by the dentist informing me I need a root canal on tooth #15. That is going to be awesome, I can't wait for the 14th of December, when the crazy root is coming out. I have to say I am almost as excited for the marathon as I am for the canal. Joy to the World.

Hung Lu's I-Pod Screen Repair - OPEN

Oh boy another i-pod hits the dust. This morning the screen went out on my i-pod which is death #4 for me. I am pretty sure this one is covered under warranty but if not the i-pod repair shop will definitely be reopening. I will not buy another i-pod Apple Corporation, I will not. I am not your slave!

The morning did not go well, first the I-pod then the eye. I lost my right contact on the bus and have been pulling a pirate ever since. I look funny to say the least, maybe even a big suggestive which is a very difficult look for me. After a full day of winking I feel a headache coming on. Ahyyyyrrrrr Matieeeeeeee

Pumpkin Head

Well I didn't make it to the NYC marathon like I had hoped I would but that is okay. Lance made it and he rocked, running a 2:59.

I however, I am not going to rock. I run for about an hour and I have had enough. I better start crossing my fingers and taking alot of Advil because December 10 and the Las Vegas Marathon are coming really quickly.

We carved some sweet pumpkins for Halloween and had a blast, even with the pumpkins that were stinky with brown seeds. Some of us were planning on having so much fun we decided we should wear our Halloween costumes again before the season passed. Dork! (btw Ben I got outta my car and found your moustache stuck to my shoe, in case you are looking for it)


My roommate and I are going to the OK GO concert tonight at First Ave. I pretty much know the treadmill song and that is about it so I don't know how great the concert will be for me. My bad though, Therese has been trying to get me to listen to the CD for months. In the listening I have done I have noticed excessive cowbell, what is up with that?

It's a-me a Mario!

Why yes it is.

Ben so looked the part of Mario, it was almost scary.

Me as Princess, well not quite the same effect. I think the last time somebody mistook me as a princess was at the orthodontist in the fifth grade. And I was not a princess, the doctor just called all the girls that, even girls like me in baseball caps with scabs on their knees.

e-mail of the year

2 days until the big test and seriously I am so tired of trying to learn crap that I didn't know before and won't need to know after. Boo-yah. Just setting eyes on the cover of the reference manual gives me the weebie jeebies. If you care what the condenser water flow in gpm is most nearly for a system operating with an ammonia (R-717) refrigerant brine chiller at 38.5 psia and 20 degrees of superheat, then you are crazy. You shouldn't be taking the PE you should be taking some sleeping pills.

We had quite an eventful day here at the office. One choice employee in Palm Springs sent us the e-mail of the year. He sent everyone in the whole company the e-mail of the year which was a picture of a terrorist who caught himself on fire. Wow I am glad I was able to see that classic piece of journalism. I think the 2nd e-mail of the year is the one we got 5 minutes later from HR reminding us that e-mails of the political or personal nature are not welcome on our servers. Way to go mr. e-mailer of the year.

On a hipper, more earth friendly note, we got a great piece of snailmail from an 87 year old landowner who loves his new turbines. He loves all 5 of them so much, him and his son wrote us a letter and made a 7 minute DVD. The clip of the year is definitely him hugging one of his turbines with the caption, turbine hugger and lover. Yep that is right Edward you know where the moneymaker is and you is the bomb.

Where have I been?

Right here in this crappy black chair with the giant milk dud stain. 2 more weeks and the PE exam will be done, finished, finito. After that I am only running and working on the puzzle. That is it, nothing else.

We had a wedding last weekend, only 2/4 of us made it, Ben was hunting and my Dad was suffering from an old football injury that doesn't allow him to sit for long periods. Okay whatever, lame excuses both of you. It was a long Catholic ceremony, and we missed a half hour due to some confusion about the start time but we made it and look at the awesome time my mom is having. I guess you could say it got me in the wedding spirit though as I booked our wedding singer and deejay at the wedding. Tacky maybe but I am all about fast, and this was fast.

Last night we went to the Wild Game, I got some nice free tickets from work and the game was awesome. The Wild are 4-0, playing really great hockey yet half the fans at the game are so busy yapping they have no idea what is even going on. Oh and if you don't know what a Zamboni is, please give up your seat to someone who does. Yes you know who you are Club Section 8, Row 2, Seat 5, know it all jerk who walked by like 5 times.

Is that my toothbrush?

Apparently not. Last night I was reading and my roommate was walking around brushing her teeth, with my toothbrush.

"dude you are using my toothbrush".

"uhm actually this is my toothbrush, I swear, yours is in the holder"

"nope that is Ben's, I have been using the pink one since I moved in 3 weeks ago, I have that same toothbrush, have you been using it too?"

"Yes I have and I am pretty sure it is mine but you can have it, I don't want it anymore"

Later my pink Colgate toothbrush was found in my travel bag in the toothbrush holder. In my defense it is the exact same brush. You don't have to tell me, I know I am an awesome roommate.

We checked out the new Chamber's hotel bar on Saturday (yeah the website kind of sucks). I am not going to do a bar review, just will say if my old buddy Sarah was not the front desk manager my feet would probably have never set foot there, but there was some good people/celebrity watching. If you don't mind paying $10 for a drink, check it out or read this. The picture in the article is from the outdoor bar which is very Sex in the City like. Well like I would know. I guess what I am getting at is I was there and other people were too, there was a fire and it was an alright time.

Kansas can be pretty

when the sun is setting. Another one of our sweet projects went online this past week, Way to Go Team! The Spearville Wind Farm will produce enough clean green electricity to power about 30,000 homes.

In other sweet news Nye's Polonaise Room aka Conference Room 'N' received Esquire's Best Bar in America Award. How, why ? I do not know but it is quite the honor to work 500 feet from such a national landmark. I am actually looking at Nye's as I type, what inspiration. I think I can even smell the peirogies and stale beer.


Oh and for those of you wondering, we finally set a date, January 13 is the big day. Yes we gots lots to do............

Brother Ron,

I haven't seen you in a month but I know you read my blog. Will you be in our wedding? Please let me know.

Love,
Your little sis

Goodbye Summer!

Have I said I hate Labor Day Weekend? I always have, ever since I was elementary age, I would cry when Labor Day came. So I should be proud to say that this year's was not so bad. We were out in Rhinelander WI (Hodag capital of the world) for a friend's wedding reception and it was a good time. Luckily the rain and other weather altogether missed us and we were outside the whole time. Cool.

Not so cool was the world's longest move which took place Monday to Thursday and is still somewhat happening. I moved down to Lake Harriet with an old college buddy and since I will be sharing space with someone else about half of my stuff ended up at Ben's, in boxes, in trailers and in sheds. I was rushing around this morning trying to find my check book, cell phone charger and other necessities but had no luck. I don't know where anything is, my mom came down and helped me pack so I have an excuse besides being crazy for not finding stuff but still what a drag.

Compound all this not cool moving stuff with my hacking cough and well life is awesome. The Dr. said it was/is a virus that was compounded by a sinus infection but looking on web md I think I have whooping cough. Either way the antibiotics should clear it up, I hope. The pulled muscle in my left side ab has somewhat subdued the coughing but I still sound like a overweight smoker. For those of you who have hung out with me in the past two weeks, I am sorry.

Happy Birthday Classy Lady

Yeah I am talking about you Mom, I know this is a picture you enjoy. Poor Dad, always in trouble for something and she is loving it, check out the grin! I hope your birthday is great just like you!

Well summer is winding down and I won't see these two crazy cats at the lake every weekend, but I have a feeling I will be home plenty trying to plan the nuptials. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, planning is not my forte.

In a moment of weakness, after an unfortunate weigh-in, I signed up for the Las Vegas Marathon. So now I am studying for my PE, training for a marathon and planning a big party, all in the next four months. Sweet.

Fish have feelings too.

Here are our fish, Fish 1 and Fish 2. When the fish died I felt bad but my Dad reminded me they are only reptiles. (but I guess they aren't but they are still without a soul or something.......? Physics Major here!) We cleaned them and ate them so they didn't die in vain but still I am sad for them, they were nice fish.

Snakes are reptiles and they all can die. I hate them. And no I will not be going to see Snakes on a Plane. I saw Anaconda and that was enough for me, I still have nightmares.

Well, fall is right around the corner and I am back in school. Wednesday nights I have a 3 hour prep course for the Professional Engineering Exam at the U of M. It's a little odd to be in one of my old college classrooms, being taught by an old college classmate, subjects I used to understand when I was in college. But don't worry I was able to maintain my old college form, I showed up to class without the textbook, without my calculator and I am sure come Tuesday night I will scrambling to get my homework done for Wednesday. What joy, at least Ben is taking the exam too so we can find comfort in each other's dread.

Yeah Good Morning

I had my yearly physical this morning which was of course awesome. I mean I love the open back robe, 12 hours of fasting, needles, cups....... BLECH, what a drag but I got through it, hungry but unharmed. I finished my appointment, got to work, made my daily oatmeal, grabbed it out of the microwave and placed it on top of my coffee mug, just like I do EVERY morning. But today, I only made it halfway down the hall. Oh joy and I left a stain, a stain that will probably be there for awhile. Hopefully I didn't also leave an invitation for the ants to come back, they are not wanted here, not at all.

Tonight is the Twins Joe Mauer sideburn night, Go Twins! We would go but I don't think I would look too good in black sideburns, Ben already has his own pair, and we have plans for a movie with some friends. We are planning on seeing World Trade Center which opened yesterday, I have heard it is good, please don't tell me if you heard differently.

Hard to believe but people really fall for that Nigerian money scam. I don't know if you recall the Tennessee preacher's wife who shot her husband in the back 6 months ago or so. I was intrigued by the story because there seemed to be no motive, he was a nice enough guy, they got along, really nothing out of the ordinary. Then you find out she lost $17,000 to some Nigerian scam artist claiming to be some prince with extra cash, things got heated and the guy gets shot. What a drag, I guess I should stop crying over my spilled oatmeal.

It's time to move on........

I am preparing to vacate my one bedroom hideaway on the river. Goodbye StoneArch it's been a good 3 year ride, but I am moving to uptown. Oh sad day. And the commute, that is going to be a change, I guess 6 blocks just can't last forever.

This letter came through on our fax today. Apparently Tillie G. has some real problems with "them windmills", poor Tillie, if you don't like wind turbines you sure live in the wrong part of the state. But don't worry, being you told us 3 times "don't put no windmills on my land", I don't think we will. And on the plus side you have Ted Kennedy and a bunch of other ignorant "not in my backyard" idiots on your side. We have been waiting 2 months for the Department of Homeland Security to allow us to begin construction in SW Minnesota because they claim their radar can't tell the difference between the spinning blade of a turbine and some crazy terrorist plane attacking via Canada. Wow, our governemnt agencies are intelligent.

Goodbye July.

Well I am sorry to say I did not make it to RAGBRAI this year, but Lance did. He mingled with the crowd, signed autographs and hung out, how cool! I guess he liked it too as the quote in the paper was "So this is RAGBRAI, I wasted all those Julys in France"

My friend Darcie and I did some biking of our own, not in Iowa but in Elk River and I need some practice, I took two tumbles and had multiple near misses, see photo. It was hard to believe we were the only ones on the trail at noon on Friday, it was only like a 100 degrees out.

Oh this is great, Joe Mauer is the new Sports Illustrated cover!

It's Official(ly) Scary!

These two dorky, outdoor loving, enginerds are getting hitched. Who'd a thought?

We haven't picked a date but we have the place and we are both pumped. Mr. Anderson pulled all the right moves, asked my Dad's permission, secretly picked out the ring HIMSELF (and it is gorgeous), got down on one knee and melted my heart. What a guy!

Ben please look at this picture and remember it is never too late to back out, my looks are only going to get worse, I do not photograph well and I go by the name sweetwhitelady.

Mile Marker 184, 18 miles south of Mason City Iowa on Northbound I-35

Oh boy yesterday was not good, I left home at 5 am to drive to Des Moines for software training. Smart people would have driven the night before, maybe printed out directions, and then brought along a map, all things I did not do. I did stop to get water, use the bathroom and gas up at about 6:30. That was when I noticed my underwear were on inside out. That was THE SIGN to go home!

To make a long story short I got lost, was 45 minutes late for class, sat through a class for software we DO not have, and ran out of gas on I-35 just shy of Mason City. In my defense the Chevy Cobalt is the crappiest car around especially when it does not have cruise control and the low fuel light means in 22 miles your engine will shut down. I also blame Iowa for not having a gas station for 32 miles. Oh Iowa I hate you so. An Iowa State Trooper stopped to make sure I was okay, he rapped on my window, I opened up. "Are you okay?"
"Yep I am fine, just stupid, don't worry my insurance agent is sending someone"

I think the only good thing Iowa has ever done is to allow wind turbines to be built (about 800 of them!). Oh and they are letting a certain biker ride in this years RAGBRAI. Yes I will be there!

Ben how'd ya get so fly?

My nephew drew this beautiful picture of Ben. My sister and I requested the moustache but the giant eyebrows and Fred Flinestone feet, oh he picked that up all by himself. Lovely.

Wowzaas I can't believe it is the 4th already. The cynics of my family will say that the 4th is the halfway point of summer but in reality summer has just begun, come on people. We have a nice slew of fireworks brought in by Dad from SoDak, with the highlight piece being a large firework called Salvation with a crucifix and John 3:16 printed on the side. Hmm I didn't know there were Chinese Christians? In any case good find Dad, controversy is good, then we forget how many bottles of mustard we had, who parked where and what drank all the beer.

We caught the Tom Petty - Pearl Jam concert on Tuesday night in St. Paul. Tom was pretty rocking, I mean he still wears the same duds from 30 years ago (purple shirt with vest?) but he also rocks and sings like he is 30 years younger. It was great entertainment with the crazies in front of us dancing and carrying on we had plenty to look at. In general the people watching rivaled that of the airport..........

But doesn't hold a candle to the folks at the DMV. Wow I have never seen such a hodge podge of people as I ran into at the Columbia Heights DMV. Some of the oddest ones were employees to boot. Gov't offices = scary, don't go unless you HAVE to.

Oh Grandma, Grandma's and Ghana

One nice little piece of advice for ya, don't get old because this is what happens. My grandma got her knee replaced and she is doing well, is in good spirits and even seems to enjoy sporting the scar and showing everyone but gosh-d that looks like it smarted. To a fast recovery Grandma June, may you soon be cruising around in your Town Car delivering socks and other necessities to your loved ones.

Oh boy Grandma's Marathon was a doozey this year. I got into the half but couldn't attend and now realize that was a pretty good deal for me. Apparently it was the most humid conditions ever at race time and me and humidity are not friends. The person who did use my bib ran a 1:38 which I found pretty impressive, plus I beat Ben, I mean the person that ran in my place beat the person that ran in Ben's. Sweet!

Ghana beats U.S., what? Why I care I am not sure but I did listen on the radio this morning and it sounded pretty bad. And I think this is only the second win for an African team on European soil. Jeez just another reason for the world to look down us.

VOTE JOE!

Oh Joe, how you be so awesome? Local Twin Joe Mauer is everything a baseball star should be, humble and handsome, loyal and minnesota nice. After his scary first season knee injury, Joe has been nothing but exciting, too bad his teammates can't seem to follow suit. Hmm too busy grumbling about your salary to worry about your game, hey Lohse how were the minors?

The Twins have launched a campaign to help him become an All Star, check it out and VOTE here. I voted 25 times, yes it was a pain but worth it if this St. Paul slugger gets the spot he has earned on the American League All Star Team. (for non baseball folks, vote J. Mauer, right hand column under American League catcher)

YAO Zaas

Yao Ming is about 7 feet 5, I saw him play against the T-Wolves last winter and wow he is tall, runs like a clod, can't jump and blocks like a grizzly bear.

What a sight it would be to see this Yao play basketball, Yao Defen, also Chinese but not related to Ming, is 7 foot 7! Sadly she probably cannot walk, it appears in the photo she is having trouble just sitting.

Does anyone else see her resemblance to a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon?

Looking for a deal?

I use craig's list quite a bit and have actually found some pretty good deals. For example here is one I want to share FREE 3 boxes of cereal (adult) . I am not going to bite on this so if you are interested you go, my treat. Or how about this? What a nice offer.

-Well I survived Iowa, not without a broken treadmill and a hairy sandwich but hey I made it. Ben picked me up from the airport Thursday night and we had dinner at the 5-8 Club, which was where we went on our first date. I thought it would be cutesy to wear the same shirt, you know recreate the first date ala The Parent Trap. Well it got a little freaky as Ben had the same idea and also wore the same shirt and in a packed club we ended up in the same booth with the same waitress as a year and a half ago. I probably didn't help things by ordering the same meal with the same beer but Ben mixed it up, got the Juicy Lucy and we survived the deja vu, even had some fun.

-We have been hauling a 16 gallon root beer keg around for the last 3-4 days. It lived in my bathtub for a night and then moved to a giant garbage tub and now it is plopped down right in my kitchen. Man those things are heavy but I guess worth it as we got it for Ben's Dad's 60th birthday party. Saturday was cold, definitely more of a coffee day then a root beer day, but fun. Ben commented it was like a graduation party but for an older gentleman, which is totally what it was, same cake, pictures,and congratulations.

-Wow, how come this is the first time I ever heard of this?

Go Hawkeyes

No wait I hate the Hawkeyes, all because of that one game at Joe Sensor's, stupid crazy fans. But anyways I am in Iowa and it sucks, the Baymonts Suites, they aren't sweet, they smell like crappy hotel and my Kia Rio makes a weird whooshing sound if I go over 55 and seriously reeks inside. Uffda, at least there are a couple of decent restaurants and I can always go check out the University of Iowa. Wait, why would I do that? Anyways I am here until Thursday evening, please keep me in your thoughts.

Hope you all like radishes and kohlrabi and beans, peas, squash, tomatoes and corn, because we planted a garden and it is bigger than we can eat. Here is Ben trying to disc up the garden, yep he is stuck, but he gets himself unstuck, not without looking a little concerned though.(correction, he was not stuck, only had the disc set too deep, sorry Ben!
Yah-Hoo Lance has been proven innocent, I never doubted it. Now when is that sweet movie coming out about him?

Now for bad news, my little sister who has been AWOL since March has been found. She and her 3 siblings are in foster care, and here I was mad that she never got back to me. I know it isn't her fault she is super rude and only wants to go out to eat when we get together. Poor kid, her whole world is turned upside down.

Hey this is Sherman

-The weddings have begun, oh good grief. I think between Ben and I we have a wedding every month right up to 2007. My intentions to be prepared and avoid the pre wedding rush has never worked out and this wedding was no exception. We had even bought the present 6 weeks ago and still were frantically wrapping it 15 minutes before we left will simultaneously shaving, ironing and applying make-up. Good grief who needs the stress.

-July's wedding is in Flint Michigan and Sunday I was on the phone trying to book a hotel room.

Operator: "Comfort Inn Hotels, can I get your name?"
Me: "Sure it is Mindi"
Operator: "Okay Sherman how can I help you"

-Ben bought an old lawn tractor on eBay and Sunday morning we went and picked the relic up. Well the thing is so old Ben didn't even know how to work it. He hopped on it to back it off the trailer and pushed in the clutch. "The brake, where's the brake?" It is not on the right and Ben started rolling backwards. All the sudden the flip trailer flipped and Ben went flying into the corner of the garage. There was some paint exchanged but I was not run over and Ben did not get hurt so we are all good. Not smart but all good.

Family Time

Hah, who says I don't have a sense of humor, I still posted this picture even though everyone said "oh that is going to go on the blog, that is so funny" Check out my mom's, my sister's and my shirt, we look like a walking stoplight.

Oh sad day, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth is closing its doors. It's a bummer I never stopped, all the times I went by.

Check it! Trader Joe's opened in St. Louis Park today. Yah!!

Chopsticks are big news

• Who knew the rising cost of oil could made disposable chopsticks a luxury item. Check out this article, Japan uses 25 billion chopsticks a year. Holy Hanoi, that is alot of chop. Have they ever heard of reusable utensils?

•The rain is getting a little old especially for people like me with short legs and long pants. I think my jeans are finally dry from the morning walk. What a drag, literally they drag all over.

•Check out this totally necessary e-mail I got today.

Did anyone order a water slide from JC Penny's?
Let me know. Thank You !!!

Nikki
Receptionist / Clerical Assistant
enXco

I guess if you put that on a dumb scale, all my e-mails look pretty smart now, thanks Nikki.

•Mother's day is here again, Happy Mother's Day all you mothers. I have been checking out this blog, which is a mom blog, but didn't start out that way. Dooce is the blog of a woman in LA who was fired from her job for blogging about co-workers, I remember hearing about it long before blogging was really a thing. Oh and if you have a mom please call her. Mine just called me, obviously disgusted with me for not calling 2 days. Yep Mom I am still alive and Ben and I are still together.

•Okay I am out, have a nice weekend.

28 Miles, ugh

Ben and I had been dreading this past weekend for quite some time. He had a final presentation, paper and exam all due and I had a half-marathon that I had not been training for. Well let's just say they both passed, we are both still alive and my dead toe will come around.

In between all the stuff we had to do, we got to do a canoe race. It was fun, but long, 15 miles in a canoe on a lazy river is not fast or comfortable but it was a gorgeous day on Saturday. Check out the photo, we got passed, passed like we were standing still, passed like we had a 80 lb canoe. Oh wait we did have an 80 lb canoe, a big old cooler and a lazy paddler in front (yep that's me). But like I said it was fun, you all should try it.

Love Builds a Bridge

That spans 71 years?!? Wowzaa a 33 year old man has wed his 104 year old sweetheart. See Article. Excuse me Mr, I think you overlooked a couple of key pieces of information here, she is 104 and has been married 20 times before. Just let the poor woman die in peace and stop interfering with her. I mean seriously look at the photo she is mesmerized by a shiny piece of paper, she has little valuable time left and does not need the burden of another husband.

Can you read this?

Check out this letter we got from a landowner. Man alive this poor guy has some hand control problems but still we were able to decipher a phone number and give him a call. Turns out Neil is also deaf but not stupid. He wants us to put a turbine on his land by the end of the year. Yep that is how it works, you just order the turbines, anybody else want one?

This fire is outta control.........

And this is my worst photo ever. If you have ever ridden in a car with me in the back seat you already know, I am a car sleeper and an excellent one at that. Maybe next time I should try for a little more flattering pose and take that noose off my neck, that looks a little dangerous. Oh and did I mention I am on the clock here, my boss took this photo with his camera phone.

Last night I went to the Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand show. I am not a real big fan of Death Cab but I really like FF, unfortunately I was late as I had to make the rush hour drive from Worthington to Mpls and missed the first part of their set. Bummer. But they were good and looked nice too, as nice as any boys in skin tight pants can look.

Worthington, hmm it is kind of a crappy town. I think 3 days and 2 nights is enough time for any one person to be there. Ignacio said he could live there though because they have a Wal-mart. Oh barf.

I'm there!

But probably not to run, I just want to watch this time.

I ran the NYC Marathon in 2003 and I don't think I ever will again. The set-up is just goofy. We were on the subway at 5:30 am to catch a 6:30 am bus to get on Staten Island and then the race wasn't until 10:00 am. Apparently that is how long it takes to get all the traffic cleared from the bridge and surrounding areas. I think I was tired even before we started.

I have been to New York City a handful of times and one of the times was shortly after 9/11. Being able to see the World Trade Center while it was still rubble was pretty amazing. The enormity of the building and the loss just cannot be fathomed unless you saw it in person. Now that it is all cleaned up it is still pretty cool to visit.

New York City is someplace I think everyone should see, I know one guy in particular that I will be taking if I go.

Thunder From Down Under and Darcie

Wow, I haven't posted much lately, haven't really had much to write. SO it is really nice when something interesting just lands in your inbox.

My buddy Darcie now lives in Vegas, here is her latest celebrity encounter!

I was down working out in our little community gym in the place where I live and I had been there for about 40 minutes on one of the treadmills and then this really good looking guy came in and got on the treadmill next to me. I'm looking at this guy wondering where I have seen him before and then about 10 minutes later his twin brother comes in! I had my headphone on most of the time but when I was switching songs I heard them talking and they had aussie accents. So I asked them if they were from there and we talked for a bit then I realized where I had seen them from...they are strippers from the the show Thunder From Down Under!! HA! I thought that was pretty funny. One of them must live here.

I have to say it is pretty funny that she recognized them out of character. Or is it pretty sad? I'm not sure.

Oh Sweet Jesus Juice

Ben and I are not smart. Not at all, I mean who plugs in a 30+ year old fridge that neither of us has ever used and then fills it to capacity with beer, about half of it in glass bottles. Yep we did and look at the sweet mess we got to clean up.

I think partial blame has to land on all of last week's party goers who did not drink enough beer, it is your fault, too!

This is the Oldest Woman Alive

Well maybe not but she is 96 and still lives in her own home. My mom does odd jobs for her like changing light bulbs, taking out the garbage etc. and she pays my mom line item by line item. $0.50 for changing a light bulb, $15.00 to change hearing aid batteries, $20.00 to mow the yard, $5.00 to deliver juice to her younger sister. The numbers are all across the board.

Saturday she called our house and I answered, all I hear is "MARY, MARY", I reply "nope this is MINDI", and then I hear "MAREEEEEEEEE I CAAAAAAAAAAAN'T HEARRRRRRRR" and then a click............ Apparently that means the hearing aid battery is dead.

So we finished the game we were playing and headed over to her house. The poor lady had been standing by the door since she called because she was afraid she would miss us. So for 20 minutes she just stood there waiting, not knowing if she had even gotten ahold of anyone.

I have always thought she was a little off her rocker and my suspicions where confirmed when she later told my Mom she thought Ben was a nice boy and he was very shy. Hmmmm Ben shy, I don't know about that.

This is a Doozie!

I have always been a jigsaw puzzle fan but this puzzle, I don't know about. At 5000 pieces it is BIG but it is also a very challenging puzzle. After 3 months we only have a couple hundred pieces together but still I am hoping we can finish it by Fall. If we miss the deadline we might have to have a puzzle burning party. If we finish it I think we should glue it together and give it as wedding gift. I mean seriously what could be more meaningful than a gift you spent 500 hours on?

I found a famous landowner!

So my quest to find a famous landowner is over. If my co-workers had a dollar for everytime they had to tell me that no, SD landowner Dale Murphy, did not play baseball for the Braves and no, ND landowner Kevin Brokaw, is not Tom Brokaw's brother, they would not work here anymore.

The good news came in today that the Timberwolve's owner Glen Taylor owns land in one of our Iowa windsites. According to Forbes, Glen Taylor is worth 1.8 billion dollars, is # 59 on the Forbes 400 List and is from Comfrey MN. This guys seems like a gem, I guess he owns over 7000 acres of land which he donates to small farms to keep the small farm thriving. Glen that is awesome! Now if he could just make the Timberwolves thrive he would be a hero.

Hey what's on your upper lip?

Looks like moustache on the left and strawberry margarita on the right.

Ben and I hosted a party at his place Saturday night. We had a good turnout, a good time, and a good fire but something was missing. Only old people came, seriously everyone was gone by 1 am, nobody had to stay over because they couldn't drive and the day after we still had a fridge plump full of beer. Hello people are you 25 or 60?

March Madness

or sadness, depending on what side of the coin you fall on. Ben and I snuck out of work on Wednesday morning to see the Willmar High School girls basketball team play in the state tourney. Unfortunately they lost to a private metro team, but hey at least they made the dance.
There is basketball all around right now, which is very cool. I am hoping to snag tickets to a couple of NCAA games but tickets are scarce and prices are high so we will probably just watch on TV like everyone else. We are doing brackets at work and one co-worker, who is not a b-ball fan, has all the picks correct after Thursday's game. I am amazed, I only got about half right with all the first round upsets.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys.

I found this on Jason Mulgrew's blog and it is seriously the biggest time killer ever, but funny. Real funny.

Come on curling is cool

We went and checked out some curling last night in St. Paul. I won't lie and say it was fast paced and exciting nor will I tell you that the participants were particularly athletic or attractive but it was fun. I think it is fun learning something new and trying to figure out the rules and strategy of curling was enjoyable. Plus all the people who work there are all real nice and welcoming to visitors.

I guess with all the Minnesota Olympic hype, curling is the THING to do so of course we are going to give it a go. The St. Paul Curling Club offers a 2 hour clinic for people who are curious and they loan you all the equipment you need. How sweet for only $10.

The scoring is a little confusing, but once you get it is really simple, like horseshoes. What is the score of this end?

So how come I have never heard of this?

So apparently today is International Women's Day. It was on my one a day comic calendar so I looked it up. It is legit so why have I never heard of it? Here are some more holidays, I am not so familiar with...

-March 14 - Purim, must be Jewish or something?
-April 20 - Admin Professionals Day -
-May 20 - Armed Forces Day
-October 3 - Yom Kippur - Jewish again, I think
-October 16 - National Boss Day
-October 24 - United Nations Day

Hmm this post is going nowhere, I gotta stop. I did read that if you have a blog that was once easy to post on but you suddenly find yourself with nothing to write about you must be happy.....or maybe bored.

Good Advice

Oh and don't cross your eyes either, you know what happens then. This picture is not from Kentucky, it is from Virginia, MN. Believe what you see in North Country.

Funny Money

Wow the new $10 bill is odd looking. I don't think it looks fake like Monopoly money but more like someone spilled Tang on it. Seriously who chose the orange colored back?