Green Tomato Pie

Miranda made an interesting desertGreen Tomato Pie-Its in the oven now and we'll be eating it in an hour!

Family Visit

Miranda and Nick came home this past Tuesday night and now (Saturday) they're getting ready to go home again. We have had a very nice visit and we're really happy they came home. We did get a lot done while they were home. We made a batch of Chocolate Stout. We made four pounds herbal bath soap and we canned some salsa and pickled green tomatoes. We spent a lots of relaxing time in the hot tub as well as playing some of our favorite board games. We'll miss them!

Hildur is back on line

Hi Everyone-Mom (Hildur) is back on line-her e-mail is bhlamon@paulbunyan.net . Please welcome her back!

Hi everyone! Just an FYI to let you know that I've changed the URL for my photo blog; it's now at http://yonsaucywench.blogspot.com/, so you'll want to update bookmarks and feeds accordingly. Thanks!

Summer is almost gone

Well, its about done! Summer I mean. School starts in about a week or so. I got to get moving and start to finish my summer projects before the fall projects kick in.
Pine cones are dropping and soon the leaves and the pine needles-I have already taken in a bunch of my garden-I have beets, tomatoes, baby pumpkins, squash and brussel sprouts and a few peppers left-and a bit of dill to harvest.
I think I will be washing the outside of the house tomorrow-windows and all.

Stunned Hawk

Nancy saw this hawk sitting on top of the sprinkler so I had to get a couple of pictures. It just sat in the area we were sprinkling for at least an hour. We think it must have just been stunned. I was with in 2-3 feet and it did not move. Later it flew away.

Its that time again

We decided to make make a couple of batches of beer today-one that is a Guiness Like beer (Stout) and a light spruce beer. A good day was had by me!
Now we just made a pizza and then off to the lake-for some evening fishing!

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

Here is the recipe for the Southwestern Black Bean Salad that I usually bring along to the Loungeabout. It's been reprinted without permission from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.

The recipe below makes 4 servings. I usually double it for a large group.

One 16 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced roasted red pepper
1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
1 red onion, finely chopped (when I double the recipe, I still use only one onion for the Lamons -Pete)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients; toss to combine. Let stand, covered, until the flavors are blended, at least 1 hour.

Per serving: 182 calories, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 cholestorol, 356 mg sodium, 26 g total carbohydrate, 8 g dietary fiber, 8 g protein, 52 mg calcium
Points per serving: 3

The Family Blog: Welcome Home Mike

The Family Blog: Welcome Home Mike

www.mnpatriotguard.org

Welcome Home Mike

Click on the title and watch the slide show of troops returning to Bemidji-Thanks Mike Lamon-We thought about you alot!
Gary

Welcme them Home

7/17/2007 12:07 PM


Here is a current schedule for returning Companies. Bemidji A Co is scheduled to leave Fort McCoy on Sunday, July 22nd at 6 am and arrivein Bemidji at 2:30 pm. They will be going through Walker, MN and then goon Hwy 200 to Kabekona Corner and North to Bemidji on Hwy 71. They will proceed through Bemidji on Paul Bunyan Drive (Hwy 197) to the BSU JohnGlas fieldhouse where the families will be waiting. The community will be encouraged to stand on this route. The soldiers will enter the fieldhouse and stand in formation. The Mayor will give a very short official Bemidji "Welcome Home" with 1SG Solberg following with a few comments. Thenthe soldiers will be formally dismissed to their awaiting families. Families can enter the Jon Glas fieldhouse at 12:30 pm to meet and setupposters. The public can enter Jon Glas at 1:45 pm to wait. A CD has been put together by our soldiers that provide a snapshot of their life in Iraqfor families and community to view at Jon Glas while we are waiting for thebus to return. Oh Happy Days!!!

PLEASE TRY TO GET OUT AND

WELCOME THEM BACK. IT MEANS A LOT TO A SOLDIER COMING HOME...I KNOW!

Mike Lamon is in Maine-Copied from an e-mail from Marie

From Marie Lamon 7/15/2007 2:15 PM

Just a note to tell you thanks and thanks to God for bringing Mike and Able Company toMaine today. They will travel to Wisconsin for a week to 10 days, and then be home!!!! Thanks for your prayers for all the past from 2005 to now and please remember the troopsas they reintegrate back into their "normal" lives once again!!!!
Marie

Anna Lone

Imagine my surprise when I opened the "Senior Scene," a supplement to our "Pioneer" newspaper and read the following:

"It was Hildur Lamon not Hildur Bauer's mother who homesteaded. Hildur's mother, Anna Lone, and her friend, Louise, and her dad moved to Pennington from South Dakota when Anna was about 22 years old. She homesteaded on 160 acres of land and built a house, or shanty as they were called, on Popple Lake. She lived on the homestead in the summer and worked in Cass Lake at various domestic jobs in the winter. Her future husband homesteaded on Burns Lake."

Interesting, huh?

Carmen-Copied from Lois's E-mail

Mom just called to let me know that Carmen died this morning...no otherdetails at this time.

For those who don't know Carmen Gregerson was Hildurs brother. Gary

A little bit of good news to throw in...

Mandy and I are happy to share that after many years of unsuccessfully trying to become parents, we've finally done it! Well, almost...Mandy had her first ultrasound today and she's got a little jelly bean growing in there with a heartbeat of 134 beats per minute. We hope to be bringing him or her into the world in February next year.





While it may not look like much yet, here's a first pic:

Love,

Matt and Mandy

Sad News-Copied from Lois's E-mail

Dad called last night to let us know that Art Godin had passed away yesterday (Saturday 7/7/07). Art was married to Dorothy, Dad's sister. He spent his winterin Alabama helping Bea (another sister of Dad's) take care of her husbandwho died in April. I really don't think that Art recovered from that & thenhe experienced a couple of strokes over the past couple of months and neededto be hospitalized or in a rehab unit. Dad didn't know any details on when the funeral will be held.

Bemidji Ice Fishing

This was not the scene in Bemidji this weekend! Temps were/are in the 90's-Hot-Hot-Hot!

Puppies!

Just thought I would post some pictures of Nathan and Katie's new puppies. They got a brother and sister set of 6 month old puppies from the humane society. They're not sure what kind they are, but they are thinking Black Lab/Great Dane mixes. They're very well behaved puppies and sleep a lot! I went down to see them yesterday and they don't bark or jump at you when you come in the door. They're names are Kali (I'm not sure how they're spelling her name) and Killian.

Our New Back Yard

The first picture is of the hot tub after it was delivered-we simply put up tarps around it until we could do something more permanent. The next two pictures are the mostly completed new patio. This is out or kitchen door-We put in a colored cement slab with a flagstone design because of the low maintenance-as it turned out it was about $200 more to put in concrete slab than a deck. We just added the fence for a bit of privacy. We built the Pergola with the help of our neighbors, Wendy and Joel. We had a lot of dirt work to do to back fill the slab because of the uneven grade of our back yard and lot of repair where the Bobcat and cement truck damaged the yard. Then we planted grass, added a few plant and its mostly done. We got hold of some Virginia Creepers (a fast growing vine) and planted them around the posts-in about 2-3 years they will take over the pergola. Now we have got to get the missing grass spots filled in and then we can fully enjoy the new addition.

I passed!!!!!

So, just thought I'd post a little update on my life here since graduation. I officially graduated from college the first weekend in May. Similar to a lot of degrees, I'm not able to practice in my full capacity until I passed my state boards. The nursing boards are kinda weird in that there is a minimum of 75 questions and a maximum of 265 and you can have the minimum or the maximum or somewhere in the middle. I was lucky and only got 80 questions. The computer decides to shut off when it is 95% sure that you know your stuff or 95% sure that you don't know your stuff and you shouldn't be practicing. Like I said, I had 80 questions and finished my test in about an hour and 20 minutes in Eau Claire. I definately didn't feel confident walking out the doors Monday morning and similar to the majority of nursing graduates, I felt like I failed. I decided to go shopping that afternoon to make myself feel a little bit better. My results were posted this morning and I'm officially a full blown Registered Nurse. What an awesome feeling! I guess all that schooling paid off!

Lounge About Tee Shirts

I copied this picture from the other Nancy to showcase the Tee Shirts-Many thanks to "Starfire Screen Print Company" and Scott and Nick for making the shirts. Maybe we should start designing a new one for next year?

2007 Lamon Loungeabout

Pics are up at kodak online. If you have any problems accessing the album, shoot me an email and I'll send you an email invite. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Child

On the way home from Bemidji this weekend we had a conversation about the old Mother Goose poem "Monday's Child" Here it is thanks to the internet, since none of us could remember it in the car:

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.

I also looked up the year 1969 and found that I am Wednesday's child and therefore full of woe. Emma, Morgan and Nancy are all Friday's children, so they must make up for me being such a curmudgeon.

Tee Shirts-Sizes and quanity

Hi Every One,
I am trying to get everyone to post how many tee shirts and what size they would like-
I would like to order 4- If you have people (or others) that would want one you could ask that person and that would help a bunch. Who knows who is comming for sure?
Gary=xxl
Nancy=xl
Joseph=Small Adult
Dylan=Small Adult

Lamon Lounge About T-shrit

Which do you like better?

Or

Happy Birthday!

I just realized that today is Pete's (38th?) birthday. I do think I did the math right, but maybe Pete would like to weigh in on that! Being the first g'child on the Lamon side, we pretty much remember when he was born, including the year. So, happy birthday, Pete! Just think in a couple of years, you will be as old as the rest of us!

And, not to let Matt down, it was just his birthday, too...that means that if Pete is 38, then Matt is 34, right? (May 24th). The Saunders do have a couple other b'days, the twins, aged 8 now, and they told me that they had a very nice birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Leader Pig Races

On Saturday evening on our way home from Alicia's, we (Gary & Nancy & Dale & Lois) stopped by Leader, MN, for the famous pig races. Talk about total entertainment...it was so much fun! And the pigs are so-o-o cute! They run a short track in pursuit of their prize...donuts!

Gary, the emcee and owner, is entertaining, too! He has other attractions that are great to see..."red neck horseshoes" (with toilet seat covers), milking contests, jump roping, hula hooping, kids scrambling for $1 bills in sawdust, & I am sure he has more fun up his sleeve.

The pig races are held every Friday and Saturday night from Memorial Day to Labor Day starting at 7:00 at the Bear's Den...if you get an opportunity to go, you will have a great time, guaranteed!

Pig Race Pictures

Hard Drive Lesson

We went to bed on Friday night and woke up to a crashed hard drive-we had not backed up anything-no pictures, e-mail addresses-nothing! Hard lesson-back up your stuff!

Tme Off

We are taking a Thursday and Friday off and with Monday being a holiday we will have five total days off. (Yahoo) This little mini vacation is hard earned and this is what we have planned.

Thursday-Drive to Grand Forks to get Nancy's ID card updated at the Air Base-Go to the commissary to get some good deals on groceries, check out the PX, etc
Friday-Get our Rental House cleaned and ready for the next renters. Repair leaks under sink, fix the screen door, tighten all loose door knobs and hinges, check and clean the furnace and other appliances. Sweep out the cob webs and the floor in the basement, Paint the entry way floor, spot paint as needed. Clean all the light fixtures, replace battery in all seven smoke detecters. Have the furnace inspected etc
Saturday-More of Friday (shampoo carpets-wash and wax floors, cut and trim the grass, add new landscape blocks and haul in some fill dirt, plant new flowers)
Sunday-Continued from Saturday- Paint the fence, clean the garage,paint the window trim etc.
Monday-Turn over Rental to new collage kids (if we are done)

Tuesday-Back to work-Refreshed and ready to take on the world!

Signs of Spring

Isn't Spring beautiful?

It's official

I'm officially pinned and graduated. And I'm all moved into my new apartment in Marshfield complete with cable and internet. Now I'm just waiting to start working. I start hospital orientation stuff on Friday and have that again next week. Just thought I'd share some pictures from the festivities! The top two pictures are from the pinning ceremony where I recieved my nursing pin (pins have replaced the caps that nurses used to get when they graduated) and the bottom pictures are from graduation.

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo

So, I'm a few days off. Better late than never, right?

On Saturday, Mandy, her sisters (one with a husband in tow), her parents and I headed down to West St. Paul for the annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta. I'd never done this before, and I must say that I'm glad I went. We arrived mid-way through what turned out to be an extraordinarily long and uninspiring parade. Next came navigating the foot traffic down Cesar Chavez Blvd. The street was packed with folks from one side to the other as far as the eye could see and bookmarking all of the action were two equally long lines of food vendors. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more Mexican food vendors, being that it is my favorite. There was an occasional taco or quesadilla booth, but the majority of the stands were for mini-donuts, cheeseburgers, etc.
Now you're probably wondering why I said earlier that I was glad I went. Well, we happened upon the salsa tasting competition in the parking lot of Boca Chica (great Mexican restaurant), and we were treated to some pretty darn good salsas. Of course, by the time I got to the last couple, my taste buds were pretty much shot. Anyway, the salsa tasting was enough to make the trip worth the time.
I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend as much as I did!

Sorry Bemidji

From a blog I follow:

The WCHA has decided not to expand their conference, meaning Bemidji State will likely soon find themselves without a conference to play in once the CHA collapses, and could force BSU to drop their hockey program.There have been critics that said Bemidji's program would be in dire financial straits with or without the WCHA, but my question is, why not at least give them the opportunity to fail? Maybe they wouldn't be able to make it in the WCHA, but they're almost guaranteed to die without any conference to play in.And what's the argument for not letting them into the league? It ruins the 8 years of tradition built up by having the same 10 teams in the league? It makes an already unbalanced league schedule slightly less balanced? The real answer is most likely that the other teams in the league don't want to split the revenue from the Final Five another way.The Beavers have more than proven themselves as a capable team. They've competed extremely well against the WCHA over the past couple years, despite having CHA-level resources. Playing in the WCHA would make the program even stronger. Yes, Bemidji still has issues, like the lack of a WCHA-level arena, but that could be solved by making their league membership, and cut of the league revenue conditional until they get a new arena.It's really a disappointing decision from the WCHA. Having an extra 18 scholarships/26 roster spots for D-I college hockey players is never a bad thing, and this decision puts that severly in jeopardy.

Lounge About Tee Shirts

Scott (of Nick and Scott) has left his job working in a silk screening business to go out on his own. He has purchased the required Silk Screening equipment-got into a storefront space and is well on his way to becoming a entrepreneur and business owner! Congrats to Scott! anyway now for the point of the Post.
Last night he suggested that we make special T-shirts for the Lamon Lounge About. He has offered to design them and to make them and maybe even deliver them (I added the last one). I think this would be a great way to support Scott and Nick on their new adventure,
Is there anyone interested in buying a T-Shirt?

Lamon Lounge-A-Bout

Think Summer! Think Camping! Think Relaxing! Think Reconnecting! Think Fun!

The Lounge dates are: June 22-24, 2007 at Cross Lake. :)

Lounge Dates?

Hi, Family!

We were trying to figure out the Lounge-a-bout dates...can anyone provide those?

Thanks, Lois

The Zimmers

I think that a person could, without trying very hard, read at least one article every single day about how the Boomers are going to change retirement. Heck, my company is doing some major advertising to the group based on this concept. But maybe the Boomers aren't the pioneers they think they are. Check out this video of folks who look to be in the WWII generation showing how it's really done. And turn it up to 11, no matter what generation you're a part of.

Can you believe it?

Anna
This is the start of your grand adventure-Congrats Anna

Beer!

I spent the evening bottling a batch of Irish Stout tonight. Bottling always takes a whole lot longer than I think it should. But it's all ready to go now and everything's cleaned up.

Apparently I was getting a little punchy toward the end when it came time to label the bottles. Or mark them, really. I don't generally make labels. Too much work to make and apply, and then have to peel them off the bottles for the next batch.

It's a shamrock. Obviously I'm not artistically gifted.

Continuing

Somehow I hit a wrong key...& then the blog wouldn't let me go back & edit, so...

The warmer oceanic waters predict that the hurricane season will be busier & more problematic.

Here is the link: nbc-2.com

Aaron & New Orleans

Aaron is in New Orleans at the National Hurricane Convention today and tomorrow. He spent Sunday traveling (about 13 hours) from Ft.Myers and spent Monday in Buloxi, Mississippi, & then headed to New Orleans to film the continuing devestation there. He told us that it is unbelievable to still see how much is left to be done to clean up the areas.

I've included his link just in case anyone is interested in more information or to watch any "shots" that Aaron filmed. Probably some of his filming will hit the national media because it usually does.

According to the national hurricane expert this year is going to be an extremely busy year with hurricanes due to the oceanic water temperature

Could you say "No" to a face like this?

I couldn't. So now we have another dog. Meet Bailey, a portly little 6-year-old beagle / basset cross.



We brought her home from the Humane Society yesterday. She likes big and little people, is getting along very nicely with Theo, and loves to cuddle. She's also taken over the furniture.



Her former owners surrendered her to the Humane Society almost a week ago; she's had a pretty rough time of it. I think she's missing her old family something fierce. She was very well-behaved and quiet last night but didn't sleep much, if at all. This afternoon she finally relaxed enough to collapse for several hours.



We like her lots. We hope she'll like us too. :-)

X-posted to my blog.

Master Gardener's Garden Party

Yesterday Dale & I spent the day at a Master Gardener's Workshop here in Bemidji. It was wonderful! They had enthusiastic, knowledgeable speakers, great exhibitors and a nice luncheon. The place was packed! Dale was one of many lucky door prize winners & brought home a new book entitled, "Making the Most of Shade." It was the kind of day you came away f feeling, man, I can't wait to get started! First, I'll move all those rocks, trim all those unsightly branches and suckers, get the hoe and shovels sharpened & oiled...& in the afternoon I'll accomplish the rest of the chores!

Whoa...whoa...whoa! Since yesterday, I've re-evaluated my list of chores & it now goes like this:
If it takes me all summer to move that pile of rocks, than I've accomplished a lot, & trimming trees, well, one tree at a time, & why sharpen my hoe or oiled it for that matter...I' d rather buy a new one!

Sometimes reality can be so disappointing! However, I am looking forward to getting out in the yard & garden & getting my hands dirty.

Tax Time

Well its that time of year again to get started working on my taxes. I always delay because I always have to pay. And as I was sitting reading Thursday's paper this morning there was a article with this headline
DFL eyes taxes. Senate likely to ok income tax hikes...

How long have they been in power? 3-4 months and already our taxes are already rising? I can't pay the ones I own now! I wonder what happening at the National level?

Hey, Beer Lovers

This is a great little article to get you thinking about beer:


http://men.msn.com/articlemh.aspx?cp-documentid=3872767&GT1=9212

The Wedding Gift

Roger was in trouble. He forgot his wedding Anniversary.

Patti was really angry.
She told him, "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway
that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE."

The next morning Roger got up early and left for work.
When Patti woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box
gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, she put on her robe, ran out to
the driveway and brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Funeral services for Roger have been scheduled for Friday.

Spring Break in Minnesota

Deep in the heart of Texas *clap clap clap clap clap*

The girls and I are here for a week, visiting family and roaming around Texas (today was Mpls to Dallas/Forth Worth to Abilene; tomorrow is Abilene to San Antonio).

Pete wasn't able to take the time away from work -- we started missing him before we even got on the plane! The girls are great little travelers and, other than a car sickness incident (ick), have been handling sleep deprivation, a 6 a.m. flight, and one long, boring drive quite well.

I'll be posting more over on my blog once I get some sleep and recharge my brain (and have more to post about than large skies, cactus and tumbleweeed, and extraordinarily nice strangers who say "y'all" a lot, which are my main impressions of Texas at the moment).

My Doctor Visit

I was a Carol and Scott's most of this past week. Carol was not feeling well and was gone from work much of the last week. It turned out she had strep...On the way home I started feeling a bit out of sorts...my ear had been hurting so I went to the walk in clinic...to get my ear checked and do a strep test(just in case). As it turned out my strep test was negative and I had some drainage problems in my ear so we are getting that fixed. But my blood pressure was very high and the doctor was most worried about that so now I have to get my blood pressure checked for a week or so then back to the clinic. She said I problably would need to be on Blood Pressure Meds...I hate being on any meds long term.
I would guess my health problems are related to my weight so Nancy and I are going to try something new...Carol has this book called "you on a diet" and it explains the effects that foods have on you and the "why" they affect you the way they do so we ordered it on the web for under $10 and we will try to get a bit more educated and a bit lighter and maybe healthier. Wish us luck!

Spring Thaw

What a difference from two weeks ago! Yesterday everythng was melting and water running all over. This whole week its going to be warmer...into the 40s. I can't wait for the first fire...Maybe tonight!

Heaps of Snow!

The snow last night was really something here in Duluth. They are reporting we got 20 inches. Mix that with 60mph winds, and it's most certainly the worst storm I've ever seen. If we get 2 more inches it will be a normal snow year for us. We got all our snow in one week!


Here's the pile of snow in front of our house we've made after the past 2 storms.




Here's Scott using our new snow shovel we got just in time!

Remember Snow Days?

Marketing 101

I was watching the Tour of California tonight when a commercial for Wendy's came on. There was music in the background as the voice-over announced how wonderful Wendy's food is. And the song they had in the background was Blister in the Sun by The Violent Femmes. Now, maybe it's me, but even though they didn't use any of the vocals for the song, I still don't think it's a wise choice.

Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun Lyrics

When I'm out walkin' I strut my stuff
Man,I'm so strung out
I'm high as a kite and I just might stop to check you out

Let me go on like I blister in the sun
Let me go on big hands I know you're the one

Body and heat I stain my sheets
I don't even know why
My girlfriend she's at the end and she is starting to cry

Let me go on like I blister in the sun
Let me go on big hands I know you're the one

Warmer & Nicer

Even though we don't have much snow & we haven't done any cross country skiing...the weather is a nice, welcome change. It has even prompted ideas in my head that involve yardwork, gardening, and walking outside with a lighter jacket on...! I'm wondering if I have some symptoms of cabin fever...do you think!?!!!

Our six more weeks of winter are now down to four!

Looking Good

World Weather > North America Weather > USA Weather > Minnesota > Bemidji > 56601
Your 7-Day Forecast
For Bemidji, MN 56601

Saturday

Hi: 14°
Lo: -3°
Partly Sunny
Hourly
More
Sunday

Hi: 21°
Lo: 9°
Mostly Cloudy
More
Monday

Hi: 30°
Lo: 13°
Chance of Light Snow
More
Tuesday

Hi: 29°
Lo: 11°
Partly Sunny
More
Wednesday

Hi: 31°
Lo: 12°
Mostly Sunny
More
Thursday

Hi: 32°
Lo: 10°
Mostly Sunny

All the snow is in Colorado

Mandy and I went to Greeley, Colorado last weekend to visit some friends who just had their first baby. Man, do they have some snow. I'm a little jealous.

Cold Enough For Ya?

60 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Minnesota plant gardens.

50 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in
Duluth sunbathe.

40 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Minnesota drive with the windows down.

32 above zero:
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Bemidji gets thicker.

20 above zero:
Floridians don! coats, thermal
underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.

15 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the
heat.
People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it
gets cold.

Zero:
People in Miami all die.
Minnesotans close the windows.

10 below zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico
People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.

25 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door
to door. (True!)

40 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Minnesota let the dogs sleep indoors.

100 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the
Mini-Van.

460 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero
on the Kelvin scale.)
People in Minnesota start
saying..."Cold 'nuff fer ya?"

500 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.

18 below in Bemidji

Nancy snpped thes pics!

Nice Folks (a joke I copied)

The other day I went to a local Christian bookstore and a saw a "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting; so I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did! What an uplifting experience followed! I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is ... and I didn't notice that the light had changed. It's a good thing that someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I would have never noticed!

I found that LOTS of people love Jesus!

Why, while I was sitting there, the guy behind me starting honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his car window and screamed, "For the love of God! Go! Jesus Christ, go!" What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking! I just leaned out of my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people, I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love.

There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a "sunny beach"...

I saw another waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my teenage grandson, in the back seat, what it meant. He said that it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I never meet anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign back.

My grandson burst out laughing ... why, even he was enjoying this religious experience.

A couple of people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed that the light had changed. I waved to all my sisters and brothers, grinning, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again, and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all of the love we shared. So, I slowed the car down, leaned out the window, and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time and drove away.

Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!

Tooth Tunes

I was watching TV with the girls last night and saw a commercial for something I never would have imagined. Tooth Tunes, a musical toothbrush. It's timed to play two minutes of whatever song you choose so kids know how long they should brush for. What a cool idea, I thought. It would totally motivate a kid. But as I thought about it more and more, I changed my mind. What a horrible idea. The main problem in the design is that each toothbrush only plays one song. I can't come up with a song that I'd like to hear over and over every morning and every night. And I certainly can't pick one of the songs that's actually available.
The Beach Boys - Fun, Fun, Fun. Now I enjoy the Beach Boys quite a bit, but this is one of their more repetitive songs. No way I'd want to hear it twice a day.
Destiny's Child - Survivor. Who is buying their children music from Destiny's Child?
Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away: Hearing this song once is once too many.
Queen - We Will Rock You: Great song. But I don't think you could get a good brushing rhythm established to it.
Aly & AJ - Walking on Sunshine: This was a fun song in the 80s when Kristina and the Waves played it. Don't give me a second rate cover version.
Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get It Started: Please. Do you really want images of Fergie in your head when you're brushing your teeth?
Hilary Duff - Wake Up: OK, sort of appropriate for the morning brushing session. But has potential to cause insomnia if used at night.
Jamiroquai - Canned Heat: Much too funky.
Jesse McCartney - Beautiful Soul: I have no idea who this even is.
Kiss - Rock and Roll All Night: Somehow I just don't associate Kiss with good dental hygiene.
Smash Mouth - All Star: Probably the best choice. It will always remind you of the end of Shrek.
The Cheetah Girls - Shake a Tailfeather: In a word? No.
Theme from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now): This would be inspiring. I would want to attack my teeth. I'd probably end up eroding away the enamel.
The Village People - YMCA: How would I be able to brush my teeth AND make the Y-M-C-A hand signals at the same time?

Plus, the most aggravating part would be that every song would end at two minutes. So just when you're starting to enjoy it, poof, you're done. That's a recipe for an earworm of epic proportions. So in short, no thank you Tooth Tunes.

"Archaeological Treasure Found Up North"

So, reads the headline from the Star Tribune...it goes on to say:

"Atop the highest hill in Walker, Minn., archaeologists have found what they believe to be evidence of the oldest human habitation in the state -- perhaps 13,000 too 14,000 years old."

Yipes...I can hardly comprehend 1,000 years, but think about 13,000!!

Rather than replace the entire article here, I have included the link just in case there are some that need more info or details.

Chicago!

This weekend I went to Chicago! We had a blast, ate lots of good food and had some great conversations. We picked up our friends Lori and Jim in Stoughton and then picked up Nathan and Katie in Beloit and continued on into Chicago. We ate at Miller's Pub and the Elephant Castle. Awesome food at both! Saturday afternoon, we had tickets to see the musical Wicked. It was an awesome show, I would definately recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to see it! It's the story of the witches in the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy comes. It had a really good message and it was entertaining for both kids and adults! I drove back today through some lovely snow and saw 40+ cars in the ditch. Glad I wasn't one of them! Have a good week!!

Chicago!

This weekend I went to Chicago! We had a blast, ate lots of good food and had some great conversations. We picked up our friends Lori and Jim in Stoughton and then picked up Nathan and Katie in Beloit and continued on into Chicago. We ate at Miller's Pub and the Elephant Castle. Awesome food at both! Saturday afternoon, we had tickets to see the musical Wicked. It was an awesome show, I would definately recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to see it! It's the story of the witches in the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy comes. It had a really good message and it was entertaining for both kids and adults! I drove back today through some lovely snow and saw 40+ cars in the ditch. Glad I wasn't one of them! Have a good week!!

MY Time is not my own

Is it just me or does everyone think that their time belongs to someone else?

I don't own anyone elses time!

I want some of my time back!

Motto for the week...Bury the Beavers

The Fighting Sioux play a home-and-home series with Bemidji State this weekend. I generally like to cheer for the Beavers, but not when they're playing against my alma mater. The Sioux have had a rough first half of the season, so I'm hoping they can keep it together against an impressive BSU squad.

I went to Madison last Saturday and saw the U of M play against Wisconsin. The game itself was pretty slow, ending 1-0 in favor of Minnesota, but my friends and I enjoyed Madison quite a bit! I've now been to 5 of the 10 arenas in the WCHA. Each one has a little something all it's own that I've enjoyed.

Our Movie Review, "Freedom Writers"

Hillary Swank's new movie, "Freedom Writers" is about an English teacher in an urban school in California. Her students consist of blacks, latinos, hispanics, asians & and one lone white boy. These students are for the most part gang members and are exposed to violence. Ms. G. (Hillary) experiences problems getting them interested in writing...& they tell her that she doesn't know anything about "gangs" or their lives. She responds with a comment that is pivotal to the story...she tells them that she does know about gangs & violence...in fact, there was once a gang that was so powerful and corrupt that it makes their gangs look small and insignificant. Then she asks a question of the class..."Have any of you ever heard of the holocaust?" Not one of the students raise his/her hand.

Dale & I knew that we would see this movie for a couple of reasons: 1. Hillary Swank is the star; and, 2. It is a story about a teacher. We were not disappointed. And, if you choose to see it, neither will you.

Back to School...again

It's hard to believe that an entire month is almost over again. I start back to school on Wednesday but I'm heading back to good old Rochester Friday for my last semester of nursing school. Our professors have told us that this semester will fly by and will be over before we know it. I just hope I have a lot of time to spend with friends since this will be the last few months I will be able to have with them living 5 minutes away from me.

Break has been pretty relaxing, which is good. I've definately caught up on my sleep and been more or less stress free. This past week, I made 4 baby quilt tops. My first attempt at quilting and I'm pretty happy with the results. Right now, I know of at least 10 people who are having babies between now and May. That's a lot of babies!

I've been thinking about what I want to do when I graduate and I'm planning on moving back to Marshfield for 2 years. After that, who knows? One of my friends and I had mentioned going to Alaska as a joke. But the more I think about it, I think it'd be cool to go there for a couple years just to experience it. My same friend is planning on moving North Carolina after graduation and wants me to come along. I don't know if I want to move as far away as North Carolina or even Alaska, but we'll see. It'd definately be an adventure! If I decide not to go that far away, I'll probably head over to the Twin Cities. Quite a few of my nursing friends are going to be there or somewhere in Minnesota, so it would be nice to be a little closer to them. Like I've always been told, there's endless options in the nursing field and boy were they right!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Beautiful Sunrise

We had a wonderful time in Florida...the weather was above 80 sunny and nice every day we were there...but, like all travels, it does feel good to be home! And, the snow today is quite welcome...it is good to be cozy & warm, too.

Enjoy the pictures!

Kane in Florida

Florida Pic