The Next Step

Well, it's official. I'm officially ready to begin the next step in my career. Not too long ago, I recieved a phone call saying I was being offered a nurse intern position. I'm rather excited. I'll be working at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield in their 8 week nurse intern program. I'll be working on 3 North, which is a cardiac floor. I work 32 hours per week with that, and then I'll be working 8 hours a week in my current job as Nursing Assistant in the Birth Center. I can't believe I've been working there for almost 2 years already. I'm excited and scared at the same time. Excited, because it's the next step and because I'll learn a lot. Scared because people's lives are going to be in my hands. I work with a nurse preceptor, and she pretty much follows us around to make sure we're doing everything right and then she gives us little hints along the way. I didn't think I had shared that with anyone, so I thought I should. Only 4 more weeks of school! Yay! Oh yeah, one more thing, I'm going to Colorado on a road trip in May. I'm excited. I think that's about all that's new with me, hope everyone is doing well!

Peek a Poop!

Melting snow, sunshine, warmer temp., visions of a beautiful, green lawn...& OH, NO...! There are mountains & mountains of it right out the back door...you guessed it...Doggy do-do! In the early winter when the snow just starts to fall, it really looks miniscule, & a few more days pass, & then it snows, & it looks miniscule, & a few more days pass, then it snows...well, you get the idea. Pretty soon it is all covered up...& the yard looks, well, clean.

And I forgot all about it. But I can no longer forget!

So, I have been trying to figure out what to do to keep the exercise energy flowing & now I know...yardwork. And I know what my top priority is...anyone want to help?

Bemidji

Hello there! Starting right now, I'm on spring break. I am questioning coming to Bemidji next weekend. I was just wondering if people are going to be around at all or if there's anything exciting going on up there. I have off from work Thurs-Sun and I was thinking about going to Duluth for a day or 2 and then continuing up to Bemidji. So if there's anything exciting going on, let me know please :)

"The Big Mountain"

We have fallen in love with cross country skiing, the quiet, serene, winter wonderland is so beautiful & peaceful, too. We are going to put our sport to the test by skiing in Whitefish, Montana, beginning Saturday morning at 5 AM, when we board the Empire Builder to begin our journey westward.

We are going with Steve & Margie...so, there won't be a dull moment all week!! Dale & I are excited...it should be a great, relaxing time.

We will be taking some pics & I will work on putting one or two on the blog when we get back.

Lion/Lamb

Well, I now know that March is here...wow!
Yesterday I left work around 4:00 pm to a light, cool rain. By the time I got to Paul & Babe, it was pouring... I continued driving along Paul Bunyan Drive...& within a matter of minutes, it was not only raining, but large, wet snowflakes were being splatted onto the windshield. This continued until around 5:30 when I noticed that we were in the midst of a blizzard! The wind was blowing & the snow was flying & I couldn't see the houses across the street from us! It snowed for a while, & then quit abruptly! Such is March!

Curling & Katie

Well, it looks like I need to clarify a couple of things:

Katie competed in the Bemidji Junior Bonspiel this past weekend. There were 25 teams involved & Katie's team won the championship trophy. :) This is her second year in a row to win the bonspiel & she is elegible to try again next year. (She has to be under the age of 21 by June 1...& she qualifies for that.) However, she hasn't decided if she will or not.

When I said that we are going to Vancouver in 2010...I didn't actually mean in curling competition, rather as spectators...(sorry about any misconceptions). That doesn't mean that Katie won't have the opportunity to try out for the Olympic trials, but we all know that a lot can happen in four years, too. She was the fifth player on a team that did try out for the 2006 Olympics...& they came in 9th in the nation, so anything is possible!

I heard that there may be another curling rink built someplace in the Twin Cities...does anyone have any other info on that?

More curling news...our olympic champs will be arriving in Bemidji on the 10:15 flight tonight...& then Tuesday night, Dale is in charge of a fish fry to raise money for the Junior Curling program in Bemidji...&, of course, I help...& our olympic champs will be there to spur on the juniors. It should be an exciting couple of days. And, we will be tired!

Great news!

Lois posted this in a comment to my curling post, but I think it's too good to be hidden there!

I am so proud :) to report that Katie & her team took first place for the second year in a row!! Katie can play one more year in Juniors if she chooses, but she told us tonight that she is going to Vancover in 2010!

I guess we will be going, too!

That's so cool!

Congrats!

Congrats to the mostly Bemidji based curling team! I got to see a little bit of their match at work on Friday, and then I saw some of the recap coverage last night on TV for their bronze medal. They and their families looked so happy and excited. And I know that Katie and several others got to play with them as well. That's so cool!

I just thought I'd post some pictures

One of my roommates and one of my good friends decided to go play in the snow the other day, so I thought I'd post some of our pictures! So here ya go, enjoy :)

The Kite Runner

A Short Book Review

I just finished reading an interesting & captivating book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story about an Afghan now living in the U.S., but begins with his childhood in Afghanistan & how his life unfolds. From the very first paragraph, I was hooked:

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcase day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years."

Finally

Yay!!! It's snowing. It has been way too long since there has been snow on the ground down here in Winona. Every weekend that I go home, there's usually still a little bit of snow, but it's so nice to have some snow at my home here now too. Maybe by later tonight there will be enough to make a snowman. Hope everything is going well with everyone

Wednesday at Murray's

My bike and I got to go to Murray's for lunch today. I was lucky and got to go inside, while the bike waited (pictured above). My mom called me up and asked if I had lunch plans. I didn't, so she offered to take me out to lunch, her treat. I jokingly said that if she was treating we should go to Murray's. It sounded like a fine idea to her. Murray's is right across the street from her office. I met her over there and had some of the best beef stroganof I've ever had. I also tried her pot roast, which was equally good. But of course, everything at Murray's is. It's not cheap, but it's worth it. Thanks again for lunch, Mom!

After lunch I had the opportunity to go and visit Mom's office. I hadn't been there since her firm moved from my side of downtown to it's new location. The building was very nice, and she's got a spectacular view. Sure beats my scenic view of the men's room.


The Mrs. called about 2 and asked if I could take the kids to swimming lessons this afternoon. She hasn't been feeling well lately, and today she had sort of a relapse. No problem, sez I. So I left work about 2:15 and got to ride home on a beautiful sunny day. It was a little on the chilly side, temps were in the teens I think. But the wind was at my back and I wasn't cold at all. An enjoyable ride, to say the least. I missed out on the Shred the Skyway event because I took the girls to McDonald's after swimming, and then we had to work on some of their homework. But I got to spend 1/2 an hour sitting in the hot tub while they were in the pool. Man, did that feel good. And surprisingly, it didn't completely knock me out. I got a good chunk of reading done for my homework as well. It helps that I got plenty of sleep the night before, crashed on the couch by about 9:30.

Olympic Curlers' Websites

Just thought if anyone is interested in keeping up with the Olympic curlers that I would publish their websites:

Women's Team www.curlgirls.com

Men's Team www.teamfenson.com

NBC's www.nbcolympics.com

New Look!!

Hey, I do like the new look of our blog...from black to almost a "sunshine" (although muted tone) look. Speaking of sunshine...I get more excited this time of the year when I notice that the days are getting longer. Even though our January was unusually mild, it still was winter...our roads have been challenging and the daylight has been limited. Welcome, February!! It is all downhill now until Spring rears its beautiful head!

Free Sharkey!

Oh no! Our most recent goofball for governor candidate, Jonathan Sharkey was arrested!

"Jonathon Sharkey, 41, of Princeton, was arrested Monday night on two felony counts from Indiana, said Mike Smith, the Mille Lacs County jail administrator. One warrant was for escape, another for stalking.
...
Sharkey was arrested by police in Princeton without incident"

Normally I wouldn't let a candidate getting arrested change my plan to vote for him or her (they're all crooks, getting arrested just means they're not a very good crook), but I don't believe I'll be voting for Mr. Sharkey after this incident. Why? He was "arrested by police in Princeton without incident." Without incident?? He's a vampyre, for cripe's sake! Trying to arrest a vampyre should result in chaos, mayhem and bloodletting! What kind of weenie vampyre is this guy? Really.

Complete Story

Kids in the news...sort of...

Actually, it's their school that's in the news, in the form of an Op-Ed by Mark Dayton in Tuesday's Star Tribune.

Here's the pertinent bit:

For example, Rochester Mayo High School's 1,800 students speak 54 languages. At Eagan's Pilot Knob elementary school, 18 languages are spoken. At Austin's Community Learning School, newly arriving children learn English in one classroom, and their parents learn English in another classroom.

If you're interested, you can read the entire piece here. (Registration might be required.)

The timing on this is funny, as Emma's teacher and I just had a nice chat on Friday about the incredible diversity in their little suburban elementary and how enriching/broadening that experience seems to be, not just for our two but all the PK kids. (For example, Emma's best friend, Sofiya, is from the Ukraine--at six the little girl is fluent in English, Russian, and Ukrainian, how fabulous is that?!) Granted, the gist of Sen. Dayton's Op-Ed piece is about school funding (or the lack thereof), not nifty diversity things. But still! :)

Clue #1

Clue #1

Treasure hunters swarming amidst global warming

Make it hard to park our loot.

Look for snow and ice, enough to suffice,

To shorten your winter pursuit.

There you go. I've nothing to offer on this one. Not even a city v. county clue.

If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, today is the first day of the Pioneer Press Winter Carnival Treasure Hunt. More details are available here. It's a modern day hunt for buried treasure, $10,000 to the victor. I'll be following it closely for the next 12 days or so.

Back to school once again

Well...classes started last week Thurs and then I had a 4-day weekend. Kind of crazy, but oh well. It's so hard to believe that I only have 3 semesters left. I know time will fly, but I can't wait to be done. I just keep telling myself, 3 more... Yesterday I came down with a nasty cold. Excellent way to start off the semester...sick as a dog. Oh well, hopefully it will go away as fast as it came on. 16 credits this semester. It's going to be a lot of work! I'm hoping I can stay on top of all my reading....I'm thinking it's nearly impossible. So I'm going to have to pick a couple classes to read in and then say forget it in a couple other classes. Last semester I started out so good, but then ended up not reading for any of my classes at all. The nurses that I work with, they tell me they didn't read much in college, so it kind of puts my mind at ease when I think of how overwhelming everything is. Hope all is well with everyone!

It's Back to the Books!

Katie left this afternoon for Spring Semester at UMD! (Now that is a hopeful name for a semester, isn't it?) I know that she was excited...and we are excited for her! She will be taking 16 credits & also hoping for a part-time job. One of her classes is one that I particularly enjoyed when I was a college student...Interpersonal Communications, much more fun than Speech 101 where you had to get up "IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY AND MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF!"

Best of luck, Katie, and remember to have some fun, too.

Happy January!

This is one of the funnest things I've seen lately. It's a Garfield randomizer, it takes three frames of random Garfield comics and assembles them into one sometimes incoherent but often hilarious comic. Try it yourself!

http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/natetrue/gar.html