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!!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Sunday, January 7, 2007
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!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
So Much For Lobby Reform-First 100 Hours
Interesting...we'll keep track of this. See MSN Article below.
WASHINGTON — Democrats say they were returned to power in part because of corruption and ethical lapses of the Republican Congress. They promised to clean up the swamp and crack down on lobbyists.
But hours after changing House rules to reduce favors from lobbyists, it was back to business as usual in Washington.
Democrats threw a $1,000-a-person fundraising concert in Washington Thursday night, with Hollywood celebrities, big donors and those lobbyists writing checks to re-elect Democrats.
“Tonight we are having a celebration!” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Democrats are back!”
Congressional Republicans also had a pricey fundraiser with lobbyists after they assumed power 12 years ago.
But Democrats promised to be different.
“It sends a very mixed message to be on one hand saying that they're clamping down on lobbyists, but then raising money from those very same lobbyists that they say are part of the problem,” says David Donnelly, an ethics reform advocate with Public Action Campaign Fund.
In fact, under the new rules, lobbyists can still wine and dine members of Congress as long as it's a campaign fundraiser.
Some lobbyists say that politicians who trash lobbyists are hypocritical.
“If you want to bash me in the press, bash me in the press, but don't call me the next day and ask for money,” says Paul Miller, president of the American League of Lobbyists.
Speaker Pelosi's spokesperson says there were only about 200 lobbyists at Thursday night's fundraising concert, and that this still will be the most open, honest Congress
WASHINGTON — Democrats say they were returned to power in part because of corruption and ethical lapses of the Republican Congress. They promised to clean up the swamp and crack down on lobbyists.
But hours after changing House rules to reduce favors from lobbyists, it was back to business as usual in Washington.
Democrats threw a $1,000-a-person fundraising concert in Washington Thursday night, with Hollywood celebrities, big donors and those lobbyists writing checks to re-elect Democrats.
“Tonight we are having a celebration!” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Democrats are back!”
Congressional Republicans also had a pricey fundraiser with lobbyists after they assumed power 12 years ago.
But Democrats promised to be different.
“It sends a very mixed message to be on one hand saying that they're clamping down on lobbyists, but then raising money from those very same lobbyists that they say are part of the problem,” says David Donnelly, an ethics reform advocate with Public Action Campaign Fund.
In fact, under the new rules, lobbyists can still wine and dine members of Congress as long as it's a campaign fundraiser.
Some lobbyists say that politicians who trash lobbyists are hypocritical.
“If you want to bash me in the press, bash me in the press, but don't call me the next day and ask for money,” says Paul Miller, president of the American League of Lobbyists.
Speaker Pelosi's spokesperson says there were only about 200 lobbyists at Thursday night's fundraising concert, and that this still will be the most open, honest Congress
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Back to Normal
Christmas has come and gone. 2006 is history. Back to the work today. School starts on Wednsday.
I guess we are back to normal. But I don't want to give up un-normal...I like having my kids around. I like having lots of excitement in the house. Life is more lively around when thing are not normal.
We get up, go to work, eat dinner, watch some TV and go to bed. Then we do it again. Not much game playing...(we must have played 2-3 games of Scrabble or Cribbage daily when the kids were here). The kids even went sliding down snow hills!
We are going to try to get some more life in our house!
I like lots of life in our house and I like my kids around! Nancy and I laugh more and it's just more fun!
I guess we are back to normal. But I don't want to give up un-normal...I like having my kids around. I like having lots of excitement in the house. Life is more lively around when thing are not normal.
We get up, go to work, eat dinner, watch some TV and go to bed. Then we do it again. Not much game playing...(we must have played 2-3 games of Scrabble or Cribbage daily when the kids were here). The kids even went sliding down snow hills!
We are going to try to get some more life in our house!
I like lots of life in our house and I like my kids around! Nancy and I laugh more and it's just more fun!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Beer and Bread
We spent part of the day making a batch of English Pale Ale and Spent Grain Bread. Spent Grain Bread is made with the used grains from the beer. Randee and I made the beer and Nick made the spent grain bread. I'm sure the bread will be as good as the experimental soup!
Here is the Expermental Soup Recipe
It tuned out Great! Try it you'll like it! (we did not use the olives)
Squash, Kale, & White Bean Soup
serves 6-7
1 yellow onion
1 large butternut squash (peeled & seeded chopped into 1" pieces)
1 red pepper(Chopped into 1" pieces)
4-6 cups of stock
1 large head kale (devined and chopped)
2 cups cooked white beans
1 cup kalamata olives
fresh sage
1. Saute chopped onion in olive oil. Use a heavy bottomed soup pot.
2. Add chopped butternut squash. Saute over medium heat 10-15 minutes.
3. Add chopped red bell pepper &/or whole fresh corn kernels. Saute 2
minutes.
4. Add enough stock to cover vegetables. Add more for thinner soup.
5. Cook until squash is done 30 minutes.
6. Add finely chopped kale. Add a lot, it will cook down.
7. Just before serving. Add cooked white beans. Add pitted & halfed
kalamata olives.
8. Sprinkle with parmesan or fresh goat cheese.
Squash, Kale, & White Bean Soup
serves 6-7
1 yellow onion
1 large butternut squash (peeled & seeded chopped into 1" pieces)
1 red pepper(Chopped into 1" pieces)
4-6 cups of stock
1 large head kale (devined and chopped)
2 cups cooked white beans
1 cup kalamata olives
fresh sage
1. Saute chopped onion in olive oil. Use a heavy bottomed soup pot.
2. Add chopped butternut squash. Saute over medium heat 10-15 minutes.
3. Add chopped red bell pepper &/or whole fresh corn kernels. Saute 2
minutes.
4. Add enough stock to cover vegetables. Add more for thinner soup.
5. Cook until squash is done 30 minutes.
6. Add finely chopped kale. Add a lot, it will cook down.
7. Just before serving. Add cooked white beans. Add pitted & halfed
kalamata olives.
8. Sprinkle with parmesan or fresh goat cheese.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Experimental Soup
We invited Grandma and Grandpa over for lunch on Saturday. We have a problem with vegans and meat eaters in the family. I wanted to insure that everyone would be able to eat what we prepared. I thought we should have some traditional soup like vegatable or tomato soup. But Randee had a different idea. She is preparing White Bean, Squash andKale soup. It seems like a kind of weird soup to me, but I am becoming more open to vegan meals. When we invited Mom and Dad, I did not know what we were going to make so I called it Randee's Experimental Soup. I think Dad was liking that but I think he may eat before he come here. We'll see how it goes...
Friday, December 29, 2006
Happy New Year!
Well, here we are at the close of another year...wow! As the saying goes, "where does the time go?" We wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!
So far, we've had a very nice holiday season...and connecting with family has been wonderful as it is nice to see each & every one of you. Thanks for making the effort to visit with us, too...we are grateful for that. And, seeing Randee each year...well, that is a bonus. And for those of you we've missed seeing, well, we did miss you.
Most years by now, our holiday season is winding down...& we are putting Christmas away, finishing the holiday food, &(sometimes) throwing out holiday goodies, BUT this year we are so fortunate to continue our vacation by celebrating in Florida with Aaron. It will be great...& we are excited to check out his "new" spot & reconnect with him. So, tomorrow Dale, Katie & I are flying to Mpls. from Bemidji & Alicia & Kane are flying in from St. Cloud to Mpls. where we will all be on the same flight to Ft. Myers! Very exciting. It will be so much fun...!
We will try to post some pics!
So far, we've had a very nice holiday season...and connecting with family has been wonderful as it is nice to see each & every one of you. Thanks for making the effort to visit with us, too...we are grateful for that. And, seeing Randee each year...well, that is a bonus. And for those of you we've missed seeing, well, we did miss you.
Most years by now, our holiday season is winding down...& we are putting Christmas away, finishing the holiday food, &(sometimes) throwing out holiday goodies, BUT this year we are so fortunate to continue our vacation by celebrating in Florida with Aaron. It will be great...& we are excited to check out his "new" spot & reconnect with him. So, tomorrow Dale, Katie & I are flying to Mpls. from Bemidji & Alicia & Kane are flying in from St. Cloud to Mpls. where we will all be on the same flight to Ft. Myers! Very exciting. It will be so much fun...!
We will try to post some pics!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Christmas Pictures from Scott
We had a very nice time in Duluth with Nick, Randee and Scott. thenks to Nick and Scott for hosting. We know its lots of work having people stay with you over the holidays.
Scott sent a few pictures and I thought I would share a few with you all.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Merry Christmas To All
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas to all who read this! Nancy and I will be leaving for Duluth in the morning and we are very excited to see our kids. Christmas at Nick and Scotts then Back to Bemidji.
Nancy and I each have 10 total days off so we gotta make the best of them! Maybe we will see some of you over the holidays.
Nancy and I each have 10 total days off so we gotta make the best of them! Maybe we will see some of you over the holidays.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Top 10 lists
It's that time of year again, when everybody and their brother makes a Best Of list for the year that only has a week or two to go. I've managed to find one that was actually worth the time to read and made me laugh. It's a list of the best movie trailer mash-ups of 2006. For those not familiar with the genre, ordinary folks from the internets who have video editing software and no life recut bits of movies to make a trailer that is completely unlike the original movie, or they combine two movies to make one new movie. Probably the most well known example of this is the mash-up of Brokeback Mountain and Back to the Future, appropriately titled Brokeback to the Future. So, without further ado here's the list. Get a beverage and visit the restroom, because each of these vids is about 2 minutes long. 2 minutes times 11 videos (Why don't you just make 10 louder?) = you wanna be comfy.
10 best trailers
My favorites:
Must Love Jaws (a mash-up of Must Love Dogs in concept and the classic Jaws)
Office Space Recut (really, can you go wrong with this movie in any form?)
Martin Scorsese's Sesame Streets (f*$&!)
Shining (finally, a Stephen King movie with a happy ending)
10 best trailers
My favorites:
Must Love Jaws (a mash-up of Must Love Dogs in concept and the classic Jaws)
Office Space Recut (really, can you go wrong with this movie in any form?)
Martin Scorsese's Sesame Streets (f*$&!)
Shining (finally, a Stephen King movie with a happy ending)
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Blog management
I'm not sure how many of you are aware of something called RSS. If you're like me and you read more than one or two blogs, RSS has the potential to make your life much easier. When I first started reading blogs, and blogging, I would log onto blogger once per day and check each of the links in my sidebar. This was a gigantic waste of time, because on any given day only about one third of the people I linked to had a new post. Then I learned that there is a better way. Enter RSS.
RSS is an acronym that stands for Really Simple Syndication. Simple, huh? You may have noticed a little orange symbol with white curved lines on many websites that you visit. That's a symbol that the site has an RSS feed.
Blogger doesn't seem to have this feed symbol, but that's OK because the feed still exists. Here's how to make RSS work for you. First, you need an RSS aggregator. This is a tool that will go out and check all the blogs you tell it to, on a minute by minute basis, and see if there's anything new there. Kind of like what I was doing in the old days, but without all that manual checking nonsense. I personally use bloglines.com but there are many choices out there. Once you log on to bloglines (the process is similar for other sites) it will ask you to create an account. You'll need to complete some basic info, much like any other site.
Once you have your account set up, you're ready to start using the service. On the left half of the screen you'll see the bloglines logo and some tabbed folders. Start with the folder titled Feeds. Beneath Feeds you'll see a link titled Add. Click this and you will see the following:
Now, open another browser window and go to the blog you want to subscribe to. Copy the URL from the address bar and go back to the bloglines page. Paste the URL into the box labelled Blog Feed or URL and click Subscribe. You may get more than one choice of feeds or you may just get one. If you get multiple feeds, the first one listed should be fine. Select the feed by putting a check in the box. If there is only one then this step isn't required. Skip all the other settings such as folder, display settings, etc. For me anyway, the default ones work fine. And you can always change them later if you choose. Click the subscribe button at the bottom.
You should now see the name of the blog you subscribed to over on the left underneath the Add link where you started. Click the name of the blog, and all the new content will be displayed in the main portion of your window. It's as simple as that. Now you can continue to add other blogs as well. But it's not just about blogs. Many sites have RSS feeds that can be tracked in bloglines. I track flickr accounts of friends and get notified whenever they upload new pictures. I also track various newspaper columnists (you'll see James Lileks' feed in the example above) and even some news sites. The world, or at least the RSS-enabled world, is now your oyster. Enjoy.
RSS is an acronym that stands for Really Simple Syndication. Simple, huh? You may have noticed a little orange symbol with white curved lines on many websites that you visit. That's a symbol that the site has an RSS feed.
Blogger doesn't seem to have this feed symbol, but that's OK because the feed still exists. Here's how to make RSS work for you. First, you need an RSS aggregator. This is a tool that will go out and check all the blogs you tell it to, on a minute by minute basis, and see if there's anything new there. Kind of like what I was doing in the old days, but without all that manual checking nonsense. I personally use bloglines.com but there are many choices out there. Once you log on to bloglines (the process is similar for other sites) it will ask you to create an account. You'll need to complete some basic info, much like any other site.Once you have your account set up, you're ready to start using the service. On the left half of the screen you'll see the bloglines logo and some tabbed folders. Start with the folder titled Feeds. Beneath Feeds you'll see a link titled Add. Click this and you will see the following:
Now, open another browser window and go to the blog you want to subscribe to. Copy the URL from the address bar and go back to the bloglines page. Paste the URL into the box labelled Blog Feed or URL and click Subscribe. You may get more than one choice of feeds or you may just get one. If you get multiple feeds, the first one listed should be fine. Select the feed by putting a check in the box. If there is only one then this step isn't required. Skip all the other settings such as folder, display settings, etc. For me anyway, the default ones work fine. And you can always change them later if you choose. Click the subscribe button at the bottom.
You should now see the name of the blog you subscribed to over on the left underneath the Add link where you started. Click the name of the blog, and all the new content will be displayed in the main portion of your window. It's as simple as that. Now you can continue to add other blogs as well. But it's not just about blogs. Many sites have RSS feeds that can be tracked in bloglines. I track flickr accounts of friends and get notified whenever they upload new pictures. I also track various newspaper columnists (you'll see James Lileks' feed in the example above) and even some news sites. The world, or at least the RSS-enabled world, is now your oyster. Enjoy.
Our Christmas Plans
I saw Lois' post and I thought I would give you an update on what we are doing also.
Nick and Scott have decided to host Christmas for our family this year. This will be the first time we are not hosting our family. Because we are going to Duluth over Christmas we decided not to put up a tree. That's a first also! Less stress for us.
Randee is flying into Duluth on Christmas eve and we will leave for Duluth that day also. We are very excited to spend a few days at Nick and Scott's house alone with our kids.
Nancy and I are taking the week off between Christmas and New Years this year. We should be returning to Bemidji on Tuesday evening with Randee (we think). I don't know for sure but I think Nick and Scott will be coming to Bemidji on Friday evening for the weekend. I believe Randee will go back to Duluth with Nick on Monday or Tuesday and then she fly's back to California on Wednesday.
Nick and Scott have decided to host Christmas for our family this year. This will be the first time we are not hosting our family. Because we are going to Duluth over Christmas we decided not to put up a tree. That's a first also! Less stress for us.
Randee is flying into Duluth on Christmas eve and we will leave for Duluth that day also. We are very excited to spend a few days at Nick and Scott's house alone with our kids.
Nancy and I are taking the week off between Christmas and New Years this year. We should be returning to Bemidji on Tuesday evening with Randee (we think). I don't know for sure but I think Nick and Scott will be coming to Bemidji on Friday evening for the weekend. I believe Randee will go back to Duluth with Nick on Monday or Tuesday and then she fly's back to California on Wednesday.
Our 30th
As some of you may remember, it was 30 years ago yesterday that Nancy and I were married. We had a pretty nice day together but just a bit busier than I like. We started off by having coffee in the hot tub and just having a relaxing for the first couple of hours. Then things got busy. Nancy had a hair appointment, and I had some things on the "honey do" list while she was at her appointment. We then went out for lunch at about 11:30 at T-Juan's and had an early cocktail knowing it would be a full day of Christmas shopping. We must have hit every major store in Bemidji. We finally quite about 5:30 and stopped by the Northwood Steak House, had some appetizers and a beer. I was glad the shopping was mostly over. We had a light dinner at home and called it a night!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Our Holiday Journey
Everybody must be busy as our blog is experiencing little activity right now...& that is to be expected!
Getting ready for the holidays is a journey...be it a short one, but a journey, anyway. I am in the midst of the journey! I am a insufferable list maker, indicative of my age & the busyness of my life. Today, I am on the 15th or so list...& it includes things like, water the plants (which normally I don't need this chore put on a list!), dust, make meatballs, (the little bbq ones that you eat with toothpicks!), make my cheeseball (a Goodyear tradition), pick up some last minute gifts for our parents, & maybe make some dipped pretzels...oh, and I forgot my wonderful, best toffee (both items will suffice for office goodies)...& , &, &....! See why I need lists!
Next Friday, Dale & I head out about 4 to pick Katie up from UMD & from there we will head to Alicia & Ryan's to spend the night. In the morning, we will head to visit Dale's family in RWF, & then come back to Bemidji on Christmas Day. Alicia & Kane will go with us just for the day, because they have plans in Bemidji with Ryan's family on Christmas Day. (Ryan has to work...he is in retail so he is unable to join us in Redwood).
I am looking forward to connecting with my family sometime during the week after Christmas...something that has gotten more important to me each year! It is so exciting to have such great Christmas plans...it really makes my holiday special. And, before we know it, this holiday will join our other memories of special times with special people. Enjoy!
Getting ready for the holidays is a journey...be it a short one, but a journey, anyway. I am in the midst of the journey! I am a insufferable list maker, indicative of my age & the busyness of my life. Today, I am on the 15th or so list...& it includes things like, water the plants (which normally I don't need this chore put on a list!), dust, make meatballs, (the little bbq ones that you eat with toothpicks!), make my cheeseball (a Goodyear tradition), pick up some last minute gifts for our parents, & maybe make some dipped pretzels...oh, and I forgot my wonderful, best toffee (both items will suffice for office goodies)...& , &, &....! See why I need lists!
Next Friday, Dale & I head out about 4 to pick Katie up from UMD & from there we will head to Alicia & Ryan's to spend the night. In the morning, we will head to visit Dale's family in RWF, & then come back to Bemidji on Christmas Day. Alicia & Kane will go with us just for the day, because they have plans in Bemidji with Ryan's family on Christmas Day. (Ryan has to work...he is in retail so he is unable to join us in Redwood).
I am looking forward to connecting with my family sometime during the week after Christmas...something that has gotten more important to me each year! It is so exciting to have such great Christmas plans...it really makes my holiday special. And, before we know it, this holiday will join our other memories of special times with special people. Enjoy!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Not much new here
I've had a busy week at work, with another looming. I took my laptop home Friday because I have a big presentation on Thursday with some of our leaders. I'm sure I could get it done before then during the normal 9-5, but it will be nice to be able to spend some time on the presentation with no time constraints. I'm making it in powerpoint, which isn't one of my strong suits, so it's also nice to work in powerpoint and not have a deadline. I like what little I've done with powerpoint, and think it's a good application and the skills will serve me well. Speaking of skills I'm now an officially certified Project Manager, courtesy of St Thomas University. Doesn't change a thing about how I do my job, but it certainly looks good on paper. And unlike most corporate training classes I actually enjoyed going to this one!
Not much else to report here on the home front. Still no snow in Eagan. Does this mean we don't need to write the annual christmas letter?
Not much else to report here on the home front. Still no snow in Eagan. Does this mean we don't need to write the annual christmas letter?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)