Visually Impaired

Well, Maddie has officially joined the visually impaired ranks of the other members of our family. She got her first pair of glasses this past week. She has been incredibly responsible and has worn them every day without fail.

It was funny (and a bit frustrating for me) when we picked them out together a couple weeks ago. Actually, there was no we involved in the process. It was just her. I tried by darndest to impart my opinion upon her as to which glasses I liked. But she really couldn't have cared less about my opinion. Not in the least.

She knows what she likes. And she knows what she doesn't.

So I just relaxed the "control-freak" part of my personality. And bit my tongue.

I guess I'm raising a strong, independent, and opinionated young woman.

...a strong, independent, and opinionated young woman who has pretty good taste in glasses.

Girls Night Out...with Jon

I went to the Bon Jovi concert with a group of girlfriends on Wednesday night. It was so great and we had a blast!

We started the night with some appetizers and a few drinks. Then we took a shuttle bus, and a few drinks, to the Xcel Center for the concert. Then we listened to Daughtry and had a drink. Then Bon Jovi came out, we had a drink, screamed/sang really loud and danced like crazy. Then we all planned a girls-only weekend trip to Mexico this summer.

(Surprise, honey! I told them all you'd be cool with it...)

(Love you!)

Me, Laura, Dee, Stephanie, Cindy, Lisa, Bev, Heather

We had really great seats! And I figured out how to use my new camera phone.

He was so great! Some of their old songs totally brought me back to 1986. Remember "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Wanted Dead or Alive"? Or how about "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Bad Medicine"? Ooooo, or what about "I'll Be There for You"?

You're feeling it, aren't you?

Now...go ratt your hair up as high as you can, dust off that old blue eye shadow, get those jeans tucked and rolled, close your eyes and think about the good ol' days.

(...yeah, I know. We'll talk about the Mexico trip.)

Spring in Minnesota

Here are a few signs that spring-like weather is on it's way to Minnesota:

1. Forgotten power-sources from outdoor Christmas lights are revealed once again.

2. Neighborhood baseball resumes and kids can be found playing on dirty mounds of snow...sans socks and wearing jean jackets.

3. Damn sports equipment laying all over the yard snow again.


OK...so it's been a long time since my last post. In fact, it's been so long, that these pictures seem truly obsolete right now as we are blanketed in a layer of that white stuff once again.


SPRING!?!?!? WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?

Ode to Brett

I've finally composed myself enough to post a little tribute to my man, Brett. Didn't you just want to hug him at the teary press conference?

Here is a pretty cool video tribute to Brett Favre from YouTube. I guess it's only cool if you are a Packers fan. Or if you love Brett Favre. Or if you can't imagine watching the Packers playing without him. Or if you think he's really, really cute. Or if you like the soundtrack from "300" or "Gladiator".

And if not, I guess you would think it's pretty cheesy.

Ha! Get it? Cheesy!


Good Lord, I think I'm delirious in my mourning...





Anyway, thought I'd pull some pictures from my own collection in tribute to him:

This is way back in 1997 - getting ready for the Super Bowl victory

1998 - Packer babies
2005 - 10th Anniversary trip to Door County - stop at Lambeau Me and my guy during the playoffs 2008

And this one's my favorite! Aren't they cute little cheeseheads??

New look...

Aside from playing with my camera and exploring the wonders of PhotoShop, I've also had another project in the works this week.

Some of you may know that I LOVE to paint. In fact, back when we moved into our new house in 2002, every wall in every room in my house was painted within a few months. We've now been living with this green paint for over 5 years.

Although change was the primary reason for the new decor, it is also very important to actually move your stove away from the wall every few years in order to vacuum the hordes of dust bunnies from underneath and scrape away the years of dried goop that has run down the sides of the tucked-in appliance.

That sure wasn't pretty...

Here are some before pictures:




And here is what it looks like now:

You may notice that the little insets where the TV and cable/stereo components set are still the original color. For that project, I'll need the assistance of my big, strong, and technically-inclined husband.

Boy, it would sure be too bad if that big, heavy, ginormous TV dropped and broke while we were moving it. I'd just hate to have to buy a new one. Say, like one of those pretty-plasma-flat-screen-thingies that just hang on the wall.

Yeah. That really would be too bad.

Swimming Summary

The kids wrapped up their fall/winter season this past weekend at A/B Finals. Maddie pulled together 6 qualifying times (50 Free, 50 Back, 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Breast, and 100 IM) and Will had 1 in his 100 Free. They both swam great, had a blast, and were absolutely thrilled to be there!

So, now that I have a little free time, about 879 swim pictures, and a brand new book called "Photoshop Elements 6 for Dummies", I decided to take on a little video-editing project:

You didn't know I was into Rap/ Hip-Hop music, did you?

C-Finals

Maddie and Will had a fun and successful weekend at C-finals. In fact, it was successful enough for both of them, that their season will continue on for 1 more week!

Here's a few pics and videos...







Will's 50 Freestyle







Maddie's 50 Freestyle

Jill's "Easy" Blueberry Cake

For those of you that know my sister Jill, you know that she is an excellent cook/baker. For those of you who don't now her - trust me, she's awesome! In fact, she's so talented in the kitchen, she makes me look like a 6 year old with an Easy Bake Oven.

She makes gourmet foods with ingredients that I've never heard of, would have no ability to identify, and wouldn't even begin to know where to buy. She has cooking utensils and tools that look strange, foreign, and dangerous to me.

On Friday, I wanted to try a new dessert recipe. Heck, I was actually attempting to make a half-way decent meal...why not add a yummy dessert? I thought of Jill's recent post featuring a Blueberry Cake. So, I took a deep breath, printed the recipe, got personalized telephone instructions and reassuring advice from her, and headed to the grocery store.

In all honesty, I'm usually extremely leery of trying Jill's recipes. Jill's scale of difficulty differs greatly form the difficulty-scales of most other people. Well, except for Ina Garten and Martha Stewart. Her version of "pretty easy" is a normal person's version of "wow - that was kinda hard". Her version of "kinda hard" is a normal person's version of "turn back now, for God's sake!"

Do you get the idea?

But she swore to me that this one was different.









Uh huh...

It's a good day for happy thoughts

Happy thoughts...


Happy thoughts...

Happy thoughts...

Happy thoughts...

Happy thoughts...

Happy thoughts...

Happy thoughts...


Reality.

What's your point?

I have a question for all you bloggers out there: What is the point of your blog? Do you do it to document your life? Do you do it to entertain your readers? Do you do it to provide information? Do you do it to stay in touch with people? Do you do it so you can Google yourself and get a bunch of hits?

I’m just wondering. I really don’t have a firm answer to my own question. I guess mine is mostly to document my existence in this world, stay in touch with family and friends, and maybe once in a while try to make somebody laugh.

I guess I find blogging a good alternative to scrapbooking and journaling – since I have never attempted either. Well, that’s actually not true. I did scrapbook one little book from a trip to Florida we took back in 2003. It was alright albeit a bit juvenile. But it’s just not for me. And I did have a diary from 6th to 8th grade that’s so painfully embarrassing to read, I can hardly bring myself to do it. In fact, I think eventually I may have to actually destroy to protect myself from posthumous humiliation.

I’m planning on having my blog printed in book form, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do it? Maybe 1 book for each year. I found this site but haven’t looking into it too much yet. I’d love to hear from someone that has done it before.

There are some entries I’ve written, like this, this, and like this, that I’m really proud of and that are really special to me. And this fairly recent one is pretty clever if I do say so myself. They truly document my life and my family – who we are and where we’re from. I hope that someday they might be special to my kids and grandkids as well.

My favorite entries mark a spot in time. I especially love this one, this one, and this one.

But then there are entries like this. Or like this. Or, wow. Like this. I’m really not sure what my mindset was when I wrote them, and I’m not convinced they’ll serve a purpose for anything other than to take up space on a page.

Oh well. You take the good with the bad, huh?

So, what's your point?

Just curious…

Barbie World

Playing with Barbie Dolls was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. My sisters and I actually had a whole closet dedicated to these little ladies. The closet was right off our kitchen and occupied the space above the stairs to the basement of our house. The walls and floors were covered with carpet-remnants that my dad strategically placed into room and hallway segments. So, you can imaging that this 3-level loft was like a dream-haven for these dolls. And us kids.

My mom has told stories of us playing in that tiny confined space for hours and hours on end, day after day after day. 3 little kids, 1 hot light bulb, closed door, 87 barbies, and countless accessories. You can almost smell it, can't you?

Maddie has never exhibited signs of Barbie-love like I did at her age, but lately her and her BFF Clare (their words...not mine) have been playing like crazy. This is the sight that I came home to yesterday:


Me: Wow...what's all this?
Maddie: Clare and I are going to play Barbies again today.
Me: Cool. What's with the little papers and the dolls in such a, a...organized fashion?
Maddie: Oh that. I just gave them personalities.
Me: Personalities? Really?
Maddie: See - she's a doctor, she's a fashion designer, she works at McDonald's, this is her sister, she is really smart, she likes to read, her favorite color is green, she lives in Chicago...
Me: Personalities. Good idea. Hmmm...some of them look like they have really short hair
Maddie: Yeah. I thought they needed a makeover.


...and then we proceeded to have a little photo shoot.

Happy Valentine's Day, bucky

It was Valentine’s Day 1978.

She was in 3rd grade.

She thought she had the coolest Valentine’s Box ever. A pig made from a coffee can! Ingenious!

She thought that turtleneck shirt was really cool, too.

But she wasn't so sure she liked her straight, shiny, wedged Dorothy Hamill-style hairdo.




Thank God she turned into a relatively well-adjusted adult.

...and that she got braces.

The "Rewards" of Swimming

Wow!! What an exciting weekend! My voice is still scratchy, my throat feels swollen, and I can’t quite wipe the smile off my face!

The STMA Seadevils had their final home meet of the season – and it was a good one! I was so proud of all the kids, the coaches and the volunteers. This was the biggest meet we have ever hosted, and we pulled it off beautifully! And to correct my previous post, it was not 19 hours that I spent at the pool – it was 23.5. But I loved every minute of it!

Maddie finally reached her goal for the season – she achieved a “B” time! Yay!!! For a several weeks now, she’s been hovering near the 45.89 seconds required in the 50 backstroke. Yesterday, she dropped nearly a second and a half to get her time. So, that means that she’ll swim in 7 events in “C-finals” (kind of like first-round finals) in a couple weeks, and then swim the 50 backstroke and hopefully a few others that she is now within reach of, during “A/B-finals” in 3 weeks.

And our little "newbie", Will, nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday. He dropped time like crazy and compiled 5 “C-finals” times – amazing for a first time swimmer! So, going into his last event, the 100 freestyle, he was a little bummed that he hadn’t been a heat-winner yet. It was not so much the “heat winner” title he wanted as it was the little ticket that the heat-winners earned. The tickets could be traded in at the awards table for your choice of a cheap, little, Happy Meal-type toy. But even cheaper. And even littler.

So, just before his race as he was scoping out the other boys’ seed-times in his heat, his little eyes just lit up and he said, “I think I can win this one, Mom” and off he went.

He shot off the starting blocks and raced through the water. When it all was said and done, my little man dropped about 11 seconds and got a B-time!!!

He got hugs from Coach Michelle and his mom, flashed a huge smile, and then quickly headed out to the heat-winner toy basket to reap his reward.

A pile of pink goo.

He’s a nine year old boy. What more can I say.

Inside my head...

1. I really should go dust, or clean toilets, or vacuum…but I’d rather blog…but I really don’t have much to blog about…so I’m just winging it. You are all the recipients of the random thoughts flooding my mind this morning.

2. Look at the new trick I learned in Photoshop! I found this really great on-line resource for digital photography. It has great tips for taking photos, settings on you camera, and some stuff on Photoshop. I really need all the help I can get with this new hobby of mine!

This is the picture we used for our Christmas cards this year...actually they were New Year's cards. Notice how it really makes us "pop"? I might have gone a little too far on the saturation, but you get the idea, right?

Before

After

I think this trick will come in very handy for Minnesotans during the winter months as we all look a little pasty and dull.

3. My nephew Finn is coming today! Yeah! Maybe we’ll go pick the kids up from school – they’d all get a kick out of that.

4. It feels so cold in our house. All the time. Guess where thermostat is set?

Nope. Even colder. Try again...

My hot-blooded and frugal husband whom I love dearly sets ours at 66 during the day and 62 at night. The past couple days, he’s “accidentally” left it at 62 all the time. I finally figured out what was going on after I discovered frostbite on my big toe.

What is the temperature at your house?

5. I love LOST!!! Who else watches? What is going on? Who are the 6 survivors? (I guess we know its Hurley, Jack, Kate…who else?) Why do the “rescuers” want Ben? What's with that cabin?

OMG – I can hardly stand the suspense!!

6. We’re going to have an incredibly busy weekend. It’s our club’s final home swim meet this season. It is also the last meet prior to C-finals, so we have tons of other clubs attending. Actually there will be over 530 swimmers – twice as many as have been in our meets before.

As usual, the kids will swim both Saturday and Sunday mornings – 8 events total for each kid. Will has 3 qualifying times for C-finals and is close in a couple others. Maddie has qualifies in 8 events and is on the verge of A/B qualification in about 3 others. For me, as a parent, volunteer, and board member, it means that I’ll be at the pool at least 19 hours over the next 2 days.

Wish us all luck!

7. Our insurance finally took effect last week. With Bill’s job change, we were without health insurance for about 2 weeks. Phheww…that made me really nervous. Speaking of insurance? Anybody see "Sicko"? We just watched it a couple weeks ago and I'd encourage you to check it out. Absolutely enraging.

8. I just scheduled a hair cut for next week. What should I do? Go shorter? Let it grow longer again? Opinions please!

9. I’m going to paint my family room and kitchen area.

This is my color scheme now:

And this is what I want to do:

I have a dark brown couch and half-chair, a red chair and ottoman, and mostly espresso-toned wood furniture, and maple woodwork. All I really need to do is paint the walls (this blue-grayish color) and get some new throw pillows. This really freaks me out - but I'm soooooo ready for a change!

What to you think?

10. My toes are still cold. Really cold.