Angie’s Advice

Angie and Missy are my sister in laws.

Angie is married to my brother Dennis, and as one of my sisters said about Dennis “If I was going to refer anyone to marry one of my brothers, it would be him.”   Missy is married to my brother Randy and all I have to say about that is that  Randy isn’t the first brother I’d refer to anyone to marry, but  he’s not the last either.

My sisters and I consider Angie and Missy our bonus sisters,  whether they like it or not.   Plus, if they complain about my brothers,  we remind them… You had a CHOICE,  not like us poor related girls. 

Angie had a rough Friday.   On the way to my house on Friday afternoon she had two flat tires and a tie rod problem.   Over five hundred dollars later, she arrived at my house ready for a glass of wine, or two, very quickly.   I think she called it the “land of bubbly.”     

Wine and empty stomachs don’t go well together.   When she started giving us cooking advice like “Do not put a hard boiled egg in the microwave to warm it up”  we knew it was time to get something to eat.

We have a sister who has never drank a drop of alcohol in her life so we didn’t have to worry about driving to a restaurant, she was our designated driver.

Poor Angie,  when we got to the restaurant she was going to order another drink but wanted a beer instead of wine.   Apparently there is a saying about beer after liquor making you sicker or something like that.   None of us really knew.   None of us drink much and no one wanted to get sick.  Angie decided that my brother Randy, Missy’s husband, would know.

She dialed his cell phone.

She tried to explain to Randy that she’d had some wine and was now thinking of ordering a beer.   She tried to recite the saying that none of us exactly knew.   She asked for his advice on what to do.  She was having quite a involved conversation, at least from what we could hear on our end.

Pretty soon Angie turned to us and said “He hung on me; how long was I talking to myself?” 

“He didn’t answer my question.  I’m calling the house”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After another conversation with my brother, Angie had her answer.   We heard her say “Thank you, have a good night”

She hung up the phone and turned to us.

“ He said it doesn’t matter, you’re going to be sick anyway”

He was wrong,  but it’s great to have someone you can turn to when you need advice.

Sister Weekend!

I’d been looking forward to Friday for many weeks.   I knew it was going to be the start to a great weekend.   

My mom, my sisters, and my sisters-in-law spent the weekend together to celebrate my sister Cindy’s birthday. 

Although Cindy could have stayed at home in Alaska and had a party,  she decided to fly to Minnesota to celebrate her fortieth with a girls weekend.      She knows where the fun is.

 

My sister-in-law Missy made all of us bags with necessities to get us through  a birthday weekend.

Among the goodies; nail polish, coffee mugs, and  tiaras.  Tiara’s with flashing lights.  

 

We started the night with wine.    We’ve got wine glass charms specifically for girls get-togethers. 

They have words on that describe us;  mostly I think we could all use the one with the word sassy.

Perhaps the most worthy of that title on Friday night was my sister-in-law Angie.     She had a rough day and had a lot to say on Friday night, I’ve got stories to share later this week.  She was so funny we started to write down her quips so we could remember them.     They were just that good. 

Happy Birthday Sister!

My sister Cindy celebrated a milestone birthday on Friday.   

Forty.    

Cindy is two years younger me.   Growing up we shared a room and a bed before we got bunk beds.   I really hated it when she peed the bed.    It was not a fun way to wake up.    I’m glad she outgrew that!   

As we got older, we shared clothes, sometimes without asking.   Then we fought.   Hair pulling, pinching, hitting, yelling and crying.    I’m glad we’re over that too.

As adults, we took a car trip to Alaska,  just Cindy and I and a tent. There was no peeing the bed, no hair pulling, no hitting, no yelling and no crying.     I’m older but Cindy is more adventuresome.

We don’t spend much time together these days as she has a busy life thousands of miles away with a husband, four kids, a house and job.

We did get to celebrate this birthday together.   I’ve got pictures and stories from this weekend that I’ll be sharing later this week.

For now…

Happy Birthday Cindy!

Early Spring Blooms

This has been one of the earliest and nicest springs I can remember.    We’ve had a number of days in the 70’s already.    The golf course across the street  is full of golfers hitting that little white ball around.   I don’t understand the appeal of golf.  I’ve only tried playing once but I found it really frustrating.   

I’ve been enjoying wondering around the yard taking pictures with my new camera.

My tulips are already blooming,  my bleeding hearts have some flowers on them too  and my lilacs have tiny little flowers on the ends of the branches. 

I love the color of this tulip, the inside is especially pretty.

A few of the neighbors have already mowed their lawns.  Not us though, not quite yet, but soon we will need to mow too.

The weeds are coming up in the gardens faster than the flowers.   It is time for me to spend an afternoon pulling up weeds.   I don’t mind doing this except when the mosquitoes come out.

Spring is kind of  like childbirth because  I forget the pain of winter when spring arrives.

Lake Superior Ice

Lake Superior is gorgeous any time of the year.

Last month when we were in Duluth, we crossed the Aerial Lift Bridge to Park Point.    There was no ice on the lake side but on the harbor side there was still some chunks of ice.

I thought it was incredibly beautiful how the little pieces of ice sparkled on the shoreline.

I grabbed my camera and tried to capture how much the ice sparkled in the sun.

 

I hadn’t seen anything like this before.

So beautiful.

I guess I was pretty focused because I took five pictures  from this viewpoint and then walked past but didn’t notice the obvious problem.

On the way back I almost stepped on that dead fish before I noticed it.

Bunny Ears

A few days before Easter I decided that PD would look ADORABLE wearing some bunny ears that I found in the dollar section of  Target.

After thirty or so frustration filled minutes…

I got one quick picture before the bunny ears became  a chew toy.

Oh PD, why do you have to foil all of my wonderful plans for you?

Girls Weekend

Every year,  my sisters, sister-in-laws,  mom and I all get together for our annual girl’s weekend.  

We are blessed to  have great friendships with each other.   We love spending time together and look forward to it for many months in advance. 

We’ve been doing this get together for many, many years.  Our main activity is shopping, but it’s a lot more than a shopping trip.     

There are  pedicures,  and boy did we need them this year.    Someone, and I’m not saying who, really wishes she’d shaved her legs before the pedicure.

 And manicures.  A little sparkle and paint does a girl good. 

 

Eyebrows get tamed into submission.

 Exercise.  If  you haven’t tried the Jillian Michaels Shred video,  you should try it.   But don’t call me to complain about your pain the next day.   You have been warned.

 There is food,  lots of food.  Some we eat in the hotel.

 Some meals we eat out.

 There is always wine.   My sister brought this bottle with a cute label.    She’s like me, she buys wine with cute labels.  It’s a family  trait.   She’s the middle sister, which must make me the smarty pants.

 

There is a lot more that goes on but I’m not allowed to tell you about the really fun parts.   My mom is scared she’ll get too many requests to be adopted into our family just to join the girls weekends.  And she’s got  her hands full with the girls she has now.

I love girl’s weekends.

Thrift Store Easter Table Setting

A few months ago,  I was at a thrift store and found some cute pink dishes.   Pink plates, cups and saucers with bunnies on them.    I walked out of the store without buying them. 

On a practical level, pink bunny plates don’t go with anything I own.   Nor do I ever use a “cup and saucer” at my house.  Plus the fact that are pink and have a bunny on them makes them very occasion specific.    Obviously, not practical.    

I just couldn’t stop thinking about how darn cute they were.  Within a half hour, I was back at the store purchasing pink bunny plates, cups and saucers. 

I looked this pattern up on line and found that they are about three times what I paid for them on a popular replacement site.    That made me feel better about my purchase.   

Easter was the obvious occasion to bring out these dishes.   They looked just as cute as I thought they would when the table was set.

I got the white decorative bunnies on the table at another thrift store.   It was the cutest Easter table ever.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love shopping at thrift stores.   You can find things you don’t really need with prices low enough that you buy them anyway. 

Robin Redbreast

It always makes my heart soar to see the first robin in spring.  I know that winter, at least the hard part of it, is done.

This year I saw my first robin on March 31st.  My husband actually saw it first and called me to come to see her.    She was perched in my neighbors tree.

This particular lady decided to move into my neighborhood.  She is now my closest neighbor.

She started building a nest on our downspout.   For the last few years, a robin mama has built a nest in this same spot.   I’m not sure if it is the same robin or not.

This is how it started four days ago.

The nest sits a couple feet from our back door and it looks like it is finished today.    I’m not sure if there are any eggs in it.  I’ll wait and watch for baby robins to peek their heads out of the nest.

John Beargrease

This post was sent to me by my daughter, Jelisa.   Since she was  a tiny girl, she has loved dogs.  During elementary school, she took a special interest in sled dog racing; we took her to her first sled dog race, The John Beargrease, in Duluth when she was  ten years old.  In elementary school,  for hero day, Jelisa dressed up as Susan Butcher who won the Iditarod four times.   It was a very uncomfortable choice on the 80 degree day.   A few years later, we toured the Iditarod  headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska.     As she’s grown older, her obsession with sled dogs has diminished, but since she lives in Duluth,  I asked her to go to the John Beargrease sled dog race this year to take pictures and write about it for my blog and she agreed to do so.    Encouraging our daughter’s interest enriched our lives and made some wonderful family memories over the years learning about sled dogs.  

The John Beargrease is the longest sled dog race in the continental US at 390 miles. The race is named after John Beargrease who was the son of an Anishinaabe chief and used sled dogs to deliver mail along Duluth’s North Shore during the 19^th century. Usually this event is held at the Oreaden Middle school but since it was under construction this year the race was held in the middle of nowhere at the Duluth soccer complex. Luckily I found it.

Sunday, January 31^st was the start of the 27^th annual race and it was cold. Really cold actually, and windy,  but it was still hard to find a parking space near the starting line.  I parked over a mile away and considered myself lucky for getting such a good spot. The first thing you notice as you get close to the starting line is the noise.  Even before you can see them, even before you know where the starting line is, you can hear them. Hundreds of dogs, not barking, but howling with excitement. They are loud enough to be heard from over a quarter mile away.

The starting line is lined with people on both sides watching the mushers take off.   After one musher leaves another team is walked up to the starting line and given their introduction

It takes a lot of people to hold back a sled dog team. Those dogs just want to run.

While waiting for the next team to take off you can walk around and talk to the mushers or pet the dogs. It’s a very laid back kind of event

If you are wondering how a sled dog team is transported, take a look at this truck. It’s got 16 dogs in it and even has room for the sled. Each dog gets their own kennel filled with straw.

Some dogs get all dressed up for the occasion. This team was dubbed the best dressed team on the course.

So if you are ever in Duluth during the last weekend of January and looking for something fun and free to do, make sure you check out the John Beargrease.

Back to Blogging

I am back to blogging after a too long break.     I’ve missed posting my daily musings.    I had a computer issues which I initially thought was just a power cord issue, after almost two weeks at repair,  I was told that it was not and that I should send it in for warranty repair.   When I got my computer back from warranty repair,  I found that it was not at all repaired and I have no wireless access nor does the power cord charge.   It will be sent back for repair as soon as I get the return box.   Everything on my computer was lost.

I could have used my husband’s computer but didn’t want to clutter it up with all my stuff so I just held off thinking I’d have my computer back any day….

Yesterday, I got a net book which is a very, very small laptop.   I’m hoping to be able to start posting on my blog using the net book.

I’m back and very excited to catch you up on what has been happening in my life!