Monday, September 29, 2008

family photos

someone sent me this link. decided to waste some time. nothing i couldn't do with a little photoshop....but some of these turned out pretty funny.
i especially like the overweight dan, and the 2 g's in the 80's. that looked like every guy i graduated with.


me in the 70's & 80's...(i think my mom had that hairstyle in the 70's...and this looks like her!)



the little man in the 50's

70's

80's


and dan in the 70's...

80's

and adding a few lbs in the 90's.....

Thursday, September 25, 2008

RIP to the jeep...



well, it's been a good car.
the jeep first came into my life in 1990. my mom brought it home...it was all new, shiny and smelled of that new car scent.
i had my own car (1984 toyota celica), but it was much cooler to drive my moms car. plus...you could fit like 11 people in there. (i know...i've had that many in there).

it has seen some good times.
•driving a bunch of drunk people around the country roads of dane.
•seeing how fast it could go on woodland drive...while listening to the steve miller band.
•hauling my room full of stuff at my parents house out to my new house i was renting right out of high school.
• laying in the back looking at stars after concerts at alpine valley.

it's had a couple of accidents (me at the wheel for one of them), and my mom certainly had her share of good memories. it drove her to and from school every day. it took her across the country when my folks moved to canada. it brought her back when they moved back to wisconsin.
it has hauled duffy (and probably molly too) to various dog parks, trips, moves, visits to nursing homes.

then..2 years ago it came into dan's life as well. his car had blown on a family camping trip to wisconsin. my mom was finally going to let go of her baby after 16 years with her jeep. so...the timing worked out and dan and i became the proud owners of a 16 year old jeep.
it still has the american flag sticker and the canadian triple a sticker. (i think that would be double a)

we got 2 good years out of it. we added to my teenage memories and made memories for our own family.

those days are all over now. over 18 years...it's finally given up.

it's been a good run. we knew this day was near. at this point, we don't think we are going to replace her.
we may realize that we need to replace her, but for now we are going to try and make it work with our other baby. the 10 year old jetta.

fist things first...dan has to learn how to drive her. any volunteers? but it's high time. he wants to...lord knows i want him to.

so, we'll see how it goes. it will mean a lot more planning, biking (for dan), and coordination. we aren't sure how things will go when one person needs the car for a day or evening or weekend...but we'll figure it out.

we'll miss you, jeep. it's been a fun ride.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

any resemblance?

our sweet little man....



steve urkel....


i am iron (wo)man

has he lost his mind? can he see or is he blind?
oh ozzy. you were so much better with black sabbath.
it's like you wrote this song for me today.
today i am iron (wo)man.

dina and i completed our very first duathalon. the iron girl duathalon in bloomington. shit. i'm proud of us.


our goal was to finish in under 2 hours and 30 minutes. dina finished in 2:03 and i came in 15 min. later at 2:18. it would have been great to shave some time off of that...but next year.

the course goes like this....run a loop around the lake (2 miles). next, do 2 loops around the bike course (total 22 miles). then you finish up by running another loop around the lake (2 miles.)
i ran the first loop without stopping (albeit a bit slow). then the bike ride came. there were some steeeeep hills. i was least worried about the bike portion, but some of the hills were crazy. and once you finished that loop...you had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
then, once your legs were nice and wobbly...you had to jump off your bike and run another 2 miles. that part was hard. but...i finished and i wasn't last!


i will definitely do it again next year and train differently. now i know what to expect.
the name iron girl sounds probably a lot more awesome than it really is...but who gives a frack....i finished and i feel great!


in another event that went on today...a blog i follow...they held the first ever 5k memorial run/walk for matt's wife, liz, who passed away 24 hours after giving birth to their new baby, madeline. it would have been great to be able to make that and support them and see all the wonderful people that have rallied around them...but it didn't work out. i like to think that the iron girl would have been something his wife would have found fun...and i certainly thought about her during the event...all those strong, beautiful woman out there..testing their strength.

in other news...i am the proud new owner of a root canal. lovely. the procedure sucked. the novacaine started wearing off when they were digging around down there and i totally felt it! i started yelling..."ahhh, i can feel this!" so, they shot some more down there and it did the trick. voila.

this weekend was pretty low-key. just hung out around the house on friday, and we were all in bed around 9! saturday dan spent the day at work, while griffin and i picked up our race packets, walked around the lake, made lunch, took a nap and then went down to the local church for their little carnival.
it was pretty decent until some little shit spit on me while we were on the ferris wheel! i saw these 12 year olds spitting off the top of the ferris wheel, but they were in front of us, so i didn't think we'd be the victims. well, turns out other punks thought it would be funny too...so all of a sudden i feel wet on my head. i look up and there are 2 boys there. we were stopped while waiting for them to unload some people, so i yell up at him..."ah, did you just spit on me?" he said..."no, it wasn't us...must have been them" (while pointing in a complete impossible direction that the spit couldn't have come from)
so i said to him, "ok...well when we get off we can go find your parents and you can try to convince them that you didn't spit on us".
unfortunately, they were let off before g and i were...and they made a run for it.

well, the little g is stirring now, better get him up from his nap..

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

rainy weekend

things here are good.
let's see - this past weekend was a good (and rainy) one.
friday we hung out with friends...dinner over at beth and jasons. griffin really likes his bud, jimmy. he's been talking about him all week. their new baby george is getting big!
on saturday dina, jessica (m), griffin and myself went downtown for the james page blubber run
. a 5k with the main emphasis on wearing costumes, having fun and drinking beer! sweet...my kind of race.
it started raining right before the race started and i zipped up the rain cover protector on the jogger stroller. griffin hated it. he screamed his head off to let him out. i'm running along and people are staring and pointing and saying, "oh, poor kid...he doesn't want to be here". so...i sent jessica and dina along there way, thinking i wasn't going to finish (and miss my free beer along the way? gasp!)
anyway...after a few minutes of consoling g, it stopped raining and we continued on with no more trouble. (and the rain cover OFF!) i wanted to walk at a couple of points, but griffin would yell at me to "go faster mama! keep running!" ok...i guess. quicker to get to the beer.
anyway, it was a good time and a fun way to get some training under my belt.

while we were running, dan had to be at the doctors office getting some moles removed. he has 15 moles they will be removing and biopsying over the course of the next few weeks. keep good thoughts that they wont be deemed "suspicious" and he won't have to have more cutting done!

saturday afternoon g got a haircut. it looks great (photos to come one of these days). this was his VERY FIRST professional haircut. In the past we've chased him around the house with scissors, or dan and dave used the beard trimmer to buzz it last time. i think we finally realized its time to leave it to the professionals. we always did a hack job and even though he still looked cute...it was pretty bad.

saturday night we went to "funny pants" lyle and dina's house to celebrate lyle's birthday. good times as always catching up with friends. and fantastic food! who doesn't love a taco bar?

sunday dina, jes and i attempted to bike the 1st loop for the iron girl duathalon, but it was pouring down rain. instead we drove the route...ummm...it's quite hilly. shit.


so in other updates, the iron girl is this sunday. i'm nervous..but it'll be fun. we ran around nokomis last night and even though i was dying...i made it. so, i'm fairly sure i'll be able to do the running portion without stopping.

tonight i have my exciting root canal. i can't wait.
tomorrow dan and i have a date night and are going to see neko case at first ave. looking forward to it. g will hang out with pete, kim and burke.
this coming weekend will be pretty low key...we may do the bike loop friday night after work, and then saturday will be my day of rest.

so last but certainly the most exciting...i think i can say with full confidence that GRIFFIN IS POTTY TRAINED!! he's been so great at this and hasn't had any accidents for a few weeks now. we started this journey on august 4 and he seems to have the hang of it down solid now. he still needs some help not making a huge mess, but it's worth it to not buy pampers anymore. this week his new trick is standing up to pee. oh, the fun that will come with this. wall scrubbing and lots of clothes changing...but the extra bubbles that one makes when they stand...that in g's mind...is totally worth it.
we have 5 more pull-ups for nightime, and as soon as those are done...he'll be not wearing them at night anymore. i hope that transition goes just as smooth.


the landfills can now thank us for not contributing anymore dipes. i think if we had another kiddo i would consider looking into cloth. when you think about how many diapers one child uses...it's INSANE.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

fitness weekend

lots of activity this last weekend!

dan took griffin for a bike ride while i met my co-workers and rollerbladed 28 miles. 28 miles! my feet were not happy with me. but i did it and i'm still alive to tell about it.
the gateway trail is great. relatively flat, with the exception of a couple bridges. we parked by lake phalen and bladed out to stillwater i believe.

we did a little grilling out that night and then sunday i took a 20 mile bike ride.

i have been ramping up the exercise these past few months, but so far i dont feel/notice a difference. maybe i need to quit eating ice cream and a pound of pasta every day. haha.

anyway, it was a good weekend and so far, a good week.

last night we took griffin for a walk in his wagon, and the little next door neighbor girl, riley, came along with us. they are about the same age. anyway, this was the first time i've seen griffin really interacting with another kid and he was actually being a bit of a showboat! he's normally the reserved, shy one that just watches what the other chitlens are doing, but last night he was telling riley all kinds of stuff and he was playing a game with her where he would tickle her belly and then want his tickled.
(thats how it starts...next thing you know.....)

anyway, it was super cute to see him so talkative, and having fun with another little kid.

today when i was dropping his off at school he said to me, "momma, why you go to work?"
how do you answer that one?
• i could have said, "cuz we need to be able to pay the bills", but he doesn't get that yet.
• i could have said, "you know all trains and fun toys you have downstairs? i don't see YOU working too hard to pay for them"
• i could have said, "you know how we like to take trips, go to concerts and do fun things? well - we need to be able to pay for that". but again...that is money related. not relevant.
• i could have said, "i know baby. it sucks. i wish i could stay home with you every day and watch you grow and be the one that gets to teach you all these new things. miss yvonne can shove it up her ass. how come SHE gets to be the one that sees you do the new things, learn your letters, eat new food, say new funny things and teach you how to move your head all ghetto like and say, while pursing your lips and then saying, "oh no you di-int"
i ended up telling him "because someone needs to make the cereal that you eat everyday!" (umm...like i'm really making cereal, but hey, he can probably at least understand that one!)

so why DOES momma go to work? i'd like to say it is all about the money. we need it to pay the bills. we need it to afford the great new house we live in, the trips we want to take, the things we want to buy griffin, the college fund we started for him, and to just plain get by.
yes, that is part of it. but...we didn't HAVE to move to our new house. if we stayed at the old one, we could probably afford for me to not work.

but in reality, i think i want to work. at least part time. yes, i do want to see all the things griffin does, be a bigger part of his life and of him learning new things and basically taking the time now to spend with him that i will never get back. but, i think deep down i know that i like and want to work. maybe not 40 hours per week...25 would be ideal, but not possible right now. maybe down the road.

i think for us...it's about quality of time...not quantity. i imagine that if i were home all day, i would probably plop him in front of the TV quite a bit, just to be able to get things done. i would be crabbier to dan, because i would expect him to take over when he got home. i guess for US...i feel like we parent better this way, and we are better partners because of it.
for US..this works. i am SUPER happy for my friends and family members that can stay home...that works for THEM.

i am sad now and then, and when other friends/family are able to stay home, i do feel a twinge of guilt/sadness for myself and wish i could be in their shoes, but overall...we are happy. i FINALLY like my job, it's fairly flexible (as well as dan's) and the time we spend in the mornings, evenings and weekends...i think we do a pretty good job of fitting it all in and making griffin realize that the amount of time spent isn't the most important.

Friday, September 5, 2008

random facts/thoughts

some things that i'm thinking about these days:

• i have to get a f**king root canal. what the hell? i thought old people were the only ones who got those.

• i really want to take a trip...but flights are insanely expensive.

• we got a new roof on our house...beats the shloppy looking roof that we had! and insurance covers most of it! even better. the company was kinda a hassle to work with, but in the end, it's done.

• i wish insurance would cover all the other projects we have to do. it'd be great to not have tarp on our sunporch windows this winter, but i'm sure we will...can't afford those windows yet.

• i have less than 4 months to meet my fitness goals i set for myself this year. i better get to it.

• griffin will not watch anything except diego and dora these days. bleh! super annoying. although the "rescue pack" diego song has been in my head nonstop and it's kinda catchy.

• do we throw away all the skid-stained undies or wash them? (griffins, not dans)

• how do we get g to eat more fruits and veggies? and how is this boy so picky??

• 26 miles on blades tomorrow a.m. seems like not that much fun anymore...i love how i commit to things like this.

• 2 weeks until duathalon...crap. this will be interesting.

• the 90210 revival was a bit weak. joe e tata looked foxy though.

• i remember when we made up the joe e tata lyrics to hukuna matada. those were in some of our classier days...

• speaking of those days..we need to go bowling at elsies again. that was good stuff.

• i wish all weeks were 4-day work weeks.

• i wish i knew some single guys.

• not for me...for dan. i mean for friends. i know a lot of cute and cool single girls, but not that many single dudes.

• are there way more girls than boys in this world? my mom is teaching a class with 13 girls and 6 boys. (or something skewed like that) and another friend has a kid in kindergarten with 14 girls and 4 boys.

• fun shows coming up in the next few months...mason jennings, liz phair, neko case, hold steady/drive by truckers.

• my first concert (that wasn't with my parents) was heart. ooooh, baracuda! i think my first concert with my parents was beach boys or eagles or somethin like that.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

grandmas visit - labor day

we had a great labor day weekend.
dans bro dave came into town friday night for a wedding, so he and dan were able to catch up and go have some drinks together. he left early saturday a.m.
dan's mom also arrived to spend the long weekend with us.

saturday we took a 15 mile bike ride. g loves his little bike cart.


we rode to the chain of lakes and had a nice picnic at calhoun


next stop was going to the trolley. g loves this thing. he wanted to wait and watch it go by a few times.


this guy really likes his job. very intense about the history of the street cars.

saturday night was spent having dinner out, bookstore and stopping at some other stores.

sunday we got up early and went to the state fair. griffin really loved going on the rides.
he did the ferris wheel with grandma...


he rode the swings and really loved that. (big difference from last year where he cried the entire time until the guy stopped it)


here dan and griffin are standing on the seating structure dan helped build during grad school.

we rode the sky ride thing..

and dan and lynne both went down the "giant slide" with g.

griffin is super excited and amazed while going up the space needle tower


view of the city from the top..

the man posing in front of his favorite ride...


griffin was NOT a fan of the farm.


but he was a fan of the sweet marthas cookies.

a great time at the fair had by all. we saw a pig being born, we ate tator tots on sticks, we met up with some friends and had fun people watching. my only regret at the fair this year is i didn't get to see the butter faces. oh well...next year.

sunday night we went to friends phil and jes' house for a bbq and drinks. g and grandma lynne came for awhile, then headed home for more fun things, like watching diego and using the potty.
dan and i stayed and hung with friends, grilled out, drank beer and got a cab ride home by a cabbie that was drinking. gee - i thought calling a cab was the responsible thing to do..apparently not.

monday we were sad to see grandma go. we bid her farewell, then ran errands, cleaned, played and congratulated griffin for his great work on the potty all weekend.
he is now peeing on the toilet each time and hasn't had an accident. as soon as he figures out the numeral dos, we will be high livin.