Fun in the Big Apple !!!

I just got back this weekend from a trip to New York City with 3 of my girlfriends, Allison, Shelley and Stacy. We had a fabulous time and it was so, so, so much fun!! We stayed with Allison's parents in New Jersey who were the ultimate hosts and treated us like the princesses that we are :) Thank you George and Louise for taking such good care of us!!

Allison and Shelley have already documented the trip so well on their blogs and I'm way behind as usual. Since they obiviously have more time than me or they're just better at using the time that they have I'm going to point you to their blogs for now until I can add my review of the trip.

Allison's blog: http://imjustsayin6.blogspot.com/2008/03/4-cool-moms-in-one-big-apple.html

Shelley's blog: http://therundown1617.blogspot.com/2008/03/awesome-nyc-trip.html

Bentley

We had a nice sunny day last week and the snow had begun to melt. I thought...I'll let the dogs enjoy the sunshine and leave them out a little longer than I normally do. Well this is what I found when I went to bring them inside, Bentley had indeed enjoyed himself (a little too much!) digging in the dirt.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by my fellow blogger and friend, Allison to name some things that I can't live without. Well family and friends go without saying, so it got me thinking....what wouldn't I want to do without now that I have 'it'. Some things that came to mind were:

My cell phone...what did we do before cell phones? I can't even remember. Life is so much easier when riding in the car or walking thru the mall, I bet there are some that never have even had the pleasure of pulling over to find a payphone when you're needing directions. Not to mention having to wonder who's been using that phone before you.

DVR...it's changed our lives! We record what we want and watch it when we can, we can pause something if we need to so we don't miss it if the phone rings, and we can skip the commericials if we want. I love it!

Also, I would hate to be without my GPS for the car. Love it! And since I have always been 'map challenged', it get's me to where I need to go.

Oh and lastly, Google calendar. My sister Traci, mentioned it to me a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it! It helps keep us better organized and since it's online....Derek can check it from work to see what's going on for the week at home. He can even upload his flight itineraries and that really helps me. It's color coded so everyone in the family has a different color to help keep things straight.

Matt Costa LIVE!

Last week Derek and I enjoyed a night out with friends to see Matt Costa. Matt was playing at the quaint Varsity Theater in Minneapolis (actually it's in 'Dinkytown' near the U of MN). What a fun night! Delta Spirit opened the show and they were great as well. There's just something about live music in a small setting that's real a treat.

Derek and me at Dinner before the show

Matt Costa

Delta Spirit opening the show

Here we are before the show

More before the show fun

Erin turns 18 :)

We celebrated Erin's 18th birthday at one of her favorite Uptown restaurants 'Chino Latino'. Good food, a good time!! Erin came straight from her performance at the Chehkov Festival....hence the black wig.

Connor, Nick and Erin

Erin, Sarah, Danielle and Jenny

Look at that Banana Split we ordered to share.....it was HUGE!!

Nick about to eat from the big dessert serving spoon

Erin and Sarah

Bad truck....

This weekend the truck stalled on I-94 as Erin and Nick were coming home from her Tech rehearsal for her upcoming play. Bad enough that it stalled but it was -7. Derek and I headed over to find them and it was a good thing since AAA auto said it would be 3 hours before they could be there. Erin had gloves on her feet trying to keep them warm....poor thing. Nick was a little more stoic. Here's Derek braving the traffic and the cold to see if he can get the truck started again:

Erin not looking real happy about her ordeal:

A little happier after warming up at Applebees on the way home:

Actually the best way to get Erin to smile for the camera is to tell her to say 'Nick' instead of saying 'cheese'.....works everytime :)

Th'ar she blows

It's soooo windy and cold tonight. The temp has been dropping all day........brrr!!! Derek and I went over to Outback to eat and then to get some running shoes for him. My girlfriend Shelley who's a runner, has motivated us to do the Get into Gear 5K in the Spring. All the girlfriends and spouses gearing up for it. I'm even back doing Jazzercise (which I love) trying to be a healthier me. Derek's hitting the treadmill, because with weather like this only the die hard Minnesotans (and probably Shelley) will be running outdoors.

Weather for Saint Paul, MN 55129

Current Temp: -2°F Haze

Wind: NW at 20 mph

Sat 23°F -12°F
Sun -3°F -8°F
Mon 15°F 4°F
Tue 19°F 7°F

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT... .

..WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST SUNDAY...
A WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE TO BRING ARCTIC AIR INTO THE REGION THIS EVENING. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DROP TO THE 20 TO 25 BELOW RANGE THIS EVENING ALONG WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW IN OPEN COUNTRY. EXPECT EVEN COLDER WIND CHILL VALUES OF 35 TO 45 BELOW OVERNIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...AS TEMPERATURES DROP BELOW ZERO WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH.

A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.

Worst blogger ever

I am just the worst blogger ever......Erin went to the Valentine's Dance at school with Nick tonight and I didn't get a single picture. How sad is that? They looked so cute together. Oh well...guess I'll try to get some pictures of them together tomorrow. In the meantime, this is when they went to Homecoming together. My mom made Erin's dress and she looked so pretty! I just love this photo.

Our Irish Lass

How cute is this? Erin modeling the kilt she bought this summer while she was in Ireland with her friend Sarah. I just had to take some pictures :)

A new voter in the house

Saturday Erin and Derek were lucky to get tickets to the sold out Obama Barack rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis. She's growing up and will be able to vote in the next Presidential election. It was packed, so I can see why he won Minnesota votes in yesterday's Super Tuesday.

A Night in Uptown

Last Friday, I had great fun going out with my girlfriends to see a movie, then we hopped over to Chino Latino for great food and laughs. We saw 'Persepolis'. Who knew I would enjoy a black and white, animated, subtitled (yes, subtitled) coming of age story of an Iranian girl in her war torn country? It was tremendous! I laughed, cried and even learned to appreciate growing up without the freedoms that we enjoy.

Allison making Kris & me laugh

S'mores yummy!

Shelley & Jody

Bravo!

Last night we went to see Erin in her J-term performance. Every January, students from her school are assigned a special project that they have to learn and perform from start to finish in about 2 weeks. This year Erin was cast as the 'mayor' in a version of Anton Chekhov's 'A Dopey Fairytale'. She did a fantastic job! The play will also be performed two more times as part of the Twin Cities Chekhov Festival later this month on Feb 16th and Feb 23rd.

Rockband anyone?

Since Christmas we have been rocking out with 'Rockband' on Connor's PS3. It's so much fun! Instant karoke with points :) Erin is great on singing & guitar, Connor's an expert on drums, Derek's our star bassist and I'm okay on the guitar, not so good on the drums and I love to sing (although I think it's pretty forgiving until you get into the hard or expert range).

Earlier this week, Connor was playing around and put it on 'expert level' and sang Dani California. He got a 92%, then he threw the mic at me and said 'Here mom, I'm going upstairs'. Then Brass in Pocket started. I proceed to sing and fail......o dear still in expert mode! Derek saved me with his Bass skills and boom.......failed again with a 52% But it did classify me as 'the most strong-willed survivor'. Guess I better stick to medium level :)

Connor's got skills:

Cold enough for'ya?

I'm on a rant this morning. Who the heck has school with wind chills in the -30's?? Here in Woodbury, we do. We're hardy don't 'cha know? Right now it's -13 but it was even colder when someone from the school district made the decision to have school this morning. Minnesotans....you gotta love'em.
Kare11.com Kare11 TV: "Full Observation for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, MN"
( Lat 44.89 Lon -93.22 )

Fair
Temp: -13 F (-25 C)


Wind: From the Northwest at 10 MPH
Dewpoint: -23 F (-31 C)
Relative Humidity: 60%
Barometric Pressure: 30.03' (1019.9 mb)

Last Updated: Last Updated on Jan 30, 8:53 am CST

How much are those mi-cee's in the window?

Recently Erin had a project for her Psychology class that involved trying to condition mice. At the start she was so excited as we bought the 3 mice and got them set up in different little containers (with much protest from me because...I don't like mice). The goal was to teach them to recognize a sound and then come to get the food. Like Pavlov's dog, only with mice.

Well from Erin's chart below, you can kind of tell how the experiment went:




The mice were not very cooperative and they were stinky. The pivotal moment for Erin came when around 2 a.m. one night she heard noises coming from the mice containers. Erin flipped on the light and 2 of the mice had chewed thru the tops of their containers and were fighting each other to the death. Erin was totally freaked out as she tried to get them back into their containers as she screamed "Mommm!!". I ran into Erin's room only to find Erin crying "I hate these mice!" I don't know which she was more afraid of the mice or the thought of me knowing the mice were loose in the house. After several more moments, the two of us managed to contain the mice and the experiment was DONE!! The final paper was more about how the mice weren't very conditionable and how Erin's favor of them declined. She still managed to get an 'A' on her project even though it didn't go the way she wanted. But the best thing is that I don't have to worry about her wanting mice anymore :)

Can We Have a Drum Roll Please.........

Move over Ringo....Connor's now a drummer! He just started lessons back in October at the Paul Green School of Rock in St Paul. They were just gearing up for their fall shows and Connor was put on The Beatles show. It's hard to believe he's only been playing a few short months. He did an awesome job and here he is playing with the other kids at O'Gara's Garage in St Paul a couple of weekends ago:


DayTripper



Drive My Car



Dress Rehearsal (Drive My Car)



We had a big group there including family and friends to support Connor. We all had a great time! The new season starts in February. Erin liked the show so much she is going to start vocals, so she and Connor will both be on the Rolling Stones show together. We can't wait!

And so it began.....

Inspired by my friend Allison's blog, I've decided to document our adventures for family and friends. Knowing that I'm not very good with the annual Christmas update maybe this is a better way for me to keep connected and keep you updated. Stay tuned and wish me luck !! :)