Hullabaloo

This past week has been a crazy one. Work has been nuts, and with everything else going on, it seems as though the last week has been a blur. The highlight of course was Thanksgiving. We started the day by doing our (what has now become) annual bowling tournament up at Sunray. Neither my husband or myself placed, but it was a lot of fun seeing old friends. The food for Thanksgiving dinner was great as always. My favorite, of course is the dessert. My aunt makes this pumpkin roll that is just to die for! Toward the end of the night, we got a little game going and it was so nice to see my Grandma laughing and enjoying herself as much as she did. She is 95 years old and has had a rough run these past few months, so to see her laughing so hard that tears where nearly coming out was great.

This is the outfit that Sadie saw most fitting to celebrate Thanksgiving. Stripes and floral...needless to say I changed her before we left the house!

Black Friday....ugh, need I say more. It was crazy out there. Me, my sister and her husband all went out on Thanksgiving night. The lines of people outside each store was ridiculous. Just because it was cold, windy, and the people were probably crabby as all get out, my brother in-law and I thought it to be appropriate to drive through the Maplewood Mall area honk and yell to all the line-standers, "Black Friday, WOOO!" We really didn't get much response. It could have been the fact that Dubz doesn't have just a regular car horn, it is an old fashioned sounding one that makes a noise similar to "ahooogaaah!" I think people were a little alarmed....

So, we decided that we we're going to try and brave Target. We arrived around 8:45pm when the store opened at 9pm. There was already a line of people at least 200 deep! I wasn't really going for what everyone else was going for, the TVs, the Xbox, etc. I just wanted the car dvd players that were on sale for $59! They are normally $129 so I didn't really mind waiting in line for 15 minutes to save $70 bucks! Plus, it is one of Sadie's Christmas gifts. A few photos from the mayhem...

Last night, my husband and I went to see George Lopez. He was HILARIOUS! We laughed so hard. The whole night was for my husband's birthday back in August. I got him tickets because he is one of his favorite comics and I knew it would make for a really fun night out. We stayed in one of the rooms at the casino hotel that night. I was a little concerned that Treasure Island didn't pay their water and/or heating bill because we had to take cold showers this morning! I know there were tons of people probably showering all at the same time, but still. We could have walked outside and turned a faucet on in the snow and been warmer!

Until we meet again.

Field of Dreams Come True

I was at work this past Wednesday morning when the phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it said 'Kent Hrbek.' My heart just about leaped out of my chest. Before I go any further, I love baseball. I have loved baseball since I was old enough to know how to speak. Growing up in Minnesota, it is all about the Minnesota Twins. Kent Hrbek played his whole entire baseball career in Minnesota and has been my ALL TIME favorite baseball player, ever. So, seeing this name appear on the caller ID at work, you can now somewhat imagine what I was feeling.

I picked up the phone and started carrying on a conversation with the man on the other end of the line. I have met Kent before, and from what I could remember, it sounded exactly like him, so it just had to be him. He started asking me all types of typical questions related to the business and what we do. All questions of which I would normally have no trouble answering, but just knowing that I was speaking with him, my idol, made me fluster and fumble every word out of my mouth.

Long story short, I set up an estimate for him. I asked if he would like to meet with someone at his home, or if we should just walk around and leave the estimate for him. He kind of let on that he would like to meet with someone, so I told Kent that the owner of the company would call him when he was on his way out to his house the next day.

After I hung up the phone I told the owner of the company who it was that just called. I almost begged to go with to do the estimate with him! The owner knows what a baseball nut I am, so he gladly allowed me to go along!

The next day, we drove out to Kent's house. I didn't have a lot of expectations, because I knew there was a good chance that he might not even be there. At first he wasn't there, but then we called him and he drove up within just a few minutes. We were able to sit and chat with him for a good hour AND went inside of the house!!! Seriously, made my day...well I suppose we could maybe even say made my year! Think about someone who you have idolized or have been a huge fan of your whole life and it is pretty much the equivalent.

His house was gorgeous, and he was so nice and funny! I had to hold my tongue several times because I wanted to tell him that I have loved him since I was 2 years old and that I was his biggest fan! But, I remained professional. I kind of had the impression that he didn't think we knew who he was. At least until the very end when my boss made a comment about how he likes to fish. None-the-less, it was a great experience and it was just another one of the really cool perks of my job!

 

One of my favorite pictures ever from 2007.

Until we meet again.

Be Grateful

I call myself a country music fan, but the stuff they put out on country radio these days is far from "country" music in my opinion. I grew up listening to Reba, Wynonna, Conway Twitty, George Straight etc. To me, that's country. What country music has become is still ear-catching, but it's just not music that deserves the title "country. "

ANYWAY, with that being said, there is a new band out there and they call themselves The Farm. I heard their single on the radio driving home from work one day last week and it really hit home for me.

"The other day I called myself complaining
Now my boss has got me working over time
Then the stranger who was sitting there beside me
Said I spent all day in the unemployment line
Are there open shifts, are they hiring on
I'll work any hours even all night long
If you could put a good word in for me

Every time you think you got it bad
You can find someone who's got it worse
All the things you take for granted now
They started out as blessings first
If you got someone who loves you
And a steady job that puts food on the table
If you're strong and able
Man , be grateful

We complain about how much it's gonna cost us
To feel our 20 something thousand dollars cars
And living in the land of milk and honey
It's so easy to forget how lucky we are
We can work hard and buy a patch of dirt
And on sunday morning we can go to church
And pray for those who don't have it as good as you

Every time you think you got it bad
You can find someone who's got it worse
All the things you take for granted now
They started out as blessings first
If you got someone who loves you
And a steady job that puts food on the table
If you're strong and able
Man , be grateful."

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/

One of the things that really got me most about this song is the line where they say "all the things you take for granted now, they started out as blessings first." It is so very true. Your car, your job, your spouse, whatever it might be, they all started out as blessings.

I remember when I first met Ferny. I was so happy to have someone like him in my life. He almost seemed too good to be true. We started seeing each other over the holiday season almost 10 years ago now, and I remember thinking, wow, I am extremely lucky. Now, I find myself taking him granted sometimes. The same with my job. I was a fresh college graduate, 4 months pregnant and when I received that call from my (now) boss offering me the position, I was absolutely over joyed! Now, there are days that I wake up to my 6:30am alarm and grumble because I think it's too early.

The moral of my story (rant) is that when I heard this song, it really made me take a step back and evaluate the little things that started out as blessings in my life that I now occasionally take for granted.

Until we meet again.

Material Girl

Madonna made her way to the Xcel Center last night. It was nothing short of incredible. I really wish they would have allowed my good camera in there because my cell phone pictures are terrible as you will soon see.

MDNA was a complete diva. From the way she talked to the crowd, to showing up 2.5 hours late, and even telling the crowd how to vote on the ballot for the Minnesota amendments. It cracks me up how one person can be so far removed from reality of the real world, but yet me adored by millions.

None the less, she was amazing. The whole show was like a theatrical performance. She purposefully denied us of some of the greatest hits, but there is something to say about 18,000 people standing on their feet belting out the words to "Like a Prayer."

Best concert I've ever been to.

Until we meet again.

A Long Time Coming

I looked back to my last post and realized how much has happened since that day. The move took place. It went about as well as moving could go I suppose. The next day I felt as though I needed a wheel chair because muscles I never thought I had were used in lifting, pushing, stretching, bending, pulling, etc.  But, we're getting settled in. As temporary as it's going to be, it feels good to be home again. Sadie seems to be having a harder time adjusting for some reason. She is not listening to Ferny and I for anything, hitting, talking back, yelling. To sum it up she is just marching to the beat of her own drum. She'll adjust, hopefully. I don't know if I can take 4 months of that behavior. 

Halloween was a lot of fun. We went out to the Mall of America and took Sadie trick or treating. It was extremely busy there, but it beat going around to creepy houses and risking nightmares for the next few weeks.

Kiera from Princess and the Pop Star

Complete with the purple hair

Our awesome pumpkin we painted together. 

Work of art.

I am going to disclose something that I am actually quite ashamed of. This morning we went to church for the first time since last Christmas. I was raised Catholic and went to church every single Saturday evening/Sunday morning since I can remember up until about 6 years ago. I can't quite explain what happened. I never once lost the faith. I am a firm believer that you do not need to be in the house of the Lord to praise and love Him. However, as Sadie is becoming older, I feel it much more important to be apart of a community in which she can learn about God and share in the faith. After discussing these thoughts with a few other people, my sister thought that the church she attends with her husband might be something for us to try. It is a Lutheran church but I wasn't really opposed to at least giving it a try. We walked in this morning to be greeted and welcomed with open arms (almost literally if I were a "hugging" type of person). It instantaneously gave me the sense of community I felt like I was looking for in a church. We got there early enough because I wanted to check out their Sunday School program. They invited Sadie to partake in their activities as Ferny and I stood in the back of the classroom. After the class, we went downstairs to the service. The music was upbeat and the sermon was interesting and relatable. Although I have received all of the sacraments within the Catholic church, I didn't feel it to be right to go up for communion. I did however bring Sadie up for a blessing. The pastor (which was a woman- again not something that I was used to) reached over and gave Sadie the sign of the cross on her forehead and told her that "God loves her very much." The pastor then asked Sadie to reach in the holy water and give me a blessing and tell me that God loves me. Sadie dips her little finger into the bowl of holy water, reaches up to my forehead, and makes a little x on my skin and says, "God loves you momma." My heart melted. The pastor was wearing a microphone so when everyone was going up, everyone could hear what she was saying to each person. When Sadie and I went back to our seats, Ferny had tears in his eyes because he too heard the blessing Sadie gave to me. Needless to say, I think we may have found our "home."

Until we meet again.