Holiday wishes from the Georgia Andersons

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! We had a nice Georgia Anderson family reunion last weekend, but missed you all of course. Mae and I are now back at work but we had a nice break. I'm posting the family picture in lieu of a cute dog pic, until we get a cute dog.
Ingrid

Merry Christmas from San Francisco!

We hope all of you Andersons are having a Merry Christmas! Delphi Tangonan sends his best.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Happy 58th Birthday Dad!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas - and we'll see many of you tomorrow at my parent's house! MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Indian Christians celebrate Christmas at the Church of
the Nativity, in Bethlehem. The Church is the site
traditionally believed by many to be the birthplace of
Jesus Christ.

'dey're so cute when 'dey're little.....

Merry Christmas from Mark, John and Paul in 1953.. (note: John says he thinks it is 1952).

Norwegian bounty

Liv's "friend" and his father stopped by this afternoon on the way home from their bakery. We are overwhelmed by Scandinavian goodies!

Happy Birthday Mark!!

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(It's supposed to be someone playing a Viola!)

God Bless Us Everyone

Merry Christmas, family!
----Livvi'i

Andersons Past

Paul has been working on a collection of old family photos which is quite impressive! He gave me a preview. Here is a picture of Ernest and Emil Anderson from around 1898 or so. Ernest was the grandfather of some of us Andersons.

Christmas @ the The Cheescake Factory

Last night the Anderson's of Minneapolis/Shakopee had a pre-Christmas Christmas celebration at The Cheesecake Factory. Mmmmm, the food sure was good. Hope to see you all on Christmas - and if not, Merry Christmas!

UPDATE: Here's Tom enjoying his new gift - the head-mounted laser gun. You're welcome Tom!

Joel, you've figured it out... your artists rendition was actually very close to how she actually looks. Here is an actual photo of Nala the Ewok princess. :) (watch out, it IS turning into cute dog blog.)

Dog.... or alien?

IS it possible that Nala is really an undercover Ewok?!?

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Liv! Go Northfield! That's awesome--I wish you the best of a collegiate career at the school across the river. Have a tea at Blue Mondays for me, and don't spend too many nights at the Reub.

Ingrid

P.S. Nala is so cute! So is Koko. This is going to turn into the cute dog blog soon.

Um Ya Ya

For those who might not understand the Um Ya Ya reference, that is St. Olaf's "fight" song... the only one in the nation written in waltz tempo. To read the words or listen to a rendition, go to: http://www.stolaf.edu/about/umyahyah.html

hmm

thats good liv. congratulations. mctc is really looking attractive to me right now. so come september I'll be heading on down there. heck, I should probably just take a year off first, or maybe two...

Um Ya Ya

Well, today I got that envelope. I've been accepted Early Decision to St. Olaf so I'll be heading down there come September! UM YA YA!
----Livvi'i

We've realized that we no longer need a paper shredder at our house - Nala does a fine job.

Thanks for the fun...

Hi everybody!
Thanks for the funny and fun blogs. I'm really glad, Matt, you explained it was a reenactment. Everybody's getting in the Christmas spirit. It makes me want to get a tree before Christmas Eve. Thanks for the great Thanksgiving Day Joel and Teresa, and a fun birthday celebration. I also wanted to congratulate Liv on her great performance and the enjoyable evening at the Seussical. Happy December and a blessed Advent season. Love, Nancy

When Trees Attack

Janelle was looking at our new giant tree in our living room last night..."I could stare at this tree all night," she said. Seconds later I heard a thundering crash, and the tree had tipped over, spilling ornaments, needles and water all over the floor...the picture above is a dramatic reenactment!

Christmas Spirit

Koko isn't the only one getting into the Christmas spirit! Last night we took down all of the thanksgiving decorations, and set up all of our Christmas decor.. Here's our Christmas tree - it definitely turned out very well. (sorry - no cute dog pics this time)

The Ghost of Christmas Present(s)?

Koko gets in the spirit!

Koko wishes everyone a happy first Sunday of Advent!

Giving Thanks!

Thanks to all who made this a great 50th Birthday! Here's a picture Paul found from one of my earlier birthdays(like maybe 47 years ago?):

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!
And happy thanksgiving to the rest of ya'll!
----Livvi'i

Does Not Compute

Hmmm.... as someone who actually comes from the year 1954, I can report that that computer picture (unlike the pix of the Swedish spacehip) is a a joke. (The picture is actually an entry submitted to an image modification competition.)

Yumpin' Yiminy - there goes another one!

Those Swedes blast off again!

The scientific rocket Maxus 6 was successfully launched from Esrange today (11/22/2004). Everything proceeded as planned and the scientists are looking forward to some exciting analysis of the data.

The rocket was launched from the Swedish Space Corporation rocket base Esrange at 08.35 UT and reached 706 km which enabled 12 minutes of microgravity.

Swedes Reach the Moon!

Click on the image above to see the lonnnnng, slow route that was taken to get to the moon. Thrifty Swedes, they reached the moon with lots of fuel left over!

SMART-1 is the first of ESA's 'Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology'. It reached the Moon using revolutionary propulsion techniques and carrying a battery of miniaturised instruments. (click here for ESA web page about SMART-1).

Launched by the ESA last year, this is a Swedish built spacecraft and is only the second ever using an ion-drive as its main rocket.

Mae in NYC

Hi, Andersons,

I saw Mae in NYC last Saturday night. I was there for a conference. Mae, my brother Terrell, his girlfriend Jen, and I all went out to Dragonfly, a Filipino restaurant in Greenwich Village. Then, we went to Cafe Reggio, and then we went to Upright Citizens Brigade, a standup comedy and improv group. Fun show. It was great to see Mae. I had a whirlwind trip, but NY was fun.

Janelle

Partylite Candle Party

Hi Anderson Ladies,
I sent out an e-mail to each of you inviting you to my candle party on Saturday, Nov. 20. If you could please let me know if you can come, I would really appreciate it. It should be a really great time and I would love it if you all could come. It will be at my house in Shakopee at 2:30 p.m. Talk to you soon!

~Maria

Seussical! Two more shows - don't miss it!!

Mayzie says - Come to the show


Just a reminder that the Como High production of Seussical has two more performances left (Saturday, November 13, 7:30 pm and Sunday, November 14, 2:00 pm; Tickets: $7 adults/ $5 students/seniors).

Lots of fun and good music!

aurora borealis

I definitely saw it. I promise. I was hanging out with john madsen and jason mord on sunday night. Jason mentioned noticing crazy green lights on his way to my house from golden valley, but I thought he was just crazy. but later on that night we went on top of the madsen's garage and saw the amazing lights in the sky. what a treat.

Northern Lights

Did anyone else see the amazing northern lights that we had tonight here in Minnesota? Here is a picture I took of them.. Sooo beautiful! 

Anniversary party

Thanks to all who attended our thirtieth anniversary party last saturday at Salem Church making it a wonderful day for Nancy and me. A special thanks to Peter for the fantastic video. Thanks to Maria, Tom and Stevie for appearing on the video and for all your help. The Anderson clan has been richly blessed for so many years. We have a wonderful heritage. Praise the Lord!

Leo Strauss?

I did not send this message, which Joel alerted me to. In fact, I've never seen this material or heard of Leo Strauss. Has someone hijacked my Anderblogger identity?

I did send a blog mentioning seeing Teresa and Janelle's opus "Needle Tips" in the break room at CDC. I did see one person reading it, by the way...


UPDATE: This is Peter, since you didn't write it John, I'll remove the post. I'm not sure how that post got under your username? In any event, the post will be removed. If you want a new password, let me know at onebigswede at hotmail.com

CDC

Thanks for the news, John. Were the "Needle Tips" being used to wipe up spills or something in the break room? At least you didn't find them in the restroom, a la the old Sears Roebuck catalog.

Welcome Andersons

As I was reading John's blog I realized we have something in common. I was just heating a cup of water in the microwave... I wish y'all out-of-staters could come to our 30th anniversary get- together. Just a reminder to Minnesotans...
2-5 p.m. Saturday, October 30th at our church at 31st. St. and 14th Av. Just cake and punch, same as 30 years ago! No gifts.
Mark and I had a great dinner on the 26th at Famous Dave's. It was quite different than I had envisioned it. At least 6 times, different people came to ask us how our meal was. Do we look like someone who works for the Taste section, or what? Nancy

Needle tips in CDC

Hey Anderbloggers,
It's been a while since I posted, but I thought I'd report that while I was heating a cup of water in the microwave in the 4th floor break room I found a pile of a publication called "Needle Tips." On page 2 Janelle is listed as Editorial Assistant and Teresa as "Consultant". Thought you'd like to know that your work has made it over to the dark side...

J.

Its been a wet cold rainy few days here - but the fall colors are nice..

Oh, the things you can think....

...when you think about Seuss!

"Seussical" will be performed at Como Park High School on:

Thursday, November 11, 7:00 pm
Friday, November 12, 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 13, 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 14, 2:00 pm

Liv has a bigger role than in the past... she is Mayzie, the selfish, pleasure-seeking bird who leaves Horton with her egg.

Tickets: $7 adults/ $5 students/seniors

Hope to see you there!

Good to hear from you, Ingrid. Liv is interested in St. Olaf, and we just had a snack from your old bakery two weeks ago.

Running Toronto

Hello Andersons,

Hope everyone is doing well--congratulations on the new puppies, and good luck with the college search, and great photos--I enjoy looking at the blog and seeing what everyone's up to. Here's a picture from last weekend--I went to Toronto to run a half-marathon with my lab-mate, Michelle, who is from there. Oh Canada! Mae flew in from New York to be our bag-carrier and take photos and provide support, and it was great to see her (apparently the flight from Toronto to New York is only 52 minutes long). There was bad weather, but we did the race in two hours and two minutes, which is my best time so far. You can see the start and a bit of Toronto in the background of the photo.

A view of the downtown Minneapolis skyline from the Metrodome

Welcome!

Hello Nala! Talk around here is that you are quite cute! I'm sure you'll enjoy being around these Andersons - my tip is to watch the younger ones closely; in my experience they tend to drop more crumbs!

Kokomo

Maria has been asking for a puppy for well over a year and a half, and I finally agreed. I want to introduce everyone to our new little puppy, Nala. Nala is an 11 week old Shi Tzu, with a happy tempermant, and an overactive bladder.
After quite a bit of research, we bought Nala from a breeder in Eden Valley, MN over the weekend. We actually went to look at one of her littermates, who ended up being sick, and not for sale any longer.
Now for the fun work of getting her housetrained!

As you all know by now, the Twins didn't fare so well over the weekend. We were at the game on Friday when they lost 8-4. We ended up leaving an inning early because Maria didn't feel well, but the game ended up pretty much the same. Oh well, another year, another loss to the Yankees :(.

Taking the bus to Mars!

Teresa and Liv took the car off to make a college visit today. I stayed behind for me to take care of Koko (or was it the other way around?). So I took the opportunity to take a bus ride to Mars!





Just this week the Science Museum of Minnesota has opened a new movie - "Mars 3D" produced locally by Twist Films of Minneapolis. It gives you a ringside seat at the launch of the rovers, and 3D images captured by the rovers' cameras on the surface of Mars - pretty impressive stuff - worth the bus ride downtown!

I have to admit I hadn't even been in the long-since-re-opened downtown library, so I got to chance to do that too - it is great! There was also some kind of Twins fan rally going on on Kellogg Blvd. - downtown St. Paul is a happening place! (And I only had to pay ONE fare, since I made my trip and visits within the transfer time limit!)

Twins vs. Yanks - Game 3

At the last minute my boss at CarSoup.com where I work realized he had two extra tickets to the Twins Division Playoff Game 3 tonight versus the Yankees. He called me into his office and gave them to me as a thank you for all my hard work lately. Woohoo - go twins! Full report on the game later!

Jacque Jones points skyward in tribute to his father after hitting his home run to put the Twins ahead 2-0 in Game 1 of the series with the Yankees. Jones's Homer Means More Than Just a Run for the Twins

Twins game suspended?

Dad and I went to the Twins game on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians. The game was closely fought with the Twins falling behind every couple of innings, only to fight back to a tie. The game ended up going to extra innings after the Twins tied the Indians once again in the eighth inning. They played the 10th and 11th innings, only to anncounce after the 11th that no inning can start after 2:30 when a game is scheduled that night. The game was suspended. Since when does a college football game take precedence over a Major League baseball game with playoff significance?

The Twins and Indians ended up finishing the game the next day, with the Twins winning in the 12th inning. They lost the next game to the Indians to set up a playoff division with the Yankees, just like last year. Hopefully we'll have a better outcome this year.

Passing lights on Stratford Circle, Shakopee, MN.

Prime Number Time

Happy Birthday, Paul!
You should have 53 candles... or 8.
Have a great day.
Nancy

Happy Birthday, Paul

Have a Kubb-erific day!

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(supposed to be a Kubb "King" with a candle on it...)

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Yes! Happy Birthday Tom and Lynda!! (belated as it may be.....)

September 24th is here and passed...

Missed the twentyfourth somehow
But still there's time to say
"May this year bring the very best
Of everything your way!"

Happy belated birthday to Lynda and Tom!
May today be a special day too.... and tomorrow
and tomorrow... and tomorrow.
Love, Nancy (Mom)

tennis tourny

this weekend I have been playing in a tennis tournament out at 98th street. it has been a lot of fun. my first match was against andrew lee. he plays for eden prairie and is in the top 10, maybe even top 5 in state. he won the first set 6-1 and the second set 6-4. I think i should have won the second set. I had break points to go up 4-2 and 5-3 in the second set but it just didnt work out. then on friday night I played chris williams. he is the south dakota state champion, but that actually isnt sayin too much. I was beating him 3-2 in the first set and he defaulted because he said his hip was bothering him, and he didnt want to reinjure it. this morning I played corey paluch from south dakota. he is pretty good. I won the first set 6-3 and lost the second set 1-6. then we played a super tie-breaker instead of a third set. a super tie-breaker is up to 10 points instead of 7. i was losing 3-7 but I came back. he had match points at 8-9 and 9-10 but I saved them both and won 12-10. then I played mike eastman from edina. I was up 5-2 in the first set and somehow managed to play so poorly that I eventually lost it in a tie breaker4-7. then I went up 5-2 in the second set, but I managed to close it out and win it 6-2. after that we played a super tie-breaker to decide the third set. I was winning the whole time, but it was close towards the end. I won it 10-7. tomorrow morning I play paul rothman from highland park senior high school. I have never played him in an actual match, but I have played several sets against him. I think we are 3 and 3 against each other, so it should be a good match. peace.

Wow!

That is a great story, Nancy. I hope the Clothes Corner appreciates all you went through! Having been to IKEA twice, my only question is why you left with an empty stomach... the only thing I do there is eat at their cheap cafeteria.

I want to tell you before you hear it on the news...

Yesterday was a busy day...I grabbed a few grapes on my way out the door for breakfast.
I dropped off the minivan at the body shop to have the bumper replaced and got a cute little chevy cavalier to drive for the day. From there I went to the Mall of America for a few errands and a brisk walk. It was getting a bit late, I was hungry (I’m working on an excuse, you see,) so I was trying to work my way quickly through IKEA. When I got to the "As Is" area with my 5 pillows I saw an interesting rolling cart that I thought would be usedful for "Clothes Corner." It was about 3' x 3' x 2'. As I rolled it out to the parking lot with my other purchases, it suddenly struck me... there was that "cute little" cavalier sitting there, not my minivan. It wouldn’t fit in the trunk; it wouldn’t fit in the back seat. There are no screwdrivers or pliers in a rental car and no, the handle of the car jack will not loosen screws. (I tried) I was feeling so foolish by this time. I couldn’t get any of the screws loose and I was starving. It was about 4:15. I ate half the package of Anna’s cookies I had bought, but it didn’t give me any ideas. I tried to call a friend to bring me a screwdriver, but she wasn’t home; neither was Mark. I tried to flag down a police car, but he didn’t see me. I got the tray off but the frame still would not fit. I ended up putting the U-shaped thing in the trunk, with only one side inside. The other two parts were sticking up in the air like a bike rack. The only thing I had to fasten the trunk was the ribbon from my Hershey kisses received at Kristen’s wedding. Finally, I carefully headed for home, but woe, it was not to be. In rush hour traffic headed north on 77 (Cedar) I hit a bump, the ribbon tore, the trunk flew open and the cart frame tumbled out. This is the part for which I am so grateful. It landed wheels down and went sailing across the right and left lanes of traffic and into the median without hitting a car and causing a terrible accident. I saw it all in the rearview mirror. I, of course, pulled off the road, waited for a lull in traffic, crossed to the median and walked back to pick it up. I was so grateful, as I said, but I was also so-o-o-o embarrassed to be walking with this frame over my shoulder, trying to be nonchalant!! That particular stretch of road is always bumper to bumper at 4:45, as people are trying to get on 62 crosstown, so it took several minutes before the traffic broke enough for me to get back across to my car. I hunkered down behind the car and discovered that the bolts had become loosened enough by the mishap to allow me to get one end off. I shoved it into the back seat and headed for home. At first, I wasn’t going to tell anybody, but I haven’t put anything on the blog for so long that I thought, "This is just the thing." Have any of you had someone tell you, "I saw the funniest thing on Cedar last night?" Or "I almost got hit by a rolling cart....?" Nancy

On Sunday afternoon we got together to celebrate the birthdays of Paul, Janelle and Tom. Here they are while blowing out their candles (or right after in Janelle's case). Happy Birthday all - and of course happy birthday to those not in the Twin Cities area!

Ivan was terrible...

Hey everyone,
Thought I'd let you know how it went when TS Ivan came through on Thurs. afternoon. It rained extremely heavy around 5-6 pm, and the creek in our yard came out of its banks. It was pretty tense watching approach the house, but it didn't make it. Fortunately, our basement stayed dry and we never lost power. Others in the neighborhood weren't so lucky. Today is beautiful and cool and I have been picking up sticks and greenleaves in the yard. Have fun, and avoid hurricanes, if possible.

J.

Aron Ralston @ Barnes & Noble

Maria, her mother and I went to Barnes and Noble in Edina last night for the speech and book signing by Aron Ralston. You may have heard of Aron last year when his story came out in the press about his ordeal in Blue John Canyon, Utah.


He was on a hike in a slot canyon when his right arm became pinned by a large boulder. He was trapped. After 6 days of being stuck, in desperation he ended up having to cut off his own arm. Then, despite losing blood fast, he rappelled down a cliff the equivalent of a 7 story building, and hiked out 7 miles until he found help, and his salvation, in a rescue helicopter.

His story is a compelling one, and I urge you, if you haven?t already, to read his book.



Halfway through Aron's story last night, Mom showed up to say hi. It was nice to see you mom!

milk sign picture

Here is my milk sign picture from the state fair. Nobody saw it because they stuck it over by the baked goods...oh well, hope you like it!

Waiting for Ivan

Hey everybody,
It's been a while since I blogged but I thought you'd like to hear about the hurricanes down here. Last week was Frances (which was actually a tropical depression when it got to us). Heavy rain and wind the night of Labor Day, 10 hours without power on Tues., schools closed, leaves and sticks all over the yard, but no major damage and flooding for us, but numerous trees down in the area.

Ivan should get here this afternoon, just raining lightly here now. A lot of schools were closed today, but not Lynda's. We have 2 Lithuanian women staying with us, part of a delegation of educators -- they're getting more excitement than they were expecting.

Hey maybe the Twins and Braves will meet again...

J.

Twins Win!

Maria and I, along with her parents went to the Twins Game last night. I got the tickets to the game, along with passes to a hospitality tent at the last minute through my work. We ate our fill of brats, chicken and cookies in the hospitality tent.

We then proceeded to watch the Twins, and Johan Santana, destroy the White Sox inside the dome 10-2. The magic number is now 8! Above is a copy of the buttons they were handing out at the game. Cy Young all the way for Santana!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Janelle! See you Sunday!

Thanks

Thank you for all your birthday wishes, and thanks for your sympathies for my grandfather. See you all soon.

Janelle

Happy Birthday, Janelle!

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September 13 - Not just another day

Happy Birthday, Janelle!
Have a great day and enjoy every minute of your birthday.
You're so young, I can't even make any over-the-hill remarks.
It's great having you in the family! Nancy

Maria's State Fair Post.. typed by Pete

Here are a couple of pictures from our day at the fair on Labor Day. We had a great time visiting the Miracle of Birth barn, which is maria's favorite each year. We saw lambs, piglets, calves, ducklings and chickies.. We had a great time! Love, Maria


One of the lambs at the Miracle of Birth Barn

Sunset on the Midway

A view of the ferris wheel and downdraft ride at sunset on the Midway..

I posted this picture using the picture blogging software at hello.com. Everyone should check it out for an easy way to post pictures on the blog! (this includes you stevie! 

Fair to partly cloudy

Mark and I had quite a day at the fair. We hoped that we had arrived early enough to buy a root beer from Liv... we hadn’t. We shared Tom Thumb donuts and had an ice cream cone in the dairy building. We enjoyed the 4-H exhibits, especially photos and restored tractors. There was a ford truck the same age as Mark. The creative activities building is a perennial favorite for me. Joel and George’s pictures were very intriguing; then we looked for the chocolate chip cookies, but couldn’t find Matt’s picture. We saw the fair’s largest pumpkin... 733 pounds, a new variety of apple developed by the U of M and other wonderful things, like the vest they have developed which helps people with cystic fibrosis to breathe. Fortunately, I had picked up an AARP bag and was able to use it to protect me from the downpour of rain. Our last stop was the animal barns where I learned a lot. Did you know a pullet is a young hen, usually under a year old? Or that a cockerel is a young rooster? We saw beautiful fowl with such unusual patterns and colors. The next day when we were at the Noerenberg Gardens on Lake Minnetonka, we saw a foxglove flower with the same kind of markings as the birds at the fair. Ah, the beauty of creation! Have y'all been there? We should go together sometime. Nancy

camping in ely with the youthgroup

tom and I went camping at rock ridge camp with our youth group. it was fun. we swam and canoed and everything like that. here are some pictures of us having tons of fun.

"We Don't Need No Education"

I am pleased as punch that the fair is over. There's only so much time trapped in a barrel a body can stand. Precisely 84 hours. I am thrilled that the fair is over, even if that means school starting. But, as it is for Stevie, it is my senior year, so that's peachy keen. In fact, school was almost, dare I say, enjoyable today. Well, I did get some homework, and have quite a tough year ahead, but still, it'll be a good time.
Hopefully none of my colloquialisms was inappropriately used. For now, Livvi'i

Minnesota State Fair

Maria and I are off to the state fair this weekend.. If anyone else is there, maybe we'll see you there. Here we come pronto pups, cheese curds and any number of assorted fried foods on a stick!

My Fair Entry...

Well, both Matt and I entered the "computer generated image, framed and matted" category at the Creative Activities building. Matt's friend George also entered. George got second place, and I got third and Matt got displayed ...

...by the chocolate chip cookies :(

Here's a link to my picture. The rocket I added to Van Gogh's painting is from a photo of a real one Liv built and launched for Science Fair projects:

September 2

Well, Stevie, it could be worse... tomorrow could be your eighth out of twelve days in a root beer barrel.

Liv worked an extra three hours last night as a volunteer at a certain political booth that shall remain nameless due to Anderson blog regulations. Strangely enough, after a half hour on the job, she was chosen to be interviewed by channel 29 news. She did a good job discussing young women and voting, and no one seemed to notice that she wasn't old enough to vote.

the last day of my life

tomorrow is the first day of my senior year. yikes. alright, that is about all I have to say. peace.

Note to Janelle, Matt & Family

I'm so sorry, Janelle, about your dear Papang. Mark and I really enjoyed visiting with your grandparents when they were at your home. After everyone else left, we talked for about an hour with them. They were both very sweet, both to us and to each other. I remember him with fondness. Love, Nancy

Your family is in our prayers

Janelle,

we're sorry to hear about your grandfather. I know how hard it is to lose someone who means so much to your family like that.. Your family is in our prayers

Grandfather

My grandfather passed away last night. Dear Papang. He used to go fishing with Uncle Fred.

Blame your brother!

He's the one who jinxed you with that picture!

We're sorry to hear that, Stephen. I hope you are okay and don't let it get you down too much. I had this happen once when Norris was little - Teresa, Norris and I were stopped at a sign and the woman behind me decided I should be moving and started forward. There wasn't any damage (though Norris was crying in his car seat). I thought we should just exchange insurance info and move on, but the woman insisted on having a sheriff check things out (in case I pulled out an old wreck and claimed she smashed into it, I guess). Funny thing was, when the sheriff came she got a ticket for having expired license tabs!

so much for driving

today I got rear-ended by a green minivan as I dutifully made a complete stop at a stop sign. the street was wet and slippery, and the stop sign is at the bottom of a hill, so the lady had trouble stopping I guess. it wasnt my fault at all, I promise. it must sound pretty ridiculous that I already got into a car accident after having my license for only three days. I am kind of embarrassed about it, but I dont think I really have any reason to be. there really wasnt anything I could have done about it. this whole experience really has taken the thrill out of driving.

Driving

Congrats, Stevie! I'm sure you're a wonderful driver. And just remember you're only *CURRENTLY* the last Anderson of your generation to get his/her license. I've knit a baby blanket for a potential future niece or nephew, but it would be a LONG time 'til he/she takes their driving test!

Oh no, he can drive?

uh oh - you got your license? clear the roads, up go the insurance rates! Look out here he comes!



just kidding of course..:)

I am the last anderson to get his/her license

well liv I guess you beat me. congrats. its all good though, we still chili, I got mine this morning.

Pictures from a trip

(Click above for some pictures and notes from our trip)

On the lam in Bean-Town!

On Sunday we got back from our whirlwind tour of Boston - it was a good trip. In my case "good" means "not cooling my heels in a jail cell."

We took off in staggered order. Liv and Teresa had frequent-flyer tickets and left first, I followed on a different plane. Once they landed they jumped in a taxi and high tailed it to BU, as they had an appointment for a tour and visit. They traveled with carry-on luggage only. (Norris didn't come till the next day.)

Meanwhile, I arrived, collected my bag and threaded my way by bus and three subway lines to Harvard, to stop at Teresa's cousin Emmie's place. I had (barely adequete) directions to the place, and less than adequete instructions on where to find the key and no instructions on how to get in. (We'd been there once, about 8 years ago.)

"Keys in 2x4 cubby hole on back porch".

This lead to wandering back of the place (a brownstone-ish apartment-become-condo's near Harvard.) I spotted the porch. The porch had no access (up a level, no entrance, no stairs). I wandered around some more and found no access to the porch. Finally I realized the porch had a small notch (a cub hole?) formed where two 2x4's intersected. Found a baggy with keys by reaching up and feeling around in it.

Got in the front door and discovered that knowing I was looking for "unit 1B" didn't help; there were no labels.

"Ah - the porch was on the left side. HERE is a door on the left side! I'll try that!"

After trying every key (including the car key) I fumbled around some more, until a white-haired man brandishing a cane popped out of a side door.

"Why are you trying to break into my apartment!?!?! I'm calling the police!"

I stammered out an explanation, tried to offer my ID, only to have him reply "I'm calling the police!" and then disappear again.

I left a panicky cell phone message for Teresa and Liv (I had Teresa's phone) then called one of Emmie's friends, who explained carefully how to thread my way back to the right door (go right, then left down a hall, then left again then right then left).

THEY (Teresa and Liv) claim I was jumpy and on the alert for the fuzz the rest of the trip... but I think I was perfectly cool.

Downtown St Paul

We were in downtown St. Paul last night for the Bush 2004 Rally at the Excel Center and then for a picnic at Harriet Island for the Builder's Club (which Maria's parents, who are homebuilders, belong to) While we were there i snapped this photo of St Paul at dusk.. It really is a beautiful city.

happy birthday!

happy birthday liv!

Happy Birthday Liv

Happy Golden Birthday Liv from the Andersons of Elliot Avenue
Nancy,Stevie and I spent last week visiting family in Illinois. Tom came down for the week end . The boys and I came home Sunday so I could attend a curriculum workshop and
Tom could go to work. Nancy was able to stay for a few more days. I just talked to her and she told me about the neat Spanish birthday card she got for you Liv. She says the card is in Minneapolis but she doesn't know where. So be patient please.

Anderson Alert! Our August 28 swimming party at the knoblauchs is being being postphoned until further notice. Bill left a message that indicated that he will be fishing in Canada that week.

A Happy Birthday Vote for Livvi'i!

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     Happy Golden       |   |   Birthday Liv!!!! 

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The Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail

Janelle and I rode on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail this weekend. It is famous for its old train tunnels. I rode on this trail with John, Lynda, Mae and Ingrid back in 1992.

Today I am a ham!

Well, playing with my little Radio Free Klingon set wasn't enough. Actually, it gave me the impetus to finally go ahead and get my radio amateur license.

This morning I drove up to Blaine to a monthly exam session run by the Anoka Radio Club. I wasn't sure if I was reading my directions correctly, but I looked ahead and realized I was following a truck with 6 different antennas - I was on the right track! And, it turned out that I could have carpooled as a neighbor, who recently got his license, showed up to take an advanced exam.

My studying paid off, and I passed the exam (it isn't too hard), and I stopped on the way home to pick up a radio:

Now I just have to wait for the FCC to process my paperwork - then I'll have a call sign and permission to transmit to other amateurs - till then I'll be figuring out how to use the radio.