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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               +\+ 

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          (  /@+-+@/^^^R@6 

          (    S@#     #@@@ 

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          (            KRR#O 

          ~            K###s 

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           /          @R#KQS 

           3          R@##~ 

          @6          B@@B@7 

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          KS          R@@@@G 

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          KS          R@@@@G 

          KS          R@@@// 

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          KSSQ%7~OSSSSR/ 

 

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

Oops!

         

  

               Oh, Good Grief! 

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         /           \ 

        :   o    o    ; 

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         \    __     / 

          `-._____.-' 

            /`"""`\ 

           /    ,  \ 

          /|/\/\/\ _\ 

         (_|/\/\/\\__) 

           |_______| 

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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