Ripley's Believe It or Not

Mark and John:

I rode my bike to work today!

Our 3rd Anniversary in Red Wing

Maria and I spent our 3rd anniversary weekend in Red Wing on Saturday and Sunday. We had a wonderful time - and you can view the pictorial evidence here:



View the whole set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebigswede/sets/476020/

Boundary Waters

I just got back from the Boundary Waters yesterday after 5 days of fun camping and fishing. Here's a slideshow of some photos I took while i was there. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebigswede/sets/450008/

well, I guess 3 isnt bad

my team and I got 3rd in the state tournament today. yesterday we beat grand rapids 6-1. it was really easy. I won 6-1, 6-1. In the semifinal match this morning we lost 5-2 to rochester mayo. danny wilson and I were the only two people who won. I won 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. then we played against wayzata for third place. earlier in the season we beat them 4-3, and they are wack and stupid so they probably thought they had a chance. we beat them 6-1 and it was pretty cool. it was my last team match ever. I had a pretty good career I think. While I was on the team we got 5th place twice and 3rd this year. my personal record at the state tournament is 8-1. my only loss in singles this year was to edina's number 1 singles player mike eastman so I am claiming the title of best 2nd singles player in state. I had a fun career and I will miss it. I think I graduated last night too or something like that. and finally, my good friend and teammate james gleckner and I shaved off our playoff beards. we now have moustachios.

Liv's graduation

Thanks for the quick reporting, Peter. I didn't think Liv and Stevie were graduating on the same night, but I guess they did. Our ceremony was quite nice and although we had crying babies and airhorns, our speakers were good and the Roy Wilkins Auditorium was air-conditioned.

Stevie's graduation went off without a hitch last night -except of course for the long winded commencement speakers, overheating gymnasium and crying babies.. Congrats Stevie and good luck at the state tournament! Congrats to Liv as well..

I'll be heading off to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area tomorrow afternoon for a five day canoe trip with some guys from our church. We'll be going up to Ely, MN and going into the BWCWA through Lake one. On the map you can see the route that we're going to be taking. I can't wait! And now - off to Stevie's graduation.

Vote Early! Vote Often!!! (but only if you want to)

Congratulations on your publication, Janelle! Is it online somewhere?

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As some may recall, I mentioned "Podcasting" back in March. Well, that led to an odd podcast I've been doing of
A Klingon Word from the Word "Klingon Bible Studies." (yes, yes, some people have way too much free time.) Anyway... IF you wanted to boost my popularity among the weirdos, you could vote here to improve my ranking for this month (yeah, it is a monthly ranking). Thanks!

Published

Nancy, glad you finally got your car to stop honking. A similar thing happened to me once, so I took out the security system.

Good news. I published my first essay in the Spring/Summer 2005 issue of Asian Cinema Journal! It's an essay about the film "Jose Rizal." Yay!

Janelle

Serial Adventures

You All put in such pretty pictures. I'll paint a picture in your imagination. This is a serial adventure series...
One adventure was when I was in Illinois. My mom was in the rehab. facility and I had been with her for the day. (She’s home & doing well now.) As I left to go home, I opened the door of my parents’ car and the horn started honking ... HONK, HONK, HONK... on and on. I tried everything I could think of to get it to stop. I started the engine, I turned the lights on and off, the radio, the hazard lights. I got out of the car and looked helpless. I thought of going into the nursing home to see if I could find someone to help me figure it out, but here I was in a nursing home parking lot. It was probably past bedtime for many folks, so I finally decided I had to get out of there. I started driving, thinking that any second the honking would stop. I was really hoping that I would see a police car, but where are they when you need them? I thought of stopping before I got on the freeway, but at the freeway entrance was the hospital. I just couldn’t stop there! I traveled for a few miles honking every second until I got to Aunt Bernice’s corner... some of you know where I mean... where it finally stopped. I held my breath the rest of the way. When I got to the farm, I turned off the engine and the honking started all over again. Fortunately, my sister was there and she told me to put my key in the door lock and sure enough, it worked.
Because I had opened the door without using the key, the horn had started honking... the car’s security system... I suppose it was good that I didn’t see any police.
I'm really glad to be back home and watching Stevie play amazing tennis. We're very proud!
By the way, a very belated but heartfelt Happy Birthday to Ingrid and Mae! Nancy

Como Zoo on Memorial Day

Maria and I headed over to the Como Zoo and Conservatory yesterday. We had a great day of watching the animals, and strolling through the beautiful gardens. Here is a picture that maria took in the Sunken Gardens at the conservatory. Nice shot honey!

Click here for more pictures from our day at the como zoo.

Weekend Project!

Our fence by the front gate was pretty much falling apart... so I made a new one this weekend!

Playing Kubb last night in Forest Lake with Maria's family.

woohoo

well we did it. my fellow south tigers and I advanced to the state tennis tournament today with a crushing 6-1 victory over the southwest lakers. it was pretty awesome. the section's individual tournament starts tomorrow(friday) morning and concludes on tuesday. the state tournament begins tuesday june 7th at 8am at the 98th street northwest athletic club. it is also the day that I graduate. I will keep you all posted on any further developments.

I think I might have a graduation party or something in the coming months. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Wedding Fun

Maria and I attended our friend's wedding this weekend in Richfield. We introduced the happy couple in 2001, and they finally tied the knot. Congratulations Nathan and Jeny.

In case anyone wants to see pictures of the big day - check out the links on my blog HERE

Thanks!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Happy Birthday, Mae! I wish I could come visit you all in Minnesota in June but I will be in Alaska at the Evolution Meetings and possibly getting eaten by a bear. Congratulations to the graduates and best wishes with your future plans.

--Ingrid

Happy Birthday!

I hope you guys have a very happy birthday Mae and Ingrid!

Happy Birthday Mae and Ingrid!

hmmm ... birthday happy, may you have, yes!

Stevie's Prom

Here is stevie's long awaited prom picture. Stevie is on the far left, and his date is right in front of him. If stevie wants, i'll let him comment further.

(Click on the picture to see a bigger version of it)

just had some fun with Paul's birthday photo of grandma/mom. colorized it and cleaned it up a little.. hope you like it!