All over the place

A beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior from my Duluth hotel room -

I'm not typically a worry wart, but lately I've been worrying about the oddest things. Now I have swine flu to add to the list. You might think I'm paranoid except I will be traveling to New York City for an extended girls weekend in 17 days. Wonder if I'd be mistaken for one of Michael Jackson's kids if I wore a face mask around Manhattan & Brooklyn.

I was really moved by Angie's post about her Compassion trip and meeting one of her sponsor children. Wonderful to hear about the work this organization is doing and the lives touched by the emissaries visiting India.

I might have had a little fun while in Duluth this past weekend :)

Here's a photo of Sassy's team the night before the tourney (while I was having fun at the mom's table :)

I made it - I met my personal challenge for number of posts this month. Tell her what she's won Bob! Personal satisfaction, priceless.

The Range and #2

The Minnesota Iron Range that is. Sassy and I headed north on Saturday and the drive brought back a ton of memories from my youth - shuttling between the Cities and the Range to visit my grandparents. They lived an hour north of Duluth in Eveleth. Blink and you might miss it on the west side of Interstate 35 North, but give it props as the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was comforting to see the same trees that seemed so enormous to me as a child while laying in the back seat of my grandparents "boat" (aka big ass car).

#2 out of 22 is how Sassy's team did at the volleyball tourney. Her serving was incredible and she made several successful blocks. They were bested by a team with mostly varsity players so considering our team is all freshman and one sophomore I think they rocked! Following are favorite shots from the day.

Lots of luck and no one got shot

I made it!
We went through all but 30 hot dogs, and the taco meat, chips and pretzels lasted to the end. We ran out of subs about an hour short of closing which was fine since we had other things. The nachos, cookies, candy, apples and veggies weren't popular. There was a lot of candy/treats offered at the carvnival games which means we can go light on that stuff next year. Too bad about the veggies and apples - I thought for sure little kids and granola types would go for them. I don't even know how much soda/water/juice we went through but it was crazy busy. Sassy was a big help as were a few of her friends. Poor Chunky - hubby had to work until 7pm and with his mom and sister working in the kitchen, he didn't get much attention. I gave him money for games, threw him some food and he was on his own. He survived and even used some tickets to visit the wacky hair lady - blue and red hair dye in his flowing crew cut.

Now Sassy and I are preparing for a drive to Duluth for a volleyball tournament tomorrow. It's 40 degrees and windy there. Can't wait. My feet hurt and I had dreams of getting a pedicure before we left, but I am lazy and thankfully not walking to Duluth so will wait for another couple of days. I kind of wish Sassy could drive so I could read or work (sleep!) in the car. Oh well, no rest for the weary (or is it "wicked"?).

Wish me luck and shoot me now (Part 2)

Here's what I've planned for - it will be interesting to see what is left over and what we run out of.

300 hot dogs
150 tacos
128 subs
96 nachos
60 pretzels
250 chips
90 bags cookies
70 std candy bars
asstd candy
apple slices
celery & carrots w/dip
4 cases juice boxes
120 bottled water
196 diet cola
164 cola
208 other soda

Wish me luck and shoot me now (Part 1)

I am way behind. I had a personal challenge - post 9 entries for the month of April. I posted 6 in January, 7 in February, say it with me now 8 in March, you get the picture. I have just over 7 days to post 4 more entries in addition to this one. Wish me luck. At least I'm adhering to one of my new years' goals - maintaining a blog. I took a small step towards another goal last week - I attended an information session at St. Catherine's University for the Master of Arts Organizational Leadership program. I'm thinking I'll apply for the Fall session. Wish me luck.

I am the PA (PTA without the "T") VP for my son's elementary school and we have our annual fundraising extravaganza (Spring Fun Fest) this Friday. Shoot me now. This is my second year in charge of food. Last year it rained - the upside being more people stayed inside and ate our food, the downside being more people stayed inside and ate our food. We stopped counting how many hot dogs we'd gone through after our third trip to the corner market to replenish stock. I think we served close to 100 more than expected. We were dangerously close to running out of nearly everything at least 5 times over the course of 5 hours. One of the parent volunteers was so upset we didn't have hot dogs that she jumped down my throat and wanted to know what kind of operation I was running. Have I mentioned this is a parochial school? Shoot me now. This year I'm prepared - I've just about cleaned TWO Sam's Clubs out of hot dogs (we also serve tacos, subs, asstd junk food), AND if anyone takes me to task for my operation, they will be politely relieved of duty. Instead of The Donald's "You're fired" or Heidi's "Auf Wiedersehn" I'll say "You're relieved". I think it has a nice ring to it. More about the SFF later. Wish me luck and I will likely have wished that someone shot me by the end of Friday evening.

10 Simple Things I Love Today

* wearing flip flops
* leisurely shopping at Target
* buying hot dogs and s'more fixins for a bonfire
* Chunky getting one smoothie flavor (strawberry) and me another (mango) so we can share
* bringing the outdoor furniture out of storage
* enjoying the sunshine
* reading the new In Style magazine
* eating a Skinny Cow fudge bar
* planning flower gardens
* entering a contest to win a wireless printer at Chris' awesome site - life would be easier if Sassy had her own printer to use and didn't use up all the printer ink from the "house" printer for her many school projects http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/reviews/live-wirelessly-print-wirelessly/trackback/

Ugly duckling or swan?

Chances are you've heard of Susan Boyle. My mom left me a voice mail, Hubby told me to get on You Tube, she's mentioned on most blogs I subscribe to and is all over the TV news, internet and water coolers of America. Amazing voice. Now I'll admit to being as vain and judgemental as the best of them, but I'm a bit perplexed at how Susan's being portrayed in the media. One web site called her the "hairy angel". A news story showed the audience before she sang and it looked like everyone was getting ready to laugh her offstage. Uh, is there some law I'm unaware of that only thin, young, beautiful people can sing their asses off? Two words: Luciano Pavorotti. I'm in awe not because she's an ugly duckling with a beautiful voice, rather because she's a mature lady who will likely live a completely whole other life now that she's shared her God-given gift in front of an audience. This phenomenon got me thinking - will Susan be transformed into a "swan"? And if so, will it be in an effort to make her more palatable for the masses or because she chooses to spread her own wings?

I Heart Cats

Y'know that Guns N' Roses song, "Used to Love Her"?
I used to love her, but I had to kill her
I had to put her
Six feet under
And I can still hear her complain
That's how I feel about my cat. Not the dead one - the live one I want to throttle* for her incessant whining at 5 am or as soon as I walk within 10 yards of the room where her food is. Which is often since it's the laundry room (laundry is my passion - NOT) and on the way to the garage. Would PETA come and get me if I put the cat in the garage?
* I was trying to be clever and articulate my fantasy then use strikethrough (to show how clever I am) with the PC version next to it. Alas, I am not clever.

A special shout out to my BFF - Happy Birthday!
There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul.
~Edith Wharton

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~Lois Wyse

A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself. ~Frances Ward Weller

A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should. ~Author Unknown

Carpe Diem

I am one of those odd ducks who doesn't mind celebrating a birthday. Hey, at least I'm still here to celebrate, right?! The day started like any other - remaining cat meowing at the top of her lungs to be fed as soon as I moved one millimeter in my peaceful slumber. It's gotten way worse since Maisie died. I've never not fed her -at some point I will get my lazy arse up and do it already. I opened the gift my mom sent two days ago but wanted to save until THE day so I knew I'd have at least one surprise - I asked for a portable iPod speaker/charger thingy. Thanks Mom, it's great! I worked from home which in my weird warped mind is almost as good as having the day off. I mean how awesome is it to sit at the kitchen table in sweats or jammies, drink unlimited cups of coffee and do unlimited loads of laundry?! Nirvana (without the beach). My mom called for the annual "Happy Birthday" serenade and thanked me for the happiest day of her life. Ah the privilege of being an only child. I will forever need to say each of my children's birth dates were "one of "the happiest days of my life lest anyone feel more or less loved than the other. Sassy wished me a happy b-day while running out the door saying I'd get my present as soon as someone takes her to Target. I should have kept my gas guzzler as it most definitely fits my limo driver image. I should be grateful though since she let me pay for her to have blonde highlights in her hair last week. The gift that keeps on giving - a mother's' meddling. My son gave me small hoop earrings with glass beads (that was a surprise!). He traded an eraser at school for them. I hope the kid he traded with didn't get them out of their mom's jewelry box. They look very much handmade and Chunky assures me the trade was on the up-and-up. Hubby took me to lunch - Chipotle because I would kill for their carnitas salad bowl I'm easy to please like that AND a cheap date - and he gave me a radar detector because I may have gotten a speeding ticket on my way to work two days ago. Birthday cards from family and friends, beautiful flowers from my former stepmother and a skinny chai tea latte to top it all off. A day worth celebrating!