Morning Meanderings… A Fish Story

Good morning.  It’s Saturday in Minnesota!  From what I seen on Facebook this morning it was also snowing earlier.  SNOWING.   I think I may have slept through it.  After two incredibly busy days – work, library fund-raiser, work again, Mankato son hang out lunch and rollerblading and a board meeting for camp last night… I just wanted to stay still for a while.  SO I did.

Today in Minnesota is also fishing opener which is the oddest opener ever as our lakes are still icy.  Al (hubby) and I are not fisher people so it doesn’t really affect us but the weird weather is still annoying. 

In honor of fishing opener and Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots. I thought I would give you an honest to goodness Fish Story…

and here it is.

 

My dad and my uncle Dallas

 

 

In 1979 while my dad was in Alaska visiting relatives he caught a King Chinook Salmon.  The salmon weighed 62 pounds and 4 oz and 52 1/2 inches.  When he returned to Minnesota he left the fish there to be stuffed and mounted to be sent home at a later time. 

In January of 1980 my family went through a house fire that took the lives of my father and 5-year-old sister, Tara.  I lost my dad and sister and our entire home and everything in it in one swoop.  My mom and I were the only ones who made it out. 

Now – I don’t tell you this to make you feel bad, I tell you, because it is a part of this story…

When my uncle Dallas came to the funeral, he brought the fish with him.  Dad had never seen it after it was mounted but it was in our new home from that day forward, hanging on the wall.  When I was married, mom passed the fish on to me and to this day it hangs on one of my walls.  It fits no decor in my home but it is not coming down and as you can imagine it is quite the conversation piece as no one believes that it is real.   It makes me smile as I have hardly anything that belonged to my dad, it was all lost in the fire…

 

When people come over, they think it is fake.

 

but I have this humongous fish…. and the story.  And that works for me.

 

 

This post was made for Saturday Snapshot and is hosted by Alyce and At Home With Books.

*pictures of dad with the fish are saved from a partial album that was in the house during the fire.  Several photos survived and while they are burned on many of the edges, we still transferred them to another album that I have to this day.

 

Today I am hoping to get in some reading time – I have the weekend to read the book club book, The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman. 

Morning Meanderings… We Have To Move On Despite The Weather

Good morning!  Happy Saturday to you.

You have probably heard by now some rumblings of Minnesota’s never ending winter.  It is May and parts of Minnesota had another 11 inches dumped on them the last couple of days.  Thankfully, this time it wasn’t Brainerd.  No instead we are getting the cold… the wet… averaging around 40 degrees for the day, high 20′s in the morning.  It is cold.. wet.. frustrating and getting very old – even to the snow lovers (which… for the record… I am not one of).

Yet – this last Monday it was nice out.  It was in the high 70′s and dry.  My friend Amy and I decided it was long past due that we got the bikes out on the trail.  I agreed….

I had warned her that in past March/ early April’s that I had been on the trail in occasional spots you could run into some snow.  The areas where the trail was protected by tree cover and the sun took a little longer in those areas to melt away the last memories of snow. 

Our goal was from Brainerd to Nisswa…. 32 miles round trip. 

This is my friend Amy. About mile 8 we seen that we were in for some :EXTREME BIKING”. Still, we decided to go on.

… ummmm yeah. There were parts of the path that we could not bike. We had to get off and walk the bikes.

Yup…. going through it.

And we did!  We biked/walked the 16 miles to Nisswa and then bike/walked it back.  It took up about 45 minutes longer than when we usually do that ride but it was fun and I love having a die-hard friend that not once said, “let’s forget it and turn back.”

I am posting these pictures today for Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.  Stop over and see what other people are posting – and feel free to add your own as well.

I had mentioned yesterday that I was going to the cabin but a friend asked me to check the weather in that area.  Up by Duluth it was all snow and rain yesterday and today I did not want to deal with it.  Instead I started working on College sons bedroom which has been sitting for the past couple of years and I am now making it into an office.  Perhaps… that will be next weeks pictures.   Tonight we have a benefit and a concert.  Should be fun.

Listening to audio today – Raven Boys is coming to an end and deciding what to start listening to next…

What are you doing this Saturday?

Morning Meanderings… Minnesota “Narnia Style”

Good morning!  It is Saturday and the good news is that the Minnesota Book Awards are tonight and I have a Golden Ticket to go!!!  The bad news is (and this is for you Saturday Snapshot peeps)….

Minnesota looks like this right now:

Now you may be thinking “Sheila, why are you showing us a picture of snow?  You hate winter!”

Well… that would be because this picture was taken at 6:30 am this morning when I got up.  This is the current state of my yard after Thursdays 6″ snow storm.  AND after watching the news last night… it’s not over yet, we may get more late night tonight.

………………………….

Ok….moving on.  

As I do now want my Saturday Spotlight pictures to be about the snowy state on Minnesota right now… I instead wish to give you pictures of…

Last weekends Chanhassen Theater!  My friends Cindy, Heidi, and Sara and I drove to Chanhassen last Friday Night and went to the Ultimate 80′s Power Balladz.  I thought it was going to be good fun 80′s (whats not to love?) I did not know it was going to be laugh out loud, laugh until you cry fun.  

IT WAS A BLAST!

We had dinner at the theater and they took us down this hall that looked like we were in some sort of Hobbit land…

 

It was great fun – here they were imitating Lita Ford and Ozzy Ozborne.

 

They had sing a longs, asked the audience questions, dressed like the 80′s…. it was fun. 

Thanks Alyce from At Home With Books for hosting Saturday Snapshot so we can talk about the fun pictures of our lives.

SO… tonight’s Minnesota Book Awards is a gala.  And last weekend I bought a dress.  A spring looking dress… knee-length, white with pick and light blue flowers on it….

uhhh…. yeah.

So maybe I wear a snow suit, hat, mittens and boots and call it good?

SHHEEESH. 

Morning Meanderings…The First Run Of 2013

I missed the last two weeks of Saturday Snapshot.  Two weeks ago I was in the cities getting ready for a 7K and last Saturday I was buried in books at the Spring Library sale. 

Today I thought I would share about the 7K. 

When I say really cool words like “7K”, a lot of people will say to me, “I didn’t know you are a runner!”

My response, “I am not.  I am a runner want to be.”

I want to say for the record, I blame the books.  Over the past couple of years I have read some pretty good books on running.  Those that can run… fascinate me.  Their bodies get lean, their heart rates and over all health improve… they talk of a “runners high” and they can go on and on and on for miles… in some of those books, they would run like 100 miles in a day….

they are my heroes.

So… here I am FAR on the other side of the spectrum.  I have running gear.  I do ok on the treadmill… I have not yet mastered running.

SO this is before the 7k (which by the way is 4.34 miles).  It was SUPER cold that morning… I don’t even recall but we were dancing in the freezing air before go time… don’t let the sun in the picture fool you.  On the far left is my cousin’s wife Farrah, my cousin Jarrod, my friends Sheila and Belinda, Belinda’s cousin and wife – April and Ryan, and then me. 

Over 11,000 people were registered for this run… close to 10,000 showed up.  This is as we walked towards the starting gate.

We were not that far back from the start but I heard it took 26 minutes to get everyone across the starting line.  We wore a chip on our tennis shoes that activated from a mat we step on when going across the starting line and then it gives out time when we cross the line at the end.  Kind of cool.

This is my friend Sheila who I ran most of the race with (until her pace kicked my pace – I need to fast walk occasionally at this stage in the game and she can keep a nice steady pace).  At the end the water they had for us was freezing in the glasses!  If you look close you can see that she has the chunk of ice in her mouth.

At the end we were all able to hang out at this Irish Pub which was kind of cool.  SO MANY people there… had to be over 1,000.  Here a few of the group are showing the “pie” medal we all received for doing the run – you can also see the hoodies that April and Ryan are wearing – this was also something each participant received. 

My pie The first of 4 from the Ortho events this year.

Overall – the run was fun to hang out with friends, but the cold sucked.  I warmed up quickly while running but soon discovered I have training to do before I am going to be any kind of rock star at running.  I finished the 7k at 51 minutes.  I believe the best time in our group was Jarrod at around 35 minutes.  He is training for a triathlon. 

 

So that’s my Saturday Snapshot for today. Check out more Saturday Snapshots at Alyce’s At Home With Books.    I do not have a lot going on this Easter weekend as Justin (College Son)  has to work so he will not be home and Brad is in Florida in the Navy.  It will just be Al and I and I think tonight we may watch the Hobbit.

Morning Meanderings…Through The Years and A Trip To OZ

Good morning!  It’s Saturday and I am sooooooo excited.  Today I have nothing concrete on the agenda.  I LOVE days like this.  I can hang out, blog, read, clean, nap, whatever – at my leisure.  These days are too few and far between and other than a possible trip to the gym this afternoon (I am 7 days out from the 7K) and maybe a movie with hubby…. I am here for the day.

Today I thought I would post a couple of pictures of my boys for Saturday Snapshot:

I love this picture.  That is Brad left and Justin right.  This picture graces my book room.  This past winter, right after Christmas I was on Facebook one day and seen this picture on Justin’s page.  He was having a voting contest to see who thought who was cuter, he or Brad.  *Take note, Justin is 22 now and in College.  Brad is 25 and in the Navy. 

I was stunned, but it was pretty hilarious.  Both boys were going back and forth trying to get their friends to comment on who was cuter. I popped in with a “Boys!  What is going on here?” 

Then Brad made a comment that I had text him and told him that he was cuter but couldn’t put it on Facebook as I did not want to hurt Justin’s feelings.  Justin commented back that he thought that was funny because I had text him and told him that same thing about him.

This thing went on for days and I don’t recall who won – or even if the votes were fair but they had over 100 comments and it was pretty funny.

This one I really like too.  Justin looks like someone from a century ago.  I remember doing Brad’s hair that day… he wanted it that way.

Currently, Justin is in Honduras on his 5th Mission trip to the country working with the kids who live on the street.  Brad, as of last night was in Georgia sitting on his back deck with friends having a fire and conversation.  He has 3 out of 4 weekends off in the Navy. 

As you can imagine, I am so proud of both of them.

These pictures were posted today for the Saturday Snapshot meme, check it out at At Home With Books.

Last night my friend Wendy and I went to OZ, The Great and Powerful.  I thought it was done so well and it was impressive to watch the actors, they played some fun rolls.   Mila Kunis was incredible, especially the later part of the movie.  Rachel Weisz?  Well first let me say wow does she look incredible.  She easily passes as Mila’s sister.  Michelle Williams… awesome.  I think my favorite was the China Doll… really once she entered the picture I lost my heart to that little broken girl. 

I am not sure what to think of James Franco… maybe he was perfect, what do I know.   At times, he just seemed off and maybe that was intentional… I have no idea who could have done it better. 

 

My thoughts… yes, see it.  I loved the fact that some of the scenes and settings are more to the original book then the past movies.

Morning Meanderings… The BIG Painting Project

Squeaking in late today.  I got up and hit the gym and then went and set the new March window at the Library.  Then picked up a few groceries so I would not have to leave the house again today.. unless I want to… unless Al and I go to a movie… you know, something fun

Last week I painted the downstairs of our house and I had said I would post the pictures today for Saturday Snapshot, so here they are:

A fun fact I found out last week, painting burns 320 calories an hour.  This explains why after a day of painting we are a little stiff the next day. 
Check out more Saturday Snapshots at Alyce’s At Home With Books. 

Morning Meanderings… Snapshots of My Minnesota Life

Good morning!  Happy Saturday.  I am in the middle… no, that’s not right… I am in the first third of a MASSIVE painting project.  I decided I was going to paint our downstairs addition yesterday so off I went to buy paint and all the fixings.  This is a HUGE undertaking.  We finished off the basement in 2004 and the area I am painting is all of that… the wall at the top of the stairs, the stairwell wall area, a couple smaller areas and then an open family area.  Basically about 5 gallons of paint worth.    It sounded like a great idea yesterday to surprise Al with this but after not getting started until 5:30 pm last night and working on it until 10:30 pm and knowing I have about 5 or 6 more hours of paining ahead of me… yeah….lets just say I better LOVE this color a LONG time.    Pics of this next weekend.

Today however, I thought it would be fun to show you some pictures (for Saturday Snapshot)of what my Minnesota life is like.  Not all of you live in areas that have winters like we do, or if you, you may not heat your home the way we do.

We heat our house with hot water heat.  Yes, that was a new term to me about 8 years ago too.  

The stove sits outside between our business (DeChantal Excavating) and our home. It burns wood that heats pipes that are filled with water – so essentially hears out home and business with a hot water heat that is a clean heat.

In cold temps it can be a real pain, but this winter has been fairly mild so usually it is filled once in the morning, once mid afternoon, and once at night. You control the heat in house with a temperature dial.

 

Here is our business, far behind the house. Initially the stove was going to be just to hear that, but when installed we discovered it was only a couple hundred dollars more to run the pipes to the house as well.

For me the wood pile can be a real pain. I search out pieces I can lift and since I can not pick up the great big ones that fill it fast, it takes me about 10 – 15 trips to fill the stove.

 

 

This is the back up pile in the event that what we have cut up does not make it through the winter. We purchase the wood locally.

One fun bonus – about 7 wild cats live in the excess woodpile. No idea where they came from but sometimes in the afternoon I will see them when I fill the stove and they will watch me. Occasionally I leave them scraps but they are all rather healthy looking so they are finding food somewhere. I was hoping to get some pictures of them but they were not out this morning.

So there is a little about my life beyond the books.    For more Saturday Snapshots, stop by Alyce’s At Home With Books.

Morning Meanderings… Life In Minnesota

Good morning!  It has been a couple of weeks since I have been home and able to put up a Saturday post. I am so excited

SO for Saturday Snapshot  check this out over at (At Home With Books) I went back to look at some of the earliest pictures I have on this laptop which takes me back to the fall of 2011.  SO, just for fun… here are few pictures:

This was a sign in out local coffee shop where people were asked to write down their favorite book.

This is a picture of my friend Amy and I before out first obstacle run, this was in July 2011… 6 weeks after I had broke my finger and dislocated my wrist on the MN 150 bike ride.

And here we are after…..

Finally this is August 2011 – me looking over Lake Superior. This spot is about 8 miles from our cabin up North.

There it is.  I know it would be random – I have had no awesome picture opportunities as of late… Minnesota winters…. I am soooo ready for spring.

Hope you all enjoy your day.  I have a meeting this morning and then home most of the day which will be nice as the week has been fairly busy and reading time has been close to nothing.  Enjoy your Saturday!

Morning Meanderings… Pics of the month

Good morning and happy Saturday!  I am popping in early because I am meeting my cousin at the gym this morning for Group Power.  I haven’t been to this class since June of 2012 (:shock:) and I am long over due to get back into it… and a little excited to do it.

For this mornings “Saturday Snapshot” post I thought it would be fun to share some pics from the Iceman 5K I completed a couple of weeks back.  First event of 2013 and I am ready for more.

Waiting to get moving!

And here we go!

My friend Amy coming through the ice tunnel obstacle

Me coming through the ice tunnel.

The event was a lot of fun, of course I  always enjoy hanging out with Amy doing something crazy events. 

Pop on over to Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot for more people sharing photos of their life

Oh, and stop in to my Team Kickin It blog where I am featuring a healthy (and delicious) recipe for Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking. 

Right at the point of WHELMED

Good morning or afternoon or evening depending on where you are and when you read this.   I have just entered the week I have been referring to as “Hell Week” for the past month and yeah, I know that isn’t the best way to put it since it is all good stuff… but unfortunately the name stuck. 

This afternoon around 2 I will meet up with a friend and teammate to do some shopping for events coming up this week.  Right from there I will go to work and prep some things for tonight and the weekend and be home probably around 7:30 pm.

Tomorrow, Sunday I will need to be at the church around 7 am and leave around noon.  Then I will shop for our IHN serving week (Homeless week) which starts tomorrow. I will pick up the guests at 4:30 pm, and a group of friends will come and we will all do dinner together and then I will stay overnight there. 

Monday morning after I take the guests to the day center I work a half day.  Will hopefully go out to dinner and maybe a movie with my hubby.

Tuesday I work a full day and have lots of prep work to do for Wednesday which is our annual members meeting. 

Wednesday – work all day, train new people in with IHN and do the members meeting… I will probably not come home between 8 am and 9 pm.

Thursday – start working on all members info I gathered last night and cleaning up from the big meeting and prepping for the 10 Year party which is Sunday.

Friday – possibly my day off… depends on what needs to be done for the 10 Year, probably some shopping.  Maybe some set up. 

Saturday – train in new people at IHN, then our company Christmas Party.

Sunday – up at 5 am and tear down IHN, clean up and move the van to the next hosting church.  Hopefully get to the 10 year party set up by 8:30 am to help as that starts at noon.  Clean up and home by 3 pm… I hope.

On the bright side… horizon…. goal, whatever you want to call it… I am taking Monday the 7th and possibly Tuesday the 8th off. 

Listing my week out was actually therapeutic… I see tiny pockets of free time in there that I need to take full advantage of.  Hopefully Monday, Tuesday and Friday will give me a little time to re-energize.  I am an introvert that needs to charge up my batteries by being alone, preferably with a book.

For todays Saturday Snapshot I thought it would be fun to actually show pictures of my Saturday morning.  A snapshot of what my life looks like now as I simmer at the feeling of whelmed…. but not quite overwhelmed:

The recliner I am hanging out in this morning… snuggled up with my favorite blanket.

COFFEE CUP and the book I plan to finish today.

Breakfast of scrambled egg whites, spinach, and shrimp left over from Christmas.

Now I am going to check out a few of the other Saturday Snapshot posts (Thank you Alyce), write a review, make a meme button for our Library, send out a book club email and year end voting form and hopefully spend a little time int hat book pictured above before it is GO TIME.

May your week be a lot less crazy then mine…. bear with me while I get through this marathon of events.