Girls' Weekend in Minnesota

You know that I'm a Paper Crafter. One of the ladies I craft with went to this big Paper Crafting event in Minneapolis last year and has not stopped talking about it. She invited the rest of us to go with her, but we didn't jump at the invitation. Ever since she returned, she has been raving about it. So of course we had to go this year. She was off with her husband and didn't come with us. She did leave us with plenty of instructions and suggestions though.

Our flight left at 6:00 AM!!!! Who knew there were flights at this time? 

The event is called Scrapfest 2013 and it's sponsored by Archiver's, a chain of stores that I would LOVE to have here locally...Dave, very happy they're across the country. They carry all the cool, hip, and happening items, and the displays are fabulous! Seriously, look at all this paper!

Did I tell you the event is at the Mall of America? This is the largest Mall....filled with plenty of stores, restaurants, and an entire amusement park!!!!!

There's a Lego store with all sorts of displays...made from Legos of course. There's even a section where anyone can wander in and build something

Archiver's is located in the Mall. They hold the event through out the Mall. There are displays galore, "Make and Takes" (I made two necklaces at a bead store that are so cool people stop and ask about them! and NO I will not be taking up beading and/or jewelry making), and all the paper crafting Rock Stars teaching classes....Tim Holtz, Becky Higgins, Teresa Collins, and plenty more.

We rode the light rail (the ticket machines give change in dollar coins! Very fun! a little heavy to carry around and then all the stores know where you've been when you pay in dollar coins!) to the downtown. This was Sunday and the Vikings were playing at home. The fans are about as hopeful as a Raider fan. They thought for sure they'd win.....they lost. Here's the Mary Tyler Moore statue in front of Macy's (which has the LARGEST inventory of scarves.....for winter....seriously, racks and racks, aisles and aisles).

There were plenty of interesting buildings....like this wall filled with music. We walked past the Dakota Club to see if anyone interesting was playing. The flyways that connect the buildings are very interesting. My photos didn't turn out too well. I may snag Teresa's later on to show you. They're definitely something you won't see in CA!

We had really good meals....except for the free breakfast which we only ate once. The restaurants in the Mall run from the usual McDonald's, A&W, Cinnabon and then to Grille's with old school wood panelling and linens, and then we even had Sushi. We did not starve. We discovered Minnesota's Wild Rice Corn Chowder which is seriously the best ever.

My favorite meal was meeting up with my brother, his wife, and son. They took us to their favorite family restaurant, "It's Greek to Me". I have no idea what we ate, but it was delicious. I mostly liked the company. We live so far apart that we hardly ever see one another. It was a real treat.

The weather was absolutely the best and the people are the nicest. All the jokes about the uber polite people? Yep, they're all true. I was startled the first time a child cut in front of us and the mom immediately corrected him and told him "that's not nice to do that to people". Now there's something you don't hear too often around here.

We did our part for the Minnesota economy. I even purchased a suitcase to bring home all my new loot. There's no sales tax on clothing and shoes, how could I resist? Teresa did introduce me to several new stores and we both discovered Flips. This is a store that sells nothing but......flip flops! Dave even has a new pair. I have no idea why this isn't in CA.

The sales people were all so nice (Minnesotans!) articulate and educated. Most of them had at least two jobs. Honestly, I don't know how the young people can make it.

Great time, glad we went, not sure that I'd go all this way again. Perhaps next time a long weekend to....?????

Theo is Two!!!

Our #2 grandson turned Two. He didn't get a Birthday when he turned One, so his Mama decided to make it up with a super Second Birthday party. And since we are the Swenson Annex, it was at our home. It ended up at the tail end of our two week visit from our cleaning people and we actually had to tidy up on our own to prepare. Oh well.

We had a house full of people that we love and that love us, does it get any better? Nope!

Theo is fearless and lovable. He gives the best snuggles and kisses.

As soon as he enters our house he runs and leaps in to our arms for a snuggle and a kiss. And to ask for  juice and a cracker (which is his word for snack). Sometimes he leaps before we're ready to grab him and there have been those times that he falls back and smacks his little head. No worries, he jumps up and gets a hug. He has a slight club foot which means he trips and falls, and then he gets right up. I think he will grow up to be resilient, persistent, and not a whiner. The sparkle in his eyes and sweet grin will open many doors and arms.

Theo refers to himself as "me". He's clear that he wants something and is not afraid to take it. Especially if his older brother may have what he wants. He does admire and adore his older brother. If both seats are open, he'll go for his brother's.

He calls his sister "Juju" and that's now her nickname. He will snuggle and kiss his sister. If she happens to be on the floor for some tummy time, both boys are all over her with snuggles and kisses. Theo may push her head down in to the floor until she screams and we rescue her. She doesn't get much tummy time. It isn't safe with the adoration of her two rough and tumble brothers.

Theo is a boy of action and so far has not embraced sitting on a lap and reading a book for anything longer than a few seconds. He is getting better. That may be to humor is G.Ma.

This boy is still a terribly messy eater. He shoves huge amounts of food in to his mouth. It is horribly unsightly and dangerous. We're working on getting him to take smaller bites, chew and swallow, then take another bite. We have a lot more training to do.

Theo is a serious dirt magnet. He can take a bath with a full scrubbing and then within an hour be grungy again. We're not quite sure how he does this, right before our eyes.

We are so in love with this little guy and can't hug him enough.

Knowing That Your Schedule Is Way Too Full

So I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger and I'm not sure that's a good thing.  I can feel my anxiety level rise and am most definitely losing my sweetness. It is nearly impossible to remain sweet when you haven't any margin in your life. Now the hard part, cutting back.

The last time I remember being this way was years ago when I tried to fit too many things in to my schedule. When you're dreading going on vacation because you are just too darned busy, that is a sign that you need to make changes in your life.

How did I get in this situation? I had a pretty full schedule and then I accepted the teaching assignment . I am now over the edge. I'm pretty sure that the first time teaching a class requires a ridiculous amount of preparation. That doesn't even count the time to learn all the new systems and programs. So do I teach the next semester? Just to see if the second time around is much less time? First I need to be invited to return. Then we'll talk about it.

Why Yes, We Are Alive

You know how you see someone that you haven't seen in ages and they ask "What have you been up to?" and you can't think of a single thing to tell them? I just tell them I'm crazy busy but nothing terribly exciting. How can that happen? Want details? Here goes......

Since we last met, the app "MyFitnessPal" is my new best friend. If you haven't heard of this one, this is a free app that's used to track the calories consumed and even credits you for activities. I won't go in to detail, just that the horrible escalation of the numbers on our scale have finally stopped climbing and have reversed direction.  I've resumed WW, that's mostly to spend time with my friend....and to face someone at the scale as well as receive new ideas, encouragement, and "atta girl". The WW app is not nearly as easy as MyFitnessPal. My man is on board too. We boldly went in to uncharted territory together, so we're righting the ship together.  The first two weeks have worked quite well.

Then there's my new job. Yep, that's right, I'm an employee. First time I've been an employee in 25 years! Funny since I went back to my old job! I'm teaching accounting at the local community college. I wasn't really looking for more work, it fell in to my lap and I couldn't say no. During the summer I had hours, and hours, and hours, and more hours of training, learning, meetings (my idea of hell on earth), and watching online tutorials. Now that class has started, it is exhilarating and exhausting.

Crafting time has been few and far between. I cannot even remember the last time I completed a scrapbook page. I have yet to finish the vacation album for Spain and we're almost ready for our next non-riding trip. I have sorted everything from our riding trip and have yet to put things in their proper pages. Living life now, will scrap it later.

Oh, and the grandchildren? They are even cuter than the last time we chatted! I know, that's hard to believe, but true.

Mr. & Mrs. Telstad

We attend plenty of weddings. I sometimes joke that we're professional wedding attenders. Well, we just went to a special wedding for a very special couple. Our lovely, sweet, and adorable niece was married! We LOVE her husband. At first, we loved him because he loved and adored her. He treated her special, as it should be. Then, we loved him because of who he is, fabulous young man.

The wedding was so wonderful. We enjoyed chatting with all the family and friends. Everyone was kind, considerate, and joyful. If you dreamed of what a wedding should be, this was it. The three toasts were emotional and humorous. Her father brought down the house and had us all smiling and weeping at the same time. He had props too, her elephant slippers from when she was nine!

 

J took lovely photos so here's the link to her post: http://theswensonfamily.blogspot.com/2013/07/michelle-scott.html

We love Michelle, Scott and our whole new family!

Best Wishes for a Happily Ever After!!!!

This Little Guy LOVES Running Water!!!

It's hot, T is having a tough time inside. What to do? I know.....let's take him outside and turn on the faucet!

I gave him a big plastic bowl that he could stand in, arrange for the water to fill it up, lift and dump the water on the plants, put it on his head. There were all sorts of possibilities. I didn't allow him to use the hose though!

And when he was thoroughly soaked, I wrapped him in a towel and we came back inside to put on a dry diaper and toss the wet clothes in the dryer. See how easy that is?

Isn't He Cute?

Here's my youngest grandson. Isn't he cute?

Doesn't he look sweet? And innocent? Well, I should probably tell you that he's sitting in his big brother's seat. Drinking his big brother's juice. He's like any little brother. He wants whatever his big brother has. And that includes the seat and the juice. Still, he is just adorable!