What I Did This Weekend

My opinions - offended by what I say? Meh, move along then.

Instead of going over every show that was amazing (or not), I'm just going to give a rundown of the weekend. Isn't that what I do every year? I'm too lazy to look back. I've had little sleep and my brain is overwhelmed by all the groups that used versions of Radiohead's Creep and Metallica for strings, there were a lot. (I totally made that up. It's essentially a classical version of Nothing Else Matters. Classy.)

I was also overwhelmed at the number of Texas guards and even more impressed at how many made it to finals. I'm going to say at least 10 made finals. And we heard this all weekend:

The stars at night
Are big and bright
(clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas!

Minnesota did well too. Irondale made finals in A Class with their sports-themed show and MBI (Minnesota Brass, Inc.) made finals in Open Class.

My top shows were (ha! So I am giving a run down, but it's a small list):
Black Watch - A sight to experience in person, really.
Trumbull HS - Tearjerker and beautiful. Wish I had seen it more than once.
Carmel HS - These girls are amazing. Connect the dots!
Delazure - One of the Creep shows...with Mime faces.
Beatrix - All the way from the Netherlands bringing the story of Anne Frank to the floor.

My most WOW and DID YOU SEE THAT!? List:

Zydeco
Braddock Independent
Vanguard
Fantasia
James Logan

And not for fun, but to show that I didn't like everything I saw there and I'm not afraid to admit it to the interwebs:

South Shore - I know it was a crowd favorite but I have no idea why it won.
Onyx - I get that you're World Class level, but please, don't make the show alienate the audience by your concept.

That's all I can remember or that stuck out to me as big-time hot dog guards*.

Thursday, I watched 9 1/2 hours of Winterguard at three different locations.

Friday, I watched 9 hours of Winterguard with A Class finals that night.

Saturday, I watched 10 hours of Winterguard with it being Finals for both Open and World Class groups.

That's a lot of guard in a short amount of time, but I loved it. Til next year...

*Hot dog guard is a group you don't like or want to see again and you get something to eat, like a hot dog.

January Burns

Since moving to Minnesota, I knew that January would be a difficult month when it came to weather.
Actually, it's January through May with February or March being the really difficult months.
It's spring, and snow is still falling. That's hard to swallow when all your friends in ALL THE OTHER STATES are out having a good time in spring-like weather.

Can you tell Justin's bitterness has rubbed off?

It's been a really rough winter. So Justin took me to Kauai with another couple for my birthday. Hawaii in January. I didn't care if it was going to rain or be in the 70's. It wasn't snow and I didn't have to take a jacket.

Hawaii in January!

We were going to sail, kayak, surf, eat, drink and relax by the ocean. And we did and it was awesome!

But, there was a drawback. Our pasty white skin. It burned. We were diligent about using spf 50 and above. Our Indian friends didn't want to get "darker" (their words, not mine) either and were slathering spf 70. But us white folks burned areas of our body that we didn't expect. Legs, feet, hands, lips. And nothing would soothe the pain. Then I thought of this:

Back in Junior High School, 90210 was new and all the cool kids were watching it. I could NEVER get into it. The adult-like (fake) situations, the sex, a dj in a high school (pu-leeese!). I get they were trying to relate to people my age with issues of our generation but it was done in such a way that it made you feel shittier about yourself.

So I turned it off.

BUT! I did see an episode that officially gave me the green light to never watch the show again. The main, dark-haired chick (Brenda?) is out sunbathing before the big dance, naturally. But, oh noes! She got burned bigtime! WTH was she gonna do?

Don't worry, cool mom from the 90's used granny's sunburn aftercare, secret remedy and came to the rescue. Brenda came walking down the stairs in her poofy sleeved, black dress all ghost-like. Pasty skin restored back to normal.

YA RIGHT, 90210. Why do I get so angry about this story line?

So anyway, the sun is damaging and burns are painful. I could barely put socks on for my 9 hour flight home. Surprinsly, just my feet were affected and are now a beautiful tan color (3 weeks later).

I'm now the only Minnesotan with tan feet - that no one will ever see. Not til May, at least.


Hiding behind bikes. Even flip-flops hurt my feet. :(

In That I Have Nothing to Say

Really, nothing since December? Sad, but actually a lot has happened. Maybe it was the post-holiday blues or the amount of eating that has me now 10 lbs heavier (suuuuuucks), but I just didn't feel like anything was worth writing about.

Wait, now that I think about it. It's the month of January. Does it suck for you too? It's cold, days are short, the holiday's are over, blah blah blah January blows.

So anyway, Jules turned 19 months(!) and has a mouth full of teeth, we went to Kauai to escape the brutal cold of Minnesota (5 degrees today!), our basement project is almost done, and Scully is now considered a "senior" but don't tell her that.

I haven't done his 19 month post because I feel like I just did his 18 month. But that's me just being lazy and not posting anything else. Plus we were in Kauai when he aged another month.

Kauai! It was a birthday gift from Justin. Since moving to Mpls, I've requested a trip to Hawaii in January. In his old, crotchety state, he agreed and booked the trip. It was WARM and SUNNY (most of the time). We burned our legs and feet, hiked, kayaked, swam, boated, drove, sun bathed, surfed, ate, shopped. It was a much needed break.

Our basement remodel is going well and this phase is almost done. The old panel board and ceiling was ripped down and new drywall was installed. We also added lighting and wired it for internet and the projector. After the second coat of mud and ceiling work is done, we just have to paint and move everything back. It's chaos in the office and guest room, Justin can't wait for everything to be moved back and I'm excited for a "new" basement family room.

Scully is 7 years old and that puts her in the "senior" age group. If anything, she's middle-age. She still plays with toys, pretends to attack Jules, jumps all over the place, chases bunnies, and anything else a younger dog does. She's fearful of Jules and tries to stay away from him and his swing arm. But she's a good dog who still loves to cuddle.

Ok, time to get over this jet-lag. Til next time...

11 Months

Baby Jules, you turned eleven months in London! This month you have mastered a bunch of new skills!

Motion! It really happened after you turned 10 months but it was mostly an army crawl. Now, you crawl. FOR.REALS. I feel bad when I call you like a dog, but you do follow me. It's cute.

It can turn dangerous quickly because we have yet to baby proof the house and we need a baby gate STAT! So we just watch you closely and have you follow us into common places like the living room and kitchen.


(Hotel room in Brussels where you had a great time eating too many waffles and fries)

As fast as crawling came, pulling up came just a few days later. You now pull up to the couch, our legs, tables, and anything else that you can grab. It's fun to see things from a higher perspective. I like to do it sometimes too. One night, I put you to bed and you played for a few minutes, then started to scream. You like to yell but this was different, so I went in your room and there you were. STANDING UP! You looked so proud and so cute. We quickly learned it's time to lower your mattress.



You love to eat and prefer to eat whatever we're having. No more baby food! Ha! Or so you thought. We still give you baby food-from our spoon/fork. So you're still part of the meal, just eating your own food. I'm sorry for the trickery.


(nom nom Speculoos cookies)

Things you love:
Eating
Scully
Mommy/Daddy
A new love for binkies (oh, boy enjoy them now because they are going bye-bye when we get home)
Bath time
screaming with excitement
cuddling
opening doors or anything that you can open
kicking
Standing in your crib
grabbing
pulling my hair
knocking on the door
being outside
tickled behind your neck
taking medicine



Things you don't like:
being told "no"
me walking out of a room
messing with your sleep schedule
jet lag

I'm sure the list is longer, but you really are a good boy who loves everything!



You recently took your first bike ride through Brussels and you loved it! Guess what you'll be doing this summer with dad (wearing a helmet of course).

We think your first word is either "da-da" or "dog-gie" but you do throw "mama" in every once in a while. You also learned how to clap. And when I say "yea!" you immediately clap. You also clap when you see something you like. You must like everything because you clap all the time.



Happy 11 months baby Jules!

It's Been a While

Let's have some updates, shall we?

- We're buying Jules a convertible car seat. But we're waiting til he's a year old before we use it. 1 year AND 20lbs. is the rule and we're following rules.

- Minnesota is WARMING UP and it's GREAT! I weeded my garden but I still need to finish it before I plant my veggies. A veggie garden, how awesome is that!? I'm so excited.

- We leave next week for London. Have a few things planned, but really, we'll determine places to go based on how Jules will be. He'll be good! YES! He won't be crabby or anything!

- I'm looking for a car. With a new style carseat (that still needs to be rear facing), it's time to upgrade the Sillycar. There's no way one will fit and I'm ready for something new (to me. buying used of course). Any suggestions?

- With gardening and now, being a kickball player at work, I've been sore for about 2 weeks. (We lost our first game - but it was a great comeback!)

(OH! So my office - did I tell you I moved offices? - has a window looking down to a very busy street with lots of people. A guy just walked down the street in a gray suit and a hat. Straight out of the 40's, I tell you what!

Yesterday, a guy wearing too short shorts was rollerblading on the same street. Not sure if he meant to go this way because it's downhill and he wasn't controlling his blades very well. I watched him until he almost bladed into traffic but turned at the last possible moment. He turned down another downhill road. I hope he made it.)

Anyway, back to kickball. So I'm playing third base and the ball got kicked to short stop, he's literally 4-5 feet away from me, goes to give me the ball and throws it WAY HIGH and the runner goes home while I'm scrambling to the ground to get the ball. DUDE, I was right there, just lob the ball. (lob, right?) Don't toss it way above my head when you're that close! IDIOT!

So I'm saying, because of that, we lost.

800

We're heading to Duluth this weekend. I know, super exciting. Actually, it is. I've never been and if Justin has, it's been more than a decade (we're old enough now to measure in terms of decades). Really, the reasons I want to go are 1)I'm still new to Minnesota and want to explore 2) we like stay-cations, and 3)I saw some really cool stuff about Duluth in one of the MANY shows I've watched for work.

(Which, by the way, I've published over 800(!!!) shows - meaning I've watched almost all of them. Yes, this is my job and I get paid to do it. I'm becoming the go-to person if you want to know the gist of a show.)

So, if I may shamelessly plug my work, here are some shows you might find of interest - who knows, it might prompt a visit to Minnesota (Thanks Team Voltron!):

This is for Team Voltron: State Fair People, Summit Ave, The Gateway

I wish I'd gone up north (or Nort as some MN's call it) sooner. I'd be picking blueberry's at the Makinen Blueberry Patch.

I'll have to add this to our list of places to eat. Potica. But it's even WAY more nort than Duluth.

The Cider Man of Duluth - I need to bring him all my apples!

Hmm, this seems to revolve around food. I'm sure Duluth has more to offer. Let's see.

Bayfield isn't that far from Duluth - by boat. But seeing some of the best preserved lighthouses might be worth a boat ride.

Lock and Dam #5

On our way up, we should stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's service station. It's the only one he ever did!

I don't think we can go in, but maybe a drive by of Bob Dylan's childhood home would be interesting.

I could go on and on. 800 shows, remember? Looking for something specific? Let me know, I've probably seen it. And give me time, I'll probably visit it.

Road Trip

Since I've taken the attitude that my maternity leave is really a vacation, we decided to go on one! We drove to Utah with a stop in Nebraska to visit my brother and sister-in-law (and kids). My niece wanted to hold him all the time. But her mom wouldn't share. Can't say I blame her!

Jules is a great traveler. At least at this age.

At Grandmas, hanging out in the carport. Because that's what we do on nice summer nights in Utah.



Taking a MUCH needed nap.



Justin holding Cousin Anne's baby, Kate (one month younger than Jules). She's super tiny compared to my big boy!



On our way home, we visited Mount Rushmore. We got there late in the afternoon so we saw it during the day and night. I highly recommend the lighting ceremony. Jules, of course, slept through it.



No trip through South Dakota is complete without stopping at Wall Drug. Jules says, "Meh, Dad, She seems kinda cheesy like this place."



Happy to be home and out of the car!

DCI Recap

Justin, Jules and I headed to Indianapolis last weekend for DCI. It was Jules' first flight and he did great.



Our little traveler too small for his stroller.


While the venue was great...for football, it wasn't ideal for Drum Corps. We took Jules to Quarter finals. He watched the back of his eye lids for most of it, but when he was awake, he was mesmerized.

Not so much with Blue Devils, though.

Jules says, "Blue Devils, Meh."

- Not a great venue but 100% loved climate control and comfy seats.
- Troopers made it to finals after 23 years
- Top 12 shows were all entertaining (or partially entertaining)
- Regiment went from 1st last year to 9th this year. Yikes

Next year, Jules will stay home if we decide to go. But I'm sure this won't be the last show he'll see.

Where, Apparently, Anything Goes

Justin and I took Jules on his first road trip. A four hour drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "Why the heck would you go there," you might ask. Or "Sioux Falls, where?" Yeah, it's on the southwest border of Minnesota and South Dakota. Geography! These two states are neighbors! Sioux Falls is apparently the PLACE to get the BEST fireworks, although, we didn't buy any. You can also drive down a major street on a 4-wheeler, casinos can be made out of small houses and still manage to stay in business, and Burger King serves soft serve?

Anyway, we went for a short weekend trip to witness a marriage that we honestly were surprised by. And from all the speeches we heard at the reception, so was everyone else (in a good way). It was a nice ceremony and the bride and groom and all their guests had a great time.

Including this lovely couple cutting the wedding cake on the table:


Another lovely couple:


Trying not to be "those people" with the crying baby at a ceremony:


At the Sioux Falls, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I am a Marketing Specialist Specializing in Travel Arrangements

Maybe today is "write about your work" day because over at Writinggal, she wrote about her past experience in an office. Luckily, she doesn't have to deal with dressing up when clients come to the office anymore. Or dealing with car pick-up problems with said clients. Or make sure clients get their breakfast and lunch and then their ride back to the airport. That seems to be my job ever since my company had our annual conference 3 weeks ago. That explains my lack of posts over the last two months.

In August I was asked to help with the conference by making all the travel arrangements. I was super excited. Finally I was going to do the job I was paid for; Marketing. Well on the bottom end of it. I didn't have to do all the planning and marketing materials that my boss had to do. I just did the travel arrangements. Oh and this was for 160 people. So ya, I was busy for 2 months. Booking flights, hotel, car service which always seems to be a fiasco. But for some reason that's the easy part - booking it. When the time comes for it to all come together, that's when it'll fall apart.

I really shouldn't judge myself so hard because everything actually went well. I was a mad woman for 3 days during this event. Everyone remembered me smiling, saying "hi," "what do you need," "I can do that for you," running around causing my bunions to hurt. But I got the job done no matter how hectic it was. It was almost like my days at Lone Star Steak House. But I didn't go home each night smelling like steak. The level of responsibility might have been too much for me. Because I got sick about a week later.

I thought I was done with it until today. Once again I was asked to take care of travel arrangements for about 10 people. Easy! But I should have known better. Actually the only thing that went wrong was the car was late picking up the guys. But they made it in time and all got fed and sent back home. One guy asked me what my official title was. "Marketing Specialist" I think he was looking for "Secretary" with all the arrangements I've been doing.

With our upcoming trip out of the country, I'm doing my own travel arrangements. Hotel, airfare, transportation but Justin will be my only client and I think I can smile at him all day long... but my bunions will still hurt.