Month: July 2006

Swimming in MN

Yesterday, we did indeed head for Crate & Barrel and the Library. Didn’t buy anything at C&B, but the girls spent some time in the library looking for books. The library is a new building and really cool. Very modern. They have a neat Teen section too. I spent most of the time reading more from The Joy Luck Club (which I’d started reading Thursday). They have free wireless in the library too. And lots of PCs around.

On the walk back from the library, we stopped at The Local, the Irish Pub on Nicollet. We had 2 of the Bites for Pints specials. The 5 PK “Wee” Burgers and the corned beef & kraut poppers. The girls had Summit Seasonal beer, Scandia, which they both loved. I had an amaretto sour which I didn’t spill. The so-called “Wee” burgers were practically normal sized, so certainly a filling lunch. The corned beef & kraut poppers were pretty neat – they were wrapped in won-ton skins & fried and served with a side of Thousand Island dressing. The lunch was very nice.

Another quick stop at Target, and then we returned home. We vegged until Melissa arrived. She’s a friend of the girls who lives in the area. I met her when we were preparing for their wedding. Amy & Rachel then started work on the veggie lasagna. A couple of hours later, we had an excellent supper of lasagna and sour dough baguette with an excellent olive & garlic dipping sauce. We played a game of Euchre, which Rachel & I won with a Come from Behind maneuver. Then Melissa headed back home.

This morning, we actually got up a bit earlier than normal in order to head off to A Baker’s Wife’s Bakery. Amy had had one of their cinnamon & sugar donuts earlier this week & swore they were the best donuts she’d had thus far in her 8 years in Minnesota. So the plan was to get one to eat there, one to take back home to eat along with scrambled eggs. So we did just that. I agree, they were very good donuts. I also got a creme brulee danish for eating with the eggs. We had to stop at the co-op on the way back from the bakery to get some eggs & sammich fixin’s.

Amy made us scrambled eggs & I had my danish with it. Alas, there was precious little creme, but plenty of brulee. Still, it was very good. We then vegged by reading the Sunday paper. When lunchtime arrived, I had a smoked chicken & meunster sammich on croissant. More vegging ensued. But when it was 3pm, we put on our swim suits & coverings and headed off to the pet store (as one does). We didn’t have any luck finding a suppliment that Fruvous needs, so we then moved onto Becky & Michelle’s apartment, where church was being held this weekend.

Amy & Rachel are members of the St. Paul Mennonite Fellowship, a small congregation that meets at 4pm on Sundays, usually in the basement of a Lutheran church, except in the summer. Becky & Michelle’s place is air conditioned, so it was an ideal place to gather. The plan for the evening was games & swimming rather than singing & worship. Well, there was some singing. We began by playing some Encore (not seriously) and sang a bit while we played. Then the girls & I went to the complex pool to swim. No one else was in it at the time, so we enjoyed the pool all to ourselves. The water was warm, so it wasn’t as refreshing as it could have been. But it was pleasant all the same.

When we returned to the apartment, we rinsed off in the shower & put on dry clothes. Then it was back to the games. I played TransAmerica for the first time. (I came in second – in terms of losing.) Then Michelle taught us a funny game. We all stood around a table, on which sat a large Hershey chocolate bar, a knife & a fork. We took turns rolling the die and if you rolled a 6, you got to try & use the knife & fork to eat some of the chocolate. Folks kept rolling the die, so the possession of the knife & fork changed often, sometimes JUST when you’d broken off a nice piece of chocolate. We laughed lots & most of us got to have some chocolate. No idea about who wins the game, though I was the last one to get to eat some chocolate. 🙂

We headed home before 8pm and ordered some Galactic Pizza. Superheroes deliver the pizza (except when the weather is so fantastically hot like it was tonight) and they use an electric car to do it. We ordered the Mexicali and the Thailander pizzas and a hemp brownie. When the delivery guy left, he made sure to drive by the apartment so we could see the cute little electric car (the Gizmo). It was so cute!

The pizzas were both excellent. And I really liked the Thailander, which had peanut sauce & crushed peanuts on it. When I had my third of the brownie (which was VERY rich – almost like fudge) I had some ice cream & chocolate sauce on it. Yummy.

Alas, tomorrow is my last day with the girls. I’m going to buy them some Indian Fud for lunch, but that’s the only thing planned for tomorrow thus far. Oh yeah, and delivering me to the airport is in the cards as well. And now back to watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G

Yesterday turned out to be Shopping Day. After our breakfast, Amy & I did the dishes. Then she took a nap & I geeked on the computer. Rachel got home around 12:30, so we headed off to Ikea. Ikea is across the street from the Mall of America. So it’s a bit south of where the girls live. We headed up to the cafeteria for lunch so we’d have the energy to shop. I got the Swedish meatballs (with potatoes, gravy, and lingonberry sauce), salad, and Sierra Mist. The girls got the chicken marsala. I got us the lingonberry mousse and Amy picked up some cookies for dessert. The meal was quite nice – turns out I like lingonberries. 🙂 (My second “new” fruit for the day – the first being marionberries from marionberry preserves at breakfast.)

Once fortified, we headed into the furniture store. I found a few pieces that I thought would work, however forgot to record the aisle and bin number of the piece I liked best, so we wound up going around 3 times before we were done. Then downstairs to the descorations and stuff. I picked up a pair of those thin plastic cutting boards for under $2. The girls got me a pair of slippers for when I visit & some lightbulbs. We went to the aisles & bins to check on a few things, then checked out, hoping to get a catalog. No go on the catalog – they were out and the new ones won’t be in until the second week of August. No matter, I thought, I’ll just order the piece I want online. In the Swedish food shop, I bought some cookies with chocolate hazelnut filling.

Next stop was Best Buy (with Rachel headed on to Borders) so I could buy Amy & Rachel’s birthday present, finally. Their birthdays are in May just 4 days apart. (4 days and 4 years apart.) I had so many ideas and talked myself out of so many ideas for their birthday gifts that I never did get them something. Amy thought maybe I could get them the stuff for a wireless network at home & set it up. Sounded like a great birthday gift idea to me!

I picked out the D-Link gold router & PCMCIA card and it was just in the price range I’d intended. Then we went to the audio/video section hoping to find a solution to Amy’s VCR recording problem. (She can’t record with her VCR since the Coax-in plug is sheared off.) The saleslady said that maybe an RF modulator would do what we needed, so Amy bought that.

We headed onto Borders to meet Rachel & look at books. I saw a few things I might want, but had the good sense to say “no!” So we returned to the car and headed north.

A stop at Amy & Rachel’s co-op for milk and a few other items (I got some cream soda & seasame sticks while there) and then we were finally home. We collapsed for a bit. Amy fiddled with the RF modulator, but no luck on recording cable. We decided that, if we were going to be hot & bothered anyway, we might as well walk to Brit’s Pub for supper.

It was oppressively hot on our walk to Eat Street (Nicollet Ave) and Brit’s Pub. The walk would have been quite pleasant if it had been 15 degrees cooler. The pub was air conditioned, thankfully, so we didn’t have any problems waiting 20 minutes to be seated. The girls got beers and got me an amaretto sour (which I later spilled – whoops!) while we waited.

For supper, I decided upon steak & kidney pie with chips. I’m not a kidney person. I don’t want to eat the body’s filters, so kidneys and livers are right out. However, the pie sounded very good, so I ordered it anyway. Rachel got a Cornish pastie and Amy got the fish & chips. Everything was wonderful and the chips were big & thick and perfect for soaking up vinegar. Since the girls have been such gracious hosts (and took me to a pub) I bought the supper. They’re a cheap date, really. 🙂

We waddled in the (slightly cooler) hell that is Minnesota in the Summer towards Target. We got some other necessary items and a switch for their cable/VCR so they didn’t have to keep swapping cords. Another stop at the video store for a movie (Tristram Shandy) and back to home again.

I set up the wireless network, which worked like a charm – yay! Then we put the movie on. It’s an odd thing, but it was neat to see a lot of British actors that I recognized. Naomi Harris, Shirley Henderson, Stephen Fry. And I’m still trying to rectify Mole from Mr Toad’s Wild Ride with Steve Coogan/Tristram Shandy. Same actor (Steve Coogan, oddly enough) but he was a lot cuter as Mole. 🙂

We didn’t get through the movie before folks just got too tired, so we’ll probably finish it later this afternoon. (Movie is due by 7pm tonight, I believe.) I spent some time online before heading off to bed. And I slept in until after 8am. Had some odd dreams – one of which was a murder mystery with the 7th Doctor promising to solve the murder of a woman’s nearly born child. I always think “I’ll be able to remember this later” but I really can’t remember anything more than that!

Rachel made us blueberry (and plain) pancakes and Amy cut up some peaches & a nectarine. It was a very yummy breakfast. These girls sure know how to treat me! 🙂

I’ve done some searching online this morning and discovered that the shelves that I want from Ikea are not available online. Bugger! So now to figure out how to get them to me. We have to take the RF modulator back to Best Buy, so maybe we’ll get down to Ikea once more this weekend. Wonder if they can ship from the store to my house? That would be lovely.

Plans for today? Visit to the library, doing stuff downtown, maybe a stop into Crate & Barrel, folks coming around this evening. At some point this weekend, we’ll be getting Galactic Pizza (delivered by a super hero!) I’ve been having fun with my girls with more fun to come!

Minnesota Geeking

Heh, after a good start to my July LJ posting, I sort of went off the rails again. Since judiang returned to Chicago, I’ve just been working during the day, pulling carpet & playing City of Heroes in the evening. The good news is that the living room carpet (which is really 3 rooms worth & a hallway) is now completely up. There are spots which are dark due to Leo, but most of the floor looks gorgeous. (Why they ever covered it with carpet I’ll never know!)

Anyhoo, yesterday after work, the folks drove me to Dayton International Airport and I flew to Minneapolis. (There was a layover in Detroit that lasted longer than it should thanks to a big thunderstorm cell, but I got to MN just the same. I thought about elsaf while I was waiting in her city.) Amy met me just outside the airport & drove me home. Rachel was already in bed (she had to work a little this morning) when we arrived, but she said “Hi!” and “Welcome” to me all the same. Fruvous (two dots over the first u) was not happy to see me, but he is a grumpy cat. Amy stayed up some to chat and then we both buggered off to bed.

I was still wired from the Coca Cola I’d had at lunch (not a caffeine person) when dad & I treated John, the county tech guy, to pizza at Al’s Pizza. So I lay there listening to Sleepers, the third album by GRIMMS. For 20 years or so I’ve been trying to get my hands on that album. I’ve been a Neil Innes fan for a LONG time and this had always been the Holy Grail of my record collection. Even when I became independently wealthy and scoured eBay, it always elluded my grasp. I’d think “OK, I’ll bid up to $40” when one would come up. It would go for more. Then I’d think on another one “OK, $50 this time!” and it would go for more. But thankfully, the album is now on CD! Yay! So I ordered it from amazon.co.uk and it arrived this week. I put it on my iPod and now I’ve listened to it. It’s quite good. Worth the wait? Haven’t decided yet. I’m just glad I have it now. 🙂

I didn’t sleep well last night (thanks caffeine) and got up when Rachel did. She headed off to work while Amy made me breakfast. Scrambled eggs with garlic, Swiss chard, torpedo onion tops, and a little mozarella. Home fries with torpedo onion bottoms, garlic, chard stalks and seasonings. Toast with an assortment of preserves. Juice and milk. Yum! Amy’s quite the gourmet.

The plan for today is to shop for wireless equipment (my belated birthday gift to the girls) and then do a stint in Ikea (my first time!) so I can look for furniture.

The Lake Cat

Today, judiang and I saw the Lake Cat. He (or she) is a little cat who seems to be quite at home by the lakeside. Judi tried to get him some water, but he shunned the little dish and instead drank from the Lake. He was enjoying sunning himself on the dock, so of course we took pictures. And then I decided to make one into another Lazing at the Lake icon.

News Flash: Geeks love Panera Bread!

We left the hotel at 9:30 this morning and arrived in Findlay around 11am. Just in time for an early lunch at Panera Bread! Nevermind the fact that I had perused the ‘net this morning looking for Paneras along the route. Or the fact that I changed my route just to arrive here midway through the trip.

But we are here, having a nice lunch of the Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad & soup. Plus a bottle of Jones Cream Soda (with kitty cats on the wrapper) and a chocolate cookie for me. judiang insisted that we get my laptop out cuz there’s free Wi-Fi at this Panera. (It wasn’t until I was searching last night that I discovered some Paneras don’t have wi-fi! The horror!)

Anyhoo, it’s almost time to eat my cookie (before Judi eats it instead). We’ll be back at the lake in another hour or hour & a half.

Too Fat to Ride

judiang and I are currently holed up in a Microtel in Huron, OH where the cable doesn’t work but the wi-fi does. Go geeks!

We got up early this morning (well, 7am for me, 7:40am for Judi) and got ready for our trip to Cedar Point. We had purchased tickets from AAA yesterday after visiting the kitties. So I drove oop north to Sandusky. (Interesting note, Upper Sandusky is south of Sandusky in Ohio. Ohio sure is weird!) We arrived there an hour after opening time (11am for us) and immediately headed for Millennium Force. We’d ridden that ride a few years ago and had to wait 1.5 hours for it. We decided it was worth the wait. This morning, with the Sunday Light Crowds, it was only half an hour. But when I got there, I couldn’t buckle the seat belt! Gah, I knew I was heavier, but surely not too heavy to fit? Alas, I was. Still, Judi the petite-r than me got to ride and she enjoyed it.

Our next destination was Thunder Canyon. I told Judi that going on a water ride early on would help us with the heat that was already nearing Unbearable Status. She reluctantly joined me. They promised that “you WILL get wet on this ride.” Well, they like to make you think you might not. After all, the first waterfall hit the girls across us only. And then it moves around a bit more. But right before the ride is over, 3 waterfalls show up and drench EVERYBODY in the raft. Yup, they kept their promise. Poor Judi looked like a drowned cat.

We dripped our way to a food place to pick up napkins and then hunted for another ride to ride. This one was the new ride, Skyhawk. It’s basically a giant swing that eventually has you facing the ground. I figured it would give us a nice airing. And boy did it! Good addition, Cedar Point!

The next attempt also did its best to say “Damnit Trina, go on a diet!” That was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Alas, the way they have that set up, everyone in our mine car had to get out because of my fat belly. So even Judi missed that ride. Bleh. Still, after this time Cedar Point was much kinder about my weight problem. (And I took to getting in the “can you fit in this seat?” thingies in the rides that had longer lines.

Oh yeah, line length? According to the website, Sundays, Tuesdays & Thursdays are the best times to go to avoid big crowds. Well this Sunday was pretty low on crowds. Most of our wait times were less than 15 minutes! Quite nice.

Anyhoo, back to the rides. Gemini was our next stop where we rode the red train. We raced against the blue train and WON. Go us! So of course, being the Doctor Who fan that I am, I cheered “Red trains! Red trains! Red trains are best! Who’s best? Red trains!” Judi, who’s avoided most of the Sylvester McCoy stories, had no idea what I was talking about. Silly girl.

We rode the carnival ride Monster (which is one of those spinny rides that I usually can’t do – but I did this one and felt OK.) Judi then rode the Witches’ Wheel (another carnie-style spinny ride). Next was the Magnum XL-200 (with Magnum PI music & all.)

By now, we were ready for some food. We walked back some of the way we’d come to check out The Chuck Wagon. You know, I learned something important about Judi today. She’s secretly a country & western fan. I mean, why else would she have picked the Chuck Wagon for lunch? Heh heh. We had a nice (expensive) meal of roasted chicken with sides while we plotted the rides to try next. And the next ride to try? The new (for us) Top Thrill Dragster. We heard the wait was an hour & a half (but worth it) and figured we could digest while we waited. But before we stood in line forever, I checked out the test seat & couldn’t buckle! Bummer, no Dragster for Trina. Judi, meanwhile, took the out with good grace. (Heh – I think she was glad she didn’t have to ride it.)

The Power Tower has two choices – get thrust down 240 feet or get thrust up 240 feet. Judi didn’t care which we did (actually, she wanted to sit that one out) so I picked thrust up. And it was cool! Even Judi decided she liked it. (She’s not a height girl. I’m not a spin girl. Between the two of us there’s a perfect roller coaster rider. Who’s probably too fat to ride the Millennium Force. Poor dear!)

The Corkscrew and Iron Dragon are both nice smooth rides. I think the Iron Dragon’s probably my favorite of the older rides. The Mantis made us stand up for the ride which was harder on my legs than I thought it would be. We decided then to take a bit of a break to cool off from the hot day and ordered rootbeer floats & bottled water from Coasters Drive-In Restaurant. We stayed in there as long as possible until we figured we could handle the rest of the evening.

The next ride was probably both of our favorites. The Wicked Twister. Judi wanted to do it again right after our trip and I nixed the idea (silly me) thinking we’d come back after trying some of the others. We moved onto another new ride – the maXair – which spins as it swings. I did fine with the spinning as long as the swinging was going on. But towards the end, where spinning takes precedence, I got a bit nauseous. A normal person would think “Hmmm, I should sit down a bit before trying another ride.” Silly me thought “Well, let’s go do the Raptor.”

The Raptor is a fun ride, but unfortunately the very end of it made me even more nauseous than before. And then the bit where it stopped made it even worse. Let’s just say I was glad I’d only had drinks from the Coasters Drive-In. Bleh.

Judi was in full worry mode by that time (I figured I’d be ok once I cooled off & sat a bit) so we stopped at Johnny Rockets to get something to settle my stomach. Dr. Judi advised me to order a grilled chicken sammich, plain, and Sierra Mist (and water). So I did. They put Mayo on the sandwich, so I sent it back for a plain one. Judi meanwhile had a burger & shake. Heh.

We enjoyed the cooler interior of the restaurant for awhile before moving on. We took the Sky Ride (since it’s a nice gentle “ski-lift”-style ride) to the middle of the park. Judi wanted to do Wicked Twister & maXair again, so we headed that way. I held her water bottle while she rode it. Then she also rode the Troika (another spinny-carnie ride). When she got in line for maXair, I decided to try one of the Guessing Game places to see if my young looks (heh) could fool the guesser. But no, this guy was GOOD. He guessed 33. (I lose if they’re in 2 years of my age.) I returned to maXair to find it not moving. Eventually Judi found me & said that it wasn’t working at the moment and she wasn’t going to wait around for it to get back in session. (Sensible girl).

I took her off to lose $5 from the Guessing Game as well (or have her win me a stuffed toy if he was wrong). I warned her that he was good at guessing ages. He guessed 47. (Poor thing is only 46.) Damn, he’s good. 🙂

We rode the Sky Ride back to the front of the park and then headed for the exit. It was a good day at the park (with a few glitches). We found the hotel OK and are, as I wrote at the start, enjoying the nice air-conditioned room and chatting with elsaf on AIM. Ain’t technology grand?

Baby Kitties!

Perhaps the most important thing that Leo taught me during his short lifespan is that I need to have kitty cats in my life. My cousin’s sister has 4 little kitties who need good homes and I hope to take two of those kitties into my home. Today, judiang and I got to meet the little kitties. And one of the little girls (there’s 3 girls & 1 boy) came over to greet me almost as soon as she left their carrier.


Here’s me and the baby kitty. I think we get along well.


Judi enters the state of Kitty Bliss

In addition to the little beauty in those photos, I’ll be taking her little brother as well. I’m hoping that 2 kitties will be able to keep each other entertained while I’m at work and when I go on trips. Judi did her best in trying to take pictures of the kitties, but let’s face it, taking photos of kitties is like trying to take photos of the wind. The kitties, BTW, should become part of my household in early August. (Hoping to get my floor in reasonable shape before I take in the kitties.)

The Power of the Sleepy Cottage

I love going to my folks’ cottage on Lake Loramie. However, it makes me sleepy. I sleep well here – on the sofa, on the chair, in the bed, doesn’t matter where. So, sure enough, the thing I’ve done best while here is sleep. 🙂

Yesterday, I picked up judiang from Columbus airport (damn Aunt Tilly for taking her airline out of Dayton!) and went a little out of our way to stop at the Evil Puppy Mall. There I made Judi hold onto some Evil Puppies (and some Evil Kitties played with the dangly bits on my purse) and then buy some sandals at the Walking Place. A short trip to Best Buy for her to buy series 1 of Doctor Who. And then a stop at the Bookery so I could pick up my Doctor Who magazines (and some Astonishing X-Men – stupid Evil Comics). After a few more stops (supper at Pizza Hut being one) we finally got to the lake. Where we immediately began geeking.

Our evening was then devoted to watching Eurovision and L.A. Without a Map. And at 3am we finally went to bed. I slept in ’til noon. Ah, was good. Lunch was at The Wooden Shoe Inn (walleye for me, catfish for Judi). Then a stop at Wagners for groceries where we remembered to buy ice but forgot to buy buns. And then I napped.

It’s been raining off & on – very relaxing rains (some harder than others). Dunno whether I’ll start a fire or not. So we’ll either have grilled hot dogs or boiled hot dogs for supper. And I intend to make some strawbaby shortcake too. Yum! Guess I should get on with it! 🙂

Attack of the Carpet Crumblies!

As far as home-ownership goes, I suck. I mean, I own a home and pay the mortgage on time and all that. But as far as upkeep, I suck. Still, I have put a new roof on it and had the exterior painted in the past couple of years. Oh yeah, and there was the time when I remodeled my kitchen. But this summer, I’m upping the ante a bit. My goal is to do a few improvements. I’m replacing the outdoor carpet on my porch & back stoop (or rather, I’m paying Home Depot to do that). I’m having my driveway repaved (by Patriot Paving). And, while I’m kitty-less for the time being, I’ve decided to uproot my carpet and go back to the original wood floors.

When I first bought the house, the only floors with no carpeting were the kitchen and den. The carpeting in the reading room was so hideous that we pulled it out, only to discover the floor there was as nice as the den floor. I had intended to eventually do the same in my bedroom, where the carpeting was nearly as hideous, but I never got around to it. Well, thanks to a few Leo indiscretions, the main carpeting needs removing too. So I’ve decided to pull it out. All of it bar the bathroom (because the flooring in there is worse, I believe, than the rest of the house).

The carpet & padding both come out easily, but the tack strips are a pain in the ass to remove. They’re the bit the slow me the most. Still, I’ve gotten my hallway pulled up. Yay! Will need to scrape some sticky stuff up and there are still some nails/staples that need removing, but I think I’m making good progress.

So, onto some photos of before & after thus far.


The hallway before.


The hallway after.

The grossest part of all of this, however, are the Carpet Crumblies. Eeewwwww! How gross! They’re everywhere under the carpet. You think you’re doing a good job vacuuming the floor, but no, the Carpet Crumblies get underneath! And I think they breed! I’m very glad that I’m getting rid of my carpet – I think I shall be anti-carpet for quite a while. At least until I forget about Carpet Crumblies.

And now, a photo of Carpet Crumblies to gross you out too…


Beware the Carpet Crumblies!

I’m pretty sure I won’t get the carpet all pulled up by the time judiang arrives on Thursday, but since we’re staying at the Lake (mom & dad’s cottage), that’s OK. Still, if I can, I’ll get her to help me pull some carpet up! Yay Judi! 😉