Valentine's Day 2009

Sometimes bad things can be good. In a lesson we continue to learn through life, when things don't go as planned, there opens an opportunity. With three days remaining before Valentine's day, the rain had melted all the snow. We were planning on going snow shoeing. We told our wives we had a "Plan B" - what we did not tell them was that "Plan B" was to think of something, and quick.

I really wanted this year to be special for Nicole and Tamara and since we had already planned the day as couples, it presented a unique opportunity to send Nicole on an adventure with Tamara. Dan (Tamara's husband and all around amazing guy and brewer) was excited by what I proposed and we quickly started developing the idea, identifying locations, securing contacts and appointments to make this day as special as possible.

After all, we only had 36 total hours until the adventure would begin.

I had a lot to do and little time to do it. After Nicole went to bed on Friday night I started my arts and crafts project, creating the maps, clues, cards and adding a voice over to the actual "Amazing Race" intro song.

3:30am rolled around faster than I wanted and I knew I would be getting up in 4-5 hours to take Eliana to the store for doughnuts. I wasn't done but I had to get some sleep.

Luckily, after doughnuts, Eliana and I had time to glue all the clues together and put the logos on the envelopes. I finished with about 30 minutes before we had to leave.

Dan and Tamara were going to meet us at the Mahoney household. After we were all there, I told the girls that "I forgot something and Dan and I were going to be right back". Ha Ha Ha

Dan and I left to start leaving clues around the city and only had a 10 minute start on the girls. When the 10 minutes elapsed, Jill, my mother-in-law, brought out the first clue and played the CD to kick off "The Amazing Race- Valentine Edition". The race was on and the fun was just getting going.

Here is a short compilation of where they went and what they had to do.



Dan and I had a blast putting it together and our wives had an unforgettable adventure. The day was a success.

After dinner, the girls told us that they were going to be responsible for next year, I can't wait to see what they come up with! I figure if we can do this with 36 hours...

Rain, rain, go away...

So, January was one of the coldest on record, February seems to have missed the winter memo and it has been raining for a few days. Luckily we were able to get in one great day of sledding before the rains came and washed the snow away.

I hope you enjoy the photos!

I love road trips

I love road trips- especially ones that go down memory lane.

Here is the first of many videos that make me fell all warm and fuzzy inside.

I hope you enjoy.

I love cold weather

If you know me, you know I love cold. Sleeping outside in -20 with -40 wind chill, yeah done that. Playing outside all day long in the winter- yep, still do that.

There is the old proverb: "there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." Word.

I just got this via email, enjoy.

Cold Weather behavior:

60 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. Minnesotans plant gardens.

50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People are sunbathing in Duluth .

40 above zero: Import cars won't start. Minnesotans drive with the sunroof open.

32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Bemidji gets thicker.

20 above zero: New Mexicans don long johns, parkas and wool hats & mittens. Minnesotans throw on a flannel shirt.

15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn on the heat. People in Minnesota have one last cookout before it gets cold.

Zero: People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close the windows.

10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico . Minnesotans dig their winter coats out of storage.

25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.

40 below zero: Washington , D.C. finally runs out of hot air. People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.

100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because the Mini-Van won't start.

460 below zero: ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in Minnesota can be heard to say, "Cold 'nuff fer ya?"

500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota schools delayed 2 hours.

I love Mondays

Shrek, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were all having lunch together.

Shrek said, 'I have always thought that I'm the strongest man in the
world, but how can I be sure?
Brad Pitt said, 'I'm pretty sure I'm the most handsome man alive but
I've never had it confirmed.'
Angelina Jolie agreed. 'I'm told I'm the sexiest of them all, but
sometimes I wonder.'

They all decided that the best way to find out if their beliefs were
true was to ask the famed talking 'mirror, mirror on the wall' to
confirm for them whether Shrek was the strongest, Brad Pitt was the
most handsome. Angelina Jolie was the sexiest.

They agreed to meet again the next day for lunch to discuss their
findings.
The next day Shrek walked up with a smile. 'Well, it's true. The mirror
told me that I am the strongest man in the world.' Brad perked up
and said: 'And I know for sure that I'm the most handsome man
alive.' But
Angelina lifted her sad but pretty face and said...

Who the heck is Nicole?

Where have the last few months gone?

A brief overview of our lives the past few months:
- I learned how to make my first apple pie from scratch! Thanks Ann :)
-Discovered the pain of losing co-workers and dear friends to layoffs at work (3 in my department), yes, I've been living at work.
-Attended a great seminar at the Hyatt on aging and elder care services in November.
-Isaac went to NY for a Climbing for Christ board of director meeting.
-Went to the new W hotel for a fun benefit and a much needed GNO with Anna L.
-We had our membership interview at Grace and became members at our new church. We love our new pastor and our excited to get plugged in!
-Isaac, Molly and Jamie and I spent Molly's birthday at dinner downtown and seeing Wicked! Yes, it does live up to the hype :)
-Eliana turned 2! We spent the weekend with both families and went downtown to the Macy's display- she was so cute, enjoyed every moment...I think she was on sensory overload. Gramma and Grandpa took lots of fun pics
-We checked out the new CSI exhibit at the Science Museum- so much fun, if you haven't been- go!
-Salsa dancing anyone? We taught a group of couples salsa dance! It was for their Christmas party- next time, I think Isaac and I will chat a bit more before the lesson- that way we'll be on the same dancing page!! Right honey??
-Date night to celebrate Christmas: Isaac and I went to Pazzaluna for a wonderful dinner and then off to the Ordway to see White Christmas. It was fantastic- the music, colors, and dancing. And we managed to NOT talk about Eliana, money or work :) (thanks to our couples group for the great advice!!!)
-My honey just got home from ice climbing in Sandstone- yes, he just missed the big storm.

Now we are just gearing up for the holidays!! Given my busy work schedule the past couple months I did all my Christmas shopping online- I'm hooked! No busy stores, parking, etc.
Just me in bed with my laptop :)

Merry Christmas- sorry we are not on the ball of mailing out Christmas cards this year. Next year!

Dimples is ready to road trip

Hi and great evening (well, technically morning but who is splitting hairs when you don't have much hair to split?)

After much trial and error, Dimples (my Subaru Outback) is running right as rain!

Ever since September 14 I have been having problems with Dimples. He was just not running right and it led to many hours in the garage trying to troubleshoot the problem with out spending large sums amounts of money.

I didn't get to buy any new tools as most projects wort working on allow but I did learn a lot about Subaru engines, how cool they really are, and how to use a voltage multimeter.

I am excited. I am elated. I have a car Nicole will ride in again!

Here is a sample of what I did...