Great to see you....

I had my first official day back to work last week. It was basically to work on a game plain for the up coming season. Sarah’s husband Scott designed a soft ware program that will help us keep better track on what goes into the job as far as time and materials. It’s going to save me a lot of work; this was something that I used to do last years at the end of the day. And the cool thing is that Sarah and I can work on it anywhere that we are able to get Internet. We will have a kick off meeting with everyone next week and then probable start the week of April 6th with spring garden clean ups. Sarah was on a local TV show last week. This is the link (if I did this right). twincitieslive.com - Curb Appeal
I did get myself two new pair of work pants, yes one is Carhartt’s, and the other pair is Lee carpenter pants, I put my shears in the side pocket. Works great for keeping tools handy.
I had what I think is my last doctor appointment for my hand. The therapist is quite happy with the progress that has happened over the last 12 weeks. I’m not totally pain free, but I do see hope that this will make life a bit more painless. I am going to hold off until July to make a conclusion about the results of the surgery.

We had dinner with Vickie and family to celebrate Vickie’s birthday last Thursday. It was pretty low key. I hadn’t been to the restaurant she picked, but they frequent this micro brewery on occasion and the food and drink were quite good. Ridley seemed to enjoy celebrating Mom’s Birthday too.

I am so relieved to know that Doris is doing OK. However; I will continue to worry about her. Sorry, that’s just the way it is, I love you. So let that be a warning to the rest of you.

Kate and Caleb stopped for a late lunch and a visit after. It sure was great having the two of them here for even a short visit. “Our peeps are the shit” It really was so great that they took the time to stop and spend some time with us. It really made my month. We are looking forward to seeing them again at Bradly's graduation. I have been feeling a little home sick, must be the season, I believe someone else in the family just made the same comment.

I got to spend an extra day with Ridley Dexter this week. His regular Monday play mate wasn't able to hang with him today, so I got to spend a little more time with him. Tomorrow will be my last regular Tuesday play time with him, as I will be going back to work next week. Sure am going to miss those wonderful baby hugs and sloppy kisses every week.

And this is Gilmore, one of my favorite cats, he would make great mittens.

This sure has been a dreary week so far when you think about what a beautiful weekend we had. The sun was shinning all day Saturday and everyone was out soaking up the warm breezes and futzing around the yards. I picked up a few sticks that littered the gardens and checked the buds on the Magnolia tree. I believe we will have a striking display of blooms this spring.
Jeff went for a bicycle ride with his friend Dave and I took my camera for a walk around town. I was going to practice taking pictures of children playing but Jeff pointed out that some people might find it creepy having a stranger take pictures of their children in the park. There really isn’t a lot to take pictures of this time of the year. I worked on the white balance for taking pictures in the bright light.

Sunday we went into St. Paul where we met Vickie and Ridley at the coffee shop. Jeff took care of some business for Chords and Boards and we all met up at the Como Park ball fields. It sure was windy and sort of wet and cold so Ridley and Vickie went back home and waited for Dad to get home from work. Meanwhile; Jeff played a little ‘burn ball’ with some of the other volunteers from the MS society. (Jeff helps on one event during the summer) And I wondered around the park and took some pictures. I did end up taking pictures of a father and kid flying a kite on this windy day. (Creepy!)

Oh, what is burn ball you ask? The best I can come up with is it’s like T-ball for parties. There were people of all ages playing this game. They hit a ball and ran the bases, the bases just weren’t as far apart, and they played with a tennis ball. They seem to be having fun.
When we got home I put the pork roast in the oven and be jumped on our bikes and rode around town for an hour. It is a dam good thing we coast down the hills because the going up was killing me. Wow, that is work around here. Bill joined us for dinner later in the evening and shared a slide show of the photos he shot on a number of locations around the US. There were some incredible shots, simply beautiful. I feel very humble around people that have the art of photography figured out. I’ll stick to the family photos and leave the art to those who can.
It looks like it’s going to be a wet week through out the mid west, so get out the umbrella and dust off the rain coat. Happy Spring

Paul's puppies

Shelby

new puppies

I had a pretty good day; I went to see my friend and co-worker Paul. He and his friend James just got two Dachshund puppies from the same litter. I think the one with the longer fur is the cutie, Oscar. The other is named Felix, and the apple of Paul’s eye. Yes that’s right; they got the names from The Odd Couple.

We did look at the rose books and talked about work some but probably not as much as we should have. Just didn’t feel like doing work stuff. Better get myself in gear, only a couple more week and we will be out in the gardens.

Paul and I had lunch at TGI Fridays. He made carrot cake but I had to bring a piece home; I was too full to eat any more. He makes good carrot cake.

Oscar Felix

Friday the 13th

During our visit Char and I spent Friday the 13th visiting with family. We went to see Aunt Delphine and we all went to Kiel for lunch. Char was kind enough to take this picture with sister Doris, me, and Aunt Delphine and Mom, Odelia.

We left there mid afternoon and got to Willowdale just in time to visit with Aunt Rita during happy hour. There was polka music playing while the residents had a cocktail or a beer and socialised. We missed Uncle Leander, he had left for home shortly before we got there. I think it was a good day.
Later, we all gathered at Lori and Steve's to enjoy our take out orders of fish fry. I really miss the Friday night perch fries from my home town, there isn't anywhere else that makes it the same.
We stayed out quite late talking and trying to get that knife out of my back after getting the message that my 'favorite' status has crashed and burned. Woo is me....
I am alway amazed when I see how Steph and Brad have grown. Can't believe that this is Brads last year of high School!

And Steph was getting ready for a dance.

A Fun filled day with Ridley

On March 10th Charlene joined me for Tuesday afternoon with Ridley. I brought my new camera with me and got some very nice pictures. Char had a good time playing with him and he seemed to enjoy it as well.

Tweek and Gil were very playful too.

And then a power nap.

A rather quiet week

This has been a rather quiet week so far, not much happened, and I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing.

I went to my therapy appointment on Tuesday to work on range of motion in my hand. She was impressed at how well I am regaining the movement and perhaps next week we will start working on the strength in my right hand. I like that idea.
Wednesday morning I met with Sarah, my boss, to interview a young lady to work on the crew with me. She isn’t a greatly experienced gardener, but she seems to have a good work ethic and she seems up to the task. I’m thinking that she will do fine, we will be happy to teach her how we do things as a team.
In the afternoon I had a chance to hang out with Ridley. He wasn’t his normal smiley boy at first, but he was feeling better in the afternoon. Jeff finished his piano tuning day a little early, so he joined me and Ridley for some Grandpa time. Meanwhile; I set to creating an experiment in the kitchen. Actually it was Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguini that I had never made before. We ate shortly after Vickie got home from work. That worked out well, we had dinner at a reasonable time and spent a little more time with Vickie to hear about her day and by the time we finished dinner, rush hour traffic had let up. (If anyone is interested, this is the link…. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shrimp-Lemon-Pepper-Linguini/Detail.aspx?src=etaf)

On Friday I spent some more time with young Mr. Ridley. He was in a better place on Friday than he was on Tue in spite of a visit to the doctor for his 4 month check up and shots on Thursday. Ouch. He is doing well and if you would like to get more of the details on the doctor visit and see a great shot clip of Ridley rolling over and saying cute stuff check out the Holland Baby blog, it’s very cute. It's pretty cool how she has got the short clip thing down.
http://thehollandbaby.blogspot.com/

Photo by Vickie
After Jeff tuned a couple pianos on Saturday morning we went to St. Paul and picked up Vickie and Ridley and went to “Babies R Us” to assist Vickie with picking out a highchair for Ridley. It isn’t going to be too much longer and he will be using it on a regular basis. Vickie sent us a picture of him sitting in his new chair with the suction cup monkey on the tray. It doesn’t look like he is really sure of what to make of this new situation. While we were at the baby stuff store we managed to find a few cute baby clothes; he is a well dressed boy. He grows out of the stuff so fast! It’s hard to believe he’s over 15 lb., and rolling over picking things up and trying so hard to sit up, it really is amazing. It’s like you can see the wheels turning when you look in his bright eyes.
The camera store is right next to the Baby store so we may have picked up my birthday present early so I can learn to use it a little better while I’m off of work and I can take it with me when Char and I go visit out peps in Wis. We’ll see if this helps to take better pictures. I have signed up for a class on how to use it to its fullest. Two free classes came with the camera. I’ll sigh up for the second one after I have had some time to use what I learned in the first one.
On Thursday I saw four swans fly over the house and Friday I saw two Robins near the park in St. Paul. It will be spring soon; it seems like it has been a longer winter than normal.

Photo by; A. Fredrickson

The End of February

I’m looking forward to spending some time with Jeff again after the symposium is over today; he's been so busy... The symposium is a big event for PDP, the company Jeff works with. They hold the 4 day event at a hotel on the west side of the metro, by the mall of America and airport, since Thursday. Therapists come from all over the US to learn the best techniques for treating children with physical challenges. Meanwhile; I picked Char up early from her training on Thursday during the snow storm and she spent the night with me. It took 1 ½ hours for us to go 20 miles from down town Mpls to Stillwater. At one point there was a cop leading the way with lights on. It really sucks driving in three lanes of traffic when you can’t see the lines on the road. I was suppose to go to an award banquet that night, Sarah’s Cottage Creation (the company I work with) won two awards but the weather was so bad we didn’t go. Friday Char had some stuff to take care of but other than that she kept me company till she went home later in the afternoon. We planed our trip to visit Grandma Odi and the rest of our family in eastern Wisconsin; we’ll leave here early on Wednesday the 11th and return on to MN on the 15th. I am looking forward to an eastern Wisconsin perch fry. That takes care of Friday night. Jeff is going to stay in Stillwater and take care of the pets. He will probably enjoy having the house to himself for a few days. He won’t know what’s going on with Martha or Rachel Ray if I’m not there! Guess he’ll live.






Goldie likes the snow. She puts her face under it and
walks around the yard. Some times she looks like just a body.


For those who haven’t seen Ridleys blog, he rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time on Friday 2/27. It’s so amazing how fast he is growing and developing into a kid. He is a little charmer.

Hope everyone has a great March.