(Let It Snow!)*3

The Twin Cities got nailed with the biggest snowstorm since Halloween 1991. Up to 22" fell in the metro area yesterday. The wife and I trekked across the cities to pick up our daughter at her cousin's house in Champlin before the worst part hit with only 4" on the ground. Coming back, we found our driveway snowed over with 8" of white fluffy snow - and got stuck. After an hour and a half, I was able to dig my way back into the garage! We ended up with about 18" total when all was said and done. Here's a pic of what several of us had to deal with yesterday.

Daddy's Little Girl

Hello, world! Meet the newest addition to the family:



Solveig Grace Peterson
Born 9/19 @ 4:51 am
21.25" - 9 lb 2 oz
(it's pronounced SOL-vay in case you were wondering)

Scooter Rally

I attended the Rattle My Bones scooter rally for the 2nd year in a row. Again, it was a lot of fun! Rode behind a '68 Lambretta that sounded and smelled like a weedwacker on steroids, but it was still a cool vintage ride. The couple that owned the '64 & '65 Honda 50s were there too and went on the first part of the Big Ride. Like me, they had issues getting up the hills. More cc's needed for that! Porter did get a lot of comments though, the only Passport in attendance this year! :)

Baking in the Shade

It's that time of the year again when I wonder why I didn't move to Alaska. It got up to 97F today. That's just insane. Add some humidity to the mix, and you've got Atlanta - or New Orleans - or Miami - but no, this is MN. No sir, I don't like it!

Guys Night

It'd been months since hanging out at Adam's house with the guys. So, I called him up to see what was going on - and it was a cookout. Good times, good food (most of it from Bylerly's meat counter) and a selection of beer that was quite refreshing!

Long Holiday Weekend

The wife and I spent Independence Day weekend at her family's lake dwelling. We left Friday afternoon and met her folks for dinner on the way there at the 5 O'clock Club in Cumberland, WI. I enjoyed a Landshark while we waiting for them to arrive and we shared an order of Peg Legs (assorted cheese sticks). For dinner, I had the fish fry special - haddock. With au gratin potatoes on the side instead of fries. It was really good and the portions were very satisfying.

The remainder of the weekend at the lake was typical for celebrating July 4th. We prepped, cleaned up and got everything ready for company on Saturday. Family and friends joined us on Sunday for a cookout. Later that night, we went out on the lake for a few spins to see which neighbors were around. Toward dusk, the fish were jumping - I should have brought my pole!

It was a very relaxing weekend, the perfect thing for some mid-summer time off from the daily grind. I'm hoping we'll get to spend a few more weekends there next year. One just isn't enough! =)

Blog Fun

I just realized (two months later) that I turned on comment moderation. I'm supposed to get an e-mail each time someone submits a comment -- apparently those aren't cutting through the spam filter on my Inbox! Anyway, so I logged in to post about something else and noticed that I had 12 COMMENTS to reject/publish. Only one was real...

This leads me to say two words, "Spam SUCKS!"

Happy Father's Day!

My parents came up to visit us for the weekend. It was the annual Back to the 50's car show at the MN State Fairgrounds and it also happened to coincide with Father's Day and my Father-In-Law's birthday. While I'm not officially a dad yet, both my parents and Jeff wished me well anyway. *laughs*

Mom brought a homemade apple pie which was really good. She also bought a little outfit for baby when she is old enough to wear it next summer, some baby stuff from when I was a kid, along with my baptismal gown - how neat!

Dad and I tried locating a replacement truck for the farm but without much success. The one we found close to their place sold on Thursday. Why do people leave multiple ads up on craigslist after the sale? It's really annoying! Anyway, it was fun - and I hope he finds a suitable truck for his needs and the dog's as well (he rides in the cab too).

Arizona!

We just got back from our vacation to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Arizona. We couldn't spend a lot of time there since we have to save our vacation time for when the baby is born, but three days was more than enough to see the sights and get some needed relaxation!

While at the Grand Canyon, we walked along the South Rim and witnessed several breathtaking views - it was a great experience! Sedona, about 2.5 hours south, is a small tourist town with lots of history itself. The red rock formations in this area are outstanding! This is the birthplace of the 'dirt shirt' that's gaining popularity nationwide. It was also a popular movie set location for several of Hollywood's westerns. It was a neat place to visit and I'm glad Elizabeth chose the area to stay while on vacation.

New baby = Girl baby!

Our new baby is going to be a girl! Elizabeth and I now get to start figuring out girl names, what color to paint the baby's room and how to keep everything from being pink. ;)

Arse-Kickin Cold

My second cold of the year is a real pain. I'm coughing every 10 min or less, my head hurts, my nose hates me, it's always hot everywhere, I'm tired a lot of the time and pretty much sick of being sick. I want normal back already! Darn it all!

MOD

Every year the company I work for has fund-raising campaigns for the March of Dimes. My department's event is Office Golf - where we set up a miniature golf course around the floor, through the cubicles and using office-related items to make things a little interesting. It's a lot of fun - and a lot of work! All for a great cause, though...helping babies to be born healthy and full-term so they have enough time to develop. We've raised almost $1,200 so far in less than two months!

Porter Gets a New Pair o' Shoes

Porter (my '81 Honda Passport C70) was purchased in 1982 and then parked in my grandfather's garage for 27 years. When the scooter was resurrected, the cycle shop said its tires were cracking and will eventually need to be replaced. Well, that time is now!

Last weekend I was headed out to meet up with my friend Keith to scoot around town for awhile. At a stop sign, I sometimes check to make sure the tires aren't losing air. What I saw was far worse - the rear tire has a large crack (about 12") running along the sidewall. Definitely not good!

Of course, a bike this old has hard-to-find parts. Five different repair shops didn't have both tires in stock. So they'll need to be ordered and installed in the next week or so.

One Month Later...

So, there really hasn't been a lot of news going on since 'the announcement' - I've basically been telling everyone I know. :) Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. I had a Jameson & Ginger Ale at the quiet little place next to where I work, then took the train home. I twisted my knee funny a couple days ago and it hurt, so I wasn't up for partying much.

I did, however, see the Jameson promo girls hawking things on Nicollet Mall. They had these nifty-cool green & white striped hats that were similar to Dr. Seuss. :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

It's my birthday! I was able to get the day off from work (for FREE even), so I spent the entire day doing things that I like to do. Here's a little sample:

1) Had breakfast at White Castle (hey, don't knock it)
2) Went shopping for a new HDTV - and bought one!
3) Picked up a new HDTV cable box from Comcast
4) Got a massage - mmmmm....
5) Saved the wife from a bumpy bus ride
6) Went out to dinner
7) Found out what Wifey got me for my b-day. A Wii! =)
8) Watched stuff on the new TV!

I heard from a friends and family members alike wishing me a happy day. Some of which I hadn't heard from in awhile, so that was pretty cool!

Plus One

Yup, that's right! We will be parents before the end of summer! *yay* Yes, you may freak out now - it's okay. *hehehe*

Lego Batman - 100% Complete!

I finished Lego Batman on my trusty ol' PS2 last night. I know, it's not the toughest game in the world but it is time consuming at least. There were a few levels that had some tricks I hadn't seen in previous games (Star Wars, Indiana Jones - both Lego editions).

I only had to use Internet for help once - and that was only because my TV contrast was off, which prevented me from seeing the exit for a certain section. That was pretty silly!

I have a couple of months before Lego Harry Potter comes out, so that will give me a little break from the clickity-clack for a while.

Stupid Cold

I caught a cold two weeks ago. While it seemed as though it had gone away, it came back with a vengeance early this past week. This does not make Loki happy - not one bit. I think it's finally starting to subside, as it has moved from my head to my chest. Elizabeth didn't like hearing me cough all the time but that too is finally starting to become more and more infrequent. Here's to plenty of OJ! =)

The Saints Go Marchin'

I'm very confident that the commute into work and hallways outside my office will be relatively quiet today. After the Vikings lost to the Saints in OT, if I do hear any talk about the Vikings it will likely be 'if that one play' or 'if that one call' or 'if Brett didn't throw that Interception' or something else like it.

Being a Packers fan, I was cheering for the Saints the entire game. Now they're off to the Super Bowl! I'll be cheering for them again in hopes they play as well against Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. It'd be nice to see a team that's never made it that far come away with a victory!

Next Blog...

So, every once in awhile I click on the 'Next Blog' link at the top of this page. Sometimes it takes me to interesting places, others not so exciting and bland, occasionally I'll hit a blog in a foreign language written by a 12-year-old.

But tonight was different. I clicked and got a cyclist blog. As in bicycle. While that would sometimes interest me (as I have a few bike geek buddies) it wasn't something I wanted to see. So I clicked again - and another bike blog.

This happened 12 times in a row! I always thought that link was random? Guess not...

Disney World Marathon

Elizabeth had always wanted to run the marathon at Disney. This past week, she did just that! It was probably one of the coldest Disney World Marathons on record, too. We did not get the nice warm FL weather - it even snowed early in the morning on Saturday and there was ice on race day with temperatures in the 20's! Nonetheless, we still had a great time.