St.Paul Nights

Last week was my annual meeting in St. Paul, MN for the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. I enjoyed being in St. Paul, but it was difficult staying at a hotel. Even though it is a very nice hotel - Crowne Plaza- I didn't sleep. The bed was very comfortable - a sleep number bed that should have taken me to dreamland. Instead, I was wide awake listening to all the little noises! 

Tuesday we piled into a van and drove to Fabulous Ferns for a fabulous lunch. Then we visited the state capital to lobby our legislators. Went to an energy committee hearing and found that to be semi-interesting.

The view from my room on the 21st floor was beautiful. Had a room that overlooked the river. Didn't get any daytime pictures, but snapped a few shots to capture the night view. The water and lights were gorgeous!

Had a great meeting and met the artist Kaziah Hancock of Project Compassion. She, and four other artists, paint portraits of fallen soldiers and send them to their families free of charge. It's their way of saying thank you for their ultimate sacrifice for our country. She is a remarkable woman from Manti, UT and I was so pleased to meet her.

Now I'm home, getting caught up on my sleep! There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

Lullaby Daddy

There's nothing cuter than a daddy napping with his son! Unless it's waking up from a nap with Daddy. John use to do this with our babies and it melted my heart every time!

Quilt run to Duluth

I'm really behind on my posts. No excuse just haven't been very diligent. I've certainly had plenty of interesting happenings to write about. I will start with a fun quilt trip to Duluth. My dear friend Barb and dear sister-in-law Lynn went with me to Duluth. We left Tuesday, February 16th and returned Wednesday. With John's Garmin (GPS) in hand, we took a little side trip to Floodwood and visited a quilt shop there. It was a very large shop and we had so much fun looking through all the kits and baby ideas. After that we had a delicious lunch, and then on to the Quilters Coop to pick up Barb and Lynn's completed quilts. This was my first trip there, so I didn't have any quilts to pick up, but I had plenty to drop off. Thirteen to be exact. This is what 13 quilts looks like all stacked up and ready to go! That pile represents many hours of joy for me. Work, yes, but great therapy and fun to see how each quilt develops piece by piece.

Next we searched for our hotel and checked in. It's an old hotel in canal park. We had a suite with two bedrooms and two baths, a kitchen and living room area. We had a beautiful view of Lake Superior from our bedroom windows. The hallway was lined with large pillars and looked somewhat stately!

We took the opportunity after all our driving and riding to just relax and visit for a while. When we couldn't control our hunger pains any longer, we went in search of a restaurant. A Timberlodge was attached to our hotel, so we decided to stay inside and eat there. The food was wonderful and we took our time eating and visiting. Then Lynn and I were brave to put on swimsuits and head for the whirlpool. Lynn's skirt on her swimsuit lost its elasticity and grew into a flowing gown! We laughed a long time about that. After showers, we sat in our PJ's and just visited, ate chocolate, and drank hot cocoa. I tried to sleep, but had a terrible tooth ache (which was pulled the day after we got back).

Had a very nice breakfast at the hotel before plugging in Lucy Lou (Barb and Lynn's name for the Garmin). Then we were off to Superior, WI to find a quilt shop there. It was small but delightful. The owner invented the Twister ruler and showed us how to use it. She has written a pattern book on different ways to use the ruler, which will be ready in mid-March. Then we decided it was time to head home. We had such a great time together, and the weather was nice too. Can't wait to see my quilts done - some will be ready in April and the rest in June. Sounds like another Duluth quilt trip is brewing!

Gold, Silver, or Bronze

It has been such an enjoyable few weeks of watching the Olympic athletes compete. I'm not sure any one athlete can claim to be the best when a mere difference of 12 hundredths of a second may have separated gold from silver. But the athletes have trained long and hard to put on a spectacular show. I must say it was all very entertaining, and I enjoyed watching the drama. Emotions ran high, and I laughed and cried along with each of them.

As enjoyable as it was, I'm also glad it's over. The reason being - I sat in front of the TV wayyyyyy toooooo much. Now I can get back to my sewing, reading, scrapbooking, housework, etc., and just life in general... if I remember what that was?!? Give me a month and I'm sure I will be dreaming of the next winter Olympics. Maybe I will take up speed skating, or cross country skiing. No, I better get realistic. How about curling? See you in Russia!

Medicine

I'm not feeling well, so I wish we lived close to a medicine shop.....



After having a wisdom tooth extracted, the Jamba Juice would be just what the doctor (dentist) ordered!

Divine

I'm feeling free and easy in Arizona. Must be the warm weather. Today I found a quilt shop, huge mall, and walked around snoping in some neighborhoods. Had breakfast, lunch, and dinner (only one meal though) at Olive Garden and realized how relaxing it was to eat all alone and not feel guilty about not sharing a dessert! Usually I don't have dessert at OG, but today I had a lot of time so I ate slowly and enjoyed the moment.




It's called "Torta di Chocolate", and they describe it as having "no sugar added". It's hard to believe, because it tastes sweet and oh so delicious!! Maybe that was a typo on the menu.

On my walk, I saw a fat rabbit and geraniums in bloom. What a treat to know that while we live in a frozen, no life state of Minnesota, there is actually someplace enjoying living plants and non-hibernated animals.





Oh, and then there are the oranges and lemons ripe on the trees. I don't think I've ever seen this before. I thought all fruit came from the grocery store! It really is a beautiful sight to see the yellow & orange against the green leaves.



Can hardly wait to see what today has in store for me. My plans are to visit a botanical garden... my friend Barb said it is a must see. I hope she's right!

See, See, What do you see?

Two posts in one day... a record for me.
(I know that rhymes with the title - it was a fluke!)

I had another opportunity to play with Ethan last Friday night. After laying him on the green bug mat, it occurred to me that his view was quite different than mine. But we were both smiling and laughing!

Here was my view...




Here was Ethan's view...




What joy!!