The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

It's been a busy week of long days. I'm glad for the weekend. I did not ride my bike to work yesterday. In fact, when I went out at 11 to walk to the bank, I changed my mind. Most unpleasant weather with high winds and flying garbage. I know flying garbage is not technically part of weather, maybe more climate, but it added to the suck of the weather day. I ran around Mankato like a crazy person at the end of the day. I got home about 7. Ugh. I'm going to my last performance class this morning. It's been hard but I have enjoyed it. Who knew I could put my hands and feet on slidey discs and pull myself across the floor. A few weeks ago when we were on the slippery slope of home improvement, we bought six of these to replace the really cheap and ugly ones we'd had for years. They are very nice and very well-made but they have to be assembled. Help. I want this done. I don't want boxes stacked all over my living room. What were we thinking? I have a bit...

We had Sam and Jessica over for dinner last night. We met Sam when he worked at Cedar's Grille in town. They are very nice young folks and we had a good time. Phone photo and not the best quality. Here's a funny thing. After we went to Lake Cochrane this summer, we mentioned it to Sam and it turns out his grandpa has a cabin there, they often go to the State Line Bar for beer and pizza, and he has relatives in Ghent, right down the road from Canby. His family name is Maerten. Regis made the most delicious ribs with is own barbecue sauce. We've gotten fussy about our ribs and can rarely find any out and about that are as good as we make at home. I contributed to the meal by making stuffed poblano peppers, a salad, and by bringing home bread and cookies from the coffee shop. We ordered some shelving from Ikea that will be delivered by some kind of truck today. The shipping was sort of costly but we figured it was better than driving to the cities to pick it up. The i...

I went to exercise from 5:30-7:00. I got home and had a cup of coffee with Regis. I decided to make use of my neighbor's dumpster and recycler since they are in Ireland and asked us to move them to the curb...both only half full. I went down to Peter's old room, loaded up a half a dumpster full of crap to throw away...old skateboarding helmets, old shoes, stereo speakers, and junk. I loaded up two bags of clothes that can go on Thursday when the little white truck comes down the street. Observation: Peter must have changed his "look" after he left our basement. The clothes that were left looked a lot like skateboarder, small town low-hanging pants kind of stuff. Regis and I took out a couple of those soft, waffle-weave long sleeved shirts. The rest is gone. I loaded up the dumpster with Peter's paper from his graphics production program at SCC...which generated a ton of paper. It's a good thing I had a place to go or I could have kept going...ruthles...

Regis and Gus working on obedience in the yard. A pile of laundered curtains waiting to be ironed. Me painting. My favorite job. Regis and Gus observing the action. Gus has paint on his ear. Gus can't quite figure out what the deal is here. Beautiful mum from Travese des Sioux. Regis cooking peppers and onions for the flank steak. We love fall grilling. Firefinch...lovely sauvignon blanc. Bill grows Honey Crisp apples. Delicious. End of the weekend and end of the day. Good night, friends.

It's been a great one. I had a fun day at River Rock on Friday. Everyone was happy and much laughter was heard from employees and customers. I love my job. We met school friends for happy hour at Patrick's. More stories. More laughter. Saturday, I started and finished the big switch in summer clothes to winter clothes in my closet and drawers. Not like I have so many but my closet is small and I have little space to accommodate them. It was driving me crazy...short sleeved t-shirts mixed in with sweaters. Sandals and boots. We met friends at the OK Corral for dinner. They live in Eden Prairie so it's about 30 for each of us. The last two times we've met, we've gone to Suzette's for dinner and then to the OK for a drink. I think we'll go back to that. The food was expensive and only mediocre. Kathy and Jack are going to Africa next week to spend two weeks on a safari. That's one of those things that is so far outside my circle of possibility tha...

This is Steve and his son, Ryan. They were such nice people to work with and actually made the process less painful that it might have been. Funny, easy-going, and hard workers. They did a nice job on our floors. We painted today until almost 5 when the boys showed up to move the furniture around. By the time they were done, so were we. No more paint could be applied. Done. Toast. So, now we're relaxing and rug shopping. We had left-over ribs for dinner and we're having a glass of wine. I could go to bed right now.

I took the day off from the coffee shop so I can stay home and clean and paint. Doesn't that sound like fun? Actually, it does. The idea of having my stuff back (mostly) in its places sounds very inviting. Regis took Gus to his first dog obedience class yesterday. I was expecting such a good report since Gus is smart and well-behaved at home. Alas, Regis said that aside from a dingo, he was the worst behaved dog in the class. Ah, misery. We are determined to practice with him so he improved next week. It's like taking your kid to pre-school screening and they won't say their colors. River Rock did an event in the back room yesterday which I attended in my fall apron so I could talk to people about the food. Honestly, the food there is so good it makes me feel proud to work with those women. They are amazing. They talk about how produce changes daily and they have to work to maintain a flavor profile. Amazing. At this event, they had spicy squash soup, tomato and basil c...

Gus and I are sitting on the sofa in the kitchen. We've threaded our way through the house a couple times to shut off my alarm clock and to get him into the back yard. He's fascinated by rain and likes to walk around in it, taking his sweet time. I would prefer that he tend to business and we get back where it's dry. Our workers didn't leave until almost 6 yesterday. They are almost done. As much as it will be nice to have them finish, I will be sad to not see them anymore. Such pleasant and hard-working guys to have around the house. If they say they are coming at 8, they are here at 8. That's not typical of my experience with independent contractors. We might have to invite them over for a beer once things are put right so they can admire their work. We managed to cook a couple steaks on the grill last night even though we got a late start. I sliced up a pan full of onions and hot peppers, too. Oh, so good. Regis made some of Emerill's Creole seasoning so ...

Ella came over late yesterday with her dad to move some things from one room to the other. She asked about something and I said, "Everything in our house is lost." It's true. There was some hope when we had one room torn apart but now that both rooms are torn apart and scattered over the remaining areas of the house, there is no hope. Ah, well. Here is what we accomplished yesterday. I wiped down every inch of wall and cupboard in the kitchen. We put another coat of paint on all the gold in the kitchen and dining room which means one wall behind the stove and a cubby hole where the previous folks put a hutch. We painted all the dark green and red trim in the kitchen and dining room with Rosemary Sprig. I found a picture online of a room painted with this color but I decided not to post it as it would be deceptive. That room was way too designed and way too clean. We painted the edges of the cupboards over the refrigerator, a project begun in the summer of 2004. We mo...

Our new bathroom floor. The start of the mess in the living room. That's the ugly green carpet that will be leaving on Monday. In the midst of the mess in the kitchen. Today, we need to match the red paint on the cupboards, paint the woodwork behind where the stove will go, give the gold another coat, paint all the green in the kitchen with a paint called Rosemary Sprig, and then clean the floor and move everything from the living room into the kitchen. Oh, joy. We took the day off Saturday to go on the semi-annual Govenaire's Drum Corps recruiting trip to the vineyards. Our first stop was Indian Island. They just won the Governor's Cup for their Frontenac Rose. Jen and Sarah Joanne, Kathy, and me at the tasting at Indian Island. Enjoying the patio. It was a cool fall day but nice to be outside. We had a mystery stop in the middle of the trip...bus driver's choice. John picked the Oleander Saloon in Mankato which made an interesting contrast to the elegan...

I am going to an exercise class at 5:30 a.m. on Friday mornings with a young fellow from Mankato. There are four of us in the class...between 35 and my age, I would guess. He must lie awake at night and think of ways to torture us. Today he had us in plank position, lifting one arm at a time to touch the alternate shoulder. I asked if he wanted us to lift the opposite leg at the same time. He laughed. He is a tough one. Last week when I got a mat to lay on the floor, he called me a delicate flower in a sort of sarcastic voice. I asked him once if the point of these exercises was to keep me out of the nursing home. He said it wouldn't hurt. I think I am recovered enough to be able to get in the shower now so on with the day.

I came home yesterday to a terrible mess. The kitchen/dining area floor is half done. There is sawdust covering everything everywhere. Regis and I had gone to Mankato to pick up River Rock's payroll so we stopped and got a bottle of wine and some dinner at Tav on the Ave. When the floor guys left, we pulled up a couple of folding chairs and ate from our laps. We had the happy thought that we could paint some more but there was no way. You know how you feel when your stuff is scattered and you can't find anything. We stopped at MGM where a young woman named Emily works. She used to work in St. Peter and she knows a lot about wines. Because we're going on the vineyard trip tomorrow, I was thinking about a wine I had two years ago that tasted like green pepper. I started describing it to her and she remembered these details: I loved it, Regis hated it, and it was South African. Then she walked right to it. We figure she is a wine savant. Ha! What a wonderful memory. W...

We started out with a floor project which was plenty. But when you pull your furniture away from the walls, all of a sudden your walls look like shit. So, painting ensues. Then you sit back and look at your furniture and it looks like shit. So, shelf shopping ensues. You see how this goes. Before you know it, we'll have new cars and Regis will have a new wardrobe. Sanity is difficult to maintain under these circumstances. If you live close, deliver wine. Me in the picture below...diving for a paint brush.

I am almost done with the packing. At least everything has been moved from its original position which makes it more visible. It won't take long to finish my part. I just read back through the posts about the floor project. You really have no idea how much I loathe this kind of thing. When he finished the bathroom today, Regis sent me a text with a picture. I said, "Is that what I picked out?" and I had no idea. It could have been purple shag. This guy has seen more floors than I have (and paid way more attention) so I trusted his judgement. Is texted a real word? Blogger puts a squiggly line under it but that's true of the word internet, too. Regis went off to teach a computer class to people whose first language is not English. It's not what he expected nor what he was prepared for but I admire him. He adjusted his while lesson plan and he's ready. There seems to be a market for this kind of thing...and we should be surprised? He said the last class we...

So, our home improvement project. We decide to get new floors, a project long over-due. We find a guy we like, he brings samples we like, and we're off to the races. I thought we would have a few weeks to get ready (packing up two rooms full of crap) but he stopped by yesterday and wanted to start today with the bathroom. The bathroom is no problem because it's the size of a large postage stamp. The other two rooms are a different matter. We live in the kitchen and dining area so there is a lot of stuff in there. A lot of stuff. It took me several hours to pack up the hutch because I like glassware and I have a lot of it. But I'm starting to get the willies. I feel like my stuff is all over the place. My original thought was to pack up one room until the other floor was done, unpack the boxes and pack them up with the stuff from the other side. Not good. I think I have enough boxes to pack up everything but where am I going to put the boxes? My stove and refrigerato...

We got together for burgers on the grill, sweet corn, big tomato slices, fruit salad, and a disgusting chocolate and peanut butter dessert. It was wonderful. The weather was perfect but we spent a lot of time indoors + aphids. Ack. Good food, good friends, good wine, good times.

Gus and I woke up at 6:30 and went outside. He's a good dog. Now it's 8:30 and here we sit...same sofa we were sitting on two hours ago. A little bit has happened in the meantime but it's been minimal. I am retired but I still have a job and one concession I have made is that I refuse to give in to the early rising and frantic pace life used to have. I wake when I feel like it most days and I wander out the door when I feel like it most days. I'm getting dressed soon to go out and finish planting the hostas. The ground in most places was too dry and hard to plant much last night so I put the sprinkler on the garden and will resume today. I'm leaving Regis in charge of the inside mess...dishes from last night and getting a chicken ready for dinner. We're going to ride our bikes down to Rock Bend later. Some years we have spent the entire day there...maybe not this year. We're having the family over for a cook-out tomorrow so there is a lot to be done...

We cooked chicken on the grill and the smoke was so pretty in the late afternoon sun coming through the birch tree. I took a gift card to Drummer's in the afternoon and bought a ton of hostas for my garden. Here they are lined up by potential size...shorter on the left and taller on the right. Hoping for some sense of order as they get planted...as opposed to my usual random way of doing things. Gus is studying something on the patio. He's gained more than ten pounds since he came here three weeks ago. He's up to 25.5 now and he gets stuck under things he used to like to crawl under, like the bed. He's quite a little dust mop. I love the patio in the late afternoon and evening. Lots of neighbors go by walking or on bikes and people like to stop and gab for a minute. When the snow comes, we won't see these people again until April. We had a little fire in the chimnea. Regis was not in favor of it but did it to make me happy. It did. Beautiful evening to be...

I have friends who are good writers. I love these pieces. Mike Callahan in the first paragraph....Sharon Robinson in the next. New first in comedy for me last night at Fat Daddy's in SD last night. Had them pumping so hard that the guy at the front center table starts to LOSE it. I started laughing cause of his laughing. The whole room broke down. For what seemed like 5 minutes the whole room just wept with laughter for nothing more than the joy of laughing. It was heaven. I could quit today a content man. A room full of strangers in tears laughing over laughter. Nirvana. In my sadness I want to run out & hug the world, & all the people I love, very tightly. Although I try, like Emily said in Wilder's Our Town, it is difficult to "realize life while we live it, every, every moment." Frost said it best, "the present is to present to imagine."

The last post post made me laugh when I read it.

I like the internet. I like the social network thing except for twitter....which I don't fully understand. What frustrates me, though, is that when you really want to talk to someone, nobody is there. I guess young people understand that. I wonder what we did in those circumstances. Nobody now seems to want to talk to you....ever. Deb and I called it "the old boyfriend syndrome". I think now it's called "drink and dial". So, the internet will hook you up to people in some weird way but  you can't really talk to someone like you would on the phone. I'm not even sure how you would call a person on the phone now-a-days. Don't you love that expression? I tell you what....the flies this time of year are horrific. There are three flies in my life, one here and one at home and one at River Rock that are driving me insane. They get in your hair just enough to irritate.... Gus wants to go on a walk so that's the end of the blog. See ya...

I  had to send pictures to a reunion of my high school girl friends that I cannot attend. Here's what I came up with.  (Click slideshow after you get to the right page.) Edit: I decided this was easier... It was fun to look through a year's worth of pictures and choose the highlights. There was a theme...hats, lights, costumes, parties. We had a nice day today. I went to work for a couple hours to do the banking. Came home and did a minor constructive thing: ironed all my linen napkins, most of which are not linen but cotton and they wrinkle horribly. Ah, well, I have a supply for a season now. We sat on the patio as we always do on nice afternoons. Bill and Jean came over for a glass of wine. Nice to visit with them. They love Gus and he was happy to lick their ears. So, fall has officially started so I bought pinot noir and wore black. A girl has to have seasonal structure, you know. You can't just go around wearing patent leather and drinking margaritas any o...

Teresa's new boots Gus takes a nap Stuffed peppers for dinner Great summer meal Flank steak and grilled vegetables Fresh tomatoes and basil Celebrating Vickie's birthday Good friends and good food = good times!