To Infinity and Beyond!

CNN.com - Mars rover endures 'deep sleep' with no harm - May 29, 2004

I think it is soooo cool that we have the rover's on mars. I also heard that sometime in the future we will have a base on the moon (about time) and a manned mission to Mars.

I also just wish that we would explore this much in the ocean. Why don't we have an underwater base somewhere. Remember the show SeaQuest D.S.V.? That is what we need!

(Update: I found you can get the first season of SeaQuest on DVD! Yeah!)

Another Girl Scout Year

Well, yesterday was the 2nd Annual Girl Scout Award Ceremony. What a blast.

We arrived at the park to find out that the pavilion we reserved was completely soaked AND had leaks in the roof. All the tables were drenched. We tried to arrange the tables so they wouldn't be under a leak. No real luck.

So, I suggested that we check out the only other pavilion there (that no one ever reserves because it is in the midst of trees and usually has a ton of mosquitos.) It was relatively dry, 'cept for the small puddle. Only one half of a table was wet and it had no garbage can and only two short tables. (The other one had 4 large tables).

So we decided to use the dry pavilion. We had camping chairs so that wasn't a problem. Most of the other parents had brought chairs also, so it was all good.

We set up the food and had our scavenger hunt. Everyone wears something... I had a pink chip clip on my pants... and you have to go around and find all the items and get the name of the person. Some of the parents were cheating and comparing notes or having their children go and ask the person's name.

After that we ate, Amy & Charmin passed out the awards. Then we put on some dance music that I mixed together so the girls could do the Electric slide, Macarena, Cha Cha Slide and stuff. Then I showed the girls how to do the running Man, the Roger Rabbit and the Cabbage Patch. The girls were cracking up!

We had so much fun we didn't realize the rain had mostly stopped and it wasn't as cold. We really had a great time. I can't wait for next year!

A Gift

Well, our app to the aprk is being processed now. We have the entire down payment. My great aunt provided us around half of it, plus is giving it to us as a gift so we can concentrate on furnishing the house, groceries and such. I am so exicted. I cannot wait to move... but realize that we are not in the clear yet.

Not much else is going on in my life. We have so much to do this summer. Every weekend is booked. I just want to sleep, but Amy won't let me...

Ho Hum... What a life...

Well, we put in our applications in to the Park we want to live in. We will be waiting for a week or so, until we know if we are approved.

Once that is done, hopefully they will move the mobile home in... then they will finish the inside and hopefully we can move in...

But... we met with the park manager... A REALLY nice guy and he didn't have very many nice things to say with the two people we are dealing with for our California rambler... he even showed us a home that they tried to fit into a too small of a lot and just left it there. So I am a little stressed/worried. I don't feel I will be able to rest until the home is in the park, we have been accepted and moved in...

Keep praying for us.

Work has just been unmotivational. I have been tired and stressed and just unmotivated. But thank goodness for Audiobooks. I listen to that and actually find myself just pluggin along and pretty soon my night is over. Kinda nice.

Dominic and I have been bonding more. I recently reinstalled the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. So we have been sitting together while I blow the crap out of monsters and stuff and he tells me which guns are more effective on which monsters. One smart little guy.

I just installed Deus Ex and me and him were trying to figure that out. A little trickier. Cheat codes our are friends!

Mikayla is so excited about her dance recital. She got stage makeup today and has been wearing it all day. She looks so cute (albeit a little overdone - stage makeup has that effect-but still cute!)

Boredom

It is amazing that I can have so many projects to do, yet I am bored off my ass.

I don't want to work on LPs, I don't want to burn Video CDs, I don't want to Capture home movies. I don't want to do anything.

So what should I do? Hmm... Go back to bed? Yeah... sounds like a plan.

What a week.

Well, this week has been okay. I didn't get very many hours at work. 16! Only 16! My co-worker and I could have used a few more hours. We need at least 20 for our benefit info! Kinda Sucks!

But I got some stuff done. That was good. I am just going through music albums and getting them on my PC right now... I have over 50 albums to do!

Blog ya later!

Can I Get another AMEN!

We saw the new house today.

O.M.G. is it gorgeous. There is plenty of room for everyone.

The girls and boy get split up into their own rooms, Cindy gets her own room and we get our own room and our own bathroom (with a whirlpool!). The kitchen is great, the living room is huge, so is the dining room. And there is a sun room that we can use as a office!! Plus room for a table to fold clothes that come from the washer and dryer next to it!

I cannot wait. It has so much space for us that it is so perfect. I just pray that everything falls into place for us. They are trying to move it and finish the interior work by the end of this month! We could be moved in by June! I am sooooo excited! (UPDATE: we didn't move in until July 1st. And just barely... read on.)

Keep us in your prayers and thoughts!

Here is the House Layout (click to enlarge):

Can I Get and AMEN and a HALLELUAH!

We just got word that we are approved for a loan for a bigger home out in Circle Pines. THANK YOU JESUS!

We have been trying to get out of this little trailer (the only place to feel like home) for over three years!

So now we just have to come up with the down payment. Please pray for us that we will be able to come up with the money in time.

Again, THANK YOU JESUS!

Happy Mother's Day...Can I go back to bed?

Man am I tired. I am up waiting for the panakoekken to finish so that my wife can have her breakfast in bed. I AM TOO TIRED!!!! But it is mother's day.

I have been battling fluid in my ear and have had temporary hearing "dullness" in my left ear. I have been sleeping on raised pillows so it can drain out. I woke up at around 7 and I could hear, but my tired ass fell back asleep instead of getting up and now I can't hear again in that ear...

Then this morning as I was making the wife breakfast, I went to grab the flour (which is in some special tupperware container that has a really tight lid) I went to open it and it literally bent half of my fingernail back. Talk about painful. I had to hold it a few minutes to stop the bleeding. Not a good morning.

Can I got back to bed?

A Party, A Birthday, A Bitch, A Burger and A Turntable

Today we went to my sisters for a Pampered Chef party. I love that stuff and the food.

After that, we rushed off to my Nephew/God-Son's birthday party. That was cool. I got to see some family I haven't seen in a while. Cept, my brother-in-law didn't say anything to me, not a hi or nothing (found out later he just wasn't feelin well). I wondered if I did something to make him mad? But his Brother and I (who used to work with me) we talked up a storm and caught up. So that was nice.

One thing that I cannot stand: people who always seem to find something about you to nit-pick and cut you down so that they can feel better about themselves.

I won't go into specifics or whom, but I cannot stand when people feel the need to berate you to your face to make them look better than you. Especially when they don't realize they are doing it. I can understand when it is in a joking way, I do that with a few people, but I try to make sure they don't feel cut down and it is only with a select few and they joke right back. But to honestly say a comment to you face or ASSUME something. Remember people, NEVER ASSUME....all that does is make and ASS out of U and ME!

Another thing that bothers me: people who have to be the center of attention at all times. You don't need to go around and tell everyone there something about you. Lay off! It is someone else's birthday, let them enjoy the attention!

But, I guess the thing that really frosts me: is when people assume that because Amy and I are overweight, that we need large amounts of food or that when we ask for a small piece they give us a huge one instead. For Instance, Amy was helping dish people up and when it came her turn, she said, "a very small peice of cake and just a little bit of ice cream." What did she get? A peice of cake the size of three peices, and about 2 large scoops of ice cream.

Just because I am overweight, doesn't mean I do anything to make myself this way. I only eat cake and ice cream at birthday parties, I only eat candy at Easter, Cookies at Halloween and Christmas, I really hate chips. The only kind I eat are nacho chips with Salsa...and Salsa is actually good for you!

The rest of the year I am eating salads, chicken caesar wraps, chicken and pasta and veggies. Healthy food. So what gives you the right to say to someone else that I am fat because I eat too many sweets. I don't eat sweets, I really don't like sweets. I am overweight because my lifestyle doesn't give me a lot of time to be active and my job is a desk job. I can't exactly do it running on a tredmill.

It is just like in High school when people would say that I ate too many twinkies. I HATE TWINKIES! So F*CK OFF! And it is not like most of the people who say this are in any better shape, so don't use me as a way to make yourself look skinnier (or try and believe you are--I have seen the shit you eat!)

You don't know what I had to grow up with. You don't know what I battle with everyday, all the comments I have to deal with. IT HURTS people! And especially DO NOT tell your kids that Amy and I are fat because we eat too many sweets AND DO NOT TEACH THEM to make comments like that to overweight people, that is just sick and wrong! Just because you don't want them to eat that stuff, don't use me as an excuse.

Anyways... on the way back we stopped at the Bigger Burger in Elk River to see if it is as good as the ones in Sioux Falls. Verdict....YES! IT was grubbin! And Cheap! $3.50 for a bigger Burger, Fries and a really large pop. But 1 burger was plenty enough for me. Remember I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK I AM A FAT PIG.

Then we came home and waiting on my step was my new AIWA turntable! I Was so EXCITED!

We hooked everything up and tried some records that sounded really bad on my old machine and they sounded PERFECT. The turntable is made to go with my Mini-System and it really goes together well. Now I can get all my albums on CD! I am so happy. Amy said it was my father's day present. I can accept that!

Now I am just sitting here and putting my LPs onto my computer so that I can cut them, mix them and burn them onto my special Vinyl CDs that my Cool father-in-law gave me!

Ciao!

I'm Where... And Why did I do this?

Just got back from work and are my feet sore. Why, you ask? Since I sit on my butt all night? Because my co-worker and I went on a field trip.

We wanted dinner. We didn't want Keiran's Pub (it wasn't Wednesday and so our bartender wasn't there and it is too expensive). We didn't want to walk all the way to Subway. We didn't want to order Divanni's.

So we talked with the last Day person before he left for the night and told us to try a few of the skyway shops. Even though most close at 6pm (it was now 6:35), there should still be one or two still open.

So we got all excited. Let's GO! So we punched out for a half hour break... and here our adventure begins.

We started walking the skyways in the direction he said to. closed... closed... closed... closed... we past 4 subways, 5 Caribou Coffee's, a Jimmy Johns, a Cousins subs, a few pizzerias... 8 asian places... ALL CLOSED.

So we thought, let's keep going. We are close to city center (Which is 6 blocks away from our office bldg.)

So instead of a straight shot down the street, we were zig-zagging through the skyway. Finally, we get to City Center. Everything closed at 7pm. It was 7:30.

Let's try Gavedaii Commons next door... all closed at 6pm... Let's try Marshall Field's Marketplace....EUREKA!!!!!! LeeAnn Chin (YUMMY Orange Chicken!) So we had found food. And tons of it... we were happy. So we start walking back.... and get lost... twice...

We finally got back and realized we had a 1 and a half hour lunch/break. Yuk... But we figured we both need to get in shape, so we will walk everynight to Marshall Field's and Back and see if we can get there and back in 1/2 hour.

So again... my feet are sore... next time wear tennis shoes and not sandals... No matter how much of a hurry your in... and light-weight clothing... some of those walkways still have the heat on!

My Best Friend

Busted my ass at work tonight to get done early so I could meet my friend at the bar they hang out at on Tuesdays. I had a great time. I got to meet her new love. Seems like a really nice person and I am happy for her. She filled me in on the latest gossip and happenings at my old job. WOW!

Tonight I realized that I am bad at saying good bye or exiting a conversation. As we were parting, she said, Drive safely and it was great seeing you and all I said was, "yeah!" I could have said, You drive safe too and it was great seeing you again. But I didn't, I felt like an idiot!

So, Kiki, Drive safely, and it was GREAT seeing you again and I really missed you!

Hmmmmm.

Well, haven't written in a few days. Been tired and constantly busy.

I have just felt drained physically and mentally and spiritually. Work has been tough to try and keep motivated. But I think I have done okay. The Mountain Dew helps. But man is that stuff addicting.

I have been having a spiritual debate with my brother-in-law. It has been fun, but at times I felt he was being a little closed minded and forgetting it was a debate. But it made me feel good about my beliefs and reaffirmed them.

I have been under the weather a little. Wasn't home at all on Saturday. Did nothing today, other than music stuff.

Not much else. I am going to bed. G'night!