Warm Up!

Today's high will be about 41 or so.
Remarkable because it's February and we
Minnesotan's don't see (or feel) those temps
until sometime in March or even April! :\
The other night when the meteorologists
showed the horribly low temps in northern
Minnesota, Gary said... "My God, why do
people live there?" and of course all I could
think of to say was..."That's what people
say about US, hon." It's all relative, right?

It's Friday and I was told that I would get
another opportunity to go to St. Paul to the
Gopher Bar with the boys for a Coney Dog!
What could I say...I love it there!
But I asked Gary if George would kick me out
for not drinking cuz I'm sorta on the wagon
for a bit.



Enjoy the warm weather today!

T minus 16 days.

WOW is it COLD!

I am soooo, soooo sorry for not blogging.
Bad blogger, BAD Blogger, BAD BLOGGER!!

It is so cold here in my house this morning.
Furnace is set to 68 but it's 61. CRAZY!!!
So why is it that in like March when it's 60
we run around outside in t-shirts and shorts
and today, in my home I'm wrapped up like an
eskimo and I have to continually re-heat my
coffee? BRRRR!

I tried to wrap some gifts last night while
Gary was watching the Cowboy's vs the Ravens
but Boo had other plans. It's seriously like having
a child...I'll have to wait until he is napping!



I am going ice skating with Owen today.
I'm very excited. He's been taking lessons!

I think that Jo has decided to come up here
tomorrow...maybe Tuesday. Both Albert Lea and
here have been getting dumped on simultaneously
the past few days so 35W is quite treacherous!
I'll feel better having her drive up tomorrow.

Stay indoors if you can!

MinneSNOWta.

Yikes,it happened! Our first official
snowfall. I got outside right away
knowing that if I waited to long, it
would all melt.







And, indeed, it is all gone.

I also wanted to post some shots from
the Sofitel from Thursday night. That was
some delicious fun! I won a couple of items
in the silent auction that I will be giving
as Christmas gifts. YAY!







I did not picture the auction items that
I won...so dont' get all excited about the
wine or the mirror! :D






J is coming over today for her birthday
hair and shoot! Not sure the shoot will
actually take place in that it is a very
blustery day, Pooh. We'll see.

Brrrrr. Stay warm today

Emily's birthday shoot in Minneapolis

Oh my gosh, did we have some storms yesterday!
The town of Hugo got hit really hard. A 2 year old
boy was killed. Many homes there were completely
destroyed. The weather here in Minnesota in the
spring is so terribly unpredictable. Hail the size
of GRAPEFRUIT! Incomprehensible.

Despite the crazy weather, Emily and I managed
to get downtown and get back to her home safely.
It got up to 84 here and it was a juicy 84 too.
I showed Emily the 35W bridge construction, the
Lock & Dam system and she hadn't ever seen the
Mississippi River from there either.
We walked along the Stone Arch bridge and of
course we made our, much anticipated, trip to the
painted wall.













Today, Memorial Day 2008, Gary and I are going
down to his brother's home for a family BBQ.
Machie is in town for the weekend from LA and
we haven't seen her since Christmas so I'm
anxious to hear all the stories from her job
at THE ANT FARM in Los Angeles.

I'll be recharging all of my batteries and
getting everything organized for my wedding
next Saturday at the Noerenberg Memorial Gardens.

Happy Memorial Day to all!
OH, and Happy anniversary to Ron & Cindy!!

April Fools Day!

Today is my brother Tim & his wife, Laurie's
25th wedding anniversary! Congratulations!
I'm looking forward to the big party this Saturday!

Well, as promised, here are some shots of our
snow "event". I went out this morning and shot
these. Yea, it's pretty and all but it still is
a reminder that the calendar means NOTHING and
God is in control!







And Jacquie, you got out just in time!
Here's Scott and Will getting ready to head out
this morning!




I met Dave Johnson from National Camera yesterday
at the Hopkins Hennepin County Library to go
over work flow. The weather kept the other guy from
showing so I got at private 1 on 1 lesson from
a master of task handling. It was awesome!
We went straight from 10am to almost 4.
I learned so much and can't wait to start putting
my new found actions to work for me.
Dave is a folder guy and a list guy. yay!

I'm also now armed with the resources to leave
and delegate someone to do my work for me.
Well, should it come to that someday. God knows
I'd love to get someone else to do my post for me!

I was surprised to see that no one else was
interested in this class. Maybe everyone else
has a perfect work flow or is outsourcing their
post. I'll be able to do it now on my own, faster
and get to the next project.

Dave recommends that you list what you do and
how much time you spend doing it...like a daily
time clock, so that you can see where your
"bottle necks" are and if you can actionize them.

What are your biggest tasks?
From start to finish...can you actually divide
how much time you spend on each event into the
money your are charging and determine if you
made money or lost money? CRAZY, I know..
Start with the first call and go to final delivery
of product. Where do you sit?

What's in your wallet?

Don't get fooled today! :)

Good Friday? hmmmmm.....

Yea well, the jury is still out on that one.

As I see it, after being rousted out of bed
by the sounds of snow plows and snow blowers
this morning, it's like pouring salt on the
proverbial open wound. I truly feel that
"March Madness" has little to do with basketball
and more to do with people going postal
here in in the state of Minnesota in March!
Am I right? I mean, I'm not sayin',I'm just sayin'.





I'll be hooking up with Becky (Mitch's mom) later
today at the Hilton. I believe 2 cancer families
are checking in today for a Minnesota Miracle weekend.



Find a happy place today!

colder than a meat locker!

Well, actually, MUCH, MUCH colder than a meat locker!
Woke up to not only 12 below outside but inside,
once I crawled out from under the electric mattress pad
set to chernobyl, I discovered that the house was
down to 62! That's cold! That's with the heat ON!
The door to the porch was open (4 season apparently
doesn't include February!). I can't even keep my coffee
hot in my mug. It's cold!

Yesterday, Pete's mom came over to get her hair done.
I love Carol. She is such a gentle soul. I perm her
hair about 3 times a year. She's the only one I perm.
So when I do, the house get a little stinky but it
doesn't last long and Carol is alway sooo grateful.
She always says.."I hope you never stop doing hair."
AAAARRRRG! (as Charlie Brown would say)...the pressure!
Anne came to pick her up and asked if I'd take Carol's
photo. So I did!



Anne also brought over the x-ray of Spice's kitties!
We can see 5 sculls & 5 spines...WOW, 5 kittens due
in about 5-6 days. Birmans. Know anyone in the market?
I can put you in touch with Anne.
I hope she delivers before Gary and I leave for Mexico.



This is Spice when we picked her up in Iowa



Met with Laura last night. She works at our Vet.
She is going to stay with Hobie & Katie while we are
away. Hobie is a "special needs" cat now with his
meds and we are thrilled (so are Anne, Jacquie & Scott)
that she was available to house/pet sit for us!
Thanks Laura. If you are ever in need of a pet sitter
give me a shout and I'll put you in touch with her!

Take time to call your travel agent today :)

Even Colder...

The temps up here in Minnesota seem to be
crashing along with the market these days.
The actual temp overnight was like 20 below.
Nothing is even moving outside, everything is
frozen still. So please, if you have to
walk your dog, get those little dog booties!

Altho' the temps were frightfully cold yesterday,
I managed to get over to visit with Mike, Kindra
and Owen. The mission?...belly shots! :)
















Here's Owen, waiting for Reese in her new, perfect room!

Today's high?...A new low.

That's right folks...
ONE BELOW will be the high for today.
And again, I know what your thinking...
"Sue, why do you live there?"
My answer is "Why do folks live ANYwhere!?
No matter where you go there's heat, humidity,
wind, cold, rain, pollution, tornadoes, earthquakes,
and the list goes on...right? Pick your poison.

It's just that when you wake up an they tell you
that it's 14 below zero with a 30 below windchill
it makes you stop and re-plan the events of the
day to NOT going down to lake Nokomis and
photographing the Pond Hockey Championships!

I am, however, going to Mike & Kindra's to take
some belly shots later this morning.
Oh, I need to inform everyone that when I got
the call from Kindra the other day saying that
I did not need to come that evening (of the dr. apt.)
to do belly photos i mistook that for Reese having
turned on her own. She hasn't.
Rather than manually turning her right now the
Dr. wants to give her another week and in the
meantime, Kindra will do all things in her power
to encourage the little darling to turn on her own.
So, keep them in your prayers in the coming weeks.
I'll post some photos tomorrow.

Gary's PT is going well. He has 3 more next week
and if those can reduce the tingling & numbness
in his left arm & hand there will be an 80%
chance of a full recovery of the disc....more prayers!

Today is Nicki's birthday, we are going to gather
at their home tomorrow evening.
In the meantime, by brother Tim is having a
"Frozen Pizza Party" for the Packers tomorrow.
We're supposed to bring a frozen pizza and
watch the Ice Bowl in Green Bay...silly Tim.

I wonder if anyone will go to the Chambers
hotel in Minneapolis and watch the game in their
Ice Bar!?!

Word of the day?

INDOORS

Christmas 2007...in the can.

well, it's really more of a "film" term
than a literal meaning...in that our
Christmas was really wonderful and we
topped it off with a little Christmas
fire last night. it was just gorgeous
out last night. calm, quiet, snowing
profusely...it was the perfect nightcap!
i hooked up my ipod and we sat and
listened to some classical music by the fire.
it was magical.







first we were at my sister's for Christmas Eve.





then to gary's brother's on Christmas day
for a delicious brunch and gift exchange.
gotta love this cat of theirs.."G"



i got bonnie a hillary nutcracker!~
it is a true, working nutcracker but i think
that she will keep it in the package as a
collector's piece! ;)



we left there a little earlier than expected
due to the snow that started to pile up.
and we even got another 3 inches after we
went to bed around midnight last night!
here's some shots from this morning!







nice talking to you last night dean & lois!

gary cannot get in to see his surgeon until
the afternoon of the 31st. bummer.
he'll get an mri prior..of that i am certain.
he's really struggling to keep it together.
his shoulder is in rough shape...pray for a
good outcome. thanks!