I was able to feel the baby kick for the first time the other night - very exciting! Angie is still doing great and In good spirits, even with the sub zero temperatures. We have our next check-up on Monday afternoon.
The Wild lost their first game last night, as they can't all be gold. I'm looking forward to watching another game on television this Sunday at 5pm. It looks like the temps will be back in the 30s by then, too.
This Saturday I'm painting the kitchen ceiling(s) and hopefully wrapping up the working-above-my-head portion of the remodel. At that point, I should be able to screw in the light bulbs and such. Don is coming over Sunday to nail up the tin we have planned for the recessed center portion.
We got sucked into watching "The Taste" on television last night. It's actually kind of interesting because the four judges conduct blind taste tests (like the voice with food) and then make a yes or no decision on that alone. The cook may be a seasoned professional or a home cook amateur, it's all about the food. Once the judges have selected their favorites and assembled a team (like the voice) the cooks are mentored and prepare new items. The twist is, during the next rounds of blind taste tests, the judges could eliminate members of their own team(s). It's a little over dramatic, but at least we get a food related show to entertain us without having cable.
Monday, January 21, 2013
2-0 and 10 Below
The Wild have started the shortened season with back to back wins, and Josh Harding posted a shutout last night in his first start since being diagnosed with MS. Even though the play is sloppy and the timing is a bit off (it's still early, no preseason this year) the team looks deeper than I've ever seen. I'll be interested to see how long the lines stay together before Yeo starts moving people and/or someone gets injured. My hope is the shortened season combined with the Wild's history of fast starts will get us into the playoffs.
It's freaking cold and it sucks. The low overnight tonight is -15, with the windchill we're talking closer to -30. I work in a large shop with huge, drafty garage doors and high ceilings. My co-worker and I have the heat cranked up to 75 but the thermostat still reads 64 in here. It usually warms up about the time I'm ready to go home at 4pm. At least this is my last full week of work, then I have next Friday off for ice fishing weekend.
It's freaking cold and it sucks. The low overnight tonight is -15, with the windchill we're talking closer to -30. I work in a large shop with huge, drafty garage doors and high ceilings. My co-worker and I have the heat cranked up to 75 but the thermostat still reads 64 in here. It usually warms up about the time I'm ready to go home at 4pm. At least this is my last full week of work, then I have next Friday off for ice fishing weekend.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Wild Wintery Weekend
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, which marks the start of the hockey season. Since we don't have cable (and have tickets to a play) for the opener, the first game I'm going to catch will be this Sunday versus Dallas. Hopefully the team can deliver and pull out a win or two, otherwise it's going to be a chilly start to the season. Literally. The high for Monday right now says -2 degrees. The high. Lows with the windchill are being forecast to -27 degrees. Welcome back Don and Linda!
The play we're going to tomorrow night at the Park Square is a musical entitled Johnny Baseball. Tomorrow is also officially "Hockey Day Minnesota" if you didn't already know. For me, it's more like prime and paint the kitchen ceiling day.
2 weeks and counting to ice fishing weekend in Wisconsin, really looking forward to getting on the lake again. A lot of my Xmas presents this year were fishing related and I'm anxious to try them out. Hopefully we're getting this cold weather out of the way now, so fishing won't be a deep freeze.
The play we're going to tomorrow night at the Park Square is a musical entitled Johnny Baseball. Tomorrow is also officially "Hockey Day Minnesota" if you didn't already know. For me, it's more like prime and paint the kitchen ceiling day.
2 weeks and counting to ice fishing weekend in Wisconsin, really looking forward to getting on the lake again. A lot of my Xmas presents this year were fishing related and I'm anxious to try them out. Hopefully we're getting this cold weather out of the way now, so fishing won't be a deep freeze.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Favorite Books of 2012
Using Goodreads is not only fun, it's functional. It allows me to find books I'll actually like (unlike Amazon, which thinks because I've read one book on the Holocaust, I must want to read them all). It also lets me look back over the last year and pick out my favorites and list them here:
Band of Brothers
I loved the HBO mini-series and I loved the book. The series is more visceral and condensed, while the book is a little more subtle and sprawling. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is the scope is one company, rather than an entire war.
We Were Soldiers
Another book made into a movie, however I must say the book is much more complete. The movie focuses on LZ X-ray only, completely leaving out what transpired later at LZ Albany. Although I may never fully understand the war in Vietnam, this book paints a very vivid picture of being dropped from a helicopter and immediately being surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soliders.
Into The Wild
It's not that the book is so amazing or the story is so inspiring, it's just a great book to contemplate the decisions and motivations of Christopher McCandless. I enjoy the complexity of the tale and sifting through the layers of the story (Survival, Society, Adventure, Companionship, Family, etc.)
Robbing The Bees
A biography of Honey and Bees. Purely fascinating. This is one of the books you find yourself repeating findings out loud, saying these like "did you know that bees..." etc. The book inspired me to take a community education class on beekeeping! While I'm not ready to start just yet, one day I will be and this book was the beginning.
Fully Loaded Thrillers
Collection of short stories by Blake Crouch. A great introduction to the author, very enjoyable fiction and all at a bargain price. Reminds me of "Creepshow" in the way the stories are short, engaging and somewhat macabre.
I've currently about 100 pages into Stephen King's 11/22/63 and it's fantastic, could have a possible nominee for 2013 in the making.
Band of Brothers
I loved the HBO mini-series and I loved the book. The series is more visceral and condensed, while the book is a little more subtle and sprawling. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is the scope is one company, rather than an entire war.
We Were Soldiers
Another book made into a movie, however I must say the book is much more complete. The movie focuses on LZ X-ray only, completely leaving out what transpired later at LZ Albany. Although I may never fully understand the war in Vietnam, this book paints a very vivid picture of being dropped from a helicopter and immediately being surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soliders.
Into The Wild
It's not that the book is so amazing or the story is so inspiring, it's just a great book to contemplate the decisions and motivations of Christopher McCandless. I enjoy the complexity of the tale and sifting through the layers of the story (Survival, Society, Adventure, Companionship, Family, etc.)
Robbing The Bees
A biography of Honey and Bees. Purely fascinating. This is one of the books you find yourself repeating findings out loud, saying these like "did you know that bees..." etc. The book inspired me to take a community education class on beekeeping! While I'm not ready to start just yet, one day I will be and this book was the beginning.
Fully Loaded Thrillers
Collection of short stories by Blake Crouch. A great introduction to the author, very enjoyable fiction and all at a bargain price. Reminds me of "Creepshow" in the way the stories are short, engaging and somewhat macabre.
I've currently about 100 pages into Stephen King's 11/22/63 and it's fantastic, could have a possible nominee for 2013 in the making.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
New Year Notes
2012 came and went with a fun night over at Jeremy and Kelly's. It will be the last New Year's we'll spend without the little guy around, as we just found out on Monday that we are having a boy! We weren't actually hoping either way, so the news was bound to be exciting. Everyone on both sides of the family was sure that we were going to have a girl.
We've made some good progress getting the nursery ready. We picked up a crib and dresser from IKEA, as shown here. We were also fortunate to get a Dutalier glider rocker (for free!) from Steve and Jess. For $50 bucks we bought some new cushions off Amazon and it will be as good as new.
Speaking of new, the kitchen remodel project is coming along nicely, too. I'm almost finished sanding the ceiling, I just need to touch up a few final spots. Perhaps this weekend I will be able to wipe it down and do the caulk and primer coat. We'll see, after all it's my birthday this Saturday. We're going out for dinner on Saturday night to Los Ocampo to celebrate. We've never been there before and figure it's worth giving it a try.
There won't be any more Vikings to watch this weekend, but starting next weekend (Jan 19th) we finally get to watch the Wild. It will be a shortened season at only 48 games, but at long last we can see the new, improved team take the ice for the first time. Lets Go Fellas!
We've made some good progress getting the nursery ready. We picked up a crib and dresser from IKEA, as shown here. We were also fortunate to get a Dutalier glider rocker (for free!) from Steve and Jess. For $50 bucks we bought some new cushions off Amazon and it will be as good as new.
Speaking of new, the kitchen remodel project is coming along nicely, too. I'm almost finished sanding the ceiling, I just need to touch up a few final spots. Perhaps this weekend I will be able to wipe it down and do the caulk and primer coat. We'll see, after all it's my birthday this Saturday. We're going out for dinner on Saturday night to Los Ocampo to celebrate. We've never been there before and figure it's worth giving it a try.
There won't be any more Vikings to watch this weekend, but starting next weekend (Jan 19th) we finally get to watch the Wild. It will be a shortened season at only 48 games, but at long last we can see the new, improved team take the ice for the first time. Lets Go Fellas!
