Hi Again!

I'm back! With limited connectivity issues in my household with my computer and my not-so-great-wireless-network, it's been difficult to try and blog. My network administrator (M) doesn't know what the deal is either so it's hit or miss if I will have the internet in my computer room at any given minute. There is so much to write about as I haven't for 11 days! I'm going to have a lot of posts in a short period of time so pace yourself with the details of my fabulous life! Read on and scroll down to your heart's desire, my peeps!!

My catch-up posts start on April 16th and end today with this post but look for posts for this past weekend to current in the next couple of days.

You may now resume your regularly scheduled reading!

Target Field: Twins vs. Cleveland Indians

One of the best things I've done all year is ditching work on a Thursday afternoon and going to a Twins game. Ok, so it was planned time off at work but it doesn't sound as fun or deviant when I say that. M and I went to Target Field for our 2nd regular season game to see the match up against the Cleveland Indians. The day was perfect as it was sunny and warm enough to debut my Blyleven jersey. There was no place I'd rather be on Earth Day than the Greenest stadium in MLB. Every time the opposing team's batter's bat gets broken by a Twins pitcher, The Twins plant 100 trees in a Minnesota State Park, so it's only natural and perfect for Earth Day that one of the Indian's batter's bat's cracked and flew into the infield allowing for more trees to be planted in our fabulous state. Despite gorgeous weather, the Twins lost big time, 8-1. The loss stings a little bit less, hardly at all actually being that we get to enjoy baseball outdoors. It's still hard to believe that this stadium is ours!

Click on the next three pictures to enlarge. Look at the shadow of the pitcher in the next two pictures.

Is that a UFO next to the building? No, just a hot dog wrapper that sailed in the air forever

Click on the picture to see the skyline and field in M's glasses

This car was in the parking lot. It's a Chrysler New Yorker.

After the game, we got back home and took the motorcycle out for a ride, taking advantage of as much time as we could spend outside on our day off. We went to eat at Baja Sol and then stopped at my sister's for a surprise visit. Everyone loves it when people drop in unannounced, right? My nephew's were there and showed off a little bit on their bikes for us.

I asked both of them to pose and they both posed like they were dead or a zombie or something. I have no idea what they were doing but they were both on the same page.

They were acting out a crash for the camera.

Jamie and her baby bump

Jersey's Bar

Dear Jersey's Bar Manager,

We visited your establishment tonight, Wednesday, April 21st. It was my first time there and my boyfriend's 2nd time there. We chose to visit you since we had a $20 gift card we had won at a benefit and plus, we had a Happenings coupon, allowing us a total of $27 off of our bill, so we ordered an appetizer and two drinks in addition to our meals to make sure we had racked up enough to cover our discounts. The bill came to $33.17 and when the server ran our gift card, she came back to us and said it had a zero balance. We were shocked and told her we had received it as a prize at a benefit and she confirmed that it had no expiration date but still offered to do nothing for us. Because of the shock, we paid our bill in full without complaints with only our Happenings coupon discount, leaving nothing more than disappointed we drove to Inver Grove Heights for a burger. After speaking to someone in the industry afterwards, they told me that this is Jersey's fault and that they probably did not activate the card in the first place. Whether that's true or not, Jersey's.... please make it right for us.

Sincerely,

Two unsatisfied customers

Laura's Baby Shower

My cousin Laura is preggo and is due on Cinco de Mayo and I'm sure she's saying to the baby, Arriba! Arriba! (Hurry up!) Laura and her husband Chris are having a baby girl, named Amelia Jane. Her cousins Tara and Joey from her other side of the family threw her a brunch shower on Sunday, including a super delicious stuffed french toast. Mmmm....I was afraid of all the sugar but went for a small piece anyways.

There were no games, just food and conversation and of course presents to be opened for the guest of honor. We all were able to take home a begonia plant in a pretty planter as a gift. Good time had by all us ladies!

Second Trimester vs. Third Trimester

Chris showed up at towards the end of the shower trying to impress us girls with his diaper changing skillz

Aw, sisters!

Jen, Laura, Me, Jamie (I probably didn't need to kneel on the floor for the pic)

Target Field: Twins vs. Kansas City Royals

M and I went to our first regular season game on Saturday, April 17th. The Twins played the Kansas City Royals and while it was a beautiful, sunny day, I still thought it was too chilly to debut the Blyleven jersey so I opted for my good 'ol Twins hoodie, which was a bad choice. I was sweating sitting in the sun, however we only have the sun in our seats for about 1 hour and 20 minutes so it was back to the shade when it got cooler and I was ok again. I was nice enough to let M debut the jersey though. He doesn't look too bad in it, either. Twins won 6-5.

This was M's toast to his first "blackout" at Target Field. Ah, you're a funny guy, Mister!

Statue of Kirby Puckett

Statue of Harmon Killebrew

Houlihan's with a bunch of Hooligans

M and I went out with Tanya and Chris on Friday night to Houlihan's in Maple Grove. I really like this restaurant and have been to Houlihan's a big handful of times in 3 different states...Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. We had really good food and drinks and of course, good company. It was 2-for-1's so Tanya and I split the deal, each getting a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a big glass and got me buzzed and a massive headache.

We went back to T&C's where we hung out and talked and eventually I fell asleep. Everyone woke me up somewhere between 2-3 am to go home, forgetting my camera on the table.

T&C got back from their Dominican Republic honeymoon back in March and they gave us a gift from there. We got a set of different candles set in the shell of a coconut and a kit to make Mama Juana. No, Mama Juana, not marijuana. Mama Juana is a native drink of the island and apparently it's a very strong drink made with Dominican Rum and honey and it is aged a few days with tree bark and herbs. This might be the official potion of Vikings tailgating. After doing a little reading on this drink, some claim it to be like Viagra or an aphrodisiac. I won't report back about those claims.

The guys' faces after a Mama Juana shot

Cosmo's face after a shot....not really.

Cosmo's and Company

I went out to dinner with my friend Garrett at Friday's on Tuesday, April 13th. We hadn't seen each other in about 6 months but it seemed like just a few months ago. We talked and talked and talked (Ok, I did at least) and caught up with each other's lives over some appetizers and drinks, cosmopolitan's for me, which are dangerous! Man, they are strong! I took the picture and I hate the way I look in it but decided to post it anyways. Next time the 5' 4.75" (I need to take every .25 inch I can get) one shouldn't take a picture of the 6' 2" Garrett.

Worst Case Scenario

Good Thing:

Tickets for Adam Lambert go on sale at 10 am on Saturday, May 1st.

Bad Timing:

I will be doing the Walk for Animals at that time.

Good Thing:

Adam Lambert will be performing on Saturday, June 12th.

Bad Timing:

I am supposed to be supporting Michael and his MS150 bike ride in Duluth and Hinckley that day, many miles away from the concert.

This may not be a problem for any of you but for a 33 year old woman who is in love with a 28 year old gay man, it's a HUGE dilemma.

Animal Humane Society's Walk for Animals

How can you resist donating with faces like these?

This is Powder. I adopted him in March 2004 when he was 9 months old. He will be 7 years old in July.

This is Fuzzer, Powder's older brother. I adopted Fuzzer in November 2003 when he was three years old. He will be 10 years old in July.

I'm doing the Walk for Animals benefiting the Animal Humane Society again this year on Saturday, May 1st. This will be the 7th time that I will have participated in the event and in order to make it a successful one, the animals and myself need your help.

My goal isn't very large this year, only $200 so I'm hoping between me and all of you good people we can meet this goal! Please check out my personal home page to donate online. If you'd like to send a check to me, please make it payable to the Animal Humane Society and send it to me at the address listed below.

Thanks to all of you for making this fundraiser a success!

Dana

674 County Road D East

Little Canada, MN 55117

My Personal Page to donate online

Texas Stadium

Texas Stadium, the former home of the Dallas Cowboys (1971-2008) was demolished today. M and I went there to see the Vikings play in October 2007. In honor of all the events that were held there over the years, I thought I would post a video of the implosion as well as some of my pictures from our time there.

The Cowboys locker room

The tunnel leading to the field

Yes, I am that talented

Goodbye Texas Stadium! I'm glad we were able to experience your legacy.

Miike Snow

M and I went to see a band called Miike Snow last Tuesday evening at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Before heading to the show, we stopped and ate at The Nook in St. Paul, where I had a good burger and had french fries for the first time in three months!

Miike Snow has only been a band since 2007. They were formed in Sweden but the singer is American. When we went walked into the Varsity, both M and I were surprised to see that the place was pretty full. Miike Snow is not played on the radio locally, so it's always weird that everyone else discovered the same band you did with probably one of the same resources, the internet.

Delorean, a band from Spain opened up for Miike Snow and while we didn't catch their whole show, we did see a few songs and they seemed pretty good. When Miike Snow came on, they came out in these masks which would be comparable to what The Phantom of the Opera or Buckethead would wear. I felt like I was at a rave with the lights and the constant dry ice/smoke machine and the loud bass but it was a good show. I wish the vocals would have been louder and had a better mix with the rest of the music. Miike Snow has easily become one of my favorite bands in the last 6 months. M bought these tickets last fall and it was nice to finally be able to see them live. Please check out the videos below to get a taste of what their music is like. Learn to learn about me by listening to their music and watching the videos. These are two of my favorite songs by them. I would love to hear your feedback about their music. Below the videos are pictures from the night which did not turn out very well. It's always a chore trying to take pictures in a concert setting.