Weekend Recap

Friday:

Michael and I went out with Tanya and Chris for dinner at Pepitos. It's one of Michael and I's favorite restaurants so we wanted to introduce our friends to a good place. The server was not good and Michael and I's order got mixed up and Tanya didn't get exactly what she thought she was getting so it wasn't the best experience but we had good company. After Pepitos, we went to Tony Jaro's River Garden to get a drink. They are famous for their drink called a "greenie". It made of vodka and some type of lime concoction and they are strong. They also have a weaker version called a "pinkie". After our drink, we went across the street to Psycho Suzi's. It's always fun here since they have a huge outdoor deck and patio.







Saturday:

We were supposed to go on the Vikings motorcycle ride called Ride For Life but it started to sprinkle in the morning and we knew that there were going to be storms later in the day so we had to cancel. We had been looking so forward to this too. I am sure we'll do it next year. So instead, we went to the 12 pm show for The Dark Knight at the Ultra Screen at Marcus Theatres in Oakdale. The movie was good and Heath Ledger did a fantastic job. The movie broke a record for opening weekend sales with just over $155 million in ticket sales. On Saturday evening, we went to Boston's in Maple Grove for some appetizers and beer. Half way through the night, Tanya and Chris joined us again.

Sunday:

We went to brunch with Michael's cousin Jeff and then we rode the motorcycle to a motocycle show at GB Leighton's Pickle Park. It was fun to look at all the bikes but it wasn't really crowd I was used to hanging out with. I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. Michael doesn't have to work tomorrow, or the next day or the next, or even the next since he was laid off on Friday. It's 9:45 pm and Michael just left on a whim to see a concert at the 7th Street Entry. He might as well appreciate his time off! If everything goes as hoped and planned, he will be getting a job offer this week. Cross your fingers for him! I hope everyone had a great weekend and have an even better week ahead.

It's almost Friday

Michael and I were on the motorcycle tonight in Shoreview and we saw 13 turkeys! There were 3 adults and 10 little turkey babies. They were kind of cute. Then we saw another 2 turkeys at another place in Shoreview. Then on the way home, we saw a doe eating grass in the front yard of a house on Spooner Lake and it was so tame. We just sat there and watched it and she knew we were there and didn't even flinch when the motorcycle got loud. That's it for today. It's been a long week and I am definitely ready for the weekend.

To the Jerk Driving the Escalade

Dear Jerk driving the Cadillac Escalade on 35E North just before the Little Canada Road Exit around 6:10 pm today,

The shoulder is not a lane. The shoulder is not to be used to "bypass" the rest of us who are stuck in traffic too. Your big, black, shiny, expensive vehicle does not give you a right or privilege to drive past the rest of us so you can get to exit ramp faster. I am getting off the freeway at the same place you are, as well as many others and we are waiting our turn until we can get there. We don't like being stuck in traffic either but we deal with it. So when I honked at you, you may have felt that flicking me off was the right thing to do but I wouldn't expect anything less from you. It's obvious your time MUST be more important than mine. I can see that by the multi-tasking you do...driving like a jerk and talking on the phone at the same time.

Sincerely,

A Courteous Driver

Funeral

Today was the day. We had a private burial for my grandma today. The weather was beautiful and the location in the cemetery is perfect. There were 16 of us at the cemetery, not including Pastor Nordlund. While the Pastor was speaking about my grandma, I heard crunching and crackling in the leaves and trees just down from where we were. I looked and saw 2 deer walking along the side of the fence. It was a perfect scene for where we were and what we were doing. The Pastor quoted someone by the name of Carl Sandburg. While this isn't verbatim, he said something to the effect that my grandma was a like a tree, a Redwood tree. He compared her to a tree in the sense that they are difficult to measure, until they have fallen. That really struck me...and I like the analogy. He also went around and asked any one of us to say one word that would describe my grandma. Some of the words were Genuine, Loving, Generous, Funny and Caring, all of which fit her. There were 12 roses there. Each member of the family, one by one, got to take a rose and put it on her casket. Those roses created such a powerful impact as that dozen laid across the top. After the cemetery, we went to the church for the funeral at 11 am. My grandma had always wanted my cousin Laura to play "Amazing Grace" on her flute at her funeral. Today my grandma got her wish. Laura did a great job with the song. While at the funeral, I was thinking about the time I got to spend with my grandma. I feel like I have been thinking negatively the past 4 days but today, my thoughts turned to positive ones. I thought about how I was the oldest grandchild and therefore I got to spend the most amount of time with my grandma than the other grand kids. I also thought about my grandpa too. While he died when I was 8, I still am thankful for the few memories I still have of him. I thought about my cousins, who were either probably too young to remember him or wasn't even born yet. Cherish all the time you get to spend with your loved ones....even if it is for a short period of time. Back to the church...the amount of people that showed up was impressive to me. I really didn't know what to expect since my grandma only had 2 sons, 5 grandchildren a great-grandchild and 1 niece, which encompasses of what I know as the "Sterner side" of the family. A few of my relatives from my mom's side, the Falzone side, were there as well as many other people I was not familiar with. Overall, the day went very smoothly and truly was a perfect day and setting for my grandma. It helped me tremendously with my grieving and today was truly a celebration of her life. Thank you to all of you who have reached out to me through the comments on this blog, through emails to me or talking with me on the phone or in person. Your support has helped me through this difficult time. You realize how many people you have on your side when something like this happens and I thank you again for being there for me.

My Weekend

On Saturday, my parents went to my aunt and uncle's house to meet with them and a couple of my cousins and the pastor to talk about my grandma and go over some details of the funeral. I didn't go. I didn't want to at first, then changed my mind and finally decided not to go. I am a very emotional person and I think it would have hurt me too much. I just decided it was not my method of grieving. My mom said it was good and I would have liked being there. My grandma's funeral is Monday morning. We are having a private burial first and then the funeral for the public. After looking at 60 obituaries in the paper today, there was only 1 person that outlived my grandma. For some reason, that makes things a little better for me. Here is her obituary as printed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Sunday:

Marion A. Sterner

Sterner, Marion A. Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother Age 95 Passed away peacefully on July 10. Preceded in death by husband, Otis. Survived by sons, Dennis (Pat) & Keith (Sheila); grandchildren, Dana, Jamie (Thomas) Seaberg, Laura (Chris) Urtel, John & Michael; great-grandchild Keith Seaberg & special niece Kristine (Jim) Craft. Memorial Service 11AM Monday at FIRST COVENANT CHURCH, 1280 Arcade St. (Hwy 61), St. Paul. Private Interment. Memorials Preferred. Anderson Funeral Home 651-776-2761

After deciding that I didn't want to do anything this weekend and after my dad encouraging me not to stop life and all the events in it, Michael and I went to 2 parties on Saturday. One was a 50th birthday party for his cousin, Pat, and the other was a party at the home of a married couple and his close high school friends', Dave and Molly. We went to the first party with our motorcycle gang. Michael's brother, Ray, cousin Johnny, and cousins Jim and Lorrie all met at our house and we rode down on our bikes to Cottage Grove together. We ate good food and played games. We rode back to St. Paul for the other party. Michael got to interact and see friends that he hasn't seen for a long time and I got to meet a lot of people that Michael has told me about but have never met before.

On Sunday, we spent about 5 hours on the bike. We rode all around the cities including cruising around Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, Cedar Lake and around Theo Wirth Parkway. We stopped at the Rose Garden, Peace Garden and Roberts Bird Sanctuary. While at the Peace Garden, I made it a point to think of good thoughts about my grandma and knowing she is now resting in peace. We finally ended our day laying on the grass at the U of M East Bank campus. The grass just looked nice and it was a beautiful day so we took a break from the bike and just laid there. At 5 pm, I went over to my parents house for dinner and to look at pictures of my grandma. Finally, Michael and I ended the night by going to see the movie, Hancock. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Grandma

My grandma, Marion Sterner, was born February 19, 1913. She passed away this afternoon at the age of 95. She outlived my grandpa by almost 23 years. He passed away October 6, 1985. Now they can finally be together again. I was able to see her on Monday after work for my last time. While I have to keep reminding myself that she was 95 and lived a long, good life, I find myself having a hard time doing that. I think about how kind she was. She was always very loving and was as generous as she was able. The earliest memories of my grandma come from when I was about 4 years old. I remember being at their house on Bradley Street and her wanting me to try liver and onions. I didn't like it. :) My sister and I would sleep over at grandma's apartment in St. Paul and she would make us really good popcorn and we'd stay up and play games. Then in the morning, she would make us pancakes from scratch. It seemed like they took forever to make but they were worth it. They were the best pancakes. I believe she also took my sister and I to the movie theatre for the first time. We saw The Karate Kid. I have very fond memories of my grandma and miss her dearly already. Rest in peace, Grandma. I love you.

George Michael

We went to see George Michael in concert on Monday night. We bought tickets the day of the presale months ago. I have loved George Michael since around 1985 when he was with the band Wham!. He was my "boyfriend" back then. Ok, so he's kinda my boyfriend now too, except now I know that I am not his type. I loved "Careless Whisper" and I finally got to hear him sing it live. It's so weird how time flies. His album "Faith" came out in 1987. That was 21 years ago! To me, it definitely doesn't seem that long ago. I do remember coming home from school around the same time and turning on MTV (back in the day when MTV actually played videos) and waiting for his song "Monkey" to come on. It was number 1 on the daily countdown for like 50 days in a row. He looked really good on stage. He danced around a lot and he was so smiley and happy. He's 45 years old now and he looked more energetic now then back then. Based on the review I read, he played 23 songs in 2.5 hours. I knew all but 3 songs, one of which is one his new album, "25 Live". We had great seats. We should have since we paid $175 apiece! This was my most expensive concert. I did spend $155 to see Elton John a few years ago though. Maybe the gay guy concerts are the most expensive? LOL. :) Despite the good seats, we didn't get any really good pictures. I think Michael and I take good pictures but when it comes to concerts, we can't perfect the right settings for the lighting. So these are the best we got.

Weekend Recap

FRIDAY:

Michael and I left the house around 9:15 am on the motorcycle for our weekend trip. We drove to Hinckley to meet his brother Ray at Tobie's for breakfast. We all rode from Hinckley to their parent's place on Lake Mille Lacs in Isle, MN. This was the longest bike ride Michael and I both had done thus far. It is definitely a liberating experience having to pack everything you need for the weekend in a tiny little saddle bag on the bike. The open air can be very refreshing. All the smells are more enhanced on a bike than in a car. You smell the fresh-cut grass, the flowers, BBQ's and even the roadkill. I know it's not pleasant but we saw many dead animals on the road. I prefer just to think that they were so tired that they needed to take a nap and sleep on the side or in the middle of the road. Some of the animals we saw were LOTS of deer, including the tiniest fawn I have ever seen, a fox, a few cats, some racoons and a porcupine. Now back to the fun stuff. We arrived at Michael's parent's house just shortly after noon. Later in the day we went on Michael's cousin's boat on the lake. It was a beautiful day. I have been to Mille Lacs a few times and it is always windy. This time the lake was so calm. We spent a couple of hours out there in the sun. Michael's sister Lisa had stars on her nails for the holiday so Michael and I put stars on our nails too. The stars were a big hit. Everyone wanted them (or we convinced everyone to do it) on their nails so I put them on every single person's nails there, including the most manly men, Michael's Dad and Uncle Jerry. We convinced everyone to do it because it was patriotic but some also said it was to support Cherrie. For the latest on Cherrie's health, please visit Caring Bridge's website. Later in the evening, we all set up our chairs on the shore of the lake, including Cherrie, which we were all happy to see her join us since she has been dizzy and had back pain for most of the day. We were able to watch 3 different fireworks shows including the cities of Isle, Wahkon and Garrison. We even had our own fireworks show on the dock.


SATURDAY:

We woke up early on Saturday and Michael's Mom made breakfast. She made biscuits and gravy. This was the first time in my life I had ever had them. Michael eats them every so often but I just had never eaten them. They were good but they are definitely not a low-fat/cholesterol friendly food! We left their house about 10:45 am and we were on our way to Wisconsin. We drove back through Hinckley and continued east through Danbury, Wisconsin. The town was having a parade so we got stuck in traffic. It was so hot sitting in the sun with helmets and black jackets on. We finally got through and went down Wisconsin's Hwy 35 through the cities of Webster, Siren, Frederic and Luck. Our destination was Milltown, which is just a few miles from Luck. We got to my Aunt Sabrina and Uncle John's place called Rest Point Resort on Bone Lake. Almost all of my mom's side was there. We had good food in the afternoon. I just love party food. Potato Salad, Taco Salad, burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, watermelon, brownies, YUM! After we ate, most of us went for a ride in the pontoon on the lake. Again, the weather was just perfect! We ended up leaving there about 6 pm to head back home. We took Hwy 8 to 95. 95 is a great road for motorcycles and you always see a lot of bikers on there. Once we got home, we unpacked the very little we could pack for the weekend and went out for a slice of pizza. While we were driving, Michael brought up one of our favorite restaurant's, Pepito's, so we decided to go there instead. They have great salsa. We ate, then went to see the fireworks at the Taste of MN. We parked in a lot that said $10 but nobody was really paying so we decided to take a chance and not pay either. We sat on the grounds of the Science Museum and they were the perfect seats. We usually go and see fireworks there every year. After the show, we jogged back to the car in case they were towing and we saw a weird shaped truck with flashing lights on it in the parking lot. We thought it was the cops ticketing cars so we ran to the car and got in and pulled away. While we were driving past the truck, we saw it was really only the ice cream man.





SUNDAY:

Today is so hot and very humid! As I write this, it's 90 degrees and the dew point is 68. We went to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory today. All the plants and flowers were beautiful. There are many rooms throughout the conservatory that you can go through. Click here to see all of of the different gardens and what they feature. We also walked through the Japanese Garden outside of the conservatory. We saw a female duck with her babies in the water. After the conservatory, we went to an exhibit called Como's Blooming Butterflies. The link is very interesting. We walked through what looks like a big caterpillar and there are plants and flowers and fruits around for the butterflies to feed off of. The butterflies fly all around you. You have to be careful as to where you are walking since they like to bask in the sun on the bricks below. One of the most beautiful butterflies, a big blue one, landed on Michael's shorts. I took a picture but based on where he landed, I am not going to post it here. :) The guy next to Michael did comment on "what an interesting place" for the butterfly to land. And finally, to end our long weekend, we went to the final day of the Taste of Minnesota in St. Paul to see The Zombies. They sing a song called "Time of the Season" which is one of my favorite songs of all-time. This song would make the list of songs that I could listen to over and over again. They also sing another good song called "She's not There". I have to say thanks to Michael for being patient with me and coming with me to go see them. I know he was really hot and getting bored. After the whole weekend, we ended up logging over 300 miles on the bike. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

My sister came home from work in Branson, MO today. My parents, Michael and myself went over to her house to have a BBQ with her family. She got me a couple of necklaces and magnets for me while she was down there. It was fun to have her back in MN. Tomorrow we are headed up north to Michael's parent's house in Isle on Lake Mille Lacs and then on Saturday morning we are taking off from there and heading to Wisconsin to join up with my mom's side of the family at my uncle's resort place. I will blog about it when I get back on Sunday. Have a great 4th of July weekend and be safe!

Check, Check, 1,2,3....Am I on? Yep!

Hi Everyone! I decided to "go live" with my blog today, Tuesday, July 1st and I am very nervous to do so. I have been blogging for the past few weeks to make sure this is something I really wanted to do and there is no time like the present to introduce you to it. Please feel free to read my posts, click on any of the links, look at pictures, and especially leave comments! I would love to know if you guys are actually reading my posts. The front page only hosts a certain number of posts so if you are at the end of the page, click the "Older Posts" link and you will continue to the next page or you can always just click a post in the "Blog Archive" section on the right hand side of the page. I look forward to hearing from you. Have fun with this!