35W Bridge Collapse

I am sure that all of us Minnesotans could not have gone through their day without thinking about what happened 1 year ago today. On August 1, 2007, the 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed just after 6 pm. 13 people lost their lives and countless others injured. Michael and I went to see what was left of the bridge the day after the collapse last year. We obviously had limited access and views of the bridge as there were still cars, some with people in them, in the river waiting to be pulled from the river, but no longer as a search and rescue mission. I remember how many phone calls and text mesages I received that day from my family and friends making sure I was ok and not on the bridge. I know of some people who did have a close call, being on the bridge 5-15 minutes before the collapse. I can't say I had quite the same fright but I did take that bridge 5 days a week, twice a day for 14 months. I had stopped taking that bridge 3 months prior to the collapse, as I moved in with Michael and took a different route to work. It crossed my mind that if I didn't move in with Michael, if I would have been on the bridge. I worked late that day, until 5:50 pm. If I had driven my old route, it could have put me on the bridge at 6:05 pm, the time of the collapse. While 3 months is long way off from being on the bridge, it is still humbling to me. It could have been any of us. Below are some of the pictures that Michael and I took last August.

Star Wars Exhibit

Michael, his cousin Jeff and myself all went to the Science Musuem of Minnesota to see the Star Wars Exhibit. We started our night with an Omni Theatre movie titled, Special Effects. After the movie, we went to the exhibit. Jeff was in complete heaven as he is a huge Star Wars fan. It was fun to see different models used in all of the 6 Star Wars movies, as well as costumes and props. We also saw a 15 minute movie about robots. We finished the exhibit with a jump to lightspeed in a recreated replica of the Millennium Falcon cockpit. I got to sit for a couple of minutes in the co-pilot seat so I could pretend that I was Chewbacca. He's my favorite. I think he's cute. We also spent some time looking at the general exhibits at the science musuem. A lot of the stuff we saw is the same stuff we saw there when we were kids but it never really gets old and it's always fun to explore. If you're interested in going to see this exhibit, hurry up because it ends August 13th.

Twins Game

On Tuesday, Michael, Chris, Tanya and myself all went to the Twins game. We were going for a good cause. The reason for going was to benefit an organization called Cornerhouse. Cornerhouse is a non-profit organization whose mission is the following: To maintain the highest quality intervention system for children alleged to be victims of abuse and violence. For the past 17 years, they have had their annual fundraiser picnic at the Metrodome. I was able to get tickets through work to go to this fundraiser. Tuesday's picnic was catered by Divine Swine and included gift bags for the kids as well as live and silent auctions and door prizes. Last year's picnic attendance was 1600 people. After the picnic, we went into the Dome to see the Twins play the White Sox. Before Tuesday's game, the White Sox were in 1st place in the division, with the Twins 1.5 games back. The game didn't start off on a good note. The White Sox were up 4-0 in the 5th when the Twins rallied and got 5 runs. The game was 6-4 in the 9th and Joe Nathan gave up a homerun but was able to get the save. Twins win 6-5! We sat on the 1st base side in foul ball territory. There was a foul ball that came directly 2 rows below us that own of my coworkers got. It was a fun night!

I've Been Bitten by a Bug

I've been bitten by a bug...the bingo bug, that is. After going to play bingo with my coworkers last Friday, I've been thinking that I want to go back so that's what Michael and I did tonight. We went to play bingo at Little Canada Bingo, which is just minutes from our house. How convenient! Neither of us ended up winning. Actually we did pretty bad and didn't even get close but it was a lot of fun for a couple of hours. I am sure I will go again soon.

Vikings Training Camp

Sunday was the day of our annual trip down to Mankato to see The Minnesota Vikings practice at training camp. We headed down to Mankato around 12:30 pm so we could see the 3-5 pm afternoon practice. This was my 4th time at camp. As always, it is so hot and humid. Vikings Training Camp 2008 runs from July 25-August 14 on the campus of Minnesota State University. For those who don't know how it works, the players are given bicycles to ride to and from the dorms for each practice. They cannot drive their cars at this time. After the practice on the field, the players walk across the street, go shower and then come out to their bike and ride back to the dorms. A lot of the fans wait at the building they come out of after the showers. At this time, the players will come up to the fans and give them autographs. Some of them stop and meet with the crowd every time, some don't stop at all and some alternate between each side of the building so it is a game as to who you are going to have the opportunity to see up close and personal that day. Last year when we were in training camp, Adrian Peterson hadn't signed yet so he wasn't there. He ended up signing the same day we left camp and got there the next day. Of course he was the highlight of all the fans there. EVERYONE wanted him to stop and chat and sign autographs for the fans. We were lucky be on the correct side of the building and to have seen him on Sunday. On Monday, we didn't even see him at all. He never came back out of the building so I am guessing he snuck out a different way to avoid the mob of fans. We got a great picture of him riding away on his bike...great except that the picture is blurry. It seemed like every picture we took of him was blurry. We don't get autographs while we are there. Everyone else wants them but we just like to get pictures of everyone. We can enjoy that more than an autograph. Below are some of the better photos we got of the players. I spared posting too many field pictures as they can all be the same and be boring if you aren't into football. Some of the players pictures below (in no particular order) are: Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, Matt Birk, Garrett Mills, our newly acquired defensive end Jared Allen, Ray Edwards, Kenderick Allen, EJ and Erin Henderson, our newly acquired receiver Bernard Berrian, Marcus Johnson, Artis Hicks, Ryan Longwell, Chris Kluwe, Ellis Wyms and my favorite, Ben Leber. He's the one in the last player picture. I saved the best for last. Michael is my real boyfriend but Ben Leber is my "football boyfriend". :) On Sunday night we frequented the establishments of Boomtown, Tavern on the Avenue, Blue Bricks and South Saloon, at least that's what I think the last place was called. We woke up Monday morning and went back out to the field for the 9-11 practice and it was hot! It was already 88 degrees by noon. We left Mankato just before 1 pm and was back about 2:30 pm. As always, it was fun to be in Mankato. It's just the start of what's coming up for the next 6 months! Enjoy the many pictures!

Get your Motor Running...

Saturday we went on a ride with our motorcycle gang. Today's gang consisted of Michael and I, Michael's cousins, Jim, Lorrie and Johnny, brother Ray, friend Tommy and Joe and Joann, who are friends with Jim and Lorrie. We headed up to Hugo to pick up Joe and Joann. The tornado that ripped through Hugo on Memorial Weekend also went right through their yard. There were trees down and bent all over the place still and many of their neighbors, including their own house is being reconstructed.

We went up to Marine on the St. Croix and stopped at a bar called Brookside Bar and Grill. We went across the St. Croix River to Osceola, Wisconsin and traveled north. We eventually made our way to St. Croix Falls, WI. We took River Road and it was a beautiful road to drive on, on a motorcycle or in a car. We stopped at another bar on River Road called Wolf Creek Bar. There were tons of bikers there. Most of them had done a ride earlier in the afternoon for a charity of some sort. After stopping for about an hour or so, we headed back towards home. We took 95 down to Stillwater for one last stop. Lumberjack Days was going on so it was extremely crowded down there. It's nice to have a motorcycle in these cases since you can squeeze them in to park. If we were in a car, we would have had to walk about a mile away. We went to Brine's where Michael got his famous Bloody Mary and then called it a night and went home.

Dear Kellogg's

Dear Kelloggs,

While I do not like milk and have not drank milk since I was 9 years old, I could not pass up the opportunity to purchase your new cereal, Frosted Mini-Wheats Blueberry Muffin. I read about this new cereal on Monday on the internet and I thought about it all week and that I had to have it. I finally was able to purchase your product at 10 pm Friday night. I was unable to wait until I got home to try this new cereal and tore open the box in the car. Those little frosted biscuits were just as delicious as I imagined them and built them up to be. After further examination of the box, it says you are willing to let me try this box for free through mail-in rebate. You've outdone yourself, Kellogg's! Way to go! While I crave the blueberry Muffin flavor, I cannot wait to try the Vanilla Creme, Cinnamon Struesel, Maple & Brown Sugar flavors also.

B-I-N-G-O!

The insurance department at my work had a half-day on Friday. We left work to go play Bingo. I have never played Bingo in a real bingo hall. I have wanted to go play for a couple of years but really haven't anyone to go with. I had such a good time. We got to play for little over 2 hours. I didn't win but there were 3 winners within our group that did win. We also other ways to win gift cards. We were each assigned a ball. For example, I was G47. If G47 was called, I would get my name entered into a drawing. We could also enter our name if we were one off from getting bingo. I ended up winning a Major's gift card. I had so much fun that I want to go play again really soon. My sister is back in town now so I told her that she has to come play with me before she leaves.

A week ago when we were all out at Tony Jaro's, I gave a toast with our greenies to Michael. He was laid off last Friday. His former company, Restore Medical was bought out by the big giant Medtronic. We toasted to a better job to come in the future. Fast foward 1 week. We went over to Chris and Tanya's house with some drinks. We brought Champagne to toast to Michael's new job! Yep, he was offered a job at Minnetronix and will accept this position next week. Congratulations, Michael! I'm very proud of you and your accomplishments.

My week

Hi Everyone,

I haven't written since Monday. This week has been an array of emotions. I've been getting into bed early and just relaxing every night reading magazines. Work has been a little stressful as I have been busy and finishing up with an audit from Freddie Mac. I am glad I am finally done with it...until next year again. I got some pretty good news from my doctor yesterday. Last March when I went in for my annual exam, I found out that my triglycerides were high. Your triglyercides are a component of a cholesterol test. My cholesterol was fine (184 total) but my triglyercides (I'll call them T's) were not. The T level is how your body metabolizes sugar. A normal level is 150 and below and mine were 256. I was told to diet and exercise and read some information to avoid refined sugar and alcohol. I did the best I could these 4 months. I was VERY conscious of my sugar intake and I didn't drink alcohol. My results came back and my T's are now 198, which are still elevated but my doctor seems not to be worried and happy with the results. The numbers showed her I was making a conscious effort. Oh, and my cholesterol went down another 16 points to 168!
Happy Birthday to Tanya Hughes, my oldest and dearest friend whose birthday was Tuesday. We've known each other since we were in 8th grade and we don't get to see each other very often but we've got a date scheduled in 2 weeks and I'm excited to see her. Happy 13th anniversary to Samantha(Brodie)and Tim who celebrated their anniversary on Tuesday too. Michael and I went to visit my Gramma and Grandpa Falzone on Tuesday night. My gramma made me 7 dish towels, each labeled the day of the week. They have cats on them and they are very cute! Now I suppose I'll need to start doing dishes! Before stopping at their house, we went to the cemetery to look at my grandma's plot. There were 5 deer right on the hill above her plot. 2 bucks, a doe and 2 fawns. The one deer was a 6 point buck. The fawns were so cute. They were so small and looked like little dogs. And of course I didn't have my camera with me. My sister Jamie comes home from Branson again tomorrow and she'll be home until August 11th when she goes back to work down there. Finally, I've got a fun afternoon planned tomorrow and in the latter part of this weekend so I'll write again soon. Friday's almost here!

Happy Anniversary Greg and Cherrie!

Happy Anniversary to Greg and Cherrie Jones. Today they celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary. Enjoy spending your time together today.

A Special Thanks

A special thanks to The Fosse's, The Jones', The Lindstrom's and The Sack's for the thoughtful sympathy cards you have sent this past week. You have made me feel a part of your families when I needed it most. I truly appreciate it.