Thanksgiving Trip

Jeff and I spent the holiday in St. Louis visiting family. We drove down on Thursday and made it just in time for dinner. We left Sunday morning. In between we spent tons of time with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their adorable little guy. Here they are below. This is Jeff's younger brother's family. They hosted us this trip and did so wonderfully.

We did some shopping on Friday. Not much (I'm not a Black Friday fan) but trips to JoAnn's and Barnes and Noble made me happy. My sister-in-law wanted to make a couple fleece tie blankets as gifts. We managed to get the fabric and complete both blankets in one weekend. Here's my wonderful sister-in-law playing around in JoAnns.

Friday night we went to Jeff's older brother's house for dinner and some wonderful wine. My sister-in-law has introduced me to a number of great wines over the years and this night was no exception. I think between us, she and I must have drank a bottle and a half each. Great conversation, great food. A fun night.

Saturday we went to the zoo with my little brother and his fiancee. It was a bit cold out so the zoo was really quiet. But the animals were active and we made good use of the heated indoor houses. The bird house was Jeff's favorite, it was so quiet you could hear even the quietest birds call. We were the only ones in there for most of our time. The lions were playful and fun to watch. It was a great trip.

The weather was perfect the entire trip and it was great to see family. We don't get down to St. Louis near enough so it was nice to have a longer visit to catch up. We'll hopefully get back down in the spring. But it was a wonderful trip.

Home Again, Home Again

If you're wondering why I've been so quiet it's because I've been gone. Jeff and I left on Wednesday for St. Louis and just got back this evening. When we're out of town we only bring Jeff's computer, so I don't spend a lot of time online. Plus we were somewhat busy. You know...spending time with family. So no posts for most of the week. I was showing my blog to my mother-in-law and realized that I've only posted 100 times this year. Way too few. So I'll try to up the quantity. Quality...well...we'll see.

We drove down on Wednesday to spend the evening with Jeff's brother and his family. I spent a good chunk of the evening playing Hide and Seek with my nephew, and drinking wine and talking with my sister-in-law. It was a wonderful quiet night. The next day we spent most of the day with Jeff's younger brother's family and my in-laws watching the Lions again lose at football and playing with my new nephew. Then at dinnertime we headed over to Jeff's aunt's house for a rather spectacular feast. There were several cousins and their families and plenty of food and laughs. It was a wonderful evening. I was really full and Jeff was stuffed to bursting. We finished the night with more football and a glass of baileys to end the evening.

The next day was much quieter. I never go out for Black Friday and this year I had even less interest. The fact that shops are opening on Thursday now just makes me wonder about our values as a society. I wonder how long it will be before all stores are open on Thanksgiving. So needless to say, I was not heading out shopping on Friday. Instead we hung out with my in-laws for a very nice relaxing afternoon. I knit (I'm working on my scarf for the Special Olympics), helped cook (I have new recipe to share), and was generally lazy. That evening we headed back to the older brother's house for a dinner of appetizers, more wine than I care to admit, and board games. We played Apples to Apples and Discombobulation. I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. At least there was a lot of laughing.

This morning we headed to a local restaurant for breakfast and then Jeff and I headed out on the road. It rained the whole way through Missouri. A cold continuous rain. But Jeff and I had some great conversations (as we always do in the car) and by the time we were home I was feeling energized. It was a fantastic weekend with family and fun. I only wish I had brought the camera. And now I'm excited to have some time at home. I'm ready to slow down.

Eatin' in St. Louie

That was supposed to be a play on Meet Me in St. Louis, but I'm not sure how well it worked. Oh well. I just got back from St. Louis about an hour ago. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are expecting in June so Jeff and I made the short drive down to attend a baby shower. I'm rather excited for them. They are both very happy about the baby and, if the volume of presents is any indication, this will be one spoiled little boy. It was fantastic to see everyone. I spent only a bit of time with the mom-to-be and my other sister-in-law but got to spend a ton of time with my in-laws. We played dominos and talked and of course ate.

Jeff and I travel a lot but there are very few places where we have so many must-eat foods. St. Louis has some amazing eating, even for a vegetarian like me. So without further ado, here are Jeff's or my top 10 foods you must try in St. Louis. Note that since both Jeff and I contributed this will be a mix of vegetarian and meatatarian fare.

10. White Castles. I know that there are White Castles all over the country but this one of the only places where we ever seem to get them. Both Jeff and I are Castle fans. I've found you either love them or hate them passionately. There is no middle ground with White Castles.

9. Chiliman Chili is also national but we can't seem to find it anywhere but St. Louis. We pick up a case every trip we make. I'm not normally a fan of canned chili but this stuff is good, particularly over macaroni noodles.

8. Fried Pickles at J. Bucks. Having spent years listening to Jack Buck announce the Cardinals games I knew I had to try the restaurant named after him. And after trying their fried pickles, I knew I'd be back. Jeff will argue but those are some of the most amazing pickles I've ever had (Jeff hates pickles so he'd argue no matter what).

7. Vess Cream Soda. Where else can you find a syrupy sweet, bright pink beverage that I would go crazy for. Vess is a local soda company that makes one of the most interesting and tasty cream sodas around. They have tons of other flavors but Jeff and I used to fight over the cream soda. Another one of those things we grab a case of most trips.

6. Toasted Ravioli. This St. Louis tradition is always meat filled (rather than the more common cheese-filled) which is why it is Jeff's favorite meal.

5. The Pasta House. I was introduced to their salad long before I ate at the restaurant and from that first taste I was hooked. This St. Louis company has everything from sandwiches to rich pastas. Although I've eaten my fair share of meals on The Hill (the Italian district), the Pasta House is a great go-to meal.

4. Gerbers at Ruma's. Ruma's Deli makes the best Gerber sandwich in town. A Gerber is a St. Louis tradition. You take garlic bread, add thinly-sliced ham, mound on Provel cheese, bake, and then dash with Paprika. It's one of the few sandwiches where I break my vegetarian fast to have a bite of ham and cheese goodness.

3. Imo's. We had to get pizza this weekend. Like Fox's in Chicago I have certain pizzas that I crave. Imo's uses Provel cheese on their square-cut thin crust pies to make the perfect balance of cheese and crust. Add their cheese covered house salad with the celery seed dressing and I'm in heaven. My only worry is about saving some for anyone else.

2. To be honest almost anything with Provel makes my list. This St. Louis based cheese was created specifically for Imo's Pizza and has spread throughout the city. It is a mixture of swiss, cheddar, and provolone and is quite possibly one of the greatest things ever. Our local grocery store has just started carrying it (on request) and we buy a carton at least once every two weeks. Mmmmm

1. And last but not least...Ted Drewes. If I had access to this iconic ice cream stand on a regular basis, I would weigh well over 300 pounds. I'm addicted. Ted Drewes is a frozen custard stand on the old Route 66 that specializes in Concretes (think Blizzard but only better). Their Apple Pie concrete (with apples and pie crust and whipped cream) is my downfall, my Kryptonite. I am powerless to stop myself from eating it. We didn't get a chance to go this past trip but I'm sure we'll go down after the baby is born.

The typical nighttime crowd at Ted Drewes

Like any top 10 list, I'm sure that there will be disagreements. I didn't even mention the world-famous St. Louis style barbeque. I didn't talk about all the fantastic restaurants on The Hill. I was told that there is a pretzel place down by the Anheuser-Busch brewery that I would love. I've eaten some amazing meals in St. Louis. These are just the ones that instantly come to mind when the great city is mentioned. We travel down to visit really, but we also make the trek for the food.

On the Road Again

Thank god for free wireless at Panera!!!

I'm sitting in Panera in Kansas City waiting for Jeff to get done with the networking event that brought us down here. I accidentally left my book in the car along with my knitting. The only thing I grabbed in the rush to get him there on time was his computer. So here I sit, happily typing while watching the people go by. I have an hour and a half before he's done and I couldn't be happier. I have a coffee and a cookie, and life is good.

After this we're heading east, to St. Louis to see family for the weekend. We were last there in May and we both decided that it would be good to get into town sometime before the winter. Once winter hits, I get a lot more leery of traveling. And I've been missing my in-laws. It's time for a road trip.

Jeff and I used to travel a lot in the winter. In fact it seemed that the moment the snow started flying we started getting cabin fever and would head out of town. I've driven through blizzards and freezing rain. We've slid off roads and almost gotten stranded a couple of times. One trip back from Minneapolis, sent us back up to the Cities after they closed the Interstate. We even had one horrific five hour drive back from Iowa City where we had to use the rumble strips just to get some traction. We've traveled in the winter and sometimes paid the price.

But as I've gotten older, I've become a bit more cautious. I'm less likely to throw my bag in the car and head out of town when there is threat of snow. I'm not my old college self who would travel in anything. I check weather reports (some would say obsessively) and prepare for the worst. So this year I think we'll stay home this winter. After last year I'm still a bit gun shy of even walking on ice. Driving will be nerve-wracking. So we'll stay home and deal with cabin fever in other ways. Of course I say this now. We'll see what happens when the snow flies. Most likely we'll be back on the road again.

Not Quite All Here

I'm back. I had a fantastic weekend of visiting family in St. Louis and now I'm back. Kind of. We've actually been back in town since Monday night but I'm still not back up and running at full steam yet. The weekend was so fantastic and relaxing that I can't quite get back into my usual routine.

We traveled down to St. Louis on Friday and had dinner at Jeff's brother's house. It was a wonderful evening and we ended up staying until late. The next day Jeff and his dad and I headed out to The Magic House, a children's museum that I've been wanting to go to for years now. It was a interesting museum and even though we weren't exactly the target audience, we managed to spend three or so hours enjoying. The museum was busy but not so much so that we couldn't play with the exhibits ourselves. The evening was spent with ice cream (from local institution Ted Drewes) and dominoes with Jeff's parents.

On Sunday we were joined by Jeff's brother and his wife on a tour of the St. Louis Zoo (thanks for braving the heat guys). I love a good zoo and this one is one of the nicest free zoos in the country. I loved the new penguin house and the old-fashioned reptile house. But after about two hours, the sun and the crowds got to all of us and we escaped to find some beer and lunch. After lunch I ended up taking a long (3 hour) nap before getting up for a snack and more dominoes.

We drove home on Monday to a very happy kitty and a day of relaxing. My scheduled Monday off had fallen on Memorial Day so I was granted another day. Tuesday Jeff and I went out hiking and then did some grocery shopping. The evening was spent listening to the rain and watching old Phineas and Ferb episodes. A complete waste of a day but a wonderful one. So when the alarm clock went off this morning I was a bit unprepared to return to the real world. My work inbox was crammed with requests so I hadn't even found a moment to post. Thank god for lunch hour. Although I'm back in the office today, I'm still not all here. Five days off might be a little too much.

Merry Christmas All

In a few short hours I will be winging my way southward with the hopes of reaching at least Hannibal, Missouri before the weather finally catches up to us. I'm fleeing a storm that may very well bring 12 inches of snow to my fair city. I understand that my friends up north are receiving much more. My big hope is that we can get out before the rain we've been getting starts to freeze and change to snow. I'll keep you posted.

I'll be in St. Louis this weekend which should get quite a bit less snow and will be hopefully much warmer. I'm not sure what my internet access situation will be so I won't promise any posting. I also won't have a ton of time. So this measly thing might be it for the rest of the week. Merry Christmas all!! I hope you get a chance to spend time with family and friends. To relax after the sometimes exhausting Christmas season. That you get a chance to eat tons of food and that everyone stays safe and warm. I'll be thinking of you all. Be safe, be loved, be merry.

Still Not Back in Reality

I'm still on vacation today so I've been a little slow posting anything. The day has been wasted reading webcomics and playing with the cat. Mostly this is because the weekend was just so wonderful. I'm not yet in the mood to do anything productive. So instead I'm sitting out on the front patio, enjoying the gorgeous weather and a good cup of coffee and remembering.

I took Friday off and Jeff and decided that we would do some shopping on the way down to St. Louis. There was no hurry. So we packed that morning and headed out about noon. We stopped in Williamsburg at the outlet mall and did some serious shopping for work clothes. I got a ton of cute clothing and had an enjoyable day. I was working to finish my knitted shawl (which didn't get done) and the miles were flying by. About Hannibal (an hour and a half outside of St. Louis) Jeff realized that we had forgotten our dress clothes at home. My dress and his suit for the wedding were hanging on the bedroom door. There were many bad words said and then we both collapsed into giggles. It just seemed so much like us to forget.

So when we arrived in St. Louis, Jeff dropped me off at the mall and headed to Mens Warehouse. He found a really nice suit and then went to the mall. I'd been searching all over and couldn't find anything I like. He took me to one store and picked out a great black dress. I'm still impressed with his sense of fashion. I tried it on and we both agreed that it was perfect. So at 9 we finally arrived at the hotel to see two busloads of high schoolers heading in. Jeff and I just looked at each other and groaned. It was a high school band. Luckily for us their parents were there as well and we didn't hear them at night. That night we hung out with Jeff's brother and the soon to be bride (along with some of their friends) at the hotel bar playing cards. At midnight there was the required Steak n Shake run but then we all headed to bed.

The day of the wedding was a great mix of sunny and cloudy but cold. I had bought a back-up shawl in Williamsburg which worked out perfectly. I had abandoned my knitted one after realizing that I didn't even have the dress. The wedding took place in the afternoon outdoors in a pretty little park. It was a small service but very sweet. Jeff's brother got choked up on the vows and couldn't speak. My nephew (he's 2) spent the whole service running around the park and trying to get into every picture he could. The bride wore this beautiful strapless dress but ended up with a shawl. It was freezing in the shade. After the wedding service, we headed back to the bride and groom's house so they could change and then to the restaurant for dinner. After dinner (which was wonderful) we headed out to a bar to watch football and play more cards. We stayed for a little while but neither of us was used to the smoke and it started bothering both of us. We were home by 11 and I was asleep by 11:30.

The next morning I was up really early and sat down in the lobby writing and watching the high schoolers leave. I was impressed by how little I had heard them. At 10 we had breakfast with his parents and the bride and groom and then headed out. I drove most of the drive home since Jeff was so tired and the time just flew. I don't remember the last time a trip in total went that quick. We had a wonderful time. We spent tons of time with his brother and (now) wife. We met some very nice friends of theirs. We hung out with my in-laws and got to be part of a very sweet wedding. Next they get married in Mexico which I'm looking forward to. Warm weather, sandy beaches, wonderful people. That weekend will be even better than this last one. But I'm still pretty relaxed.

Knitting Challenge

I've joked that I'm the world's slowest knitter. When I first started knitting with my sister, almost three years ago, it took me almost nine months to finish my first scarf. I was so worried about messing up and having to start over. Now I've learned how to fix my work so that is less of a worry but I'm still slow. It took me almost two weeks of intermittent work to complete my first mitten. I won't even begin to estimate how long my first hat took me.

But last night I set up a challenge for myself. I'm heading down to St. Louis this weekend for Jeff's brother's wedding. The dress I'm planning to wear is short sleeved and St. Louis isn't expected to be balmy. So last night I started looking at shawl projects. I found one that estimates as taking 12 hours. I'm going to put that to the test. This afternoon I am running out to the yarn store to find my yarn. And then I'm going to try to finish this thing by Saturday. You would think that this would be plenty of time but remember, I am the world's slowest knitter. My knitting group was very positive so I'm enthused about it. Plus sometimes it's good to challenge yourself. And I'm hedging my bets with a lacier shawl pattern. We'll see if I finish.

Back and Feeling Invigorated

I'm a bit hyper today. I don't think it's the coffee I had this morning, or the fact that I'm a bit sleep deprived after the weekend but I keep jumping from topic to topic. I've started this post at least 10 times and the moved on to something else. The big thing is that I had a great weekend and am feeling like getting things done.

As I mentioned on Friday we headed down this weekend to St. Louis for a bridal shower. Jeff's brother is getting married and Jen, my sister-in-law, was throwing a shower for Jen, my soon-to-be sister-in-law. And if that isn't confusing enough my little brother, who lives in St. Louis, is also dating a Jen. It makes remembering names easy and figuring out who people are referring to hard.

We headed down south on Saturday and had dinner with everyone that evening. I helped Jeff's mom with a scanning project for the shower and finally hit the hotel about midnight. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and then headed over early to the shower to help set-up. The house was decorated beautifully and Jen (the current sister-in-law) had bought a ton of gorgeous pink roses that were all over the house. There ended up being a good number of people at the shower and I had a blast getting to see relatives I hadn't seen in a while and hanging out with family. After the shower ended, the boys came over and we grilled out. We got back to the hotel around 8 and I crashed. I drank too much red wine but the evening was a blast.

The next morning we had brunch with Jeff's parents and his brother's children since Grandma and Grandpa were babysitting. It was a very nice breakfast and when I asked Jeff what time it was, I was shocked to find out that it was after one. We headed out on the road quickly. In fact I think the car ride was just what we needed. Jeff and I had always been travelers. When we were dating we would do regular day trips and always had some fabulous conversation in the car. Since Jeff's started back to school I haven't seen him or had a chance to talk as much. This was a great chance for us to hang out and feel like a couple again. We got home at almost 9 last night. I should have been tired (7 hours in the car will do that to you) but instead I was energized. I cleaned and scrubbed the kitchen, reorganized the cabinets in the bathroom, and took care of unpacking the suitcase. I was in such a good mood that when bedtime came I was a bit disappointed. I'm hoping the energy holds over until tonight. But after a nice weekend, I might just relax a bit.

Poetry Friday

Sorry I didn't get a post done yesterday. I had great hopes for the day but then a friend of mine (thanks Carol) introduced me to the incredibly funny site It's Lovely, I'll Take It. The site finds some pretty unbelievable photos from real estate listings and posts them with a bit of commentary. Now I love looking at real estate listings. If I get a bit of time and don't know what to do with it, I'll randomly pick a city and look at the listings at Realtor.com. Maybe it's looking at the decorations, maybe it's me being snoopy, maybe it is just seeing what certain amounts can buy. But this is totally different. I truly can't believe what people will highlight as selling points of their house. Or how little people clean before listing their house. Now I won't say my house is clean, but don't you think it should be a little more presentable if you're trying to sell it. It's a great new blog find and I've got it bookmarked and am working my may through the archives. Hilarious.

I'll warn you, there won't be any posting this weekend. Everyone enjoy your long weekend. I'm heading south (Yay!) to St. Louis to see family and to attend a bridal shower. My brother-in-law is getting married this fall and I'm invited to a shower. And I'm actually pretty excited about it. We don't get down to St. Louis as often as we should and it will be a lot of fun to hang out with everyone. I'm blessed in that I enjoy hanging out with my in-laws. It should be a beautiful wedding and I'm excited to add my new sister-in-law. It should be an exciting fall.

That said I've been wracking my brains all morning trying to find a poem that would celebrate their upcoming marriage. I searched all the classical poets and only found cliches. I keep hunting through Brownings and Neruda and cummings with a hope of finding one. Then I realized that instead of old poets, I should go new. This is one of my favorite poets and one of my favorite poems about love.

San Antonio
by Naomi Shihab Nye


Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.

Meet Me in St. Louis

There is nothing quite like 20 hours of driving in a seven day period. Particularly spread out through two weekends. And although I'm looking forward to a weekend at home this coming weekend, I wouldn't have traded this past weekend for anything. We had a blast in St. Louis. We also sweated quite a bit.

I took Friday off with the idea that we would get down to St. Louis early enough to have dinner with Jeff's parents. The drive was great, somehow seeming shorter than the drive to Minneapolis last weekend. We headed down the Avenue of the Saints (my new favorite route) and wound up in St. Louis about 5:30. Perfect...well kinda perfect. We did hit rush hour. So we left 270 and took local roads down to his parent's house. I got to see a section of the city I'd never seen and also check out some incredibly cool houses in the Kirkwood area.

We went out for a nice Italian dinner and then wandered down to a park in Webster Grove (even more amazingly cool houses) to sign up for a study that is going on. Jeff's dad had wanted to volunteer for a long-term cancer study going on. Jeff ended up signing up as well and we hung out at the park watching the walk-a-thon for a bit. I couldn't sign up since so many women had already volunteered. Then we headed to Ted Drewes for custard and then home. I was exhausted and in bed before 11.

Saturday was listed as one of the hottest days of the year. The temp was expected to hit 99 and the heat index 110. So what did we do...went to the ballgame. We had tickets already for the Cardinals-Twins game at Busch Stadium, and we weren't going to let a little heat stop us. Talk about different ballgames. Last weekend I was in jeans watching baseball in the AC at the Metrodome. This week in t-shirt and shorts and sweating constantly. But I'm glad we went. I got to see Albert Pujols hit two homeruns and make an incredible first-base grab that ended up as one of the top plays on Sports Center. I got to see the only Cardinals win of the series and more than anything I got to hang out with family for the game. Jeff, Jeff's dad, his younger brother and I stayed for the whole game. All the way until the temp hit 99. His older brother, his wife, and their two kids stayed until the 7th which in itself was an amazing feat. The kids were great and everyone had an amazing time.

Here is Jeff's family who were able to attend the game.

Here is the stadium. 

And here is Pujols the moment after hitting his first two run homerun of the game. He hit two, two run homers before they started intentionally walking him. 

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with family at each of the different houses. I got to meet Jeff's younger brother's new dog, they have two, and it made me think about getting a house and a dog. The puppies were a ton of fun and so pretty. I love my cat but I wouldn't mind a dog too. It was strange to be at his parent's house this trip since their big beautiful dog Blitz had to be put down this year. I guess I kind of expected the polar bear of a dog to be waiting for us.

On Sunday we hung out and slept late and then had lunch with his younger brother and his fiance at one of the local grills. It was great to get a chance to see everyone over the weekend although I didn't take near enough pictures.

The drive back was good and quick and the rest of the evening was productive. I avoided the computer and managed to get a lot of cleaning and laundry done. I'm trying hard to make the house cleaner. But the trip was fantastic. Two weekends, two trips, both tons of fun.

To tide you over

My life recently has revolved around work, work, and sadly more work. Lately I've been working 12 hour days and have zero time for any real thought much less a blog post. If it wasn't for dinner I would never see Jeff. So these are just some images and maybe a video of mine to tide you over until I am rational again. Until then, thanks for reading. I'll try to put up some new images daily until the weekend. 

First up is a conch. We toured the world's only conch farm when we were down in Turks and Caicos. The islands were just hit with Hurricane Gustav and suffered some serious damage. Hopefully everyone down there is okay. The scary thing about this picture is that people actually eat these things. 

Down in St. Louis there is a park called Turtle Park. Can you tell why? This is Jeff and my brother Dave after they have conquered one of the larger turtles. There were about 20 statutes spread throughout the park. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from a trip my dad, my sister and I took down to Bull Shoals, Arkansas for a scuba diving trip. This is what a dive trip can look like after all the diving is done. Also a great picture of the three of us in wetsuits (sorry guys) 

And lastly, as Jon Stewart would say, your moment of zen. Here is a gorgeous and delicious looking chocolate fountain at the Bellagio in Vegas. This was a two story fountain with three different types of chocolate. Sadly no tasting. 

Forecasters don't know anything

Since we have started flooding I have kept a very close eye on the news. You do that when you are waiting to see if the waters will take out your car and office. So I have been reading the predictions about when and how the river will crest. I wish I could say that the forecasters have been accurate. But if that was the case I would have been home both yesterday and today. No flooding today. Worked a full day, with only minor street flooding outside the building. It was rising so fast that I was a little worried but no need. A half an hour later and the street was almost totally dry. 

Now they are saying that it will be Saturday for the crest and it will be almost a foot lower than expected. That is today. Give it a couple hours and they'll be predicting the end of the world. You have to love weathermen. The only people who can be wrong over 50% of the time and still keep their jobs. 

I went out today in bare feet with my jeans rolled up Tom Sawyer style and wandered in the wet grass by the house. Nothing makes you feel more like a kid than playing barefoot in the grass. I even got the cat to come play with me. 

We were out of town last weekend in St. Louis, enjoying 90 degree sunny days and visiting Jeff's family. We had a fantastic visit and got to see his brother off before they head to China for six months. I also got to see my little brother who took us to a fantastic bar/grill called Pat's for breakfast. Shockingly I didn't take advantage of the $2 Mimosas. It's amazing the effect that in-laws can have. 

This weekend we are heading into what appears to be the opposite. We head north, to Minneapolis. The weather there has been cool (70s) and rainy. We are supposed to go up to play trench, a modified dodgeball. Okay Jeff plays trench with the boys while the girls sit and talk and eat and watch the boys make fools of themselves. It's a wonderful time. Let's hope the weather holds. Okay lets be honest, lets hope the roads hold. They closed I-80 today east of us. I'm hoping that I-35 stays intact. And lets hope that Minneapolis is even a little drier. I'm tired of flooding.