connie k's web journal

Good Times Noodle Salad

"It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good."
Melvin Udall, in As Good As It Gets

I have been really lax with my journaling and writing, so I thought that it was about time to challenge Chris to a blog-off. He always accepts the challenge, and comes up with a good read!  So thanks to you Chris, we have a fun and unique blog off topic, and hopefully a hand full or more of people who decided to join us.

Great Stories, Pretty Stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends.

Summers in Minnesota are beautiful, hot and damn muggy, especially when the dog days of August arrive. A lot of people think that Minnesota is where Eskimos live and we have snow year round. I once was asked if we had tv in Minnesota, and it was then that it dawned on me the true reason as to why the seasons are so extreme here - it keeps the riffraff out. (And you know the second question this Southerner asked me was if my whole family lived in Igloo’s or if we each had our own.) Its true that the average temperatures in Minnesota in the summer months are in the 80’s. Summer brings sunshine, swimming, lake houses, summer dinks, water skiing teams, and of course summer love.

My first summer love was the water. Who had time for boys when there were lakes to swim in, and towers to dive off of? Not me. When I think of summer I think of I think of the good times I had with my friend Lyssa. We spent as  much time at the beach in Spicer as we could. Green Lake was our favorite  past time, and we were queens of that diving tower. (At least we thought we were.) We spent hours and hours swimming at that beach - we’d bask in the sun only momentarily, because that diving tower was calling for us. We’d be at that lake even on really windy days when the waves seemed bigger than we were - it made it more of a challenge to swim out to that tower. The tower still stands out in the lake every year, and it serves as a reminder of how much fun I had those summers with Lyssa. It does give me a bit of sadness as I pass by that tower on my way out to the lake house, I know where the tower is, but I haven’t any clue about Lyssa.

The summer that Grace was just a baby I had great times out at the lake house. I enjoyed having friends from High School out to the lake for drinks and swimming. We all have kids now, and its so fun seeing them and even more fun to see the kids have fun out in the water. Its so reminiscent of the days I spent out at Green Lake. I can only hope that Thea and Grace grow to have fond memories of being out at the lake - memories of Grandpa taking them for ice cream at the ice cream shack, and memories of water skiing and tubing.

Good Times, Noodle Salad

The rite of passage in my area of the world for teenagers was pretty simple. You and some friends would go up to the old Nest Lake Bridge and jump off.  I had imagined that it wouldn’t be such a big deal, as I had jumped from the diving tower for years and hadn’t had a fear of heights (at least that height) since about jump 10 years back.  So one hot and muggy August day, I went with some friends out to the Nest Lake Bridge, and stood above that beautiful lake, and realized that I really did have a fear of heights!

Just how high was this height? High enough. Below you’ll see some visuals of the new Nest Lake bridge that they erected in 2004. As you can see they took away the real good jumping spot and put rails up to detract future jumpers. 




(*No one that we’ve ever heard of has been hurt doing this jump. They only accidents we’ve ever heard of are of the extreme wedgie, and “oops where is my bikini top” kind.)

So about the year 1996 I and a few of my friends went to Nest Lake Bridge, and did what many others did for years before us. Stood atop that bridge, looked down at the water, and realized “Gee this is really high.” and wondered why it was so deceptively tall from the usual vantage point. We stood together the 4 of us and held hands, deciding that it was better if we all jumped at the same time. What really happened was that one of us jumped (it wasn’t me, I was in the middle) and the rest of us were pulled down. It was a chain of falling blondes. And then there was the water, and it felt so good, so much better than had we walked our way into the water, or jumped from a dock. This water was different - it was exciting and exhilarating. We each popped back up and all of us were fine, well mostly fine, one of us had lost their top in the fall ... or jump rather. When the heads were all above water we could see that a car had stopped, we had been spotted - not good. So we took off in the direction of where we had parked... all of us, including one topless. It was a race to get in the car and away, as anyone caught jumping off the Nest Lake bridge got an over night stay in the psych ward. (Something about appearing to want to kill yourself I guess.)


We drove back to my parents place, and settled right in for dinner. It was a italian noodle salad and a watermelon my mom had cut up.... Yes that was my favorite summer food I put in my mouth! 

Advice.

What is the best advice you ever received?

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
Erica Jong

I think the most useful advice I was ever given was on my wedding day. I am sure this is advice that our pastor had given everyone else just before their wedding, as its nothing so profound, until you realize that it works with most everything you ever come to have to deal with.

I got married on February 12th, 2000 and I was lucky enough to get married on the day of the biggest snowstorm the state had that winter. There was so much snow and wind, that it made travel very difficult, even just going to get my hair done that morning was a challenge. I got married at 4 o’clock and there was plenty of time for the major roads to be plowed and sanded even just a little bit.

I got dressed at the church, and left my dressing room to find Erick in the men’s dressing area. Our pastor knocked on the door to check in with us, and it was then that he gave us this advice. He said “Don’t worry about a thing today, if anything goes wrong, its completely out of your control - just focus on what matters today and that is getting married.” I honestly can’t recall anything going wrong that day.... we were worried about our guests of course who hadn’t yet arrived, hoping everyone was just late, and not hurt in a car accident. The wedding went by quickly and I really don’t recall if anything did not go according to plan - but I think that has something to do with the advice that was given. The only thing I concentrated on was what was in my control and that was simply saying “I do.”

I am a worrier by nature. I worry a lot, and plan a lot. There are many times I plan and worry about the plan. Its very much in my nature to look at things and try and plan and plot them out - right down to every action and reaction. Most of the time I’m accurate and the plan was well thought out... but then of course there are the times that that unexpected occur, and that throws me for a serious loop. I am not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl. It is in times like this that I remind myself to “focus on what is important today” and as hard as it is to focus most days, taking my mind away from the worry, away from the “what if’s” and ugly unknowns - I find peace.

So what is really important in life? Its not something that I have to worry about or plan out. I have to remind myself of this, because this is what is important.

What do you think the world will be like when you are a grown up?

“We grew up founding our dreams on the infinite promise of American advertising. I still believe that one can learn to play the piano by mail and that mud will give you a perfect complexion.” - Zelda Fitzgerald

I can’t tell you how many cartoons I’ve seen with the story line being about someone mailing off for something and becoming utterly disappointed when it arrives. Just the other day I saw a Franklin episode where he sent off for a big boat, and a tiny cardboard boat arrived. Of course the pinnacle of the cartoon was when Franklin the turtle had to tell his best friend, and financial parter, Bear, that it was a tiny cardboard boat, and not at all of what they had expected. Bear being the gracious friend that was wasn’t angry at all, and found the beauty and fun in the package that did arrive. Not once did he really seem to care that it was a tiny cardboard boat and not the real thing. I thought “What bullshit.” Thats not how life works, thats not how kids work, that is not even how adults work - it simply doesn’t work. It most certainly doesn’t work for me.

When I saw that cartoon I thought about the war in Iraq. I know, really Connie, how can you associate the two? Well Franklin seems like the Bush administration, sending off for something they thought was something BIG, HUGE and RIGHTEOUS. Then instead of getting what they were telling us they were getting - you know those WMD, they got a cardboard WMD the size of a toothpick. Then the rest of us are like Bear - gracious and forgiving finding the joy in the toothpick. I can find no joy in the toothpick. I’m not gracious, and I am not forgiving, me and Bear have jack in common.

I didn’t think that I would live in a time of war. Of course, looking at history, how could I have come to that conclusion? My grandparents lived during a time of war (WWI & WW2) and had children, lived their lives as best they could. In WW2 my Grandpa Alvin’s brother Carl went to war for my grandpa. He took my grandpa’s draft and said he’d go in his brothers place, because his brother had a family. My parents lived during the Korean Conflict, and of course the war in Vietnam. So how on earth I got the silly notion in my head that I would not live during a time of war is beyond me - but thats what I thought. I would be a grown up in the time of peace - but I’m not.

I thought that I would be living as I did out of college. I had just enough money to cover those necessities as gas, rent, and fun money. These days I make a lot more, and I do mean a lot more than I did out of college - and it still is just enough to do gas, mortgage, groceries, bills, and fun money.
I had this strange idea that I would not be married, and not have kids. I guess I was shooting for more of a wild and free life than what I have now. This is a good thing, I had no idea how exciting and rewarding motherhood is. I also had no idea how excruciatingly painful c-sections with out anesthetic is - but thanks to Thea, I found out! I had no idea that seeing my daughter dance in her first dance recital would make me cry. I had no idea that I would know every good method known to man to relieve gastric reflux disease, diaper rash, and gas pains. I had no idea of the pure joy it would bring to see my 2 year old drive a barbie jeep as if she’d had her license for years. I had no idea that I, as an adult could love so much - the sheer capacity is unmeasurable.

“Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up.” - The Wonder Years

I remember quite vividly the moment when I was truly growing up. I was standing in my Grandma Eleanor’s kitchen talking about how disappointed I was that a friend of mine blew off summer plans with me, and some others. It was incredibly painful that the blow off occurred. I couldn’t understand why or how they could have plans with “other friends” (ummm we’re your friends, and we’re all here type moment). It was shortly after my Grandpa died, and I was staying at Grandma’s as she didn’t want to live alone. I stood in the kitchen, about ready to sob. Grandma stood behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said “You’re going to have to get used to the idea that your all growing up, and growing apart. Its how it works Connie. You’ll make new friends now, you’ll have your whole life long. You have to let these guys go and do the same. It happened to my mother, it happened to me, it happened to your mom, its happening to you. Growing up sure is the bunk. Come have some rice crispies with me.” And she poured me a bowl of cereal, and we listened to the snap crackle and pop.

I don’t keep in touch with many of my high school friends anymore. Not for any other reason than “growing up”. With myspace and facebook we’ve touched base a few times - checking to see we’ve all survived this whole growing up thing. We care, but its hard to connect again, and connect in that same way. The emails and notes are signs of that “forgiveness” we have to give ourselves for growing up.

I went to bed that night as a grown up, well sort of. Grandma did come in at 2 am. She put her ear near my chest. I said “What are you doing Gramma?” she says “Just making sure your still breathing.” Evidently she hadn’t gotten the memo that I wasn’t at risk for SIDS anymore.

happy mom's day

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! I say weekend because Erick hooked me up with two beautiful days of "Momma relaxing" and a date on Friday night. How lucky am I? Very lucky! On Friday after Nina got home from school she told Erick that he should take me out on a date because its been a long time since we've been out together alone. Erick took her up on the offer and came running upstairs and said "Woman get ready I'm bringing you out on a date!" I have been wanting to see "Iron Man" so that is what we did... caught the 5pm show of Iron Man and then had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays! Oh wait it gets better - we get home and the kids are all asleep! Saturday is dance day... so I got up in the morning and got Thea ready for her dance day with Miss Lorelei. The dance practice went by smoothly.... and the rest of the day was spent relaxing. Erick took the girls out for a bit to get supplies for my mothers day present. It was pretty funny to see how excited they were about it. Thea and Grace made me a cake for mothers day! (as you can see in the picture)Sunday was a day to sleep in, and lounge around. Really - that is all I did. (Well I did do a tiny bit of web work on a project last night, but not too much at all.) It was an absolutely perfect mothers day! I hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend too!

this dance mom's day

My girls in their more natural state.
Thea is 60% Sugar and 40% Spice, where Grace is 60% Spice, and 40% Sugar

It was "spa day" as it was dance picture day and this mom had to get ballerina girl Thea ready for her pictures.

Grace is in the ME TOO stage, and so I did the same for her. As you can see the full body massage, the mud mask, and the other priming that went on went very very well and everyone involved was happy and smelled good.

 
Seriously, 60% Spice

My beautiful Ballerina
(Seriously its amazing how good looking Erick and I's kids are... considering that they are 100% genetically ours!)

60% Sugar, no lie.

my fun day may 6th 2008

I was so excited that the new Barenaked Ladies album "snacktime" came out today! BNL made their first children's CD and its amazing! I can honestly say that the children's music today is better than it was years ago. The age of Laurie Bernker has been much better than the wiggles.... but seriously BNL can rock Laurie's socks off. :)  The video for 789 is on youtube and is pretty funny. My favorite song is called The Ninja's - "The Ninja's are deadly and silent. They're also unspeakably violent. They speak Japanese and do whatever they please - and sometimes they vacation in Ireland. The Ninja's are deadly and silent. They're also unspeakably violent. They speak Japanese and do whatever they please - and if you tear off their masks they'll be smiling!" Who wouldn't love this cd? I've been rocking with the kids to it this afternoon..... So if your looking for an alternative to LBB, Barney or worse those *&^*% Wiggles give the BNL boys a try.

I took the girls to the Minnesota Zoo this morning to see the big dolphin show. This past fall the zoo got two new dophins so there are now 4 - Seamo, Spree, Allie, and April. Thea and Grace enjoyed themselves at the dolphin show. We walked around the zoo for a bit and we decided to grab some lunch. The middle picture is of Gracie, and she was saying "Look mom a present - for you!" She is so funny! As you can see it didn't take too long to wear Thea completely out.... Grace as always is all smiles.

Well hi ho hi ho its off to do mom stuff I go!

Our Weekend in Pictures

This was a fun weekend. Gracie and Thea had so much fun playing around in dance costumes. (They are last years costumes, this years costumes are safely hung in the closet.) Erick and I both enjoyed watching Thea and Grace make up the various dances that they did. One of the funniest part of the weekend was when Thea came out of her bedroom dragging Grace by the leg out and said "Here is your baby!" - just moments after Gracie shut her music off.

Nina had prom this weekend. As you can see from the pictures she had a nice time and looked as beautiful as she is. On Sunday night Erick and I met the new boyfriend Jeremy. (The Prom date was a friend who hangs out in the same group as she.) Erick and I told Nina that after Josh that before she starts dating anyone else we have got to meet him first. Its been about 3 weeks that Jeremy has been waiting.... and we met him tonight. He was a nice kid, and I was thrilled that he had a brain and didn't want to grow up to be a WWE wrestler.

Nina & Prom Date Matt

Everybody loves Gracie

Eek get away from me!

pucker up baby

peek a boo!

Hey its Gracie

Prom 2008

Last night Nina had her Junior Prom - and here are some pictures from it. Erick and I were not allowed at the picture taking session, or the grand march. (In retrospect I don't think they even went to Grand March.) So Erick and I happily got a chance to see the pictures this morning. (Aren't we lucky?) Anyway here are some pictures from the night.... the Prom Theme was "A Night In Venice".

its friday may 2nd - already

In the event that you live under a rock, I just have to show that I was the winner of the 32 gig ipod touch from ping.fm yesterday. ping.fm is a service where you can "ping" or repost to various other services through their web interface. I had heard of ping.fm through webware's blog and decided to try them out one day - and on the same day I signed up for them there was an blog post about following them on twitter. I am a twitter lover, and so I figured why not follow them. Yesterday morning I was working on a project only to find that - I was the winner of the 32 gig ipod touch! Can a day get any better than that? I think not! Erick of course is very happy because he is going to be the proud owner of a 16 gig ipod touch..... yes I am going to spread the love around here! Sean, at ping.fm asked if I minded if it was engraved, how thoughtful? So I am super psyched to get my hands on this new ipod, and even more psyched to read the engraved message! (I'll be sure to post a video blog so everyone can see the ping.fm note.) The only thing that is bugging me about this great arrival is the fact that it wasn't all that long ago that the damn DHL man stole my ipod!

Last night Erick's brother Guy and his wife Lisa came for dinner and we had a nice time. From the pictures I posted previously you can see that Thea was spending time feeding Sophia - and loving each and every moment of it. Grace ran around in a belly dancer costume (which comes standard in any house that has more than 3 girls in it). I made some taco's for dinner - nothing fancy. Erick's brother Guy brought a home made cheese cake - which was delicious! (and I happily got the recipe from him today) We had a nice visit - and Thea loved showing them all of her costumes for the up and coming dance show.

This weekend Nina has prom..... and Erick and I have been told to basically get lost. She doesn't want to go to grand march, and isn't really all that interested in us going to a friends house to take pictures of them before they go. C'est la vie. I had to laugh cause my mom and dad were thinking about coming down and watching grand march. I had to tell them that they were not invited. My mom's response was "Well Thea and Grace won't have that option!" So let it be known that in 12 years when Thea goes to prom, and 15 years when Gracie does - my parents are coming, and they are bringing their camera damn it!

I am hoping to finish up a website myself this weekend, I don't have that much left to do other than a few slide shows. (yay) Other than doing some other blog work for clients, and a little graphic work it should be a fairly quiet weekend. There is always stuff to do around the house... I am happily and anxiously awaiting the bids back from Ivan so we can get going on this big ol reconstruction project.

Speaking of the reconstruction project... I am going to be able to get my hands on some original Holly Alderman banners for the upstairs. How cool is that? :) VERY COOL. I've never owned art before, let alone real art. I'll keep you updated!

Its Thea!

Tonight Thea had the chance to feed her little cousin Sophia when her uncle Guy and aunt Lisa came over for dinner. Thea absolutely loves feeding babies - and it was an extra special night cause she got to feed the baby.

 

Thea's been working very hard at getting ready for the big dance recital coming up in a few weeks. On Wednesday she is going to have "picture day" which is going to be a real zoo. She'll have 5 individual shots, 5 class shots, and 2 buddy shots with Nina. Once I get those pictures back I'll b e sure to post them up! (Let's hope they are all good!)