Thursday night Chris & I met some people downtown at First Avenue to see Explosions in the Sky. My coworker Ross had mentioned the concert earlier this year and said this group was in his top 5 favorite groups! The first guy was not good - I’m not sure exactly what kind of music it was but he basically had a guitar and a laptop. The middle group had a hilarious lead singer. He was really tall & skinny and all I could think was that he should be wearing zubaz! It was entertaining, even if it wasn’t music that I maybe would have picked. Explosions in the Sky was good…I had listened to some of the music before the show but didn’t really know what to expect from the live show. Unfortunately, Ross wasn’t feeling well & he ended up leaving before the show was even completed. Afterwards, Steve, Todd, Chris & I headed to O’Donovans for some food before calling it a night.

I must be getting old…it was a late night for me for a week night…Friday I was pretty tired!

Four51 is a great place to work for many reasons. The most recent is the fact that we are teaming up with Special Olympics of Minnesota (SOMN) to create a program that will allow companies to parter with SOMN in more ways than just providing volunteers (which is an awesome way to help…but there’s so much more we can do).

So - earlier this year they were looking for volunteers within the company to be a ‘captain,’ and of course I said I would love to. I was selected along with 3 coworkers to work on the new program. We had our first meeting with the Special Olympics people yesterday and got to see an athlete’s story as well as talk about what we will be doing. Four51 will be working specifically with Area 11 of SOMN. Our first event is May 19th already & so we will be getting started soon!! From the initial talks with SOMN we will be attempting to organize the Opening Ceremonies, arrange food for the athletes, and identify enough volunteers for the event which is the Athletics (track & field) event…one of Special Olympics largest and most well known. I’m looking forward to working on this project and helping to develop a system that has the possibilities of expanding SOMN in a large way!!

Has anyone ever volunteered at a Special Olympics event? Do you know any athletes? I think I may try to attend an event the 2nd week in April just to see what it’s all about.

If you are interested in volunteering May 19th, post a comment or get in touch with me & I’ll let you know when I have more information. Unfortunately at this time I do not even know what the schedule will be!

Ok, Monday was record heat in Minnesota for March 26th…81°!! The previous record was in 1991, so I would like to predict the Halloween Blizzard of 2007!

A few of us at work (Four51, Inc) go on a walk most days at lunch. TJ, Jeff & I are the “founding members,” and some of the other tech team members join us occasionally. Monday we went on walk club & ended up sweating!! It was a nice change after wearing so many layers for so long this winter.

After work, Chris & I met up and had dinner with Liz & Casey at Good Earth at the Galleria in Edina for dinner. We were able to score a table outside & the weather was perfect! I had the Thai Chicken Wrap which was very, very tasty. Chris had the Salmon Cakes and unfortunately he wasn’t super impressed. We had fun catching up on what’s been going on as well as big wedding decisions that have been recently made.

Planning is in full force for Liz & Casey’s August wedding…bridesmaid dresses were ordered, the florist was decided upon, and food tasting had happened recently! I’m really looking forward to being a bridesmaid in their wedding. Each bridesmaid choose a different style of the Watters & Watters dupioni silk dresses (here’s mine) and we’ll all be in the color Hyacinth (purple). It should be beautiful!

Oh my gosh…what a beautiful weekend!! Friday after work some of us went out to Happy Hour to enjoy a cold drink & some appetizers. It was summed up well by Ross…”That’s a great way to kick off a weekend!”

Saturday I got up in the morning & drove through the fog up to Brainerd to visit with some of the people who I worked with when I was doing consulting at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. Peggy and I drove up to Pequot Lakes for some lunch at Sibley Station & browing in a few shops. Peggy was kind enough to host a happy hour at her house and invited the team from the hospital so we headed back to Brainerd after a quick stop to see Karen’s home. I cannot believe that in the 2 years I was working in Brainerd I didn’t ever go to Nisswa!! Anyway, Peggy had a delicious “build your own bruschetta” bar and we all enjoyed good company. I still love talking about my China trip - so it was fun to show those pictures off again!!

Sunday was a perfect, relaxing Sunday. In the morning Chris & I went for a walk to get breakfast (ok…bakery goods at Mel-o-glaze!) and took them to a park. We played on the playground a bit before heading towards Lake Nokomis for a nice walk. After that we went ran some errands, had some lunch, watched Lost, took a nap, grilled hamburgers for dinner, and watched The Prestige! We were all ready for a thunderstorm, but the bad weather stayed away and it was just a great weekend.

Yes…it’s true…my friends have started turning 30! How has this happened? Is it possible that I have known my college roommate for 11 years now?!?!

Well, Shelly decided to throw a surprise birthday party for Jeremy and she scheduled it the weekend after we returned from Spring Training, I think because she was afraid she would miss me. It sounded like a fun road trip & I did promise Jeremy that I would come to St Louis sometime this year (although this may not count) so I decided to go. Chris & I had been dating a mere 4 weeks, maybe, when I asked if he was up to a 9 hour road trip to & from St Louis with me. Luckily he said yes because we had a blast! We left mid-afternoon on Friday for the long drive south. I think it was sometime in Iowa that the last traces of snow disappeared.

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful, sunshine filled day. Chris & I decided to head downtown to check out the Arch, the river and the new ballpark. He hadn’t been to St Louis, so we had much to explore. There was a line at the Arch so we decided to stay outside & enjoy the weather instead of taking the pod ride up to the top. After walking around there a little we headed down by the river and walked along there for a while. We ended up at Laclede’s Landing which is an old downtown type area. It didn’t seem like anything was open for lunch so we decided to walk back towards Busch Stadium. The new ballpark opened in 2006 and I had not been to St Louis since then. I was able to attend a game at old Busch Stadium in it’s final season and we took the stadium tour which was interesting because the foundation for the 2 parks actually overlaps. Shelly was able to sneak away to meet us for some lunch thanks to her mother-in-law helping her work out a “story.” It was nice to have a chance to chat a little because later on at the party there was so much going on it wasn’t as easy.

After lunch Chris & I decided to check out the City Museum. It is like a gigantic playground made out of unique materials. We had a good time figuring out where different tunnels led to and how to get other places. The place may be geared towards children…but that didn’t stop us! We wrapped up there in time to hurry back to the hotel for a shower & then head to the party. I think Shelly did a great job keeping the whole thing a surprise…and Jeremy appreciated the party in his honor. We played a game where Shelly & her sister Emily had put pictures of some of Jeremy’s favorite actors on cards & then we each got one but couldn’t look at it. We had to figure out who we were by asking yes/no questions to other people at the party. I am pretty sure I got the most difficult one: Helen Hunt! Apparently if he were ever stuck in a tornado…Jeremy would like to have her with him.
The drive home wasn’t as long…possibly because Chris drove most of the way! We made it home around 8pm on Sunday & relaxed before mentally getting ready to go back to work.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!

February 28th I flew to Ft. Myers, FL escaping a 4 day snowstorm just in time. My friend Shelly got tickets to 2 St. Louis Cardinals spring training games for Christmas and her husband was kind enough to let me go in his place. That is what sparked the trip, and once I found out that the Twins played a mere 3 hours away I had to get tickets.

Feb 28: I arrived at City of Palms Park in Ft Myers just in time to hear the last notes of the national anthem. The weather was beautiful for the night game at the Red Sox spring training home. I enjoyed the game, but realized that I enjoy baseball more when I’m with someone else that I know. Final Score: 4-4.

March 1: After sleeping in I enjoyed an hour by the pool before checking out and heading down to Ft. Myers Beach. The drive was nice because the weather was so beautiful! I had lunch at a bar & grill right on the beach and then went for a walk. I had never spent a day on vacation by myself, and I have to say I liked it. I think a whole week would be too much, but it was nice to go where I wanted without checking with someone else! I was able to read an entire book from the time I left MN until I was finished with dinner, just over a day later. The book is Love, Rosie and it tells the story of 2 main characters and the people close to them using letters, email and instant messenger. I enjoyed it as a perfect “on vacation/at the beach” book. After dinner I picked Shelly up at the airport and we drove to North Palm Beach. Unfortunately, I took I75 South…and should have gone North…so we ended up taking a little detour through southern Florida!

March 2: We got up early and had breakfast at a little place on the way to the ballpark in Jupiter, FL. Then we were off to Roger Dean Stadium where the Cardinals were playing the Mets and unfortunately lost 5-6 but we enjoyed the sunshine! Near the end of the game, the starters were in the right field area and it looked like everyone was getting autographs so we decided to mosey on over. It turns out that you are supposed to have a ticket to sit in the grass to get in, but since people had been clearing out (and we were 2 cute blondes!) the guy standing at the entrance let us in. First we got Tyler Johnson who is a pitcher for the Cardinals. Then we watched the rest of the game from the grass & a few other players stopped on their way out of the park. For dinner we found this great little place that had live music & was on a lake so we were able to sit outside.

March 3: For the 2nd Cardinals game we got up earlier based on the advice Shelly had gotten from someone who works at Roger Dean Stadium when she asked about the best way to get autographs. You see, Shelly has a favorite player…actually, a FAVORITE player. He’s the catcher for the Cardinals, #4 Yadier Molina. When we arrived at the park, the players were already on the field playing catch & getting some batting practice. A couple players stopped by to give autographs but most of them were in their pre-game routine. After a while we decided to walk down to the practice fields where there was more warm-ups going on. Here we encountered a few interesting people. First there were these 2 old ladies who were adorable in their Cardinals attire…from the tip top of their heads down to their toes. I told Shelly that would be us in 40 years. Then there was this lady who was IN LOVE with Cardinals player Chris Carpenter. She was so hilarious…she just wanted him to turn around, so at one point she said “I’ll get you a margarita at Hacienda’s if you turn around!” He eventually did turn around with the biggest smile - you could tell he loved the attention. Once the game started we found our seats & enjoyed more baseball. I don’t think Shelly was able to appreciate the outdoor baseball like I was because Busch Stadium is, and has been, outdoors. Sometime around the 5th inning Mr. Molina was pulled from the game and began his cool down/stretch routine in right field. About this time, I think Shelly was feeling like her chances were slipping away so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She took off, leaving me to enjoy the game (which was fine with me!), and headed for the gate where the players leave from. If you can believe it, she got him to stop his Hummer and give his autograph!! It was so exciting! On top of that, the Cardinals pulled out a mighty win against the Florida Marlins 8-1 so of course we were happy about that. For dinner on Saturday we tried to find a fun place down in Palm Beach…but after 2 hours of looking we turned around & ended up eating a few blocks from our hotel! The place we ate at was delicious Italian food and we sat at the bar by the kitchen & scored a free dessert!

March 4: On Sunday we had a drive back to Ft Myers to complete…and this time we avoided the detour through southern FL. We got up super early & hit the road so we could get to Hammond Stadium, Spring Training home of the Minnesota Twins, before the game. I’m really glad we did because I got 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau & 2006 Batting Champion Joe Mauer to sign a baseball! A bunch of fans were hanging out in the stands above the dugout & as the players were walking off the field some of them stopped to give autographs. The weather was a little cooler in Ft Myers, which was really good because we were headed straight to the airport after the game and really didn’t want to be sweaty. The match up today for the Twins vs. Red Sox was 2006 AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana vs. Curt Schilling so that was exciting…and we had some Red Sox fans in front of us who were good sports too. Unfortunately, the Twins fell to the Sox 1-6, but my baseball fever was set! It was hard to believe at that time that Opening Day was an entire month away. Thank goodness it’s only 10 days away now!!

I am so excited…today is the first day of spring and we might get thunderstorms! Last night I spent some time (okay, a lot of time) uploading pictures to my gallery. That remote load program is sloooooooow. Anyway, in the past month I have been lucky enough to escape the MN winter twice and I have pictures from those trips. Even just a few days of warmth makes the long winter seem so much more bearable. After going to China for the holidays I wasn’t sure when I would get to go somewhwere warm…but luckily it worked out! I’ll write about each of those in a separate post.

I also watched Lost in Translation last night. It was a pretty good movie. I was expecting something totally different, but enjoyed it.

HAPPY SPRING!

Well, here goes nothing! This is my first post on my first ever website…fun!