X-Mas 2019

I flew home Friday and Saturday we took off to Nana's for an early X-Mas. S is an awesome car dog - except he has to be touching someone at all times.

We hit the CC for a nice Sunday breakfast.

The boys are now lumberjacks.

House Shopping

The stretch between Thanksgiving and the New Year isn't the time to be shopping for homes. There are a few, but not a lot.

These two have streets on three sides. That's a lot of sidewalk to scoop when it snows. I should have negotiated a monster snow blower as part of my new job's benefit package.

Curling

I drove up on Saturday, and by Sunday I was on the ice throwing rocks at the curling club in Lakeville.

Seems like a fun sport for couples. Kinda like bowling, but colder and slower.

New Digs

Nov. 30 was moving day into the temporary housing. It was a grey foggy trek across Iowa and as soon as I got close to the Cities, the snow kicked in. The new place is spectacular! 

The snow kept coming down.

I'm ready!

Last Supper

This was our last dinner together here. Fortunately, it was Thanksgiving Dinner. 

This year we had something to truly be thankful for (beyond family, good health, etc.): we got an offer on our house!

Deck for Sale

It's official - The house is on the market. It took a month to get it here; we're hoping it will sell quicker. JP has everything sparkling clean and she won't let any of us do #2 or shower; we have to go over to the neighbors. 

We have 60 days of temporary housing in which we need to sell this place, find a new place, and move. It's going to be exciting!

Dogsitting

We babysat another Shiba for the weekend. V likes her kennel.

Usually K babysits this one, but she couldn't this time. She was able to come over with her pack and it turned into a puppy party.

Don't Let the Magic Smoke Out

CP is pretty proud of his first circuit board. (I'm proud of him, too!). It's all surface mount components with a DC-DC power supply and microcontroller on board. At this point, he has it packed full of magic smoke. Hopefully it will all stay in there; once it gets out, things won't work as well.

It's amazing what the kids graduating today can do!

Road Trip

GP took off with some guys from his Frat and went to the NU - Purdue game in Indiana. It sounds like they had a good time. 

...except for the endless drive home.

Growing Up Fast

D came home for a couple days to check in and show off his dress uniform. He is doing really well in the Marines. Funny how accelerated his growing up is compared to his buddies here.

Final Firepit

Yesterday we hit 74° in Lincoln. Today the forecast high is 28 and windy.

We took advantage of the beautiful night and full moon to burn through the last of the scrap wood in the garage and some of the remaining firewood. Didn't get through all of it, but it's now manageable.

Formal

GP is really enjoying college life and his Fraternity. Last weekend he went with a bunch of guys to the Husker game at Purdue (West Lafayette, IN). This weekend he took K to the formal dinner/dance.

White Stuff

It snowed every day I was in MN except for the day after when it was 3°F. 

What did we sign up for?!?

The Minneapolis station's weatherman does his show from outside, regardless of the the conditions. His name is Sven Sungaard. We are moving to the land of the Vikings!

Familiar Faces

We borrowed the neighbor's camera and GP had fun with the 400mm zoom lens.

End of an Era

It's with mixed emotions I have to report that our time in Nebraska is drawing to a close. We have enjoyed the 14 years we've lived here. It has been the perfect place to raise the boys and enjoy the easy life. But... I've taken a position at our parent company in Minneapolis, effective 11/1/19. I'm still tying up loose ends at my current job and working a few days here and a few there until Thanksgiving.

We went up last month to take a look around to see if this was what we really wanted. Last weekend JP came up for my first day and we spent the weekend cruising around the city, looking at neighborhoods and houses. Finding a house there won't be a problem. Selling ours is our biggest worry. When that happens, GP has informed us that he will then be homeless.

We will miss all the friends we've made here.

Fall Walks

One of the things we really love about our neighborhood is the Wilderness Ridge golf course & Lodge. It makes for spectacular dog walks. Too bad you can't walk the dog on the cart paths.

Fall this year was short and fairly colorless. The maples on the street all went red, but not the super electric red of years past.

The only color we had in our yard this year was the burning bushes. The maple in the back was bright orange for a day or two, then it went brown.

Da Bears Turn 100

On my way home from KY, I passed thru O'Hare. The brontosaurus has a Bears jersey commemorating 100 years of Chicago football. 

GIE 2019

I got to go to GIE/Expo this year in Louisville for a whole week to set up and work the show. For a change, the weather there was perfect.

The word of the day for Thursday was NOISE. The event is held in the flight path of the airport. Our space was located between the Stihl chainsaw and a chipper/grinder space. However, I didn't ever notice their noise due to a dozen large commercial mowers driving around in our space.

Friday morning my phone went off with a high wind advisory for my flight home. 25 mph with gusts to 45.

Husker Game on the Deck

We took advantage of a beautiful moonlit night to watch the Husker game out on CG's deck. The next day, we all had chapped lips from sitting in front of the fire for three hours.

Clean Clothes

My overnight trip to Windom, MN, turned into an all-week stay. I ran out of clean clothes and had to resort to doing my own laundry.

Shore Leave

With the boys having their own transportation, they can drive themselves home for a Sunday meal. This weekend we took CP to the Lodge for his 21st b-day.

OSU vs NU Tailgate

We tailgated for the Ohio State game at the office of CG's attorney. None of us could afford tickets to the bloodbath game, but we had fun anyway. Go Big Red!!!

College Game Day @ UNL!!

My favorite Saturday morning TV show that we always have running in the background is ESPN's College Game Day. Each week it's broadcast live from a different school. This weekend it was Nebraska's turn to host it as we geared up to take on The Ohio State University. The show started at 7:00 AM Saturday morning. The crowd started lining up the night before. I got there at 6:30 and there were a couple thousand people there. By showtime, the entire parking lot in front of the stadium was full.

GP's fraternity made their own banner the night before. It's pretty weak compared to most of the signs that were on display. One of the traditions is for people in the crowd to hold up signs. The show is worth watching just to see all the signs. There's everything from "Will you marry me?" to "Send $$ for beer and textbooks" to "Rayn Day Eats Store Bought Corn" (Day is the Ohio State coach).

I was delighted to see Archie - our mascot for Morrill Hall.

 

Recycled Music

The whole stack of amps, speakers, and a guitar condensed down into a small wad of cash that lasted all of a day. Guitar Center had a pair of Gretsch 5420's on super clearance and I couldn't pass it up. The question then became Blue? or Orange?

Both were pretty, but the orange is one of the things that defines a Gretsch. I got my Stray Cats songbook out and quickly realized what a talented musical genius Brian Setzer is.