mindaTHINK

Post 600 and its a doozie!

  So this is it!  Finally!  My 600th post!

Here is my first post:

August 06, 2005

Bandwagon Jumper

Me, two months ago:  Blogs are so stupid!  Who would ever read those?  Weird!

Me, one month ago: So, did you see what was on Cathy's blog last night?  And if you click over to Tara's, you learn all about the next event.  I can't believe Karen feels that way about dogs, that is just what I was thinking!  Man, I love reading blogs, but I sure as heck would never have one!  That's just weird to post your innermost thoughts on the web!

Me, yesterday:  Honey, I'm gonna do it.  I'm gonna start my own blog.  I think it will be so fun!

So as you can see, I didn't originally think I'd like blogging, but nearly three years and 600 posts later I guess I can say I'm hooked!

The last two weeks have been INSANE and FUN like you can't believe!

We celebrated Minnesota's 150th birthday by going to the history center and viewing the Minnesota150 exhibit with our homeschool group.  Its a wild and wooly group but we love 'em.  Here is a few of the boys waiting for the tour to start.

They were all so wiggly, its definately spring in their little bodies!

We had a special treat the following Friday. Mom reminded me of the Wagon Train that was heading from Eastern Minnesota to downtown St. Paul over the course of the week leading up to the big celebration of the MN150 at the capitol. Between the two of us we tracked down their route and then Lisa joined us and we set out to find them. We hooked up with them in Hastings and got some great shots, then followed them for about an hour (at a top speed of 5mp) and got some more photos at a rest stop they took. It was exciting to be in the horse world again for a little while, to talk to the owners, to see the different types of wagon's and hear stories. It was really telling to see how slowly the train moved...and this on good roads and a set course. Back at the forming of the country there were no street signs and well maintained roads to take, imagine the streams they had to cross and the other perils they encountered...very interesting!

Erin encouraged us to meet her at the Festival of Nations, and I'm so glad she did! We have been wanting to try it for years, and just kept missing it. We had a great day there and were surprised to find Andrew's circus coach inside a Ghir (Yurt) talking about her native country Mongolia. She is such a wonderful person. Andrew loved the festival so much and can't wait to go again next year. We tried all kinds of interesting food, enjoyed the music and dancing and visiting dozens of booths from all over the world.

Next up was the Twins Game, Andrew's first.  Lisa had gotten the tickets through work, and Dave, Lisa, Andrew, Scott and I all went. Andrew fell in love with baseball.  He said outside the game while we were playing around out on the plaza that he thought he would find the outside pregame more fun than the actual game, but once we were inside he was loving it.  He asked many questions about the game itself and was very excited.  I hope we have an opportunity to go again.

It used to be you could take the family for a reasonable amount of money, but in

the ten years since I've been at the games the prices have skyrocketed.  We'll watch for some deals!

We are starting to enjoy our favorite local park, Moyer. It has a creek and a wide walking path and is just so lovely. The creek is high right now because of all the melting snow, and the men challenged themselves to a walk across a log before we had a picnic lunch. Then we built little fairy houses and biked back home. Such a fun place to be a kid!

Okay, that was just two weeks ago!  I haven't even hit the past week yet, but I think that is enough for one post.  We love spring and I am enjoying the lack of allergies that usually knock me out for several weeks each spring. More to come soon!

 

Me, two months ago:  Blogs are so stupid!  Who would ever read those?  Weird!

Me, one month ago: So, did you see what was on Cathy's blog last night?  And if you click over to Tara's, you learn all about the next event.  I can't believe Karen feels that way about dogs, that is just what I was thinking!  Man, I love reading blogs, but I sure as heck would never have one!  That's just weird to post your innermost thoughts on the web!

Me, yesterday:  Honey, I'm gonna do it.  I'm gonna start my own blog.  I think it will be so fun!

So as you can see, I didn't originally think I'd like blogging, but nearly three years and 600 posts later I guess I can say I'm hooked!

The last two weeks have been INSANE and FUN like you can't believe!

We celebrated Minnesota's 150th birthday by going to the history center and viewing the Minnesota150 exhibit with our homeschool group.  Its a wild and wooly group but we love 'em.  Here is a few of the boys waiting for the tour to start.

They were all so wiggly, its definately spring in their little bodies!

Next up was the Twins Game, Andrew's first.  Lisa had gotten the tickets through work, and Dave, Lisa, Andrew, Scott and I all went. Andrew fell in love with baseball.  He said outside the game while we were playing around out on the plaza that he thought he would find the outside pregame more fun than the actual game, but once we were inside he was loving it.  He asked many questions about the game itself and was very excited.  I hope we have an opportunity to go again.

It used to be you could take the family for a reasonable amount of money, but in

the ten years since I've been at the games the prices have skyrocketed.  We'll watch for some deals!

We are starting to enjoy our favorite local park, Moyer. It has a creek and a wide walking path and is just so lovely. The creek is high right now because of all the melting snow, and the men challenged themselves to a walk across a log before we had a picnic lunch. Then we built little fairy houses and biked back home. Such a fun place to be a kid!

Okay, that was just two weeks ago!  I haven't even hit the past week yet, but I think that is enough for one post.  We love spring and I am enjoying the lack of allergies that usually knock me out for several weeks each spring. More to come soon!

 

Good in this world

Remember my shiny new cell phone?  The lovely purple one?  Well I lost it.  In Eau Claire Wisconsin.  We were headed back from The Dells and stopped in Eau Claire to pee at a Burger King.  Half an hour later I went to call Scott and realized it was missing.  After we scoured the car I figured it must have fallen out at our stop. 

Lisa called Scott for me on her phone and told him when we'd be back and that I figured the phone was lost.  I still thought that maybe it had just slipped under the seat or something...because I just always think bad things won't happen to me.

We dropped off Nancy and I searched the truck again, still no phone.  Called Scott to see what I needed from the grocery store and he told me he had put a hold on it so no one could call Japan with it.  I hung up chuckling.

Because this situation shows the fundamental difference between how I think and how Scott thinks.  I lost my phone and once it was clear it was gone I started planning my phone call back to the Burger King so I could hand out my address to get it mailed back.  Because I was just sure someone would have found it, turned it in and would be happy to mail it to me.  Scott on the other hand got right on the phone and called Comcast to have the account suspended.  His first thought?  Who's gonna find it and take advantage of us.k

About an hour later I got home and as I was dragging my things inside Scott's phone rang.  It was mom, wanting to know if I wanted to know where my cell phone was.  Seems the gang at MegaStore Gas Station in Eau Claire had found my phone in their parking lot and done the necessary research to call and inform one of my phone book people.  kinda funny they got my mom really.  I called them back, gave them the mailing address and they sent it on to me.  I'm expecting it back today.

The really cool thing?  I didn't drop it at the MegaStore Gas Station.  When I asked the clerk where they were in conjunction to a Burger King, she at first didn't even know what I was talking about.  Then she told me that there was a Burger King ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FREEWAY from where they are.  So how did my phone get from one side of the highway to the other?  No clue.  But nice that it arrived were it needed to so that the right people would find it and get it back to me.

Of course it's also possible that someone took it out of the BK lot with the intention of using it to call Japan, and just then my husband suspended it as they got out at the MegaStore Gas Station.  In frustration they might have thrown it back into that parking lot...

I'm so glad I don't need to know...and I don't need to buy a new phone!

I could have taken this photo

but I don't have a tripod anymore....so I took this instead...

Oh well, my eyes remember something closer to photo a or b!  We met some neighbors outside who did have a tripod and were out there longer than us, we mainly watched from the window until the tree blocked our view.

A lunar eclipse happens when the sun is on the exact opposite side of the earth as the moon.  The sun is "peeking" around the earth a bit to reflect off the moon, creating the red color.  Regulus and Saturn were large bright "stars" visible on either side of the moon because of its diminished brightness.

DANG it was cold out there!

Got me a new phone: she's purple

My phone battery was not holding a charge very well, so after our walk yesterday and our adventure at the orthodontist, we stopped in and picked me up a new free one.  Turns out when you keep the same phone for four years they:

• Stare at you like you're a crazy woman, thinking, "Man I was in grade school when this phone came out"
• Tell you things like, "That company is out of business now"
• Ask you hard questions about your new phone like "what manufacturer do you want to go with and what features do you want?"
• Give you a really nice phone for free because you have so many phone credits saved up from not switching very often.

I've got a camera, a video, a digital media player and a buncha other stuff that I don't even pretend to understand.  But most importantly, she's purple.  Pretty!!!  Scott had plenty of credits to get one too, a green one.

To Whom It May Concern:

To the Person or Persons in whose space I parked in downtown St. Paul tonight:

I want to apologize for the inconvenience to you.  I can't imagine how annoying it is to come home and find your spot taken.  I'm sure the missing sign reserving your space has been a constant source of trouble for you in an area with tight parking to begin with, and added to what I assume was already a frustrating day.  I see that it took the towing company 45 minutes to arrive after you called them, I hope you didn't have to drive around the block that whole time waiting for your spot to be cleared.  I know you couldn't park elsewhere, because then you would risk being towed.

I hope it didn't ruin your day entirely and because I have no way of knowing who you are, and because I was trying to figure out how to get my car back and didn't leave you a note at the time, I hope you aren't laying in bed tonight feeling angry or bad about the whole experience.

I'm pretty positive I will NEVER park in your spot again.  If you haven't already, let it go...and I hope the management gets your sign back up soon so you have no further difficulties.

I had a sweet friend give me a ride to the towing place, I had the money available to me to pay the towing fee, and my car appears to be unharmed.  I'm so relieved it wasn't wrecked or stolen.  My husband was only a few minutes late for work and the whole experience opened my eyes to an urgent issue I need to address.

Oh, and it gave me another opportunity to be grateful for the sweet nature of my husband, who didn't chide me even a little bit.

Go with God, whoever you are.

Minda Shultz

Lightsaber Mosquito

What I learned at church today...we were at Darrell and Mitchell's house today and we found out that a year ago Mitchell and his cousin made this video about Jesse's first year at Camp Du Nord.

Hysterical!

Merry Christmas!

Vivian made these adorable marshmellow snow men!

While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads!

Sick all week, but not too sick for this

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1123514513

Running Woman

Visiting Tami in New Hampshire was a blast.  It was also very inspiring.  She started running in the spring, and has completed 6 or 8 races now.  I tried to start a few weeks ago, got two runs in and quit.  Now since being back I've been working out nearly every day.

Feels good.  Today I could tell a difference, the running came a little easier, my resting rate was 4 mph instead of 3 mph, and I made better time.  I've run approximately 8 miles this week, which isn't alot, but its more than ZERO!  Ahhh!  Thanks Tami!

Off to camp, here's two recent layouts...

THis first one I did for a fellow Tallyscrapper as part of a challenge.  It was fun to work with a bunch of teens!

 

Remembering the Bridge

Last night was filled with mixed emotions.  I received a call shortly after 6pm from Jen, a scrapper friend from www.Tallyscrapper.com who was coming to the Twin Cities to visit her sister and wanted to meet us TC girls.  She was moments away from the store on 494.  I called Lisa at the store to let her know and instead of souding excited, she sounded shell shocked.

That was when I first heard about this:

I have a long history with this bridge.  I remember the icy cold day back in 1982 when I came to Minnesota with my parents to look at colleges.  There were feet of snow on the ground and I will never forget as we crossed this bridge going north toward Arden Hills seeing the metrodome for the first time.  It was awe inspiring to a girl from small towns who didn't know about things like indoor baseball or hockey leagues.

A year later I had another run in on that same bridge, this time heading south.  I was on a first date with a guy...I think his name was Tim Erickson, who was taking me to a concert (maybe Amy Grant?).  His car was a B-E-A-T-E-R and I could see the frozen cold ground rushing by under my feet!  We hit a patch of ice on that bridge and wheeeeee! we were sailing around and around and around, coming to a stop at the southern edge of the bridge up against the guardrail.  No one was hurt and his car might have been dented but it was already in such rough shape it was hard to tell which was bruises were new.  We were shaken and continued on to the concert.  It was the last date we had.

For years after we married that bridge took my first husband and I to his parents home in South Minneapolis.  We traveled the route often because we didn't have much money for food and Janice is a fabulous cook.

For several years after my divorce that bridge was the dividing line between my old life and my new.  Without a car and living in the south metro I didn't use it at all for some time.

In 1994 I began using this bridge to get to Zoe's house to care for her every day as she was dying of cancer. This was the bridge that took my roommate Julie to work every day at the University of Minnesota.  She will be able to see the chasm its falling has left when she walks to her car after work each day.

Nowadays this bridge takes us to church once a month and to visit Scott's mom and grandma.  We have been complaining all spring and summer about the construction on the road and how slow it makes this trip.  Yesterdays tragedy certainly put that whining into perspective.

I have been praying since last night that I will have no new stories about this bridge this morning.  I keep jumping up to call more friends as I remember people who use it often.  So far all are accounted for.  I wish I could wish away all deaths associated with it.