Over the River and Through the Woods

My company has a vacation property located about four hours from the Twin Cities. There are three cabins, a large lake, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a couple of boats, and a private nine hole golf course. It's a very nice property.

Anyhow, this past year, my name was chosen for the cabin. The cabin we were in had a maximum sleeping capacity of fifteen people, but we opted to go alone this time. So, we packed up the Friday before Christmas and spent the weekend there (returning on Monday afternoon). I had heard that the cabin was nice, but for some reason I thought that the people who had been there were exaggerating. So, we were pleasantly surprised when we found that the place was not only spotless clean, but also just plain gorgeous.



In the basement, there were all sorts of fun activities: a pool table, ping pong table, foos ball, Nintendo Gamecube, air hockey, and darts. There were also five new sets of cross country skis (which I did use, but refuse to post the video that Song Min took of me...NOT at all flattering).

We spent most of the time cooking and watching movies. A good deal of our time was spent trying to get the fire going. Since all of the wood was wet, it was a major ordeal. Song Min stayed at it for...well a long time, and finally got it going on its own. When we got home, all of our clothes smelled like smoke.



There were a few things that were negatives there. 1) We were so secluded, that I kept freaking out that we would be the perfect victims of a break in and murder (yes, I know...I've watched too many scary movies). 2) The water smelled like sulfur, so doing the dishes, washing hands, etc. all smelled like eggs...yuck! 3) They had the creepiest coffee table of the land. SERIOUSLY! It was like an aquarium of stuffed fish...with teeth and other little fish out of the big ones' mouths. CREEPY!



The time away together was really nice. I was so happy to be able to spend some quality time alone with my husband. I hope that we'll be able to go up there again sometime soon.

Chi-Town

Back in November, Song Min and I went down to Chicago for a long weekend with my friend Lisa. We actually had planned to go with a couple of our friends, but one bailed out at the last minute, so the three of us just ended up going together.

We spent quite a bit of time eating at Korean restaurants. We went to two Korean barbeques (where they bring out the raw meat and you grill it yourself at the table). We also went to this little soup restaurant one afternoon, which was absolutely delicious.

Upon recommendation, we went to a little hot dog joint near our hotel called Gene & Jude's. The line wrapped around the entire place and circled a couple of times in the middle. It was crazy. But, once we started eating (in the car, because there's no place to sit inside), we found that it was worth the wait...yummy!





My big favorite in Chicago is the Museum of Science and Industry. I can remember going to the museum with my family as a kid. Song Min had never been, so I was really excited to wander through with him.





Later, we met up with one of Song Min's friends and hit a noraebang (noraebang is basically karaoke in private rooms). We stayed until the place closed at four in the morning!



It was a fun weekend. We were pretty busy the whole time, so it seemed like a whirlwind trip. Hopefully, we can go again in 2009.

Ding-a-ling

The exact date in December fails me, but a couple of weeks ago, I volunteered with my coworker to stand and ring the ever so familiar holiday Salvation Army bell. I thought that ringing the bell would be a good opportunity to serve in the community. Plus, it might make up for all of the times in years past when I would go in the exit door at the grocery to avoid the bell ringers at the entrance.

I've lived here in Minnesota for almost my entire life. You'd think that I'd be prepared to stand outside in single digit weather for two hours. I'm here to let you know, that thought is wrong. I had to make a trip to Target late the night previous to buy mittens and a winter hat because all I had were leather gloves and a fashion hat (that didn't cover my ears).

Tina (my co-worker) and I stood outside of our local grocery store, in front of a mini-forest of wreaths, garland, and tree tops. We took turns ringing that little bell and trying desperately to make eye contact with as many people as possible (cause that's how you get them!). We wished everyone happy holidays and did our best to let our smiles show through our voices (because our mouths were covered by our scarves).



All in all, I think that we did all right. Most people who walked by popped in a buck or so, and a good handful of people stuffed higher bills into the kettle. It was nice to see the generosity.

Where did the year go?

Caught this on a friend's facebook page...

2008

JANUARY

1) Who kissed you on New Year's? My husband...duh

2) Did you have a New Year's Resolution? No soda (and for the most part I did it).

3) Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? Been to Times Square, but not on New Years. The product that I sell will be in the ball this year...thousands of LED lights with Sil-Pad insulating it so that it doesn't turn into the New Year's fire ball.


FEBRUARY

1) Who was your Valentine? Once again, Song Min...of course!

2) Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? Nope, I know better than to trust a fat overgrown rat!

3) What did you receive for Valentine's Day? A bag o' goodies...earrings, candy, etc. And my husband had a dozen white tulips delivered to my office!

MARCH

1) Are you Irish? The mirror says no, my grandma says yes!

2) Do you like corned beef and cabbage? I dig both, but haven't actually had them together.

3) Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? I am come out of hibernation every year about May.

APRIL

1) Do you like the rain? In Minnesota, April 75% of rain is still snow. NO!

2) Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone this year? I think that I did, but can't remember.

3) Do you get tons of candy for Easter? I swipe some jelly beans from the bowl at my parent's house.

MAY

1) What is your favorite flower? Tulips

2) Finish the phrase "April showers…"? Still early for flowers.

3) Do you celebrate May 16Th: National Piercing Day? Um, no.

4) Is May anything special to you? Sure, I blew into town in May of 1976. My dad's birthday is in May. Memorial Day. I think there's also some gig for my mom in May too!


JUNE

1)What year did/ will you graduate from high school? 1994

2) Did you do anything fun during this month? Celebrated my first wedding anniversary! Went up North and stayed in a gorgeous rental home on Lake Superior. Not fun, but I think that I got my gall bladder yanked in June or July.

3) Have a favorite baseball team? Not a baseball person. Went to a game with Song Min and Robert though. I guess the Twins, if I HAVE to pick a team.


JULY

1) What did you do on the 4Th of July? Went to my sister-in-law's place for bbq with the family. We also saw a movie, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was.

2) Did you go to the fireworks? Nope, but we drove by some kids lighting firecrackers on the sidewalk.

3) Did you blast the A/C all day? A/C was on 24/7 from May-August.


AUGUST

1) What was your favorite summer memory of '08? Fishing with Song Min...even though I don't like catching fish.

2) Did you have a sunburn? No, I think I worked when it was sunny.

3) Did you go to the pool a lot? I didn't feel well for most of the summer. Ugh...no.


SEPTEMBER

1) Do you like fall better than summer? Fall and summer are always a toss up for me. Love them both.

2) What happened this month? Gosh, I don't remember anything in September.

OCTOBER

1) What was your last Halloween costume? I didn't have a costume. We had fun putting on costumes at Target though.

2) What is your favorite candy? Starbursts (strawberry, to be specific)

3) What was your favorite thing(s) about this month? The cooler weather.

NOVEMBER

1) Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? My parent's place.

2) What are you thankful for? My husband, my family, a good job, a nice place to live, my friends, my sense of humor, that the election is over.

3) Do you love stuffing? My mom's stuffing rules!

4) Anything special in this month? I went to Chicago. My birthday was the 19Th. And I got to see my sister and her family.

DECEMBER

1) Do you celebrate Christmas? I started celebrating in October.

2) What do you want this year? I inherited a love of jewelry from my mother...so there's that. I'd like an easel, sewing machine, a down alternative comforter...I could really go on and on.

3) What do you love most about December? Aside from Christmas, in general? Time off from work...hello cabin, can you hear me?

For my final trick, I'll make Rachel disappear!

So, I don't have a good excuse for my lack of blog entries. However, I have come up with several excuses that would be good excuses:

1) I've been in the South Pacific for the past month, working on my tan, sipping coconut water directly from the coconut, and wearing exotic flowers behind my ear instead of earrings.

2) Some kid left a trail of Reese's Pieces in their backyard. I ended up being captured and held at the house for nearly a month. Finally, I was able to construct a gadget out of a saw blade, a Speak and Spell, and some other household items so that I could phone home.

3) My little finger on my right hand was accidentally severed off while I was rescuing a chihuahua from a storm drain. I've spent the last month adjusting to my new life with only nine fingers.

Unfortunately, I have no excuse for my lack of blogging. Sorry!