Ode to a Refrigerator

Like the tundra, milk, cheese and juice;
Fruits and vegetables die a quick death;
Exploding glass, bottles overwhelmed by their icy occupant.
Time, I said, to give them a new home.

A dream machine, sparkling but easy to smudge.
Fancy, this one, no deeper than the counter;
Dominating the room, until the surrounding cabinets are cleared away.
In her bright shadow, the stove feels old and dingy.

Bins and drawers and nooks and crannies;
Wide open spaces for pizza or cakes.
Filtered water on the inside once the line's installed,
Though we like ours room temperature, others can enjoy.

An ice maker cleverly hidden in the drawer is a treat;
These baskets will quickly fill with what's supposed to freeze.

I love her, Miss KitchenAid, enough to write a poem;
But why, oh why, must she buzz all day long?

Random Rant

I don't know if it's because I can still remember my 21st birthday or because I'm not litigious or because I'm logical, but I find it ridiculous that the parents of the young woman who died of alcohol poisoning in Mankato on her 21st birthday are suing the bar, its owners and five of her friends.

This isn't the first case of a frivolous lawsuit over the death of a loved one. But this is the first one I recall in which the death was essentially self-inflicted. She made the choice to drink and had the option to stop, but instead drank so much that her blood alcohol level was over .45!

It's a tragedy, without a doubt, but as with most legal actions it may make the parents feel better but it won't change their circumstances. On the other hand, it may have dire consequences for their daughter's friends, when in fact the parents themselves may be the ones to blame for her desire to drink well past the point of being able to control herself.

Depressing topic, but there are just some things about which I can't resist commenting!

(Mom, don't worry, this isn't the exciting post I was telling you about...watch for pictures tomorrow...)

Photo Friday

I've written so many posts with so few photos so in lieu of a post today, I'm posting a random selection of favorite photos I happen to have on my computer. Happy Friday!

22 Votes

18 22 votes. (either I can't do math or the Independent was wrong. I'm pretty sure it was the second one...) That was the narrow margin by which Ivanhoe's $9.9 million bond referendum passed last night. Whew - even in a town the size of Ivanhoe that is extremely close. Having read numerous letters to the editor in favor of it, one would've expected a blow out. Seems that those opposed preferred to remain anonymous...hmm...

An additional $1 million referendum for a second gym didn't pass, but to me this seemed excessive. It must have to whomever decided to put it on a separate referendum, too.

Why, you might ask, do I care about what happens in a small town in which I'll never live and a fancy school building in which no one I'm related to will probably ever attend school? Of course there's the obvious nostalgia of seeing my former school become a better place that will be there for future generations. Let's not forget the positive impact a stable (maybe growing?) school will have on the town.

But I think the most encouraging aspect of this outcome is the support for the referendum shown by people without kids in school and who may not even live in Ivanhoe long enough to reap any benefits of their increased tax burden. That's a shout out to you, Mom and Dad!!

EDIT: I have to give Jack credit as well. This was his first time voting!

Weekend Activities

I haven't been much of a blogger the past few days. It's hard when many of your readers participate in your activities ~ there's not much to say. However, there was some excitement over the weekend that I can't help but mention.

~ Mom and Grandma Dottie traveled here to see Angie dance in the State Dance Tournament on Saturday. Chris and I met them at the tournament, where Chris was a first time fan. I knew he would like it!

~ While Angie and team were phenomenal in high kick on Saturday (and Jazz on Friday, from what I hear), they didn't make the finals. It's hard to imagine what was going through the minds of the judges, given some teams who did make the finals, but there's enough subjectivity in the sport that we will just never know why...

~ Finalists or not, it was so much fun to watch Angie dance. And this was her second trip to the Xcel this year (the first was the State Volleyball Tournament), so all in all a pretty spectacular senior year!

~ After the tournament, Mom, Grandma, Bonnie and Duane came over to our house. It was Grandma's first visit and while we haven't fixed a thing since we moved in (except the furnace ~ twice, grrr), she was sweet enough to act impressed. We ordered in some dinner and chatted for a couple of hours before they went back to Delano for the evening.

~ On Sunday, Melissa and I ventured out for more cross country skiing. This time, we went to Hyland Lake Park Reserve. While only a few miles away from our prior skiing location ~ wow ~ did it feel a world away. Rather than skiing on a snow covered golf course, Hyland's trails are nearly all wooded. We liked this location so well we plan to return next weekend.

~ There were quite a few little kids cross country skiing ~ some appeared to be Trevor's age, but may have been a little older. Look out Amber ~ next year he's going with me!!

~ Chris opted not to ski in order to get ready for his work trip to North Carolina. He'll return late tonight to a 70 degree temperature dip. Yikes! Sometimes it's better to just stay in the cold...

Out of My League

You've heard of fantasy sports leagues and there's even a fantasy music league. I've never been interested in a fantasy league, until I heard about this: Minnesota Fantasy Legislature.

Yes, that's right, now there's an even more fun way to participate in state government. Each team of six legislators is awarded points in several categories based on actual happenings at the Minnesota Legislature. At the end of the season (session), the team with the most points wins. They've got 114 teams!!

By the time I found out about it, the draft had already been held. Plus, I don't have a clue how these fantasy leagues work and I'm not really up on the happenings in the legislature. But I'll be observing closely, gearing up for next season!

Interesting Research

While I don't generally comment about weight-related issues, a new study posits a link between artificial sweeteners and weight gain. Certainly, it seems like every week there are reports about a newly-discovered contributing factor.

Why is this one so interesting?

Well, have you ever noticed that the people drinking diet pop and eating "light" snacks are rarely the thinnest in the room? This study reverses the assumed cause and effect. Rather than consuming diet products because one wants/needs to lose weight, what if one wants/needs to lose weight because of the diet products? Or at the very least the products are not helping.

Beyond the possibility that these products actually have the reverse effect that one intends, there is the issue of ingesting chemicals rather than a natural product (e.g., Equal vs. sugar). Have you ever compared the ingredients of a "light" product with the regular version? Diet foods typically have more ingredients and, thus, more chemicals than their higher fat/calorie/sugar predecessors.

And then there's my personal beef with artificial sweeteners: they taste horrible. All of them. Even Splenda. Blech. I know some of you like the taste. So well, even, that you might have 3,000 packets in your cupboard. :)

So if not for reasons of taste or chemicals, perhaps the fact (still up for debate, I suppose) that artificial sweeteners may have the opposite of their intended weight control effect will encourage use of sugar and honey and stevia if proven safe.

As with all of my posts, but I think especially important to emphasize, this information is shared with love!

The other phrase of the weekend.

While Dad's "I'm not magnetic" was funny (at least to me), I neglected to mention the other hilarious phrase of the weekend. This one was started by Dad, but repeated ad nauseum by Trevor.

"Damn it, Grandpa!"

And after Jon had a talk with him...

"Naughty word, Grandpa!"

Boy, does that kid have sharp ears for things he shouldn't hear and definitely shouldn't repeat. I'm sure he's forgotten it by now Amber!!

"I'm not magnetic."

As usual, I have no pictures of our fun weekend in Ivanhoe and Brookings! I'm going to have to super glue that camera to my hand from now on.

Fortunately, Amber has a couple of nice pics on her blog (and one in which I look like the poster child for Botox gone wrong - except I've never had any Botox).

We arrived late Friday evening after experiencing only one hiccup along the way - a speeding ticket. Oops! Those darn little towns and their 30 mile an hour speed limit.

Despite the icy cold that might keep some people inside, we ventured to Brookings to see Jon, Amber and Trevor. It was our first visit to their new house and it looks fantastic! They've done an amazing amount of work since moving in last fall. It's cute and cozy and a great place to spend the afternoon.

Once Amber left for work (that was a drag!) we headed to Flandreau to meet Steve, Marilyn and Ron at the casino. Mom took her first turn ever in the money booth and due to Marilyn's coaching, she came away with $21!

Mom, Dad and I then put a couple of bucks in the slot machines and came away with combined winnings of over $100 after about ten minutes. Since Trevor was with us and only allowed in to watch his grandma in the money booth, we left while we were ahead and went to dinner. After eating we went back to Brookings and got to spend more time with Amber once she finished working.

Mom's birthday was Sunday, so she and I went to church and shortly thereafter Jack came over. We all sat around chatting awhile and that's when Dad said the "line of the weekend" that I've also used as the title for this blog entry. There's a lengthy and not that funny explanation behind it, but I'm still chuckling today when I think about Dad, in his usual deadpan said "I'm not magnetic."

Hee hee. I think you had to be there. Good times, good times.

Another Class

In addition to Spanish, I also signed up for a sewing class through Minneapolis Community Education. After missing the first class due to a business dinner and the instructor being sick last week, I finally had my first class last night. Although I already know how to sew, I thought taking a class would be both a great motivator to start using the sewing machine Grandma Dottie gave me for Christmas as well as an opportunity to enhance my very basic sewing skills.

It isn't much of a class, rather, it's more of a sewing workshop. Everyone works independently and there is an instructor there to offer help. That will work fine for me, although I had hoped there would be some specific instruction. However, there are so many levels of experience in the class that the experts would certainly get frustrated.

One other student also missed the first class, so neither of us knew to bring fabric to make pajama pants. We worked together on a pair, but I didn't like the fabric so am going to get some of my own and hope to catch up by next Thursday!

The Second Amendment Goes to College

Can one of you wise South Dakotans please explain to me why your state House of Representatives found it necessary to pass a bill allowing (inviting?) students to carry guns on public college campuses?

Don't get up in arms (pun intended), folks. I love guns! Shotguns and rifles for hunting and even handguns for protection out on those mean gravel roads...as long as you're not a criminal and don't use them to harm people, own a hundred guns if you want to!

But could anyone possibly, ever, under any circumstance have a need, let alone a use for a gun at SDSU? I mean, the squirrels can get kind of aggressive as winter approaches, but wouldn't a rock or a loud shout be a more appropriate deterrent?

Why, oh why, waste the already limited tax dollars of South Dakotans pursuing such a meaningless piece of legislation? This comes on the heels of legislation proposing $1 million to fund a horse slaughter plant. That bill is dead and I don't really have an opinion on it, except to say that I think there are better ways to spend $1 million supporting new business in the state.

Does anyone else sense a connection between this nonsense and their new four-day work week? Too much time for *creative* thinking, perhaps?

The Results Are In

and nothing much has changed... The race for the Democratic nominee is still on in full force. I'm admittedly disappointed, but not surprised, by the results here in Minnesota. Obama beat Hillary 2-to-1 in my precinct, a margin reflected statewide.

Another disappointment for me yesterday was in the caucus process itself. I've never observed something so disorganized! I actually wrote my vote on a scrap of notebook paper because they ran out of ballots. I was also just barely able to cast my vote because the harried inefficiency of the process. However, It was exciting to be part of the record turnout on this important day.

With only an hour and half to cast ballots in Minnesota, the streets were lined with cars for blocks around my polling place. Most of you are aware of my lack of parallel parking skills (although it's much improved after Marilyn's instruction a few years ago), but I did the fastest and best park of my life as I raced to make it in before voting ended.

I was starving and frustrated by the disorganization, so left shortly after casting my ballot. But I was so interested to hear about Mom's first caucus experience in Ivanhoe. (Hillary won 8 to 5) She stayed for the entire process and I'm so impressed with her activism! Jack was unable to go because he had class last night (don't they want students to caucus?), but we had a long conversation about all the issues!

Caucus Tonight!

I'm fascinated by words that can be used as both a noun or a verb. As in "Minnesota's caucus is today and I will caucus for Hillary." I especially like the verb form of caucus.

Let me say it again: I will caucus for Hillary!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

Caucusing seems kind of confusing to me and the short time frame is far less convenient than voting in a Primary. But I'll make it work - this is just too important to miss! I hope all my Minnesota readers plan to caucus tonight too. You don't have to be registered with a political party or even registered to vote. I'm even working on getting Jack to the polls in Alex!

My occasional readers from California and Illinois have the opportunity to vote in primaries today and North Dakotans can caucus. I know you'll all make it to the polls! By tonight, the candidates for both parties will probably be decided. This is the time to let your voice be heard.

Other Peoples' Mail

As happens to most of us from time to time, we received a letter in the mail that was sent to the wrong address. I opened it by mistake, but when I realized my error I read it anyway. Oops! Don't tell me you've never done that...

This mistake turned out to be well worth it. It's from a Catholic K-8 school in South Minneapolis.

"Dear 5th & 6th Students and Parents,

A recent in-depth and exhaustive study by a team of [school name] psychologists has determined that 3 out of 4 [school students] are spending too much time engaging the left side of the brain while under utilizing the right side. Harmful effects of this behavior have recently been linked to Global Warming, subprime mortgages, and confusion about the Electoral College."

Thinking this must be a joke, I continued reading the second paragraph:

"We don't know how reliable the findings are, but we would rather not take our chances. To help combat this disturbing trend, fifth and sixth grade students will migrate to the right side of their brain and spend a whole day devoted to creativity and ingenuity over on the right side."

The letter is accompanied by a two page list of "right brain" activities such as Cake Decorating, Law - What does a courtroom lawyer do? (that's right brain?) and Pilates.

Chris assures me that the letter was an attempt at facetiousness, merely a clever way of introducing a "fun" day at school (at a cost of $10).

I admire an attempt at humor, but since when is the Catholic church known for being funny? Laughable at times, but I don't think that's intentional. They are located in South Minneapolis, bastion of liberalism, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and checked out the school's website to see if humor is their normal communication standard. Nope, about as uptight as you might imagine.

Maybe Chris is right and the more I think about it, this has to be a joke. School psychologists really conducted a study about brain usage and correlation to ignorance in the general population??

Serious or not, it certainly made me laugh...

In case you missed it...

Dad finally commented on my blog! Here's what he had to say about using hot water from the tap:

"Public water supplies add chemicals to the water to coat water pipes so leaching of lead is minimized. Hot water can decrease protection, but lead concerns are minimal except perhaps in old plumbing installations or places with lead service lines. It's not something to be overly concerned about."

Thanks for the info! Amber it looks like you can continue using hot water for cooking! I think I will still try to use cold when possible, but I won't worry about it.

Gas Prices: Cause and Effect

Is anyone else throughly disturbed by today's news that Exxon Mobil reported the highest profit ever for a US company? Maybe not if you own stock in the company, which most of us with mutual funds probably do.

I paid over $3 a gallon to fill my car with gas yesterday. We constantly hear that it's the price of oil (currently over $90 a barrel) that causes high gas prices and figure we can't do anything about that. So we cut back on other things just so we can afford to drive to and from work. And higher gas prices affect many other things we don't even think about, including groceries, while most of us have probably not seen our wages go up more than the rate of inflation in years.

Exxon made $1,300 a second last year. The median household income in this country is $48,200. So in the time it takes to fill one car with gas - let's estimate five minutes - Exxon made as much money as eight households did in one year.

Something isn't right here - the oil monopoly is restricting supply and making record profits at the expense, literally, of consumers. There's not much we can do, but lets use the tools we do have - drive less often, buy fuel-efficient vehicles, purchase locally-made products and, perhaps most importantly, VOTE for the people and the legislation that care about the needs of average Americans, not stuffing the pockets of corporate titans.