A timed shot of our Christmas tree. That's about all I've been doing for the last few weeks....all that Christmas stuff!! Cold here....5 out now (-6 at this time yesterday! Woohoo warm spell!! LOL)

xox
Gail 

Fall has arrived :(

It's Sunday, 1 pm and 47 degrees out. Snow forecast for Tuesday. Fall has arrived.

I spent about 6 hours yesterday in the last of the beautiful, 70 degree weather....helping Mike with our marathon "last blast" in the yard. I raked a few leaves out of the gardens, yanked my annuals and cut my peacock orchids and mums back and mulched them over for the winter. Looks awful here - so bare :(

Put away all the rest of my lawn decorations, mostly boxed up in the basement or hung up in the garage......all except this guy that we bought from Stupid.com. His name is Ogod...because that's what everyone says when they see him (we had him perched under our kitchen window...just inside the gate....the first thing you saw was his ass ;). Anyway we brought him inside and he has a place of honor next to the kitchen window on the inside. Quite appetizing. I don't mind as long as he doesn't make any noise. And besides, he expresses my sentiments about fall/winter exactly. First snowfall and his ass is gonna be IN the window conveying his expression to the outdoors.

So now I'm looking at holiday preparations and re-organizing stuff inside. We have no real plans coming up other than North Dakota at Christmas so if anyone wants to come up and go Christmas shopping at the Mall of America with me, I'm game!! Just let us know - room to spare here!

Love to all
Mike and Gail 

Bleghhhh Mondays suck

OK so the weekend just went by too fast. Haven't done much this past week or so except leaves. I broke the electric leaf blower/sucker so Mike's working on getting the gas one running.

I'm also just about done with an afghan I started to crochet about 5 or 6 years ago, so kind of went to town on that this past week.

We did go to Target over the weekend (woohoo) and I found a really cute sweater. Funny 'cuz I really hate Target's clothes. Mike got both of the new Santana CDs. The live one (only can get it at Target) is very good.

The kids seem to be well. Alex got a job (in case I didn't mention it) and Amy and Jared are both working. Their lives seem to be coming back together. Hayley celebrated her FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! on the 4th of this month. She's walking (or running???) and into size 5 shoes. Bigfoot like her gramma ;)

Mom is doing good too, I didn't get a chance to talk to her over the weekend so will call her today or tomorrow.

There are a couple of fall craft shows we are hoping to get to this weekend so I will probably have to do all my weekend housework during the week this week :) Hope to get some new pictures up soon.

XOXOX
Love
Gail and Mike

Wednesday Update

The kids are moving out of the motel today! :) :) Jared's parents got a house and they will be staying with them until they find a place of their own. At least that's the plan as of this morning!

Mom's home

Mom got back into her house yesterday. A tiny bit of minor damage that she got repaired right away and some food she had to toss out since their power was off for a few hours was about it. So things should be back to normal down there for her now.

Kids are doing fine. Amy and Jared are still in the motel. Hopefully they will have a place by the end of the month.

Nothing new to report in Minnesota. Chill is in the air and a hard frost yesterday, but will be in the 60's by the weekend - about 20 degrees above average. Time changes this weekend, will be nice to sleep in that extra hour in the mornings :)

Love to all
Gail and Mike

Monday Update

Wilma passed to the south about 45 miles from Fort Myers. Mom is fine - is actually staying in her old neighbors house in Cape Coral. Looks like they got roughly 45 mph winds there, some rain. I talked to her last night and at 5:30 am CST this morning and she had emerged out of her closet shelter and was trying to get some sleep. As of this writing (9:30 am CST) it looks like they will be in the clear in about an hour. She will be calling me sometime this morning and hopefully will have some news about damages and/or power outages in the area where her house is. But she is safe; by the grace of God the storm entered further south than originally targeted.

I did speak briefly to Amy Saturday and Sunday. As far as I know everyone is doing well and they are still looking for a house and working with the insurance agency.

Mike and I worked on the Olympic leaf gathering yesterday and got a good 4-6 additional bags filled and the front yard reasonably cleared.

Have a great day!
XOX
Mike and Gail

News for Today

Nothing much new to report here.....Talked to Amy for a little bit this morning. Didn't hear from Alex today. Watching Wilma......hope it goes SOUTH if it heads for Florida. Will probably talk to Mom in the morning before she heads out to safer ground.

Love to all,
Gail and Mike

Today's news........

Both the kids called me today. Amy and family are doing better, they've (finally) been put up in a motel for the week. No phone in the room but I know that at least there's a place where I can leave a message.

Alex lost his job today.....bad timing....but has a couple more offers for places to stay (thanks Wendy, Deb and Sheila!!!) and is at this time planning on heading down to Florida in a couple of weeks unless things turn for him here.

Speaking of Florida....Mom is packed up and ready to hit the road if Wilma gets much closer. Cape Coral/Naples is the dead on target right now. She's going inland to stay with her brother and I think she'll be safe there (at least safer than where she is now). Please say a prayer for everyone down in that area, they will need it..

Love to all,
Gail and Mike

Update on the Kids

Friends and family,

As some of you know, Amy and Alex lost their home last Thursday due to a gas explosion. Rather than continuing to send emails to all of you, if you want to stay updated, I'm going to post this and all updates to my blog.

In a nutshell..........last Thursday morning, the gas company replaced a meter in the house where the kids were living (Amy's inlaws) A leak resulted and even though the gas company was called back, nothing was done and it apparently caused an explosion in Amy's kitchen, setting the house on fire.

Everyone is ok - Alex was at work and Amy and Jared had just gone outside with Hayley when it happened. Amy and Jared are staying with his brother, but no room for Alex - he's staying with whoever he can find to put up with him for a night or so until he can either move back in with Amy or find a place of his own.

They lost just about everything, might be able to salvage bedroom furniture and some clothes from the back half of the house [correction to the email - the back half of the house - bedrooms/bathroom - didn't burn].....if water and soot didn't destroy it. Insurance is covering some and a lawsuit is being considered.

Amy (pregnant again) is pretty emotionally distraught and I'm very worried about her and the new baby. She's pretty stressed out right now, but is pretty good about vocalizing and letting it out :) Alex is pretty upset, scared what with not knowing from one day to the next where he's going to sleep. We offered him a place to live here if he wanted to relocate, but he's worked so hard....got his license, a car and a good job this year....he doesn't want to relocate. Physically they're fine, financially it's going to be a struggle what with finding new housing and replacing their furnishings and such. Amys inlaws were supposed to get a place to live by sometime this week, then we'll see how it goes with the kids from there. Alex went thrift-store clothes shopping........Hayley's first birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks so I had a few things I'm going to send down. Haven't heard from the kids today....no idea where Alex is.....the cell phones all lost in the fire and no way to reach them, just have to wait until I hear from them. I guess no news is good news.........Will keep the blog posted with progress as I hear it.

Thanks to all who have helped so far.....your love, concern and aid are appreciated more than I can express...these are the times it hurts so much to be a mom. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Love to all,
Gail and Mike

Ahhhhhh..October at Last

OK.........we got some catching up to do!

In September, we went to Jackson, Minnesota to see a World of Outlaws Sprint car race. We followed up on the way home with a side trip to New Ulm, Minnesota. Here's a picture of one of the cars as it went zipping by!

New Ulm

New Ulm was fun... we want to go back there sometime... they have the best "Gnomemade Fudge" !!

Alex's Visit

Alex came to visit the weekend of the 30th. We went to the Mall of America on Saturday morning, then downtown to Minneapolis for lunch. We took him to St. Paul to get a tattoo on Saturday evening, then did the lake tour on Sunday before he had to leave.

Steve Winwood

That Sunday evening, we went to a Steve Winwood concert at The Orpheum (an old
theater-type venue) in Minneapolis.



Thank goodness.... October looks like a quieter month for us.... until the leaves really start dropping!!!


XOXOX
Mike and Gail

Fun Weekend

Well, we finally got the kids off to the airport......it's so quiet here now!! :( We did lots of stuff while they were here. Pizza Friday night when they got in....a church festival Saturday and a cookout with some of our neighbors and friends on Saturday night that was lots of fun.....Today we went on a scenic drive, saw Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun, stopped for a little shopping at the Electric Fetus (a Minneapolis icon of sorts), then to Nokomis Beach for a little lunch. After that we toured a little of the Mall of America and rushed home to a quick steak dinner and off to the airport. Amy and Jared are great parents, I'm so proud of them. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend.

Love to all,
Gail and Mike

It's Only Rock & Roll..but I LIKE IT!!

OK....so the Rolling Stones are awesome!!! We saw them at the Xcel Energy Center last night...what a show!!! There was Mick with his chicken legs prancing around the stage like NO 62-year old man should. Belting them out like no tomorrow....I gotta admit, bands are so different when you see them live....I NEVER thought I'd say this.....but Keith Richards was my fave of the bunch. His stage persona was so laid back and so "Aw Shucks"....the band really looked like it was having a good time. Did I mention Mick's chicken legs? Anyway, it was way cool the way the stage rolled out from the end of the stadium to the center...while they were playing...the projected images were totally awesome...lots of effects and the place was packed. It was one of the best concerts I think I've seen.


OK...........Now I gotta get back to work........kids are coming this weekend, so once I get outta here I gotta get home and clean (hopefully finish that fall housecleaning I started). Have a great week everyone!!

XOXOX
Mike & Gail

Gas Gouge

Yikes! Gas is 3.19 here. Up from 2.52 on Sunday when I filled up........We filled both cars and a gas can, should be good for about a month. Sure am glad I don't own an SUV about now!

Am in the middle of fall housecleaning; got my hair cut today (about 3" off). Went to Doug and Sandy's for dinner last Saturday and had a blast - they have a fire pit in their yard. Was almost like camping (without the bugs and tents). Other than that, not much to report here. Labor day weekend is upon us.........marking the end of summer......and the maples here have just started to turn :( I hate winter......looks like it might be early this year. Bummer.

Have a great holiday weekend and enjoy the last of summer!

XOXOX
Mike and Gail

I've been working on finishing the gardens all week. Finally pretty much done! Here are the unique footprint stepping stones I found at the dollar store. I love these! 

Here is my "fairy" garden 

Here is the fairy rock I put in the fairy garden.  

Lotto!!

Hey!! It's been a good week!! I won $75 on a $1 scratch ticket yesterday!! woohoo!!!!

Good thing, I needed cheering up as the day before, I got flipped off by a kid who actually jumped out of a car in traffic (at a stop light) and knocked on my passenger window in order to do so. Guess I pissed him off...not really sure since I have no clue WTF I did. But hey, if you're ever in the Twin Cities, watch out for a lil red car with license plate KAP 213. That's them. Road rage is NOT pretty.

Went out last weekend to a couple of festivals, had lotsa FAIR FOOD. Hoping for more, somewhere, this weekend. In the meantime...off for a piece of Bakers Square key lime pie. :)

Have a good weekend!!
Mike & Gail

Kermit didn't make it.

Its been a fairly quiet couple of weeks. I recovered from the flu and spent the weekend trying to make yard improvements and compromising with the critters in the process. The squirrels don't like the wood chips I laid down in the flower bed..or maybe it's just the way I laid them out...in any case, they keep re-arranging them (and digging holes underneath).

I found a baby bunny nest in the back yard while I was spraying for weeds. I think they are still OK as sometimes the nest appears empty and others I can see the babies' backs. There are two of them ~ I named them Trixie and Dixie ~ I have yet to see them out of the nest again so that I can get pics.

Lastly - and sadly - I found a toad (named him Kermit) in the window well while I was laying down insecticide. I didn't spray him, but apparently he couldn't get out - in spite of the branch I laid in there for him to use as a ladder - and unfortunately, Kermit passed away sometime yesterday. RIP Kermit. :(

On a happier note, my kids are all flying up next month to visit. So I'm busy trying to get things in order and baby-proofed. Also working on my genealogy site at http://gailsgenealogy.atspace.com if you care to visit during the reconstruction.

Have a happy August!!
Gail & Mike

Crazy week

Well, the good news is...I'm fine! The rotten news is that I got my first ambulance ride this week, at 2:00 in the morning. Woke up with chest pains...spent 15 hours at the hospital getting poked, prodded, and wired in a vain attempt to truly kill me! What the EKGs, blood tests, XRays and stress tests (like I NEEDED more stress) didn't do to me, the caffeine-free, low-sodium, low-fat diet probably did. Not to mention that I was so out of it that I put sugar on my hot turkey (or so they told me that's what it was supposed to be) sandwich. I guess sugar isn't a problem with folks who are having a heart attack.

Anyway, the good news is that late in the day, they told me they couldn't find a damm thing wrong with me and that I could go home. Never trust hospital docs........they figured that since they couldn't kill me, they'd send me home with the rottenest flu bug I've had in years. Go figure.

Anyway, I'm still recuperating. It's hotter than hell here, so I either freeze here in the A/C or broil outside. Not sure which will kill me faster. So, if I make it through this ordeal.......I'll write more later and let ya know how I did it.

Have a super week!!

Mike and Gail

Carlos in Minneapolis on June 29 :) 

World of Outlaws - Sprint Car racing - July 2 

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.......

.......Summer in Minnesota. Bet you're all somewhere else, envying me because it's probably too cold to do anything summery like swim, eat ice cream or sweat.......

Well..........I got news for ya.............THIS AIN'T NO BLOODY BETTER THAN ILLINOIS WAS!!! That's right..........97 degrees and sweating my you-know-what off!!! Even my sweat is sweating!! Shheeesh!!! OK, all complaining aside.......we stay cool in the air conditioning. They do have electricity up here. And if push comes to shove.....there's always the mall!!!

At least my flowers like the heat. I have impatiens, pansies (persnickety, thirsty lil buggers), rocket brights (look like a deep purple pansy-type flower), and marigolds. I also have peacock orchids that should bloom in about 6 weeks, and mums, one of the types which is now just starting to bloom and loaded with buds. All are doing very well up here.

We are just being kinda lazy this weekend, too hot to do much else. A little housework here and there. Laundry, just because its so hot, we hang it outside and it dries in no time and smells good too.

Looking forward to seeing the Rolling Stones in September, about 7 weeks from now. Rockin' Ribfest is coming up at the end of the month, that's always fun! I just hope it cools off a bit by then!

Still fighting the critters in the yard......Another momma duck with her 6 broodlings stopped by this week to pay us a visit. The bunny is persistent in attempting to dig up my flower bulbs, but I did finally put an 18" fence around the plants and it seems to be keeping his hungry butt out. That's about all the excitement we've had lately.

Remember, you all have an open invitation to come visit anytime!!! Miss you all very much!

Love,
Mike and Gail

It's almost FRIDAY......

Another week has come and gone. Geez....this summer seems to be flying by!

We are going to be grandparents again this winter!!! Hayley is going to have a little brother or sister to keep her parents hopping ;) ........sometime after Christmas.

We saw the Santana concert last week, it was AWESOME. Los Lonely Boys - the back up band - wasn't bad at all either.

We spent last weekend in Fargo, N.D. at the World of Outlaws (sprint car) races. As usual, it was a blast. Love watching those cars fall to pieces when they hit the rail ...oops I mean, it's so sad to see the cars wreck like that...but the drivers that wrecked this weekend all walked away.

We spent Sunday afternoon at the lake in Mille Lacs (Doug's "Fish House"). Had a relaxing time, the fish house is really cool. Met some really nice people up there, then went to Carlsona's for dinner - excellent salad bar and great Au Gratin potatoes. We've been recovering all week. Nothing planned for this weekend.

Love ya all!
Gail & Mike

Grampa Mike sent Hayley this Indy racing bear ~ it's almost as big as she is! 

In June, Amy and Jared had their wedding reception. Here's Hayley "looking cool" for the camera. :) 

Here we are at dinner at Black Barts in the Dells. 

Spent a WONDERFUL weekend in the Dells with the kids! We visited a car show and went go kart riding, just had a lot of fun spending time together! 

Well, the cold weather is finally moving out and spring is in the air once again. I survived last weekend without Mike and got a bit of outside work done...Apparently, Henrietta approved, as she brought her nine babies over and refused to leave! In spite of Mike mowing the lawn, she just hauled her younguns behind the evergreen and layed low until he was done. Haven't seen daddy Mort around, though. 

Busy Weekend!!!

Elton John on Friday (the 29th) was a blast....absolutely great!! He played a lot of familiar songs both old and new....pictures to follow (had to buy a one use camera).....Amy and Jared got married in Las Vegas on the 30th....almost didn't happen, but that's another story.....pictures to follow when I get some!!!!!

My uncle Jim is in the hospital with pneumonia and cardiac problems. Was touch and go there over the weekend but it seems like he's doing better. Please say a prayer for him.

Sleet (Mike calls it snow) in the Twin Cities on and off all weekend :( Should be back to normal and in the 70's by the end of this week. Back to my gardening I hope!!!

Back to work.....have a great week!!

Gail

Yesterday was my birthday, had a great day! Went shopping and to a birthday party for our neighbor Kevin, whose birthday was Friday. Mike bought me roses for my special day :) 

Gardening!

Today was gorgeous!! Went out and cleaned out flower beds and shrubs....then planted peacock orchids in the back. Was in the 70s today......I got a sunburn from being outside all day....and get this....there are nasty JUNE BUGS out already !! Below are some pictures of the gnomes I put in the south side flower beds yesterday. We named them.....Hocus and Pocus.....hopefully they'll keep the bunnies away from my flowers this year!!!
Have a great week!
Love, Gail

Neighbors: Herman removing a post from Edie's yard while his wife Marge looks on and Mike supervises! 

One of the gnomes I put in the flower bed, along with our new malibu lights. 

The other gnome in the second bed. 

Blah blah blah.......

...that describes our day today. Rainy and in the 50s. I wanna go out and get some stuff for the yard. I bought a campanula plant, but it needs a twin for the front of the house. I also want some strawberries. What is it about spring that brings out the black-thumbed gardening obsession with me?

I went out after work yesterday to a microbrewery much like Paytons in Aurora. The beer was good and so were the nachos. :) I want to take Mike back there some night for dinner.

Have a great week!

Spring

I noticed that the leaves have popped on the trees this weekend......that's about two weeks early by Illinois standards, so I'm very happy to see them! I worked on the flower garden this weekend, and today a little storm blew through....and brought us a beautiful rainbow, though I couldn't get a picture because it was behind the trees across the street. 75 degrees all weekend - I've been wearing shorts - but I didn't pack ALL my winter clothes away - yet!!!

My newest picture of Hayley from last week - Hayley in a Basket :) 

We went to the John Mellencamp concert on April 6th. It was awesome! I took this picture during the first hour of the show. 

I took this picture at the Como Park Zoo last Sunday. He kinda has that "f**k you" attitude that ya just gotta love! 

A couple of our recent visitors - this was taken in our back yard last week. I tried to feed them, but the squirrel stole the food. :( 

New Place for our stuff

I just got this new blog to replace the turboblog I have on the website. I think it will be easier and I can post pics on it. Will add more here as I play with it and find out what it can do!!!