"This is Warm?"

I just went across the street to get something for lunch. I was standing at the corner waiting for the light to change and the man standing next to me smiled, and I commented to him "another warm day". (It's 80 degrees right now). He looked at me funny and said "This is warm?" I laughed and said "yes it is, even the breeze is warm!" I said "oh, you aren't from Duluth!". He told me he was from Kansas City, and I said "Oh yes, according to Kansas City weather, you must think this is cool weather!". I always enjoy chatting with our Duluth tourists.

Duluth Playhouse Presents "CATS"

So, last night Skylar, Matt and I went to see the Playhouse's production of Broadway's longest running musical "CATS". I have never seen it. Didn't know anything about it except for the song "Memory". I knew Skylar would love it since he's a dancer, and so I invited him up to see it with me. The three of us really did enjoy it. It was so well done, the costumes, the singing and the dancing were all very professional. We were impressed! It was a fun evening. The "kitty cats" greeted us all as we were coming in, and they roamed around the audience before the show. Very cute. The News Tribune gave it a wonderful review (and they are often not very complimentary on their reviews) on their opening, so I knew we were in for a treat. I was right.

Now, all day long, I can't get the song "Memory" out of my head!!! The actress that played one of the lead cats "Grizzabella" and sang "Memory" is a native of Duluth area and has just returned after 15 years as a professional actress, singer and dancer. She was fabulous!

We sure enjoyed the evening! I would highly recommend if you like musical theater, that you not miss this production. The reviewer from the newspaper said it was better than the two

CATS productions shown at out DECC over the years, from professional touring companies. The Minnesota Ballet also helped the Duluth Playhouse to bring this performance to us. The show runs through August 5th (next weekend). Get your tickets fast, word of mouth will make these performances sell out fast!

Grandson's Childhood Memories

As I told you in my last post, our Grandson Skylar came up from Hudson. He brought a friend along, and they decided to drive up on Friday night. So we had the whole day together yesterday, which was really nice. Matt hadn't been to Duluth since he was a kid, so Skylar wanted to show him around. Skylar especially wanted to go to the places that he enjoyed in Duluth as he was growing up. (He was 4 when he and his Mother left Duluth, but he really remembers a lot of the of city). We went to Brighton Beach and spent a lot of time there on the rocks, walking around and he threw rocks in the water like he did when he was a kid. I've never seen so many people at Brighton Beach, at the picnic areas and on the rocks, some were even in the water by the rocks. I never go there on summer weekends because of the crowds. We could barely find a place to park!

He wanted to to the end of Park Point at the park there, where he used to play. Since it was a weekend, the traffic in the Canal Park area to get to the bridge was so bad, I told him it would take us a lot of time just to get to the end of Park Point, especially if we got "bridged". We were going to stop and walk on the Lakewalk, but I told him it was silly to pay to park there...and it was so crowded... I think it's terrible that everywhere you want to park down there now has meters or ticket booths! We stopped at the Dairy Queen and got blizzard treats. We drove around the bay front and the DECC and headed toward the Playfront Park, where Skylar used to play as a child. I forgot to have them go the back way, and found ourselves once again at a ticket booth to pay for parking... I objected to paying, but before I knew it, Matt took out $4.00 and paid it. Skylar enjoyed looking around the playfront park again and seeing all the additions added since he was little. We spent $4.00 to spend about 10 minutes there!

It was a fun afternoon. We stopped up at the house that Scott and Sarah are building so that they could see them, and their new place.

More Comfortable

We had our July heat wave this week. It has been a hot one. And another week has gone by.
It was a busy one at work. This week I was glad to be in the air-conditioned office. The evenings were so oppressive with the heat and humidity we had this week. Today it finally got better. The temperature is still up, but the humidity is down, and boy can we tell the difference! It feels so much better in the house this evening. I slept the last three nights with a fan blowing over our bed. At this time of the year when we get our July "heat wave" I go back to my running argument with my husband about getting a window air-conditioner. He thinks we don't need one, I think we do. I'm the one that gets miserable, he can handle the heat and humidity, I can't. When we get weather like this it reminds me so much of Pennsylvania summers. When I came home last night, the humidity in the house, oh my…our house even smelled like the farm house when I was growing up…yep…I told Bob, when he asked about the smell as he came in the house, that's "humidity smell"! It’s hard to feel like doing anything when it’s hot and humid. So, of course, I didn’t get much done this week at home in the evenings! I'm much more comfortable tonight! Now, it is to be comfortable this weekend, with the humidity coming back next week again...oh no. The end of next week Bob's sister from CA and cousin from AZ will be coming in for their class reunion. They won't think our heat and humidity is bad...they are used to high temps (well, maybe not the humidity).

I’m excited about tomorrow. Our Grandson, Skylar is coming to town tomorrow morning. I bought tickets to see our local playhouse production of the Broadway show “CATS”, with Skylar in mind…when I called to tell him I had a ticket for him to see the show with me if he could come up, he was excited. Yes, he did want to see it. He asked if I could get another for his friend to come along…so the three of us will be seeing CATS tomorrow night. It got a very good review on it’s opening last week, and one of my friends saw it last Saturday night and said it was just fabulous! It will be the first I’ve seen him since his return from Las Vegas and New York City. I’m anxious to hear all about his experiences there. When I talked to him on the phone after coming back from New York, he told me he would really love to live in New York City someday. He would like to be a Choreographer. Yep, someday we may be going to New York to watch his work or to watch him dance!

20 years plus - from Children to Grandchildren!

When our boys were little and I wasn’t working outside of the home, I belonged to a group of women who planned a luncheon each month to host an inspirational Christian speaker for women to attend the luncheon and listen to the speaker. It was called the “Christian Women’s Club”, a ministry of the Stonecroft Ministries. It was a gentle, non threatening way of bringing the gospel to women. I went to this luncheon off and on, then I came onto the board. I was on the board for about 4 years, maybe 5, I don’t really remember. I remember that Scott was a baby and I took him to the planning meetings and the luncheon, which meant twice a month that he would be with other children in a nursery. He tells me he remembers going to these when he was quite a bit older, so I guess maybe it was 5 years. I know that I stepped down from the board, when I decided I was getting too wrapped up into the whole planning process and never had time to think about who I’d like to invite. (which was the mission of the "club") And, as we have all probably found, when you do something once a month, the next month comes rolling around way too fast. Anyhow, the point of my story is this…. one of our group that was on the board a long time also, rounded up many of the women and invited them to her house for a potluck last night… A “Christian Women’s Board” Reunion! Of this group I only see two of the women off and on in these later years of my life, and one I see a lot of, as we are best friends and live close by each other. So this get together last evening was really a lot of fun. We all saw women that most of us haven’t seen in 20 years! One of the women told me that my grandson couldn’t possibly be 17 years old, as she remembered like yesterday when he was born!
Most of us all had children the same age as my Scott was…all under 5 and we had a nursery for the children during the luncheon and also during our meetings. We had a wonderful older lady, that absolutely loved children, take care of the nursery along with some help when our group of kiddys kept growing.

But, last evening, instead of all of us talking about our children, we were all talking about our grandchildren! Grandchildren (other than maybe me - I was a "young" Grandma) that none of us had during those years. It seemed funny to think that 20 – 25 years had passed. In some ways, none of us felt like that time had passed, but in other ways it did. The gal’s house that we were at, she and her husband were building that house all the years we were on the board together…we used to ask her if she ever thought the house would get done and most of us never got to see the finished product until last night, we could all agree that it certainly was worth the wait for them...as it is a most beautiful home! Not many young people now a days would be content to live for 5 – 8 years building their house a bit at a time as they could afford it, and even living in the basement part for a few years… No, our generation of children would never do that anymore. (And I can personally tell you about that, when I write one of these days about our youngest son building a house, and not having patience…etc. – more on that later).

Yes, we had a fun evening, visiting and re-connecting with old friends. It was like 20 years had never been between us!

Calmer

I didn’t write anything last week because in the evenings after work, I was tired and didn’t have the energy to sit down and write. The week and weekend before had been hectic. I had lots of thoughts of things I wanted to write about, but just "too tired!" This past weekend I was able to get rested up, we had no place we had to go Sat. or Sunday, I just took it easy and putzy’d around the house. As you can see from my post below, I found my "quiet place" on Sunday afternoon. It was a good, relaxing afternoon. So…now I’m back. The only thing that will keep me from writing this week is the heat...yesterday and today, in the 90's with humidity to match... our July heat wave...but I do have one more post in mind before I go to cool off in front of a fan... see the next post about last evening...

Find the Quiet Center

“Come and Find the Quiet Center”

"Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:

Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.

Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.

In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain, let our loves
And fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare."

From: “The Faith We Sing” UMC Hymnal
Words: Shirley Erena Murray
Music: Attr. To B. F. White

Whirlwind

This week is a whirlwind. I haven't had time to write. I'm getting ready for our Duluth Annual Relay For Life, personally getting my team together that I captain for Hope UMC, and it is also busy time at the job helping the staff that head up three relays being held this Friday night. The Duluth Community Relay For Life is Friday night, and also the Superior and the Carlton County Relays are held on Friday night.

Last year our Relay team at Hope UMC raised over $7500! We have been working this year, but didn’t have as many fundraising events this year as last, so not sure we will reach the 7500 level this year. But, we’ll see. I had a team meeting last night, but not everyone was able to be there.

If any of my readers have donated to our relay team or to any relay team, I want to thank you for your support. Relay For Life brings together millions of people throughout the U. S. to raise money to help prevent cancer, save lives and diminish suffering from the disease. While raising much needed funds, relay also raises awareness of cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and patient support. It also honors all those that are presently fighting cancer and those that have survived cancer.

Yesterday Duluth had a whirlwind of weather – lots of wind. The high winds took down trees and power lines. Some neighborhoods were out of power until 10 pm last night. Our area was not hit with power outage, but our neighbor across the street had a tree come down onto their sun porch.

So, a “whirlwind” week in more ways than one. (writing this on my lunch hour...now I need to get outside and get some fresh air! It has finally cooled off yesterday and today, 70's, much better temperature for my body to handle!

Old Central H S - 50th Class Reunion in August

(Wish I could have found a larger photo of the school). This is Old Duluth Central High School that sits in the heart of downtown Duluth. It was replaced by a "new Central H S" built in early 1970's. (see post and photos below) This old, very sturdy building (built in 1891) still stands and serves as the Duluth School District's Administration Building. The inside has been refurbished and it is a beauty, both inside and out.

I posted early this morning about Central High School (see below) because I woke up at 4 am thinking about the family gathering we are going to have at our house the first Sunday in August. It's not very far away, and I must decide what food to have. Bob's cousin and his wife and Bob's sister and her husband are coming from Arizona and California for their 50th Class Reunion from Central High School that weekend. (Old Central) We want to have a family get together that Sunday. They have their big get together that night. So, I'm trying to decide whether to have a big meal, grill outside, have picnic style food, or buffet, or light summer fare. My husband says I should wait till a few days before and see the weather forecast, but he doesn't understand the logisitics of planning for company, I need to know sooner than that what I'm going to serve. So, I couldn't sleep. I was up at 5 am looking through receipes. Of course, that got me thinking again about the school board's proposal for closing Central High School. I posted photos I just took last week (below) when Maddy and I went up there. Above this post, I'm putting the photo of "Old" Central High School. The outside of which still looks the same as it did 50 years ago when Frank and Carmella graduated from there, and over 40 years ago when my husband graduated from it. What a beautiful building, thank goodness people in the late 60's and early 70's didn't allow it to be torn down. I hear that graduates that visit Duluth still visit this building and go up to the 230 foot clock & bell tower. The Alumini Association has dedicated a room in there to historical things about the school.

Poor Central H S!

Last week when I had Madelyn, I stopped on top of the hill to see Central High School. (what is called "New" Central High School. The view from there of Lake Superior and the city is so awesome. There is a Secondary Technical Center building by the school. (Wonder what will happen to that when Central closes?) I took a photo of Madelyn in front of the school because I was thinking that when she is in high school the building will no longer be a high school, according to the “Red Plan” that was just passed by the school board. In fact, the building may not (and probably won't) be there. I fear that this prime spot of real estate and view of the city and lake, will be sold to a land developer who will put up condos, and another beautiful view will be lost to the common person. More condos for the rich, and the out of town people. A lot of people are suspicious of the school board in passing the red plan which means the closure of this school. You can't blame long time Duluth-ians for being suspicious. Remember in the early 70's when they pushed for this school to be built on the hill, because old Central was in too bad of shape to hold students any longer? Then a few years later the district spent lots and lots of money completely remodeling the inside so that it could become the offices of the school administrators. Ummm...lets see, people have not forgotten that! This "new Central" built less than 35 years ago, couldn't it be used for the "new western middle school" instead of them building something new out there? What will they do with it, the plans say nothing as to what will become of this building. Naturally, they will sell it and the land for lots and lots of money, and you can bet it will be a developer that buys it!

Some people suspect the school board knows who this developer is already. (I'm not saying this, I'm just repeating some things I've heard, and yes, they are all "suspicions and speculations", but, knowing the past, it's not surprising that these thoughts are out there).

Our students won’t have the beautiful view going to school each day to the buildings in east and west, that they have here at Central High School, too bad, and also too bad that the view may be lost to all of us. 70 prime acres to another land developer for homes none of us Duluthians can afford!

Heat, Humidity - Must be July in Duluth

O.K. I have to admit, I got nothing of value done this weekend, except for scrubbing the bathroom at 7 am yesterday morning before it got too hot. Yesterday and today were just too darn hot, especially today. Yesterday was manageable because the humidity wasn’t bad. However, today the humidity was up and the temp was high again. I feel guilty that I didn’t do anything today, although I did make it to church. I am also feeling guilty because I got into the car three times this afternoon and made trips that probably could have been made in one trip, so feel guilty that I contributed to the carbon emissions from the car. The reason I made three trips? To cool off! It was so hot in our house that I had to get into our air conditioned car to cool off, and I did it three times instead of just once. I went to the grocery store (I really didn’t need to), and spent $40 I shouldn’t have spent, but gee whiz, the store was air conditioned and felt great. Then later I went to Walgreens to get my film developed of the photos I took when Maddy was here. An hour after that, I went back and picked up the photos. The air in the car is what got me through the day. I don’t handle humidity well. Tonight there is finally a little breeze and doesn’t seem as unbearable. However, the bedroom is hot. So it may be rough sleeping again. I gave Rob our window fan from our bedroom because he sleeps upstairs, which is even more unbearable. Oh, to have air condition. Every summer I go through days like this, I say that I’m buying a window air conditioner… Bob keeps saying no, that we don’t need it that often. One of these times, I will just march into a store and buy one myself! (Like I did the ceiling fan a few years ago, in our living room!) If we get heat and humidity here in Duluth, July is the month that we get it.

I had to chuckle when I was at Walgreens, I heard a man ask one of the clerks “Where are your fans?” Brought back memories of the first time my Mom and Dad visited us the month of July (about this time) 37 years ago…during an awful heat wave. I’m sure I’ve posted about that before, we lived in an apartment where none of the windows opened except the small bathroom window. My Mother told me we had to “have air” during the heat wave. We visited three stores and all the fans were sold out, so we put our name on a list for a shipment due in the next day, and she bought us a large standing fan. We used that fan during every heat wave since, until we put in our ceiling fan in the living room a few years ago! Maybe the man I saw at Walgreens was a Dad from out of town, visiting a daughter during Duluth’s heat wave!

The Peonies

Peonies - when I was growing up our peonies in our yard always bloomed in time for Memorial Day. Here in the Northland we must wait a bit longer. Here they bloom in time for 4th of July!

There is a Peony garden in the Rose Garden. This past week they were in their peak. The peony garden was a gift to the city from Elizabeth Donley of Duluth, she was a peony enthusiast whose family has a tradition of growing peonies. She planted more than 100 peony plants in the garden, including heirloom peonies, old and new hybrids and tree peonies. Of course, you know I had to take a photo or two of these lovely flowers. They remind me of home because my Mother had a whole row of peonies in our yard. Go see them before their blooms are gone.

Summer Downtown 92 degrees More Humidity!

92 Degrees, 7/7/07 Downtown Duluth, MN
Summer, Duluth, MN - Note Old Central HS Clock/Bell Tower

Saturday - More heat, more humidity. 92 degrees downtown. These photos taken by Jonathan Lund.

Beautiful Day - 85 Degrees - Low Humidity!

Photos by Jonathan Lund

Oh, what a beautiful day we have in Duluth! O. K., so I had to take advantage of it and yes, I did use my scheduled half day off. It was 70 degrees on my drive to work, and 85 degrees coming home at 1. Tomorrow the temperature is to go into the 90’s with more humidity.

My husband and son stained our cedar porch this morning, so when I came home, I did all of the railings. It was warm, but there was a lovely breeze out front, our front porch is shady. When I moved to the back deck in full sun, to do railings there, it was much hotter. Then I came inside with a glass of ice tea and the ceiling fan on high, and relaxed. Tonight Bob and I are going to the Outback Restaurant when he comes back from golfing.

I called Dawn, but there was no answer on her cell phone, so she and Bob must be having a good day together in the heat of Las Vegas. (They are probably by the pool… her husband, in all the years he flies to Las Vegas for his job, has yet to put one coin in the slot machines!) I heard on the news that the heat is so bad in Vegas that the transformers are going out, boy that will be bad for the strip hotels, and the poor residents!

I wonder how our Grandson Skylar is doing in New York! They were going to rest and relax today (hopefully do some sight seeing) then tomorrow morning their workshops start. Read below how he did in the Nationals in Vegas. Wow, are we proud of him! I believe that a career in the theater or dance may be in his future! Maybe some day we will see him perform in New York! We just wish we had known about his talent earlier than a year and a half ago! But, we are thankful that he did find his passion! Some wait years before finding it!

Vegas Report - Skylar - 4th Place!

Proud Grandparents have to report on how our Grandson did in Las Vegas at the National Dance competition this past week. Oh my, he did well. His solo was the best he has ever done and he won first place in that. In the other competitions, including an interview, and the production numbers that he took part in, he won 4th place! Those males that he competed against all have been dancing for most of their lives. When you consider Skylar has only been dancing a year and ½ he did fantastic! We are proud of him, and so excited for him. What he won for 4th place is especially exciting! He won 5 FREE one hour dance lessons at the prestigious "Broadway Dance Center" in the heart of Times Square, in New York City! These lessons are valued at over $300 for each hour! Not only that, he won another 5 free lessons at the same place for winning the “Congeniality” award, that is voted on by the contestants. ( We aren’t surprised about that, he is full of personality!) So, that means, 10 free lessons! Now, the next step is to get him to New York to take advantage of the lessons. He has a year to use them.

Remember, he left for New York last night, he will be there for a week for workshops for dance instructors. So, he will have to schedule another trip sometime this next year to New York to use his lessons. Now, the most expensive part of that will be not the airplane ticket, but the living expense cost of him being there to take the lessons. I told his Mother not to worry, somehow we’ll figure how he can do it. Any ideas? (Maybe Grandma will have to sell her chocolate bars to earn money...ha ha) unfortunately, I don’t have relatives living there, but I do have a cousin that lives in Hackensack, N J and drives into the city each day to work…ummm … hey Jessica & Joseph!

4th of July 2007

Fourth of July in Duluth, MN - (photos by Jonathan Lund) "Fourth Fest"

I thought we would be going to the Bayfront last night to watch the Duluth fireworks display. I thought we would be taking our Granddaughter, Maddy. Our plans got changed.

Our son in law had yesterday off. He was planning to work on a project that he had going on at their home. When he heard how nice our weather was to be, he decided that he would drive up to Duluth yesterday morning to spend the day at his friend’s cabin at a lake outside of town. I think it really was because he was lonely at home alone without his wife and kids since Friday! Madelyn and I met Scott’s girlfriend Sarah and her Mother for breakfast at Bridgeman’s at 10. When we returned, Maddy was surprised to see her Dad (he wanted to surprise her). Off she went with Dad to the lake! They didn’t come home until almost midnight. My guys all went golfing, 18 holes at 1 pm, so Grandma had the whole afternoon to herself to relax and rest up! I had a lot of fun with Coco. I took her for some walks. Sat on the porch on our beautiful day, it was too hot on the deck. The temperature reached over 80 degrees, and very sunny. I caught up on some reading. It was a great afternoon. The guys grilled steak in the evening and it was a relaxing 4th of July. I watched fireworks and listened to the Boston Pops 4th music.

Skylar left Las Vegas this evening with his instructors, on a flight to Mpls., and then on to New York City for their dance workshop. Dawn is in Las Vegas alone tonight, however tomorrow morning Bob has the Champion flight to Las Vegas, (he’s the pilot) he stays there until taking the red eye back late tomorrow night. He will join Dawn and they will spend the day in Vegas together and she will fly home with him. I think after a week of Las Vegas heat, and sitting by the pool in the heat, our daughter will be happy to see Hudson, WI!! Yesterday it was 128 degrees in Vegas. I heard on the weather this morning that at 6 am in Vegas it was already 93 degrees! (By the way, our daughter does not care for gambling. She said the first time and last time she played was the other evening, a $5 roll of nickels and $1.00 in quarters. In a matter of minutes her $6 was gone, she said that was all that the Vegas slots were going to get from her!) I know how she feels, the last time we were in Vegas, I spent a whole $10 on the slot machines. She and I are smart, we’d rather spend our money on other things.

Bob and I have been to Vegas a few times because his sister lives in LA, and they love to go to Vegas. They hate coming to Minnesota, so we have met them in Vegas a few times, so that we can visit with them. My husband would go every year if I’d agree, but I have told him I’m sick of vacations to Las Vegas and that there are other places I want to go, so now it’s been awhile since we were there. If I could have taken the whole time off this past week while Maddy was here, I would have sent him along with Dawn and Skylar.

Our son in law had today off, so he took Maddy back home with him, and tomorrow she will spend the day with her River Falls Grandparents, while he works. So, this morning before going to work, I had to say goodbye to “our girls”. It was as hard to say goodbye to Coco as it was to say goodbye to Maddy. We sure did have a good time with them both. AND, this evening, I was missing both of them very much! Now I will have time to develop the photos I took this week. I'll post them when I get them back.

I'm debating tonight whether I should take my 1/2 day vacation tomorrow afternoon now, or if I should work, and save it for another time. We are to have another beautiful day tomorrow, in a way it would be nice to have the time off, but in another way, it would be a good day to work because there are only 3 of us working tomorrow, so the office will be nice and quiet, and not such a hectic work day. Ummm... maybe I'll make my decision tomorrow morning when I'm at work.

More Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Day 4 of Madelyn's Visit:
--Morning walk with Grandpa on the Lakewalk from the Rose Garden to Canal Park.
--Lunch with Grandpa – Sammy’s Pizza Buffet lunch. Grandpa reports that he got his money's worth at the buffet, she ate a lot.
--Visit Uncle Rob at work – he wanted to show off Madelyn and Coco to his co/workers
--A walk around Central High School, to look at the view, but there was none because the lakefront was fogged in. (I had hoped it would have cleared by then, but it hadn’t). Took a photo of her and Coco, in front of the school, by the time she is high school age, this building will no longer be there, if the Red Plan is completed.
--A visit to the Beauty School to have her hair styled…oh, my did the stylist do a lovely job. She put it up, and then had some curls cascading down … it was beautiful. For so long she was in the "princess" phase. I found out tonight that she is now out of that phase. The neighbor lady told her she looked like a "princess", and she informed us that she doesn't like princesses anymore. So, she revised her adjective to "sophisicated", Maddy liked that word.
--When I got home from my 5:15 covenant group, Grandpa told me that she was at the local playground with two neighbor girls. When she came home I was so disappointed with her hair…all the curls were gone, I had to say “What happened to your hair”? (I will try not to think "money down the drain") Oh well, she enjoyed getting it done, and it was pretty for a time, and thankfully, I took a picture or two before I left for my meeting.
-- Tonight a second phone call for the day from her Dad. He is lonley, he's not working today and he misses Madelyn.
-- Tonight, also the second phone call from Madelyn's Mom. She misses her too. This afternoon she was on the search at the shopping centers for some piece of clothing that Skylar needed for his dancing. Tonight at 8:45 their time, he has his solo dance performance.
-- Now she is busy playing a game with Uncle Rob. I need to remind her that it is bedtime. Coco is fast alseep on Bob's lap on the big chair, and Bob is sleeping too!

Rainy Day with Grandma

Well, the weatherman was right this time. We did get rain, and it rained on and off all day today. The plan that Grandpa had for Madelyn this morning had to be stratched, he was taking her to Canal Park and the Lakewalk. Instead, he took her to Perkins, (her favorite restaurant) for breakfast. Then they hung around home together, and I hear from Grandpa that she was quite the helper to him as he did laundry and tidying up the house. Then Grandma came home from work at 12:30. Grandma had a few "rainy day" plans up her sleeve, so she knew exactly what they would do today. Thanks to one of my friends (thanks Becca), a really good plan was added to the rainy day list, and Grandma chose it. We went to the "Pottery Burn", a place hat I didn't even know about until Becca told me. It's a ceramic place where you paint your own ceramics or pottery. You paint, they glaze. I let Maddy choose what she wanted to paint. She wanted to do a ceramic dog, for herself, and a photo frame to give to her Mother. Grandma painted a butterfly. Since with ceramics you must paint three coats, it did use up most of the afternoon. We had a good time, Madelyn loved the painting, and thought it was a cool thing to do!

We had tacos for supper. Our friends Sharon and Jerry came over this evening to visit Maddy and Coco. Games with Uncle Rob, playtime with Coco, and another day was done.

Weather's not looking good for tomorrow either, so I will pull another rainy day activity from my sleeve for us tomorrow afternoon. I think Grandpa's taking her to the mall in the morning, and I'll join them for lunch. Then it will be Grandma and Madelyn off for another afternoon of fun!
http://www.thepotteryburn.com/

Report from Vegas

Skylar and his Mom arrived in Las Vegas, Friday morning, 8:30 am. (Vegas time). The first thing he needed to go to was not until 11 am on Saturday, so he and his Mom had the whole day to spend together. I’m so glad that she was able to take the time to be with him. Having a smaller sister, when there is a teenager in the home, so often time is more demanded by the younger child, and this week for them being together will be very good for them. They spent the day checking out all the sights up and down the strip. They went to see a wonderful production show on Friday night that Skylar picked out that he wanted to see, it had lots of dancing in. It was “O” at The Belliago.

Anyhow, I’ve talked to her everyday, and it sounds like they are both having a good trip, and a good experience for Skylar. She's spending a lot of time sitting by the pool and relaxing, while Skylar is doing his activities. In the evenings, she and Skylar are free to do things together. This trip is good for her, since she is a Mother of a 17 year old, and a 6 year year, works full time, and has a husband who is out of town for his job a lot, you can imagine how stressful her life is! She deserves this time away and relaxation! As her Mother, I am happy she has this opportunity!
As a Grandmother I'm happy that Skylar has this opportunity!

On Friday morning, Dawn will be heading back to Minnesota, and Skylar will be heading to New York City, with two of his dance instructors that are in Vegas with the competing dancers from the studio. There is a dance instructor workshop that they are attending in New York, and they have invited Skylar to go with them. They are planning to hire him as an instructor at their studio next fall. What a great opportunity for him, Las Vegas and New York City, all in the same month! How lucky can you get!

The Dancer

I told you the other day I would let you know where the rest of Madelyn’s family is this week, while she is in Duluth with us. As I’ve told you before, her brother Skylar became a dancer just a year and a half ago. He won all his competitions this past year, which earned him the right to go on to National Competition for “Male Dancer of the Year” for his category. The Nationals are held at the Riveria Hotel on the Las Vegas strip. His Mother went with him. It is a whole week long process for him. We are all very proud of this accomplishment. His Father who flies to Las Vegas on a regular basis for his job,
(airplane pilot for Champion Air), will probably have a chance to stop in sometime during the week to see them also.

Madelyn’s paternal Grandparents live very close to them, and they often have Maddy overnight, and keep the grandchildren when Dawn and Bob go out of town. Since we really have never had the opportunity to keep Madelyn overnight, we offered to keep her this week while her Mother and brother were in Las Vegas. I have taken afternoons off to be with her, and Grandpa is doing things with her in the mornings.

Dawn can’t be with him during the days, the only thing she will be able to see that he does is two per-formances later in the week, otherwise he spends every day from 11 – 7 pm practicing for the performances that they will then do to compete. They didn’t know until they got there what kind of show they would participate in. They had to get his outfit ahead of time, and when it arrived after being ordered, Dawn was wondering about it because it was a white shirt, tie, and some sort of sweater that she laughingly called a “Mr. Rogers” sweater. She found out, that one of the shows he will be performing in is a “Tribute to Mr. Rogers”, that’s why the sweater looked like a Mr. Rogers sweater, it was supposed to!!! Last night they were going to see another show. Dawn spent the last few days at the pool, relaxing. The temps are very hot there this week, between 109 – 116 degrees. She told me she doesn’t care what they say about dry heat being better, heat is heat when it’s over 100!! She said going from inside to outside, it’s like you are walking into a furnace!

Shoes, Shoes, Trains, Trains

Grandma and Granddaughter Madelyn had a fun afternoon together today. Since the weather was quite cool again today, (it was bearly 62 degrees at 1 pm), I decided an indoor activity was in order. We went to visit the "Depot", the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center. In the Depot there is the Duluth Children's Museum and the Train Museum. We were there from almost 1:30 to 5:30. Maddy especially enjoyed the Children's Museum. There were many interactive exhibits for her to play with. There were children's books to read, games to play, and even a computer game where she made her own "quilt". The Children's Museum sure has been expanded and improved since my children were little. Wow, I was impressed. The large tree that was there when my kids were little, still was there, and she loved climbing up and down that.

There was an exhibit about SHOES. There were all kinds of shoes there for the children to try on and to play with. It explored shoes as both functional and cultural objects. She colored, cut out and hung on the wall pictures of two kinds of shoes. There was a large shoe made like a playhouse, "Old Lady that Lived in a Shoe" for the kids to play inside. She really loved that.

We also visited the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, which is in the Depot building. She loved watching the model trains run. Then at three o'clock we took a ride on the Lake Superior Train to Lester River and back. I wondered how a ride to Lester River would take an hour and a half, as it was scheduled to last. However, I found out how...the train went very slow, and it had to change tracks to change directions two times, and that took a while. The ride was interesting for her, she had never been on a train before. I've only been on a train once before, and it was a short excursion one like this, so I enjoyed it too. Right before we got to Lester River, we walked back to the open air car, and sat there for most of the trip back, until we got too cold. Upon returning to the Depot, she asked if we could go into the museum again, so we did. She played in there in the shoe and the outdoor camping exhibits for over an hour! She kept rearranging and putting things away that the kids before her had left out. She told me "I like to tidy up". I thought this interesting, since I have not noticed her "tidying up" her toys and things that she has laying all over our living and dining room floor!

When we got back home, Grandpa had a good supper of hamburgers and hotdogs from the grill all ready for us! Coco was so excited to see Grandma too!

Madelyn is fast alseep now. I think I wore her out. Tomorrow morning it's Grandpa's turn, while I head off to work, to entertain her. I work till noon, then I'll have something planned for us to do together. I have a "rainy afternoon" plan, in case it rains tomorrow.

http://www.duluthchildrensmuseum.org/
http://www.lsrm.org/

http://www.duluthdepot.org/

Welcome, Pastor Dan

This morning was the first Sunday for our new pastor appointed to our church (Hope UMC), Pastor Dan Schneider-Bryan. We gave him a warm welcome. It was a good first Sunday. His message was on “Learning to Dream”. He met with the Administrative Council last month, after his appointment. He asked them what they felt was accomplished during the years since the merger of the two churches. He was given many answers, but one member summarized it best by saying “We learned to Dream”. What a good way to put it. Yes, we did “learn to dream”. This was part of the welcoming ritual we used:

Staff/Pastor/Parish Committee Chair: Dear Friends, today welcome Dan Schneider-Bryan who has been appointed to serve as our pastor. We believe that he is well qualified and has been prayerfully appointed by our Bishop, Sally Dyck.

Administrative Council President: Dan, you have been sent to live among us as a bearer of the Word of God; a minister of the Sacraments; and a sustainer of the love, order, and discipleship of the people of God.

Pastor Dan: Today I reaffirm this commitment in the presence of this congregation.

SPRC Committee Chair: Brothers and sisters in Christ, as people committed to participate in the ministries of Hope United Methodist Church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service, will you who celebrate this new beginning support and uphold Dan in these ministries?

Congregation: We reaffirm our commitment to support you with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.

Ad. Council President: Let us pray.

All: Eternal God, strengthen and sustain us in our ministries together, with Dan as our pastor. Give him and us patience, courage, and wisdom so to care for one another and challenge one another that together we may follow Jesus Christ, living together in love, and offering our gifts and talents in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

We were also thinking of our former Pastor Michelle, as she had her first Sunday at her church in St. Paul this morning. Transitioning from Pastor Michelle to Pastor Dan, and moving forward with our dreams.