Leatherhead Day

The STARS were in DULUTH today. Actress Renee Zellweger and George Clooney visited Duluth for a news conference and appearance at the Duluth Depot at 11 am this morning. Over 300 people stood outside the depot, waiting for them to come out from the news conference, to get a chance to see them. It was a cold day to be standing hours to get to see them. (No, I was not one of them....I was on the job...) I noted in the pictures on the news that George was wearing a hat and top coat. They were here to promote their new movie “Leatherheads”, which is loosely based on the Duluth Eskimos Football Team, in the 20’s. Both Clooney and Zellweger star in the movie. George said in today’s news conference that they considered filming in Duluth, however he heard that “Duluth in February is cold”. He also directs the film. It opens nationally on April 4, "The Leatherheads". Click on my web site link to the Duluth News Tribune for video of today’s visit.

White Easter 2008

Protestant Duluthians went to Easter Sunday Services this morning in the snow. I slid down Woodland Avenue for the 8 am service at 7:30, the plow hadn't been out yet. The snow was supposed to come yesterday afternoon, but it waited until early this morning to start. Luckily the temperature today was in the 20 and 30's, so after the plows came out, the roads stayed mostly just wet. We got about 3 inches before it stopped this afternoon.

We really shouldn't complain because the Twin Cities areas got snow on Friday, some places up to 8 inches! Well, as we all know Easter is extremely early this year, so guess we shouldn't have been surprised to see the snow this morning.

My husband is still sick, so no company today. I did make ham and some (not all) the trimmings, since to me it's not Easter without Ham. Ham is my favorite meat. Also made my warm sweetened rice that my Mother always made as a side dish on Easter. (Put cinnamon on top of it). Then, you always make extra, so that the next day you can have "Glorified Rice", with whipped cream, marachino cherries and crushed pineapple (this you eat cold). We are having a "potluck" luncheon tomorrow at the office, so I am bringing my Glorified Rice, and also a plate of ham.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter and remember this:

Christ Has Risen -- Christ Has Risen Indeed!

Maundy Thursday

This is Holy Week. Easter is very early this year, and I think that I read somewhere it won't be this early for another 90 years.

Today is Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow is Good Friday. This time of year one of my Jewish friends always asks me questions about our Christian traditions of this week. We always get into a good discussion. Yesterday at the office I heard someone remark "What is Maundy Thursday anyway?" I used the opportunity to explain to her and one other co/worker who was there, exactly what Maundy Thursday is, and why we Christians commemorate it. One was Catholic and the other was Lutheran, and they were both surprised (as was I) that they didn't know about it. Both of them are much younger than me, I don't know if that's why, but I was glad I could give them the answer.

Lovely Morning - Winter Wonderland in Duluth

Yesterday morning we heard the forecast for snow to come during the day and maybe have 4 – 8 inches by Tuesday morning. In Duluth, we are so sick of winter and snow by March, that a snow forecast makes us feel weary, unless we remind ourselves that when we get snow in March it usually doesn’t stay very long, even if it is a huge snowfall. Last evening the snow was falling, but the temperatures were mild. This morning we had a few inches over the hill here, but the temperature was 33, so the roads on the way to work were not bad at all. When I looked out our window into the back yard the scene was so gorgeous! Snow covering all the trees, everything so beautiful, and on the way to work, I just really enjoyed looking at all the landscape the snow covering everything fresh and white and the trees just loaded with the snow, looking so beautiful. I was sure wishing that I had left the house earlier so that I would have had time to take photos of the landscape. I knew by the time I came home all the snow from the trees would be melted, and I was right. It stopped snowing around mid morning…. things just looked wet on the way home, not like the wonderland we had this morning.

The beauty of a March snow: warm enough to go out and enjoy it, if you have the time, and easier driving than the snow in Jan. or February. We just need to get through March. Spring is trying to come!

The Last of the Daffodils -Thanks For Your Support!

Daffodil Days for The American Cancer Society are over, the flowers are waning. They were beautiful last week and a breath of spring! I heard from three of my friends that purchased them last week that they were so beautiful, large and very lovely. I’m so glad they enjoyed them. I'm sure the cancer patients in our local hospitals and out patient treatment centers enjoyed their "Gift of Hope" bouquets they received last week, that we are able to give to them thanks to those that purchase them to be given to the hospitals. We sure do thank Peterson-Anderson Florist and Engwalls Florists here in Duluth for putting those bouquets together for us, they donate their time, and we appreciate their partnership with us. Thank you to the Trillium staff for donating their time to put the flowers into bags, and getting them ready for delivery and on site sales, and manning the sales tables. We thank the Holiday Center for allowing us to promote the daffodils in their skywalk and mall.

If you purchased one of the potted mini daffodil plants, you will be able to plant the bulb in your garden and enjoy them again (new this year, they were very popular). If you purchased a Boyd’s Bear, our “Bea R. Hope”, you will enjoy it for a long time. This is the third year they were offered. Boyd’s Bears make them special for us. (By the way, Boyd’s Bears are made in my hometown area of Hanover, PA!) I have two years of Boyd’s Bears sitting on our chair, and have added this year’s "Bea R. Hope" to the collection, she is so cute!

This week we are wrapping up the event and looking at the results of all of our work. The staff all worked hard. If you purchased any of our ACS daffodils, or daffodil products we thank you. You have contributed to the advancement of our mission and programs and research. Now, we will move on to working on our Relay For Life events. Three college relays are coming up in early April that I just ordered the t-shirts for on Friday and yesterday. Bemidji State University, College of St. Scholastica and University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and University of Wisconsin/Superior (UWS) in May. Leadership for these college events are the students, they do a great job and have a lot of fun. The Duluth Community Relay is July 18 – 19th, with many events in between at a community near you. Check out http://www.cancer.org/ and click on Relay For Life, for an event near you.

Everybody's Got It!

Everybody these days seem to be either getting the “crud”, in the middle of it, or hoping after three or four weeks to finally be wrapping it up. As I told you, both Bob and I have been battling it for a few weeks. I rest up at night and on weekends to get through the week of work. I finally convinced Bob to rest up, and he’s been taking some time away from the fitness center to try to get better…but he’s getting antsy. He went to the doctor today, he did get a round of antibiotics, as the Dr. thinks he may have Broncitutus. I hope it helps, because if it does, I will be making a trip to the doctor too. I told him to ask for some for me…ha ha…the Doctor looked at him “pretty funny” and told him, of course, that I would have to go in to see him myself.

We are getting closer to our vacation coming up, and we don’t want this stuff still hanging over us, and quite frankly, I’m really tiring of sleeping away my weekends. That’s about all I did this past weekend, again! You cough so much at night that you don’t sleep well, so you just want to sleep when you are home.

I guess when it’s everywhere, it’s hard to avoid the germs and miss getting it, even those with good immune systems seem to be getting it.

Another reason we are all looking forward to spring, warmth and sunny days. The Daylight Savings Time is helping, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. April will soon be here.

The Boleyn Girl

You’ll probably remember that I wrote a while back about watching the Showtime series “The Tudors” on cable. The Tudors series was about King Henry VIII’s court in England.

When I spotted the book “The Other Boleyn Girl” at Target, it immediately caught my attention, after seeing the Tudor series. I also noted the sign on the cover saying it would soon be a “major motion picture”. So, of course I had to purchase it. I started reading it, and it kept getting better and better the more I read it. By the time I was half way through it, I had to keep reading it every night (which is why I haven’t been blogging). I had to take it to work with me this week and read it during my lunch break every day. I only had about 20 pages left when I got home tonight, and I finished it about 10 minutes ago.

It’s been at least 15 years since I have read any historical fiction type books. I remember now that I used to like to read them. The most interesting one I read was about Mary, Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned by her cousin, Elizabeth I, (Ann Boleyn’s daughter).

On Sunday a friend and I went to see the movie that this book is based on, by the same name. It was very good, and we really enjoyed it. I thought it was safe to see the movie before finishing the book, because it being based on history, I knew how it would end!

I highly recommend both the book and the movie. Of course, if you are a reader, you know that the book is always better than the movie. This is the case with this book also. The movie followed the book pretty good, but you can’t get all the background, details and descriptive writing into the movie. I notice that this author, Philippa Gregory, has a lot of other historical fiction books published. They all look like they are 500 pages or more also, so I better take a break, before I get involved in another of her books. I'm tempted to read some more of them though.

Get Your Daffodils

This week is Daffodil Week at our American Cancer Society Organization. It's hectic week at the job, so coming home each night and reading my book everyday at my lunch break has been my salvation this week. There's always a lot to deal with during Daffodil Week at our office, it all falls on me and the two staff members that coordinate the event, for all of St. Louis County, Lake, Cook, Itasca, Carlton Counties and Douglas County in WI.

If you are in Duluth, you may purchase your Daffodils, and several daffodil related products that we have (Boyd's Bear and a Bunch, Potted Mini Daffodils, Daffodil and a Vase), at the Holiday Center Mall, (skywalk) downtown Duluth, from 10 am to 2 pm, tomorrow and Friday yet.

The daffodils are beautiful, but honestly, we are really glad when Daffodil Week is over!

I love this year's Boyd's Bear, "Bea R. Hope". So very cute!

Hey...he's taking a Day Off

Last week I had the second half of the cold...and didn't feel too good all week. All I have left of it this week is the cough, which I've heard from many people, doesn't go away for quite a while. I dragged myself to work each day, but crashed each night. I was reading a good book, and on the nights that my head wasn't pounding, I read my book before going to bed early. It's one of those big fat books...over 650 pages. (read my post about the book titled "Boleyn Girl"

My husband now has the second round of this nasty cold and cough. He had a miserable couple of nights, and this morning, he was ready to jump out of bed again, as always and get ready to head to the Fitness Center, as he does 7 mornings a week. I told him that he should go back to bed and give his body a break... I said "don't you think your body might need rest, with this cold you have"? He finally listened to me, he went back to bed. He didn't go to the center today. He is still coughing and blowing his nose tonight, but I hope the day of rest helped him. I don't know if I can convince him to rest again tomorrow, but sometimes you need to take a day off and nurse your cold. I wish I could make him understand that. I told him "you're retired, you don't need to worry about sick days like I do"!

I'm not retired, I have to push myself along each day when I have a cold. But, if I see it's not getting better, and I'm really miserable, I'm not afraid to take a sick day IF I feel I have to.

Had to Say Goodbye to Coco

Hi again...know it's been awhile. The last week and a half have been busy, between dog sitting, work, and nursing a chest cold, that is now developing tonight into a head cold...I haven't had time or energy to blog. Thought I'd drop a line quick tonight, so you know I didn't fall off the face of the earth.

I must tell you that we had the very best time last week with our "Grand Dog Coco". All three of us had fun with her and enjoyed her... I don't know who had the best time with her, it would be a tie between Bob and I, but I think Bob had more time during the day to be with her, so he really had the fun! Bob would not let Rob or I take her out, he took her out for her "walks" on a regular basis, he had a schedule. He would not put her on a leash and let her on the porch, oh no...he walked her each time...even at 11 each night before going to bed. He wouldn't admit it, of course, but since he never complained or asked anyone else to walk her, I know he really enjoyed doing it.

We had to say goodbye to her on Sunday. We drove to Hinckley on Sunday afternoon, our daughter met us there to get "their Coco" back (Hinckley is half way). They said they really missed her. Their trip to Mexico went well, although it was not near as warm as they expected it to be, in fact they had to buy warmer clothes there, and there weren't many "warm" clothes to be had! The warmest day was the day they left (Sat.). When we said goodbye, Coco had her face to the window of the car, Dawn holding her, and she looked so sad. Dawn called us on her cell phone a bit later and told us that she kept looking out the window like she wondered where we were, and that she was whimpering (something she very seldom does). She missed us! We gave her so much attention, it will be hard for her to be in her kennel inside the house all day long while they are at work during the day. Dawn said that she was sure it was a lot calmer at Grandma and Grandpa's, without the 7 year old around!

We sure have been missing her this week. I wish I could talk my husband into us getting a "Coco", but much as he loves her, he says no, everytime I bring up the subject. I need no convincing, but convincing him will probably be pretty impossible. My son in law said he'd gladly call the breeder and we could get a little one. One of my friends said I should just bring one home and give it to my husband for a "gift"... and that he'd "get over it"...I told her she didn't know my husband very well...ha ha. I'd really be asking for trouble if I did that!

I guess we will have to be content to be the Grandparents of Coco, and keep her when we can!

Maybe we could have "visitation" rights?