Random randomness

It’s interesting (but not so much jolting now as it was a year ago) when a moment from the past with Katherine collides with the present. One of the great gifts she got me years ago was a trip to a local brew-your-own-beer place. I’ve been there 2 or 3 times to brew beer and am signed up for the newsletter. I’m not sure if I noticed in the past or if they are personalizing these letters differently now…but this is how the one from last month came to me:

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I guess Katherine thought that was pretty cool because she sent me another sign via a sweating gin-and-tonic glass on my back patio πŸ™‚

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Who’s on my dad’s team? Anyone wearing red, white, and blue!!! We heard that message loud and clear several times on our Washington, DC trip. I have a huge regret of not taking a picture of one of the first members of dad’s team we saw in Ocean City, Md – a nice young gentleman (picture Kid Rock but more strung out), covered in tattoos and wearing red, white, and blue socks, shorts, shirt, and bandana. We have had some good laughs finding dad’s team members spread out all over the country. The state fair also had some fun team members proudly wearing their colors – and again, I missed my chance to take pictures. So…when I came across this member of dad’s team I wasn’t gong to miss my opportunity again. He ran the State Fair Milk Run…and believe it or not…I saw him two more times that same day amongst the 100,000 people at the fair (how did I know it was him you ask?). I changed clothes after the 5k so I would be more comfortable all day at the fair…but he wouldn’t dare change out of his team uniform! Eyes have been blocked to protect the guilty – who would dare make a grimacing face like that just because someone’s silky running shorts are a little too short and tight?

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Found some pictures on my phone from our summer trip to Grand Marais. We love New Scenic CafΓ© on the way up to Grand Marais. This is when we first relax a bit, sip a beer, drive along the lake, and have some tastes of absolutely wonderful food. Braised black mission figs, honey, walnuts, sage, bleu cheese. Yummy!

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I recently read something about photo faux pas and that you shouldn’t ever post pictures of half-eaten meals…so here’s what this looked like before we started:

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World’s Best Donuts EVERY morning in Grand Marais. Possibly followING a jog, and followED by a walk out to Artist’s Point.

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Megan and I biked to Culvers. I ordered my turtle sundae with chocolate custard as always. I saw them making it with vanilla so I tried to stop them. They ended up giving that one to someone behind us in line for free. And then they gave me mine, apologized for making me wait (it was no more than 2 minutes and I could have cared less), and they loaded up my sundae with twice as much frozen custard as we usually get to say thank you to me. Thank you Culvers πŸ™‚

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We saw a Minnesota Vikings preseason game played at the University of Minnesota’s stadium. Beautiful night for a game outside. Vikings won. We could see where Beth works from our seats too.

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Find the one that isn’t a bobble head πŸ™‚

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Yes, I know, I have many talents, including graphic art.

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After the game Megan was struggling to express her emotions so I got to spend time with her while everyone else went to Beth’s lab for a quick tour. Her self-imposed punishment was to wedge herself into this newspaper rack and stay there a while. Ahhhh, fun times.

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Remember the wrestler Bill Goldberg? Insanely overgrown trapezius muscles? Speared people and snarled at everyone? He has always been one of my heroes – been a member of his fan club for years and I have a poster on the back of my door. So…we’re walking down a side street at the state fair this year and there is a trailer with no line and they say you can meet Bill Goldberg. I look over and see what looked to be a tiny guy sitting there who kind of looked like him. But how could there be no line to meet Bill Goldberg? Insane – I know. We watch a video and then afterword sure enough this tiny guy wasn’t so tiny as he posed with us.

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State Fair. Kristin, Tom and Big A (aka Boog) came up again to enjoy the fun and food with us again.

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Funny that the person taking the group selfie (groupie? ussie?) isn’t in it. Was that by design?

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Even I’m confused about who’s holding which beer…all I know is the beer was free because Beth has connections at the fair πŸ™‚

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Megan loves, loves, LOVES the corn at the state fair. Sweet. Buttery. Yummaliciousness!!! Love this picture.

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Megan got her wubbabubbaball. It is just like on the commercial – bouncy, wobbly, weird sounding…fun for a few weeks and then we had several families over to meet our intern and afterwards we found it popped and hidden under a pillow πŸ™ I sent it in to get repaired…which seems to be their plan.

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First day of school for everyone 2014. I haven’t talked to Gen about posting her picture on my blog…I’ll make sure she’s fine with that and will maybe share some pictures with her in a future post.

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Colleen’s cross country meet. It is rare to get a non-grimacing face from any runners this close to the finish line. Great job Colleen!

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Christopher is having a fun season playing football. He’s #73 and has green sleeves sticking out in most of these pictures which makes him easier to find.

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Solo tackle!!

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I didn’t notice the names on the jerseys until I was looking at all of the pictures afterwards. How cute.

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This is how Megan entertains herself with the water hoses while at the football games. Shocking that she’s the only one doing this, huh?

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Megan is having a great season playing soccer. She scored two goals in this game. See the ball in the first picture below? Keep looking – you’ll see it. Straight past the goalie from far out and into the net!

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Celebrating the goal. Probably asking her friend not to pick her up again πŸ™‚

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Guess what happens next with this one? Let’s just say that Megan earned ice cream PLUS a topping for this game πŸ™‚

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One Response to “Random randomness”

  1. Dad & Grandpa T says:

    I’ve given mom enough time to comment before I do, so will go ahead and do it now before we head out tomorrow. I still need to pack, so I’m sure she’ll be reminding me before too long. This weekend is her 50th reunion. Hard to believe it was only half a century ago. We’ve only been to a couple of her reunions so it will be even harder to believe how much others (but not us) have changed. We’re also looking forward to the Baldwin sibling mini-reunion in Nashville.

    Did you arrange the ice to make that water spot on the table? If you didn’t, maybe it was Katherine saying “hello” to you. I must admit that I haven’t noticed any signs from her in a while. Whether it’s so or not, it’s always nice to think that somehow she is letting us know that she’s okay.

    Glad you all are on the look out for members of Team USA. I haven’t worn my red, white and blue skivvies in a long time. I think they must be in the same drawer as my red, white blue speedos. Actually, I don’t always like it when people are wearing red, white and blue, as it REALLY bothers me when I see athletes wrap the American flag around their sweaty bodies after winning an event. Another fun thing you and your family can do is walk into hap shops, like I do sometimes and tell the sales clerk that I’ve looked at all the hats in the shop and haven’t been able to find “my” team. When they ask and I tell them Team USA I get a variety of looks and responses, “like you have to go online, I’ll mention it to my manger or the selection is made by corporate.” From your new pastime of looking for my team members, I guess you recall how excited I was when I found a “USA” hat in the Alexandria shop.

    Enjoyed all the pics of your young athletes. Good that they are involved in so many things. I know it seems like you are running in many different directions, but enjoy these years as they come to an end all too soon.

    Better close and go pack for our trip. Thanks for the update. We always enjoy them. Hope everyone is off to a great school year.

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