Hog Heaven

Spending time with family and friends is important to me, so I'm hoping to get together with many people this summer. Earlier this week, I went for a walk and got coffee with Kelly, Robin stopped over on her way to the airport, Alix came over for half of Wednesday and yesterday I spent the day with Peter.

                       

Pete logs many miles on his Harley over the summer months. Since he's semi-retired and I'm on summer vacation, I requested a bike-ride-to-lunch date with him. He picked me up at 10am and off we went! We started with a quick stop at the bank in Northfield, then headed east on hwy 19 weaving our way through Vasa, Welch and Red Wing. At that point, we crossed and followed the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin side. In Pepin, we stopped for lunch at a place with a great outdoor patio. From there, we headed 7 miles down the road where we stopped for an ice cream cone at Nelson Creamery. Yum. After that we travelled down hwy 60 making our way to Faribault and eventually home. I had a blast! The scenery was beautiful - lots of rolling farmland, old and beautiful barns, etc.

                        

I heart summer.

Jill

It's Already July

I'm having a hard time comprehending the fact that we're starting the month of July. What does that mean? We're almost halfway through the year, the days will only get shorter for the next 6 months (as my grandpa was really good at pointing out), it's my birthday month, summer vacation/trips are just around the corner, the temps keep heating up (although not today -- it's only 61°), and next month I'll be back at work.

But let's focus on the positive.

My summer vacation started a little later this year than last. Meg and I took longer to wrap up the year and prepare for next year due to the fact that it was our first time going through it. I had about a week of summer vacation and then headed out to Boston for a counselor tour which included Tufts University, Boston University and Northeastern University. I stayed an extra day and visited Boston College and Emerson College. The trip was really great, I learned a lot about the various universities, met some great people, and with my one free day, I saw as much of Boston as I could.

  

The opening reception was held at Fenway Park, which was awesome! No Red Sox game, but we did get a tour of the stadium and enjoyed ballpark food and ice cream sundaes in a batting helmet.

With my free afternoon/evening, I walked from our hotel at Fenway all the way to the Boston Common where I found the start of the Freedom Trail. I figured I would see as much of the Freedom Trail as I could, but had no intention of completing the entire thing. I made it all the way to Paul Revere's house on the North End and decided it was getting late, I was getting tired and I had a long walk ahead of me.

                           

                           

I made it back to the Fenway hotel, grabbed my luggage and walked all the way around the park to the T station and caught the train out to Brookline where I was staying for the night. Once I got to Brookline, I checked into the Inn and headed out to check out my surroundings. Mostly I wanted to see how far away the nearest coffee shop was so I could grab a cup in the morning before catching the T to Boston College. So I walked some more. By the time I went to bed, I had walked 28,880 steps -- 12.5 miles. Needless to say, I was exhausted. As a result, I didn't get going very easily the next morning so I never made it to get coffee. Man was I kicking myself throughout my entire visit to BC.

The highlight of the trip came after my visit to BC. Jos, my college roommate, picked me up and we spent the next several hours catching up on the past 16 years. We haven't kept in very good contact over the years, so it was especially wonderful to hear about her life, family, experiences, etc in person.

This past weekend, Anita and I threw a bridal shower for Sara, so much of my time post-Boston was spent running around in preparation for the shower. In addition, the Lyles came over for dinner on Friday night. The boys had a good time looking for birds through the binoculars (or "vernoculahs" as the younger one refers to them). We went to a 30th bday party Saturday night and came home in time to assemble an egg bake for the shower and go to bed by 10:30pm. We were both exhausted after a busy week.

I sort of feel like summer vacation officially started this week. I'm trying to fill my time with productive things (doc appts, house projects, etc), social get-togethers (time with friends and family), activity (running regularly, meeting for walks, etc), and unscheduled/relaxing time (bird watching [yep, I've become a bird watcher], reading, floating, etc). Our summer, like everyone, is busy and scheduled (at least for the weekends). But everything we have planned is great: time with family at the Lakes, family wedding, anniversary trip to Bayfield, etc. I have to say that I am much less anxious about the booked weekends than I would be if I had to work over the summer. I feel fortunate.

New England Travels

Last week, I traveled to New Hampshire on a counselor tour to visit the University of New Hampshire. Before the tour began, I had time to explore the area so, at the recommendation of a friend, I spent the afternoon in Portsmouth. I was able to explore the town, have lunch at Popovers on the Square, walk the narrow New England streets lined with Colonial style homes, enjoy frozen yogurt and, best of all, see some lighthouses!

                               

Since I was practically within walking distance of Maine, I drove across the border/bridge to Kittery, Maine where I found a historic state park. From there, I was able to enjoy a different view of the lighthouses and ocean. Cross two more states off the list!

UNH is a beautiful place. The campus doesn't feel overwhelmingly huge, buildings are cohesive and the students seem happy to be there.

             

Last weekend, I spent quality time with Brooke and Carrie at the Mall of America. We hit all the hot spots: Lululemon, Athleta, White House Black Market, a build-your-own pizza place and, of course, Pinkberry.

Rob's birthday was on Thursday -- happy birthday, babe! We enjoyed a birthday dinner at the Tavern and vanilla cones from McD's. Last night, we continued our annual tradition of celebrating Rob and Malinda's birthdays with a double date at Chianti Grill.

This morning I went on my first outdoor run of the year! The temp was perfect -- 51 degrees -- and the run went much better than I anticipated. I wasn't sure how it would feel considering I've been running inside on the treadmill for the past 5 months, but my pace was 8:33 min/mile for 5 miles, which is right where I want to be. I'm grateful for the treadmill, but I'm definitely ready to run outside again.

I'm on duty this weekend -- so far so good. I took the bus up to and enjoyed lunch at Hoban's Korean restaurant with 14 of our students. Watson and his friends were kind enough to sit with me, help me order and share their food. It was very sweet of them. Next up: 8+ hours of roaming campus. I'm secretly hoping for rain so we don't have to check the outdoor hiding spots for any funny business going on.

Jill

Bring On the Sweets

Happy Easter!

We had a busy morning and early afternoon -- starting with church at All Saints at 7:30am. From there, we went to Mom's where our egg bake was well on its way to being complete and Mom, Curt and Alix were getting ready for the day. We made our way to Apple Valley for the Korums brunch at Grandma's residence. Sandy, Anita and Rob made egg bakes to share and, just in case you're wondering, we won the contest; we had the least left by the end of the morning. After that, we went to Pat and Anne's for one more Easter celebration, complete with some of the best ham I've ever eaten.

Andy, Malinda and Triston spent spring break in Florida, so I left a little early to pick them up from the airport. Figured I could return the favor so many people have done for me.

In addition to having an overnight with Alix, last week was relatively busy. I went to yoga twice (last Sunday and Wednesday), met Aakriti for happy hour at Froggy's, celebrated a new-ish friend's birthday at Porter Creek (SSM colleague) and an old friend's birthday at Hogan Bros, and we got our taxes done. Also, last night we went to a play at the Guthrie: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play. "An apocalyptic nuclear event has permanently taken down the electrical grid" and survivors bond by recreating an episode of The Simpsons (Cape Feare). The first act is present day, the second is 7 years out and the third is 75 years in the future. By the third act, the story has become dramatically different than the original, as is likely to happen over years of storytelling. I really enjoyed the play. I'll admit that as we were walking out, I wasn't sure what to take from the third act, but overall I'm glad we saw it. Also, during intermission, since we were in the 4th row, we followed the crowd down the stairs, through the back rooms of the theater to a private bar where they were giving away free drinks. We soon realized we weren't supposed to be there and left. Found out later we were in the private area for season ticket holders. Oops.

Enjoying a cocktail before the show

Side note: Wednesday's yoga class was amazing. There was a sub (someone I was uncertain of based on one class I attended a few years ago) and only one other person attended class that night. I was skeptical that I would get a good workout. Boy was I wrong. Shelbie was a fantastic instructor -- she was incredibly thorough in her explanations of how to enter each pose and why we're supposed to do them a certain way. It also ended up to be pretty great that there were only two of us in the class.

Back to the topic of Easter. I give myself a B+ for my efforts to write more regularly during the past 40 days. And a B- for my consumption of sweets. My willpower was not nearly what it's been in the past. However, I'd like to point out that I didn't have one Dove chocolate, one Bit o' Honey, one McDonald's ice cream cone, or one bowl of frozen yogurt during Lent. Those are my biggest weaknesses. I did, however, have a piece of the apple pie I brought in to work in celebration of final admission decisions being released. I didn't want to seem unsupportive of the kids, of course. :) I won't list the other sweets consumed, but know that there were several.

Regardless, it's been a good Easter season.
Jill

Love Her to Pieces

Alix spent the night with us for the first time this weekend. She's an absolute day brightener and here are a few of the highlights of our time together.

Every little kid seems to go through a phase where they love light switches. She'll be able to reach it without help by the time she comes over again.

We went for a walk around our yard and each time we came to a drain spout, Alix walked over to it, bent down, looked up the spout and said something I couldn't interpret. By the third spout I realized she was saying something about the itsy bitsy spider. She also helped me turn our composter.

Even though she enjoyed riding her trike, she wanted to run and run up and down the driveway. Jill run? So we both ran up and down the driveway.

After looking out the bedroom windows, we laid on my bed for a little bit. Alix found the head scratcher, so I took it out of the box and scratched her head with it. She was in heaven.

Throughout the day today, Alix kept asking, "where's Rob?" Each time I'd explain that he's at work. Rob came home while she was napping that afternoon. When Alix woke up from her nap, she walked out of the guest room, saw Rob at the other end of the house, came running back into the bedroom with a look of pure bliss on her face and said, "Rob's home!!" The expression on her face was priceless.

Can't get enough of that little one,
Auntie Jill

Simply Saturday

Saturday = my favorite day of the week.

After a quick trip to Costco and a delicious meal at Morgan's we went to bed ridiculously early last night. As we were going to bed Rob told me he's glad we can be goofy together. We added that we're  happy we laugh as much as we do, that we can be silly and we think we're a fun couple. Said as we're climbing into bed at 9:20pm on a Friday night. Ok so maybe we're not "fun" as in we tear up the party scene. But we consistently have fun together. Thankfully neither of us is concerned about creating or keeping a reputation as party animals.

I'll take an early-to-bed Friday night if it means my Saturday morning starts earlier. I woke up before 6am and, because I have a hard time laying in bed after I wake, made my way to the kitchen. The coffee had just started brewing and the sky was starting to see signs of light. I quickly grabbed my book and made myself comfortable in our recliner. The sound of the coffee maker in the background, the smell of coffee filling the living room and a book in hand = happiness.

Simply yours,
Jill

New Truck

After 17 hours of driving, Rob made it home at 4am on Monday night/Tuesday morning; the proud owner of a new service truck.

On our way home from Kyler's soccer game, we stopped by Rob's shop so I could check out his new wheels. I'm impressed! The truck is huge; much larger than the previous one.

                                   

Also impressive to me: Rob's ability to diagnose, work on and fix heavy equipment. The machines he works on are gigantic and as I look around the shop I'm reminded of how talented he is.

Love him,
Jill

One Year

It's hard to believe, but I've already been working at Shattuck for one year! To celebrate, I brought Caribou coffee for Meg and Mary and brownies for everyone to share. People continue to amaze me -- I received two thoughtful cards and a gift card to Caribou.

After a year of working for SSM, my feelings for the students, my colleagues and the school itself have deepened significantly. While there are many things I miss about working at StO (the people, travel and the pride I felt for the institution are the front runners), I have been very happy with my decision to make the change and continue to feel grateful for the opportunity I've been given.

On to year two,
Jill

Spoke Too Soon

It's snowing like mad outside right now.

Rob is flying to Louisiana tonight to buy a new service truck and of course it started snowing heavily about 30 minutes before we left for the airport. The drive over to Jeremy's house was slow and slippery but the drive home from the airport was even worse. It took me an hour; twice as long as normal. 5 hours after it began, the snow continues to fall.

                            

In moments like these I'm reminded of the good friends we have. Knowing that Rob was out of town, Randy texted and asked if he could come over and plow our driveway. I felt bad saying yes, but of course I said he could come over. What a guy.

                           

Out like a lion,
Jill

Spring has Sprung

I finally finished Lesley's letter of recommendation -- I was avoiding writing it when I wrote my last post. :) While it needed to be done and submitted to a college, I almost wish I hadn't completed it until today.

Yesterday was International Day. This was my first experience with the SSM celebration and I have to say I was incredibly impressed! The international students were in charge of the whole event, from the opening ceremony to the country/region-specific stations around school. Most impressive to me was the opening celebration -- one of our teachers announced, in alphabetical order, the countries our students represent, our choir teacher played the country's national anthem and students from each country processed into the gym carrying their flag. Some of them even sang their national anthem before placing their flag in its stand.

I was particularly moved when Lesley, the student whose letter of recommendation I had such a hard time writing, walked into the gym with his flag around his shoulders, the lone student representing his country, and sang his country's national anthem in front of the entire upper school student body. He never struck me as the type of kid who would do such a thing. So while I'm happy to have completed his rec letter before the end of the week, I wish I had experienced that moment earlier in the year. These kids continue to amaze me.

I'm on duty this weekend. Thankfully, this is one of my easiest duty weekends so far -- 6 hours of sitting in the girls dorm today and 6 hours of sitting in one of the boys dorms tomorrow. I have plenty of notes I could be entering into our student database, but I'm choosing to catch up on my posts, practice my knitting and watch Breaking Bad.

Spring is finally here! I was fortunate enough to catch the sunrise the morning of the Spring Equinox.

Last night we celebrated In Food Marketing's 20 year anniversary! So proud of and happy for Anita and co.

Happy Spring!
Jill

Top o' the Morning

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

I had to dig a little to find any green in my wardrobe, but not to worry - I had success, right down to my shamrock socks that no one could see.

Rob and I are each a little Irish - he's 1/8, I'm 3/8. Apparently not enough to go in search of some corned beef and hash for dinner. If I had really wanted, I could have enjoyed that meal at lunch as it was the main menu item for the day. I passed and had some green salad instead. I did buy some green food coloring after work, so we each enjoyed a glass of green beer with our dinner.

The rest of the weekend was great. Curt's annual wild game feed was a little less busy than normal because there was a hot air balloon race somewhere (no idea where); most of his ballooning friends were unable to make it to the party. I chose safe food items: walleye, venison, salmon and beef brisket. Each of which was delicious -- I even went back for more walleye and brisket!

Sunday we headed to Waconia to support Brooke at her gymnastics meet. She's quite impressive! It was fun to see her so confident and in her element.

And now we're into another week. I've procrastinated writing recommendation letters for Leslie and Lesley and finally spent several hours working on each over the past several days. I'll be happy when those are done.


Jill