Getting in the "Holiday Spirit"

We have been preparing the house for the big work Holiday Party that we are hosting this coming Friday at Pi Milton.

We have been getting some little things crossed off the "weekend-warrior list."

One chore I have been waiting to cross off since they day we moved in (over 16 months ago) is painting the front door. Zen rule says that red doors are welcoming.

And then I got to baking. We are going to be giving holiday cookies to everyone as they leave the party and we have a few neighbors who really like the gingerbread with maple frosting. (Pictured are shortbread trees with red rum and green vanilla frosting. Then there are gingerbread trees with maple cinnamon frosting. And there are also chocolate espresso logs. And then ISSB’s cookie of the month: triple chocolate – he went out with a bang.)

I even used my new Clay Coyote Saucepan as double boiler for the chocolate topping.

These are more like biscotti:
And I finally finished re-stitching all the stockings for Christmas in Minnesota. What do you think of my nephew's train?
And, then to top off a day in the kitchen, I used my Clay Coyote Chicken Baker to make ISSB and me a very tasty dinner. (In case you are wondering we used Firemans #4.)
Overall, a very productive weekend.

Denver: Day One

I arrived in Denver after two weeks of grueling work, but hey, it pays the bills and saves my immortal soul.

I am here to visit my best friend Amy - who is here for a month working as a costume designer for the Denver Center for the Performing Art (she has the coolest job!!!).

I arrived Thursday night and was rushed off to see the nightly performance of Noises Off (which had me laughing my brains out!). It was amazing.

Then on Friday I spent the day wandering around the city:


As soon as Amy got off work, we hopped in the rental car and headed to the Rockies! More on Halloween and our trip up the mountain in the next post!

A trip to DC

I spoke on Wednesday at the National Press Club on a panel that I dubbed "Using Online Video to Educate, Motivate and Make Change" (see real name here).
Overall a success! And, one note the speaker from the EPA on the panel is a UW-Stevens Point grad who was on state wide United Council Student Government at the same time as me and we are sure to have met before. Also, the moderator (my good friend Andrew) is a UW-Mad grad...coincidence?

Later that night I got to have a lovely dinner with Uncle Jack and Aunt Karen on the Hill and then over to Sam and Tony's to watch the Philly's take the series and see Virgin Gorda photos.

On the road again: NY, DC, CO

First up, New York City.

Then a few fine days in Washington for a forum. And a Happy Second Birthday celebration for my little peanut.
Then Denver to see Amy and the mountains!
But, if you are anywhere near Minnesota this weekend, take a lovely fall drive out to my favorite fall event at the Clay Coyote and give my mom a hug for me.

PS: None of the above photos are mine, I pinched them from the web. But, I promise some of my own in November.

Austin's forcast for Monday

"Near record" - really!?!? What does it take to hit records around here? Yuck!!!

Sorry, I haven't posted recently. Been recovering, relaxing and trying not to overdo it. HA! Yeah right, I have been trying to recover, pretending to relax and getting scolded for overdoing it.

Next week I am headed back to my normal schedule of travel-travel-travel. This time off to San Francisco for a week. One wedding, one baby shower and one week of working out of the West Coast office - should be a nice trip!

Postcards from our trip: Part 1

I could pretty much type for days. But, I won’t bore you with all the details. Instead I will just get to the good stuff. Remember, I was in IL, MO, IL, WI, IL, TX, Puerto Rico, Virgin Gorda, St. Thomas (unplanned stop for customs) and Puerto Rico all in two weeks. So this is a multi-part phlog. Enjoy!

So here I am driving the RV from IL to MO. I took Big Blue almost 350 miles!

The off to vacation. Here is the first look at the lake of the year! Some things never change.




Mom in the gardens on our daily walk.
Toes!
ISSB takes on mom is Bocce.
After the relaxing at the Lake, we were on to Illinois to stay with our friends Micah and Erica, but the real reason for the trip to Illinois was to say goodbye to my grandpa. On Sunday we had a nice lunch, reminisced and then scattered his ashes according to his wishes.

Mom reading Billy Collins with Uncle Allen.
Saying goodbye to Grandpa. Sunday night, we went out on the town in Chicago. Here are Micah and Erica with the Tin Man in Oz Park.
Then on Monday (the longest day ever - more details on that later) we went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Anyone who knows me, knows my love for all things water including a habit of visiting aquariums around the globe. The Shedd was my first as a "shorty" and still my favorite inland aquarium. The only turtle seen the whole vacation.
I really liked this little guy!
Dancing dolphins.
I know it is dark, but here we are at the Shedd.

View from the Shedd to the Lake.Then after that we headed over to Grant Park for the Taste of Chicago.
These guys were hams!Buckingham Fountain. Pretty as I remember it and it cooled us off.
Overall, the first leg of our trip was a blast. Tomorrow, Part 2: Air Sunshine.

Two weeks...of relaxing

If you are looking for this aqua girl, I am gone. I am headed to Sam & Tony's wedding. But, I have a few detours on the way. First, I am headed to the RV for three days. Then I am off to Lake Geneva with my mom and back to Chicago to visit with friends and family and celebrate my grandpa's life. But, after that, I am going to be here. In this hammock, "resting my eyes."

See you when we get back from paradise.

Minnesota for the NCMR

I keep going back to the NCMR and each year it keeps getting better and better.

This year, however, it was in my home state of Minnesota and it was fun to host my coworkers in the Land of Lakes.

On the conference, all I can recommend is that you go to this site and watch some of the powerful speakers. My favorite of the weekend was Van Jones, but his speech isn’t up there yet.

On the homefront, we had a blast. Not only did I get to spend time with my coworkers, I also got to spend time with my mom, Too and Amy.

On Sunday when the conference was all said and done we went to uptown and walked over to Lake Calhoun and watched the people go by and the boats sit still as the wind was non existent.
It was a great conference and trip! I wonder where we will go next year!

Maine was beautiful!

Last week, for work amazingly, I had the opportunity to add two new states to my list. New Hampshire and Maine. In the “live free or die” state I only saw the highway and a bit of the coastline. But, I am still counting it. I would like to go back and spend more time in the more wooded area of NH.

In Maine, on the other hand, I spent two lovely days. When we arrived in Portland it was a wet and dreary day. The fishing boats were in because of a fog warning.

We still wandered the streets in search of a good place to dine for the night and we scoped out the spot where the Old Port Festival (our reason for being there) would take place the next day.


On Sunday, the first day of June, the weather was perfect for a street fest and I was covered in sun screen for the eight hour event.

When the Port Festival was over I waved goodbye to the RV Crew (this was my last stop with them…for now). I decided this was my opportunity to see some of Maine.
I asked a local shop owner, if she had a few hours to spend seeing Portland, what she would do. The recommendation was to take a commuter ferry boat out to one of the islands on Casco Bay and walk around and have dinner.

I chose Peaks Island. Mostly, because when I was scoping out restaurants on ChowHound I saw a good recommendation for lobster out there. What the heck. I paid my $7.75 and boarded the boat.

It was amazing. What a difference a day makes. May was cloudy, wet and cold. June was sunny and warm.

Take a look:

Fort Georges
I think that this is one of the two Cape Elizabeth Lights.
Welcome to Peaks Island.

Lobster traps.

That night after I wandered the island, I stopped at the Inn on Peaks and had a lovely lobster dinner all by myself. It was one of the most decadent things I have ever done.

I even made a new friend on the island. One thing I can say is Maine people have funny accents.

That night as I went back on the last boat, it was a perfect sky and I think, just maybe I will have to go back to Peaks Island again someday.

Here is the shot as the boat pulled back in to Portland.