Meet Ron Weasley (aka Josh Sacrison)

Okay, this is one of those "Proud Mom" things that I just had to share. Partly because I am wholly biased toward what a great couple of kids I have, but also because despite the fact that he is now 15, and at the age where most kids start to believe their parents are LAME, I am always thrilled when Josh is willing to spend time with me. For those who don't get to spend as much time with him as we do, he's truly one of the funniest kids I know, and I'm happy to say, hasn't discovered that I am LAME yet.

So, a few weeks ago when the last Harry Potter book came out our local Borders book stores had this "All Hallows Ball" event to ring in the last of the book series. Josh and I are both avid fans of the books, so since the event fell on a Friday, he and I headed over to Borders around 9:00 pm (My bedtime ordinarily) to take part. Along with a spelling contest and a few other games, they had a costume contest. As part of my agreement to be out so late, and yes, wait in line at midnight to get the book, I told Josh he had to wear his Halloween costume from last year. (He went as Ron Weasley, and believe me the resemblance is uncanny). He grumbled a little but agreed to do it. So, in one of those rare moments when as a mother I come out looking like a genius, he entered the contest, and amid (count them) a couple hundred screaming "fans" won by a landslide. I say fans because he was also approached 4 or 5 times by various people who asked if they could have their picture taken with him. (A real hardship for such a shy boy) HA! For his trouble, he earned a Borders gift card and a paper crown to wear as the King of the Ball. Now, I ask you; How many 15 year old boys do you know who would 1) attend such an event with his mother, and 2) enter a contest like this one? Now you know why I think he's so much fun. Incidentally, we did get the book, and by 1:30 am we were both tucked into bed. I, of course, was sleeping because, while he's a great kid he wasn't about to let me read the book first. (I had to wait a whole 3 days!!!) Anyway, the photos were taken after we got home while he was still in costume, and I was still partially awake.

The wonder of Air Conditioning

I learned this week that there are few things more miserable than 90 degree temps and no air conditioning. For those of you familiar with the high humidity of Minneapolis in the summer, you will know what I am talking about. To a point, even I can handle a little heat. (Maybe there is something to be said for "dry heat") However, when it is 75 plus degrees when I get up in the morning at 4:15 am or so, the lack of AC is pure torture. I gave serious consideration to skipping putting anything resembling makeup on my face given it was only going to slide off again before I got out the door but vanity prevailed. Rich cleverly chose to head into work early for a little time in the on-site gym which meant he could shower and dress there. I'm not proud, I'll admit I was jealous!

Anyway, Rich and I have learned after owning two homes now, both of varying vintage, that appliances generally never fail unless it is a major holiday(Christmas or New Years) or we are expecting a houseful of people (Dan's confirmation). Replacing them is a pain in the patookus, and always EXPENSIVE. This was no exception. When our compressor blew on the Air Conditioner we called our friendly Centerpoint Energy Service Plus guy and asked for a visit. Upon finding out that our Service Plus plan does not cover the compressor on an AC unit, and after picking myself up off the floor at price tag to get a new unit installed, I said a couple of prayers and called work. This was also one of those times I was very happy to be working for a wholesale distributor who sells this stuff. Long story short... we have a new AC and the house is once again bearable. Our vacation fund is empty again, but I'm not much fun when I'm hot and cranky so hopefully Rich sees that he made a wise investment... : ) For those of you who will be visiting us next weekend, I'm happy to say we aren't going to try and roast you while you are here!

Yes, I FINALLY graduated!

For those of you who have not heard, I finally finished school last month. After nearly 4 years of what seemed like an endless string of text books, essays, papers, quizzes and exams, I finally completed my last final exam on July 24th. I cannot begin to tell you how liberating it is to not have any more textbooks on my horizon! Of course this means that I now have "unlimited" time to get all those projects going that have been in limbo for four years. Rich and the boys are thrilled at this prospect! Well okay, maybe not. At any rate, my goal now is to accomplish a few things around home that I've let slide for all this time, and see if I can't get my house and yard back in shape the way I would like it. But first... We are celebrating the fact that I finally finished with a party here at home on August 18th. I'll be the first to admit it's a bit odd to be planning my own party, but it seemed sort of weird making my own graduation announcements too and I managed to get past that. Hopefully many of you will be joining us for this auspicious occasion! Bring your lawn chairs! This will more or less be a repeat of the festivities we had at Dan's grad party... with a few more adult beverages! Hope to see you soon!

35W Bridge Collapse

It occurred to me today, that a few of you might be curious about how the 35W bridge collapse affects us here in the Twin Cities.

For the most part, we really aren't located near enough to the bridge for it to affect our commute to and from work. Dan works in Minneapolis but given that we live on the NW side of the Cities his travels to and from work don't take him anywhere near the bridge. (Thank Heaven!) His commute may end up taking a little longer with the excess traffic now forced to change routes, but that's something we'll all have to live with for as long as it takes to get the whole thing fixed. Rich and I both work in the suburbs either to the South or West of where we live so our path to and from isn't affected much at all.

Thankfully we rarely ever travel that particular portion of the Cities and we're a little embarassed to say we didn't even know the bridge had collapsed until we received a phone call from Rich's mom asking if everyone was okay. However it happened, we were all occupied with something other than the TV that evening. I will say it was nice to receive so many out-of- town phone calls from people we don't get to talk to often enough! Thanks for all of your concern! We appreciate it!

Sunday Aug 5th, 2007

This particular shot is from a recent family trip up to Detroit Lakes where we spent the weekend mingling with long lost relatives. For those of you who have not seen Rich for a while... he's the skinny guy behind Josh in the yellow. Somewhere in the last 8 months I lost half of my hubby...

This weekend we are once again enjoying the company of relatives thanks to the marriage of nephew Bryon and his bride Crystal. This is also the reason this particular post will end here, as I need to get off my duff and get ready to go to the gift opening.

More later... I promise!