Wednesday, February 21, 2018

February 19 - 25, 2018, AZ


Monday, February 19.  The weather is supposed to be snowy and is under a winter snow advisory.  Wouldn't you know, it's my travel and I'm a bit uneasy, although I know that people around here take it all in stride.  I made a reservation for an Uber pickup at 3:00, just in case - my flight is at 6:00.


Ben and I took Charlotte to "the Works", a kids discovery museum with lots of blocks and things to build, silly mirrors and stuff like that. She had lots of fun. We stopped for lunch at Broder's Cucina, just a couple of blocks from their house, for and my meatball sandwich was yummy.









I said my goodbyes and my Uber driver showed up right on time and got me to the airport in plenty of time. I was all checked in ahead of time, so getting throughnsecurity was no problem.  I no more sat down and looked up at the screen to see my flight was delayed a half hour and then shortly after that, another half hour.  When we finally boarded, we sat on the tarmac for another hour while the plane was de-iced - three times. My plane landed at 11:00 and Tom was right there to pick me up. It sure was nice to see him again!


Saturday, February 24. It was right back to my cleaning jobs this week, starting on Tuesday morning, although my client gave me some slack and let me have a later start.  That was nice, because I was too wound up to get to sleep for a long time.   I was happy to be back in Tom's arms.  We missed each other.  And Frisco too, although I knew he was in good hands.


We hadn't been to a TGIF here in the park for a long time and Friday night, it was hosted by Jan and Jim, so we signed up and went.  They made pork chops with pineapple and strawberry chipotle sauce and, as usual, they were yummy and the side dishes contributed by residents were good too.  Dinner was followed by Karaoke, Tom went home early and I stuck around for a little while. Bruce, Jim, and Dan were the best performers, although they sang old and slow country songs.


Tonight, we had Jim and Sue and Connie over for pizza, salad, and Farkel.  It was fun with lots of lively discussion and plenty of laughter.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

February 11 - 18, 2018, MN

Monday, February 12.  I had 2 brief walks this morning, taking the kids to school and bus stop. Damn, it's cold!  Zero degrees is damned frigid cold.  Jill loaned me one of her coats and and I was wearing hat and gloves, but my face felt stiff and frozen, then my knees and feet started feeling real cold, and this was just walking Norah and Camille to their school, only 2 blocks away.


Tonight was the scramble to get them all to swimming lessons and back home and tucked into bed.  Jill fed the kids quesadillas and oranges in the car on the way there and they got bananas on the way home.  It was testing night and Camille and Norah moved up to the next level but Charlotte needs to improve her skills a bit more before she moves on.  She loves the water but it is all a matter of coordination with her. We were eating nachos for dinner at 8:30 and it wasn't long after that when I went to bed.


Tuesday, February 13.  Well, it's been 5 years since Mike passed away and I got my cry in this afternoon.  Damn, it wasn't supposed to be like this.  I'm going to look at photos and bring back memories of the years we had together.  I feel good that I have been able to move on and make the most of my life and I am in a happy place - I know that he would want that for me.  And now - I'll get on with the rest of my life.



I used Ben's van to run some errands today - the DMV for updated license, tags for the trailer, pick up a prescription, and get some things at the grocery store. The temps have risen to 30 today but it still felt cold because of the wind.  A high of 40 is expected tomorrow.


Thursday, February 15.  Well, we survived the anniversary of Mike's death and celebrated by having a conversation with Pat, receiving 60+ posts to his photo on Facebook, and watching the slide show of his life story that we shared at his memorial service.


The girls were all excited about Valentine's Day and came home from school with boxes full of them and Charlotte's was full of candy.  I add a pot of Zuppa Tuscana for dinner and it went over well, but not quite as well as the last time I made it.  That might have a bit to do with the candy that they ate after school.


Ben took the day off today, he actually has the next 5 days off, and once we got the kids all off to school, he and I headed to Rustica Bakery for a coffee and pastry.  Our destination was the Frederick R Weisman Art Museum on the U of M campus.  The building itself is unusual, a stainless steel and brick building designed by architect Frank Gehry. The paintings on display were made by local artists and there was a gallery with works depicting "Vanishing Ice" that made me feel sad, knowing that global warming is real and this brought it all home.  There was also an exhibit of photos of Prince and a few of his personal items.







From there, we headed to the Foxtone Music Company where a very friendly guy named Wes talked with us for a long time about creating electronic music and sound waves and the equipment used to create it.  Much of it was way over my head, but I found it to be interesting and it's a topic that Ben has a lot of interest in.


After that, we went to Minnehaha Falls so I could see them in their frozen state.  The weather has been in the 30-40 degree range yesterday and today, so there was water moving but the Falls themselves were all ice.



   Charlotte's new bob hairstyle.

Friday, February 16.  Happy 41st Birthday to my youngest son, Ben. He and Charlotte both had the day off, so we were able to spend it together. I let him sleep in and got up early to do his morning chores, like make Norah and Camille's lunches and breakfast, get the coffee going for Jill and I, and empty the dishwasher. Jill dropped the girls off at schooled once Ben got up, we headed to Rose Street Patisserie for a yummy pastry and coffee.



Our next stop was the Bakken museum, the world's only library and museum devoted to medical electricity. I learned a bit about the condition in my heart called a left bundle branch block, the part of the heart that controls the electrical signals that tell it to beat.  There were several hands-on displays that demonstrated how electricity worked and some that generated a slight shock.  There was a Frankenstein's Laboratory display that featured the author, Mary Shelley and an animated version of her telling her story, plus several other interactive displays.  Charlotte also like the Ben Franklin Laboratory. We played a cool Mind Game where two people tried to get a ball through a tube by using brain waves.  My brain was way too active to have much control and Charlotte and Ben both beat me at it.  It made me think that I should work on some relaxation techniques.


They hired a babysitter for tonight so Ben, Jill, and I could go for it for a nice dinner and it was truly enjoyable.  It has been so long since we have been able to do that.  We started at Salut for an Old Fashioned to toast Ben's birthday and in memory of Mike, then headed to Book Club Restaurant for dinner.  We shared a plate of Mussels for an appetizer andI had the steak salad that was a generous serving of assorted vegetables, pickled green beans, a nice hunk of Blue Cheese, and a tasty vinaigrette dressing.  For dessert, we shared a bread pudding.  It was such a nice evening.


Saturday, February 17.  Norah, Charlotte and I teamed up and made my Apple Oat Crisp for Ben's birthday party this morning.  After Charlotte's gymnastics class, we hung out at home for the rest of the day, working on art projects and party decorations.  


I learned from Rita that my latest great-nephew was born in Kansas City, the first son of my niece Ashley and Cher husband Chase. I haven't gotten any other details yet.


Ben made a yummy dinner of spicy shrimp, rice, and roasted broccoli and then we had the apple crisp and ice cream for dinner.  And then the party started!  The party ball (strobe lights) was turned on and the dance music turned up and we all danced and had a balloon fight. What fun!





Sunday, February 18.  Ben and the family went to an indoor water park and I opted to stay home and do my laundry and get organized for my trip back home. It was kind of nice to have quiet time.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home and taking it easy.



Sunday, February 11, 2018

February 1 - 9, 2018, AZ and MN

There hasn't been a whole lot to write about lately so again, I'm just going to hit the highlights.


Sunday, February 2.  We watched the Super Bowl with Jim and Sue at their new and beautiful motor home.  Sue made ham sandwiches and I made baked beans and we had a good time.


Tuesday, February 6. A Highlands Happy Hour bus trip to Casa de Juana - a very nice Mexican restaurant on Southern and Dobson in Mesa.  The decor was bright and cheerful and the food was delicious.  A couple of people went ahead in their cars, and learned that a reservation for 33 people (9 from our park and the rest from Monte Vista) had just been called in a half hour before they got there.  The staff quickly set up a room for us and our server, Steve, did an excellent job of taking our orders and serving us.  I have a feeling that he got some good tips that evening.


Thursday, February 8.  We picked Jim and Sue up and headed it to Meridian Road to hike a trail on the east side of Usery Mountain.  We chose the County Line, Spillway, and Meridian Loop trails for a 3.3 mile hike. And a very enjoyable one it was, with warm and comfortable temperatures and really good company.



The rest of the day was spent preparing for my trip to Minnesota tomorrow.


Friday, February 9.  I was up, packed, Frisco walked, and ready to leave home by 10:15 when Tom took me to the airport.  Check-in, security, the wait and the flight all went smoothly and I was picked up at the airport by Ben and the girls.  We had a typical Friday night at the Bridge household with pizza and an evening of watching the Olympics Opening Ceremonies and a few of the skating events.  Ben and I stayed up and talked until almost 11:00 - so good to be reunited!


Saturday, February 10.  Ben and I were off to take Norah and Camille to gymnastics this morning and it was fun watching them go through all of the moves in the class. Their favorite is 'the pit' that is filled with soft, cushions and the just worked on maintaining balance.  Because the followed the coach's instructions and cooperated with getting in and out of the car, they were rewarded with a trip to one of the very few gluten free bakeries in the area, called Sift.  Ben and I each had a very yummy Lemon Poppyseed Muffin and the girls had chocolate donuts with sprinkles and they lovingly ate every bit of them.


I watched the girls tonight so Ben and Jill could go out on the town and enjoy a concert.  We watched the Disney movie, "Moana".  Bedtime was a bit of a disaster - Norah kept getting out of bed with a multitude of excuses and Camille got up because she said 

Norah woke her up.  It was almost 9:00 before I was able to get in the shower.  By then, I was exhausted and went to bed myself.



Sunday, March 11.  It was another very active day, but the morning got off to a much slower start.  Charlotte had ice skating class and we all went with he so Norah and Camille could get some time on the ice too.  I was tempted to put on skates but didn't want to risk breaking any of my almost 70-year old bones. Charlotte is really learning a lot and her coordination is improving so much.  Talk about cold - 9 degrees and we were standing on ice.  The coat Jill loaned me to wear and the long underwear layer really kept me toasty warm, but my feet turned to ice shortly after we arrived.  The days have been sunny and bright, but they sure are cold.  The ice rink and warming house brought back many memories of my childhood, skating with family and friends at St. Ann's near my home in Stoughton.


After the twin's nap, we headed to St. Louis Park to Punch Fun and Sports for a game of bowling, my first since an evening with Ben and Jill back in 2007 in Pacifica, California.  Jill was the high scorer and Grandma Rose came in as the low scorer.  It just happened to be a place that served Gluten Free choices, so we had dinner there too.