Thanks everyone!

I had an awesome four days. I managed not to respond to any work emails despite opening all of them. I chilled out, enjoyed some alone time and recharged a bit. I may actually be able to function at work tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the birthday well wishes. You are all so kind.

Only 364 more days until my next birthday...

Halloween Preview

Happy Halloween from the Jensens

My Aunt Lola invites the city folks to her house the weekend before Halloween to see all the kiddies in costume and enjoy some homemade fudge and popcorn. There were three generations: thirteen distant cousins, ages five months young right on up to fourteen years old; the parents and the older adults (grandparents to the youngest group).

This year's gathering was particularly special because Aunt Lola has been battling cancer. Fortunately, Aunt Lola was in good spirits and good energy for the entire evening. I savored each and every delicious morsel of her homemade fudge. And I'm pretty sure she put a little extra love in it just in case...

A walk around the lake

I took my new camera with me yesterday...

The bandshell

Canoes up for the season

A lone boat

This tree is not giving up

Duluth

To no one's surprise, a good time was had by all. We stayed at what Cate calls "the treehouses", a.k.a. Mountain Villas.

We did a lot of the things we usually do and ate at most of the tried-and-true places...Taste of Saigon Restaurant, shopping, Gooseberry Falls, Betty's Pies, more shopping, throwing rocks into the lake, Canal Park, more shopping...you get the idea. Bonus: no one fell into Lake Superior this time, which is always a good thing.

We did manage to try a couple of new things this visit: one new restaurant we've had our eye on since last year and we thoroughly enjoyed it. And on Sunday, we hit the Great Lakes Aquarium which we haven't done for a few years. An extra bonus at the aquarium--we got in on the Halloween fun they had going on that day. The kids had so much fun.

The view from our treehouse

Max and Kyle on trail at Gooseberry Falls State Park

Getting Max up on "Jolene's Rock"

Cate, our rock climber

Cate and Max coloring while we shopped
The lighthouses at Canal Park

Max and Cate throwing rocks in Canal Park

The Aerial Lift Bridge

Cate's School Fall Festival

Cate had a great time last Thursday evening at her school's fall festival. She was excited to see so many of her friends at the event. I felt like a third wheel (in a good way!) throughout most of the evening as she wandered off and I kept a sufficient distance so as not to hamper her fun with all the activities. This year's theme was "Fun on the Farm" so we got into the spirit and dressed up for the occasion.

Cate dancing in a do-si-doh

On a saddle

The two cowgirls

Four day birthday extravaganza, here I come!

It's finally here!

As soon as one semi-annual Duluth weekend ends, I look forward to the next one. Today is the day we drive north. I get particularly excited for the October trip because it invariably lands on or near my birthday. I call it my birthday retreat and thankfully my family tolerates such vanity.

And the icing on the cake? While we return home Sunday, I will be out of the office through Tuesday, which is my actual birthday. Did you know my birthday was coming up? No? Really?! In case you haven't read other previous posts, I LOVE my birthday. And this year, I have four days of pure birthday bliss. How awesome is that? With so much going on right now, this time off is going to be really valuable time to just slow down. This is a break that has been a long time in coming.

Blog you later...

The Skeleton in My Closet

Jessica, close your eyes because I think, given your tidyness and organizational tendencies, you may break out in hives if you see this picture.

I have been talking about cleaning out and organizing my linen closet for some time. It's the closet next to our bathroom and we open it multiple times daily. Everyday I open the door to get something out and I think, "this weekend will be the weekend I will clean this up."

Some days I am absolutely positive that if I could just clean and organize this linen closet, the rest of my life will be set in perfect order as well.

Well, this weekend is not the weekend it will get cleaned. We will be on our semi-annual trip to Duluth, which is always more therapeutic than cleaning out a closet.

Maybe the following weekend...

Princess Team was SO yesterday!

Me: So Cate. Did you invite Gracie to join the Princess Team today?
Cate: No.
Me: Why not?
Cate: Because I'm not part of the Princess Team anymore. I'm friends with Anthony today.

Oh no.

If I thought being in a clique was going to be an issue, I think I now have bigger fish to fry. She's dumping her best gal pals for a boy already.

The Princess Team Saga Begins

I'm home with Cate today...it seems we can't quite get rid of the guck that is not-quite pneumonia. When I informed her she was staying home from school today, she thought out loud if her Princess Team would wonder where she was today. I informed her that I called the school so her teacher and classmates know she won't be there today. Then I proceeded to ask her about her Princess Team.

I learned that Cate is the Queen Mother and Vera, Isabel, Abbey, Najah, Evie, Alexia and Sophia are princesses. She then said that Gracie is not on the Princess Team.

Great, she's the leader of her first clique.

Me: Why isn't Gracie part of the Princess Team?
Cate: Because she hasn't asked to be on the team yet.
Me: Gracie shouldn't have to ask to join and that,as Queen Mother, you should remember to invite all of the girls to be on the Princess Team. If Gracie says she isn't interested in joining the Princess Team, then that's fine, but at least you invited her to join.

Cate thought about it and then asked, "Well, is that what happened in Sleeping Beauty?" I had to think about it for a second, and she continued, "You know, when Maleficient wasn't invited to the party for Princess Aurora, she got really mean?" I replied, "That's exactly what it's like. You never know, if the King and Queen had invited Maleficient, then maybe she would've been nice instead of having her feelings hurt."

She's processing...perhaps we'll see part two tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary Carl and Claire!

It's my brother and sister-in-law's wedding anniversary today. Phew...it's hard to believe four years have gone by so quickly. I went back to the photo archives and found a few photos I took on their wedding day. It was a gorgeous day in Santa Fe; an event I will never forget.

Congratulations, Carl and Claire, and best wishes for many more wonderful years.

The lovely couple

Cate - 20 months

Our little family

Hunting for Leaves

It was a gorgeous autumn day here in Minnesota and we had the perfect activity to enjoy the sun-drenched, high 60s day. Cate brought home a bag and a note from school instructing us to collect fall leaves for upcoming projects. So we also armed Max with a bag and piled in the car.

We drove over to the Mississippi River Road and hit the high trail along the bank. It didn't take long to fill both bags. I got a few photos along the way. There is no possible way I could capture the incredible beauty of the robust colors, but it sure was fun trying.

An interesting side note from our walk: Kyle is not as confident as I am, but I swear to goodness, we walked opposite Frances McDormand, her husband Joel Coen, and their son Pedro along the path. I felt even more confident after I looked them up on http://www.imdb.com/. It is extremely reasonable given Coen was born in Minneapolis and the Coen brothers are currently filming here in the Cities. I said "hi" as we passed them and Frances smiled and nodded. Whoo! Our almost-brush with fame...

Oh...and my birthday is 20 days away

Those of you who really know me, know that I am obnoxious...er, uhm, passionate about my birthday. I love my birthday. I take the day off from work, go to lunch with someone special, get a message, whatever. And of course, I enjoy cards and presents. Sometimes the cards more than the presents. Because really, there's nothing I need. Ever. But I would never refuse a gift.

In our family, it is mandatory to provide a list for birthdays and Christmas. Not that I wouldn't get a gift if I didn't provide a list, but such suggestions help the brain flow a little easier. So in an effort to be efficient, I thought I would post my list here. :)

*Stationery / note cards
*Lovely pen for writing on my new stationery / note cards (blue ink preferable)
*White table cloth and matching napkins (60 x 84)
*Babysitting services
*Wii Fit
*Anything from Eddie Bauer or Ann Taylor Loft (size 12 or Large)
*Cities 97 Sampler CD 20th Anniversary (see Eric)
*Cool case for my Blackberry Curve 8330
*Gift care to Let's Dish
*Gift card to Archiver's
*Ear buds for ipod
*Itunes card

Cate and Papa

It may be just me, but there's just something very sweet about this picture. We were at the Swedish Institute Semi- Annual Frukost (i.e. pancake breakfast) last Saturday. It's a fundraiser for the Men's Chorus that Kyle's Uncle Cliff is a member of. Every 30 minutes, the group gathers to sing for the guests. So we took pause and listened to our performance. Cate is cuddling up with my Dad listening very intently.

Uncle Cliff is always so delighted to see the younger grand-nieces and grand-nephews at this event. And our kids delight in him. If you squint, he's the singer in the front row directly above Cate's head.

Mmmm, tasty!

It's no wonder I am a tad off from my goal weight these days. The cafeteria at my work has some awesome hamburgers and onion rings. In fact, their onion rings make my top 3 for most favorite onion rings. As for the hamburger, it's all about the bun. Soft and fresh.

Now before you go and knock me for my Diet Coke can shining next to my styrofoam to-go container, there is an actual non-diet-related reason for drinking it. Whenever Kyle and I went out to dinner while dating (over seventeen years ago), he would order a Diet Coke due to his diabetes, and I would order a Coke. More often than not, they would server Kyle the Coke and me the Diet Coke. You know, me being a girl and all. I got tired of switching it around, I just opted to start ordering Diet Coke as well. Now I can't even drink Coke Zero because it tastes too sweet to me.

Mmm, those o-rings were mighty tasty!

Now that you know what's on my favorite food list, what's on yours?

Have a great weekend.

Three Days In, Two Days Out

I guess cold season couldn't get to us soon enough. We are already on round two of colds in less than 4 weeks. With Cate's pneumonia and Max having a fever now, it's three days into the work week and I've been out two days.

Conceptually, working from home is a great benefit. It is not as fabulous when the kids are sick, but not sick enough to be bed-bound. But having this opportunity to stay home with my sick kid gives me some peace-of-mind that I don't have to anguish over priorities one way or the other.

Thankfully, I have an awesome boss and crew at work who have been managing things in my absence. The Blackberry work armed me with can be my best friend or my greatest enemy. Situations such as Monday and today deems it my best friend. I can dash off a quick reply or direct action through email and feel like my day at home is not completely stalling progress at work. Tonight, once the children are in bed, I can also log on to the work network and get some more substantial work done.

It's not perfect, but it works well enough.

Max and I went to pick up Cate from the after school program earlier than usual so we could get her home for her nebulizer treatment before picking up Kyle downtown. Max has fun fitting into the students' cubbies perfectly. Here are the two rascals cheesing it up.

After dinner, we headed out to Target. Cate has been so wired up from her steroid medication that I commented to Kyle on the way home, "I keep reminding myself that we won't be able to get hardly a syllable out of her when she's thirteen, so I'm trying to appreciate her constant chatter today!"

It seems the little man's fever has subsided and we can back down on the neb treatments for Cate. Looks like I'll be back in the office for the next couple of days. Whoo-whee!