Happy Halloween!

Nature and I carved pumpkins last night. You can vote for your favorite! Poll on the top of the page, to the left!

Late entry by my niece, Nadine:

Kitty!

The First Draft

I saw a quote on a classroom blackboard last week that said, "Perfectionism, the only thing standing between you and a shitty first draft." Well, I can say with all honesty, that perfectionism is NOT my problem. The first draft of my term paper stinks to high heaven. It is so bad, in fact, that I don't even want to read it in order to work on the second draft knowing that the godforsaken fumes that it is giving off may, indeed, kill me. I have spent a great deal of the last week procrastinating and that certainly has something to do with the malodorous content of my paper. I realize that this assignment is designed to ascertain whether or not I absorbed the reading material thus far. I have. Really. Sort of. You see, the texts are awful. Really truly awful. One of them was last updated in 2001 and is written by some guy from Utah. (insert reason to mistrust or joke about the mormons here) It features chapters on tax code and the 1980s and other suffocatingly boring material. Although I did stumble upon the interesting little tidbit that the NFL is actually a nonprofit organization. You can look it up.

Really, I am enjoying this class and being back in school. This missive is just another example of how easy it is in the age of the internets to procrastinate. You're doing it right now.

Oh, god help me...

I'm sitting in front of my laptop. I have books, papers, notes, references of various kinds spread all over the couch. I'm working on my midterm paper half-heartedly. I was a supremely skilled procrastinator durning my days of undergrad at SCSU. I realize in the rational part of my brain that I cannot do that with a grad level class and honestly expect to pass. That said, I have the Sox v. Indians game on (on mute, naturally) across the room and the sound of Tiva snoring, lulling me into a semi-dream state, on the blanket next to me. Proof that tonight is just not the night for me to be writing an academic paper came a few minutes ago when I found that I had written the following:

"The future of the nonprofit sector is glowing and bright, cheery and lime in the coconut, drink it all up. Nonprofits need to prepare for the future by buying lots of rum. "

I think I'll go to bed now. After the baseball game, of course. The midterm will have to wait.

Family Golf Weekend

Nathan and I spent last Friday and Saturday in Strum, WI with the Nesje/Seltun clan. It was fun, particularily the late night free-wheeling conversation around the fire with Nate's cousin.


I suck at golf. I don't ever play nor do I have much interest in it. That said, I don't suck nearly as much as you'd think. I might even be good at it if I played regularly or actually tried. I hit a drive that was 150 yards+ It makes a cool little *tink* sound when you hit the ball hard. I like that. However, the 4 year old on my team, Zack, was consistenly better at the game than me. And the 8 year old kicked my ass...

Zack, Mike's son, Mike, Ann (my mother-in-law), me and Nathan's cousin, Jay.

Yellow Rose, Paso Robles, CA

California Wedding

Over this past weekend, I was a guest at a wedding in Paso Robles. My friends Melanie and Aaron got hitched. The setting was incredibly beautiful. I can highly recommend a wine country tour in the fall. Rent a convertible for sure. Of course, I'm a happy camper anytime I get to say hello to Mama Ocean.

The beach at Morro Bay, CA

Stillwaters Vineyard, Paso Robles, CA

Proud to be an...?

I found myself barrelling down Hwy 101 in CA yesterday at 80 miles an hour while simultaneously talking on my cell phone and eating a cheeseburger. I've never felt more 'merican in my life.

Visit with Mom & Dad

We took my Mom and Dad to their first-ever game at the Metrodome for the 9/20 day game of the Twins vs. White Sox. Sadly, both teams were already out of play-off contention and it was likely the last time I'll ever see Torii Hunter in a Twins uniform. Not a very good game, but I think that the folks enjoyed the experience anyway. Nathan's parents joined us, too. Dad even wore my Twins cap :)

After the game, we took the whole group down to see the crews hauling the last of the I-35 bridge out of the Mississippi River. I still can't think about it with out getting this horrible knot in the pit of my stomach. Nathan and I were just a couple of bridges over when it fell. All of the debris is gone now, being carefully reassembled downstream by the NTSB. Now we can sit back and listen to the city, county and state politicians fight over the money to rebuild the bridge while we sit in awful traffic all the good god day long...

The joy of a good massage...

Our new friend, Dawn, stopped over with her massage table last night. She's awesome! I hope to be seeing a lot of her, not just as a massage therapist but as a friend. She's a definite all around and there's no question why she was Rookie of the Year at SOMS :)

Please give her your business if you can. Here's a link to her website: http://www.bodykneadswellness.com/main/bios.htm

Back to School

After nine years of gradually whittling away at the synapses that my brain worked so hard to create, I've decided to go back to school. I began my Masters in Nonprofit Management at Hamline University in St. Paul at the start of September. Alternately thrilled and terrified to be back in academic setting, it's going surprisingly well. The program is designed for non-traditional students (old) who already work (slave) in nonprofit organizations. I am only taking one night class a semester. Really I think that is all I could handle and still work full time. It has already proven challenging to keep up with the reading. Of course, it doesn't help that the first text book assigned is ungodly boring. Chapters on tax code and theory don't exactly keep one riveted. I am having to learn a whole new style of academic writing called APA Style. It is hard to wrap my brain around since 1) I haven't written a paper in nearly a decade and 2) I used MLA Style exclusively in my undergrad. But, it's good for me and I am thoroughly enjoying the classroom discussions. There's one blowhard in the bunch (no, it's not me) but the Prof does a good job of managing them. I've been working on an oral presentation for tomorrow night's class. Turns out, I'm a whiz at Powerpoint. Who knew?