A Date with Dave!

Many moons ago I was on line with Ticketmaster at exactly 10:00 am to click 'purchase tickets' for Dave Matthews Band. I got 4 good seats to their concert at Excel in September and was delighted. DMB hasn't appeared in the Twin Cities in ages. Mark was as excited as me, and we recruited Gretchen and Dan to join us.

Fast forward to August. Mark discovered he had an out of town work event and couldn't attend. I e mailed my friend Amy C. Will you be my date for Dave?

Now rewind to late last week. Gretchen and Dan were also unable to make it. Amy asked our friend Joan, and I invited my co worker Jenny.

Wednesday night finally arrives! Too Bad/Soo Sad for Mark, Gretchen and Dan. Andrea, Amy, Joan and Jenny had a FABULOUS time and Dave did NOT dissappoint.

Qouting the Pioneer Press review of the show - "By this point, Dave Matthews Band concerts are a rite of passage, and the group's Wednesday-night stop at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul was no different. Baby-faced college kids seeing the group for the first time bumped elbows with 30-something couples celebrating yet another notch in their DMB belt."

You can put me in the that 30 something catagory. Amy C (then Amy D) reminded me we first saw Dave together 15 years ago at the Target Center, while in college! Since then, I've attended performances in Madison, Alpine Valley, and the Twin Cities again. Dave isn't music preserved in a decade or era of my history. Dave provides music for my life, and through time (remember Dancing with Dave?)... and the band is an outstanding live experience.

I don't have a ton of 'notches in my belt' for DMB (5 I think), but be assured I will be 'celebrating' more in the years ahead.

Swimming Lessons and more

Monday the kids attended their first swimming lesson. We signed them up at the YMCA and are excited for the 5 weeks left! The first session was great. The kids were chomping at the bit to get in the pool. I kept telling them they had to stay OUT of the water until the instructor was ready and lessons were scheduled to start, since we were early. Their toes kept inching towards the water.

The Twinners spent quite a bit of time in water this past summer, so they were ready to go!

Floating...

This past Sunday, Marly and Dean also went to Sunday School for the first time. I signed up to be a teacher too, because I sort of felt like that is what you are suppose to do when you bring your kids. (Okay, that is what my mom did! Oh... and the head of Children's Ministry ASKED me, and said they didn't have enough teachers...). I am helping with 1st Grade, and it should be interesting. Mark reminded me I am not someone who enjoys large groups of other people's children! (Oh, and crafts are NOT my foray!)

As for Marly and Dean, Mark stayed with them last week. Things were rather chaotic for the first Sunday. It remains to be seen how Sunday School will transpire (for all three of us, actually). Marly and Dean's class has over 20 preschoolers in it, and last week they were actually short chairs! The teachers did provide a bio about themselves for the parents of the class. Thank heavens they are actually trained pre-school teachers, and have more experience then said S.S. teacher/blog author!

Life Lessons from Craig's List

Today I spent my time around the house. I washed windows and screens neglected this past spring. We did some yard maintenance. Mark cleaned out some clothes, and we started bags for a Courage Center collection/pick up.

We need to clean out, and purge. We have too much. I intended to have a garage sale this summer, but the truth is, I lacked the motivation to take on the challenge, even though my garage is brimming with things we don't need, or want.

Neighborhood dump day is one week away. As residents, we can pull pretty much anything we want to the curb, and the city will haul it away. It rotates between neighborhoods every three years, and this is our year on Riverview Lane. Remember that toilet we replaced after the kids flushed a toy down it? Neighborhood dump day. How about those hollow panel doors we replaced, or the bi-folds? Neighborhood dump day. Small pine dresser used at my various apartments since college, missing one drawer? Dump Day!

But then I felt guilty. Should I find a way to recycle these items, instead of filling a landfill? I decided to place FREE posts on Craig's List for the doors and dresser before pulling them to the curb next Saturday. In the post for the pine dresser, I listed the dimensions, and indicated clearly a drawer was missing. Two hours later I got a call.

"Yes.. the dresser is available. It's all yours if you want it!" I alerted the man it was MISSING A DRAWER. He said he would take it and place a panel over the missing drawer. For my own security (since Mark was out for the evening), I gave him my address, and told him I would leave it on the curb. I said he could take it or leave it, and if it was on the curb at the end of the night, I would pull it back in the garage. Before he hung up, he said, "God Bless You."

Because the dresser was light, I could easy pull it down the drive. Minus the missing drawer, it didn't look too bad from the front, but is wasn't very sturdy. I discovered the back particle board panel was missing too. I felt guiltfor y having posting something so crappy actually.

A while later the kids and I were finishing supper. I noticed a late model mini van drive by and circle, but payed no attention. The kids moved to another window and said, "Mommy, there's a man at the curb!" Dean exclaimed, "Mommy, that man is taking the garbage!"

Instantly, my heart sank. This man was taking the dresser for his children. My own kids (peering out the window in their crisp, new jeans for the season), thought the dresser was garbage.

Hours later, as I type now (hours before going to worship tomorrow morning), I feel so very guilty for all we have, as I contemplate what others do not.

I waved to that man in the mini van after he loaded the abused, damaged dresser. I wanted to do more for him. He drove off, and I cleaned up the left overs from supper. Chicken strips I made scratch, mac n' cheese (Dean's favorite), fuit, milk, etc. What was this man and his children having for supper? What kind of clothes would his kids fill the four remaining dresser drawers with? Here I stood, with bags of perfectly good clothing on my living room floor sorted for donation.

How did I get so lucky to be blessed with so much, my whole life? With all I have, why do I always want more? Why does materialism so clearly find such a strong hold in my life. Now, and in church tomorrow, I will ask for forgiveness...

Life Lessons from my Craig's List Free Post....

Camping Photos - Post #1 of Two

We camped and played at the site... (Owen, Marly, Mason, Dean)
We ate and snacked on all kinds of things we don't get at home... (Marly, Sophia, Dean,Owen, Allie)

We played at the beach, even though the temp was cool....

We hung out...

We made new friends... (Marly and Mason)

We loved fire and flashlights and s,mores....

Camping Photos - Post #2

Yes... there were adults on the Labor Day Sibley State Park camping trip too.

Heidi and Mason.

Mark and Dean.

Josh, the man with hundreds of pounds of free wood to burn.

Brian and Abby.

*Thanks to Brian, Josh, and the other men who helped Mark set up the tent (since we arrived later then many in the group). Maritial harmony is maintained if Mark and I don't have to perform this act together!*

Me "shakin it!" with the kids in the water.

Denise and Doris.
Campers Extrodinaire!

Thanks to everyone involved for a GREAT time!

Camping - Sibley State Park

Before we had the Twinners, Mark and I use to camp once or twice a year with a bunch of other couples, a motley crew of who knows who, typically gathering at two State Park camp sites hand picked in advance by one of the coordinators (our friend Doris Hentges). We visited Lake Carlos State Park one Memorial Day, and Itasca a few times.

Lake Carlos will be remembered for extreme heat, extreme drinking, and an extreme camp fire. The first Itasca trip will be remembered as the time our camp buddies nearly convinced me you had to pee in the headwaters of the Mississippi River on your first visit. Yes... I am gullible and nearly dropped my drawers. No...alcohol did not play a role in my stupidity.

Our last Itasca trip (4/5 years ago?) will be remembered as our final trip as a kid-free couple. We biked the 16 mile Wilderness Drive Loop one day, and I was ecstatic to have safely hit the 12 week mark in my pregnancy. We haven't been back until now.

The Thomberg's finally re-joined the crew this Labor Day weekend. We visited Sibley State Park and caught up with friends old and new, many who had also joined the ranks of parenthood. Sibley will be memorable simply because it was the Twinner's first camping experience. M & D slept in a tent in new pink and blue sleeping bags, have their own pink and blue camp chairs, ate s'mores, enjoyed the fire each night, played on the beach, braved the water in the cool temps, and had their own special adventures with their new friends Joey, Mason, Allie, Owen, Abby, and Sophia!

We all had a good time! Three is surely a fabulous age. I enjoy simply watching them discover everything around them, and especially the outdoors this past summer.

Hopefully, there will be photos to document our historical first. I discovered Saturday my camera battery no longer re-charges and am waiting for a few .jpg's from friends!

The State Fair 2010

Andrea's Running Commentary!

Friday afternoon Mark retrieved the Graco DuoGlide stroller from her storage place above the rafters of the garage for a return trip to the Great Minnesota Get Together - The State Fair.

We hopped on a shuttle from the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Roseville and joined the record setting, weekday crowds on a hot, but breezy afternoon.

We kicked off our glutenous activities with a corn dog, cheese curds, fresh cut french fries, and then milkshakes (and another foot long corn dog, because Dean insisted he was HUNGRY!)

We enjoyed the people watching. These teen boys all have shirts that declare, "Fat Kids are Harder to Kidnap!" Interesting.

We visited most every barn. Like all kids, Dean loved the "Miracle of Birth" Barn. Below is Dean on Grandpa's shoulders, with the Largest (ugly) Boar behind him. "Reggie" weighed 1450 pounds. In general, I really don't like the Swine Barn. If it weren't for that disgusting giant boar, I would ix-nay (spelling?) the pigs all together, but I am too Minnesotan to skip the Largest Boar.

Of course we also made sure to visit the Giant Pumpkins in the Ag Building. The winner came from East Bethel and weighted 1036 pounds this year.

Rabbits, poultry, sheep, cows, horses...Somehow we missed the llamas!

The Twinner's enjoyed the day with Grandpa. (Actually, Grandpa enjoys every minute of his time with his grandkids!!!) Grandpa loves the animals, just like his daughter, and now his grandkids.

Token photo of the me and Mark, taken by... me! I had consumed A LOT of cheese curds by this point, and not a drop of beer!

The Thomberg's all went down the Giant Slide, then moved on to the Kiddy Midway.

After dragging Dean away from the rides kicking and screaming, we hunted down the Deep Fried Gourmet Pickles. They moved to the end of Dan Patch by the Grand Stand from the Food Building. Those cream cheese fried pickles are usually the SECOND thing Mark and I eat on our State Fair binge. Imagine our surprise when we entered the side of the Food Building and they were no where to be found.

Did I mention we had a snow cone and mini donuts between the rides?

Surely we had to try the Chocolate Covered Bacon Pig Lickers at Famous Dave's, since it was right there kiddy corner from the pickle place. Roasted Corn would have been a better option for our last $5. (Okay it was my Dad's $5. I wouldn't pay for it, but Marly and I did split the last piece. It wasn't very good. I am not sure why we finished it, but I couldn't waste/throw away my Dad's investment!)

After the kids' bedtime (with NO nap), it was FINALLY time to take our bulging bellies home! (Not as bulging as the Largest Boar of course.)

I am sure we will be back again next year. I am sure our day will look pretty similar to this year, or last year, or the year before. That's why we love the State Fair. We all know EXACTLY what to expect! And you never know what new food concoction will be invented to waste your last $5 on.

See you all then!