Northwoods Lake

Had a fab-u-lous weekend with The Wonderful MG at his new cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin. He and his Lovely Partner purchased a serious slice of heaven on the edge of the clearest lake around. Like MG says, it's basically a bowl of sand filled with perfect water. We spent the weekend doing exactly as we had been instructed to do by our hosts: we played in water, ate, played some more, ate, lay around, ate, and slept in. I STILL can't find my USB cable to upload my photos, so I was forced to steal MG's from his facebook page!

Here is my youngest and Lovely Partner on the pontoon. Youngest was never far from the fishing pole - she's a native Minnesotan after all. Only a few nibbles but folks around us were catching nice large mouth bass.

Here is yours truly and hubby. I look more and more like my father with each passing year. Pretty soon I'll be sucking on my front teeth and eating 2 packages of graham crackers dunked in milk at bedtime. But I doubt I'll start smoking Swisher Sweets.

The twins, doing what they do best.

I started a google image search for "old pontoon" and this came up. Funny.
But MG's is much nicer.


The next "old pontoon" image to come up was from his blog!!!!

A HUGE thank you to MG and Lovely Partner for sharing paradise.

Separated at Birth

I never noticed this until just today. Keith Olberman is an older version of . . . . .




. . . . our blogging pal MG!!!!

Know who else was separated at birth? John McCain and the Crypt Keeper.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Our 4th of July potluck was great fun. ALL my siblings and their kids came up, so we had a houseful. Lots of friends came by with all kinds of marvelous food that I didn't photograph because I was too busy stuffing my face: brats, asian noodle salad, tomato salad caprese with fresh basil, homemade creamed corn, chocolate sheet cake, fresh melon, lime beer, iced tea, jalapeno jelly on cream cheese, nacho dip, roasted sweet potatoes, etc. The above photo is twin #1 on the playhouse roof watching the fireworks.
Some of the gang inspiring anyone to perform stupid human tricks. My brother, far left, started things off with his hammer toe. Sister Shirley chipped in with her webbed toes - want to see the photo??
Sister Ruth, doing one of many stupid human tricks.
Friend Tim, the hands-down winner!
Nothing beats a good campfire.
More of the same.
Friend Bill doing the hardest human trick of all: texting when you're over 44.

What I DIDN'T get photos of:
The vintage baseball game in Northfield
The perfect view of local fireworks from my backyard!
All that luscious food.
All the teenagers finding a place to "hang" that wasn't with parents
My 6-year-old nephew falling asleep on the couch
All of us enjoying bacon and coffee the next morning, with the party mess still around our feet.
Good friend MG leaving the party with a nasty case of food poisoning from a breakfast at a Twin Cities diner - he was so green and sweating profusely - poor guy looked miserable.

As friend Shannon says, 3 day weekends should be the law - every single week!!! Just think of all the gas we'd save and all the increased mental health we might enjoy. I know I'd like more time with friends and family. I'd be willing to bet our economy wouldn't see any adverse affect.

A Good Saturday Visit from MG

Our good friend MG and his partner attended my 14-year-old's volleyball game and we were so pleased! They arrived just in time on Saturday afternoon. We had a longish break between games so MG, Curt, and I headed to the nearby Asian buffet with the completely forgettable name. They had a large buffet with many traditional Asian choices such as red jello, tarter sauce, tiramisu, soft serve ice cream, and creamed spinach. They also had some lovely breaded shrimp, honey glazed chicken, fried rice, and crab legs. For $10 each we were mighty satisfied.
It was great to see them - they are just the best folks and I wish they lived right next door. Mostly so I could shamelessly steal their perennials when they garden, and have my screaming kids throw balls in their yard while they are enjoying their beautiful terrace.

MG blogs very well about creepy Mom's from the other team at the volleyball game. MG was horrified at the things they were saying "You can do it girls, they aren't very quick!" Some parents have big issues with their kids' sports events. The worst woman looked like a mean gym teacher and was wearing a sweatshirt from my Alma Mater, the University of Iowa! Only nice people are from Iowa, and she didn't deserve to wear those colors. She had practical helmet hair and ugly glasses - so THERE!

Eh, Paisano!! La Festa de San Giuseppe!

Never heard of St. Joseph? I hadn't either until I married an Italian. St. Joseph aka Jesus's foster Dad, is the patron saint of Sicily and later Italy. According to legend, during the Middle Ages the Sicilian's prayed to St. Joseph to save them from a famine, and he complied by protecting the fava bean crop. To this day, Italian families and whole communities celebrate St. Joseph's day on March 19th by wearing red, and serving non-meat dishes with of course fava beans, and pasta, seafood, stuffed artichokes, etc.

So this year we gathered all the Italians in Northfield MN, all 12 of them, and had a glorious St. Joseph's Day meal. We did have stuffed artichokes along with stuffed shells, spaghetti, meatballs (we cheated), tossed salad, fresh fruit, pizzelles, Italian love cake,amaretti cookies, and lots of espresso with Sambuca. St. Joseph's Day is also focused on feeding the poor - so everyone brought a contribution for the local food shelf.

Our friend Gina brought her Mom, and what a fabulous store of information! Her name is Carmela, and she's a 94-year-old Sicilian spitfire who dresses like a million bucks and is sharp as a tack. She told us the most amazing stories and had the kids listening wide eyed. She was SO HAPPY to be among Italians eating food with flavor rather than the Norwegian crap at her retirement community.

Saturday was the St. Pat's parade in downtown, and all the paisanos at our house decided we needed a St. Joseph's Day parade. Wouldn't we be a spectacle - 20 of us dressed in red making our own parade. But 20 Italians can sound like 100.

Everyone agreed we had just created a new tradition, and would meet again in August for La Festa De San Gennaro to play bocci and eat even more. Everyone was given the assignment to find ONE MORE Italian in town. That's a tall order.

Arrivederci! Ciao Bella mi amici!

It's a Jolly Holiday with Michael . . . .

My twins and I had a marvelous time today with MG in the Twin Cities. We met him at the famous Southdale Mall in Edina, MN - renowned for being the very first such indoor mall in the nation - way to go Minnesota!

First we spent a fair amount of time at various skin care and make-up counters in Macy's. MG introduced me to Origins skin care and swears I'll see a difference in my oily skin and adult acne. Wish I could believe you MG, but I've had so very many disappointing promises, yet still have acne.

Then it was on to Midori's Floating World restaurant where we devoured copious amounts of sushi. MG introduced us to the delicious #9 roll. He was right - it was perfection. If you visit MG's blog soon, you'll see photos!!

Then back to the mall for hairdos, shopping, and coffee drinks. We told my 14-year-olds some hairy stories about our lives in the early 80's. They about wet their pants when we told them about some of our favorite outfits and hairdos. Ooohh all those neon colors and leg warmers for God's sake. I tried to find a photo of me in those glory days, but all I could find is a pic of me pooping my pants in my high chair - somewhat similar.

A perfect day all around. Many thanks MG - we just love you to pieces.

MG will just blush a thousand shades when I say this, but that is one handsome man!! MG is the famed tall and dark, with beautifully chiseled features and glorious eyes. I feel prettier just walking next to him. He's also smart, funny, gracious, and hilarious. I feel lucky to have such a great guy as a friend.