Exhausted.

If there's one sure thing about "the most wonderful time of the year" it is exhausting. From the gift buying to cookie baking to cleaning and then finally just before Christmas the preparation of the feast, I became completely worn out. This year even more so than in years past. I am not entirely sure if it's because I am getting older or if it is because my calendar has been so hectic this year? Or maybe all the snow that has come our way and we've had to dig out every weekend in December? I don't know, but something sure took it's toll on me this year.

The most horrifying thing happened last week as my nerves got the best of me trying so hard to prepare for hosting Christmas Eve. You know that commercial that has the song about the holidays and the best one of the year? Well, the way I was feeling I was singing it's the WORST one of the year! Me? How did this happen? I LOVE Christmas. Sigh. I guess not this year, talk about SCROOGE! All I could think about was after all the craziness of decking the halls, fighting my allergic reaction to our beautiful Christmas tree that looses scores of needles when you just walk by, and being so cranky my hubby and daughter cringed when I opened I mouth, what did I think about? After Christmas, when I had a fabulous week away from work and I could sit on my couch with my feet up and eat chocolates to my hearts content. Sounds wonderful, yes?

It is wonderful without a doubt. On Christmas day (after the Christmas Eve event), Kacie and I sat on the couch eating cookies and candies and watched one movie after the next, breaking of course for a few hours to go to my sister's house for the big Christmas feast. Yesterday, much the same. Today, well I did go out and go shopping, ha! Didn't buy anything but I thought I might turn into a hermit so off I went and now? Here I am on my couch, my Duncan beside me while I write the tale of Christmas 2010.

I do have to say that it is beautiful here. Truly a winter wonderland, I shot the picture below this morning while I was out walking with Duncan in the woods. We have about 25 or so inches of snow on the ground and this morning Jack Frost had come our way and painted everything a beautiful glimmering, sparkling white.

So now, I will rest up from the hectic month of December. I have loads of goodies to chow on. Oh and maybe I will get some writing done, I have missed one of my favorite things to do since I have been so tired. Perhaps another post this week? Hmmmm...that would be an amazing, stay tuned ;)

Hello Winter.....

Yesterday marked the first day of Meteorological winter. In essence, the three coldest months of the year here in Minnesota. And it is COLD. Today it was a balmy 11 degrees when Duncan and I finished our walk. 11 degrees. Let's think about that for a moment. That's 21 degrees colder than freezing, and it's only December 2. I am definitely headed to the store tomorrow to buy some more long underwear, serious. I think we will need it this year to be sure!

As Duncan and I walked the trail of our favorite park yesterday, in the cold, in the dark, I heard the distinctive hoot of an owl and scanned the treetops spying him in just a few moments. A majestic horned owl, he looked like a cat sitting on top of a tree. He was hooting a bunch, chatting with his unseen mate nearby. I told him he was beautiful. Crazy? Well, I'm pretty sure he could tell by the sound of my voice that I thought he was the cat's meow. What was he thinking? Stupid human, most likely. Ah well, Duncan and I ventured on.

Today on that same trail but near the lake we saw a beautiful coyote. I stopped in my tracks and watched him walk along on top of the iced up lake. The minute he noticed me he stopped and stared. We stood there, eyes locked for a time. He knew he had nothing to fear from me, and I knew I didn't have anything to be scared about either. Finally, I told him not to show himself to too many other humans, it wouldn't be safe for him. Then I wondered how many other coyotes were near as they run in packs like wolves. I sighed and Duncan and I turned away with a wave. Another animal thinking stupid human I guess. LOL.

As we walked though I thought about all the changes that had taken place in just the past few weeks. The big old oaks look a little scary in their nakedness, and the lake has completely frozen over in the past week. A week ago it still was open near the shore. One week. Wow. I thought about what we learned in school years ago, about how lakes have what's called a thermocline and in the summer the warm water is at the top, cold at the bottom. In the fall it flip flops, and the warm water now is at the bottom of the lake, leaving the cold water to freeze. Interesting isn't it?

We've had snow on the ground since mid November here in the Northland, and honestly I'm grateful that it illuminates the park in the dark. Without snow, that park is very dark this time of year, not that I'm scared or anything, but it's tough to walk when you can't see what's ahead of you ;)

So, Old Man Winter has a firm grip on us now. He won't let go for a few months, so I guess I will pile on the layers and just trudge on. The stubborn Norwegian in me won't just stay inside, oh no, it's a mandatory 2 mile walk each day, and I mean to keep it that way!

Inked.

I am no longer an Ink Virgin. Last week I went to Fluid Ink, a tattoo parlour in St. Paul, and got my first, and most likely last, tattoo. Yep, this ol' gal got inked! Did it hurt? Hell ya, it hurt like mad. I cringed and had my eyes closed tightly the whole time. Another girl having a tattoo on her foot told me she thought I was sleeping I was holding so still.

When it was finished, Benny our fabulous tattoo artist said something like "it wasn't that bad was it?"

I eyed him with my eyebrows up and said "well, it didn't hurt as bad as getting a tooth filled without Novocaine, but..."

He was horrified and complained quite loudly "oh no, now you are comparing me to the drill."

Well, honest, it is a drill isn't it? It is an instrument to drill ink into one's skin, right?

Now Benny, you see, is tattooed from head to toe, so of course he has built up some kind of weird immunity to the pain of a tattoo. My daughter Kacie also had three tattoos prior to this "inking." She sat there like a pro getting hers done, on her inside wrist, can you say ouch?

What and where is the tattoo you may ask? Well, it's a beautiful rendition of our beloved Keiko, and he is now forever smiling at me from my left ankle. Kacie and I got matching tattoos. Our good friend Katie who also shares our love of Keiko, drew the design, and it is WONDERFUL. Photos of our tattoos and the original sketch are interspersed here, and our tattoos are identical to the original sketch. Thank you Benny for your masterful use of that tattoo drill, it is gorgeous.



My hubby Jerry, also was inked for the first time that same evening. He got our ghost hunting group's logo "SIM" tattooed on his right forearm underside. It is cool.

And so my first inking was a success. It is a beautiful tattoo, itching now like crazy and I can't scratch it. Sigh. Beauty is painful isn't it?

The Twilight Road Trip

On Monday, July 12, the plane I was on descended into Seattle where three ladies, whom I had never met in person before, awaited my arrival. I had met all of them on facebook where we shared our love of all things Twilight. Our pilgrimage to Forks was the idea of Lisa Capps, our fearless leader, who had made the journey herself last year. After my plane landed, I was out the airport doors in record time, and Lisa, Jeanne, and Marcy met me with hugs, smiles, and fun.

We drove northwest from Seattle into the Olympic Peninsula, then north to Port Angeles, where we had lunch, looked around, and took pictures. After lunch we headed to Forks, the place where the amazing and unforgettable story of Twilight takes place. I fell in love with this little logging community that has turned into a mega tourist destination for Twilighters. In this amazing place were people from all over the world all brought together by the love of Twilight. It didn't matter if we were Team Edward or Team Jacob or what age we are, we were all there to drink in this cozy little hamlet located in the rainforest.

The next day we drove out to La Push on the Quileute Reservation, about a 20-minute drive from Forks. We were completely stunned by the beauty of the beaches, and we spent hours walking, picking up rocks, shooting photos, laughing, and talking. My favorite beach was Second Beach which is a little difficult to get to, a 3/4-mile hike through thick forest, and then down 105 zig-zag steps down the high cliffs. I seriously wondered how I would be able to get back UP those 105 steps once down there, but alas we all made it, giggling the whole way. While strolling on second beach, we met a family from Switzerland (three of them are pictured below with Lisa and me) who had come because of Twilight. Amazing isn't it?

When we arrived back in Forks, my cousins Linda and Jerry from Hoquiam picked me up for dinner. It was so good to see them, it had been almost five years. A lot has happened in those years, and we laughed, talked, and gossiped over a yummy dinner.

The next day we traveled to Portland, Oregon to take in Twilight filming sites.

The Columbia River Gorge is breathtakingly beautiful, and we saw a fair amount of it over the following two days. We went to the Pear Point Inn where the Prom was filmed. After that, we drove then out to the woods where they filmed the scene where Bella tells Edward that she knows he's a vampire.

Now, being so graceful, I took a tumble in the middle of the forest amongst the big trees. Yes, laugh all you want, I wasn't paying attention and of course I tripped over something. Of course I rolled around a bit (no joke) and Jeanne said I should never wash my clothes, as it was where Edward had been, and thus you could say I rolled around on the forest floor with him.....I WISH ;) We all had a good laugh at this, and we giggled about it a lot!

The next day we went to breakfast at the Carver Cafe, the place where Charlie and Bella always had dinner. It was awesome to be there, and as luck would have it we breakfasted at Charlie and Bella's table :) When we walked in and sat down, the waitress brought over a big book we were to sign. It was filled, cover to cover with signatures and writings from people all around the world who had come there because of Twilight. We asked her how she knew. She told us that it was pretty obvious that we were "Twilighters." She was great, as was the breakfast which was absolutely delicious. We went from there to many other filming sights, The Stone Cliff Inn, which is near the Carver Cafe, up to St. Helens, and finally to look at the house that was the Cullen House. We capped off the day by taking in Eclipse at a local theater.

The Twilight Roadtrip was an AMAZING time, and it what made it so phenominal was not just seeing Forks and LaPush and the filming sites, it was being immersed in all things Twilight in the company of three, very exceptional ladies. Lisa, Jeanne, and Marcy, love you girls, and thank you so much for such a wonderful time, same time next year???

Peace, Love and all things TWILIGHT!

My little girl turns 20

Unbelievable isn't it? That I should be old enough to have a 20-year old daughter is, well it's just plain unbelievable. But there it is. Her birthday was a week ago on June 26, and we celebrated it well, with almost the entire family + a few extras en tow at a local Mexican restaurant. Wyatt and Everett, the crazy little two-year olds, kept us all highly entertained and mobile - LOL! Of course we just had to tell our waiter that we were celebrating her birthday and at the end of the meal, the wait staff placed a huge sumbrareo on her head and then walked her through the restaurant and up onto a table where they loudly announced her birthday. The entire restaurant clapped and shouted. This moment was priceless. Though she said she was horrified, truth is she was sooo excited and she was actually beaming, happy to be in the limelight.

Then it was back to our house for cake and ice cream. Chaos ensued with the little ones all over, of course I led them into the back yard where they proceeded to roll down our back hill until their clothes were covered in grass stains and mud -- LOL!!! I just had to do it you know, I am their great auntie afterall, and I must lead them to fun :)

The cake and ice cream were delicious and Kacie was happy. It was a good day. My girl is 20. I still can't wrap my head around that one ;)

Hello again...it's been a while....

Wow. Six weeks since I posted, unbelieveable. Well, I've been busy. Not just busy, but SUPER BUSY. With what? Well, Summer has arrived in Minnesota, and with it comes one of my favorite past-times of playing in the dirt (gardening). Love that, I think I inherited it from my Dad, the farmer. Some day I will own a small farm.....well maybe, I can dream right? And along those lines are keeping up the yard, outdoor cleaning, etc., all of which leave me pooped.

The past week I've also been busy with travel reservations for the big vacation in July! I will be flying to Seattle on July 12 and joining three other Twilight Moms for a Twilight road trip to Port Angeles, Forks, La Push, and Portland. Fun? It will be a blast. Kacie is flying out on July 16, and we will then travel up to San Juan Island for our annual rendezvous with the whales, can't wait to see them! Oh, and our friends too ;) Jerry has opted to stay home and take care of the furry kids, and have a vacation all to himself. Can't say I blame him, Kacie and I are a handful, no doubt.

Oh, and then of course, there's ghost hunting. Investigations, keeping up the SIM Facebook page, creating business cards and all that admin jazz, reviewing evidence, getting together with the team...well, this little hobby of ours has taken on a life of its own. We had an investigation last weekend of a building we've done before and we were not dissapointed. We got great evidence in the way of audio, video, and photographs. Unbelievable evidence, truly. It was a great investigation. The team reviewed the evidence at our house last night, and all I will say is, well, it is shocking. Who knew that we would be successful in obtaining such a large amount of evidence? Certainly not me ;) Just as soon as we can put it all together I will share it here and on our Facebook page, so stay tuned!

This weekend the SIM team is off to a small town in western Minnesota to investigate a home owned by Jerry's sister that has paranormal activity. We will all stay the night on this one, so hopefully we will have lots of evidence. There will be five us going, Kacie is staying home to care for Duncan and our three cats, Lolita, Boo, and Zooey. She didn't want to drive for three hours anyways....teenagers. But we will miss her for certain, she's a big part of the team and like Jerry and I, she can see and feel ghosts. Ah well, she will help us to review what evidence we come up with, and this way I don't have to worry endlessly about how my furry babies are doing ;) Well, now I'll have to worry about Kacie - LOL!

So that's it in a nutshell! Too busy to write, so sad. But I am amending that beginning with this post. I will write more often, I've missed it these past weeks.

--Stephie

A funny slice of life...

So last night, our supernatural crew went to a bridge on the Mississippi River for an investigation. The area around this bridge is probably about as haunted as it gets in Minneapolis, and the bridge as well. We were just setting up, it was about 11:15 pm, it was a beautiful night. The crescent moon was hanging huge and low over the western horizon, and the stars were out. It was chilly, and of course creepy on the bridge. I've been on that bridge many times before, a few times at night and the feeling one gets is, well, creepy.

Jerry and Mae were discussing where best to put the audio recorders for evp sessions, George was taking photos, and I was putting my camera into night mode. We were just barely on the bridge, in the dark, and I was so involved with putzing with my camera I wasn't aware of my surroundings, or should I say, what was in my surroundings. Suddenly a guy flew by on a bike and totally scared the begezzies out of me. I screamed, of course, and then so did the others, and then we laughed, along with the poor biker who by this time was at the other end of the bridge, yelling that he was sorry. How funny.

When we were finished with the investigation and were headed back to the cars, we once again met this young man, riding his bike back from the way he had headed. He stopped for a chat with us. We told him we were paranormal investigators and asked him if he had felt any presences on that bridge. He looked at us funny then proceeded to tell us that he usually pushed away those feelings, and that he had a sensitivity to the supernatural, same as us. We asked him many questions, like how did he see in the dark to ride a bike? He said he didn't see - LOL! Now it was pitch black in that park, and I can't even imagine riding a bike down there at night. He begin to tell us a bunch of things, and then he apologized and said that he was "stoned", apparently not thinking properly. Now when he said that, I thought he had said something else entirely, but after he had left us and we walked on, Mae said he said he was stoned. We all thought it was the funniest thing, and of course anyone who knows me knows my laugh is contagious, and at times, I can't stop. This was the case, I laughed all the way to the car. With the information that he was "stoned", his jumbled disjointed responses and conversation with us became so much more understandable, it was very funny.

To put it in perspective, it was a very funny slice of life. It's amazing how many different people one meets at odd times here and there.

Justin, thank you my friend for the giggle :) I hope you arrived safely at your destination.

Hello Spring

Hello Spring, you have arrived, and much sooner than expected. On the morning walk throught the park this morning with Duncan, I saw the beautiful, brilliant sparkling waters of Silver Lake, now almost completely ice free. It's been awhile, and how I've missed the water. And, it's only March 28th. This is a highly unusual event and a most welcome happening. The stubborn lake ice usually holds on with all it's might until mid to late April, but I knew it would only be a few days until the cranky ice was gone. The open water went from a few inches from the shoreline at the beginning of last week to several feet by Friday, but there was still the big frozen ice layer looking all menacing and scary, black and greenish and dull. Spooky. Lake ice just before it finally breaks up is always scary looking. Yesterday morning, the lake was probably 33% ice free, amazing me with is quick dissapearance. Today under a blue sky and brillant sun there was a boat out on the newly open water, people fishing off the bow. Amazing.

The geese and ducks were happily paddling about to and fro. They are just beginning to nest out on the island. The geese lay on the nest for a month until the goslings break out of their shells. Can you imagine laying on anything for an entire month? Wow. What a loyal and steadfast parents they are. But then geese are in many ways very different from any other bird. I look foward to seeing the little goslings all covered in soft yellow down. Beautiful, they always are, and they grow so fast.

I saw several kinds of birds this morning, among so many the ones that stand out is the fat robin, the cunning blue jay, a cute little chickadee, and then just as we were about to leave, the red tailed hawk. Amazing. Wonderful. Wish I could be flying, soaring like that hawk does. It is an honor and a privilege to see birds of prey in my neighborhood, we are truly blessed.

And now on with the day, some rest and relaxation on the agenda. After a night of ghost hunting, I think we all need it. More to come on that after we review all the evidence. It was and adventure, as always. I think this new hobby will turn in to something very cool and exciting.

The Supernatural.

Last night I went ghost hunting. I went with Jerry, Kacie, and friends of ours, Chad, Katie, Mae and George, and Bob the caretaker of the place. We were allowed to go into the bar that both Jerry and Mae used to work at. This bar has been closed for almost a year. Like the ghost hunters on TV, we had cameras, videocameras, and voice recorders.

I have always been sensitive to ghostly presences. My grandmother who came to America from Norway, could also see and feel ghostly presences. Her sister too. I guess it only makes sense that I inherited this sensitivity to the supernatural. Over the years I have had experiences, feeling unseen presences, and a time or two seeing a person in my mind during those times that I have felt an unseen presence. The first time I saw a ghost was years ago when I was dating Jerry and living in Bemidji. A couple we knew were living in the same house that Jerry's deceased grandparents had lived in. I felt the presence of a man and in my minds eye I saw a man with wire-rimmed glasses, and a balding head. Turns out that is what Jerry's grandfather looked like.

Fast forward a few years, after we were married and we were living in our first house, I was walking the pups at 5:00 as I used to do every day, and I saw a phantom runner, jogging down the street. I heard no sounds, there was no sound of feet on the pavement, nothing. I looked away for a moment and then back after I realized it was so quiet, and the runner had vanished. The pups were twitchy, acting a little odd, and I realized the jogger I had just seen wasn't a person, a live person anyways. That was the first time I saw the jogger, and definately not the last. I saw him a few more times over the years we lived in that house, same time of day, same time of year.

When Jerry and Mae worked at the bar we did our foray in to the world of ghost hunting, they experienced many paranormal things. Several years back, as I was upstairs listening to Kacie and her friends play in their garage band one afternoon, I felt something strange that had the hairs on my neck standing up, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a glimmer of a woman with long brown hair, she looked like she was from a different time. When I turned to look there was nothing, but I felt her presence pass by me/through me. It scared me to my toes. Especially, when Jerry told me others had seen this same female with long brown hair. SHIVER.

So, last night all of us took our equipment and all that we have learned from watching TAPS, and went hunting. We weren't dissapointed. I felt many presences in the upstairs, where I had felt and seen that woman before. I took many pictures in the dark, and what appears on those photos is, well amazing. Orbs. On almost every picture I shot on the second floor there were orbs. Strong orbs. As Jerry and I were looking at one photo with two orbs, we saw her. A ghostly image of the woman I had seen years ago. If you look at this picture, you will see what we believe is an orb, and directly below in front of the window you will see the face of a woman looking our way. Go ahead, click on the picture and open it up. She is there. I could feel the presence right there, and I called Kacie over who also felt the same thing. It lasted maybe 30 seconds, and then we felt it leave us. I also felt this presence at the other end of the bar earlier, and shot this photo of a very strong orb, I believe it is the same entity. We looked at every possible explanation for this light, street lights, reflection, but none of that added up. As you can see, the orb is part of the way in front of the curtain, so, well, you can decide.

Kacie while downstairs in the basement sitting at the desk, felt something scratch her neck, and sure enough, there were marks. We also caught some things on audio, breathing and sounds we didn't hear when we were there. At one point when Mae, Katie, Kacie and I were in the basement, no lights, pitch black, we were doing evp work (electronic voice phenomenon). Mae felt and heard a breath on her ear. None of us were on that side of her. It was scary. In that basement, there's an entrance to the tunnels that run underground in Minneapolis. It was close to this section where Mae felt this breath on her ear. I couldn't make myself go very far into that room where the tunnel entrance is blocked off. I felt dread coming from that area, and hopelessness, and something I can't put my finger on, but it did prevent me from venturing in more than a few feet. What's there? I don't know. Maybe someone at some time got lost in the maze of underground tunnels and perished? I don't really know, but definitely there was something there.

More to come probably as we all analyze our recording/photos/video work. But for now, we definitely know there are several presences in that building, and that is very compelling.

50 degrees.....

What a gorgeous day here in the Northland. The temperature is 50.7 degrees above zero - hard to believe I know. It hasn't been this warm since November, almost four months! The winter has been very long, and the snow piles are still high in spite of the warm temperatures (40+ degrees) all week long. The sidewalks are bare now for the first time since the snows came in December. The birds are singing their hearts out. Every window in our house is open, letting in all that fresh wonderful air. The old stagnant air from all winter has left the house. The sun is out. Kacie is wearing SHORTS. Yes, shorts, I know we are crazy in Minnesota, but that is how warm it feels to us after this long winter. Funny isn't it how 50 degrees in September would have felt sooo cold, and in March it feels almost tropical. Crazy and wonderful. It's a good day :)

bitten.

I've always loved stories of vampires. In fact I never missed an episode of the television series Moonlight, and I was crushed and thoroughly disgusted with CBS when they axed that fabulous show. I am a voracious reader, and so how then could I have missed reading the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer? Thinking back I guess because they were geared towards the teenage crowd so I didn't pay attention. Kacie went to the midnight opening of the movie New Moon in December. She was bitten. She told me how wonderful it was, and then she proceeded to see it three more times, and still I didn't get it.

On a cold Friday night a week or so ago, I went to the couch to relax from the long week, and behold Kacie had just put in the movie Twilight. So, she and I watched the movie, finally. She had been nagging me for weeks to watch it with her. Needless to say, one look was all that it took. I'm bitten. What a phenominal movie. The beautiful imagery of the Pacific Northwest (my favorite part of the country), the story and the way that it is told, all make it a rare gem. It's soooo not just for teenagers, as can be attested by this 48-year old woman. In fact, there is a website out there devoted to ladies like me called "TwilightMoms". The forums are a crazy read, gals my age raving on and on about Edward. Well, he is sexy. Really Sexy. And kind. And very protective of Bella. What's not to love? I've watched it more times since then, and the word that comes to mind to describe this story is WOW. So then, I have to warn all who may decide to view this film: you too shall be bitten.

I told Kacie that we must go to see New Moon, the second movie, even though she'd seen it four times already. Too bad, it is no longer in wide distribution, but Kacie told me that it comes out on DVD at the end of March. The end of March? Too far away. I must know what happens next, and so I have ordered the first three Twilight books from Barnes and Noble. I can't wait to read them. When they arrive I shall put down the Outlander Series that I am so currently engrossed in and dive into the books of Twilight. So much to read and not so much time. Sigh.

Moody Outside

Outside it is moody, I'm guessing it has something to do with the thick fog last night. As I gazed out the window early this morning I discovered the beauty of a sparkling glaze of frost on all things, making the trees and bushes look ghostly in appearance. I opened the living room drapes and saw a murder of crows in the big Maple tree. Grabbing my camera I rushed back to the window only to have them fly away when they heard or saw me and my camera at the window.

Camera in hand, I couldn't let this spookiness get away, Duncan and I sped to the park. The clouds were thick, and the winter sun was desperately trying to poke through.

As Duncan and I walked through the Oak Forest, I felt a little creeped out. I have forever thought that Oak Trees are a little scary looking, but today they almost looked menacing. It was as if they were talking among themselves, and it felt like they were trying to decide what to do with this human intruder and her dog. I was greatly relieved when we emerged from the thickness of the old Oaks.

The forest behind us, we walked the rest of trail, headed for the Jeep when I saw the big Oak tree close to the trail. I couldn't resist shooting some pictures of Oak leaves laced with frost.

Beautiful.

A Glorious Morning

A perfect morning. Duncan and me walking on our favorite trail through the woods and by the lake. The sun shining, the temperature a balmy 23. Snow crunching underfoot, birds singing. A wondrous morning and walk indeed. I am thankful of this little snippet of perfection; this little slice of heaven. It is not often during the cold months that we are able to walk the entire trail at the park and not be shivering cold. I was actually a little warm in my sweatpants, hoodie, light jacket, oh and of course the always on mittens. How marvelous to be out walking without long johns, a big scarf wrapped twice around my neck, hat and two sets of gloves and looking like the Nanook of the North. Freedom for a short time from all the layers of Winter. It was pure bliss.

A cute little black capped chickadee looked down at us from his perch in a tree, and chirping wildly he seemed to say to us "wonderful day isn't it?" My answer was a resounding "It's glorious honey, just glorious."

The Great Shape Up

So the other day I discovered some serious flab on my body. How/when did that get there? I thought come on, I walk for a mile or two every single day (in all kinds of extreme weather) with Mr. Duncan, how did this happen? Years ago I accepted the fact that I will always be curvy (ok, it's a nice word for "a little chubby" ). And though I have never had a flat abdomen, I've never had a volume of sagging flesh there either. ICK. GROSS. I try to eat right, try is the key word here, and I must admit I've been indulging too much lately. I can't seem to get enough chocolate. Oh, and butter, I smear it on bread and graham crackers mostly, and it's soooo yummy.

"It's age isn't it?" I asked this of my sister who is very wise and older and more knowledgable than me. She confirmed my suspicion. The older you get, the more things go downhill she told me. Sigh. At 48 years old, what will I look like 58? I'm concerned, very concerned. No, no, no can do, and I won't ever accept that. I am determined to fight it every step of the way.

This morning I dragged out my Gazelle and worked out. I forgot how fun this really is, truly. It's actually entertaining with earphones blasting the Twin Cities local FM Cool Oldies channel, a fabulous workout was had. It is wondrous machine, and why oh why did I ever stop using it? Oh ya, now I remember, it had something to do with getting up at the crack of dawn. I can't sleep at night if I work out in the evening, and well, I do have to work during the day. Sigh. Well I guess rising at the crack of dawn isn't the worst, the sagging expanse is. I am positive that the wondrous Gazelle will combat this sign of aging.

Stay tuned, hopefully, in a couple months I hope to be writing that I've toned my body and that though I will still be curvy, I won't be sagging anymore ;) I have my fingers crossed.

Wear Blue for Oceans

Today is wear blue for the oceans day, and so I am wearing an aqua turtleneck, blue jeans, and a blue plaid scarf ;) This event is intended to inform people of the great need to act now to restore the health of the oceans.

I have learned throughout the years of vacationing with my favorite Orcas in the San Jaun Islands (this is Ruffles the big guy of J-pod pictured here at sunset in July of 2009) that our oceans are in bad shape. The waters around the islands are heavily laced with PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls), and the whales themselves have HUGE levels of these poisionous toxins in their blood. This substance KILLS. Sadly, many of my whale friends have passed away in the past 15 years, and researchers point to the toxins in the water, as well as to the decline of the salmon population, the Orca's main food source.

There are huge garbage patches in the ocean, full of fishing nets and gear, plastic products, and other debris, I have read that one of those dumps is twice the size of Texas. Twice the size of Texas. Now let's think about that for a moment. That is one big trash heap, created by the carelesseness of human beings. Click on this link http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/10-the-worlds-largest-dump to read more about this terrible reality.

I also have to mention too that the world's oceans are becoming very acidic due to the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. We all know that CO2 is the main proponent of global warming, and is also the mainly the fault of, you got it, human beings. Sigh. The good news is that President Obama has made it a top priority of his administration to clean up the oceans - YAY President Obama! You can help and learn more by going to http://www.wearblueforoceans.org/ to learn more about this very important issue.

Crazy about Coffee

I love coffee. There's just something wonderful about a good cup of joe with a little cream and sugar stirred into it. It is happiness in a cup. The older I get the more I drink. It's 7:00 in the evening and here I am with yet another huge mug of the delightful brew. I'm getting to be a lot like my Dad, who drank coffee from sunup until it time for bed. Well, I'm not quite that bad yet, and hopefully I won't ever be that crazed by the bean. But who knows? I guess only time will tell.

Minnesota, the Frozen State

It is frigid, below zero, oh and did I mention that it is so cold that it hurts the skin on my face when I am outside? It is truly brutal. Each and every day I walk with Mr. Duncan (his rules), and so I am exposed to the arctic air for a lengthy amount of time. It makes me tough I suppose, but am I a little zany to be out walking in dangerously cold weather even though I am so bundled up that I resemble Nanook of the North? Absolutely. But there are others who are also out walking with their pups, amazingly so. My Tennesee cousin says the Norwegian in me will keep me warm, and yes, I guess he is right. Crazy though, we all of us are here in Minnesota. There are definate perks to my madness though, last Sunday while out walking in our favorite woods, we were rewarded with the site of a large and very beautiful red tailed hawk. This was a definate thrill, and well worth feeling, well, frozen kinda like a swowman. Ah well, January is the coldest month, things can only improve, I hope!




The "my toes in the sand" picture does warm me up a little :)

Hello 2010

Welcome to 2010, a brand new year and a brand new decade. This first day of the new decade begins my official blogging adventure, Stephie Jean. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile endeavor, and a creative outlet for me.

What is to come in the next 10 years? Who knows, but it is my wish that it will be filled with much happiness for all :)

Happy New Year