Photo of the day, Saturday

Ha! The rain/snow never came in force and so the yard work that needed to get done, got done. We raked, we cut bushes back and got most of the flower beds in shape for the winter. That's the most work I've done in the yard in over a year. I'd like to say that I don't even hurt, but that just wouldn't be true. My arm is killing me but my knees are feeling great! Ian and Spencer were awesome out there cleaning gutters, raking and trimming and all.

Holly went to a cooking class down at Red's on the River. Today they were learning about beef brisket, mashed potatoes and gravy. Not sure, but I have a hunch that the dairy content of the potatoes would be lethally high for me. She did ask if the chef could recommend how to make mashed potatoes for a guy with lactose issues. After some thought he came up with an idea that sounds like a winner, it has potatoes, olive oil and some sauteed onions and garlic. I am in!

Someone asked about the cake that we baked for Holly. Good eye Cil, it was not a standard round cake, not a square cake, but a Christmas tree shaped tree. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but cutting an unusual shaped cake is tougher than it looks.

Here's a shot of Spencer up in his room.

Have a great day,
Pat

Photo of the day, Friday

TGIF!


It's the weekend and I was hoping to spend some time getting the outside of the house winterized. Now they're calling for snow and cold. It's going to be harder to get my boys into the game with bad weather.


Today I went to a seminar put on by an organization that my boss belongs to. We learned/studied sales strategies. Kind of funny, I never really wanted to be in sales, and here I am, some of my people are sales people. Yikes, I don't recall this in my Electrical Engineering curriculum. But, I seem to have a gift for it, well, the relationship portion of the equation anyway. Yes, that's kind of weird too, an engineer that gets along well with others is a bit of an anomaly, but a good anomaly, or so I'm told.


Thanks to all that sent along grilling options. Salmon won out, by two to one, over SPAM. Holly was pleasantly surprised with the cake and gift. What cake? Last night, while Holly was at worship team practice, Ian, Spencer and I baked and frosted a cake. Spencer actually did the baking. I was a bit nervous, but he made sure all the egg shells got out of the mixing bowl and it worked out great. While Spencer and I were slaving away in the kitchen, Ian wrapped the gift that we picked up last Sunday. He really got into it with lots of bows and he did a great job with the wrapping paper. So good that I am thinking of using his services this year for Christmas wrapping. Well, for all but his own gift of course.

With cake came a song or two, yes the Young boys can belt out a tune. And then the candles. We used only 4, but they were the trick candles. Ian and Spencer were so jazzed they could hardly contain themselves as we carried the cake to the table. Here's Holly blowing out the candles. I really have to hand it to her, she blew out the candles herself, over and over and over and over again. She stayed at it until they didn't relight, a patient woman, that's for sure.



Have a great day!
Pat

Photo of the day, Thursday

Happy Thursday! Today we celebrated with one of our customers. They have been in business for 100 years and they are still going strong. The company is Irwin Seating, we're not a huge supplier for them, but we do a fair amount. The event was held at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

We've used the museum before for company events and it's pretty cool. Tonight they opened a new exhibit that was focused on their 100 years of product and each attendee was given a book on the history of Irwin Seating. Neat thing was, as I forced myself to go, I saw a few people that I knew from before and had some nice conversations, but I still don't like these kinds of events.

Today is Holly's birthday and I haven't seen her since about 6:15 this morning. We have been running around like crazy people and thus, haven't had a chance to celebrate with her. Since my birthday is on a holiday and the world, as I know it, stops to celebrate with me, it seems odd to have spent her birthday this way. But I did call her a few times just to chat, and I did bring her a cup of coffee in bed and I will cook dinner for her for tomorrow night. It will be a good day when it arrives, thankfully, Holly has patience.

Here's a shot of Spencer. We're working on a natural looking, fake smile. It's a weird thing, but I am his Dad. Anyway, not bad, but we'll keep trying.

Anyone have any ideas on what to cook the lovely and talented one for dinner? Please either leave a comment or send a not. I am thinking of grilling something, but what?

Have a great day!
Pat

Photo of the day, Wednesday

Yowza, I have been reading contracts again and it's pretty darn dull. It's been an amazing education over the past few years seeing what some people consider to be "reasonable". The fun part is once I have marked up the document contacting the company that wanted it signed and start working through the detail. I haven't read it yet, but I am pretty sure that I won't agree with the contracts that I have already signed for my personal stuff.


Wednesday nights are really rushed anymore, the boys have youth group at 6 and I have been having issues getting home much before that lately. So getting home in time for dinner isn't all that easy. I got the boys where they needed to be and managed to eat once I got home.


Holly's out tonight with her girls. It's her birthday tomorrow an so what do you say we all SPAM her with birthday greetings?!? You can always go to her blog, and leave a cheery note/comment. Many of you have her email address and so you should be able to take it from there. Thanks.


Here's a shot of Ian that I took tonight. He was sitting close at hand and his brother was not. It's a simple world. He's got a Cheshire Cat smirk about him don't you think?



Have a great day,
Pat

Photo of the day, Tuesday

I love days like today. It was hectic, but lots of customer interaction and not much boss interaction. We were invited into the inner sanctum of one customer to see what the they were thinking about as far as the next new office furniture. It's really cool to work with creative people and to have them listen to you. Hopefully they'll listen to us better than others.

I took my little car in to the shop today. It seems that the power steering O-ring is blown, again. Since it's a repeat visit for the same problem I get benefits. The benefits are pretty limited, you know, like they already have my address in there, they have the phone number and best of all, they have the fact that it was in before for the same thing in their computer. Oh, yeah, I also got the rental car as a loaner.

Here's a rant for you; when did it become OK for a car rental company to rent you a car that's on empty? My car is out due to steering issues, I need a loaner and I get a chit from the service manager so I rent a car on their dime. I go out to review my new chariot ( the options were a minivan or a cargo van) with my Enterprise agent and he points out that the car has 1/8th of a tank of gas, but he's going to OK it that I can bring it back empty. Man, is that rude. I don't know what kind of mileage I'll get with this vehicle let alone how far I am going to have to drive. Argh! So far I have put 9 bucks worth of gas into this beast.

I had so much fun with the postcard yesterday that I have decided to use another today. This is where I went to school for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. It was here that I first fell in love, Kathleen something or other, it was here that I first had politics impact my life, John F. Kennedy was shot when I was in 1st grade. 1st grade was in the class in the front, bottom, left. Mrs. Everson was so understanding.

Have a great day!

Pat

Photo of the day, Monday

Veterans Day is Tuesday, November 11. Try to find a vet and say thanks! Or, try to connect with one of our active servicemen/women and say thanks! My nephew is getting ready to leave Germany and head into Kuwait maybe Iraq. Thanks Taylor!

My car is having issues with the power steering pump and I have to take it into the shop tomorrow. This is not the first time that I've had an issue with the power steering. I really wonder why a little car like mine, a Ford Focus, needs power steering. For fun I am using a photo of a Ford Focus for on of the photos today. It's from England, you can't really tell, but the steering wheel is closer to this side.

Cousin Sandy sent me a link to some cool old postcards of Austin Minnesota. That link is here

I am sharing one of St. Olaf Hospital. I was born in that hospital, but not when it looked like that. By the time I was born that was an administrative office I think. Now the section that I was born in, that's been razed. Just another drive by while on the imaginary tour of my childhood points of interest, it seems many of the buildings that I have memories of have been replaced with other stuff, like a dentist office, a park, a library, kind of weird getting older and watching the town you were born in change from a distance.

Have a great day!

Pat

Photo of the day, Sunday

Happy Sunday! A day of rest, that's what I need, and that's what I got. Well, not really. After church, the boys and I headed out for some manly shopping time. Not the most obvious way to have some close times, but it worked for us. Ian, Spencer and I had a great afternoon.

I showed Ian my post from last night and he pointed out that "Once again, you, my Dad, have gotten it wrong!" It seems that the hand position that I displayed yesterday, the current day meaning is Love. Hmm, I thought it was rock. No, it seems that rock is done as my son demonstrates in the three shots below. It was fun.

Have a great day!

Pat