Unfortunately, a driver decided to try to make a U-turn on Hwy 14 in Rochester to jump their stalled vehicle about 6:30 at night. Blocking both lanes of traffic on an unlit, slick roadway wasn't the smartest thing to do. Fortunately, Deb was only slightly shook up and stiff. The car, however, was totaled. In January, Bruce went up to Inver Grove Heights and replaced her Corolla with a new one. Deb visited the chiropractor quite a few times that spring.
I did not end 2008 very well - On Dec 23rd, 2008, I totaled my car. I had just finished my Christmas shopping and had just gotten onto highway 14 when, in the dark, I thought I had seen an outline of a car that was sideways in the road. Fortunately for the other driver, I had not reached the 65 speed limit and was able to slow down to less than 40. He also had another vehicle on the shoulder so I had no choice but to run into him. He was able to drive his car off the road but he did end up with a couple of tickets. Apparently, his pickup stalled earlier in the day and he was attempting to line up the car to jump start the pickup - it is against the law to do a u-turn on a 4 lane, and also illegal to park a vehicle going against the traffic. The good news was that no one was seriously hurt - I had sore arms and shoulders for a few weeks. So I started 2009 looking for a new car. I liked my old corolla and decided to go with another one. This one is a capri sea green and has more features than my 2006 corolla did. I like it - but it was a heck of a way to get a new car.
Late February - early March, Bruce and I spent a few days in Tampa. The weather was much warmer (we left the day of a large snow storm) and we took in a Spring Training Twins game at the Yankees Tampa stadium. It was great and the Twins won that game. Too bad that the Twins didn't have the same luck in the fall on the road to the World Series.
The summer months brought golfing on the weekends and in June Bruce brought me along to EDAM conference at Rutgers. The weather wasn't all that great but I did start a couple of quilt hangings those couple of days. I ended the summer working with my sister Bridget at the MN state fair at the Kiwanis malt stand. It was fun - reminded me of my Dairy Queen Days in the seventies.
At the end of October, my sister Bridget, my mother and I went to central Florida. We spent a couple of days at a golf community called "Juliette Falls" and stayed in a private home. It had its own pool and spa and of course we golfed. I wasn't used to golfing 18 holes 3 consecutive days and my golfing showed it. The course and the home was beautiful. It was wonderful to experience how the other half lives. While we were in Florida, we did do a day at Epcot and we also went to the Boardwalk and met up with my cousin Kyle Burkel and his wife. They live in the Florida keys but drove up to see us in Orlando. It had been about 30 years since I seen him. We had a very enjoyable evening with them. I came back to Minnesota just after their first snow storm - in fact they would not let our plane leave Florida until the runways were open in Minnesota.
Currently, we just finished our 9th annual Christmas Cantata - which I have directed the past 7 years. I still occasionally play for church services and help out where needed. I am still working at Kasson-Mantorville Public Schools in the business office. We are in the process of converting our student data into a new program and since I do the state student reporting, I am very involved in the process. I think it will be a long 4 months - we are hoping to go live in the middle of April.
I am looking forward to 2010 and can't wait to see what it brings. May you have a blessed Holiday Season and that God grants you a prosperous and joyous 2010. dds
Hey everybody! I just finished finals so I finally have time to write my blog entry! Things have been going pretty well for me this year. I got a new job and now along with going to school full time I am working almost full time at American Girl at the Mall of America. I don't work in the actual store part, but in the restaurant that is attached to the store. My major has changed since last year, and now I am going to school for Digital Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design. It's a two year program, so I should be done by spring 2011. Starting in January, I'll be the assistant coach of the St. Croix Lutheran High School Speech Team. Willow (my cat) is bugging me while sitting my lap, which must mean she wants me to say "hello" for her.
Bruce is finishing up his 20th year in Extension. His brother, Chuck, works at the same office in Rochester although they do completely different educational events. Bruce helps cities keep their local business base and look for ways to attract customers. He has been making a few trips to Hugo this fall to help his co-worker, Liz, do some business surveys. The interesting workshops this year have been focused on helping businesses correct errors on MapQuest and Google.
Bruce did get in a few rounds of golf in 2009 with his retired Dodge Center friends but the weekends were reserved to golf with Deb, who really polished her game. He lost his share of balls this year, but fortunately he had received a good number of them under the Christmas tree last year.
Bruce is participating in the Humphrey Institute Policy Fellows program so he has the opportunity to visit with some interesting people involved in setting public policy or lobbying. In January he will travel to Washington, DC for a few days. His brother, Ron, gets there frequently to lobby for the rural electric coops but Bruce is looking forward to visiting the White House for the first time.
There have been no complications from the liver transplant 5 years ago. Thank God for that!
As a followup to Christmas 2009, we decided to beat the storm and spend the evening of the 23rd at a hotel near Laura's workplace, the Mall of America, because of the upcoming storm. Well, it snowed a LOT but Deb did not feel well so she spend much of the time in bed. Laura, Robert, and I did go to Paul Burkel's for Christmas day and then I returned to the hotel where Deb could open her gifts. Better luck on Christmas 2010!