I've been planning a special birthday date with Danny for months!  It was a lot of work to try to work out a babysitter and find good tickets for just the right show at this great restaurant and music club to which I had been introduced this spring.  I told Dan waaaaaay in advance to block off his calendar for his birthday, and, despite being really busy this week (and being in Eau Claire instead of Afton), he obliged, and drove all the way back for his birthday.

Dan arrived at the house and found Eddy and me running around the house trying to get everything together.  First we gave him some birthday hugs and kisses.  Then we rounded everything up and hit the road pretty quickly.  I was impressed.  Off to the babysitter!

Apparently babysitter Kristen didn't tell her little girls that their friend Eddy was coming, because they were quite shocked to see us walk in the door, after three months of absence!  They were very excited.  Eddy was excited, too.  He had been looking forward to seeing his friends for two whole days!  And he had birthday cookies all ready to share with them.

Off we sped in our gorgeous clothes, our cool sunglasses and our shiny fast sports car/Subaru down I-94 toward the city, opposite all the rush hour traffic.  We were happy, for a while, until we learned there was traffic in both directions.  Oh.  Good thing I planned lots of extra time to get there!  We had plenty of time to park, walk to the restaurant, find our seats, mull over the menu 20 times before deciding, and open presents before the show.

It was a great show.  I don't know if you've heard of the Gin Blossoms, but they were really popular in the 90's (I remembered several songs from the radio growing up) and have a new album out this year.  (I did plenty of checking on youtube before buying tickets).  It was a last minute visit for them, only a week and a half notice, but still the place was packed.  And everybody joined in the fun.  We were up on the mezzanine right in front of the stage, and found it provided the perfect balance of privacy and action, and a great view of the band.  We clapped and hooted with the best of them, in between eating our gourmet (though a little more expensive than we're used to) dinner made by a nationally renowned chef.

We went on a walk after the show, enjoying the perfect summer evening of downtown Minneapolis.  All the nightlife was lighting up, and the sky was still light blue.  The huge harvest moon added to the mood.  The ride back was much less crowded.  With windows down and wind in our hair we jammed out to Daniel's other birthday present, the hip-hop sounds of tobymac!

Eddy was happy to see us and tell us all about the fun he had, I was happy for the night to be a success with no major hiccups, and Dan was happy for all we'd done for his birthday, especially for cookies to eat and new music to listen to on his hour drive back to Eau Claire.

Thanks, Danny, for being so great, and letting me show you a good time for your birthday.  I'm so happy to be with you!  Happy birthday!

Last night I got to spend two hours with thirty of the greatest people at our church -- the high school group.  Thanks to a precocious ten-year-old, a laid back mom, and a convicting message on Sunday (let's not get into the why), I got to attend a high school group hosted by the pastor's wife, at their house south of town.  High schoolers can be some of the greatest people around, full of dreams and motivation and issues, and ready to take on life.  I really identify with them, and I really wanted to get to know some of them more, maybe I'd even get to help them out in some way.  Unfortunately my schedule doesn't exactly lend itself well to being a small group leader.  But for one night only, I got my chance.

I recognized a couple of the girls in the Berthiaume's backyard when I arrived.  But mostly I was nervous and didn't know how to approach anyone.  Thankfully I wasn't the only "old person" there, and since everyone started out by having to paint letters on their faces, the ice melted quickly.  Next came games.  The theme: FEAR-FACTOR.  I think I was the youngest old person there last night, and I was shocked at the yellow-bellied nature of the other leaders!  Thankfully, they said it was all right for me to jump in with the high schoolers (who, I found out, weren't much better -- I guess it's not an age thing after all).  Everyone got slimed with egg, tasted dog food, got splattered with jello and whipped cream from a bug digging race, and a lucky few even got to bob through red water for pig's feet!  I considered it a privilege to get to do something with this group of people who are usually pretty sectioned off (and yes, I bobbed for pig's feet).

After games there was a short message on fear and super-small group time to pray for each other.  This was my favorite part.  I got to know the four girls in my circle better in those five minutes than in the previous five months of casual conversations after church.  Plus I was able to rest some fears of unknowns about college for them and got to pray with them.

During the service on Sunday, we were told that you can never be too old to reach out to teenagers.  May I add that you can't be too young either?  If high schools set seniors up to help freshmen coming in, certainly no high school graduate should feel ill-equipped to talk to them.  You've been there and made it through.  That's big.

Thanks, high schoolers, for befriending me, and teaching me a lesson on life.  Hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Eddy and I had a very busy day yesterday.  We bustled around the house half the day, then set out for a six-hour town trip, to have fun with Julie ("juwie!"), buy bridal presents, ride in the ever popular Juwie's Jeep, splurge on thrift store clothing, eat out with and say bye to Julie, pick up some items at the mall, stop at the play area, then walk out after dark to see...Wow!  Look at all those lights!  What's going on over there?  "Mommy, let's go see the trucks!"

At this point I was dragged by the hand for the next 40 minutes from one semi truck to another to another, as Eddy's excitement transferred to what next caught his eye.  And I was interested, too.  These show trucks were amazing!  There was everything from gigantic big rig tow trucks, to 50's style long haulers, to trucks with luxury full family sleepers, to a mini go cart semi truck.  All had registration numbers and all were being polished up for the judges, hoping to win one of those big trophies in the corner, I'm sure.

But the lights were the coolest things.  Think of pimped out neon gangster cars only x-times the size and the power.  These drivers knew they controlled the road.  There were grills with jaws on top or neon shining through, side-panels with flames or packers or psychedelic reflective colors, lights on the windshields, lights on the wheels, lights on the bumpers, lights on the exhaust pipes, lights on the engines, lights on the hoods, lights on the lights, colors and flashers and shapes and horns all going at the same time (now you understand why Eddy was so stimulated!)  Even the registration booth was cool.  It was, of course, a semi truck.  The side of the trailer opened up and you could step right in to a full lit office room with desks and chairs and everything.  On the outside it sported in large letters, "National Association of Show Trucks."

It was also fun to talk to the truck drivers themselves.  When Eddy saw a guy putting away ramps on a flatbed or explaining the stats of an engine to someone, he wouldn't hesitate to give them a high five, or a bump, or even a bear hug.  And they were always happy to say hello.

I caught a few pictures, but honestly, they don't do the night justice.  You gotta see it for yourself! And make sure it's at night!

The smell of freshly baked bread wafting from the oven is unparalleled in the happy impressions of my childhood.   It told us that Mom's warm, soft, fluffy, hard crusted bread was about to come out of the oven and be smothered with melty butter for us kids to devour.

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a creative streak.  It is one thing I can somehow find in common with everyone I talk to, though sometimes they don't think so at first =)

Yesterday I had a coffee date with a friend at the McDonald's playplace to catch up.  We have completely different jobs, different family and in-law situations, we are both married, but we have completely different ideas about kids and adventure, and several other things.  But she is a great, compassionate girl that I admire a lot and really appreciate having as a friend (even with all our differences).

She asked me how I was doing, and, in typical Nomie style I talked nonstop for the next 5 minutes.  I told her about the family and work, then went into all the exciting (but not always longlived) crazy plans and ideas I had of things to create -- from painting to woodworking to music to words, etc. Then I asked her what she was doing for fun.  She answered, "Reading."

I love to read, too, but I knew there was more that made her grin than other people's masterpieces.  A few minutes later I found it.  She was talking about their spare room, and she mentioned it was the last one to decorate, then she'd be done with the house.  She was relishing in the idea of choosing the style and decorations, and moving other items from elsewhere into that room.  She was actually sad to be done with the house, "All I'll have to do after this is redecorate.  That's not nearly as fun to think about."

So, the master creator came out at last.  And that's only in the visual sense.  We didn't even get to all the heart transforming conversations, lessons, small group plans, music schedules, and events she plans for the highschoolers!  Now that's something I've never done!

God created us all to be an image of him.  Did you think he'd leave out the creativity aspect in that? Hardly! Celebrate the creator in you, and share God's beauty =D

It's been really hot here lately.  There was even a heat warning out a couple days, and we had to send our employees home mid-route.  Everyone in the town of Afton had to choose whether to roast their skin in humidity or cower in the dark by the air conditioner.  Most people chose the latter.  One such day was Monday.  It was a strange thing for Dan, Eddy and me to spend the whole day in the house together.  Last time that happened we had to break loose and go to the museum (and, as it turned out, the famous MICKEY'S DINER).  This time we went to the beach.

The evening was just starting to cool off when we headed to the nearby town of Lake St. Croix Beach.  This town sits just upstream our beloved Afton, but is much more popular on days like these, because this town has -- as the name implies -- a beach.  And that's about all they have.  There are signs posted on every street that read, "No parking on ANY city street".  And they have only one parking lot: the beach parking lot.  I love small towns.

We parked and walked the gravel road to the shore together.  Eddy's sandals kept falling off, making it a haltingly slow process...until we stuffed them in the diaper bag and held him off the ground by both arms.  Whatever works!  Ah, the sandy goodness!  Shoes were kicked off, the waves were flirted with, and Daniel dove in for a much needed cool down.  There were plenty of people there that day, which made me happy.  I love enjoying the weather with others.  It was quite like a local party, everyone invited, no charge.  Then I noticed something: Eddy wasn't swimming.  He wasn't splashing.  He wasn't even getting his feet wet.  The all too familiar "I don't wanna swim," was all he would say.  This would take some work.

I prodded him from the shore, Dan coaxed from the water, but he would not go in.  Why does he have this propensity to do what will only make him unhappy later?  Finally I bit the bullet.  Though still dressed in my tie-dye skirt and t-shirt, I picked up Eddy and stepped in the water.  "I'll just go up to the knees."  Right.  One thing led to another, and I was as wet as Eddy.  Finally, I couldn't resist the urge of going all in with hippie clothes on.  It just seemed to fit.  So, though I had my swimsuit on underneath, I dove in and swam all the way out, skirt and all =)  I got out, got all sandy and jumped back in.  Why don't more people do this?

Eddy did realize he liked the water.  He walked as far out as he could stand, he and I attacked Daddy with splashes, we even let him dunk a couple times.  It was a blast.

Eventually people began to disappear from the party, the sun went down, and a layer of mosquitoes graced the top of the ripples (haha, as if mosquitoes ever "grace").  We trudged through the sand and over the gravel to the car.  What a successful trip!  Laughter and pleasant talk filled the car all the way home and followed us in the house, just in time to open up the windows for the night.