Star Wars: Nothing But Star Wars

Well, I'm going to be releasing my inner-Star Wars geekness now. St Paul was lucky enough to be one of the cities to host the Star Wars exhibit at our Science Museum. Here's proof that I was there.

To quote my favorite Star Wars character, "We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life." If you are brave enough, click the link below to see all the pictures I took at the exhibit. May the Force Be With You!

http://picasaweb.google.com/disneytimon/StarWarsExhibitAtStPaulScienceMuseum

Mr. Mom?

My sister has four kids, and every time I see her I have the utmost respect for how she manages the family (even though I think she's crazy).

So in between my other chores, I wanted to give her and my brother-in-law a break as well, so Uncle Tim helped out with being Mr. Mom. I drove the kids to school, helped them with their homework projects (can I just say that what they expect parents to do these days is INSANE!), did the cooking and ran errands.

Now I know why I'm single with no kids. I'm too selfish, and will freely admit that. However, the trade off of unconditional love is something I only get a taste of, whereas you parents get this all the time.

Here, my youngest niece is being cute with me as we were driving to the storage unit. Uncle Tim is very proud of her that she knows every Disney princess and their stories, but her knowledge of the classics like The Three Little Pigs and Peter Pan is lacking. Uncle Tim will need to make a return trip soon so he can help illuminate her on these stories.

My family was amazed, but not really, when she was telling stories they could barely understand, but she and I were communicating. I told them that I can't tell if she's getting better at talking, or because I know about Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella better than she does. Right now, Ariel and Tinker Bell are her favorites. She wanted to leave the house every day in her PJs, so I guess I'll have to head over to The Disney Store to buy her some dresses.

Surprise!

For my Mom's 70th and for Mother's Day, I decided to fly out to Colorado Springs and surprise her. My Dad and brother-in-law picked me up from the airport, and just about when we got home, I called her. They went into their house and while I was talking to her, I walked in. Surprise!

The rest of the week will be spent frantically getting their new townhouse ready for them to finally move in. Wow, is their new place nice! I have to say they certainly deserve it (having to put up with me for 43 years!)

Happy 30th, Sara!

Yesterday was Sara's 30th birthday, but she and Quinn decided to celebrate their birthdays together today.

I think Sara liked the gift that Dani and I gave her to commemorate her hallmark birthday.

Happy birthday, dear friend!!!

Back in Action

Marketing people love me. When I saw this in the store, I had to buy it. Even I have to admit it's wacky having a "limited edition" cereal box, but with all the other crap I collect, I won't be keeping these.

I just can't wait until the new Indiana Jones movie comes out on May 22nd. I'm debating on taking the day off from work (not even with a "cough-cough" day).

Just Like Old Times

Last week, my boss asked me to go to a trade show in her place. So, here I am back in California! (Who's complaining???)

Leaving Minnesota, we had to wait for a flight attendant and then the start of a snow storm delayed our flight for over an hour.

But since it was triple the cost to fly directly into San Diego, I decided to fly into LAX and drive down. I knew I had time to drive down and then pick up a coworker who was flying into the San Diego airport.

Only now with the weather delay, I had less than two hours to get from LA to San Diego.

Don't tell Mom or law enforcement, but the drive that normally takes about 2.5 hours was able to be done in 1.5 hours. Let's just say I wasn't going 65. (Safety first, Kiddies!!!) But I used to drive this all the time when I lived here, so I knew the roads very well and where I can push the limit. So with the sun roof open and the XM Radio on the 80's channel, I flew, er drove down to San Diego.

As I was pulling off the freeway, my coworker's plane flew overhead. Perfect timing!

And of course we hit the Old Town Mexican Cafe in Old Town for some great dinner.

Oh, I promise to follow the posted speed limits on the drive back on Wednesday...or as close as possible.

Too Much Tech?

During my travels around Europe, I went to a few classical music concerts in Germany and Austria. The audience would sit still through the entire performance, and would glare at you if you so much as scratched your nose.

So tonight in church for the Good Friday service, which was less than an hour mind you, I was distracted by a gentleman who couldn't sit still to save his life. It's like he had ants in his pants. Then I was appalled by someone else in the pew in front of me who felt compelled to send a text message during the service.

Is it something about our culture where people can't stay focused if they've made a commitment to something? This guy texting reminded me of when a group of friends and I went to see The Lion King last year. A guy kept checking the football score during the show, so finally at Intermission I said, in my passive way but voice loud enough for him to hear, "Yeah, the show's great if only this guy could figure out to check the score when the theatre isn't dark."

His embarrassed wife made him put away his Blackberry.