neon: July 2008 Archives

Yesterday when I got home from work, Taka and I went for another bike ride. This time when we got to the spot where we had turned around yesterday, we kept going, and going, and going. WOW!!! It was incredible. We never knew that such beautiful trails were right down the street from us. We biked through parks, around ponds, and even along the river for a while. We finally turned around and went home. Today I am looking up maps of bike trails in the area. Markus, a student that I work with, told me to go to mapmyrun.com because then I might be able to figure out the distance that we biked since neither of us has a computer for our bike (it's on the wish list). I went to the site, and if it is accurate, then it turns out that we biked about 5 miles on Tuesday night and biked around 11 miles last night. The paths that we were following were pretty flat, not very difficult, which is a nice way to start. Later today Taka is going to pick me up and we are going to head over to freewheel bike shop to pick up a roof rack for our car. Then after the rack is attached and we are all packed up, Taka and I will be heading out to meet up with Dave and Kelly at Bob's Cabin near Black River Falls Wisconsin.

Yesterday Taka fixed up our bikes.  We went for a short bike ride before it got dark.  Tonight when I get home we will be going out again.  All of this is to get somewhat prepared for this weekend.  This weekend we will be camping with Taka's older brother Dave and his girlfriend Kelly near Black River Falls Wisconsin.  While there we will be biking some of the local bike trails.  I have decided that once we get back I am going to bike everyday, if possible, to work in the morning and back home in the afternoon.  I am not sure of the total distance, but it is between 6-7 miles each way.

At work we have showers in the locker rooms.  I have used them a few times before, they aren't too bad.  The only problem is that Anna, one of my coworkers, just got a new dog and she refuses to leave it at home alone, so she has been keeping it in the women's locker room.  I talked to her today before she left and told her that I was planning on biking into work for the rest of the summer, and would need to be using the showers.

Her first question was "Well how allergic are you?"  WTF!  Does it matter how allergic I am.  I am allergic to animals and that is all that matters.  How appropriate is it for you to bring your pet to work?  Especially when you know someone is allergic to it.  I didn't say that to her instead I answered her honestly "I never know how I am going to react, but with all the construction across the street my allergies have been going a bit haywire."  The guys said that she could keep it in the Men's locker room.  She asked if that would be okay.  I said yes.  Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I still feel like she was trying to make me into the bad person in all of this.  Oh well.  We will see what happens next week.  Time to go home.

I had today off from work.  Taka and I were able to finish moving the Hostas to the planter around the pine tree.  We also moved some of the Hostas to the back of the garage.  Lastly I was able to get all of the planting beds mulched.  They look so good.  I want to wait a few days to make sure everything survives before I take some photos.  It's done!  It took us longer to do then we thought it would but now it is done and all we have to do is maintain the planting beds.  Thanks Taka for all of your hard work to help me to finish it.  YEAH!!!

Taka and I bailed on sailing again because there was no wind and we just don't feel like bobbing around on the boat for several hours when we could be doing other things around the house.  Today we got about half of the Hostas to the planter around the pine.  That was really hard because they are huge and we decided not to divide them.  Also I did get some of the planting beds mulched with the cocoa bean shells.  Now my yard smells like chocolate.  Yeah!

This morning I ran over to Linder's because they were having a sale. I picked up some cocoa bean shell mulch for the planters. I also picked up three Heuchera for the front planters. I was able to get all the plants into the planters in front of the house before Eric, Mona, and Mathum came up to visit us for lunch. Because they are vegetarian, Taka made a delicious vegetarian version of his Jambalaya. He used No chicken broth, Boca Bratwurst, and Quorn Naked Cutlets. It turned out delicious. Even three year old Mathum liked it. After lunch we went for a walk to the local playground to let Mathum play. After the park we went back home and introduced Mathum to our iguana Buttercup. She wasn't too happy, but she behaved herself pretty well. After a while they left to go home. That is the nice thing about not living too far away. It is looking like there won't be much wind tomorrow, so we will see about sailing.

We decided to go to the beach to watch the sunset. It was very beautiful.

Torrey Pines State Beach

Here is a pretty little flower at Quail Botanical Garden.

Quail Botanical Garden

My third trip with the University of Minnesota's Horticulture club was to San Diego. There were 12 of us on this trip. I still can't believe how much we squeezed into a 4-day trip.

San Diego 2006

This was the 3rd wedding that we were at that year and the second one that Taka was a groomsman in. It was really neat because we pretty much took over this island in Wisconsin for the weekend.

Konrad and Deena's Wedding 2007

For my birthday in 2005, Jen and I went to the Miyazaki exhibit at the Children's Museum. It was fun.

Miyazaki 2005

Here is Taka and I getting ready for our second trip to Duluth to go fishing. It was quite a different day compared to the 2002 trip.

Fishing Trip 2004

Our first fishing trip to Duluth, Mn. It was a cold and wet day. From left to right it was Justin, Tom, me, Konrad, and Brian with Taka taking the photo.

Fishing Trip 2002

Dad and I took a week long trip to Branson Missouri in August of 2006. While there we visited a butterfly house that had just been built. It was cool seeing the butterflies that close.

Butterfly House 2006

Dad on a walkway in Branson Missouri during our trip in 2006.

Branson Trip 2006

Before we left Taka's brother's place near Baton Rouge, we spent a day in New Orleans. We walked around the French Quarter. It was a really pretty city. Too bad Katrina hit 6 months later.

New Orleans April 2005

For our staff retreat at work, in the fall of 2004, we went to Black Bear Crossing. Here are the photos that I took during a break we had.

Black Bear Crossing

Back when I first got the camera, I ran around both the Minneapolis Campus and the St Paul Campus taking photos using the close-up mode of my camera. Here are some of those shots.

Bud Break Collection

The weekend wasn't as productive as hoped because we got rained out on Saturday.  Sunday we tried to make up for it and skipped sailing because there was no wind.  Taka is hoping to fill the planters today and when I get home we will move the hostas.  Saturday I grilled the rest of the chicken satay that I had marinating.  Taka was happy to have it again, since it had been so long.  I forgot how easy it actually is to make.

Yesterday we found out who owns Sam.  Sam belongs to Steve, who lives across the alley and one house down.  Sam's name is Oliver.  They got him as a stray from the Humane Society.  Steve said that they kept him inside the first few weeks that they had him because they weren't sure that he would come back if they let him out.  Now Oliver gets out whenever he can, but always goes home.  It's nice because I can still get my kitty fix without my allergies going haywire.

The diet isn't going so well for me.  I do okay eating small meals at work, but at dinner I tend to gorge myself and then settle on the couch to watch TV for the rest of the evening.  I like making plans and lists, but honestly, I am not very good at finishing them.  I haven't worked out at all this summer.  The only thing that I can call a workout has been the landscaping that Taka and I have done.  Ugh!!!

Today we had a barbeque at work.  Last night I started marinating the chicken for chicken satay.  This morning I made two dipping sauces, the traditional peanut sauce, everyone knows, and a cucumber/vinegar dipping sauce.  I haven't made satay since a family trip to Wisconsin Dells in July of 2000 (I think?).  Amanda made some tasty beef skewers and an interesting yogurt dip with wasabi and ginger.  Gene made a good taboli salad.  The other highlight was Van-Ahn's fruit tart.  Yummy.  Everything else was pretty standard barbeque fare.

Here is Taka jumping off a cliff. Later, after we returned home we found out that it was a 30 ft drop down to the water.

South Point Hawai'i

Here are photos of a botanical garden that we went to that was just north of Hilo.

Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden

Part of one day of the 4 day trip we spent at Volcano National Park. I love volcanos. Yeah!

Volcano National Park

The second Horticulture Trip was to Big Island Hawai'i. This was an awesome trip and both Taka and I had a blast. In this photo from left to right is Lynnae, Mary, Tom, me, and Taka.

Hawai'i 2005

Here are photos from my first trip with the University of Minnesota's Horticulture Club. Every year they go on a trip somewhere in the US. It was fun, but a bit cold to do much horticulture related.

New York 2004

Here are numerous photos of flowers that I have taken over the years.

Enjoy!

Flowers

Here are some photos from a Japanese Peace Garden at Lyndale Park Garden that I took in 2004. I finally got around to sorting through them and posting them.

Enjoy!

Lyndale Park Garden 2004

I need today to recover from the weekend.  Sailing was interesting.  The wind was blowing 20 mph both Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.  Survival sailing, as Captain Dave has termed it before.  Saturday we were without Cindy, so it was just Dave, Taka, and I.  It was the last Big Island race.  We had the small headsail up.  The big problem was that it was gusting 30+ mph.  On the backside of the island we hit a lull.  Things were okay until just before the finish line when we were hit by a huge gust.  We buried the rail for the rest of the race.  It has been a while since Taka and I have sailed in that kind of wind.

Sunday was no better, except for the fact that we had Clark with us.  This time we put on the old mainsail and reefed it.  Also most of the race we didn't have a headsail up.  Too much wind.  Makes it not fun to sail.  If we were racing competitively then I think that I would view the situation differently, but because winning isn't our top priority, well days like that aren't much fun.

After the race Taka did barbeque up some beer brats.  They were delicious.  Perfect.  Dean did teach Taka something new.  Dean and Taka split a brat.  Dean took his half and dipped it, bun and all, into the pot of beer and onions that Taka had initially cooked the brats in.  Taka tried it, and then gave me a chunk without telling me what he had done.  It was very tasty.  It has now been dubbed Wisconsin au jus.

After the barbeque at the club, Taka and I headed over to Marty and Florence's new place.  It is nice; has a great view.  Haven't seen them in a while.  I don't think that I hang out with Florence enough.  The really nice thing was that Peter was in town for the weekend, staying with Marty and Florence.  It was great getting to see him again.  The night before he had made a rack of lamb.  Later in the evening that we were visiting, he sautéed some of the leftovers with onion, oh it was delicious.  He also made some dessert, yummy, yummy, yummy.  I really didn't want to leave because it was great seeing everyone, but unfortunately my nose was finally having enough of the cats.

Today Amanda made lunch for herself, Van-Ahn, and me.  She made a Napali curry with a recipe that I found.  She did omit the onions and added black-eyed peas.  It also had green beans and red potatoes.  It turned out really good.  I made some jasmine rice and Van-Ahn brought in a lemon pudding cake.  The director of our facility, Andy, joined us for lunch, which was pretty cool.

Also, I posted photos of my kitty kat Sam. Isn't he a cutie! He loves Taka and was sitting in his lap last night. Now we just need to build a deck so that we can have more Sam time.

Sam the Kitty

I first off, actually took some photos of my garden yesterday. Secondly, I actually posted them to my flickr account. Here are the photos of my garden.

Garden 2008

Today Amanda and I headed over to the first day of the farmer's market that they hold every Wednesday on Campus.  It was a pleasant day for a walk to the main part of campus.  We got some green beans that we steamed for lunch once we got back to the office.  Along with the beans we had some Trader Joe's organic whole wheat pasta which TJ's sells for $1.29 a pound.  Normally I buy Creamette's pasta when it is on sale for $1.00, getting organic whole wheat pasta for about a quarter more maybe worth it.  On top of that we had Mid's meat pasta sauce, it (along with the pasta) was quite tasty.  The Mid's is about $3-4 a jar, but we barely put a dent in it because it is a 32 oz. jar.  Spaghetti again I guess.  All said the lunch was about 400 calories, not too bad seeing how I am full.  Small meals, many times a day.  Taka decided to up his calorie intake to 1500; I think that is about where I have been averaging.  I think that I will eat many small light meals during the day, then a healthy delicious dinner.  I think that the key to both Taka and I losing weight is to eat less.  But I also really need to workout to build some muscles and increase my endurance as well.  Right now I am really avoiding junk food, especially candy.

Tonight when I get home I think that I am going to take some photos of my garden.  Hopefully I will be able to post the photos tomorrow.  Photos, that might be fun for a change.

Taka stir-fried last night.  It had been awhile.  It was yummy.  I called in sick this morning but now I am at work.  Copying, copying, and more copying today.  I am addicted to this silly little flash game called Vampires! The dark alley.  I will get a lot of money, then I will run out of movement points and not be able to get to a bank, while I sit there waiting for more movement points other vampires will steal my money.  The Bastards!  Still it's an addictive little game.

Back to work after a short week and long weekend.  Even though Taka and I napped most of yesterday away, I don't feel like I had a wasted weekend.  We still have a lot to do around the house but it was good to have a relaxing weekend.  I did get some yard work done and Taka fixed the car up so now it is running a bit better.  There are still other issues that need to be dealt with, but one thing at a time.

We watched the end of the Wimbledon Men's final.  I was really rooting for Nadal.  Taka wanted Federer to break the record.  It was an historical match to watch.

I totally forgot to mention that Taka got me a new tennis racket last week.  Yeah!  We did get a chance for me to try it out and I did play a bit better.  Now we just need to get out some more this week so I can keep improving.

Eric and Taka just couldn't totally catch-up in one day.  We got out there, got the tour of the place, met their 3-year old son Mathum, had some vegetarian dinner, then talked, talked, set up a bonfire, talked, talked, oh and drank a bunch, then talked some more.  We finally went to bed around 4am.  Poor little Mathum tried to keep up with us.  There were so many things to catch-up on.

 

There was much talking, some crying and hugging (that was mostly on me and Mona's part), then more talking.  I had met Mona twice before so I really can't say that I knew her, but the two of us really connected and I felt that I could tell her anything.

Taka and I were talking on the drive home how it was nice to be around people who understand what it means to be fucked up.  I love my friends dearly, so don't get me wrong, but almost all of our friends do not understand fucked up.  Most of them haven't had to deal with death, tragedy, anger, abuse, violence, betrayal...and I am glad that they haven't.  I wouldn't wish some of our experiences on my worst enemy (not that I have one).  I just can't express the joy that I felt connecting to some people on that level.  Thankfully they are not far away and another camp out is planned for later this summer.  Woohoo!!!

Tom and Jeannette's wedding was good.  The church was very warm.  The windows were beautiful, plus the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor all got to sit through most of the ceremony.  It was an honor to get invited.  Taka and I didn't really expect it since we see them so infrequently now a days.  There were many speeches, and a bunch of singing.  We even sang a song in Norwegian.

 

            Piri mitt mitt parion,

            Dan diri ditt ditt darion, dan parion.

 

No idea what we were singing, but it was fun.  The food was great.  Got to see some people that we haven't seen in a few years.  It was lots of fun.

 

Yesterday Taka didn't get to finish putting the car back together.  The new radiator was installed but the fans wouldn't come off of the old radiator (which was crumbling apart as we removed it).  So today he is doing that while I watered and fertilized the garden, my perennials, and some new grass Taka had seeded.  The garden is growing well; I am super excited about it.

After the car is done we will be heading over to River Falls Wisconsin to see an old friend of Taka's from Burlington Wisconsin.  Taka lost contact with Eric and his girlfriend Ramona maybe 10 years ago.  About 18 months ago Taka searched the internet and found a Ramona that may have been the same one and sent her an email.  About a month ago he got a reply and after several emails, and some confusion, we set up today to go over there and have a campout in their backyard.  FUN!!!  Taka is super excited.  I have a feeling it is going to be a ton of fun.

Monday Taka and I started a calorie restriction diet.  Taka has been limiting himself to 1000 calories a day and I am trying to stay around 1200.  Until today we have been pretty successful.  Later today we will be having beef tenderloin at Tom and Jeannette's wedding.  It is going to taste so good!!!  Right now Taka is replacing the radiator on our little Saab.  I have been moving wheel barrow fulls of soil from the backyard to the beautiful new planter that Taka built me this week around the White Pine in our front yard.  Well I am going to go see how Taka is doing and then get back to moving soil.

Happy July 4^th!!!

The three day week went by quick, now it is Thursday afternoon.  The work was steady but not overwhelming.  Lots of people are gone today, so it is pretty quiet.  Monday will be the same I'm sure.

 

The weekend will be busy

-         tomorrow Tom and Jeannette's wedding

-         Saturday off to River Falls Wisconsin to see an old friend of Taka's.

-         Sunday not sure yet.

The first month of summer is over.  I know summer doesn't officially start until June 21^st, but really that is just an approximation.  Today was the first hot day.

 

So what have I been up to?

-         Finished the semester with a 3.0 GPA, okay, was hoping for a higher grade in the Advanced Propagation class.

-         Taka got an A and a B+.  Way to go Taka!  It was a very stressful semester for him.

-         Taka is still fighting with unemployment.

-         Taka spent two weeks selling a bunch of his old PS1 games and the rest of his D&D stuff on eBay.  After all the eBay and PayPal fees, we cleared $2100.  That was insane.  Taka is glad it is done with.

-         I bought my first perennials for the house.  YEAH!  Later I will post some photos.

-         My veggie garden is doing well.  Tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, beans, peas, corn, and cantaloupe.

-         I had last week off work.  It was nice to veg out.  Taka and I did some work in the yard and around the house.

While working outside last week and this weekend, we made friends with an orange kitty who I've named Sam.  Sam is super sweet.  He follows us around the yard.  Taka grabbed some kitty treats from the store to keep on hand.  If I could have a kitty I would want Sam.  He even helped me weed the garden.  He perfected his roll and scoot method on two of my peacevine tomatoes and three of my corn plants.  He worked so hard that we took a break after that : )