Mi Vida Ocupada: My Busy Life!

Obama's Inauguration: So happy & proud to be an American!

Wow, what a cool moment in history!
I did a little photo documentation of Obama taking the Presidential Oath:


That crowd is unbelievable!

And I have to admit that I was moved to tears.  So happy, proud and hopeful today!! And quite a bit sentimental :)

God bless the United States of America.
Amen!

Live Inauguration Streaming.....

Here is the link to watch the Inauguration LIVE.
Many of us have been waiting a long time to watch this moment in History!
http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/video/video-2009-obama.cfm

Change is Coming to the USA!!!!

What an amazing feeling!!!!!

So happy America was able to look past race and elect the right man to lead our country.

Amen!

Barack the Vote!

Stood in line to vote for about an hour this morning before work.

I am nervous to see how things go tonight, but hopeful to see big CHANGE!!

Zombie Pub Crawl??!!

I was watching the local news on Saturday night (before SNL) and they reported about a Zombie Pub Crawl that was taking place in the Twin Cities that night.  The cameras then flashed to several Drunken Zombies moaning and hobbling down the sidewalks of Minneapolis near Dinkytown.
How fun/funny!!
Who has ever heard of such a thing?!
Well apparently it is quite popular in Mpls.  This was the 4th year and they expected over 1500 Zombies to turn out.
Who knew?

Now who wants to dress up as a Zombie and participate next year??!!!

Helmy, you in???!!

Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech

I thought this speech was amazing :) I usually avoid politics as much as possible, but this year I am excited. Excited to see the change that Obama is going to deliver as our next President. If you haven't seen this speech, it is worth the 45 minutes....

More Fun at the Fair

Took the plunge and headed back out the the Great Minnesota Get Together on Friday night.  It was a nice night and it was packed compared to Tuesday night.  It was a eat-a-thon and the lines took awhile.  I had eaten nothing but a muffin for breakfast all day and was beyond starved when we got there later that night. I will try to recall what I sampled:

*Steak Sandwich *Taco *Roasted Corn  *Cheese Curds *Bull Bites *Brownie Sundae *Smoked Turkey Leg *Mini Donuts
 (Oh yeah, who is hot with meat in their mouth!? Whoa, that sounds sick!)

Met Richie and Angel out there.  Too funny that the guys were unknowingly wearing the same shirt! LMAO

 

Went to see the piggies.  Whoa, this dude is HUGE!

 

Saw some country boys outside the horse barn and thought I'd capture the moment

Posed with Prince in the Midway

 

Hope everyone else is enjoying the beautiful weekend :)

Eating at the MN State Fair....

I spent about 5-6 hours at the State Fair last night, eating and spending a ton of $$$$$$$$$.  It was fun! 90% of the time I was there stuffing my face.  Seriously! Good thing everything was shared or the medics would've had to wheel me out of there on a stretcher!! I know this is the worst photo I have ever posted of myself on this blog, but I'm keeping it real today.  Nothing like getting caught with a foot-long corn dog in your mouth!!

 

Besides the corn dog, I sampled:

*Elk Burger
*Taco from Mexican Hat (sooooo much better than Taco King!)
*Deep-fried ravioli
*Angus Bites
*Bacon-wrapped turkey tenderloin
*Cheese curds
*Shaved Pork Tenderloin Sandwich
*Scottish Egg
*Sweet Martha's Cookies (who wouldn't need sweets after all that MEAT???!!!)

I took a couple of boring pictures....

State record Muskie, almost 5 feet long.  There are several of these bad-boys in White Bear Lake (some even bigger!!).  Does anyone wonder WHY I don't like swimming in lakes?????  I know two people who have caught a muskie bigger than this in WBL within the past month (although both times the fish never made it in the boat).

One of my favorite places is the Bazaar.  Bought a couple of these hot sauces.  Hopefully I bought the ones that will NOT make my face spontaneously combust!

Besides eating, we also shopped and found a couple of things that we just couldn't leave there!! Let's just say our household Christmas shopping is now complete ;)

I am looking forward to another trip to the Fair on Friday night :)

Camera Update....

Great News for Jeff.....his camera was located and retrieved! Yay

Bad news for me......Best Buy needs to send my camera out for one more repair before they'll replace it.  It'll be four weeks before my worn-out little Canon is back.   Dagnabit!!! I was hoping to come home with a new camera tonight!

35 Years strong!

Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents today!

Its MAC tonight ;)

My Mac is here, my Mac is here!!
Hoping all goes smoothly with the transitioning!

I am not even going to open the box until later tonight.....I HAVE TO STUDY first....then I can play a little!

Please go out and VOTE today :)

Whether you live here in MN or any other state in the USA, please do your duty today and go out and vote!!!!!

i know it is an "off" year....

It is not a presidential election

It is not a gubernatorial election

It is not a senate election (unless there are extraordinary circumstances)

BUT.....

IT IS A SPECIAL ELECTION TO PASS LOCAL SCHOOL REFERENDUMS.

This is money that helps our schools just barely make it.  By voting NO, many of our schools are in serious jeopardy, so please PLEASE PLEASE

Go out and vote YES to pass your local school referendums!!!!

These children are our future, lets show them we really care!!!!!

Piggin' Out at the Fair.....

I know I didn't eat much at the Fair last week when I went with Brian & Michelle, but I definitely made up for it on Saturday night when I went back with some friends.

What I ate/sampled during the 5 hours we were there:

*Footlong hot dog

*Cheese curds (Sorry Michelle, I didn''t get any to-go for you, since i knew you guys were at the Cabin this weekend)

*Apple & caramel malt from the Dairy Building

*Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin (outside the Bazaar)- delicious!!

*Cinnamon roasted almonds in the Bazaar (3 large bags to take home!)

*Taco from Taco King (note to self: boring! try different tacos next time!)

*Roasted Corn on the Cob (I think this is my favorite!)

*London broil steak sandwich & lemonade

*Tom Thumb mini donuts for the long walk back to our car

We spent some time in the Midway.  Here are Rich & Angel on the Magnum PI ride....

Playing games in the Midway.....

Oh, and how many of you call milk "white" milk?  Such as on this sign at the Milk booth, which boasts white & chocolate milk.  That was really bugging Rich, let me tell ya! Doesn't one assume that milk is white, unless it specifies a flavor??!!

Since we are discussing fair food in this post, I wanted to ask your opinion about Dippin' Dots-Ice Cream of the Future.  I saw a special on the Travel or Food channel about this and thought I'd ask ya'll about it.  I know they are very popular, but I am not interested because I enjoy softer, creamier ice cream.  Please take my poll :)

Devastating 35W Bridge Collapse

I am in shock...

Just a few hours ago at 6:05pm the worst catastrophe to ever hit Minnesota happened.  A 2,000 ft stretch of 35-W interstate that travels over the Mississippi River collapsed into the river.  More info about this story.  This happened in the middle of rush hour, they have no idea just how many vehichles were actually on the bridge when it went down. ETA: Check out this slide show  Download I-35W_Collapse.pps

I am okay....not sure if anyone I know was involved in this.  This is a major stretch of bridge as you head in/out of downtown.  I take this route all the time, as do many people who live here in the Cities.  It is just unreal.

Please say some prayers for the people effected by this tragedy.  Anyone who lives here in the Cities....please let me know you're okay!

Anna Nicole Tragedy...

I was absolutely shocked when I turned on the TV last night to hear the news that Anna Nicole Smith had passed away…..say WHAT??!! No way could that be true.  Its not like I am a big fan of hers or anything, but I had just seen her on ET a few days ago, being interviewed about the paternity of her newborn daughter, Dannielynn.  At this point, no one knows why she died, just that she collapsed at a hotel in Hollywood, FL, was unresponsive to treatment and then died shortly after at the hospital. 

There is a lot of speculation that maybe Anna died of a drug overdose, that it could’ve been a blood clot in her lungs, maybe even murder?  The have yet to establish the paternity of Dannielynn, who now happens to be the only heir to Anna Nicole’s estate, should she actually inherit any of the money from her ex-billionaire husband.  Could someone actually have plotted to kill her in hopes they would eventually gain access to some of that money? It isn’t that hard to believe, people have killed over less.

What a rough 5 months this woman had had after her son Daniel’s death, then to die so suddenly and unexpectedly.  I am most sad for her daughter, who at 5 months old is basically an orphan.  What will happen to the poor baby now??

$1.96 A Gallon!!!!??

The way gas prices were looking last spring, I never thought I would see gas get this low again.  Its awesome!  How long can we expect this to last, I wonder?

Wanted to share the layouts I started last weekend and finally finished up.  I got sick and tired of staring at them unfinished on the kitchen table after 4 days and did something about it :)  Scrapping has been a struggle lately...just not feeling it.  I bet that will change once all the new products from the upcoming CHA show come out next month (and right in time for my 30th birthday!)

And me and my Jenny.

So, I went to the ENT specialist yesterday.  I  found out after a CT scan that I have the largest sinuses the Dr. has ever seen (and this is the 2nd Doc who has told me this).  Weird, huh? Well anyway, there is no sign of infection in my sinuses or my ear.  I do have significant clicking in my jaw that he thinks might be causing the headaches and ear pain.  I will have to go to an oral surgeon and see what might be the next step. The ENT Dr. also sent me to get extensive allergy testing to find out why I have chronic nasal congestion, hopefully we will know what I am allergic to next week.  One other discovery at my visit yesterday is that I have a lump on my thyroid. I have to go to the hospital Friday afternoon to have a biopsy done.  I was a little nervous about this at first, but my dad sent me this article and I feel much more relieved afer reading it.  My mom told me that there is a history of thyroid problems in her family, so it could just be genetic.  Either way, there is no sense in dwelling on it until I know what is going on, but I wanted to document it here anyway.  Asking for extra good thoughts my way couldn't hurt either :)

Looking forward to the 3-day weekend, this week has been much longer than usual!!

Hope everyone has a good one :)

Goodbye, Crocodile Hunter

I was shocked and saddened to hear that Steve Irwin, the beloved Crocodile Hunter,  was killed yesterday by a stingray.  So tragic! I loved his show and felt like I got to know him and his family over the years.  Those poor little kids of his will now grow up without a daddy.  So sad!! He will be missed.....

A Bear on the Loose!

Okay, can things get any weirder in the neighborhood in which I work??  Today the news choppers, cops and the DNR were out looking for a Black Bear who has wandered into the Big City.  This is the news as I hear it from my students as I walk in to work today,

"Ms. Sauer, did you hear about the bear?"

"I saw it in my back yard!!"

"The cops are going to find it and put it to sleep, but not kill it"

Okay, last week they are looking for a cop-killer and today they are back at it again...but looking for a bear.  I feel bad for the poor thing!! We had a bear loose a few weeks ago too, and that one was shot and killed when it made its way to the freeway.

I don't know what this means, but it is probably not  a good sign if bears are moving into the city...disappearing territories and the smell of Krispy Kreme....

On Lockdown!!

My drive to work this morning started out like normal, but as I got closer and closer to work, I knew something out of the ordinary was going on...  you see, every corner on the main street that I drive down had a police officer parked with its lights on.  So what could this be all about???

Was the President of The United States visiting today and I somehow didn't know about it?  What else could cause police from all neighboring cities as well as the St Paul Police to be out full-force on a Friday morning at 7 am??

As soon as I got to the school I was informed that we were on lock-down because a St Paul police officer was killed a few blocks away from the school at like 2am.  Apparently he was working undercover when he was shot 10-12 times and the suspects fled.  So now they are doing a thorough search of the neighborhood in which I teach.

So how am I going to get through this already-hectic Friday, with kids that are scared to walk down their own streets??? This neighborhood that I work in is one that I am glad I do not also reside.  Too much crap like this happening all the time.  I am fortunate that I will only have to work another 30 days or so before school is out and I move to a new school.  Scary!!

Last night I relaxed a little and finished this Layout for Nicole's Circle journal.  I do not LOVE it, but I think it turned out okay.  Very small size 6 x 6...