May 30, 2006

Annie came over and we had dinner. I ate a bunch and finally feel 100%.

We walked for awhile and saw Alison.

Spent the evening fixing the computer, playing Civ, and reading Discover mag.

May 29, 2006

Memorial Day.

Sky slept great and we got a late start to the cemetary. We made it for the ceremony but couldn't hear anything.

Afterwards the Brickleys. Uneventful. I did eat something which was nice.

After that the Jeffreys. Sky swam in the pool with us which was fun. He seemed unsure but we made it exciting so hopefully he has good associations. It was a very lazy day as we all took naps at one point.

Linda had a great video on Germany, the Dalmation Coast, and Prague and Budapest. Croatia looks amazing.

May 28, 2006

Nursery duty at Church. Stressfull beginning but once we settled in it was fun. Shorter than I expected too.

Slept a bit in the afternoon.

In the evening we went over to Alison's new house. Sandy, Jason, Raith, Sarah, and Mike were all there. They were either really tired from the night before or were bored because no one was too talkative. It is hard because the conversations go to babies very quickly which for me is no big deal because it is such a huge thing in my life but for the rest it isn't and so I understand how that topic really excludes them. They just have such a different reality (staying up till 5:00 am and sleeping until 1 pm that it is hard to relate anymore. I remember all that but it seems very distant and not desirable. I'm sure for them our lives feel even more distant and the desirability is probably questionable too.

May 27, 2006

Amazing Race Day.

Here is Erika's recap:

Hi Family and Friends, We wanted to give you the update on how things went on our Amazing Race on Saturday! The best news is that we raised over $1500.00 for the Salvation Army with your help. We had 42 different sponsors--so THANK YOU SO MUCH! You are just awesome family and friends and we feel so blessed to feel your support and also to support the good work that the Salvation Army does. Overall, we were the 4th best fundraising team who participated, so we are being honored at a dinner in June (actually on our 5 year anniversary!) which will be fun. Unfortunately, we finished 14th out of 15 teams. I know, I know . . .so sorry to disappoint you. But it really wasn't that it was too hard. Our real problem was that I came down with what I thought was food poisoning, but which turned out to be a violent stomach flu on Wednesday that I passed to Sky and then lucky Peter came down with it on Friday afternoon. We almost had to replace Peter with my brother Jonathan, but Peter insisted there was no way he wasn't going to race on Saturday . . .he was IN no matter what . . .so we persevered! We had to pace ourselves due to the heat (87 degrees) and due to the fact that we were walking/running/biking/canoeing all day long. Peter was such a trooper--he did not feel well at all but managed not to get sick during the race. We did more walking than running, but we finished! We were psychologically very bummed out to be dealing with all of this, ofcourse, as we were so excited for this day and felt we had a good chance to win. Bad timing for sure!! However, without Peter's navigating skills (my brothers both call him GPV--Global Positioning Vickerdude) I would have been lost without him! He was an integral part of the team for this kind of race . . .even if I had to eat BOTH chili dogs at the food challenge (I HATE chili dogs--and remember I had just finished the flu as well :() We feel that after measuring the competition, we could have easliy finished near the top--no way were we going to beat the #1 team as they actually climbed over barbed wire fences and preferred to run mile after mile instead of taking buses (which sometimes were a longer route) . . .so they were in much better shape and more determined than anyone to win!! So, the big final prize was probably out of reach no matter how well we were feeling. The best part was just experiencing this together and getting a small taste of what it would be like to be on our favorite show, The Amazing Race! There are ofcourse many stories to tell and pictures to be shared. You can go to www.thesalarmy.com and click on "Race Results" which will give you several pictures. Soon there will be video footage as well! I know some of you saw us on Channel 4--WCCO was a sponsor of the race and so they had coverage of us on from time to time yesterday and followed teams around as they completed their tasks. I haven't seen it yet so I don't know what is on there, but a few friends and family members have called to say that we were on it at the Saints Stadium. The Star Tribune did an article in the Metro section as well. This e-mail is getting really long . . . If you are interested in our race course and the challenges we had, read on, I have listed all of them below. Thanks again so much for thinking of us and supporting us. It really was a great thing to be part of and we never dreamed we would raise so much money for the Salvation Army, so WAY TO GO ALL OF YOU! Love, Erika and Peter Here was our racecourse and challenges that we had to meet: 1. We started outside of the Saints Stadium in St. Paul at 8:00 a.m. We opened a bag of Cracker Jack to find our first clue which was a team challenge: Run into the stadium and choose one of the two challenges: bat five baseballs over the first row of signs in the stadium, or choose a row of bleachers and race to the top of them, collecting one item at a time and brining it down to the bottom until you have all six items. --we first chose the baseball challenge, Peter did it right away, I was terrible, and we quickly went to the bleachers. 2. Clue two told us to find our way to the Salvation Army Headquarters in Minneapolis. This is where all the running started! There were several bus stops within about half a mile of the stadium . . .so off we set running down the road to find a bus stop. Remember we had free all day metro transit passes as well as the use of cell phones . . .so all of us were pounding the pavement on our cell phones or holding our maps, trying to figure out the fastest route. We had programmed in the metro transit number so we called them several times all day! 3. At the Salvation Army Headquarters our clue told us that one teammate had to take a stats quiz while the other teammate took a bike around the corner to the Farmer's Market where they had to look for a man selling geraniums and purchase one of them with a ticket. Peter took off on the bike, I did the stats quiz, and unfortunately once he got to the Farmer's Market he realized he had left the ticket to purchase the geranium back at the start, so he had to turn around and bike back to the Salvation Army Headquarters. Fortunately, the ticket was right on the garage floor, but we lost alot of time in this. He turned around, got the geranium, I finished the stats quiz correctly, and we got our next clue. 4. The next clue was to plant the geranium in the garden in front of the Salvation Army. Once we did that, we got our next clue. 5. Our next clue had us make our way to the DQ Grill and Chill in St. Louis Park on Excelsior Blvd. Again, we took a bus but we just missed one that left every half hour, so we had to wait a while. We also had to transfer at the uptown station . . .so all of this put us close to last place already. At the DQ Grill N Chill we had to eat. Peter was very nervous (understandably) about this challenge and had already said he was not eating chili dogs no matter what. SO . . .ofcourse they wanted us to eat chili dogs . . .also we had to eat the bananas out of two banana splits and drink two full cups of some nasty pop (we think they mixed several sodas together and then let them sit outside to get warm in the sun) We also had to wear garbage bags over our heads because we were not allowed to use our hands when eating! Peter took on the banana splits, I ate the chili dogs, and once the soda was all gone, we were done, and COVERED with ice cream, chili sauce, and totally disguisting. I had a few moments where I thought I was going to get sick . . .remember I just had the flu (and had been much sicker than Peter) so I was still recovering on a diet of bread, peanut butter and pretzels. This was a shock to the system, but I held it together. I now hate chili dogs more than ever, though! 6. Our next clue had us make our way to the Tin Fish. This is located on Lake Calhoun--it is a restaurant and we knew it so that helped. We took a bus there (some teams ran!) Once there, we had to walk around asking "Are you doing the Most Good?" to everyone we saw until we found the "undercover agents" who would respond by giving us our next clue. This was a hilarious challenge due to the responses we got. Alot of people gave blank stares, a few replied "yes, I am" but they gave us no clue. One man that Peter went up to (he had a huge red beard, was sitting in a canoe with fishing gear and a cooler of beer) responded to the question by answering, "hell, no!" in a hilarious way . . . That had us laughing throughout the rest of the race. Finally we found the undercover agents who gave us our next clue. 7. Make your way by canoe across Lake Calhoun to the red and black umbrella. Once there, you must find a marble in a pile of sand. Once you find the marble, keep it, and paddle the canoe back to where you started. Give your marble to the man at the canoe dock and he will give you the next clue. --This was fun. It was a warm day so being on the water felt great. It wasn't too far of a boat ride and we paddled well . . .I found the marble pretty fast and we headed back to where we started for our next clue. 8. Make your way to Lunds. Go upstairs to the cashier and she will give you your next clue. --we ran to the Lunds in Uptown--about a fourth of a mile from the canoe dock at Lake Calhoun. 9. At Lunds the cashier gave us a $35.00 gift card and a clue that told us to buy non-perishable items that did not go over $35.00 but were not under $33.00. We could not buy more than three of the same kind of grocery items. We headed to the canned section of Lund's, priced out our canned items, and checked out. We bagged the items and got our next clue. 10. The next clue was in Spanish, but fortunately we both took enough Spanish in school so that we could decipher most of the clue. It asked us to take the bagged items to a Salvation Army located on Lake Street East. Unfortunately, at first because of the Spanish we thought it was Lake Street West, so we ran there first. We realized this was wrong so we found a bus to take us to Lake Street East. 11. Once at the Salvation Army on Lake Street East, one teammember (me) had to put all of the canned items in their proper places at the foodshelf. After that we got our next clue. 12. Take the lightrail to the 46th Street station. From there, make your way across the Mississippi to the Highland Bank. Come inside the lobby for your next clue. --this was quite an undertaking as we had to walk/run about 3/4 a mile to the lightrail station and by now it was really hot. We were hoping a bus would come along--but no bus so we kept walking. When we got to the station we just missed the light rail so we had to wait another 20 minutes. We made our way across the Mississippi by bus and foud the bank. At the bank we got our next clue 13. Count the change in a salvation army coin bucket, and when your total is correct you will get the next clue. --so, we counted change. we hit the right amount at the first time so that was great. 14. Next clue said to make our way to the Mall of America, which we knew was the final stop. So, back to the bus, then the light rail . . .and once we got there, though, we were on stage, figuring we were done, when we were handed our next clue. 15. We had to go to three different locations in the mall, collecting pieces of a Salvation Army sticker to put together in order to finish. We ran around figuring out where these locations were at, and made it back to the stage. We finished at 2:15, so the race took a little over 6 hours! The first place people finished two hours ahead of us! That is it!

May 26, 2006

Got sick around 2:00 and had a stressful drive home. Threw up right when I got home off the deck. Vomitted once more before a fevered, restless sleep. Determined to go through the race.

May 25, 2006

Stayed home from work to be with Sky while Erika recovered. He was an angel.

We went to Lakewood Cemetary around 3:00 and met the Dalquist clan there. Linda had a tape recording of Dave which was great to listen to. It is so hard to comprehend that that voice no longer exists in the present, only in recordings from the past.

Later, we went to the MOA to make Sky Champion T-shirts, scope out the LRT stop and get Sky's Hannah Anderson outfit.

We made it back for Sky's dinner before Katie F. came over to watch Sky so we could go to the Charlatans. We got there very early, found a table, and ordered dinner. Erika got fried veggie spring rolls and I got a veggie burger.

We talked about how distant the fall of 2004 seemed and how for me that time period is so representative of my mentality before Sky. Our main focus was on the election, our Royal Tennanbaum halloween outfits, concerts, and saving money for our trip around the world. It all seems, to be frank, shallow now. I feel like I care about so much more now; obviously Sky is the most important part of it, but the level of emotion for him has bleed into all other aspects of my life it seems.

The opening act was ridiculous, The Blood Arm. The lead singer took to the dance floor and was flailing around like John Shimeck after a liter of Vodka. I liked one song.

The Charlatans opened with two from Simpatico, then Telling Stories. Coley, Buddy, and Mike DeSantis found us and Coley and I hid the second row. The crowd was very light but once we got down on the floor it didn't matter as it was just us and the Charlatans. I got a great buzz (or more) and they sounded sublime. A big mix from all albums, including a Jesus Hairdo which I think was my first. Senses was incredible, as was the every closer, Sprosten. They played one tune that neither Coley or I recognized which I really loved. I thought the new tunes sounded good and I liked the reggae sound they have incorporated. It really gives Simpatico a disticnt sound for them. Overall it was just an awesome show. I danced and jumped and shook my head back and forth and really just lost myself into the music. Who knows when I'll see a show with Coley at First Ave again. So weird that he is leaving.

May 24, 2006

Erika called me at about 3:30 and said that she had food poisoning, was throwing up and I needed to come home quick.

She was indeed in very rough shape and puked and diarrhea'd most of the evening. Sky was a trooper and we had fun. I tried to teach him 'no' while he was spitting during eating but it really didn't work. Erika was one puke away from going to the hospital but managed to pull it together and hold it in. I drank a couple beers and smoked a couple smokes outside.

May 21, 2006

A lazy great Sunday. We skipped church and spent Sky's long morning nap upstairs using Google Earth to identify where the various skyline pictures of Minneapolis were taken that appear behind our competitors in the Amazing Race. We then tried to plot out a possible course using the pictures as our guide and identified the possible bus routes we'd need to take.

During Sky's second nap we did a great deal of gardening work outside. We transplanted some flowers, weeded, and dugout the grass along the fence. We also planned for what we'd put in the garden. It was a very nice day to spend outside.

The whole weekend felt very relaxed and long which was so nice to have.

May 20, 2006

Woke up late (9:00) as Erika was nice enough to get up with Sky. She then went back to sleep and I played with him for awhile upstairs.

She awoke later on and we got going to Breanne's party in Como Park. Kris and Ann were there with the kids along with my parents. Uncle Mark, Liz, Will, Rebecca, and Grandfather were also there. We had a fun time running around with everyone and it was a nice, but cool, day to spend outside. In fact it was perfect to spend the day outside like that in that great setting.

Afterwards we went to the Saints game. After taking awhile to settle in, we found some good seats out of the blinding setting sun. Unfortunately it started to get frigid for May and we were shivering quite vigourously. Sky was all bundled up and snuggled in Erika's arms but I was a shaking maching. The Saints were down 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh but started a small rally so we decided to at least stay until the end of the inning. We were not disappointed as they managed to come back and take the lead at 3-2 before the inning ended. Obviously we weren't the only ones with that plan as many folks got up to leave once they got the third out.

May 19, 2006

Erika went out with her book club and then to Jenny Olsen's B-day party.

Coley came over and we made a campfire in the back. We listened to Starsailor On the Outside, Charlatans Simpatico, and the Black Keys and talked and drank beer and smoked a few cigs. It was a nice night and a great chance to talk to Coley about his move as well as the goings on with our friends. Unfortunately we all see concerning things with a few and with not alot to do to change the situation.

Drinking is tough these days as you know that every sip past the second beer is 10 more minutes of pain the next day.

May 18, 2006

Katie came over to run after work. We ran to the park, walked to the stop sign, and then ran from about halfway between the stop sign and the park back to Lunds. At Lunds it started to rain so I ran home. I was exhausted but it felt good to get such a good run in.

Apparently Katie is going to buy a place with Toby! Crazy, I am excited for her!

I spent most of the night working on ordering envelopes and letter head for my initial marketing to out-of-state owners.

May 17, 2006

We went to dinner at McCoys and sat outside along the sidewalk. Erika had a spinach and mushroom lasagna and I had an applewood smoked half chicken. Both were excellent and we got a free bottle of wine with the deal. Sky was an angel to whole time and really charmed the table next to us with his laughing.

Afterwards we went to Trader Joes and got some 3 buck Chuck which was great. The shelves had been cleared out significantly, obviously it is a popular place. We were very impressed by the array of good foods and low prices and are excited about going there again. Sky was very funny as he used his feet to move the child holder in the shopping cart back in forth before just kicking it over and over again.

After that we got home, put Sky to bed, and watched the finale of the Amazing Race. The Hippies won and we were psyched. We finished the night with some wine and smokes on the deck.

May 14, 2006

Mothers Day. I got up with Sky in the morning and then he went back to sleep around 9 or so. Erika slept in and I made her breakfast in bed before giving her her gift certificate to Androllis. She was very excited about it, so I was psyched I picked well.

After bumming around the house for awhile we went out to my parents and had a nice time out there. I talked to Kris and Mark for awhile about GHK which was cool. Apparently Ann is freaking out about the timing of Mike's visit as it screws up some vacation plans for her.

Will and Breanne were there as well so it was fun to talk to them about Europe and see their pics.

Around 5:30 or so we left for the Jeffreys and had dinner. David, Jenny, and Dotty were there as well.

May 13, 2006

Erika and I ran a bunch of errands. We went to Tonkadale and picked out plants for my Mom and sisters, then went to lunch at Chin's where we had a coupon, and then to Cub for groceries.

I met Coley at McCoys where we had a couple of drinks before moving on to the Park Tavern for bowling and more beer. It is likely that he will be moving to Milwaukee with his new job. It is a huge move for him and I am excited by his success although I am also sad that he will be moving.

He beat me 3 out of 4 games but I did win the best bet of the night which was for him to organize a tip to Madison in the Fall with Lance. Hopefully we can coordinate it around the Gophers football game.

May 12, 2006

Stayed home.

May 10, 2006

Erika returns. Sky was great. I have amazing respect for single parents, their lives are way too stressful.

May 8, 2006

Erika left for Vegas this morning so Sky is with me. I brought him to my parents and was late for work.

May 7, 2006

Church in the morning with a potluck afterwards. I didn't really talk too much at the potluck.

After church, Sky and I went outside and he sat on a blanket in the lawn while I planted Forget-me-nots in the front and sunflowers in the back.

Josh, Kari, Lillian, Betsy, Will, and Jenny came over for an afternoon of food and conversation. Jenny talked alot about Chile and the rest of us talked alot about kids.

We went for a walk around sunset and it was truly High Spring, with all the flowering trees in bloom and wonderful fragrance everywhere. We talked about our favorite months. Erika's is July. Mine is May.

In the evening I read National Geographic and drank Lion beer.

May 6, 2006

Erika had a shower in the morning and Sky and I power napped for quite awhile.

I was pretty spaced out the rest of the day.

In the afternoon we went for a bike ride and it was gorgeous out. We rode down the trail by Shady Oak Lake and there were a bunch of dead carp on the rocks near the lake.

At night we planned out our garden project for this year. Lots of flowers on the side yard.

May 5, 2006

Sky had a funny night where he went to sleep at 7 and then woke up and was up for an hour or so before going back to bed. I think I just read for awhile and Erika and I talked until late.

May 5, 2006

I went to a geocoding class this morning and the afternoon was pretty chill at work.

Hannah and Erika went to a Coffeehaus which I met them at so it was nice to see her again.

This evening has been pretty chill, just reading and writing this.

May 4, 2006

Hannah is in town and stopped over before Erika's bookclub. Erika and her tried to have lunch but Sky managed to fling himself out of his car seat while on a table and fell to the floor. Poor Erika was terrified, Sky was freaked out but not hurt.

It was great to see Hannah and hear about London. I think she is tired of their nomadic life. Hopefully they'll move to Minnesota!

May 3, 2006

We went over to Mom and Dad's after work and had dinner with them and Ann & the girls. Sky was quite a charmer as he smiled and laughed much more than he has previously. It is a great trend that I hope continues. Last weekend I had a blast with him because he was in such good spirits.

Anyway, we heard about M&D's trip to see Mike, Dana, and Taylor. They had a blast and enjoyed meeting Dana's mom. We all can't wait to see Taylor.

My dad and I chatted a bit about real estate and he is obviously interested in doing something too although he didn't come out and say so. I am thinking of ways to get him involved. Maybe if I get some money saved with some intial success we could partner on some deals where I find the cash and he works with the contractors to get a home put together. God I would love to see that be a possibility for him.

May 2, 2006

We went to Jonathans tennis match after work but unfortunately I missed him. It was crazy being at Orono High with Erika and Sky.

Afterwards we went to the Jeffrey's house and had dinner with them and Dotty. Before dinner I walked down to the stream which was flowing strongly with all the rain and saw many minnows but no crayfish.

May 1, 2006

We made into the top 15 for the next round of the Amazing Race! We are psyched!

April 29, 2006

Another rainy day. Ann picked up Sky at 8:30 and took him to the zoo. Erika and I hurried off to St. Paul where we did the Salvation Army Most Amazing Race. We had to find a bunch of locations on a map and write down the coordinates, eat sardines and drink prune juice, Erika shot a hoop, I carried some bags of salt across the gym, Erika found the clue in the bleachers, I dove into the dumpster filled with packing peanuts and found the ball and that was it, we were done! It was very fun and we were excited about our prospects. We picked up Sky at Ann's and then went home.

We tried to walk to DQ in between rain events to use our free Blizzard coupons we got at the Amazing Race but they didn't accept them at the Main Street DQ. We then got caught in the rain on the way back. Erika was as mad as a wet cat.

April 27, 2006

I skipped work today and got my bank account set up for GHK. While doing that and other errands, Erika had her mom's club over and I got to see Katie Bendt for the first time.

In the afternoon we went to the Arborateum and had a great time walking around. The tulips and daffodils were incredible as were the redbuds which were budding. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and the last one for 5 days as it rained the entire next weekend.

April 12, 2006

Today I sent in my Articles of Incorporation for GHK Real Estate, Inc.

April 8, 2006

April 8: I slept in to about 9:00 and we walked to the library and then past Gusto to see when it was going to open.

Afterwards we walked across 7 to the Summit condos. Pretty nice inside although there were some odd floorplan choices and cheap showers (the full baths were tiles, the showers just inserts.) Unfortunately the views are terrible. To the south you look right at Walgreens' roof (if you are lucky enough to be high up). Past that are parking lots and highway 7. To the north are a bunch of apartments. The only view that I think would be nice is in the 7 story tower looking east as you could see the golf course and downtown. Otherwise I think it has some problems and may not sell.

I went over to Church of the Cross and moved some heavy items from the basement to the attic with Alex Ortega. I was very tired afterwards but it was great to be able to help them out.

Then we went to Jakes 7th birthday party. We got him some gardening stuff which he liked. I talked to dad and mom and grandfather and Mark about wholesaling.

After we got home from that we put Sky to bed and watched I Am Trying to Break Your Heart before bed.

April 7, 2006

April 7: Alison and Mike came over for dinner and drinks. We made chicken, shrimp, scallops, and veggies on the grill although it was a bit cool outside. We hung out upstairs and played with Sky before he went to bed. We talked a bunch about music and The Current, and I played them Mates of State.