I Survived

Let me give you some reasons why I'm glad that I bought the Trailblazer and why I'm glad I live in SD.

1. I don't have to worry when Minnesota plow drivers decide that they don't feel like plowing the road
2. When traveling on above roads, you can go right throw them and not worry about being stuck
3. When getting to the border, the roads clear up because South Dakota actually plows their roads
4. I remember how much I enjoy driving a Trailblazer
5. Heated Leather Seats
6. I don't have to worry when Minnesota plow drivers decide that they don't feel like plowing the roads and leave 5 inches of snow for drivers to travel in

So, as you might have figured out that traveling home there was some issues that came entirely in Minnesota. I heard when we arrived there that the Yellow Medicine county plow drivers had formed a union. I confess, I have a very poor opinion of union workers. It seems like they probably had a purpose, maybe even still do, but in this case, I'm thinking it's just out of pure laziness. They have a clause that says that they do not have to plow if it's not daytime. Of course, that makes perfect sense! It only snows and blows during the day, so that's when they should work! I get it now. Or, they are just plain LAZY! It took Heather and I about an hour and 45 minutes to drive from Montevideo to Watertown. We drove through 5 inches of snow for the last 10 miles. As soon as we hit the border, clear roads and the first vehicle we met, a snow plow! Just more proof that Minnesota plow drivers are just plain lazy.

Summer Like

Today was a big day for heat stroke! Ok, slightly exaggerated maybe, but still, nice day! Not quite Bermuda nice, but nice non-the-less. I've been keeping busy putting in 12+ hours a day. I believe I'm already 4+ hours into overtime with a full day yet tomorrow. Can you say Merry Christmas to me?? Actually, its more like merry christmas to the wedding fund. Gotta work hard for that thing, theres a lot of expenses associated with it. I have advice to anyone getting married or considering it. If possible, elope. If there wasn't alot of people already invested, I think we'd consider that more readily.

Ok, so I'm getting immersed in this volleyball thing. I'm sitting here on the couch and watching the National Tournament semi-finals with "the coach" Heather. The commentary is great! Anyhow, there was just a blurb on after the Minnesota volleyball team stating how "they may be the number 11 seed, but they are there to win it all." How many teams would go on national television and say, "well, we're the number 11 seed, so we've exceeded our expectations, so we're good!" I don't get why they put that stuff on tv.

Moving Cold!

This weekend Heather and I got to spend some time in the Minnesota this weekend. Heather was there for her sister's bridal shower, so I went to St. Cloud with her dad for some quality time looking at guy stuff: snow blowers, tool stores, games, stuff like that. Since it was so nice on Saturday when we were busy doing things, we made sure to leave the work for the coldest day of the year. We moved 3 dressers, a bed, a cedar chest, and several other things back here to Mitchell, and then used another cold night tonight to move them into the house. However, the trip home wasn't without some drama. First, we got 45 minutes from Montevideo and I realized that I forgot my wallet. So, after going back after that, we headed back on the road. Getting to Watertown, we stopped for some food. When we got back into the pickup, suddenly the check engine light was on. To make matters worse, there was no longer any cruise control either. The pickup ran fine, however this wasn't a good thing for a couple hours drive back home with the trailer, it wasn't going to be fun. We made it home though without incident. It did give me some flashbacks to a story that I didn't share on the blog from August. Coming home from my first ever meeting with Heather's family, I had car trouble in Watertown and had to change a tire at 10pm. Having to use the donut tire, the trip home was slow, but again we made it. Now, this problem. I think from now on, I'll be avoiding Watertown like the plague, because frankly, for me in vehicles, it kind of is a plague. Plus, going to get on the road Friday night, a deer hit the side of my car and broke off my mirror. I hope that deer is still suffering somewhere.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!!

Well, I've made it to the island without too many issues. Did have a problem getting to Minneapolis which almost threw a wrench into the whole travel plan, but we would not be denied. We got to Sioux Falls and found out that we were going to be delayed by about 45 mintues because the inbound flight was late. So, we were running way behind. By the time we got off the plane in Minneapolis, we had about 10 minutes to make it from one end of the MSP aiport to the other (and I'm not really exaggerating either)! So, we went a ways on foot, and tracked down a golf cart to take us the rest of the way. We'd have never made it on foot. We arrived at the gate for our 6:55 departure at 6:53. Yup, that's cutting it close, but we were on board. Now, we are here in Bermuda and got in today at 2:15 (which is 12:15 at home). We walked around the island a little and went into a couple shops and grabbed lunch/supper. So, tomorrow we head to work. That's the sad part about being here - there is work to be done. I'm hearing rumors of a 2 hour lunch break! I'm liking this a bit already! Ohh, and in case your wondering. Tomorrow's forecast here is 70. Have fun shovelling snow!

Passport, oh Passport, where art thou??

I was in the process of preparing for my Bermuda trip on Thursday when I suddenly remembered that I would need my passport to make the trip. I looked in my drawers by my desk where I always keep it. Second drawer from the top actually, and found that it wasn't there. So, I determined that the next day I'd check the second place it always is, in my computer backpack in the front pocket for when I travel. So, I arrived at work on Friday and opened my pocket on my backpack, and it's not there. At this point, I'm somewhat concerned, but thought that I just must have missed it in the drawer. So, upon returning home on Friday, I began my search. I looked in the draws again, twice, after Heather looked through them twice. I turned the house upside down looking for this thing. I cleaned the basement and went through every single box down there, even the empty ones. I went through most things three times, but everything at least once. I called dad and had him check the pickup that I'd used to move my items from one house to the other. I looked at work again going through my office top to bottom. I looked in my car in case it'd fallen out of a box when I moved. The entire time we're looking, Heather and I are praying this thing turned up, sometimes out loud, but mostly silently. So, I had to call my supervisor and trip leader and determine what would happen if I couldn't find it. They both encouraged me to keep looking, but didn't know what we'd do. On the way home from my office, I told Heather that I believed God could make this thing appear, and she said she did too.

In case your wondering, passports can be expedited through the approval process, and since mine had been active to this point, I'd like to think it'd come through fast. I could report it missing and start the process, however it could take up to 2 or 3 weeks to do this, plus, if you report a passport as missing, you cannot use it, even if you'd find it. So, I decided just in case, I wouldn't do that. I spent 3 hours looking, and finally sat down in the couch in frustration. We'd been through everything: files from the file cabinet, in my luggage, in my shorts pockets, in between the DVDs, Heather had looked between all the books in the bookcase, I'd cleaned every feasible inch it could be, and I was at a complete loss. Hope was fading and Heather could tell that it'd been a frustrating 3 hours for me. She prayed again out loud that we'd find it, and I sat there thinking. I'd had it to get back in the country from Romania, but that's where all other recollections stopped, and I had nothing. Where else could it possibly be? I sat on the couch about 10 minutes, and all of the sudden, I looked over at Heather and said, "My passport is in a book in the office." Heather had looked between all the books in the bookcase, but hadn't taken any off the shelf and checked the inside, but I knew it was there. I walked into the office, and looked at all the books on my shelf. Which one was it. I picked one off the shelf and opened it. Inside, I found the copies of all the information from my Romania trip including photos of my passport, but no passport. Then, I turned to the back cover, and there it was stuck to the back cover of the book with the security stickers still on the outside from the Romania trip. Now thinking back on this, there are two possible solutions:

1. My book had been in the same pocket as my passport in Romania and the book had slid over the passport and held it, or

2. God placed the passport in the back cover of the book so I could not possibly find it on my own, then just to show how kind and gracious He is and answer our prayers (and those from the others that were praying), He then told me where it was.

Answer #1 obviously seems like the more feasible answer and contains all the explanation necessary, however, after experiencing all this, if you picked answer #1 as what really happened, I believe you picked the wrong answer.

Sunshine on my Shoulders

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote last. That holiday in there really threw me off. I didn't hardly touch a computer the entire break. I'm pretty sure the amount of time spent on a computer was in the range of around 20 minutes. Kind of a nice break. Where did the snow and cold come from. Woke up this morning to a white ground and cold temps (around 10 above here). Some of the clients I work with tease me about the weather stating it never gets below 70 here, or we have it nice and warm here. Well, now I get to put the sunshine on my shoulders. I'm going to Bermuda!! Not for pleasure mind you, it would be for business. That part is sad, however, I'm going to enjoy the warmth the 3 days I'm there! Heather isn't happy, but I think she's more put out that she can't come too.

I'm looking ahead at the calendar and am seeing nothing but busy, busy, busy! We did however get the Christmas tree up! I put the icicle lights up a while ago, and now they are on a timer to come on every day. Yeah, this place is that high tech now!