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This was written a few days ago.

I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA on the blog for so long. Between the changes at work and life in general I haven’t had a lot of time to come back here, which makes me sad. Also, even though there are constantly things running through my mind during the day that I wonder or want to talk about, none of them are really enough for an entire blog entry. And then when I finally get a chance to sit down and write something, nothing comes to mind, and I end up wasting the time checking facebook or catching up on the 100+ items in my Google Reader instead of writing.

Things are going well at work. We launched a new company website this week, and I think it’s a pretty big improvement over the last one. One of the features on the new site is a blog, and I’ve asked to be involved with that. I think that will be a fun project. If you have any insurance questions/issues you have wondered about or want to discuss, please let me know! We’ll be constantly looking for ideas. I think sometimes we’ll tackle current events (how would an event like the nuclear reactor meltdown affect your business if you were in the evacuation zone, and would there be coverage?), and sometimes we’ll talk about insurance concepts in general (what is Professional Liability insurance, and do I need it?). My contributions will probably center around business insurance topics, and other people will write about personal insurance topics.

Other than that, things are going well. James is going through a phase where he thinks it’s fun to scream at things, and boy does he have some good lungs. We are working on getting him to use his inside voice, but I know it’s important for him to experiment with making different sounds, so we are also trying to let him do that some times. He also has started biting me occassionally again…I think his upper molars must be coming in (he’s been in a MOOD in the evenings lately). He’s still pretty adorable most of the time, though. This morning while Ryan was changing his diaper and getting him dressed he would make a noise to James, and James would repeat it back to him (rolling his tongue, making a “ba” or “tuh” sound, etc). One step closer to talking.

He runs all over the place now, and is very independent. Last night we went to Barnes & Noble, and he did not want to hold my hand or be held in the parking lot; he wanted to walk on his own (or swagger, I should say). Of course that’s not safe in the mall parking lot, so I carried him screaming into the building. But after that he had a lot of fun playing in the kids’ section with his friend Odin.

He also LOVES to read books. He will sit and look at a book from beginning to end and then back again over and over, and he will take a book and bring it to us and ask to sit in our lap so we can read it to him. He gets very angry if we can’t drop whatever we are doing to read, but we are working on patience. It’s hard when he doesn’t realize that the world doesn’t revolve around him (which is a developmental thing; he won’t realize that until about 18 months or so).  His favorite books lately are The Big Red Barn, Bunny My Honey, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider (because I sing the song).

He is some kind of crazy dancing kid. He will sway back and forth or bounce up and down whenever he hears a good beat (last night he was sitting on the floor when James Durban was singing on American Idol, and he went crazy rocking back and forth to that drum beat).

————

That’s about it for news around these parts. We went to Ryan’s parents’ place last weekend, and we plan on going to Roseau for Mothers Day weekend, as long as Ryan’s not on call. I hope not; I would love to get up there to visit soon!

Going home

It’s funny; I haven’t lived there in 11 1/2 years. Besides my family and our family friends, no one knows me there any more. Some of the stores have changed. Some of the houses are gone, replaced by dikes to keep the river from flooding the town again. Some of the streets are even gone, and have been for years. It is drastically changed (for a small town), and yet I still call it home.

I count Duluth as my home most of the time, but any time we are talking about going to Roseau I refer to it as “home.” It is where my family is concentrated. It is where I was raised. I swam in that river (gross!), I skated in that hockey rink (not very well), and I rode my bike through those streets (after I got it to town – we are country folks). I went to school there for 12 of my 13 years (kindergarten was in a neighboring town). I got my first jobs there (waitressing, working in a hardware store, then a grocery store). I have so many memories of that town. Most of them are good memories (or I have rose-tinted glasses for looking at them).

I am going back this weekend (I’ll actually be on the road when this shows up on the blog), to say goodbye to my youngest sister before she heads off to school on the West coast. It is her first time moving away from that small town, and I simultaneously hope the best for her and think it will be a great experience, and worry that she will be overwhelmed in the big city. I think back to when I moved to Duluth for school. There was a learning curve (and Duluth is much smaller than San Francisco, where she is moving). I made stupid mistakes and people occassionally laughed at me because I was such a small town girl. But I found people to help me figure things out, and I got through it. I’m sure the same will be true for her. But I still worry. It’s part of my job.

I’m glad to be going home. I miss it, and the people that live there (my parents, sisters, grandparents, family friends…). We don’t get there often enough, usually. That’s why it’s on my list to spend a week with my family sometime this year. I’ll make it happen.

Day 24- A letter to your parents

Dear Mom & Dad,

I miss you. A lot. I wish that I could see you more often, and that we had more time when we do get to see each other.

Thank you for doing such a great job raising us (if I may say so). You showed us the value of hard work, and that you don’t need to be rich to have a great life. Those are two lessons that are very important, and that I hope I can pass on to my children.

You both mean so much to me. I wish I was better at expressing it. Whenever I have a question about what I should do, I think of you. What would Dad do? What would Mom do? What would they tell me to do? I don’t always listen (what else is new?), but I do always consider what I think your opinions would be.

I love seeing you with James. I know you have many grandchildren, but seeing you interact with him gives me a whole different perspective on how much you love all of them. They are lucky to have you as grandparents. Since having a baby I have a much better idea of how much you care about us kids. I don’t think I could have ever fathomed it before. I feel so lucky to have you to care so much for me.

I love you,

Becky

ps. The next time you are going to do something crazy (like pull the pontoon boat full of people behind a 6-wheeler (ATV) at night on gravel roads) give me a call, would you? I hate missing that stuff!

car

Things that make me happy: my car edition

I logged into our bank account this morning, and saw this:

I can't make it fit and still be readable. Click on the image to see the whole thing.

Do you see that? That is how much is left to pay on my car before it is all mine! I am so excited about this, it’s kind of unreasonable. But thinking about how much we can save/pay off other bills if we don’t have a car payment will do that to a person.

Now if we can just make the (very small) car last…

Happy Monday, folks!

You better get your act together tonight, Vikings!

All the girls ready to go out for the night. Note to self: hang out with people closer to my size so I don't look so huge.

How is another weekend gone?

Here are a couple pictures from my weekend at my parents’ place:

All the girls ready to go out for the night. Note to self: hang out with people closer to my size so I don't look so huge.

Grandma gave James a pickle. He liked it!

This weekend Ryan’s parents & sister came up. We all went to the zoo today, and it was a lot of fun.

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. (He tried to eat them shortly after this photo was taken, so we aren't applying to Harvard just yet)

Polar bear. Duh.

What you can't see is that he is reaching for the camera. He would like to eat it. Along with everything else he can get his hands on.

What you can't see is that he is reaching for the camera. He's trying to eat it, along with everything else he can get his hands on.

Helping Auntie feed the goats (not really; he's just pretending).

We tried to tell him it was rude to chew on the giraffe's face while we were at the zoo, but he didn't care.

Another development this weekend: we now have (1 or 2) consonants. We’ve for sure heard the “d” sound. I never realized how excited I would get about someone making consonant sounds. It’s kind of ridiculous. But awesome.

Hope you all had a great weekend. It finally cooled off a little here (the high today was in the low 70s). I’m loving it.

  • To Do In 2011

    1. Make dinner 2 nights per week
    2. Finish James’s baby book
    finished as much as possible
    3. Own a pair of comfortable dress boots
    4. Read 25 books
    5. Take a week of vacation in the summer and visit my family
    6. Try a new ingredient once a month (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec)
    7. Organize my recipe collection
    8. Develop a more efficient workspace at my office
    My new desk is WAY more organized/organizable.
    9. Own investment jeans
    Not Happening
    10. Go to 3 local museums
    11. Organize a group camping trip
    We had 2 of them!
    12. Learn how to run
    In progress!
    13. See a concert
    14. Try out four new restaurants
    (Jan 21) (March 18)
    15. Acknowledge the birthdays of every person on my list
    Epic fail
    16. Make something for James using some of his old clothes
    17. Watch James take his first steps/say his first real words
    18. Put pictures in all the frames in our apartment
    19. Buy a cake from a local bakery
    20. Go to a band concert at UMD
    21. Exercise more
    Y Membership
    22. See my sister graduate college
    I'm counting this as accomplished; I didn't watch her walk, but we had dinner with her that night.
    23. Cut back on sweets
    My new job has actually helped with this; less boredom/stress = less snacking!
    24. Get rid of cable 1/3/2011
    25. Finish our wedding scrapbook project
    26. Start purchasing Christmas gifts in March at the latest
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    27. Create a weekly menu, and stick to it!
    See above: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    28. Meet someone in real life that I’ve only known on the internet
    29. Get my hair cut and style it more often
    this last part is ongoing
    30. Host a party
    31. Go to church at least once per month, and make a donation each time
    32. Send thank-you notes for all gifts
    33. Make ice cream
    34. Encourage Ryan to get his first Cisco certification
    35. Try a new food
    I'm counting brussel sprouts.
    36. Hang out with Alyson for an entire weekend
    37. Make more of an effort to dress up for work
    No longer necessary; this is more of a nice jeans and sweater kind of place.
    38. Make a lunch (not frozen) 2 days per week.
    I've been packing a peanut butter sandwich and carrots. I consider this an achievement.
    39. Take a community ed class
    Swimming w/the boys
    40. Make something in our dutch oven that requires using it in the oven
    41. Go to bed before eleven more often
    42. Go to a Farmer’s Market and buy something 3 times this summer
    Another failure. Although we did buy some local honey from a friend!
    43. Call my parents and sisters every other week just to check in
    I think I'm doing WORSE at this than last year
    44. Make: caramel rolls from scratch (get the recipe from my grandma)
    45. Bring James on his first trip to Canada
    46. Learn to drive a stick
    47. Print out photos from our wedding and put them in an album
    48. Make breakfast more often on the weekends
    49. Keep the apartment cleaner than past years
    50. Buy a good area rug for the living room
    51. Make a general doctor’s appointment to get my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc., checked out 1/11/11
    52. Take more pictures and put some in albums
    53. Clean the basement and organize all our stuff down there
    All bins labeled as of 3/13/11. This is as much organizing as is going to happen before we move
    54. Organize my jewelry
    55. Buy more bins for storage and put seasonal clothes away
    56. Donate all unused clothing/toys to Goodwill/Salvation Army

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