Take Me Away

It's been one month. I want to go back to Cancun. I came home after work on Friday to find water in our basement AGAIN. One of the joints in the pipe that funnels the groundwater back outside had broken apart and the sump pump was spewing water everywhere. After two inches of rain on Thursday, we were already leery of the sump pump (the fear of what happened four months ago still fresh in our minds) and had been checking it often. In fact, Mike had checked it at 3:30 on Friday afternoon. Amazing what kind of damage can occur in less than two hours. We learned the hard way that a Homeowner's Insurance deductible does not work like a Health Insurance deductible. You pay the deductible PER CLAIM, not per year. Just what we wanted to spend $2,000 on this year.

I worked from home today due to the revolving front door - ServiceMaster technicians, the insurance adjuster and the plumber all paying me a visit. The plumber was 85 years old and I felt bad for the number of times he had to go up and down the stairs. The ServiceMaster guys remembered me and were all curious to hear how my back recovery was coming along. For as often as I've seen these guys this year, they'll probably be added to my Christmas correspondence list.

Since I miss Cancun so much, I figured I would post some more pictures. One of which is the Magician that looked much like a Vampire (check out his teeth). Another is of a waiter that looked like Danny DeVito's clone. Ahhhh, it was such a fun trip!!!!!

Ann's 30th Birthday Celebration - Cancun Style

My lovely sister Ann turned the big 3-0 on August 26th. Since we weren't able to celebrate with her in Minnesota, and because her actual birthday fell on a weekday night (Ann needs to be in bed by 10:00), we decided it would be wise to have a "celebrate Ann's 30th Birthday" theme night in Cancun, especially since Addeson and Hadley were in the good care of Grandma Nancy and Papa Ron, so Ann was guaranteed a full night's sleep after a few glasses of wine.

The selected restaurant was "Maria's". The three-man band providing musical entertainment at Maria's even serenaded Ann with the Mexican version of the Happy Birthday song. Ann also received a tasty dessert treat with "Happy 30th Birthday" written in gel frosting around the edge of the plate. She even shared a bite with all of us, while we toasted her with some champagne. So much fun!!! Probably my favorite night in Cancun!

Unbelievable Surprise!!!!!!

In late July, when Mike asked if I thought I might be ready to accompany him on a work trip at the end of September that would require travel by airplane, I wasn't so sure. At that time, I was still on crutches and disappointed with the slowness of my post-surgery recovery. But, trying to think positively, I agreed. His only stipulation was that I NOT know the destination. His only hint - "Think Warm". About two weeks later, I sat down in front of the laptop to check my email. I noticed there was an active internet session, but it was minimized on the screen. Instead of opening up a new session, I thought I would just use the existing one because, of course, I figured Mike just forgot to close out an ESPN website or something. When I pulled up the browser window, I discovered a magical picture of a hotel on a beach - not just any beach, but on Coronado Island in San Diego. Ah-ha! I had figured out the secret without even trying! I figured Mike would be really disappointed to find out that he accidentally spilled the beans, so I pretended not to know. What I wasn't aware of is that my sneaky husband "planted" the internet site and he knew that I would think that I found a pot of gold. What I didn't know is that there was nothing "work-related" about this trip and California was not the destination. I realized Cancun, Mexico, was the destination when we arrived at the airport on Thursday morning. Though I thought nothing could top that surprise, I turned around at the gate in the Dallas airport (where we had a layover) to see my sister and brother-in-law coming my way. Absolutely, incredibly, unbelievable. I was stunned beyond belief. I made Mike pinch me to make sure I hadn't drifted to sleep and come up with a crazy dream. So, so, so awesome!!! My wonderful husband (and everyone else that knew) pulled off the surprise of all surprises. I had NO idea. We had a great time in Cancun - which I will share in some future posts (too many pictures to post all at once). For now, here's a video of my reaction to seeing my sister at the airport... P.S. I thought Mike was just video taping random footage - had no idea what was about to happen.

Huskers, Movie Date and a few more pics of St. Louis

Yesterday was the long awaited first game for the Huskers 2009 season. When we got to our seats in Memorial Stadium, a guy a few rows in front of us told his wife he had "goosebumps" from the anticipation and excitement.

My back/foot held out well, although I did have an increase in numbness as the game wore on. I got a great Christmas gift last year - my very own Husker stadium seat! It was very comfortable...well, as comfortable as a bleacher seat can be. Thank goodness for lots of scoring, so that I could stand up and stretch!

Before we left for the game, I spent the morning doing a bunch of touch-up painting around the house. It had been on my list for awhile; however, as you can imagine, not a high priority the past few months. I had went to Sherwin Williams to have them mix a fresh gallon to match exactly to the existing paint. Well, after 24 hours of drying, we determined it was definitely NOT the same color. Oh, great. So, Mike and I headed back to Sherwin Williams this afternoon to complain. The teenie bopper that mixed the paint 2 weeks ago had apparently screwed up the mixture. After a competent employee's intervention, our paint was re-mixed and we appear to have a much better match. My Labor Day weekend fun will include repainting my touch-up work.

After good luck at Sherwin Williams, we decided to go to a late matinee movie - The Proposal. Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses. It was a cute movie. Mike even liked it.

We had a lot of good pictures from our St. Louis trip last weekend...too many for the last blog posting, so I've added a few more here.

St. Louis - Day 3

We are back in good ole Lincoln tonight - unpacked, first load of laundry done and have sifted through the mail. On our drive home, we made a brief detour to visit and have lunch with our aunt/uncle, Elaine and Bob Smart, at their new home in Fulton, Missouri.

Before getting ahead of myself, I will back track to yesterday's activities in St. Louis, which included visiting the St. Louis Basilica, a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, a Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi and a nice dinner at the Carmine's Steakhouse.

The Anheuser-Busch Brewery included a lot of walking and I did very well. There were between 50-60 people in our tour group. The tours leave every 20 minutes, so you can only imagine how many tourists they attract on a daily basis. The tour started at the Clydesdale's stables. The cleanest barn I've ever seen in my life. We got to see the packaging process in action and that was very impressive. At the conclusion of the tour we enjoyed our two free samples of Budweiser beer.

Mike decided we should spend our last night in St. Louis dining at an upscale restaurant. Carmine's Steakhouse was the selection and within walking distance from our hotel. The restaurant was very nice - prestine napkins, comfortable seating, dimmed lighting - you get the idea. The staff was VERY attentive and were waiting in the wings to pick up each place setting as the meal progressed, as well as refilling my water after each sip. What seemed really odd was the music. Both Mike and I commented that the 90's "rock" music seemed really off-color for the setting. Right before we were about to leave, what appeared to be the manager of the restaurant, made a mad dash for the area behind the bar where the music selections were apparently predetermined. Several of the wait staff were laughing hysterically. It appeared as though a joke had been played with the music selection. As we left the restaurant, the manager thanked us for coming and said "Sorry for the Snoop Dog folks!"

I've attached a few of our favorite pictures from the trip.

The rest of Day 2 in St. Louis

Mike went against everything vacation stands for and exercised today. He ran two miles in the hotel's workout room. Maybe part of me is a litte jealous that I'm not quite ready for that yet. Probably should "walk before I run" as a continue to heal.

After Mike's second shower for the day, we hailed a cab and headed for Union Station. It kind of reminded me of the one in Washington D.C., but on a smaller scale, and the biggest difference being that there aren't any active trains through this one. It did have a lot of shopping and restaurants. We stopped at Houlihan's (Mike had been there on a trip to St. Louis in a past life - before Lisa) to have what he claimed was the best Bloody Mary ever. We sat outside on the patio and watched people in paddle boats in the little pond built in the middle of Union Station.

For our pre-game festivities, we headed to J.Bucks for a soda and some food. Jack Buck was a long-time announcer for the Cardinals and his son, Joe Buck, is one you would recognize from TV - Fox Sports (play-by-play announcer for professional football and baseball).

Outside of the stadium tonight, there were 3 different wedding parties catching a nice little photo opportunity. Not something you see very often at a ball park!

Our seats were behind home plate (up a few sections, but really good seats), whereas last night, we were in a lower section along the first base line. I forgot to mention in my last post that there were several foul balls into our section last night. In fact, one of them, just 5 rows above us, hit a guy in the face (we think it might have first brushed past someone's hand). He grabbed for his nose and was escorted by medical personnel. That is why "heads up" really means "heads down". Not quite as much drama in the stands for tonight's game. It was exciting, though, as we saw 2 home runs. The Cardinals pulled off another win, 9-4.

Tomorrow we're off to tour the Budweiser brewery! Mike can't wait for the free samples!!!!!

St. Louis - Day 1 & part of Day 2

We made it safely to St. Louis around 4:30pm yesterday. Mike was a good driver and I'd like to think I was a good rider. The back/foot cooperated well. We made a couple stops for bathroom breaks, for lunch and to stretch! I learned that Interstate 70 through Missouri is FULL of billboards. I was entertained for hours! The iPod got a workout. However, I've determined there are 3 country songs to every non-country! Thank goodness for a little Lady Gaga here and there.

Last night's St. Louis Cardinals game did not disappoint. Albert Pujols hit a bottom of the ninth, walk-off, home run to win the game, 3-2.

Due to continued numbness in my foot, I'm still limited on the shoes I can wear. I have a pair of Sketchers that seem to work best. However, I always wear them with socks. Mike told me I looked like Michael Jackson yesterday (black shoes, with white socks). For fashion sake, I ditched the socks prior to the game. In the short walk to Busch Stadium, I quickly discovered the lack of socks was festering a blister on the back of each foot. $11.00 dollars later I was the proud owner of a pair of St. Louis Cardinals socks. Mike says this is the start of an entire wardrobe. He's clearly forgotten I'm still a Twins fan at heart.

The alarm went off early this morning, as we heard the tickets to the top of the Arch sell out fast. We were there by 8:00am (it's literally right across the street from our hotel). We were to the top of the Arch by 8:15am. I didn't look "up" as we walked toward the Arch this morning, so that I wouldn't chicken out in agreeing to the trip up. It was well worth it. A great view of St. Louis (and Illinois to the east). When back down on the ground, we watched a brief documentary detailing the building of the Arch. What an unbelievable construction process!

We're headed to another Cardinals game tonight...hoping for another win.