I say Florence, you say Firenze...

Florence is beautiful!  I have been wandering around like a mad woman trying to soak in as much as possible and I have the aching feet to prove it. 

The other day, I climbed the 414 steps to the top of the Bell Tower and was rewarded with stunning views of the city.  When I was here before, the city struck me as being nice but it was not this impressive and, to be honest, I didn't understand what all the fuss was about.  I preferred Verona to the crowds and tourist traps of Florence, but with this trip I finally get what everybody has been raving about.  While there are a lot of tourists here, it seems considerably less than my previous visit, and I think that makes a big difference.  Then, the weather is just a perfect backdrop.

After stumbling upon the most appalling meal imaginable in Milan, I have been extremely lucky in finding fantastic hole-in-the-wall places here in Florence. 

I've been looking for tiny, family-run places on hidden back alleys and so far they have been charming, friendly, and yummy.  I will say, though, that after a quarter-carafe of red wine with lunch, I need a little nap. 

Ciao Tutti!

After all the trials and tribulations of Sunday/Monday's travels, all is going very nicely now!  We arrived in Milan late on Monday and had a really full day yesterday.  In the morning we were at the Bocconi Universita and had a really interesting lecture on luxury brand marketing from one of the Bocconi's faculty members.  After that we took a break for lunch and then had a tour of Milan and saw the Sforza Castle, the Duomo, and the last supper.  All of which was very interesting. 

At the Sforza castle, I found this cat who reminded me of poor, dear, departed Schnuffy---except this one, besides being twice the size of Schnuffy, was probably an infinitely better cat.  Sure...other people travel to Italy and take pictures of the art and architecture, but I take pictures of stray cats...

I was intersted in the architecture of the castle--here at the main entrance of the castle I was curious about the cut-out in the wall just to the left of the entrance and as it turns out, there used to be a drawbridge which covered the entire entrance (where the giant plaque is now) and the mechanism to raise and lower it was housed in the cut-out.

Milan has spent the last three years cleaning the facade of the Duomo and it positively sparkles now--it's beautiful.  We did not go up to the top to walk among the spires yesterday but I am planning to next week when Ian arrives.

Then in the evening we strolled through the fashion district and stopped for "aperitivo" or happy hour at this strange little place called the "Colonial".  All in all a very good day.

This morning we were over at the Bocconi again for a tour of the campus and this afternoon we have off to explore on our own.  Many of the students have gone to Venice for the day and a few have gone up to Lake Como.

Well...I am off to do a little exploring and a little shopping!

This is not Milan

We have not quite gotten to Italy yet due to last night's eruption of the Icelandic volcano and the subsequent ash cloud. We were diverted to Paris (rather than AMS) and now we are waiting for our flight which will take us to Milan. Despite our sleep deprived state and the constant change in plans, our merry little group remains surprisingly merry! We should get into Milan at about 8pm.


Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well with this next leg of the journey!

Backyard visitors

This morning, as I was drinking my coffee and staring out the window pondering how I was ever going to find the time to get caught up on my papers and readings for my two classes, when these two little guys came sailing over the fence for a bit of breakfast.  They hung around for about 10 minutes and then went in search of greener pastures...or more likely, Minnehaha Creek. 

I hope they come back tomorrow.

Nooooooo

I was walking to meet up with the students this afternoon and noticing that there were all sorts of bird feet tracks set in the concrete and I was wondering if there were wild turkeys in British Columbia because these were BIG bird feet tracks. After running into this guy, I have concluded that the trackster was not a wild turkey but rather a large, very tame peacock...or several of them.

They are beautiful and so tame that you can go right up to them.

I don't know what kind of call peacocks have but there is some bird here that has a very loud call that sounds like a human wailing, "Nooooooo". Quite eerie really.

British Columbia

Greetings from Victoria, BC! I am here this week with a group of students participating in the Royal Roads University Case Competition. Yesterday I flew into Vancouver and drove/ferried down to Victoria....yes, yes...I know I could have flown into Victoria but the ferry ride was beautiful and well worth the two hour extension to my travel plans.

Royal Roads University, which is hosting this case competition is strikingly beautiful. The campus is centered by "Hatley Castle" and is set on beautifully maintained, park-like grounds right on the water.

It must have about 12 students going here though for the campus and facilities are tiny. While I appreciate the quaintness and beauty of the campus, it does make me appreciate the vast resources available to us at the University of Minnesota.



The students are off prepping for their first presentation. I guess the way it works is that they are given a business situation, or case, and then have three hours to put together a plan. They then have 30 minutes to present their plan and they are judged on the qualitative and quantitative analysis, the viability of their proposal and their presentation skills. I have no contact with them while they are prepping but I will sit in on their presentation to provide them with feedback on how they did. There are three rounds of this and then a final round on Saturday. Reminds me of my old declamation days ; however, I certainly am not envious of the for this experience--seems stressful.

So far, my great contribution to this endeavor is that I went out and purchased paper, pens, highlighters, etc. for them this morning.

Thankfully, I am feeling better today. I was thinking that I was suffering from allergies but now I am wondering if it isn't just a good old-fashioned headcold--or at least a combination of the two. I was miserable on Tuesday night and all day yesterday and while I don't feel fully recovered by any means, I definitely feel better.

A Thing of Beauty and a Joy Forever

I'm talking about my laundry room. It still is not completely done but I have painted just about everything, and stored and organized most of it, so I feel it is ready for a virtual unveiling.

Unfortunately, I cannot locate any photos from the laundry room/basement in its original "raw" state but you can probably imagine: dirty white-painted concrete walls, a floor which had once been painted dark brown but most of the paint had worn away, spider webs everywhere, poor lighting, centipedes, and generally kind of dreary and scary.

Here is what it looks like now:


Here is the view as you enter the laundry room from the finished family room. The walls and floor are painted a color which is a shade lighter than the walls in the family room for a bit of brightness and continuity.









The workbench got re-organized, a new surface to the counter, and bins to organize junk.












Behind the bicycle are shelves for storage and everything is contained in a bin to keep bugs and moisture out and to look nice and tidy. Everything is labelled, of course.

















My beloved office. I have spent a lot of time here in the past few years since first starting my MOT program but it is really set up nicely for studying.











My desk with everything I need.


















Ian couldn't understand why I wanted a couch in my office but it's perfect for lounging while reading, or more honestly, for taking a nap when I should be reading. The bookcases behind the couch serve the dual purpose of storing all my school related books, plus forming a divider between my office and the laundry room part of the basement.







Here's the view from my office and back towards the laundry room. Note how nice and bright and non-scary it all looks!

Schnuffy Barker, R.I.P., ~1990 - 2010

Schnuffy died this morning after suffering from kidney failure. She'd been having problems for months but last Wednesday she took a decided turn for the worse. Ian and I spent the weekend with her, and it was sad to see her so changed from her usual self.

I know we said bad things about her at times over the last almost-five years---because there were lots of bad things to say about her---she was a kitty that came to us with "issues". But she had wonderful qualities also---it's hard to believe that a cat could love anyone more than Schnuffy loved me---and as Ian and I were saying on the way home from the vets this morning, she was a good cat for us--she was lucky have found us (because many would not have put up with her lesser qualities) but we were lucky to have found her as well.

I miss her.

Calling for volunteers

Not for a trip to hell as the cartoon might imply but rather to "hot" yoga. This Christmas Ian gave me a gift of 15 sessions at my favorite yoga studio and I am looking for volunteers to go with me in the first month or two until I get back into the routine of going.

I love yoga and I am really looking forward to getting back to it but right now I am pretty out of shape and I fear that I will get lazy and stop going. I am planning on going three times per week and ideally, I would be looking at either a Tuesday or Thursday night (7pm - 8:30pm) and then on Saturday and Sunday mornings (either the 8am or the 10am classes). In return for going with me, I would treat you to a beverage afterwards and the beautiful thing is that there are a ton of great bars and restaurants right by the yoga studio. Right across the parking lot is the Egg & I restaurant - great for brunch on the weekends, and within a block is the Herkimer, the VFW, and the BLB.

And trust me, you'll be thirsty afterwards. This is Bikram Yoga so it is 90 minutes of hard work in a room set at 105 degrees and 60+% humidity.

You can find more information at the website: http://www.bikramyogamn.com/

Purple

I have no photo but let me just assure you that what was just a pink/red bruise on Sunday is a lovely purple and yellow today. Very attractive.

Happily it doesn't hurt too much anymore so for all of you who worried that I might have broken a rib, it seems that wasn't the case.

Ow.

So this piece of 2x4 flew off of this table saw and hit me in the ribs. If you have never had a 2x4 hit you, let me just tell you...it hurts like bloody hell...and it is really scary.

I didn't want to expose any more of myself but here is half of the bruise--the rest angles up. Ouch, that is all I have to say.

I was working on my laundry room storage project and was cutting lumber for that and I think I was getting tired and careless. I decided the gods were trying to tell me that maybe I had done enough on the basement for a day. Here's my thing though, while the board only hit me in the ribs, my entire torso hurts and I've been exhausted ever since. I think maybe I tensed up at being struck and then crashed after the initial adrenalin rush.

I am lucky that it hit me flat rather than with the pointy end.

Happy Birthday to Me!

With the exception of the missing parking card, it's been a good day so far!

Margaret was the first person to call and sing happy birthday to me, then the Chad-Tara-Noah-Ellie-Caleb clan called with a rousing rendition, then Ken and Mary Jo...I'm still waiting on Greg but the day is young.

Ian was the perfect husband--made coffee and breakfast and brought it up to me as I was getting ready, tidied up the house, assisted in Schnuffy's drug regimen, and then went out and cleaned the egg mess off my car (I forgot to mention that the wretched houligans had also egged my car). He's so sweet!

AAAarrghh!

For the love of God! They broke into my car again...and Ian's...and again, I have to admit that to call it breaking in is a bit overly dramatic because it appears I left both cars unlocked (what can I say, I am slow and I did not learn my lesson the last time).

So I noticed it yesterday morning as I was leaving for work and I was pretty annoyed. I drove Ian's car yesterday and realized that they took the Garmin which really annoyed me (they didn't take the Garmin charger which is probably going to annoy somebody - ha!), and then as I drove my car to work this morning it dawned on my that they took the little card I need to get into my parking garage at work.

I just don't get these guys...last time they took the owner's manual for my car and I still cannot figure out why they would have any interest in that. This time they take my parking card...what, do the little hoodlums go to school at the U and want to park in the 19th Avenue Ramp?

The police came to the house last night to fill out a report and it was a little embarrassing to admit that I didn't really know when the "break in" happened. Ian was out of town for the entire holiday weekend and I hadn't left the house from Thursday at about 6:30am until Monday morning when I left for work. They probably were thinking that I was some crazy hermit lady.

While we were talking with the police, one of our neighbors walked by and asked if we were missing some CDs, because he had noticed a pile of them on the corner across the street. Sure enough, they were ours. So it seems that the little thugs stole our CDs but then upon closer inspection decided that our taste in music was so bad that they would just ditch them. Nice.

Last Night Ian & I Became Collateral Damage in an Epic Struggle Between the Icelanders and the Marines

The two groups were determined to demonstrate their supremacy in joy, celebration and hospitality at the wedding and reception for Erla Osk Petursdottir and Andrew Wissler, and we only barely survived the event.

Crimininy!! I hadn't realized that either of us had that much to drink but when they shut down the dance floor at 1:15am, it dawned on us that perhaps we had over imbibed. Of course, the moment I stepped on the dance floor should have, in itself, been proof that I had gone beyond my usual limit since only drunkenness would overcome my usual shyness of dancing in front of people. Still, we failed to heed this infallible sign and we proceeded to dance (and drink) for the next 2-3 hours.

At 1:15am, we decided--or rather, I decided, since Mr Barker was in worse shape than I, that we would secure a room and stay downtown. Next thing we know, it's 10:00am and we are going to be hardpressed to make it to Meredith's 21-Birthday-Brunch. The drive home was nearly my undoing as my stomach lurched and head threatened to explode with every seam of the concrete on the highway.

After a quick call to Chad to explain our sorry situation, I crawled in bed and didn't get up until a few of our fellow revelers rang the doorbell at about 1:30pm and after a brief chat and giving them keys to the car so they could retrieve their things which they had left there the afternoon before, I crawled back in bed until about 4pm. While I feel better now, things are not what I would call "good".

Let this be a cautionary tale to Meredith on her 21st Birthday! Be careful how much you drink at weddings between Icelanders and Marines!

It was a fantastic wedding, though. The bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, the families so welcoming, and good friends were everywhere! It was wonderful.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a Joke

Enough said.

Half a pack of cinnamon Dentyne, a handful of change, the owner's manual for a Dodge Caliber, and a 6-yr old iPod Shuffle that barely works...

My car was broken into today, although to be honest "broken into" is not the correct phrase since I probably left the car unlocked, as I am want to do. Bottom line...my car was messed with last night/this morning. I went out to my car this morning to leave for work and there were three CDs on the ground outside my car--which I thought was odd--and when I got in the car, there was stuff strewn about.

I'm thinking it was probably just kids but seriously, even if they are not honest-to-goodness criminals, my car must be a complete disappointment. The above-noted items, the ones missing from my car, are probably the items of greatest value. Although, I admit that I am a bit confused by their taking the owner's manual. It was in a little case, but it's not like it was a special little case, it was the one that came with the car.

They will probably be very disappointed in the iPod. It was the first version of the Shuffle and since I tuck it into the waistband of my running shorts, I think perhaps it has been exposed to a bit too much sweat over the years, and it regularly goes on the fritz and deletes all but one and a half songs--and almost invariably it is my least favorite one and a half songs.

Oh well. Maybe this will teach me to lock my car in the future.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

The new TCF Stadium at the University of Minnesota is open for business.


Yesterday, we had a staff appreciation day/stadium open house and we all got to crawl around the place. It really is pretty cool and seeing it does make me want to go to a game even though I don't think I have ever been to a Gopher football game before--not as a student and not since.

I feel particularly bonded to the team this year because one of my favorite students, Nick Stommes, is on the team and I was excited to see his official locker.

A Week of Doing Nothing

Ian and I are sitting here in the Wilmington, NC airport heading home from our very relaxing week on Topsail Island where we did just about nothing.

We met up with a bunch of Macalester alums to hang out at a rented beachhouse on Topsail Island---there were about 13-14 of us at any given time although people came and went throughout the week depending upon their work/vacation schedules.

The most stressful decision to be made on any given day was which swimsuit to wear and if we would hang out on the deck overlooking the beach, sit down on the beach and read, or get in the beautifully warm and clear water. We had a game involving tossing golfballs attached to a rope, onto a rack where each rung had different points. I was very bad at it--as I am bad at most things that involve tossing/throwing with any degree of accuracy. Ian, on the other hand, was quite good at it.

What I did turn out to be good at was boogie-boarding(sp?). By the last day I finally got the hang of it and was able to catch waves to ride all the way into shore, and it was fantastic! Too bad I couldn't have figured it out earlier.

We had a great time. It was an interesting mix of personalities and they were all great company. I had never taken a vacation where I didn't feel the need to do anything and, while I don't feel a need to do it often, it was definitely relaxing. At the beginning of the week, we were thinking that we would probably borrow one of the cars and take a little day trip to explore the Outer Banks to our north but the week just sort of flowed by and we never really felt motivated enough to bother.

I must say that 13-14 people--at least half of them being young men in their mid-20s eat a lot! It seems that everyday someone would go to the grocery store to stock up on massive amounts of groceries and within 24 hours we would be down to just about nothing. One day Ian and I decided to cook for the group and we chose spaghetti and meatballs because we figured that would be about the easiest but still it is a lot of work to feed that many.

From here we fly to Atlanta, then Chicago where we pick up Ian's car, which is there because he had been working in Rockford, IL for the 2 weeks prior to our trip, and then we drive to Minneapolis and we should get in at about midnight. Poor Ian hasn't been home since July 7th and that was only for a couple days since just before that we were in Montana.

Caleb Turns 4

For his fourth birthday, Caleb, my ultra-cute, cultra-cool nephew, decided he wanted to go to a Twins game so the family converged on the Metrodome on Friday. In attendance were Margaret and Meredith, Greg, Me, and then Chad, Tara, Noah, Ellie, and the birthday boy Caleb.

Seriously, it is ridiculous how cute this kid is. And not only that, he has the sweetest personality! All three of the kids are cute and they draw a lot of attention because they are cute, incredibly well behaved, and funny, but Caleb is special. I was watching the strangers around us watching him and they were all sort of smiling and mesmerized. I don't know what it is about him but nobody seems to be immune. Caleb is a big Joe Mauer fan and everytime Joey was at bat or got a hit, Caleb would raise his arms and do this gesture...what is that called? I don't know...



We had a lot of fun. The Twins won. The kids were in a great mood and very entertaining and the adults all behaved themselves. Ken and Mary Jo missed the festivities since they were on their big Alaskan adventure...or supposedly they were on their big Alaskan adventure. As it turns out, they only made it to Regina Canada before a number of small events convinced them to head back and reschedule the Alaska trip for another time.















Why is it that hotdogs taste so much better at a baseball game? Dome dog and beer...does it get any better than that?

Very Funny!

I don't remember what was so terribly funny, but clearly something was. Margaret, Ian, and I went kayaking on the St. Croix yesterday afternoon and it was a beautiful day for it. The water was a little low but we only got caught up on the rocks once and other than that it was pretty decent.

I wish I could remember what was so funny...


We saw a couple eagles--or maybe the same one over and over--during the afternoon. There were also a ton of turtles out sunning themselves, and Ian and Margaret saw a couple deer.

And here are a couple photos from our drive home from Montana. We stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Something-or-Another in North Dakota for a little break and it was beautiful. I love the Badlands. I think this is the greenest I have ever seen them.