For my birthday this year, I treated myself to a short trip to the North Shore (along with the new camera lens, some new jeans, etc.)

Here is a sampling of the results.

Canal Park

Gooseberry Falls

Knife River

Silver Bay Marina

Palisades Head

And then there’s this little gem,  related to a little story about how excited people can sometimes lock their keys in their cars on a Sunday morning, and end up calling 4-1-1, thinking there are no longer any public payphones with directories. Truth of the matter? At Canal Park, you only need to walk about 1/2 a block to find a payphone…something you don’t see much of anymore.

And when I got home Sunday, I went out to a friend’s and managed to get this shot before my camera battery died.

I had a lot of photo fun last weekend and will post more picture projects as I get the stuff done.

Ah, it’s fair season. Today is the last day of the Kandiyohi County Fair, and I hope to get out there again, but it probably won’t happen. On the other hand, plans are afloat to make it home for most of the Swift County Fair, which I’ll almost always think of as "my" fair, even though I haven’t lived in the county for over 10 years. This year, I’ll be traveling with the camera and new lens that I didn’t have yet last year.

But here are some of the photos from last year’s Swift County Fair:

Hopefully I’ll get some more fun photos this year. I’m already looking forward to the pecan pie I get every year at the church stand. Mmmm, pecan pie… 

When you get new toys, why wait to play with them?

I signed up to bring a salad for the office picnic tomorrow and I’m putting off making the simple pasta salad just because it means I will end up having to do the dishes when I’m done. This is not a complicated dish. It’s actually a boxed pasta salad, with some extra stuff thrown in (black olives, pepperoni, maybe some red onion).

The thing is, I’m not out of silverware yet, so it’s hard to make myself do the dishes. This is pretty sad, mostly because I’ve been living on sliced meat sandwiches and coffee, so I don’t have much to do in the way of dishes anyway…

I guess I’m just not a domestic person.

On the music front, I was introduced to a new MN band today. I was walking past a co-worker’s desk and caught a tiny bit of sound. It was this group, which will be at the Willmar Blend in August. I’ve listened to a couple songs and it’s a nice mellow sound-a little country, a little rock. Find more info on the Willmar Blend here.

And just a reminder for those with a penchant for shiny lights and explosions: keep it safe this weekend. I’m not the only one recommending it, these people are, too.

Ok, I give up. I’m going to take 15 minutes out of reading this book, step away from the computer, and make my salad. If I’m lucky, it’ll turn out really good.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

Last weekend (and yes, I know this is Thursday), I helped clean out my grandmother’s old apartment. It was … interesting. I should have taken some pictures of the different items, like the red fake velvet lamp that was hanging in the bedroom, or the box of newspaper clippings (my aunt and uncle’s wedding announcement, my star performance status in fourth grade, my cousin’s star performance status in kindergarten), but I didn’t.

I did, however, get a bit of video – something you don’t see this close every day. An industrious robin had built its nest next to the front door. It was irritated by us moving large pieces of furniture out the door for most of the day Sunday, so it left its nest for a while. Using the "Hail Mary" method of photography (on my tiptoes, on the edge of the sidewalk, with my hand extended as high as I could reach), I managed to get some shaky footage.

Here it is:

Fortunately, when we were done, I was able to watch the robin come back to its nest to feed its young.

This is how it started. Because I read that blog, last weekend I went on a John Cusack movie bender. I started with "Say Anything," moved on to "America’s Sweethearts", "Grosse Pointe Blank", and ended with "High Fidelity". After that, I grabbed this book off my shelf and started reading because of a text conversation I had on Sunday about this movie.

I finally finished the book tonight (cut me some slack, I’m reading 4 different books right now), and then proceeded to text some friends, asking for their Top 5 Road Trip songs. I defined "road trip" as a long drive to somewhere, as opposed to a general trip to nowhere. I heard back from two people. One was working, but the other one had some free time and we went back and forth for almost two hours about music.

So this, this is what I get because of one blog I read. I hope that getting my list out of my head and off my cell phone will help me put the whole thing behind me. Otherwise, I’ll be thinking in Top 5 lists for the rest of the week.

So, in no particular order, my top road trip songs:

Handle With Care, the Traveling Wilburys; Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen, Things Have Changed, Bob Dylan; Whiskey In the Jar, Metallica…

And because I can never definitively just chose a set number, I have a 3-way tie for the last one with Why Pt. 2, Collective Soul; She’s Coming Back Again, Kory and the Fireflies, and What It Takes, Aerosmith.

What are your top 5?

He’s only 16 months old, I told myself. You can do this, I thought. Then I called my mother to make sure, because I don’t really think I have any kind of maternal instinct beyond "That’s a cute outfit," or "Put a leash on the kid."

At times, owning a dog feels like a heavy responsibility. So yes, I told my godson’s mom that I could keep him overnight, after being reassured by my mother that I wouldn’t have any problems keeping him alive, quiet, and fed (I don’t think he should live on tv dinners and baby carrots, like I tend to do when I’m lazy).

I picked some of the more valuable items I keep around my living room, devised a fencing system to keep him out of the kitchen and the garbage, then dug out the tried-and-true tools of babysitting – crayons and cartoons.

After an initial, short cry, Christian became temporarily fascinated with "Shrek." By the time he lost interest in it (about 30 seconds), I already had the crayons and paper out for him.

Then I sat back, laughed at the little booger, and shot some video.

Have pity on me, I’m a doting auntie.

One night, while grocery shopping, I purchased some bananas with the intention of making banana bread. I finally got around to it last Sunday. The weather outside was grim and rainy and I loved it – absolutely loved it!

I put some soft music on the stereo, pulled out the electric mixer, and followed my grandmother’s recipe for banana bread. It turned out great, too.

The exercise in baking made me think about my homemaking skills (or lack thereof), which caused me to work on cleaning my apartment (bathroom and all).

When I finished, I felt like I had truly accomplished something for the first time in a long time. There was an observable result from the amount of work I expended – a clean apartment, smells of Sunday baking, brewing coffee and cleaning supplies. And for a little while, on that rainy day, I felt …

Content. Happy. Good.

It was nice, so I made a batch of sugar cookies after work on Monday.