Family Reunion

Since 1 family reunion wasn't enough back in July, the other side of my family had a reunion yesterday. We really only see each other twice a year: Memorial weekend and Christmas. So I guess I can't complain too much haha Anyways, this was thrown together somewhat last minute. My aunt and uncle from California flew up here for the week for a wedding. Since we haven't seen them for 4 years to the day [yesterday], we all met for a family reunion. It actually was kinda fun. My relatives from the cities came down as well, so the only ones missing were the relatives from Oklahoma, where there is almost no communication. But that's too much info to get into. So, we had a big potluck dinner at my grandparents house and caught up. It was a great day to sit outside and visit, with exception to the smell of dead ladybugs and swarms of mosquitoes. And there was awesome food: everything from cowboy beans and pasta salads to fresh fruit to zucchini cookies. I went home with a very happy stomach :P Now let's just home that it's not another 4 years til we see my aunt and uncle from Cali again, but maybe only 1 or 2 years...

Let's Play [preseason] Hockey!

I went to my first preseason Wild game yesterday, and it was AWESOME! My dad won tickets at work on Saturday. After a long and intense discussion, it was decided that I got the pair this time and my sister got the pair next time. Her and I went to a game together last season, so she didn't want to do that to my brother-in-law again. So, I went up to the game with lab partner. For those of you familiar with Xcel, the tickets were for club level. It was pretty exciting to finally take the short escalator and be asked to show my ticket. Although, the best part was the game. There were 10 fights in the entire game! It was insane! 5 fights were in the first period! Crazy yet, it was most of our newbies playing. We apparently have an angry team this year, so hopefully that will remain in our favor. We won last night 3-0. I can't wait til the regular season starts up. I love fights, but we'll hope the team can keep it [somewhat] clean so no one gets evicted from the game.

The Beginning of Fall

Before welcoming in the new season, we ended the official summer season with a free pancake summer. Our electric company has a member appreciation day every year. This year, it was last Thursday. We each got a free canvas tote with a thermos and a free cookbook, in addition to the free supper. There were pancakes, sausage links, milk, orange juice, and ice cream for dessert. It was really yummy, and it was free!

To welcome in the new (and my favorite) season, my mom and I went to Quarry Hill for their annual fall festival. Yes, it is usually geared more towards families with children, but who says adults can't take part in it too? Plus, it's free to park and enter. It's been a long time since I've been to the nature center, so we wandered the grounds for a bit. We were going to go canoeing in the pond, but we couldn't due to my mom's recent accident at work. This past Tuesday, she slipped in a puddle of water--the temps don't know how to put up signs or clean up their messes--and sprained her knee. It's nothing too serious, but enough where she gets to wear a stabilizer brace for a couple weeks. She's doing a lot better now, and the swelling has gone down completely. There were lots of children activities: leaf ornaments, bag stamping, ring toss, ect. If it wasn't so expensive, we were gonna tour the cave, but throughout the year they have free tours. We'll wait until then. After wandering outside and through the building, we decided to decorate pumpkins. I gave mine hair, arms, and a tail (cuz I'm just a dork that way). My mom's pumpkin turned oriental and also had hair. It was a lot of fun, and now our first fall decorations are up on display.

Last night, we continued to welcome fall; but this time, with a loud bang. Our neighbor is in a band called Dr. Savage, and they were putting on a concert. They did a lot of 70s and 80s covers, as well as some of their own stuff. It was a lot of fun. We usually hear them every other Wednesday when they practice, but it was nice to actually see them perform.

Pulp Cap

I'm sure you all were on the edge of your seat waiting to hear how the procedure went. Okay, maybe not, but I sure was! So Taffy had her dental/pulp cap done this morning, and all went well. Doc capped her fractured tooth, and the tech polished up the rest of her teeth. Due to my awesome brushing--which is really only twice a week--there was almost no plaque nor tarter on her teeth. But after a week and a half of no brushing, her breath was getting stinky. I'm glad to be able to brush again! And especially without her fighting me now. Also, I learned today that they are going to start doing root canals and placing silver fillings at the clinic next month. Yeah, I know, who would have thought canine dentistry would go that far? Due to her fractured tooth, she is on the list to be a demo dog. The cap will stay in place, but can also be a temporary fix. If it slips out of place or if bacteria gets underneath it, an abscess can still form. A root canal or filling would prevent that 100%. And by being a demo dog, it's 100% free! I know there's other dogs on the list, so we'll see what happens. Either way, I'm happy to have Taffy home and free of a toothache.

Fractured Tooth

Taffy had to go visit her friend the vet today, so I was lucky enough to go visit my ex-work. About a week ago, Taffy fractured her upper left premolar. I'm guessing it happened while chewing on a bone, but I'm not sure. Either way, she freaked out when I was brushing her teeth this past Friday, so we got an appointment. Because the fracture was caught early, the tooth is able to save. There is pulp exposure, which is why it's so painful. She goes back in Monday morning for a dental procedure consisting of a pulp cap on the tooth and a full dental cleaning. Might as well get the rest of the cleaned up while she's under. I'm sure everything will go just fine, but I will still be worrying on Monday. That's just how it goes.

The Great Minnesota Get-together - Part 3

Yup, you guessed it. I went to the state fair yet another day. It's a tradition for my mom and I to go to the fair every year, so we headed up on Friday. I also toured an apartment that I've been looking at in the cities, and it seemed like a nice apartment. The rooms are in process of being completely remodeled: new carpet, new counter tops, new windows, new appliances, ect. They look amazing! And a new pool was put in last summer. As long as I can find a job in the area, I will move up there. Finding a job is always the hard part. If that doesn't work out, then looks like I'm stuck here 'til spring. I don't wanna be stupid and move in the winter. Minnesota winters suck, especially when it comes to driving. On a different note, we went to check in at the hotel and ate dinner at Chili's.



We were up bright and early on Saturday for breakfast at the hotel before heading to the fair. I must say, the main reason why we picked the hotel was because of the waffle bar for breakfast. I love waffles! And there was free fruit, cereal, bagels, and the other usual breakfast food. The waffles were by far the best. It was then time to head to the state fair for a day of fun.

I did have a nicely written post all set, but blogger just decided to error and lucky me, I get to write it all again! Gotta love stupid websites. Anyways, you are now lucky enough to have the short version cuz I'm too lazy to remember and rewrite everything. So, here goes nothing! We wandered buildings and got some free stuff. I came across my future car, the Ford Fiesta. It comes in lime green and will be out next year. It was sooo exciting to see it! :D We also saw Tonic Solfa at the leinie stage. They are always fun to see in concert, and it was free! We ate lots of food, including: sausage wrapped in a pancake on a stick with syrup, deep-fried mac 'n cheese on a stick, deep-fried fruit on a stick, birthday cake gelato, funnel cake fries with powdered sugar and chocolate dipping sauce, deep-fried popcorn chicken, cheese curds, deep-fried oreos, and deep-fried reeses. I love fair food :) Ending the night was listening to the grandstand show: 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, and Styx. Since we have seen 38 Special and Styx before, REO was the most important, and they put on the best performance! It was a great ending to this year's state fair extravaganza.

The Great MN Get-together - Part 2

One day at the fair just wasn't enough, so I went again yesterday. Okay, so really I planned on going yesterday first. OAR was the grandstand show last night, so I joined my sister and brother-in-law at the fair yesterday. We had perfect timing upon arriving at the fair. The shuttle dropped us off near the miracle of birth center, and we got to see the last baby piglet be born in a litter of 12! I have seen a cow and a sheep in the past, but this was the first time my sister had ever seen it at the birth center. The pig was having some difficulty, so a senior vet student assisted in getting the last piglet out.

It was then food time. My sister got a deep-fried banana split complete with ice cream, blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. My brother-in-law got a bucket-o-fries, the best fries out there. I went after leprechaun legs aka deep-fried green beans. The last person who joined us, who also hates getting her picture taken, was safe with cheese curds. Yes it's a basic fair food, but still deep fried. The green beans are sooo yummy! TGI Friday's also has them as an appetizer if anyone wants to try them.

We wandered the fair some more: eco experience, education building, and international bazaar. Along the way, my brother-in-law became a chicken at the Gold 'n Plump stand. My sister and I also got our picture taken with the state fair mascot; I think his name is Fairchild. In eco experience, my brother-in-law and I took turns grinding coffee on a bike. It smelt amazing, as most coffee does. There were free samples too, but I only like how coffee smells. I also pretended to be a farmer driving a tractor with several giant windmills in the background. Now I can say that I have wind energy! And then it came time for food again. The choices this time around were a brat burger, garlic fries, and an elephant ear. I just got a pineapple shake.

Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the grandstand to listen to OAR. As much as I would have loved to be inside the gates watching, I couldn't afford it due to my current job situation. Plus, sitting right outside the side gate, you can hear them perfectly and glance through a bag every once in awhile to get a glimpse of the stage and the giant movie screen. It's totally worth it, especially for being free. Also, it's the perfect spot to watch the fireworks show after the concert. After 2 nights in a row of seeing the fireworks, I feel spoiled :P

Once again, it was a great day at the fair, even though I didn't complete all of my missions. I did get a ucare bag, so one mission complete. However, I was unable to find the Arby's hats. I have it narrowed down to 2 radio stations where the could possibly be, so let's hope for Saturday! Either way, it was another great day at the Minnesota get-together.

The Great MN Get-together - Part 1

Happy September everyone! And what do you ask that I started the month off with? Why the Minnesota State Fair of course! At the last minute, lab partner and I decided to head out to the great Minnesota get-together. It was a blast, as usual. I don't think I have ever not had fun at the state fair. I guess I'm just a nerd that way. Anyways, upon arriving at the fairgrounds, we first headed to the Leinie stage for a free concert of a new country group called Trailer Choir. They have one song on the radio right now, which is the same song with it's video in spot 12 on the CMT countdown. This song would be the infamous "Rocking the Beer Gut." For those of you who have not heard this song, you need to! The video makes it even better. They also did a couple covers: "Bobby McGee" and "Sweet Home Alabama." The concert was a lot of fun. I had only heard the one song by them before hand, and their other songs were just as catchy. They were so good that I had to go buy their debut album after the concert. I highly recommend them for you to go check out, even if you're not a big fan of country music. Because it was the Leinie stage and its still summer, there were free samples of leinies! Now most of you know that I am not a beer person, but I am very dedicated to my sister so I had a summer shandy just for her. :)

After the concert, we went to get some food. I had my usual deep-fried mac 'n cheese on a stick, and she got a bucket of the best chocolate chip cookies ever--well next to homemade I guess. We wandered the education building and got free stuff. We wandered the eco experience and got free stuff. We collected a few canvas bags: St. Cloud, St. Thomas, Bethel, eco experience, st. scholastic. Kemps had a promotional tour going on, so we each got pictures taken with a cow and cow tattoos. The end of the night was drawing to an end, and we needed more food. Lab partner was a wimp and went after a plain old foot long corndog with ketchup and mustard. I however, went with another state fair favorite: peanut butter hot dog with honey and banana. The hot dog is injected with peanut butter, drizzled with honey, and topped off with sliced bananas. So yummy! Then we watched the ch5 news until fireworks. We were even on the news clapping and cheering for the state fair!

However, we were on a mission to get a lime green medica and turquoise ucare canvas bags, but they were gone for the day by the time we made it to their stands :( Also somewhere in the park, there is a stand giving out arbys hats that are like headbands. I was thinking arbys all day but no one knew since we couldn't find that either. So now I have a couple missions when going up again later today as well as Saturday. I told you I was a nerd when it came to the state fair. :P