red thursday

It has been sometime since I last wrote, and what an eventful week it has been. Dawn and I needed a break from work come Wednesday. I was struggling with unrealistic requests and Dawn was dealing with the day-to-day. Either way, the 4 day weekend was perfect timing. In fact, by the time Wednesday rolled around, I ended up meeting up with a few colleagues of Dawn's for a cigar at Burn in Burnsville. I actually brought my pool cue along as was pleasantly surprised with my performance. In a future post I will look back at the pool hall days in college at Lucky's in GF.

Thanksgiving was at my parents house in Burnsville. Most of the Sheehan family (my mother's side) made an appearance. Tristan was especially excited about the day since his pal Ella was there. Tristan, Ashton (my cousin Alisa's two sons) and Ella all go to the same daycare provider in Burnsville. It is sure nice that they have the same daycare and can see each other on holidays. I am sure those three will grow up as best buds. After gorging ourselves on turkey and three killer deserts that Dawn made for the occasion (Carmel Apple Cheesecake, Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle, and Pumpkin Cake), we lounged for a bit at the Boulders, read the Black Friday ads, and cruised home about 3ish.

We took right to putting up the Christmas Tree and all the other decorations when we got back. It was fun to finally get to decorate our own house. Although we quickly realized how more decorations are needed since we have so much more space. By Friday night we had everything pretty much in place. I am sure that will grow over the next month as more decorations are added.

Friday morning I had planned to hit-up the Black Friday deals (Babies 'R Us, Sears, Best Buy, Menards, Home Depot, KMart, and Target). This was all going to start at midnight when BRU was selling diapers for a song. Being that I didn't sleep well (and haven't been at all recently), I almost got up about 11:45 and headed out the door. Then, as luck would have it, I didn't set my alarm correctly on my phone and my initial departure time of 4:45am turned into 6:15am. CRAP! Although we had high hopes of checking quite a few gifts off the list, between the crowds of people and my late start, those hopes were quickly lessened. None the less, I know what to expect for next year! After coming home and picking up Dawn and Beaner, we headed out for a few more stops. Later that afternoon I swung over to St. Paul to help Hugh Jr. move some furniture around in his house. As you can see by the picture here, Ella indulged in some pasta for dinner and we are hoping she at as much as got her on during the meal :). The night ended by Dawn and I watching the neighbors put up Christmas lights.

We didn't have much planned for Saturday. We ended up running quite a few more errands and then doing more cleaning and a few updates on the house (new light fixtures in the foyer and kitchen, wall art for the dining room and spare room, and some demo on the shop downstairs). Hugh Jr. helped me with those light fixtures later in the afternoon and we BS the night away after dinner.

Enough catching up...Ella has been pretty needy recently. She doesn't like being put down on the floor to play by herself. She is standing for longer periods of time by herself and we are thinking she might start walking here in the next month.

My beef from this last week was steaming from work related issues and having the role of a marketer. Since this post is getting on the longer side, I will save it for the next post.

song: Jesse McCartney - Body Language

memory: Falling up the stairs...Until I did it, I didn't think it was possibly either. It was the summer of 2000 when I was taking the in-class portion of Driver's Ed. I was taking it with a few friends of mine, and because I was home alone that summer, parents of these friends would pick me up and drop me off during this week long class. I was downstairs watching TV when I heard their car horn honk, so I quickly ran upstairs. Long story short, I slipped on the top step, and as I was falling my knee was bent and I cut the skin of my knee-cap open on the overhanging tile that was in our foyer. Immediately I went into shock and starting calling anyone in the family frantically. Thinking that I was going to bleed-out or something, I dragged myself into the main-floor bathroom so blood didn't get on my mom's carpet. In the end my knee didn't bleed at all, but it was sure thoughtful. Being that I couldn't get a hold of my mom or dad, I called Karen Franzwa who lived with us in household. Before calling her I called 911 since I thought for sure I was going to die on that kitchen floor. By the time Karen pulled up, the ambulance had arrived as well. Realizing how small the cut was and being mindful of my dad's checkbook, she turned away the ambulance and she took me to intensive care instead. What a bummer! In the end the doctor totally screwed my knee for life by only using 5 stitches when at least 10 were needed (i.e., my scar is still pretty harsh). Instead of a memory next time, I may have to mention and list a few of the epic stories I have told in the past...you will see what I mean when I explain myself.

Gotta jump.

thanksgivingfullness

I know...a tacky post title, but at least you get my reasoning right off the bat. Before I get into those notes, an update on the Springer life:

We are about to dive into a commitment for 30 yrs = our first mortgage payment is due on the 1st of December. YIKES! But, in order to save money in the log run and to pay off this puppy quicker, we are going with biweekly payments. Statistics say it could save us 10-12 years on our mortgage and $95k...I'll take it!

Ella enjoyed watching the wheel (Wheel of Fortune) and playing peek-a-boo with us tonight. She is dancing every second she is standing too! Go figure...the one song she danced to when we watched the top 20 video countdown on Saturday was lady gaga. Bleh. I have a thing or two to teach her about taste in music. It is strange to believe that our nightly conversations consist of "Ella is crawling around so pickup Gage's food bowl", "Did you make her bottle yet", and "Is it bath night". I know, most people comment on how their lives change when babies are young and its all about diapers, bottles, and naps. But life was too crazy and exciting to even have that cross our minds at the time. It, indeed, is crazy to think of how life has changed and how far we have come in the last 12 months.

In terms of thanksgiving, we are the most thankful for our health and our employment. Without those two, we wouldn't be in the fantastic place we are now. Along with that is our families. Although we don't get to see our No Dak family nearly as much as we would like to, all of our family and our dearest friends have been an amazing support through our move to the cities and to our new house, Ella's 1st year of life, and learning to adjust to family life! Before this day is too far gone, I do want to say how thankful I am of being able to get to know my grandpa before he passed. Yesterday was the five year anniversary of Grandpa Hugh's passing from cancer. He has been greatly missed and I can't wait to meet him again one day. You better have an American Spirit with my name on it when I get up there, Grandpa! Someday I will tell a story or two about Grandpa Hugh (haha, poet). He was a good man with haunting memories which make it difficult at times...anyway. More thankful notes this week.

Song: instead of browsing for a good music selection before diving into projects at work today, I spent time updating my Geni Family Tree. It's fun to keep that kind of thing up to date and hope to add to it this holiday season when I can glean more information from relatives. Between our two families, we have over 375 folks in our family tree!

Memory: As I have mentioned in the past, I was (and still have flashbacks here and there) a pansy growing up. I didn't like getting hurt, plain and simple. I didn't climb trees, I didn't go off big jumps with my bike, I...you get the point. It was all the same with water sports. My Dad grew up on a lake, and thanks to God's blessings, my parents bought a cabin on North Long Lake in MN in the early 1980's on the same lake as Ed & Bernie Boegamann and Brad & Patty Bye (whom I am sure will be in future posts). Because of that, living on the lake was what we did in the summer. And what we did was ski (well, what everyone else did was ski). I took more to the grass skiing and water chariotting (sp?). I used to pretend to ski by bringing water skis to the front lawn and holding my hands out like I was bring towed. And, my dad, being the compassionate one that he is, bought a ski chariot. As you can see by this picture (although the actor posing in the shot makes it look riveting and stellar), its nothing more than a tube with three sides so no harm or danger can be experiences by the rider. I loved it. I rode in that thing till...well, last year. Ha, kidding. Through the mockery of Kyle Bye and the encourage of my Dad, I started skiing when I was 14 or so and I am not afraid to say it! Speaking of being a pansy...my next memory will be of when I fell up the stairs and almost got an ambulance ride out of the deal.

I hear snow is in the forecast. We can't complain about the fabulous weather we have had up till this point. I put the flippin' Christmas lights up in a t-shirt yesterday for gosh sakes. And who are we kidding, it's not fun unless we have a white Christmas.

I do want to mention again that this blog is merely for fun and remembrance purposes. So if you find grammatical errors...deal with it.

in the holiday spirit

This weekend was full of holiday preparation. We are going to Mom and Dad Springer's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday. And we can't wait to go to North Dakota to see all the family for Christmas. We hung up Christmas lights today since the weather was so nice. We grabbed quite a bit of holiday decor so we can deck out the new house. We are planning on putting up the rest of the decorations and the trees next weekend. Dawn even got the chance to bust-out the KitchenAid for the first time. Deserts for Thanksgiving on are the menu!

Ella was funnier than ever this weekend. She is talking like crazy and scooting around the house. She has moved past eating baby food and is eating all adult food. Pizza, pasta, meatloaf, just to name a few. We sent out invites for her first birthday party on the 12th. She has even gotten used to her bean bag chair and usually watches Sesame Street in the morning.

Dad and I went and got sheet rock on Saturday morn so we can make more progress on the master bath. It would be stellar to have it sheet rocked and painted by the time we have her party. The funds are tight since we are still waiting for our First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit. So, although the vanity, medicine cabinet, and shower may not be installed, it would at least look a little more finished. But, we know Dad is busy on the job search, so we take things as they come. The progress we have made thus far is tremendous.

We have met most of our neighbors now. Scott and Kara, and their kids, Noah and Toby who live directly across River Hills, stopped by and chatted with us on Saturday afternoon. We are looking forward to having a house warming shindig in the Spring so we can meet them all again. They have all been super nice and welcoming. I actually had to borrow Tony Schmitz's ladder to get onto the roof to finalize the lights.

I am fighting again with my eye infection. This happens once or twice a year. We think it's stress related. It is a real pain in the ass though, I tell you what! This seems to be the worse bought I have had in a long time. Its the biggest hassle cause everyone assumes that it is pink-eye and that it is super contagious.

Song: Carrie Underwood - How Great Thou Art

Memory: I promised a story about The Buckle. As you may have seen in a Facebook post, I had a good collection of jobs in my childhood. One of which was a sales position at The Buckle. The ideology of The Buckle is that if you approach the customer as soon as they enter the store and find out what kind of person they are or who they are shopping for, you can help them to find what they are looking for (and sell them more). I think that is BS especially since that is not how I shop. When I am looking for new clothes, I really don't know what I am looking for. So the last thing I want is to have a salesman breathing down my neck. So, in the end, I only was employed for three days and they recommended I move to work at the register...in the end, I didn't go back. I was 16 at the time, so it prolly wasn't the smartest way to go about things, but I had had my fill of retail sales. Future memory...my approach to water sports as a child (which didn't include water skiing).

I will write again before t-day. Have a good short week folks!

complaints and arguements

Got ya with that title didn't I? It's funny that I write one liners like that and expect a response...as if people are actually reading this blog. Anyway, This week has been busy for us. Both Monday and Tuesday we have had our fair share of battles at work. We have overcome them for the most part, but it sucks we had to face them in the first place.

Ella is just fine and dandy. She is standing by herself now for long moments and can just feel the walking will be coming soon. Grandma Joni is coming over to babysit tonight which Dawn and I go to this Release Party that we are pretty stoked about. Maybe rub elbows with Mr. Oake, or Brandi...God only knows.

So here is my beef (hence the title of the post)...I think the success of Taylor Swift is bunk (and Miley Cyrus for that matter). I have felt this way for some time and have even shared my opinion on some talk radio shows here in town. And here is why: Taylor Swift started as a country singer, marketed herself as a country singer, dressed-up like a country singer. I don't know if this was her choice, or the choice of her label, but at some point in her career, it was decided that every track of her would be recorded in two formats...one which would be looped on Country stations and Pop stations. In my opinion, the country music industry is one of tradition, respect, and history. The fact the she (or they) intentionally recorded in her releases in two formats for the sake of being played on multiple stations and marketed to multiple audiences for the pure sake of making more money is total bullshit. And it is incredibly disrespectful to the workhorses and pillars of the country genre (i.e. the George Straights, the Clint Blacks, etc.), and for that I am pissed off. There you have it...mentioning George Straight made me think of another beef...but thats for another post.

I wrote the first few paragraphs of this post on Wednesday afternoon. I am glad I waited to post this until now, cause, let me tell you, I have a few stories about the Release Party. I don't expect this to happen again anytime soon, but because Concordia has been playing commercials on Clear Channel stations, the sales rep gave my boss four tickets to the release party. So Dawn and I were able to have date night last night. One of my co-workers and her boyfriend were also going to the party. We had expected to see them, but because of the size of the venue and and the amount of people there, we never connected. We showed up during the middle of Erin McCarley's set. Unfortunately each set was only about 8 songs long, but still awesome to see the sweet mix of artists. Anywho...after her set finished, we went downstairs to see the rest of the Bayview Event Center in Excelsior. We really flippin' lucked out because it just happened that NeedtoBreathe's set was starting in a few short moments. Most of the party-goers had not yet migrated downstairs so we ended up standing about 10ft way from the band (see crappy picture). This is the same band that I included in my song link a few posts back. So I am a huge fan of the band, their history, and their sound. Their set was killer, and a memorable one. After their set, they scooted off stage and we headed back up stairs. Brandi Carlisle's set was next. We were hanging out waiting for that to start when Bear Rineheart (lead singer from NeedToBreathe) was hanging out behind us. No one recognized him or paid any attention to him (which may be what he wanted, but I wasn't going to let it stand). So Dawn and I turned around and chatted with him. We mentioned how we love their style, their sound and everything else. He was a stellar dude. Big moment for me.

On to Brandi's set. Of course, her vocals were amazing as ever. In addition to her hits, she also covered Hallelujah and Cash's Folsom Prison Blues...stellar to say the least. As I do, I stepped out for a cigarette (and Dawn accompanied me). During a convo we were having, Dawn froze and didn't say anything. Little did I realize that Brandi and her guitarist were walking right behind us heading to their tour bus. Since Dawn was still tongue tied, I say, "Thank you guys for coming, we love you music and you killed it tonight". Like teenage school girls, Dawn and I turn to each other and freak out. It was a pretty surreal moment and one we won't forget.

Song: Guitar picking cover of Michael Jackson: Black or White (sometime of tribute had to happen eventually, right?)

Memory: I will have to get back to my Buckle memory...See the next post.

Hope to get another post up tomorrow night. - Laters

first weekend of home accomplishments

I don't mean to belittle the progress we have already made on the house, but it finally feels like we are getting somewhere with the house. With carpets cleaner and some pictures of the wall, its feeling more and more like home. You will see in the pictures below that our rug doctor rental was a success. We took a risk by grabbing a couch and love seat set off craigslist that wasn't in the greatest shape. Turns out it just needed a little elbow grease (or lack there of) to make them look like new. We also bought a very nice dining set today. We will through up pictures soon.

Ella had a very exciting weekend. She was smilly and crawling all over the house. It seems like new teeth are coming in every day for our girl! She had two come in last week and two more just broke through last night. I can't believe how the times have changed! What a big girl.

As the first paragraph mentioned, Dawn and I were busy working on the house this weekend. She also found time to pump out some crazy perfection with her sewing machine. A second tutu for Ella's first birthday party outfit (because Gage got a hold of the first one), a blanket for Eli (Keli's second son), and a number of other snuggly things.

To sum up other events of the weekend, let's just say Gage is lucky to not be at the shelter right now. Between tearing up a tutu Dawn made for Ella, shredding a pillow and cover we just bought, and running two blocks down the street this morning, he is on a pretty short leash right now. I see obedience school in his near future.

We are super jazzed cause we scored two free tickets to the Cities 97's 21st City Sampler Release Party this coming Wednesday. Not only are we excited to get our hands on a copy of the new sampler, but some killer performers will be making an appearance...Five for Fighting, Brandi Carlile, Need to Breathe, and on, and on. Super stoked! Can't wait for Wednesday night.

Song: Weezer: (If You're Wondering if You Want To) I Want You to (killer version feat. Sara Bareilles)

Memory: When living in the Richfield house, Mom always let us play outside in the sprinkler during the summer. One day we got carried away with the house and decided to spray it in the street. We got even more carried away and took it to the next level by spraying at passing vehicles. Turned out that the last car that passed was a red firebird that had it's windows down. Lets just say that the driver wasn't too happy. By the time we stopped we have ran to the backyard to hide! Next memory: My three day job at the Buckle. Hopefully Dawn will provide a memory or two soon so you can hear the other side of the family's stories.

kept my promise

Here I am, already the next day. HA! So I tell Dawn that I finally got around to writing on the blog, and she says..."Bill, there aren't any pictures". As if I don't do enough around here...haha (kidding). So I added a picture of Ella from this morning to this post. One is of the angel cheesing out in her high chair. Hope to add more this weekend.

Today has been a pretty average day. Dawn got a new winter coat at Old Navy and I got Gage some rawhides (comparable, right?). We have been craigslisting quite a bit recently. We have nabbed a center island/chopping block for the kitchen, a california-king bed for our room (to make our old queen available in the spare bedroom), and a love seat and sofa set. But, the love seat and sofa came with a bit of dirt on them from the previous owner. So we will be resovling the problem with a Rug Doctor soon. We are going to go look at a dining set on Sunday.

In addition to cleaning those couches, I need to hang pictures in the house and paint the stairwell banister to match our chocolate wall in the foyer.

My old roommate from College is coming to visit on Saturday. Tim and his wife Kaylee live in Hutchinson and will be in town doing some wedding stuff for their upcoming nuptials next Spring. Pretty stoked for Timmy to come see the new place and to meet his new puppy Fenton.

I have been keeping my eyes peeled for the Black Friday Best Buy ad. I am hoping to score a cheap plasma for our bedroom, but the budget might not allow. Can't a guy dream?

Song: I'm Alive - Kenny Chesney & DMB

Memory: As promised, my "peeing my pants" story...Let me preface this story by saying I was a pansy as a child growing up. Never went to the hospital, never broke a bone, etc, and I did as I was told. Second grade in Mrs. Nelson's class we had a writing test. During this test, we weren't allowed to get up from our desks or talk to any of our neighbors, the usual rules during a test, so I obliged. Well, when a guy has to go, he has to go...so, repsecting my teachers instructions, I didn't leave my desk and went. It just so happened that I was wearing the most unfortable thing in the world that day: blue jeans. Don't get me wrong, I love Neil Diamond (and can do a pretty wicked impression when the mood strikes), but I hated jeans with a passion when growing up. They were too crunchy and didn't let me move like I wanted to...so I wore sweatpants about 90% of the time. There you have it. You basically got 2 stories in one on that one. Next memory: when us kids sprayed a water house at a car passing by when the windows were down...funny then, horrible to think about now.

Cheers!

its been long enough

it has been on my mind for some time to get back to blogging. I found some inspiration from a good friend of the Springer family, Carmen Lee. The Lord's plan finally came to be this last Summer when He brought Gail, Carmen's wife, to her final resting place. Since her passing, Carmen has been blogging about his daily struggles, triumphs, and activities. I commend him for opening up and sharing his struggles and pray that he continues to find comfort. I realized after reading a few posts of his that I do enjoy reading what his days are filled with (most of which are more eventful and thoughtful than mine). And although mine may never be as insightful and meaningful as his are, I would rather have something to look back at in the future than not. Call it a blog, a journal, a diary, what have you. And on that note, I am not here to check all punctuation and grammar, so if there are grammatical errors, deal with it.

In the most recent days, we have been dealing with Ella's cold (or what we think was a cold). It seems like it has been a month now where she has had coughing stints for 10 minutes at random times during the night. We finally took her to the doc last night and the best solution they had was that she has had a few different colds over time. That and the combination of possibly new teeth coming in. We shall see.

We have also been busy with still unpacking and remolding. We officially moved in the River Hills house on the 24th of October. I think we have made good head-way on the boxes, but I don't think the remodeling/painting will ever end. Even though its been unfortunate circumstances, Dad has had some time to work on projects at our house because he is unemployed. But, I know he enjoys the projects to pass the time. We have already most of our neighbors and they have been kind and welcoming! Its killer to have neighbors that don't share a wall with you!!

Back to Ella...we are planning her first birthday party already. Man oh live! I cna't believe its been that long already. I know, thats what everyone says, but, holy crap.

Work is busier than ever. Planning and carrying out the migration to a new content management system along with a redesign of the entire csp.edu website. That, along with continuing to push the higher-ed envelope with social media, has been exhausting. Twitter Contests are next on the agenda.

Dawn's job is rockin and rollin. She loves her co-workers and is really looking forward to making a bigger mark at Northern Tool. I am excited for her and can't wait for more of her marketing experience to be flushed out in her current role and any future roles.

That is a brief update in a nutshell. I won't be as bland in upcoming posts! With each of these posts, I want to make two things a regular practice...recent song I am listening to and a brief memory from the past (since I am only getting older and am forgetting these things).

Song: Need to Breathe: Washed by the Water

Memory: My 5th (golden) birthday...a typical young kids birthday. 5 or 6 of my friends from the Richfield neighborhood. The main thing I remember about it is that we played red light-green light in the drive way and it was flippin snowing...in April. Good one God. Next memory...why I peed my pants in the 2nd grade. Stay tuned.

Hope to keep this up and be back in the next day or two. Laters