pops

Does the sickness ever stop? The last two days have been spent caring for Ella. Fevers, coughs and clingyness have been on top of the list recently. After not much eating or napping, Ella turned a corner this afternoon after having Corns Pops for a snack. Through the sickness, the dancing has continued and she is even starting to say her own name! We hope its over for all of our sickness for a bit.

Tuesday, Weds and Thursday were fairly uneventful for us. Dawn had a flex day on Friday, but spent most of the afternoon caring for Ella. The hype around town this week has been the Vikings. They are in the division championship game tomorrow against the Saints. I can't say that I have been an "every-game watcher" throughout the season, but I have jumped on the bandwagon. If anything, it would be cool to live in a state where we have National Championship professional sports team.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the weather has been much warmer than normal. 30 degree temps with occasional light snow showers have been in the forecast the last few weeks. Today, we had rain believe it or not. Lets hope the chilling temperatures in the coming week won't make skating rinks out of the interstates.

Unemployment still lingers in the Springer household. Grandpa Hugh and Uncle Hugh are both on the search. Hugh Jr. is in the process of starting up his own consulting side project. It will be exciting to see what comes of the project. In his "time off", he has also been busy with writing songs for the community. One of the most recent tunes is called Fill Us Up...check it out. I hope he can continue this push and his voice and talent will reach many.

On another note, Gage isn't getting any better (I will spare you the details). Grandpa Hugh has been reading up on Cesar Millan's website (The Dog Whisperer). Gage likes to jump on guests and be on top of people when sitting on the couch. Apparently, it's a dominance thing. My first instinct was to go buy a training collar and train him that way. And, in true Springer fashion, I want to get the best of the best. Thanks to my bro-in-law who let me test his collar out, turns out it surpasses our current Gage budget. So, based on Cesar's input, by walking a dog, it teaches the dog who is in charge because they're are on a leash. I guess a fenced back yard doesn't do it in terms of wasting energy. So, since Monday night, Gage and I have been going on 20 minute walks around the neighborhood. If anything, he is more tired at night!! We will see over time if his tendencies go away, or he at least listen to my commands. If not, I may have to turn to the collar option.

Song: Bobby McFerrin - By the Sea

Memory: Now that Ella has been battling a cold and has been super clingy, I have to say that while you never want your child sick, it is nice to have the closeness of your baby next to you. Once this girl started to move, she has been anything but snuggly! Since she has gained this independence, I've tried to remember (this is Dawn now, btw) what it was like one year ago, when she was only 6 weeks old and totally dependent on us for even the basic things. What our days were like, what our nights were like! I was one week from going back to work (never do this, by the way...try more weeks off, like maybe TWELVE!), and miserable about the idea of it. About this time, we got into the habit of putting on classical music at night in her room, and sticking to a night time routine, although a newborn sticking to it is just lucky! The routine ultimately never 'stuck' until about 8 or 9 weeks, and sleepness nights were had by all...but, you never remember how tired you were...even in the exhausted sleep-deprived haze, you still only retain the little sneezes, smiles and even her little farts :).

All for now

#TeamConan

I am fallin' behind in these posts, darnit! It seems like the last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind. Between slowly unpacking more boxes, seeing neighbors and family, and just getting through each work day, the nights are getting shorter and the mornings coming sooner.

At about 11pm every night, Ella seems misplace her pacifier and wakes up bummed out. Other than that, she is back to her normal sleep schedule. Dawn and Ella appear to be over their colds. I am on the back end of mine as well. More talking, screaming and tiny steps are taking up our time. She is fully attached to her Mr. Bear and her pacifier. And she loves the kitchen cabinets. She took a bad spill off the couch tonight, but other than that, dent free for the wee one! You will see in this picture that she is following in her father footsteps with her love of Gems.

In terms of world news, last week was taken up by the earth quake in Haiti and the Late Night fiasco with Jay Leno and Conan on NBC. Its been pretty incredible how social media has made its impact on these. Red Cross setup a system where you can text a 5 digit number and you will automatically donate $10 for the cause. Its been said that there could be up to 50,000 casualties in the aftermath in Haiti. And Twitter has taken the Conan/Leno situation by storm with the #TeamConan tag.

We had Friday night dinner at the Fossen's our neighbor and a member of the People of Praise. Chuck Fossen is plays electric guitar at community meetings of the P.O.P. so he knows my bro and my dad well. He was celebrating his 50th birthday. Seeing the Fossen family and other family friends was nice. Josh and Shena came to the cities on Saturday afternoon to go to the Vikings game on Sunday. We had dinner with them at the Woodfire Grill in Eagan and they came over to see on place afterwards. We watched the Sioux/Gopher with them and enjoyed a few beverages. Sunday we spent running errands, cleaning house, and watching the Vikes game.

Song: Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Memory: Ah the memory of the office chair, the soul reason that Dawn fell in love with me when I was courting her. OK, kidding, it's obvious she loves me for my dashing good looks and flowing, long locks, but that is besides the point. Either way, when Dawn and I were spending more time together, I decided it would be nice of me to buy her a house warming gift when she moved into a different apartment. So, I got her an office chair. This wasn't any office chair, pretty much top of the line. After the chair was constructed, the rest was history. A small step in what became the beginning of the Springer family. Being that I took a peak at my basketball card collection, I will speak to that in my next memory.

This coming weekend is the first in a long time where we don't have plans or out of town visitors...hopefully its nice and relaxing. We are starting to think about our house warming party in April.

cougs

We are on the mend with our sickness now. We had a few rough nights with Ella due to her coughing and her just not being comfortable. But the dust is starting to settle.

Last Thursday and Friday weren’t much of anything for us. A few cleaning projects around the house for when the company stopped by, but it was mainly relaxing.

We spent a good amount of time over the weekend with Grandpa John and Cindy. They were in town for the United Hardware show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. They arrived in town on Friday night and stayed at the Hilton in Downtown Minneapolis. We meet them at the convention center on Saturday morn around 10. John was primarily there to review new products and purchase display systems for those products. It was pretty wild to see the variety of products offered there…anything from toys to sprinkler systems, Dewalt tools to landscaping necessities. In the end, he capitalized on a few cool display systems (from what I could tell). There were two wild things that happened which I never would have expect. Numero Uno: The story goes that United Hardware sends out these books to the store owners. The book lists every product that is on display at this show. Some greedy store owners think it’s smart to throw post-it sticky notes and highlight the crap out of this book. Then they rig up some crazy cart system top push this book around while they make their purchase. In the end, it doesn’t look right. Numero Dos: When you register yourself as a store owner, they give you a page or two of stickers (if they were smart, they would have made the stickers scratch and sniff to smell like gasoline and steel). When you go to buy something from a vendor, all you have to do is give them a sticker and your name. So, technically, one could walk in there with one sticker, and buy $200k in tools, and that’s all it would take…a sticker! Crazy.

After walking the show for a number of hours, we went back to their hotel to have a beer and let Ella crawl around for a bit. Then, we headed to dinner downtown. We ended up checking out Keys Cafe in the Foshay building. Being that I do have a soft spot for the tattered and torn, I do indeed have a small spot in my heart for the Foshay Building. The poor Foshay building, once the tallest building in downtown Minni, is now the oldest and smallest. Moving on, we had a killer meal at the Keys and then called it a night.

Sunday morning we read the paper and watched football. John and Cindy came over to check out the house and spend more time with us. We had ‘za and then headed back downtown later in the afternoon.

Since the weekend, Dawn and I have been busy with our own little projects. Thank you cards and sewing is taking up Dawn’s time, and freelance work is taking up Bill’s time.

We have a possibility of more visitors this weekend. Josh and Shena have playoff tickets for the Vikes on Sunday. If they make the trek, we will be watching Kayle and Kayden while they watch the game. I imagine a beer or two will have to be taken in as well. We spent a lot of time with Shena and Kayden last Fall (2008) after he was born. Long story short (another story I will write about someday), because he was born with gastroschisis, he spent quite a while at Children’s hospitals down here before he could go back home to North Dakota. After a few weeks away from work, Josh had to return to the fields so we spent time with Shena and the little one to keep them company. It will be nice to see them down here for things that aren’t medically related.

Song: Jessica Andrews - Who I am

Memory: This one touches on all the times that were spent when living in Richfield. Living on Bloomington Ave meant not only living on a bus route and under the jet streams of the 12th busiest airport in the US, but it also meant living directly across the street from Centennial Elementary. Some may call that convenient, but I found it to be more of a thorn in my side. I could never stay home from school, my teachers seemed to know my parents better than I did, and I could never cuss or make obscene jesters about my school day when I got home (who are we kidding, as you read in previous posts, that wasn’t my style). Instead, I took the higher road and nabbed Cougar Award after Cougar Award. For you prevs out there, they gave these awards to students who cared, not for older women who cared. So thank you Mom & Dad for establishing my child hood in such a fantastic place and thank you Nolan L Bjorge or honoring me with so many Cougar Awards. Richfield, Bloomington Ave, 7314…you also have a special place in my heart.

Gotta go watch American Idol. Looking forward to seeing Ellen on Idol. Keep rockin' it Conan.

ludens

Sick times have fallen upon the Springer household. It his Ella Monday night when what we think was an eye infection. Tuesday morn her eyes looked worse. I ended up staying home from work for her. It seemed like she only got worse as the night went on. Dawn may have caughten some of the bug too. She stayed home with beaner today and she didn

We are pretty jazzed about John and Cindy visiting the cities this weekend. Granted their main purposes of coming to MSP is for the United Hardware hardware show in Minneapolis. Before they arrive we going to a dinner party at our neighbors house. And, if we can squeeze it in, the annual holiday Springer/Bye Bowling Extravaganza is on Sunday night...we shall she.

Before publishing this post, I had written a pretty extensive post about loved ones that had past on. My post wasn't to make everyone tear up. The sole purpose was to state my dislike in on-going arguments amongst families. Most of the time the arguments stem from disagreements or divorces, but I know they do more permanent damage than anyone had originally initially intended. Moreover, sometimes they drag on until they can't be resolved because someone passes on. My point: resolve differences if at all possible, so that ancient stories and photos aren't they only thing you can rely on when remembering friends and family

song: John Mayer - Who Says

memory: Back when pain reliever and cough drops could be brought to school with a simple note from a parent, I was a frequent pill popper. More often than not the doc prescribed Ludens, cause they always seem to cure the common cold. Unfortunately, it usually took a whole box throughout the course of a day to hold off the coughs, but it was worth it. It just required Joni to visit our local Walgreens at The Hub in Richfield more often than not.

Call it lame, but I saw this poster at Jimmy John's and I agreed with what it had to say. Its not deep, its truth to the core.

I believe that...

• just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.


• maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.


• it isn't always enough to be forgiven by other. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.


• no matter how bad your heart is broken that the world doesn't stop for your grief.


• our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.


• just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.


• you shouldn't be eager to find out a secret.It could change your life forever.


• it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.


• you should always leave loved ones with loving well wishes. It may be the last time you see them.


• you can keep going long after you can't.


• we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.


• we don't have to change friends, if we understand that friends change.


• no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you once in a while and you must forgive them for that.


• true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.


• you either control your attitude or it controls you.


• regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, that passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.


• heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.


• money is a lousy way of keeping score.


• my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.


• sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones who help you get back up.


• two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.


• your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.


• even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.


• credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.


• the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

GA-GA

twenty-point-six

We just got settled back in Burnsville after making our annual Christmas trip to Bismarck and New Town. And man, what a fun, busy trip it was.

12-30: We left for Bismarck on Wednesday morning since I was on Christmas break and Dawn took a few vacation days. Ella had a awesome ride there, with a nap in the morning, lunch in Fargo around noon, and another nap in the afternoon until we pulled into the Biz. Because we arrived before the end of the workday, we stop and saw auntie Darc at work. The cousin's played and we called it an early night. 12-31: Thursday we got up and spent time with Madeline and Darcy and watched cartoons. We took off for New Town about 1:00ish. When we got to New Town, we cruised right to the Barone's abode. Charm and Lonny met us there for dinner. The presents were opened and beverages were had before we called it a night at about 12:30am. 1-1: When we got up, we enjoyed our coffee, eggs, sausage on Friday morn. It was not pleasant outside (we figured about 40-below with the windchill). We visited with Joan and Bob Robert over the lunch. Darcy, Brian, and Madeline got to town about the same time and Josh, Kayle, and Kayden also joined us at Grandma and Grandpa's house. For dinner we spent time with John and Cindy (The Verd's and the Rone's were also in attendance). Grilled steak was served. Kara, her mom Sheri, and her precious little girl Jordyn stopped over after a while with a bottle of wine. All the kiddos played and the girls (i.e. Darcy, Dawn, Keli, and Kara) gabbed about high school stories. 1-2: We packed up our things from the Barone's and made our way about town. We had coffee and donuts with grandma Rita in the mornin. All the fam had lunch with Charm (Nefla soup and Pigs in a Blanket...just what the doctor ordered). We exchanged more presents and the kiddos played again. Before skippin town, we stopped and saw Auntie Deb so see could see beaner. The reason for the title of this post is the mpg's we got on our drive from New Town to Bismarck. Drifting and blowing snow made it a long drive home, but it was nice to finally land back in Bismarck. We had some drinks and watched Borat once the kids went to bed. 1-3: We hit the road at 9:30 this morning since it had snowed in Bismarck last night and we didn't know what the roads would be like. Ella had more of a touch and go trip on the way home, but we arrived this afternoon at about 4. Because of our short time to away, our visits to family in No Dak are always short and quick. But they are so fun and we look forward to the day when we can do them more often!

Even though they have come and gone, I have to mention how ridiculous the Christmas season tv commercials are. The fact that fragrance, candy, and liquor commercials are more present than ever is sickening. More on that note, the fact that they don't bother to update their commercials and just rely on spots from previous years is annoying. J Dor, Dior; Korbel Champaigne, and M&M's...just to name a few. Get with it marketing co's, you have to come up with something better than that. The picture here is Ella actually enjoying the long car ride to North Dakota. It has nothing to do with the content here, but I had to include it!

song: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis - Auld Lang Syne

memory: As kids we were fortunate enough to have a kick-ass conversion van that the fam used to travel in on Holidays such as Christmas. My parents were crazy enough leave on Christmas Eve in the early evening to drive to the Fargo/Moorhead area by Christmas Day. As luck would have it, the weather was never good and that Econoline didn't fair well in the gusty wind. So as us kids played games in the back, mom ate licorice in the front, and dad drove the van like the titanic since the steering wasn't exactly tight. Luckily, we didn't have any accidents on the trip. The trip from New Town to Bismarck reminded me of those times.

It is a new year, a fresh start, blah, blah, blah. I could list a number of resolutions that I have, but chances are they won't happen. Through this holiday season, I have realized the importance of family more and more. I have more to say on that later. But I do have to say that 2009 was a very eventful and busy year. We are truly blessed to have friends and family that are willing to love and support us in anyway possible. Thank you all for the fantastic year...bring on 2010.