YAY!! Received my certificate and pin today in the mail from the IT certification board. I am now officially ITIL CERTIFIED! Some of you faithful readers might remember this as the test that I thought I had failed. Well, guess what! I passed. Very excited about this. Mostly about the fact that I won't have to shell out $150 of my own money to retake the test.

After work I'm going to run some errands and pick up Bryan's anniversary gift. I'm getting him a golf lesson from Golf Galaxy before he plays his tournament this weekend and a hot stone massage for after he's done. I think he'll like those presents.

 

YAY!!!! I'M SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!!!!!

Woohoo... it's almost the middle of the week. As they like to call it, "hump day". Bryan left work early today because he was sick. He hit up Walgreens and got some cold meds and is feeling better now. We just watched Last Comic Standing on NBC. Some funny stuff on that show. Talked to our friend Corey today and we are going to be dog sitting his min pin Maverick when he's gone in two weeks. I wonder if he'll get along well with Zoe.  I had lunch today with some co-workers at Holy Land. Their special was roasted chicken, rice, pita bread and salad. I got it in a to-go box and ended up making THREE meals out of it! Bryan and I had the leftovers for dinner. That's when we know one portion is WAY too big. We are going to the zoo this weekend. I'm volunteering for the grand opening at work and then I'm meeting Jennie at the Edina Art Fair that's going on at 50th and France.

Check out a couple of website that I created in 2001: http://calstaging.bemidjistate.edu/en3160f01/kltan/howto.html and http://calstaging.bemidjistate.edu/en3160f01/bsustudentgallery/index2.html

 

CRAZY!

 Phew! I haven't had a second to catch my breath. Bryan's mom and brothers left this morning and I've been super busy cleaning around the house, washing all the bedding and I really should vacuum and sweep the floors too. We had a ton of people over all weekend and it was ab absolutel BLAST.  I love entertaining! That is my favorite thing about owning this home (okay, so the bank really owns the house). I thrive on having people over at our place. I've been contemplating going to Ikea today. Have a couple of things to return but I don't feel like driving a 1/2 hour there and another 1/2 hour back. Might just go there when we visit the Minnesota Zoo this coming weekend. I'm really looking forward to that. Ah, back to work tomorrow. Good thing it's a short week!

Holy buckets. It's been a busy weekend. We met Bryan's mom and grandma for dinner on Friday night. Derek, Adam, Scott and Steve were over at our place and then we went to BWW for some drinks. Then on Saturday morning, we woke up early and cleaned the house. We went to Steph's graduation open house and hung out with everyone there. It was a blast. Then everyone came over to our house and we had a great BBQ. Lots of family, friends and food. Lots of people stayed over at our house. This morning, we drove over to St. Paul to help Becki and Jason move to their new townhouse. Bryan got to check out their place, along with Jess and Ty's new place.  Unfortunately, Bryan got a speeding ticket  when we were on the way to Becki's townhome in Blaine. Dang that Memorial Day weekend! Tomorrow we both have the day off work. YEAH!! That freakin' ROCKS.  YAY for HOLIDAYS!

Summer is here in full force. The temperature is supposed to get up to 90 degrees tomorrow! Dang, that's HOT!  Met up with Jennie and her co-workers for lunch this afternoon at the Global Market. Had a very tasty cheeseburger with fries. Yum!  I'm leaving work early this afternoon. That's awesome. I'm going to run a few errands and then maybe go home and take a nap. That's the life. I'm meeting Bryan, his mom and his grandma tonight for dinner for Chinese food. Still need to clean things up around the house before everyone comes over.

It's almost Memorial Day weekend! Woohoo!!  I went grocery shopping at Sam's Club and Trader Joe's today. Bought everything we needed for our BBQ on Saturday. Should be fun! I'm really looking forward to it. Tomorrow, Tyler & Jess and Becki & Jason close on their townhomes. We are helping Becki move on Sunday. Well, really, Bryan is helping them move. I'm just coming along for the ride.

 

Am having a productive week at work, getting lots of training written and presented. Attended a tour of Abbott Northwestern Hospital today, which is located right next door to where I work. It was great to see the different areas of the hospital, especially the new state-of-the-art heart hospital. Looks more like a hotel than a hospital. They incorporated elements of feng shui when designing the area.

 

 TGIF!!!

Wanna watch some HILARIOUS? Check out the Evolution of Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg&eurl

 

Went to visit the dog that I'll be walking today. She is really cute and a real sweetheart. I can't wait to start going there to visit. What a fun opportunity!!

 

 So, Taylor Hicks is the winner. He really was the better vocalist over Katharine McPhee (who really looks just like her mom), but Katharine was pretty. Comcast had issues with their Fox feed almost the entire time the 2 hour finale show was on and it was ANNOYING. The sound would cut out all of the time and then come back on. ARGH!

 

I can't wait for the weekend! Only two more work days left until another THREE days of relaxation. Yay for holidays!!

 So I answered a Craigslist ad today and I'm going to dog walk occasionally for someone who lives near my house. She just needs someone on evenings and weekends and she even has a neighbor who might need me to walk her dog too! How cool. I'm looking foward to hanging out with the pups and making some extra cash on the side! Yay!

 

 The weather has been HOT HOT HOT outside! 80 some degrees outside. Bryan is out mowing the lawn. We need to clean the house and buy lots of BBQ food for this weekend. All of Bryan's extended family will be over after Steph's graduation open house to check out our place and have dinner. The fun never ends! It's  been busy every weekend since we've moved down to the Twin Cities. 

The start of another week. I'm glad Memorial Day is coming up. We don't have anything planned yet. Had a good weekend, hanging out with friends, shopping, even snuck in a nap on Sunday. I'm still feeling a bit sick, now it's progressed to be a cough. Yuck. I sound sicker than I feel. This weekend, Stephanie is graduating and is celebrating with an open house. Everyone will be here from out of town and we are having a BBQ so everyone can see our house. We are also going to help Tyler and Becki move into their respective new townhomes this weekend. They are both closing on their places this Friday. Everyone I know is buying a house, or getting married, or both!

 

Today after work I worked out, rented Last Holiday from Redbox and took Zoe to the dog park in Plymouth. It's a BEAUTIFUL day.  Zoe made friends with a black minature poodle named Jack. He was very cute! Zoe ran around and played with all of the other dogs, which is something that she usually doesn't do at the dog park. She usually just follows the perimeter of the fence. This dog park doesn't have any fences, only bushes and trees. It's a bit far from our house but it's very nice.

Really, how did Mayor Ray Nagin will the election?? That really doesn't make too much sense to me. I really feel that politicians should be able to speak eloquently. Oh well, not like I have a right to vote for the New Orleans mayor anyway.

 

Yesterday Jennie and Becki came over to my place and I made them lunch. Then, we went to Trader Joe's and looked around and then headed to Albertville for a fun day of shopping. I bought a few presents for other people and some new sunglasses for myself.  After that, everyone came over and we grilled out. It went late into the night and by the time I got to bed, I was exhausted!

 

I started a Sunday subscription to my favorite newspaper- the Minneapolis Star Tribune and it's not outside my door today, so I guess I'll have to see if they drop it off by my mailbox across the street. A pain in the butt that it's across the street. I like it when mailboxes are right outside or even better, a chute that leads into your front door.

 

Boy am I an idiot. I drove all the way to Ikea, which is about 20 miles from where I live to return a couple of things, I found a parking spot in the front and was about to go in the store when I realized... I FORGOT TO BRING THE STUFF TO RETURN! Felt like such an idiot. There was no way I was going to go home and get the stuff, so I just headed to the Mall of America, walked around, got a couple of things, had some lunch and came back home. DUH!! I've still got some errands I have to run but I really don't feel like doing much else but lying around and taking a nap. I might take Zoe to the dog park here in Plymouth- we've never been there before. Also need to go to Target to get some stuff and I need to return a library book.

Last night, Bryan and I went to the Da Vinci Code. Opening night and the theater was packed! We arrived a half an hour before the movie started and found great seats. The theater was huge, probably the largest one they had. I thought the movie was okay. The critics are pretty much spot on with this movie. It's long and drawn out, a little bit under acted, they really didn't have expressions as you would expect them to. Of course the book is way better than the movie, hard to beat a person's imagination.

 

Before we went to the movie, we went to David's Bridal next door and ordered the bridesmaids dresses for Kim's wedding. They should be in at the end of June. Then we'll have to go in and try them on and get alterations done.

 

This morning I think I'm going to have some breakfast, maybe go work out or walk by the lake, run a couple of errands and then shower and get ready for Jennie and Becki to come over.  Weekends rock? Have a mentioned that before?

This morning I attended the new member orientation for ASTD-TCC, a training and development professional orgainzation that I just became a member of. Met some interesting people and found out more about ways to get involved and to network with other professionals involved in the training field. This is exactly what I was looking for to further my career and to develop as a trainer. I hope to attend their events and learn more about teaching others.

 

Found out about another engagement that happened earlier this week. Our friend Jan is engaged! We know her through Jennie- they went to interior design school together at NDSU. Jan is moving with her fiance Rob to Louisville, Kentucky for him to start his medical residency. Congratulations!  Seems like everyone is getting married!

 

Going to the Da Vinci Code later today with Bryan. He's taking half the day off to do some work around the house- mowing the lawn and painting the garage. The paint is worn and chipping, so we are just putting a fresh coat on. He's also planning to paint our back shed to match with the color of the siding on the house. Took a sample of our siding into Home Depot last weekend and they were able to match the color exactly, but only after three tries. Looking forward to shopping with Jennie and Becki tomorrow. Haven't seen them for a while. Everyone is just so busy with their own lives. Bryan has plans to golf all weekend, which will give me some time to catch up on my errands and my long-delayed house cleaning. Yuck!

...with the weekend...

 

The Da Vinci Code is almost released! Along with Over the Hedge, which looks very cute. Good thing summer movies are coming out, not very exciting when there are absolutely no good choices at the theater. On Saturday I'm going shopping with Jennie and Becki. Should be fun. I need to look for some clothes and shoes for work. On Sunday I'm hoping to go to Peking Garden for dim sum- YUM!!  I haven't had dim sum since we were in Vegas for our wedding two years ago. I can't believe we've been married nearly two years! Time sure has a way of flying by when you're having fun.

 

So, no surprise that Elliot was voted off American Idol, huh? I can't believe how close those votes were- 33%, 33%, 33%. Now I really wonder who is going to win. Katharine is very pretty, but I think Taylor might be the better singer. Ah, American Idol.

 Took my ITIL Foundations (IT Service Management stuff) exam this morning. Quite nerve-wracking. I think I wrecked it for myself. Took the pre-test last night and did okay in it. This morning we still had material to cover and we breezed right through it. I reviewed through all of the information that was covered, but it was hard to have a good, comprehensive understanding of everything that was covered in just two and a half days of training. Especially when I'm rather new to the industry and to the whole concept of ITIL. My strong points are definition Service Desk and Incident/Problem Management, since that's the nature of the department that I work in. I really, really hope I pass the test! If not, I have to shell out $150 of my own cash to re-take it.  YUCK! I would rather spend my own money on other things than a certification exam! But, I guess I did the best that I could have. I went through my answers a few times. They really have a way of wording the questions in a tricky manner, so you really start to question yourself. Apparently, they'll be grading the exams in 48 hours and we should know by email pretty soon and then by snail mail. I think I would be more surprised if I passed than if I failed it!  I REALLY HOPE THAT I PASS!! Guess I'll know soon enough! I'm completely shot from training, not to mention that my throat is still hurting and I need some sleep. How is it only Wednesday??

 

I'm thinking of volunteering for two events through work- one is the grand opening of the  Midtown Global Market and the other is GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Pride Festival at Loring Park.  I'm going to think about both of them, trying to do some good, but yet preserving my weekends at the same time.

 

The Da Vinci Code comes out this weekend. I'm looking forward to watching it. Wondering if it's going to be completely overrated.

I think Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee both deserve to win. Hehehe. Kind of embarrassing that I watch American Idol, but at this point, if you don't, it's hard to follow along with other people's conversation about it. Who do you think is going to win?

Bleh. I have a sore throat and a headache.  I'm trying to sit through a training class, but it's getting difficult to concentrate. Tomorrow I have to take a test, so I really need to get into gear and study tonight. This sucks! On the other hand, my jaw is feeling better. Two weeks ago, I started having jaw pains, dentist thinks it's TMJ so he referred me out to a couple of specialists, which I can't get an appointment with for almost a month anyway. Getting older sucks. I just feel like going home, crawling into bed and sleeping for the rest of the day.

 

Good news, the Global Market downstairs at work has opened. It's a FANTASTIC collection of restaurants and vendors, featuring all sorts of international entrees and desserts. YUM. The place looks great and I can't wait to try each place. It's going to be hard not spending money every day there! It's nice to have an option for lunch now, instead of having to walk over to Abbott Northwestern Hospital and going to McD's or their cafeteria.

 

This weekend I'm going shopping with Jennie and Becki. Bryan was supposed to head out of town with his buddies for the weekend, but no one has called him back. So we might go to Da Vinci Code sometime. I'm definitely buying tickets instead of trying to wait in line and having them sell out. Gotta plan plan plan!  Hope the movie is good and not totally overrated. I hope they make Angels and Demons into a movie too.

 

Can't believe it's already the MIDDLE OF MAY! Time sure flies by quickly. I can't wait till the summer comes in for good- nice warm weather. But I know it will leave us just as soon as it comes.

Read in the Star Tribune that Trader Joe's (http://www.traderjoes.com/) opened their brand spanking store today in St. Louis Park. YAY!! I've been waiting a few years after catching wind that they were finally coming to Minnesota. I decided to head over there straight from work and I guess everyone else had the same idea! Good thing is that there is plenty of parking in the Excelsior/Grand area. I picked up some food to make dinner for the next few nights, Bryan's fave cereal, some toiletries and of course, some two buck chucks (Charles Shaw wine for $2.99 a bottle). Tasty tasty! I love that store. The people that work there are nice, the food is cheap and better than the standard variety. It's a very interesting place to shop, they have a nice selection of things that you can't really find easily or at least for the price they offer it at! I recommned the place to everyone! GO!

 

Spent today at work in a training course, lots of information, my head is about to explode. Have to study up before we are tested later this week. What a busy week! Woosh.

 This morning, Bryan and I got up early and headed to the Mall of America for the Race for the Cure. Traffic on 494 was horrible. There were thounsands of people there. We parked quite a few blocks away, walked to the Mall to get registered and then walked to where the race started. The entire time we were walking in a huge crowd of people. When we were done, we headed to Ikea to get something really quickly and then back to our car a couple of miles away. What a lot of walking! After that, we went to the driving range right next to our house and hit a bucket of balls. Generally it was a cold and wet day. Brr. I really hope it starts to warm up a bit, this is getting a bit old. It's the end of the weekend again. DANG!!