Tales of a Shoebox Princess

I turn 50 tomorrow and I've been focusing on making this 50th year of mine an enjoyable one. Jim and I have done a lot of fun things. Last April, I learned I was diabetic, which initially was a sad thing, but now has turned into one of the biggest gifts of my 50th year. The goal I didn't know I had was to lose 50 lbs by the time I turned 50, and today, one day before I officially turn 50, I met that goal. I realized in early November that it was going to be possible and in spite of a wedding anniversary and Thanksgiving since then, I managed to realize this goal. I still have more to lose to get to my eventual goal, but I'm half way there. At the beginning of 2017, and heck, for at least 15 years, I never thought it was possible to be the weight I am today. It's not just the weight loss, but it's the knowledge that I can control some things in my life that I thought were not controllable. It's the feeling of more agile movement, less joint pain, fewer rest

It's not a random photo dump with out a picture of the cat. He's just such a pretty cat, I have a hard time NOT taking pictures of him. Too bad he's a grumpy gus. These babies drove all night to get home for Thanksgiving. Two niece babies and a son baby. Matt holds an actual baby kitty. His feline niece. Isn't she cute? Thanksgiving with Mom and Jen. random selfie with reading glasses tree in the yard all ready for Christmas Another one of the cat.  almost competed hat super moon Kate! He still looks like that, right? 

Casinos. The layouts are purposely confusing. They are dark, which, OK, I don't mind so much, but there are no windows to the outside. The ones in Minnesota allow smoking indoors. Jim and I remember an age where smoking was allowed indoors everywhere, but we are so used to the "new" laws that smoking indoors, with all its attendant consequences (smoky greasy air that burns the eyes, piercing smell that latches onto any surface and won't let go, ashtrays--both empty and disgustingly full--knobs of people standing around doing nothing BUT smoking) (screed over), is a perplexing novelty. Worst of all are the slot machines. Used to be they rang and jingled and spit money occasionally, but the patrons were still, to me, zombies. They sat there and stared at the machine, feeding it coins, and not talking to anyone. It just does not look fun to me. Now of course there are no coins involved, just plastic or account numbers. There is no arm to pull, just buttons to push or scr

So close on the heels of the visit to Glensheen mansion last moth, Jim and I toured the James J Hill house in St. Paul on Saturday. This tour was the start of our anniversary celebration. We've been married 29 years and we're aiming for more! The James J Hill house was laid out just like the Glensheen, only bigger. Everything was so dark! For having a lot of windows (both inside and out, yes, inside windows, like the foot level windows in the interior of a stairwell) it was DARK. I guess they do keep it slightly dark to protect the furnishings, but the hall was paneled in dark wood and made it even gloomier. Good thing my new phone camera likes a challenge. Mantel detail. I loved the marching cherubs. They created depth or time or whatever by having the line gradually fade back to nearly flat. heat register. I wish mine were this fancy! THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE HOUSE I love the pull marked "Blower Signal." It's there so that you can signal t

For me the whole point of going to the North Shore last weekend is so I could see Devil's Kettle Falls. I'd heard about it a few years ago, a "mystery" place! It's a two-pronged waterfall on the Kadunce River, with one side your normal, run-of-the-mill water going over rocks and continuing to flow onward in a river-like fashion. The other side, however, goes down a hole, described in whatever article I read about it as "bottomless" because they didn't know where the water ended up. This I had to see. Bottomless pits are a bottom-less pit of fascination. Since I read that article, a credible theory has arisen to explain where the water goes, and while it is a bit of a let down, it is nice to know the bottomless pit is not a wormhole to another dimension that needs our river water. The theory is that the water ends up back in the river by emerging back up into the river bed from underneath.  Regardless of how bottomless the hole is, where the wate

Jim and I went up north over the weekend and I took WAY too many pictures, enough so that I can do an entire blog post about the light fixtures in the Glensheen mansion. Glensheen is Minnesota's version of Downton Abbey, although not as old. It's very well appointed and just oozes with richness. We took the full house tour and were quite delighted with it because of the architectural detail and the historical background. It's fun to see how the other half lives, even if they lived a hundred years ago. lions and pineapple on the entry way light. Lions for power and wealth, pineapple for welcome they look like upside down champagne flute fixtures. Yes, that is a GOLD ceiling. water lilies The bowls look yellow, but.... ...when the lights are off, they are mint and white. I like the cord Silver, and a bear to polish LOVE the art deco lampshades! I didn't know billiard tables do not have holes like a pool table does. Nice

I'm partial towards Minnesota, having lived here most of my life. I enjoy discovering new places in Minnesota (those places are becoming fewer and fewer in number, but I don't think I'll ever see all of scenic Minnesota) and this past weekend, Jim and I crossed two off the list: Pipestone National Monument and Split Rock State Park. I took a lot of pictures at Split Rock, but the following picture sums up most of the best ones: the dam and the stone arch bridge. There was a hiking path at Split Rock and Jim and I got our shoes and socks all wet traipsing the shorter of the trails. Some of it was along the lake, and some through wooded areas. Very invigorating.  Then we went to Pipestone National Monument. Cool rocks the path along the cool rocks a waterfall from up above. We followed a tiny unpaved footpath to the upper falls area and I felt like an explorer the lower view of the falls, accessible by paved path This view would make a n