I’m home again. Michiana (that’s Michigan and Indiana, silly!) was wonderful and I do hope to post some pictures soon (this weekend, at the latest). And don’t bother checking over here first for pics; Eric slyly pulled me away from the festivities on Sunday to ask if I wouldn’t mind sending him a few photos to post in the near future.

Friday’s drive out to Elkhart, Indiana, proved to be a long one. The most exciting part of the 12 hour (I repeat: 12 hour!) adventure was the lewd truck driver ogling and honking at what I would assume to be one (or two?) of my certain anatomical features. When other passing truckers started to look down at the Blue Corsica with Minnesota plates, I figured Mr. Perverted Truck Driver Man was radioing half his comrades on 1-80/90. Great.

It rained. A lot. We were very cold in our new tent. But the weather didn’t stop us from adventuring through the Amish countryside Saturday morning. We stopped at an Amish cheese factory to watch cheese being made and for free samples. Our only regret: not buying more cheese to take home. Then, on to the Yoder Popcorn Shoppe for more free samples (of popcorn, that is) and a bag of kernels. We continued our trek through the country admiring the beautifully landscaped and well-tending Amish gardens and homes … and frequent Amish buggys, too. Horseshit? Everywhere. (There’s no reason to call it anything fancy, she says.) Completely and utterly charming. I want a buggy.

Saturday night we swung by the Molho cottage/cabin for burgers, brats and mustard. A stuck mustard cap resulted in me spraying mustard over every piece of warm clothing (with the exception of one sweatshirt) I owned for the weekend. In that situation, there is nothing to do but laugh. And you, too, will laugh when you see the photos. Which will be posted soon. Very soon. I promise.

It continued to rain through Sunday, but as Uncle Ron says, “A rainy day at the lake is better than a sunny day at home.” And he was right. This weekend wasn’t all about the weather: it was about celebration and wonderful friendships. And I think, if judging by those standards, that this past weekend — and especially Sunday’s party — was a complete success.

Eric’s family is wonderfully charming and delightful. Manny and Mary Lu welcome us with open arms. Kris, Ross, Taylor and Jacob cooked up a storm and remained cheerful and friendly all weekend. Aunt Katie made fun of Uncle Ron, and Uncle Ron told wonderful stories of his travels. Uncle Ron is now my new travel agent (or will be, when I book my next cruise.)

We finally tore down camp Monday morning (when the sun came out — the first sun in four days) and headed back to Minneapolis … to arrive at 8 p.m. and finally grill up the steaks that were meant to be grilled Friday night when we arrived in Michigan. (We settled for hot dogs and potato chips, instead. No fun to grill

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Summer hours officially started yesterday. 7:30 to 4:30, half hour for lunch, and off at noon on Fridays. I, myself, have yet to officially start summer hours.

Good news: after spilling an entire mug of blazing hot coffee over my keyboard at work, the computing center delivered a new one, no questions asked.

The Howard Scripps National Spelling Bee officially began today. Check out “This Week at the Bee” — which is kind of like a bee blog. Cool. I always wanted to be in the bee.

At the gym yesterday, I saw a car with a Blogger bumper sticker. Small, small world.

One year ago today: first date with Rog!

Last week it was 90. This week it’s 30. Not the Memorial Day Weekend kind of weather one wants to kick off summer with, is it? Oh well … at least Fresh! remains fresh with a new, summery, celebratory photo. I figure the flag covers Memorial Day, Flag Day (June 14, in case you were wondering) AND the Fourth of July.

Memorial Day plans include the Lake Bash at Eric’s cabin in Michigan. We’ll be kamping at the local KOA, where the restrooms are clean and the swimming pool is warm. Roger and I have decided we like the concept of being high maintenance campers; none of this lightweight let’s put everything we need into one backpack and survive off of tree bark for three days kind of camping bullshit for us!

We gave the new 14×14 Coleman tent a dry run (actually, a wet run considering the rain on Sunday) this weekend at Saktah Lake State Park, just south of Northfield a half an hour or so. The mosquitoes were out in full force; after 17 bites on my legs in 20 minutes, we were off to Waterville in search of bug spray.

Our visit to the tiny town reminded me a bit of an episode of the X-Files. Once we were in town, I wasn’t sure if these people and places really existed or if the town itself was a figment of my imagination. We found our way to Main Street and enjoyed a classic automobile show and trip to the hardware store. Imagine your local Sears. Now imagine putting that Sears into the size of your local MiniMart. Uh huh. The owner told us if we could find our way out of the store, he’d give us a job. The hardware store was surreal in itself. One should travel to Waterville just for the hardware store.

Next stop: firewood, then ice cream and a newspaper at the local Philip’s “PhilMart.” Don’t pass a bad check in Waterville; they’ll hang a framed copy of it up in the gas station. Might as well post their mugshots, too, while you’re at it.

Back at the campsite, we enjoyed grilling, S’mores, the campfire and brisk evening. The rain started around 6 a.m. Sunday morning and persisted, until we finally gave in and tore down the tent in the downpour. Tonight: pull the soggy tent out of plastic bags and reassemble on my lawn, hoping it doesn’t rain again and hoping that some senior prankster doesn’t run off with our weekend housing.

Updates will be sparse until next week sometime (but hell, what’s new?). I do promise to post some fetching photos of our weekend in Michigan.

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State Investigates First Homicide in Park System`s 110-Year History. Makes me think about my own Sunday in the State Parks.

I wish that the weblog community would get over the Kaycee Nicole hoax and instead pay attention to a “real” death: Professor James Holloway of Pacific Lutheran University was, at random, gunned down last Thurdsay by a gunman who walked onto campus, shot the man four times, and then turned the gun on himself. PLU is a “sister school” to St. Olaf and we only know too well what it is like to deal with tragedy this year.

Yeah, right …

Monday, May 14, was officially declared as “toplessness day.”

(Hey, it’s not what you think. Really.)

The soft top came off the solar yellow jeep wrangler (scroll down a bit for an old reference) on Monday. Roger officially declared it “toplessness day,” and hence decided that the Dairy Queen in Northfield would taste much better with his best gal than any Dairy Queen in the Cities without her. Golly, I love surprise visits and DQ Blizzards at 9 o’ clock at night and temps of 85 degrees after the sunset …

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It’s the last day of classes today and summer is coming! Just next weekend we’ll be piling our camping gear into the car and heading out to Michigan to help Eric celebrate his graduation from the University of Michigan. Our first “lake bash” of the summer and I can’t wait!

“What a strange thing I have found. This site was, is, and seems to be an accident. To stumble upon such ideas can only be a connection misunderstood. These are the most inspirational thoughts I’ve ever found on-line….kudos , indeed.”

Wow. It’s not every day a person receives such an e-mail message from an anonymous source. Unfortunately, I believe theses “kudos” weren’t meant for me, but instead, another (see second paragraph — he’s already taking credit!).

Updates on last week’s updates:

- Wendy and Tim are still engaged and have set the date for the big day in 2002. (And Wen, I accept your offer and will design your wedding day invitations. I’m flattered and thank the Lord you gave me a year to work on them.)

- My Pilates class is still cancelled. T.J. told me he thought it was spelled “Paladdis.”

- The rummage sale (as far as my personal gain goes) was un utter flop. I am now $53.50 richer, and after working at the sale during a rainy and cold Satruday, $33.01 in co-pays poorer for the drugs it’s taking to get rid of my upper respiratory something or other.

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The B is for Bacon.

No news is good news? Please drop me a line when you can find news of the cheating scandal on UVA’s own web site.

My horoscope told me to write in my diary last night. Oops. I was too busy getting teary-eyed over Keith, Colby and Tina’s emotional hike through the outback. Thank God that’s over … I need my Thursday nights back.

A few tiny updates:

- If you’re here looking for news on Wendy and Tim, go here instead.

- May Day came and went. I gave away one May Day basket and have yet to be chased and kissed for my efforts. Whatever happened to such good, old fashioned fun?

- Sadly, my Wednesday night Pilates class has been cancelled. The Hundred, anyone?

- I have a relatively short history in the retail clothing business, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t the victim ot a few shopping sprees (all on discount, of course). Ladies, you’re in luck: tomorrow about a fourth of my wardrobe is going on sale. Pants, dresses, sweaters (in a wide range of sizes, trust me!) are going on sale bright and early tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Cashmere for $5! Drop me a line for further details.

Life is average. And I’m doing okay with that.