Rog and I enjoyed a busy (as usual) weekend in the ‘burbs. Friday night we meandered over to Southdale and discovered Bachrach; Roger’s looking sharp in a new spring jacket not to mention an “Italian cut” (”Ooh, it’s Italian cut!”) suit that was marked way down.

Saturday, we volunteered at Minnesota Public Radio. By pure coincidence, Single Volunteers of the Twin Cities (the organizatoin through which Roger and I met) had organized an event at MPR at the same time we were there …. in the elevator on the way up I regognized one of the volunteers from an event about two years ago. Rog and I turned out to be the “success story” for the SVTC volunteers that night. The other upside: our group of volunteers pulled in about $35,000 during a half hour break. We got such a huge kick out of hearing the reasons people pledge to public radio.

Eric hosted a housewarming party Saturday night. (Eric, I left you a gift on your digital camera.)

Roger’s actually home now … I just forgot to mention it. It’s not like he’s been sitting at the MSP airport for a week or anything ….

Roger’s halfway home!

I had a bit of a close call with the mail this afternoon. The secretary for my office popped her head in my door, holding a brown package. “For you,” she said. “Ooh, how exciting,” I thought, especially since I hadn’t ordered anything — and after all, it IS Valentine’s Day.

So, I’m sitting at my desk looking at a shoe-boxed size package, with my name and address clearly typed on a label, and the return address listed as “Fulfillment America, Inc., One Burlington Ave., Wilmington, MA 01887.” Hmm. An order not placed. A package with an unknown return address. My old name on the label. Images of the Suspicious Mail Alert Poster I scrutinized at the Post Office last week flashed through my head. What was I supposed to do?

So … like an idiot, I slit open the package, holding it away from my face so that when it did explode, shrapnell wouldn’t actually hit me. Turns out it was the latest McSweeney’s, which, according to their web site, was shipped in a brown box last week. Lesson learned: update all subscriptions and read McSweeney’s more often.

To me, really, the Olympics are like the Oscars: Who cares who gets the gold …. it’s all about the fashion, baby.

Paula and I watched the opening ceremonies Friday night and decided to convert to Canadianism after seeing their sweet uniforms. This year’s Olympic gear for both the Canadians and Americans is made by Roots, a Toronto-based clothier that willingly took on the job after Nike (gasp!) turned it down. Those fabulous berets and scarves can be purchased through Sears in Canada. And everyone’s been so worried about U.S. nationalism. Hah!

I have a favorite new web site: dooce.com.

I had a chance to go to the Sixth Floor Museum over the weekend and see where JFK was shot. It was a little bit depressing, but it was one of the best displays that I’ve seen. The Dallas County Historical Society has done a wonderful job presenting all the facts and information.

After that we were off to check out the nightlife in the Westend of Dallas. We had dinner at On The Border, a good Mexican restraunt, but not all that authentic. We then checked out some shops and then headed to Dallas Alley a local hotspot that had four bars all under one roof. It was a piano bar with dueling pianos, a karoke bar, a pool hall, and a disco all in one.

Sunday we just relaxed and then headed back to Fort Worth to check out some of the stuff we missed on Friday night. This morning it was back to a full day of class. It was a litle bit hard to get started again after having the whole weekend off. But, I’ve only got a couple of more days left before heading home. And I can’t wait to get home! It’s not bad be gone for a couple of day, but two weeks is a heck of long time.

I’ve never been to a rodeo before. But it occurs to me that these people are nuts, have a screw loose, aren’t quite right in the head, etc. Last night was my very first rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum at the Stockyards in Fort Worth. Apparently it makes it better because the Cowtown Coliseum was the first indoor rodeo! The fact that someone would ride a wild bull or jump off a horse going at full speed to wrestle a steer amazes me. Granted I did find it entertaining.

The other highlights last night were eating at the Cattlemen’s Restraunt and seeing a gunfight outside White Elephant Saloon. Oh and how can I forget watching the movie Speed while riding on the bus. It makes you feel very comfortable seeing a bus blow up on TV as you are riding in one.

We’re finally done with class for the week. A couple of us rented a car and are headed for Dallas this afternoon to do some sightseeing, find a Mexican restraunt, and find some of the night life. It should be a nice diversion from sitting in class 10 hours a day!

Today it was finally Sunny! Being in Texas has sucked so far…at least the weather that is. Things have been going pretty well this week. We just got back from having a campfire. Afterall, isn’t that what the Boy Scouts is all about. We had to do songs and Jim came up with one that stuck in the heads of everyone. By the way, Jim say hi to everyone!

Tomorrow we’re fixin’ to go to the Stockyards in Fort Worth for dinner and to a rodeo. I wish I would have broght my boots with. Then we have most of the weekend off. Five of us are renting a car and are getting the heck out of this place. There really isn’t much to do out here. The only place to go are the gym, to Chili’s and the Marriot hotel bar. So we are getting the heck out of here and I don’t care where!

Greetings from Texas. I see that Lynsey has already beat me by letting everyone know that it is snowing here. Yes, it’s been snowing for the last 9 hours and shows no sign of stopping. Down here, I’m sure it will shut down the city. I always figured that it would be nice and sunny like it was on the TV show Dallas…I guess I was wrong.

I’m actually down here for Boy Scout Training. The funny thing is that I just got out of the National Guard because of having to go to two week trainings and weekend and then got a job doing the same thing. Anyway, things are going well down here. I’ve met a bunch of really nice people from all over the country. There are 34 of us from all the corners of the continental US. Well, back to class.

Well, Roger’s off in Texas for the next two weeks, so someone has to update this site! (I’ve been busy over at the other site lately). The major news: we closed on and moved into our new house. Drop us a note if you want our new address (yeah, I could post it here but I have this issue with stalkers). T.J. has already recommended that we host our housewarming party the day of the Oscars, killing two birds with one stone. Invites to be mailed shortly.

Roger emailed me today and said it’s snowing in Dallas. It’s sunny and beautiful here. Oh, the delicious irony.