Minneapolis Disaster

copyright CNN

Weird crap keeps happening all around us...and this takes the cake. This evening a major bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed. As of now there are six reported deaths but many more are expected to be reported throughout the next few days.

Lindsey was on the I-35 when the bridge collapsed but luckily she was a few miles away from the bridge. So far we don't personally know anyone who was hurt but our thoughts and prayers are certainly with all who were affected. This prayer was offered by the president of Luther Seminary here in St. Paul:

“Loving Lord, we entrust ourselves and our community into your care on this evening. Guide with wisdom and skill the minds and hands of those who minister to the community. Grant us your healing, strength, comfort and peace during this tragedy. Lord, have mercy on all who suffer. Amen.”

Our Poor Doggie

On the last full day of our Ohio vacation we were treated to steaks and thought it would be a good idea to let Lana chomp on a bone for a while. We underestimated the power of her jaws and before we knew it she cracked the bone in half. Knowing Lana has the uncontrollable desire to swallow food which is too big, we reached to grab the bone out of her mouth. Lana panicked and decided to swallow a piece the size of a ping-pong ball. She had trouble getting it down but after a few strange choking noises she had it down and was back to running around as if nothing was wrong.

We spent the next day in the car, traveling the twelve hours from NW Ohio to St. Paul. Lana had a horrible time as she threw up a dozen times during the day. Once back in MN she continued vomiting but now blood was coming up. We took her to the animal emergency room at midnight. The vet took X-rays and delivered the news: the bone was stuck in Lana's stomach, a pocket of gas was surrounding it, and each time her stomach tried to expel the bone it risked being punctured by the sharp edges of the bone. We were left with one option: surgery.

Lindsey took the news especially hard. As a result of the long day of driving, little to eat, the stuffy environment at the vet, and the news that our dog's stomach was going to be opened up, Lindsey felt nauseous. Suddenly she made a soft noise and fell forward onto me. She had completely passed out. Her pupils were dilated and she was not responsive. The vet was freaking out as this was the first time anyone had passed out in her office. After a minute Lindz began to groan and gradually came to. After sitting down and drinking some cold water she eventually felt better and we could go home.

The vet called at 4:00am to let us know that the surgery was successful. They kept her under observation for a few hours until our vet office opened, at which point we picked Lana up from the ER. She was a sad sight: plastic cone around her head, drool pouring out of her mouth, completely doped up, and unable to get in and out of the car herself. We took her to our vet where they monitored her for the day.

It's been three days since the surgery and Lana's progressing well. Her stomach is probably healed by now, but the incision still looks nasty. She's going to get the staples removed in a week. In the meantime we are giving her a steady diet of pain-killers and antibiotics.

As you can see by the previous posts on our blog, this has been one crazy and expensive summer so far!

Adventures in Bicycling

Somehow we managed to be a one car family in SoCal, yet such an accomplishment here seems like an unreachable goal. Here's a story why:

Yesterday I wanted to go to an REI used gear sale. Lindz had the car in Wisconsin for the weekend so I set out for the two-mile ride north. As I got to the bottom of the last hill I noticed that an on-ramp to a freeway was on my right. Thinking nothing of it I kept going straight. Cars began speeding by on my right and merging onto my road. Without realizing it I was on the highway!!!

There was no way to turn back or get off the road. I had to keep going until i found an exit. I peddled as fast as my adrenaline would take me...until I hit a pothole and my rear tire exploded. So there I was riding a one-wheeled bike along a highway, cars screaming past, each person staring at me with a look of bewilderment as they drove by.

This is pretty much how it felt

By the time I took the exit ramp I had to hop off my bike and walk it the rest of the way. I was 1/2 mile north of the store but there was no parallel road to take me back, so I had to walk my bike east for a mile, down the 1/2 mile, and back west for a mile.

I eventually fixed the flat at REI and rode my bike back the rest of the way. Once home I cracked open a Grain Belt Premium, turned on the TV and listened to the news anchor tell me how lucky a day 7-7-07 was.

Remembering Pasadena

We have arrived in St. Paul, MN. Can't say that we've "settled in" here given that our stuff will not be arriving for a few more days yet. Nevertheless we've been able to see the cities, start to find our way around, and have already met some fun people.

The free time that we've had this week has given me (Aaron) a chance to reflect on our two years in Pasadena, CA. It's easy now to look back and think about how wonderful everything was. I certainly have the "rose colored glasses" thanks to our current state of transition and confusion; however I will be as honest as possible.

Many of the things I miss are not unique to Pasadena, but rather the things we all miss when we move away. I miss knowing where everything was (hours of bike riding around the city helped with that), the beautiful gardens and houses in certain areas of town, the amazing restaurants, our "secret" free parking spot downtown, etc. Of course there are some Pasadena-specific things I will miss: running around the Rose Bowl, the Mexican restaurant around the corner where we would get margaritas, the beautiful buildings such as City Hall, being close to the ocean and (attempting) to surf, going to Fuller (did I really just say that?), community keg parties, and hiking in the mountains just north of our apartment.

Of course I have to keep reminding myself that there were some frustrating parts too: the noisy apartment complex and irresponsible neighbors, the dangerous neighborhood where we lived, traffic, smog, going to Fuller (!), having to carefully navigate our dog around all the trash and food scraps along the sidewalks, 120 degree summer days, Lindsey's stressful job, being so far away from family, etc.

The hardest part of leaving was saying goodbye to the new friends we had made there. There were some people who I lost touch with towards the end of my time there and I regret taking their friendship for granted. Others I grew closer to in the last few months than I ever could have imagined. Making new friends is usually the hardest part about moving but I think we're both ready to meet that challenge head-on. We both know that new friends here in Minnesota will never take the place of the friends from Pasadena, Valpo, Madison, and Ohio. Nevertheless we are excited to meet new people here and be shaped by them.

In Memoriam

On Tuesday June 26, 2007 at approximately 7:00 pm, our family suffered a great tragedy. Our kayak "Baby Blue" was violently taken away from us - a victim of a 40 mph wind gust and a faulty car rack. She flew off of our car as we were driving north on the I-5.

We pulled the car off to the side of the road and ran back to inspect the damage. The kayak was lying motionless and unresponsive at the bottom of the ditch. Despite the twenty foot 65mph fall she was in tact and had no visible wounds; however, the collateral damage to the car rack was impossible to repair and we had no way of strapping her back to the car. The highway patrol promptly showed up and declared that there was nothing we could do for her and that we had to move on.

Disregarding the cop's advice, we did some emergency surgery - extracting the life jackets and seats from her bowels. We knew there was nothing else we could do except to say goodbye. As we took one last look at Baby Blue, scenes from her brief life filled our hearts. She had only been with us three months, but those months were filled with memories that will last a lifetime (we have the scars to prove it).

As a tribute to Baby Blue, I have made a video of her last voyage for you all to enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vayv1PeG_zc

May God have mercy on her soul.

New Blog!

It's been two years since our last blog entry and we figured it was time for an update. Unfortunately we couldn't even remember what our old blog was called or how to log into it. So, here we are with a new and hopefully more consistent blog. Enjoy!