Oh Stormy Night

After the fun earlier in the day, we had some time to relax Saturday night, at least until a major storm rolled in. No pictures during the storm itself, but we could barely see across the street! The main cell went right over our neighborhood. The after storm sky was awesome, and pictures can hardly do it justice.

Normally, that'd be it. But around 11:30, the internet and tv went out. The storm had come thru during the 8:30-9:00 time frame, so it was odd that two hours later is when we lost tv, but nothing is beyond Comcast.

6:30 Sunday morning rolls around, and Kelsey lets the dog out, only to run back into the bedroom, "Aaron, a branch is in the garden!" Why would we need to move it now? Okay, I figured I'd go look...

Um, that's not a branch so much as 1/4 the tree!

It took out the aerial cable and phone lines, as well as parts of two fences. We were pretty worried about the health of the tree, but Northeast Tree came by and said it's in very good health. At first they weren't going to be able to remove the branch until Wednesday, but surprise, they showed up Monday! As did Comcast to rerun the cable line.

Nord Stern Drive

I'm back! After a long recess, I've decided to return to this page. Not that there's tons of excitement, but at least there's something.

This past weekend was the Nord Stern Vino in the Valley tour. Approximately 40 Porsches met in Prescott for a 4-5 hour drive around western Wisconsin, stopping at the Eau Galle Cheese Factory, before eating at Vino in the Valley. Starting out, Kelsey and I were behind a 2010 Turbo Cabriolet. When he hit the gas, 500+ horsepower erupted, screaming for traction! It was amazing!

Most of the cars were pretty recent models, but we had a nice lineup of the 924/944/968 series. Below is my 944 Turbo, a 968, a 924 Turbo, an early 944, and another 944 Turbo. You can definitely tell the family relation.

Although this specific car didn't take part in the drive, it did show up at Vino in the Valley. It's a 911 GT2.

A rare 911 Turbo Flatnose (or Flachbau) was along as well. The Flatnose option added up to 60% more to the sticker price!!

The final stop for the tour, Vino in the Valley! This restaurant is kind of in the middle of nowhere, yet they had a 2.5 hour wait on Saturday night!

That wasn't all the excitement for Saturday, but you'll have to check the next post for the follow up.

IMG00035-20100123-1452.jpg

Meat raffling on a Saturday, won some chops!

AJ Hawk Is Dead To Me!!

As I was informed of recently, I've been neglecting my blog, pretty severely. For many reasons, I had stopped updating. Mostly due to lack of content of suitable interest, but also because I was lazy. BUT I RETURN!! As you'll see, I've gone back in history, and added postings to where they should've occurred. Cheating? Maybe, but I call it one of the benefits of modern technology.

So this weekend was a big weekend. As you most undoubtably know, I'm a Packer fan. And this weekend brought a playoff game, which I was very excited to watch. See, they were playing the Cardinals, who they throttled twice this season, most recently being last week. If you saw the game, you'll know that the Pack did a great job of digging themselves quite a hole. Down 17-0, Rodgers lead the pack all the way back to a 45-45 tie to force overtime!! (a defensive spectacle, this was not).

At one point during the darkest, deepest depression, I had made the comment that I would burn my unlucky AJ Hawk jersey if the Pack lost. Of course, I was expecting something along the lines of 73-10 when I said that, but that's a minor detail. Many people had pointed out the unluckyness of the Hawk jersey. Even Dave, A LIONS FAN, mentioned that I brought nothing but pain upon my team when I donned said jersey.

"Why not wear the Reggie White jersey? It's always good luck!"

A true statement, I must add.

But the Pack lost in the end. So upon the completion of the game, I headed outdoors. To do what I know needed to be done. To rid this world of AJ Hawk, forever!!

For safety's sake, I used my grill. Also, because I didn't want to ruin the pavement or what I call grass.

You'd be amazed at how quickly and easily a polyester jersey soaked in lighter fluid will light. If you ever catch fire while wearing polyester, well, I'm sorry.

All that's left of the Hawk jersey. Yes, the grill's pretty much ruined too, but that's the price you pay. It was a free grill anyways...

And no, I'm not peeing on the jersey near the end (although I should have), it's just more lighter fluid.

Tubing!

Nothing will stop us! Not even bitterly cold -5 degree temperature. That just means we'll have the hill to ourselves. Unfortunately Kelsey wasn't feeling well, so didn't come out. But we had a great time. I thought I got a few videos while going down the hill, but my stupid camera (or stupid operator) was in time lapse mode, so the movie didn't work out so great.

A nice picture of the hill from the bottom, though.

Packers/Ravens on MNF!

Justin was kind enough to let me join him at the Monday Night Football Packers/Ravens game. Being December, and all, it's bound to be cold. For reference, the jump to the last cold weather game I went to, or take a look at all the layers I'll have on.

There's 4 to 5 layers there. Not shown are the insulated boots, but I had all that on at once.

My coworker Ricci and his wife Connie also made the trip out, as did some other Minneapolis friends of ours. Of course, Justin and I beat them to the tailgate by 3 or so hours.

Justin's seats are in one respect amazing. Right on the corner of the end zone, looking down the goal line. If the action is on the other side, well, you're screwed. Fortunately for us, all the scoring was on our side!

We also happened to sit next to the Raven's Fan Man. He's their ultimate fan! Can you tell?

End score, 27-14 Packers. Kelsey wasn't so happy (she's a Raven's fan), but fortunately she wasn't there to take her anger out on me!

Grandad Bluff

We went to LaCrosse over Thanksgiving, and Kelsey had never visited Grandad Bluff, one of LaCrosse's finest attraction (after the World's Largest Six Pack, of course).

It was cold, and a bit hazy, but we got a decent view of LaCrosse.

A panorama, which covers pretty much the whole city.

Pumpkin Carving

Soon it was time for our annual pumpkin carving party! Lots of people came with autumnal brews, and I made cider, as always. The carvings this year were quite intricate, especially one of Jake's, which has some neat shading. I wish I could remember who cut each one, but there were a lot.

Hello! Is it meeeee you're looking for? Yes, Lionel. We're looking at you.

We'll see you all again next year!

Larson/Boyd Wedding

Continuing the move forward in time, mid-October brought the nuptials for Kristen and Cameron. Their wedding was at the Mill City Museum, which was fabulous. A great time was had by all.

Here's the Larson family portrait.

Kelsey's niece and nephew, Tessa and Camden.

The sister picture.

First dance.

And all of us having a good time afterwards.

Oktoberfest '09

No commentary required here. Just the annual drunkfest. A fun time, for sure!