Happy Valentine's Day

Hal writes:

Well, that had to be the longest dry spell in between blogs that we've had. I was talking with Jim about how I'm just not sure if people check this or not, be he assured me inquiring and curious minds are always prevelant, and that people do check in with us from time to time.

I am happy to report I am sleeping much better after getting through my hall sign-up process for next year and RA placements that occured on Monday. I found myself last night feeling like I was forgetting something, simply because it was evening and I was not working. I don't know what I am going to do with myself once my living space and office are not a few feet from each other.

Anna and I celebrated Valentine's Day a day early (in part to her working at the coffee shop last night), but it was nice to enjoy the evening in a quiter atmosphere than what the actual evening would have brought. We went down to Galena and enjoyed a meal at Vinny Vanucchi's, one of a fewItallian restaurants in the area. There were a handful of post-college to 30 something couples in the restaurant with us, probably having the same idea of avoiding the crowds. The food was ok, but I think we prefer Fried Green Tomatoes as the restaurant of choice in Galena. Below is a picture of us in the restaurant, but unfortunately the camera was on the wrong setting, so the picture isn't that clear.


Outside of the restaurant was this poor little lion. The icicles made it look like he had a cold with a snotty nose. It humored me enough to take a picture.
Anna created some Valentine's Day cupcakes for her classmates in the PT program. Here they are on display with the cupcake display rack that Anna's grandma got her for Christmas.


This afternoon I have my yearly employee evaluation. Last year about this time I had my first evaluation which only covered September - December of my first semester here, but now my supervisors have a whole year's worth of dirt on me. Hopefully they will want to hire me back for next year. ;)

Up north for the weekend

Hal writes:

This weekend Anna and I went up north to visit both families. Our first stop was at an outlet mall on the way up for some good deals (multiple $4 items at the GAP!) before getting to Shell Lake to see Anna's mom and Kat. The next morning we went to a local Scandanavian imports store that was closing. Everything was 50% off and it was the last day so there were deals to be found. I walked away with two Scandanavian sweaters direct from Norway and we both found some other treasures. After our shopping adventure we had lunch at Alley Cats, a coffee shop in Spooner.


"But baby, it's cold outside..." Brrr, not the best weekend to head north. While in Spooner there were activities for "Jack Frost Days". Here is a picture of the temperature at high noon.

In addition to Ice Fishing, snowmobile races, and other winter games, I also participated in some winter contests. Below is me attempting to Turkey Bowl on the frozen lake. I chose the Butterball in an attempt to knock down the pins. The first few tosses were wide left, but after the turkey and I came to an understanding, I was able to knock a few down. Next up came the four hole golf course on the frozen lake. You can see the tire and flag on the left acting as the hole and pin. Clubs are the same, but we used colorful nerf balls that you can see in the snow. But, as cold as it was, I only completed one hole.
After Wisconsin we were up in Minnesota to visit my parents for the rest of the weekend. In addition to Valentine's Day presents, my mom put together a shadow box of items from my second marathon (medal, newspaper clippings, pictures, etc.). And my dad made it known that he added the bracket on the back to be able to hang it up on the wall. ;)

This week has been very busy for me with hall sign-up processes. Last night I was up to 1am working on consolidation. I enjoy this type of work, but I can go without the nightmares I have been having where I mess up the process and my supervisor yells at me. No fun!

RA Interviews

Hal writes:

We are currently on our third day of interview RA candidates. It is a tiring process to continually do 30 minute interviews back to back, but since we are having all of the interviews take place in my hall, I can sneak back to my apartment for an occasional break. Here is a picture of me and one of my RAs welcoming candidates. Who wouldn't want to be an RA candidate after looking at a photo like this?

My parents bought us a wine rack for a Christmas present, but the first one they bought us had some parts break during the shipping process. We finally got a new one shipped (only one part broken that I was able to fix) and Anna and I put it together. Looks like we may have to go wine shopping to fill up some of the empty spaces...

Anna returned last Friday and began school this week. Here is a photo of some flowers that were waiting for her when she returned. They have been in the apartment for a week and still look nice. This was also an attempt to take a photo with a special setting for up-close photos.

Back to more RA interviews...