Green is my favorite color

After many more hours then I was expecting it to take, our landscaping around the house is complete and last week we received our sod.

While the pictures are too small to do it justice, it's still pretty cool to see the difference of how the house looked the last time most of you saw it to how it looks today.

It's finally starting to feel like home.

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Soopa said...
Looks great!

Shane said...
Nattie needs a pair of mowin' shoes.

Ann said...
A definite improvement! Especially for the inside of your house I'm sure!

Shane said...
I don't believe you laid down sod. The above looks like your final projact for a Photoshop class. (Uhh... let's see... throw a tree in the front yard, paste a kiddie pool in there... erase the clouds... that should do it)

Rory said...
Yeah, and put an extra car in the garage too.

The long arm of the law

I was fortunate enough to carry on a conversation with a Rosemount police officer after leaving strato last night. Unfortunately, at the end of the discussion he saw fit to give me a ticket for speeding.

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Soopa said...
Do you think Mess tipped him you were on your way as payback for the 9th inning comeback-slam?

Elena said...
Going 70 in a 30 will win you a ticket every time!

Shane said...
I can't believe your good looks didn't get you off the hook.

26 said...
I even winked at him. Oh well. By the way, the ticket was for 64 in a 55. It's $117 smackers and a 8/23 court date if I decide to fight it. It's officially my first mark on my record.

Shannon said...
Funny story. Too bad for the outcome!

Amy said...
It's that darn post 9/11 world we live in.

Ann said...
Doah! That sucks! Don't speed through Rosemount...I speak from experience...I however got away unscathed. Does that mean I'm better looking than Brian?

26 said...
There's no debate there...you are.

Rory said...
That's your first real ticket? Damn that's good. They never got you in Fargo after those dizzying nights at FRIDAY's? And yes, Ann you are better looking.

Soopa said...
But what if Rory got pulled over? Can we get a consensus as to whether he is better looking than Ann?

Ann said...
I think Rory wins the contest. He's got that certain je ne sais quois!

26 said...
I don't think looks have much to do with it. I think the main factor would be Rory's, shall we say, moral flexibility.

Soopa said...
With all that information in hand, I pick Ann.

One is the loneliest number

Gina and I are happy to announce that Natalie will become a big sister next year.

Gina's first doctor appointment was on Monday, at which time we were told the due date is February 13. She is nine weeks along.

The baby is currently 1.96 centimeters in length with a heartrate of 161 BPM.

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jon said...
Congratulations...Keep us posted.

Shannon said...
Very Cool! Congratulations!

Soopa said...
SWEET! Congrats to all three of you!

Elena said...
Many Congratulations! We're very happy for you!

Ann said...
Hope all goes smoothly! Natie will love a sibling!

Shane said...
Oh, the babies...

Tisha said...
Natalie, Welcome to the secret world of Older Siblingdom. Your decoder ring is in the mail.

Amy said...
Babies! Babies with scrunchy Brian!Noses.

Rory said...
161 bpm's? Try dancing to that.

Jenny said...
I am very happy for the two of you! Also, I just looked at Natalie's website for the first time and those pictures of her are so cute! You two make cute babies.

Norma said...
Congrats!!!!!!!!!! "time out" is a good thing for when they start to fight. I cant go a day with out it.

Hailey Mae

Since so many people on Spam Bandits have some kind of ties to Sarah, I found this a worthy topic to post.

Gina and I are now an aunt and uncle, respectively.

Here are the details:
Born: 6/27, 10:17pm
Height: 20 inches
Weight: 8lbs 7ozs
She has some peach fuzz on her head.

And she's off...

In a recent Baby Talk interview, Natalie discussed that her motivation to take her first steps (which occurred on Mother's Day) can be attributed most to the fact that she wants to work on "the fig" before her 1st birthday celebration next week.

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Shane said...
Holy Smokes, what a tub! Love,Shane

Ann said...
Nattie might seek revenge on you posting pictures of her that make her cute baby chub look like Jaba the Hut. You guys better sleep with one eye open. To Natalie: Congrats on your big achievement! You and Alex will have tons of fun now. We won't be able to tell that Alex is a whopping 2 months older anymore. Yippee for you right?! No one wants to be the youngest. Right Brian? I mean Gina? ;)

Rory said...
Yeah, and my kids are gonna be way younger, but that's gonna make 'em super kids as they'll have to learn to "play" at a higher level to keep up with the elders. By the way, is Nattie pregers?

Amy said...
Is that Brian I see sitting on her shoulder? Cute kid.

26 said...
OK, OK. I added a more flattering picture. What a doll!!!

Rory said...
Hey! That other picture was funny. When it comes to baby photos funny outweighs cute any day, and that previous picture clearly outweighed this one. Plus I wanted to show it to someone.

Elena said...
The story was much better with the other picture! Now we can see what "fig" she is working on! Baby fat is way too adorable to cover up.

Elena said...
That was supposed to say "now we CAN'T see"

26 said...
Don't fret, the pic is still available at... http://www.barkingtortoise.com/nattie/IMG_2055.jpg

Soopa said...
I would argue that photo is cute AND funny. Sweet little girl! I love the pictures when you get see her two front teefers! Too cute!

Shane said...
You're right, Super! THAT photo is cute and funny.

Soopa said...
SNAP!

We're movin' to Duluth (sort of)

Actually, we are not. But, I was not that far off on my previous article stating that we were looking around Duluth...as the house we have agreed to purchase today happens to be on Duluth Street. It is a brand new house in a new development in Farmington that they finished building around the first of the year. Gina and I are both very excited and we will be moving sometime in April.

P.S. Anyone willing to help move us will not be turned away (and will likely be bribed with pizza and beverages).

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Soopa said...
Dude, I totally want to help you move, but, and what are the odds: I'm busy April! Actually I'll be gone the last weekend of April, but besides that count me in. SWEET!

Rory said...
I'm only interested in helping people stay put. I just wanna come over to make sure that no one is loading any thing into boxes. This goes out to Mitch H.

26 said...
BTW...I was informed last night the house is actually more of a brown (I don't recall), even though the picture makes it look blue. We shouldk now the closing date today. We are going to walk through the place one last time tonight.

Shane said...
Nice work! However, I notice a severe lack of basketball hoop and flat driveway. But I guess I can't see the full court in the backyard from this angle.

Jon said...
Hey, where's the pool also? We were all promised a pool.

26 said...
There is a hoop right down the road and a water basin just across the street. We never discussed vicinity or quality when the hoop/pool were promised...remember?

SOLD!

For those who are have not heard, we sold our townhouse on Friday. It's a non-continguent offer (which is good) but is still pending until an appraisal is done on our place this week.

The closing date is scheduled for April 25th.

Our househunt now begins!!!

3/3 Update: Everything came back fine. Our house is sold!!!

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Soopa said...
Congrats! Since the offer is non-contingent, when are we having the party where we wreck the place?

Shannon said...
I'll have my fingers crossed.

Amy said...
You know, when I helped paint that kitchen I was under the impression you were planning on getting decades out of it, not years. All that time wasted....

Elena said...
That's awesome! Good luck with the appraisal. We don't want to be TOO far away from you so we'll move... to the Grove. Does that sound like a nice thing to do for YOU?

Messa said...
SELL THAT HOUSE!

Eleven is pretty good, but...

...opportunities like the one I had tonight do not come along often, if ever.

Unfortunately, while I threw a good ball in frame seven, the seven pin decided to be a little stubborn.

It was that mere pin which was the difference between a wonderful score and bowling immortality.

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Jon Sexe said...
Wow! That is quite impressive. Congratulations!!!

Jon Sexe said...
Did the 7 pin wobble at all in the 7th or was it not hit at all?

26 said...
Nothing. I left the seven pin solid. It might have been more painful to have missed if it had danced and almost fallen.

Amy said...
I am, as they say, impressed.

Shannon said...
Nice work, what with the wrist and all.

26 said...
Fortunately, it's the other (right) wrist that hurts.

26 said...
On a side note, the very next time I bowled I put up 12 straight strikes. Unfortunately, it was nine in one game and three in the next. One of the guys we were bowling against that night has about twenty 300 games and he told me I should still be proud of it, regardless if it was over two games or not.

This afternoon I'd fail a drug test

About a month ago I developed a painful thumb/wrist inflamation. Two weeks ago I was referred to a specialist who deals with wrist tendonitis. This afternoon, I am going in for a shot to hopefully correct it. All and all, it's not all that exciting, except that Gina and I have gotten a good chuckle out of my "womanly" disease. As you read farther down, you will understand...

Definition: DeQuervain's tenosynovitis is a condition that causes pain associated with movement of the thumb. The cause of the pain of DeQuervain's is inflammation within a confined area around the base of the thumb and wrist. This inflammation is called 'stenosing tenosynovitis.' This simply means that the inflammation involves the synovium and tendons that control the movement of the thumb.

Who is susceptible to DeQuervain's tenosynovitis? DeQuervain's tenosynovitis is most common in the 30-50 year old age group, and is seen more commonly in women. DeQuervain's tenosynovitis is due to excessive use of the wrist. It is commonly seen in new mothers as the motion of picking up the baby can cause irritation to these wrist tendons.

How is the diagnosis of DeQuervain's tenosynovitis made? The examination of DeQuervain's is usually quite typical with tenderness over the involved tendons. One specific maneuver called 'Finkelstein's test' is quite specific for this condition. Finkelstein's test is performed by making a fist and moving the wrist towards the small finger. Patients with DeQuervain's tenosynovitis will have pain with this maneuver.

What is the treatment of DeQuervain's tenosynovitis? Most patients with DeQuervain's tenosynvitis will find improvement with splinting and a cortisone injection. If the problem persists, a surgical procedure to release the tight tissues around the tendon can be performed.

*Information taken from about.com*

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Shannon said...
Man, I've suffered with this on and off for ten years. Started from folding the denim wall at the Gap. Sucks.

26 said...
I'd say you should get it checked out. The cortizone shot didn't make it go away, but helped quite a bit (maybe ~80% improvement).

26 said...
The 80% has now become 90+%. Yeah for steroids!!!

Soopa said...
Steroids? I'm not guarding "Bonds" in hoops next summer, you can better believe it!

Winds of change a brewin'

We met with a realtor on Wednesday night and have offically decided to put our house up for sale around February 15.

We are looking at moving near the Duluth area.

No, we aren't really.

We are looking in School District 196 which includes all of Rosemount and Apple Valley along with pieces of Lakeville, Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights and Eagan. The great towns of Coates, Empire Township and Vermillion Township also are in the district and a possibility.

Rosemount is definitely our first choice though.