No new pictures to post since I really don't feel like doing the whole download right now but just an update of January activities.
I went to visit cousin Megan in Los Angeles for New Year's so I rang in 2011 with her and Dustin. We did some wine tasting, hiked in San Diego and ate a lot of good food. Some of it courtesy of Dustin, some from Megan and some at really good restaurants. A nice way to spend a long weekend although it got to be a bit complicated getting back. All's well that ends well I suppose.
I also went to Paris two weeks after that for work which was ok. I really don't get the fascination with Paris. So many other places I'd rather go but that's where the meetings were so I didn't have much choice. My coworker and I got in a day early due to the flight schedule so we were able to hang around the city some which was at least nicer than only being out by the airport.
I've done some quilting which you've seen in my last entry and I've actually even been... wait for it.... you'd better sit down... doing some cooking and baking. I did a little baking and realized that the main thing I need is an outlet and my coworkers/neighbors seem happy to oblige so I've been making things to take to work. Two friends have birthdays in February so I decided I will make them birthday cakes and when one gave me an idea of a kind he liked I figured I might need to try the recipe in advance because it seemed kind of muzukashi (complicated in Japanese). I made it this weekend and it all went at work so I guess I did alright. It was a Guinness chocolate cake. Actually not my favorite but the soon to be birthday guy seemed to like it. Erika came over to help bake and have dinner so I did an easy chicken bake which turned out tasty as well. I even had leftovers to take to work the next day which was a nice change from the norm. She was in Minneapolis this past weekend and per my request, brought back some wild rice so I'm going to try a few things with that. That's what I call Taste of Minnesota. The best thing about Erika coming was that she loves to clean. Doing dishes is one of her favorite activities. I know, crazy but when you're cooking and baking, great to have somebody like that around.
Wordy and no pics. Sorry but I'll try to do better next time.
Oh, another crazy idea or so I've been told. I just call it exciting. My friend Mandy is doing the Portland Marathon in October and asked if I wanted to join her. I was going to say yes to the half but decided to go all the way and yesterday I signed up to run the full marathon. Granted, I will be doing my walk breaks but in some fashion I will be moving myself the entire 26.2 miles. Hey, that's about the distance from my parents' to Bemidji so maybe I'll need to make that a training run if I'm in Minnesota sometime. Just kidding. Not going to happen when there's a perfectly good lake there to go around.
