Alcatraz!

Karen & I went to the Rock today. Pretty awesome. And then, we ran into my cousin Ernie!

Some background: Ernie's father had been a guard at the prison, and was even shot during the attempted escape in 1946. Ernie grew up on the island, and was even the paperboy for the guards.

Ernie later played football for Cal, fought in Korea, and had a thriving law practice in San Francisco. Since retiring, he has written five books about Alcatraz. Today he was there for a book signing, and so I introduced us. You could have bowled him over with a feather.

Long story short, we have a signed copy of his new book, and a promise to look him up next time we are in the area.

Lazy Days & Regrets

So yesterday and today have been lazy days. No house showings, barely any snow removal that needed to happen, so we've been reading and watching TV for most of the weekend. Krista and Nick came back from Alex with my mother's [supposedly broken] Macbook, and we met them at Don Pablo's. This was a fortunate coincidence, as tonight was taco night.

So after overeating, we wandered over the the Border's that is about to close, to see if there were any good deals. I particularly wanted to see if they had a good leather-bound NRSV to replace my el cheapo $10 NRSV purchased for college. The answer was no.

A typical shelf at the local Border's Bookstore

But the store was depressing. The books that were still there in large supply were mainly the romances and mysteries. These are the books that bookstores always seem to have a very large supply of, but I never see anyone buying. Apparently, that holds true even if they are 30% off. The comic books and manga also seem untouched. These are sections that have grown in legitimate bookstores in the past 10 years, but once again, I never see anyone buy any.

The classics were gone, as was much of the fiction and the nonfiction that you would think people would buy (travel, history, religion, etc). And the children's section was already closed due to lack of books. Periodicals seemed untouched. As were the Border's eBook reader, the Kobo. Hadn't ever heard of it before today. Normally $139, on sale for $69. And nobody was buying. Guess that explains why Borders went bankrupt.

I feel bad seeing a bookstore cannibalize itself. Especially since I hadn't set foot in that store (our closest bookstore) since the last time I left Minneapolis, seven years ago this spring.

For Sale

The house officially went "live" on the MLS listings yesterday. See it here. And, almost immediately, we got a hit. The first couple came through last night between 6-7 PM, so Karen and I went to Kohl's and did some shopping. Then we went to Starbucks, and attempted to find a replacement tea filter for our tea pot.

The feedback from the showing was positive.

In other news, Paul Douglas tells me that we lost 2 inches of the snow depth with our 40 degree temperatures yesterday. Then we got ice and snow again last night, but only a dusting. This morning the driveway was like marbled glass. Next week, 50 degrees!

We've been checking the temperatures in Grand Rapids regularly, and the highs have been more consistently in the upper 30s.

No exciting pictures today, so check out Krista's & Nick's new floors here.

Hotel Unruh

So the floor work continues at the Raykov's house, and they are staying over for the next couple of days. Stuffed peppers for dinner, generously provided by Nick. It contains peppers, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, and lemons. Lily was energetic! I am now doubting my ability to keep up with children.

In other news, the house should be on the market by the end of the week. Professional pictures were taken yesterday, and we've been working through the paperwork. Next Tuesday is the Realtor's open house, and shortly thereafter potential buyers will be looking at the house. Hopefully we start losing the snow soon.

SPECIAL ITEM FOR SOUTHERN RELATIVES AND FRIENDS

From Paul Douglas' Weather blog

Currently, Minneapolis has received 78.7" of snow this winter, and we are supposed to receive between 2 and 5 in the next 48 hours, then another inch or two on Friday. If that holds, this will be the fifth snowiest winter since they started keeping records in 1891.


But today was 40 degrees, and officially we have 8" on the ground. However, with all the drifts and shoveled snow, our yard is at least 24" at its lowest spot. If we don't start losing snow slowly, the Cities will have significant flooding again.

Birthday Redux Part Two!

So we celebrated Mike's birthday again last night. This time with Krista, Nick, and Liliana. We went to Theresa's, the incredibly popular Mexican restaurant in Mendota Heights. Apparently, they are so popular, they are read to expand again!

Cupcakes!

Afterwards, it was to South St. Paul for an evening of cupcakes, chatting, and looking at the beautiful new hardwood floors that were discovered under the Raykov's ugly old carpet.

You can check out their pictures of the project here.

Lily was gracious enough to boil many pots of imaginary food while we finished our cupcakes. She was very cute last night. I tested out the new camera I received from David and Phyllis, and as soon as I can figure out how to post the video, I'll do so. (Gotta be good blackmail fodder for her teenage years, right?)

Nick at the end of the evening

Furniture City!

Wow. It's been awhile since we've posted to this. Long story short, we'll be leaving the Twin Cities and moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan--the Furniture City.

I'll be posting more about the move and the reason for the move tomorrow. I'm too tired now.