I did it! My plans for Amsterdam are one step closer as I have rented a room for the week before my cruise. I am getting so excited! Now to set dates and places for all the rest. Arghhh!!!
Art Experience
Took the time to go to the Van Gogh Art Experience last weekend, and I enjoyed it very much. I read some reviews (afterwards thankfully) that weren’t all positive, that you didn’t learn anything about Van Gogh or his art, that the museum would be a better way to spend your money. But I don’t agree. This isn’t meant to be a museum, or even necessarily educational. It is an “experience”. A place to relax and watch the art blend from one piece to another, to listen to the music, to be captivated. They did a good job bringing in one piece of art and slowly blending that one out while bringing another one in, so that they merged, then came apart. The animation, pages turning in the book, cicadas running over the screen, etc. I thought it was interesting, but I love Van Gogh’s work so I wasn’t there for an education. I say, if curious just go ahead and go.
Outdoor Trekking
Today I was out assisting with a wetland delineation review. Although in town, it felt like the middle of nowhere. But I ended up a little overheated and dehydrated. Not good! Took myself to Peoples Organic afterwards and had a lemonade and chocolate donut. Yum!
Blah
Do you ever get to a point where everything just seems blah? All you have time for is work? That is about where I am at right now. I did have a wonderful weekend babysitting my granddaughter (I mean kitten), Freya. My daughter and her husband celebrated 18 years of marriage last weekend (what happened?) and Freya is too young and way too mischievous to leave home alone. Took her 2 seconds to chew through my computer cable, as I was plugging it in. Sigh But, I did have a lot of fun playing with her and watching the birds out the window together! Unfortunately the next day was a long 13 hour day of work including eating breakfast and dinner at the desk and Tuesday wasn’t much better. But better days are coming! I am starting to think about vacation again, I want to spend 3 months in Europe next year, in August, September and October maybe. The question is where is a good place to go? Maybe one spot per month? Do I have the courage to go? Arghhhh
Travel Dreams Part 2
I have been continuing my bucket list in my new travel journal. Right now I am starting with a western driving tour over the course of about 3 months, maybe in 2023. Yes, I am planning for what seems like a long way in the future! Over the weekend I sat down with my oldest nephew to go over what I am thinking. He has done some rafting trips and such out west so he has more experience out there than I do! For example, I had no idea there was so much to see and do in Utah. I am very excited to get out there and do some hiking and exploring. I will have to work on my knees so I can do some horseback riding too, I hope.
My next state to take a closer look at is Arizona. I have spent quite a bit of time around Phoenix as my grandparents used to live in Sun City and I had a very close friend (Scott and his partner Angel) who lived in Phoenix. I would typically fly down once or twice a year to visit and once in a while Grandpa would even let me borrow his car (I was in college at the time, so I was broke all the time). The furthest north I went though is Prescott, never made it to Sedona. So my plan is to go down into northern Arizona and visiting Lake Powell, Sedona, Tuba City and Jerome.
After that I will start looking at New Mexico and Oklahoma! At the very least, this has given me something to dream about and draw about and think about. What will I do after we come out of Covid-19? After retirement? All such good questions.
If you have any thoughts on what I should absolutely NOT miss in eastern Wyoming, Utah, Arizona or Oklahoma please let me know! If you are wondering about what the left side is mentioning, it is Longmire Days! I am a huge fan of the Longmire tv series and have read some of his books too. I highly recommend them!
I saw this template on Pinterest and fell in love with it. Each location will have a “card” where I draw in a feature of where I want to go. Sometimes a location, sometimes a feeling. Then you separate the pages into different boxes to write down ideas or thoughts. I am so sorry that I didn’t write down who had the original idea.
Thank you for reading this!
Planning Part 1 – Where to first?
I have been seeing a therapist during our lockdown. Being home alone for days, weeks and months at a time is really wearing on me, why I decided to reactivate my blog. She reminded me that retirement is actually going to come some day, in the not too terribly far off future. It has been brewing around in my head and to be honest the idea scares me. Both for what I want to do and how it will all work out without a paycheck. I want to travel and explore the world. One plan is to take my daughter on a river cruise after I retire. But I am thinking I really want to settle in somewhere for a couple months and explore, get to know the place and not just skim. Visit my roots and discover more about my heritage in Denmark, Norway and Bohemia. Or do I volunteer somewhere for a while? Maybe start housesitting? At her suggestion I have now started a Travel Planning Journal with places I want to visit. My first idea was Caye Caulker in Belize to decompress for a couple weeks. But where next is brewing around in my head and I don’t know where to start. Any good resources, ideas or suggestions out there?
My first step? Take a WordPress class to learn more about how to work this site! I signed up, just haven’t started yet so I am feeling around a bit blindly. 🙂
Another One Bites the Dust
Costco Photo Centers around the country are, unfortunately, closing. I have seen some very nice and inexpensive print products from them so this is indeed sad news. Please know that there are other options out there for preservation of your precious memories. From free photo storage accounts, to pre-paid storage, to printing of a wide variety of products and pictures, Forever is one option, but that tends to be my favorite since I use them all the time and have a sales account with them (I have a total of ONE customer, so I am definitely not in it for the money). The key is to wait for a monthly special to get a good deal! If you are looking for a specific product, such as a mug or wall hanging, just let me know and I can keep an eye out for you.
https://www.forever.com/app/users/leslie-stovring
Above is a picture I had converted to a metallic wall hanging for my office.
First Night Out of 2021!
Experiencing Covid-19 has been very tough. The longer this drags on, the more I stay home. I have been slowly worrying more, making it difficult to head out and shop much less socialize. But today, Minnesota restaurants opened back up and I was all in for getting out to see real people! Not on Zoom, not on Teams, not on Kumospace, not on WebEx. But in person.
For lunch I met my friend Therese at Bacio’s, a favorite restaurant in Minnetonka. I had the shrimp scampi and she had the risotto. I have missed being able to meet up and talk. We did try a couple times, once outside and once in the mall for a quick walk, but nothing is the same as sitting down at a table, enjoying good food, relaxing, and talking about this and that.
For dinner, my daughter asked if I wanted to meet up with her and her husband for Happy Hour! We went to 6 Smith in Wayzata and it was so nice. Happy Hour on a Monday, who would have thought I would enjoy going out on a work night! LOL My favorite were the cheese curds, they were tossed in a fresh, spicy sauce. Yum. I will definitely have to head back and have them again! Maybe cheese curds and beignets? (They were very tempting, but my diet today wasn’t that great so I resisted).
I hope you are doing well as we all work towards figuring out how to better control the spread and extent of this disease. I did donate blood last week, and found out I don’t have any antibodies in my system, so no immunity at all from this awful disease. But I am glad I did it, as much as I hate donating blood (blech). Be well, be creative, connect with a friend, and enjoy a good meal!!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are able to find your creative spark and nurture it fully. 🎉🤗
Bird’s Eye View
There are two male blue jays that have been visiting my deck this fall and winter. They have been my bright spot in working from home as they are very entertaining, as well as beautiful.
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