I'm "Rockin'" The Blackberry.

After two years of "Rockin" my lil' Nokia phone and 8 years of being a faithful Nokia user... I upgraded last night. I took the leap (happy leap day) and succumbed to the pressures of being uber-cool and owning the latest cool trendy smart phone, so I got me a Blackberry. Or as the guys at the Verizon store said, "You need to Rock the Blackberry!" I have 30 days to try it... I miss my Nokia, but change is good. I hope.

On running and marathons...

A little unknown (maybe known) fact about myself that many moons ago, I trained for a marathon. It was one of those things i had always wanted to do, but just never got around to doing it. The Winter of 2001, I just woke up one day and said, 'I think I am going to run a marathon.'
Now I am not a runner... prior to that point, I did things like gymnastics and cheerleading and softball, but running long distances... moi? I was in ok shape too back then but i really could only run about 1 mile and then totally pass out! And let me also say, that i am so not an ambitious person, I don't set goals for myself. So deciding to dedicate my life for 8 months to training for a marathon was huge! I still am amazed at myself.
Basically i started by running around Lake Como. Until i realized i needed a plan of action. So I subscribed to Runner's World and downloaded a beginners training schedule. The schedule was pretty easy, run when it said to run and rest on the days it said to rest. simple. The miles started out a few miles at a time, so by the end of the training schedule you were doing long runs some 20+ miles long. I took it on with gusto! And not only that, i was also preparing to move to china at the same time! There must have been something in the water in 2001/2002... who does crazy stuff like that?
Training was intense for me, i have never poured my life into something so wholeheartedly. I took running very very seriously! My friends thought I was crazy, they just didn't get it. I had to get my "run" in before i could hang out with them. They were annoyed.
And socks! oh my socks... pure obsession! You think, who cares about socks, when it's the shoes that matter! WRONG! A bad pair of socks was my works nightmare. I tried all different kinds, thin, thick, moisture wicking, doubled... I finally found the perfect pair, they kept my feet dry, not too hot and kept the blisters at bay. I also rotated my shoes, tried every power bar on the market, and don't get my started on power gels! GROSS! (but they were a life saver on a long run). I ran faithfully throughout the winter, in the snow, on frightfully cold days, I was out there! I did 5k's and 10k's to practice running races. I collected t-shirts and chowed on all the after race snacks. I did my long runs on these set of trails out in the wooded area of Maplewood. It was quiet and I had lots of time to think... running is lonely though. And i always thought that if i were to do it again, I would join a running group.
I never ran for speed, I'm too slow, it was all about the endurance, going the distance. Running and training was a mind game. That is the only way i can describe it. I played mind games with myself everyday. The psychology of running is insane. It messes with you... its like an oasis in the dessert... its not there, but you tell yourself it is. Its a trick! You have to do these things... it kills your feet and your knees! But mostly it messes with your head! Its way more than just achieving that ever elusive "runner's high" its more of a huge accomplishment to say, Did i just RUN 15 miles???? My body hated me, i would tell it lies, tomorrow you can rest. But instead tomorrow would come and i would be out there even if it was just to run 3 miles to get it out of my system.
I chose to do Grandma's Marathon in Duluth.
The day was beautiful, not too hot, not too cold, no strong winds. The pace was set and i was making my best time ever... slow and steady, but totally rockin' the back roads of Duluth. I hit the half way point, mile 13 with a huge smile on my face. It was too easy! I loved every minute of it! I will run marathons until the day i die I swore to myelf! It was too good to be true. Mile 14, I felt a dull pain in my foot. Run through it i demanded! Run through it! But instead of going away, the pain grew and grew and by Mile 15 i could barely run. I hate hate hate my foot! I had to stop just for a moment, to collect my thoughts, calm down... take a breather... and as I started running again, the pain was too intense to keep going. I hit mile 16. It all ended. It was heartbreaking. All I had was 10 more lousy miles. 10 miles between me and the finish line! I could do 10 miles on any given day! My foot said otherwise. I rode on a bus back to the finish line where my friends and family were waiting. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. As soon as I reached them i started balling, unabashedly crying my eyes out. All that hard work and then it was just over. I was so sad and upset. It still makes me sad to think about it.
Three days later I got on a plane headed for California and then on to China. After settling into my new home in China, i decided to go for a run... my foot felt ok, so why not? I ran once around the track. I stopped. I wanted to blame the smog and my lungs not adjusting, i wanted to blame my foot too. But reality was, the passion was gone. I had no desire to ever run again. In the 6 years since that moment, I think i have run maybe 2 times and not for very long. I prefer walks now. However, will i ever run a marathon again? Well, never say never.

You've got to THAI this!

I got home from another exciting day at work, stood in front of my pantry and said, 'Sabrina make it a Thai night!' So I made pad thai with shrimp. I had pretty much everything needed to make pad thai, I even ground some peanuts. It was great! No Sawatdee or Krua, but who is keeping track? AND it was super fast and easy to make.

Back.

I went back to work today. But I'm still a little under the weather. But its tolerable now. I made some delicious pasta after work. Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms. I saw it being made on Nigella Express the other day. Simple and delicious. I love the combination of the lemon and garlic and thyme. mmmm.

I watched the Academy Awards last night. Nothing special, but hands down the best dressed, most beautiful was French actress Marion Cotillard. She also won Best Actress for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. I saw that film and it was amazing!

Small town girl, trapped in the big city.

Time for an update, *sigh, I am still sick. :( Although, I am not as sick as I was earlier this week, I am still pretty run-down. Which is a big fat bummer (BFB!) because I was supposed to go to a concert tonight! Shannon and I got tickets to see Miranda Lamberts at Mystic Lake Casino. We even got a hotel room, so we could have fun and not have to worry about driving late at night. But alas, I am still not well enough to go. Shoot, I even got a cowgirl hat when I was in Texas that i was going to wear. I still admit to not liking country music, but there are a few country artists like Miranda Lamberts who are really fun to sing a long to. Shannon was very understanding about me not being able to go. But that still makes me sad!
For the rest of the evening i will be doing what I have been doing best, resting. I am border-line stir crazy...its strange not being around anyone for this long. So many of my friends have offered to drop by or bring me what i need... but I really don't want anyone getting my sickness, so I have declined them all. Just call me plague girl! I feel like when i get better I want to have a party! That's is how much i am missing my friends! I did leave for a tiny bit today to get some more medicine and some ice cream, purely for medicinal reasons, cause it makes my throat feel better. :0
I spied these lovely tulips, so i bought some to brighten my germ infested home.

I'm Alive!

Well actually, I am alive, but a little (no, a lot) sick. I can't remember the last time i was this sick. Actually i think it was about 10 years ago when i was living in New Hampshire. I caught some sort of flu bug and was banished to bed for over a week! My BFF Rachel was also there, cause we worked at the same Residential Crisis-Care Facility, His Mansion Ministries. Anyway, we were both sick in bed, but it was nice to have a good friend close by. Ok, so yeah I went to Urgent Care last night, and if you know me at all, that is not something I ever do. The last time i went was about 2 years ago when I had this lingering cough\lung thing. My boyfriend at the time was convinced it was pneumonia... and I was convinced he needed to stop worrying about me so much! Finally, i begrudgingly headed to the UC and they did some x-rays and sure enough... pneumonia. Eat Crow Sabrina! :)
Well I don't have pneumonia, and they ruled out strep, even though my throat is raw and painfully tender. They took blood to see my blood count and all that fun stuff... I have a lingering fever and a bad case of the flu. This flu also encompasses sore throat\congestion\bad cough\achy limbs and very out of it feeling. It's a doozy! And I was just thinking to myself last week, 'Girl you held out with all this sickness going around!' Guess i spoke too soon.
Where did i just hear that pain was a good thing? Oh yeah it was in the movie World Trade Center. One of the guys trapped in the WTC said, "Pain is good, then you know you are ALIVE."
And Alive I am.

My Buddy

***I was sitting here thinking about posting something, not having much to say. So I found this draft I was working on awhile back. Somehow it never got posted. I just thought I would share it today. Happy Friday.*****

I was at my parent's house last night.

Both my parent's were busy with other projects, so my brother and I sat down and had dinner together.

Now if you don't know this about my brother, he has Down's Syndrome. He is 28, lives with my parents and is the happiest person I've ever met. I love his simplistic easy going spirit. His eyes that see only beauty in people. His sweet way of making me laugh or patting my back when he senses I am sad. I don't know if words can ever express how much I love him.

So, as we are devouring our spaghetti and turkey meatballs, talking about what he has been up to... my brother stops and yells, ANGEL YOU STAY ON THAT TREE!

I was a bit confused because my mom's dog is named Angel. Why would she be on the Christmas tree?

And then he says it again: I TOLD YOU TO STAY ON THAT TREE YOU DUMB ANGEL!!!

Oh yeah! Last week when he and I were putting up the Christmas tree, i couldn't reach the top of the tree, so i threw the angel way up there hoping it would stick. Instead it fell on the floor. So i picked it up and yelled at it, STAY ON THE TREE DUMB ANGEL!!!!!
I never think about what my brother is processing in that cute little head of his. But he is like a sponge and he just takes everything in. I guess he was remembering when I said that to the angel. I didn't even realize that he was watching me or listening.
I said to him, Oh yeah, I threw the angel on the tree then yelled at it didn't I?!
He just smiled at me. And we ate more spaghetti and told each other funny jokes to bring more smiles to each other's faces.

I just wanted to tell this little story because I love my brother so much.

Here comes the bride...

What a whirlwind weekend! That pretty much sums it up. A big twirly whirly whirlwind. I arrived in San Antonio just before midnight on Thursday night. Liz's fiancé Stephen picked me up from the airport, and we hit it off immediately. You never know with meeting someone for the first time, but he is a great guy. I arrived at Liz' place as everyone was just leaving from her personal shower. Her two bridesmaids Amanda & Melanie were the only ones left and immediately the 4 of us went to work putting together the final touches of the wedding. I finished making Liz's veil as the other girls put together the table arrangements and place cards. Liz and I also did a dry run on the flower arrangements. We all ended up staying up until 5:30 am! We slept for about two hours and then got up for our nail appointment. I think we spent most of the day in a fog. Going from nails to the hotel to the rehearsal and then the rehearsal dinner. And then my camera battery pack died! To not be able to document your friends wedding is sad! Thankfully the photographer Olivia is also a friend of mine from our china days, so she said she would hook me up with some wedding photos!The rehearsal and the dinner were fun and the food was delish! Tex-Mex fajitas! And lots of Guacamole! The place they had the dinner was gorgeous and tre chic! And this is when my camera died. :(
After that we went back to the hotel to crash and get some sleep before the big day. The day of the wedding it was forecasted to rain and yet... it held off. We prayed a lot!!!
It was a beautiful day, although busy right up until the wedding. I was the mistress of ceremonies so I made sure everyone walked down the isle when they were supposed to... and it was really sweet to be with Liz right before she walked down the isle. She was a beautiful bride. The ceremony was happy and joyous, and I read some scriptures from the Psalms and some of Liz's friends sang, The Andre Bocelli's song The Prayer in English and Italian! It sounded like angels were singing!
The reception were great and special and all things fancy and elegant. We rode in on one of the riverboats to the hotel where the reception was at, and Liz uncle Gino sang to them with an Italian love song! At the reception, we ate and ate and danced and had a ton of fun!
Sunday, I spent walking around San Antonio seeing the sights eating OUTSIDE on the river! What a treat. Flowers really bloom this time of year? I was so happy to see living flowers! I will write more about this when I get my pictures developed. I had to succumb to buying a disposable camera! Soooo it was a fun\crazy\busy\WARM weekend! Too bad it went by so quickly! I also caught some sort of bug\cold thing so I am really wiped out and must lie down. But this will not be the last you've heard from me! :)

Liz is getting married!

My sweet friend Liz

is getting married this weekend in San Antonio! Which means I will be leaving for SA Thursday night! Yay!! I met Liz about 6 years ago when we were teaching in China for the summer. We immediately hit it off and spent many hours (when we weren't with the students) shopping, EATING! and playing our favorite card game, Peanuts! The next summer Liz and I traveled throughout Europe and had an amazing time! This is a picture of us after we climbed a bazillion stairs to the top of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.

Since then we have hung out in Minnesota, Michigan, California, Vegas and now San Antonio! I am so thrilled to see Liz and finally! meet her husband to be, Stephen! Hopefully Stephen will let me steal Liz away for a few more adventures in the future! I'm anticipating a wonderful and SNOW FREE weekend! I will report back when I arrive home on Monday.

Word of the day:

cathartic
adjective
1. emotionally purging

I've been having these dreams almost every night that are very cathartic. Dreams are good because they let you work out the things you need to work out, and say the things you need to say but aren't able to in person.

However, cathartic can also mean:
noun
1. a purging medicine; stimulates evacuation of the bowels.

I never knew that meaning of the word. That is funny! Maybe i should start saying to people when they have an upset stomach.
"Man you just need to have some cathartic!"

Permanent Bad Hair Day

When I was 22 I cut all my hair off! Every other day a few more inches would come off. My BFF and roommate Rachel, would just shake her head and say, "You cut more off! I thought you were growing it out?!" Man I hated my hair then! I felt like a boy! I LOOKED LIKE A BOY! I was just so afraid it would never be long again... so very afraid! This picture is actually on the longer side of the shortest version. I think at one point it was probably only 2 inches long! It was just so bad.

Hey Mr. DJ

Someday when I am sitting around embroidering dish towels and decorating cupcakes, my kids will say to me, "Mom, you are such a nerd!" and to that i will reply, "True, but beleive it or not your old mom used to see shows like DJ Shadow at First Avenue! Who's the nerd now!"
Who you say is DJ Shadow? Glad you asked. He is simply a DJ who knows how to transform a few sampled tracks into a something of beauty. I was introduced to him about 12 years ago by a boyfriend who had great taste in music. And about 6 years ago I saw DJ Shadow live at First Avenue. AMAZING. Hands down this is still my favorite track: Building Steam with a Grain of Salt.

Nori in the Hizz-ouse

I was fortunate enought to go to a baby shower today for the Amazing Nori! (sounds like a circus name for the person they shoot out of the canon ball!) Megan and Norelle are the cutest mother daughter duo evah!

And a big thanks to Melissa for not making us play any silly baby shower games!! Bravo!

P.S. The writer's strike is over? Can life now be complete with all NEW shows of The Office?

Dishtowels~

I have this thing for embroidered dish towels. I had a grandma Betty who I have never met, but rumor has it she was the original Martha Stewart! Wish I could've met her, everyone said she was sweet and wonderful. She died a month before i was born. :(

Anyway, she would make these really shnazzy dish towels with cute embroidered pictures on them. I have one she did of a girl sitting on a blanket in her bikini!

So now, I have been thinking about making my own. Ones that i can give away too... I found a blog Posie Gets Cozy who just made some dishtowels and posted the directions on her blog! I am so excited to get started on these!

Help IS around the corner...

What you may not know about me is that i am a huge Coldplay fan. I have been ever since "look at the stars, look how they shine for you" floated into my ears. I have seen them in concert a few times. The first time was at First Avenue... where i practically\literally almost ran into Chris Martin when he was just walking around amongst the crowd (this was before they were big and pre-Gwyneth) any way... I was just saying to a friend today that you never know what is right around the corner. And every time I think or say that... I think of this little Coldplay song, Help is Around the Corner.

I know what I am doing tonight!

The great thing about the internet is that at my fingertips are recipes galore! Some of my favorite places to get recipes are other people's blogs, and also some great food related websites. I have a whole list of links under 'food' that i recommend you just take a look at. And not only are there great recipes, but articles about food and everything culinary. I think right now if I had the money, I would go back to Paris and take a cooking class by some mastor chef! Then he would yell at me in French and make me do trivial tasks like whisking egg whites to a glossy peeked perfection... Almost like Mr. Miyagi did with Daniel Son, wax on-- wax off! And right when i would want to give up and say, "What's the point Chef?"... I will have then created the most light and airy souffle ever made! Sweep the leg Johnny!
Tonight i am making soup from a recipe I found on Culinate. Pasta and Bean Soup. Sounds hearty and heart warming. Then I will watch LOST. Perfect Night.

Pasta and Bean Soup (Pasta e Fagioli)
By Carrie Floyd, from the Culinate Kitchen collection
Serves 10
Introduction
This makes a large pot, perfect for tucking a container or two into the freezer. Just don’t add the pasta to the soup pot; instead cook it to order. I adapted this from Rogers & Gray Italian Country Cook Book.
Ingredients
1½ cups borlotti (cranberry) beans
~Extra-virgin olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
3 cups chopped celery, leaves included
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1
small dried red chile pepper, crumbled (or a large pinch of red chile flakes)
1 large sprig rosemary, leaves removed from the branch and finely chopped
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
2 to 3 slices smoked bacon, diced
1 large can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, chopped, with juice
~ Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
8 oz. dried pasta (use any small shape, such as penne or orecchiette, that cups sauce well)
~ Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Steps
Soak the beans overnight in a large saucepan. When ready to cook pour off the soaking liquid then cover the beans with fresh water, two inches over the top of the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook partially covered until the beans are done (tender but not mushy). Turn off the heat and set aside.
In a large soup pot, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Sauté chopped onions, celery, and carrots over medium heat until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, chile pepper, rosemary, parsley, and bacon. Sauté, stirring, until the bacon is cooked through. Add the chopped tomatoes with the juice and continue cooking, 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender purée half of the cooked beans with a little of the cooking liquid. Add this purée along with the rest of the cooked beans to the soup pot. Adjust the liquid — adding bean broth and/or water — to the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta — a handful per person if you are not serving the entire amount in one sitting — until al dente, following the package instructions. Drain.
Serve by scooping a large spoonful of pasta into each bowl, then covering with soup. If you like, garnish each soup bowl with freshly grated Parmesan.
Notes

HotPockets!!!!

This is why I call crazy people Hotpockets! Courtesy of comedian Jim Gaffigan:

Nori Fix!

Tonight I went over to Megan and Jake's to bring some food over and to see sweet baby Norelle. She just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter! She is so content and happy, i just love her a ton!
It was great to hold her and feed her... Kelly, who also brought food, said that if i got started tonight i could have my own baby by October?!?! Hmmmm....I will have to think about that one!
It was fun to see the "S" clan... They are the perfect little family. For dinner, Kelly brought Balsamic Thyme Chicken and fresh bread from the Breadsmith. yum. And I made a Torte di Riso (picture is provided for a visual, not my pic)

and Angel Food Cake with Chocolate and Raspberries.

I think summer needs to hurry up so we can have more fresh berries and angel food cake! someday!

Torta Di Riso
From Special Occasions by Martha Stewart. Serves 10-15
6 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup bread crumbs
10 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, and oregano
3 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Butter springform pan and coat with breadcrumbs, shaking out excess. Set aside In a large saucepan, heat stock to boiling, then lower to a simmer.
In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, melt 3 Tbsp. of butter. Add onion, garlic, and about 2/3 cup of the herbs and cook until onions are soft and transparent. Increase heat to medium and add rice. Stir well to coat all the grains.
Add wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until mostly evaporated. Add 1 cup of hot stock and simmer, stirring constantly until mostly absorbed, about 3 minutes. Add remaining stock a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Always wait until one ladleful is nearly absorbed before adding the next. Continue until rice is creamy and firm but not hard in the center (al dente) The cooking time should be about 15-20 minutes, but you must taste rice to judge doneness. Add remaining herbs about halfway through cooking time.
Stir in remaining 3 tblsp of butter, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into prepared pan and cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake torta for about 30 minutes, or until heated through (test by inserting a knife into the center for 15 seconds and checking the temperature of the blade upon removal to see that it is hot.)
Unmold torta carefully onto a plate, sprinkle additional Parmesan over the top, slice into wedges and serve.
Notes: This Torta is good for a party since it can be made ahead of time. It is essential that you use Italian short-grain rice; arborio is a widely available variety.

I wanna be a supermodel!

For my birthday, I received a gift card to one of my favorite places: Sephora!!! The creme de la creme of beauty products store. When i go there I am like a kid in a candy store. I really have a thing for makeup and beauty products. HOWEVER, the prices can be very high for some items... so when I go, I just am there to browse, try on the latest colors, smell the Philosophy body washes and spray my favorite perfumes. And then *maybe* I will buy something out of the $5 and under bins. But now with my gift card with a very sizable amount on the balance, what to buy?!? I wanted to be the most savy and get the most out of my gc. There were at least 3 things I was really wanting, Dior Diorshow Mascara, Stila Lip Glaze and Smashbox O-GLOW... but all those together were way over the amount I had to spend. Until.... I found the best deal ever! It is called the Supermodel Kit.

What it is: A glamourous gift set filled with products used by Sephora makeup artists for Fashion Week Live. Set includes a Stila Lip Glaze in Brown Sugar, Make Up For Ever Diamond Shadow in Diamond Black 307, Smashbox Mini Travel Photo Finish Foundation Primer in Original, Smashbox O-GLOW, Dior Diorshow Mascara in Black 090, Sephora Blush Me! Mono in Abricot Plaisir 6, all in a chic black sequined Sephora Brand clutch.

Fate had smiled upon me. All three things i wanted were in one set. Plus other fabulous products that i love! For one great price!

Now I am ready to walk the catwalk. Tyra, pick me! pick me!

I am a GIRL

As to now defend my feminine womanly awesomeness... I will no longer talk about sports. I rarely talk sports anyway. It's not at all how i used to be back in the day when i was ADDICTED to sports talk radio! KFAN morning, noon and night!!! And on top of that, I could tell you everything that was ever going on in the sports world, even sports i didn't like. It reached a point where it got so bad that I was having scores texted to me!! GIVE ME A BREAK! Guess what solved my problem: I bought a car that didnt have AM radio... NO AM=NO KFAN! That was years ago anyway.
So my ticket is booked for my friend Liz's wedding next week in San Antonio. I leave Valentine's night and therefore i get to share my love with strangers on a plane. I am so excited to see Liz and visit San Antonio, which i hear is a beautiful city. Alamo here I come! Which reminds me of a scene from Pee-Wee's Big adventure. The one where Pee-Wee goes to the Alamo to look for his bike. He says, "Excuse me, where is the basement?" And the tour guide lady says, "There's no basement in the Alamo!" and they all laugh at him. Poor Pee-Wee. The tour guide lady also says "These people live in an ADOBE, can you all say ADOBE?" Everytime i hear the word 'Adobe', I say that line from the movie. ADOBE!



Anyway I need a dress now for this wedding... good reason to go shopping. Dresses and shopping are very girly too!

Eli is the MANning!

I never said that I thought the Pats would win, I had a good hunch that it was going to be a either a close one or an upset by the Giants. I waged no bets, cause I knew something was brewing. I give credit to Eli though, if you can pull yourself out of almost being sacked by a bunch of Big Fat Beefy Linemen, then dude, you are the right Man(ning) for the job! (This is almost too easy.) All I have to say about yesterday's game is, both teams went out playing the slow and steady card. Had the Patriots went out and EXPLODED, they indeed would've been the winners. Slow and Steady does not always win the race... unless you are a Giant.

Reality Check Time Minnesota!

Everyone's talking about Boston\New England... No, not for the Fall colors and the chowder. But for the sports. Oh the Trifecta of perfection that is taking place in Bean Town. The Sox with their World Series sweep, the Pats with their perfect record and the Celtics with their big wins. One must think that this is just a moment of pure coincidence. Wake up America, do you not see what is happening here?

Do these names ring a bell: David Ortiz, Randy Moss, Kevin Garnett? Were they not once some of, if not Thee best players on our MN teams? And now? David Ortiz has not only 1 but 2 World Series wins under his belt. Randy Moss will most likely win the Super Bowl, and KG, can we say Playoffs! And I don't mean in the way Jim Mora said it!

Let me tell you something else, its not just Boston. Watch and see what happens with Torii Hunter and the Angels, and Johan Santana and the Mets! I wouldn't be surprised if they both actually *go* to the World Series, let alone WIN! But don't start crying me a river when you say, It's a money thing! Boston has more money which equals better players which equals more victories. The Mets, the Yankees the whomevers... they have the money, true, but there is something going on behind closed doors... Plans and deals are being hatched everyday and who is left with the proverbial goose egg? MINNESOTA SPORTS TEAMS! Jokes on us suckers!

To make this more clear, I will put it to you in laymen's terms: Let's say you have a kid that wants to be pro-tacular, agents listen up to. Send the kid to MN first. Let them sweat it out here, break their hearts year after year with almost going to the World Series, almost going to the Super Bowl and almost going to the Playoffs. Oh it will sting, the defeat will be painful, but right when they think that all hope for victory is lost... some team from Boston or New York or anywhere but here, will scoop them up and bring them to their glorious full potential! Do I feel bad that Ortiz, Moss and KG are gone, yeah maybe a bit, am I more happy to actually see them go somewhere with their careers, Heck yeah! And cry cry boo hoo for Hunter and Santana all you want. But come on, they put in their dues, lets cheer them on to greatness!

Don't get me wrong I live for and love our beloved Twins, and I will always have a soft spot for the Vikings and T-wolves... but the sooner we can accept the truth, the sooner we will realize this: Minnesota is a place created by the MLB, NFL and NBA to raise superstars. We are the incubator of the sports world. At least we can be proud that we raised our lil' sluggers right! Dang Proud!

One Big Happy Family!

Tom, Katie and...

SURI!!!

They're Back!

The greatest show on television is back from its 8 month hiatus. It made me so giddy to see that opening LOST flying through space! I will spare the details for those of you who could care less, or who are not mega-fans. But this is my theory: 6 people got off the island, Jack, Kate and Hurley for sure... Hurley is back in the loo-loo bin and Jack comes to visit him, along with a phantom Charlie. Charlie tells Hurley that he has to go back, and when Jack comes for a visit, Hurley says, "we have to go back!!!" Jack says something about growing a beard. Ok rewind to last season, Jack is now a beard wearing alcoholic. (the beard is hot by the way, but I am sucker for facial hair) anyway, there is a funeral, possibly Hurley's? And then Jack realizes that they have to go back! Who are the other 3 who get off the island? Locke? Sawyer? Said???? Your guess is as good as mine! Another theory is that there are more than 6 who got off the island, but the Oceanic 6 were the ones recognized as heroes? And why can't they talk about what really happened on the island? Who was the creepy guy in Jacob's cabin? And will Penelope and Desmond ever be reunited? All these questions burning a whole in my brain!