Becoming Minnesotan update: 7/8 Minnesotan?

As previously mentioned, i have become something of an enthusiast for shooting clay pigeons. My brother-in-law and I have been going nearly every weekend, which, as it turns out, can get expensive. Kimberly and I have each given one another a small budget for fun things like this. She uses hers for the YMCA, and I use mine for shooting. But, with prices on the rise, a better method for attaining ammunition was necessitated. Enter the reason why I am now, eh, about 7/8 Minnesotan: the reloading bench.

Aaron and I have dabbled a little with reloading. It works great, but the one we've been using is a manual reloader and only does one shell at a time and you have to move the shell to the next station. This reloader, an 8 stage progressive, a scale, melting pot, 2 buckets of wads, over 1000 AA shotgun hulls, some reloading manuals, and the custom made desk to go with, was purchased with the proceeds from the topper off the truck we traded in to get the minivan. The rest of the money is going to bills. But, this baby is awesome.

Maximus: The family truckster

Well, as promised, here are the pictures of the new mini-van. Kimberly said we should give it a masculine name so that we didn't feel so silly driving it. It's more of a joke, but we decided to call the van Maximus. In fact, that's all Sophia calls it. I think she enjoys it more than us, which is good because hopefully we will have it for a long time.

Honestly though, i don't feel that silly driving it. When you are inside, you can't even tell. It drives really nice and has tons of little amenities. Literally, they thought of everything. There is a soft green glow light in the ceiling that lights up at night for some night lighting in the back, a 110 volt AC outlet in the back (just like in your house) for plugging in whatever you like. The second row seats swivel around to face the 3rd row seats and there is a table that goes in the floor so that all 5 seats can play cards or something while mom and dad focus on the road. And, there is a "conversation mirror" in the front that allows mom and dad to see EVERYTHING that is going on in the back without having to turn around or look away from the road. Brilliant!

Baby watch #1 and other sundry family items

Well, Kimberly went to the doctor today and she is already dilated to a 2. We aren't scheduled for delivery until July 23rd, but Sadie may be on her own schedule. Fortunately, the house is all but ready for her. Now, only if Dad and Mom could get some sleep before she gets here.

I think i became a REAL dad yesterday also. We traded in my dream truck for a minivan. We pick it up tomorrow. It made way too much sense and I think it will make life easier, but it'll be a bummer to see my dream truck go. I didn't even get to drive it that much because of gas prices, but i guess that is part of why it made so much sense to trade it for a van.

More to come on the baby watch soon, and I'll post pics of "Maximus", the new van when we pick it up.

Sadie's new room

Kimberly and I had our first night alone in 3 years this last weekend. We dropped Sophia with her grandmother and spent Friday night on the Minnesota Zephyr. It's a slow 3 hour train ride through the woods that serves you a fantastic meal and has singers who walk through from time to time singing 40's and 50's songs. Sorry, no pictures.

Saturday we spent more time trying to put some more finishing touches on all the things we have been doing in the house. This time, getting Sadie's new room up and running was on the schedule. We patched the walls, sanded, painted, took down the old blind, fixed the holes and painted them, put up a new curtain rod and curtain, assembled the crib, got all the junk out and organized the room. Here is the, more or less, finished product, less the pictures and decorations on the walls.

Family Nesting: Garage Mod

Well, we are about 5 weeks away from baby number 2, and both Kimberly and I started feeling claustrophobic in our little townhome. It was starting to feel like we didn't have room to move around, and we had absolutely zero storage in our house. With another baby around the corner, we were both starting to get worried. So, on Saturday, Kimberly's sister and her husband came over to help us get started. They organized, purged and helped us build on Sat and Sun afternoons. Jim worked in the garage on Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons as well, while Kimberly organized the inside of the house.
The goal of the garage mod was to make room for things from inside the house, and to clean up the garage enough to get both cars back in it (to prevent further hail damage)and maybe even to create a little workspace when the cars weren't in the garage. The result of 4 days of work in the garage... Major progress!

It could be an interesting Summer

Well, I waited 3 years to see some real hail falling from the sky. Now I've seen it twice in one week. Unfortunately, i always pictured driving to the hail in my work van, and snapping pictures. I didn't count on having it hit my house, twice in one week, doing damage to plants, vehicles, and nerves.
Last week a tornado came through 3 miles south of our house and obliterated at least 50 houses, damaged 200 more, and killed one little boy. 6 days later, another tornado warning, another hail storm marches right through Forest Lake, while I am parked outside. Sunday was nice, sunny and about 80. But, it is raining now, storming tonight, and thunderstorms are on tap all week, including what the NWS is predicting will be a sever weather and tornado outbreak on Thursday. Doesn't offer a lot of comfort when you don't have a basement.

Here are some pics of the storm that came through this last Saturday. They aren't mine, as I was stuck in the hardware store when it came through, watching the 60 mile an hour winds blow through the parking lot and listening to the freight train of hail hit the tin roof:

A "Memorial" Day

Yesterday, Kimberly and I came home from her parent's cabin in Wisconsin to the sound of the weather radio going off, warning us we had about 15 minutes to batten down the hatches before a severe thunderstorm hit us. It was the worst one I've seen in 3 years out here in Minnesota. We watched a rain wrapped tornado pass about 3 miles south of us and then endured at least 15 minutes of severe hail, some stones as big as golf balls. Here are some pictures and videos. The damage pictures are from just west of where the tornado hit and the worst damage is, probably where the funnel cloud was just getting ready to touch down. In the very first picture, just to the right of the tree is the tornado. I watched the video this still was taken from frame by frame and that is definitely it:

Update: Becoming Minnesotan

Got my first gun this last Monday. Special thanks to my wife for permission! It sat in a case in the attic all week waiting to be fired, and finally got it's first exercise on Saturday afternoon. My brother Danny and my Mom were out visiting for the weekend, and Danny and I went with my brother-in-law Aaron to a local farm to go shooting. It was a gorgeous day and we popped off over 250 rounds between the 3 of us. Here is the brilliant piece of firearm that Kimberly has taken to calling "Big Daddy":

Final interior phase of the loft conversion: COMPLETE!!!

Sophia finally got her new room 2 weeks ago. What used to be the loft is now officially a 3rd bedroom, and now it belongs to Sophia. She was sooooo excited! For all intents and purposes, the room is done. There are a couple of minor touch up items that have to be finished, but that is it. Then, I just have to finish the the exterior of the room over the stairwell. It feels good to get this much done, though.

Final Stages of Loft Conversion

The conversion of our loft into a 3rd bedroom, which began about a year ago, is entering it's final stages. Yesterday it took a couple more steps towards final completion with the installation of closet doors and an entry door casing. Last week, the finishing drywall was done in the closet and everything was painted the final color. Then the carpet was put back down in the closet and entryway and the floor trim began to be reinstalled also. All that is really left is the installation of handles in the closet doors, and the installation of casing and stop around the closet doors. That will complete the inside of the room in entirety, leaving only the outside of the door frame in the hall to complete.