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Winter Cleaning

Posted December 30, 2006

Today was Christmas decoration breakdown day and I spent most of it in the basement organizing all of the boxes and doing a long-overdue cleaning. Our basement is unfinished, but I do have some areas set up for different things.

One area still had boxes from our move-in day six years ago. I got through all of those today and found some interesting souvenirs (see montage above). Seeing that stuff was fun–maybe someday I’ll do an online photo album of all that junk I never seem to throw out.


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House Finches and Woodpeckers

Posted December 30, 2006

This weekend we re-filled the bird feeder and put out a peanut butter suet ball. This attracted several new visitors to the deck, including a number of house finches and a small downey woodpecker. He had a larger friend that stayed in the trees, but I got a shot of him too.


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Merry Christmas from the Bumble

Posted December 25, 2006

From our Bumble to you and yours, wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season…DK

UPDATE: Pictures are up in the private section of the photos area.


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Minnesota Wild versus Detroit Red Wings

Posted December 24, 2006

We arrived early for the game last night and brought along the Nikon to attempt some shots of the pre-game practice. I have a new appreciation for the Sports Illustrated-caliber photographers and need to read up on the techniques they use to get those great action shots indoors under artificial lighting. I took almost 500 shots and I’ve uploaded the best ones here.

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What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? 1.1

Posted December 23, 2006

Festivus, for the rest of us, seems like the ideal day to launch the initial, What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?, guest column. Special thanks to David Kingsbury, the Deputy Ambassador for Golf in Minnesota, and editor extraordinaire of Golfing in Minnesota, Minnesota’s Premier Golf Blog for inviting me to share my thoughts on the game of golf, from a golf course architect’s perspective. David is truly a golf nut.

What are my credentials? As Sid would say, I’m one of the local “geniuses”. Just as a teaser to my credentials, at the grand opening of The Legends, a Golf Digest top ten best new golf course in 2002, I played in a foursome with Chad Hartman, the Ambassador of Minnesota Golf, Dan “Common Man” Cole, and Garrett Gill, enough said. Keep in mind, that one of the user responses for one of my recently opened designs said, “plough it under and start over with a plan next time”. To which I say, plans are for wimps.

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Sally Squirrel Joins the Seed Party

Posted December 23, 2006

After weeks of grey squirrels gorging at the bird feeder on the deck, we had a new visitor today.

I believe this is a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)–the first we’ve seen at this house…DK


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New Workout Regime

Posted December 22, 2006

This week I started a new daily workout regime. I plan to do it Monday through Friday, right after I get the kids to the bus stop and before I leave for work:

  • Stationary Bike Warmup
  • 5K Run on Treadmill
  • 4×15 Dumbbell Repetitions
  • 50 Sit-ups

It takes less than an hour and doesn’t bore me to death (yet). I hit my peak weight last week (190.2 pounds), so I need to start something. Since I’m not eager to change my eating habits, this will have to do for now. Hopefully it will help a little…DK


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Minnesota Wild versus Vancouver Canucks

Posted December 21, 2006

Got in a surprise extra game this week when I filled in for my aunt, who wasn’t feeling well. The Wild had just lost an away game to the Canucks earlier in the week, despite outplaying them for about 58 minutes. The replay officials blew another call, but that has become the norm this year for the Wild. They just need to suck it up and play harder to overcome these additional hurdles.

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Road Running Again

Posted December 16, 2006

Today I took my first outdoor run since the marathon (which was two and half months ago). The weather here has been so mild the past few weeks and I really should have been out all this time. It was about 45 degrees and sunny and the four miles felt pretty good. The first big hill was a pain though and I felt arch blisters forming by the second mile. I stopped to tighten my laces and that seemed to help.

I’m working on a new schedule for working out that I plan to start this week. It’s not a New Year’s resolution or anything, but I do feel a lot better when I’m in shape…DK


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Fifteen Years Ago This Week

Posted December 15, 2006

Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary and the 20th anniversary of our first date (saw the movie “Three Amigos” at the recently closed Har Mar Theater). This is the only wedding day picture we have, taken just after we eloped at the courthouse in downtown St. Paul.

To celebrate number fifteen, we had dinner at the Lexington in St. Paul, which was great. It’s really amazing how different a great steak is from a cheap one–they are like totally different food categories.

Thanks to my wonderful wife for putting up with me for all these years and to my kids for the great card–it was perfect! Here’s to many more years of love, happiness, friendship and personal growth…DK


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Northern Flicker Woodpecker

Posted December 11, 2006

This guy visited the “squirrel-proof” feeder this morning. I’ve been told it’s a northern flicker woodpecker, as I’m not so good at identifying birds. I do know the cardinals and blue jays, which have been frequent visitors this week.

I created a new wildlife album in the photos section and will add shots as they come in…DK


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Minnesota Wild versus Chicago Blackhawks

Posted December 6, 2006

Now that was a game! My daughter was well enough to go and we had a total blast. I was disappointed none of our broken players came back tonight, but the rest of the squad played a great game that could have easily been a blowout with just a few better bounces of the puck. I’m really happy they got the full two points, thanks mainly to Manny staying solid at the end. Rolston didn’t exactly play a bad game either and I was impressed by the efforts put forth by Stephane Veilleux and Matt Foy. And what can you say about PMB’s game-winner? Almost as pretty as the free holiday ornaments they handed us on the way out the door…DK


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Minnesota Wild Player Visit – Derek Boogaard #24

Posted December 4, 2006

Tonight’s Wild player signing featured my daughter’s favorite player, Derek Boogaard, at Buffalo Wing Wings in Savage. Unfortunately, she stayed home from school today with an upset stomach and a low-grade fever. I decided the best medicine for her was a signed “get well soon” card from the Boogie Man, so I fought the large crowd and frigid weather and got the goods. No “To DK” photo tonight (I wanted to keep to the one item per person courtesy), but this was even better.

Tickets in the usual spot for Chicago tomorrow night…DK


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Sammy Squirrel and the Start of Winter

Posted December 4, 2006

It’s been really cold and windy this week and this guy figured out how to break our “squirrel-proof” bird feeder we set up on the deck. My kids nick-named him Sammy Squirrel and I’m happy for him to eat whatever he wants–he earned it.

Eagan received a dusting of snow last night, but we missed both of the big storms that have moved through so far. Wind chills have been in the low negative digits the past few days, but we are forecast to be above freezing again by the end of the week. Minnesotans and weather–it just isn’t logical or sane…DK


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Jay’s Cafe – Saint Paul

Posted December 2, 2006

Jay’s Cafe (791 Raymond, 651-641-1446) has received accolades as one of the best new restaurants in town, but I didn’t like it much when I went there right after it opened. We went for breakfast and with Keys located just a few doors down, it’s hard to compete with that. Lunch is a different story, though.

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Changes at the Hard Rock Vegas

Posted December 1, 2006

Almost one year ago, I was in Las Vegas for business and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It’s been one of my favorite places to stay and they were taking deposits on a condo expansion that looked really nice. The prices were high, but the sales rep I talked to said they had sold most of the project.

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