November 2023 – snand.org

Duluth day 2.

a little late posting this one.

another nice slow start to the day, breakfast at the hotel, swimming again and some Nicholas Cage movie in the morning. by the time we got on the road, we were greeted by a perfect snowfall.

first up, gooseberry falls.

oops, missed the exit.

first up, split rock lighthouse.

sadly it’s no longer free but I suppose these days, 8 bucks to preserve history and let them upgrade the place is worth the admission.

initial disappointment gave way to the familiarity of the place, and a welcome surprise of a pretty decent upgrade of the museum facility. centerpiece is the old fresnel lens on a big rotating display; it’s oddly beautiful.

a friend’s great uncle has art featured on display

we headed back to gooseberry where the falls proved to be shockingly beautiful. I got a little held up with A, trying to get pictures of a woodpecker we saw but when we eventually caught up, the other boys were doing their best job being boys near the edge of the lower falls.

eventually I found M at the upper falls, we had to grab a selfie.

I honestly couldn’t believe how much it’s begun to ice over. this might have been the most dramatic I’ve seen it in the winter. the fully iced over falls are always beautiful, but with water still cascading down…it’s just cool.

seems the falls decided to whip us up a batch of pancake ice. we sat and watched for a while as the little circles danced around, and the little children hit each other with sticks behind us.

we did find this weird little ice knob growing, I told them to leave it alone but it took a surprising amount of force for them to break it loose. made a pretty good crack when it went through the ice after the boys made me throw it.

we did a bit more driving around, headed over the lift bridge and found ourselves a new place to try out. note – I’m only posting this section to remind myself about it in a year (Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Duluth Waterfront in case the link dies, future me).

and finally our destination, good ol’ Bentlyville. sure it’s cheesy, and pretty much the same thing every year, but it’s tradition and we love it. man, oh man it was cold though, wind just whipped through us and we weren’t the most bundled we’ve ever been. false sense of security due to the earlier trip and unseasonably warm fall. oh well, no one to blame but ourselves.

not pictured are the trips to the Duluth Grill and White Castle, the latter of which, despite being in a gas station, might have been the best late night castle run I’ve ever had. Duluth Grill was fantastic as always. in the end, due to my poor planning, I forgot to take off Monday and so we abandoned our final evening in the hotel and hit the snowy road back home.

I think we might do the same weekend again next year.

Duluth, day 1.

with 2023 being what it is, holidays are a bit off schedule for us. traditions are traditions though and so we are up in Doolooth to see the Bentlyville lights. every year we come up here to see them, or at least that’s the excuse we use to get in one last family trip. we have one more planned this year though and so this one was bumped up a bit. first time we’ve been up here without snow, though.

bombs E-way!

A with a perfect 10 dive.

we’re staying at the Inn on Lake Superior, we love this place. got a poolside room so we could breath the magical fumes even while we sleep! we started the morning with a little swim, I stayed up while G teened in bed all morning.

next up we went shopping, mostly for candy. I love taking the boys here, I remember it from when I was little. I still kick myself for not buying one of those metrodome Duluth packs up here years ago.

KONG!

next up , duckpin bowling. oops, we reserved regular bowling so had some time to kill. 3 boys, a bowling alley, so of course there’s an arcade.

duckpin bowling is basically little bowling, using balls that are about 5” without holes. the pins are on strings, and you get 3 rolls per frame. it’s honestly a lot of fun, we play it wherever we get the chance.

dinner was Anchor Bar and Grill, over the bridge in Superior. no, not our usual Anchor (Fish & Chips), but this one was also pretty durn tasty; was exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what a wisconsin hamburder should taste like.

not mine, but an image of the inside stolen from the tubes.

a trip over the bridge and then back to the hotel for one last swim. while they got chlorinated, I made this. a lovely day, not much else to say.

happy thanksgiving everyone.

guessing this blog doesn’t come across as sunshine and rainbows all the time. truth is though, I have a lot to be thankful for.

I’m thankful that despite this trash year, I’m still here to experience it along with everyone important in my life. it may have been a difficult one but it’s brought us closer together as a family in some important ways and despite all the difficulties, we keep ending up with the best possible outcomes.

I’m overwhelmed to have found the opportunity of a lifetime and the extraordinary patience of my new employer. I realize I have and am still carrying some trauma from my last employer, and I have been suffering a pretty bad case of imposter syndrome. I feel like such a stereotype because as the saying goes, it takes at least 6 months to settle into a new role. week before last marked my 6 months.

I’m grateful for the care team at Abbot. I have my thoughts about the timing of all this and communication, but the folks who are taking care of J are a group of dedicated, loving and overworked professionals who are far more cheerful than I honestly even think is possible. she once again faced a difficult and dangerous surgery and came out of it better than anyone expected.

I’m beyond pleased to be alive right now. almost constantly, I tell my children that now is the best time to ever have been alive. I know I doom and gloom a lot, and there is a lot to doom and gloom about in this world. that does not change the fact that it still contains beauty, wonder and a collective knowledge that’s brought us to a point in time where almost anything that can be imagined; can be built or created. even this crappy site is an example of something I used to dream about as a nerdy kid (seriously, I was a huge DORK).

there is so much more, I owe thanks to so many people, for so many things. I would not be here, I would not be able to raise these children, to experience this amazing, world if not for countless family and friends who’ve carried me over the years. I’ll try to be worth it.

enough of 2023.

well, I’m back at the hospital. J is getting a tuneup on her bionic neck. I won’t go into details but 2023 isn’t done with us just yet; last Thursday we get a text, J is having major surgery today. with all the time to plan, we scrambled to get the week in order so that we can take care of her during this next phase of recovery.

meanwhile, I promise I won’t take any bike rides; maybe I’ll swing by the UPS store and buy enough bubble wrap to encase my head just to be safe.

enough about me though, this post is for J. on the off chance that anyone sees this, send her your finest thoughts and prayers. I know, the standard GOP solution, but for her it really does help and I promise any well wishes will make it to her post haste. she’s once again in good hands, the same care team who took care of her last time are on the job again. I want you to picture something, imagine you’re about 10, now imagine a doctor; that is the man taking care of my mom right now.

truth be told, this was so sudden that I’ve barely had time to prepare or even absorb any of it, taking this one as it comes. honestly, probably for the best, I’m glad I haven’t had time to think much about this one, right now just reacting is enough.

anyway, wish us luck and I’ll post updates as they come. snand can’t wait to get it’s most active user back online 🙂

finally getting on my feet.

been beating around the bush a bit lately, I know but I’ve been struggling with work.

I started this new job immediately after my traumatic brain injury, after a traumatic employment situation with a very toxic employer. my new position started off great, people are nice, organization is put together in the right ways, felt so mature and organized.

Months went by and I kept looking to fill the role, to match my skills and experience with the opening. I could not do it, I could not find my footing and so I got to the point where I felt like I had failed. I got to the point where I looked for new jobs, something that I said would be more of a match to the skills I have. I got to the point of accepting (verbally) a new position…

offer in mid, I finally had the courage and spilled my guts to my employer. I fully expected them to tell me that I was right, that my skills just weren’t a match for what they were looking for. I was ok with this since I had a pending offer on the way so what did I have to lose.

I think you can all see where I went wrong. instead, I should have addressed the issue with my employer first because the reaction I got was 100% in the opposite direction of what I expected. They agreed that they have not done enough to get my involved, that my performance so far had been great and so I deserved more responsibilities. in fact, they had been purposfully keeping more responsibilities from me so as not to overwhelm me.

it’s been a few weeks, and I’m now at the point where it’s completely turned around. I now kinda love, and am excited about the future here. I’m on my feet and maybe not quite running, but I’m at least power walking in these colorful shoes.

I’m going to try to be more active here on snand, let this be the post that marks my return, even using an actual photo instead of some garbage I found online.

thanks snanders, having this dumb site has been a marvelous hobby.

update-

engagement baby, what I’ve been after. I’m reading through a teams channel with countless links to our repo. finally getting the info I’ve been craving here for ages.