Working It

It's been busy around here lately! I've been keeping myself busy with odd jobs: cleaning, babysitting, painting, etc... and I've been helping with the estate sale I mentioned previously a bit. It's really eye-opening and overwhelming to go through the contents of an established household and prepare them for sale.

I managed to score a gig with a marketing firm that specializes in working with nonprofits. Since I want to make a living at writing (and am a bleeding heart idealist) this is right up my alley. One project turned into two, and today I had a conference call that implied that there will be a long term working relationship with this firm. I'm waiting to hear back about another good opportunity. Bit by bit I'm piecing together a freelance career.

Troy has been incredibly busy with new robot designs and grant proposals. He's got a concert in Miami with the robots scheduled for December and in April he has plans to be back in Belgium for a show at the Logos Foundation.

I think it's been interesting for our parents to see how we work. Working at home on the computer rather than going into a job with set hours is not really something they are used to. My folks comment about how we are constantly on our laptops and joke about charging us a fee for the wireless.

It is a bit strange and isolating at times to work from home, but mostly I like it for the freedom it allows: working in pajamas and breaking up the day with laundry, yoga, cooking or a walk. Let's hope I can continue to make it work!

Indian Summer

It's rare for fall temperatures in Minnesota to reach the upper seventies, but that's what happened last week. This burst of warm weather (unfortunately) coincided with me getting an editing gig on Elance. I was more than happy to have a project but just a little bummed about not to be able to get out to enjoy the sun for a few days.

Thankfully, the warmth continued into the weekend. We made the most of it by venturing up to Fenske Lake near Ely with my dad's canoe. Most of the leaves are gone now but the Tamaracks are looking lovely and this peaceful lake is bordered mostly by beautiful evergreens. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves and the water was very calm. It was a perfect day for a paddle.

Stuff

I've had a lot of time lately to think about stuff. Troy and I have moved from Minnesota to Oregon to Virginia and then to Belgium and back. All of these moves have been painful, primarily because we never seem to realize how much stuff we have until we try to move it. And Troy's robots and robot parts keep demanding more and more space.

I thought that the move from Belgium back to the States would be a piece of cake because we were only allowed a couple of bags each on the flights. Boy was I wrong! We acquired more stuff than I realized. In our last week there, we sold some of these household items (mostly kitchen/cooking stuff). By the last days we started giving things away and finally we resorted (unfortunately) to trashing some things.

Throwing things away is tough. I'm always thinking I can find a use or re-use for stuff. I probably get this trait from my dad who finds all sorts of interesting ways to use things. He's currently using an old deep fryer to steam wood so that he can bend it for different woodworking projects. And an old steering wheel came in handy for a contraption he built that allows him to lift heavy pieces of sheet rock to the ceiling without another set of hands.

This past weekend I started helping my mom and Tim clean out his parents' house in preparation for an estate sale. Imagine how much stuff you can accumulate living in a house for several decades! Add the pack rat behavior of my step grandma to this scenario and you might be able to understand what we are dealing with. It's pretty overwhelming. Picture a kitchen with every gadget created since the 1950s. I think they discovered 6 different bundt pans and at least as many jello molds.

The burning question for me this week: Why do people feel the need to accumulate so much stuff?

Glorious Scenery

With the fall colors as an excuse, we ventured up the North Shore of Lake Superior on Sunday for what might be our last camping trip of the season. The temps were nice during the day but the evening was chilly. I've got a sleeping bag rated down to about 35 degrees and I was still shivering!

Nevertheless, we weren't disappointed by the scenery. We got a gorgeous backpacking site at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. The walk in near sunset was filled with glorious hues of gold, orange and red.



Later the nearly-full moon and stars were shining beautifully over our own little private bay.


Here's a daytime view for comparison.


A view of the lighthouse from afar.


Yesterday we ventured further north to hike a bit inland (where the colors are peaking) on the Superior Hiking Trail near Silver Bay. The colors on our 5-mile hike to Bean Lake and back were incredible. Pictures don't even do this scenery justice, but you can get an idea from them.




As usual, I've got many more pics on my Flickr page from the trip in case you are interested.

Fall Colors

Yesterday, Troy and I took a walk at Lookout Mountain in the Laurentian Divide Recreation Area. Within the last week we've started to see some glorious fall colors. I did my best to capture them.




I was a little overzealous in my picture taking, you can see more shots here.

Cutie Pies All Around

We've been enjoying our new roles as Tante Lissa and Nonkel Troy (tante and nonkel are cute Flemish words for aunt and uncle) lately. I've been trying to capture the little ones with photography. All I can say is that it takes lots of patience to be a child photographer!

Jack Casey with grandpa Steve

Ria Rain

Amelia Louise sharing a laugh with grandma Kathy

We've also been getting to know our friends' daughter Lukah Gracy. She even called Troy "Uncle Twoy" yesterday! Pretty sweet.

Oktoberfest in the Northland

On Friday Troy, my dad and I ventured to Duluth to help my sister celebrate her birthday. It was a perfect fall day. It was sunny but that deliciously cool autumn crispness was in the air. We drove up the north shore of Lake Superior to the New Scenic Cafe for lunch. Troy and I shared an upscale version of a BLT (with tomato and jalapeno bacon) and a yummy beet and baby spinach salad with bleu cheese and walnuts.


The Fitger's Brewhouse was hosting their 1st ever Oktoberfest down at Canal Park this weekend and so after lunch we made a stop there to check it out. It was pretty cool, there were liter beers and the Chmielewski Funtime Band was playing songs silly like "In Heaven There is No Beer."


On Saturday my sister, niece and I took a stroll on Duluth's lovely lake walk. I'm realizing more and more how much I really love that city.