Robots on Tour

The first leg of the EMMI tour kicked off right after Troy's birthday. Unfortunately, there was hardly any time to stop and celebrate. The boys didn't get much sleep at all as they were feverishly trying to finish the robot building. Troy was literally sleeping (if at all) on the floor of the work space that week.

Aurie and I made pies and brought them to the space so that we could at least bring a little celebration to the day. It finally dawned on me this year (thanks Aurie!) that I should make pie instead of cake since Troy is obsessed with pie. Not sure why I didn't ever make that connection. I guess I've never considered myself much of a baker. In any case, I made my first real crust ever and filled it with strawberries and rhubarb. I was pretty proud of the results. And Aurie made a decadent, bourbon, pecan and chocolate pie with a hazelnut crust. Troy was thrilled.

Although they weren't able to complete all of the robots they had planned (due to many ridiculous, uncontrollable hold ups and delays) the tour was still a success. There were a number of stops, including Brandeis and Franklin Pierce universities and MIT, and they made some great connections.

Steve and Troy returned on Sunday night and have continued to work at full speed in order to complete some more robots before they leave for the European tour on Friday.

I'm sad not to be going along, especially because there is a stop in Ghent, I've been missing it a lot lately. For Aurie's birthday, we decided to recreate part of our Belgian experience. We made wafels from a recipe that we got from Godfried (Troy's mentor at Logos). Jaimee and Peter brought over their waffle maker and I inherited by mom's old one, so we had dueling waffle irons!

These are not quite they same as the wafels I blogged about previously, these are more yeasty and not as sweet. They are made with real Belgian beer. We served them with freshly whipped cream and strawberries. It was fun to share this treat with some of our friends.

Speaking of friends, I'm truly grateful for the kind dinner invitations I've been receiving from them lately. It seems they'll make sure I'm not too lonely over the next couple of weeks while Troy is touring.

The Bot Builders

I've hardly seen Troy in the past weeks. He's been at the work space, with the rest of the bot squad, designing and building new robots for the upcoming East Coast and European tours. He comes home once in a while to eat or sleep. I go to the space to see him and bring him food sometimes. At one point, Aurie and I stopped by to do some menial tasks to help with assembly. Here are some pics I took of the process.

Full Speed Ahead!

The time here has been flying. We've hit the ground running with work and are slowly but surely unpacking box upon box from what feels like a previous life. It's funny how we got by for so long with so little. I had forgotten about most of the stuff we have. Realizing this makes me want to purge and get rid of unnecessary clothing and household items, but it's also a difficult thing to do. Sometimes I open a box and think "Why the hell did I keep this?" and sometimes I think "Wow, I forgot about this!"

It's been a bit surreal to be back in Charlottesville. We lived here for four years and then were gone for over a year and a half. Some things have changed, some have stayed the same. It's a transitory sort of place and some people we know are getting ready to move on. We are figuring out again where we fit in. It's been really nice to reconnect with old friends.

Troy and his robot-building collaborators now have a dedicated work space in the Belmont neighborhood. I'm relieved not to have him soldering at the dining room table anymore, but I wonder how much I'll see of him now. He's been working day and night. The new robot designs are quickly coming along. I'll try to snap some pictures of the progress to post sometime soon.

Back in C-Ville!

It's been a long week. It began with the 22 hour drive from Virginia, MN to Charlottesville, VA and ended with the threat that our rental home might be going into foreclosure. Thankfully the drive was uneventful and the auction was called off.

In between all that, we had to deal with an apartment that was definitely not move-in ready. In one day we had ServiceMaster, a locksmith and a plumber here for maintenance and repairs! I'm crossing my fingers that the worst of it is over.

At one point, I talked to my mom on the phone and she told me that I sounded pretty good in light of all that we've had to deal with this week. I have been thinking about that ever since--especially in light of the fact that I was just given the task of editing my boss's motivational book. As I read through it, I am reflecting on all of the incredible changes--both good and bad--that we've endured over the last few years and what we've learned from them.

From Charlottesville to Belgium to Minnesota and back. From a secure, steady job to unemployed to self-employed--I never imagined in my wildest dreams that this is the path I would be on. But I'm positive about the future and I've become better at rolling with the punches of late. I guess we all need to shake things up once in a while in order to really grow and move forward.

Laskiainen!

Since the 1930's, a small community in northern Minnesota called Palo has hosted the Laskiainen, a Finnish sliding festival. The festival coincides roughly with Shrove Tuesday and also my dad's birthday. My dad used to take my sister and me there every year to slide down the hill and then warm up with some mojakka (stew) or pea soup. It's a really wonderful family event--and one that seems to bring out the kid in everyone.

I was thankful to be home for the Laskiainen this year because it's been such a long time since I was able to go. Troy had never been there, but he was in when he heard about the steep, icy sliding hill. We borrowed an old-school, wooden tobaggan from his folks. It was a fast and thrilling ride!

The Cutest Puppy

Troy and I plan to move back to Charlottesville soon because he's got to start building the robots. It's stressful to do an apartment search from hundreds of miles away (thank goodness we have friends like Steve and Aurie to look at places for us in our absence)! We have also started the long and arduous process of applying with the IRS for official nonprofit status for the Friends of Brad Memorial Foundation. Let's just say that last week was a long one.

Luckily, I noticed a weekend event that would lift our spirits--the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon's "cutest puppy" contest. Coincidentally, it was happening at the Fitger's building in Duluth which is home to one of our favorite Minnesota brewpubs. They have two new Belgian beers on tap, so it wasn't hard to convince Troy to go.

Good beer and puppies. It was big smiles all around.

This one was my favorite, although not an official entry because he wasn't yet 3 months old.

Another cutie, I think an honorable mention? BTW, they weren't all huskies, but I'm partial to these dogs.

My sister, Ethan and niece met up with us for the contest. Ria added to the overall cuteness of the day.

Authentic Wafels!

Ever since visiting us in Belgium last year, my mom and Tim have been enamored with Liège wafels.

Liège wafels (I'm not spelling it wrong, it's the Flemish spelling) are not at all like the "Belgian waffles" we have in the U.S. They are richer and denser than the waffles we are used to. And they are not served with syrup, because they are internally sweetened. Liège wafels contain Belgian pearl sugar which caramelizes as they cook. You can buy them from street vendors in Belgium for a couple of euros a piece. We ate our fare share while over there--they are amazingly addictive!

My mom got a professional waffle iron for Christmas and Tim special ordered the sugar recently. My mom and Troy had a little waffle throw down last weekend with two different recipes that we found. According to everything I've heard, Liège style wafels are notoriously difficult to make. But the heavy duty waffle iron definitely helped. Both recipes were pretty successful. Ironically, the one that I think is a little easier (the one mom made) tasted more authentic. We filled our guts with the delicious treats while reminiscing about our Belgian experience.