"We Busted Out of Class. . ."

This is a blog about Mike's two great friends -- Paul and Tim. We've been friends forever. In Paul's case, it began circa 1967, when we both had morning paper routes and picked up our papers at the same place. I don't recall how we became friends, but we did, and we still are. We met Tim in 10th grade (1970). Tim was a kid who moved around a lot, and I think he had just turned up from El Paso, or some such place. Anyway, we all started hanging out, and just this evening -- February 17, 2009 -- we got together at The Local, a great Irish pub in downtown Minneapolis. Images follow . . . .



Here's The Local from the outside (obviously).

Here's an interior establishing shot.

Our wait person, Dolly, must have been drunk, because this is the best shot she could could take, given numerous opportunities. Paul is on the left, Tim on the right.

Here we are in 1989, although none of us can recall where this photo was taken.

And finally, our high school yearbook photos.

"Be gracious to all men, but choose the best to be your friends."

-Isocrates

Two Kids and a Dog

Hello again!

We didn't ask them if it was okay, but here's just a bit of info on Patty's kids:

Kirsten is a student and honcho (honcha?) on the soccer team at Minnesota State University at Moorhead. She injured her knee in 2009 but hopes to re-join the team in Fall, 2010.  (October, 2010:  She did.) Bjorn, one of our great artists, is taking a semester off and hopes to continue his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, either this Summer or Fall.  (October, 2010:  He's there now and liking it so far.) They're 21-year-old twins.

Oh, yeah. We forgot about Guinness. He's much less endearing than he looks.

Our Kitchen Remodeling

Hello everyone!

We're still building this blog, so these posts are out of sequence, but that's okay.

Here's one about the kitchen remodeling we completed last year. We started in February, 2008, and finished up the little stuff by September. It was a ton of work, but we're really happy with the results. We'll let the photos do the talking!




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That's it!

Round One

Mike was sniffing around the garage the other day and found some slides we had taken when we were dating during what we fondly call "Round One." (We dated seriously from 1979 to 1983, before re-connecting in 2005.) We thought these were lost forever! In all of these photos, the one who was not the subject was the photographer. Enjoy!

First, here's the story of how we met:



Patty and I met on 3/3/78. She was working as a waitress at a trendy pizza joint called "My Pie." I was there for food. I couldn't help myself, so I put it all on the line and asked her out. Above is the actual receipt on which she wrote her name and I wrote the phone number she dictated to me. The best we can recall, $7.91 got my friend Paul and me a pizza and a few Cokes.

My college roommate from the University of Wisconsin, Burrell Eveland, who was living in Minneapolis in 1978, was reading this blog post in July, 2009, and added this info:

"I am certain I was present when you and Patty met for the second time. You took me to My Pie telling me how great dinner had been, and by the way how pretty your waitress had been, the week before. When we got there the line was over a half hour. You spotted Patty and went up to her and told her how great the pizza and service had been the last time you were there. The next thing you know we were seated in her section. I think that I should have waited tables that night, since the very pretty Patty stayed at ours virtually the whole time we were there. I'm glad that the two of you re-discovered each other."

In any case, Patty and I went out not long after, but that's a whole new story I'll tell some other time. . . .

Here's Patty at CitySide, a restaurant at Faneuil Hall in Boston, 1980.

Mike in Nova Scotia, c. 1980

Patty at the Winnipeg Zoo (c. 1979)


Patty at a Holiday Inn in Tampa (c. 1981)

Mike at Harry Hopman's tennis camp in Wesley Chapel, Florida, just north of Tampa. (c. 1981)

Great Fun In Vancouver!

Hello!

We're thrilled to include some photos of our October, 2008, trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. We had a great time and particulary enjoyed the great food (particularly sushi) and beer! As you probably know, Vancouver is a beautiful city. We spent a lot of time just walking around. Vancouver and nearby Whistler are hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, so there's a ton of construction.



This is a typical Vancouver skyline shot.



Lots of planes taking off and landing on the water, which is everywhere.



Boats, too!



Mike really liked these residential mini-roundabouts!



Mike also thought this was a good idea: An icon on the street sign indicating the street has a bike path.