Lion or Lamb?

March has come and Spring is here.  How can we have possibly lived in Minnesota for almost 9 months?  It doesn't seem possible.  Yet here we are.  Admittedly this Winter was a mild one by Midwestern standards but I am ready for a little warm up.

The car problems are a thing of the past.  (Knock on wood.)  The van has been working fine and serving its purpose of local transportation.  So now that that hurdle has been cleared we'll turn our attention to a few other matters.  1st we have to do our taxes.  Every year we say we'll get an early start on them but always procrastinate until the last minute.  April 15th will be here before we know it.  2nd, we need to start looking at buying a house again.  Last fall we started the ball rolling but didn't end up getting the house we thought we thought we wanted and that was okay.  We're very fortunate in our living situation right now and aren't desperately seeking to buy a house as soon as possible.  We can search for what we want and/or can afford.

Recently Sara and I were able to get away for a date night in Stillwater, MN.  A riverside town, I've mentioned before, that is just a charming local destination.  We dropped the girls off with her brother's family nearby, drove into town and used a gift card at a local cheese shop/restaurant.  After our meal we strolled around town, popped into a local 'dive bar', and were back at the brother's house before 8PM.  The rest of the night was spent visiting with family and drinking some local beers.  It was a fun weekend.

Wall of Fame at the St. Paul PBS Station

March 19th was "Won't You Be My Neighbor Day" at the local PBS television station.  In honor of Fred Rogers and his life's work PBS was hosting a local event where families could come and meet a beloved children's television character Daniel Tiger.  (For those of you who do not know Daniel is the son of the original Daniel Striped Tiger puppet from Mister Roger's Neighborhood.  In 2011 an animated spin off was created featuring the next generation of characters from the Neighborhood of Make Believe.  Daniel Tiger wears a red sweater, rides on the Trolley, and continues the work of Mister Rogers.)  Evie Sue loves  'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' and I got a rare Saturday off so we decided to drive into St. Paul and got to the TPT - Twin Cities PBS.
It was a zoo.  The even had been advertised on the PBS station but there was also a pretty significant social media advertisement and the turn out was immense.  A decision to use color-coded wristbands for the hourly appearances was never mentioned online and, apparently, made last minute.  The facility only had a 250 person capacity limit for each hour and the wristbands were all gone by 10Am when we casually strolled into the madness.  The lobby was packed, the staff was overwhelmed and the continuously growing crowd was unaware of the wristband debacle.  We lucked into 2 red wristbands, the noon time slot, thanks to a mother who decided the wait would not be worth it for her and her family.  There were actually 6 bands but we split the count with another women who had a larger group.  Evie Sue and I would meet Daniel while Sara and Ronen explored the neighborhood and waited patiently to go to lunch.

We did it.  We met Daniel Tiger.  After waiting in a crowded lobby, finally being let into the room where the event was to take place, briefly coloring a PBS coloring book, lining back up and waiting an additional half hour we got our picture taken with Daniel Tiger and spent less than a minute in the presence of celebrity.  Was it worth it?  At the time, stressed out and annoyed, I wouldn't have said so but looking back and seeing Evie Sue's face light up, watching the heartfelt hug she laid on him I would have to say it was well worth the hassle and, remember, it was free.  I just now asked Evie Sue if she got the fact that people were upset at the event and she said she did and thought it was because there weren't enough 'tickets'.  The backlash on social media was pretty ridiculous.

In other news, work is work.  The Cup & Cone, a local ice cream shop, has reopened for the season.  Ronen P is almost a year old.  That's right.  On April 3rd she will have been on this earth, out of the womb, for 365 days!  I cannot believe it.  The last year has flown by and seemed like an eternity at the same time.  So much has happened since she was born and yet it seems like it was just yesterday.  A small birthday celebration is planned for the 3rd. 

I am currently reading David Elliot Cohen's One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-The-World Journey with Our Children.  It is an entertaining read, pieced together from emails sent by the author to his friends and family during the Cohen's family vacation around the world.  I sometimes get frustrated with my family during short little road trips and cannot even imagine dragging the wife and kids to the four corners of the Earth.  Travel memoirs always appeal to me but I am sometimes bothered by the fact that the people who write these books, and have these amazing adventures are undeniably wealthy.  It takes mucho dinero to sail around the world solo, or to pick up your lives and just travels to as many continents as you can on a whim.  Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge Cohen and his wife for their financial status... not much, anyway.  They worked hard for their money, they made the tough decision to liquidate their assets and jump feet first into the unknown.  I am envious but just once I'd like to find a book about someone who had a great travel adventure on a meager or middle class salary.