Another Weekend in the Twin Cities

As my wife started her new job in Saint Paul last Monday, she has been living in the Twin Cities with at my sister's condo. Being without her for the entire week was difficult, not only did I miss her, but it was also a lot more difficult to take care of Emma on my own. So, Friday after I got home from work, Emma and I got in the car and drove four and a half hours to Woodbury, Minnesota, to see Mel. Of course, the trip took an hour or so longer than that. First of all, I had to make a few stops in Waterloo to deliver PartyLite candles to some people who came to Mel's PartyLite candle party a couple of weeks earlier, and Emma and I had to have dinner. After leaving Waterloo, we drove for about forty five minutes before Emma started whining. So after an additional forty five minutes of driving, we stopped in Clear Lake where I changed Emma into her pajamas and let her walk around the Shell gas station for fifteen minutes or so. She was not happy when I put her back into the car, but she soon fell asleep.

Besides seeing Mel and my sister this holiday weekend, my mother was also at my sister's condo because all of the family was gathering in the area to go through my grandmother's belongings which had been stored at my aunt and uncle's house up there since my grandmother passed away last fall. My aunts and uncles, and my mother, had already divided up a considerable amount of her belongings before I arrived. On Saturday though, everyone had the opportunity to pick out some of my grandmother's jewelry. Then, all the grandchildren, including me, got to pick things from what was left over. We drew cards to determine the order in which we would pick. The whole process seemed a bit strange. My grandmother's belongings were spread out on tables throughout the house. It kind of felt a bit like a garage sale the way everything was laid out. Mel and I picked out a bowl and some pots and pans. We also got a stool and a couple other small things. After we were all done, the entire family went to the Green Mill in Hastings for dinner. It was nice to all get to eat together.

On Sunday, Mel, Emma, and I went to Roseville to do some shopping. Mel needed some new clothes for her new job. In all of her previous jobs, she didn't need any special clothes as she usually had to change into some type of lab clothing at work, but at her new job, she needs to dress in business casual clothing, so she needed to expand her wardrobe. I also got a couple of things.

After shopping, we met with our Realtor to look at a few houses, two of which Mel had seen with him earlier in the week. The house that Mel really wanted had sold between Wednesday and Sunday, so that one was out. However, our Realtor told us that had probably would have discouraged us from buying it. We did find another house that we liked though. It is smaller than our current house on the main floor, but to get something the same size or larger would be a lot more expensive. The last house we looked at on Sunday had a few minor issues. Mainly it needs a good thorough cleaning and some fresh paint, but it really wasn't in that bad of condition, so we decided to make an offer to purchase the house. We are really hoping that the bank which owns the house, as it is a foreclosure, will accept our offer as is. We hope to hear back by Wednesday from it.

Monday after lunch, Emma and I got back into the car to drive back to Cedar Rapids. The trip took a lot longer than it would have had I been driving alone. Emma was getting cranky being cooped up in the car for so long, so we stopped in Albert Lea, the Iowa welcome center near Northwood, and Clear Lake, each of which is about fifteen minutes from the previous location. After stopping at the Casey's General store in Clear Lake, Emma finally fell asleep for a nap. She stayed asleep until we got to Cedar Falls. The rest of the drive wasn't too bad, although Emma was getting a bit impatient with being stuck in her car seat by the time we reached the exit for Urbana, about half an hour from home. Once we did get home, she had a great time running around the house. She did have a had time getting to sleep though last night, but she was sleeping shortly after nine, about an hour and half after her bedtime. Next weekend, since we do not have any house hunting tasks to complete, Mel is driving to Cedar Rapids instead of us travelling to the Twin Cities. That should make the weekend a lot easier on Emma. I really can not wait until we get relocated to the Twin Cities permanently!