A Bit of Holiday Cheer

Diva and Walker spent some time bonding over a Christmas craft kit that I picked up a while back at Walmart.  I intended to have Diva and the nephews work on it together, which is why I chose the three piece kit, but the boys ended up moving out before we got to it so when Walker asked if he and Diva could work on it, I jumped at the opportunity to get it done.  Here's what they made:

It's a gingerbread train.  Pretty cute, right?  Diva started out by following the photo on the box but soon found her own decorating style.  We had lots of candy and lots of icing left over, but not enough to do both sides.  The train cars are dimensional and can be filled with candy canes or wrapped candy if you choose.  The three pieces took a little over an hour.

While at Walmart, I picked up a card for my oldest niece, Marah.    Marah is 22 years old and therefore has aged out of our family gift exchange, so I try to pick out a special card for her.  She's been having a tough time lately, judging by some of her Facebook posts, so I chose this card because the sentiment inside is about how much she is loved.  And she is, of course, so I'm glad I didn't bother to check the price before I got home.  Would you like to take a guess how much this lovely card cost?  I would have said $4.  Each tier of the tree is a separate layer of card stock, and the ornaments are little "crystal" things.  It's not musical or anything fancy like that.  Go on, take a guess.....

I was looking over my receipt when I got home and was surprised to see that I paid seven bucks for this pretty card.  Of course seven dollars won't break the budget but it does cheese me a bit that I actually paid that much for some colored paper.  I'm glad I didn't check the price in the store or I never would have bought it.  Walker was displeased, to say the least.  He's not a fan of greeting cards to begin with.  I'll have to be more careful next year.  I do hope it makes Marah smile.

A Word About The Doubletree Hotel in Downtown Minneapolis

Can you stand another post about our weekend in Minneapolis, lol?  Here's the thing: Walker really wants me to write more reviews, mostly because I rely so heavily on others' reviews when I do my trip planning.  He's always bugging me to pay it forward with reviews of our own.  So here we go:

We've stayed at the Doubletree several times, so I feel like we have a well rounded experience to draw from.  I would recommend the hotel without reservation - no pun intended.  The staff is great, the rooms are nice, the beds are comfy, and the shower has good water pressure.  The rooms are all suites, with a small fridge, microwave, and coffee maker on a granite topped counter between the living area and the bedroom.  These rooms have also have red and white wine ready and waiting, though the charge per bottle is around $30 each and will be added to your bill if you open them. Walker and I aren't wine drinkers, but I know lots of people who would appreciate that touch, especially when traveling.

Walker and I paid $94 a night with a AAA discount.  Parking is $17 a night with in and out privileges in their private ramp.  We like to park at the top of the ramp, but when we're expecting snow it's nice to have the option of parking under the cover of one of the lower levels. My mom paid $89 using her AARP discount.  She had an upgraded room, too. They opted to give her one of the PURE suites, which is a certified allergy free suite.  You could smell the freshness from the air purifier in her living room.  She doesn't have allergies, and these rooms would rent for $155 if you requested a PURE suite, but my mom was upgraded for no additional charge.

The lobby and guest rooms are recently renovated.  Diva and I picked up the theme right away, but Walker didn't figure it out until we offered some hints.  Everything is decorated with.....

The art over our work desk.

Our wall paper.  The wall paper in the halls had the same patten but was pearly gray.

The chair in our room

This is the elevator landing area

The curtains in the public areas were all done in this fabric

One of the two beds

The elevator landing in the lobby

Circles! I have to admit, the old decor was heavy and dark but I kind of missed it, even though I really like the new style. There was something very cozy about the old decor, especially after coming in from the cold and wind.  It was inviting and made me feel like curling up with a lap blanket and a good book.  The new decor is very sleek and contemporary, and while I can see the beauty in it, it's not a style I would have chosen myself.

The Doubletree also offers guests their famous warm chocolate chip cookies upon check in.  A nice touch, I think.  This particular hotel has inside access to the Starbucks next door, and they have a decent restaurant on site. There is no pool.  They do have a fitness center and a guest laundry.

I think it bears mentioning that I researched about a dozen downtown hotels before our first trip years ago (when we chose the Millennium down the street) and again a couple years later when we got tired of the rudeness at the Millennium and decided to make a switch.  The Doubletree and the Millennium are the only two along Nicollet Mall that offered rooms in the $100 range.  Technically, the Doubletree is a block off Nicollet but it's pretty much right there.  Anyway: the bottom line is, I have no complaints, and the next time we visit downtown Minneapolis we'll be checking into the Doubletree once again.

Just a Quick Update

All was well at my oncology appointment.  I do not have to see the oncologist again  for six whole months.  Wahoo!  Of course, I still have to have a mammo in April and see the breast specialist at that time, too, but hey, we're making progress. 

It's just about the one year mark from when I finished radiation.  The oncologist says it takes at least a year for the tissue to heal and to get your energy back.   So I should be pretty much "as good as it gets" with all this.  My treatment area is as healed as it will ever be, so the dark patches on my skin are permanent now.  Small price to pay.  I'm using a skin cream with hydroquinone to lighten the radiation tattoos.  If I could remember to use it every day it they would probably be almost gone by now.

Miss Ernie has been tolerating her eye drops pretty well.  She's lost more weight, though.  She is just fur and bones now.  It breaks my heart, but she's very strong and very feisty so what do you do?  When she stops bossing everyone around we'll know it's time to say good-bye.

Walker thanks y'all for his birthday wishes.  We had a nice dinner together, just the two of us, before we went to work Thursday night.  I wanted to tell the server that it was Walker's birthday but he didn't want me to.  He doesn't like when they all gather around and sing. I wanted to do it anyway.  I'll never take birthdays for granted again.

Look What We Made!

Last summer, with the boys in mind, and knowing that Bro would be settling into his own place soon, Walker and I picked up a couple chairs at a neighbor's rummage sale.  The chairs were priced at $5 for the pair.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Walker took them apart before I snapped a photo, but here's what they looked like, minus a seat cushion with a pretty ugly gold seashell pattern:

Walker took the seats off, then sanded down the wood.  A coat of black primer and two coats of glossy black paint completed Walker's portion of the project.  Then Bro and I recovered the seat cushions, using purple Vikings print fabric for Cubby and a really cool textured tiger print fabric for Squeak.  And here is what they look like now:

Cubby's Vikings chair ~

Squeak's tiger chair

I haven't seen the boys' rooms all put together yet, but hopefully we'll get up there soon.  The boys seem to love what we did for them.  I have to remember my camera when we go, so I can share the end result.

Happy Birthday to......

Walker J!  My handsome honey is 47 years young today.  I'm getting him a picture of my boobs.  Okay, not really.  We're spending the afternoon at the cancer center where I will have a series of chest x-rays done.  I could probably have them run off a 5x7 for Walker - those folks are very accommodating.

After my photo session I have a visit with the oncologist, then I'm taking Walker out to eat at a local steak house before I head to the office and Walker goes home to catch a nap before he goes to work.  We really know how to live it up, don't we?

Walker with Flat Stanley

Minneapolis, Again

On Sunday, we walked to Hell's Kitchen for breakfast.  That's a standard Minneapolis treat for Walker and me.  I am crazy over their lemon ricotta hot cakes.  They moved to a new, huge space, added a bar, and started serving dinner and late night snacks.  Their space is beautiful and their food is great.  It's a bit of a splurge, though, so one stop per trip is our limit.

After breakfast we ducked into Macy's.  They have a tradition at the holidays, a beautiful walk-through display with a holiday theme.  This year, again, the theme was "A Day in the Life of an Elf".  It's a cute display but one we have seen twice before.  They used to switch it up every year.  My family hadn't seen it yet, so off we went. 

Time to start the day!

Building snowmen

Making breakfast before a busy day ~

Elf school! 

Leading the Christmas Tree Chior

Incoming letters for Santa

I love the expression on this mailman's face ~

Holiday treat factory - YUM!

The Santa Land area is rather dimly lit.  The camera I was using is one I've had for about a year, but I rarely use it.  My little Minolta pocket camera that took great photos died right before this trip, and the big SLR camera I favor was too big to comfortably carry around with me.  So I did the best I could with the "middle" camera, but the photos aren't great.  I know the camera is capable of taking great shots in low light, but I have to learn how to set it properly.  Here's one of all the rude people who stood in front of us at the parade.  It's about the best shot I got after dark on Saturday, and it isn't very good:

 


So anyway:  we needed to be out of the hotel by noon.  It was after 11 when we left Macy's, so we had to hustle.  My mom and Diva rode home with Walker and me.  Originally I had planned to stop at Trader Joe's in Rochester, just to check them out, but my house sitter was not comfortable wrestling with Ernie to giver her all her meds ,so I thought we'd better just get home. The weather looked to be coming in, too.  My mom wanted to stop, though.  She needed to stretch her legs.  So we stopped, calling it a restroom break.  This Trader Joe's has a game for the kids:  find the "goose on the loose" somewhere in the store, tell the cashier where he was, and earn a "reward".  Diva took the challenge and found that plush goose hanging out in the Christmas display above the deli area.  She chose a lollypop for her reward.  I bought myself a treat - Cocoa Almond Butter - and we were back on the road.


The rain started shortly after everyone got home.  The good news is, the drop in temps that was predicted didn't happen, so it isn't freezing.  The bad news is, it's supposed to hang around for a couple days.  Hopefully those temps will stay up.

I would call this year's Holidazzle a success, despite the rudeness of our fellow parade goers on Saturday.  I was hoping it would go better, because I doubt my mom will want to go back again.  It's just getting harder for her to travel.  I'm not sure what I would have done differently, except maybe to choose a different corner to watch the parade.  The important thing is, we all enjoyed the experience together.

Now Where Was I?

Ah, yes!  Downtown Minneapolis!  So, you know, Walker and I are night shifters.  Going on a mini break means that the night before we go, we don't get a lot of sleep. We were pretty wiped out after the parade so we did a short round of Christmas shopping at Target, then headed back to the hotel.  Along the way we passed a place called Chipotle, which was kind of like an upscale taco joint. Walker was hungry so we went inside.  We split a burrito bowl (seasoned rice, shredded lime chicken, tomatoes, cheese, and black beans) and had some of their fabulous homemade chips and guacamole. We headed back to the hotel, intending to watch a movie in our room.  Good plan but we both fell asleep before we set it up.  Walker dozed in an easy chair and I fell asleep on the couch.  So much for a big night out, LOL.

On Saturday, several members of my family came to Minneapolis and joined us at the hotel.  Big Brother Jay and his new sweetie brought Diva and my mom.  Before they came up, Walker and I went for breakfast at The Newsroom - good, but nothing special - and did some more Christmas shopping along Nicollet Mall.  We bought ornaments at Macy's, Viking apparel at Marshall's, chocolate...somewhere, LOL.  We had a good time shopping.  The skies were sunny and the temps were up near 40*.  It was a great morning. 

The family arrived late afternoon.  We met them in the lobby of the hotel.  Diva was super excited, as this was her first Holidazzle.  We got the car unloaded and geared up with extra clothes for the parade, and off we went.

It wasn't all I hoped for.

Here's the thing - this was not our first rodeo.  We have been to at least a dozen Holidazzles.  Things don't change a whole lot.  Given that we had a kid and my mom, who is 74 and disabled, we decided to stake out our spot early.  We chose a corner near Target, as they have easy access to a restroom - an important factor with a kid in tow.  They also have a snack bar that serves hot cocoa, a parade necessity.  Okay, not really a necessity, but some of us had some anyway.  So anyway:  what NORMALLY happens is, the police show up in pairs and put barricades against the curbs at each corner.  Parade watchers are supposed to stay on the sidewalk, behind the barricades, since cross town traffic does not stop during the parade.  The police let two or three floats go through while they hold the traffic, then they halt the parade and let the cars go through, then they stop the traffic again and continue the parade.  So, naturally, they don't want people standing in the street.  We got a great spot on a corner that faced the intersection, meaning no smart phones would be in my photos that night!  Diva, who was wearing snow pants, happily sat on the curb to wait.

Only the police never put the barricades up.  Two minutes before the parade, a whole herd of people came and stood right in front of us.  Seriously, there were at least thirty people in the street.  Diva could not see, my mom could not see, it was a mess.  I asked the officer on duty if they were letting people stand in the street this year and his response was, "Lady, if they want to put themselves and their kids in the path of oncoming traffic, there's nothing I can do about it.  There are too many people here."  Um. WHAT?  That whole "protect and serve" thing?  That's not a nice idea, dude, that is your job.  I asked him, seriously?  You are not putting the barricades out?  And he said, nope!  We were literally eight rows back when the parade started.  Jay put Diva on his shoulders - she ain't a little girl, y'all, she's tall at ten years old - but my mom was just out of luck.  I considered talking to the folks standing in front of us, but I would not want my mom standing in the street when the traffic came through, and there were so dang many people.  It seemed a losing battle.

You should have seen the mess:  The parade would go, then the police would halt the floats to let the cars go and a couple hundred people would run out of the middle of the intersection, then the minute the cars would stop they would push and shove to get back to the front of the pack for the next round of the floats. I consider it a miracle that nobody got hurt.  I think the folks who stepped in front of us at the last minute were totally rude, but that, unfortunately, doesn't surprise me anymore. I think many people have adopted the "me first" mentality.  Sad, but what do you do except try to teach your kids to be different and hope what comes around, goes around.

So we stuck around but I didn't get any photos.  My mom wedged herself into a spot where she could "sort of" see through a gap in the herd.  After the parade my mom wanted to warm up before we went back to the hotel.  I suggested we go to Target.  Most of the crowd came to Target, too, but most were just using the entry to get to the sky walks that led to the parking ramps.  I suggested that we use the nearby escalator to go upstairs, since the downstairs area was completely packed.  I didn't know that my mom, who uses a cane, doesn't feel comfortable stepping onto an escalator anymore.  She also had trouble with the revolving doors in the downtown buildings.  The other folks using the doors moved way too fast for her. Walker had to block the door from letting others enter until my mom got through.  Anyway:  momma tried to step onto the escalator, got scared, stepped back, and nearly tripped over the people standing behind her.  I didn't know what was wrong but I got her out of the stampede and we stood off to the side until the crowd thinned.  Then we entered the store.   We picked up a movie for Diva and a few snacks, then we braved the cold and walked back to the hotel.

Jay and his sweetie wanted to paint the town, so Diva came to our room for pizza and her movie.  My mom fell asleep in Walker's chair as soon as we finished eating.  By the way - Pizza Luce is excellent if you find yourself hungry in Minneapolis.  And they delivered right to our room.  Definitely a plus.  So that was pretty much our evening.