#moretimethanmoney

Glacier National Park

Vermont Foliage

Before I was laid off from my job, I frequently commented that I wish I would have selected a career with a sabbatical leave benefit.  Although I don’t think I qualify for a sabbatical since I am not officially working, I am going to categorize my hiatus from regular publication of my blog as a sabbatical.

I appreciate that I have gotten some inquiries about my blog.  The interest has motivated me to get back at it.

I spent the summer months somewhat like a schoolgirl on summer vacation. If an activity appealed to me, I pounced on it.  It was splendid.  I enjoyed the experience immensely.  I felt free and relaxed like I hadn’t since my childhood.  Although I had a lot of things that I did accomplish, I also had more unscheduled days than I had ever had before.  Before I knew it, the autumnal equinox had arrived and there were still many projects that I had in various stages of completion in the garage and our storeroom.   I was beginning to feel some pressure since my husband Mark wasn’t shy about mentioning the state of the unfinished projects that I had scattered about during the transformation process.

I believe that one of the stipulations of a sabbatical is that you learn new skills, often while traveling.  I took this part of the sabbatical very seriously and set off on a number of educational tours.

In June, Mark and I took the grand boys to California.  Austin and Nathan had a whirlwind tour of San Francisco, Sonoma County and the Lake Tahoe area.  The trip also included a great tour of the UC Davis marine biology lab where my niece, Krista was working for the summer.  We learned a lot about marine life and the trip taught me a lot about traveling with three males, none of said lessons should be published.

Nathan, Austin, Mark at the Golden Gate Bridge

Lake Tahoe

Austin, Krista, Nathan

Lake Tahoe

Me and Austin, Lake Tahoe

As summer waned, I caught the road trip fever and packed up the car and we took off for the west coast with a very sketchy itinerary.  As is typical, I had planned for a very aggressive schedule and we had to scale back a bit, but that added to the sense of adventure.  We visited Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands, Glacier, Rainier and Olympic National Parks as well as enjoying some time in Seattle and on Vancouver Island.  In keeping with the spirit of a sabbatical, I tried some new things.  I enjoyed taking a glass blowing class and made some treasures that only I can fully appreciate, but will display anyway.

Hoh Rainforest Olympic National Park

Rainier National Forest

Butchart Gardens, Victoria

Olympic Penninsula

Space Needle, Seattle

Mt. Rainier

A few weeks after our return from our west coast trip and logging almost 4,200 miles, I announced the east coast trip to Mark.  Surprisingly, he went along with the plan.  I think he may have contemplated making a fuss, but knew it would be an exercise in futility.  Off we went on a long haul fall foliage, leaf peeping tour.  I like to think that I learn from my mistakes, so I was so much more reasonable in my expectations for how much we could accomplish in a day.  The previous statement is a bit sarcastic according to Mark.  We set off and hit Chicago and enjoyed Lake Michigan before heading on.  Since we had to go through Cleveland, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then on to Niagara Falls, Lake Placid, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  We really enjoyed beautiful fall foliage, Arcadia National Park, oh, and the lobster.  Onward to Boston to spend a few days exploring, a little tour through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and then we high tailed it back to Minnesota.  About 3,700 miles and 12 days later, we were glad to be back at home.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

University of Rochester

Mark at Cheers in Boston

Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park

New Hampshire

Niagara Falls

That glee of being home didn’t last long as a few days later, I drove to Nashville for an Ely Girls weekend.  I had gambled on airfares becoming reasonable, but like most gambling endeavors, this one didn’t turn out well.  I decided if there was ever a time to subscribe to my new motto, #moretimethanmoney, this was it.  I also  thought that I could use a solo trip to ponder the new reality of my life and figure out some next steps. The drive was therapeutic and not as dreadful as I had imagined it may end up being.  Spending time with childhood friends is a special treat and one that I cherish.  Due to an airline issue, my friend Meg was my sidekick for most of my return trip.  I dropped her at her house in Wisconsin and had only a few lonely hours before arriving back home, turning the trip home into bonus Ely Girls time.

A few days after returning from Nashville, I ended up on a plane to Rochester, NY to spend some time with my niece, Krista.  Once again, I wanted to be true to the sabbatical theme, so while I was hanging out with my niece, I attended her classes with her at the University and realized I have a lot left to learn.

Travel, regardless of the mode of transportation creates so many learning opportunities.  A road trip affords one a lot of time to contemplate a wide array of topics.  The countryside is interesting in so many ways.  I enjoy seeing the harvesting in process and realizing how much goes in to transporting all of the goods that we consume.

A road trip also allows the observation of the diverse ways of life in our vast country.  As we travelled across Montana on Highway 2, we remarked many times about the places along the highway that were in really rough shape.  Nary an old car, truck, appliance or piece of equipment had ever been hauled away from some of the places.  All of the history of the homestead remained on the property.  Some moved their old belongings to the back 40, but some seemed to be displaying their  heirlooms in their front yards.  Contrasting the homesteads along the highway, we also walked down The Magnificent Mile of Michigan Avenue in Chicago with luxury hotels and boutiques lining both sides of the avenue and toured the opulent “summer cottages” in Newport, RI.

We also enjoyed the diversity of the scenery and the different ambience in each place we had the pleasure of visiting.  On our trip west, the scenery was rugged and at times, we were almost the only people around.  One of the joys of being unemployed is being able to travel when others  have school and work responsibilities to attend to, leaving many attractions very quiet.  When we headed east, we hit the traffic and parking hassles in Chicago, then got in to the New England foliage frenzy with Boston having a few traffic and parking challenges too.

We learned a lot during the road trips.  We learned that toll plazas are stressful and if you somehow get stuck in the E-Z Pass lane and have to blow through the toll area, the fine will be about $55.  We learned that as much as we enjoy spending time together, there is a tipping point and that point is typically reached at the end of the day when we have not arranged for overnight accommodations.  We learned that finding a place to eat that is not going to cause an entirely different set of issues down the road is not as easy as it would seem it should be.  We learned that good tunes make for a good road trip.  We learned that Mark can only take so much scenery before he needs to get to a Starbucks (we did visit the original store in Seattle).  We learned that although we like to brag that we can rough it, we really do like some comforts during our travels.  I could go on and on, but I have learned to save some information for a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#moretimethanmoney

Jean and Merlin Pipho
February 12, 1955

Merlin Enjoying a Ride on his 4-Wheeler May 2015

Happy Father’s Day!

The recognition of the Father’s Day holiday was defeated by Congress several times before it was officially declared a holiday in 1972.  I don’t imagine that there was much lobbying done by dads prior to the early defeats or much outrage when dads didn’t receive the same recognition that mothers had received for years. I am guessing that fathers everywhere accepted the lack of a special day of appreciation and went about their business.

During my youth, I can’t remember my dad getting too worked up over Father’s Day.  He would have likely spent the day doing the things he typically did.  He probably went to work as he worked at Reserve Mining Company and they operated seven days a week and Sunday was not a typical day off for him.  Depending on the shift he was working, he might have enjoyed an afternoon of fishing or more likely, working on some project in the shop or garage.  My mom would have cooked a fine dinner, but that was done each Sunday, regardless of any holiday.  We probably gave him a box of his favorite cigars.  His favorite cigars were the ones he smoked every day, so were not really too special.  He was relegated to smoking in the garage, shop, outside or while driving and my mom would not have given him any special dispensation on this even on Father’s Day.  He used to wonder why we all got car sick and I don’t think that it occurred to him that the smell of the King Edward cigars was the probable culprit.  The smell of cigars always reminds me of my dad, although he quit smoking many years ago.

My dad was born in Iowa and  grew up on farms in Iowa and southern Minnesota where he learned a lot about the land, machinery and life.  He served in the U.S. Army and returned from his post in Germany and married my mom.  In 1956, he heard that the mines in northern Minnesota were hiring, so he went up to check it out and was offered a job as a mechanic.  He accepted the job and moved to Ely with my mom and oldest sister, Brenda.  He searched for the perfect spot to build the family home and found a place on the top of a hill on Hidden Valley Road, where he still lives.  He enjoys a vista view, watching wildlife and the approaching weather from his window.  I enjoyed growing up on the outskirts of town, but with the advantage of being out in the country.

I learned a lot about hard work from my dad.  He taught us that work is not drudgery, but part of living a full and fulfilled life. My dad worked for Reserve Mining Company for over 30 years and never missed a day of work.  He never called in sick or took an unscheduled day off.  My dad was an elected Supervisor for the Town of Morse for many years.  He worked many hours maintaining the township roads and on other township business.  He was also the “go to” guy for his friends when they had mechanical problems with their vehicles or machinery.  There was often an after dinner “meeting” in the garage with a hood of a car open and lots of discussion about the problem.  The car almost always drove off at the end of the evening so I assume the problem was fixed.  After Reserve Mining closed, he started his own business grading roads.  He worked  on many of the roads between Ely and the North Shore.  He worked well in to his 70’s.  He continues to maintain his property and loves getting out in his skid steer to remove snow or make some improvements to his driveway and yard.

I also learned about the value of a dollar from my dad.  It was no easy feat to extract a buck from my dad, so consequently, we typically went to my mom when we needed some cash. My mom was pretty easy on us and we stopped just short of taking advantage of her generosity.  My dad was a big believer in living well within his means and making sure that there was money for a rainy day.

I learned how to fix a lot of things from my dad.  This was out of necessity, because I was able to talk some of my siblings in to some mischief that at times resulted in various items being taken apart or broken.  When my dad returned home from working the day shift, he would survey the damage and proclaim, “now that’s busted all to hell.”  We knew there would be some trouble after this statement and we worked hard to avoid it by attempting to fix the problem prior to his return home.  If we were unable to accomplish a fix, we could watch him while he returned the garage or shop to the original condition.

I don’t ever recall my dad calling a repair person for anything.  He could fix cars, construction equipment, electrical issues or plumbing issues.  He has a wood shop where he made many picture frames, toys, puzzles, and helped my mom make doll houses.  The grandkids were the recipients of doll cradles, rocking horses, art easels and really cool construction equipment made out of wood.  My kids still have all of their toys that their grandma and grandpa made for them.

My dad has shown a great deal of courage in coping with adversity.  When my mom suffered from a massive stroke, my dad drove from Ely to Duluth almost every day for almost 6 months to spend time with her while she was rehabilitating.  It was clear that their life would change dramatically and many of their plans for retirement and travel would be altered.  My mom needed full-time care and my dad took on the bulk of that responsibility.  He had an accessible addition put on the house so that she could remain at home.  His world was shattered again when she died in 2002.  Not long after that, he was diagnosed with diabetes and lost part of his leg from complications from a childhood injury and the disease.  He didn’t let it keep him down for long and worked like crazy to return to his beloved home in Ely.  He has endured some additional health scares, but each time his determination to be at home amazes the health care professionals and home he goes.

I have learned that life won’t always follow the prescribed path, but my dad has shown me that you make some adjustments and carry on.

#moretimethanmoney

The Convenient Coffee Maker

The Inconvenient #moretimethanmoney Coffee Pod

Mark stands by the sink, carefully filling his k-cup work around.  He places the filter in the little cup, tries to get the coffee grounds in the little filter, shakes the stray grounds from the apparatus and finally prepares a cup of coffee.  I sat at the counter and enjoyed the proceedings.  I found it a bit amusing, but also a bit ironic that we have a coffee maker that was going to be so convenient and make such an improvement to our coffee making task, but instead, making coffee had become an ordeal.  Later in the evening, when I asked Mark what he wanted to do for the evening, he replied, “maybe make a cup of coffee.”  I believe he said this in jest and that perhaps we could accomplish a few other things as well as preparing a cup of coffee, but then again, I am not sure.  This may be an instance of #moretimethanmoney gone awry.

I find that I often do things that I think are going to be an improvement in my life, but alas, the outcome is not always what I assumed it would be.  However, I have an innate wish to always improve things and will continue that quest even with the realization that change does not always create the desired outcome. Now that I have more time than money, I am even more prone to try to make modifications that I feel may catapult the item in question to the next level.   I do this with recipes, procedures, our home and certainly, others.

I always feel like a little modification to a recipe will not only put my signature on the finished product, but will be that slight improvement that will make everyone rave.  This strategy has worked fabulously at times and then there have been instances that the change has rendered the item inedible.  When looking at recipes on line and reading the comments, I see that I am not alone in thinking that a recipe needs to have a personal touch to be improved.

How about directions that come enclosed with items that need to be assembled?    Although I am sure that most companies have teams of experts working on the manuals and directions, I think I know a better way.  As I assemble the item, I make comments regarding the author of the directions and they are not always of a positive nature.  Then, when things go poorly with my methodology, I refuse to admit that the directions were probably the way to go and continue to try my rogue method and fight it to the bitter end.

My husband, Mark, and I have a few disagreements on when to do home improvements.  His theory on replacing items differs a bit from mine.  I like to do home projects. Like is actually an understatement, I love to do home projects.   Mark thinks green on this issue. He thinks that things should not be replaced until their full usefulness has expired.  For Mark, expired does not include being out of date, it means that the item has come to the end of its useful life.  He has a similar take on wardrobe items too. His theory on replacing our retaining wall was that you replace a wall when it falls over.  I was able to convince him that his theory was flawed and we now have a sturdy replacement wall.   Our driveway has some areas where the pavers have sunk a bit from the surrounding ones,  I want to get at it, pull the pavers in question, fill and replace.  I think Mark would prefer to wait until we need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to navigate the bumps.  Since I am not working and have more time than money,  I will start the driveway project very soon.

Technology is one of the areas that I think that improvement will be exponential and indeed it is when it works as designed.  And it typically does work as designed, but I sometimes fail to use it as designed.  It is easy to blame technology.  We don’t hurt the devices feelings when we get mad and call the computer or phone stupid, messed up, lame or useless and then yell and swear at them.  The other day, it was raining, so I was going to meet Mark at the Mall of America for a walk.  Instead of determining a meeting place and time, he was going to text me when he arrived and we would meet up.  I had done an abysmal job of phone battery management and I realized that my phone was going to die.  Panic!  How would we ever connect.  I acted like we would never see each other again if he couldn’t text me his location.  I had sent a text prior to my battery failure, so didn’t want to leave the spot I had indicated via text, in the event he received that text.  So instead of going to a pay phone to call him, I stood practically paralyzed by my failure with technology.  Before the cell phone technology, we would have had to have a distinct meeting time and place and we would have had no issues.  Well, that story had a happy ending, he got the text and we were reunited.  Crisis averted, but clearly a case of improvement not having the desired affect.

Then there is the subject of trying to improve others. My life is filled with amazing people who need no improvement, but at times, I have felt the need to try to make some minor alterations.  I have tried  advice, cajoling, threatening.  All are futile and as so many very smart people have indicated throughout he years , that you can only change and improve yourself.  I will continue to try to work on that self improvement issue and try to stick with improving those things that I can.

#moretimethanmoney

Fort Snelling National Cemetery Avenue of Flags (Photo: Fort Snelling National Cemetery)

As I walked through Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Sunday, the eve of Memorial Day, I was struck by the enormity of the personal sacrifice of so many.  I am also fascinated by the symmetry and order of the gravestones and imagine the contrast of this order to the chaos that some buried there must have endured on the battlefields.

As Mark and I walked through to visit the graves of his dad, Merton Ellenberg, who served in the Navy, and his mom, Phyllis, I noticed that many of those buried close to them served in World War I, World War ll and Korea.  As we moved to the area where Mark’s beloved  brother Bruce is laid to rest, those buried around Bruce typically served during the Vietnam War as Bruce did while enlisted in the Air Force.  Several gravestones indicated that the veteran buried there had served in multiple wars.  Imagine all that veteran gave for our country.  Walking by the graves is a tangible reminder of the service of each veteran to their country, but also to each of us.

From new born babies buried with their parents to the husband and wife buried together who both lived well in to their nineties, I am also reminded, that although I say that I have more time than money, none of us is guaranteed any set amount of time here on earth.  A walk through a cemetery serves to remind me of my mortality and reminds me to appreciate those who are no longer here with us and the service and sacrifice that they made for me.

Although Memorial Day is a holiday set aside to remember those who died while serving in the military, I think that along with the enormous thanks and the remembrance of those who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces, it is also a good time to thank and remember all veterans and others who have made sacrifices to improve the world around them. Memorial Day this year is also the 13th anniversary of my mom’s death.  My mom wasn’t a veteran, but she sacrificed much to enrich the lives of those around her.  My dad served in the Army in the early 50’s, and was stationed in Germany.  I would guess that almost every family in the United States has a family member who currently serves in the country’s armed forces or a family member who has served in one of the branches of the military.

Most of us enjoy Memorial Day as the holiday signaling the start of summer, take advantage of  the Memorial Day sales and for those who generally work Monday through Friday, enjoy a much needed long weekend. Those activities can be enjoyed because of those who have courageously served our country.  On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, by unanimous declaration of the thirteen united States of America stated in the Declaration of Independence, “WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  Sine 1775, one million men and women have died establishing and protecting the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.  Memorial Day is a special day to remind us of the honor and thanks that we owe to each one of them.

#moretimethanmoney

I am feeling some pressure.  Wow!  Did I mention that time spins so quickly?  I am amazed that I have been without a job for well over a month.  I realize that I have always been wildly optimistic about the number of projects that I can accomplish in a day.  I plan on doing about twice as much as can reasonably be done.  In the past, I would be disappointed in the things that I didn’t get done, rather than be pleased with the projects that had been completed.  One of the nice things about having a lot of free time is that the pressure to get everything done in a weekend is no longer there.  Now, I have some pressure to get on with some projects, because I want an amazing project to illustrate what it is like to have more time than money.

I have a number of projects in the pipeline, indeed, many more than will probably ever get done.  Several of them include painting, which means sanding and massive amounts of dust.  In order to start those projects, I had to get the mundane project of cleaning the garage done so I have a space to work.  The old joke, “I have to clean the garage,” was no joke.  My husband, Mark, and I got up early and started the task.  We both have some idiosyncrasies that can create some challenges when we work together. I start on one thing and get distracted and also end up getting in too deep on certain things.  Mark wants to work in specific order and after about an hour, wants to just get the job done and move on.  His idea is to move everything out of the garage, sweep and put it all back in the way it was.  I made him go through every item on every shelf and cabinet and make some decisions on tossing some things.  Purging is not easy for me, but I always think of Mark as a minimalist, but that evidently only applies to things belonging to others.  We have Harley Davidson parts for a motorcycle that we had when we were in a crash in 2009.  The bike was totaled.  We have the can of random nails, screws, washers and who knows what that we go through every time we need one of those items, only to make a trip to Home Depot to get the item.  Generally, the item comes in a package with 5X the number of items needed, so the leftover items are added to the can to be kept for an eternity.  I wonder how many cans of random items exist in the world and what could be done if everyone combined their items?  We, like probably most people plan to sort those items at some point.  Although I currently have more time than money, I will not be sorting random hardware until every other conceivable project has been completed.  In other words, that is just not going to happen.

Now that the garage is clean, I can move a project to the garage and get going.

An old mirror from a repurposed dresser, a piece of wood and 4 legs, hoping it will become a vanity for the granddaughters.

#moretimethanmoney

Imperfect Timing – Perfect Bloom

When making life decisions, one of the issues to ponder is the timing of the action.  Thinking back, so many major decisions have a timing component to determine, but many others happen spontaneously and it ends up being just the right time.

Every fall, I bring in plants that I am hoping to save over the winter.  I put them in the basement storeroom, which has a nice west  facing window.  I have experienced mixed success with the wintering over process.  Some years, I have been very attentive to the plants and other winters, I lose interest and by the time the plants should go back outside, most of the leaves are on the floor and all I have is a big mess to clean up and a bunch of dead plants to deal with.

This year, I also placed several amaryllis bulbs in the storeroom after the holiday season.  When I went to the storeroom to begin the process of moving the plants outside, I noticed that one of the amaryllis plants had the most beautiful blossom. The flowers were much larger and more exotic looking than any I had seen during the holiday season, when they are expected to bloom. The amaryllis bulbs must have been off of Mother Nature’s e-mail distribution list and didn’t get the memo that this is lilac blooming season. The timing wasn’t perfect, but the flowers were perfect and magnificent.

When I was laid off, I lamented that the timing wasn’t perfect.  I thought, I wish I were a little younger, this would be easier.  Well, the thought of being younger spiraled into so many areas, that I gave up on thinking of youth in terms of employment.  I thought, if only I were a little older, there would be some financial benefits such as Social Security and Medicare that I could use to my advantage.  Well, I really didn’t want to think of that either as I didn’t want to wish myself older. I determined that those benefits could wait as the thoughts of being a few years younger were happier illusions.  The fact was, that I didn’t have much choice on the timing.  It was one of those life decisions that was determined for me.  In the past, I had spent time contemplating the subject of retirement.  I assumed that leaving my job would be a choice that would be mine to make.  I would have the opportunity to look at my circumstances, select a date, announce the date to friends and co-workers, plan a party and enjoy the prelude and the process.  The truth is however, I probably would not have found the perfect time when all circumstances converged and I had an epiphany and knew that the time was right.  In retrospect, being forced in to a situation can be the perfect way to make a change.

I admit that there are days when I have to try hard to take the advice derived from the theme song from Frozen, “Let it Go.”  Some days I think about my ex-job quite a bit.  Other days, if I do think about my  former job, it is only about all of the amazing people I had the opportunity  to work with throughout the years.  I am so fortunate to have great work friends that I get together with, making it easier to “Let it Go.”

Back at the Old Stomping Grounds – Stadium Site May 8, 2015

#moretimethanmoney

Jean and Merlin Pipho February 12, 1955

Happy Mother’s Day!

My mom didn’t have a lot of spare time or a lot of spare money, but she certainly maximized all of both the time and money that she ever had.

With all that has been written about mothers over the years, it may seem to be expected that all sentiments have been expressed somewhere.  I always tried to find the perfect card that captured the qualities that I most admired about my mom, but they all fell a bit short.  I would try to find the gift that adequately showed how much I truly loved and appreciated my mom, but that too was impossible.  It was not that my mom was difficult to please. Quite the opposite. She was pleased with every gift she ever received and read every card with delight.

My mom died on May 25, 2002 but she remains as influential in my life today as ever.  I aspire to be as much like her as I can possibly be.  Oh, there are some elements that I compromise on and some that I have had to change to meet the times, but there  are so many times that I think, “if only I could handle that like my mom would have.”

My mom had her share of adversity, but I don’t think she ever saw it as such.  She didn’t go to college right after high school, but instead got married and had five kids.  Some of said kids were not exactly angelic either.

I guess I would categorize myself as what would now be referred to as a spirited child.  I have a brother who could find mischief around any corner and wasn’t afraid to get involved with it.  I can continue to list some less than desirable traits that the five of us had, as they are numerous and varied, that would send some mothers to the medicine cabinet or liquor cabinet, but not my mom.  She came up with some creative ways to channel our “talents.”  My brother, Mike, gave my mom quite a run for her money. On one memorable occasion, I had been tasked with keeping an eye on him, but he got away from me and got run over by a tractor and trailer.  He was rushed to the emergency room where it was determined that he was no worse for wear, but he was sporting some nice tire tracks on his stomach. Given a few unsupervised minutes, he could dismantle almost anything.  His behavior was not that problematic for my mom.  She taught him to knit gave him knitting projects to keep him busy and out of trouble.  Instead of getting angry with me when I refused to go to bed the year I was in kindergarten, she provided me with stacks of books to read.  When I got home from school and was stressed due to lack of sleep, my mom had me iron pillowcases while she made me lunch. For some reason ironing and a play-by-play account of my day relayed to my mom calmed me down.  My mom would let me sleep on the couch for the afternoon while she attended to other things.

My mom did eventually realize her dream of going to college and getting her degree so that she could teach high school kids.  Once again, she had an amazingly positive attitude.  No student was ever a problem, they just had issues that needed solutions and she did everything she could to devise a positive solution.  Her teaching started long before she taught high school students.  She was very involved in the Ely United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday school classes and bible studies. She taught Community Education Classes as well.  Many quilts were made in her quilting classes throughout the years.  She was always willing to share her talents by teaching others.

Her work life also started long before she started teaching.  In the summers, she worked at Squaw Bay Resort where she cooked.  We loved that job because there was a swimming pool that we got to take advantage of on occasion.  She loved that job because Joe and Carol, who owned Squaw Bay Resort were so good to my mom and our family and there were a lot of really great guests who stayed at the Resort.  She also worked at the school managing the school lunch program.  We had to be the taste testers for the school lunch menu items.  One year, bulgur wheat was a government commodity that the school lunch program received.  I can not tell you how many ways my mom tried to make that wheat in to an edible meal that the kids would eat. I think it ended up in some rolls.  I will tell you that I have not tried to find it in any whole foods stores, regardless of how nutritious they claim it to be, as I think I did my duty with that product.

Her talents were vast and varied.  Mom was a master of multi-tasking before it was a catchphrase.  She could prepare a wonderful family dinner in record time while putting some finishing touches on a sewing project.  No matter what project she was working on, she could carry on a conversation.  She was interested in everyone and everything, so she was never without subject matter.

She was not only the master of all things domestic, although she prescribed to the saying on the little sign that hung in the kitchen window that read, “a clean house is a sign of a misspent life,” she was also a knowledgeable gardener, knew a ton about the outdoors and accompanied us on canoe trips, camping trips and fishing. She took us berry picking and made remarkable pies and other treats for us.   She was so creative and we almost always won the top honors for our decorated bikes and wagons in the Fourth of July parade and it was usually her design work that make our creations stand out. Her grandchildren were the lucky recipients of her vast knowledge on so many subjects and her patient teaching methods.

When I was up in Ely a few weeks ago, I wish I had gotten some pictures of my mom with some of her wonderful projects that she made over the years.  She made her wedding dress and then remade it for my sister, Patti, when she got married.  She made wedding cakes, dollhouses and other woodworking projects. She could knit a sweater in the car on a trip from Ely to “The Cities.”  She made many beautiful sweaters for all of us and then for the grandkids.  The grandkids all got one of grandma’s quilts.  She made a quilt for her first great granddaughter, Hailey.  That quilt has been handed down to all of the great grandkids.

One of my favorite things that I remember from my childhood is playing with my Barbie dolls, dressing them up in all of the clothes my mom made for them. A few years ago, I found my Barbie Doll case and when I opened it, out stared Barbie, just as I remembered her from when I last played Barbie dolls with my sister, Brenda, many years ago.  Below is my Barbie family, all attired in hand made clothes and also a sampling of the clothes that still exist. These fashionable ensembles were all the rage a few years ago.  I would tell you exactly how many years ago, but that gives away my age, so look at Barbie and you can probably figure out the vintage pretty easily.  Check out the real fur collar on the coat, which was no doubt recycled from another garment. The salmon colored dresses are made from fabric from my mom’s bridesmaids dresses.

Skipper, Barbie, Allan Dressed for a Special Occasion

Mom’s Doll Clothes Creations

My mom also made each of us Christmas outfits and Easter outfits.  The girls dresses were almost always matching.  I wish I had some of the patterns that were used.  I can’t believe that with five kids she had time to make our clothes.

Not only did my mom have great talent, but she lived her life with such a wonderful manner.  She could put a positive or, at the very least, a non-judgmental spin on any situation.  When the local Ely photographer was retiring, he asked my mom if she wanted the negatives to her children’s weddings.  She told him that, “some of those marriages didn’t take.” She didn’t say that they failed or we had gotten divorced, only that they didn’t take like we were seedlings that didn’t have enough water or fertilizer to take hold.  I have gotten quite a bit of mileage out of this reference to divorce.  It seems to make the issue sound a little kinder and gentler, just like my mom.

My mom seemed to know the perfect ratio of giving kids independence and guidance.  She was never overbearing, but always there when we needed her to be.

In 1997, my mom was dealt what many would consider a devastating blow when she suffered a massive stroke.  With all of the difficulties her health issue brought to her life, I never heard her complain.  She continued to maintain a good sense of humor and handled her disabilities and pain with grace and faith.

Another amazing quality that I admired is that I never heard my mom swear.   I think I will try to emulate that quality this week because that is one of her traits that has been a bit elusive for me over the years and I think it will please my mom.

#moretimethanmoney-April 30, 2015

Naples,, Florida Sunset on April 24, 2015

According to Merriam-Webster, spontaneous is an adjective meaning, “1. done or said in a natural and often sudden way and without a lot of thought or planning;  2. doing things that have not been planned but that seem enjoyable and worth doing at a particular time.”  This seems to be an apt description of the recent trip my husband, Mark, and I made to Florida. While we were there, we were a bit more predictable, doing the same thing every day.  We walked to the beach, then walked on the beach, walked from the beach to 5th Avenue in Naples and stopped for lunch (at the same place three days in a row), walked back to our hotel and then branched out a little from there.  One of our activities was wandering around Naples looking at some of the fabulous homes.  While some of us have more time than money, I guess there are those who have more time AND more money.  Awesome for them.  The purpose of the trip, was that there was no purpose for the trip.  I think we wanted to prove that we could go, just because we could go.  As we sent a text to the kids, we got a variety of responses, but all positive.  Mark always told the kids to “do the right thing,” as they were leaving to go somewhere. Lisa (number 3 of 6 in the order of age – obviously a middle child with middle child personality of being fun, but with a little rebellion mixed in and the subject of being told most frequently to do the right thing), responded to my text, “have fun but do the right thing,” and I responded back that, “we would do the right thing, but still be spontaneous and crazy.”  She responded that was exactly what she did and as it turns out, that was the right thing.  I believe that her philosophy that gave us some heartburn back in her teen years, is indeed the right thing.

And Then There are Those With More Time and More Money

Headed Down the Highway

Although, since I have been laid off,  I am referring to myself as the, Always Available Bobbi Ellenberg, we had to get back home for Mark to work at the Twins game on Wednesday.  We drove 1,700 miles in two days.  Back in our youth, we would have thought nothing of driving straight through, but we were all in by the time we got home just before midnight on Monday.  Getting home on Monday allowed us to have a relaxing day to unpack and then it was on to laundry and lawn care.  I believe those were the two items I had to get accomplished prior to our departure.  We also were able to attend a concert on Tuesday evening.  Paul, our godson performed superbly on his saxophone at his 6th grade band concert.

If I was truly practicing my mantra of having more time than money, I would be growing our own food. Being on an average size suburban lot, I don’t have much space to have a garden, but I do have a couple of rhubarb plants and it had grown enough in our absence to pluck enough beautiful rose colored stalks to make something rhubarb.  It is always hard to decide what delicious rhubarb recipe to make.  One of the issues I face is that Mark has a favorite from his youth and I have a favorite from my youth.

Those of you who have rhubarb, know that supply is not typically the issue.  The issue is that the rhubarb harvesting season is quite short and our real issue is that we should not be consuming concoctions made from rhubarb on a daily basis (although rhubarb is technically a vegetable and therefore, I think I could justify adding rhubarb to the menu on a fairly regular basis).  Rhubarb has so many delightful qualities, but to bring out those qualities, a ridiculous amount of sugar is typically required.  When I was a kid, we would put sugar or add Jello® mix with sugar in a dish and dip stalks of rhubarb in to the mixture and eat it until our gastrointestinal system couldn’t take any more of the mix of sweet and sour.  I liked orange Jello® mix the best; the rhubarb/strawberry combo was not in my culinary repertoire yet.  I think the Jello® mix was totally unauthorized by my mother so we only made that concoction when we were left on our own.

For the first rhubarb dish of the year, I traditionally make the recipe that Mark’s mom, Phyllis, made for him when he was a young lad.  The recipe card that she gave me refers to the cake as a cobbler.  I am certainly not going to change the name of a favorite family recipe, but it really isn’t a cobbler since the sauce is a separate component.  It is more like a cake that has rhubarb in the cake, served with a classic rhubarb sauce and then best served with ice cream or whipped cream.  I have made a few revisions to the original recipe as Phyllis had written the recipe from memory.  Regardless of what it is called, it is truly delicious.  Here is the original recipe card and the recipe as I make it.

Rhubarb Cobbler

• Servings: 9
• Time: 45 Minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Mark’s Favorite Rhubarb Cobbler- His Mom’s Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Cake

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (milk can be substituted)
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup finely diced rhubarb

Sauce

4 cups diced rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sugar (I use less to let the real rhubarb flavor come out)
1 cup water (notice that the original recipe called for 2 cups, but I like the rhubarb to sauce ratio to be a heavier on the rhubarb)
2 tablespoons cornstarch (modified from the original to account for less water)
A few drops of red food coloring if desired
A pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon if desired

PREPARATION

For the cake, heat the oven to 350°.  Butter a 9″ x 9″ pan.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Incorporate butter with a pastry blender or pulse with a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add milk, buttermilk and vanilla.  Mix just until all ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in rhubarb.  Spread (batter will be thick) into prepared pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes (until dark golden brown) in 350° oven.

While cake is baking, prepare sauce.  Dice rhubarb and mix all ingredients in sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, being careful as the mixture bubbles when boiling and will splatter.  Boil for about a 2 minutes until rhubarb is tender.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.  I like the cake and sauce served slightly warm, but Mark prefers the sauce chilled.  Refrigerate any leftover sauce and use it for an ice cream topping.

The Original Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe in Phyllis’ Handwriting.

As I was trying to find the correct description for the Rhubarb Cobbler, I looked online to see if there was a better term for the cobbler.  Wow-desserts can become confusing and somewhat controversial.  There are cobblers which have fruit on the bottom and sweet biscuits on top, making the final outcome supposedly look like cobblestone, hence the name. Next were the  crumbles and crisps which have the fruit on the bottom and are topped with a streusel crumb mixture either containing oats or not (sources disagreed on which was which). There are also buckles, Brown Bettys and pandowdies.  All variations with fruit with a crust or topping.  A clafouti or clafoutis is a French dessert that is a custardy cake.  Then there are a couple that I don’t think sound very appealing; the grunt or slump, which are cobblers but instead of being baked in the oven, they are steamed on the stovetop.  I am sure they are delightful, but the names are a little off putting.  Of course you can’t go wrong with a rhubarb upside down cake, rhubarb coffee cake or my favorite, the rhubarb caramel cake.  I have attached the recipe.  It is a recipe that my mom made often, but she was such a proficient cook and baker, that I just have some jotted notes from when she told me the recipe.  I make this at least once each rhubarb season. The Rhubarb Caramel Cake was also a guest favorite at Squaw Bay Resort on Fall Lake, where I worked for many summers.

Rhubarb Caramel Cake

• Servings: 16-24
• Time: 45 Minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour milk (sour by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and let stand for 5-10 minutes)
2 cups finely diced rhubarb

Caramel Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cream (this is added at the very end)
1 teaspoon vanilla

PRREPARATION

For cake, pre-heat oven to 350°.  Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add egg and mix well.  Mix dry ingredients together and then alternate adding dry ingredients and milk.  Add vanilla and rhubarb.  Spread in buttered 9″ x 13″ pan.  Bake 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For caramel sauce, in medium saucepan melt butter with salt, corn syrup and brown sugar.  Whisk mixture over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and brown sugar melts, about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat and very carefully whisk in the cream and vanilla.  Caramel will bubble a lot when the cold liquid comes in contact with the melted sugar mixture, so make sure your pan is large enough to accommodate the boiling action.

To serve, top cake with caramel.  Ice cream is almost mandatory with this cake.  Any leftover caramel sauce can be used as an ice cream topping.

Not all rhubarb recipes need to be so decadent.  There are some great recipes using rhubarb as an ingredient in savory sauces for pork or chicken, rhubarb roasted  with honey added to salads and I saw some recipes for drinks using rhubarb syrup that looked intriguing.

I love making recipes that have been handed down through generations.  It makes me feel connected to the past and  old recipes did not skimp on the good stuff.  Since I love to cook and bake, having time on my hands might get a bit challenging for our waistlines.

With that, many claim that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Today is the 21st day of my unemployment.  I found that it took about two days to form habits that aren’t very good and the good habits that I was going to make sure to form have not yet quite taken hold.  The good news, I have time to work on it.

#moretimethanmoney – 04/22/2015

Me and Avery at Grace’s 5th Birthday Party

What was all the fuss about?  I spent many sleepless nights worrying about being without a job.  The initial emotions were raw and the first few days were unsettled indeed.

I was out walking one afternoon and Janis Joplin paid me a visit in my head.  I know–unsettled is one thing, but crazy thoughts of a deceased blues rock star of yesteryear getting in your head  is yet another. But, there it was, “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.  Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.  Feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues and feeling good was good enough for me.”  I was contemplating the song lyrics and thinking about what a double edged sword not having a job really is.  I am not beholden to a job and that offers the freedom to do so many other things, but there are certainly a number of things that I will truly miss too.

With my new status as unemployed, I have freedom from the once ever present time stress. This past year, I had the opportunity to practice a more leisurely lifestyle since the closure of the Dome, when 40 hour work weeks were considered a luxury.  With no events to fill my weekends, evenings and holidays, I had started to enjoy a more “normal” schedule.  During the operation of the Dome, a weekend off was a rare occurrence and I cherished my time off, but had to pack so much in to that time that I often forgot to enjoy what I was doing and I was focused on the next task or activity.

It was wonderful to have such a fabulous week of great weather for my first week of freedom.  I spent a lot of time outside and walked routes in the neighborhood that I had not considered previously.  Our neighbors tease my husband Mark because he is a man who is most comfortable with routine.  Our walks have been pretty consistent for the past 19 plus years that we have lived in the neighborhood.  When I ventured off by myself while Mark was working last week, I had the freedom to wander.  One day, I ended up at a tag sale (an enhanced garage sale) and met a neighbor I had not met before. I also ended up with a crystal chandelier and a large wall mirror. Not having a job has evidently clouded my judgment, because if you are following along, you no doubt realize that I was on foot and carrying a chandelier and  large mirror several blocks was not going to have a happy ending.  I regained my senses and called my sister Patti who lives nearby.  She got a good laugh out of the fact that I had been unemployed for a week and I had gone from shopping at the Mall of America to scouring the neighborhood for garage sale bargains.  The other edge of the freedom sword surfaces.  I will be using both the chandelier and mirror in an upcoming project that I will report on in the future.

I was able to enjoy the freedom of a relaxing evening celebrating our granddaughter Grace’s 5th birthday.  She is sweet, beautiful, funny and has a little bit of an attitude too.  The other grandkids were also at the party and it was so nice to be able to enjoy spending some time with them.  I am so excited about the opportunities I will have to spend time with Hailey, Austin, Nathan, Grace and Avery.  This proposition has to be one of the very best facets of freedom from a job!

I have been shocked by how fast a day goes by. I had expected to have much to write about this week.  I expected to report on all I accomplished during the week and now that I have more time than money, how I had saved so much money doing all kinds of unique and cool projects.

I did some spring cleaning, including removing the battle scars of winter from the interior of my car.  It looked great until I drove it to Ely this past weekend and got a good dose of “Ely dirt” imbedded in the floor.  I did some spring cleaning, both inside and outside in Ely for my dad.  In the northland, raking requires heavy equipment.  There were pine needles everywhere.  I raked them off the roofs of the house and shop and raked up many skid steer bucket loads from the yard.  The fertilizer has been applied to the grass in both Ely and Apple Valley.  I hope it doesn’t work too quickly or too well or I will be mowing grass and that is not my idea of freedom.

Raking the Roof

Yard Work in Ely Requires Heavy Equipment

I got up Monday morning and had some laundry to do and was going to spend time in my newly set up office when Mark said that the weather was not going to be very nice this week (he actually said that the weather was going to suck).  So, we looked at the weather in a couple of locations and decided that Florida had the most favorable forecast, so off to Florida it was.  We had discussed going on a trip when I was laid off but the timing wasn’t working out very well with Mark’s part-time jobs.  We were trying to work around the Twins schedule and other commitments we had and things were just not coming together for us.  We looked at some air fare prices and they were quite high.  Luckily, we have more time than money, so we decided to pack up the car and drive until we were able to find the sun and some warm weather.  A road trip offers a certain amount of freedom.  Packing can be a little less disciplined, with the freedom from airline weight and other restrictions.  As part of practicing my new motto, “more time than money,” I even packed “ditch food.”  Only my Ely friends will relate to this term.  Back in the day, when we set out on the road from Ely to anywhere during the winter months, we always packed some emergency items, including food.  We called the food, “ditch food” in the event we ended up in the ditch.  Without cell phones, we were at the mercy of a nice stranger happening upon us and being able to free us from the ditch and get us back on the road to our destination.  I still refer to the food I pack for a car trip as “ditch food” although the threat of needing to consume it for actual sustenance has been greatly diminished.

Since I began writing this post on Monday, we have driven 1,780 miles.  Now, that screams “more time than money”!  Tonight, we arrived in Naples and tomorrow we will walk on the beach and have free time until it is time to get back in the car on Sunday morning and head back out on the open road.  There are many songs that pop into my head on the subject of being on the road , but I think a few days in the sun may be therapeutic enough to cure the random songs in my head issue.

On the subject of therapeutic, I had decided to write a blog because I thought it would help me with the transition and changes due to my job loss. Thanks for the nice comments and words of encouragement.  It means the world to me.

#moretimethanmoney

I woke up and although it is Monday morning, I did not jump in to the shower or look at my schedule. I am unemployed for the first time since I was about 8 years old. Although my first Social Security earnings did not appear until my 14^th year, I had worked on a regular basis since the summer I was 8 years old.

My parents were early adopters of the farm to table movement and planted 10 acres of garden in the northern Minnesota “soil”. Using the term soil is a bit of a stretch as the dirt was really gravel that my dad amended with chicken and other manure and my mom diligently composted all things compostable all year and lovingly sent the kids to the compost pile in rain, snow, sleet or shine. The parents were also early adopters of the organic gardening method and I remember the post office calling because the praying mantis eggs had hatched prematurely and there was now a mantis infestation in the Ely post office. Praying mantis evidently ate other non-preferential insect eggs, so that use of chemical insecticides could be minimized. Anyway, I digress from my employment status.

My siblings and I (and in my revisionist history, I did most of the hard labor), worked in the gardens all summer. We looked forward to selecting the seeds from the catalogues that arrived in late winter, always hoping for the chance of some exotic new plant to try, we then planted seeds in various recycled containers (early adopters of the reuse campaign also). The dirt was gathered from the garden and baked at a high temperature to kill any weed seeds. The smell of baking dirt is not soon forgotten, by the way. We then transferred the plants to the garden when the threat of frost had passed. In Northern Minnesota, this date was after June 1. We were on a hill, so prided ourselves in getting our garden started well before the town folk. After a short reprieve of watching the seeds sprout and the seedlings establish, there was a great crop of weeds that thrived in the amended gravel of the gardens. We were tasked with pulling the chickweed (the worst), pigweed and other noxious weeds while knowing not to pull any precious vegetables out with the offending species. This task was often assigned after some alleged offense such as “sassing”. I was particularly prone to being sassy and got many hours of hard labor in the garden due to my slow learning curve on the propensity of having to get in the last word. My siblings encouraged my behavior and for years I fell for their laughter, thinking I was entertaining them, not realizing until much later that every time I exhibited this behavior, I was out working while they were having fun. I secretly loved being out in the garden and sometimes misbehaved just to get the assignment of pulling weeds beside my mom. I learned a lot about plants and bugs. Mosquitoes and sandflies were fierce and being early adopters of all things organic, the best I could hope for in an insect repellant was “Skin so Soft” by Avon. I think Avon started some rumor about the product being an excellent insect repellant, but it was no DEET and I have the scars to prove that. The harvest began with radishes and lettuce. We plucked the radishes from the ground, rubbed them on our shorts or shirts and dipped them in salt and ate them like candy. They were indeed colorful as we planted a variety. Soon the peas were ready for harvest and picking and shucking peas became our job. The cash crop came a little later when the acres of beans were ready for harvest. We got the bushel baskets and the ice cream buckets and off to the big garden we went. We picked for hours and when our picking was done, we brought our bounty to Zup’s grocery store in town. One of the Zup’s brothers would hoist us up on to the loading dock with our beans and they would be weighed on the big scale. We got $.17 a pound for our beans. During the peak harvest period, we had beans about twice a week to sell. About every other time we brought our beans to the store, one of the Zup’s brothers would have me get on the scale and he paid me for my weight too (obviously, was a little scrawny kid, but I am making up for it now). The real fun times came when the corn was ready. People from miles around came up the hill for a dozen ears of sweet corn. My dad would not let us pick it until the customer had arrived as his motto was that the water had to be boiling before the corn was picked to enjoy maximum sweet corn flavor. This was easy money–$.50 a dozen (we always put at least 14 ears in the bag) and sometimes a tip too. This was child’s play compared to picking beans for a living. We put all of the garden money in a jar and at the end of the season, it was divided up using a secret formula that must have been based on complex algorithms that only my dad was privy to, at least that is what my mom told us. We made really good money for kids our ages at the time. We always saved out enough money to buy our season pass to the local ski hill and decided on a “big purchase”. We got several canoes and other recreational toys that we still enjoy today. My work life had started!

Next, was the era of working at Squaw Bay Resort during the summer season. I learned a lot at that job. One of the sayings that I heard over and over there was, “time is money” and that meant that you always found something productive to do while you were being paid. There were many jobs to be done and lots of fun to be had when the work was done. I loved every job I had there! After Labor Day, I would go to Squaw Bay after school and work the dinner hours. There would be a short break between the work at Squaw Bay and when the snow arrived. During the ski season, I worked at the local ski hill and loved that too. I have actually never had a job that I didn’t like. Amazing that even cleaning cabins is a really great job if you work alongside people who you enjoy.

That brings me to my years at the Metrodome. The Dome opened in April of 1982 and I started working there a little bit prior to the opening day. I was still working there during the last Minnesota Vikings game that was played on December 29, 2013. Where to even begin. My adult life was spent in a microcosm of society working in the Dome. I am writing a book about that, and will have excerpts from time to time. All of this to get to this morning, waking up unemployed. It is surreal, liberating, scary, sad and a plethora of other feelings, co-mingling in my brain.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority owned and operated the Metrodome and will own the new Vikings stadium, but has hired a third party operator, SMG to manage the facility. Those of us who were involved in the operation of the Metrodome were kept on to decommission the Metrodome, move the offices and now the time has come to move us on. I was fortunate enough to be one of the final four employees who had been involved in the operation of the Dome to remain until Friday, April 10, 2015.

Now, I need to do some reinventing. I guess that even though I knew the time was coming when I would be faced with job loss, I didn’t really let it sink in and deal with it until it happened. I had some rough ideas of things that I wanted to do when the time came, but quite honestly, preparation for the inevitable was pretty lame on my part. I told people; I’ll write a book, I’ll write a blog, I’ll do projects that I have had on the back burner for forever, I’ll walk every day, I’ll get in touch with people I have lost contact with, I’ll spend more time with friends and relatives and the list goes on. However, I didn’t really go through the hours of the day to figure out how to spend the 8 hours plus commuting time that I spent on work every day.

I will write a blog, #moretimethanmoney. I will share with people my ideas of how to save money by doing projects, doing every day chores, repurposing items and how to have some fun doing them. I hope to have a project a week. I hope to have fun with it, keep myself busy and avoid driving my husband Mark crazy. Today, I am going to go on a walk, contemplate life and enjoy every minute of it.