Tales from a Rivertown Writer

My Running Shoes

2012-02-27T05:32:00.001-08:00

I'm definitely strapping them on for this week because it feels like crazy busy times are ahead!

1. We are deep into the redistricting process at the City - there's been a population shift between our most populace and least populace wards, which automatically triggers a redistricting process. GIS is a key part of U.S. Census population analysis and useful for redrawing boundaries. An open house for the proposed changes will be held next Monday PM at the Library, I'm sure we'll have crowds busting down the doors ;)

2. Ramping up for the Red Wing CGI Idea Slam Grant Presentation Round at the Red Wing Public Library Foot Room on Thursday, March 1 at 6 PM. The remaining Quick-Start project teams will be presenting their business plans and asking for grant funding - the Core Leadership team will go into closed session afterward to make their selections. Five projects, $20,000 - who knows what will happen?

3. Sister Cities Commission Workshop meeting tomorrow PM - we had an enjoyable fundraising dinner for the Mu Daiko Taiko drumming event and the show was spectacular! The boys thought it was great, always a good litmus test.

4. School conferences tomorrow :)

5. Friday we leave for our annual book club winter retreat to Spring Valley - already laying plans for goodies, wine, and movies to bring along!!

Throw in a big snowstorm on Wednesday, and it's almost time for my own brand of March Marchness, haha!!

Mu Daiko Taiko Drumming Show - Sheldon Theater

2012-02-25T09:58:00.003-08:00

Pretty pumped for the show tonight at the Sheldon Theater - we're taking the boys, and I'm happy to say that Dan is bringing ear plugs because I have sensitive ears and the drumming is literally thunderous. Looking forward to the Asian-themed fundraiser dinner for Sister Cities Commission beforehand at the St. James Hotel, it should be a nice crowd with a fun assortment of people :D

Let's throw in a list o' randomness because, frankly, it's been a while:

1. I've been reading the most fascinating book by David Brooks titled 'The Social Animal'. I confess that I'm a HUGE fan of David Brooks' newspaper commentaries and appearances on PBS New Hour (yes, I am a giant news geek, what of it?) and so I'm pretty much in the groove with his social science theories.

2. I've had a minor cold which has chosen to settle into my chest, not fun. Taking it easy most of this weekend to get myself over the hump.

3. I designed my new business card for 'Great River Geospatial' yesterday and dropped it off at Insty Prints. Somehow this makes it all seem more official, hoorah!!

4. Girls Winger hockey got their butts handed to them at the State Tournament :( Still proud of our gals, way to go!!!

5. My LinkedIn network is growing by leaps and bounds - just about any time I get on my computer I see updates and postings. I was a little skeptical when I joined a few years ago but LinkedIn is actually helping me feel more connected to the larger GIS universe.

Have a terrific weekend!!

Socializing, Meetings, Etc.

2012-02-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

My calendar keeps filling up, tally-ho!!

1. Tonight is the Boards & Commissions Recognition Event for the City - I will be there for Sister Cities Commission, the event is at the Indigo Room which is an awesome place :)

2. I'm meeting with one of the members on my CGI Core Leadership Team, Marilyn Meinke, to talk about getting involved in Brave New Girls, an outreach to promote young women getting involved in science. Marilyn wants to mine GIS for a possible activity, I'm happy to oblige.

3. Saturday is the Mu Daiko Taiko drumming event at the Sheldon, with a special fundraising dinner beforehand at the St. James Hotel. Looking forward to both the dinner and event, the show is currently at the Ordway and the reviewer in the St. Paul newspaper couldn't say enough about how awesome it is. Bring it!!

We somehow managed to skip the snow last night, let's hope we can do the same for this weekend. BTW, go Winger Girls Hockey at State tomorrow PM!!!

A Writer's Heart

2012-02-19T04:25:00.000-08:00

The guys were out for the afternoon (House of Bounce in Rochester with the Scouts) so I indulged in a 'girlie' chick flick and watched 'Becoming Jane'. I love, love, LOVE that movie because it's a biography of Jane Austen's formative years and a costume drama to boot. She dares to love outside social conventions but then sacrifice and duty win the day. She never marries (nor does her elder sister, whose fiance dies) but for this reason she vows that all her heroines will receive their heart's desire. 'Becoming Jane' is a quiet movie but one that always touches my writer's heart and reminds me that at the end of personal difficulties there will always be a happy ending (well, at least in my fiction!)

Day three of my four-day weekend - the usual Sunday chore list includes paying bills, laundry, groceries. Writing also (see above). I'm about two-thirds of the way through 'Mockingjay', the final book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. I'm feeling a little 'meh' about Book 3, really neither of the last two books is as good as the first but I'll go to the end.

Tomorrow I've been asked for an interview by Danielle Nordine at the Republican Eagle - they're doing a piece on 'Everyday People' and she wants to include my story :D Afterwards we're heading up to Mall of America with Grant (goal of the day: the Peeps Store, naturally). Looks like today will be the last stretch of dry and 40's, we'll get a taste of winter again next week ::sighs::

Party Time

2012-02-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

Last night we were invited to attend the Red Wing Blandin Cohort Welcome Reception at Treasure Island Casino (I snagged an invite through my involvement with the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation) and yeah, it was pretty much a networking-fest with the best and brightest. The Blandin Cohort represents a select group of individuals who go for a week-long retreat in leadership training and are expected to implement that training in the community. The Welcome Reception was a chance to hear some of their stories and talk about the work of the Blandin Foundation and SMIF in community development.

A group of us met afterward for a late supper at the Port in the St. James Hotel, and wow, we were pretty loud :D I spent most of the time chatting up with my GIS Wonder Twin, Sarah, while Dan sat next to Pat Ramaker who does GIS in Public Works. Lots of energy, lots of continued bonding between the cohort members, it was a crazy fun time! Not much sleep last night, I'm in pretty low gear this morning and glad to have the day off.

Still hoping to get a few things done for Project Friday, but curling up with a nice book sounds good too. Another 40-degree day, another chance to walk outside and enjoy the spring-like weather.

Great River Geospatial, LLC

2012-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today I am announcing the launch of my new GIS consulting firm Great River Geospatial, LLC (if you could see me now I am jumping up and down with excitement!) I've spent the past few days designing my new logo (I downloaded a trial copy of Adobe Design suite) and here it is:

Creating the logo was a labor of love, and I was fortunate to get support and feedback from my family (sons, husband, Mom & Dad, sister included). I chose the name Great River Geospatial because A) I live near the Mississippi River and B) Geospatial is a great GIS term. Right now my company will mainly do GIS consulting but perhaps one day I can bring Tyler in and actually offer a full array of services. You never know where the path may lead next!!

Birthdays

2012-02-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

Today is the lovely cosmic occurrence of both Austin and mom Dianne's birthday - Austin is 20 this year, a big milestone in that he has left his teen years behind for good. We all spent a fun weekend together with Tyler at home - I made French silk pie for dessert after supper out at Fiesta Mexicana. It brings me a special sense of pleasure to have all my sons together, my heart glows to see what wonderful young men they've grown into :D

Looking forward to a less busy week - still working out the details on my new GIS consulting business, I'm thoroughly enjoying the dreaming and creative part of the process!!

Best Week

2012-02-11T04:40:00.000-08:00

So, the last few days in particular have been some of the best in my recent history - so many wonderful, wonderful things to share:

1. I had several really productive GIS-related meetings this week for software/database stuff. Also, on Thursday I had a phone conference with Pam Bishop of SMIF and my Core Leadership Team for the Community Growth Initiative, we are ramping up for the big grant presentation round on March 1. My team is the best, I love their energy and willingness to help :D

2. Yesterday I met with the Red Wing App Idea Slam project team - we had invited Dan Pfeffer from Houston Engineering to come down and talk with our group about apps and GIS and what could be accomplished for a ballpark cost estimate. Dan was great, he helped everyone get comfortable and didn't veer too far off into 'tech talk', plus he works for the company that my son Tyler interned with last spring.

3. With encouragement from my supervisor, I am branching out to do some consulting on the side. I had been approached by Annette Theroux of ProWest & Associates back in the fall, she had expressed interest in having me do some technical writing for their company. Looks like I will be contracting the work, so hoorah, extra income and a chance to work with the seriously awesome staff at ProWest!

4. In light of the recent developments with ProWest, I will be taking the big leap and incorporating myself as a GIS consulting company. I have a name and an outline for a business plan, but I'm hoping to spend most of this weekend framing up the details. That's me, jump in with both feet!!

Look for a more detailed post on my consulting company plans, I can't wait to share with everyone :D Happy weekend!!

Fun in the Sun!

2012-02-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

It's a cold February day, but heck, who cares when the sun is shining brightly and there's good stuff coming up on my social calendar!

1. Today is the Chinese New Year & Multicultural Celebration at SE Tech - food, music, and fun! The Sister Cities Commission and Friends of SC will have a booth where we'll be selling tickets for the Mu Daiko Taiko drumming dinner and show, hoping to see a lot of traffic and some familiar faces :)

2. Our friends Steve and Heidi invited us out for supper tomorrow PM - Grant is gone for a Knowledge Bowl tournament so this should be the perfect time to catch up with the Jones family.

3. This coming weekend is Austin's 20th birthday, and Tyler is coming home as well. Nothing like a full house!

More shenanigans will abound next week, but that's it for now. Happy Wednesday!!!

Mental Health Check

2012-02-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of 2012 my work hours have been cut to part-time, and while the reduction in earnings is definitely a pinch I have to say that I am LOVING my schedule - it's been wonderful to zip out the door each day at 2:00 and have every Friday off :D I'm making my way through a long list of Friday projects but lately I've been so busy that I haven't really made as much progress as I would like.

I have worked part-time for most of my adult life, and truthfully I haven't felt this good, mentally and emotionally, for a long, long time. Maybe it's the mild winter or the fact that Dan hasn't been in Hawaii for the Navy in Jan-Feb like he normally is. Whatever the case, although I know I need to return to full-time work sometime in the future, I'm totally enjoying less stress and responsibility in my life right now.

Speech Contest Wrap

2012-02-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Well, the sad news is that Grant got knocked out at the first round :( We really feel he was in the top three (the top two went on to finals) and so it came down to the judges' scoring. I was amazed to hear him, I haven't listened to him since just before he went to district competition in December and he's traveled a thousand miles in improving his speech since then. We stayed through the final round to watch the other contestants and the guys definitely have a new strategy for the speech for next year. Grant did receive a cash prize of $70.00 for participating, and I told him to splurge on something fun for himself :)

I was proud of Grant for the way he handled the disappointment of not advancing, and I was glad that both Dan and Austin were there to support him. We enjoyed meeting up with some of the Legion staffers and even some of the families we had met when Austin competed in 2010 (they also had younger siblings competing this year). I feel privileged to be a part of the contest and listen to these extraordinary teenagers give an impassioned, completely memorized speech on something as complex as the U.S. Constitution. It all gives me faith in the next generation and the hope that our nation will continue forward in safe hands.

American Legion State Oratorical Contest, Part Deux

2012-02-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

We're gearing up for the big state-level speech contest tomorrow - SO many reasons I'm pumped for this event, not the least of which is the fact that we'll all be there to support Grant as he competes against other district finalists:

1. We're taking off this afternoon and having supper at the Anoka American Legion Post - I remember when Austin and I went two years ago they served the most delicious BBQ ribs for contestants and their families. Apparently the cook had retired after many years at the post but comes back special to make this favorite for the contest. Yummy!

2. I've taken so much pleasure from the work the guys have done together to prepare Grant for competition - our hope is that Grant will at least make it to second round, and the top four winners get scholarship $. At the very least this will be good experience for when he (hopefully) gets a chance to come back to compete as a senior next year.

3. Bringing the previous state winner back to the scene of his victory - Austin was a come-from-behind dark horse back in 2010, there was one boy in particular who got right in his face the first round to turn up the intimidation factor. Austin crushed him in the final round, that was a pretty sweet moment :D

4. Family fun time - the Legion is paying for our hotel tonight, and we've made plans with Tyler to meet for supper somewhere in the Cities on our way home to Red Wing.

Thank goodness the blizzard forecasted for Nebraska and Iowa is staying south (we can't seem to buy snow here). Look for contest updates on Facebook, I'll be posting a wrap here on Saturday. Go Team Grant!!!

Rising

2012-01-31T05:31:00.000-08:00

The weather felt so much like spring yesterday that it sent my mood soaring from the sluggish depths of winter. I feel great encouragement as I move forward into 2012, ideas seem to come bubbling up through the ground:

1. Tonight we kick off the planning phase for Grant's Eagle Scout project at the bluff meeting - hard to believe that baby boy will be 18 in October and that the time for all this is now.

2. Now that my cold is done I've finally been able to get serious about my latest exercise and dieting weight-loss effort. Winter walking is an awesome way to kick-start this process, the cold helps burn a LOT of calories. Yesterday I was outside for an hour, grinning like an idiot the entire time :D

3. I got sucked into watching the first episode of last season's 'Game of Thrones' and it was awesome to see the beginning of the story now that I've waded through all five George R.R. Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' novels. This has inspired me to dive into yet another brand new fantasy AU novel concept that promises all sorts of fun. Stay tuned!

More warm weather on tap for this week, I can handle this brand of Minnesota winter :)

Busy Week

2012-01-29T05:18:00.000-08:00

Gearing up for a busy week: Tuesday night we're attending a public meeting to give input on some upcoming projects to refurbish areas on Memorial Bluff park (if you look out my kitchen window, the bluff is only a block away). Several parts of the park have deteriorated over the years (think WPA era) and a local group has been working to lay out planned improvements. Dan and I are especially excited because we think there could be an opportunity to coordinate an Eagle Scout project in this list of park improvements, so we're all attending to check things out and get connected.

The other big event this week is the State American Legion Oratorical Contest - all four of us will be heading up to Anoka for the competition on Friday, the goal is to get Grant to the final round and maybe even make one of the top three for scholarship $. He's been working on his speech daily with Dan and now Austin this weekend, and I think it will be super fun to return to the contest with Austin (he was State Champ in 2010).

These are the halcyon days that come to us in fleeting moments, when we strive toward greatness and at times exceed our reach; these are the days when memories that last a lifetime are made and young men are set on the pathway of a brighter future to come.

Interview with MPR

2012-01-27T06:09:00.000-08:00

Project Friday has been postponed to Saturday for a couple reasons, mainly because I will be participating in an interview chat with Jennifer Vogel of MPR to discuss entrepreneurial efforts in Greater Minnesota \o/ \o/ \o/ John Becker from Red Wing Downtown Main Street had tried his best to get someone from MPR to come to the Idea Slam event but that didn't happen so now they're coming to Red Wing today.

A few other things on tap for today include a tour afterward of the new Red Wing Brewing Company with DTMS (the site is under demolition) and I'm pretty excited to meet the new owners (they received an incubator micro-loan to help get their business started). I'm also picking up my new glasses today and bringing Austin home for the weekend, we're all excited to attend the RWHS Winter Play 'Pride and Prejudice' this weekend. Fun, fun, fun!!!

'Downton Abbey'

2012-01-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Addiction alert: I had seen previews for PBS Masterpiece Classic 'Downton Abbey' and added Season 1 to my Netflix instant streaming and yeah, I watched the whole season in two days \o/ This stuff is pretty much crack for me - upper class English family dramas, serving staff dramas, backstories that include the sinking of the Titanic and the beginning of WWI, gorgeous ladies costumes, garden parties, HELL YES!!

In other news, I have been flagrantly neglecting my writing. I've been plowing through a ton of reading (next up, 'The Hunger Games') and doing a fair amount of movie watching. Some of this is still the lingering effects of my head cold, but some of it is part of my New Year's resolution to take more enjoyment and pleasure from life. I will pick up writing again, I have story lines and characters running through my thoughts most all the time. Just not right now :)

Minneapolis Rendesvous

2012-01-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

Lots of running around today - we're taking Austin back to River Falls after his month-long hiatus at home, and then we're heading over to Minneapolis to spend the day with Tyler. We're taking him to go see 'The Artist', a comedic nouveau update of classic silent movies. Not sure where we'll have supper, but as long as it's Thai or Indian it should be all good.

Tonight is Chris and Sarah's Chinese New Year's Party - this annual event is one we definitely look forward to, they always have a fun list of people and Chris can mix a mean cocktail. So yeah, much goodness today, glad to see that the sun will be out and the roads clear for driving.

We're all drinking our coffee and watching 'Star Trek:Wrath of Khan' with sexy, sexy Ricardo Montalban and lots of cheesy Moby Dick references - my favorite way to start the day :D