Hypnosis

Last night, Mark and I went to see a hypnotist here in town (I like when something different goes on). It was hilarious!! There were big men up on stage pretending to birth babies, and the females were the doctors, yelling at them to push. Then when the participants were woken up in those positions, they were so confused as to what was happening. One man was commanded to act like a mop was a pretty lady he was putting moves on, and it happened every time the announcer said "Toyota". So funny! I laughed and laughed, until my sides were aching.

I was tempted to go up on stage and participate (it would have been easy to be picked, he was hurting for participants), but I don't think I can be hypnotized. However, when the announcer had us do a little exercise, ending with "magnets on our pointer fingers", my fingers just snapped together. So maybe I could be. I do tend to do what I'm told. :)

Do you think you could be hypnotized/have you ever been?

Hockey

Is it Delano and Buffalo?


Or Hougton and L'anse?

Nope, guess not. Just Dickinson and Bottineau/Rugby.

Hockey isn't wrestling, but I do enjoy it. We've watched three games now, and witnessed two wins and a loss. We even have a favorite player; a quick, feisty freshman.

A weekend with the fam

Viv said a couple times last weekend, "my whole family is here!!" And while that wasn't quite true, I did get to see my mom and dad, Kurt, Jocelyn and Mike and their kids. It was wonderful to just chill with them.

Vivian is quite the ham. She had us laughing many times.

"Don't take a picture of me, Dista!"

Kurt, being Kurt.

The crowd (minus me) at Kurt's wrestling meet.

It was Mark's first meet, and I think he enjoyed it, even if there were less throws than he was hoping for.

Haas-ie boy.

It was his 2nd wrestling match, but apparently he doesn't like wrestling at all. No! I can't say that, he's a S**m*n boy! He was cranky all weekend, but apparently due to a double ear infection.

Dista and Viv.

It was so cute how she kept wanting to sit by me, or on my lap. I think she just likes having an audience to witness her cuteness. :) When Kurt was wrestling, she heard Nana yell "Up and out, Kurt", and she yelled "Open up, Kurt!"

I have missed watching wrestling. At the college level, they dimmed the lights, just like high school. Unfortunately, it makes for poor pictures.

Kurt lost his match (he was moved up a weight class), but the team won, to make their record 13-0.

After the match, we said goodbye to my parents, and brought Jocelyn and the rugrats to our house to wait for Mike to pick them up on his way from his job to their home.

The first thing Viv said when she came in the door and was halfway down the steps was "Such a pretty rug you have, Dista!" :D

We had to think quickly to come up with things for Viv to do. She really loved my Blokus and Mastermind games- all those little pieces are so much fun to play with! And to clean up!

Here she is with Uncle Mark; enjoying her hot cocoa and watching something on the computer.

Big GRIN!

I thoroughly enjoyed my family time, as I know it is hard to come by while we are out here. I only wish I could see the others more often too, and that MI wasn't so far away!

Strong

Funny how a song can evoke such strong memories. I'm not generally one who has memories stored with songs, but "Stereo Love" by Edward Maya brings me right back to last year, in Arizona. Every single time I hear the beginning notes, I'm back in our apartment, sitting on my air mattress with the promise of another beautiful day shining through the window. And then I miss it. So much. And the girls that shared that experience with me.


On a totally different note, Happy Birthday to my dear mother. I hope she had a relaxing day.

Just because I'm 25 doesn't mean

anything, really. Except that I am now a quarter of a century old.

Mark and I celebrated, ND style, on Sunday. I didn't have to cook all day long! We went out for breakfast after we woke up at 11:30 am. For anyone who knows me, that is WAY sleeping in.

Breakfast was yum. The diner we went to had seats from semi trucks at the counter instead of regular stools. It's neat to see the local color like that.

Next stop was the mall, where I got a new pair of tennis shoes (for my volleyball league starting soon). The arcade beckoned to us, and so we played a game each as well. And I lost a quarter in this ride.

That's probably why I'm not smiling very bigly.

Then we drove separately to the car repair shop so Mark could leave his car there to be fixed (I hope it doesn't blow the budget!!).

On the way there, I saw some more local-ness. An RV campground, that's really just a parking lot. All of the trailers were winterized with the black skirts or plywood/styrofoam around the base.


There was a young boy playing in the nearby ditch, and I thought that was sad. He probably lives in one of those tiny trailers, with nowhere to play, except ditches, which can be fun, I guess.

Mark made me supper. How like a man to eat with no plates (just one more dish to wash!), or glasses. :)

Then we were off to the rec center for tennis, swimming and the steam room. The steam room is the closest we get to a sauna out here, and it was a relaxing way to end my birthday celebration.

I'm getting another present in the form of my parents; they are coming to Bismarck this weekend to watch Kurts team wrestle. We're staying in a hotel with them on Saturday, and I can't wait to see them!

I'd like to give a shout-out to my birthday buddies (that I know of): Anna K, Maddy Anderson, and Sadie J. Happy Birthday!

National Title

My "little" bro and his team won the NWCA Division II duals. Congrats, Kurt!

(he is in the back row, the one with the biggest grin)

It's not winter

I'm arguing with the calendar. It's spring! 61 degrees today. On January FIFTH.

Love it!

I got mine sickness

It seems everyone has been ill, and finally, inevitably, I am too. It appears I am not invincible. Haha. On the morning of our return trip from northern MN (we had a great time- got lots of visiting in!), I woke up nauseous, and couldn't even eat Gramma's pancakes.

One day later, I am still feeling weak and wobbly. But thankfully no nausea anymore. I hate, hate, hate throwing up and everything associated with it.

I'm hoping the man of this small household doesn't catch it. Thus far, he's been invincible too :)