Cathy Zielske's Blog

A few days up at the lake

Last Wednesday, we packed up and took off for a much needed respite at our family's lake home in Nisswa, Minnesota.

Now some of you may or may not know this about me: I'm not really a cabin-y, Northwoods type of of gal. In fact, when the idea of "let's go up to the cabin" for the weekend comes up, I can often be heard saying, "Great! I'll see you when you get back!"

It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I definitely prefer the non-holiday weekends with fewer people. Call me an introvert. That's just how I roll.

It was just our family and Dan's sister's family this past weekend. A manageable party of eight. And as you know, eight is a great number for many games of Mexican Train.

What is it about playing dominoes that is so much fun up at the cabin that just never seems to catch on the same way at home? Two words: cable television (and the lack thereof up North!)

As the days wore on and the play got more serious, Great Grandma's hat collection came out of hiding.

Okay, so maybe Great Grandma didn't ride motorcyles in her day, but this one came out as well.

We had time on the boat and in the lake.

And time just chilling on the dock.

And even some time to hit the town for some 'pretty good shopping.'

Aidan got a feather in her hair.

And I made a Jacob and Edward sandwich.

We had tons of good food.

And lots of bad facial hair.

And lots of dishes to wash by hand.

And we enjoyed gorgeous, completely non-Photoshopped sunsets. It really looked like this every night.

The best part is returning home with people who feel rested and ready to get back to work, and ready to get ready to head back to school.

Thanks for a great getaway, Nisswa.

 

 

 

Goth tweendom, we hardly knew ye

For a laugh, shortly after turning 12, Cole informed us he would now be moody, sullen and angry. Also, he would only wear black. It lasted about 12 minutes.

Not that I don't love a goth kid. Lord knows I do.

Okay, maybe I'm confusing goth with silly.

Still.

Coleman, it's good to have you back, buddy. That was a moody dang 12 minutes.

 

Some of your children will love the camera, others, well…

Last weekend, my nephew, Jacob, married his lovely fiancé, Melissa, which meant the Zielske clan got to scrub up and make themselves look presentable.

I appreciate many of my 15-year-old's qualities: she is thoughtful, empathic, kind, creative, whip smart and independent. She also likes having her picture taken.

She also has really good hair.

One thing is for certain: this young woman will never lack for a proper collection of photos from her life.

Another thing? She never really hit that awkward teen phase like I did.

But I really did feel pretty in that purple angora sweater. Sigh.

Now speaking of people getting all cleaned up, this leaves us with Cole. At nearly 12, he is less thrilled with the idea of a nice photograph for posterity's sake.

Let's try again, buddy. Just hold still... there! Got it!

Note to self: next time, if you want results, bust out the cold hard cash.

 

Summer in swing

Being outside.

Baseball games.

Smoothies and iPads.

Sleeveless shirts and iPads.

And summer flying by.

This has been a week of baseball tournaments, driver's ed, going here, and there, nursing sunburns and just enjoying time with my family.

Back next week with my monthly Move More Eat Less check in. Have a safe and relaxing holiday weekend.

 

In just over a week…

That baby girl of mine, Aidan? Yeah, well… she's going to start driving.

That's right. This girl, who I swear just blew out her first birthday candle, is going to climb behind the wheel of a 3,000 pound hunk of steel and make it go places on the open road.

It's not that I don't think she'll be great at it.

It's just that whole one more step toward her independence and one more step away from me thing.

Now I'm a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. Thank you.

I think I feel a scrapbook page coming on. For sure.

Dan got an iPhone. In other news, hell freezes over.

Let me start by saying this: it really wasn't his idea.

Dan Zielske, my partner in crime since 1989, has never been one to warm to the latest and greatest technologies. He was perfectly happy using rabbit ears on a television, and it took a lot of arm twisting back in the day to convince him why a young, unmarried couple like us would ever possibly find a use for a Nintendo system. He also has a vintage shirt and sweater collection that would rival that of any 90-year-old man, but that's a story for another day.

In keeping with his Luddite ways, he was a little late to the cell phone game. He has owned two cell phones in his entire life. One had an antenna you pulled out for better reception. The other one? This gem he's been using for roughly 8 years.

Enter his tech obsessed wifey, me.

I think everyone knows my love of all things technological, and specifically, my love of all things iPhone. I've documented my yearnings quite ably over the years on this blog. (You can read some of it here and here and even this one time when someone got all mad at me for whining about not having one here.) Heck, I even did a scrapbook page about placating my desires with the purchase of an iPod Touch, as seen here:

The irony, of course, is that I do not own an iPhone myself, mostly because it's a hard one to justify when my cell phone usages averages to roughly 22 minutes per month.

But with Father's Day looming and a $100 instant rebate being offered to replace Dan's aging phone, I decided to roll the dice on Dan's behalf and I ordered the iPhone 4.

Ahhhh. Now isn't that better?

Other than when he first took it out of the box and just started yelling at it to try and activate the phone, he's taken quite a shine to it. Initially incredulous that he wasn't going to be on a 4G network (What? This is only 3G? Are you KIDDING me? That's just GREAT!), he has settled in nicely, even finding time during the day to play a few rounds of Words with Friends with yours truly.

He swears he won't get all into apps and for now, the only other app I made him buy was Scrabble. But I say, let him find his sea legs and then he might just realize how fun Plants vs. Zombies can truly be.

And even if he never goes app crazy, with a view like this, he'll never be able to doubt the value of an upgrade.

 

I never promised you a rose garden

As construction on our remodel has officially wrapped up, it's time now for us to a) try to recreate some semblance of a yard and b) finish the interior painting and c) get a dang couch already.

So far, the interior painting is about halfway there, and the yard project is in full swing thanks to Dan, my Dad, a few shovels, some grass seed and a lot of manly muscle.

This manly man is looking pleased with himself because the grass seed on the boulevard is taking root.

Why grass seed and not sod? According to Dan, "I've never had much luck with sod." You heard it here first.

Step on my grass, I'll kill ya.

We planted a few rhododendrons in the front, Purple Star variety, I believe. And that lone hosta?  The sole survivor from back hoe trauma. Those things are the cockroaches of the landscaped world.

And right on the corner of the house we'll be doing a small rock garden to catch the water from our yet-to-be-purchased rain chain.

We picked up just a few little plants for the steps, to add a touch of color. This year is all about catching our breath and growing grass. Hard core landscaping may or may not come next year. For now, we're just enjoying the new look and feel of our house.

And incoporating a little bit of nature into the process.

If I weren't so busy cleaning my house…

I'd be blogging more.

See, the thing is, my parents are coming to town. Originally, they were supposed to be here today but car trouble put them a day behind schedule.

My parents being behind schedule is about as common as, well, the End of Days.

I'd like to see a show of hands of how many of you out there go into panic cleaning mode just before a parental (or any guest for that matter) visit. Go ahead, keep 'em up. I'm guessing it would take me a while to count them all.

I know, I know. They say, "We aren't coming to see your  house, we're coming to see you!" But I see the furtive glances toward the balled up underwear in the corner and the quick peeks at traces of dust on the tops of the bathroom sink lights.

The funny thing is, once they walk in the door, the whole place goes to hell in a hand bag within a few hours, and then, who cares? They surely don't. Nor do I.

But it's the cleaning anticipation, my friends.

So as much as I'd love to wax poetic on all sorts of tantalizing subjects, for today I'll simply share two photos of my darling children. One is just being adorable, and the other has something to do with combining both Canucks and Mavericks fandom, with just a splash of Mario Brothers added in for good measure.

Check back tomorrow for a marathon of a giveaway.

One of the secrets to making a marriage work?

Never let your spouse blend into the scenery.—Dan Zielske, early 2000s

Deal.

Wide Angle Offspring

Sometimes they're cute.

And sometimes they're kooky.

Either way, the wide angle loves 'em.