January - A FUN start to 2018!!!!

January 2018 -  Dart League, A little adulting, a Spelling Bee, Football, Snowmobiling, and Shenanigans

January is typically a slow-ish month for me. I try to focus on that thing called "work" so that I can earn my keep for summer shenanigans.    There is not a lot to do in January in MN, so I keep busy by being active in 'sports'.. and by that, I mean bar dart league :) Its a fun way to kill time in the winter and all of the people on the dart league are frickin fun to be around. Even my captain... Snacks... who goes between motivating to sarcastic depending on the round. Thankfully, he keeps me on the team for mere participation points - I always show up. I don't always play well... I usually don't play well... but again, attendance counts! So much so that Captain bought me 'Lucky Dart Socks' to help my game...

I participated in a last minute Bar Spelling Bee Competition. It was complete with 56 contestants each going up on stage and spelling the word they are given into the microphone in front of all bar patrons. I was #56... THE LAST person in the Bee. I made it to round three before getting the buzzer on the word "Calliope". Calliope is part of Greek Mythology. I never did like Greek Mythology!

ADULTING: I did some adulting in January as well. I replaced a toilet to get better water pressure and be more efficient. I couldn't find a single employee to help me get it from the shelf to the cart, let alone the cart to the car. The only cart attendant outside was an 80+ year old woman who I was not going to have help me lift a 97# toilet box out. So some craft moves and I managed to get it from the shelf to the cart to my car and into the house. It wasn't easy, but I was determined. The old toilet flange bolts that go from the floor to the toilet were REALLY old and really rotted. One simply would not come out no matter what I tried.  And trust, I tried a million things that YouTube and Google told me to try to no avail. Then one smart poster said "When all else fails, just break the toilet out from around the bolt," Ta-da!   Done! The rest went smoothly.

Another adulting project I completed (with quite a bit of help once I realized I was in over my head) was replacing the seal on the garage door. Which, had the warm temps held like the day I started said project, it would have gone a lot smoother. But, the weather turned January and there I was trying to get the new seal (rubber) into the grooves in 25 degrees. Not exactly pliable rubber weather. But, with the help of the neighbor guy and the boy, we got it done! No more lakes in the garage - yay! 

                               RETIREMENT PARTY

I have worked at my job for going on 13 years (CRAZY!) and in January, I became second to the top as far as seniority goes. My amazing coworker retired after 29 years as a social worker. While we all wish him an awesome retirement... we lost the most knowledgeable person in our unit of 13. Weird how things change. Our unit is super cohesive, so we threw him a big ol retirement party and also had a retirement dinner for him. 

SNOW FUN!

January also brought SNOW!  And when it snows in MN, you play in it. I made some snow angels, and had a snowball fight that I lost.. .bad. 

SNOWMOBILING

I also went snowmobiling for the first time in I don't know how many years. The boys and I went to north central WI - which is a 4 hour road trip complete with stops at several establishments that the guys know people at. They have made the trip for so many years, they literally have friends in every small town along the way. And when you have friends, you cheers friends. It helped make the long drive a little more fun!  Me and the Christmas Cock ------------------------------------------------------------>

Cold weather feels a little warmer in layers and layers of gear and a base of warm drinks in your belly (for the passenger anyways!)!  He was a great chauffeur and I managed to hang on well the whole time. And I only got a small little patch of frostbite on my face where my goggles did not align perfectly with my face mask and helmet. 

Super sunny day of riding and playing! 

I dont know that I will ever live down the "Rubber Duck" story. I once went to work and was digging in my purse to find a rubber duck. And had ZERO recollection of how the H it got there. And when I texted the friends I was with the night before, no one would tell me the story.... come to find out 6+ months later, there are rubber duck vending crane machines at many bars, incl the one I frequent. So now people find it funny to get them for me from time to time...

Beer Pyramid Award goes to JC

The ride home from all of the festivities got pretty darn cold - but under all of our layers, we were still smiling!  -------->

So pretty.. even at -16 degrees!

Riding into the sunset

FOOTBALL!

January also brought with it Football playoffs... and MN Vikings made the playoffs for the first time in (?) a hundred years (exaggeration) so of course I set out to watch all of the games at the local pub with bestie and friends. The first game we won was amazing - the whole pub was chanting SKOL and the Vikings song... it was so energetic and fun!!! $67 tab kind of fun!

And after the game ends, sometimes we just want to keep the night going. And so we did - playing darts at another local pub until the WEEEEE hours of day. And why wouldnt we have an after bar party on a Sunday?!


SKOL BRACELETS!!!!!

WILD MOTHER NATURE WEATHER

I enjoy my commute to work.. I go the opposite direction of traffic. It's 24 miles away, but only 30 mins &I never endure traffic jams... but sometimes when it snows, the drive home can be a bear...my little car turns into a 4x4 machine to get me home! And in  MN, the weather changes on a dime!

RANDOM FUN WITH FRIENDS

 Can Can Wonderland Fun!

Brunch time with my riding crew - Winter is SOOOO long to wait thru to get to riding season! SO we make our own non-riding shenanigans to make due... A little brunch...

And then a little dive bar fun... and a daytime dance party brought to you by the ladies of the old SK crew!

And finally, MORE FOOTBALL!!!!  SUPERBOWL 52 at US BANK STADIUM in MINNEAPOLIS!

Bestie and I hit the Superbowl festivities Downtown - so much to see and do, tons of people watching, and a lot of FUN!!!!! 

When you have a bum ankle and it gets mad at you for miles of walking in boots... you rest! And then get drinks to celebrate Superbowl Madness!

Sights Downtown for the festivities:

Cardboard helmets hijacked for free and a little helmet fun           


 
                               

Girls having fun!

             



                     We LOVE MN!



















And the Minneapolis Fire Department boys who kindly gave us a ride to our parking ramp in the freezing cold! We crammed all 6 of us into their vehicle and had lots of laughs in the short commute with these guys!









After the Downtown events wrapped up - we headed to First Avenue for a dance party that my friend won tickets for. While it turned out to be a DUD of an event, we still had a blast and caused some ruckus!









Laughter comes in many forms!

January 2018 - A FUN START TO THE NEW YEAR!