The Madsen's Journey

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pictures

Huge piles of snow

This is Nolan & David, resting & eating (?) the snow. Too fun.

This is what Nolan was up to while Karl & I were in Florida

He's very proud of the snowman!

Do I have something in my teeth?

Rhode Island, Florida, D.C., Boston (and MN & WI) since last post!

Sorry for the delay in an update. I did try about a month ago to post an update with pictures but got a bit frustrated with how slow my computer was and gave up. So, a longer update... We have had a really busy few months. Of course I was traveling back and forth between Minneapolis and Providence, RI Sunday through Thursday and between that we were able to fit in a trip to Florida for some R & R and sunshine, and in early March Karl went to Washington, D.C. with Nancy and Martha to attend Marcy's retirement ceremony. He was giddy with stories for a whole week when he got back. I think he has some pictures, we will post those soon. Nolan is doing great. Growing so fast and learning so many new words...some of them maybe I would prefer he didn't learn but that's par for the course. Last weekend he was sick, fever, rash, upset stomach. We took him to the Target (?) clinic and found out he had Strep throat. Considering how sick he was he was very well behaved. A few days on anti-biotics and he was the same old Nolan. I am off the road now and supposed to be on the ground for a while. The travel has worn me 'thread-bare', and I have been longing for Door County solitude. Then it occured to me that there was no reason why Nolan & I couldn't spend a month up there this summer. My work is highly portable, as is Nolan, and now with Mardelle officially 'retired' (again) it seemed like all the pieces of the puzzle were lining up. After confirming with work and daycare, and of course, Mardelle, it's official. Nolan & I will be calling Door County home this summer. I am so excited. All the fresh air, lack of concrete, and the abundance of quiet is just what I need. Too bad it's not for another 3 months :) On the home-front, for the third year in a row we are hoping to buy a different house. This year might just be the year as things are lining up for us. We would very much like to take advantage of the buyers market, but in order to do that we will likely have to rent the townhouse out. More to come on that, but if you know someone looking for a nice, big place to rent in Burnsville, give us a call. Here's some pictures to catch you up.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Be Careful What You Wish For...

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago. I have been hanging on to it, too busy to log in to post it. Thought I would share it:

I had always imagined myself as an independent person, and at 16, feeling trapped in a too-small Wisconsin town I dreamt of the day that I would fly around, first class, and solve problems. Of course, at 16 I never really knew what that meant. I glamorized it to fabulous locations with great clothes. Work travel has brought me to every corner of this country and to some of the posh-est hotels but I would trade it all in a heart-beat to read and tuck my son into bed.
I always feel a wide swath of emotion when I travel. I hate being away, but there’s nothing that puts perspective on your life better than looking out over the land and at a distance seeing how small everything really is. Early on after Nolan was born I felt nothing but shame, guilt and remorse when I traveled. A heavy, difficult mix of emotion that did very little for my relationships, but today I have a different perspective. I learned that guilt is corrosive. It just erodes everything around you, to the point where nothing looks or feels the same anymore.

So, tonight, as I sit in first class, flying to a client that expects me to help them solve their problems I consider my options. My Grandmother had a quote hanging on her restroom wall (a place where she figured folks had a moment to reflect) by Charles Swindoll. The jest of that quote is that your attitude shapes your perspective. So I am trying very hard to have a good perspective on the travel that is required for my work. That it will give Nolan a well-rounded Mother (and an exhausted Father?), that it will help infuse a sense of confidence in me that has been gone for quite a while now; that, if I were really truthful with myself, is very much a part of what makes me sane and crazy all at the same time. I long for the day when I am home, period. When travel is a choice we make as a family because we want to go somewhere fun. Until then, I will enjoy what travel brings, and spend guilt-free, quality time with my loved ones, when I’m in town.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Hold On Loosely

I am a traveling consultant. I guess there is a big part of me that was in denial about that for a while. Thankfully, I am not a true 'road warrior' those people that are on the road 50 weeks out of the year. But, I am gone more than I like.
I think I have come to terms with it. I don't cry anymore when I tell people that I missed his first steps. Last year, in the midst of my 6-month traveling blitz I was seated next to a couple from the Ukraine. They spent the entire (and I mean entire) flight talking. At one point the woman looked over at me and I was holding a picture of Nolan, something I do without fail.
"Is that your little boy?" She asked in a very heavy accent
"Yes"
"One piece of advice, if I may. Don't hold on too tight. Let him go and explore and find his own life, that's your job."
I smiled and nodded, and thought, well you don't know. You don't know how often I am gone.
But, she was right. And I think of her often, and one of my favorite songs "Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special.
So, as I am about to embark on an 8-week trip, coming home only on the weekends I will listen to that song and think of the Ukrainian woman and know that everything will be just fine.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

More Pictures

Hey, that's me opening presents:)

I got some books!

Say, "Cheese"

Daddy and Nolan on the snow hill in our parking lot

He'll remember these big snow piles forever

Some Pictures

Look at me, I'm Mommy!

This is his "I'm Cute" pose

A book! Yeah, something new to read

For me?

Nolan and David playing, Karl standing by

I promised some pictures so here they are. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2010 is over, I can't believe the first decade of the 20's is over. Time goes incredibly fast as you watch your child grow. For the first time in a couple of years I have some resolutions. Maybe less resolutions and more goals. I have been swimming in the sea of the unplanned for a few years now. Frankly, Nolan put my world into a tailspin and it's taken me this long to get back to level flight. It's been a wonderful ride.
So, this year I plan to take better care of myself. I have been unable to digest food without issues for a couple of years now, so I finally went to the doctor. I have to get an upper endoscopy, and I am sure that will be as much fun as it sounds. I want to start eating a bit better and getting a little more exercise, but I also don't need to add any stress to my life (see digestive issues above). One big goal, or resolution, is to write a book. Either professional or personal. I have been working on some ideas for a book for my work for a bit now, but the stars haven't yet aligned. Personally, I have had an idea for a book recently and I have started sketching out some of the characters. I figured if I wrote that goal down maybe the pressure from my huge throngs of fans here on this blog might keep my honest. (That's sarcasm, I am pretty sure Karl doesn't even read this blog). Maybe I will start putting excerpts here for your enjoyment. In the meantime, pictures of Nolan will be forthcoming.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Latest News & Updates

The big news in the Madsen household is that Nolan is potty trained. We have learned that the trick to teaching Nolan something new is to talk to him about it, and tell him what the next step is. For example, “This weekend we are going to wear big-boy underwear!” It seems to work quite well for him, not super fast, but quite well. He’s only had one bed wetting incident since 11/22 (a couple, “oops I missed the potty” incidents, but well, big boys do those too :).

Our computer is on the fritz, so the blog posts will probably have fewer pictures until we get a new one. For those of you outside of Minnesota, consider yourself lucky. We are buried in snow, although it’s not nearly as bad as the national media made it sound like. We will be celebrating Christmas with the Fletcher’s this weekend (12/18) and the Madsen’s the following weekend. For me, someone who is not a Christmas person, all this merriment has taken its toll. I am completely incapable of making cookies; they turn out funny looking and ‘okay’ tasting. I was going to tackle Divinity but after all of the failed cookies this year I have decided to skip it. I don’t need to spend 3 hours of my day to no avail.
We wish all of you (the 3 or 4 that actually read this blog:) a joyous and peaceful new year.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Day 4 pictures

The Duffy Bear...yes, it is called Duffy

Four parks, mission accomplished!

What a nice night!!!

Disney World - 2010

Day 4

The last day was very unexpected for me...Nolan just needed some down time, and all he wanted to do in the morning was watch cartoons, lay in bed, and just relax. I was pretty surprised, but also didn't mind as that meant that I didn't have to carry around the backpack full of everything for a few hours.

We spent most of the morning just relaxing. We went down to the playground at the resort, had lunch, Laura got to do some shopping, and took it easy. It was a very enjoyable morning (and the weather was very cooperative, sunny and warm). Laura and Sarah had decided to make dinner reservations for Epcot - and we had the choice between Nine Dragons (China) and the Biergarten (Germany). We chose Germany!

We wandered into Epcot, and rode Spaceship Earth again. We meandered our way to meet up with Sarah and company in the World Showcase. Again, even on Sunday, Epcot was crowded. They are celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Food and Wine Festival, but I also just think it was the weekend. Dinner at Germany was great...and after, the families split up again. We had an early morning pick up going back to the airport, so Laura, Nolan, and I headed back to the resort to pack and wind down.

All in all, it was a pretty interesting trip. This is the first time in quite some time that I wasn't in charge...and had to do things that other people (Nolan) wanted to do. I was a little surprised, though I shouldn't have been, that we spent as much time in the room as we did. Knowing what i know now, we would probably do things just a bit differently. Next time...and there will definitely be a next time.

Hope you all are having a great fall. October has flown by...and I will post pictures soon from Halloween!

Day 3 pictures - Epcot

Nolan and Nemo (or was is Marlin?)

Another chance to see Mickey!

Pluto, not too bad.

Nolan really liked Donald!

Goofy was such a ham!

Day 3 pictures - MK, round 2

Hydrating...it was so nice and warm there!

Cheese!

Riding with Mom and Dad...happy boy.

Disney World - 2010

Day 3

Sarah, David H., and David V. took Saturday to go visit some of David H.'s family that live on the ocean side of Florida, near Cape Canaveral. That left Laura, Nolan, and I to go visit the parks. We decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom in the morning, as Nolan really didnt' get to see much of the park that first day. While that sounded like a good idea, it was PACKED that Saturday! We got in, and headed over to Tomorrowland. There is a Monsters, Inc. show, a Toy Story ride, and a few other things I though Nolan might enjoy. We saw some of the Monsters, Inc. show, he just can't sit still for that long yet. The Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride was pretty cool. He seemed to like that one, but we had to get a Fast Pass for that, as the wait time was pretty long. We also rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority...which was fun.

We tried to do a few other things, but again, the crowds were pretty big that day, so we rode the train from Frontierland back to Main Street USA and headed back to the resort. After a much longer nap...we headed over to Epcot for the evening. Nolan REALLY liked Spaceship Earth, which has been updated. They added some very neat technology, including touch screens for each car. We also did the Living Seas with Nemo, which of course Nolan loved...

Back to the resort after another exciting day!

Day 2 pictures - Studios

A tow truck!!!

Perfect...just perfect!

Our first Mickey sighting...autograph time!

Outside the Muppets 3D movie...

It is a special fountain...ask Laura.

Day 2 pictures - AK

Nolan and Dad with the macaws.

Lots of fish!

Showing Mom the fish...

Disney World - 2010

Day 2

Well, day one was better for Nolan, he was able to nap and was more comfortable in the room, so day 2 was going to be better. Again, the families split up, as it is just easier that way. We had dinner reservations for an early dinner at the Hollywood Studios, so we knew we would all be meeting up later.

We started out at the Animal Kingdom, not as early as I thought we would, but early enough. We got our Fast Pass for the safari, and then walked along one of the trails to see some of the other animals. It was fun to see animals that were different than the ones we usually see at the Minnesota Zoo - the gorillas were out, and two of them were walking around. We then grabbed a quick snack, and headed to the safari! To be honest, this was the best safari I have ever been on at the Animal Kingdom!!! We saw both the white and black rhinos, lots of elephants, the giraffes, both the male and female lion, and even the cheetah - normally, the cheetah are just laying around, but while our safari vehicle was driving past, a group of some deer-like animal ran past and both cheetahs popped up, and one was running parallel to the deer...it was so cool.

After the safari, it was time to head back to the resort. After a very short nap, we packed up and headed back to the Hollywood Studios. We had time, and got to the park just in time to see the parade! Nolan liked seeing the characters from Toy Story, Bugs Life, and The Incredibles. He wasn't into dancing or playing with the parade people. We walked over to the old Animation Studio building, which is now a character meet-and-greet. We got to see Mickey Mouse, and Nolan got his autograph and picture (he wasn't afraid of Mickey!). We had a great dinner at the 50s Prime Time Cafe, and then wandered around the park until it was close to park close and headed back to the resort.