Live like a Hilton

Ok maybe not.

But we did stay at a Hilton last week.  So we felt a little richer, which is kind of like when you stay at a Holiday Inn  Express and you feel smarter and you  can perform open heart surgery.

Or Not

Last weekend we celebrated 5 years of marriage.  My Mom and brother came down to watch Carter and Peter and I headed out of town for the night. 

We checked into our hotel across from the event center and walked into a beautiful room on the executive floor.   Thank you to a high school classmate who not only helped us book the room, but got us a complimentary upgrade.  Brooke you are awesome!   We enjoyed the executive lounge for a bit then headed out to explore the Old Market.  

On our way there I suggested we do a make-shift appetizer tour of several different restaurants.  Peter really wanted Sushi so our first stop was Blue.   Blue is a kind of newer,  very trendy sushi bar.   We enjoyed the atmosphere and I would go back again, but I would probably order something off the grill.  We ordered a small sampler that had a California roll, spicy tuna roll,  shrimp nigiri, salmon nigiri, and tuna nigiri. We also ordered a couple scallop nigiri.  I am not a big fish person and when you add raw fish to that it gets a little rough.    I did fine until I tried the scallop...... then I was done. Peter finished off the rest and we headed out to explore. 

 We walked around and ducked into various shops to browse.  I got a pair of  Baltic amber earrings..... the guy we bout them from said they were hand made in Poland..... Peter said they were probably from China.  I don't care they are pretty.  (Monday morning I went to put them in to wear to work and dropped one down the drain! We got it out Monday night.)

We stopped at the Candy Store and picked up some chocolates for later that night and some jelly beans for Carter.  He loves Candy and always tries to get you to let him have some for Breakfaast, Lunch and Dinner..... then gives you the sad puppy eyes when you tell him "no".

The next stop on our appetizer tour was La Bouvette.  It is a  wine shop, bar and deli with an emphasis on French wine.  They have wines fromall the regions of France and also all over the world.   You can choose from wines by the glass or a bottle and pay a corkage fee.  We went by the glass, but I highly recommend if you go to buy a bottle and pay the fee.

Halfway through my first glass of wine I  needed to use the rest room.  The rest room was up a ramp through a door, around the corner down a treacherous flight of stairs and then down a long hallway in the basement of the buliding.  (This is important later in my story.)

We order a simple Meat and Cheese tray with bread.  After 45 minutes and a glass of wine our food finally arrived with an appology for the delay because they had a mix up in the kitchen.   It would have been just fine if I had eaten anything other that raw fish and  a table spoon of rice...... I was a little tipsy because I do not drink very often.   The food was amazing, we ordered extra bread and another glass of wine.   Halfway through my second glass of wine I am basically gone and I tell Peter "I have to pee again but I am afraid to try to go down the stairs."  I knew I would not make it back to the hotel, so I risked it and made it down and back up OK.    We had wanted to go to another place but it took us almost 2 hours at La Bouvette so after that we headed back to the hotel.

Even though we had every intention of sleeping in we were up by 7 anyway.  So we went down to the executive lounge and grabbed a little breakast.  We had plans to meet some friends for brunch later so we did not eat too much.  We packed up our stuff and headed to meet our friends.  The friends we met up with used to be Peter's college roommates.  They are a great group of guys.  It is always fun to get together with them even if it is for a short visit. 

We had a great weekend that seemed to go entirely too fast. But then again most weekends do. 

Actual Conversation Peter had at work with a client that called in.

Back ground information first.

My husband is Chinese.

His "legal"  first and last name are the same, but he goes by Peter.

He works for a company that manages tuition for schools k-12.

The client, let's call her Carry, called in to ask for some help with the new system.  This particular client was not Peter's, he took the  call to help out a co-worker.

It went like this.

"Hello this is Peter, how can I help you?"

"Yeah Peter this is Carry.  Can you help me delete some students from our database?"

"Sure I can help you with that.  What are their names?" Peter asks.

"H-U-A-N-G" (insert some for of pronunciation in which she butchers it. But in all honesty I would probably butcher it too) Carry says.

"Yeah we will go ahead and delete her. Do you have a lot of Chinese students in your school?" Peter asks.

"We have 29, it is getting to be a little too much." Carry says

"Are they exchange students?" Peter asks.

"Yeah the are.  We can't take them all or we would have like a gazillion of them." Carry says.

Poor Carry........ she then proceeded to spell out all of the other names and butcher them as well.  Not all of the names were Chinese, there were other nationalities to be deleted as well.

She  then came upon a Chinese student with the same first and last name.

She spelled it out then said,  "Who would name their kid with the same first and last name?"


"Oh I don't know."  Peter replies.

"The final students last name is Anderson.  I don't need to spell that one for you." Carry says.


 "Is there anything else that I can help you with today?"  Peter asks.

"No that was it.  Thank you Peter." Carry says and hangs up the phone.


Peter got off the phone and immediately told his co-workers.

 It just goes to show you that you never know who is on the other end of the phone.

Is that a young Eric Northman?

This weekend my brother Mason played in his last Freshman basketball game.  It also happened to be the first and only Freshman game that I was able to get to see.  

When Mom told me he was trying out I was excited for him.  I prayed that he would make the team because that would be pretty awesome in a school as large as the one he goes to.  In the school I went to if you went out for basketball then you were on the team there were no tryouts.  You may not have gotten to play a lot but you were on the team.   Well he made the team and I am very proud of him. 

We geared up in our panther colors and headed to watch him play for 3rd in a tournament. 

They played pretty well, with the usual mistakes that comes with young players and won the 3rd place medal that had a sticker on the back saying it was from the 2011 tournament. 

I had the old camera with me so the pictures are not as good.  Mason is number 32...... the only red head on the team.  So even with blurry pictures he is easy to spot.

Carter played with his cars and ate various things off the floor. 

No not really, but I was giving him fruit snacks and my Mom freaked out thinking he got it off the floor.

I told her "A little dirt never hurt anyone."  Which I distinctly remember hearing when I was younger........ I must have eaten dirt at one time or another.

This kid was on the opponents team.

I think he looks like a young Eric Northman.

Hello.............

He should take that as a complement.

Because....... it's Eric Northman.

So here is proof that the Vikings played basketball.

OK maybe not.