Busy Weekend

It has been a complete whirlwind lately. We are so busy we don't know if we are coming or going. After getting home from Sea Island I went on the seminar trail speaking in Menomonie, WI and Willmar, MN last week. Then we were home on Friday night and we were excited to try a new Japanese restaurant that opened in Hudson called Shanghai Bistro (I suppose being called Shanghai it is a Chinese restaurant) but I always associate sushi with being Japanese. Either way, it is new and now in Hudson. It took over the Country Kitchen which I still see when I drive by, but inside it is BEAUTIFUL. They spent a ton of money remodeling the inside. It has a huge bar and a very good sized sushi bar. Last week was their Grand Opening and it was funny how many people we saw there who we knew. Anyway, the food was VERY GOOD, which made us so happy because we always have to drive to St. Paul to Chung's Chow Mein for the best Chinese food and now Hudson has a great option. Please come and visit us if you want to try out the new Chinese/Japanese restaurant.
On Saturday we had a big day planned. We went to Yoga in the morning (don't knock it until you've tried it) plus I'm the only guy in the class which has its benefits scenery wise. Then we did some Valentine's shopping in Woodbury but we had a big day of cooking ahead of us so we got home mid-afternoon. We were hosting 4 couples for Valentine's at our home. We were very excited and we had a great evening.
The Ritchie's, Snyder's, and Wilson's joined us for dinner. I made my Asian BBQ wings again, still good, and we cooked a 5 lb Filet Mignon Beef Tenderloin. We had potatoes and salad also but it was just a lot of fun. It was a fun group to hang out with for the evening. I hope everyone had fun.
We paired some great wines with dinner celebrating a special night. We opened 2 bottles of the 2006 Stag's Leap Cabernet and 1 bottle of 2005 Rubicon. Both wines are from Napa Valley and were UNBELIEVABLE!
On the white side the ladies tried a nice Moscato from Vietti which is an Italian winery that our from Tom used to rep for and we love their wines, both red and white. They are hard to find now and have gone up considerably in price so we are left to use our own supply sparingly. Thanks to everyone for coming for dinner and to my beautiful wife for 1, being my wife and 2 for putting everything together.
On Sunday we got up and went to the Y with Em and Hattie. We played PIG in the gym and Nicole beat Em and I both (man, I can't believe how bad I have become at basketball). Not that I was ever good, but wow, it just felt weird to shoot a basketball having not done it in 2 years or so. Nicole was in her glory beating us as she hasn't played much basketball since her all-conference days in high school :)
We left for Detroit Lakes on Sunday afternoon. We saw Emily and Ryan's completely gutted kitchen and dining room and then went to a new Mexican restaurant in DL. Ryan and I then went to the dentists office for my LAST tightening. It was a chore getting the thicker wires into my braces but after some tugging and pulling and a little crying (just kidding) Ryan was successful. I tell you one thing that Ryan has is patience, it is amazing. He is working for an hour straight trying to get a small wire through my teeth and it is a struggle and he keeps switching hand positions and doesn't get rattled at all. I am amazed by him everytime I sit in the chair (all I do is watch TV). I am so excited though as today I called his office and talked with AMY and made my last appointment. The date is set, Monday, March 29th. I am taking a day off of work for this so those of you who know me know how important it must be to me to take a day off of work. I have 80 minutes scheduled at 9:30 in the morning, then a cleaning afterward. It is going to be one great day.
On Monday, Nicole and I had the day off with Presidents' Day (no markets), but I had a speaking engagement in Alexandria, MN. The Linder Farm Network, which is the largest farm radio station in MN sponsors 5 marketing meetings/year. They are all this week and Mark was chosen as their keynote speaker. Well, knowing Mark, he accepted before checking his schedule and he was in New York for a wedding this past weekend and he wasn't going to be home in time to make this Monday meeting. So, good ol' number 2 (that's me) had to fill in. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. I have done a lot of speaking in my 10 years and it isn't even the number of people that made me nervous, it was the list of other speakers before me. They were much more experienced and really considered experts in their fields and I was the keynote speaker which means in their eyes I am the expert in my field. Only in this case they hired Mark to speak, not me. That is what made me so nervous was that it wasn't supposed to be me that was speaking and filling Mark's shoes is no easy task. I had Nicole there in the crowd as moral support and I worked my way through it. I got more comfortable after 20 or so minutes. I spoke for about 1 hr and 20 minutes and then afterwards they do question and answer period with all the speakers. So they all come up in front and the audience can ask questions and NOT ONE question was asked to anyone else but me. I had to field 4 or 5 questions in that 15 minutes period, it felt like an interrogation. Anyway, it's over and I feel great.
Mark had a huge meeting in Willmar yesterday with over 350 people there along with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. I would have really liked to have seen the Secretary speak as farmers are predominantly a REPUBLICAN crowd and he is a Democrat, just to see how he defended his boss.
So, the rest of the week at the office covering for Mark while he's out impressing Minnesota with his vast knowledge.