Happiness is ...

A running baby rhino.
(Photo from rhinoark.org)

Hot action cop

Check out the new poster boy for the State Patrol. Look familiar?

That's right, it's your favorite trooper and mine, our very own Roberto. I guess his pretty face stood out among the trooper crowd (you didn't hear it from me, but he actually had to wear makeup during this photo shoot). Anyway, back off, ladies - he's all mine.

We're back!

Back to blogging, that is, after an unplanned hiatus brought on by a distinct lack of blog-worthy happenings in our life. I've also discovered that, because I write for a living, writing is often the last thing I want to do when I come home at night. But I vow to be better, to those of you - if any? - who still have enough faith to keep checking in.

Anyway, we just returned from a road trip to Ottawa, Canada, where we went with my family to celebrate my Aunt Maureen's 70th birthday. Bob and I drove up with my mom, while my sister and her family drove up together. Here are some photos of the trip:

Bob attempting to fit in with the locals.




A cat on Parliament Hill. I know, I know... I just can't seem to help myself.

Like the cat, this falls under the "animals we have here at home but still felt the need to photograph while in Canada" file. A woodchuck - otherwise known as a groundhog, marmot and (inexplicably) whistlepig - forages outside of Parliament. Even though our neighborhood is crawling with these guys, ours won't let us get within 20 feet. This guy let me get close enough to touch him (I didn't). It was quite a big moment for me.

Out on the town, watching the chef perform at a hibachi restaurant.

Maureen and Jean Paul celebrate her birthday hibachi-style.

Mom and Maureen

A fabulous spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois named "Maman" stands guard outside Ottawa's art museum. Her belly is filled with large eggs made of solid white marble.

A super creepy sculpture in downtown Ottawa called "Nature Girls" that curiously purports to depict "the innocent joy of girls playing in the wood, and the bleakness of children gone missing." It's what I like to call an "all-around" sculpture.

This is "Bush Girl."

Bob proves there's truth in advertising.

The War Memorial and Chateau Laurier at twilight.

Parliament at night.

Natives take to the streets. Mothers, lock up your daughters.

Filming of "Public Enemies"

Johnny and Marion filming their "Hotel Congress" scene. Please forgive the shaky camera!

Heeeeere's Johnny!

VIDEO COMING SOON!! SEE SLIDESHOW TO THE RIGHT FOR MORE PHOTOS

I was hoping for Christian Bale, but I guess Johnny Depp will do in a pinch.

Bob and I spent yesterday in Beaver Dam, Wis. on the film set of "Public Enemies," a movie about John Dillinger (played by Depp) and Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), the FBI agent who led the manhunt against him. The movie also stars Marion Cotillard, who won the Acadamy Award for best actress this year. It's supposed to be released next summer.

Sadly, Bale has proven far too elusive. But Depp sightings have been rampant, so we decided to take a chance and drive to Columbus for the day, where filming was supposed to take place Tuesday afternoon. We left at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Columbus around 1 p.m. Parts of downtown have been converted for the movie, so many of the store fronts look like they're right out of the 1930s. They even covered the street with a carpet of foam cobblestones that look like the real thing.

When we got to Columbus we found out filming there was delayed and they were actually filming in Beaver Dam about 15 miles away. They were filming a scene outside of downtown's Hotel Rogers, which had been converted to Hotel Congress in Arizona for the day, complete with cacti. We watched the filming from about half a block away. It took hours to set the scene up, so Johnny didn't appear until about 4:30 p.m. He filmed take after take of the scene, which involved driving a vintage car up to the front of the hotel, getting out, and escorting Cotillard into the hotel (we'll post the video soon). He waved to the spectators a few times, inspiring ear-piercing screams from fans.

At about 6:30 p.m. they moved filming inside the hotel, so we reluctantly headed back home, with stars in our eyes. It was so cool being there, and so hard to come back down to earth today and actually work! That was supposedly their last day of shooting in Wisconsin, but if they do come back, we've decided we're taking off of work and going back to 'Sconi.

Bangkok … or Des Moines? Tough call

Our "Where should we go next?" poll has officially closed, and what we've learned is that: 1. It's a toss up between Southeast Asia and Iowa; and 2. We clearly need new friends and/or family members.

So I guess it's up to us to decide: Would we rather visit the temples of Thailand or the Giant Pitchfork of Ames? The beaches of Phuket or the Matchstick Marvels of Gladbrook?

Hmmm … stay tuned!

That's right, Iceman...we ARE dangerous

After three reschedulings due to bad weather, we finally had our flying lessons today. I use the term "lessons" loosely, because in all actuality we were in control of the plane 95 percent of the time (including takeoff!!). The instructor was there to make sure that we didn't do something stupid, like get ourselves into a death spiral, although he was so calm he'd probably have let it ride for a while.

We each flew a Cessna 172 (technically a four-seater, but realistically a two-seater). Bob went first while I waited in the safety of the airport lounge. He flew for about an hour, over Northfield and Faribault, and at one point he purposefully aimed for a pocket of snow in the sky (livin' on the edge, baby). The smile on his face when he landed said it all - he practically jumped out of the plane he was so excited.

Bob here - I thought I would write about my experience flying. I have wanted to do this for years and today was finally the day. After many, many hours and many missed meals logging hours on my flight simulators this was truly an AWESOME experience. After I took off (that's right, I took off, not the instructor) I pointed our compass south toward Faribault. I was lining up to land on the runway and take off again, but we opted against it as we could see that another plane was hooking up with a glide plane behind it. So, since I wasn't able to put my Maverick-esque pilot skills to the test and buzz the tower (there actually was no tower), I headed north to Northfied to look for the Lucas household.I circled the city twice and got my bearings and followed the street right over their house (I even waved, guys)! After touring Northfield I flew back to Lakeville, safely landed the plane and handed over my headset to Erin.

Erin here - then it was my turn. As he did with Bob, the instructor gave me a briefing on the instrument panel, showed me how to work the pedals and brakes, showed me how to start the plane and then basically told me to start taxiing down the runway (!?!?!), using the pedals to steer the plane. When the air speed dial reached 60, he said, I should pull back on the wheel, lifting the nose for takeoff. When I noticed his hands were in his lap during takeoff, it really hit me - I was in control of the plane. My first thought: Should he be letting me do this??

Words cannot describe the feeling of taking off in a small plane when you're holding the wheel. Once you get up in the sky (at more than 2,000 ft), you feel invincible. The instructor, Barry, told me I could go wherever I wanted, so I also decided to buzz my sister's house in Northfield (you guys had no idea the excitement going on over your heads!) He pointed to Northfield and I turned the plane and headed for it, making sure to keep the nose level with the horizon (not always easy on a windy day like today). We encountered some turbulence and a flock of geese that I had to turn away from, but it was a pretty smooth ride. The only scary part was when I turned a little too hard at one point, and I felt the G-force kick in, making me dizzy and disoriented for about two seconds.

Landing was a bit more nerve wracking than takeoff - trying to line up with the runway while decreasing your altitude and keeping the nose steady and, by the way, I've never done this before - but it went very smoothly. The whole experience was incredible, and we both would love to go up again. We toyed with the idea of getting our pilot's licenses, but then we found out it costs about $7,000. Maybe someday.

Afterwards, we did what any self-respecting flyboy (and flygirl) would do - we went to Doolittle's, threw back shots of tequila, and scoffed at all the non-pilots. Pansies.

They grow up so fast

Today Bob celebrates his LAST YEAR in his 30s ( He loves it when I emphasize that. Which I've been doing all day). Can you believe it?

For his birthday I got him a private flying lesson, which unfortunately had to be rescheduled for Friday due to the weather. He will spend an hour up in the air with an instructor and will get to fly the plane himself for part of it.

I'm actually taking a lesson, too, but mine is for work. I'm doing an article on a local air field, which is how I found out about the lessons. Knowing that Bob has always wanted to learn to fly, I knew it would be the perfect present. Plus, he already has the Maverick-esque Ray Ban aviators, so the lesson is really just a technicality.

Meanwhile, keeping with the aviation theme, we celebrated his birthday with dinner at Doolittle's Woodfire Grill (they have blue crab cakes to die for), where we asked the waitress to take our picture. I noticed she was pointing the camera a little high, but I figured she knew what she was doing when she adjusted the lens and said, "I like a tight shot."

Here's how it turned out.

Umm, yeah. At least she recognized that the vast expanse of wall was the important part of this photo.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETS!

Bravo, Oprah

I'm really not a big watcher or follower of Oprah, but I heard she was doing a show on puppy mills and pet overpopulation, so I made sure to tune in. Two boxes of tissues later, I'm really hoping the Oprah magic touch holds true.

The episode began by exposing puppy mills, at which female dogs are kept in tiny cages 24 hours a day and continually bred throughout their entire lives, churning out puppies that are sold at pet stores and, these days, on the Internet. Sometimes, when rescued, they can't even walk because they have been confined for so long.

As a contrast to shady breeders that continually produce puppies, the show put the spotlight on shelters, which can't keep up with the number of unwanted pets discarded at their door. About 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized EVERY YEAR in this country, many because the shelters simply don't have the space to hold them.The segment featured a shelter in Fort Worth that is only able to find homes for four out of every 50 animals it gets – it sometimes euthanizes dozens of animals in one day. The video of piles of garbage bags, filled with the bodies of euthanized dogs, being forklifted and dumped into the garbage was particularly heartbreaking.

Much of this senseless cruelty and killing could be stopped if people would just do these simple things: get their pets spayed and neutered, and never buy pets at pet stores, from unlicensed breeders (even if they are friends), or online. I used to work with a woman whose parents let their cat roam free outdoors but never bothered to get her spayed. Every year that cat got pregnant, and my co-worker kept coming to the office with boxes of kittens needing homes. Wouldn't it just have been easier to bring her to the vet one time for an operation?

And those people who think their dogs are so cute that they should breed them because "all their friends want one just like it," well, they're the reason we need stricter breeding laws in this country.

Bob and I adopted all three of our cats at shelters, and we vowed to never adopt kittens or puppies because they always get adopted first. Older pets are the ones that languish in shelters and are more likely to get euthanized. The last cat we adopted, Cleo (pictured above), was 12 when we got her. The sign outside her cage said, "Old in years, but young at heart." Today she is 17 and still giving us so much joy.

When Oprah recommends a book, it becomes a best seller. When she recommends a clothing item, retailers can't keep it in stock. Let's hope she has as much influence when it comes to serious issues, as well. If nothing else, I applaud her for throwing her weight behind an issue that deserves attention.

Literary misinterpretations

I am reading my first Jane Austen book (I know, I'm a shame to the female race), Northanger Abbey. I must admit, I did a double take when I came to this line: "She began to curl her hair and long for balls."

Hello world! Or all five people who know about our blog

Well, it's official - lurkers (and Luddites) no more, we are now contributing members of the blogosphere, or whatever you crazy kids call it these days. We're still tinkering a bit with our features and design, but it's a start. For those of you fortunate enough NOT to have been invited over under the pretense of dinner and forced to sit through stacks of photos from our recent trips to Iceland (above) and Prague, check out the slideshow on the right and enjoy them without extended commentary. Now please excuse us as we go get a life so we'll have something to blog about.