My wife and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Twinkies new stadium and Indy to see friends and feel the vibe of the Final Four. Man o' man what a week!

Since there's too much to tell in one blog I thought I'd focus on first things first.

When I found out my hero Albert Pujols (aka Puj) was coming to the Twin Cities to play a little exhibition ball against the Twinks I had to make it happen come hell or high-water.

Don't know about you, but it's such a treat to have a baseball hero again in my advancing age. I think my wife was getting a bit jealous cuz I had to get a different camera angle on the Puj every time he came up to bat. Who doesn't want a different angle on their hero?

No, my wife's hero from her Cleveland Indian days, Jim Bob Thome (now a Twink), sat out the game....... but was visible in the dugout.

Also, while we were there we hooked up with my bro Sid and his fiance Dolly to check out their season seats. Pretty sweet seats as well.

My personal take (aka, for what it's worth) on the new Target Field.

Pros: For the following reasons the new facility is about ten times the ballpark that the Dome was: Great sight lines. Bright crisp clear scoreboard(s). Flower boxes for catching home run balls (nifty idea. got to see it in action as well). The Plaza area is great for gathering and catching batting practice dingers. Overhead heaters (brilliant and God knows we need it). More and better food availability. Wider halls and walk-ways. Love the steel wind art curtain covering the parking ramp. Easy entrance to all levels. Beautiful entrance to Target Field. Last but not least, the overhanging skyline in the outfield. Nice joint all around.

Cons: Hard to find the access routes to get down once you get up. Missing a beer garden in center field. In all of it's goodness it's still not as good as Cleveland's ball park and I swear I'm not saying that since my wife's from Ohio :)

See pix below for all the moods of Puj.

If you've been able to suffer this far into the pix, text, opinions and hero worship you are truly worthy of a trivia freebie. What's the name of the patient in the childhood game Operation? This baby is worth an easy 6 pts.

It's now 11:34 am and I'm still waiting for Betty B. to call me (as she usually does on April Fool's Day) and say, "You should come over here and see the moose I have standing in the yard by the clothesline." It cracks me up everytime. It's like clockwork, and I love it.

Left turn. googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html

Looking for something to do on a Thursday on the 1st of April? Come on down to Sven and Ole's and tickle your brain cells on a round of trivia. Tonight @ 7pm. Hope to see ya there.

Not sure if you've noticed, but there are a number of listings with new prices that may deserve a second look. www.backlundrealty.com  Just scroll down.

The cool picture of Betsy Bowen's Studio on the Home page was taken by Stephan Hoglund www.stephanhoglundphotography.com/c/stephanhoglund See below for more info on this structure.

Some quick history on the above. www.backlundrealty.com/bm/blog/grand-marais-wednesday-february-11-2009.shtml

My wife's brother Brian sent this today. 
I'm probably the last person on earth to read it, but I thought it was a good story to share.

Lipstick in School

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington
was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were
beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was
fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips
to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day
the girls would put them back.

Finally, the principal decided that something had to be done. She
called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance
man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem
for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just
imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked
the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and
cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on
the mirror.

There are teachers -- and then there are educators.

Opps, I almost forgot the trivia freebie of the week. What's the most common non contagious disease in the world? This one is worth an easy 7 pts. Good luck search'n and thanks Suzy Q. for the heads up on the forgotten trivia freebie.

Bored? Nothing to do? Just start at the top of the list.  www.backlundrealty.com/bm/blog/activities/things-to-go-do.shtml

About two or three months ago we went to good ol' Canada with our pals Shelley and John n' Laurie for a bit of 5 pin bowling and enjoyed it so much we went again this past Sunday with our pals Bob, Tom n' Shelley (yes she's Canadian) and met up with Shelley's sister Jo and brother-in-law John (yes, they too are lucky enough to be Canadian) for another go at the 4th greatest invention in Canadian history. Don't believe me? Here's the proof. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-pin_bowling  Anyway, after working up a sweat tossing the fingerless sphere around we went to Montana's for some downright tasty grub. www.montanas.ca  See pictures below for proof of my love for the game. Also, you'll notice only Americans seem to have the urge to play 5 pin on a Sunday.

You've never played 5 pin bowling? I recommend that the next time you cross the border stop by Mario's Bowl. mariosbowl.com

PS. Did I ever mention I really like Canada? www.backlundrealty.com/bm/blog/wednesday-march-4-2009.shtml  It's like deja vu all over again.

Grand Marais Real Estate Market Summary

Below is the Market Summary for the Grand Marais, Minnesota residential market over the past six years according to the Arrowhead MLS system.  Very interesting numbers indeed.

Year                      Units Sold              Average Price               Median Price

2004                           21                         $169,019                        $158,000
2005                           25                         $171,664                        $170,000
2006                           19                         $184,416                        $185,000
2007                           11                         $198,560                        $193,757
2008                           10                         $204,710                        $211,250
2009                           10                         $169,090                        $171,500

Side Note: These figures do not reflect any sales that may have been made outside of the MLS, such as relative or private party sales.

My wife and I did something kinda fun yesterday (in the freezing rain). We, along with about ten other folks hid 3,226 (yes three thousand two hundred and twenty six) Easter eggs at the Pappy Wright Ball Park and an adjacent field. See pix below. They don't do the mass quantity of eggs justice.

It was the 1st Annual Cook County Kids Plus Easter Egg Hunt. Though I wasn't there for the 11am egg hunt, I heard it only took the throng of kids seven minutes to find the numerous pastel orbs strewn about. Amazing.

After which, all the sugar loaded youngsters filled the Community Center to the brim and enjoyed games, snacks and prizes. Fun

If you happen to see the two main organizers of this successful event, Courtney Blake and Ilena Berg, give them a tip of the brim and a hearty Thanks!