I’m putting this blog on hiatus (if you can’t tell).

The weather is getting nice out. There are lakes to enjoy, sunshine to soak up and baseball games to attend.

In the mean time, I’ll be blogging for the WCCO Twins Blog. You should check it out, and check it out often. We’ll do a lot of fun stuff throughout the season and share a unique perspective of being a Twins fan.

I may check in here from time to time. But I hope you enjoy your summer!!

Cheers!

Ahh yes, it’s my favorite holiday-themed music video. It’s called “Give The Jew Girl Toys” by Sarah Silverman.

I can sympathize, I want a little Christmas lovin’ when Santa swings through the Twin Cities. I was good all year (for the most part). Why shouldn’t I cash in on toypalooza? I know what you’re thinking:  

Tracy, you’re Jewish… you’re getting 8 days of presents on Haunukkah.

No, that’s not true. Only little kids get 8 days of presents. Big kids get one. The charm wares off as you get older.

None the less, I really do wish all of my Christmas celebrating friends a very Merry Christmas! I wore my annual Christmas Eve outfit to work today. I was delighted to see a coworker, Bob, also got in the holiday spirit. His Santa hat lights up! Tomorrow, I’ll wear my Christmas day outfit, it’s much different.

See every major movie out in 2010 in less than 4 minutes.

2010 is pretty much over.. and there were a lot of really good movies. How many of them did you see? If you’re like me, your “want to see list” is much longer than you “I saw that” list.

A person that goes by the name Sleepy Skunk made a mash up of the biggest movies of 2010. They posted the video on YouTube.

Go ahead, hit play… Here’s the list of movies you’re about to see:

Movie trailers in order of appearance: The Secret of Kells, Burlesque, When in Rome, Splice, Machete, Yogi Bear, Fish Tank, I’m Still Here, The Runaways, Furry Vengeance, Babies, Morning Glory, Catfish, The Tooth Fairy, Marmaduke, Killers, Jonah Hex, Defendor, Legion, Paranormal Activity 2, Remember Me, Robin Hood, Saw 3D, Howl, 127 Hours, Never Let Me Go, The Tempest, The Book of Eli, Red Hill, Centurion, The Ghost Writer, The Tourist, Eat Pray Love, Shrek Forever After, Grown Ups, Little Fockers, Dinner For Schmucks, Get Him To The Greek, Due Date, The Losers, The Other Guys, Secretariat, Greenberg, Leap Year, She’s Out of My League, Going the Distance, Love & Other Drugs, RED, Megamind, Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, The Karate Kid, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Piranha 3D, The Warrior’s Way, The Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Prince of Persia, Jackass 3D, The Last Airbender, Gulliver’s Travels, Clash of the Titans, Kick-Ass, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Blue Valentine, True Grit, Easy A, Sex and the City 2, Somewhere, Cyrus, How Do You Know?, Salt, Hot Tub Time Machine, Inception, The American, The Kids are All Right, Winter’s Bone, The Killer Inside Me, Scott Pilgrim VS. The World, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Knight and Day, The A-Team, The Bounty Hunter, Despicable Me, Legend of the Guardians, Let Me In, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Daybreakers, Buried, Shutter Island, The Crazies, The Wolfman, The Last Exorcism, Devil, MacGruber, Alice in Wonderland, Inception, Iron Man 2, Skyline, Tron Legacy, Unstoppable, The Town, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Faster, Predators, The Expendables, Black Swan, Toy Story 3, Charlie St.Cloud, Hereafter, Biutiful, Rabbit Hole, Dear John, The Fighter, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Get Low, Case 39, Step Up 3D, From Paris With Love, start montage in reverse, fan-made Inception tribute (not from the actual movie).

® 2010. ‘Eclipse (All Yours)’ by Metric remains courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States.

I love Christmas. LOVE. (Now is a good time to mention, I’m Jewish, and very proud of that). However, this is my favorite time of year. Christmas is my second favorite holiday, right after Halloween.

I love how cheerful everyone is this time of year, how beautiful the trees look all lit up with twinkling lights and I love the smell of cookies, cinnamon and chocolate that seems to linger when December rolls around.

Yesterday, I had the day off from work. And I thought I’d spread a little early holiday cheer by baking. (It is, after all, one of my favorite things).

I decided to bake three things. Some pumpkin bread — it got rave reviews from my coworkers the last time I made it. However, this time I opted for the much easier to make box of Pillsbury Pumpkin Spice Bread. And keeping with the “homemade, just not from scratch” theme, I also whipped up a dozen mini cherry chip cupcakes and a square cake too.

About one hour into the process, my kitchen was a mess, but man, my apartment smelled sugarlicious. As the cupcakes baked, I whipped up some frosting and assorted festive sprinkles. Soon enough, they were patiently waiting the trip to the TV station to be enjoyed by my coworkers.

I should also mention, that along with the treats, I also had some holiday gifts for my friends. I sort of pride myself in being an excellent gift giver. I think it’s far more important to get a personal gift, than spend a specific dollar amount.

For instance, two of the photographers I work with were actually excited to receive a portable mug that you can plug into an a/v adapter in a car. It will keep their coffee warm when they drive around in the cold winter months. My fellow producer’s wife is pregnant, so I got him some alcoholic mixers, and her a bottle of sparkling grape juice. A few of the lovely ladies I work with will enjoy some new jewelry picked out with certain outfits they’ve worn in mind this holiday season.

It got a little crazy in my kitchen yesterday.. and much of the mess of dirty mixing bowls and scraps of wrapping paper and scotch tape lie sprinkled on the counter tops. But I think its worth it. The look on my friends & coworkers faces when they receive a gift that’s specially picked out for them… and the enjoyment of a yummy treat is a really great feeling. One that warms your heart, even on a cold, snowy day like today.

Wow. Has it really been 4 months since I’ve logged in on my blog? (and 5 since I’ve actually written a post?)

Every few weeks I get a notification another hundred people clicked through my blog. It amazes me. I often wonder what brought them to my little corner of the Internet.

Which is why I’ve now decided to start putting something here.

I’m going to try logging on every day and posting something. Hopefully it will be informative, inspirational, funny or at least worth your time.

Over the past few months I’ve been busy trying to live my life. The other day I had an eye-opening conversation… it was at one of my favorite bars over live music and beer with a person who’s become a good friend over the last year and a half. It was followed by a nice trip down memory lane in the form of a visit to Kansas City.

The epiphany started Wednesday night. My friend and I were talking about how we were both single living in a great city with great jobs… yet miserable at times. Then he said something that will stay with me for a long time:

Look where we are, right now. We’re out on a Wednesday night - listening to great live music. Yes, we’re single - but there is no one for us to report to but ourselves. We can do what we want, when we want. We live in an amazing city with endless things to do and explore. There’s no reason we should sulk and be miserable. These are the days we’ll look back on and say ‘wow, we had a life to be envious about.’ 

That’s when I realized, everything in my life that frustrates me right now, is also a blessing. I am able to buy a full season of Twins tickets because I don’t have kids or a mortgage to pay for. I can decide to vacation on a whim because I don’t have someone to travel with or work a schedule around. I can go out late during the week and see the bands or try the restaurants I want to try.

I have a great job and a great opportunity to learn more and push myself harder. This past weekend, I visited Kansas City. I lived there (essentially) for 6 years. Four were in college - two were my first job. On my drive back to the Twin Cities, I realized I’ve changed a lot. Most for the better.

I’m open to more experiences. I’m happier. I feel more grown up and independent. I’m making more decisions because I want to do stuff. I’ve stopped caring so much about what others think. And, finally, it can be good or bad, I’ve started speaking up more often.

Hopefully, I’ll have the strength to continue this exploration of myself through the next year and not fall into old habits. And I promise you, I’ll be honest when I report in on what I’m doing.

If you have any New Year’s resolutions or revelations.. please share them. I think we can all learn from one another.

If you know me… you know I love baseball. I’ve recently learned about a local baseball team that really needs our help. It’s free and takes less than 60 seconds to help.

The Courage Center’s Rolling Twins youth softball team needs a specially-designed ball field. Why should you help them get a ball field? The Courage Center is a resource center that helps people with disabilities. Its youth softball team is for athletes that are in wheelchairs.

Right now, the team plays in a baseball in a library parking lot. The team needs a ball field that’s specially-designed for wheelchair accessible for the players. Right now, there isn’t one in Minnesota. That’s why the Minnesota Twins are teaming up with the Courage Center to help them win a $200,000 grant from Pepsi. It’s part of the Pepsi Refresh Challenge. 

Hitting a baseball is arguably one of the hardest things you can do, now imagine having to do it with one hand so you can wheel yourself down to first. Here’s some video of a recent tournament. The more I see the kids play baseball, the more inspired I am to help them. I can’t imagine trying to participate in their game - they’d kick my butt.

A couple weeks ago two of the teenagers who play on the Rolling Twins team came to WCCO to talk about the contest. They were so well spoken, and so full of energy, I wish we could have had more than two minutes to interview them. They talked about the challenges of playing ball in a parking lot… and about how much fun it was to be able to play and feel like a “normal” kid.

So, how can you help get the team a proper field? You can vote, up to 25 times a day until Tuesday, Aug 17th. Head to the Twins Pepsi Refresh page (there’s also a cool video from Michael Cuddyer to watch). Or text “TWINS” to 76462.

The Minnesota Twins just got a new place to play baseball… shouldn’t the Rolling Twins get one too?

I’ve been staring at my laptop for about an hour now. I haven’t blogged in months and the pressure is mounting. Part of me feels like I don’t have anything interesting to write about. Part of me feels like I’m going to explode if I don’t start writing something.

I suppose I can share some of the amazing things I’ve been up to in the past two months. I still ride my scooter almost every day. I love it more than I thought I would. I sometimes wish it would go faster.

The Twins season has been going well. The new ballpark is amazing. Still with every game I’ve been to, people are smiling, the food is amazing and even when it rains, people are happy to be there. Friday night Target Field held its first fireworks show. The weather couldn’t have been better, sunny and in the 70’s. When the game ended, Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays, then the stadium went dark. Only the Minnie and Paul neon sign and Twins logo above the videoboard stayed lit. From the parkinglot behind the right field, bursts of color exploded above the stadium. It was amazing. The show looked great. It was much better than I anticipated. Especially because the beautiful downtown Minneapolis skyline was draped behind it. Here’s a link to a video my friend Peter took of the fireworks.

On Saturday I went to the Twins game with my Grandma for her birthday. At 87 years old, I think she was way more excited than she let up to be. After weeks of worrying about how she’d get to the seats with her walker, what would happen if the weather was too hot, or rainy and every other crazy scenario, we went to the game. The staff at Target Field could not have been any more accommodating. We explained it would be more difficult for her to get to her seats because of her walker, but they arranged for us to sit in a handicapped section so she could not only sit in the shade, but wouldn’t have to deal with stairs. I got her a hot dog and chips and we sat in the cool air conditioning of the Kirby Puckett lounge in the Ledgend’s Club.

The pregame was amazing we enjoyed music from a military band and five sky divers  dropped into Target Field to deliver the game ball. Nanny loved it. The energy at Target Field was electrifying. When Jim Thome walked up to the plate, he knocked the ball out of the park. That home run tied Harmon Killebrew’s major league record for career home runs. It’s a huge deal. As if it were scripted, Thome’s next at-bat was a home run too. He swung himself into the MLB record books. It is definitely one moment I will always remember. My grandma got so excited too. The Twins lost the game, but the experience of the day is something I’ll never forget.

This summer I’ve spent more time enjoying and exploring Minneapolis. My work schedule has changed, so I’m once again working overnights. I didn’t know if I would enjoy it as much as I have. Like any show, there are challenges, but there are many benefits too. Yes, I go into work at 10 p.m. and yes, I sleep most of the day. However, I can enjoy the morning to go for a walk, or run errands. The city is still quiet and calm. Then I wake up around 5 or 6 and start my day. I can meet friends for dinner, get stuff done around my apartment, or catch up on TV and the news of the day. I’m not necessairly more productive now than I was before, but I’ve found a different way to go about my day. There are some benefits too, for instance, my weekends start at 7 a.m. on Friday mornings.

A week ago, my friend Megan came to town for her birthday. We did all of my favorite things: saw live music, ate at great local restaurants, biked around the Minneapolis river front and shopped. It was really nice to just enjoy the Cities. I’ll post pics of our adventure later!

I have to get ready for work now…

My scooter. I love it.

I’m taking it downtown for the first time tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

It’s time to get serious… about running. I went for a run, jog brisk walk with my running coach Heather. I’m afraid I disappointed her. I know I was a little disappointed in myself. However, she did give me some good advice which I’ve been thinking about.

Lately I haven’t been consistent with running. I have a schedule on my refrigerator, but I haven’t been good about sticking to it. Because I haven’t been consistent, I’ve almost regressed in running. I definitely haven’t improved.

That’s about to change.

I don’t need to run every day, but I’ve got to be consistent. I like exercizing, I just haven’t been willing to rearrange my schedule to work it in. Heather suggested picking four days a week (Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday) and blocking out time to run those days. It’ll make it possible for me to work out in the mornings and still go see music at night. Also, with consistency, I need to get on a better sleep schedule. That means going to bed by midnight and waking up by 9 a.m. That will help give me time in the mornings to get other stuff done like running errands, catching up on the news and getting ready for my day.

If anyone can do this - I can too. What I mean by that is anyone can run. You get better with practice. When I started I could barely run 20 seconds without having to stop. I eventually ran a minute, then three, then five, then ran a whole mile. My inconsistency has only stopped myself from being able to run farther and longer. I’ve found running is a lot like golf, you improve every time you go out. You are also only competing with yourself. You don’t need anyone else to do it. No one knows how you’re doing but yourself. That means you have to push yourself to continue to improve and not quit because you’re scared. I think it’s okay to ask for help and support. I need to get better at doing that.

Remember your goals and it’s okay to change them. When I decided I was going to become a runner I had all these lofty goals. I was going to run a half marathon, then I decided to sign up for three. I also signed up for two 5ks and a 7k along the way. It’s hard. I’m surrounded by inspirational people who have worked their butt off to become good runners and they make it look easy. I thought I could do it too and it would be easy for me. Now my goals have changed. If I’m ready I’ll run the half marathons this summer. But now I want to focus on running 5ks. I don’t need to run more than three miles at any given time. It’s long enough. Once I get the 5k down, I’ll focus on running them faster, more frequently and in different places. After that, I’ll work on longer distances.

I don’t look at these changes as a cop out. I think it’s a step in the right direction. My goals and expectations are much more realistic and manageable. Now instead of being overwhelmed, I can take it one day at a time without giving up anything that I like.

I start now.