mt. marcy

Someone forwarded these pictures to my mom of the Grand forks and East Grand Forks dikes. The Red River separates East Grand Forks, MN from Grand Forks, ND. We are very happy to have our permanent dike. You can see how high the water is, but the dikes are holding the water in tightly. Also, only one of the three bridges over the river in Grand Forks is open.

Here is an interesting read on the Grand Forks dike and Fargo's no-win situation, where they need to have a devastating flood to get a permanent solution.

Below is a picture of the dike in Grand Forks. The metal sheets are put in when rising waters are expected. The metal sheets are now all the way to the top.

The local liquor store, Happy Harry's, is having their infamous, annual penny sale. Buy a bottle, get the second one for a penny. What a deal! Mom and I loaded up on some old faves and new ones, too. Since our men are teetotalers, we have to stick together.

The temperatures have gone below freezing again, which slows the anticipated Red River flooding in Fargo. This has given volunteers time to build the dikes up to 43 feet. The river is expected to crest at 41-42 feet there. The question now is, will the man-made dikes/levees hold? The crest is supposed to last 3 to 7 days. So when you have thousands of pounds of water pushing up against piles of sandbags for a week, the integrity of the dike is challenged and the sandbags take a beating. The city is arresting curious people who want to walk on top of the dike to see the river. Here is one CNN reporter that got locked up.

The entire state of ND is under a flood watch. The temperature has been above freezing, the snow started melting, and it's been raining. Tonight and Wednesday we are under a winter storm warning. Crazy ND weather.

Fargo and Bismarck are bracing for record breaking river crests. Grand Forks is okay. We had a 500 year flood in '97 and built a giant dike, so we can handle the rising waters. UND and the Grand Forks high schools have been sending volunteers down to Fargo to help with sandbagging. I haven't gone, but it brings back memories of '97 when the city called off high school for the students to help sandbag. As a high school student, we thought sandbagging was grand. Besides not having to go to school- we worked hard, got dirty, and loved the free food.

In 1997 I was in 9th grade. The entire city (50,000) was evacuated. My mom was the nursing supervisor at the nursing home, so she had to evacuate all the residents (helicopters galore). The night we evacuated we slept on the floor of a small church outside of town. The next day was Sunday and a family from the air force base (also, outside of town) took us in. School was cancelled for the rest of the year, so I went to Mississippi and lived with my best friend and finished school down there.

While GF isn't in trouble this year, other places are. So keep the rest of the state in your prayers. Here are some pictures from the 1997 flood.

It will be a miracle if I don't get sick. Dad has had a bad cold for a week, Mom has the sniffles, and Jack is getting a sore throat and congestion. I am loading up on my immunity building yogurt, downing orange juice, and even resorted to Airborne. I can not afford to be sick. I have a 25 page paper (a brief) due and a midterm soon. Not to mention finals are just around the corner.

Speaking of school, I met with my MBA adviser this morning to set my schedule to graduate in 2012. Basically, instead of 3 years (the normal law school length), it will take me 4 years to get my MBA and JD.

click here !

I forgot to mention one of the funniest parts of the trip. We were walking down the Strip and saw a crowd of excited people around a flower bush taking pictures of a "hummingbird." Jack joined in the action. When I finally got a good look of the "bird" I noticed it was no hummingbird- it was a giant moth. So now we have a bunch of pictures of a giant moth. Which reminds me, I am still working on uploading those pictures . . . .

Jack and I went to Vegas for spring break and had an amazing time. Vegas is so gaudy and over the top, it gives Texas a run for its money :) Anyways, here are my top ten favorite memories from the trip:

10. Losing my cellphone, the finder calling my mom, and walking 5 miles to retrieve it.
9. Wearing so much sunscreen and sweating so much that the map's ink bled onto my chest.
8. When the lady at our hotel mistakenly thought our "buy one, get one free buffet" coupon was for 2 free buffets and said screw it, gone on through. (Free food :)
7. Feeling really wonderful about myself after seeing what the average American thinks is acceptable attire for leaving his/her hotel room.
6. Watching Jack devour 7 deserts from the MGM buffet.
5. Walking for one hour around MGM trying to get to the Hooters Hotel and then turning around.
4. Gawking at the many obtrusively large fake breasts.
3. Stopping at every sunglasses/optics store for Jack to admire a pair of Tag Heuers.
2. Watching a group of drunk college students leave their "friend" after the friend got off the monorail and everyone refused to follow. (funny and sad- i felt really bad for the guy)
1. Jack awkwardly asking the concierge, "do you want a tip? i've got a dollar twenty-five in quarters."

Pictures soon.

I have to admit, I liked Aretha's hat. But I only liked Aretha's hat on Aretha. I admired her for wearing something bold. It reminded me of a Sarah Jessica Parker move. But outside of Halloween, I don't think others should wear the hat.

But, who asked me- according to the Times, it is still a hit.

This is what I wish I were doing.

This is what I am actually doing. (But I do dig his moon-shoes.)

I am NOT a fan of Beyonce. A lot of it stems from I think her mom is weird and makes ugly clothes, but for the most part I steer clear of Miss Bottylicious. However, I really like her take on Ave Maria! Just close your eyes and ignore her melodramatic gestures and awful dress that I am sure her mommy designed. Close your eyes and enjoy this! I also downloaded it off of itunes.