A little bird told me.

My grandma loved birds. As long as I can remeber I have always associated birds with her. We use to joke that she spoiled the birds like her grandchildren. In the morning she would get up and make fresh popcorn, and as kids we all use to get excited that we were going to have popcorn for breakfast, but she always made a fresh batch just for the birds.
She knew them by name, when they came around, and what they liked.
There was a clock in her house that as every hour past by on the hour a new bird would sing a song. Those lovely songs they sang always made me think of my dear grandma. Even when she passed at the end of the ceremony, what seemed to be a million birds came by to sing a song.
Now when I hear them I think of her and smile. To me the birds and my grandmother are the same thing, it is her way of letting me know she is with me.

.... the song birds came back around here a few weeks ago. And all I could hear them say is to follow them to go visit my family, where my grandmother had lived and where I had always loved to visit.
This past weekend I followed them to see some of the people I love the most and be reconnected with that treasured place.
It was a long over due visit, but was such a gift. I felt as if no time had passed and that everything had stayed the same as it was when a couple years ago, even the same way it was when I was a young child.
....My heart feet full again with a new love of life, and the joy of my grandmother... and I am as happy as a bird!

It smells like fish...

So I see now as I sit here that the last time I wrote was August 2nd. Really? How did that happen. It's like all of a sudden.... wham! It is about summer time again and I somehow forgot to write in between that warp speed of 9 months that flew by!

Here I am again, sitting looking out at the resort making a mile long list in my head of all the things that need to be done before our first guests!
Turn on water to cabins.... not done.
Clean cabins. Check.
Turn on water and electricity to seasonal cabins..... not done.
Bailing out the boats. Check. (which I might add I totally feel like a stud today! After looking at a grossly filled paddle boat and a few choice words... I decided rather than putting my hands into the gross smelly, stale, bug infested water I was going to attempt to use the resort bob cat to dump the water. After successfully lifting, dumping, and stacking the boat... I looked around in hopes that someone, anyone could have seen me man handle that boat with a large piece of machinery! But... no luck. I felt cool though!)
... Then while attempting to take care of the biggest project of mowing and weed wacking... POW! My tires blow up on my lawn mower...
So landscaping..... NOT DONE!
Urgh! But I figured I knew I could handle one thing and get it done right today.... I went to clean off the beach. I was pumped that I didn't walk out to discover piles of trash and debris left over from all the ice fisherman. Only driftwood was left behind... which was great... until I started picking it up and then sniff..sniff... sniff... is that fish I smell? Really... wait. what? Underneath all the driftwood was little remains of washed up fish. So holding down my lunch with complete determination... I pushed on. I got the beach all cleared up, so now even amongst the tall grass and unkept weeds I can see a clean beach. I only have to smell the lingering stinch of fish on my sandles.
.... I guess that is life here at the resort. Sweating. bailing water out of boats, and fumbling through the little piles of fish only to create something pretty for the guests.

My how time flies when you are having fun.

So forgive me for failing on the whole idea of writing a blog a day. Obviously... that idea hasn't worked in my favor too well.
It has already been a week that has gone by and boy what a week it was! Where to start... where to start...
Kathrine's pageant took place last Wednesday at the annual Becker County Fair. It was a great time had by all. The family and friends loaded up in the truck to make our way to the pageant stage in support of our dear Kathrine. I knew it was going to be intense watching all the "hopefull queens" display their talents, evening gowns, and intellect in the onstage interview, but little did I know that I would find myself turning into quiet the pageant mother sitting in the bleachers. With each step, flag toss, and dance move I found myself watching her in admiration of her confidence and beauty. I couldn't contain my smile let alone my loud abrupt displays of applause. I was a proud "faux mother/sister/friend." She did an awesom job! I admire her so much!

After the pageant came to an end the only way to top off my evening was with a foot long corn dog. Yeah... you read right, a foot long corn dog! Needless to say I could only finish 5 inches! But it was just what the doctor ordered as far as getting my fair food fix.

The following day was spent at the ballpark. The muskies made the playoffs!!! My mom, Kathrine, and I made shirts in support of our favorite summer team and headed off to Perham. Unfortunatly, the Muskies fell short of victory... but we still had the taco bar to look forward to! After every game we head to the cactus (a bar/grill joint) in Perham that just happens to sponser the Muskies to share a cold one with the team and take part in their all you can eat taco bar for 3 bucks! But don't let that price fool you! They charge extra for the sour cream!

Friday and Saturday slipped away as fast as I could understand the concept that August 1st had arrived. WOW! The summer is almost coming to an end!
Last night the gals and I packed into the sub and headed for a small place to eat in the middle of nowhere, close to Dent, but still in the middle of nothing but a corn field! I had to go show them what the Pickle Factory was all about. It is a really great place to eat and the funny part of this place is that aside from the regular food menu they also have a menu of everything pickled. Litterally anything you can imagine.. they have pickled! Chicken hearts? Yep. Turkey gizzards? Yep! Pickled peaches? Eggs? Garlic? Carrots? YES YES YES YES! I had to order up a pickled egg (which I LOVE) for kathrine to try. Her face was priceless.

This morning was spent at the flea market. My favorite getaway. A quiet morning filled with great coffee, family, and unique things to take in. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the morning!

Cheers to August!!!

Turkey Days, 10KLF, and missing phones... oh my!

It sure has been busy around here.
Uffda!
This past weekend has been a whirlwind, and what a great one! Starting on Thursday night some family of mine came up to stay at the resort. What a great treat! They came just in time to hear the band play at the resort. The weather was perfect which made it a great night to dance with our friends and neighbors. It was funny because as the band played on into the night we could watch boats pull out on to the lake and anchor out just in front of the resort. So we ended up having quite the crowd!
Friday night lead to a lot of dancing and well... too many beers from the beer garden! I blame it all on my friend Reyna who was able to come from Fergus Fall and dance her pants off with me at the annual Turkey Days Street Dance. What a night! I think I even brought out the running man and the sprinkler moves a couple of times. My whole family goes every year and it is always a blast, and this year proved to be just as true!
Saturday morning started off with some confusion. I had lost my phone the week before, and so I ordered in a new one that arrived on Friday. Saturday morning my new phone was "stolen." I just might not get a new phone.... I like this "liberation feeling" of not having one.
But Saturday ended up being a pretty cool day too. It is the normal check in day for the resort guests so the morning was spent cleaing cabins, making welcome baskets, meetin' and greetin' and hanging out with everyone by the lake. Later that night, however, I got to sneak away with my brother and my cousins; Matt and Susan, to go see the Dave Matthews Band play at the 10,000 lakes festival in Detroit Lakes. It was a great night with some great music. I felt like I was back home dancing around with hippies... just like the good ol' days. Definitly a highlight for the summer.
Sunday was spent lounging around...(trying to catch up on some sleep). Jake and I went kayaking, the family and I went to watch the Turkey Day Parade in Frazee.... where we got to see Tiffany (Erik's "friend") for the first time after being crowned Miss Frazee, and then we spent the remainder of the day in the lake tubing, playing board games and enjoying the fine company we all had to share.

Oh! And did I mention that I got 2nd place at the annual Frazee Flower Show! Because... .I did! Woo hoo!

It was a great weekend filled with entertainment and fun! And I have a feeling this upcoming week won't be anything short of amazing either!

Only in Minnesota can you...

Today is a good day.
Nope. Let me start over. Today is a great day!
I can't even tell you how many times I caught myself either smiling for no apparent reason, whistling, or thinking... "man! This is one cool day!" But it is what it is.
There are many reasons that I love this "up north" life. I love the small towns, I love the sense of community, I love the food, I love the lakes, and I love the sense of tradition. But today has given me many more reasons to love this place.

Reason #1. Only in Minnesota can you trade fish for getting your hair done.
After months of trying out the "hippie/resort do" I decided to call into the hair salon to get my hair done. After catching up with Jonathon my hair stylist we got to talking about how he loves to eat grilled fish, and I happened to throw in the fact that I have a whole freezer full of fish, and from this small conversation came the barter of haircut for fish. Yes! I did it! I traded fish for a haircut. Again, only in Minnesota can you do this!

Reason #2. Only in Minnesota can you go to visit someone in the hospital and you get approached by the front desk lady if you would like to enter in a meat raffle. For those of you who don't know what this is, believe me it is pretty interesting! I was first introduced to the concept when I moved to the area 4+ years ago. While it is mainly done at bars in the area the concept is this; a person approaches you with a roll of tickets, usually a dollar a ticket. You buy as many tickets as you see fit, and then when they have sold all the tickets they pick the lucky winner and, should you win, you get to pick your choice of "meat" from the meat bin. (e.g.) a pkg. of bratwursts, a roast, or if you are real lucky they will be raffeling off like a 6 pack of ribeyes!. So I guess the hospital today jumped on the band wagon and started their own meat raffle. Again, only in Minnesota can you do this!

Reason #3. Every year at the end of July our nice friend Joyce from down the road calls us with the good news that Raspberry season is upon us! I got the call two days ago that in deed the berries are ready for the picking! So now, for the next few weeks, I get to call in my order of exactly how many pints I would like. We started off the season with a load of 10 pints, but she surprised us with an extra 3 just for good measure! I love this time of year! I love being the girl who for a few chosen weeks gets to bring delicious berries to all the pot lucks! Again, only in Minnesota can you do this!

Reason #4. Well... I guess there are only three today! But tomorrow I am sure I will have another hand full of reason why this place is so neat! As for tonight I'm off to spend time with my family, (my grandparents and my great aunt and uncle came to visit for the rest of the week) enjoy the avid cocktail hour with everyone, go drive some golfballs at the course next door and take in another great day at the lake!

Yeah! I did that!

The day started out slow, another quiet morning on the lake. I like working in the mornings because everyone here is on vacation so they all sleep in which gives me some quiet time to catch up in the office and pound a pot or so of coffee...(really it is vital that I do so though... I guess word on the street is I get pretty "testy" without coffee in the a.m.) Most of the day was spent looking for my phone. I lost it on Saturday and still have not found it. I think I have covered every square inch of the resort and yet no sign. I am just short of making wanted posters and hanging them on all the cabins. But, that probably isn't a good idea.

After everyone had headed home for the night it was a perfect time and temp for a walk around the lake, and I think I owe it to Berkley... he has been sitting in the house for the past few days just itching to get out and burn some energy, I can say this only because if at any chance a door or window was open he was finding a way to jump out and find his freedom! So I packed up the pup and headed out. We walked along lake road into the back woods and back through the city park, there wasn't a soul to be seen except for Stan and Wilma (some resort friends) out taking their cocktail cruise around the lake.

So we walked and walked and then after our hard work we ended up in the lake taking in the pretty evening.

When I got back home I was shocked to find that Kathrine and Caitlin had made me supper and a special after dinner treat! They said they felt bad that my phone went missing and wanted to do something to cheer me up. It was awesome! I joked that now Jake might leave me becuase two new girls were in the kitchen cooking! Which as you all know I don't do too much of!
But I ate way too much! But so worth every last bite!
After supper Kathrine and I attempted quite the feat. See, last week at the softball games (go Muskies!) One of the players was showing us, post game, how to rip a phone book in half. So while we sat stuffed with ice cream and brownies we found ourselves staring the ol' phone book in the face. We had to see if it was in deed possible!
And guess what? We totally own that book! We ripped that thing in half like it was no ones business!
I will gladly rip one and autograph it for anyone who would like.
Needless to say, it was funny! And we laughed hard!
Another great night spent laughing and enjoying great company in the beautiful summer air!

Where did this weekened go?

So I guess I am apparently not good at writing on the weekends. Saturday's are always hectic and Sundays are usually my sneak away and do something interesting sort of days..... And well Monday... who are we kidding, that snuck by and before I knew I could look at a clock it was already 10 at night!
And so this is how the weekend goes generally for every week of the summer, and now I am in shock because it is already towards the end of July! HOLY BUCKETS!

Saturday I spent most my morning and afternoon chasing my tail trying to get the cabins ready for the next guests. Our check out is at 10am and then check in for the new guys is at 2 pm, so it is a lot of hustle and bustle for those 4 hours! And this Saturday seemed extra trying because some of... well... who am I kidding... all of the guests this past weekend left their cabins in the worst shape imaginable! I swear some people must be born in a barn with out any ideas what the word "manners" or "clean" mean! Have you ever seen a sub sandwich smashed into a wall? Or perhaps have you ever heard of throwing all your drinking glasses into the fire pit? I know about throwing plates from my greek friends back home, but I don't think this counts! Or perhaps have you ever heard of taking your dining room chair and throwing it off the dock into the great blue lake?
Yeah! Me neither! And that is just SOME of the stuff I had to deal with on Saturday...
But we got through it with smiles on our faces (mainly for the new guests because I had some choice words I was feeling like I should be saying) and we got everyone new checked in for the week.
I forgot how nice it is to be able to hear the lake and have peace and quiet at night! This week is awesome already!
Then on Sunday we made our yearly attendance at the Water Carnival Parade in Detroit Lakes! I love this parade, even that no matter what I always leave the 2 hour parade sunburned, sweaty, and stinky, I wouldn't miss it for anything!
This year we timed it right so we could have lunch on the lake, and then watch the parade from down on the beach. It was perfect. We even got to see the new senetor of MN rocking out singing oldies on the back of a flat bed truck! I tell you what! Minnesotans know how to have fun!
After the parade we went over to Jake's moms for a picnic. It was a quiet night spent outside, which was perfect. We ate too much and played kickball until our ankles hurt! Or maybe just mine did... I always forgot tennis shoes!

Monday morning brought rain and more rain, along with some loud thunder storms and lightening. My electricity went out, and again there is another lake in front of my beach! So needless to say it was a quiet day around the resort.
I was a little nervous yesterday because at 11:30 I was scheduled to talk with Jim Ferguson of Outdoor Trails for a talk radio show about the resort. It is heard by 80,000 people or something crazy like that! I had this great idea of talking in my "authentic Minnesota accent" and telling him he should call me crappie Kellie... (not crapy like poopy! But crappie like the fish!) But those great ambitions went out the door as soon as he had me do my voice check and count down from
5
4
3
2
1
And we're live with Kellie Dodds!
Yeah! This is where I paniced! It was a great experience. I hope those 80,000 plus listeners don't fall asleep when I hit the radio waves later this week....

After my radio debut... Jake took me out to lunch at the Palace Cafe in Frazee. You rarely see more than 15 people in town at one time, but I sware when ever you walk into the Palace at the noon hour everyone and their brother was there! And yesterday their special of the day was tator tot hotdish! I laughed becuase only in MN is this a special that you can get at a public place! Usually this is something you get at your grandma's or a funeral. But I got it!! And I enjoyed every last tator tot it had to offer.

After the office was closed I ended my day sitting on a dock watching the sunset. It couldn't have been more beautiful! I love nights like that!