Hey everyone,
I thought everyone might want to see exactly what our hotel room looks like. It's not much, but it has worked out just fine so far. So here are a few photos of the room. Week four is almost over. Just two to go. Time flies, just like they always say.
It has been sunny and beautiful here so far. I don't think we could have timed the weather in Minnesota more perfectly. It is always great to see everything "greening up." I am a little disappointed that I will have no place to put in a garden this year. Amanda and I really got the full use out of my garden the last couple years in Davenport. There is nothing better than barbeque, fresh veggies and beautiful, tasty herbs from the garden all sumer long. Speaking of -Mom, I will be home to shape yours up soon so tell dad to get off that new riding lawn mower and get that garden tilled up. I can see it now, Mom and Dad will be sitting in the driveway, Mom in her new van and Dad on the riding lawn mower catching some rays and watching the grass grow. I better get home fast.
Ready to put the green thumb to good use,
Tom

Half way point

Well, we are half way done with our first official job as chiropractors, and it has been a wondeful experience so far. I though I might write up a short post to let everyone know where we will be and what we will be doing in the next couple of months. So here is a tentative schedule.

The next three weeks we still be in minnesota. Dr. Kristin thinks she will be ready to come back to work on the 15th of May so the friday before that will be our last day. The plan is to pack up here and head to P'ville. Amanda's cousin is graduating college with an education degree and her party is on that Saturday. Seeing and hanging out with the Richards gang is always a good time. Hopefully Ann will take me out to the farm a few times to see the calfs - the tally is up to twelve now I hear. And hopefully there are some jelly beans left after Easter.

After a few days in P'ville, we will be heading off to Ohio to see my family, and hopefully Madison will want to come along. I am pretty excited. It seems like every two or three months on the dot I get so excited to see my family I can hardly go about my days business. I am especially excited to see moms back yard, grill some steaks with dad, see my niece and my goddaughter, and hopefully meet my sister's boyfriend and my brother's girlfriend. Oh, me and Amanda are hoping that Moe and Joan will take us out to eat. And most importantly - a garage party or two with dad, andy, dan, and of course liz and uncle tom and the boys.

We also have a big idea of hitting up a cincinnati reds game with all five kids and their better halves.

I also have three cousins that are graduating high school this year, and we will be attending Tim's graduation bash hosted by my name sake - Uncle Tom. Hey Tom, I hope you have plenty of fire water at the pow wow!

After a week or so at home we will be heading back to P'ville to pack up. Hopefully Andy and Jess can come with so they can see P'ville and Dubuque.

Then it is off to Reno - after we fix that fence.

Our plan is to be in Reno by the first of June or so and we should be opening our practice after the July 4th holiday.

That's it. Moe, we will call you when we get there and we can do lunch. On you of course.

Hungry and homeless,

Tom

The Yankees loose! Thhhhee Yankees loose!

Yesterday was as good of a day as I could have had, as the day involved two of the things I love more than ducks- baseball and Amanda. (I also love my family, traveling, my profession, and especially my goddaughter, Lily.)

The day started out with a nice hour and a half warm-up walk in the morning to easy the fitness nazi's mind. After that we came back to our dorm room to grab our baseball gear, some maps, and the camera and we headed off to the dreaded Mall of America.

After a quick drive by the outside of the Mall of America, we parked and hopped onto the light rail which took us down to the warehouse district and the Metrodome. We got downtown a few hours early so we had ample time to explore. We cruised by the Target Center, where the Timberwolves play and just walked around the city a bit. Our first stop was a candy store (the second one we had been to that day). Not a place I would usually stop, but the fitness nazi has quite the sweet tooth. So we found her some carmel popcorn to sooth the tooth ache and went on our way.

On our walk we noticed a crowd of people standing out in front of the Radisson so we went to get a closer look. As we got closer we realized that everyone was waiting for Steinbrenner's mercenaries to come out and board the team bus. We missed the first bus with Johnny Damon (who is actually one of two Yankees I have ever liked-Don Mattingley is the other) but we saw Giambi, Johnson, Chacon, Williams, and Matsui. None of which bothered to take the time to sign any autographs except Giambi. I guess he is still trying to do a little PR work to fix that image. Jeter and A-Rod - apparently they snuck out the back, which is too bad as I was really looking forward to heckling them both.

After realizing Johnny D had already left, I decided I was hungry so off we went to find a quick bite to eat, and as always, we hit up an Irish Pub. The Irish pub has become our favorite spot to hang out and grab a bit to eat. Then it ws off to the Metrodome to watch a good old fashion Yankee butt kicking.

The old dome. What a piece of crap. It reminds me of the days when dad took us boys down to the old Riverfront stadium for Reds games. It is the typical multipurpose stadium that was popular in the 70's. Nothing close to the eye appealing stadiums of today. We could not complain though, as we scored seats in shallow left field, in the third row! On top of that, it was th best baseball game I have ever gone to. The Twinkies came out hot, then the Yanks caught up and took the lead. But a game winning single by the Twins off Rivera won it in the bottom of the ninth. The game also featured a signature Torii Hunter home run saving catch over the center filed saran wrap.

An excellent day overall, topped of with a little bit of Easter anxiety for Brian Cashman. It doesn't get any better than that.

Anyway, have a look at Minneapolis.

Dancin' in the Dome,

Tom

Still Chasin' the Ducks!

Well, its week two in Minnesota and I am lovin' this place, and the weather up here. It has been a balmy 65-70 degrees every day since we have been here. Can't beat that. And the best part is that the ducks are out in full effect! As you can see by the photos above though, the geese are a little more photogenic than the ducks, but hey what do you expect, I'm no Marty Stuoffer.

We are still loving our job. It has been a great learning experience and it is a huge step in reaching our goal of creating a successful family practice in Reno - with a satelite office in St. Marys, Ohio (I've been lookig at renting space at 507 Webb St). It is great satisfaction to me that I finally get to help people. I've been waiting for this day since I was 6 for Pete's sake.

Anyhow, here are some more photos. These were taken at Sunset Park, just down the road from us.

In search of the elusive greenhead,

Tom

Hello from Minnesota!

Well, I finally have a minute to sit down and write. We made it to Minnesota last Sunday. We got the call to the bullpen Saturday afternoon and we got in late Sunday night. And just in time. Dr. Kristin was starting labor on Monday and at around one in the afternoon on Wednesday, with the assistance of her husband John and her midwife, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy at their home. Pictures of Grant Jackson Fellows will be on the blog later this week.

Meanwhile, at the office Amanda and I began our chiropractic careers, and it could not have gone any better! We both had so much fun and we are looking forward to our future in the profession. We can't wait for week two to begin.

After work on Friday, we finally got the chance to check out the area. So far I love Minnesota. There is so much to do. We went out to eat at Biaggi's friday night for a little Italien treat, which as Phil knows is a great place to eat. We had a delicious chocolate sundae in a fried shell for dessert. MMMM good! Saturday night we went up to Nikki Mallory's to see the house and kid and have dinner. It was a good time and Nick is the coolest, and happiest littel dude.

Saturday was my big adventure day though. And I found some cool lakes. 2 of the 10,000 or so in Minnesota to be exact. And they were loaded with ducks! And man do I love ducks. I got some good pictures of a few, then my camera battery died, so there will be more later. All of the little lakes make for wonderful landscapes and wildlife honey holes. Speaking of which we saw a half dozen or so flocks of wild turkey on our way up here. I am excited to continue my explorations on the weekends. Coming this week will be more wildlife walks and a trip to the Metrodome Saturday night to see the Twins (my AL team) play the dreaded Yankees. Don't worry Katie B, we are going to sit on the third base side so that week can get good pictures of Jeter for you.

Until next time from beautiful Minnesota,

Tom