From the Midwest

Here is what I have to look forward to. You know you're a Minnesotan (or Minneapolitan...Minneapolite?) if:

1. If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by
2. If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation
3. If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too spendy"
4. If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March
5. If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there
6. If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time
7. If your town has an equal number of bars and churches
8. If you know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, Cloquet, Edina, and Shakopee
9. If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy
10. If vacation means going "up north" for the weekend
11. If you measure distance in hours
12. If you know several people who have hit deer more than once
13. If you often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day... and back again
14. If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching
15. If you see people wearing hunting clothes at social events
16. If you install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked
17. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit
18. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow
19. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction
20. You know how to prounce the following: Eagan, Mendota Heights, Plymouth, Lake Calhoun, Osseo, Osceola, Chisago, & Vadnais Heights
21. You call the University of Minnesota the "U of M" or simply "the U"
22. Your Saturday afternoon might be spent at the Mall of America
23. You're fascinated by the ice sculptures
24. You know that 694 is the north half of the loop and 494 is the south half
25. You can distinguish between the following area codes: 612, 651, 763, 952, etc…
26. You know who Sven Sundgaard is
27. One word: Dinkytown
28. You've been to the Renaissance Festival
29. You know what the Guthrie Theater is
30. You know what Paul Bunyan's Log Chute is
31. You've shopped at Herberger's or Bloomingdale's before