Musings from the Desk

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Citizen Wausau

Wausau's very cool blog and community board - citizenwausau.com - is generating some great buzz in the area, so when founder Marcus Nelson suggested I turn my thoughts into type, I decided to go for it. Marcus and I had been together at a dinner when I began spouting off about the ridiculous debate surrounding our municipal airport's need to cut down a group of trees. After thinking about it all weekend, I finally submitted my editorial late last night, and it was posted this morning. Read the musings here.

Football

Sundays in the fall have always been football days - Rowan gives me constant score updates through the window in my office!

Una Notte Bella

Saturday night, John and I attended Una Notte Bella, which in Italian translates to "a beautiful evening". It's the annual fundraiser for the Wausau Conservatory of Music. I serve on their marketing board and my boys get scholarships from them every year to study, so I felt this year it was appropriate to attend and enjoy the night, which we did. Devon's singing group, the Choraliers, performed during the dinner. It was Devon's first performance with the group, and they did very well. He looked so great in his tux shirt, cumberbund and bow tie. We were so proud of him! Rowan stayed home and watched a movie. Maybe next year he'd like to attend.
The auction was amazing - one of the best varieties I've seen at a fundraiser. We ended up going home with a certificate for a fresh cut 7 foot Christmas fir tree, a starbucks gift pack, and an enormous cheese box - very cool.

Fun Weekend

This weekend was my bonus weekend, so I was able to go out and kick it up a little bit. Friday night, Jule and I took Dana out for dinner for her birthday at Iozzo's. We used to love it there but hadn't been out to dinner at that venue in years. Let's just say it will be years before I try it again. Horrible service, overpriced entrees. Food was great - but it just didn't cut it. And it always slays me when an Italian restaurant has crappy house wine - for Pete's sake, it's a staple! We did order a bottle of Ravenswood with dinner that was fabulous - but the house wine was the worst I've had in years.
Afterward we went to hear Area 51 play at a local bar - some great tunes and fun had by all.

Halloween

We love Halloween! Every year we deck our house out pretty well - this year we added another fog machine for extra effects, and had some great spooky music playing through the ipod bose speakers - here are a few photos as we got ready for the trick or treaters!

Thrillville

It was a crazy week and I'm glad it's over - but Thriller was a big success for Devon and he had a blast playing Igor in his younger years in this year's annual Halloween offering from Wausau Dance theatre. I'm hoping to get photos from Annaluna of the boys in costume but here they are in full makeup, inbetween shows. It looks like Devon is wearing a wig, but he isn't that is actually his real hair! Annaluna's son Jack played the part of young Dracula. They both did a great job and had a ball doing it. I produced this year's soundtrack, as I've done for the past few years, and as always it was hectic till the end - still editing at 10AM the day of the performance, just three hours perior to the start of the first show. Crikey!
We love Halloween around here and can't wait until Wednesday when trick or treating will commence. I always make a big pot of barbecue and a pumpkin pie and we really deck the house out for the day. I had to buy a new fogger machine this year since our old one blew a gasket or some such thing but this one is bigger and better and should produce an even spookier effect. I'll be sure to post photos after we get all the stuff up.
Every year, my dad loved Halloween, too - he loved to see the children in their costumes and counted kids every year. One year he had over 150 kids, but the average is closer to 100. He'd prepare ahead of time by getting just the right amount of candy and placing it in groups on TV trays by the door - three pieces per trick-or-treater. If he ran out he'd resort to grabbing nickels from his change cup to toss in their bags, but usually he was pretty close! It won't be the same without him this year. I hope he's watching from where he is.

BOO!

Over the past few weekends, the Wausau Paranormal Research Society hosted it's annual tour of Wausau's most famous haunts in the downtown area. They're walking tours that last about 1 1/2 hours where you learn all about our city's spooky residents. There's Larry, the former stage manager who haunts his beloved Grand Theater; Bob, the cranky spirit haunting the Rogers Theater; Martha, the spurned lover who hanged herself in the front room of the Wausau Club; and more. Alice and I took the tour this time and it was delightful! Whether or not you believe in spirits (and I do) the folks in the Paranormal Research Society put on a fun, informative show that is rich with our city's history. You can find a list of famous haunts here:
http://www.pat-wausau.org/stories/marathon/marathon.html
Fun stuff - and well worth the $5 admission.
The photo is a 1925 shot of the Sanitorium, which I believe sits on what is now the site of the Elks Club. A man in a white coat is said to haunt the club, which some speculate is the spirit of a doctor who once worked at the Sanitorium.

Tennis, Anyone?

In school, wasn't there always one kid who just did everything well? Sports? No problem. Music? Natural talent. You know the one I'm talking about, don't you?
My son Devon is that kid.
I know, you're rolling your eyes, thinking I'm biased. Well.....maybe I am. But I swear it's true. Everything that kid tries, he does well at. He's likeable because he has a knack for reading people and knowing exactly what to say at exactly the right time. He loves being onstage, having been in prodctions with Wausau Dance Theater since he was 5. He's not the best soccer player on his team, but he's really very good. And he has no fear of trying new things.
I don't let my kids do anything they want to do, but if they come to me with an interest, and we can fit it into the schedule comfortably and if I think we can afford to do it, I will always let them try it. I said no to hockey (thank goodness) and no to Little League (though I may have to re-think that next year) but when Devon asked if he could try tennis, I thought - why not?
Wausau Racquet Club has a drop in program for kids his age on Saturday mornings. No weekly commitment, you come when you can. Reasonably priced - ten bucks! And his friend Jack goes, so I figured he'd be okay. He was dying to try it, but this week we knew Jack would not be in attendance. He surprised me by wanting to go anyway, all on his own.
So, Saturday morning rolled around and I took him over there, where he didn't know a soul.....in his beat up nike running shoes, carrying his beat up ten dollar Target raquet, smack dab in the middle of a group of kids with graphite smashers and tennis whites.
You'd think he'd be intimidated? Forget it - he wasn't. He just bounced in there and got right into the thick of it.
An hour later, I returned to pick him up and not only had he held his own, he'd been named player of the day, and made a bunch of new friends. The kids all congratulated him afterward and told him he'd done well, which he humbly thanked them for. Now he can't wait for next week to roll around!
Now, if that had been me, I'd have turned tail the minute I walked in the door. Not this kid. He amazes me.
He did mention, however, that for Christmas maybe a new racquet would be in order. Ummmm - yeah, I think I can do that!

New Old Violin

Devon has finally outgrown his 1/2 size violin, so this week I went on a search for a good 3/4 size for him. I was ready to plunk down some decent cash on one since he is a relatively serious student and is doing well. At Wausau Music Center, Neil had about 30 in stock to choose from. Though I initially wanted a nice, shiny, new one......I ended up with something rather unexpected. He asked me to keep an open mind and showed me one he'd taken in on a trade - a 1979 E.R. Pfretzschner 3/4 violin in questionable cosmetic condition. I took one look at it and thought "forget it" - until I played it. It had a wonderful tone - better than those five times the price! Still, I hesitated - and tried a bunch of others they had in the store. But I ended up with the vintage fiddle anyway, and only spent $100 on it. He'd had a $195 price tag on it but gave me the deal since my mother has been one of his longest running customers. I wasn't sure what Devon would think, but he loved it as soon as he tried it. It's a Stradivarius copy that sounds simply wonderful. His teacher looked it over and gave it the thumbs up. Here is a photo of Devon's new old violin. :)

Piccolo - the Bane of my Existence

Okay.....so that piccolo stuff I'm doing this weekend is going to be the death of me. I'm practicing like mad but I'm so worried I won't be ready. When I was in my early 20's I ROCKED at piccolo - but it has been over a dozen years since I played it (unless you count Stars & Stripes Forever in the city band this summer!). Today I worked with the Korg on intonation and really fine tuned some of the spots in the Stravinsky. Tomorrow I'll work on it for an hour or two, but Friday is the dress rehearsal and Saturday is the main event. I'm about ready to chuck the Gemeinhardt out the window - but of course, I won't!

Today's Funny

There Are Days.....

There are days that I wake up in the morning and wonder why I get out of bed.
There are times that I hear my father's words come out of my son's mouth. It helps.
There are days that I think of all the things I should have done and didn't, and all the things I have left to do.
There are nights that I am fearful of going to sleep. Dreams can be terrifying.
There are moments that I am so thankful for friends - but I cannot find the strength to pick up the phone and call any one of them.
Some days I fear nothing. Other days I fear everything.

So Totally Not In The Mood....

Devon snapped this photo as he caught me at my desk - not working. :)
I'm not in the mood to work - unfortunate, since I have so much to do this week! Tomorrow I'm on a vacation day because it's my turn to host bunco - so I'll be having the chicks to my house. We're down from our usual 16 to 12 - which is good at my house, since it's small. I've been preparing the food, buying the drinks, and getting ready - thank goodness my cleaning girls are coming tomorrow. I'm always a wreck when it's my turn to host.
In addition, I've got two extra rehearsals this week in preparation for that symphony concert I'm performing in, stepping in on piccolo. I've been practicing and I'm sure I have the parts nailed - the concert should go well. We're doing some fantastic stuff.
Devon, too, is busy getting ready to perform in next week's Wausau Dance Theatre presentation of Thriller. I produce the soundtrack every year and will undoubtedly be flying around like a madwoman getting it finished in time. Devon is in three numbers, and is very excited about participating. He has been in other productions, but never in Thriller - so this is new for him. He's playing the part of Igor in elementary school. I can't wait to see the finished script when Patrik puts it all together!
The most relaxing part of the week is always my Monday breakfast with Annaluna - it always helps me get my head together for the week ahead. She is as crazy busy as I am and for both of us that 45 minutes is a respite from our nutty weeks.
So with all of this happening......I can't get my head in the game for work today......can't you tell? I'm blogging about nothing. Back to work!

We Did It.....

Friday we did it - Dana and I had our navels pierced. I wasn't nervous at all - not much shakes me. It hurt, I can tell you, but only for a little bit. We chose Blackwater Tattoos to have the piercing done based on a lot of feedback from people we know that have had them done. They were great - the guy was a ton of fun and he knew what he was doing. It was all very clean and sterile so I am not expecting any problems. Hannah came with us, as she'd been there before to have her tongue pierced (which by the way I will never do). I'm posting photos. I got the red crystals and Dana got a plain CZ. The purple is from the pen he used to mark where to pierce. I like it - but right now it's still sore and a little swollen, so I'm wearing yoga pants every day. :)

Piercing Friday

I have never been a fan of a lot of body piercing, but Dana is getting her navel pierced for her birthday on Friday, so I'm going with her. I have often been tempted to do the navel - some of the rings are pretty. Tune in Friday to find out if I go through with it or not!

Fish Eggs

On Friday, I went for lunch with Ann and Tabby to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Chang Garden, because they have the best kick-ass sushi in town and we are all addicted. Tabby was late, so Ann and I ordered - sticking to our usual Lily roll, california roll, alaska roll......but we always want to try one new thing.....so after perusing the menu we chose a spicy roll that sounded fantastic. The menu said it was topped with Masago and of course I had no idea what it was......so I asked Ann......who says to me "Oh, it's that orange stuff they always put on top of the sushi." Sounds reasonable, I thought - so we ordered it. And when it came, it was beautiful - topped with heaps of these tiny, bright red pearly things.
Oh yes, it was fish eggs. You should have seen the looks on our faces!
Of course I can never admit I'm a chicken, so I was the first to try it - and it was DELICIOUS.......but wow, I still can't get over the fact that I ate fish eggs.
Fish eggs!

Getting There

Almost a week back on the meds and already I'm starting to feel better, but I can tell there's still a long road ahead of me. I'm still exhausted and can't seem to get enough sleep, but I worked out today with energy I hadn't had in awhile.
I sat down and had a chat with the kids to explain to them what clinical depression is, because I didn't want them to think my unease and touchiness had anything to do with THEM. They got it....and they had known something was wrong. I'm glad we talked about it.
Next week it's my turn to host bunco. How I'm going to get 16 dice-throwing women into my house is beyond me. I did it before and although it was tight everyone had a good time. I have to find something good to serve.
I've been asked to step in for a symphony concert on piccolo in two weeks, something that has not been my forte - normally I play flute, and flute alone. It's a group I've never played with before and getting the music this late is nerve-wracking. I'm freaked about getting these parts together on piccolo - on flute it would have been no big deal. The music is fun, though, with a Halloween theme - Tales from the Crypt.
My friend Ed's recent decision to get his first tattoo has me reevaluating my old ones, and I think I might have something different done with the small artist's pallette on my back. It was the first tatto I'd gotten - done on vacation in Hawaii after a very bad breakup. (Aren't they all?) There's nothing wrong with it, it's just boring. With music having once again become so much a part of my life, I am looking for a pattern that will incorporate a treble clef, keyboard, and notes. Every one of the three tattoos I have has a story. I hate the one on my chest, love the one on my leg, and am ambvalent about the one on my back. I plan to stop in to see Hoss next week if I get a chance.
Maybe that'll perk me up.

The ABC's of Clinical Depression

Something only a few of my closest friends know about me is that years ago I was diagnosed with chronic clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder. It's something that began in my teens, but wasn't managed with medication until my early 20's.
There are entire blocks of my life that I cannot remember, starting with my freshman year of high school.
Depression is cyclical, at least for me, but the dark days can last for months. It wasn't until I was 21 that I sought help for the problem. It was something my parents did not understand - nor did they believe in it. For someone who has never experienced it, it's difficult to understand why someone afflicted with it simply cannot just "snap out of it".
I have a terrific doctor who sat me down about 8 years ago and plainly told me that I needed to accept the fact that I would be on medication for the rest of my life. This after many stops and starts with medication that I always stopped taking after I started to feel better.
Diabetics take insulin. I need anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds to stay healthy. It's just a fact.....and one that I have finally come to accept.
For years I've been stable thanks to finding the perfect cocktail of three separate daily medications. I'm sure it's how I got through my father's illness and death.
In mid-August, I began a workout program that made me feel really great. Better than I'd felt in years. It occurred to me that perhaps my depression had more to do with a lack of physical activity than anything else......and since I was feeling so great......and since I had to come up with a lot of money for John's return to school......well.......I just decided not to renew my ridiculously expensive prescriptions.....at least for awhile.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Needless to say.....it ended in a crash - a big one. Monday I woke up and knew I had made a terrible, terrible decision. I was a mess.
I immediately called the pharmacy for refills and started taking them right away......but it will likely be weeks before I am back to normal. I don't know why I ever thought this was a good idea. But I'm getting better......and I needed to put it down on the blog so if I ever think of doing it again, I can remind myself......the answer is NO.
Onward.

Guitar Upgrade

Rowan has been loving his guitar lessons for the past 8 months, and after much debate it was decided that his acoustic guitar was just too big for him. He'd been asking for an electric guitar for awhile now, so we finally decided to take his Fender acoustic down to October Guitars and see if we couldn't make a deal.
My friend Tracey's husband owns the place, which is chock full of fabulous choices both new and used. We finally decided on a Fender Squier Stratocaster - metallic red, with three single coils, and a used Peavey amp. Picked up a new gig bag, some new picks, and a tiger striped stand. He is in seventh heaven. I'm so glad we did it - and I think with a guitar that's more his size, he'll improve even faster!
I've got everything set up for him in their playroom-turned-jam-room......Devon is hanging out with him listening to tunes on his Creative Zen player!
Also, today was the first day of drumset lessons for Rowan and it went really well. Devon's sax lessons begin next week - he can hardly wait!

Freecycle Rocks!

This weekend is cleanup time here at the Flynn house - the kids decided that they wanted to completely renovate their play room in our basement. They did it all themselves - spending over 5 hours going through everything. If you'd seen the room before, you would be amazed at how it's changed in one day.
During the course of cleaning, we all found things we were no longer using and gave them all away on the freecycle network. We had a wide variety of stuff: a microwave, a playstation one, a non-working Lexmark printer/scanner/copier, and more - all claimed in record time. I posted a "wanted" message hoping to get a card table and chairs and lo and behold I got a response almost immediately. I picked it up on the northwest side of town at 6pm tonight and by 9 we will be playing Uno on it downstairs in the game room.
I've mentioned Freecycle before and can't say enough about it. Before you buy new, post a wanted message - and before you throw it in the landfill, post it for free. The only catch is, no money can change hands, which is great. Find your local network at www.freecycle.org!

Fall Color Walk

Early this evening, the kids school hosted a Fall Color Walk throughout Sylvan Hill park. Although the colors are only about 30 percent at their peak, it was beautiful. The weather, too, was a perfect, crisp autumn day - 65 and plenty of sunshine. I tried to take a panoramic photo of the group but it's pretty hard to get 1st and 2nd graders to sit still (not to mention the parents!)
Sylvan Hill used to be a ski hill in my youth, but it's now a tubing hill. The mounds you see are part of the run structures.
Here are just a few photos from our trek.

House of Music

Through a partnership between the Montessori school and the Wausau Conservatory, my kids are now taking even more music lessons. Rowan has been taking guitar and is adding drumset along with baritone at Horace Mann, and Devon has decided to add sax lessons with John Greiner. They started this week with new instruments. Add any more and we're going to have to add a room onto the house to keep them all!
I think Devon is not much bigger than the saxophone....

Click to Give

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Wasted Time

I heard this song today for the first time in years.

WASTED TIME
(Frey)
Well baby, there you stand
With your little head, down in your hand
Oh, my God, you can't believe it's happening again
Your baby's gone, and you're all alone
and it looks like the end.

You're back out on the street.
And you're tryin' to remember.
How will you start it over?
You don't know what became.
You don't care much for a stranger's touch,
But you can't hold your man.

You never thought you'd be alone this far down the line
And I know what's been on your mind
You're afraid it's all been wasted time

The autumn leaves have got you thinking
about the first time that you fell
You didn't love the boy too much, no, no
you just loved the boy to well, Farewell
So you live from day to day, and you dream about tomorrow
And the hours go by like minutes
and the shadows come to stay
So you take a little something to make them go away
And I could have done so many things, baby
If I could only stop my mind
from wondring what I left behind and from worrying about this wasted time

another love has come and gone
and the years keep rushing on
I remember what you told me before you went out on your own:
"Sometimes to keep it together, we got to leave it alone."
So you can get on with your search, baby,
and I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find that it wasn't really wasted time

Goodbye, Summer

I know in Wisconsin most people love autumn, but fall is not my favorite time of year. Today the leaves fell like fat snowflakes as the wind blew and the rain fell in torrents. Fall depresses me terribly. A season of change, of things dying, of memories left behind. The kids another year older, another year closer to leaving. Always, it seems, a time of regret, of things not completed.
The fall colors have begun to show themselves. At school, the kids are planning a fall color walk for the parents on Friday if the weather holds which should make for some wonderful photo opportunities.
We've finally given up and closed the pool, put the winter cover on, and have brought the pump indoors for the season. The summers here are so beautiful - I never want them to end.
Last week I only made it to the gym three times rather than my usual five, but I'm in a full blown lupus flareup and my joints ache like nobody's business. I forced myself to go today and will tomorrow as well - perhaps with a slightly different workout to accomodate the pain. So far I've lost 16 pounds, though somehow I gained two over the weekend (what the hell???) - must have been the calamari and martinis Saturday night. Eeek!

Bullies

A few days ago, I finished Jodi Picoult's disturbing yet fantastic book, Nineteen Minutes - the story of a teenage boy who, after years of humiliation and victimization from the school's more popular crowd, went on a 19 minute shooting rampage at his high school, killing ten and wounding many. The story gives a unique perspective, moving back and forth from past to present, to show how a fragile, sweet young boy slowly turned into a killer - and the aftermath for his family as well as the victims. A story like this cannot have a happy ending, but it certainly ended in a twist I didn't see coming. Well worth the read.
The subject of bullying has been at the forefront of my thoughts off and on for years, especially after my own son, Devon, was the victim of unrelenting harassment at John Marshall School throughout the 2nd grade.
Devon went from being the most popular boy in class to the most persecuted almost overnight, thanks to a small group of boys who decided they no longer liked him, and were making it their mission to ruin Devon's life. Every week it was something new. He came home with a split lip, a black eye, bruises and lacerations, and was even stabbed in the back with a pencil - leaving a scar that he still carries both inside and out. An involved parent, I spoke with teachers, parents, administrators, and friends to try and get the bullying to stop - all to no avail.
"Kids will be kids", I was told.
"Kids need to learn to handle bullying - it's a rite of passage," I was told.
"Every kid puts up with it - it's just the way it is these days," I was told.
What bullshit.
I can remember every single instance of the bullying I was myself subjected to in school and I can tell you without a doubt it did not make me a more confident person. The thought is ludicrous - one perpetuated by administrators and parents who are all a part of the problem themselves.
I read a startling fact recently: that a single, serious incident of bullying is as psychologically damaging to a human being as a sexual assault.
Think about that for a minute. As psychologically damaging to the human being as a sexual assault.
Incredible? And true.
For Devon, we had our happy ending. I pulled him out of school at the end of the year and sent him to Montessori, where he is happily on top of the world and has never since been the victim of such treatment. Where he once complained of stomach aches, headaches, and other vague illnesses in an attempt to get out of school, he now bounces out of bed every morning and can't wait for the day begin. What a difference it has made.
I wish every parent would read Nineteen Minutes - and give some hard thought to how they are encouraging their own children to behave. Likewise, parents need to know it's okay to stand up for their kids. As parents, we need to be advocates for our children.
After all, if we don't do it - who will?

Naughty Kitty

When Wendy was here, she started feeding Simon at the table - now he's SO naughty. He stole a green bean right off of Rowan's plate tonight!

Bad Girl

Ten days since I last posted - oh, my. I have no excuse, either. I just have been in a bit of a slump.
It's been a week of ups and downs at our house. John is getting the hang of being back in school, and so are the kids. Devon started rehearsals with the Choraliers - his singing group - and both boys lessons at the Wausau Conservatory of Music have begun.
In addition to the guitar, Rowan has had his heart set completely on playing the drums in the 6th grade band. The Montessori kids don't have band, but after much lobbying he was told he could take band with the Horace Mann kids. All summer long, it's all he could think about. Drums! Band! Big fun! But he was distressed to learn that there were 12 students who wanted to play the drums - and only 4 could be accepted. He worked....he practiced his counting and his notereading like crazy. We bought sticks, a book, and a practice pad. But I'm afraid his best wasn't quite what it needed to be, because he was turned down for the percussion section on Monday. And let me tell you, he was crushed.
There may have been other kids better, but I guarantee no kid wanted it more. It's just too bad.
To every cloud, however, there is a silver lining, and we were delighted to learn that our newly formed partnership with the Wausau Conservatory will allow for in-school lessons taught by WCM faculty - and among the offerings is Michael Kowaleski's drumset.....so all is not lost, and he will be taking lessons beginning next week.
Private lessons are wonderful, but it isn't like the camraderie and fun of playing in the band. The band director, who I know from playing together in the Wausau Symphony, actually called me on Tuesday to ask how we could get Rowan interested in another instrument. He had not been there the day of tryouts (which makes me wonder if the outcome might have been different if he had) and knew how much Rowan wanted this. We talked a bit, and Jeff thought he'd like to talk to Rowan about giving something else a try - and perhaps moving into the drums if a vacancy occurs (which invariably it does - people do quit!) so after talking with him a bit Rowan has decided to take up the Baritone Tuba, a fabulous sounding instrument that I think will be an excellent choice. So now we've got Devon playing piano & violin while singing, too.....and Rowan on guitar, drums, and Baritone. Then there's my flute, piccolo, and cello. I think we're going to have to refinance so we can build another room just for all the instruments!
I'm so impressed with how much Jeff Murray cared about getting Rowan involved - he really went the extra mile more than I think most would have. I hope now Rowan feels better about it all.....but wow, his heart was truly broken when he was told he wasn't accepted. It made me want to bawl.

Girls Photos

Had a great time with my friends last night - Angela left early but the rest of us stayed out way too late. Fun!

Bday Photos!

39 Today

Oooooh - just 16 more years till I can get my AARP card (right,Spike?)!!
So far this has been a pretty good week. As much as I hate to admit it,having a little quiet in the house has been nice during the day. We're getting back to a routine and so far, so good. John is struggling with his college courses but that's to be expected - he's been out of the fray for 20 years. He'll get used to it.
Rowan came home with the longest face ever yesterday - he wants to be in the 6th grade band and has been talking about wanting to take drums for years now.....but yesterday he learned he'll have to try out before they let him in. Evidently percussion is a much-desired thing and there are way more boys and girls wanting to try than space allows. I told him - with a year and a half of piano, and a year of guitar (almost, anyway) he should do just fine with the audition. He was not convinced. So while he was at his guitar lesson at the Conservatory I ran over to Jerry's to pick up a snare kit rental, some great sticks, and a book so he can practice. The kit has a snare, a mallet set, and a practice pad - and he was so happy to get it. I'm renting it for now - but if he keeps on, I'll buy it for him. At least he can go to the audition well prepared!
Devon, too, has new challenges as he began his participation in the Wausau Conservatory Choraliers - the audition only kids singing group he was accepted into. He was really nervous to start with, but made friends right away. There are about 8 boys, so he's not alone - and they were really great to him. This year they are focusing on jazz pieces - and some of the music he brought home is terrific. I can't wait to hear their first performance November 3rd at Una Notte Bella - the Conservatory's annual fundraising dinner!
Meanwhile, I've kicked up my workout a notch, adding the elliptical and some other machines. My pants fit a little differently - and I'm 13 pounds down.
Make that 12 pounds down - after I eat chocolate cake and pasta for my birthday dinner!

Only in Wisconsin

I often say that I don't like the Packers....but that isn't true, really. I guess what I don't like is rabid Packer fans. Here in Wisconsin, Packer football is a religion in itself. It's not uncommon to see a sea of green and gold everywhere, all season long.....but this car takes the cake. The license plate says "Pacher" (Packer was probably already taken) - and painted on the side is the Green Bay logo along with the saying "Vikings Swallow". I saw this while driving up 6th Street today on the way to pick the kids up from school and had to grab the camera.
Talk about taking it to a whole new level......of insanity.

First Day of School

School went really well for the kids and they had a blast on their first day. I even caught Rowan smiling - so I had to post the photo. I think this was the happiest we've been in months - a new year, a new start for everyone.

The Pooparazzi

One of the many things my father always did for me was to pick up dog poop from the yard - a job that fell to the kids after his death. Every week they'd go out with their shovels, bags and rakes, spend an hour hemming and hawing, and end up with one little lousy bag of poop for their time and effort. And with three large dogs - well....you do the math! All summer long it has been a bone of contention between me and the kids. They try (sort of) but they never get it all. I've decided to give them other jobs (which, to their credit, they have done without fail) and tackle the poop issue myself.
Let's just say it's not my favorite thing.
So today I hired the Pooparazzi - a dog poop pickup service that'll come to your house once a week (or more, if you'd like), pick up the poop, and dispose of it for you. For three dogs, it only costs $16 a week - well worth it not to have to deal with it! The first time costs more, since she knows there is always a lot more to pick up. Today she filled four bags. FOUR BAGS!
Her website is www.goodbyepoop.com - I'm so excited - she'll even do it in the winter. All winter long! Money well spent - it's my birthday present to myself. Yahoo!

Goodbye, Summer

Today is the final day of summer vacation - tomorrow it's back to school for the kids - and for John, who is returning to get his BS in nursing. Big changes ahead. Today is a beautiful day, and I'm savoring the final day before the inevitable changes that come with a new school year. The sun is shining with temps expected in the 80's - one more pool day for sure.

Labor Day Weekend

Every year since I was little, our family has attended the Big Falls Corn Roast in the tiny town of Big Falls, WI - about an hour from here in Waupaca county. My grandmother on my mom's side had a house there that my father owned after her death (long story there!) and we'd all take the day off to cruise over for the annual festival, during which the small town's population swells from the usual 75 to about 8,000. Folks come from all over for the festival, and we always loved it. My dad would go the night before to get everything ready, and wait for our arrival in the morning. We'd stay for the day and usually spend the night, eating our share of the six tons of corn donated to the festival by area farmers. There is beer, great food, homemeade pies, free corn, and fun carnival games for the kids - and usually some pretty decent musical entertainment, too. You can look for last year's Corn Roast entry on the blog for photos! But this year, I can't bring myself to go, and I have opted to pick up a bunch of work all weekend and just stay home. The kids are disappointed - but I can't bear it, can't stand the thought of going without my dad. I think by next year I'll be ready - but for now, I just can't do it.