Palladian Project

While downtown today, I was happy to see that the Palladian Project is coming along nicely. I snapped a photo from down the street and you can get an idea what it will look like. The six story Palladian is being built where the former Plaza Mall used to be, on the corner of 3rd and Jefferson Streets. Part ot it is an extension of the Jefferson Street Inn, and part of it will be high end condos. Initially there had been skepticism as to whether those $250,000 condos would be marketable here in our small town, but from what I understand those properties were snapped up almost immediately. They will be beautiful - and our downtown will look even better once this project is completed this year.

Random Wednesday Thoughts

Today was my day off. I spent the morning at the neurologist's office going over my MRI findings. Nothing too spectacular to report, but it seems the reason I'm having all these headaches is from a rather large area of what they think is scar tissue on my right frontal lobe from an injury. Had to be when I tripped on the step and hit my head on the door a few years ago. Evidently I injured my brain then which is what is causing all the hoopla. The doctor said there isn't anything to do - we'll re-scan in a year or so to make sure the size stays the same since they are, after all, operating on the "most likely" scenario and not an absolute....and he said the best I can hope for is to get down to 1-2 headaches a month. I think with the Topamax we're almost there, and I'm glad there isn't damage in the temporal lobe where I'd be more likely to have seizures.
And no brain tumor, of course. :)
The afternoon was spent at Clay Corner with Julie and Dana painting stuff. I made a wine goblet, Julie made some coffee mugs for her parents, and Dana made a crazy coffee mug. Dana looks much happier in the photo than she was in real life - Julie and I pretty much dragged her there. All in all it was a relaxing afternoon, though
Meanwhile, as I look in the mirror and realize I'm hitting 40 this year, suddenly the lines on my face are appearing all that much more noticeable. Holy crap. Time to buy some supercharged moisturizer....and while I'm at it, I've decided my hair needs an update, too, so I'm getting it cut tomorrow night. I love it long, but it's hard to manage, so I think I'm going to get a couple of inches taken off and have a brand new style. We'll see.

Who Says Mr. Blackwell Is Heartless?

Fashion Critic Mr. Blackwell has put Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham at the top of his 48th annual worst-dressed list. "Forget the fashion spice, wearing a skirt would suffice! In one skinny-mini monstrosity after another, pouty posh can really wreck-em," he said in a statement.

1. Victoria Beckham
2. Amy Winehouse - "Exploding beehives above, tacky polka-dots below, she's part 50's carhop horror."
3. Mary-Kate Olsen - "She resembles a tattered toothpick-trapped in a hurricane."
4. Fergie
5. Kelly Clarkson
6. Eva Green
7. Avril Lavigne
8. Jessica Simpson
9. Lindsay Lohan
10. Alison Arngrim

... Missing from the list was Britney Spears, who has made it many times before. "I felt that it was inappropriate at this time to make comment, when her personal life is in such upheaval. I hope 2008 is a better year for her," Blackwell said.

Olympic Highlights [Human Special Effects Performance]

Here's your You Tube laugh of the week! :)

The Color of Bad News

Have you ever noticed how the world seems to change the instant you hear bad news? Earth shattering, life altering news.....it seems to create a subtle change in the hue of the room. Everything turns just a little grayer.....sounds are different.....taste is altered. You have the almost irrepressible urge to grab the laughing teenager in the convenience store line ahead of you, demanding she act appropriately. Or to tell everyone who asks the benign question - "how are you?" the truth about your day. "Have you heard," you desperately want to say. "Do you know what happened?"
Such is the state of affairs today upon learning that my aunt - my only remaining aunt - had bad news on her needle biopsy. That lump she thought was a cyst is breast cancer.
Tomorrow she'll learn her options. Until then, I will hope they caught it early, that it can be removed and treated with radiation rather than chemo.....because I know if faced with chemo she'll choose to let it go and let nature take it's course. I'll post updates when I know.

St. Petersburg Ballet

In three weeks, my mother and I are going with Annaluna to see the St. Petersburg Ballet perform Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, Swan Lake. I can't wait. This story is one of the world’s most popular ballets, a timeless tale for all ages to enjoy. The threat of evil looms. Young love is overwhelmed as deception and jealousy dominate in the darkness. Tragedy seems certain, but gallantry and selflessness triumph as the dawn breaks. Such is the story of Prince Siegfried, Odette, the Swan Maidens, and the Sorcerer of Swan Lake. The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre brings modern flair to its productions while maintaining the standards that define Russian ballet. Wausau Dance Theatre is one of the sponsors, and Annaluna was kind enough to ask us to go as her guests - we had planned to attend anyway despite the high ticket price. I've never seen Swan Lake performed in person, so I am really looking forward to a great evening at the theatre!

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

This weekend was my January weekend off, and thank goodness because all I wanted to do was curl up next to the fireplace with a good book or two (or four, actually). The weather is terrible - foggy and raining, and all the beautiful snow is melting into a big sludge pile. It's like pea soup outside - you can't see down the block. The world is gray and misty, with the kind of weather that gets into your bones and just makes them ache. Friday night I took the kids out for dinner at Angelo's, and Saturday went for a martini at the Elks club, but other than that I pretty much laid low. The kids went to a birthday party sleepover Saturday night and John had to work, so I had the house to myself, which pretty much never happens when I'm not working. It finally gave me time to recover from the 2nd bout of pneumonia in six weeks and I'm feeling much better than I did last week. I re-read Dennis Lehane's Mystic River, and read Lisa Gardner's Alone, followed by Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian and David Baldacci's latest, Stone Cold. Good stuff.
The rain is disappointing - the kids are going to the school forest this week and were hoping to go cross country skiing, snowshoeing and tobogganing - but that will have to change unless we get some fresh snow. I, too, have been itching to get out on my "new" x-c skis but was sidelined with the pneumonia - it will just have to wait until the next good snowfall.

Devon

Devon
Originally uploaded by shereenflynn

Loving the snow!

Julie, Shereen, Dana

Julie, Shereen, Dana
Originally uploaded by shereenflynn

Here are the three of us at this year's New Year's Eve party at my house. We ate too much, drank too much, and had a good time!

Word A Day Calendar

When I moved home from Oklahoma in 1990, I lived with my dad for a few years. He had started getting a word-a-day calendar every year for Christmas (from Krista, I think) and it became our routine to look at the new word each morning at breakfast and try to use it in a sentence as often as possible throughout the day. Birthday words were special, as were other special dates. It was fun we kept up through the years until his death. When I lived away from him he'd always be sure to bring over the page with the word for my birthday or the kids' birthdays. In my scrapbook I have the word of the day for each of the days my kids were born, too. So it seemed entirely appropriate that we continue the tradition, and I picked up a word-a-day calendar at Barnes & Noble this week. The kids and I thought it would be good to learn a new word every day at breakfast - and it's a small way to remember my dad every morning as well.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

More Holiday Stuff

Last night our holiday festivities continued at John's parents house. I bought John a new Nikon compact digital camera for Christmas and he took a bunch of photos there. At the condo there's a basement room that was perfect for Devon to try out his new RipStik, which is like a skateboard on two caster wheels instead of four. It's supposed to be like snowboarding on wheels. It came with an instructional DVD that he watched before leaving for the Flynns, and he couldn't wait to try it out. He's got such great balance that it worked out well for him and he loved it! One of the other residents showed Rowan a funny ride-on toy her grandchildren use when they visit, and he had fun riding around on it. It made for some fun photos! John's camera is nice, and will fit in his pocket.
Today is my final day of four days off, so we plan to make the most of it. Unfortunately, I woke up with a fever and a raging cold, but I'm plugging myself full of comtrex and advil and I'm determined to have fun with the kids! We plan to try out the toboggan and go to the mall to spend their gift cards. One of Devon's video games didn't work, so we need to return that to Game Stop, and we all received gift cards from Barnes & Noble, too. It should be a great day of fun with the kids, and my cleaning girls are coming so I'll come home to a clean house.....order a pizza, and play a game or two in the evening. First, though, I still have to track my radio show, record two ads and write a quick column for the prep service (I know, on my day off!) - but after that it's all good.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Day is here - the season has flown by, as it always does. Last night the kids participated in the annual pageant at their church. Last year I didn't go, as I was at home caring for my dad, but this year I went, and was glad to sit in the balcony where no one could see me cry. Christmas Eve has always been our family time, from the time I was little - the night we opened gifts and sat around the tree together. It was really hard without my dad for the first time. Everything about the season this year has been hard but I've been trying to keep up a brave front for the kids - I didn't want to ruin their holiday and didn't want them to see me cry. They had a great Christmas and did a wonderful job in the pageant at church - I was very proud. I took video that I will edit and post later tonight or tomorrow.
Devon got his PSP, and Rowan got the digital camcorder he wanted - a terrific Canon I picked up on the internet for a really good deal (better than mine!!!). They also received Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii and a beautiful toboggan from LL Bean - we can't wait to take it out for a spin! Since we had a huge snowstorm over the past two days (fourteen inches!) there's a fresh layer of snow to speed through. I'll take them to the hill either this afternoon or tomorrow.
This morning I made waffles (our holiday tradition) and now we're all in our pajamas by the tree, playing games and reading books. Later we'll go to the Flynns for gifts, dinner, and the usual sarcasm and insults.
John had to work overnight and will work again tonight, so he's spending the day sleeping.

Tis the Season...

Free Skis!

The Sylvan Hill tubing area opened this weekend, and though Rowan is still too sick to go the kids can't wait to tube for the first time this year. Sylvan used to be a ski hill, but it was too small to really compete with our fabulous Granite Peak ski area, so thc county turned it into a tubing hill with two runs. The old tow ropes are still in use so you use that to get up the hill on your tube, and it's cheap fun at only $5 per person for kids. The chalet is warm and toasty with a fire crackling away - usually I take the kids and hang out by the fire with 50 cent hot chocolate and a book. Seeing as though I have been stuck in the house for weeks on end, my workout routine has really suffered, so I was interested to read the article in this week's newspaper talking about Sylvan's cross-country ski trails. I didn't even know they existed! Perfect opportunity for me to get some exercise while the kids are tubing. The only problem? No skis - and with Christmas fast approaching I did not want to spend any money on myself. We have a few pair of cross country skis in the garage that we brought back from John's parents cottage when they sold it, but they have the old style bindings and there are no boots that fit me, so I'd thought of buying boots and replacing the bindings, but even that would be pricey right now. Early yesterday morning I noticed an ad from the Freecycle Network for a pair of waxless Edsbyn skis in my size with boots - also in my size - and a pair of poles up for grabs. I was lucky enough to be the first to respond, and yesterday afternoon I picked up my new skis. They are older but in great shape, and the boots fit really well. It's fate, I tell you! So now I can't wait for next weekend, when I can take the kids to the hill and I can get some x-c ski time in. It's been years since I've done it but I used to love it - so this should be great!

Ho, Ho, Ho - the Altenburgh Show

The show last night at the Grand was great - hard to believe 12 years of fun is coming to an end. Wonderful music and great fun backstage with my brother as always. This is, however, the first time in 12 years I made a joke emceeing that I probably shouldn't have (nothing off-color, it was about the fervor over the airport's trees) but other than that I felt good about it. The party afterward was the usual glitz and glimmer and I didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. Everyone was there, from the mayor to the police chief to all the downtown business people, lots of media, and all the musicians and their friends. Janet Planet gave a terrific rendition of Amazing Grace, and even former Airkraft frontman Mitch Viegut got into the action with a little "Run, Run, Rudolph" (in the photo); Chris O'Keefe gave a wrap up of his Martha Stewart running anthem, "Martha Stewart's Coming For Christmas (and that's a real 'good thing')" and Otis sang some great tunes as well. Loved John's opening this year, too. Great stuff - now we'll just have to wait for the reunion show in a few years!

Meet the Green Bay Packers

Big Cheese was the media sponsor for this week's Superbowl 32 reunion party and fundraiser for the LeRoy Butler Foundation this week in Stevens Point. Only a few comp tickets were available for the $85 a plate dinner, so we all put our names in a hat and I was one of the few lucky enough to go, and I was able to bring my brother along. The night featured live and silent auctions, a VIP meet and greet which we were a part of, a dinner and more. LeRoy Butler was there, of course, as were fellow teammates from the Superbowl winning team including Mark Chmura, Santana Dotson, Ron Woodson, Bill Schroeder, Gilbert Brown, Chris Jackie, and others. The dinner wasn't great and there were FAR too many people in the VIP room to be a true VIP experience but it was still a fun night and I was glad to be able to treat my brother to a night of rubbing elbows with great athletes like that. Here are just a couple of photos from the evening!

Visitor Maps

I've been playing around for awhile now with different visitor maps on the blog. You'll see the latest version on the left. I just pasted the HTML into the template and I think this one's going to do it. The last one was irritating - it was too big, bleeding over into the post text, and didn't show the detail I wanted it to. Don't worry - it's not that I want you to think Big Brother is watching. I just like to know where people are reading this. It's always fun to see a reader in England, France, or somewhere else that seems exotic to me. It's also comforting to see a click from Milwaukee - I know my cousin's checking (hello, Pete!) - or one from Seattle - (hi, Spike!). Love to see the clicks from Duluth (hello, my dear friend Beth!) Rob in Los Angeles, Wendy in New Mexico (I love you, sister!) Ed in Des Moines, Chris in Colorado - and someone from Minneapolis that I can only assume is my long lost dear friend Paul who never responds to email anymore (shame on you). So humor me, if you will - and I'll let you know how the latest version - this one from ClustrMaps - works out.

Ouch!

Today in school Rowan had a bit of a mishap. He was sitting on a chair backward, rocking...and he fell.....and the chair back smacked him HARD in the face. His front tooth is crooked (hence the enormous orthodontia bills) and the corner of it cut through his entire lip to the other side - all the way through. OH MY GOD. It is so gross. That poor kid! I picked him up right away and took him to the walk in - where I was treated to a TWO HOUR WAIT only to be told that he was lucky enough to have a very straight cut - so no stitches were necessary. If it had been jagged, or if there had been a flap of skin, he would have definitely needed one or two - but this should heal up just fine on it's own. He was so relieved, and so was I. Meanwhile it's swollen up like a big balloon. I took a photo but you can't really tell the magnitude of the swelling in this picture! Eating is hard, of course, and he can't play his baritone for at least a week. Ack! I'm just glad he didn't have to have a stitch! Of course if I hadn't taken him, I'd have wondered for weeks whether I'd done the right thing, so despite the wait and the benign result, I'm glad we went.

Caroling in the Great Hall

Tonight Devon's Choraliers and Choralation choirs led the community caroling event at the PAF's Grand Theatre Great Hall - 30 minutes of fun Christmas carols that finally got me into the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, Devon is the shortest one in the group, and he stood behind a bunch of much taller people! But we knew he was there singing, and we all had a good time.
I've struggled with the holiday blues this year for a variety of reasons, but tonight I finally feel like I'm a little more with it. Here's hoping that feeling lasts.