Another busy weekend!

There's never enough time! Ian had a track meet after school on Thursday and both Jeff and I were able to go to it.  He was only to have 5 of them, but missed one because he was sick. Then I missed one when I was in Florida so it was good to get this one. Great weather and his relay team took 1st place!

Then, Alex had his Opener for Little League on Saturday -- beautiful day to sit outside and watch baseball. He was a bit nervous, but settled in and did quite well. The boys stayed with us Saturday night as Maggie had a birthday party for Scott. Then, we went to see the 'Avengers' movie on Sunday, followed in the evening by dinner for Scott's birthday.

At Boldt, they've put together a team for a bicycle challenge so we're both trying to get in a bit of biking each day, which is easier for Jeff than it is for me! Still, it's exercise and we're both getting out almost every day. Kind of thought I might get out of it today because we were supposed to have rain, but the little bit we got in the night ended pretty early and today was bright and sunny.

A little Vicki time

Can't believe how sore I was after all of that activity over the weekend! I think it was mostly from driving for 2 days -- pretty stiff in the shoulders -- or at least that's my excuse. Went for a nice massage this morning, followed by a pedicure. Really nice to be pampered!

Mom's back in Wisconsin

Not sure what I was thinking when I booked my flight to Florida -- had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to catch my 5:30 flight from Green Bay! Good trip, though, and Mom and Dean were waiting at the airport. Nice couple of days in Florida (including a great thunder storm and going to see 'The Sound of Music' at the movie theatre), and quite a struggle getting everything packed into the van for our trip back to Wisconsin. It was kind of fun driving back and watching the full, lush greenery in Florida going backwards to the barely budding trees in Wisconsin. Like watching a movie in reverse.

Susie and Doug came on Saturday and, along with Jeff and I, we got everything unloaded, furniture moved, TV hooked up, and pictures hung. Amazing, really, how much we got done. Sandy has a nice patio space right outside the living room window, plus Terri and Elnore both stopped to say hello so it looks like things are really coming together for Mom.

Nice to have her back in Wisconsin -- at least for the summer!

Memories from 1988 and 1993

A couple more journal entries; clearly I wasn't very good at keeping up the journal.

• September 12, 1988: Four years later and things have changed a lot. Scott is in 8th grade at Einstein and Steve is a sophomore at West. He started driving lessons tonight. Jeff left Crum & Forster in 1986 with the Appleton office was closed. He worked for CNA until April of this year when he went back to work for C&F, working out of the house. The MMI office closed at the end of 1986, and my office (with MMGA) moved to Meade St. We spend Thursdays during the summer playing co-ed volleyball, and I golf on Tuesdays. Now that it's fall, Jeff bowls on Monday and I do on Tuesday. Our couples bowling league is every other Friday.

• September 27, 1988: Our central air is finally going in this week. I finally had my knee checked out by an orthopedic surgeon and found I need arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus. I'm going to the hospital in a couple of weeks. We were in Turtle Lake for Daddy's birthday and we bought a pick-up truck for Stevie to drive. He'll be getting his "temps" this week.

• September 22, 1993: We tore the pool out last fall when the motor finally gave out. Jeff is driving a 1992 Ford Ranger pick-up and I have a bright green 1993 Probe GT. Steve is starting his third year of college and living in Milwaukee. His first year was in Oshkosh and he spent last school year in Minnesota. Scott started his first year of college at UW-Fox Valley, and has a little white Mercury Lynx he bought with his graduation money. Jeff has been at Boldt Construction for (I think) three years. I'm still with Marsh (now Seabury & Smith) after 13 years. We just ended our fifth summer at our cottage with a Labor Day party focusing on tearing down our outhouse. Jeff's folks still live in Wabeno and are addicted to gambling. My folks still live in Turtle Lake and are constantly at odds with the casino there. My dad has been retired since cutting off the ends of his fingers two years ago. Peg & Len are still in GB - Tracy is going to school at Whitewater and Cory is 15. Tom & Nancy are also in GB but Kim is living in Moscow teaching English. Mike & Debbie are in Utah. Jeff's grandma died this past year; both of my grandmas live in Pontiac. Susie & Gary, after being separated for a while, are together and back in Turtle Lake. Dean & Carol and in New London. Tom & Evie are in Star Prairie where Mikki also lives with her husband.

Memories from 1984

In the spirit of trying to clean out a bunch of things this year, I found an old journal in my dresser drawer. I won't repeat all of the posts in their entirety, but some of the information here is pretty amazing.

• Saturday, May 26, 1984: We're in Turtle Lake for a little birthday celebration for Scott, Billy, Evie and Gary.  It had been delayed due to little Gary being in the hospital.  He's home now, but he looks very tired and he's really skinny. They didn't stay very long today because he's still weak.
• Thursday, May 31, 1984: We listed our house this evening -- finally.  The realtor did a market survey last night which shows our house to be marketable at about $36,000-$39,000. I hope it sells fast; we're going to start looking seriously for another one.
• Monday, June 4, 1984: We went to see the house on Fairfield Court that I liked on Saturday. We put in an offer, he countered, and we countered. Today we found out that he accepted our offer of $71,000.
• Thursday, June 7, 1984: The school called because Stevie had been hurt. He got into a fight with one of his friends and was thrown down on his elbow. We thought is was broken, but it was dislocated. He was in a great deal of pain and we were at the hospital for hours as the doctor reset his arm and put it in a cast. He'll be discharged tomorrow, but he'll have the cast for 3 weeks and a splint for a while after that. This was the last day of school, too.
• Wednesday, June 13, 1984: Selling the house is driving me crazy. I get up at my regular time, but then spend time cleaning so I end up late. The realtor calls all of a sudden for a showing so we have to keep the house clean. The boys were home alone today and destroyed my clean house; I had to leave work early to come home to clean before going golfing. We're going to have an open house on Sunday so I have to spend Friday and Saturday cleaning. Stress all around.
• Monday, July 2, 1984: Stevie got his cast off last week and is doing really well. He exercises his arm to stretch the ligaments. We went camping this past weekend, which was very relaxing, as we had good weather and were able to get out on the water. Stevie woke up yelling every night, which was a little unsettling.
• Wednesday, July 4, 1984: We spent the day in Green Bay - Tracy was marching in a parade, then back to Peg's where the kids stayed in the pool all day. It's Tom's 40th birthday and both he and Nancy were over for a while. We took the boats out on the Bay to watch the fireworks at Bay Beach.
• Tuesday, July 10, 1984: Busy weekend; lots of showings in the house plus two offers, which we ended up rejecting. Matt got here from Pennsylvania and stayed until this morning when Jeff took him up to Wabeno.
• Wednesday, July 11, 1984: We sold the house! The offer was $38,500 and the closing date has been set for August 29.
• Friday, July 13, 1984: Went to the Fair in Seymour with Ralph & LeeAnn to see Don Williams.
• Sunday, July 15, 1984: Jeff took Stevie up to Boy Scout camp today for a week.
• Monday, July 23, 1984: Stevie got home from camp Saturday and it's good to have him back. The new Mall in Appleton opened Wednesday and I spent some time out there getting school stuff as it's only six weeks off. Peg called tonight and said Jeff's mom might have cancer; she'll have tests done next week.
• Monday, July 30, 1984: Interesting stuff - The boys are staying with Mom & Dad for a week, Dean is leaving for Oklahoma City tomorrow, Tom & Evie are moving to Phoenix Friday. We went to the Dells Saturday and sat through a sales presentation for a private campground. Declined. Found a place to stay in Stevens Point, a real dive. Went boating on Winnebago over the weekend and did a little skinny dipping.
• Saturday, August 4, 1984: Had our Brewers/Golf weekend in Milwaukee; slept in tents in Lorie's backyard.
• Sunday, August 12, 1984: Went to Plainfield for a Schilleman family reunion. It was pretty bad - they were actually throwing hatchets into trees as entertainment! Stopped in Waupaca on the way home so the kids could enjoy the water slide.
• Friday, August 17, 1984: Went to Green Bay tonight for a dinner cruise on the River Queen with Jeff's family. Moving tomorrow.
• Saturday, August 18, 1984: We moved today - had it pretty much done by noon. Sleeping one last time in the old house - the kids are on the basement floor and we're on a mattress.
• Wednesday, August 22, 1984: Stevie went to the doctor on Monday and his arm checked out great. We got some shock for the pool and it cleaned right up; Jeff vacuumed it out and it's beautiful.

Spring!

Saturday was a beautiful day and Jeff was able to use the power washer to clean the back patio.  It was really dirty and stained from the winter but is looking better.  One more effort and I think we'll be ready for summer.  I spent the day cleaning the house and washing a few windows -- so nice to see the sun shining in!

Yesterday was another nice day with sun but pretty windy.  We went golfing with George and Lynn and, while none of us had a particularly good golf game, it was a really fun day followed by dinner at their house.  Lynn and I are talking about trying to get in some games during the afternoons this summer.

Today is another sunny day (had a bit of rain in the night) so I did a bit of work outside (not too much as I'm hoping VandeHey's will get here soon), and took care of the birds.  It's wonderful to see the plants coming up and the buds on my magnolia tree are starting to open!  I must have planted hyacinth bulbs last fall because I think some of them are coming up.  Hope my hydrangeas do well this year.

Frankie Valli

Waiting for the show to begin at the Milwaukee Theatre

After a fun week with the kids, we took them back home last night and, after having dinner with Steve and the kids, Jeff and I went to the Milwaukee Theatre to see Frankie Valli.  Jeff has loved Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons forever so we were really thrilled to be able to see him again.  Two years ago, 'Jersey Boys' came to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and we both really enjoyed it. Then, that same year Frankie Valli came to Appleton to perform and it was a great show. We were hoping for another great show and weren't disappointed.

Initially, things started off kind of slow and flat and I wondered if maybe he was ill (sounded a bit husky when talking to the audience). Then I figured the medicine must have kicked in because the show really took off and was wonderful. People in the audience were standing up and dancing on and off during the show.

'Jersey Boys' is coming back to Appleton in May and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. Watched the movie while in Florida at Mom's at the end of February so I'm definitely getting my dose of Frankie this year!

Easter week with Jack & Anna

Always enjoy it when the kids can come for an extended visit. We had so many things planned for the week and managed to only get to some of them! Scott, Maggie, and the boys had been in the Chicago area over the weekend so they were able to pick up Jack & Anna on their way back through -- giving the kids time together on the drive. Then, I had Easter dinner ready so the boys stayed here after dinner for a couple of hours. I thought that might be the extent of it.

Jack was elated with his surprise win -- Anna & Ian not so much

Every year the schools in Appleton have the week before Easter off from school, and the Greenfield schools have the week after Easter so the kids rarely get to spend any time together. Fortunately, this year Ian and Alex also had the Monday after Easter so all four of the kids played together almost all day on Monday. The weather was reasonably cooperative so they could be outside for part of the time. I had to have my internet line replace in January and the cable is still strung across the backyard until AT&T can get out here and bury it so I was a little concerned about the kids running around out there, but they did fine. We also played board games; a pretty competitive game of Life had us pretty convinced that either Ian or Anna were going to win, but Jack took the title with a surprise spin of the wheel and hit his number.  It figures, really, with Jack's continual luck!

Jack and Anna had not yet seen the new Disney movie of Cinderella so we went to that on Tuesday. I had assured Jack that he would like it -- and he did.

We never made it to the Y for swimming and we never made it to the batting cage for practice, but we did get in about a dozen games of Life and/or Scrabble.  Ian also taught us a new card game (Pres), Jack had Skip-Bo (card game), everyone had electronic games, and both the xbox and Wii got a workout.

Thursday morning, the library was having a used book sale so we stopped in and got a lot of books, plus some vinyl records for Steve.  Jack has been reading The Hardy Boys and he found a book for me about Larry Bird and the Celtics.  On Thursday night, I had a meeting so Grandpa took Jack, Anna, and Alex to Paradise Island for supper and ice cream.

Great week!  Kids are coming back in June for a week and I'm hoping the weather will be cooperative and we can spend some days at Plamann Park at the lake.