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My Semester is Over - break out the champagne!

A little over 12 weeks ago I made a snap decision to re-enroll in school. I hadn’t taken a course since winter 2002 and was feeling a little rusty but motivated to finally put this whole lack of a bachelors degree behind me.
Since I have to do an individualized major that is comprised of 3 academic areas that I have to magically link together, I decided to go with Geography to complement my existing sociology and political science backgrounds. For me Geography is one of those subjects where learning isn’t really like work at all —its just kinda fun and interesting. So as soon as my grades clear I will have successfully completed 7 credits in 12 short weeks. Next semester I’ll have 4 more credits and then if all goes well, I’ll be done. WOO!

Happy Anniversary, Now Get a Tetanus Shot!

Saturday was our 6th anniversary. After some deliberation and some outside opinions we decided to head to Flemings for our anniversary night out.
The steak was delicious, but the highlight of my meal was the salad. Spinach, portabella mushrooms, red onions, and goat cheese croutons! Delicious.
For dessert we were treated to lava cake which was also incredibly rich and delicious. I’m going to have to find a recipe for chocolate lava cake.

Makin' Turkey - Pt 1

When I saw that Pecatonica Valley Farms were taking orders for turkeys I decided to pick up a couple for Thanksgiving. I don’t know if they’re organic, but I do know they’re locally raised.
I picked them up (all 27 combined pounds of them) on Saturday and sat them in the fridge hoping they’d be thawed by Wednesday. As of 30 minutes ago as we popped them in their salty bath, they still had frozen bits.

Overnight Success

We tried bribery, cajoling, temporary loss of privileges, big boy privileges, begging, pleading, ignoring, and just plain old blind hope that someday we would not be sending our son to kindergarten in pull-ups.
One day a few weeks ago I said that I’d make him a potty chart and if he got 10 Xs on the chart, he could pick a prize. His desired prize was to visit that pizza, birthday, rides, games and noise bastion known as Charles E. Frommage.

I don’t know why it worked, but within 2 days of instituting the poops for pizza program, Adam was done with pull-ups and was using the bathroom all by himself.

It's Time for the Latest Edition of...

Owning an Older House Wheel of Chance. Today we’re going to play “OhMyGod, What’s that Smell?!” and the related game of “How Much Will it Cost Me to Fix It?”

I love lots of things about my house: the location, the floor plan, the arched entry ways, our big bedroom, lots of storage space, big (enough) kitchen…
There are things I don’t like though and they all seem to revolve around odors.
After we moved in I was able to identify quite a few and eliminate them — like the Fry Daddy up in a cabinet in the kitchen with old oil, or the grease filter under the microwave (sticky And stinky!) The basement carpet loves to smell mildewy in the summer, but the dehumidifier takes care of that problem.
Today, however, was completely unexpected.

Rhinovirus induced Whiplash

Last Friday I stood on a mountaintop in a thunderstorm holding a 50 foot metal pole in one had and a bible in the other and shouted “There is no God!”

OK, I didn’t really do that. I’m not suicidal. But I did stupidly note that everyone I knew was sick and I was not. I felt GRRRRRRRREEAT! Nope, no sniffles here. Totally healthy.

dumbass.

I’m sick, my nose is itchy, my sinuses hurt, and I have incredibly violent sneezes that hurt so good. The sneezes by themselves are a relief to my head. My neck, back, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers beg to differ.

Officially Autumn

Today Mike raked leaves and made beef barley stew — sure signs the weather has turned cold. I baked my first loaf of bread in 10 years — real bread with the yeast and the flour and the kneading. I also baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
This was also the week for the last Wednesday and Saturday outdoor farmers markets. I’m going to miss Wednesdays farmers market – sooo convenient and so tasty.
I’m not sure if I’m prepared to settle in for winter yet and some cruel tv weather person on suggested we might be in for flurries in the near future.

Crazy Parents

Since my website is blocked by the State of WI filters, I wrote this at my desk in notepad so that I could post it later. Now it’s a whole day later, but it bothers me. Yesterday morning after I dropped Adam off at school I was waiting for a bus and looking to see who owned a very distinct car painted to look like a Dodge Charger from a cheesy 1980s TV show. I turned my back to see if a bus was coming when I heard the sound of someone screaming. A parent bringing her child to school was screaming at her daughter. Not the sort of yelling when your kid is about to walk into traffic, but that sort of visceral screaming at another person that usually precedes divorce or homicide.

It's All Done

I’m not usually one to blog about politics. I leave that to more insightful people who seem to have a burning passion for it and the Tivo’d Sunday talk shows to prove it.
But just this once since I showed up at the rally a week ago to shout down the out-of-state idiots bent on destroying what’s good in Wisconsin. Oh yeah, and Vicki McKenna is an idiot.
Anyway, the budget has finally passed and is on the governor’s desk for signing!
Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Random Snippets From Today

This morning the Subaru went over to Octopus to get detailed. It’s clean! Incredibly clean! It’s like a brand new car all over again. Ok, except for the scratches on the driver side-view mirror where I took paint off getting into the garage.

At noonish we headed over to the Alliant with Amy to attend the Food and Wine show. The wine was tasty, the food was tasty! I was feeling vaguely hung-over by 5pm. I don’t know why you’d want a 2 day pass unless you really want to pace yourself. I also enjoyed the kitchen displays. I want a new stove!