And it's a wrap....

Another year has come and gone.  Many things have happened.. some small and some bigger deals, most of which have been chronicled in some way or another on Facebook or via email. We are still around though and trying to prepare for what 2011 will bring, if that is at all possible.

Our best wishes to all of you, too, as you say good-bye to one year... and hello to another.... and as they said, I hope it's a good one, without any tears...

Long time no see....

Life has not been so dull as to warrant no pictures or posts... just don't think much about posting here... when I post on Facebook (*gasp*).

Summer school has been fun. This shot is from "Project Pinata!" I also taught "Bead Yourself" and "Movie Maker" and did some tutoring, too.

School supplies are starting to show up in stores, which for some of you may be traumatic, but for me.... it incites impulse buys like this pencil case.

Charlie has been reconstructing the neighbor's lawn ornaments. I am in charge of painting the projects. Not quite finished with this one when I took the picture, but you get the idea.

And... we went to the Palmyra Fly-In and Father's Day pancake breakfast/brunch and spend part of the morning with this guy. :o)

So... a few tidbits of the happenings around here.... hope all is well where you are.

Duck, Duck, Duck.... Where?

There they are..... duck eggs.. count'em.. 10. They are in the neighbors garden.. right next to the house.. by the driveway... in the middle of a block.. near a school... not near water. So, that is my new obsession...Egg Watch.

Random

Things that happen in my life get briefly get summarized on Facebook, usually in 20 words or less and I occasionally get tagged in a photo or two, but I feel hard-pressed to find something worthy of blog merit.... I'm just saying. Then I look at the date of the last post and I keep looking at it.. and pretty soon MONTHS have passed since I last added anything here. Pathetic. I know.

So.. for what it's worth....

Here's me.. doing my part for Washington Elementary's Soup-er Art Night! The principal is loving that extra-special scoop of ice cream. I wonder if they knew in advance my Lauber's experience. That wasn't listed under Other Experience on my resume....

Kate and I did a mini-road trip on Friday and Saturday to start the last weekend of her spring break. We went to Cedar Falls IA to see an improv group, coached by a friend of mine, which got to do an opening prior to the musical Avenue Q... so she and I drove out there to see those performances and visit a bit. Just after we got into Cedar Falls, it was starting to rain and we were driving around deciding what we were going to do first when we saw this place. Kate said.. hm.... Zippy's BBQ Shack... it's a SHACK.... food from a shack is always good! Plus, it appeared they were smoking the meat right outside the place. So, we did a quick turn and went into the drive-thru and ordered up some BBQ pork and brisket. Then we headed over the coffee shop parking lot where we were going to meet my friend after a while, and ate the delicious sandwiches while watching the lightning and the pouring rain through the windows of the CR-V!

Here is Zippy's...... next time you're in Cedar Falls... you might have to give it a try. :o)

I know.... I live right there on the edge.

So, since then.....

We/I have:

been amused by our silly Kali... who loves the simple braided piece of fleece that my co-worker made for her....

been to a Rolling Warhawks basketball game with Austin....

continued teaching children who struggle with issues beyond their control,

watched Kate put her photographic skills to work shooting scene shots for the Fort Atkinson High School play, Moonlight and Magnolias..


and celebrated seven years with our sweet Bailey...

among many other things.....

Hope all is well with all of you. :o)

Christmas... and on into the New Year.

Christmas came and went pretty quickly this year it seems....

though we did manage to get the immediate family group together with some efficiency this year.

But we are all, apparently, wondering, "Where did it go?"

Today... a reprieve in some ways...

And so the first snow day of the 2009-2010 school year begins...

Though the snow must be moved, somehow it is a little better to take with a new, auger-style snow blower...
Not everyone enjoys it as much...
Otherwise (since October.. but at least not since July like someone-who-will-not-be-named), the days have been filled with reports, assessments, Thanksgiving with a delicious dinner at my parents' house

visiting and being visted by Kate, a visit from Molly, meetings at school to prep for new students to the program and to monitor the progress of others.... books to read... and now preparation for the Christmas holiday....

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Farmer's Market 2009

If you get your Fort Farmer's Market card marked every week that you make a purchase for the WHOLE summer....you get a t-shirt!! This shows the completely filled card...the combined efforts of this household and one friend with my money (for the week I took Kate to orientation and we drove past the place too early for the vendors... ). SO, the t-shirts should arrive tomorrow for the last Farmer's Market of the season. WOO.. :o)
Annnnnnnd... here they are!! I know... small pleasures.... :o)

What not do to with a book bag..

Exhibit A.

Oh, has it really been 30 years?

There are places I remember

All my life though some have changed

Some forever, not for better

Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life I've loved them all

Curb Appeal

We started this project because this wall (once wooden planks) was falling apart.... so we decided to replace it and, ultimately the rest of the edging, with bricks. So this photographic summary represents today's work... From right to left when facing our house... and around the corner.... We still have a small square surrounding the tree in front of the picture window and small section off the patio in the backyard, but not bad for a day's work. :)

School Days....

Already the feeling of autumn in the air..... and it seems like it has been kind of lurking there all summer here with the weather pattern we experienced this summer. Not that I am complaining about the lack of beastly hot temperatures, yet it somehow defines summer.

For the last couple of weeks, preparations have been under way for the 2009-2010 school year... in various ways. Classroom prep.... Summer Academy classes, where I learned just enough Spanish to be dangerous or look foolish in the attempt and just enough about an assessment tool to drive my anxiety..... determining what the class list looks like and who will be serving whom where... Open House/Meet Your Teacher last Thursday (and the ice cream social)...the official First Day of School for children in the WUSD is Tuesday, September first... as well as for many others in the area. A time of transition, which is not easy for some of my young charges... so sure to be exciting!

Molly starts her classes for this semester on September 9th at UW Stout.... all summer she has been working at The Home Depot... and taking on some new responsibilities in Kitchen and Bath... hanging out with Ella >^..^< ... visiting with us, friends and new neighbors... While we were away, she came to Fort to hang out with her sister for a few days .... to further "bond" with her sister. :) The house was still standing when we returned. All was handled well!

Kate will continue to work at Nasco for most of the month of September.. as the rest of summer help dwindles away. She will begin her new adventure at the Illinois Institute of Art - Schaumburg officially with Move-in Day on October 1. The Institute runs on a quarterly system so the fall semester has a slightly delayed start. She will have four 4 credit courses... two are confirmed.. two are awaiting approval to over-ride the cap. She photographed her first wedding job in August.. and will have another on October 2nd.. between Move-In Day.. and the first day of classes.. whew!

Charlie has been kept busy with the transition to new leadership in the district (and has brought Jamie in on the fun with that one a couple of times)... and the gradual and sudden reappearance of the teaching staff... who want everything done now...amongst his other responsibilities. He goes out and hits a little white ball on occasion to get rid of some of that stress. :)

Best wishes to all who are beginning new things! Hope it will be an exciting time for all.

For 25 years....

On August 4, 2009, we marked twenty-five years.... in Hawai'i! We flew to Honolulu and later boarded NCL's Pride of America for a cruise around the islands before returning to Honolulu for a couple of days, flying home before Tropical Storm Felicia could create waves or winds on Oahu. We went on a few organized excursions.... and a few self-guided tours. It was wonderful! Now, I just have one more of the Nifty Fifty to visit....

Summer fun.

Over the last week or so.... We were able to visit my parents before we headed out on our vacation. My dad will celebrate his 80th birthday on July 30th! So, I wanted to make sure we got to wish him happy birthday before leaving. My pal, Sophie, is front and center.

No... this picture was not taken in our backyard. :-) When our friends, David and Mary were visiting, we went to The Mitchell Park Domes. This shot was taken in the "show" dome, which apparently changes seasonally.

While David and Mary were here, we also went mini-golfing, visited a cousin of his in Lake Geneva, went to dinner at an Indian restaurant, drove around Kettle Moraine, went to the Hoard Museum's new Mystery of the Mounds exhibit.... and other things. The visit went all too quickly... will have to try to get to Ohio to visit them soon.

Also tried to get some of the Barr family together for dinner again. This time, we ate at Hoolihan's in Lake Geneva. We will have to get together again soon and bring more family on board. Suggestions for a location? Good day of the week for all?

Tune in next time for a picture or two from The Grand Adventure... featuring scenes from Hawaii. Maybe Breck and Alice will be able to see our boat from their house!

More summer stuff....

We have been fortunate enough to have a new neighbor that doesn't like the texture of raspberries right off of the bush. She invited us and another neighor to pick whatever we want! The other neighbor is making raspberry liquor (lic-oo-er)... I made two batches of freezer jam so far.. and gave some to the neighbors, including the one who owns the bushes. We will have to decide what else to make. Maybe a pie... :-) Every day on my way home from summer school, I see this family of cranes eating their fill from bird feeders about fifteen feet from the road. Apparently, the pair arrives every year and has at least one offspring each year, seems like every other year they have a pair of offspring. The house is right along Highway 12 just as you are driving into Fort Atkinson. It is the same house where the albino deer (and her two brown fawns) can be seen on occasion. Earlier this spring, a few turkeys were in that field as well.

Tomorrow is the last day of summer school (17th). Then the Relay for Life event will be held at the high school and Kate will help her friend, Elaine, with facepainting (17-18), followed by a visit from some friends for several days (20-23), then sidewalk sales and farmer's market (aka Carnival Days) (24-25), and a brief visit from Molly as she comes down to attend some events with friends (25-27), then we make final preparations for departure (29th)! After we arrive home, preparations for the new school year will begin.... :)

Whew! Where did summer go?

Summer time.

After a brief break (sort of) at the end of school, summer school began. This summer, I am teaching three summer school classes: sign language (third graders), reading/language (5th graders), and math (5th graders...almost the same group). I also participated in two different interview processes... including reading through the files in preparation for the interviews. In between all of that, I have been able to read books that I have wanted to read for a while, go to the farmer's market, Frostie Freeze, go a bike ride on the bike path, pick raspberries, visit my parents and spend time with them, etc. The fun stuff summer brings as well....

Kate started working again at Nasco on June 29th after a delayed start. She started working in the same place as last year, but they switched her to a different place putting kits together this week for an indefinite period of time. Not fun. So, she is hoping that they either get that particularly large order done quickly so she can go back to the other place, or they just move her back to the other place. She is also starting to think more about the transfer to the new school in October. Over the summer and early fall, she will also photograph two weddings.

Molly (and her cat, Ella) came to visit for about a week at the end of June. She asked for a few days off and wasn't scheduled on a few more so got to spend some quality time with us down here. Of course, that makes it difficult to go back up to Menomonie, but hopefully she will find things to keep busy, which may help her meet more people. Before long, school will start again, and she will be busy with that again (I know she is excited about that, too.) We were able to formally celebrate her birthday while she was visiting, including taking in a Brewers game (which included her friend, Jill) and having some CAKE!

Charlie has been able to schedule a few games of golf and was able to get away for a few days at the beginning of July to golf with Jamie and Austin after they picked up Austin from soccer camp. He also has been going to work and helping the new superintendent get onto the network, making sure all of her technology is up and running smoothly. Before long, he will be done with his contracted days and will be able to enjoy the trip to....

HAWAII!! We will mark 25 years marriage on August 4th... so it's our gift for making it that far! YAY US!

Happy Birthday, Molly!!

Now she's twenty-three...she's solid as you'll ever be.....yeah, daddy's little girl has grown up... faster than he could have thought.....

We love you!

My fifteen minutes of fame...

http://www.jsonline.com/features/homeandgarden/47222512.html

About a month ago, I sent pictures of my bookshelf to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a contest. Check the link for the results!

The Last Day of School

All of a sudden it was the last day! This year had a lot of ups and downs, but the last couple of months have been so good and have gone so fast. Given so many extenuating circumstances, it will not be the same next year. I can only hope we will develop some kind of flow.
But TODAY was a good day! Shirts, silly string, candy, Wii, Guitar Hero, The Character Olympics, Field Follies, lunch on the lawn, awards ceremonies, cleaning out of desks, kindergarten graduation, pictures, Apples to Apples, cards, hugs, etc. etc.
Next week, I still have some wrap-up stuff for this year to complete, then summer school will begin for four weeks, but for now, I will just think about today.
My daily support system..... :-)

Happy Birthday, Kate! Ciao, baby!

This house no longer has teenage children.... instead of "I am this many ... 2"
Kate is now this many.... 2 - 0! Happy Birthday to our Kater! :-)