Where has the month gone?

I have neglected my blogging duties.

It’s been a busy few weeks, all leading up to this weekend. Tonight Neil will earn his black belt. He is very excited.

These first couple of weeks of October have been beautiful weather-wise. We’ve had temperatures in the upper 70’s to low 80’s. Just the last couple days has the temps “cooled” to the 60’s.

October 2 both John and Neil attending seminars with Bill “Superfoot” Wallace. "Superfoot" is an American martial artist who was a Professional Karate Association world full-contact karate champion. He was the Professional Karate Association Middleweight Champion kickboxer for over 15 years. He relinquished the crown in 1980, undefeated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wallace_(martial_arts)

October 6 Steve and I went on a Betty Lou Dinner Cruise on Lake Monona with the Stamms and Nolans. Again, we had gorgeous weather so it was a great evening. The dinner buffet was Caribbean food and it was all very tasty.

October 9 Neil had his Acceptance Day. On this day, the candidates go through all their forms, combinations, self defense, and perform their personal form in front of their school’s black belts. If the black belts feel the candidates are worthy of wearing the black belt, the candidates are “accepted”. The day ends with the candidates sparring the black belts. Neil’s Acceptance Day lasted just over four hours.

John earned his first Masters Star at his October 11 Star Test. Each Masters Block is about six months long. This first block was escrima sticks. As with regular karate, there are forms and combinations using the escrima sticks. The students also had to devise a fight scene.

Tonight is Neil’s Supertest. This is very similar to a regular belt promotion test except on steroids! At the end of the couple hour test, Neil will have earned his black belt.

Sunday will be the black belt graduation ceremony.

Just saying...

Sometimes it's ok to just wash the pillow cases.

Weekend wrap up - New week begins

It’s Monday and all I can say is the weekend went too fast! Always does.

Saturday night we all watched “Sherlock Holmes” with Robert Downey Jr. I’m so glad Robert cleaned up his act. He has always been a great talent.

Yesterday Neil had candidate training from 10:30am – 2:00pm. I had an ambitious list of things to try to accomplish while he was at training. I went to Kohl’s and found a new winter jacket. Also picked up a plaid autumn themed tablecloth, a candle, and a couple pairs of jeans for John. Then I went to Shopko and nosed around for a bit. Did leave there with three new tops. I wanted to get a manicure and I had a packet of coupons to use at Target. Since it was 12:30pm I decided to get the manicure. Afterwards I went to DeForest to sit and wait for Neil to finish up.

We got home about 2:30pm. No Steve – he had gone over to Pete’s to watch the Packer game. John was working on homework. I picked up on laundry. Steve did get my bathroom storage armoire assembled and I was filling that up with fresh towels.

I had put a turkey breast in the crock pot in the morning. So at about 4:00pm I began making mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, beans. It was all very good. I should have made a pumpkin pie too! At 7:30pm I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I sorted through some paperwork and then about 9:00pm I headed upstairs for a little TV time.

Tonight will be maddening. The boys have karate at 4:00pm and leadership at 4:45pm. John will stay for Masters class. Neil and I will head home at 5:30pm, eat something quickly, then make his 6:45pm Den meeting. We should get home shortly after 8:00pm. I hope Neil doesn’t have a lot of homework. Thankfully they had a two hour late start scheduled today so he could do his reading this morning.

Recommendations

One of the blogs I'm loving is Pioneer Woman. I saw it on one of my friend's lists and checked it out. You need to go there. She makes me smile.

Yesterday was lots of running around. 1pm I met Mom and the resident care coordinator at Dean - Fish Hatchery for an appointment with a wound care specialist. I picked Neil up from school at 3pm. After feeding him and having him collect his karate gear, I got him to karate by 4:30pm. In DeForest - not Lodi. Drove back home and got John to the high school by 6pm as the band was playing at the football game. Then I went into work to scan to PDF all those "important" documents concerning Mom & Dad (trust, power of attornery, etc.). Got to DeForest by 8pm to pick up Neil. Went to Culver's with three other black belt candidates so these kids could eat again. Home by 9pm. Steve picked up John about 9:30pm.

Today I've created a grocery list, bought groceries, put groceries away. Laundry. Cleaned. Seems like that is all I do with my free time.

I am excited. My storage cabinet for the bathroom came in yesterday. Steve and John went and picked it up. Hope they put it together before the end of the day.

Never too late to learn

Last night I learned that 60% of all Wisconsinites live within 20 miles of the Ice Age Trail.

Check this out!

I like my Yak Pak lunch bag…it's not what’s inside but how it accessorizes me! I found it at Kohl's when I was out school shopping with John a month or so ago.

This is a messenger bag, but it's the same pattern as my lunch bag.

There's something in the air

Today I’m noticing a change in the temperatures. The corn is drying out and harvest has begun. The soybean fields are colored tan. I’m seeing some trees beginning to turn color too. I really enjoy fall. Warm days without the humidity. The fall festivals. It’s a nice time of the year.

Cap City Karate Tournament

Today was a full day of karate. Neil competed in weapons, forms and sparring. John competed in forms and sparring. He also judged for the first time today. I helped with scoring and time keeping. I enjoyed it. Made the day go by a bit quicker.

Since I was busy I didn't really get a chance to take pictures at the tournament, but here's a few that I took before we left this morning.

The belts have arrived!

Neil is halfway through his black belt candidate training. This past week the belts came in. Here they are on display at the karate school.

The Lodi candidates' belts on display.

Close up of Mr. Hunter's!

September 11 tribute

 (This was written by my friend, Cheryl Dewey, on September 11, 2001. I publish it here with her permission.)

To My Child on September 11

by Cheryl Dewey

How will I ever be able to tell you the horrible tragedy that happened on this day?
How will I be able to put it into words, what could I possibly say?

You won't be able to understand the devastation, the loss we all have felt.
The horror or the pain inside from what we've all been dealt.

To watch so many people die in vain, so many innocent lives lost.
We'll never know the answer to our questions or the price it all has cost.

How can you put a price on the things we all have seen,
the people that have been taken away?
Will there ever be a time it doesn't hurt so bad, will it ever go away?

How do I tell you of the ache inside, deep within my heart,
over the fact that our nation is in so much pain, we have been torn apart.

You'll read about it in school books, but you'll never know the way it felt on that day.

To know not everyone could have gotten out of that building,
to know there was no way.

You'll see the repeats of the shows probably for years,
but you'll never know how hard it was to go on and put away those fears.

To hear an airplane up above and feel that grip on your heart.
To not know if it was our military protecting us,
or another terrorist about to tear us apart.

How do I explain about the heroism of the people who stopped that plane
and knew they would all die?
How do I tell you of the Pentagon, will it still be okay to cry?

Will I be able to explain to you how hatred can destroy so much, people, families, love?
Or will I tell you all I know and leave the rest to God above?

To hope He will be able to show you that although there is bad in this world,
there's also a lot good.
And that if you love and if you care, you're doing all you should.

Terrorism can break buildings, it can scare us, it can kill.
But it can't destroy our faith in God or take away our will!

I will tell you America is the land I love that nothing will break our will.
That even after all is said and done, our country will be here still!

Final Four!

So last night the final four was announced for America's Got Talent.

• Prince Poppycock
• Michael Grimm
• Jackie Evancho
• Fighting Gravity

And I do agree with the choices. They are all good. I do keep the consideration "who could headline a Vegas show" in the front of my mind. I don't think Jackie Evancho falls into that category, but she is an incredible talent.

I'll be very pleased with any of the other three winning. I should make my prediction now. I really lean towards Fighting Gravity coming out on top - or Prince Poppycock. Michael Grimm was my favorite from the very first show, but I think he'll get an extraordinary recording contract out of this instead of the top spot.

Tune in next week!

Back to work Tuesday

Back to work after a holiday weekend. It was a tough start this morning.

But it is the little things that please us most, isn’t it? I don’t typically run to Wal-Mart during lunch since there are other options closer to where I work. But sometimes a trip to Wal-Mart is required. I need to replace the bath mat at home and my preference is the Rubber Maid brand. Wal-Mart use to carry the Rubber Maid brand, but now it’s only online and in limited stores. They do offered a similar quality item under their Home Trends brand, which works for me.

To my amazement, I did not have to settle with the basic off-white bath mat today. Green was an option also! And since my bathroom is grey with blue and green accents I went wild and choose the green today.

And what caught my eye as I was walking down the aisle but clearance priced valances. I checked and sure enough, they had an offering in blue that will work perfectly in my bathroom.

As I headed to the check out I remembered I was going to pick up some blank CDs the next time I was out. They were almost a full 50% off! Will the excitement ever end???

So that was my lunch today.

Labor Day!

Day 3 of the three day weekend! Just sitting here watching TV and thinking how funny it was that all the Monday night shows were on - because I was thinking it was Sunday night!

Spent the majority of the day emptying Neil's closet of too small clothes, pulling out hand me downs from the totes, repacking totes with new hand me downs from John, and packaging everything up for a Goodwill donation.

Middle of the weekend

It's Sunday. Steve's up early and out back to fix the cement stoop. The step he poured and put in years ago has settled and it's a rather huge step now.

Trying to get the domestic chores done early. Changed all the bedding and am washing the sheets along with towels. It's just riveting, isn't it?

Neil and I just spent some time going through his Q&A for his black belt candidate training. He had some very good answers to the questions. My job is to now type up his answers so he can hand them in.

I picked up beef sticks and teriyaki jerky at the meat market yesterday. For some reason I was intrigued. I've never in my life tried a "Slim Jim" or anything like that. At least at the meat market they are in sealed packages. The beef sticks were very good with a spicy taste to them and the teriyaki jerky was delicious! Have I just dropped another notch on the cosmopolitan belt of life?

Finished the day off by celebrating Patty's 50th birthday at Paisan's. The Nolans, Stamms and my family all went. Always yummy. Then we went over to Tenney Park and watched the Venetian Boat Parade.

Day one

Saturday...the first day of our Labor Day weekend, 2010.

Steve needs to get a house plan completed by early next week so he went into work for the day.

Neil had been invited over to Eric's. I took him in. Eric's family bought the cutest basset hound puppy for Eric's mom as an anniversary gift. The puppy's name hasn't been decided upon yet. I hope the puppy grows into it's ears! Neil returned home just after three o'clock. Twenty minutes later he was on his way to Dominic's at the end of our road.

John didn't do much today. He did vacuum for me and he purged clothes from his closet that do not fit anymore. After Pete returned our lawnmower, John began to mow our yard until dinner time.

My day went like this. I put a grocery list together. Dropped Neil at Eric's and then went over to the meat market. Our Boy Scout troop was selling brats in front of the meat market today, so I stopped and chatted with Rae and Karen. After picking up my order I then drove over to Piggly Wiggly to pick up the rest of my groceries. After putting groceries away and lunch, I cleaned the bathrooms. Then I made food. I made brownies and banana bread. Then I made mashed potatoes for early next week. Sharon had brought a lot of potatoes back from the farm and I figured this was one way to use some of them. By that time dinner needed to be started. I'm now previewing a movie.

Hard to believe

Today is Friday of Labor weekend. I can't believe it only got around 60 degrees today! Especially since yesterday it felt like a steam bath when I left work in the afternoon.

The family went to Fitzgerald's for Friday fish fry. We actually had their fish buffet which was fantastic!

John - Day 1

Only freshman go to high school on the district's first day of school, so today was John's first day. Here's the annual pictures!

End of day report

And Neil summed up the day by saying "I just don't have the enthusiasm for 5th grade because this is my third year in this (elementary) school."

Not much else of a report of his first day back at school!

Neil - Day 1

Back to school today for Neil! Last year at the Elementary School as he enters 5th grade.

And summer winds down...

Tomorrow is the first day of school. At least for Neil. John will start on Thursday as only freshman attend high school on the first day. It doesn’t seem like we did a lot this summer, but looking back we were pretty busy!

John and Neil joined the karate demo team. They walked in a couple parades and performed at three demonstrations.  

Arlington parade

There were several Boy Scout camps. John spent a week at National Youth Leader Training and another week at his regular summer camp. He also attended the Order of the Arrow ordeal weekend. Neil and Steve spent a couple nights at Ed Bryant Scout Reserve for Cub Scout resident camp.

John, the Boy Scout

We saw fireworks not only on the 4th of July at DeForest, but also from the Hwy. 60 Bridge in Prairie du Sac and at Dekorra’s Midsummer Night festival.

Neil volunteered at the library as a Library Assistant three Wednesday mornings in June. He really seemed to enjoy helping out around the library and reading to younger kids.

Neil passed his pre-qualification test and is now in black belt candidate training. He’s very excited.


At the end of July we spent three days/two nights at the Wilderness Resort playing in the water parks. John and Neil each got to bring a friend. 

Jake and John

Neil and Hunter

Steve

Me!

John attended his first band camp at the beginning of August. He marched in the Susie Day parade with the high school band.

We celebrated two birthdays in August also! Neil is now 11 and John is 15. We had a small immediate family celebration on their birthdays at home with a large extended family dinner at Ginza. Steve and I also celebrated an anniversary in a very timely manner. We went to a Cheap Trick concert in WI Dells at the Crystal Grand Theater.

Neil and John at Ginza

And we snuck in a bunch of day trips during August. House on the Rock. Stonefield Village. Villa Louis. Crossed the Mississippi into Iowa. EAA Museum, single engine plane rides included! Barlow Planetarium. Fox River Mall.

Gardens at House on the Rock

Sharon and boys on Gov. Dewey's porch at Stonefield Village

Stonefield Village

Entry to Villa Louis

John on Villa Louis grounds

Overlooking the Mississippi - we're in Iowa!

Plane ride at EAA Museum

It's all coming together

Lots of good things today.

1. Decent offer on the South Carolina home.
2. My Craig's List posting netted a hair stylist for Mom's assisted living home.
3. Dropped off a trunk-full of items at Goodwill.
4. A beauty weather day.