Nice!

Good day at work. Very productive. Second day of spring break for the boys. Neil escaped with Grandma to her house and John stayed home and enjoyed some alone time. I came home with a rotisserie chicken to pull apart for chicken noodle soup and found that my mother-in-law had made a casserole and gosh - it was going to be done in about 15 minutes! Nice!

Watching the premiere of "Body of Proof" with Dana Delany. I'm liking it.

"I'm Coming Home"

John has returned from his trip! He showed us his various souvenirs – baseball cap, books, t-shirts, guitar picks. And we relived his long weekend through his pictures. It all sounded and looked like a great trip. Afterwards I ask him, even though it was a busy, whirlwind of a weekend, would he recommend this type of a trip to friends in the future. He said “Definitely! It was a great trip!”

My mistake

I knew that today Neil was scheduled to perform acolyte duties at our church. I was positive it was to be at the 10:30am service. That's what I had on the calendar. At about 8:40am Neil asked if this was his last Sunday and I said "I'm not sure. Let's check the schedule." That's when we realized Neil was signed up for the 8:00am service! Whoops!

Neil took it upon himself to search out the intern pastor and apologize for getting it mixed up. What a cool thing to do.

It's Complicated

Neil and his friend were awake by 7am! So we made waffles and bacon for breakfast with assorted fruits. Then lunch seemed to come around rather quickly - spaghetti and meatballs!

I went to a friend's house for the afternoon to work on some scout stuff. We really accomplished a lot! Also saw many snowflakes falling - what's up with that?

Now I'm watching this movie "It's Complicated" and it's hilarious so far!

That's All Right (Mama)

"That's All Right (Mama)" is the first recording Elvis made at Sun Studio. John was there today!

Neil had a friend spend the night. Exciting way to start spring break!

"All the Way to Memphis"

"All the Way to Memphis" is what Mott the Hoople sang. And that's where John is headed off to tonight! This is the school's music trip for the year. They leave tonight at 10pm and will arrive in Memphis about noon tomorrow. Their stops include a tour of Sun Studios, dinner and music at BB King's Blues Club, private clinics with the Memphis University music professors, exploring Beale Street, tour the National Civil Rights Museum (located at the Lorranie Motel, assassination site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), shopping at a mall, a performance at and tour of Graceland, tour of the Memphis Rock 'n Soul Museum, a quick stop at the Peabody Hotel to see the Peabody Ducks.....and then they arrive home Monday around noonish!

So I ended up taking today off to catch up on laundry and so some final packing for John as his suitcase needed to be at the school for check in at 4pm. Shhhh......I was able to sneak some shopping in today too!

Fine Arts and Boy Scouts

Neil had two exciting events tonight! First, it was his final Fine Arts Night at the Elementary School. This year's theme was Rain Forest.

Neil pointing to his Square 1 Art drawing.

Neil's clay mask

The decorated hallway outside of Neil's room

The library - great job in here!

Neil's second event of the evening was his very first Boy Scout meeting with Troop 113! He was very excited. This meeting also happened to be a Court of Honor night.



Neil in his new Boy Scout uniform



Neil was asked to participate in the color guard (John's behind the state flag)

John earned a couple more merit badges

Troop 113

Something positive

I accomplished a ton of stuff at work today and feel like I'm geting caught up!

At least for a day.

Karate Tournament

John, Neil and I spent the better part of the day at the spring karate tournament. John did not compete, but he judged and helped out all around. Neil competed in weapons, placing third in his division with his bo-staff. He also sparred. I helped out with score keeping and time keeping. It was a fun day.

Neil with his trophy.

John ready to judge.

Friday Flash

Here's something to wonder about. John drove me into town to go grocery shopping. We're trying to get in as much of his night time driving as we can now for his log. So he walks through the store with me and then drives me home. It's Friday night and he's going grocery shopping with him mom. Poor kid. LOL

Pictures

Here's some pictures from the past few months, showing what we've been up to lately.

Winter scene from our bedroom.

Winter scene

Winter scene - different day.

February 6 was Steve's birthday.

Also Super Bowl Sunday! The Packers won. Here's Neil, the cheddar head.

John being weird at the end of the night.

Neil earned the Arrow of Light award and was honored with his fellow Webelos at the annual Blue and Gold ceremony.

Neil and his friends admiring their Arrow of Light plaques.

Then there was basketball. We rooted for #13.

Huddling with one of the coaches.

All the Youth Basketball participants were introduced during a varsity basketball game.

#13 shooting a free throw during warm ups at the tournament - which they won!

Neil's team celebrating at Culver's after their tournament win!

Our most recent adventure - John's Eagle Scout Project. Here's one of the work crews from the first weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May flowers always line your path
and sunshine light your day.

May songbirds serenade you
every step along the way.

May a rainbow run beside you
in a sky that’s always blue.

And may happiness fill your heart
each day your whole life through.

John

This is the face of a student driver.

Peaceful

Lots to do at work, so I’m staying later. Well, at least until I need to go pick up the boys from their haircuts.

Typically I leave at 3:30pm. Today I visited Mom during my lunch time so I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get the boys at the end of the day. By 4:45pm everyone is pretty much gone. All those people that get here way before I do at 7am have already left. Even co-workers that roll in at 9am have left. It’s very quiet. Very peaceful. The phone doesn’t ring. I do begin to hear the cleaning crew filter in but they don’t really bother me too much.

There’s a couple big projects on the horizon that I will need to stay late for. If I could just stay until 8pm every night I would be able to put in an extra 17.5 hours a week. I’ll have to see how that pans out. I know there’s a couple nights a week it might not work out so well.

Out of here!

Neil got his tooth extracted today. He allowed them to use some numbing gel around the site but no shot. The dentist just pulled it out. So that's over.

John's cold is in full swing.

Enjoying the spring like day!

Light!

Yesterday we turned our clocks ahead and I must say - I sure do enjoy the sunlight after dinner time!

Some random items...

The devastation from the earthquake and tsunami last Friday in Japan is absolutely unbelievable. The living are existing in a nightmare. The nuclear reaction plant is sounding like a meltdown is bound to happen. The tsunami took away four train cars of people - no idea where those people are. It's absolutely incredible.

I got an appointment for Neil to have that tooth removed tomorrow at 2pm.

John is coming down with a cold.

People are still protesting. Now demonstrations in small towns in support of the teachers.

Teeth

Neil's left second molar from the front has popped through but didn't push the baby tooth out. The baby tooth is on the side of Neil's gum line - on the inside - and it's all swollen. And it's not loose enough to pull out. This would explain the on and off headaches this weekend. Sounds like a dental visit to me tomorrow.

Oh - scout pants did not get hemmed up today.

Mid-weekend

After being gone so many weekends with basketball I am finally feeling a bit more caught up. It's just been the usual weekend - cleaning, groceries, laundry. Neil and I actually organized a bunch of movies yesterday. We purged out all the Winnie the Pooh movies and a few others. They are all VHS. I thought the Thomas the Tank Engine ones could go as well as the Magic School Bus series. Apparently someone isn't ready to part with those yet!

John and Steve are on weekend #2 of John's Eagle Project. Looks and sounds like they have made quite a bit of progress.

My one goal before I go to bed tonight is to get Neil's scout pants hemmed up!

Observation

Why are the most breakable items (potato chips) always located on the top shelf of vending machines?

Morning news

Woke up this morning to the news that Japan was hit with an 8.9 magnitude earthquake. There is horrific damage. The earthquake sparked a tsunami headed for Hawaii, due to hit at approximately 7am our time. No reports yet if any damage. Maximum wave heights were predicted to be about 6 feet. Honolulu is protected by a barrier reef so wave heights were expected to be lower there. Low-level tsunami warnings were even issued for the west coast of the continental U.S.

Japan's earthquake was centered off the northwest coast creating a tsunami wave 33 feet high. Incredible! The city closest to the epicenter is Sendai with a population of about 1 million.

What's happening downtown

Just in.

Wisconsin Capitol re-opens as state Assembly takes up bill

Madison, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Throngs of protesters gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, Thursday, pounding on the windows of the state legislature one day after the Senate passed an amended form of a controversial bill that curtails the bargaining rights of most state workers.

Megan Nolan at the Capitol the evening of March 9, 2011

Their actions prompted Capitol police to close the building and forcibly remove demonstrators inside who refused to leave. Police later re-opened one entrance of the building.

"These arrogant actions are what I had a nightmare about last night," said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, a Democrat, who called the lockdown an "outrage."

More protesters began filling up the Capitol building Thursday morning as the state Assembly prepared to vote on the new version of the proposal.

The Assembly was expected to convene at 11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) to vote on the revised measure, which was left only with provisions taking away collective bargaining powers and increasing health insurance and pension fund contributions.

But placard-wielding demonstrators blocked the building's entrances, chanting "Let us in!" as police struggled to keep order. Shortly before noon, lawmakers were able to access the building through the one open entrance.

The Assembly is expected to pass the amended bill, which could then reach Gov. Scott Walker's desk later Thursday for final approval.

Walker defended the proposal as an integral measure that allows Wisconsin to avoid property tax hikes and public employee layoffs.

"It's about giving local government the tools they need to make reforms," he told reporters, saying it's part of an effort to address the state's impending $3.6 billion deficit.

While the proposal has a fiscal impact, he said, the new version of the bill does not have an appropriations component -- something that allowed Senate Republicans to approve the measure Wednesday night, despite the absence of Democratic senators.

Fourteen Democratic senators, who fled the state in mid-February to prevent the 20 votes necessary for a quorum on spending bills, remained absent from the state Capitol Thursday.

"The dirty trick is what those Democrats have played for the last three weeks," Walker said to critics' claims that the Senate had pulled a fast one.

Nearly 200 protesters refused to leave the Capitol after the Senate vote, sleeping on the floor of the rotunda and in front of the Assembly doors. Capitol police had initally allowed the protesters to stay despite a court order that prohibits people from remaining inside the building at night.

In announcing the vote on the measure Wednesday night, Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, the chamber's Republican majority leader, said, "Tonight, the Senate will be passing the items in the Budget Repair Bill that we can with the 19 members who actually do show up and do their jobs."

Senate Democrats have called the bill an attack on the negotiating rights of state employees.

Barca filed a complaint with the Dane County District Attorney's office, claiming Wednesday night's committee hearing on the collective bargaining bill violated Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law.

"The state Senate and the state Assembly violated Wisconsin's very strict Open Meetings Law, by failing to give proper notice of their intended activities," said Lester Pines, an attorney for a teachers' union called Madison Teachers Incorporated. "When you act in violation of the law to pass a bill, the bill itself is void."

Republicans were able to move ahead by voting only on the non-financial aspects of Walker's proposed bill, which requires fewer members for a quorum.

"The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused," Walker said in an earlier statement on the vote. "In order to move the state forward, I applaud the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform government."

But the move drew howls of outrage from outside the chamber, where pro-union demonstrators chanted "shame" and "you lied to Wisconsin" as the bill passed. Thousands more began to converge on the building, and a chorus of horns from passing cars echoed in the streets around the Capitol after the vote.

James Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said officers with the Madison police department and Dane County sheriff's deputies had been placed on alert ahead of Thursday's protests.

Walker and GOP lawmakers are trying to close a $137 million budget shortfall with a plan that calls for curbs on public employee union bargaining rights and requires public workers, with the exception of police and firefighters, to cover more of their retirement plans and health care premiums.

Public employee unions agreed to financial concessions that they say will help meet the state's fiscal needs, but Walker has said the limits on public bargaining are a critical component of his plan. His original bill, which already had passed the state Assembly, would bar public workers other than police and firefighters from bargaining for anything other than wages.

Raises would be capped to the rate of inflation, unless state voters approve. The legislation also would require unions to hold a new certification vote every year, and unions would no longer be allowed to collect dues from workers' paychecks.

Unions mobilized their supporters to oppose the bill, drawing tens of thousands of workers to rallies opposing Walker and supporting the fugitive Democrats.

Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the state AFL-CIO, said Wednesday night's maneuver "shows that Scott Walker and the Republicans have been lying throughout this entire process."

"None of the provisions that attacked workers' rights had anything to do with the budget," Neuenfeldt said. "Losing badly in the court of public opinion and failing to break the Democratic senators' principled stand, Scott Walker and the GOP have eviscerated both the letter and the spirit of the law and our democratic process to ram through their payback to their deep-pocketed friends."

But the Tea Party Express praised the developments, saying Walker was "holding strong" to his principles.

"Under tremendous pressure from union bosses, who have become irrelevant other than in their unquenchable thirst for power, Gov. Walker held fast and did what was best for the people of Wisconsin," a statement from the political action committee said. "This is a victory not only for the state, but for the nation, as many states now face their own budget battles, and will be forced to put a stop to union bullying that has become almost commonplace."

The vote in the Senate on the amended measure was 18-1, with Republican state Sen. Dale Schultz -- who earlier had floated a compromise that neither side bought into -- the lone opponent.

"The gig is now up. The fraud on the people of Wisconsin is now very clear. They are now going to pass a bill to take away people's rights," Barca said.

And Sen. Mark Miller, the Democratic Senate leader, said Republicans "conspired to take government away from the people."

"In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin," Miller said in a statement condemning the vote. "Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten."

Ageless

Age is a funny thing. I’ll spill the beans and tell you this year I’ll be 49. Almost 50. I do not think I fit the image of a 50 year old that I held as a child. In fact, I think I look pretty damn good for my age. Sure there are a few curvier curves than I care to have, but I don’t have prominent wrinkles nor do I have that tired look that I remember "old" people having.

Even with my good self esteem, sometimes it hits me. Like yesterday when I was leaving work. I walked past a group of mid to late 20-somethings and realized they will be the ones in management positions soon. I remember when I was in that group, almost 30 years ago. It seems so long ago.

Spring snow

We had quite the spring snow storm today. The weather people were expecting 1-2 inches and by 6:30am we had 4 inches! And it was still coming down for several hours. School went on a 2 hour delay and then closed down for the day. The interstate was horrible, as if it wasn’t even plowed.

I was a very pretty snowfall. Large flakes falling down. The best thing about a spring snowfall is that is sure doesn’t last long. Big difference this afternoon already and warmer temperatures are on their way!

Done!

John has completed the driver’s ed classroom instruction and the behind the wheel driving – with the exception of one more behind the wheel session a couple weeks before he can take his road test in August. So now it’s practice, practice, practice!

Another Monday!

Not much to report on today. Work wasn’t anything special today. John had driver’s ed tonight. Neil had karate. I did a little more sewing of uniform patches. I sized up Neil’s scout pants so now I know how they need to altered. Tried to watch Hawaii 5-0 but couldn’t keep my eyes open!

Weekend wrap up

Friday night I was exhausted. I was able to pull together a grocery list. I watched “Who do you think you are?” which is a celebrity genealogy show. Lionel Richie was featured in this episode. Dateline was devoting a whole hour to the whole Charlie Sheen – suicide on TV story. The guy is just whacked. Anyway, as much as I wanted to watch, I struggled to stay awake for the whole show.

Saturday was John’s first work day for his Eagle Scout project. Actually, both days went well this weekend in respect to that. His Sunday afternoon crew even finished early.

I spent the majority of the weekend doing laundry, cleaning, getting groceries. I needed to run an errand Saturday night, so John got some more night time driving done. He’s getting better.

This is my favorite moment of the weekend. So nice to see that Neil understands the computer is for so much more than games.



The accounting of my day

About 6:30am I realized Neil hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. I went in to check on him and he said he felt sick. He did feel warm and said his stomach was upset. He looked pale also. So I had him stay home from school.  I called Grandma Sharon and she was able to come up.

I had planned on driving Neil to school, but this worked out nicely as I was able to get more things done before I left the house for the day. I stopped to make a bank deposit and then went through the car wash. The inside of my car was just getting nasty. It’s so hard to clean out the inside during the winter. I drove through the main post office to drop off a birthday card and then began my drive towards Stoughton. I stopped at Mom & Dad’s bank in McFarland to put some documents back in the safe deposit box. I got to Stoughton about 11am.

Dave and Debbie were not back yet from getting the moving truck. As it turns out, they had reserved the smallest sized truck. There was a mixed and the next larger size truck was substituted along with a 10% discount and some free blankets. They returned to the house about 11:30am. I made the suggestion that before we got too involved in packing things, maybe we should go over to visit Mom.

Mom was in a fairly good mood and behavior, which was nice for Dave and Debbie. Her agitation is nicely controlled with Lorazepam. She still uses nonsense words mixed into her sentences, but the calmness is a welcome change! We visited for about an hour and then stopped at the Family Diner for a bite to eat.

Dave had a proposal he needed to finish up by 5pm, so he worked on that while Debbie and I went through things. They had brought up from the basement the boxes that had been packed previously. So we decided to go through quilts. We went through the whole house and gathered all the quilts – big and small – and put them in a pile. We divided things up three ways, leaving some things for Steve and Danita. I also had Debbie choose which set of silverware she wanted to take. I took Grandma Schucknecht’s. Debbie decided on Mom’s set which leaves Grandma Ewald’s set for Steve and Danita. We ran across Mom’s wedding dress which I brought home. Also a silver serving tray that was a wedding gift from all the Quisling Clinic doctors Mom and Dad used to work with. Mom kept the card with the platter.

After 5pm, Dave helped with the loading of the truck. I guess the bigger truck probably works out ok as they didn’t have to stack anything. About 7:00pm we headed down to the Mainstreet Pour House. As incredible as it sounds, this place has the absolute best martinis I’ve ever tasted! Good food, quaint décor, just a nice place to hang out. We stayed until about 8:30, then it was time to go. I drove Dave and Debbie back to the house and headed home myself.

Debbie said the next time Dave goes out of country for work again (perhaps March 19) she would fly in so the two of us can get some stuff done in the house so we can get it on the market. I think the next thing we need to concentrate on is gathering all the quilting material scraps, tools, machines, etc. and calling Mom’s friend Louise over for advice as to what we should do with all that stuff! There are boxes of material squirreled away in every corner of the house!

Visitors

Dave and Debbie are arriving this evening about 6:40pm. They are renting a truck and taking what had been boxed up before plus some furniture for Josh. I will be meeting up with them for dinner tonight and then heading down to Stoughton tomorrow to help load up the truck and just hang out with them.

We received our bonus letters today. I’m quite happy with mine. The payout isn’t until March 11, but that’s ok. After so many years of getting a pocket calendar or chocolate for a Christmas “bonus”, I really appreciate the cash bonuses we’ve been getting the last few years. The dollar amount wasn’t too great last year, but this year makes up for it.

Long day

I woke up at 3:30am thinking about the fundraising activities for the Germany trip and couldn’t get back to sleep. The expectations put on us parents is unrealistic. It’s very upsetting to me.

After I arrived at work, I began my follow up assignments from the parent meeting the night before. No problems on the medical insurance – fully covered, but you have to pay the costs upfront and then submit for reimbursement. I was able to set up John’s bank account so I can link to it and feed money into it. The reason for this is I want him to take a debit card with him on trips instead of a lot of cash. He can test it out on his Memphis trip over spring break.

I caved on the fundraising activities. I signed up John & I to bus tables for two nights at a local establishment. There was mention of perhaps holding a silent auction, so I offered to donate one of Mom’s quilts. I also signed up to make taco or BBQ meat for a concession stand – and help out at the concession stand. Lastly I signed up for two bake sales. Made me feel better, like I’m contributing and helping out. That would be my positive for today!

We had our quarterly all hands departmental meeting today. B-o-r-i-n-g!

John had behind the wheel driving with his instructor immediately after school. He drove himself home and got there about 5:00pm. Neil had his pizza party with his basketball team. That sounded fun. John and I had to go to his Boy Scout Troop meeting. The next few weeks will be busy there – National Youth Leader Training selections, Board of Reviews, Court of Honor, a parent meeting, getting folders ready for the “new scouts”.