Only 6 more days until Ground Hog Day!

I think that must mean spring will be here soon – or at least sometime – there’s hope at least.

A few bits of news…well, let’s see – where to start.

I visited Grandpa and Gloria Friday. We had Subway subs (nice roasted chicken with veggies) and a pretty good visit. Dad seemed a bit down. Next visit I’m going to drop off a few movies “RV”, “Wild Hogs”, and “Night at the Museum” for them to watch. They’re pretty harmless comedies – though I’m not sure they’ll like them – we’ll see. I got them previously viewed from an area movie rental place so we’ll see how they like them and then go from there.

Yesterday I spent most of the day with Christi. We saw the movie “27 Dresses” ($5 movies before 11AM at Marcus Theaters) and it was harmless, silly fun. Nothing too deep there. After that we ran some errands and I found the book on CD “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”. I like listening to books on CD when I’m driving and since that book is about 26 hours long it’s quite a few trips.

This week at work will be very busy. I have 2 days of meetings, 2 loans to get to approval, and 1 loan to close. That’s in addition to a lot of end of the month things that need attention. Never a dull moment!

The weather here has been a pain. I think that we just get used to it sometimes. Right now it’s funny to hear about people say that it’s going to be warm and know that they are referring to temps just above freezing. I can’t wait for warm to mean 70’s.

Well, I’ve still got lots to do and take care of here so I’ll get to work on that.
Best wishes and take care!

Stories from the cold land...

I'm tired of winter! :) It's snowing again. It's also so cold - negative single digits with wind chills in the negative 20's and 30's right now. It's a bummer. Sounds like it'll go on for some time yet too - below normal temps.

The Packers loss to the New York Giants in the NFC playoff game last night (winner to go to Super Bowl) was a big disappointment. They were favored to win but just couldn't get to that point. It was still a good season - they did better than anticipated.

Daisy walking has been a challenge. Her feet hurt from the cold. She doesn't want to walk far or fast. The worst spots are when we're crossing places (like the roads) where there's a lot of salt. I've been trying to get something that will work figured out. We found dog booties (rather pricey) at a pet store in Madison but she doesn't want to keep them on and they don't fit well. I used a suggestion from Linda to try and use vet wrap - which seems to work on her back legs pretty well but it's a battle between her fighting to rip them off and them working their way off on her front paws. I'll take suggestions on this one! :()

Well, I'd better get going - It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day - so technically I'm off work but I will be heading that way before too long to try and get a few things done.

Take care!

It's cold out there!

It's so true - we take things for granted sometimes until they are gone. It happened to me this week. I went to work on Monday with all going well at the house. When I finally got home after work at about 6:30, the house was cold. It was already in the 50's - the furnace had stopped working.

I called and the landlord and a furnace repair person came in about an hour (it was down in the 40's by then and I was bundled up with hat, gloves, and heavy clothing. After about an hour of work (quite common apparently with furnaces) the cleaning and things were done and the furnace worked. It took another few hours to really get the house warmed up again. Now I really appreciate a working furnace when temps are below freezing. Hopefully too - this tune up/cleaning will increase the efficiency of the unit so I can save some money. :)

Very cold - right now it's about 5 degrees F out there. Wind chills are giving us below zero temps. It's just going to be a very cold time of it with highs tomorrow in negative numbers. Bummers!

Walking Daisy in the cold has been a real challenge. Neither of us want to be out for long. I'm glad we're in agreement on that! :)

Gloria's birthday - well she was quite happy. I think she really honestly enjoyed the day. She spent Wednesday night telling me about how many cards, gifts, and calls she'd gotten. I'm happy for her - she really deserves it!

Visits to family...

Friday afternoon I took the afternoon off work to go and visit family. My first stop was at Merl and Ev's. Ev still makes the best fudge - very much like Mom's. She sent me home with a small plate of it. :) I didn't stay too long - they were leaving that afternoon for Friday night bowling - they belong to a couple's league. Their one living room window looks onto the side yard and crop area. Merl feeds the birds and gets a really nice variety of them - including 4 male cardinals and 3 female cardinals that I saw when I was there. It was very nice and relaxing.

Jeremy - Dick's son got engaged over Christmas. They have been going together for quite a while and are looking at getting married in 2009. Danny is back up at Rochester getting light treatments for the organ rejection maintenance. He'll be up there at least through the end of January probably. Robin and Daniel travel up there as much as they can and Dan can come home on weekends. Deb is busy with running the girls to school and swimming events. Sounds like the girls are keeping her quite busy. Tim is very busy - lots of overtime at his job in Boscobel. Samantha is still on maternity leave and is trying to find a job closer to their home in Cobb (right now she works at American TV in Madison).

After visiting with them for a couple of hours, I went to visit Monnie at the nursing home. She knew who I was right away (which Merl and Ev had warned me might happen). We visited for about an hour. During that time, she told me about "little Joe". Little Joe apparently is a young boy who lives in her room and cries all the time. She feels sorry for him and tries to help him. she also said that he goes away sometimes to pick corn and bale it up. She's still the same kind person - just has a bit of a disconnect with things it seems.

My next stop was at Dad and Gloria's. I picked up fish dinners (Dad bought) at Riverside Restaurant there in Darlington and took them up there. They have really nice baked cod dinners - though too much food! I didn't stay there too long - maybe an hour and a half - Dad and I were both getting tired. :) They seem well though - Gloria is handling things pretty well and Dad is cooperating in taking his medicines.

Dad has a doctor appointment Monday afternoon. I'm going to see if I can get off work to help get him there and back. Should be interesting...

Work is painfully busy. I really need to spend a week behind a closed door - people mean well but the phone and drop in interuptions really make getting the work done a challenge. I should get about 5 loans approved and closed this month (typically it's about 2 closings a month). That makes it a bit overwhelming...Oh well I'll try.

Not much else - we're above freezing now. That means all the snow is packing down and starting to melt - water puddles and icy stuff everywhere - bummers! I hope we can avoid floods in the lower lying areas.

Best wishes and take care!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie!

For all the Harry Potter fans - the projected US release for this movie is November 21, 2008. Just thought you might like to know! :) I wonder if they're planning on releasing it in 3-D or IMAX again.

Other than that... :)

Matt and Christi made it safely back to their homes last night. It seems strangely quiet now here in the house. I guess that's to be expected.

Dad had another bad day yesterday - he couldn't seem to catch his breath. Gloria didn't want us visiting when Matt was sick.

Today I'm back at work. That should be interesting. Lots to do and take care of and plenty to catch up on...

Take care!

Happy New Year!

Last night – well I was asleep by about 11. They’re giving me a hard time about that! Christi and I went to the 7PM movie downtown “National Treasure 2” – entertaining but not historically accurate last night. After that we got home and basically Matt put in a movie called “Hot Fuzz” (the same people who made Shaun of the Dead) and that’s when I fell asleep. Oh well.

Today – well the plans are to watch the Badgers play football in the Outback bowl in Florida. It’s on right now. This morning before anyone else got up I watched the Rose Bowl special on Home and Garden TV. They were showing how they take plants apart and design the floats for the parade. All of the floats have to be covered 100% by organic matter so it’s really interesting to see how they are designed and put together. Much of the work is done by volunteers (some college students from California get credit – engineers majors for designs, etc, and art design students for work, etc.). It was interesting. They've created quite a business for flower and plant growers. They try to use as much local items as possible but one float required importing some plants from the Middle East because there simply weren't enough available in the US.

After the football game, we’ll have lunch, then they’ll probably start getting ready to leave. We’re getting a bit more snow here and winds are supposed to be picking up later today. It’s back to work tomorrow for Matt and I and I think Christi wants to get some other things done before she’s back in school. Also, she’s working her security guard thing this weekend.

For Christmas – I got a new keyless entry and key for my car (my key worked but the keyless entry wasn’t working – it’s a keychain thing). Very nice and practical – especially in the winter when the locks freeze shut. Matt and Christi also got me a GPS unit (basic model) so that I can put it in the car and know where I’m going. I had complained that I’d gotten lost a few times during my travels so it was nice and much appreciated. I need to learn how to work it now though…Their other gift to me was a 6 pack of Viva paper towels (they’re very nice and rather pricey so much appreciated). I’ll conserve them and use them sparingly. Otherwise, I got the very nice and much appreciated calendar from Daniel, a gift card from Dad and Gloria, and nice lotion and toffee from Sue, M&M’s and a $10 Amazon gift card from Tim, some Land’s End butter toffee from Linda and family, and just lots of very nice things from everyone. It was a good Christmas for spending time with family. The New Zealand call on Christmas Eve was a definite bonus!

Oh – Santa brought the usual – socks and gloves, toiletries, TP, soaps, etc., a Harry Potter calendar, and a nice coupon book (good for things in the area).

After Christmas shopping was a bit disappointing. I had hoped to pick up some nice cards at a good price but some things just aren't being discounted enough yet. I'll have to keep looking. I still don't need any wrapping paper - the silver Butterfinger wrap is holding up well. I found some nice gift tags (Christi has been giving me a hard time about my homemade ones), some stickers, and a few other things. I also got a few candles and a few hot chocolate mixes (for possible gifts).

I did manage to find a very nice nativity set (Willow Tree http://www.demdaco.com/SearchResult.aspx?Manufacturer=112&Vendor=176&ViewAll=True ). I have the 6 piece Nativity, the 3 wise men, the Shepard and stable animals, and 2 metal star backdrops. They are typically not discounted but they had extras down at Dicks (now called Piggly Wiggly) so I got them at a really good price (50-75% off). I've been waiting to buy one until it was a more reasonable price - still this was a splurge! These sets are the kind of things that get handed down generation to generation. Now I need to find a way to store them until next year - oh my!

My 2008 calendars are all up - including the family one (living room) and the one I got from Daniel (kitchen). Next I'll have to work on taking down my Christmas stuff. Things will seem a bit drearier after I take that stuff down. I do need to update my address book and things though and I can use the cards to get that done.

Well, I'd better get going. Lots to do and take care of today. Go Badgers!

Best wishes for a safe, happy, and healthy New Year!