Shortest entry ever, but something's better than nothing!

Jeff and I have been working outside the house to get it ready for the big grad party! We ordered new shutters over the winter and Jeff's got them all up now! Makes such a difference and shows off the trim that was painted last fall. Jeff and I have been planting flowers and distributing 12 yds of mulch in all our gardens. To be continued...








Changed it up this year and watched the Sussex Memorial Day Parade because Lucy was marching in it with her Girl Scout Troop. Not a very nice day though!

May 31 we surprised Paige with a birthday party. Her friends hid and yelled "Surprise!" when AJ brought her back from dinner. Lucy was especially excited and was the real highlight of the evening. Friends enjoyed cake and ice cream then drove over to the bowling alley for Midnight Bowling.

I drove Bryn down to Midway Airport in Chicago to catch her flight down to Austin, TX on June 6. Bryn has a week of downtime between the end of coaching track and starting her summer playground job. Bryn asked for plane tickets for Christmas so she could visit her good friend, Natalie, who now lives there. From what I'm seeing on Facebook and Instagram, Natalie is treating her well! Bryn is so lucky!





We've been fortunate to meet Abby's boyfriend twice already this summer. Aaron's from Minnesota, but was in town with family the past two weekends and made a point to see Abby both times. Abby downloaded some sheet music, and Aaron sang and played Bryn's guitar while Abby accompanied him on the piano. You can check out more of Aaron on YouTube. He's quite talented.

Bryn moved herself back home May 8. Since Bryn had the van, I figured she was OK on her own. I think she could've used a little help. She did it, but I think moving's always more than you expect. That evening Paige and I accompanied Bryn to her home track meet. Paige requested to record and do some interviews for her Media Studies class that airs a weekly news show for the school. I got to help Bryn with some race timing.

That same day was the much-awaited dermatologist appointment for Paige. The dermatologist confirmed our general practitioner's original diagnosis: a staph infection called folliculitis. Paige was prescribed another antibiotic that she'd been on previously with the dermatologist and so far, so good. Paige has to take this antibiotic for 8 weeks, then check back in with the dermatologist. She also has to shower using an expensive antibiotic cleanser. Paige feels much better knowing she's on a steady course to getting rid of this rash.

Jeff and I joined a couples golf league that plays every other Friday night through the summer. Jeff and I were all layered up and prepared to get out there on May 10, but were relieved to receive an email from the club a couple hours beforehand that the start date was pushed back because it was so cold (45°). So we'll try again on the 24th! We don't know anybody on the league, but will as we rotate through playing other couples each time.

My family planned a terrific Mother's Day for me. I was treated to a quiche for breakfast. Then escorted on a lovely outing to the Bradley Sculpture Garden. We did make the outing kind of a quick one as it was a little chilly out on the grounds. We also made stops at Red Mango for frozen yogurt and a flower shop.

Paige's senior year is rapidly ending and so the events are stacking up. Friday May 17 was the Senior Holiday Dance where only seniors are allowed to attend. Kids don't go as "dates", so there's no flowers, pictures, formalwear, etc. to add to the drama. I was allowed one picture, but got away with taking three. :) Paige went with a bunch of friends and they hung out at a friend's afterward.

Terry purchased 3 Kenny Chesney concert tickets for our family for Christmas last year. The concert was Saturday May 18 and it was a great day! Jeff, Bryn and I ended up representing the Saunders family. Terry, Debbie, Kayla and Nate came from Appleton. Miller Park opened up the parking lot at 1:00 for tailgating and we parked at 1:30. We had an excellent spot with our trunk open to a grass boulevard behind us. We grilled brats, burgers and hot dogs and had a great spread of snacks and side dishes. The weather was perfect: just under 70° and sunny. We headed inside just after 4:00 and the first opening act (there were three!) started at 5:00. Kenny put on a terrific show as expected.

With Bryn home we were finally able to schedule her flight to Texas to visit her good friend Natalie who now lives, works and goes to school in Austin. Bryn will fly out June 6 after her high school track season is over and come back June 13 in time for Paige's graduation and before her playground job starts the next week. Southwest Airlines has a direct flight to Austin from Midway Airport, so we'll have to get her there. I figure it's worth having the direct flight.

So Paige's itchy saga continues. We spoke to the doctor yet again and he admitted that he's not sure what's causing the rash to continue. So he recommended we visit a dermatologist. Her appointment is Wednesday.

I was introduced to the entire company, Core Creative, on the 24th as a regular freelancer, coming in to work there 3 days/week indefinitely. Nice to have that consistency.

After months of having paint chips taped to our bedroom wall, Jeff and I finally got to the paint store and had them mix up our chosen color. I did all the taping, painting around the trim and vacuuming along all the corner and creases. The drapes came down and went to the dry cleaners. Jeff's just finishing up the ceiling so hopefully we can move the furniture back next weekend.

Our cars have decided to act up lately. Bryn called us Friday 24th on her way home from a track meet to tell us a tire on the van blew out. And she was driving! Luckily she only had 2 blocks to her parking lot. Jeff drove out the next day, brought the van back here to the local garage for repairs (née tire and suspension). This past Saturday Jeff replaced the sway bars on the truck only to discover the exhaust pipe dangling. Sve that for next weekend!

My mom, dad, sister Kristin and her husband Carlo went to the Brewers game last Friday night. Weather conditions didn't allow us to tailgate, but I was more than happy to have a hot dog in the stadium!

And Saturday, we did a little shopping and went out to check out Bryn's new place now that the previous renters are out. After that we visited Aunt Marlys in her new residence in Waukesha. Very nice facility and the staff was very kind. Uncle Dave and his daughter Debbie (my cousin) met us for dinner in Elm Grove for some much needed support and conversation.

Abby made a Skype date with us to announce that she and Aaron are officially dating. We haven't had a chance to meet him yet, but hopefully will soon as Abby will be home after UWL's graduation until August.

We're busy making plans to get Bryn down to Texas to visit her best friend, Natalie, as that was what Bryn asked for for Christmas.

With all the girls home for Easter weekend, we divided up seeing the families. After Paige was finished working at Hallmark Saturday, we went over to Kristin's for pizza. Bella had just found out she needed glasses and picked them up a couple days before. Kristin told us Bella was a little self-conscious about wearing them, so Abby and Paige took out their contacts and wore their glasses and Bryn wore her "fake" glasses. Sunday morning we got up early and went to 8:00am church before driving up to Maggie and Tom's in Appleton. Needless to say, Maggie put out a spread. We got to visit with Terry, Paul, Misty, Chad, Robbyn, Christopher, and Debbie. We drove back home early enough for Abby and Bryn to get back to college that same evening.

The following week was Paige's spring break. She babysat Bella and Lucy (they had the same spring break) Tuesday and Thursday. But on Wednesday, we teamed up with Kristin, Bella and Lucy for a day trip to Chicago and the American Girl Place. Paige and I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for our portable breakfast and met Kristin and the girls and Bryn at a Park N Ride. The traffic wasn't bad and I navigated us into downtown via Lake Shore Dr. We ended up parking on the 9th floor of a ramp (high!) only a couple block from Water Tower Place. We headed directly for the American Girl Place. Bella and Lucy knew exactly what they were shopping for and found it fast! Coincidentally, Meg and her family planned a spring break trip to Chicago for a few days, one of them being the same day. So they came and met us in the mall and lunch at Gino's East. Kristin had found that this pizza place let's people write on the walls, so it kept the kids occupied. We rode the glass elevators in the mall, looked at the Hershey store and petted a few carriage horses. After that, we had to head back as Bryn had night class and Paige was going to the Brewers game yet that night.

Friday April 5 Paige, Bryn, Jeff and I visited Abby in La Crosse. Bryn stayed with Abby in her apartment and Paige stayed with us in the hotel. My parents were out visiting my Uncle Peter in Nebraska a few days before and swang over to visit Abby the same weekend. It was the first time they were able to see Abby's apartment. They were impressed. We celebrated Abby's birthday early by frequenting her favorite places in La Crosse. Friday night we had a great fish fry at the Blue Moon and Saturday we had yummy soup and a sandwich at Pickerman's. Saturday night Abby took us to the local food co-op where we purchased ingredients to make homemade pizza. Then we had Abby's birthday "cake": ice cream at The Pearl.

I was awarded a long-term 3days/week contract at Core Creative and started my new Mon/Wed/Thu schedule this week. I like the atmosphere and the projects there. Still no paycheck from my regular freelance client, so having this steady gig is a relief.

Before we left for La Crosse, Paige was complaining of a sore throat and difficulty swallowing. We decided to visit the nearby walk-in clinic to see if it was anything serious. The doctor looked down her throat and didn't see anything, but the strep test came back positive. We filled her penicillin prescription and felt prepared not to infect anyone else. After the weekend, Paige reminded Jeff and I of her bumpy rash on her back and thighs that still hadn't calmed down in 3 weeks. Since it was my first day on my new assignment, Jeff took her in to our general physician. The rash turned out to be a type of staph infection called folliculitis and will only go away with antibiotics. Unfortunately staph infections are immune to penicillin, so the doctor switched her to bactrim. Thursday morning Paige comes down before school and shows us her red, itchy backs of her hands. I thought it may be because she had just put some perfumed lotion on them, so thought they'd be better in a little while. Nope. Called the oncall nurse that evening and on the advice of the oncall doctor, brought her in to the walk-in clinic again upon suspicion of an allergic reaction to the new antibiotic. The walk-in clinic doctor advised Paige to stop taking the bactrim and take Allegra to calm the hives down. And to see her general physician the next day. Friday morning we visit the general physician again. He agrees with the allergic reaction diagnosis, but says the antihistamine prescribed the night before (Allegra) really won't help. We get a 4th prescription to fill for a steroid cream. We're going to watch the staph infection for the next week, and if it shows no improvement we'll go back. I think the doctors want to clear her system of the antibiotics first.

Jeff and I took Theo to the vet on Monday March 18. Of course, Theo was very excited. The vet took a couple x-rays and his lungs were clear. Theo wouldn't let the vet look down his throat, but the vet still concluded that Theo has partial paralysis of the larynx or windpipe. There's surgery that can be done, but Theo is 11 years old and the surgery can increase his chances of contracting pneumonia. So we'll just reduce his activity and keep him inside more. Jeff's looking into calming supplements that are also helpful.

Paige picked up her graduation announcements and cap and tassle! Her middle name was spelled wrong on her namecards, so we asked to have that corrected. It's coming up soon! She turned in all her completed scholarship applications Wednesday 27th after we went through and made a few edits to her essays then compiled them with her transcripts and letters of recommendation.

Bryn's been home on Spring Break since March 22nd. We took her out for a fish fry that night and when we ordered a beer at the bar, they didn't even check her now-21 ID! Disappointing. Sure was nice to cut down that long commute to coach all week. She had track meets Saturday and Wednesday. And next week the high school has break, so she won't have to drive in then either. Sounds like she and Natalie have agreed upon a week for Bryn to come visit her in Texas: June 6 – 13. Now we start airline ticket shopping!

Kids Day at Hallmark was Saturday March 23rd. Hallmark is filled with Easter crafts for the kids to make, face painting, pictures with the Easter Bunny, treats, a clown and balloons. All employees are expected to work that day and Paige's shift was 10 - 2. Paige texted Kristin the time and date so the girls could visit, but Bella already had a Girl Scout activity. Bryn and I met Kristin, Lucy and Carlo at Hallmark and watched Lucy make her way through all the activities.

That night, Jeff and I met some friends from when I worked out in Waukesha at Rayson, Dave and Judy Birch. I quit that job when I had Paige, almost 18 years ago. I noticed on LinkedIn that my contract job at Core Creative is just blocks away from where Dave is now employed, so I emailed him to see if they wanted to get together. Dave replied, "How about next Saturday?" Their youngest is the same age as our oldest and we had a lot of catching up to do. Of course, the Marquette game ended up being that Saturday night, but we had a good seat at Mo's and watched while we talked.

I'm thankful for my contract work. My regular freelance client just revamped its accounts payable system and it's definitely not working in my favor. I get called in to Core Creative at least once a week through my temp agency and that paycheck arrives dependably every two weeks. Jeff working at MSOE is another godsend.

Knock on wood, my back's been great and I've been able to get back into a routine at the Y again.

Abby drove in from La Crosse last evening and within half an hour she had plans to meet her girlfriends (Kendal, Ali and Lori) out. Kendal, now engaged, asked all 3 of them to be in her wedding in June 2014. Exciting.

Abby is on her way to Panama City, Florida for Cru's Big Break 2013. This year she's going as staff, not a student, so she had a few things to get ready before today. I asked her to please take and post pictures so watch her Facebook wall. (I really need some pictures of Abby!)

We just booked our La Crosse hotel for the weekend after Easter to visit Abby. Hoping the weather's nicer to enjoy the area while we're there. And Pearl's ice cream always tastes better if it's not freezing outside.

Bryn's loving her new coaching position at the high school. To make it official, Paige even got Bryn her very own "Coach Saunders" Falls sweatshirt. She had her first indoor meet with the JV team and felt encouraged. She'll be heading to Parkside tomorrow for an indoor Varsity meet. She'll run with the team at practices as often as she can, but weather or cross training are keeping her from her regular workout routine. Lucky she has that brand spankin' new YMCA on the 1st floor of her dorm!

Jeff and I took off Friday afternoon, March 1st,  to go check out Bryn's new flat she'll be living next schoolyear. It's about the same distance away (2-3 blocks) as the dorm she's in now, just the opposite side of campus. Bryn found out about the space from the 3 girls currently renting in the unit below. Their upper unit has two bedrooms, 1 bath, full kitchen, big living room and another big room at the front of the house that could be converted into another bedroom. They also have access to a washer and dryer in the basement. Bryn and her roommate, Grace, put down their deposit this week and signed the 1year lease. They're actively seeking a 3rd roommate to bring the costs down, but no takers yet. The previous renters had several pets, so Bryn and Grace asked for new carpeting in their contract. They also get to pick out new paint for the walls. They're able to move in May 1st as the flat is currently empty. That might be nice being able to move some items directly from her dorm when school's out in May and into the flat. We were able to negotiate the 1 year lease to run from June to June, just paying for the month of May separately.

I rounded up a 6-man trivia team for the YMCA's sponsored event Friday March 8th. Our team, Random House, tied for 5th place and won a variety of YMCA tshirts. Trivia was fun — and challenging! There were questions on who said famous quotes, identifying the artists of famous paintings, naming the movie given its themesong, filling in the 6 degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and your assigned actor... When it was our team's turn to choose the category from the list, everybody boo-ed us for picking "Artsy Fartsy." Strategy.

We met Bryn and the Taorminas for Bryn's and Kristin's birthday dinner at the Mayfair Mall food court Saturday (9th) night. That's right! Kristin chose to dine at Rocky Rococo's for her 37th birthday. Nobody was complaining.

I'm sure you're all enjoying my "March: The Month of Bryn" on my Facebook page. It's taken some time, but it's been fun looking for pics of me and Bryn to post throughout her month. I'm kind of reorganizing the bins/boxes in the basement anyways, so it's a two-fer!

That Sunday Jeff and I went with Kristin and Carlo to see Bella perform with her Crescendo troop at the AOK (Accompany of Kids) Gala show. She did really well! I still can't believe that shy girl gets up on stage and sings and dances. The picture shown is from "The Rainbow Connection" song. Super cute. I bought Bella a yellow rose, per Lucy's color advice, to congratulate her with after the show. Needless to say, Lucy also needed a flower. A pink one.

Paige and AJ (or "PayJay" as Meg likes to call them) celebrated their 1 year anniversary on March 11th. They always go out ON THE DAY no matter what day of the week the 11th lands on. AJ didn't let Paige know where they were going for dinner and surprised her when they drove up to PFChangs. AJ got her a Kindle Fire (say "what?"!!!) and Paige got him a Jonathan Lucroy bobblehead and made him a Packers/Brewers fleece tie blanket.

Paige has been very busy filling out local scholarship forms that the high school makes available. Some you have to fill out a separate form, some require writing an essay on a certain topic. I wish her luck, she's put a lot of work into these. We signed her up for PlanIt Purple on June 18 at UWW so she can register for her freshman classes.

Jeff and I have been upgrading little things throughout the house: dishes, blankets, rugs. He's ordered half the shutters for the outside of house that have been down since we had the trim repainted in October. Scary to see how much the olds ones had faded! We want to put new flooring in my office, but that's gonna have to wait. We've got an expensive spring coming up!

Jeff's scheduling a vet appointment for Theo. We've been walking him everyday instead of throwing him the frisbee because Theo's gasping for air with too much activity. Walking hasn't been to pleasant either as he throws up several times along the way. Not sure I want Theo to go to the vet or not.

 The new distance coach for the Menomonee Falls Girls Track team is Bryn Saunders! She is so excited. She came prepared for her interview in January with a full season workout schedule, so along with her recommendations from the summer camp program, they pretty much hired her on the spot. Bryn had to come in for a Meet the Coaches meeting for propective runners and many were really glad to see her in this position. Her first day on the job will be Monday March 4th. Congrats Coach Bryn! We're still waiting to see if Paige listen to all the encouragement she's received from her Powerpuff coaches in the fall and will join the team. Back home here we had to renegotiate vehicles, so Bryn can get back and forth from Carroll to the Falls everyday. Since I'm working from home more often, I'll probably be the one without a vehicle. But Paige is willing to take a ride to school, so that makes things easy.

Paige and AJ looked perfectly paired for the school's Turnabout Dance on Feb. 9th. We forgot all about getting AJ a boutonniere, but luckily the florist made an exception and we were able to order one that morning. The group of 6 had dinner at one of their homes and off they went. For 45 minutes. That's when the school called and informed us that Paige was ready to leave the dance. Apparently less than 50 people turned out and that's not too much fun. They went back to the house that hosted dinner and played games the rest of the evening.

Jeff headed back to Virginia Feb 11 – 14 for their last visit to a heart hospital they're working on to make sure all the equipment is working right and ready to go. Arriving in DC on an evening flight, the 3 co-workers were disappointed to find that their "sedan" from the rental car company was a Ford Focus. The 3rd guy had to sit sideways on their 3-hour trip from the airport to the hotel because there wasn't enough legroom.

It's been a year since Bryn's visited the podiatrist, but her right foot (the one that had the bunion) was hurting and it wasn't going away after 2 weeks. The doctor ordered x-rays and Bryn was relieved to hear that the bone was all healed and looked good. It was a tendon over the top she had strained, so she got new inserts to hold the arch and relieve the strain and prescription-strength naproxen.

Continuing my efforts to make my home workspace as ergonomically-friendly as possible (and to keep me out of physical therapy), I found a highly-rated Herman Miller work chair on Craiglist for a reasonable price. While Paige worked on Sunday Feb 17, Jeff and I drove to McHenry IL to pick it up. It's in great condition and sits like a dream. The ride was nice and we got to stop at Ferch's, an old-fashioned soda shop) for lunch on the way back. Next, Jeff's looking to install a cork floor because it's supposed to keep the room quiet and warm.

This past weekend was an eventful one. Abby was supposed to come home Feb 15 – 17, but she really wanted to attend a skiing night that Friday, so she postponed coming home til this weekend. Bryn even came home and spent Saturday day/night with her sisters. In the meantime, I had already committed to attending the Carroll Alumni Wine & Beer Tasting and had extended the invitation to some of my local fellow alums. That invitation spread and Laura ended up coming in from Rochester NY and Karyn from Winter Springs FL! Since we had people come from such great lengths we made extra plans to see each other. We had a wonderful dinner at The Melting Pot on Friday night. Karyn and Sue toured the Carroll campus on Saturday, which I bowed out of since Abby was home. And Saturday, of course, was the wine tasting. You should have seen us trying to sum up the past 25 years of our lives through chatter and pictures on our devices in just 2 evenings. I'm exhausted today. I even scanned a bunch of photos from our college years to chuckle over during our visit. I'm excited because I now have standing offers to visit NY and FL!