and we danced

Abby has received some very important mail from Marquette! The week before, Abby was awarded an Ignatius Academic Distinction Scholarship for $9000 per year for 4 years for her good grades. And early just this past week Marquette informed her she had also been awarded the Magis enhancement worth an additional $1500 per year because of her community service. Way to go Abby!


Another week, another snow day. This storm began late last Tuesday. Snowfall predictions said at least 8 inches. Bryn has UWAY rehearsal every Tuesday evening. Last Tuesday it was cancelled due to the severe cold and subsequent rehearsals are now extended to make up for that loss. But this week's rehearsal was shortened because of the accumulating snow. We only received about 4 inches overnight and even had a break early Wednesday morning, but schools were cancelled because there was much more to come. I debated about when to go in to work and finally decided to leave after rush hour. I called work at 8:00 to warn them I was just leaving and was obviously late. My boss, John, called my cell a few minutes after as I was backing out of the driveway and told me not to come in. I took him up on it. Jeff went to a meeting at 10 am and was at work til 2pm. The snow really picked up around noon. Since it was Ash Wednesday, I took Abby & Bryn to receive ashes at the nearby church at noon. There were probably only a dozen people there! The priest just motioned up to come right up for ashes. No service. Jeff took Paige at 4pm and could barely get the front door open due to the snow! Theo was in heaven romping around in the snow as one of us was outside constantly trying to keep up with the shoveling. The snow kept falling til about 8pm. Snowplows really didn't come out til about that time and you should see how many mailboxes they took out because you couldn't tell where the roads really were! Weather reports Wednesday morning reported our snowfall accumulations at 17 inches. (The picture is for Bryce.)

I opted not to make up my missed hours from Wednesday and kept my day off Friday. I visited many businesses to ask for Silent Auction donations for the high school Student Council's Winter Carnival. I think I only have 2 more to visit, then a few follow-up calls for those who couldn't commit right away. Abby and Bryn's jr high art teacher runs an art gallery downtown MF so I emailed her. She made me smile when she offered a donation, but only if I join the local Art Guild... I was meaning to anyways.





I picked Bryn up from school Friday and she came out beaming holding a flower. I thought maybe someone had sent her one through school. Nope. The high school had a pep rally and Bryn and her date, Tyler, were voted on Turnabout Court! Abby's friends, Lori, Ali and Kendal were also voted in! (Abby is disqualified because her date is not the same grade as her.)

Yesterday, Saturday, was a whirlwind. Abby insisted on accompanying Bryn to help decorate for the dance at 6:30am!!!! All Student Council members decorate for about 6 hours the morning of Homecoming and Turnabout and they do it this early so the girls still have time to get themselves ready. Jeff had to pick up Abby from decorating at 7:15 as Abby had to be at Marquette at 8:00am for a scholarship competition. The actual competition was from 9:00 to 11:00am and included about 50 contestants for Spanish scholarships. Parents had seminars they could listen in at. I dragged Paige grocery shopping with me as that was my only available time to go. Bryn was decorating til just after noon. Abby and Bryn embellished their date's plain white rose buttoneers with ribbon. Abby's hair (updo) appointment was at 1:30 and was done about 3:00pm. Bryn had to be at her girlfriend's at 3:00pm to get dressed, do their hair and makeup. Both Abby and Bryn's pictures were at 4:30, but luckily they were 2 houses away from each other so Jeff, Paige and I just ran from one house to the other. Don't Abby and Bryn both look stunning? Both groups had dinner reservations at 6:00pm. My friend, Carrie, and I were left as bachelorettes for the rest of the evening as Jeff and Carrie's husband went to the Badgers game in Madison. Carrie and I hung out at Abby's friend's (Ali) house with other parents and then went out for a margarita and dinner. Then it's on to the grand march back at the high school at 10:30pm. The decorations were so awesome! Abby and Bryn even kept their promise to me for a picture together with their dates. After court was announced, Abby's friend Kendal and her date were crowned King and Queen!!! Bryn's group came over after the dance for a while and us parents chatted. We were all happy to go to bed and Jeff got back about 1am.

Needless to say, it's a lazy day today.