I got a LOT of exercise this week. Monday evening I attended my weekly BodyFlo class at the Y. Tuesday I had the time to walk to the Library for my first Art Guild meeting of the year. Every meeting there's a scheduled speaker or activity and this week it was Artist & Display with tons of samples (pastels, brushes, canvases) for us to try! Wednesday I got back to Zumba class. I really miss Abby and her friends giggling as they bumped into each other doing these crazy moves. And Thursday, I went in to work late on purpose as I was staying late so as to attend Jazz in the Park downtown afterward (vendor invite). I get in the car to leave and notice that I don't have keys for the one vehicle left for me to drive! Jeff had generously taken Bryn's car for a cash wash and fill-up the night before which required Bryn to drive a different car to Jazz Band at school. I gave her my key and obviously didn't ask for it back. Therefore, I biked to the high school Thursday morning, had Bryn called down to the office, then followed her to her locker to get the car key. It was a beautiful day so I didn't mind the ride. The guys at work applauded my effort. I was looking forward to have a business/social evening downtown that night at Jazz in the Park, but I was just about to pack it up after waiting by myself for over an hour for my boss and his girlfriend to arrive. Got back home by 9pm ready to begin my all-nighter: it was Paige's turn to bring the baby home for school's Baby Think It Over project. This real-life baby doll is programmed to cry and fuss and will only stop when you give it the right solution: burp, bottle, rocking, or changing its diaper. You are also graded on the speed of your response. The baby did allow us some uninterrupted sleep between 11:30pm and 5:00am. I slept on the living room floor while Paige and the baby were on the couch. Paige was so good and never even asked for help. I enjoyed keeping her company.

Jeff's carpool left bright and early Friday morning for their annual hunting trip to Waubeno. Jeff did not take poor Theo as 2 other dogs were already expected and Theo is not much of a hunter. Jeff was disappointed that the weather forecast was for warm weather.

I got Bryn in to the doctor Friday where he assured us that regular doses of Zantac shouldn't cause worry. He remarked on her slow heartbeat - "runner's heart." She's now officially 5 foot 6.5 inches tall.

Paige went with me out to NagaWaukee Park in Delafield to see Bryn's Cross Country race Saturday morning. Unfortunately we missed the boy's JV race, where I have 2 kids I like to cheer on. The races were divided differently this time: JV, Varsity runners #1-4 and Varsity runners #5-8. Bryn ran with 1-4. She looked much stronger and more confident as she had her best time this season by 20 seconds! My exercise continued as yelled at all the Menomonee Falls girls and ran from point to point to take tons of pictures (the girl standing next to Bryn is modeling my cross country team sweatshirt design) and even submitted one to the local paper for inclusion. Bryn's coach from last year came to watch and root everyone on. After the race and since we were out west, Paige and I drove through McDonald's then went to visit the Taorminas. Bella was her typical shy, goofy self.

This morning I got to walk through the Cheery Cherry Art Fair with Kristin and her sister-in-law, Evie. It's become an annual event for us. I found quite a few items, though I didn't buy them all! The weather held out: cloudy, but no rain and nice and cool.

Bryn's private lesson teacher was finally able to move some students around and fit Bryn in for trombone lessons on Mondays. It's her only free weeknight, so it was make it work or find another teacher!

Tuesday (16th), Jeff walked Paige's school schedule at North's Open House and I drove Bryn's UWAY carpool down to UWM. I put some effort in ahead of time (at work) and found a helpful website that mapped out walking routes. I wanted to take advantage of the absolutely gorgeous weather and the opportunity to enjoy new surroundings for my Tuesday walk. I had a lot of company walking down by the lake and back through Lake Park. It was very scenic. I was back to the Union by 7:40 (it was dark anyways) where I had a snack and read til UWAY was over. Bryn gathered her nerves and did approach the conductor after practice about her last chair position. He did offer to listen to her again before next rehearsal.

Wednesday (17th), I walked Bryn's school schedule at the High School Open House while Jeff chauffeured Paige back and forth to Tae Kwon Do. These Open House's allow you to meet each of your child's teachers for 10 minutes. It's not like a conference where you discuss your child. I was anxious to see the progress of the construction at the High School and it did get quite a facelift. I was able to see the new weightroom which Bryn utilizes for her Aerobic Conditioning class and the new science rooms. I commented to Bryn on how I couldn't take her Anatomy & Physiology class - her teacher described the cat they GET TO dissect and the cadavers they GET TO view at Marquette and the Medical College. Ew!

Our home was host to the girls Cross Country "Carb Cram" Thursday (18th) evening. There's a myth out there that eating tons of carbs two days before a race is good for you. It's not bad for you, but there's just no scientific proof. Anyways, this year the girls have coordinated weekly Carb Crams at rotating homes where the host home provides the main dish and others are assigned to bring fruit, plates/utensils, salad, dessert, etc. Even the coaches come! It's a great bonding tool for the team. Bryn did an excellent job cleaning the basement up the night before. I made 2 pans of mostaccioli and 3 loaves of french bread. It was fun to see them all relaxing together.

Jeff got to enjoy the afternoon golfing with a couple dads from the area. The girls had early release from school. Bryn still had XC practice right after. Paige walked to have lunch with a group of friends. Paige was hired to babysit at night. Jeff and I decided to take advantage of her being occupied and met another couple for the Big Pig Gig. Again the weather was perfect and we were home by 10pm, so Bryn could get to bed to be ready for her race the next day. I waited up for Paige and was amazed I made it til 12:15am!

Since Paige was up so late Friday night, Jeff opted to stay home and let her sleep in while I drove down to UWParkside in Kenosha to watch Bryn run at her Cross Country meet. I arrived just as the JV Girls were finishing. The course at Parkside is strictly for Cross Country so it is well groomed and very pretty. The sun was out and it was a perfect 72° for the runners. Bryn looked much more confident and strong, but did not reach her goal to run under 17 minutes so was disappointed. I love cheering her on at the meets. She has so much potential. Bryn skipped the rescheduled Student Council car wash, but made it to fulfill her volunteer commitment at the Big Pig Gig that evening.

We're anxiously anticipating Abby's first time coming home from college. Jeff and I are still getting things re-organized between bedrooms so everybody's comfy. I made a dinner reservation with Abby for that weekend so I was sure to get MY time in! She's found a carpool to/from UWL already for only $15! Deal! I'm so thankful for facebook because that's my little snapshot of what's going on without asking her 20 questions.

I'm making an effort to blog every Sunday for my college freshmen audience who may be feeling a teensy bit homesick. I know all of you are struggling with your new independence, and hopefully are enjoying it. We miss all of you and hope that when you're home you'll remember to visit ALL your "moms" and "dads" and "sisters" and "brothers".

Bryn made it to her ortho appointment this Monday (8th). No big deal after her trial run last Friday. :)

Paige and I had the house to ourselves Tuesday (9th) night as Jeff went to the 11-inning Brewers game with his work and Bryn had her first UWAY rehearsal of the season. After Paige finished her homework, I decided to get in my weekly Tuesday evening power walk. It's getting darker so much earlier, that for me to walk for my hour, I now have to leave the house by 6:30pm. Anyways, off I go and as usual I never go the same way. I like to explore the neighborhoods and new construction. Unfortunately this route led me to a dead end so I had to retrace my route and ended up walking way further than I wanted. And my dumb shoes game me a huge blister on the back of my right heel! I was walking so fast to get home, against it getting dark and wanting to take my stupid shoes off!!! Abby called and talked to Paige while I was gone. When I got back, Paige of course is so excited to visit Abby, she had me checking the train schedule online. All of a sudden, Paige is talking to Jeff at the Brewers game telling him she's going to UWL to visit Abby! Wait a minute! Bryn came home from UWAY later and announces she's last chair! She dropped 3 chairs from last year. Weird. I told her to go talk to the conductor and ask what the determining factors were. We'll see where that goes.

I had to cancel the 3rd trombone lesson I had scheduled for Bryn for this week on Wed (10th). Bryn came home from Cross Country practice and notified us of Jazz Band practice also that night. Don't know how she fits it all in.

Friday (12th) I was off again (as it should be). I was able to further clean out Abby's new room, iron, and pay bills. My friend, Carrie, invited me to Target with her but I answered that I needed to stay away as it's a non-paycheck week and there's a few items there I want to buy... Paige didn't come home on the bus after school, but then I remembered that at dinner last night she had mentioned a "waffle party" at a boy's house. When I had no contact from her at 7pm, I called the boy's house. His mom answered and everything was cool. This boy had it made hosting 6 girls! They had a lot of fun making waffles, and playing basketball and RockBand.


Bryn had a Cross Country meet scheduled for Saturday (13th) morning. She was up early to prepare, only to receive a text about a half hour before: "cancelled." She was mildly relieved. It was rainy and the course would've been a mess. I rearranged my morning and went out to grocery shop deciding to drive by the park (the meet was held here in the Falls) to see how bad the conditions/possible flooding was. I noticed runners from faraway schools walking the course (Sheboygan Falls, Appleton East), feeling sorry those teams didn't get the cancellation notice early enough in the morning. As I drove further, there was our Falls concession stand... families I knew... and our runners!!! It's not cancelled!!! I called home immediately and told Bryn. Luckily it was still 20 minutes before the meet started. I made a U-turn to go home to pick up Jeff so we could watch. We met up with Bryn under the girls' tent and she was not happy. Because she thought she wasn't running, she ate more than her typical pre-race menu. Together with her pre-race jitters, her tummy wasn't feeling good. By the time the girls varsity was up to run, she had convinced her coach that she couldn't run today. Jeff and I both had individual pep talks with her to urge her to be there for the team and give it her best try. The light rain was refreshing and if she didn't do well, she could always blame it on the poor course conditions! Her coach ended up pushing her to run and she did great. She didn't talk to us the rest of the day though so we don't know exactly what place she finished in. Understandable. But I'm proud of her efforts. We finally figured that the text message she received that morning must've been about the Student Council car wash, but we still don't know the source.

Today (14th) was Paige's first day of Sunday School. Jeff is still watching the Packers game (what the heck was that!), Paige is baking chocolate chip cookies and Bryn's doing homework. I had go down a list of La Crosse hotels today to figure out where I made reservations for UWL Parents Weekend in October. Not like me, but I must not have printed out my reservation confirmations. I remembered making 2 reservations, because my choices were so limited. The hotel clerks were entertained at my forgetfulness and I did locate the hotels. Now we just have to decided between the two and cancel one. I fiddled around on the computer and came up with 4 new options for new Band logos for the school district. I emailed them off this morning to one of the teachers. No one really asked for them, so I'm not sure how they'll be received.

We enjoyed the Brewers Game in cool comfort on Labor Day. A printer Norman Design uses invited the company to view the game in their club-level suite. Sweet! It was a 90° day and the accommodations were perfect. All food and beverages were supplied (except for Paige's pretzel she had to have). My boss, John, and his girlfriend and her son were able to come, as well as my co-worker Kevin with his girlfriend and 2 other friends and the new Saunders-minus-one (Abby!) family. Bryn and Paige loved the luxury of having a parking pass, special escalators for "suites only" and our own restroom.

Tuesday Sept 2 was Paige's first day of school. Her bus picks her up at 6:40am now that she's in 8th grade. And Bryn went for her first day on Wednesday. She's very excited to drive herself and especially not have to wait around to be picked up after Cross Country practice. Construction at the high school is still not near finished. All the lockers throughout the school were replaced, but the kids were issued crazy combinations (like too few or too many digits) and locker numbers for lockers that didn't even exist! So the poor kids carried around everything for the first few days.

Bryn drove herself to the orthodontist for the first time Thursday. Loves morning ortho appointments because even though an 8:00 appointment sounds early, it's not as early as getting to school by 7:10! I think Bryn still wasn't quite wide awake as she got all the way to the ortho and realized she forgot her retainer for her retainer check.... It's now rescheduled for Monday. And Abby called me at work to ask why her debit card might be repeatedly getting declined. I asked her if she was checking her bank balance online (as I told her to do) before she went out to make any purchases and her response was, "does it matter?" I think she answered her own question.

My boss asked me to work Friday as it was a short week, but we've been so slow I just didn't feel the need. Besides, it's so exciting, that first Friday of school when I know I have the house to myself! I worked out and then ran so many errands! Like depositing money from Abby's savings into her checking account. :) After school Bryn ran Cross Country at Greenfield Park and placed around 40th. Improved her time by 30 seconds! Jeff and I are going to take a short movie at the next meet so she can critique her running form. We think she can gain a lot of time by just lengthening her strides. And she never looks tired at the end of the race!

Saturday morning I got up and started baking. It's my weekend to bake the communion bread for church. I like that our church promotes baking our own bread. I was done by 10. Got my hair cut and updated my facebook picture that I was getting insults about. Jeff took Bryn to the Good Feet Store to see what they might have available for Bryn's tired cross-country-running feet. They measured her all up and took some kind of scan, had her try various inserts and handed Jeff the package for a discount price of $600!!! He turned them down as none of their products seemed specific to her needs. Guess we'll be trying out Dr. Scholls. I've been cleaning and organizing all Abby's leftovers so that Paige may move into her room. Then I'll have to do the same with Paige's leftovers so Abby can move there. I think with a few cosmetic additions, each room can be updated. It's kind of nice having the extra space (bedroom) to dump stuff in for a while and sort out when time allows.

Today I was able to take Bryn and Paige shopping for a couple additions to their bedrooms. Don't worry Abby, we'll have yours set before you come back for Homecoming too! The girls then did their weekend homework.

We're lucky to communicate with Abby via cell phones, facebook, and email - and she's been good about talking to us. But not having Little Abby around has been noticeable. No drive-through breakfast in the morning before school. No Gilmore Girls or Jon and Kate +8 after school. We can see the bathroom counter. But we miss her teasing and craziness around the house and hope someone at UWL is smiling because of it.

Sunday Aug 24th Paige left at 7am for Indiana with 3 friends for a few days. She was invited to a friend's lakehouse. I was surprised to find out the lakehouse was located in Indiana, but the family is originally from there, so I guess that's their "up north." I drove Bryn down to UWM to test for her chair position within UWAY. She won't find out the result til her first rehearsal. She had extra practices with her teacher to get ready for this, but felt she didn't do her best. I think Bryn underestimates herself.

Abby had a very traumatic Monday night. She and her boyfriend of 11 months broke up. Great timing. I guess it never is though. Her good friends Mac and Kendal came over very late to console her and I was able to have a bedside talk with her after that.

Paige returned on Tuesday and had a great time. They went boating, canoeing, tubing, waterskiing, to a flea market and just walking around. We developed her pictures from her disposable cameras and the pictures show how much fun they had.

Bryn had her first Cross Country meet right at Rotary Park here in the village Thursday Aug 28th. She was a little nervous all day before the meet. Again this year, Bryn leads as our school's top runner and placed 14th overall. Abby's last day of work was today and the Hallmark ladies made her a big send-off sign and gave her lots of little presents. Fortunately, Abby will be able to continue to work there whenever she lets them home she's home. After her shift, Abby and I went out last-minute dorm shopping for all those forgotten items that somehow slipped through our checklist. We hit JCPenney, then Kohls, too late for Target so we went to WalMart. We were out til 11:00pm!!! One bonus is that it's not busy at that time of night!

Kristin brought Bella and Lucy over to say good-bye and good luck to Abby as she heads off to UWL. Bella was silly and took a few bounces out on the "trampolina" with Bryn and Paige. Abby continued packing boxes and crates most of the day, but had to run out to pick up something else and deposit her paycheck. We all headed over to the high school booster club's corn roast for dinner. Really nice event that's totally free: hot dogs, soda/water and corn! Paige didn't feel like watching the first high school football game that followed, so Jeff and I went back home with her while Bryn and Abby stayed. Jeff and I kept packing and came to the realization that we did need two cars to carry all Abby's stuff plus our family.




Saturday morning we were all up and on the road at 7am. Abby's scheduled move-in time was between 11am and noon. We arrived in La Crosse about 10:45am and drove up to unload. Then student volunteers help carry boxes up to your room! Nice! Abby did admit she overpacked but didn't let us take much back with us. Thank goodness Paige and Bryn are such great helpers as they were indispensable picking up the loft and futon and then helping to assemble them within the room. They also came along to shop (again?!!!) for dormroom food and a few other forgotten items. We finally got to meet Abby's roommate, Ashley, who arrived just before us and her parents. Ashley is also the oldest of 3 children. I believe Abby set the record for taking the longest amount of time moving in. We left she and Ashley at 4:00pm. Abby is in an all-freshmen dorm which should be reassuring that everyone in there is in the same situation. We rented a hotel room (thank god!) and just chilled for a half hour before cleaning up to have dinner at 4:30. (We didn't eat lunch and were so exhausted from going up and down 4 flights of stairs in 90° weather!) Came back to swim for a bit and watched a movie.

Sunday morning we visited Abby one last time bringing her another shopping bag of needed items and helped her with her bike lock that didn't want to cooperate. Abby was planning to buy her books later that day. She told us she didn't like living there, but we assured her that these first few days are the toughest part of college because you have to redefine yourself in a totally unfamiliar setting. We treated Bryn and Paige to some not-for-Abby-going-to-college shopping at Johnson Creek and returned home by 6pm. Did I mention we are broke?