I've been reassigned to temp with Readers Digest starting today where I'll be working part-time, about 25 hours/week. I let my temp agency know that I recently secured a steady freelance client and don't want to let that opportunity go, so I can only temp part-time for now. So I reported to Readers Digest today for my first day back, but somebody forgot to tell me that they close for President's Day! Oh well. I get paid for an hour of travel time. 

Paige took her official ACT Test Saturday the 11th, but didn't feel very good about it. I think that's how everyone feels. We requested to have her scores sent to UW-Whitewater, UW-Oshkosh, Carthage College and University of Northern Illinois, so far. Because she finally chose a few colleges, we've scheduled campus visits to Whitewater and Oshkosh in April. And we're looking into visiting Carthage in late March. I still think Stevens Point may be a consideration.

That afternoon, Paige and her SunDevils softball team went to Childrens Hospital to visit fellow teammate Jesse, a survivor of the Campbellsport crash. Jesse has 2 casted broken arms and 2 fractured vertebrae. Jesse was NOT wearing a seatbelt and was seated in the middle of the middle seat of the SUV. She was ejected out the front windshield as the SUV rolled back over front. The seatbelted girls on either side of her died from internal injuries. Just after this visit, she was fitted with a back brace which she was ecstatic to have because she was pretty much flat on her back up til then. Jesse has since been released from the hospital and is walking. 

After Paige was done with work Sunday (12th), we drove out to Waukesha to take Bryn to dinner and personally deliver her Valentine's Day card and candy. Bryn's physics class sounds crazy hard with the amount of study time she has to put into it.

Jeff had to fly out to Denver for work Monday and Tuesday (13-14th) for a Johnson Controls job. He was complaining about having a bad flight, which I took for turbulence, but it was really the man who reclined into his face on the way there and the little kids kicking his seat on the way back.

Paige came home from work Thursday (16th) night and broke into tears because she rear-ended someone at a yield sign in a right-turn lane. The driver she hit was very compassionate and didn't call the police, so Paige won't have to pay a ticket or lose points on her license. The car she hit was an SUV, suffering only a cracked rear bumper. Obviously, our little Prizm took the brunt of the accident. Today we had the claims adjuster here and he told us the Prizm is totaled.

Bryn took 2 seconds off her 800 time at her meet in Dubuque this past Saturday. Her coach is putting her in the indoor conference meet next Saturday at Illinois College. Jeff and I were thinking of going to support Bryn, but it's 5.5 hours away! Guess we'll wait for an outdoor meet. (I've posted her outdoor meet schedule at right.)

So 2nd semester has started for Paige and her teachers are calling her "Abby." Obviously, there's a family resemblance.

It finally worked out for me to take Bella and Lucy to a movie, so Sunday 29th Paige and I saw Beauty and the Beast in 3D with them. Lucy wore her 3D glasses in every position imaginable, but she was really very good during the movie. I worried about Bella ate too much popcorn, but needlessly so as she told Kristin she was actually hungry after the movie.

Paige missed school last Monday due to a rash on her face we think was caused by a new cleanser she had just bought. Urgent Care had her cooling the rash with a cool washcloth, hydrating by running a vaporizer at night and calming it with hydrocortizone. They also prescribed an antibiotic just in case. It's much better, but I've scheduled an appointment with her dermatologist for a follow up.

And Paige missed school again this Monday because we drove down to Indy to partake in the SuperBowl festivities in Indy. This is probably the closest to Milwaukee the SuperBowl will ever be, and we had the lodging already set! Abby drove in from UW-LaCrosse Friday night—she never misses an opportunity to visit the Sears. We set out for Indy Saturday at noon, after Paige took her practice ACT. (Next Saturday's the real one!) And we arrived by 5:00pm because of the easy drive. Meg had already arranged for a sitter for Mia and Cooper, so we packed everyone else up in their Honda Pilot and headed for SuperBowl Village in downtown Indy.

Now this was Bryce's first outing of the week. Bryce was diagnosed first with strep throat the previous Friday, then with mononucleosis by Wednesday. Bryce was definitely ready to get out, but it was hard to watch him—a 14-year-old sportsnut—run out of steam at the big SuperBowl party in his hometown.

We were able to park Saturday night for only $10. We walked to SuperBowl Village where the main streets were closed off for pedestrians and vendors. Meg's husband, William, scored us entry to a SuperBowl VIP party on the 3rd floor of a building right on Georgia St., the main drag, overlooking all the goings-on. We were treated to a free food and drink indoors (it was drizzling and a little chilly outside) and Bryce was able to sit down for a while. It was cool to watch the zipliners buzz by a eye-level and get to see everything from above.

We didn't forget all about Bryn. She wasn't able to come along because she was running in an indoor track meet at UW-Parkside Saturday afternoon. We kept up with her meet via texts and found out that she ran another amazing 800. Can't wait to watch her in person.

And Paige's phone was being bombarded with news about her softball teammate that was in a car crash Friday night. You've probably all seen it in the news: the 9 teens in Campbellsport. Paige's teammate is one of the 6 survivors. Today she had surgery for her 2 broken arms. She also has 2 fractured vertebrae (one in her neck and one in her back) that doctors feel will heal by themselves over time. Paige has softball practice Tuesday night and maybe some of them will make a plan to go visit Jesse together.

Jeff and Abby got to see Meg's salon for the first time Sunday morning. Abby and Logan took measurements for all the new work I have to do: signage for the salon while Meg explained her payment plan for me: Scentsy Swap.

Sunday we were able to venture downtown again with Mia and Cooper in tow. This required 2 cars and parking had gone up considerably in one day. We found a lot (farther away than the night before) for $25. We stopped in the Westin Hotel for a rest and while Bryce was alone, he had a celebrity sighting: Betty White! She was accompanied by 2 bodyguards. No one else the entire weekend was so lucky. We all wore our Packers apparel and took some great pictures being able to see all the decorations in the daylight. We drove back to Meg & William's to relax at their home and watch the game.

Got up, packed up and left today. Really had fun.

Back to work. Yep, work. I got a freelance client that promises me work on a consistent basis. Kept me pretty busy this past week and they're great to work with. I'm meeting with them Wednesday to go over some minor details.