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!

Back to work and back to pain. :( all those hours sitting at the computer are keeping my hip flexor muscles contracted, so i feel pain down the front of my right leg when I stand or lie flat. And it sounds like a recent injury may have triggered it on. I gracefully fell out of my friend's car just before Christmas outside Starbucks. I caught my right foot (coincidence? I think not) in the car door and the rest of me landed on the ground. My physical therapist says that probably stretched my hip flexor beyond my limits. I see my physical therapist twice a week, and she's recently tapered down my stretches as I've been experiencing more pain than relief so far.

Paige graduated from glasses to contacts this year and I think it's a good thing. She's been wearing her contacts everyday and is amazed how clearly she can see. Sounds like she should've worn her glasses more often... Paige got the hang of it pretty quickly, but it sure would've been been nice to have Abby around.

I took Bryn over to my college roommate's home in Brookfield to discuss careers in science. My roommate, Polly, and her husband are involved in diabetes research at the Medical College of Wisconsin and gave Bryn a great description of what it's like to go to grad school, get your PhD, and ultimately work in academic setting. Their opinion was that Bryn should attend medical school if she wants to set policies in ethics vs just compliance. Lots to think about... Polly and John also turned her on to MCOW's summer internship program in research which Bryn applied for the next day.
Menomonee falls high school head track coach interviewed Bryn for the distance assistant coaching job and basically hired her on the spot! Technically she's waiting for call from the athletic director confirming she's passed her background check, and she's in! She'll start in the beginning of march and  the season goes through may. In the meantime, Jeff and I have to figure out how she's going to get to Menomonee falls from Carroll everyday.


Bryn quit the Carroll indoor track team mid-January after a visit to her general physician confirmed her hip flexor injury and prescribed some intense physical therapy that includes steroids. But Bryn couldn't leave the team, and being the clever girl she is, found a way to make it happen. She rearranged her work study assignment from the library to athletics, and now she's the indoor track team manager! She now gets paid to go to practices and meets! All while doing the same things (helping out) she was doing being injured reserve.

Gallery night landed on jan 18, and it was a little too chilly to stroll the downtown galleries. So we decided to explore a couple larger venues. Jeff and I along with our good friends, Dave and Carrie, got to see the Grohman Museum at MSOE, an art museum featuring men at work, and then moved on to enjoy free admission to the Harley Museum. We were pretty pleased with our gallery night destination selections. We toppped off the night with a drink at the swanky iron horse hotel. So cultured.

The last weekend in January, I traveled to Chicago to watch my niece Logan compete with her two cheer teams at a competition where they took 1st and 2nd. It's scary to see how high those girls are able to toss each other up and build pyramids. Logan, meg, Mia and I stayed at a nearby resort, but weren't able to partake in the nice facilities as we were busy running around. Craig and Clark met us at ikea during a break in the competition where we had lunch (50 cent hot dogs!) and I purchased my desk. Thank goodness meg, Craig, and Clark were so willing to help me load 'er up! Craig and Clark made the investment in new suits and hung out and thoroughly enjoyed the hotel pool.


Jeff put my desk together in the next few days and it looks so nice! And it's so nice to sit at!

Turnabout, Menomonee falls high school's winter formal dance where the girls ask the guys, is coming up next weekend and it was Paige's turn to get creative in the asking. She and her friend, hailey, recruited 10 friends to hang out in WalMart on their day off school last Monday. Hailey and Paige got their boyfriends to meet them at WalMart,  but instead their friend lizz met them with their first clue and her cell phone to record their scavenger hunt. Each clue led them to another area of the store where another friend held the next clue. The 10th and final clue led the boys to Paige and hailey holding  a sign "turnabout?" AJ was really impressed.

My parents called asking if they could come visit the first weekend in Feb. I asked "why?" The response: "It's the Fish Fry!" So they traveled down and we all went to the St. Anthony's Fish Fry with the Taorminas. We arrived a bit later than usual because I was working downtown til 5, so we did notice the dessert tray offered slim pickings. Better luck next time. We had a low-key weekend thanks to my leg/back, but it was nice. We were able to figure out our vacation for this year: a week at Hilton Head in August!

We're looking forward to having Abby home for a visit Feb. 16 as we don't hear or see enough from her.