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.