Bryn and Paige played with their respective Jazz Bands at a jazz concert Thursday night. My mom and dad were down visiting Kristin, and ended up coming to the concert. They surprised Paige while she was on stage. And we were all surprised to find out Bryn had a solo! Band will quickly switch gears to focus on Band Revue - their big annual musical. Bryn is one of three directors and is being very secretive about story. All I know the theme is LOST. Stay tuned.

I kept Paige home from school Thursday and Friday: sore throat, super tired, cough, stuffy nose, bad headache. The schools are asking us to be super careful with this H1N1 going around. Abby came home with Amy for the weekend on Thursday. Abby will not be able to see her boyfriend over Thanksgiving and it was his birthday, so she squeezed in another trip home. Thursday night I had my orientation at Kohls. Yup. I signed up for a seasonal cashier job. I also trained on Saturday and Sunday learning the register, but have not been on my own yet. Probably when I go in on Wednesday night.


Abby and Mark drove Amy to Kenosha on Friday to catch the Metra train to Chicago where Amy went to visit friends for the remainder of the weekend at Northwestern. Jeff and I had a big night out Friday night. We attended the Menomonee Falls Scholarship Auction & Dinner. It was held at a local banquet hall and was very nice. We saw a lot of people we knew and had fun at all the different auction games they held. Dinner was great and there was even a DJ to dance to later.

Abby got on the schedule at Hallmark for the full day Saturday. Bryn is having trouble getting back on the schedule at Walgreens. They moved her from the pharmacy to cosmetics, and now it seems they just lost her! She's trying...
Paige had demo practice for Tae Kwon Do and was eager to have us listen to their demo song and show us where her part would be. Abby had Mark over for his birthday and made him dessert. Bryn headed up to Oshkosh to watch our high school football team play Appleton North to find out who would go on to State! Jeff and I wanted to go, but I had to be at Kohls til 6 and with Paige kind of being sick we stayed and waited for Bryn to text us. We won 10-0! So we'll be heading to Madison this Friday!!!!!

Sunday Jeff went to the Packer game with a bunch of people from his work. Luckily it was a great game to watch. He had a full day, leaving at 11am and returning 11pm. Paige accompanied Abby to church in the morning and Bryn slept in after her late night at the game. Then Abby was invited to Mark's for his birthday lunch with his family. I had to cook an early dinner so Abby and Amy could catch their ride back to LaCrosse at 5pm. I've got my sister's new salon logo done and now it's on to website designs.

Jeff's Honda CRV is still sitting in the parking lot at his work refusing to start. We had to ask Bryn and Paige to find a ride to school the remainder of last week so Jeff or I could use their car to get to work. Jeff spent a lot of time on AutoTrader.com to find the best deals on the 2 cars we were considering: Mazda 3 and Subaru Impreza. So on Friday, we headed down to Evanston, IL where we drove one of each. The intention was to have lunch to discuss after both test drives, but we ended up just staying and sealing the deal on the Mazda 3. It's a fun car to drive and we're very happy with it. In the meantime, Jeff is working on finding a charity that will tow the Honda.

Last Saturday was such a picture perfect day, we couldn't pass up being outside for a football game. We drove out to Sun Prairie with our friends, Dave and Carrie, to watch our high school football team play in the quarterfinals of our Division. Each of us took turns shedding layers of clothing because the weather was so much nicer than we anticipated. It was a great game! We won 34 - 17! So now Menomonee Falls is on to play Appleton North in Oshkosh this coming Saturday night! Go Falls!

Bryn was asked to be a friend's sponsor for her confirmation. Quite a compliment. Bryn took her friend to church Sunday morning. Fitting. I've taken on another job: cleaning my office. John was looking for a cleaning person, and I volunteered. It pays good and it's only 2 hours every other week. I went downtown Sunday afternoon to work my first shift and I think I really spruced the place up.


Monday was Bryn's Cross Country banquet. Bryn was one of four team captains and you could see they were all emotional about their final season being over. The captains gave silly awards out to every teammate and the coaches.The coaches made several comments about how the captains coordinated extra practices and elevated the status of the team. Jeff is checking in with the HR person at work (regarding health insurance) to see how we should proceed with Bryn's bunion surgery. Bryn would really like to have it done so she's ready for track season.

Paige is now on the demo team for Tae Kwon Do, which is only for black belts who want to perform special tricks and/or routines. We purchased her a new, blue uniform and nun-chucks! Little scary. She'll perform for her first time for the Dec. 12th testing. I'm proud of how committed she's been to Tae Kwon Do and excited to see her in her blue uniform!

Jeff returned home from Virginia safely Thursday night. His fellow passengers included Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl! I had a crazy work day and finally got home to Paige by 5 and got her to Tae Kwon Do.

Jeff left early Friday morning to meet up with Bryn at UWL for a Campus Close-Up. Abby and Bryn went for breakfast in the building where Jeff was to meet Bryn. Seems like UWL is 4th out of 4 colleges that Bryn is considering. I'm still glad she toured it because it'd be a good school for her program.



Friday Paige and I both had off. I did laundry and ironed most of the day. Paige got to wake up early to babysit Bella and Lucy. Lucy is potty-training and when she started following me a little too closely around the house, I put her on the toilet where she did her first poop! Lucy and Bella were really disappointed they couldn't bounce on the trampoline, but I couldn't let them outside in the rain when it was only 40°! We all had plenty of fun with stickers (Bella know where all my scrapbooking stickers are), puzzles, the piano and beanie babies.

I took Paige and her friend to look for pumpkins Friday afternoon. What a bust! There were NONE left! We went to 4 stands! Some farmer felt sorry for us and gave us these for $2 each. Friday night Paige went to an insomniac all-nighter with a church group. She had a lot of fun. She slept all day Saturday and woke up in time to go trick-or-treating with friends Halloween night. I didn't get pictures because they didn't go around here. But one of Paige's friends bought all 4 of their pumpkin costumes. I'm sure they were too cute. Jeff and I handed out candy to the chilly trick-or-treaters, then walked over to a neighbor's for a beer afterward.

Driving to work today, Paige texted me that she forgot to bring a class project to school and could I bring it? I was over halfway to work, so I called Jeff. Jeff called me back that his car wouldn't start. So I drove back home, to school, saved the day for Paige, and then in late to work. Jeff looked at his car at lunch and tried to jump start it, but no luck. He's back there now, seeing what he can figure out.

Bryn saw the podiatrist today and he rated her bunion as "moderate." Contemplating surgery... Tonight I picked up Paige's "lost" cell phone from the movie theatre! Yup! They called saying they finally found it, probably got lodged in between the seats. Paige is now opting to go back to her green phone. Good news: we now have an extra phone for next time. Bad news: there will be a next time.

Bryn had her first band concert back on the 20th. The concert featured the Wind Symphony band, the Choir and the Orchestra. It was nice to see other groups we wouldn't normally see. The choir did that famous Journey song "Don't Stop Believing" you always hear on commercials for the TV show "Glee." Really cool to hear live. Bryn is finally 1st chair trombone. Unfortunately, because she's a big brass instrument we never get to quite see her when she's performing because they're in the back.

Bryn's coach took her out of racing the rest of the season. Disappointing not to participate in sectionals her final, senior year, but she wants to concentrate on working it out for track. I made an appointment for her to see a podiatrist to see if he has any suggestions on helping her foot pain. Bryn couldn't leave her team for the weekend, she cheered everyone else on at the Sectional meet on Saturday.

Paige, Jeff and I drove over to La Crosse Friday night to visit Abby for Friends and Family Weekend. Abby stayed with us in the hotel room Friday night and enjoyed the peace and quiet. The weather forecast sounded lousy, but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day on Saturday. We walked around campus, but then chose to take Abby shopping for her Halloween costume rather than go to the football game. We did a drive-by of Abby's new house she'll be living in next year with her 5 closest friends. Very nice neighborhood. We'll have to wait til summer to see the inside. Paige stayed on campus with Abby Saturday night where they had a One Tree Hill marathon.
Sunday Abby had to part with her cell phone and was none too happy. Her screen would white out, then the entire display would read backwards! There aren't any at&t stores in the western part of Wisconsin, so we had to take it with us to find out what was going on. Water damage. So I had to send it in. Abby should have her replacement today. So poor Abby's been facebooking it and land-lining it for 4 entire days! And no texting!

We did get to celebrate Jeff's birthday when we returned home Sunday with a nice steak dinner and banana cream pie. Jeff's in Virginia. He flew out last night and will return Thursday night.

I put Bryn on the Amtrak today to La Crosse so she could have her time with Abby. Bryn and Paige don't have school Thu or Fri because of Teacher's Convention. I wonder if Abby will be happier to see Bryn or her SIM card from her old phone with all her contacts! Bryn's excited to finally have a chance to stay in the dorm with Abby. It's never worked out for her. Jeff will drive out to La Crosse on Friday and meet up with Bryn to tour the campus for a Campus Close-Up day she registered for.

So Paige and I (and Theo!) are holding up the fort. But not alone. Paige is having Miranda and Jennifer sleep over.

Great day for a Packers game! Jeff went up to Lambeau with college buddies for their annual tailgate and game. One guy did a fantastic job organizing the tailgate. Jeff was assigned soda and water. He should be home around 6:30 tonight.


We got Paige a loaner cell phone while we waited for the insurance company to approve her claim. Paige loved going retro with her tiny loaner phone and remembering how to text without a full keyboard. Her replacement phone arrived in the mail Friday so all is good. Paige will be babysitting to cover the co-pay.

While Jeff was present at the monthly Booster Club meeting, I accompanied Bryn to the Badger Girls/Boys Potluck Dinner at the American Legion. The Legion is the organization that puts on the statewide Badger Girls/Boys program. Each student was asked to give a few minute report on their weeklong experience last summer to the Legion members. Upon presentation of their certificates, the Legion chose one to read aloud. It was Bryn's. Unfortunately, they repeatedly mispronounced her name as "Brian Sanders". It was excrutiating to hear again and again. Poor Bryn.

Bryn's Cross Country coach called me at work in the middle of the week. I was a little nervous. He was calling all the runners' parents asking them to recruit a "Fab 5" for their respective daughters. This "Fab 5" was to be a fan club for that runner encouraging them at this important conference meet. I contacted 3 of Bryn's good friends who didn't hesitate to say yes. Natalie even came over that morning (after Bryn got on the bus) to help make posters. And what good friends they were: it was really chilly Saturday morning! Bryn was the happiest I've seen at a meet, so I think it worked.

Abby called me Friday morning all excited that she's found a house to live in next year at La Crosse. It has 5 bedrooms, and there will be 6 girls living in it. They put their deposit down on Monday. This coming weekend is Friends & Family Weekend, so we'll surely schedule a drive-by. We Skyped with Abby today and she was very tired and sore from playing 3 Powderpuff football games yesterday.

I'm happy to say my two weeks of working full-time are over. I know: I'm spoiled only working part-time. But I guess I have a certain balance I like to maintain between family, work and myself. It wasn't hard being at work that long. But it was hard not having that time at home to clean, do laundry, organize bills, talk to the kids, etc. It seems like sitting at a computer all day shouldn't make you tired, but I sure didn't feel like going to the Y those days! It'll be nice to have Mike back at work. He emailed pictures of his new baby girl, Lydia, on Friday afternoon and she's a cutie! Finally, someone at work who can relate to having kids!

Mike at my work had his baby last Sunday. A little girl they named Lydia. He is taking a 2-week paternity leave which requires me to become a temporary full-time employee. I'm more than happy to help out while he and his wife adjust to having a baby in the house. We've been king of slow at work, but took on a surprise rush job that turned out to be a ginormous project. Good to have the work, but I had my 40 hours in by Friday morning already!

Paige considered auditioning for the local community theatre's production of A Christmas Carole last Monday, but when the audition required a 3-minute singing solo with sheet music, it seemed a bit beyond what she was anticipating.

Abby was in town on Thursday with her art class from UWL to tour a couple art museums. She had a lengthy lunch break and called me at work to have lunch with her. We dined at the Public Market. It was good to see her again. Bryn had a cross country meet Thursday, but didn't run. She's been having some tendonitis issues in her achilles and with the conference meet next Saturday (17th), the coaches advised her not to chance it. So I didn't drive to watch this week.

Friday Jeff got picked up by 7:30am for his annual hunting expedition to Waubeno with his college friends. One friend wasn't able to go because it's too close to his wife's due date - and here we are sending ours off to college! Jeff got back by supper tonight and said he had a really great time. I'm glad the guys have kept the tradition up all these years.

I worked Friday morning, then went off to Carroll (my alma mater) in the afternoon for a new Alumni Networking event. The students were encouraged to attend and ask us alumni what we did with our degrees from Carroll and what words of encouragement we could offer them. Boy, did I meet the most enthusiastic and interesting art majors! It was so worth it for me to go and get re-energized! I do so much better talking one-on-one vs. presentations. I ended up going to the Y on Friday night because my increased work hours kept me from going during the week. Then Paige and I just hung out while Bryn went off to a bon fire with friends.

Saturday I got a lot of errands done: grocery shop, drop a ton of old computer stuff at the high school band's recycling fundraiser, drycleaners... Bryn worked all day. And Paige was planning her date.... New boy. I drove them up to the movies just before 6:00pm, and when I didn't hear anything by 9:00pm I started texting. Little did I know that they decided to see a 2nd movie. At 11:30pm, the boy's mother and I met in the theatre parking lot knowing we needed to put some stricter ground rules for dating in place after tonight. Paige ended up losing her cell phone at the theatre, so that's been a huge punishment in itself.

I thought the oven died yesterday. I broiled some chicken legs, then was going to slow cook them for a couple hours. The broiling went fine, but there was no heat after that. Overnight I figured out to check the circuit breaker, but that didn't seem to help. Of course, when Jeff came home he magically flipped the same switch and the oven came back to life. Go figure. It'll never die. I finally got around to scrapbooking Bella's 3-year page. I try to do it for her birthday, but that was almost 6 months ago! Better late than never I guess.

Twas the morning after Homecoming
and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse.

Homecoming week overshadowed all other happenings of the past week. Themed days every school day helped with deciding what to wear every morning: Monday was Tropical Day (this year's Homecoming theme), Tuesday was crazy hair/hat day, Wednesday was class color day, Thursday was rival day and Friday, of course, was spirit day.

Wednesday night was the big Powderpuff game. Bryn was a major player being a starter. She played wide receiver and scored the 2nd touchdown for her Senior team. She was way excited! It was chilly out in the stands, but very bearable. The seniors won (tradition) 46 - 20 and will go down in the history books as the "most penalized team ever" with penalties of 300+ yards.

I drove up to watch Bryn run in Fond du Lac Friday afternoon. In the rain. Her coaches actually wanted to pull her from this race because of some tendonitis in her right achilles, but she fought to run. This is her favorite course as it's very flat, so runners typically get some of their best times. After the race, Bryn said she felt very relaxed while running and she did get her best time this year. She really needed that. I drove her back because Bryn was scheduled to work at 7pm. Jeff stayed back to welcome Abby home for the weekend and to get Paige where she needed to be for the game. We all sat in the drizzle and watched our undefeated team do it again, but I did convince Jeff to go home after the halftime festivities.


Our house was the host for Paige's group to take pictures at. I had fun and bought some pretty mum and gourds for decoration. Jeff and I cleaned the house most of the day to prepare. We welcomed Paige's date, Taylor, and 8 of Paige's closest girlfriends for pictures. Taylor did well amongst all the princesses. They went from our house to eat at UNO's, then to the dance. Jeff and I watched a movie before heading back to the high school for the Grand March at 10:30pm where we ran into Abby and her friends. We also ran into Paige and Taylor (the reason we came), to find out that they were just waiting for his dad to pick them up because they weren't doing the Grand March. His dad took them out for ice cream and delivered Paige home. We turned around and delivered Paige to her next gig, the bon fire/sleepover party. It'll be a big withdrawal today!