Paige earned her high red belt in Tae Kwon Do and moves up to another class. She actually switches days and times with the bonus being that it's earlier, so I can walk again while it's light out. Only one more week til daylight savings changes all that. The next day I drove her, I noticed people out on the street corners holding signs that LinensNThings is going out of business. After I dropped Paige off, I went in to purchase a curtain rod and sheers for Paige's bedroom that I had been meaning to get. They were 30% off!

Wind Symphony at the high school had a concert Tuesday night. The best piece was a suite of music from Candida, composed by Leonard Bernstein. I loved it. No matter where we sit in that auditorium, we never get a good view of Bryn way back in that low brass section! Which means no pictures for me!

Paige joined Builders Club at her school and they painted pumpkins for a local nursing home at their Wednesday meeting.

Saturday Jeffrey turned 46! We celebrated the evening before by going out to a nice Italian place for dinner. Saturday was Bryn's sectional meet for Cross Country out in Hartland. The course is very flat which encourages fast times for the runners. We let Paige bring 2 friends along. The boys ran first and we cheered them on. By the end of the race, tears were rolling down my face as one of our top 2 runners was kind of delirious and didn't even seem to know what was going on. He slowed down to a walk by the end and barely crossed the finish line. Another of our runners looked as if he was really in pain. Obviously they gave it their all, but only 2 runners will go to State this year because they didn't qualify as an entire team. Sad. Bryn was up next and looked strong as she finished 28th (1st of our runners) with a great time of 16:31. None of our girls qualified for State. I kept Paige's friends for the afternoon so they could work on their Halloween costumes. They're going as the characters from the game Clue. Paige will be Colonel Mustard. They'll each wear clothing in the character's color (Scarlett, Mustard, White, etc.), then accessorize with a few items. I dropped them off at Bartz's and WalMart while I grocery shopped and they found a few items. Later, Bryn, Paige and I took Jeff out for a waffle cone at Pop's.

Today both Paige and Bryn have Sunday School: Paige in the a.m., Bryn tonight. I had them both vacuum their rooms - which means they also had to pick it up. In turn, I have lots of laundry to do. I decided to begin to tackle organizing our storage in the basement. I'm still finding things Abby has scurried away! I discovered 2 backpacks that Abby could live out of for 2 weeks! Rotten apples, granola bars, endless gum wrappers, mechanical pencils, baggies of Goldfish crackers, mittens, nail polish, hand sanitizer, and don't forget a water bottle! I really thought I had gone through all that by now. I brought down Abby's storage bins and didn't realize that we have 6 bins full of Abby memorabilia! She is a packrat! But it is fun to look through. Today I found "Why I Am Proud to be Your Daughter" where she filled in the blanks of a poem from school. I brought it up to my room by Bryn's version. Jeff and Paige decorated the front bushes with spider webs, then went out to the pumpkin farm to get our pumpkins before the weather turned, while I baked. We noticed on Abby's Facebook that's it's snowing in La Crosse! I'm going to draw the UWL logo on Abby's pumpkin tonight. Jeff downloaded a few ideas so we'll see how the others turn out!

Jeff and I both were able to attend Bryn's concert at UWM last Sunday night. With my parents visiting, my Dad happily volunteered to stay home with Paige. And so my Mom also got to finally attend a UWAY concert of Bryn's. The music is so beautiful and this being their first concert of the year, the brass section opened with a special piece.

Paige graduated to rubber bands at the orthodontist Monday morning. She was not excited when we got back in the car and she realized chewing gum would no longer be an option. I was not excited remembering finding those tiny rubber bands everywhere when Bryn went through this.

We said goodbye to Bryn Friday morning as she left for school. A friend's family was kind enough to offer to host her for the weekend while we went to La Crosse for Friends & Family Weekend. So sad that I was going to miss one of her Cross Country meets. And the conference meet at that! On the other hand, Theo had an excellent dogsitter for the weekend.

The rest of the day was all about prepping for the weekend: Friends & Family Weekend at UW La Crosse! Abby emailed me the night before with her grocery list, so I dropped about $100 at WalMart. I also did my weekend grocery shopping so I didn't have to come home to that on Sunday when we returned. Jeff's sister, Terry, was able to come along so she drove here Friday afternoon, then shortly after Paige got off the schoolbus, we left for La Crosse! We arrived at Abby's dorm about 8:00pm. Basically got to bring in her grocery shopping order and say "hi!". Paige stayed with Abby for the night. Abby had an exciting evening planned for her that included doing laundry (what???)!

Back in the Falls, we (me and Paige) recruited many friends to cheer for Bryn at her meet Saturday morning. Our recruiting paid off as Bryn brought home a medal finishing 21st and just about doing her personal best this year! We texted her thoughout the morning with words of encouragement, then congratulations.

Saturday morning Abby walked us through campus, we shopped at the bookstore and then took Abby to her first UWL football game. UWL's field is under construction this fall, so all their home games are played in Winona, MN; about 1/2 hour away. The field was beautiful: nestled in the bluffs along the Mississippi River. We left after the third quarter to stroll along the other side of the river back in La Crosse. Terry persuaded one of the riverboat owners to let us take a look on board. We all promised to take a cruise on future visit. We took Abby out to dinner, then met some of her new friends back at the dorm. Paige was really happy to be able to stay with Abby again. This time Abby took her to the Prayer Garage at 2am... This is not what I did in college on the weekends, but Abby's probably better off.

Sunday we picked Abby and Paige up for church. Abby's become very involved in CRU at UWL and goes with many of its members to church every Sunday now. The new church is very different from our Catholic church. Kind of like a concert with a band on stage and screens all over. Paige said it was much better than our church. After church, we got to eat brunch in the main UWL cafeteria. Then we drove Abby up to Grandad Bluff where the view was spectacular! The weather was so perfect for our visit. And it was so nice to see Abby well-adjusted and happy in her new college life. Life is good. I can only hope our visit is this perfect next time when Bryn gets to come along.

It was Homecoming Week in the Falls!!!

With all the extra school activities, Bryn got worn out. With my nudging, Bryn came home early from school Tuesday. It was a rainy day and Bryn got herself a bad cold that seemed to start wtih a sinus headache and is dragging on with a congested cough. She slept the afternoon away and missed Cross Country and Powderpuff practice. She still went to UWAY rehearsal that night because she has a concert this weekend (tonight!) and it was my turn to drive. Wednesday she made it through school, but the Cross Country coach excused her from practice again hoping that rest was better for her recovery than pushing her body. The weather took a turn for the better and Wednesday night we watched as Bryn battled with the Junior girls to try to upset the Seniors at the Homecoming Powderpuff football game. (It's tradition for the seniors to win.) Bryn was in on the scoring plays, but never got to handle the ball. I think the Cross Country coach paid for Bryn to be protected.


Thursday Bryn and Paige enjoyed a half day of school. Of course it's never the earlier half of the schoolday so they can sleep in. Paige and a friend made Beatles t-shirts to wear the next day to school in honor of Beatles Day that their band teacher turned them on to. Bryn had to report to the bus at 1:45pm for a Cross Country meet in Saukville. It's a beautiful natural park that the kids either really love or really hate. It was definitely not Bryn's day as she didn't finish her usual first for our team. After the race she sighed as she couldn't get a good breath throughout the race and her legs felt really out of shape missing those practices the last couple days. Poor Brynnie.

Abby called me Friday morning to scream that she was in the mosh pit (standing area directly in front of the stage) at the McCain rally in LaCrosse! She was only 10 feet or less away from McCain and even got to shake his hand. She is so lucky that in her first voting year she was able to see both party's candidates in person! (She saw Barack just a couple weeks before.)

And Friday night was the big Homecoming game. And Bryn still didn't have shoes for the dance the next evening. Luckily Bryn doesn't care to shop so we found them at the first store we went to. As I was making dinner, Abby walked in! We were expecting her at 7pm, but her last class Friday was cancelled (really?) and she and her carpool were able to leave earlier. You should have seen the big hugs she got from Bryn and Paige! We got to eat dinner together and knew we'd lose her for the rest of the night with the game—and most of the next day, as she informed us that she was sleeping at Kendal's. The Falls lost (big time) the game to Brookfield Central. Jeff got to chat with a college buddy whose son is the punter for the opposing team.



Saturday morning Jeff drove Paige down to MSOE for her Tae Kwon Do testing. He liked exploring their new fieldhouse. Bryn had dress rehearsal for UWAY at UWM that Jeff and Paige had to pick her up from that so she could make her Homecoming hair appointment at 1:00pm. In the meantime, I had to grocery shop for Abby's possible 64 Facebook friends that she invited to our house that night and exchange Bryn's Homecoming shoes for her proper size. We all made it and were very impressed with Bryn's very girly hairdo. Bryn was disappointed she couldn't take in a nap before pictures because of her hair already being done. Abby and her friends became Bryn's makeup artists and did an awesome job! Her date came to our house first to pick Bryn up and let us take a picture of just them two at house first. Then Jeff and I followed them over to the designated Pictures House for their group and the pictures stations were so coordinated. I was very impressed. They left for dinner and the dance and we went back home to our pre-anniversary dinner (ribs and potatoes). Abby's group arrived around 7pm and we set out candles and had the firepit going. We all (including the party) left the house for Grand March at the high school to see all the couples, then the party ramped back up til about 1:30am. Bryn returned home around then too.

Missing out on Katie's baby shower today. I picked up this cute fleece star wrap and taggie blanket from the craft show I went to with Kristin a couple weeks ago. Hope they like it! We're all a little tired today, but OK. Jeff blacktopped the driveway. My parents are here, making a pitstop on their way to Indy for a mini-vacation with Meg's family to DC. Then Mom & Dad will continue to Florida where my aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Kristin & family stopped in too to see Abby complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies for her to bring back to college! Abby's already on her way back to La Crosse. Tonight is Bryn's UWAY concert that my Mom and Jeff and I are anxious to hear.

Bryn got tired of sitting around and waiting to be asked, so she asked a boy to Homecoming on Monday (29th). He's a year older (senior) and is also a Cross Country runner. I had pretty much dismissed the idea of her even going by now. So now we have less than 2 weeks – and only 1 weekend! – to find a dress, shoes, jewelry, garter and order a buttonneer! I don't function like this! But I am glad she made it happen. And her friends are very glad to have her join the group.

Tuesday (30th) Paige tried out the adult class at Tae Kwon Do since she's pretty much the oldest in the kids classes. I drove her and took a walk on the nearby BugLine Trail while she was in class. Beautiful evening and I'm so sad that it's getting dark out earlier and earlier. I hate walking on treadmills. Paige decided being the oldest kid in the class is much more fun than being the youngest adult, so she's switching back.

Bryn has Powderpuff Football practice now with that game coming up next Wed during Homecoming Week. They say she has a pretty good arm, but has mostly been positioned as a running back. I just hope she doesn't get injured.

Jeff stayed behind with Paige on Friday (3rd), while I rode up with friends to watch Bryn run in Fond du Lac. Another gorgeous day and another well-groomed course. Bryn looked confident and strong again as she ran her best time this year: 16:20!!!! I went up to congratulate her after her finish and I never noticed she had only one shoe on! She lost it about halfway!! She was making jokes about it. One of her coaches did end up finding it for her before it got dark. So Bryn only has one more meet this Thursday, then it 's on to Sectionals the following weekend. Go Bryn! Jeff was a good dad and stayed home to take Paige to Tae Kwon Do again, and then to chaperone Paige's sleepover.

Saturday Bryn made plans with Kendal to shop for Homecoming dresses at Kendal's personal outlet. Bryn ended up choosing one and following Saunders tradition: minor alterations will be ready on Monday. Thank God for Holly. Kendal came to pick up Bryn and it was really good to see her. I think it was a nice substitute "Abby" fix for me (Kendal is as close as it gets!).

Today we went to the high school Rededication Ceremony where we could tour the entire building. Impressive. I hope Abby gets to see inside next weekend when she's home. It'll be a dramatic change for her to see.

We're all so excited to see Abby this coming Friday. We've got her room all ready for her and a couple nice surprises. And Kendal informed me of a surprise from Abby. Abby asked me weeks ago if she could have her friends over Saturday night during the Homecoming Dance and of course I agreed. Kendal said I should check out Abby's new Facebook group: Falls Alum Homecoming Get-Together - where she basically invites ALL alum to her (my!) house for a party. A couple more people than I was anticipating (current count is at 63). Abby laughed when I asked her about it on the phone tonight. Spontaneity. That's what we miss about Abby.

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.