July 24, 2011

I didn't manage to get a post up earlier this week so this will have to cover the last two weeks.  So to catch up, last weekend on Friday we enjoyed one of the many fests that Milwaukee has during the summer - the weekend event was Bastille Day.  Yes folks, Milwaukee celebrates the July 14th storming of the Bastille.  Apparently, the largest US French festival - not there is that large of competition.  As the photo shows they erect a small version of the Eiffel Tower - I think mostly for the photo opportunities well that and would would Bastille Days be without an Eiffel Tower.  We biked to the party from home trying to enjoy our close proximity to the city.  We then spent the evening walking around the many boothes, although we didn't find anything to buy although Jo was tempted by several of the dresses. 

There were several buskers to enjoy although we never exactly figured out the point of the cardboard heads that were dancing around.  They didn't seem particularly French nor are they the mascots for any team in Milwaukee or Wisconsin that we are aware of.  That said, they did seem to be having a good time dancing to the music and made for a great photo op.  The bands were phenomenal and after some serious searching we did manage to find some french food - believe it or not, most of the food at Bastille Days is not themed to France, but rather other world cuisines, including the Wisconsin favorite - fried and grilled!  Our dinner was a delicious Croque Monsieur followed by a Crepe Nutella (crepe with nutella hazelnut chocolate sauce inside) both of which we have enjoyed many times on streets of Paris   Was delicious but not good for the old waistlines.  .  

Anyway, after our fun night living like the French, we got up Saturday to head over to Madison after our run and lift.  We spent the rest of the day with Jo's sister and son watching old Harry Potter movies.  We started with number 4 (Goblet of Fire) and watched all the way through to Number 7 part 1 (Deathly Hallow, Part 1).  One right after another with only small breaks between the movies to order pizza and stretch.  This was our lead into getting up Sunday morning and watching the final movie in the series at the local IMAX theater.  We had a great time, although we all agreed that watching four movies back to back was a little nutty.  Watching all the movies and knowing it is the end has put me in the mood to go back and re-read all the books again.  Which I plan to start as soon as I finish my current Tom Clancy novel. 

Hallway with the old paper
and cleaned wall

For the new week, my big chore was removing all the wall paper from our hallway.  After my experience in one of our bedrooms, I assumed the paper would just peel off in large sheets from the wall.  Boy was I wrong.  First of all, I think the hallway paper is a lot older and when I started on the first section I was removing it in about two inches square pieces.  I figured at that rate I might be done in about 3 months.  Fortunately, after a little trial and error I figured out how to get it to come off in large pieces - lots and I mean lots of soaking in water, but it still took four solid days to get it all removed.  Just think, I've only have four more rooms with wallpaper to go.  Why I was having this fun, Jo was off to work getting ready for Northwestern Mutual's big annual meeting.  We have several events to attend with the meeting this weekend and coming week, starting  with 5K/10K run this morning.  The weather somewhat cooperated by cooling down a little although the humidity is still a bit oppressive.  They had over 7,000 runners participating all of whom come from their sales force, the home office staff, and their families (that's me).  Quite an impressive turnout.  We chose the 10K run and had a pretty good time although Jo might disagree since she struggled with the heat more than I did today.  Later today the Milwaukee zoo is open just for Northwestern Mutual so we'll get to see the zoo for the first time and meet more of Jo's new colleagues.  Then it is home to ready ourselves for another week.  Jo at work and me.....wallpaper, two more rooms, hopefully!

Then to finish off, yesterday we spent the day in the pool at Jo's first cousin-once-removed (if I figured that out right) and her first cousin who was visiting.  It was a great day to spend in a pool and it was fun playing with all the kids.  Then for evening we had the realtor who found us our house in Milwaukee over with her husband for dinner and dessert.  The weather was cool enough to sit outside on the porch and catch up on all the real estate happenings for the last couple of months.