December 26, 2011

Probably my last post of 2011.  It is amazing to think another year has come and gone.  Lot's of changes for us this year, but still all-in-all a very good year.  We are both much less stressed with work, especially since I don't work any longer.  Our house is coming together with the construction completed and a fair amount of the house painted, although there are lots of that to still finish.  We made a quick trip to Madison last Saturday since Jo's two sisters and brother were in town for our nephew's graduation.  It was fun to hear all the stories from each of the siblings and how no two of them ever seem to be the same.  Sunday we lazed around the house catching up on missed sleep from the week.

My parents came to visit for Christmas week.  They had a smooth flight in and besides a small mishap with my Dad's cellphone at the Milwaukee airport a quick drive home.  We enjoyed getting to cook for more people.  The house was all decorated for the season and the weather nicely cooperated by not being too bitterly cold, although my Mom might disagree.  We did pay a short visit to the Potawatami casino so Mom and Dad could try their hand at the local slots as they try to play their way across America.  My sister came up on the train from Chicago on Christmas Eve.  Christmas day we did the traditional present opening where Santa was very good to everyone.  A large amount of UW Badger wear was exchanged this year, even a Badger Snuggie (from our niece in Az.).  We then had our turkey dinner and then spent the afternoon sorting through the gifts.

Jo has today off from work and her primary interest was to goof-off.  She started a challenging jigsaw puzzle over the weekend and I think that is all she will be doing today.  The weather is nice and warm so we are planning a walk for later in the afternoon.  Hope you have a great New Year's celebration and remember on January 2 - go Badgers in the Rose Bowl.

December 17, 2011

We woke this morning to the first snowfall that has accumulated.  It wasn't a lot of snow, but it was nice to see the world all covered in a white blanket.  My run was peaceful and quiet as snowflakes slowly trickled down.  I always like the first few snowfalls - although by late February I know it will start to get old.  Unfortunately, it isn't predicted to last as our temperatures are expected to get up in the low 40's later today.

Busy week for Jo as she had dinner engagements two nights of the week and work is experiencing the usual end of the year rush as everyone tries to clear their to-do lists to enjoy the holidays.  We did sneak in a little fun though as the Trans Siberian Orchestra was in town to play their Christmas special.  The show was fantastic with great songs, singing, music, and the light show.  We have seen this show 6-8 times and it always is a delight.  Jo's sister, Kathy, joined us for the show and we had dinner with her son and his girlfriend before hand.  They were both just done with finals at Marquette, so were tired but happy to have another semester behind them.  On Friday, Kathy and I trekked to the local City Market for a cinnamon roll and either coffee (Kathy) or milk (me).  We are working on making this a tradition whenever she is in town overnight.  Friday night was a Northwestern Mutual holiday event at the CEO's home.  Quite a place since the basement was easily larger than our first house.  It was good to meet more of the people that Jo works with and their significant others (aren't I politically correct) although keeping all the names straight is a challenge.

On the home front, I completed painting the upstairs hallway and replacing many of the aged light switches and outlets in the house.  So it was another busy week on the ladder and with a paint brush for me.  Painting is now on hold to after the holidays so the house isn't all paint smelling while we have visitors.  Also I need to focus some energy on making Christmas cookies as I'm behind on them this year.

Hope everyone is ready for the holiday season as it is just around the corner.

December 13, 2011

Well it is finally accomplished, our bright red (I like to call it bordello red) back hallway is now a subtle shade of cream.  I also painted the first floor powder room so besides a few closets and two hallways, the first floor is almost done.  This week I've started on the upstairs hallway.  We are also at the end of our renovation project.  While the cardboard floor protectors still need to be removed and a final mirror needs to be installed, the project is effectively done.  The new bathrooms are great and having the laundry on the second floor saves trekking the laundry downstairs and then back upstairs.  Additionally, we are glad to be able to finally start moving our stuff back into place.  It seems we having been living in transition since we got to Milwaukee.  We spent a large portion of the weekend organizing our two studies.  My desk is set back up and I finally have all my clothes out of storage in the third floor and unpacked into my study.  It is nice to finally have access to my sweaters and turtlenecks especially with winter setting in.

Last weekend besides the unpacking mentioned above, we did a little Christmas shopping on Friday at a local mall and then enjoyed dinner out.  Then Saturday night we went to a one man play at the Marcus Theater downtown, "Kodachrome Christmas", along with Tim and Rosalie (Jo works with Tim).  The evening started with dinner at Zarletti's - Italian food with lots of garlic - and then off to the play which was a great performance and hilarious.  Sunday we finished decorating the house for Christmas.  It was nice to have the tree decorated and lit up.  We certainly enjoyed reminiscing about the trips we had taken where we picked up a lot of our ornaments. 

Then it was off for another week of work - Jo at the office, me with a paint brush.  Just remember only 11 more days of shopping before Christmas.

December 3, 2011

Happy December.  Another year starting to wind down and it has been an amazing year of changes for Jo and I.  Feel free to browse back through the postings for the year to see them all, but we are both still spinning with the changes involved in moving, retiring/changing jobs, and our new/old house.  All for the best but it has been pretty stressful at times.

I thought I would get a jump on my weekly post since it was a rainy day today and we are stuck inside for the most part.  The big news this week is that our renovation is almost completely done.  Especially since this past week we passed the milestone where we have lived in the house longer while it is being renovated than we did without renovations happening.  Needless to say, we are ready to have our house back, no construction guys running around it, and  the clutter cleared away.  Anyway, the new carpet went in this week and looks great and a lot of the little, last minute items were completed.  All we are really waiting for at this point is our bathroom mirrors and some electrical work.  The exciting portion for the week was the discovery of a tile floor underneath the family room carpet.  Unfortunately it wasn't in particularly nice shape so we choose to cover it back over with the new carpet as we originally planned.  On the painting front (what would be this weekly blog this year without a comment on painting), I patched and repainted the third floor attic space after the various marks and nicks made during the renovation.  Nothing like having to redo a space that was already done.  This week I start the hallways - especially our red back hallway.

Jo took Friday off from work and we hit the Mayfair mall to complete some of our Christmas shopping and made a great dent in it.  Besides needing a few small things for the missus, I'm pretty well done.  While at the mall we enjoyed lunch at 5 Guys and a Burger - probably not good for the arteries, but they do make a great hamburger!   On the way home we veered over to Woodman's for a grocery trip at our favorite grocery store in the area and then picked up our Christmas tree and wreath.  A lot of stops and we were gone most of the day but we had a lot of fun together and settled in for the night to pizza and a movie. 

Today we took advantage of the rainy weather to start finally unboxing our winter clothes from the move.  Since we have our new furniture pieces we have a place to finally put all these.  This involved making some hard decisions on what to donate and what to keep - something that causes no end of stress for Jo.  But we got most of it in place and it helps us start to feel a little more settled in.  Jo then went off to get a library card to the Milwaukee public library so she can download books to her Ipad.  Tonight we will be rooting on the Badgers as they attempt to win the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl - GO BADGERS!!  Tomorrow we are planning to unbox all the Christmas decorations and get started on our tree.