Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Cross Country Skiing

So on to the most recent week.  The work week went flying as we enjoyed an evening at Northwestern Mutual's holiday party.  Nice time reconnecting with folks I haven't seen in a while and gave me a reason to wear something besides blue jeans and sweatshirt.  I figure it is good to be forced to dress up a little now and then.  We spent most of the weekend at the Bradley Center seeing a concert and basketball game.  But before all that we took advantage of another hefty snowfall (about 5 or 6 inches, and yes, I got to snow blow again) to head out to a local park and spend a couple of hours getting some exercise on our cross country skis.  Always a bit of a learning curve the first time out for the season, but it came back quickly.  Although neither of us is a big fan of going down hills in those skinny little skis.  

Next up, was the basketball game where we watched Marquette play IUPUI (yes that is the university's initials - look it up online).  Unfortunately, IUPUI wasn't much of a match for the Golden Eagles as they easily won the game.  But we had a nice time with several of Jo's HR team as it was a group outing.  Always nice for me to put some faces with people she talks about.  We also love the Bradley Center pizza and chicken fingers.  Not that they are good for you, but they are free with the Northwestern tickets and you know me and free food.

Kathy and John were in town for an event with John's family on Saturday and they spent the night with us.  Then Sunday morning we had a family brunch with the local family members.  We were joined by Chris and Angela, Drew, and of course, Kathy and John.  Always fun to catch up on what the young folks are doing.  We whipped up a sausage and cheese strata along with a spinach and mushroom frittata.  However the biggest hit was the monkey bread, none of which was left for me to nibble on later.

Afterwards we headed back to the Bradley center to see the Tran Siberian Orchestra play their Lost Christmas Eve show with our friends, Steve and Kathy (they had treated us to the Badger football game in November and this was our return treat).  As usual it was a great show with stirring music, cool laser light show and amazing fire effects.  Afterwards we headed to Mader's for some great German food before coming home tired but having had a great weekend.

Time to use the Snow Blower

We had our first snowfall, of many I'm sure, that required getting out the old, trusty snow blower.  We are having quite the introduction to winter this year as our December has been frosty and snowy.  I already have a pile 4 feet high in the front yard where I push the driveway snow and given that in Wisconsin the snow doesn't melt until April it could mount up to quite a snow hill by the end of the season.  But I did enjoy getting out in the cold and throwing some snow around.

I skipped writing anything last week, so I'll catch up a bit.  We attend a local production of Les Mis on the 6th with our friends, Tim and Rosalie, and were amazed by the quality of singing and the stage production.  While we have seen the Broadway version multiple times, Jo and I both thought this compared quite well especially since many of the actors were from the local area.  Before the show we enjoyed a nice dinner at Benelux although the walk to dinner and back to the theater was bit nippy since it was only 3 degrees at the time.

The rest of that weekend we pretty much hibernated except for doing a little decorating around the house and getting our Christmas letters into the mail.  Jo is in her year-end fun at work with making sure the performance process is running smoothly as well as doing them for her direct reports.  And yes, I'm still waiting for mine from her - I'm hoping for at least a meets expectations, maybe if I'm lucky an exceeds.  We'll see.

The only other fun event worth noting was my saga of getting a splinter that got buried into my finger surgically removed.  This involved three doctor visits, an X-ray (don't ask), and three stitches all for a piece of wood about one mm in size.  My advice, if you think you got a splinter dig it out right away it will save you a fortune in doctor bills down the road.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

First Shovel Worthy Snowfall

Well it had to happen eventually, we had our first snowfall that required breaking out the snow shovel.  Note that it wasn't enough to warrant firing up the snow blower, but I gave that serious consideration - mostly because it is just so much fun to shoot snow everywhere.  As the snowfall happened the Monday before Thanksgiving it is somewhat worrisome what this might mean for a blustery winter but since the temperatures warmed up this week, I'm hopeful we won't be buried every three days in the white stuff for the rest of winter.  Although it would be nice to get several good snowfalls for some cross country skiing.

We headed over to Madison for the turkey weekend and while there did a little house shopping.  Didn't find anything to buy, but we always enjoy looking.  Jo's sister, Kathy, did her usual phenomenal job with Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey was noted for its moistness by all, and we were joined by several of Jo's relatives (one brother, one brother-in-law, one nephew and his wife, and of course Drew was there so really two nephews).  I did as little as possible during the time in Madison except for some serious time playing computer games and some serious over eating.  Between my laptop and IPad there seems to be a lot of opportunity to waste major portions of my day.  I got in several great long runs including a 8-9 miler which has happened in a long time.  Unfortunately, Jo's knee continues to bother her so she is off running until it feels better.  She actually hurt it in yoga, not running (although, running might be a contributing factor) - so that what you get for stretching.

We came home on Saturday after a morning hike in the Madison Arboretum to watch the Badger/Penn State football game.  As the Badgers played horribly we lost making my father happy and me having to avoid him until he is over the gloating moment - which might take several weeks.  We should still make a bowl appearance so we should get one more opportunity to watch them in action around New Year's Day.

I'm spending the week finishing up my Christmas shopping and getting the house decorated for the short holiday season.  Also made my first batch of Christmas cookies on Sunday - yum.