Goodbye 2014

Note:  I finally figured out a way to insert pictures since the method I've been using for 4 years suddenly doesn't work anymore.  Gotta love technology.

This is my last post for 2014 and it has been quite the year.  Starting with Jo's knee surgery and ending with our trip to Peru it has been a interesting ride.  We had a great, although short, Christmas break.  We went to see the "Imagination Game" which we would highly recommend with great acting, interesting script and it is set during WW 2 (ok that last one is mostly my recommendation).  We also took the opportunity to see the latest exhibit at the Art Museum which was paintings from Scotland focused on Italian artists.  I always find it fascinating to see what paintings become famous - often simply because someone kept it intact all the years since it was painted, not because the artist was a phenomenally good painter.  Before touring the art exhibit we hit a local diner for lunch which happened to have a large cow outside of it - it is true part of the reason we went to it was due to the large cow.  It is worth noting that many Wisconsin eating establishments have large cows outside of them - feel free to infer whatever you would like from that.

We spent the days after Christmas working on a Christmas gift puzzle while watching the, seemingly, never ending bowl games.  Unfortunately our fighting Illini couldn't pull a win out, but they were close.  We also spent a little bit of time going through our clothes to see which ones should no longer be in the rotation for wearing.  As Jo bought me five new pairs of pants for Christmas I took the not so subtle hint and did a little reorganizing of my closet.



In a final note, one of our orchids has bloomed again (seems to happen every 3-4 years for some, as yet, undetermined reason) which seems to be a fitting way to ring out the old year and welcome the new one.

Merry Christmas

All the presents are open, the traditional turkey dinner consumed, and a long walk to discuss all our blessings is completed.  So all that is left is to wish a Merry Christmas to all.  Our best wishes for a phenomenal 2015.

A Nice Quiet Weekend at Home

We had a very peaceful weekend that didn't involve any travel or major events.  We did attend one holiday party on Saturday, but the rest of the time we snuggled in getting in the mood for Christmas.  Jo had a massage, we exercised a bit, read some books, tried egg nog for the first time since we were kids, made some great dinners, and got through some of our back log of taped shows.

Jo has a relatively quiet week at work and I'm suspending all crack repair/painting on the house until the new year.  We are all ready with the fixings for our Christmas turkey dinner and are eager to open our presents.  We'll then spend some time starting to plan out what 2015 holds for us - because that is what Myers-Briggs NTJ's do for fun.

Madison Trip

Jo and I headed over to Madison for the weekend to see Kathy and John for our Christmas celebration with them.  While there we also spent a morning do a little condo shopping and caught up with one of the people on our Peru tour.

On the condo front, we are realizing that Madison doesn't possess the exactly perfect condo for us.  Namely, a condo with views of one or both of the lakes, is downtown near the capitol, has an expansive terrace, minimum road noise, is the right size, and is cheap.  We have now viewed most of the condo developments around downtown and are trying to figure out what are the features we absolutely must have and which are just nice to haves.  As we have several years before we need the condo, we have plenty of time to determine the right combination and also to change our mind several times.

After condo shopping, we met with Anne and her husband, Steve for lunch.  Anne was on our Peru trip with us and lives in Madison (what are the odds?).  We traded photos so we can each have another couple hundred photos to show our friends and family (side note, it is amazing how often people take fundamentally the same photo of a spot - many of her photos matched ours).  We also got to meet Steve for the first time and learn a little bit more about them.  Later that afternoon, Kathy, John, Jo, and I headed to a local bar to watch the Badger's women volleyball team play in their semi-final match.  The Badger's were defeated by Penn State (might make one of my blog readers happy), afterwards it was home to a delicious Mexican dinner that Kathy prepared.  Then it was time for our first Christmas and I scored a new pair of Wisconsin sweatpants (why is one pant called a pair of pants?).  Christmas is always more fun when you get to have multiple present opening opportunities.

Sunday it was home and then over to a neighbors for a holiday party with the folks on the block.

Sports Weekend

I'm a week behind on posting as several people have pointed out, so I'll do my usual and post twice today and catch up.

 Two weekends ago, we spent Saturday on sports.  First up was the Marquette/Wisconsin basketball game at the Bradley Center.  It was our first time watching the Badger's basketball team play this year and while they have most of their players returning from the Final Four team last year, they didn't play particularly well.  Fortunately, the Marquette team didn't play any better and we were able to squeak out a win.  Jo was able to obtain two extra tickets to the game and we had Drew and Amy join us to balance out the people cheering for the two sides.

Later that day, Kathy and John came over from Madison and we went out for a drink with Drew and Amy to celebrate their engagement.  Then it was back to the Bradley Center, along with several of Jo's HR team, to watch the Admirals play.  Since the Badger's were playing Ohio State at the same time for the Big 10 championship we had that playing on the TV in the suite.  It turned out to be a pretty depressing night for all the teams.  The Admirals lost and as you probably know by now, the Badger's imploded.  Sunday morning we hiked over to City Market with Kathy and John to enjoy our traditional cinnamon roll.

The only other news worthy item for the week, besides the usual mix of working, working out, and puttering around the house, was we decorated the house for the holidays.  That means our little army of Danish figurines is once again inhabiting every room in the house.  We also baked the first batch of Christmas cookies which was my Grandmother's recipe this year.  Nothing better than frosted cookies with milk for dinner.

Thanksgiving in New Mexico

We spent a lovely week enjoying the views and warmer temperatures of New Mexico with my folks.  To top it all off all of our airline flights went without a hitch even though we took off in the middle of a snowstorm in Milwaukee.  Although we were a little late getting in to our first connection due to the need to de-ice the plane (one of the thrills living in the cold part of the country) we had left plenty of time for our next plane.  We were rewarded with beautiful sunny skies during our time in New Mexico, which we certainly don't always enjoy in Wisconsin come winter time.

The week with my folks was spent eating as much Mexican food as possible, while catching up on the happenings in everyone's life.  This was interspersed with some home cooking, a great Thanksgiving dinner, playing cards, and viewing photos from the trips that have occurred since we were last together.  We also took advantage of the great hiking trails right behind my parent's house to enjoy a daily hike through the rolling hills.  During one of the hikes one of the wild horses decided to hike with us following us for about 2 miles.  But, all too soon it was time to head home, back to snowy weather and frigid temperatures.  Our car was nicely encased in ice when we picked it up at the airport to help remind us of the joys of living in the frozen north.

We spent the weekend at home, for once, purchasing our Christmas tree, putting up the wreath on the front door, watching some exciting football as both the Badgers and Packers won, and getting mentally prepared for going back to work (well that was mostly Jo).