An Omaha Adventure

We spent our Thanksgiving week in Omaha visiting family and attending the wedding of our godson.  Yes, this is the poor child that landed up with both of us as his godparents.  Fortunately, he wasn't too, too scarred by the experience and grew into a very nice, although very tall, young man (adult?  not sure what adjective to use to describe someone in their 30's, he is young relative to me, but then that is true for a lot of people these days).  So after a long drive out to Omaha we stayed with our niece and nephew and their darling daughter.  They have settled into their new house nicely and we had our own private suite in their basement bedroom - quite the digs.

Thanksgiving was hosted by our brother-in-law and was quite the spread given the number of family members in for the wedding weekend.  Never can go wrong with a delicious turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and sweet potatoes.  After a round of cherry pie and ice cream for dessert I pretty much didn't need to eat for the next two days - not that I stopped eating the next two days, I just didn't really need to.   Friday was spent with a little shopping braving the holiday crowds and then enjoying the latest Thor movie to get out of the house a bit and away from all the bustle for the wedding.

Then it was the big day which cooperated by being warm and sunny.  The wedding went off without a hitch with a beautiful bride and handsome groom.  Although, I must say after spending some 30 years learning all the right responses to a Catholic mass they went and changed them all up - for no apparently good reason that I can tell except to catch the non-Catholics in their midst saying the wrong things.  The reception afterwards also went smoothly with a chance to catch up some more with various family members.  Then all too soon it was Sunday morning and time to get back into the car, tackle the holiday traffic, and drive for hours on end to get home.  Everything was intact and functioning at home which is always a good end to a trip.

Onto Christmas and helping out the local, US, and global economies.

A Little Culture

Just to show that we do a bit more than just attend Wisconsin sporting events, we spent Friday evening attending the opening of "Holmes and Watson" at the Repertory Theater.  We were invited by our friends, Greg and Rhonda, who were the executive producers for the show.  We did ask what being an executive producer for the play meant and it really only involves signing an appropriately sized check.  We enjoyed dinner beforehand and I found the play fascinating.  Especially since I've always enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes stories.  I won't give away the multiple plot twists, but it keeps you interested - especially if you like a bit of mystery.

Saturday morning we got up early to do our usual weekend routine - which was drive over to Madison to watch a football game.  The forecast early in the week was rain changing to wet snow with highs in the mid 30's for the game.  As we were driving over we ran into that exact weather and started debating the wisdom of attending the game versus watching it on TV in a warm, dry spot.  Fortunately for us - especially since Jo seemed determined to go to the game regardless of weather - 15 minutes before we would have to leave the rain/snow stopped.   The sun didn't come out, but at least we weren't getting drenched!  It was an exciting game with enough ups and down to keep the crowd guessing on the final outcome until late in the game.  The home team won leading Wisconsin to another school record for wins in a season.  Remember, this is the first year we bought season tickets and this is the first year that Wisconsin goes 11-0 - might be a coincidence, or maybe it is us!

Saturday evening after warming up a bit we joined Kathy for dinner.  John was enjoying deer camp up north in the wilds of Wisconsin so it was just the three of us.  Although from the looks of sides I-94 on the way to Madison, using a car on the highway seems to be a successful method for getting a deer - it will be a bit mashed up though.

Nature Happens Everywhere

After moving to a small plot of land surrounded by a metropolitan area we had thought our opportunities to see wildlife would be fairly limited.  We had this hawk sitting on the railing on our second floor deck yesterday, just calmly checking out the world.  Fortunately, the sun was shining on the glass so it didn't see me as I got close to take pictures from inside.   Very regal looking and pretty nasty talons on it.  My best guess is that it is a Cooper's Hawk - but bird identification isn't exactly my strong suit.

Add this to the ten turkeys that were feasting on the berries that grow on my neighbors ivy just two weeks ago and it has been quite the bird viewing month all without leaving the comfort of my house.

And Now it is Basketball Season

Yes, this is another posting about us going over to Madison for the weekend to watch some more sports.  This time it was a basketball game on Friday and football game on Saturday.  We had tickets for another basketball game on Sunday but decided another three sport weekend was too much.  This was the actual opening game of the season - all the games prior to this were considered "exhibition" games.  Not sure the logic there, but I'm not a basketball coach.  Anyway, our Badgers were successful on the court against South Carolina State and afterwards we enjoyed a great meal at a local Mexican restaurant.  At least we think the meal was great, since we are very sure that the margaritas where great.  Two of them and we were both a bit wobbly.  

We got up on Saturday and walked to breakfast - at least partly to walk off our meal/drinks from the night before - where we were joined by our friends Jim and Judy at Madison Sourdough.  Good breakfast catching up as they continue to settle into their new house.  Naturally a few of the pastries, since Madison Sourdough has a major pastry selection, had to find their way back for a noontime snack - we wanted to be well fueled for the football game.  After breakfast we did a little shopping focused on purchasing new light fixtures for our renovation.  Then we got back in time for a short nap before piling on layers and layers of clothing to try and stay warm during the afternoon game.  The weather turned much colder this week - dropping into the 20's at night.  And with no sun forecast for the game, we figured we needed as many layers as we could fit under our jackets.  We both looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy once we had stuffed ourselves into our jackets.

The game was thrilling to watch as the offense tried to see how many times they could let Iowa's defense score while the defense played a brilliant game holding Iowa to less that 100 yards total offense for the game.  Fortunately, the home team came out on top at the end and left the crowd go home happy.  You might ask what does a die-hard Wisconsin fan do after sitting in 30 degree weather for 3.5 hours slowly freezing into a popsicle from the outside in.  What else, get ice cream!!  OK, we did then climb into a steamy hot shower to finally completely thaw out.

Sunday we came home early to have a weekend day at home for once and spent the day getting a little exercise, catching up on home chores, and Jo doing some work work since she was a bit behind.

Got to Love Badger Sports

To keep our streak alive of never being home on weekends, we headed over to Madison to enjoy another sports filled weekend.  That's right - we don't do sports anymore, we just watch them now.  It feels marginally better than watching them on TV since you at least had to walk to the stadium so you can claim a little exercise.  Anyway, we started off on Friday night watching the women's volleyball team lose in five sets to Ohio State.  Not the best way to start our weekend, but it got better, especially stopping for half-price donuts on the way home.

We were up bright and early on Saturday to squeeze a many errands in before the start of the Badger football game telecast.  First up was a stop at Woodman's grocery store to stock up on staples (it's a warehouse store and beats anything in the Milwaukee area) then it was over to pick out paint colors for our condo walls.  This was followed by a stop in the lighting store to find out they had lost our lighting order - we have the items but we need to recreate what we wanted where, not a  tragedy, but not a great recommendation for the store.  Then it was over to Kathy's by eleven AM to catch our breath and catch up with her and John while watching the Badgers beat Indiana on TV.  Then after a wonderful pork tenderloin dinner it was back to our condo to drop off the car before getting some exercise for the day walking to another volleyball game.  This ended better with a win in four sets over Maryland.

We finished up our weekend with an early morning breakfast on Sunday - that time change will get ya - at the Curve where we discovered one of the best omelets and hash browns we have had in our travels through Madison diners.  We then hung around the condo catching up on some work (Jo) or reading (Me) until it was time to head to the Kohl's center for a men's basketball game.  These are new tickets for us and it is tough to score tickets to men's basketball.  So we are the in the second to last row in the stadium and these aren't seats for the faint of heart.  The Kohl's center has a really steep pitch which gives great views as long as you don't suffer from vertigo.  But putting the lack of oxygen due to the elevation aside, we had a great time watching the new team win over another UW school.  Afterwards, we heated up some pizza for dinner in the condo before hitting the road home.  Busy weekend, but lots of fun activities, although three sporting events in a weekend is a bit much.