Christmas Brunch

We finally spent an entire weekend in the Milwaukee area.  Feels like the first one since June or July.  We started the weekend with our first Bucks game for the season.  Jo had use of the suite and along with several of her work colleagues we watched a thrilling game where the Bucks could have won up to the last minute of the game.  Even with the poor game outcome, we still enjoyed the game atmosphere, the pizza and cookies, and, for me at least, getting to know a few more of the people that Jo works with.

The weather turned a bit warmer for the weekend after some pretty cold days last week.  On Saturday after our morning exercise routine we settled into the kitchen for some serious baking/prepping for our family brunch on Sunday.  We spent most of the afternoon filling the house with some great cooking smells as Jo prepared a cinnamon roll Christmas tree and I labored on a making a frittata, a quiche, and a strata (which in my humble opinion are just three fancy words for fundamentally the same dish of cooked eggs with stuff in it).  Later that evening our neighbors, Audrey and John, treated us to dinner at the Milwaukee Country club.  The club had a phenomenal 20 foot Christmas tree that was decorated to the nines (or tens, not sure which it is in the saying).  We were having such a great time talking and eating that I forgot to snap a photo of either the tree or the company.  The lack of a photo might also have something to do with the brandy Old Fashioned that I started preceded my dinner.

Sunday was our annual holiday brunch with Wisconsin family members.  Although, we did expand the invite list this year to include the family members from that state to our south - namely, those living in the Chicago area.  This gave us eleven around the table which was a bit of a squeeze but seemed to work out - at least I didn't see any elbows getting thrown.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and the food turned out alright, especially as we tried many new, experimental dishes this year.  It is always fun to talk with our nieces and nephews and to see the directions they are taking in their lives - in terms of their relationships, food selections, hobbies, interests, and careers.  Especially as technology influences them very differently than it does the older family members - remember I'm still not on any social media platform and don't have any immediate plans to join one.  Anyway, I'll close with the fact that, Jo's cinnamon rolls turned out great, as usual, even if we weren't quite able to figure out to make brown colored icing for the trunk of her tree (it turned out sorta of dark pea greenish, or a moss covered trunk as one kind niece pointed out).  After everyone had left and we had cleaned up a bit we capped our day with a nice stroll around the neighborhood admiring the decorations and chatting about the year to come.

Dinner on the Stage

Back in June we attended a charity function for one of the local theaters.  At it Jo won the bid on an event where we can have dinner on the stage for one of their productions.  In case you have never had the opportunity to witness Jo when she is in a bidding war, she doesn't often lose (if you really know Jo, you know she really doesn't like to ever lose - so don't play any games with her unless  you are prepared to either play all night or to throw the game; and yes I realize this is a complete contradiction to her normal persona, don't ask me I just married her).  Anyway, I digress - last night we finally had our dinner on the set of Holmes and Watson.  It was a five course affair with a wine pairing for each course.  We were able to invite four other couples to join us and we had a blast.  One of the theater directors joined us and provided amazing insight to the world of professional theater (such as how they select plays, where do the actors live while doing the shows, etc.).  We also were able to go behind the scenes to see how the set is constructed. 

The food was prepared by the executive chef of a local restaurant and was delicious although a five course meal is a lot of food.  We picked up some great wine recommendations and overall had fun chatting with everyone.  Great night, but we are both a bit tired today as Monday is a school night and we shouldn't be out so late.

It Really is December

Well my last post was a bit too cavalier around the weather and Mother Nature has responded by dropping the temperatures into the 20's and providing our first snowfall.  It wasn't much snow, just enough to dust the grass, but given the current temperatures it might be here until March.  But part of getting in the mood for the holidays is having some cold temperatures and snow.  Makes sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace much cozier.  Of course, since these temperatures could continue for another three or four months, I might not be quite so cheery about them then.  But we did choose to live in Wisconsin.

We headed over to Madison again last weekend for a basketball game.  We stayed with Kathy and John since our condo is officially cleaned out (demolition is to start tomorrow).  Drew and Amy were also in town so we had the chance to catch up with the happenings in their lives and to find out the latest news on the teaching front.  They are about to become new parents within the next month so a lot of exciting changes in store for them.  On the basketball front, it is going to be a long year for the Badgers.  We played our in-state rivals, Marquette (where Drew went to school), and lost again pretty soundly - by something like 20 to 30 points.  But Jo and I still had fun watching the game from far above the court and afterwards checked out our condo once last time before it becomes filled with dust and debris.  Then we headed home to have a little bit of weekend around Milwaukee.

Sunday was a day of taking easy after our morning workout.  Jo had a massage and I caught up on some reading - I'm working my through the sequels books to the Dragon tattoo series, so far pretty interesting.

Is it Really December?

We are enjoying a particularly nice string of beautiful weather days.  The sun has been out and temperatures have been in the mid-50's which has made raking up some of the last leaves quite enjoyable (well as enjoyable as raking leaves three times a week can be).  I know the weather won't last, but it has been nice to get a little break before the cold starts to set in - which according to the weather reports is going to be tomorrow.  The  prediction is for a 30 degree change in temps between today and tomorrow.  But I do like having some cold just to get me in the holiday mood and to justify having hot chocolate at night (my theory, if you get cold enough you burn the extra calories from the hot chocolate just to stay warm thereby not gaining any weight).

For our weekend activities, we spent Friday night picking out our front door's Christmas wreath and then treating ourselves to a take out pizza.  It was a nice change of pace not having to make our own.  Then Saturday, after our morning exercising, we headed over to Madison for some shopping and then to watch the Badger basketball team implode against Ohio State.  We lost by over 30 points so not the most exciting game to watch as a Badger fan.  We then quickly piled into the car to get back home to watch our undefeated Badger football team become defeated in the Big Ten Championship - again by Ohio State.  So good day to be a Buckeye, not so much a Badger.  But we enjoyed the day trip and we were very successful in our shopping endeavors.

Sunday was another one of those sunny warm days which meant raking for me while Jo got in some additional shopping time for family (including me I'm told, so I hope I got something good!).  Then later in the day we dressed up for her work's annual holiday party which was held on the 32nd floor of their new office tower in downtown Milwaukee.  Great views over the city, although I didn't remember to get my phone out and capture any photos - sorry.  In lieu of a shot of downtown, I included a photo of a manager that Jo's dad built from twigs and spare lumber that came into our house earlier this year.  I did a little sanding, staining, and added a creche set from my childhood and if I say so myself, it looks pretty good.  Her dad was quite the craftsman.

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.

Pasta, Wine, Churches, and Ruins

We spent the last week vacationing in Rome.  We decided that instead of trying to visit lots of different towns that we would spend the entire week in Rome.  It was very interesting to see what had changed since we last visited over 20 years ago - back when Italy stilled used the lira - which included several new museums and a lot of restoration to various ruins around the city.  But, to summarize our trip for those that don't enjoy these long missives and don't want to spend four hours looking at hundreds of photos it was: ruin, ruin, ruin, church, pasta, wine, ruin, church, ruin, ruin, pasta, wine, ruin, ruin, ruin, church, church, ruin.

Now for those liking a bit more information - we tried hard to only go to sites we hadn't visited before.  Fortunately, with a city like Rome with all their different sites from antiquity along with various museums it wasn't very hard to fill our days.  We had also set up a few guided tours - to see some of the rooms at the Vatican that aren't on the usual tour, Tivoli gardens, and a few of the underground ruins beneath churches.  We had almost perfect weather for the entire week, with only one day threatening rain that never came. 

The highlight of the trip was probably attending a church service in the Pantheon where Jo got to do the responsorial reading - we were just sitting there waiting for the service to start and we were asked if we would be willing to do the reading (fortunately in English).  Since I didn't want to be personally responsible for lightening bolts striking the Pantheon, Jo volunteered to do it.  The other cool thing was that they exit all the tourists from the Pantheon for the service so that after it was finished we had the Pantheon to ourselves for about ten minutes before the crowds all came rushing back in.  We also tried to go into every church we passed which in Rome is a really nutty goal since there seems to be two or three on every block.  Either way, there are an amazing number of absolutely spectacular churches in Rome and we did manage to hit the big four so Jo should have piled up a few indulgences (although I'm not sure if you talk about them you don't get them - like birthday wishes - we Lutherans don't get schooled in indulgence protocols).

We also braved the Italian train system and took a train out to Castel Gandolfo for the day.  After an interesting visit to the Castel which included a tour of the pope's apartment we spent the day picnicking by the shores of Lake Albano.  I learned a lot about the popes from about the 16th century onward, including the few that lasted only a few days or months in office.  Also, got a good appreciation for why Lutheranism came about - not all the popes were that focused on the religious side of their job.  But they did build some wonderful palaces and accumulate a lot of really nice artwork and sculptures.

There was also a fair amount of time spent reading and looking at the ancient Roman ruins/buildings.  I'm always amazed at the beautiful sculptures and buildings that were built 2,000 years ago without the aid of power tools or hydraulic equipment.  I could go on and on, but just suffice it to say we had a great week off, ate some really phenomenal spaghetti and pizza dinners, had way too much delicious gellato, and came back rested, but heavier.  Oh yeah, also with over 400 pictures which we'll make you watch next time you visit.

Well that was a bit Soggy

You know how there aren't too many things more enjoyable that sitting outside on a cool, crisp fall day with a beautiful, crystal blue sky watching your college football team - well last Saturday wasn't that.  The forecast was for rain starting just about at kickoff and then for it to intensify as the afternoon and game wore on.  With the possible fun of lightening.  Fortunately, most of that didn't occur.  We had gray skies throughout, but the rain held off for most of the game only really getting serious late in the 4th quarter and then the walk home.  Fortunately for all, the lightening was a no-show.  But we were prepared with our ponchos and since we didn't chicken out based on the forecast, we got to see our team win against Purdue - not the cleanest of games, but they did win.

This was Jo's birthday weekend - I won't say how many years ago it all started, but the cake might be an indicator.  We had tickets for Friday to see the UW women's volleyball team win against Indiana so it was another all sports weekend.  Kathy joined us for Jo's birthday dinner beforehand and the game.  After the volleyball game we all enjoyed the chocolate cake, although very small slices, and did our best rendition of Happy Birthday to wish Jo into another fun, filled year. 

For the rest of the weekend we did some shopping and poked around our condo getting it ready for the upcoming renovation which is starting in a few weeks - yeah.  We got our final number on the reno on Friday and we are all set to go.  Also, finalized the last selections on Friday as well - laid out our outdoor grilling area.  Now we have to get mentally prepared to start seeing holes punched in our walls and for all the dust.  We are hoping everything we picked will go together and looks like the mental pictures we are carrying around in our heads.

We came home early Sunday morning to get in a little exercising and to catch up the things around the house before the start of another week.

Lobster Rolls - yum

Jo had a business trip in Boston so we decided to visit our old friends and haunts in Connecticut and make a long weekend of it.  While she slaved away inside a cold, windowless conference room I traipsed around Boston visiting some new sites.  We stayed in the Seaport to the south of downtown Boston so I visited Fort Independence and Dorchester Heights.  I had never been to either before and it was fun learning about some new aspects of our American history.  Unfortunately, neither we open to tours but I did find a very helpful person at Fort Independence who took the time to explain about the fort and answer my questions. 

Then it was off on I-95 through Rhode Island to see Southeastern Connecticut again.  It has been a few years since our last visit and we were pleased to see not too much had changed.  Our friends, Sheri and Bruno graciously put us up for our stay and planned a perfect itinerary with time with friends, some hiking, playing with their new Golden Doodle, Zeeland, and naturally a stop at the Granite Theater.

We toured our old neighborhood and were happy to see our old house was still standing and the woods pretty much unchanged.  We then tried to visitt all of our favorite places to eat food that really isn't all that good for you, but sure is fun to eat.  We started with hitting Fred's Shanty on the Thames river for fried clam strips and milk shakes.  We enjoyed looking across the river at the Pfizer site where we spent a lot of time.  The next stop in our dining tour was Clyde's for freshly made cider donuts along with fresh pressed apple cider.  Certainly hit the spot, even if the bees were a bit annoying.  We followed that up with a visit to Captain Scott's which, in our humble opinion, has the best lobster rolls in the area (and yes we ate three of them between the two of us - we did opt not to get onion rings so we should get some credit for thinking about our waistlines).

On Saturday, after our morning hike with Sheri and Bruno we met up for lunch with many of our good friends from our CT days.  It was fun finding out about all the changes in people's lives, including retirements, grandchildren, new jobs and new hobbies.  Always amazing how fast it can feel like you never left.  Later that day after touring the murals in Westerly we hit the Granite Theater (we were actually on time for once, bit unusual for the four of us) to see Arsenic and Old Lace.  A great production and reminded us how much community theater is fun to watch.

All too soon, it was time to head to the Providence airport for our trip home - full of good food, new memories, birthday cake, and missing our time and friends from CT.

Rain in New Mexico and Heat in Wisconsin

Goofy weather around the country seemed to be the theme for last week.  I visited my folks in Albuquerque for a couple of days and the weather was lovely in the 70's most days except for a last day where it decided to pour.  Meanwhile back home, the temps soared into the 90's for several days and we haven't had any significant rain for weeks.  I was kind of expecting those temperatures in New Mexico and the rain in Wisconsin not the other way around.  Anyway, I had a great visit with my parents and enjoyed touring the Unser Museum - that is the racing Unser's in case you aren't a Indy car fan.  Interesting when to see a family in which multiple generations all pursued the same passion.  We are still in discussions on what the theme for our family museum will be and where we should locate it.

I came home just in time to do some laundry and pack up for a visit to Madison for another Badger football game.  The heat had finally left and we got to enjoy watching the Badger's win in picture perfect college football weather - sunny, temperatures in the high 60's, almost a cloudless sky.  To fill up the rest of the day we did a bit more selecting for our condo and a bit of shopping for some sports gear - we found we are bit short in red shirts sporting a badger.  We then picked up a Rocky's sausage pizza (one of our favorite in Madison) and joined Kathy and John for dinner and a walk.  Then it was time to head back to home so we could wake up in our comfy beds and not the air mattresses we have in Madison.

On Sunday, we caught up with some old friends from our days in Pennsylvania.  Patte and John were neighbors at our second PA house and she is now doing a short assignment down in Chicago.  They stopped by on their way back from Door County and we spent a couple of hours on our porch finding out was happened in the
16 years since we last lived close by.  Also, since it was John's birthday we had whipped up an apple cake to celebrate.

Jo's New Friend

Once again, we were in Madison for the weekend working on our condo selections and attending some sporting events.  We scooted out of town quickly on Thursday so that we could see the Wisconsin women's volleyball team play Marquette.  Very close games with our Badgers finally winning in the fourth set.  During the game, Jo made a new friend, but then mascots are always hanging around her (as evidenced by a picture we have of her and the Phillie Phanatic from years ago).  We had a great time watching the game and afterwards enjoyed a nice stroll home with near perfect temperatures.

Jo headed off on Friday for a Chemistry board meeting while I held down the fort with our contractor selecting such fun things as grout colors and carpet underlayments.  Yep, I'm living the large life.  Afterwards we tucked into some homemade pizza before walking over to Union South to watch the movie, "The Big Sick".  Great movie and we both highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun romantic comedy.  Saturday we picked up a few things at the Farmer's market and then took our morning constitutional out to Picnic Point, before meeting Kathy and John at the Memorial Union for lunch.  After lunch it was time to watch the Badger's football team play Brigham Young and decided to do it at the Union.  It was a lot fun watching with a crowd and a pitcher of beer.  It helped the fun that our team won (but it also could have just been the pitcher of beer).  We then decided to simply get some burgers for dinner before traipsing over to the UW Field House for another volleyball match (yes, our lives are now spent watching sports since we are getting too creaky to actually do them anymore).

We then decided to drive home after the game, so we could wake up in our own beds Sunday morning.  Sunday consisted of getting a bike ride in before heading to the gym and then some quality nap time in the afternoon.  Later that night we caught up with our CT friends, Bruno and Sheri, via Facetime and found that they are only one peak away from hiking all the 4,000 foot peaks in NH - yes they have way too much energy.

Tomato Sauce for the Winter

We enjoyed a nice quiet weekend, starting out with cocktails on our front porch Friday night.  We got to meet our new neighbor to the south and whipped up a pesto chicken pizza for dinner.  A great evening.  The rest of the weekend consisted mostly of us watching our football teams win - on TV, not live - and Jo cooking up a pot of tomato sauce using fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden (from Sheri's recipe) to freeze and get us ready for a winter of spaghetti.

We threw in a couple of nice long walks although there was much griping from both parties on the ever shortening days and the fact we were walking in sweat pants already.  We are bracing for a cold, cold winter - got to love Wisconsin.

Fall Sports

It is officially the start of the college football season.  We attended our first Badger game of the season in our brand new seats.  We finally broke down this year and purchased season tickets to the Badgers so we don't have to always scramble for tickets.  We managed to get pretty good seats around the 25 yard line with a nice view of the field (in other words, not too low and not too high).  We met the season ticket holders next to us who have been sitting in their seats for 30 some years.  For those who chose not to spend their Friday night glued to the TV, the Badgers looked a little rough in the first half, but managed to pull it together and have a spectacular second half to win the game easily.  Jo and I were certainly wondering about the wisdom of committing to season tickets through most of the first half.  We did have a beautiful night for the game (although, I'm old fashioned enough to feel that college football should be played during the day on Saturday's - enough of these night games just to gain TV revenue - ok, I'm done now) with cool but not cold temperatures and not a drop of rain in sight.

Saturday, after a tasty breakfast with Kathy and John at a local cafe (definitely not a diner, since they had salad as a side) we got a tour of John's home away from home for the first time.  We have known John for around 15 years, but this is the first time we ever got the official tour.  He has a lovely ranch home with enough pieces of his family's history to start his own museum.  Afterwards, it was time to head home and catch up on a few chores around here - like getting to the gym.

Sunday morning we lazed around in the morning - especially since we hit the gym yesterday - and then pumped up the bike tires to head over to the Brewer's stadium.  Jo was hosting some of her team at the Legends Club at the stadium, while we watched the Brewer's defeat the division leading Nationals.  Two for two on wins for the home teams this weekend!  We certainly enjoyed the warm chocolate chip cookies they distribute during the 5th inning at the Legends Club.

Monday morning we hauled ourselves from bed early to get out for a bike ride before the traffic got bad and then headed over to the gym to continue to feel virtuous for the weekend.  We spent the rest of the day curled up with a backlog of newspapers and books to read.

Number 400

That last post hit a key milestone - the 400th post on this blog.  Seems like cause for a celebration.

And yes, this was a shameless attempt at padding my blog numbers for the future.

College Sports start another Season

So we were off to Madison yet again as we continue the process of nailing down the renovations to our home-away-from-home.  This week it was fireplace surrounds and lighting.  Fortunately, most of our lights are going to be recessed lights so we didn't have too many actual fixtures to decide on.  Much like tile stores, I find lighting stores to be just overwhelming - just too, too many choices.  I asked the lighting lady, they had 80 catalogs from lighting manufactures all of which are roughly the size of the old New York telephone book (for those that can remember what a telephone book looked like).  We did manage to find the lights we needed and hopefully they will amaze you the first time you visit the finished condo.  If not, just fake it for us.

After that is was off to find fireplace finishes.  Not much luck at the first store, but we had success once we moved to a stone retailer.  Found a really cool stone for the mantle in the family room and something that will work for us on the surrounds and the hearths - again remember to ooh and aah the first time.

After all those conversations and selections, we needed a break that included some fun.  So Friday evening we hit a Thai restaurant and then headed over to the UW Field House to watch the Badger's women's volleyball team beat Louisville.  It was a great match and we particularly enjoyed sitting on our names (yes, we broke down and actually bought season tickets this year and don't ask me why no one can ever get Joann's name right - especially since I always spell it and I'm pretty sure I'm not so senile yet that I'm adding an e at the end in my spelling).  Saturday morning after a quick stop to do a little more shopping for another renovation item, we hit the Pancake Cafe to enjoy a hearty breakfast (hearty at our age, means we really didn't need to eat the rest of the day), we then spent the day measuring, debating, and remeasuring various items around the place as we continue to try and figure out this renovation.  We also found some time to get a few more pieces into the puzzle we have ongoing in Madison.

Then it was off to La Hacienda for some Mexican with Kathy and a quick catch up on her happenings - one of which included the Lady Gaga concert in Chicago (pretty cool).  After a very good dinner we headed for round two of  Women's volleyball where our Badgers downed North Carolina in straight sets.  Two for two at the beginning of the season.  Then it was a long drive home to wake up Sunday morning to gray skies and off and on rain.  We spent most of Sunday catching up on reading newspapers and searching for a tub - yep, we are living the wild and crazy life.

Finally Open

Northwestern Mutual's new office tower is finally officially open.  All thirty two floors will begin to be occupied starting early next week.  Next time you are in town, make sure to ask Jo for a tour.  We had some rain storms this week and Jo snapped this beautiful shot of the rainbow with the new office tower on the left and the art museum in the middle.

Boating Madison

Another week and another trip to Madison as we continue to try to select items for our renovation project.  We focused a lot on tiles this week and there are just too many tile options.  Between trying to find a color you like along with a style and then compounding this with trying to decide what to use in each room along with what to do in the bathrooms for tile insets and what should be used as backsplashes in the kitchen and do you want to do the same thing in each room or change it up room by room or floor by floor and what should the pottery space have in it so that it is easy to clean and oh make sure it all these choices work with the countertops, flooring, and cabinet colors.  Well, you get the idea that we were a bit overwhelmed on Friday.  But we are making progress as we are about 90-95% of the way there on our kitchen layout and cabinet choice.  Tiles - still a work in progress.

After that fun, we joined John and Linda at the Memorial Union to imbibe just enough to relax and then a bit more.  They had brought their boat up to Madison in John's ongoing quest to boat every lake in Wisconsin (just googled that - 15, 074 documented lakes in Wisconsin, so he has a few to go).  We enjoyed a pitcher of beer while enjoying the ambience of the Terrace at the Union and the views of the lake, before getting on their boat for a short tour of Lake Mendota.  Afterwards we enjoyed burgers and sandwiches at DLUX downtown before ushering them into our construction zone.  Fortunately, they were troopers about the state of the condo and the fact that there aren't actually any real beds in our unit - only air mattresses (we take the AirBnB message seriously).

Saturday morning dawned sunny and cool; perfect weather for a stroll around the Farmer's market where we picked up some fresh peaches, apple cider, and a few breakfast treats.  After getting our calories we headed to Skipper Bud's marina to pick up the boat for a day on the lake.  We cruised around the entire circumference of Lake Mendota seeing Madison really for the first time from that view (we had rented a canoe about 20-25 years ago with Kathy, but only covered a small portion by the University).  It provided a new perspective and, as you might imagine, there are some spectacular lake houses on the lake to enjoy.  After another brief stop at the Terrace for some Babcock Hall ice cream and to meet friends of John and Linda, we braved the Yahara River lock to cruise around Lake Monona (remember John's lake quest), before moving back up river to Mendota and packing up the boat for the trip home.

We decided to drive home late Saturday night and enjoyed a bike ride early Sunday morning before putting up another two batches of pickles (that is nine batches so far this year - and even though the cucumber plants are quitting any time soon, we think we have had it on pickles) and catching up on things around the house.