Yes, blog, I forgot about you again.

But here's the good news. A few weeks ago I looked at a Tumblr site that I had a few years ago. I kind of abandoned it. But looking back at it was so neat. It was a like opening an old diary. This made me realize that the blog isn't so much about other people reading it, but about a history and a diary of sorts. Years from now, hopefully this will still be around and I can look back at my digital diary and remember what happened. So, again, I will try to keep up with the blog perhaps not for the present time, but for my future self to look back and reflect on.

On that note...

FALL IS HERE! I love fall. Here's a little snapshot from this weekend apple picking at the Eplegaarden in Fitchburg.

What a crazy 2 weeks!!

Two weeks ago my son turned 9. 2 days later I left for Colorado and had a whirlwind trip out there. Yesterday my son competed in his first swim meet in the 9-10yr old division. Today it's quiet. It's been kind of crazy around here.

I can't believe my son is 9. It's doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it was. His birthday is always slightly bittersweet and the fact that he is so old now, brings back some difficult memories. A few days after he was born, a man I worked with lost his daughter in a car accident. A few days after that a friend of mine went into preterm labor and gave birth to her daughter at 22 weeks and subsequently lost her. Both of these people haven't had their children for 9 whole years. That always kind of stops me in my tracks.

On a bright note, look at this view I saw for the 1st time almost 2 weeks ago. It's just breath taking. It's hard to imagine seeing this almost every day and not being in awe of how amazing it is. I really enjoyed my few days out in Colorado. I definitely want to take the kids out there sometime. I know they would love it.

Finally the other big thing was my son's swim meet. He didn't do great, but that was to be expected. I am of course proud him him, no matter what. He was swimming twice the distances he was used to and doing a stroke that he could barely do 6 mos ago and now it's his strongest. The one thing he wasn't amused with was that I told him he was supposed to be born (my due date) May 19th, which would have had him still being 8 yesterday. He didn't laugh. See, if he was still in the 8 yr old division, he would have had all 1st, 2nd & 3rd places. Oops. Damn high blood pressure 9 years ago really messed with my sons swim meet. I should have known better, huh?

Fly, Breast & Free, IM & Relay and Shaving Seconds

A year ago swimming was a foreign language to me. I grew up in Florida... as an ice skater. My son, here in Wisconsin, is a swimmer. I spend many weekends in the fall & winter at a pool. It's usually a balmy 80 degrees (which in Feb. it *is* balmy). The summer you will find us at various locations in Madison from Hawks Landing to Ridgewood & Shorewood. It is looking like this is my future for the next several years.

Last year, my son did swim lessons and that was it in terms of sports. Once a week, 30 mins a lesson. Now, I spend Tues, Wed & Thurs at the pool and if there's a meet, I work it. It's not bad and it's great to see him getting some positive self esteem.

Today was the last meet until the summer. Honestly, I need the break. I know he'll miss the meets, but out of the 10 or so meets he participated in, I think 7 were hosted by BAC which meant we had to work them. Today was the worst since I believe I have a sinus infection and my head was pretty darn close to exploding.

Today was a good day. The boy got 4th place in his backstroke (tied for 4th and 3rd was just .07 seconds away), 7th in 50Y free (out of 24 kids!), he improved his 50 y breast stroke by a lot!

The next big step will be summer teams. He will be 9 which will be a a huge difference. He's been competeing in 8 & under for the last 9 months. The 9-10 yr old division will be different. It will be faster and harder. The boy realizes this and doesn't expect to get 1st or 2nd or 3rd. He just doesn't want to be last, which I think won't be any problem at all.

In Memoriam

This is not a post about a person that died, but a car that we lost.



On Saturday, January 31st, 2009, we said goodbye to the dear beloved, run down, green Jetta (Sequoia green if I remember correctly). She was a good car and only failed us once in Atlanta when the battery died after only a short time leaving us stranded at a restaurant. We got her before we were married so she was even at our wedding in Kennesaw. She drove me to MindSpring faithfully everyday in Atlanta. Green Jetta even made the trip to Wisconsin in luxury - being put on the moving van and not having to drive one of those pesky miles between here and there. However, after 11 1/2 years, it was finally time to say good bye. We didn't really want to. We didn't owe a thing on her, however, she was looking rough. The mirror was broken (and not something that could easily be replaced, it was imbeded in the body of the car), the muffler needed replacing, she was leaking collant - and those were just the things we knew of. It would have cost more to fix her than she was worth. So, after all those long years and experiences we said good bye.



Who would replace such a good faithful car??? Who else but another Jetta. Meet Red Jetta. Spicy Red, I beleive. Red Jetta is a 2004, so she's newer but not brand new. She's also a lot cleaner and has a clean bill of health. Will we keep red Jetta 11 1/2 years. Who knows. Perhaps if we take a little bit better care of her she will last 11 1/2 years!!

Oh, and look at this fun little fact. Our cars now match the house (which, no we did not paint green & red and still have yet to change it)

Butterfly

I guess my daughter is dreaming of Spring. My husband worked on this little art project with her. Vocals were done by her as well!

Happy New Year!

I supposed one of my New Years Resolution should be to post more on here. I will try. Now that I have a computer of my very own (a new Mac Book!) I hope to do so. I wanted to start by wishing everyone a happy new year. I can't believe it's 2009. This year my son will be 9 and my daughter will be 6. My daughter will also complete her 1st year of Kindergarten. It seems odd that I don't have "little" kids any more, but it feels good. Happy New Year!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was the seasons 1st snow day today. I managed to push the kids out the door for a little while to get out of the house. Here are some highlights of our day cooped up at home.




Amaya's attempt at a snow angel -

Just one more thing...

I was so sad to read about the Walmart Employee's death on "Black Friday". It really makes me mad too. Every year, news outlets show footage of crazy shoppers rampaging through the doors of Walmart. How could the company not see this coming? Every single year someone is trampled, it's only a matter of time before someone was injured severly or killed. Opening all the doors at one time to allow a mass of thousands in never ends well. This poor man wasn't a "real" employee, from what I read - he was just a temp. Part of me thinks that Walmart likes the attenion that the media draws to it's mass entrances. I hope next year they queue the line and open one or 2 doors at a time. People shouldn't risk their life just to work.

Just one more reason why I really don't like that company as a whole. This should never ever have happened.

Walmart Saved our Butt

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I despise Walmart, especially the one here in Madison. I haven't set foot in the Walmart on the westside in years, and I do not intend on changing that anytime soon. I watched a movie a few years ago about Walmarts employment practices and I have choosen, for the most part, not support an employer who doesn't appear to value their employees except for their inexpensive labor.

Now, on the night before Thanksgiving, while at a hotel in the Dells, my husband discovered that that our battery in the van had died. We were about an hour from home and I had to be at work at a retail store (that is VERY busy on the day after t-giving - yes, I know they all are, but really, trust me, we are SLAMMED!) by 11am on Friday. Around 9am on Thanksgiving, my dear husband called AAA and a kind tow truck from Prairie Land towing came not once, but twice (because the cables didn't work the 1st time) to get the van up and running. We knew if it was turned off, it wouldn't start back up.

We were all prepared to buy a battery and have to install it on our own since I didn't expect to find an open car shop on Thanksgiving. I left David and the kids in the car, running of course, while I ventured into the only open store around. Walmart. This is the Wisconsin Dells, after all. I wandered in, picked up some decongestant for my daughter and made my way back to the car dept. when what did I see?

People. Yes, they were open.

I have never been so relieved to see a helpful Walmart employee.

They picked out the battery we needed, and me and my family waited. I was about to go and pay for the medicine when one of the other helpful walmart women said I could just pay for it with the battery, but I could go head and open it to give some to my daughter then. A few moments later she returned to put on the DVD of Tinkerbell for her as well. She also had a little girl and watched Tinkerbell lots.

I coudln't help but think that this woman was here, helping us (probably on barely a living wage) while her little girl was back home with out her.

We were extremely Thankful to the 2 or 3 people who were there on Thanksgiving, to help people like us who's car battery died an hour from home. While I don't like Walmarts in general, I have a new found love for the Walmart SuperCenter in the Wisconsin Dells. Beleive me, we were Thankful for Walmart this Thanksgiving. I will never say that again.

Just Keep Swimming Swimming... Just Keep Swimming...

So, let's sit back and look back at how Blake got into swimming...

Long long ago, in a cold January in 2004, Blake started taking swimming lessons at SwimWest here in Madison. Those first few months were rough. Screaming, crying, and general misery were involved. But, we thought at 4 1/2, he needed to start getting into the water. We continued there faithfully for 2 or 3 years. It was warm, the classes were small and it went great. The only problem was that it was a little pricey. Eventually we switched over to lessons at the outdoor pool in Middleton and then to the indoor one in the winter. This past summer, he was finally convinced to join the Middleton Gators swim team. It was a new experience for him and a bit confusing for us as parents. He did great with this new competitive streak that he found inside of him. He did have some difficulties with a few things such as diving in and doing the breast stroke legally. He DQ'd more on breast stroke, than not.

When the summer ended, I wondered where this would leave us. I could tell he loved swimming, and with a little coaching, I knew he could excel. There are quite a few local USA Swimming teams in the area, but we logically choose the one that practices walking distance from our home. This year he has been swimming with the Badger Aquatics Club. While he's not the fastest, he's also not the slowest by any means. And he tries his hardest everytime, and that's all, as a parent I expect.

It's nice too, that for the most part parents don't get too obsessive over it. Parents aren't allowed on the deck of the pool during the meet. (although, I have to say, yesterday there was one REALLY annoying mom who whistled as loud as she could each time her kids swam -- think each time the kids head bobbed up -- and even once almost walked into the area where the starting thingy was. She's pretty much the exception to the rule though). Also, when it's a home meet, parents MUST volunteer for something, so it keeps them occupied. Kids also have to be fairly self sufficient as well. The coaches do come and round up the kids to make sure they are at the blocks, but the older ones are responsible for getting there when the time arrives.

So far this season, Blake has come away with multiple ribbons. There has been 2 1st place, I beleive both in Relays, then some 2nd places -- some in relays others in 50 or 100 Freestyle, then some 3rd and 4ths... and then they also give out 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th at most events. Yesterday he was really fixated on a MEDAL. This is the 1st event with medals. Medals were only given out to the top 3. In one event he tied for 4th out of 18 kids. That's incredible! However, to him, it was a failure since he didn't get the MEDAL. Even if he had gotten 3rd out of 3, if it was a medal, that's all that mattered. I need to get him to look at the big picture. No matter what though, I am SOOO incredibly proud of his accomplishments swimming competitively in the last 6 months!!!!

This is from the 100y Medley Relay. Blake swam the last quarter freestyle. His team was in lane 5 and they got 2nd. The other team was about 5 seconds ahead of them. Him and the other boy who swam butterfly swam the 2 lengths in ~40 seconds, which is great for this age!

This was another race he did well in, backstroke. The difference in time from 3-8th place was about 2 seconds. Blake got 7th, but I think 3rd was about a second and a half faster -- not much! He was in lane 1, the furthest away from the camera.

October 29, 1992

I grew up without my father around and it was never a big deal. The man I was closest to growing up was my grandpa Hal. I remember one day when I was graduating High School he made a comment about not knowing if he would go to any of his other grandchildren's graduation. I brushed it off not beleiving a word of it and not wanting to imagine a world without him. He was only 70 and surely he'd be around 10 more years for my 2nd oldest cousin to graduate - his mother lived into her 90's. He was healthy and only vice was chewing cigars (a habit I found SOOO gross!). Less than 2 year later he died after a 2 month battle with cancer.

He died on October 29 and his funeral was on Halloween. I am the oldest grandchild by 10 years and that Halloween was so surreal to me. I was 19 which meant my oldest cousin was 9 and then there were 6 others all younger than him. While I cried they played. While my family mourned, they went Trick or Treating. Now, as the mother of children who are the age my cousins were I understand the need for normalcy, but back then it was odd.
I remember the cold day at the cemetary in Illinois and how poingant the service was on Halloween. While it seemed creepy, it also seemed fitting.

This is honestly one of the hardest days of the year. Things have gotten better, but this date is etched in my mind forever. My grandfather is the closest relative I have ever had pass away. (well, except my father, but since I had virtually no relationship with him, it's hard to say he was a close relative). I loved my grandfather so much and I wish and hope he can see all that has happened since he left 16 years ago. I am married and have 2 wonderful children - his great grand children. My cousins are all almost our of high school, and some out of college.

I have such a small family and sadly virtually no contact with my extended family. I don't have any siblings (and neither does my husband, so no aunts, uncles or cousins for my kids - is that weird or what?!) so I have my mom and my inlaws and of course my grandfathers wife, my wonderful grandmother. That's it. Sometimes I wonder what my grandfather would think of the fact that our family has lost so much contact with each other. The last time we were all truly together was at his funeral. Perhaps his death meant the loss of a lot more than just him.

Couponing Success

Because money is tight, I am trying to be more frugal & stay on a budget. One of the main things I have always wanted to do, and yes, it sounds silly, was to use coupons to shop very cheaply. Over the years I would clip my coupons, but I think I spent more than I would have otherwise BECAUSE of the coupons. I had heard about those websites that would tell you how to basically use your coupons to buy things on sale for cheap or free. Because I live where there are no major (ie chain, nationwide stores) these sites never had a list for Madison that was worthwhile. Recently I discovered that they are finally including Copp's! I know... it sounds silly, but it makes me happy. Today I went to the grocery store and had I NOT shopped the specials or used coupons I would have spent $140, instead I spent $70. 50% off. I think that's a HUGE success! Granted, I now have bread for the next 3 weeks (as long as it doesn't get moldy, we should be good!) and sadly, Hamburger Helper that should last for years (I am reserving that scary stuff for when my family is here over the holidays and I need something that can be cooked in large batches, fast and cheap. Cooking for 7 people for 2 weeks calls for some short cuts here and there). Oh yeah, and in my previous weeks I have stocked up enough broth and diced tomatoes to make chili for the entire winter season. But this is a good thing. Now when I want chili, I have the fixings and I don't have to go out and drop $15 on overpriced ingrediants that I got for probably 75% off through couponing.
My site of choice is www.thegrocerygame.com . You get to try it for $1 for 4 weeks and if you like it, you pay about $10 for the 1st list for 3 months. I have definitely saved $10 in one week, so it is worth it. I am thinking I will need some shelves for my stockpiles of cereal and canned goods soon. I am also enjoying the variety. This is enouraging me to buy things I might not otherwise get and do a few different things.

Fall Part II

This past Sunday I was supposed to work, but ended up not having to go in. It was an incredible day - clear and WARM! Normally in October, the temps do not get up to 80 degrees in Wisconsin, but on Sunday it did. Because the folliage was at or near peak this weekend, we headed about a hour north of here to Mirror Lake State Park. This park was just outside the Dells, but you'd never know you were so close to the insanity of that area. It was so serene and peaceful. We were there for only about 2 hours, but we had a nice picnic and walked some of the short trails. Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. The weather is so nice and the colors are radiant.

After spending some time at the State Park, we headed over to see Lake Delton. The lake broke through the road over the summer, devastating the area and destroying houses and ruing the summer tourist season for the area. The Lake is supposed to be filled again next summer, so I really wanted to at least see what it looked like with no water. It really was amazing to see this large area filled with weeds that is usually a recreational lake. I didn't take any pictures. There were lots of signs to keep away the gawkers and I didn't want to stop and be one of the millions of people who oohed and ahhed. I am sure the residents are sick enough of it.

Fall

It's been way too long since I posted to this blog. A lot has changed in the last 3 months. My daughter turned 5 and started Kindergarten. My son is in 3rd grade and is now swimming competitively with a local swim club. He has his 1st meet this weekend.  My daughter is determined to swim on the Gators team next summer, although I am not so sure she will be able to make it across the pool in less than a year.

I now work about 5 hours a day in the morning on the week days. It's odd... for the last 4 years I have worked primarily evenings and weekends and in a blink that changed. I am still getting used to getting up at 6:15 in the morning and also having more time with the family in the evening. It's a bit different to get used to. 

I can't believe that fall is here already and Halloween is just around the corner. Our family LOVES Halloween and it's almost time to put up the decorations. Before you know it Christmas will be here!

A Swimming Summer!

This year, my son decided to swim on the Middleton Gators swim team. The team has proven to be a good challenge for him. He has never really been "into" sports and really marched to the beat of his own drum. He had a bit of trouble at the beginning mainly due to the fact that we knew little about the rules of swimming and there are a lot of little rules. He seems to have overcome most of his difficulties and has ended up doing very well. He hasn't placed in the top 3 or anything, but the fact that he did not DQ in the last meet in any event and won a heat winner ribbon was a HUGE success for him.

Back from vacation

Well... we got back almost a week ago from a little trip to upstate NY. We go not because we really WANT to, but we "have to". We didn't go last year because of family issues and some of those arose again during this trip. That was definitely the low light of the trip.

We did drive the 800 or 900 miles it is from Wisconsin to Rome NY. Gas was expensive, but I had actually budgeted it to be at $4/ gal, so it wasn't so bad. Another way that made the trip a little easier to bear was that alot of we spent money on during the trip was already paid. The hotel in Lansin MI was bought on Priceline, therefore when checking out, nothing was owed. Granted Priceline can be a bit of a gamble, but if you do some research on Bidding for Travel you get a bit of an idea as to what hotel you might get -- and sometimes a handy review of it. As for food, I bought a gift card to Subway and Cracker Barrel through a Scrip program that benefits my sons school called Simplified Scrip . Granted, the school only got a few bucks, but hey, it's better than nothing. I also bought $325 in gas gift cards as well through the Scrip program. I figured I would have to fill up about 4 times in our Windstar @ about 22/gal per fill up or a mind boggling $88 each! (ouch!) 88x4 = 352 which is why I bought $325 in cards. The cards can be used at the pump (so you aren't tempted to buy anything else -- which is what they really want you to do!) and I just paid in $50 increments (and we stop that often with a 4 yr old little girl anyway!). During the 1st 2 days of driving, I think we spent about $10 on a debit card because everything was paid for on gift cards or priceline. It's also a great way to plan for a trip because you can buy, say, 1 $50 card from scrip each month and after a year you have $600 saved... and of course you have donated a few bucks to a school in the process!

I am really not found of Charter

So... Charted has never been one of my favorite companies. Today however, they really became my least favorite company.

I decided to log on to my account and pay my bill. I often forget the password and have to look it up - it's usually some gibberish one I can't recall easily. I did find it and I proceed to log on to my account using my user name and the random password. As soon as I got into my account I noticed that the amount due was different than what I thought I owed, as well as the name on the account. It was a Keith something or other in Nebraska. Odd. I figured it was a fluke, so I opened another tab in my browser and did the same. Logged on. This time it was different. It was a different name again... a foreign name in California. So... then I was getting concerned. Charter wasn't *really* giving me access to random accounte complete with home phone numbers, addresses, account numbers, the ability to change/add/delete service, personal e-mail addresses.... you get the point.

I tried a 3rd time. Surely this time I would get my account. Nope. Another try, another name. I forget where the 3rd person was.

This is when I lost it. Charter was giving access to account information. Who knows how many people got access to my account or anyones account.

I called them up and of course they didn't quite understand what I was talking about. They offered to transfer me. I figured I needed to tell someone at Charter about their "little" problem. I got put on hold. For. Ever. And Ever. And Ever.

I eventually hung up. In the meantime I wanted to see what I could get to. Yup. I got to bills. I could change what I wanted. I didn't of course. I would never do that. But the possibility scared me.

I tried calling again. This time someone asked me some security questions. My address, my phone things that I could have had access to on any of the 3 random accounts I had sitting in front of me. This did NOT reassure me at all. The call center rep kept asking me if I wanted to pay my bill and I kept explaining that there was NO WAY I was paying my bill to a company that was giving out account information for free. She eventually transferred me to tech support who robotically explained that this was a known issue and not to log into my account anymore. He wouldn't stop talking for about 30 seconds - just spilling out a spiel about how they were working on it etc... Not reassuring. He was supposed to reset my password. He put me on hold and never came back. Not surprised.

I am REALLY unhappy with Charter.

The start of summer

So summer is about to start. At the end of this summer things will be dramatically different. For the 1st time, both my kids will be in elementry school. For 8 years I have had a baby or a preschooler, but when my daughter hits kindergarten this fall, I will have neither. It's a little odd to not be the parent of a "little" kid, but it also feels good. I feel like I am moving forward. Many people I know have 3 chilren and many of them had the 3rd right around the time the 2nd started school. People also ask themselves how do they know when they are done having kids, the answer is that you just know. Things are good with the 4 of us. I can't imagine bringing another child into the family, and I honestly really have no desire to. I feel content with how things are right now.

The summer will be busy. My son is doing swim team for the 1st time and we have a trip planned. We are also going camping and my daughter will celebrate her 5th birthday. I have lots of activities for them during the day and hopefully we can get out and about through the state a bit. All this will happen in roughly 2 1/2 months time. At the end of it all my life will change dramatically. I will no longer be the "at home mom" - even though I have been working part time for the better part of 4 years. I still want to be part time so that I can go to the activities in the evening and be able to have fun. I definitely feel that I miss out on a lot working evenings and weekends. I look forward to the future of my kids in school during the day and being able to be with them in the evenings.

Oh my gosh, I love HDR

I have seen lots of HDR pictures over the last year or so. They are always so amazing.

I got a Canon Rebel for Christmas and have wanted to make HDR pictures. in The last month or so finally decided to figure it out. It's not hard. It's just bracketing the exposure of several pictures (at least 3) and then using a program to merge them together. I tried Photoshop CS2 and was not impressed. Them I did a little more research and found Photomatix. Holy moly! This program is amazing. It basically does all the work for you. I love taking the HDR pictures now. I just need HUGE CF card now.

Here is my first REAL GOOD HDR image. It is of a corner of the Thai Pavillion at Olbrich Gardens. When I first saw this pop up on the screen it litterally took my breath away.

I appreciate the cool weather, really I do.

However, I am truly ready for something consistantly in the say, 75-80 degree range. I don't think that's too much to ask for in May, do you? The rain has finally slowed down. We just need it too be a little warmer. We took a long walk through Middleton last night and it was quite pleasant. I am really looking forward to this summer and the activities we have planned.

It looks like we are going to head to NY after the boy gets out of school. When we return both kids will have lots of things going on around town. The boy will be doing swim team this year which I think he will be good at. Not much is happening in July, however we may try to take a trip to Devil's Lake and camp for a night or 2.

August we are planning a lovely trip to Door County and camping in Peninsula State park. We have even convinced the grandmothers to join us. Granted, they will NOT be camping, but roughing it in a quaint little hotel right outside the park grounds. Every time we go up we always comment on how much they would love it up there. I am so happy they will join us this year. Hopefully too we can go on a LONG hike with the boy - something the little girl can't do *QUITE* yet. Hopefully in they next year or so she'll be able to make it 5+ miles with few compaints. The grandmothers can hang out with her and we will explore the park.

I am really looking forward to summer, I just need it to be a tad bit warmer.