A Dog's Blog

Rest in Peace Rosie

2009-10-10T20:24:00.004-05:00

Friedman's Red Rosie
March 7, 1998 - October 7, 2009

One of the hardest things about owning a pet is having to say goodbye. We will miss you pretty girl!

The Chipmunk Bunker

2009-10-03T15:41:00.003-05:00

Dan the plumber was here today so these big plastic pipes are gone now, but for the last couple weeks they have provided an endless source of frustration for me (and entertainment for my mom and dad!)

The chipmunks figured out that this was a safe haven, so they would go running in here as soon as I came out the back door.

I know there's one in there, and I go back and forth and back and forth but I just can't seem to get it.

Drats, another one got away again out the other end of the pipe. I couldn't care less about the squirrels, but the chipmunks drive me crazy!

The Pesto Project

2009-09-27T21:55:00.003-05:00

This is my mom's little herb garden, which supplies everything she needs for making her two favorite summer treats ... bruschetta and mojitos!

Last year we procrastinated and our basil plant froze and died, but we didn't want that to happen this year. We've had some pretty cold nights here in Green Bay lately, which have made some of the leaves start turning brown already.

With a serious cold front moving in tonight, Mom decided it was time to harvest the basil and turn it into pesto.

Look at us now, staging the ingredients just like those fancy shmancy cooking blogs! But really, all you need is fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, EVOO and parmesan cheese. Oh, and a food processor. Dad bought this one a few years ago when he started mass-producing salsa and it works great for this project. Note: the bowl of basil above was just for the first batch. You want about 1/3 cup pine nuts for every 2 cups of packed basil leaves, with garlic, oil and cheese added to taste. Our plant produced enough for three batches of pesto this year!

Here you have the finished product! Mom used half of the batch on top to make a fresh tomato and mozzarella pizza today and the remainder will go in a pasta dish yet this week. The two containers below look a little greener because they went into the freezer for use later, so the parmesan cheese was left out. When the pesto is thawed you simply shred some cheese and add it in fresh. And you can bet I'll be there when that happens ... I can smell cheese from anywhere in the house!

The "City Cousins" Come to Visit

2009-08-19T00:09:00.011-05:00

Uncle Jim and Auntie Lisa took the family up north to visit Grandma and Auntie Jody in Rhinelander last weekend, so they stopped by Green Bay to visit with us for a bit on their way home to Illinois on Sunday.

Here I am with my "cousins" Madison, Hunter and Ryan Rose (who is also called Rosie like me!) As always, the trampoline proved irresistable to all the kids!

You can see pics from the annual summer pool party at their house here.

Mid-Summer Update

2009-07-22T13:03:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting here lately, but Mom doesn't spend too much time on the computer in the summer and I've been busy the last couple months supervising the latest home improvement project.

I'm not going to post any photos until the project is finished, but I will tell you that it involves building out into the unused attic space upstairs ..... under the skylight that was installed when the new roof was put on in 1996. Between Army deployments and other projects this one fell by the wayside for several years after that, but better late than never!

We always had tomatoes in three barrels on that side of the house, but those had to get moved to set up the scaffold so Dad built another raised bed for them in the back corner of the yard. This area always becomes a swampland in the spring, so he has to do that or the barrels would sink altogether.

Here's a shot of the finished project, taken in late May. The photo below was taken just today, so you can see how much everything has grown! It's also working quite nicely as a screen from the adjoining yards, since it appears our redneck neighbors two doors down have a relative living in that tent. The people in the gray house behind them must be getting tired of looking at it too, because they just put up that big wooden fence last week!

Rain barrel production halted due to rain

2009-06-14T17:15:00.003-05:00

All this rain we've had lately got Mom and Dad thinking we should build a few rain barrels, so we can recycle it to water all the flowers, veggies and herbs on sunnier days. Luckily Dad found a place to buy these used plastic barrels for only $7 each. He then spent another couple dollars on some tubing and faucets at Home Cheapo last weekend and he was in business!

This first one is very close to the house, so he added an overflow outlet with a hose that runs around the back of the A/C unit and comes out in the yard farther away from the patio.

This is June in Wisconsin, so of course within minutes of finishing the first barrel it started raining and soon it was filled to overflowing!

Barrel number two had to wait until this weekend. As you can see we finally got some beautiful sunny weather here! That was yesterday.

It was really nice most of the day today too, except for this freak thunderstorm that knocked out our power for a minute and dumped enough rain to fill this one more than half full in less than ten minutes!

And she scores again!

2009-06-02T23:11:00.002-05:00

After the unexpected find of the outdoor fireplace, Mom thought she'd used up her bargain hunting luck for this summer and she'd never find the baking rack she was actually looking for. But lo and behold, driving home from work just a few weeks later she spotted this .... sitting on the driveway at a house only a few blocks away, and priced at only $20 too!

Normally we're not allowed to buy anything that Dad has to go back and pick up with the truck, but in this case he didn't mind. For the last couple summers we had a small table outside the screenhouse which was very handy for serving food and mixing drinks, but that finally got refinished and moved to the basement. We really needed something else to replace that, and this fits the space perfectly.

I think it matches nicely with the rest of our "outdoor living room" decor. With the exception of the matching seat cushions, every piece of furniture was picked up at yard sales over the years. Even the huge six-sided picnic table was carried home from a neighbor's house around the corner!

Score of the Season (So Far!)

2009-05-04T22:27:00.003-05:00

The garage sale season has officially begun here, and look what my mom scored this weekend for only $20!!!!!

This was really a stroke of luck because Dad was just talking about buying a new outdoor fireplace. As you can see our old one is literally falling apart. It served us well for almost 15 years, but the fire we had last weekend was its final hurrah.

Yes, as a matter of fact I DO think I'm a lap dog ...... and I sure do love my mom!

Sunbathing Squirrel

2009-03-29T17:50:00.003-05:00

You never know what you'll see when you look out the window into our back yard these days. Note that the snow is almost all gone and we actually had sunshine today!

There's No Place Like Home

2009-03-25T21:27:00.001-05:00

I love my creature comforts, so I sure am glad to be home again where I can sleep on the couch. Mom and Dad went to Florida last week (you can click here to see their trip pics) so I had to stay at the kennel. I don't mind it too much because the people there are really nice to me, but can you believe they expect me to sleep on the floor? As if I'm a dog!

Did I hear something about cake?!?!?

2009-03-08T17:10:00.004-05:00

We had a little party for my 11th birthday yesterday, which was also a late celebration for Cynthia (March 1) and an early one for Doug (March 16). I think they are about 280 in dog years, or something like that!

They had a fantastic cake, which wasn't shared with me because chocolate isn't good for dogs.

And there was definitely a little bit of chocolate in this cake ......

But that's ok, I was happy with pizza crusts and birthday kisses from Doug!

Only 20 more days until Spring?

2009-02-28T14:48:00.003-06:00

Yeah right, as if all this snow is going to melt by then. We just got another 8-10 inches yesterday. At least the sun is shining today, the temperature is back up into the double digits, and I'm going out for a walk, whoohoo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-15T18:28:00.002-06:00

This amaryllis bulb was a Christmas gift, but we waited until after the first of the year to start it because they are supposed to bloom in six weeks. The hope was that it would bloom on Valentine's Day. Well the first flower finally opened up today .... a day late but still beautiful!

Just in case, we hedged our bets by picking up up a $2.99 bouquet of roses at Aldi yesterday too!

By golly, it's a heat wave!

2009-01-18T16:35:00.003-06:00

Yay, it was actually in the double digits ABOVE zero so I got to spend some time outside and even go for a walk today!

Good thing my dad clears a little track around the back yard for me with the snowblower ....

.... because I've been going stir crazy in the house and I really needed to get out and run for awhile.

Whoohoo, this is great!

This is just me showing one of the many funny expressions I can make with my ears. Mom calls this one the "flying nun" look!

Happy New Year

2009-01-18T16:29:00.002-06:00

Just a very belated post with a photo from new year's eve, and best wishes to everyone for a great year in 2009! It was cold and snowy here so we all just stayed in and snuggled up by the fire. Doesn't the basement look awesome now with the big-screen TV and the gas fireplace?!?!?!

Finally, a team the Packers can beat!

2008-12-28T21:06:00.003-06:00

These diehard Detroit Lions fans even had shirts printed to cheer on their team as they made history today!

The Lions didn't go down without a fight though .... they made Aaron Rodgers and company work for the 31-21 win.

The obligatory "shirtless guy" shot, which a winning game always brings out.

The people around here are crazy enough to sit outside in the freezing cold for hours like that, but I'll take the couch and my blankie over that any day!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T11:05:00.003-06:00

With all the snow here the last couple weeks we've been seeing a lot of our feathered friends at the feeder outside the picture window. It mostly attracts the common little sparrows, and of course we get the occasional freeloading squirrel that steals all the sunflower seeds, but they have to eat too!

Here We Go Again!

2008-12-03T21:07:00.003-06:00

For every beautiful month we enjoy like this we have to endure a month of winter, but that's life here in Wisconsin. Sorry for the lack of posting here lately, but Mom and Dad have been so busy at work we haven't even started on this winter's indoor remodeling project yet. Hopefully we'll see some progress on that soon!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T21:12:00.002-06:00

Ok, so we're a little late with this greeting, but we've been enjoying an incredible Indian Summer here so we haven't been on the computer much the last couple weeks ... see the long overdue Packer post below!

Any given Sunday .....

2008-11-02T20:32:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, October 19, 2008, we had the privilege of treating our new friend Sebastian to his first-ever NFL game. Sebastian is the German teaching assistant here at St. Norbert College this year, and this was his real live introduction to American football!

We also welcomed our old friend Teresa for the weekend as she came to cheer on her Indianapolis Colts.

Unfortunately, someone has to lose every week ... sorry Teresa! It was an exciting game for us that day as the Packers dominated the Colts 34-14, but we got our turn to suffer this week as we watched them lose to the Tennessee Titans 16-19. It was even more agonizing because it was tied at the end and went into overtime, where the Titans won by a field goal, aaack!

You just have to remember that it's only a game, but a great excuse for all Mom's old friends and classmates from Rhinelander High School to come party in Green Bay when it's a home game.

Here's a photo for the 30-year reunion of the Class of '79 next year .... Julie and Rudy, still rocking and rolling after all these years!!!!!

House Plant 9-1-1

2008-10-16T21:33:00.002-05:00

This poor spider plant was about to be thrown out by some friends who were overwhelmed by how big it grew, so of course it came home with Mom and Dad after their road trip "Up North" to visit them last weekend.

It took most of the afternoon today, but we managed to salvage eight healthy new plants from it. They are resting inside our garage right now, but soon they will all go to loving new homes!

And just because we love "before and after" photos, here's one that shows just the biggest babies that were sprouting from this plant .....

..... and here they are all ready to donate to Mom's school for the Biology Club's semi-annual plant sale!

The Boys Are Back In Town

2008-10-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

We love the Packer season around here because it brings all kinds of friends and relatives to town, like Mom's cousins Mike and Jay who came for the season opener against the Vikings on September 8th. They picked a good one because they actually got to see the Packers win!

Friends Paul and Bob weren't so lucky today .... as they watched the Packers lose to the Falcons in a heartbreakingly close game. At least they had awesome seats though. Mom lucked out and scored four extra tickets from a co-worker at the last minute so they could all go today.

Our tickets were already promised to Uncle Jim and his son Hunter, who came up from Chicago for a father-son day with their friends Mike and Jake. We had quite a crowd here at the house both before and after the game and I had lots of people to throw the ball for me!

The boys from Illinois in the Lambeau Field atrium above, and walking through the neighborhood back to our house after the game below.

More new toys for the boys .....

2008-10-05T22:16:00.003-05:00

That's Jake on a Ripstik, the latest craze among the elementary school set. Believe it or not, this was the first time he ever tried it but he caught on really fast!

Hunter has been practicing since last May, and he's already outgrown his starter stik and got an upgraded model (possibly because someone bigger than him...ahem... wore the first one out!) He can even throw and catch a football while he rides, which is pretty impressive.

What's even more impressive is that Jim has learned how to ride it too. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!?!?!

New Kid on the Block

2008-09-04T20:19:00.003-05:00

Meet Iggy, our new next door neighbor. She's a miniature Dachshund and she came all the way from St. Ignatius, Michigan!

She's still just a baby so she can't even make it up the steps to the deck yet, but she's not afraid to go down. Of course she lands in a heap in the grass at the bottom, but that doesn't seem to bother her.

She also likes to run along the fence line with me, but she gets tired out pretty quick with those short little legs.

Isn't she the sweetest thing? I'm completely fascinated by her and would love to play but Mom is afraid I might crush her, so for now I just give her kisses through the fence!

Let the Games Begin!

2008-08-29T20:14:00.003-05:00

Uncle Jim and his friend Alan came in from Chicago yesterday for the last pre-season game at Lambeau Field, so naturally we had to turn on the party lights in our basement bar/Packer Shrine.

And of course I had to get in a little snuggle time on the couch with Uncle Jim too!

Alan offered to take a few shots so you can actually see Mom in the picture for a change. How about that haircut, hey? I think the stylist went a little snip-happy last week.

Nice group shot, guys!

Where has the summer gone?

2008-08-29T20:02:00.006-05:00

My Grandma Carol was here for a short visit last week and she commented that it's been ages since we posted any new photos on this blog. Since she's one of our most faithful readers we can't let her down, so it's time to catch up now. Sorry, but our summers here are just too short to not be outside every possible moment. As you will see in the following posts we've definitely been taking advantage of the beautiful weather!

I want it painted red!

2008-08-29T19:47:00.004-05:00

About once every 4-5 years we have to refinish all of our outdoor furniture, so Dad gets to use two of his favorite power tools - the pressure washer and the paint spray gun. As usual I came out to supervise, but the sound of the spray gun scared me away.

This year when he went to Fleet Farm (also known as the man's mall!) they didn't have the same paint he's used in previous years so he decided red barn paint would be close enough. Of course it will fade with age, but get out your sunglasses folks because this stuff is bright!

The 3rd Annual Neighborhood Fish Fry

2008-08-29T19:40:00.003-05:00

The tradition continues!

Who needs the farmer's market?!?!?

2008-08-29T19:24:00.008-05:00

We've got all kinds of herbs, along with three kinds of tomatoes and at least six varieties of peppers, and all of them are going gangbusters right now.

Behold ... the most beautiful bruschetta so far this season.

Mom can whip you up a mean mint mojito too!

Welcome Home Ryan!

2008-07-21T20:53:00.002-05:00

After six years of active duty in the U.S. Army, which included two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, our neighbor Ryan is finally home for good. Can you tell how proud and happy his dad is?!?!? He has actually been home for almost two weeks now, but the weather has been gorgeous so we've been outside every waking minute and nobody felt like getting on the computer to post anything. We're catching up now though since it's raining today!

Introducing: The Gary

2008-07-21T20:50:00.000-05:00

Ryan came home with a truckload of mountain bikes that he collected over the years, and Dad's old bike was falling apart so Ryan agreed to sell him his Gary Fisher model.

It definitely needed a little tuning up, but Dad is always up for a project. He now has a sweet like-new bike, which he affectionately calls "The Gary".

A birthday surprise!

2008-07-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

Mom came home from work today to find this shiny new bike in the garage, which was a total surprise! Now that Dad actually has a decent bike, he felt she needed one that could keep up with him. If you've ever seen the beat up old Huffy she currently rides, you know that this one is definitely an upgrade!

Nature's Fireworks

2008-07-04T13:30:00.002-05:00

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July holiday!

Sprucing Up the Neighborhood

2008-07-04T13:16:00.004-05:00

We all know how much my dad loves his power tools, so of course he was happy to have another excuse to use the pressure washer.

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

Amazing what a fresh coat of white paint will do, isn't it?

Meanwhile, Steve and Cindy O. were busy next door ......

..... putting in some beautiful new bushes!

Remembering Hailey

2008-06-27T19:26:00.004-05:00

We miss you lots but hope you're having fun chasing all the squirrels up there in dog heaven.

The Princess and the Pea

2008-06-08T10:56:00.007-05:00

I have a perfectly nice dog bed, and I actually sleep on it once in awhile, but I always manage to find the best spot for snoozing no matter where I am.

Most days when I'm left indoors I like to follow the sun, from the ottoman to the back of the couch by the picture window. I learned this trick from my old buddy Maynard the cat.

I also love mornings on the patio out back, when the sun hits my favorite love seat just right.

Busted again here trying to fluff up the pillows on Mom and Dad's bed. I'm trying to look at least a little bit guilty, but I can't help it that I love my creature comforts!

Gnomes Gone Wild!

2008-06-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

Mission Accomplished

2008-06-02T17:59:00.002-05:00

Many thanks to our neighbor Jack across the street for letting us borrow his handy-dandy log splitter to finish this long overdue project. Way back in the fall of 2004 we had our big trees pruned, which resulted in a huge pile of logs that were never properly split for firewood.

Above you can see the finished project, with the wood all nicely split and stacked in its new location. Below is the site of the old log pile on the north side of the garage.

As you can see the poor garage is just screaming for fresh paint, and the Chipmunk Condo Association is all atwitter because we razed their complex!

Me and my Dad relaxing after a long day of hard work and celebrating a job well done.

Oh boy, another new toy!

2008-05-18T11:35:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not this little bouncy man toy has held up since Wednesday, when Mom went to get food for me at Family Pet Food Center. She bet the clerk I'd probably destroy it within an hour, which I normally do to any toy that has a squeaker inside.

Of course I DID manage to chew off both his little feet - which disabled the squeaker - within the first 30 minutes!

Can you tell I'm a happy dog?

Color My World

2008-05-18T11:14:00.002-05:00

Dad thinks it's still a little early to put out vegetable and herb plants, but Mom just couldn't wait. When the tulips started fading she had to go get some more flowers. Just enough for a few containers, to add a splash of color around the patio.

Like this sweet little lavender colored alyssum plant that will eventually cascade out of the weathered old mailbox. (Can you believe Doug was going to throw that mailbox out on the curb?!?!?)

For the patriotic display on the front porch we're going with red verbena this year, and who could resist this cute little guy?!?!?

And finally ...... May flowers!!!

2008-05-04T13:00:00.003-05:00

These beautiful and hardy tulips just keep coming back year after year, and they are a very welcome first splash of color in the spring.

Of course that means the grass is growing too. Time to put away the snowblower and get out the lawnmower again.

In other neighborhood news ..... Doug got a new toy!

April Showers .....

2008-04-11T18:34:00.004-05:00

...... bring wet, muddy dogs. It's been raining for days now and as you can see our back yard is a swamp. I still like my daily walk and playtime though, so I've learned to "shake it off" and then stand nice for a towel drying in the garage before I come back in the house!

Signs of Spring

2008-04-11T18:31:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was our first taste of nice weather and it brought everybody in the neighborhood outside!

Dad spent most of Saturday afternoon giving the gas grill its annual deep cleaning, so of course he wanted to barbecue something just to make sure all the burners are still working.

The patio furniture was officially brought out for the season, and Doug volunteered to chop some wood for our first fire so Patio Talk could resume again. I just love hanging out by the fire with my favorite peeps!

Our Lucky Day!

2008-04-03T15:52:00.003-05:00

You know how much we love gift baskets around here, so of course Mom was absolutely thrilled to find out she won this awesome gift basket from the Family Dental Center in their latest drawing!

There is a lot of great stuff in this one, including a Beanpod Candle. It also has a nice assortment of snacks, which will definitely be enjoyed this weekend when we have our first fire and start a new season of Patio Talk.

Mom took a day off from work to putter around the house and the yard since it was so nice outside today. I enjoyed playing with my ball, which magically reappeared when the snow melted. The only thing that can get me away from my ball is the word WALK. See how my ears perk up when I hear that?!?!?

After our nice long walk I needed a nap. Mom always says "a tired dog is a good dog!"

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T19:12:00.003-05:00

Could it really be true? Is that Spring I smell in the air?!?!?

It's about time, I say! We've had more than our share of snow here this winter. The photo below was taken right before Mom and Dad took me to Pine Tree Kennel and flew off to Mexico for a week in late February.

There haven't been any posts on this blog because Mom was too busy posting pics on her travel blog. You can see those by clicking here!

Cynthia Earns Her Stripes

2008-02-10T17:39:00.000-06:00

Poor Cynthia .... she grew up in Las Vegas and after 15 years in Wisconsin she still hasn't gotten used to the cold weather. On January 20th however, she put her love of football above her personal comfort and attended her very first "Frozen Tundra" game!

While most people find three or four layers to be enough, she wasn't taking any chances. By the time she put all this stuff on over long underwear, jeans and two sweaters, she must have had at least six or seven layers.

Even her own family was betting on how long she would last, but not only did she sit through the whole game, she even braved the agonizing overtime where the Packers saw their Super Bowl hopes go right through the uprights with the Giants' field goal kick. It was a sad ending to a very exciting game, but she can now lay claim to being at Lambeau Field for one of the coldest games on record.

It was seriously cold that day ...... cold enough to freeze beer!

For those who are easily amused .......

2008-01-01T08:04:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Sweet!!!

2007-12-31T17:23:00.000-06:00

Ghirardelli, Godiva and Lindt, oh my! Doug got this humongous gift basket from one of the insurance companies he represents (and you wonder why your premiums are so high?!?!?) but he and Cynthia brought it over to our house to share because it was more than enough for the entire neighborhood.

Just another reason why I LOVE Doug!

Winter arrives .... with a vengeance!

2007-12-02T11:40:00.000-06:00

So far this year we haven't had any real snow - just a few dustings - but a big storm started around noon yesterday and lasted all night long.

All the guys in the neighborhood have been waiting excitedly for this ..... they were out with the snowblowers first thing this morning, like a bunch of little kids playing with their new toys!

Meanwhile, in the back yard, I was on the hunt for my new favorite ball ..... I knew it was under there somewhere!

Ta-Da!

2007-11-15T18:52:00.000-06:00

This is from the original Napolean Fireplaces brochure. It shows the contemporary installation that we decided to go with in our basement .....

.... and this is how it actually turned out! You can't really see the flames in this view because of the overhead lights and the camera flash, but when the lights are dimmed the fire actually looks real. It's way cool, and as you can see I love to lay on the couch and soak up all the heat it throws out!

It's hard to believe it was exactly two years ago today that we posted the first "home improvement" entry, but that's how it goes when you start any kind of do-it-yourself project I guess. It never ends either ..... there are more projects still sitting on the drawing board!

Signs that winter is on the way ......

2007-11-05T19:41:00.000-06:00

Out with the tans and in with the browns! Here I am showing off our new living room runner, which will help catch all the slush that gets dragged in through the front door. We also remade the bed with snuggly warm flannel sheets over the weekend, and we finally broke down and turned on the furnace. It's really getting cold here. You might even see the season's first snow photos tomorrow!!!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:45:00.000-05:00

Turkey Talk

2007-10-31T21:37:00.000-05:00

Soon we'll be putting all the outdoor furniture away for the winter, but first we had to have one more patio party. I got to socialize with everyone for awhile but then I had to go in my kennel when the cooking started because it involved boiling oil!

Every year we have at least one party where Dad gets out his King Cooker and sacrifices a couple of turkeys. He figures once you get the cooker set up you may as well cook two and send everyone home with leftovers. It's also incredibly fast..... in less than 45 minutes you have a 14-pound turkey done to perfection!

'Tis the season ....

2007-10-24T19:45:00.000-05:00

For football, that is! That means company on home game weekends, and we all know how much I love having friends come to stay at our house. More people to pet me and give me treats, yay! Many thanks to our good friend Teresa for taking this nice new "family photo" for us when she was here last month.

The big news in my little doggie world was an unexpected trip to the vet after I broke a tooth chewing on one of those indestructible plastic balls. In the photo above you can see I'm now missing one of the lower canine teeth. They had to put me under to get that out, but I came through it like a trooper. Now I just have kind of a lopsided grin, but my mom and dad still think I'm the prettiest dog in the world!

In other news, the basement renovation is almost complete. More photos to follow soon!

BAHDTV is here!

2007-09-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

With a television engineer in the house you knew this was inevitable ..... we are now the proud new owners of a big-ass, high-definition television! It's a Hitachi 50-inch plasma which perfectly fills the custom shelf Dad built for it in the basement rec room. He and Doug unpacked and installed it just in time to watch the Badgers kick butt yesterday afternoon. Go Wisconsin!

The salesman at the store was actually quite knowledgeable and helpful (which is why we like to shop at locally-owned stores like VanVreede's instead of the big boxes like Worst Buy or Circus City) but boy did he work hard to earn his commission on this sale! Before revealing he was in the television biz, Dad quizzed the poor young guy mercilessly about everything just to see how much he really knew. Mom got a real kick out of him when he earnestly talked about being sure you take into account "your future viewing needs" when making a purchase like this. WTF?!?!?! Nobody really NEEDS television screens that huge. They're just high-priced toys for big spoiled boys!

The Second Annual Neighborhood Fish Fry

2007-08-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

This was something started last year when Steve, Maurie and Doug found themselves with a lot of extra fish in their freezers. They all caught plenty of fish again this year, and since everyone had such a great time at the party last year they decided to make it an annual event!

Steve dons the gloves for the messy part of dipping the fish in the breading mix.

Steve and Maurie are the chief fry cooks for this operation. My dad doesn't fish at all, but he makes sure the beer coolers are stocked!

For those who prefer something a little fruitier, Shari and Cindy mix up a big batch of wapatuli. The Urban Dictionary says this is a Midwest thing ..... but it also says it's a college party tradition. Haha! As if we needed more proof that some people never truly grow up.

Of course the evening ends with a bonfire, another Midwest outdoor party requirement!

Fun for all ages!

2007-08-07T19:07:00.000-05:00

Cindy O. showing off her new grandson Jake at baby's first fish fry.

Cindy P. and her granddaughter Ashlyn, who was about Jake's age last year when she attended her first fish fry!

Haley was making out like a bandit following Ashlyn and her big brother Cole around all day.

Another score!!!!

A Plethora of Produce

2007-08-07T18:48:00.000-05:00

This is just the beginning of what looks to be a bumper crop from the salsa garden this year!

Happy 4th of July (and Semper Fi!)

2007-07-04T11:54:00.001-05:00

This is a very patriotic neighborhood. Just on our block we have veterans of the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. This is the new flag display in Steve's back yard next door, so you can guess who the former jarhead is!

The flagpole was installed by Steve's son Mike as a birthday surprise earlier this year. It even has a solar light mounted at the base so when the sun goes down it illuminates the flag from below. We're serious about our flag protocol around here!

Lawnmower Lust

2007-06-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

Apparently it's everywhere! Mom recently spent two weeks in Europe on a trip with some work colleagues (hence the lack of posting here on my blog!) and the first week was spent in the Czech Republic. Everywhere she went she saw billboards for lawnmowers, which she found just a bit strange. I mean, guys here are into their lawnmowers too for sure, but you don't see them plastered on billboards along all the main highways. It's hard to shoot photos through the window of a moving bus but she managed to get this one, and it's a Husqvarna believe it or not!

PS - Now that this blog is updated again, Mom is busy sorting out all the photos from her trip for her new travel blog, which you can check out here.

The Yard-Man Cometh

2007-04-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

As you can see, Dad finally invested in a new Yard-Man mulching lawnmower! He claims he chose this one because he liked the Honda engine, but I think the green and gold color scheme might have had something to do with it too ;)

You can also see that this was no frivolous purchase .... we REALLY needed a new lawnmower. Dad inherited the old Toro from his Grandma when it was already 20 years old and he kept it going for another 15 years, but it barely made it through last season. Technically, it still works - if you know how to tweak the broken carburetor cable just so, and have really strong arms for pulling the starter cord - but there comes a time when it's just not worth fixing something anymore.

R.I.P. 1972 Toro Whirlwind!

Tulip Time

2007-04-28T14:05:00.000-05:00

Now this is more like it!

2007-04-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Yippee!

I'm so happy I could just roll around in the grass!

After the snowstorms we had on Monday and Wednesday last week, it sure was nice to see it warm up into the 50s on Saturday.

Dad took the opportunity to clean the gas grill. He's used it a LOT over the past year so it was really full of gunk. As usual, I just hung around supervising the whole operation!

Happy Spring?

2007-04-09T19:40:00.000-05:00

This photo was just shot earlier today right in front of our house. That's our wacky Wisconsin weather for you!

Things are looking up ....

2007-03-18T20:46:00.000-05:00

Literally! Dad and Doug spent part of this weekend working on the ceiling, which is coming together very nicely. This project just might get done before summer gets here!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

2007-03-07T10:08:00.000-06:00

I'm 9 years old today, and the best present is just being home again where I can sleep on the couch! Mom and Dad went to Florida to visit Grandma Shirley so I had to spend the last week at Pine Tree Kennels, but they came home just in time for my birthday. We won't be going walking today, even though it looks so nice outside. Just yesterday there was another snow storm but before that it got really warm and everything started to melt, so under all that pretty new snow is a lot of very treacherous ice. We hope it will warm up again by this weekend so everyone can get their sidewalks cleaned up!

Winter Fun

2007-02-25T18:25:00.000-06:00

Whoohoo, this is more like it for a Wisconsin winter. Dad is soooo happy he got to use the snowblower today!

Mom saw this when she went to an event this afternoon at the school where she works. Some students apparently thought this would be a fun practical joke on their friend. Yes, that's a car under there. Some friends, hey?!?!?

We're having a heat wave!

2007-02-11T19:16:00.000-06:00

Whoohoo! We're finally back up into the double digits, after more than a week of sub-zero temperatures. Guess who did - and who didn't! - get their butt in gear and get out early before huge lines formed at every car wash in the city?!?!?

After further review, the Bears still suck!

2007-02-04T21:44:00.000-06:00

Cheers to the Colts and to our great friend Teresa in Indianapolis!

Check out her link to the Duke Tumatoe song titled "Lord help our Colts." It proves once again that God is good!

Monthly Project Update

2007-01-28T19:43:00.000-06:00

Dad and Doug have been quite busy working in the basement the last few weeks, it's just Mom who has been a little slow on the uploading of photos and updating my blog! The drywall is up and the finishing has begun on the south end of the rec room.

This is going to be a bench when it's finished, but the seat will lift off for access to the water meter. Dad is quite proud of the fact that he built this entirely out of salvaged lumber. He recently got a new transformer at work that arrived on a giant wood pallet, and he saw a chance to recycle all those boards instead of just burning them. Nothing like saving a tree and saving some money at the same time, hey?

Here's a close-up shot of the new window, and the beautiful framing job around it.

Mom has also been busy on the main floor of the house, giving our bathroom and hallway a fresh coat of paint and adding this spiffy new wallpaper border in the bathroom.

It adds a bit of color and complements the little seashell and sand dollar collection quite nicely, doesn't it?

2006: In the Rearview Mirror Already?!?!?

2006-12-31T16:53:00.000-06:00

Wow, over a month with no postings. Where did the time go? We had planned to start our December entries with some cool new snow pics, but we never got any. Global warming turned it all to rain and the grass is actually getting green again. I'm not complaining because all this warm weather means I get out for a nice long walk most days, but Dad is disappointed because he's been itching to use the snowblower!

Inside the house, renovations are underway again. Dad's been busy in the basement, and Mom decided to repaint the first floor hallway and bathroom since she's been off work all week. We're on to Phase II of the basement now. All the furniture is piled up at the north end and new walls are going up on the south end. Doug is on vacation in Florida (lucky dog!) but the insulation should all be up when he gets back next week, just in time for him to help with the drywall. Here are some pics of Dad's latest handiwork:

Nice straight framing job. Close enough for a basement!

Close up shot of the new window.

Phase II will be an experiment with this new blue insulation. Note also the water meter we have deal with. You'll have to wait to see how we build around that!

Operation Leaf Drop

2006-11-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

Those of you who read my blog (all four of you!) know that we have the coolest neighbors in the world, but I need to clarify that somewhat. The neighbors here on our block are cool, but across the street we have a couple guys who are just plain annoying ..... you know, the kind of guys who are outside at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning with their noisy leaf blowers. One of them is soooooo anal-retentive that he even vacuums the leaves out of his shrubs with a shop vac!

Now Doug was out blowing a few leaves himself yesterday and he had a little pile on the terrace in front of his house where the city workers will pick them up, but Annoying Man can't stand to have a single leaf on his terrace for even a day or two. Mom just happened to glance out the window at around 5:45 pm because she and Dad were waiting for Doug and Cynthia to come pick them up for dinner and the Leahy concert ..... and what does she see but Annoying Man's Wife(!) dumping a big garbage can full of leaves on Doug's pile. Mind you, this wouldn't be any big deal if they would have just ASKED if they could add to the pile, but they waited until after dark when they thought nobody would see them. What nerve, hey?

Little did they know ..... but Doug had another HUGE pile of leaves in the back yard, all raked up onto a tarp already, so late last night after the concert Operation Leaf Drop was launched!

Mom was a little worried when we woke up this morning and the pile was still there on his terrace. She thought Annoying Man must have had a heart attack or something because he wasn't out there at the crack of dawn as usual, but apparently he was just waiting for reinforcements. By 9:30 am he and his next-door neighbor (who we'll just call Annoying Man #2) were both out there with the vacuum attachments on their leaf blowers! They must have filled at least 7-8 giant bags because the back of his minivan was stuffed. Where he went to dump them we don't know because the yard waste drop-off site isn't open on Sundays, but knowing this guy he probably went and dumped them in a park somewhere.

Just for the record, all my peeps felt a tad bit guilty watching this little drama unfold while they sipped their coffee and peeked out the window, but it was downright hilarious!

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-01T18:11:00.000-06:00

So we're a day late, but blogger wasn't cooperating yesterday. This is our annual Halloween yard display .... since 1999!

Game Day in Green Bay

2006-10-30T21:04:00.000-06:00

Am I a lucky dog or what? Check out all the good looking guys who came into town to see me yesterday! Mom's cousins Jay and Mike went to the game with a couple buddies and they all had a great time, especially because the Packers won. That's two weeks in a row now, whoohoo!

Ok, so the license plate doesn't always describe the team, but it sure holds true for the fans year after year! Pictured clockwise from left are Shane, Jesse, Mike and Jay.

Where's Rosie?

2006-10-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

Hooray, the sun is back! After the last couple very blustery days it was nice to be outside in the sunshine again. We love being outdoors in the fall doing yard work, but Mom cheated today ..... while Dad was gone doing errands she borrowed his leaf blower instead of raking. She figured if she could actually start the darn thing by herself then she might as well use it. It was quick and easy and gave us more time to just relax and enjoy the sun. Now we see why power tools are so addictive!

California Dreaming

2006-10-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

All the leaves are brown .... and the sky is gray
I've been for a walk .... on a winter's day

What's up with the weather here in Wisconsin?!?!? We're outside playing and raking and all of a sudden we have snow flurries. This is the time of year when you need to have both your rake and your shovel at the ready!

Some like it hot .....

2006-10-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

"Holy burning eyeball, Batman!"

That's what Dad said (as he laughed his ass off) while Mom had her head in the kitchen sink flushing out her eye. Yeah, she stupidly and absent-mindedly reached up and rubbed her eye as she was seeding these super hot little peppers. I don't think she'll ever do that again!

Dad doesn't mess around. After the first salsa experiment several years ago, when he spent three hours chopping and dicing and mincing, he promptly went out and bought himself this handy-dandy food processor. I think I've mentioned before his obsession with power tools, but he also has quite a collection of kitchen gadgets too!

We just like before and after photos .....

While all this was going on I just enjoyed soaking up the sun outside on the patio. Mom snapped this photo of me from the kitchen window. There won't be too many more nice days like this before the snow starts flying around here again!

Imagine That!

2006-09-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

We're happy to report that our new butterfly bush is attracting butterflies, as advertised!

Patio Talk

2006-09-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

Can it be the end of summer already, and the end of Season 2 of Patio Talk? This is the second year we've had Steve and Cindy and Haley living next to us, and we've all grown quite accustomed to our daily "happy hour" here in the neighborhood. Most days we all enjoy the long days of summer by sitting outside celebrating the sunshine and solving the problems of the world!

Sometimes it happens on our patio, hence the original "Patio Talk" name for our real-life sitcom here, but sometimes it starts on Steve and Cindy's deck next door .....

Or sometimes everyone ends up watching the little TV in the garage at Maurie and Cindy's house on the other side of us ....

Even when the Packers lose -like they've done 3 out of 4 games already this year in the pre-season - the girls still show their team spirit!

No matter what happens, everyone always has a great time ... why do you think we need a sign like this in the middle of our block?!?!?

Dogs In Motion

2006-09-04T22:01:00.000-05:00

There is no way anyone can get an in-focus photo of us dogs when we're running full tilt! Mom took me for a walk today so we had our exercise, but Bryn and Haley were still wound up so they got a play date in Haley's yard. What a couple of goofballs they looked like!

Another Ryan We Love Like Family

2006-09-02T09:54:00.000-05:00

This is Mom with our next door neighbor Ryan, who was home on a very short leave from Fort Bragg, NC, this week. She's so proud of him for joining the Army and becoming a helicopter mechanic, because he was only 8 years old when she first met him and he already knew he wanted to be a soldier when he grew up. She gave him one of her old Army uniforms and a pair of boots, which fit him perfectly at the time. Now look at him .... all grown up and turned into a lean mean fighting machine. Hooah!

Maurie and Cindy can certainly be proud of their boy, but the other reason Maurie is smiling so broadly is that Ryan is leaving his Harley here at home and taking Cindy's car back to Fort Bragg with him for now.

Goodbyes are always so hard, but his unit is shipping out to Afghanistan - AGAIN - in a few months, so he'll bring the car back and spend a couple weeks at home again before they leave.

Have a safe trip little buddy!

SGT Ryan Jopek - An American Hero

2006-08-20T21:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but my mom has been in a daze since we learned of Ryan's death near Tikrit, Iraq, on August 2nd. She served in Iraq in 2004 with Ryan's father, SSG Brian Jopek, so Ryan was almost like a family member too. He was a brave young man who loved being a soldier, so it was especially tragic when he was killed by an IED on his very last mission after serving in Iraq for almost a whole year. Our friend Teresa posted a link to one of the newspaper articles on her blog last week, and it really captures the spirit of who Ryan was so we're including the link here. Please keep our friend Brian and his family in your prayers.

We Be Urban Farmers .....

2006-07-31T21:13:00.000-05:00

...... and the harvesting has already started! The tomatoes and green peppers are growing along the south side of the house where they get sun all day long, as you can see in the pic below.

Back by the shed we have cucumbers growing through the fence, along with another green pepper plant and the monster cherry tomato bush. My dad likes to plant one of those every year, and he's famous for leaving bags full of cherry tomatoes hanging on all the neighbors doors when we start getting innundated.

This is my mom's first attempt at a little herb garden. We make lots of homemade bruschetta so we need fresh basil and chives for that. She also put in a spearmint plant so we can have a major Mojito party later this summer!

Did I mention that my dad also makes gallons and gallons of salsa every year? Gotta have some of these too!

Game On!

2006-07-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Yippee, look what just arrived in the mail! Mom is busy filling in our social calendar for the next several months based on the home games we have for this year. We're looking forward to a lot of fun times because each of these games brings friends here to visit us in Green Bay!

Tie a Burlap Sack Around the Old Oak Tree .....

2006-07-11T20:37:00.000-05:00

So those aren't the most romantic words you could set to that song, and it's certainly not the most attractive feature of our landscaping, but we're at war here - and this is the enemy:

That's the highly-destructive gypsy moth caterpillar. They invaded Green Bay about five years ago, and since then we've been killing them by the hundreds every summer. Their favorite food is the leaves on oak trees, and they can totally defoliate a whole tree if left unchecked. The city forestry department started bagging all the oak trees in the parks right away and encouraged all homeowners to do the same. The caterpillars come down from the top of the trees during the day to hide from the sun under the burlap, so you can ambush them when you get home from work every day.

Supposedly they will die eventually if you put them in a bucket of soapy water, but we just use a small scissors to cut their little heads off and watch them ooze green slime as they fall off the tree. EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW, it's totally gross but extremely satisfying to watch them die, because they are EVIL!!!!!

The DNR has been spraying now for the last two years so they are almost gone. We've only been finding a few here and there this year compared to dozens a day last year. Most people didn't even bother to bag their trees this year, but not my dad. Until we are caterpillar free for a whole week he's not taking that burlap down. He may be retired from the Army, but he still lives by the warrior ethos:

I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit.

Not-So-Mellow Yellow

2006-06-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

This is the Asiatic Lily that Mom dug up from Grandma Shirley's yard last month. It finally bloomed here in its new home!

A Profusion of Purple

2006-06-27T19:26:00.000-05:00

This is one of my mom's favorite plants, a clematis she planted about five years ago. It loves to climb so our six-foot fence is a natural trellis for it, and now it's branching out to cover the neighbor's new fence too!

This Week's Featured Recipe .....

2006-06-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

..... was beef kebabs with squash and red peppers, which were heartily proclaimed the best yet! Of course Dad was in charge of marinating the meat and actually doing the cooking, but it was Mom who washed and chopped all the veggies and assembled these masterpieces.

Dad sure is having fun with his new grill. He decided to keep it in the screen house so it doesn't ever get rained on, so I guess we can really say we have an outdoor kitchen now!

Redneck Fence

2006-06-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

We're trying to grow new grass here, but Bryn and I ran through it one too many times during playtime today so Mom decided to construct a hasty defensive perimeter.

As if the only thing they have to worry about is us dogs wiping out in the mud!

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

2006-05-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

As we celebrate Memorial Day here, we remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice and we continue to pray for all our troops still serving around the world.

Some assembly required .....

2006-05-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

Our old gas grill finally gave up the ghost last week, so Dad decided it was time for an upgrade. Never one to do anything in a small way, he finally settled on this model .... complete with a built-in rotisserie, an auxiliary burner on the right and a beer cooler on the left!

The old "Grill Sergeant" is ready for his own cooking show now!

Misc. Ramblings

2006-05-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

Meet Chia Taz, our new pet! Our dirt delivery has been delayed due to almost-constant downpours the last couple weeks, so we can't plant anything outside yet. Hopefully in another week or two ......

We're making progress in the basement too, now moving on to the other half of the big room. The recessed lighting is installed and wired, but one more new window has to be installed before the walls and ceiling can be finished. One day at a time ..... but we have another three-day weekend coming up so we should have more pics to share after that.

Mom got some new running shoes in honor of the Green Bay Marathon, which took place today. Of course she didn't actually run in the race. Are you kidding?!?!? Still, she needed some new shoes for our daily power walks and wouldn't you know it, a $10 coupon arrived in the mail from DSW Shoes yesterday. Fate, I tell you!

'De fence' Contractors at Work

2006-05-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

There hasn't been any progress on our basement project because last weekend all the guys in the neighborhood were helping put up a fence next door. Dad has the most fence building experience (some liken our back yard to a 'compound' of sorts) so he had to be there to show everyone how to do it. He's also the biggest guy on the block so he got to man the post pounder!

Since we already have a fence on our side, and the lady behind Steve and Cindy's house has a fence around her yard, they only had to finish off the side between their house and Doug and Cynthia's house and the small gap between our fence and the corner of their house. The whole thing was done in one day, but then everyone was beat so we all just lazed around on Sunday.

Now Haley doesn't have to be tied to the deck anymore, and we've been having lots of fun running the fence line. Maybe Mom will get some pics of us today. It's nice and sunny outside and we're planning to host a cookout later this afternoon. We haven't been doing too much this weekend except relaxing, because Dad was gone away all week for some work training and Mom was hard at work on a bunch of magazine articles. We'll try to post a little more often now!

Happy Spring!

2006-04-29T12:04:00.000-05:00

April showers ..... bring tulips!

Can you believe all these beautiful blooms came from just 10 bulbs that were planted about 5 or 6 years ago?

All the rain we had last week really made the grass green too. Dad figured it was finally safe to drain the oil from the snowblower when he had to get the lawnmower running! We had nice sunny days all week so we went for walks and had play time every day. Bryn and I just love to race around the yard and burn up lots of energy.

We're actually becoming VERY good friends!

Call in the reinforcements!

2006-04-23T21:22:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, Dad and Doug finally got tired of playing with the mud. They also decided we should put some texture on the walls before we paint so they decided to call in a couple of Doug's friends who actually used to hang drywall for a living. In three hours these guys finished what probably would have taken us the next three weeks!

So now we have texture, although we won't be able to use the fireplace again now until the painting is done. We have to wait a couple days until all the mud dries before we can sand and paint, but it's coming along nicely!

Easter Weekend Update

2006-04-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, so we didn't do a damn thing in the basement all weekend, but that's ok. Aside from a little rain early on Easter Sunday, it was absolutely gorgeous weather here the whole long weekend! We went for walks every day and Mom made her first trip to the lawn and garden store on Saturday. It's still a little too early to put in any new plants, but she did score some cool concrete edging blocks to replace the old plastic edging along the back side of the house that was falling apart. Here I am inspecting the finished project ......

Of course we still have lots of other landscaping projects lined up, but we have to wait until next weekend to start on that. Our neighbor Steve is getting a bunch of dirt dropped off because he's reseeding his whole back yard, and he's getting an extra pile for us. We have lots of dead spots to fill in (Funny, all the people who own dogs also have dead spots in their yards. Wonder why that is?!?!?) and we need more dirt around the front of the house because we're putting in some new bushes and flowers.

In other news, the Easter Bunny brought me a new ball! The company that sells these balls used to advertise them in their catalog as the "Indestructible Ball", but that was before our old dog Guenther completely destroyed one in less than one hour. After Mom sent it back they quickly replaced it, and now they advertise it as "virtually" indestructible, ha! Still, it only takes me a few minutes of chewing on it to rough it up enough to where I can pick it up and carry it around.

Just try to get it away from me now!

We'll have more pics of the basement project this weekend, because the boys are down there right now planning their attack. Actually they are mostly drinking and goofing around, but Doug's friend Kevin is here too and he's the one who taught Doug how to do drywall so I'm sure he's giving them lots of tips on how to finish it off perfectly. It's going to be awesome when it's done, but being a do-it-yourself thing we know it's not going to happen overnight!

Fun with mud .....

2006-04-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Well I guess it's time for another update since we've now progressed to the "mud" stage in the drywall project. The guys are just having too much fun with this stuff!

By next week we should be painting and starting on the ceiling. We should make lots of progress since everyone has an extra day or two off from work for Easter. We'll have more pics for sure after that!

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ....

2006-03-27T21:41:00.000-06:00

And it's all ours! That big envelope in the photo above contained all the papers from the loan on this house. It's actually been paid off for several months now, but this past weekend the weather finally got nice enough to clean up the yard and have a little bonfire, so we capped it off with an official "burning the mortgage" party.

Yeehah!

We're making progress on the basement project too, although it's slowing down a bit now that the weather is getting nicer. Seriously, it will get done eventually, but when the sun is shining and it's above freezing we like to spend every minute we can outdoors!

Dad and Doug have been puttering away over the last few weeks, and since Doug is the drywall master we actually have some semblance of walls now!

Of course Dad is still the electrical wizard, so he was responsible for installing all the new lights. They will eventually be part of the new ceiling, which will be at least 4-5 inches higher than the old suspended ceiling, so all our really tall friends won't have to duck their heads anymore!

We'll have more photos soon, weather permitting .....

We're Back!

2006-03-15T19:00:00.000-06:00

Oh how nice it is to be back home again where I can sleep on the couch! I spent the last week at Pine Tree Kennel because mom and dad went to Florida to visit Grandma Shirley. Even if they had taken the car instead of flying, I still could not go along because her condo association does not allow any pets. Can you believe that?!?!? A whole little village of 16,000 people and not a single cat or dog. There's no way my mom and dad will ever live there when they get older. Sheesh!

Despite missing me, they still managed to have a nice time. They went to the beach one day and had lunch at a really cool restaurant on the boardwalk, and it was in the 80s the whole week so they got to swim and just relax by the pool every day too. Mom also enjoyed shopping with Grandma Shirley at the mall and at the flea market, while Dad made three trips to Home Depot to get all the tools and supplies he needed to fix the screens on the patio and some other little projects around the condo.

Hurricane Wilma hit south Florida last August, and while the damage was nowhere near what Katrina did to Mississippi and Louisiana, it still caused a lot of devastation. Some buildings still have tarps on the roofs and plywood covering broken windows, because there just aren't enough workers to get everything done. It's especially hard because it's mostly old people who live there and they can't do that kind of work themselves, they have to rely on others, so Grandma Shirley was really glad to have Dad come down to help her.

We made a lot of progress on our basement project here since the last post too. Mom just didn't have any time to update this blog because she was working on a bunch of stories for the spring issue of the magazine she writes for, and they all had to be turned in to the editor before she left on vacation. We'll have more pics soon though. Dad and Doug made a Home Depot run today for drywall and other materials, and they're planning to finish the walls this weekend.

Looking for a good way to invest your tax refund? I have a hot stock tip for you: BUY Home Depot. Besides the booming business they're doing in the south these days, that's where all of our money is going this year too!

Wisconsin: Winter Wonderland

2006-02-20T18:04:00.000-06:00

Yippeee!!! We got playtime again today, for the first time since last Wednesday. We had a huge storm blow in here on Thursday and it dumped 13 inches of snow on us. Then it was windy and subzero all through the weekend, and we were under a wind chill advisory.

As you can see, Bryn and I were both pretty wound up, and even after a one-mile walk we still had lots of energy to burn. We were running around so much that my mom could hardly get a photo of us that was in focus!

Of course all this snow came while my dad was out of town, but mom didn't have to worry about shoveling like our neighbors Joe and Diane in the photo below. We have Maurie on one side and Steve on the other side, and they both have snowblowers. We haven't really had much snow this year so the boys haven't been able to play with their toys, so they were almost fighting over who got to clear our driveway and sidewalk. Poor dad, he missed out on all the fun this time!