Category: General News

I don’t normally post much about Bryan on this blog.  He used to have his own blog, and for the most part, I don’t think that tales of computer programming are really my forte.

But I wanted to share that I’ve been excited and proud of him this year for really getting into playing chess.  He plays online extensively (he’s CuervoKing on chess.com if anyone out there is a chess player looking for a partner!)  He spent all day yesterday in Milwaukee playing in a tournament.  It’s his fifth tournament of the year.  I love knowing that despite a demanding job and a (perhaps more!) demanding set of kids, Bryan’s able to find time for a little recreation.  Actually, one of my goals for 2009 was to support him in expanding his leisure activities, and I’d say at least when it comes to chess, we have achieved success:)

Bryan won three of the four games he played yesterday, and the game he lost was to the guy who won the whole tournament, so he came home pretty happy.

Here’s a picture of him playing (back left).

You’ll have to try to ignore the young girl who’s staring irritably at the camera while kneeling on her pink sneakers.  Sometimes those little kids are just wicked-smart!

The chess folks also uploaded some videos of people playing chess at the tournament.  Here’s a clip of some champions at work:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9h8tG06ccU]

Somebody wrote up a blog post about the tournament.  It’s where I grabbed the photo, so if you’re interested, you can see more!

Ooo, I also just found a link to Bryan’s US Chess Federation profile page.  Honey, I’m doing research about you!  I also discovered that you have played 584 games on chess.com.  That’s a lot!!

In other news, Bryan has been doing a version of Extreme Workdays this past week.  He’s been coming home for dinner and the kids’ bedtimes and then working until close to midnight most evenings (we took off Friday night and caught up on Mad Men…finished season 1!).  Bryan went into work on Sunday morning, and as of 9pm, he’s still not home.

His office has an end-of-November (or maybe now it’s end-of-the-year) deadline, and there’s a mid-deadline on Monday, so my sweet guy is putting in 110%.  It doesn’t seem to get him down, though. He’s such a dedicated worker:)

It’s times like these, when things in his office kind of blow up that I’m especially glad that I don’t also have an out-of-the-home job.  When he needs to put in some extra hours, we both put in extra hours, and it works just fine.  If we were juggling two jobs, though, it would be trickier!

I leave you with a picture of my sweetie:

Andrew, Sylvia, and I had a fun time visiting a farm today!  We met up with some of the families from my mom’s group at the Hinchley Dairy Farm, just west of Madison.

It was so fun to spend a couple hours on a real, working dairy farm!  I had several friends who were dairy farmers back in high school, but it’s been years and years since I spent an afternoon hanging around a dairy operation.  Tina Hinchley, farmer extraordinaire, drove a group of us on a tractor hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins.  Andrew and Sylvia found good ones right away!

Tina then took us on a tractor ride through their dairy barn where they keep the cows that aren’t currently being milked.  I learned that it takes a couple years for a heifer to be old enough to be bred, and she produces milk for the first part of her pregnancy and then for 7-9 months after the calf is born.  Then it’s back to getting pregnant. [Aside: sooooo glad I’m not a cow.]

Continue reading “Kids on the farm”

Why is it that I’m in a mode these days where I’m regularly running almost late.  I’m doing it to myself.  I don’t want to get dressed or brush my hair or find my shoes until I need to be out of the house in two minutes.  Like I actively dislike being ready to go before it’s time.

Maybe it’s a reaction to having to get the kids ready so much before we have to go.   If we want to leave the house at 3pm, I should have them both dressed by 2:30.  That gives us 20 minutes to play and 10 minutes to get on coats and shoes and get into the car.

I’ve found many times in the last several months where I purposefully, unconsciously, our accidentally work on the computer (in my pajamas) until the moment I am supposed to be in the car.

Yet I’m almost always on time.  A minute late maybe.  Sometimes a minute early.  There’s just some crazed running around before I leave the house.  Maybe I need to return to some old FlyLady habits of getting dressed first thing in the morning including hair and makeup (if any).

My mom normally ran 5-20 minutes late, and it sometimes drove me a bit crazy.  So this aversion to getting ready that I’m experiencing is a little funny.  Hmmm.

I think I’m in the “observing” phase of behavior change.  Like “gee, that doesn’t seem like a great way to be” kind of observation.  Then I’ll start talking about how to change and then I’ll start committing to change and maybe eventually I’ll change.  Or maybe not.  I do like being in my pajamas on a gray fall day!

How about you?  Are you early?  How much before you’re going to leave the house do you get ready?  Does standing around the house all ready to go make you crazy or does it feel good?  These are the deep questions I pose to you today.

Now (since I’m clothed and have my contacts in) I’m off to the post office and the grocery store!

Sylvie was having a great time at the wedding reception.  Spin, spin, spinning.  Here’s a video of her (complete with Poodle and her paci).

[flickr video=4006508385]

Thanks to Granny for taking the video.  I swear that Sylvia had not been drinking at the time of this video:)

Oh, and LuAnn made this beautiful jumper.  Isn’t she amazing!!

All my wedding photos are now online for your viewing pleasure.

• Wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
• Saturday morning wedding set-up
• Althea and Heather’s wedding pictures

We’re going to be heading over to Michael and Lisa’s this morning.  My car is chock-full of wedding decor…

And now…here are a few of my favorite pictures from the evening.

Michael and Lisa are now Mr. and Mrs.  I’ve got a new sister, and Michael has an expanded family.  It was a wonderful wedding.  A beautiful day.  I cried, I laughed, I danced.  And right now, at 11:20pm, I have a big smile on my face, thinking back on conversations and moments shared with good friends and family.

This morning, as snowflakes filled the air and the thermometer proclaimed low numbers, we decided to pull the ceremony indoors.  It turned out that with the big windows looking out on the prairie, the big pots of mums, and the orangy pumpkins, it was lovely indoors as well.

I sobbed a bit when Lisa came down the aisle on her dad’s arm.  I cried a bit harder when Michael took her hand.  Such emotion!

Andrew was the ring bearer, and he had the rings tied on a ribbon around the neck of his stuffed elephant.  What a cutie!  He stood up front next to Joe, and he was so cheerful and calm and proud that it just made me glow with love for that little darling.  When Joe stepped over to the podium to do his reading, Andrew hopped sideways to stay next to him.  And when Lisa requested, he handed her the elephant so she could retrieve the rings.

Lisa’s sister, Julie and Maretta also gave readings, and Jack gave a heart-felt address.

Michael and Lisa wrote beautiful vows for each other, and I got to close the ceremony with the Apache Wedding Blessing.  It was a really lovely ceremony.

The reception was held upstairs, and after a yummy dinner, we were all treated to an amazing pumpkin cake.

Thank heavens that Bryan’s mom is here to help with the kids!  They ran about and had lots of fun while I tended to wedding details and had fun watching the celebration unfold.

Now it’s midnight, and I’ve got dozens of photos uploading.  So in my world, it feels like the event has some closure.  Photo-obsession…

Tomorrow morning, we head over to Michael and Lisa’s for present-opening and to visit with her family one more time before they head back to Florida.  The party continues!

Stay tuned (or check out Flickr) for photos!  Check out the pictures in the gallery!

It’s the day of Michael and Lisa’s wedding!  This morning, Michael, Joe, Maretta, Heather, and I met out at the Lussier Nature Center to decorate the reception room and to set up the (now indoor!) ceremony site.  It’s been partly sunny with temperatures in the high forties.  Snow fell earlier today.

Michael is wearing a kilt, and Lisa has a strapless dress, so we thought that no one would be pleased with the idea of an outdoor ceremony!

Last night, a group of us gathered outdoors at the Center to rehearse the wedding.  Lisa’s sister Julie will be standing up with her, and Joe is standing up with Michael.  Julie, Joe, Maretta, and myself are doing the readings.  And our dear family friend Jack is officiating.  It should be lovely!

Lisa’s family is up from Florida, and I think we’ve given them quite a shock with this chilly weather.  Hard to believe that the mercury has dropped so much in the last few weeks!

After the rehearsal, we headed over to Pedro’s west for a lovely dinner.  My aunt Julie, Kevin, and their little guy joined us; Heather and Michael were there, Topsy has flown out from Oregon, and a couple of Michael and Lisa’s friends had also driven in from out-of-town.

Andrew’s going to be the ring barer, and he’s planning on keeping the rings tied to the neck of his large stuffed elephant.  I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles his official duties!

It’s been a life-saver to have Granny here.  My mind is all over the place as I work on all the last-minute wedding coordination details.  Good to know that Sylvia and Andrew are being well-cared for while I plan and execute wedding plans and Bryan has been paint-balling, bachelor-partying, and mini-golfing with the groom.

Pictures from the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are in the gallery.  A few select pictures are also shown below.  Check that…just one.  I need to get dressed for the wedding!!!