Liz, Carin, Loretta, Sarah (and me) at Pizza Hut. Good girl time. Now we're all tucked in with our snacks at the movie theater for some half naked Jake Gyllenhaal goodness.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Scary Good Times
Liz, Carin, Loretta, Sarah (and me) at Pizza Hut. Good girl time. Now we're all tucked in with our snacks at the movie theater for some half naked Jake Gyllenhaal goodness.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
One More
A little further along... love the bluesy, purplish tinge. This brings to mind that melancholy saying "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." I'm not down or sad, but there's truth to those words. No clouds = No sunset. Save that thought for a rainy day :)
Blurry but Beautiful
I took this while driving home from the gym tonight. I was at a stop sign (and then on the go again when a car came up behind me, hence blurriness) and I couldn't resist. God is so amazing when you consider the intricacies of his grand design that make this brilliant show a possibility.
Lonely Classroom
Honey, I'm home! Sorry it took so long and those lazy cleaner dudes didn't reassemble you correctly or that you're naked of all your usual pretty decorations. We'll have things worked out in a flash. It feels good to be back :)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Summer's Melting Away
All the calendars say that school starts Wednesday, September 11, 2010. The reality is that the phone has begun to ring and anxious parents are on the other end of the line. Letters from the district have snuck their way into the mailbox, filled with schedules and agendas for all the pre-school year meetings. Committees are soliciting new members, colleagues want to meet, emails are flowing and suddenly I have a sneaking suspicion that this marvelous thing called summer vacation is more or less over. Instead of getting all sad sally, I thought it'd feel a heck of a lot better to review all the incredible stuff that I got to experience over the last few months. So, in chronological order...
Sunday, May 30, 2010 - Jason and Julianna's Wedding
Having known Julianna since childhood and Jason since middle school and all the myriad ways our families are interconnected, this wedding was one of the best I have known. I was so thrilled and honored (and nervous!) to be their pianist. But more than that, I loved the way all of us once again came together to help put together a great event. From the invites to the food to the decorations, we all had a hand in it, and Jason and Julianna absolutely deserved it.
Friday, June 6, 2010 - Loretta's Surprise Birthday Party
I subjected Loretta to a bday extravaganza in order to celebrate her quarter century mark. Loretta was presented a series of riddles and clues, each leading to a different establishment meaningful to her in someway. At each place, she went in to and received a mini-present that I had paid for and arranged in advance. She got a carwash gift certificate in Brookfield, a free scoop of custard at Kopps, a chocolate drink at Ghirardelli, and a gift card to White House/Black Market. At the conclusion of the scavenger hunt, she was forced to don the lovely blindfold glasses shown in the photo, and I led her down to... a dock where all of our friends were waiting! We took a boat tour of the Milwaukee waterfront, which was very beautiful. That was followed by dinner and cake at Stack'd Burger Bar in the Third Ward. Planning something special for a friend is so satisfying and I wouldn't want any less for Loretta. What a happy birthday :)
Friday, June 18, 2010 - Chris and Katie's Wedding
This picture says it all. Katie's happy, Aidan's happy, and it's perfect (thanks to the other Emily for such a great shot). School was barely out, and we all loaded onto planes and jetted down to the Mexican coast to celebrate Katie and Chris's union. We stayed at a beautiful resort and the wedding took place on the beach right in front of the ocean. Putting aside my extreme aversion for heat (which was overly plentiful in Mexico) was well worth it in order to be there for this.
Monday, June 28, 2010 - Family Camp
This was Family Camp #25 for me... haven't missed a summer since I was four months old. This year, however, was very bittersweet. I was able to go and to spend time with my aunt and uncle and many of our usual camp friends, but distinctly absent was my mother and my grandfather. My grandfather (affectionately known as G-pops) has seen a dramatic decline in his health over the last year and so after many, many years of living and volunteering at Camp Fairwood every summer, he has had to relinquish his position as the engineer of the barrel train (and the dining hall sweeper, and the trench digger, etc. etc. etc.) My mom was not with me at Family Camp for the first time because she was at home taking care of him. We all knew this time would someday come, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Family Camp was fun, but there's a reason it's called Family Camp... it's better with (all) your family.
Fourth of July Weekend - Door County
This photo was not my first choice. Don't get me wrong- the Stoeckmann children are all very adorable and I like them quite a bit. But a picture of me running out into the middle of a parade to get lassoed by a cowboy on a horse is a special treasure that your average facebook friend isn't good enough for. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to cooperate and pop up here, which is why we're back to Amanda, Loretta, and Jake. The Stoeckmanns were gracious (or silly) enough to allow me to crash their family vacation in Door County. We saw fireworks of all varieties from all angles (including walking through a swamp to a tiny, postage-stamp beach), took in a sweet parade (and got lassoed), shopped, trapped Jake on the deck, golfed (and nearly died doing so), played some sweet Pictionary Telephone, and watched a gazillion hours of World Cup soccer. I had a ggggggggggreat time (in the words of Tony the Tiger) because the Stoeckmanns are good people and I'm pretty darn grrrrrrrrrrateful they let me hang around.
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - Goodbye Onos
The biggest semi you can possibly imagine was heaved up over the curb. The house was completely empty and one family's entire life was stacked up in the moving truck. I am standing on the front lawn, dwaddling. Not really wanting to leave. Unready to say goodbye to Ken and Erika, Sage and Aspen. Four years is a long time to play back-up parent for a couple of kids. Their move to Georgia is a good one for them, but not for me. After I finally got around to actually leaving, I got in my little car and cried halfway home from Madison. When I called my mom to point out that I was upset, she wasn't surprised in the least. You wouldn't believe how deep a little Sagie can crawl into your heart. It's not easy to let go.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Yellowstone!
There's not a whole lot I can say about our trip in one tiny little paragraph that would be adequate. It was a great adventure with great people and I wouldn't have traded it for any other trip. It was the perfect cap to a great summer.
Thursday, August 12, 2010 - Up North
Nothing fancy about this. Two cabins. Three families. Everybody loves everybody else, everyone's comfortable, everyone's happy, and everyone's having fun. We shared good food (homemade and dining out), played games, soaked up the sun, enjoyed the water, and talked nose rings. I could do this kind of thing every weekend. Anyone else?
Alright, alright. Summer's not quite over yet. There are still a few tidbits left... Brewer game with Loretta, a Prison Break party, a trip to Devil's Lake. But what has happened so far has been darned good, and we haven't even covered Brewer Block Parties, Andrew and Kaitlyn's engagement, State Fair, etc. I am blessed :)
Sunday, May 30, 2010 - Jason and Julianna's Wedding
Having known Julianna since childhood and Jason since middle school and all the myriad ways our families are interconnected, this wedding was one of the best I have known. I was so thrilled and honored (and nervous!) to be their pianist. But more than that, I loved the way all of us once again came together to help put together a great event. From the invites to the food to the decorations, we all had a hand in it, and Jason and Julianna absolutely deserved it.
Friday, June 6, 2010 - Loretta's Surprise Birthday Party
Friday, June 18, 2010 - Chris and Katie's Wedding
This picture says it all. Katie's happy, Aidan's happy, and it's perfect (thanks to the other Emily for such a great shot). School was barely out, and we all loaded onto planes and jetted down to the Mexican coast to celebrate Katie and Chris's union. We stayed at a beautiful resort and the wedding took place on the beach right in front of the ocean. Putting aside my extreme aversion for heat (which was overly plentiful in Mexico) was well worth it in order to be there for this.Monday, June 28, 2010 - Family Camp
This was Family Camp #25 for me... haven't missed a summer since I was four months old. This year, however, was very bittersweet. I was able to go and to spend time with my aunt and uncle and many of our usual camp friends, but distinctly absent was my mother and my grandfather. My grandfather (affectionately known as G-pops) has seen a dramatic decline in his health over the last year and so after many, many years of living and volunteering at Camp Fairwood every summer, he has had to relinquish his position as the engineer of the barrel train (and the dining hall sweeper, and the trench digger, etc. etc. etc.) My mom was not with me at Family Camp for the first time because she was at home taking care of him. We all knew this time would someday come, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Family Camp was fun, but there's a reason it's called Family Camp... it's better with (all) your family.
Fourth of July Weekend - Door County
This photo was not my first choice. Don't get me wrong- the Stoeckmann children are all very adorable and I like them quite a bit. But a picture of me running out into the middle of a parade to get lassoed by a cowboy on a horse is a special treasure that your average facebook friend isn't good enough for. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to cooperate and pop up here, which is why we're back to Amanda, Loretta, and Jake. The Stoeckmanns were gracious (or silly) enough to allow me to crash their family vacation in Door County. We saw fireworks of all varieties from all angles (including walking through a swamp to a tiny, postage-stamp beach), took in a sweet parade (and got lassoed), shopped, trapped Jake on the deck, golfed (and nearly died doing so), played some sweet Pictionary Telephone, and watched a gazillion hours of World Cup soccer. I had a ggggggggggreat time (in the words of Tony the Tiger) because the Stoeckmanns are good people and I'm pretty darn grrrrrrrrrrateful they let me hang around.
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - Goodbye Onos
The biggest semi you can possibly imagine was heaved up over the curb. The house was completely empty and one family's entire life was stacked up in the moving truck. I am standing on the front lawn, dwaddling. Not really wanting to leave. Unready to say goodbye to Ken and Erika, Sage and Aspen. Four years is a long time to play back-up parent for a couple of kids. Their move to Georgia is a good one for them, but not for me. After I finally got around to actually leaving, I got in my little car and cried halfway home from Madison. When I called my mom to point out that I was upset, she wasn't surprised in the least. You wouldn't believe how deep a little Sagie can crawl into your heart. It's not easy to let go.
Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Yellowstone!
There's not a whole lot I can say about our trip in one tiny little paragraph that would be adequate. It was a great adventure with great people and I wouldn't have traded it for any other trip. It was the perfect cap to a great summer.
Thursday, August 12, 2010 - Up North
Nothing fancy about this. Two cabins. Three families. Everybody loves everybody else, everyone's comfortable, everyone's happy, and everyone's having fun. We shared good food (homemade and dining out), played games, soaked up the sun, enjoyed the water, and talked nose rings. I could do this kind of thing every weekend. Anyone else?
Alright, alright. Summer's not quite over yet. There are still a few tidbits left... Brewer game with Loretta, a Prison Break party, a trip to Devil's Lake. But what has happened so far has been darned good, and we haven't even covered Brewer Block Parties, Andrew and Kaitlyn's engagement, State Fair, etc. I am blessed :)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
It's a Beautiful Day
Pretty hard not to be happy at the wedding of people you love. All the best, Jon and Ann!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Happiness is...
Spending time with people who have no problem being silly with you and will always love each other no matter what.
Boyish Fun
Although it's dark and cloudy, the rain is temporarily cooperating and so the boys are out wakeboarding behind the jet ski :)
Rain, rain go away
Not the way you want your day to dawn when if was supposed to be filled with sunbathing, skiing, picnics, and boats :'( Come on sun!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Brewers + Miracle League of Milwaukee
So if you've listened to a Brewers broadcast at all lately, you've probably heard something mentioned about the Miracle League of Milwaukee, the Pepsi Refresh Project, kids with disabilities or some combination thereof. Basically, each MLB team presented a proposal on what they would do with a $200,000 grant in their community. The Brewers were selected as one of fifteen finalists. Their proposal involves partnering with the Miracle League of Milwaukee to build a universally accessible baseball field so children of all types could play little league. It would be the first only facility of its type in our area.
Obviously, this opportunity represents a unique intersection of two of my great joys- baseball and kids with disabilities. I would love nothing more than to be able to someday drive downtown and watch some of my kidlets play ball. There are two ways to get involved with this. One is to donate straight cash. Between now and September 30th, every dollar you donate at miracleleaguemilwaukee.com will be matched with two dollars from corporate sponsors. The other way is free! Log on to either mlb.com or miracleleaguemilwaukee.com and vote "brewers" in the Pepsi Refresh poll or text "brewers" to 76462. You can enter up to 25 times a day per phone. If you vote even once, I (and many amazing kids) would be pretty darn grateful.
If you need any motivation at all, just check out YouTube.com for an irresistible video of Casey McGehee talking about his son Mack, who has cerebral palsy. I've seen Casey and Mack in action together a few times and if this doesn't convince you it's a worthy cause, nothing will!
Goodnight from beautiful, perfect up north :)
Tunes: whirling fan and lapping water
Grass Lessons
Aunt Nancy, Geoff, and Lori checking out a plot of grass. Aunt Nancy is dairy herd manager at the USDA Dairy Forage Research Center in Prairie du Sac. I am helping to develop and coordinate a Scientist for a Day event out at the farm in October. The purpose of the event is to get high school kids interested in agricultural research as over half the field will be retiring in the next five years and the need for home grown talent is massive.
Today I was out at the farm to work through some logistics for the event, but I also got a mini lesson from Geoff pasturing, an introduction to a cool Italian scientist (who has determined that if cow food sinks in water it's bad news), and a little history lesson on the former Badger Ammunitions Factory. Aside from being insufferably hot, it was quite enjoyable and productive.
Now I am at the lake and cool water, a good book, and some nibble fish are calling my name. ;)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Snoozer
Greg was not enamored with our loud, fabulously off-key singing. Miraculously, he managed to catch some Zzzzzs through it all.
$250 Shot
Jumping off the cliffs into Fire Hole River is an expensive fine. Luckily, Derek didn't have to pay.
"who's that good looking guy?"
Josh's reaction when looking at this picture (referring to himself, of course). That'll have to do since I'm tired of writing captions, but apparently Blogger won't let you post photos without them.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Also
I am typing on a keyboard the size of a postage stamp on a phone that sometimes insists on auto-correcting to words I don't want and posting via very spotty internet so you'll have to kindly overlook spelling and grammar snafus, multiple postings, and some things not being in chronological order.
:D
Where We're At
Yesterday our fearless leaders tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum abandoned us on a noble quest to hike Electric Peak (without mentioning exactly where they were going before they ran off). Although they did not summit, they enjoyed themselves and hiked about fourteen miles.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch... the rest of us meer mortals ate a leisurely breakfast, washed hair in buckets, and cleaned up camp (washed the rocks, swept the gravel, dusted the trees, etc). In late morning we piled into Yuki, fed her and ourselves (gas is for cars, candy is for humans), and then set our sights on Old Faithful. Along the way we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. There, we met and photographed a real, live Ranger Rick, did a conga line on the boardwalk, nearly became roadkill in the parking lot, and also saw some geysers.
Back to Yuki! We rolled on south to Old Faithful where we staked out some bench spots to play Set while we waited. The people next to us were young adult leaders at their church and knew of Elmbrook. They also thought Reed and Josh were the next best thing since sliced bread. Old Faithful was a little late and gave us quite a few false starts, but eventually we got a pretty good show.
Following that spectacle, Josh sat on a melted Jolly Rancher. Valiantly, he chose to protect Yuki by sitting on a piece of paper towel when we started to drive again. Humorously, the paper towel was stuck to his butt for the rest of the day.
Our drive back to camp took about four hours due to road blocks for bison crossing, real and fake grizzly sightings, painfully ignorant people, mud pots, bathroom breaks, and declines with an 8% grade.
Promptly upon our return, the clouds saw fit to spit on us so tired, damp, and lazy we drove up the hill and had cafeteria food and AMAZING ice cream for dinner. The rain let up and we had a brief and chilly campfire where everyone was assigned their Indian name. Everyone slept very well.
This morning has dawned cool and cloudy. Everyone is breakfasting now and then it is our intention to check out Canyon Falls and swim in Fire Hole something something (the exact name escapes me at the moment, but it is supposed to be like a natural waterslide or something).
Tunes: chirping birds amidst crackling fire
Meanwhile, back on the ranch... the rest of us meer mortals ate a leisurely breakfast, washed hair in buckets, and cleaned up camp (washed the rocks, swept the gravel, dusted the trees, etc). In late morning we piled into Yuki, fed her and ourselves (gas is for cars, candy is for humans), and then set our sights on Old Faithful. Along the way we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. There, we met and photographed a real, live Ranger Rick, did a conga line on the boardwalk, nearly became roadkill in the parking lot, and also saw some geysers.
Back to Yuki! We rolled on south to Old Faithful where we staked out some bench spots to play Set while we waited. The people next to us were young adult leaders at their church and knew of Elmbrook. They also thought Reed and Josh were the next best thing since sliced bread. Old Faithful was a little late and gave us quite a few false starts, but eventually we got a pretty good show.
Following that spectacle, Josh sat on a melted Jolly Rancher. Valiantly, he chose to protect Yuki by sitting on a piece of paper towel when we started to drive again. Humorously, the paper towel was stuck to his butt for the rest of the day.
Our drive back to camp took about four hours due to road blocks for bison crossing, real and fake grizzly sightings, painfully ignorant people, mud pots, bathroom breaks, and declines with an 8% grade.
Promptly upon our return, the clouds saw fit to spit on us so tired, damp, and lazy we drove up the hill and had cafeteria food and AMAZING ice cream for dinner. The rain let up and we had a brief and chilly campfire where everyone was assigned their Indian name. Everyone slept very well.
This morning has dawned cool and cloudy. Everyone is breakfasting now and then it is our intention to check out Canyon Falls and swim in Fire Hole something something (the exact name escapes me at the moment, but it is supposed to be like a natural waterslide or something).
Tunes: chirping birds amidst crackling fire
Chef Bearek
Making breakfast over the fire is almost always Derek's specialty, but this morning... it is pancakes 1, Derek 0.
Group at Norris
Mispronouncing Squii-rell, Birthing Bi-SON, Warbling Windsock, Sneezing EVA, and Kills with Bluff (our Indian names)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Breakfast, Hood Style
Eating breakfast on the hood of the Gregmobile while waiting in line for a campsite. We were eventually turned away, but found luck elsewhere.
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