bob loblaw

Mostly random happenings, musings and such. (In other words, blah, blah, blah...)

-The other day when we pulled in the driveway after school/work, Owen leaped out of the back seat and exclaimed, "Look, the dandelions are back!" Nothing like youthful enthusiasm to put a positive spin on weeds. Yesterday, he and Nora brought in a bouquet of lawn grass and some unidentified weed. 

-After an almost 3-year hiatus, I am wearing my own wedding ring again. I had to have it cut off when Nora was about a month old because I decided to try to force it back onto my pregnancy-swollen finger, which promptly began turning purple. Not sure why it took this long to get it fixed (well, I have reasons, but none of them are good). For all this time I've been wearing a combo of my engagement ring and my grandmother's wedding band. I'm happy to be matching my hubby's ring again. Feels right.

- Nora has taken to wearing a pair of turquoise, plastic, 1/2-inch heeled Ariel slippers. She's in the midst of a princess phase and was understandably excited when I fished these "shoes" out of a bag of hand-me-downs. Oh, and the heels light up with every step. They're like her dream shoes right now.

-I got a promotion about 2 months ago,  have I mentioned that? I'm now the executive editor for my magazine group and oversee about four different magazines. It was time for a change after almost nine years with the same magazine. It's still scary though.

- We had one of our dear cats, Tilly, put to sleep a few weeks ago. She'd been diagnosed with cancer, so it was only a matter of time. It's crazy to think about how many changes she went through with me. I'd lived with her for almost 16 years. She showed up at my college workplace -- a movie theater -- as a kitten and my roommate and I took her in and that was that. Sometime, she really deserves her own post...

- I'm once again contemplating bangs. Seems to be an annual ritual: Consider. Blog.b Decide against it.

- The spring planting season snuck up on me again. I know this because the peony sprouts have gotten too tall for me to use the grow-through supports I have for them. It just happens so fast. One day it's cold and everything is brown and before you know it it's still cold but everything is green. Ah, spring in Wisconsin :)

- I've been watching a weird mix of new TV shows lately. Somehow I've gotten sucked into Castle (which Jon calls "Cancelled") and Cupid.

Well, it wasn't Ft. Lauderdale

Oh, how very sad my blog has become. So neglected. So lonely.

I had vacation the week before last because it was Owen's spring break (which, by the way, was seven school days off -- seven!) But, unlike last year when I stayed home with both kids and blogged about our daily adventures of exploring Milwaukee, this year, spring break coincided with another annual activity -- Trivia.

I have to admit, at first I was disappointed about the overlapping schedules. Trivia takes us out of town for about 4-1/2 days, and last year I so enjoyed just having a week to loligag around the house with the kids. But I quickly got over that when I realized that instead of being stressed and tired going into a 54-hour trivia contest, I was able to remain (mostly) well rested and could prepare/pack/gather during the week instead of cramming all of that in after work. (And, as a bonus, it even allowed me to save some vacation for two other fun trips later this year -- to NYC and...Indiana!)

And, we did do a few fun spring breaky things. Owen had his first sleepover at his friend Matthew's house. Oh man, and once we planned that thing, it was ALL Owen could talk about. The day of the sleepover, we met Matthew and his mom at the zoo for lunch and to let the boys get a little energy out. But they were soooo not interested in the animals. They just wanted to go to Matthew's house and get the jumping around and general craziness part of the sleepover started. I barely got a kiss good-bye as he leaped into their vehicle.

The next day, after Nora and I picked Owen up, we went to the YMCA for the first time in a couple of weeks. The kids played in the play center while I tried out a new elliptical machine (and boy, did my thighs say "no thank you" the next day), and then we all got into our suits and went swimming.

By Wednesday, I was ready to just stay home and pack. Thursday, we left for Stevens Point and then Jon and I left the kids with the grandparents on Friday and went to start Trivia thatafternoon. It was a lovely, lovely day -- sunny and warm, which always feels like Trivia to me. So we enjoyed a great weekend of laughter and old friends (and a bit of tequila). On Sunday, Owen came up to visit the Trivia house for a bit, and he tried to impress everyone with his delivery of such retorts as "whatever" or "poopy party." All in all, by midnight Sunday, our Trivia team ended up in 13th place. Not too shabby -- especially for a team that has as much fun as ours does.

The kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. They were dirty, tired and left behind n energetic dog that may actually have tired of chasing balls hit off Owen's tee. But I think we were all ready to get home on Monday.

A week later, there still are a few things left in our suitcases and some still packed bags on the porch. I'll get to it, later. This week we're preparing for a trip to Illinois to visit the other grandparents. Owen has been itching to drive their four-wheeler again...