Tag Archives: friends

Shake It Off

How was your holiday weekend?

Were you as lucky as we were and able to turn it into a weeks vacation?

A trip with family and friends, canoeing and fishing,Canoeing

swimming, and running,three girls wading in the pond

kite flying and picnicking,

Yup, we picnicked with our Foosball table- cut the grilling operation out of the picture- everybody knows what that looks like!

Yup, we picnicked with our Foosball table- cut the grilling operation out of the picture- everybody knows what that looks like!

fireworks and all?firework

Are you still in the habit of lazy days, afternoon drinks and delicious dinners?Beautiful evening

If so, take a deep breath, savor the memory of reading in the sun and shake it off.Storm shaking

Because, if you are like me, you are home alone with kids used to constant company and entertainment and there’s nobody else around to help with dinner.

The vacations over – Trip shaking -just shake it off!

 

Perfection Pending

Digby

This is my puppy.

This is not my puppy.DSCN4621-(2sm)This is my friends puppy Digby and he comes to visit us everyday while she is at work.Digby

Theoretically this is to help my friend out by keeping the pup here while he is still too young to be in a crate all day.  Once he is bigger he will no longer spend his days with us.

(Digby’s mom is a Saint Bernard and his Dad is a Great Dane/Doberman. At 10 weeks and 22 pounds bigger is the operative word here!)DSCN4602-(2sm)

Theoretically that’s the plan.

But really… DSCN4622-(2sm)

Really, we love him.

And we have no intention of letting this arrangement end!

Gotta Have A Story

If there is one thing I’ve learned growing up in a family of hunters it’s that if you don’t come home with something dead you’d better come home with a good story – if you can swing both so much the better.

So, yesterday afternoon when I found myself watching a pheasant and opossum having a stare down while I was out hunting with the dogs, I figured I was set. “This is going to get interesting!” I said to myself as the dogs came crashing through the cattails toward us.

And then it didn’t.

The pheasant, upon seeing me, dashed off into the cattails.

The opossum climbed a tree, a very small tree.

The dogs ignored the opossum (good dogs!) and sniffed their way after the pheasant.

Storm went on point in the cattails and I couldn’t find her.

The bird flushed – I missed.

The dogs passed by the opossum, stopped, looked up, and carried on (good dogs!).

I went to the opossum and took a quick picture.

Then we tracked down the pheasant and even though I was unaided by any sort of pointing from my dog (bad dog!) I got the bird.

Trip retrieved it, (good dog!).

Then he blasted off through the cattails and ran down another until it flushed -waaaay away from us (bad dog!).

So we looked for it, until the dogs stunk of swamp, I had cattail fuzz up my nose and we were all covered in burrs.

Then I got a phone call that I was needed at home.

I returned home to find my entire family in the field “helping” gut the buck our friend shot (nice work Jeff!).

We spent the rest of the night cleaning swamp muck and burrs off the dogs.

Today the dogs are tired and on drugs to combat the beasties in the swamp water that are disagreeing with their systems and I’m left reflecting that my unexciting opossum/pheasant stare down turned into an interesting evening anyway.

After all, I got my bird and I got a story.

Chicago Driving

This past weekend we took a long overdue trip to Indiana to visit some friends. We had a great time, us adults had lots of time for visiting and catching up, the girls all played well together and their daughter even gave us a tour of the Notre Dame campus.

Thinking of the great time we had I was trying to mentally calculate when we’d next be able to get together when I remembered an itsy bitsy detail of the trip that was a bit of a problem – the drive.  Not that it was too far – no, it’s just that there is this place in between us, you may have heard of it, it’s called Chicago…

Ever since driving through the Windy City with Ivy screaming in the back (because that’s what she always did in the car as baby) and Henry the cat meowing incessantly (because that’s what he always did in the car) while I attempted to stay calm as I  crept along in traffic next to a semi whose trailer was burned out and swaying frighteningly in the breezes I’ve been a little twitchy about the whole driving Chicago with children thing.

I’m sad to report that the way over did nothing to calm my fears.

Construction appeared, traffic slowed down, kids started yelling.

It was like magic.

Dark, bad, black magic.

Fortunately, I was not the only adult in the car, the bad magic was short lived and we made it to our friends house…eventually.

Unfortunately, before I knew it our weekend together was over and it was time for the drive home.

The trip home started out great, we timed our leaving perfectly for Jane’s morning nap, part way through the drive we stopped for a break/lunch/shopping trip/shooting/African safari/run/fish watching/turtle finding/tent testing at  Cabela’s (Best store to take a driving break in with little kids!) and got back in the car for the last half (HA!) of the trip.

Apparently we forgot that this was the half with Chicago in it.

John and I had just congratulating ourselves on our timing, the fact that our  two youngest were sleeping, decided on our route through the dreaded city and just about when we had finished patting ourselves on the back (Foolish, very foolish, never tempt fate, traffic or small children.) we looked up to this:

Which is precisely when Jane woke up and filled the truck with an unmistakable sound and aroma, and then proceeded to tell us just exactly how she felt about that. Did you know that when you combine crying babies, poopy diapers, traffic jams, questioning 5 year olds and sketchy neighborhoods time slows down?  I was paying close attention to the passage of time and I feel I can accurately report that  John found a very nice apartment complex with a few empty parking spots, (which we used to do the fastest diaper change ever) a mere 7 million hours and 57 minutes after Jane’s initial blast. If that’s not some sort of evil magic at work I don’t know what is!

No matter the cause we aren’t about to let it stop us from visiting friends and family on the other side. We’ll be ready to drive back around Chicago just as soon as our blood pressure comes down, our knuckles regain their normal coloring, and our kids have all reached the age of 18!

Just kidding.

I think…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship

Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship

My friend Sarah (of thinkbigmuch) and I have been friends since second grade.

When you’ve been friends that long you tend to fall into a few patterns, for instance:

Sarah says, “You should have a blog.”…I say, “OK”

Sarah  says, “You should move your blog to WordPress.”…  I say, “OK”

Sarah says, “We should do the photo challenge on friendship together.”  I say, “OK” (I’m always this easy going, just ask John…)

A large flurry of e-mails and phone calls later we have our friendship photo. Two friends on the same afternoon, four hours away from each other:

To go along with our photo Sarah has shared the top ten reasons why I am her friend. I thought it would be sort of boring if I did the same since you’d be reading basically the same list with our names in different places. Instead, sometimes against my better judgment, I decided to share my top ten memorable moments in our friendship.

In no particular order we have….

  1. One night in grade school we were at my house and had been sledding but were now just laying on our backs under a tree. Sarah asked me why I never talked this much in school. While I was extremely shy during my grade school years (and beyond) talking to Sarah was never a problem. Getting Sarah and I to stop talking… that’s a different story.
  2. When thanks to the gift of a case of beer from my older (read legal drinking age) boyfriend we were obligated to acquire a taste for beer together – on our roof. Thank you John!
  3. Between our sophomore and junior years of high school Sarah’s family moved to Canada. The memory of watching Sarah and her Mom walk away from my Mom and I the last night before they moved can still bring tears to my eyes.
  4. Stealing a candy bar from our friend in grade school and eating it in the bathroom. We were such rebels… except that we weren’t, I have no idea why we did this!
  5. The first time we saw each other when we both had babies.
  6. In high school Sarah was back visiting in Pewaukee during the time she lived in Canada. We had spent all the days (and nights) she was there sleeping minimal amounts and drinking far too much Diet Coke so as not to waste any of our short time together doing something so foolish as sleeping. The last day we were at the kitchen table and started laughing, which turned into crying, we were just one big sleep deprived mess, so happy to be together but knowing that our time was almost over. I can still picture Sarah laughing/crying and my Mom looking at the two of us like we were nuts – which we were.
  7. Weddings. My wedding, her wedding… happy times!
  8. Once we stole a bottle of Tequila Rose from a friends party. We literally ran it home to our own apartment, laughing like maniacs the entire time and then ran back. Apparently you should watch your food and drink around us.
  9. Discovering during a late night of beer appreciation with a tape measure that while I am taller than Sarah, her legs are significantly longer than mine. Our husbands were not astounded by our discovery, a flaw I forgive them for.
  10. Talking on the phone. Talking in the car. Talking late at night. Mumbling early in the morning. Talking. Talking. Talking!

All in all I think it’s been a good start to a life long friendship!

Five Under Five

When my friend Sarah and I started having kids, we started at just about the same time. We’d get together, have fun with our two babies, take piles of pictures and go home rested. Then we each had another… and then she had one more.  Now with five kids under the age of five we take no pictures, think that we possibly had fun and go home exhausted.  Last weekend we saw each other for just a few hours and I was determined to get a picture.  The kids were clearly unimpressed by my efforts and I don’t blame them – these are not my best pictures ever.

But crazy monster faces and stick to the forehead aside no one is actually crying and we do now have proof that they’ve all been together –  I’m calling it a success.

Happy Birthday Sarah

Today is my friend Sarah’s birthday.

Therefore I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you all that she’s pretty darn cool.

How cool? So cool that we have managed to remain friends for twenty three years.  Twenty three years that have not always been easy years to keep a friendship going, but we have.  Over the years the obstacles have changed but we’ve still manged to be there for each other the whole way through.

In second grade Sarah moved to Pewaukee and ended up in my class. It didn’t take long before we became friends and up until fourth grade life was easy. Our main challenge to overcome was whether or not Sarah had vacuumed yet  and if she was grounded or not. Sarah was grounded a lot.  For a girl that seemed pretty good, she must have been a terror behind closed doors.

In fourth grade she and another friend decided they hated me. You would think this was a large obstacle, but due to a fortuitous combination of my being stubborn, unable to take a hint, and my lack of other friends, I hung in there and we came out the other end friends again.

From fourth grade on to high school my swimming schedule threw a monkey wrench in things. Swimming a half hour away from home every night, plus practice and/or meets on weekends kept me busy in the pool.  Fortunately Sarah still had a lot of vacuuming (amongst other activities) to keep her busy and we manged to stay fast friends.

Then things got tricky. In the summer between sophomore and junior year of high school Sarah and her family moved to Canada. Many tears later, chat rooms were discovered and we spent hours keeping in touch while jumping around rooms to avoid anyone who might intrude on our conversations. I attribute my typing speed and abilities completely to those years, unfortunately for my spelling,  Sarah was a champ at  figuring out my interesting words. To this day it’s a good thing that I have spell check, and a husband to tell my how to spell obstacle when all spell check can come up with for my typed word is obstetrics.

Sarah moved back to Wisconsin in college and joined me at UW-Stevens Point – it was a good time.  We lived together for two straight years with only one spat the entire time (don’t move my bed, it turns out I hate that) and had more fun than is prudent to mention on a blog my family reads. By the end of college we were closer than ever and husbands were on the way.

Turns out husbands are no big deal. They are understanding of our friendship, get along great and suddenly we had four people for card games. If ever we needed some girl time we could always easily get rid of the boys by waving a video game in front of them.

Not too long after the husbands became official we each had a kid and only two months apart we pretty much entered into motherhood together.  While it was harder to chat and visit with two kids around other than one very memorable and exhausting trip where Ivy learned that if she yelled “MINE” it would cause Natalie to freak out, they have gotten along remarkably well.

But, now there are more, our second kids are four months apart, and Sarah’s third trails them by a bit over a year. Now when we get together our weekend seems to consist solely of feeding kids, breaking up fights,  putting them to sleep, and waiting for them to wake back up while trying not to drown in a sea of toys.  Once this summer someone asked when we were all visiting together if Sarah and I had fun… Umm yeah… Wait was Sarah there? Yeah I think we had fun, I don’t know I have to call her later and talk so I can find out…

Things aren’t as easy as they used to be.  I continue to have trouble getting away from the animals in the summer while Sarah works during the school year.  We may spend quite a bit more time wondering if the weekend we just spent together was “fun” or exhausting and as the kids grow we will continue to cross our fingers they’ll remain friends, or at least friendly. In the meantime we’ll continue to have phone conversations squashed in between the rest of life, and be thankful for free mobile to mobile minutes.

While I’m always sad when we can’t spend a birthday or other important event together, it’s good to be able to look back at a lifetime of friendship and know that this challenging time will also pass.  Lately we’ve been talking of a husband-less/kid-less trip when we turn forty.  And who knows, one day we’ll probably end up sharing a room at an old folks home.  One day we’ll be celebrating our birthdays together again even if we are no longer sure how old we are!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Days That Make You Go…

Remember last years  post about the fun of the Long Lake Lager Fest?

Remember the car trouble on the way home?

The Third Annual Long Lake Lager Fest was again a great time with friends – an excellent tradition in the making.

And again we had car trouble on the way home, except worse – not such an excellent tradition.

Today was the day the report from the mechanic came in.

Some days just make you go:

I’m thinking of hitching a ride for the Fourth Annual Long Lake Lager Fest, I wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun but I’m not sure we can afford the drive home!