When did we get old enough to retire?

This is my good friend, Joan and I at her retirement party on Saturday, June 14, which also happened to be her 55th birthday! We had a lovely time at her party renewing friendships with many of her High School friends and her wonderful family. I still remember our days at Carroll College like it was yesterday. I am so blessed to have met Joan during those first few difficult days of college. She was my life raft that helped keep me afloat during some hard times. We eventually became roommates during our Junior year and the adventures continued. She introduced me not only to many of her good friends from South Milwaukee but also to many new experiences which will remain unmentioned here. Those were the days, my friend...

My wish to Joan is for many, many happy times ahead during her retirement. Celebrate life, my friend!

Note to Tizzy: My wish for you is to find friends like Joan who will stick by you through all the phases of your life. It is nice to know that someone is there who will come to your aid in a heartbeat even though you don't see them as often as you would like.

More Father's Day shots

To Tizzy:
Here are a few pictures from our Father's Day. The top left one is my Brother Kevin (your great Uncle) and my niece Mallory (You will call her Auntie Mallory)
The top right is my daughter Alissa (your Auntie) and Mallory again. Hard to believe that Alissa is 28 and Mallory is 15! They are like two peas in a pod when it comes to their sense of humor! They both make me laugh. Just wait until you spend time with the two of them they will make you laugh so hard and teach you many things. (Most useless and inappropriate)

The last picture is Grandpa John and Auntie Alissa. Your mommy and daddy were traveling around the country at this time so John only had one daughter here with him for the day. We also had John's dad, mom, and sister out for a cook out. It was a very nice, relaxing day. The sun was shining and the basement is finally drying out! Thank you, God.

Father's Day 2008

The Proud Grandpa to be!

The Flood of 2008

To the left is the bandshell at Riverside

Park. The river is usually at least 100 yards behind the bandshell. To the right is a picture of what is left of our Island. It is now covered in water.

Below is the foot bridge to Tivoli Island. Usually the river just flows gently under the bridge exposing rocks where we used to like to climb around on as kids. Now you would be swept away in the rushing current.

To the left is the overflowing creek

in Riverside Park taken from Hill St.

looking toward the baseball diamond.

Normally this is a slow meandering creek

that is fun to cross on the exposed rocks.

The picture below is
one of our many bridges.

This one is on Second St.

Normally you would be

to stand up under that

bridge.

The picture below is the flooded Spaulding St. The

water is at least two feet deep at this point and

there are subdivisions to the left that are not

reachable at this time.

John and I took a walk yesterday to take a look at all the flood damage around Watertown. The Rock River runs through Watertown and it has jumped its banks in many places. When we see the houses with the water running over the sandbags we indeed feel very thankful that our only problem is water in the basement. We didn't know the appropriate words to use when we would see these homeowners moving their furniture out to the curb. I am sure many memories are tied up in those belongings. Everywhere we walked we were joined by people with their cameras in hand trying to document this hopefully once in a lifetime flood. It was refreshing to watch the children as they ran barefoot through flooded streets and rode their bikes through the water with waves spraying up high in the air. Even in the midst of a disaster, children can take it all in and find ways to enjoy it. They will file these memories away and tell the stories to their children and grandchildren years from now. And life goes on... These won't mean much to anyone unless you know Watertown, but I am using it as a way to document the Flood of June 2008. Now our prayer to God is Please no more rain!

Note to Tizzy: My message to you today has nothing to do with the flood. Instead it has to do with Father's Day. Today Grandpa got his first Grandpa card. He wondered how you got it here all the way from Africa. What a special little girl you are to be able to do that for him. He is going to put it up at work for all to see! He is very proud of his little Tizzy!

A visit from George W. and Laura

Yesterday was John and my 32nd Anniversary. We spent it as all couples should-shop vaccuuming the water in our basement. Yes, the skies opened up yet again yesterday and the rains came in again. We pulled out all the carpeting in record time. John's lair as he fondly calls his downstairs TV room is now pretty ugly, but we intend to slowly get it back into good condition again so he can control his remote and watch his old movies in peace. He has had to conpromise and watch a bit of reality with me these last few days! If you know anything about John, you know he hates reality TV. Anyway where do George W. and Laura fit into this picture? No, they did not come and help us bail out although John would have welcomed them if they did appear on our doorstep. We had two ducks, a man and a lady duck visiting under our bird feeder all day long yesterday. Unlike us, they love the rain and were feasting on the birdseed that had fallen on the ground. We named them George W. and Laura and we hope they will visit often. It takes our minds off of floods!

Hi Tizzy, I cannot help but think about the terrible drought you are experiencing in Ethiopia while the rains just won't stop here in Wisconsin and Iowa. How I wish we could bottle some of this water up and share it with you and your country. I try not to complain too much about the wet basement because in the big scheme of things it is a small inconvenience which will be short lived and leave nothing behind. Even the memories of clean up will become laughable in time. Now about the two ducks. When you visit Watertown you will see many, many ducks and we will take bread and feed all the ducks. Your mommy and Auntie Alissa used to enjoy feeding the ducks when they were little girls and I know you will enjoy it, too.

Our good friend Joan and a horse clothes pole

When Courtney was born my good friend and college roommate Joan, gave her a plaster rocking horse clothes pole. I am pretty sure that Joan painted it herself, but I can't remember that detail. It was an era of painting plaster objects. I made ornaments, wall hangings, a lamp, an owl and the list goes on. This painting was sandwiched in there somewhere between artex (mentioned in a previous blog) and macrame. Anyway Courtney always used to hang her little pajamas, bathrobe, and numerous belts and purses on this little horse clothes pole. Sometimes she would just sit on its back and hold on to the pole and pretend she was riding. It was such a unique, thoughtful gift that Courtney really enjoyed. I am so glad that we kept it all these years and brought it along through all of our moves because now Tizzy will have it in her room and she can hang all her special things on it and take it for a ride. John and I will be helping Joan celebrate her retirement/birthday this Saturday and I intend to let her know that her little horse will be bringing joy to another little girl. Joan has been such an important part of our lives over the years and I am so excited for her to meet Tizzy.

A special note to little Tizita Desta: Another piece of history to put in your room. I have lots of stories to share with you about my friend Joan. I know you will enjoy this little horse clothes pole just as much as your mommy did.

Twins at the Park

Today my friend Lynne and I took her twin grandsons to Chamberland Park to play. I just had to think of Tizita the entire time since she is just one month older than these little guys. I know she will not be running and climbing as much as they are yet, but give her some time! Courtney and Paul have the same kind of Chamberland type park right across the street from their home in Oshkosh so I know Tizzy will be there often learning how to use her little body on all the equipment. The little twins love to swing and would have done that all morning but when they started to fall asleep in the swings we got them out and let them climb and slide. They must have climbed the same stairs and came down the same slide fifty times until they discovered that throwing the wood chips was much more fun. They took it upon themselves to try and empty all the wood chips out of the playground on to the grass. Finally one exhausted grandma and one exhausted grandma to be took the boys home. What fun things I have to look forward to!
My message to little Tizzy: We are going to have so much fun at the park. I will continue to practice my skills while I wait for you! You just keep working on those walking skills until you get home to Oshkosh!