Happy Birthday to Alissa!

35 years ago I had my second baby girl.

Alissa was due on Christmas, but she chose to make us wait until January 7 to meet her.

She has always followed her own agenda and that trait started at her late birth.

In those days, in our rural hospital in Elkhorn, there were no inductions, no fetal monitors, no fancy gadgets.

Birth was simple just like I wanted it to be.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:45 on a Monday morning.

I knew that baby was ready to be born and by 6:50 she was here.

Too bad there was no doctor present in the entire hospital at that time of the morning.

Alissa was delivered by a nurse, but I am guessing our doctor still got paid.

I asked to go home the next morning.

I saw no need to be in a hospital that had no doctors.

They obliged and we took our second baby home.

On John's 60 birthday, I listed 60 things that you may or may not have known about him and I am going to do the same thing today for Alissa.

Mind you, Alissa does not even read my blog, so she probably will never see the list, but I am going to do it anyway.  Thank you to those of  you who did come by to read it.

35 Things you may or may not know about Alissa

1. Alissa was going to be named Noelle, but when Christmas came and went without a baby, we searched a baby name book for a new name.  We did not want the name Noelle to be a constant reminder that she was late.  We both, independently wrote down our ten favorite names from that book.  The name Alissa appeared on both lists.  We had never heard the name before and we both liked it a lot.  Alissa it was!  And she is much more of an Alissa than a Noelle.
2. Alissa was a biter for about a year of her life from 1 -2.  She wasn't fussy about who she bit, she bit everyone and anyone.  It was embarrassing as a mom, but I just followed her around and kept her little friends safe.
3. Alissa learned to read by the time she was three.  I am sure she was reading at a third grade level by kindergarten.  She learned to read from my grandma who took care of her when I was teaching preschool.  They read Dick and Jane books together.
4. Alissa was born with a full head of hair.  By 5 months she was in pig tails and by age two her hair was down past her butt.
5. A duck or some kind of bird once pooped on Alissa.  I can't remember the details right now, but I clearly remember that happening.
6. Alissa's best friend all through her childhood was her sister, Courtney.  They never ventured out to meet any neighbor kids because they preferred to be with each other.   Actually, I think they are still best friends.
7. I got really mad at Alissa one day when she refused to wear any hand me downs from her sister.  I may or may not have shaken her a bit and a call from a friend may or may not have saved her that day.
8. Two weeks after the above day, she dragged all the garbage bags of clothes out of her closet and started wearing them.  Everything had to be on her own terms.  I could have saved myself many headaches if I had just respected that one simple fact.
9. Alissa has a great sense of humor, she got it from her dad.
10. Alissa started swimming competitively for WAT when she was just six years old.  At her first big meet in Hartland she fell into the pool before the start.  That would usually be an instant disqualification, but they took pity on her, and let her be part of the race.
11. Alissa went to Camp Phillip because I made her go.  She did not enjoy it.
12. Alissa was called up on stage at summerfest by Ronald McDonald when she was six.  I didn't even have a camera to document this moment.  She was actually up there for a good twenty minutes.
13. Alissa turned me on to reality TV
14. Alissa was a cheerleader in 5th and 6th grade.  She looked cute in the uniform, but her cartwheels left much to be desired.
15. Alissa is very much like my brother Kevin.  The older she got, the more she reminds us of him.  This can be a good or bad thing.
16. Alissa had to have some oral surgery on a growth thing behind her front teeth before she could get her braces.
17. Alissa never did enjoy small children.  She never babysat.
18. Alissa's first job was at the concession stand at the Watertown Aquatic Center.
19. After a year in the concession stand, Alissa became a lifeguard.  One summer she and her sister were the Head Guard and Manager of the Aquatic Center.  I am still in awe of the fact that the entire pool was run by the Damman sisters that summer.
20. Alissa visited a few colleges before choosing Illinois Wesleyan.  She would not consider Coe because it sounded like Toe.
21. Alissa's roommate had a window from a fraternity house fall on her on the first or second day of school.   Alissa took care of her and I think if helped bond them for life.
22. Alissa did not go to High school dances after her sophomore year.  She pretty much checked out of the stuff of High School after that year.  She always kept her grades up though.
23. Alissa would make an excellent personal shopper especially for old people.  She is so good at helping my mom pick out outfits.
24. Alissa does not like raccoons, especially after one climbed up on her apartment balcony and tried to get into her house with his little human hands.
25. Actually, truth be told, Alissa does not like animals much at all.
26.  Alissa met her husband met at a bar in Bloomington.  She kept him a secret from me for a few months.
27. Alissa calls Bloomington her home now and has built a wonderful life there with Nathan.  They recently bought a beautiful new home and have a busy social life.
28. Alissa's first job, out of college, was for Health Drive where she had to deal with dentures, hearing aids, and glasses for old people.  For those of you who know Alissa, this is about the last thing she would ever want to deal with, but bills had to be paid.
29. Alissa traveled to England with a High School group.  It was in a day before cell phones or email and we didn't hear from her for two very long weeks.
30. Alissa has always had great stories to share about her co workers.  Didn't matter where she was employed, there were always stories.
31. Alissa lived in Milwaukee for a few years after college and in her first years of marriage.  Alissa and Nathan embraced life in the big city.
32. Alissa loves beer and dislikes wine.  She and Nathan were regulars at the Miller Brewery Tour.
33. Alissa made wonderful life long friends in college.
34. Alissa is the only one in our family who ever gets strep throat.
35.  Alissa has some OCD tendencies which she most likely inherited from me.

So, there you have it.

35 things about Alissa on her 35 birthday.

I want to thank her for being such a fun loving, caring, crazy daughter.

I want to wish her the best day ever on this birthday.

Happy 60th Birthday to my Husband, John!

Today is John's 60th Birthday.

As a tribute to him I am going to attempt to tell you 60 things about him that you may or may not know.

Here goes:

1. John married an older woman, I am two years older than he is.
2.  John and I met in a speech class at Carroll College.  Professor Daley was our teacher.  John gave a speech on Easter eggs.  I wore short skirts to all my classes.
3.  John has a geography major.
4. John played football all through high school and college, he may have played before that, but I am not sure.
5. John grew up Catholic, but happily turned Lutheran when we were getting married.  He has been a faithful Lutheran ever since.
6. John always does the driving in our family.  Always has and, God willing, always will.
7. John suffers from Driver's Dimensia as of late.  This is diagnosed by me and is probably not really a problem at all.
8. John watches LIfetime movies with me.
9. The only time John said, "No" to me was when I asked him to go to Disney on Ice with me and the granddaughters.  He will not go to any skating show.
10. John claims that figure skating is not a sport.
11. John claims gymnastics is not a sport.
12. John loves his Packers.  He watches the Badgers, but his real love is for pro football.
13. John does not swear, ever.
14. There are three things that John does not let me do because I would never do them right - Cutting the lawn, shoveling the snow, and washing the cars.  He is very fussy about those three things.
15. John does not cook.  The only thing he makes is bacon and his bacon is very good.  He does however grill some mean meat, so I guess he does cook more than just bacon.
16. John goes shopping with me whenever I ask him to.  We enjoy our time in the mall.
17. We both like to people watch and both of us make fun of the people we watch.
18. John and I both love St. George Island, Florida.  If we could retire there, I know we would.  We have been there no less than 16 times since we discovered this paradise in 1998.
19. John likes taking the scenic route.  We like to driving road trips.
20. John was in the TKE fraternity in college.  He took me to lots of TKE dances back in the day.
21. John had great parents, both of whom are waiting for us in heaven.  My parents and his parents got along better than any in laws have a right to.  They genuinely enjoyed one another's company.
22. John loves salmon and tomato soup.
23. John got a raw deal late in his career when he got laid off, not once, but three times.
24. Lay offs are really just glorified firings, no matter what you call them.
25. John handled his lay offs with grace and patience.
26. John's first job after college was with Jensen and Johnson Engineering in Elkhorn.
27. Our first home was on Dewey Avenue in Watertown.  We got a great deal on the rent  because of a tear in the carpet and because the managers were members of our church.
28. We got married at St. John's Lutheran Church on June 12, 1976, which just happened to be the hottest day of the summer.
29. John is really good at spelling and he knows the meanings of lots of big words.
30. John loves Monopoly, but strongly dislikes Pictionary.  
31. John prefers the old monopoly with the play money over the new monopoly with the bank cards.
32. John is happiest when he is in his man cave watching TV
33. John has passion for old black and white movies.
34. John took his family (me and the girls) on lots of fun vacations. 
35. John has been out of the country three times.  Once to Mexico and twice to Canada.
36. John loves spending time with his granddaughters.  John has a grandson, Natnael waiting for him in heaven.  We cannot wait to meet him.
37. John is a conservative, but he is not a republican.
38. John is very strong.  He is good at opening tight jar covers, carrying big boxes, and doing heavy furniture moving.  I appreciate his strength.
39. John stopped buying me flowers years ago, when I foolishly, said that flowers were a waste of money.  He listened as he usually does.  Let the record show that I no longer feel that way and would welcome some flowers.
40. John has a great sense of humor which he passed on to our daughters, granddaughters and niece.  Some of the jokes have been told so many times but they are still funny.
41. John is a very loyal friend.  He may not have tons of friends but the ones he has are lucky to have him in their life.
42. John commuted to Sauk City for a few years after his lay offs.  That is one long commute, but he never complained.  In fact, I think he learned to enjoy commuting.
43. John is a great driver although he does have some road rage at times.
44. The hardest work that I have ever seen John do was hauling our waterbed mattress outside in the middle of winter after it sprung a leak.  It was so heavy and we could not figure out how to empty the remaining water out of the thing.  Did I mention that it was a king mattress?
45. John does not hunt or fish.
46. John does enjoy biking.  We like to discover as many trails as we can each summer.
47. John was president of the Watertown Aquatic Team for many years when our girls were members of the competitive team.  Our family loved WAT.  We made many friends and many memories during those years.
48. John spent many, many hours at our daughters' sporting events, including but no limited to swim meets, basketball games, and soccer matches.  (Lots of cheerleading, too)
49. John is a man who is true to his word.  If he says he will do something, he will do it.
50. John prays and he knows that God answers those prayers.
51. John chose our first townhouse in Watertown without my input.  I loved that house on Bayberry Drive. I should let him make more big decisions on his own.  He also picks out our cars.  I think the Thunderbird was one of our most unique cars.
52. John has to  put up with lots of my crap.
53. John has always helped me put the sheets back on our bed.
54. John threw a push lawnmower across our yard one day. I saw it fly passed the patio doors.  He has had power motors ever since.
55. John recycles but he is not very "green." He does not believe in Global warming or that Al Gore invented the world wide interweb.
56. John and I have enjoyed Jimmy Buffet, Bill Cosby, Rod Sterwart, The Beach Boys. Peter Noone, and Steve Martin in concert.  We have also seen many, many less famous entertainers along the way.
57. John laughs loudly, yells loudly, sneezes loudly, and snores loudly.
58. John is very proud of his daughters and what they have done with their lives.  He also loves both his Sons in law.
59. John does not like dogs .
60. John enjoys a good cigar every now and again.
61. John doesn't care much for birthday hoopla.  A call from his granddaughters will be all he needs to make for a great birthday.

So, there you have it.

60 things you may or may not know about John.

I want to wish him a very happy birthday.

I want him to know that I love him as much now as I did when I first met him in that speech class.

We have shared many, many wonderful things over the years and always seem to make each other laugh.

I still have lots of fun with him on our adventures and look forward to many more of them.

Happy Birthday to my best friend.

Love, Sherri

We Made It

We made it to midnight and welcomed 2015 in the midst of Karaoke at the Carrington Bar and Grill.

Happy New Year everyone.

May 2015 be good to all of us.

 

Celebrating New Year's Eve in Door County

On Tuesday, we had to take the girls back home to Oshkosh.

While I didn't really want to return them and I knew I was going to miss them so much, it was time.

If I keep them too long, their mama and papa won't let them come back again!

I counted the days for Tiz and told her that she had been away from her home for ten days, it was high time to take her home again.

After dropping them off and saying our sad "Good byes," John and I headed up to Door County for our second annual New Year's Eve celebration at The Landmark.

Since it had been so balmy the last few days, we were really looking forward to some warm temps for hiking.  We took our snowshoes in hopes that they would also have some snow, but no only was there no snow, the temps plummeted and it was 10 degrees with wind chills of way below zero.

We are tough though and we did not let those temps hinder us.

On a side note, we ate at Fazoli's in Appleton on the way up and we ran into Jay Storm, my old principal in there.  It was good to see him and visit with him again.

When we got up here, we started out at Peninsula State Park.

We actually climbed the Eagle Tower.  I am so scared of those towers, but I found the courage to do it.

We also hiked up an old ski hill, it was a very steep climb, but we made it.

Here are some photos from that visit.

We checked into the Landmark.

I found a condo on VRBO for $144.00 for two nights, such a deal.

Here are some photos of our condo.

Tuesday night we went to JJ's of Jacksonport for dinner.

It was yummy as usual.

We slept in on New Year's Eve day.

At noon, we took off for Gill's Rock.

It was even colder than yesterday, but we were determined and bundled up so we pressed on.

We also hiked at Whitefish Dunes State Park and Cave Point County Park.

The water was splashing so high with the big winds.

Here are a few photos.

 We were able to see a beautiful sunset at Whitefish Dunes.

Perfect way to end our hiking.

Our reservations at the Carrington Pub and Grill are at 9:00.

It was that or 5:00.  I was worried we wouldn't be able to stay awake, but we are going strong at 8:00 so we will make it.

This brings an end to my post for today.

Happy New Year to all.

May God bless 2015 with joy, peace, and love with just enough trouble thrown in to keep you close to him.

 

Christmas 2014 is in the Books

I find it rather sad that we spend weeks shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping, and preparing for Christmas and then in the blink of an eye it is here and gone.

The older I get, the faster the time seems to go and this year just flew by.

Alissa and Nathan arrived on Christmas Eve and we started our celebrations at Kev's house.

It was a wonderful celebration.

We enjoyed a delicious meal, tasty sangria, white elephant gas station gifts, and our gift exchange.

The night was filled with family and fun.

On Christmas Day we slept in, then the five of us (Lis, Nathan, mom, me, and John) went to Lindberg's for dinner.  While we usually do not go out for dinner on Christmas Day, it seemed like the perfect thing for this year while we waited for Courtney, Paul, Tiz and Soli to arrive from Iowa.

Lindberg's was not a disappointment, not only is it a step back in time, but the bloody marys and food were delicious and just as we pulled in the driveway after lunch, the Van Aukens arrived.

 The girls immediately opened a few gifts.

They got their things from Gigi and Lis and Nathan.

 Lis and Nathan got them new outfits and a game with a bear and a gun.  It was a huge hit.

 I let then open three gifts from John and I.

We got them each a new leotard with money for gymnastics.

We also got them new pajamas and stuffies.

It was a great way to begin our celebration with them.

On Christmas Day night we enjoyed scalloped potatoes and ham before our adult gift exchange which is always fun.

 Nathan had my name and my drink this year was cupcake wine.  Yummy.

 We enjoyed a real fire in our real fireplace.

 Courtney gave John some type of beer for his drink.

 John gave Alissa some Red Stripe to commemorate her trip to Jamaica.

 I gave Paul some Moose Drool in memory of his trip to Montana.

 Lissa gave Courtney a large energy drink of some sort.

 After the drink exchange, we did our real gifts.

Lissa gave Courtney this cute shirt.

 Courtney gave John a shirt and a state park pass.

 John gave Lissa some cool glasses and coasters.

 Paul gave Nathan some Jamaican rum and rub.

 Nathan gave me some pie plates and a cute bracelet.

 And I gave Paul some music books for guitar and piano.

It was another very successful gift exchange for adults.

As usual, a few of us were overserved.

 The next morning Soli and Tiz opened gifts from Santa.

We spent lots of time playing with all their new toys.

We took a walk in the afternoon.

No snow and nice warm temps for December.

That night, we met Kev, Vikki, and Mal at Firehouse for dinner and beers.

We brought the girls home, watched movies, and called it a night while Courtney, Paul., Lis, Nathan, and Mallory barhopped into the wee hours of the morning.

On Saturday, Tiz made us breakfast with a new kids cookbook that we got for her.

We enjoyed smoothies, breakfast sandwiches and donut holes.

She did a great job and I think she has become our Christmas morning cook.

 After that wonderful brunch, we all played with some more toys and spent time just enjoying one another's company.

Alissa and Nathan left for home about noon.

Courtney and Paul left for two nights at a Bed and Breakfast.

John and I took the girls to see Annie at the theater in Delafield.

We all loved the movie so much!

 After the movie we had dinner at Marty's Pizza.

It was a great, fun night.

 This morning we gave Tiz and Soli one last gift.

Tiz got a tablet and was thrilled.

 Soli got a doctor kit and was also thrilled.

Both girls spent a good part of the day playing with their new toys.

We also got the music to the new Annie and they both have dance routines made up to most of the numbers.

We have the girls until Tuesday.  We will drop them off on our way to Door County.

It has been a great, great Christmas.

Even though it went quickly, we did do many things and had a lot of family time.

We are blessed.