April comes to a close

A rather slow day is planned. Just taking a client to a doctor appointment in Neenah, and then nothing on the docket for tonight. Elle has a rare night off also, just having the big concert on Tuesday for jazz, so the director cancelled practice. Eva and I plan to shop a little for essentials for the Ireland trip. Photo is from UW Oshkosh State Solo/Ensemble competition.

napping with friends

thanks a bunch

Thanks to the folks who came out to Oscar's today for the CF fundraiser. I know some of the church folks were going for lunch, and the waitresses said they were super busy tonight also. That's great!

good job Elle...

mild day

Today was a lovely day to 'catch up' with friends and relax a bit. It's 64 degrees, so Henry and Earl enjoyed their outdoor aviary, while Stan and I visited and fussed over the country kitties. Blackie the dog was happy to see me, but jealous of the attention spent on the cats. Stan helped out the ARC today with a nice donation of assorted cards and stickers for their day program. Debby was glad to get them...thanks to Stan:)

relaxing evening

Kudos to Elle today as she received all firsts in her state solo/ensemble competition in Oshkosh. She also had 2 concerts today and is currently napping:) Aliyah and I have been relaxing also after making some scrumptious caramel brownies and homemade pizzas. I had a bit of bad luck yesterday, when I got the company's van REALLY stuck in the mud. It was the back end (rear wheel drive) and with all the rain we've been having it was a total mess. My wheelchair residents thought it was quite funny:) Some good Samaritans helped me out of the rut, and I was most appreciative. Tomorrow morning I'm finally going to have a nice visit with Stan, and then join friend Debby for a lunch celebration with a shared client on her birthday. Tomorrow evening is the last dance rehearsal for Aliyah for the year. Next week will be dress rehearsal for a May 20th. performance. Elle's last day is Wednesday. They can enjoy a nice break then until September. Please local folks...there will be a fundraiser at Oscar's on April 28th. They will donate 10% of the evening's profits to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Please help out if you can and spread the word. Thanks so much!

Good-bye to Kelly

Tonight I must send best wishes to 'Kelly' from work. She is leaving us for a job with the school system. She's a great co-worker, and all of us have a great deal of respect for her. Kelly has taught us many things, and we will miss her. Love to Kelly, and remember you are always welcome at our home:) With her permission, I will share a photo tomorrow.

Earth Day

Today we're helping to clean a local cemetery just full of history...one of our favorite beautiful places, Rienzi. Afterward it's a barbecue at work to celebrate a co-worker's expectant baby due any day. Weather should be pleasant, in the 50's.

home again

Just got in...having a little trouble with the flight from Detroit. It seems the radar was malfunctioning, so the pilots opted to go back to Detroit instead of risk landing in a snow squall in Appleton without the proper equipment working. Here are just a few cute pics from the weekend. It was very nice to have a little break:)

4 day weekend

I've worked 12 days in a row so I could have an extended weekend off. Elise and I have lots of plans in Nashville and vicinity. I leave early Friday AM out of Appleton. For the local folks, Outagamie's airport (ATW) is very nice...convenient, fast, and much closer than Milwaukee for similar cost. Will post again on Tuesday:) Have a terrific weekend!

Happy Easter:)

A blessed Easter wish for everyone today. I was fortunate to go to mass with a great group from work, including our clients, and the attendance was over 1500. The entire church was full, (1200 seats) and the ushers set up an additional 300 chairs in the gathering space. The walls were opened, so everyone could hear and participate. This is great...I just wish we'd see that many people all year long. The "Creasters' are those we only see at Christmas and Easter:) We have to try to be more welcoming. I suppose this is true in all faiths.

remembering Grandpa Gilbert today...

Sabre Show pic...thanks to Eva

Stations with Bishop Dolan

Bishop Dolan will soon be Archbishop of the New York Diocese. I'll share some pics from a recent visit to Holy Hill (just south of FDL) for stations of the cross.

A Happy 50th. to sister-in-law Kathy:)

Wishing Kathy a wonderful birthday. We wish we could celebrate with her! We'll have a toast tonight...perhaps Grandpa's 50 year old bourbon:) Love to Kathy. Photo is a favorite from 1962. Isn't it fun to find these old photos? Life seemed so much easier then.

please help if you can

I want to share this e-mail, (with permission from the family.) I'm asking the folks locally, especially our church friends to PLEASE help out if you can and support this family. The story of their daughter is very touching. There's also a link to a very nice video. Also, maybe my co-workers would enjoy the May 2nd. walk with our residents. This would be a great way to enable them to help in their community as well. Thanks so much!

Hi Julie

This will seem very odd, I'm sure. I am a former Fond du Lac resident and I stumbled upon your blog a while ago. I read it regularly. Not to be nosy, just because it reminds me of home. I have nieces your daughters' ages. Your girls may know Jenni or Jamie from school/music/church things. Anyway, it feels very odd to be contacting a total stranger, and I do apologize for the weirdness. But, I do have a reason. I am very active in fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I am on the committee for the Great Strides Walk for CF which will be held in Fond du Lac on May 2 at the FdL Yacht Club (and proceeding through the park). We are trying so hard to grow the walk. As you can imagine, with so many other great (and well known) causes also having walks this spring, it's hard to do. I feel a responsibility to exhaust every avenue in getting more people involved.

So, I thought I'd just send a little note and at least let you know it's happening. Maybe you or a few family members would be interested in joining us, or, maybe you know someone who would like to make a donation to support a walker on my team. Or, maybe you can just pass the word to others.

Here is a link to a short (5 min) video that I made about my daughter who has CF.
(copy and paste please)
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=7e4e323384294589690c59&source=category&category_id=12

Please take a little time to watch it. Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions about joining the walk or about anything else.

We will also be having a fundraiser at Oscar's on April 28th. They will donate 10% of the evening's profits to the Cystsic Fibrosis Foundation. Please let others know that this is a great night to go out to dinner and help out with a great cause!

Again, I apologize if contacting you was too forward or uncomfortable. As a mom, I know you know what it's like to want to do everything possible to protect your child...this is what I have to do to give her a fighting chance at growing to adulthood.

Thanks for taking the time.

Tami (Emily's Mother)

marathon weekend

This weekend was just so busy, I think I'll take tomorrow off to relax. It began with an extra long run-through for the FDL Symphonic Band concert on Friday night, after the Fish Fest at Holy Family. (This is a great fund raiser, and I bought several meals for the group home, and delivered them around 5-ish.) After that, we shopped for the baby shower (co-worker) and then bought a card for Kim on her 50th. Saturday included Kim's birthday party, a trip to Mom's, a trip to Koke's for veggie lasagna supper, and home again for an overnight with Aliyah. The lasagna was intended to be a birthday gift from me...I was all set to bring it over earlier in the month. However the weather was really crappy, so I froze the lasagna and brought it over this weekend. Anyway, a good time was had by all, as they say. This morning, Aliyah and I headed out for 9 AM mass at Sacred Heart, as the contemporary youth group was singing, and Eva directing. We got there at 8:50, but there was no room to park and standing room only inside. It being Palm Sunday I should have expected this. Paul said that the Saturday evening mass with archbishop Tim Dolan was packed with 1200 in attendance. This was the last mass in Fond du Lac for him, as he is the new archbishop of New York starting on Easter. How exciting for him. So Liyah and I opted to go to the later mass at 11, and go out for breakfast in the meantime. After that, we headed to Brownsville for a party, and then to FDL High School for the Symphonic Band concert...the first for the season, and the celebration of 35 years for prof Ray Wifler. It was really great. Tonight we celebrate Elle's first concert with the group with Chinese take-out. Actually very good Chinese take-out:) Love to all in cyberland.

feeling old

Today I actually felt old. I was working with a younger worker, and there was a commercial on TV for the new 'jitterbug' cell phone. I mentioned to her that my Mom was a wonderful jitterbug dancer in the 50's, and that Elle had to jitterbug in the middle school production of the musical Wizard of Oz, (the dance being cut from the original 1939 version of the film.) My co-worker said, "Oh, I thought the jitterbug was just a phone." Oh my.

Happy 50th. to Kim:)

Kim's open house birthday party is at Manitowoc Lincoln Park on Saturday afternoon, and she's asking the Manitowoc folks to stop in anytime between 12-8 pm. Everyone is welcome...there's plenty of food and fun...trivia and even karaoke. Join us if you can! (Kim is front and left on photo from 1978 trip to Minneapolis for choir tour.)
Such cool glasses we all had!