Last July my high school girlfriends and I lunched at an interesting restaurant in Shorewood, the ANABA TEA ROOM.

It was a beautiful day and we opted to have lunch up on their roof garden.

The setting was delightful and the food good. This weekend promises to be glorious. If you are on the east side, give the tea room a try.

ANABA TEA ROOM is located at 2107 E. Capitol Drive in Shorewood (east of Oakland Ave, in the vicinity of St. Roberts Church and Atwater School.) 

They serve salads, sandwiches,  traditional tea sandwiches,  sweet treats, and of course...tea! Their complete menu and prices are online. 

With all the bad news about the economy,  dining up on the roof just might lift your spirits! 

You may also dine in the regular restaurant on the lower level.

There was an interesting garden/home shop on the main floor. Be sure to check that out as well.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Jay Weber, Mark Levin,  Vicki Mckenna

 

 

It's the old typo problem again. Barack 'Osama" on Rensselaer County ballots! Hundreds of the absentee ballots were mailed out in that county.

"Is it a Freudian slip, intentional act or a mistake? Voters are sure to have opinions, and one pol pointed out that the letters 's' and 'b' are not exactly keyboard neighbors.

The election officials from both parties said it was a typo. 

Go figure. 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Here is something fun to do this weekend...stop in at the Balistreri Sendik's stores and celebrate fall!

The brochure said there were drawings over the weekend, chef demos, samples, and great values. "Each time you shop you can enter to win one of several fabulous prizes": 2 Midwest Express tickets, Golden Guernsey Milk for a year, a Sendik's shopping spree and an entertainment package.

It sounds a lot like their Anniversary Party last spring. 

Stop in, what do you have to lose?

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Between the voter fraud issue and yesterday's stock market, sometimes a body needs a little comic relief!

Here it is: How well do you know your Presidential Candidate? Match-o-Matic II

It's a quiz from ABC News. The graphics are cute, but there is something to think about too. If you click on the above link, you see a cartoon of the White House and Obama and McCain on a teeter totter.

The object of the quiz is to pick between 2 statements, made by the candidates on various issues, that you most agree with. It then matches the quote with the candidate. At the end, it shows which candidate's philosophy you agree with most. (No big surprise here on my quiz, McCain bounced Obama off the teeter totter. I missed 1 out of 13.)

Have fun!

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

The weather promises to be beautiful this weekend. How about a short trip to the north?

My sister and I recently took a little jaunt to West Bend. Our mission was to visit the Museum of Wisconsin Art and hopefully do a little digging into some background information on Wisconsin artist Francesco Spicuzza.

Our grandfather was a friend of the artist. We did not find what we were looking for that day...must dig deeper!

The museum features Wisconsin artists. Their main collection is of Carl Von Marr's work. He painted in the late 1800s and his work is quite remarkable. I love his use of light in his paintings, and his people have a real sense of life to them. If you are in the West Bend area, the collection is worth seeing.  

The museum is located at 300 S. 6th Ave. (6th and Poplar St.)There are some playful frogs sitting on a bench on the north side--be sure to take a picture with them.

Museum Hours: Wed. - Sat. 10 am - 4:30 pm, Sunday 1 - 4:30 pm. They are closed on holidays. 

Just a half block east of the museum on Poplar Street is a restaurant, the Poplar Inn, 518 Poplar Street, 262-335-6302. It is in an old brick house and it was very charming.

We had a delicious lunch there--price range was from $5 - $11, I think. The menu offered sandwiches, salads, soups, and great desserts. We shared a chocolate gannache dessert after our lunch. Very tasty, especially when paired with the Alterra coffee they served.

The restaurant decor featured antiques and faux painting. There was a bar upstairs, but we did not venture up there.

Even the ladies room was decorated in a clever way. They used an old copper wash tub and wringer to hold folded sage green fingertip towels!

By the way, this was not a ladies only type place--there was an extended family there and also another table with a married couple in addition to a few tables of women when we first arrived.

I got the sense this was a place visited by the locals. I like supporting good restaurants that are not part of a chain.

Our next notable stop was a very cute shop called Somedays: simple luxuries for life at 305 W. Kilbourn, 262-334-3480.

If you leave the Poplar Inn and walk east, you will run into it (where Poplar meets Kilbourn and South Main.)

The owner, Kim Hahn, was a former teacher and we quickly were chatting about this and that.

I enjoyed the way she displayed her inventory; Kim did it in a very artistic way. I really didn't need anything, but a tiny 6 inch old fashioned wire hanger with hanging clips somehow popped into my hand. It was only $2.50, but what could I use it for?

Ah, I know! I could hang vintage postcards from it as a unique way to display them on the wall instead of using a frame. Sold!

Now for the fun part. Kim gave my little purchase all the attention a $100 purchase would have commanded! She gave me the full treatment: printed tissue, mini shopping bag, tag, and ribbon bow!

My sister and I continued looking in various shops on South Main, but we did not find any as fetching as Kim's Somedays.

Ah, time to head home. It was a pleasant way to spend the day. Let me know if you have a favorite shop or restaurant in West Bend. We might have to go back for more "research."

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

I went to school with the Zucker brothers. Jerry was in my class; David was 2, maybe 3 years ahead. Although I really did not know them, I remember they were funny even back then.

You may be familiar with David Zucker's work from the 1980s movie Airplane. He and fellow Shorewood grad. Jim Abrahams wrote and directed that movie The rest as they say is history. 

This Friday, An American Carol opens in theaters. It is the creation of David Zucker and is a spoof on Dicken's Christmas Carol.

This time instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, we have an "Anti-American 'Hollywood' filmmaker" (ala Michael Moore) who "sets out on a crusade to abolish the 4th of July holiday. He is visited by three spirits who take him on a hilarious journey in an attempt to show him the true meaning of America." It looks like John Voight portrays George Washington, one of the 3 ghosts.   

I had first heard about the film on Vicki McKenna's radio program a month ago. It captured my attention when she said that David Zucker, who called himself a John F. Kennedy Democrat became a 9/11 Republican after the terrorist attacks.  

American Carol is a Zucker look at American history. One funny bit from the trailer went something like this: A a terrorist saying that good suicide bombers were getting hard to find--all the good ones are gone!

I don't usually go see movies until they hit the budget theater, but I just might have to make an exception. If I do, I will post my impressions of it, because a lot of the Zucker movies are not suitable for children or even teens. They usually push the envelope if you are a conservative parent.

PS Last July, John Voight wrote an editorial for the Washington Times: VOIGHT: My concerns for America  If you have not read it, take a look.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

The question of the day is, will Sen. John McCain go to the debate tonight? (UPDATE: Yes)

If he does not go, here are 2 possibilities:

1. Send Governor Palin. She seems to have done well impressing the various leaders at the UN meetings:

The presidents of Iraq and Georgia gushed over Palin as they met with her yesterday. And Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai told an audience Tuesday night after meeting Palin earlier that day that she asked all the right questions.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari expressed great joy in meeting her during the short photo session at the start of their meeting that was viewed by reporters and cameras.

"You are even more gorgeous than you are on the [inaudible]," Zardari said.

"You are so nice. Thank you," Palin said.

"Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you," Zardari said, as his handler told them to shake hands for the cameras.

2. Last night Ann Coulter quipped, Barack Obama could debate Joe Biden!  ;-)

I will be watching tonight to see what develops. Even if John McCain shows up, it will be disappointing to me. For some reason, I thought teleprompters were not allowed at the debates, I now know differently. (No wonder only the Town Hall meeting invitations were declined.) 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

The rumor mill is churning out that Sen. Joe Biden will step aside for medical reasons* and that Sen. Hillary Clinton step in as VP. Never mind that her husband just said yesterday that Hillary never wanted to be Vice President.

Obviously, Sen. Obama wasn't thrilled with the idea either, or he would have picked her. (The thought of a Hillary VP, who only has presidential aspirations, is daunting.) Besides, wouldn't that be the ultimate flip-flop? That Obama couldn't even make up his mind on who to pick for VP?  No, I think Obama is just stuck with Biden and his bloopers. (They have added a unique bit of entertainment to this election.)

Plus, Governor Sarah Palin stole Sen. Clinton's thunder by being the first Republican** woman nominated for VP.

But in politics, you never know what will happen next. Time will tell. 

*Not so serious that they keep him out of the senate though. 

**Correction: I did not mean to forget Geraldine Ferraro. She however did not generate the same excitement and anticipation that Palin has as a possible presidential candidate in the next cycle. 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Around this time of year, I usually start thinking of vacation destinations for the coming year. How about this one?

Walt Disney World just announced their new theme for 2009, "What will you celebrate?" They are giving a free theme park ticket to visitors who come on their birthdays. So if someone in your family has a birthday when you are thinking of going on vacation next year, you might consider Disney World or Disneyland. A little planning now could save you a bit of money later. 

From the Orlando Sentinel: 

Next year everyone will be able to come to a Walt Disney World's theme parks on their birthdays and get in free.

That's the cornerstone of the 2009 national promotional campaign, "What will you celebrate?" announced today by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Anyone showing up with a valid ID including proof of birthdate will get a free ticket on that day in 2009 for one of the theme parks at Disney World or at Disneyland in California.

Disney officials announced the promotion as their effort to cash in on what they described as a growing trend called "celebration vacations" -- trips to vacation spots that people take to celebrate big birthdays, big anniversaries, honeymoons and other momentous personal occasions.

We have been at Disney World on my birthday. I got a free cake when we ate at Mexico, a favorite lunch stop at Epcot. But free dessert pales in comparison to a free theme park ticket! (Hmm, could we go next fall?) 

Of course if you go to Disney, wouldn't some free Disney money to spend be nice too?

If you apply for a Disney Rewards Visa credit card from Chase bank, you can earn free Disney money! Each month the card awards points to your account in proportion to the money you charge. When you are ready to use the points, you call them and they change the points to dollars and load them onto a Disney debit type card. You can then use that card's dollars to purchase theme park tickets, food, gifts, etc. in the theme parks and stores. The longer you have the card, the more points you can rack up.

We have had this card for years and used our points for free tickets and food. (Mine has Mickey on it.) Just make sure you pay off your balance each month so the dollars truly cost you nothing. (The only way to use a credit card.)

The Disney Rewards Visa card also carries an excellent buyer protection insurance plan on your purchases. (We have collected on that too.)

So if a visit to the Kingdom of the Mouse is in your future, plan now to save later. Free is good.

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,  Vicki Mckenna

Last night about 40 of my fellow MyCommunityNOW bloggers and I met at the Journal Sentinel building downtown for a bloggers' meeting. Although I have been blogging on BrookfieldNOW since Feb. of 2007, this was my first meeting. 

Various Journal Sentinel staff told us about some coming changes at the paper. For one, a new platform is coming to better manage the MyCommunityNOW websites and JSOnline. They said they are implementing the million dollar system sometime in Oct., so that they can better be at the forefront of breaking news.

JSOnline will include more photos with the story titles. They will incorporate a better search component (Yippee) and a shorter load time. 

The MyCommunityNOW blogging software will be improved too. (Coming sometime in Oct. or Nov.) Surprisingly, they told us that about 80% of the traffic on NOW sites is blog generated! In other words, most people come to the various NOW websites to read the blogs. 

One change was met with audible groans and complaints, however: There will be no view counter in the new platform! That might seem trivial to you, but as the blogger next to me stated, that is why we write. (Said in a tongue in cheek manner, but there was a grain of truth to her statement, given the crowd's reaction.)

At this news, there was a twitter of mock mutiny in the audience. Ego aside, view count totals, although not accurate, at least provide a number (for comparison purposes) which posts generate the most interest. In other words, if I post something on crab grass control and it only gets 100 some views, I would know that subject is not of as much interest as 4K at 1,000s of views. The view count helps the writer to determine interest levels.

Once the shock wore off, the staffers quickly explained they would try to get a view count installed a.s.a.p.

I asked after the presentation if picture posting would become easier. The tech. said, yes, and that is good news indeed. I like to post pictures, but it is always a dicey, time consuming process at best (for me).

After the meeting, we were invited to tour the newsroom. We saw some writers, copy proof readers, and editors in action.

Mark Maley, the NOW Online Editor (in red shirt) is pictured showing us how the front page is being set up for today.

(They monitor 6 news feeds here. We saw that the House energy bill passed on C-Span.)

When we walked between the Journal building and Sentinel building, there was this old mural painted on the wall, showing progress in the news business. The "high tech" image on the modern end of the time line maybe is the Linotype machine?

It was a pleasant enough evening. Wish it would have been more geared to how to, but that will come once they change systems.

In any event, I came away with a new coffee mug and 2 tickets to the zoo. Who says this job pays nothing! :)

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3 or 6:30-7:30pm

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,  Vicki Mckenna

And now for a little comic relief. Remind my pet (heart worm medication email reminder) presents a Presidential candidate lookalike poll.

 Vote on which cat and dog most resembles the candidates. Results will be posted on their site on Sept. 24.

Too bad they did not have the Vice Presidential picks too. I could see a perky Yorkie with a top-knot as Palin and maybe a Golden Retriever as Biden?

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,  Vicki Mckenna

One of the things I love about living in our City in the Countryside is the variety of wildlife here. Last year, it was not unusual to see a Red Fox or the entire Red Fox family out and about in our neighborhood. This year I saw a coyote in my back yard.

Birds also abound here. When the fruit trees are in bloom and when mulberries are ripe, Baltimore Orioles are regular visitors to my yard. Hummingbirds frequent my perennial flower garden. I love it!

Kinsey Park pond (at the end of my street) often has Blue Herons fishing at the pond's edge. It is fascinating to watch them.

  But yesterday, for the first time, I saw a Green Heron. 

Two girls who were frogging at the pond edge said they saw it there last week too.

I often walk my dog past the park and pond, but this time this bird startled us by flying out from the weeds at the edge. At first I did not know what kind of bird it was--it did not seem large enough to be a Heron. Maybe a Kingfisher of some sort?

But then it stood in the shallows and stretched its neck out. Pretty comical looking, but not Kingfisher-like. This bird looked like it was all head and neck atop of a too small body! It also had a top knot. What was that bird? Wouldn't you know I did not have my camera with me. (This photo was from RioRVPark.com)

Once back at home I got out my trusty Audubon bird field guide and narrowed it down to the Green Heron. I also read that suddenly flying out from a weedy water's edge was a characteristic of Green Herons. But what about the long neck?

A look on the internet confirmed it. Cornell Labs All About Birds site explained that Green Herons often held their long necks close to their bodies. That clarified why the photos showed a short, stocky neck, but the actual bird had a long one.  

The Great Blue Heron's may have been in the news lately, but don't forget to look for the Green Herons too next time you are near a pond or wetland. After all, Brookfield's wildlife is one of the perks of living here.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna

They come from all over the country; people from all walks of life--from Rich Urban BikerS (RUBS) to hardcore bikers. The one thing they have in common is that they love their machines. Customizing is part of the love affair. I snapped this picture near Sturgis, South Dakota early in August. Many bikers, just like this couple, are coming to the Milwaukee area for the 105th anniversary celebration of Harley-Davidson. (Yes, that is a coffin shaped trailer.)

I found out about HOT TOPPERS from my Brookfield friend. She is a friend of Elm Grove residents Maureen Denney and Bob Lundquist, the owners of HOT TOPPERS. They needed my son the techno-doctor to pay a house call to HOT TOPPERS, to repair their 2 Harley themed pinball machines. When he returned, I asked him, What do they sell there?  He really could not tell me. Hmmm. I had to check this out for myself, and I am really glad I did! What an interesting place.

The HOT TOPPERS shop is located at 255 N. 121st Street, just a few blocks south of Bluemound Rd. and 121st St. What do they sell there? Why, HOT TOPPERS of course! Triple chrome plated ABS plastic covers for the various bolt heads on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The caps come in various styles and sizes and are easy to apply. Their hours are Monday - Friday, 9-5 (often earlier and later.) They are also open by appointment on the weekends.

How can chrome caps be that interesting? Because their bolt covers and chrome accessories shop also is home to their extensive collection of vintage motorcycles and motorcycle themed collectibles.

Everything from vintage toys to antique and collectible promo items, T-shirts, lunch boxes, collector plates and mugs are neatly displayed in their shop's garage. (This represents about 1/3 of their collection.) 

Their oldest bike is a French 1901 Clement. They also had a 1907 Triumph.

I believe this one is a 1914 Excelsior. They welcome visitors, and as their brochure states, it is a "Fun Place To Visit."

For more information on their attractive alternative to stainless steel bolts shown here on the HOT TOPPERS bike, see their website: hottoppers.com, call 414-282-5858, or email HOTTOPPERS@aol.com 

"Still the best bang for your buck when it comes to chrome!"

 Happy 105th Anniversary Harley-Davidson

You can also see their products at Hal's Harley-Davidson in New Berlin.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna

You see a lot of bumper stickers on cars. Some are quite funny; some cruel. This one isn't a bumper sticker yet, but I suspect I will see it: I thought it was a clever play on a campaign slogan. (It was an email post script tag.)

NObama 08, Keep the Change!

This next slogan actually was a bumper sticker, and it was bipartisan!

DON'T STEAL, THE GOVERNMENT HATES COMPETITION

My son spotted this email tag on a VW car bullitin board site.

My carbon output feeds the trees the liberals love to hug!

Any one see a funny McCain bumper sticker?

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna

One of the first things we purchased when we moved here was a utility trailer. What do we need that for? I asked my husband. He said we would need to to haul brush to the dump. (Back then we still called it the dump.) He did use it for that purpose...a lot.

In 1995 I became the one to go to the recycling center. We were remodeling and in 1995 the center still allowed residents to bring in their used building materials.

Every week I would make at least 3 trips with trailer fully loaded. I was a bit of a novelty, because there were not too many women who would drive a car with a trailer. (I got to know the guys pretty well--a few were nice.)

I've made a few trips since then, but I always needed my husband's car since he had the hitch.

But this summer, I got a trailer hitch put onto my car. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it made me happy. Now I can go to the Recycling Center whenever they are open.

On a recent trip, my son and I watched other residents struggle shoveling mulch and dirt into their trunks and mini vans. I happily forked the mulch into my little old red trailer.

The Recycling Center has changed a great deal since my earlier visits. The new facilities for Public Works are pretty impressive. (Our tax dollars at work.) 

I must say I miss the piles of stuff and scrap lumber though. It was always fun to check those out. (Once a nice worker even let me retrieve a plaid metal lunch box from the scrap metal heap!)

Kids loved the idea of bringing home wood for a fort or tree house. It was truly a Recycling Center back then!

If you like to garden or if you have a lot of mature trees on your lot, may I recommend the humble trailer and hitch. They have more than paid for themselves at our homestead. 

Links: 

It sure took long enough. I planted earlier than other years, and my tomato plants looked great. Yet those green tomatoes just would not ripen!

I suspect cool night temperatures are to blame--tomatoes need it warm at night to ripen properly.

But today, TODAY, I found 2 ripe Lemon Boy tomatoes out in my garden they became my first tomato mayo sandwich of the season. The Mortgage Lifter looks like it will be next.

Now I can say I broke even on that plant. If I would have bought 2 yellow tomatoes at the store today, they would have probabaly equalled the plant purchase price. All the rest I harvest from this point forward will be free!

How is your garden growing?

Links: 

We rekindled our love affair with road trip vacations in 2001 when our son was finally old enough to endure 3 days of driving at a time, and we were able to afford more dependable transportation. Instead of our usual 2 hour drive to some favorite State Park for 2 weeks of camping, we graduated to visiting various National Parks out west. It has been great.

Because of our road trip habit, I've payed attention to gas prices. Beginning in 2001, when prices spiked in late spring, I would wring my hands with everyone else and worry how high they would go by August (the time of our departure.) But it seemed every year, gas prices went down about 40 - 50 cents/gal by the time we hit the road. (Good reason to plan your driving vacation late in the summer.) Photo shows $3.79/gal on July 25, 2008 at Speedway on Greenfield and Sunny Slope Road, that is about .50 cents lower than earlier highs this summer. 

Experience taught me to not fret too much about what would prices be by the end of summer? I would assure myself the price would come down later in the summer, and they did. Unfortunately, the lower price of August was usually .25 to .50 cents/gal higher than the year before! 

I checked my travel journal for some past August price examples*. You can see the prices increases nearly every year:  2003 - $1.59/gal, 2004 - $1.83 to $1.93/gal, 2005 - $2.53 to $3.47/gal (California' price), 2006 - $2.99 to $3.19/gal, 2007 - $2.85 - $3.09. Notice the prices in 2007 were cheaper than 2006, but that was the exception to the norm.

The AAA agent told me Monday, the price this summer is $1.19 higher (nationwide) than last year's gas prices. That is a higher jump from years past. Some other market forces are at work.

USA Today attributed the oil prices drop to fewer miles driven in, Cost at pump dips as demand, oil prices fall,

Drivers in the USA logged 9.6 billion fewer miles in May than in May 2007, the government reported Monday. It was the third-largest monthly drop in 66 years.

But to me, that alone cannot account for the downturn in oil prices. If you look at the graph to the left, you see that oil prices started declining more steadily around the time the President announced he was removing the moratorium on offshore drilling. I believe if the Congress would approve domestic drilling, we would see more declines. 

If you look at the chart from this 2nd article, US drivers Log 9.6 B fewer miles in May, you see that Americans have been driving significantly less all year. May did not even mark the largest downturn, March did. If the price of oil was so dependent on driving alone, March's decline should have triggered a crude oil price reduction, shouldn't it have?

The data released Monday show that Americans drove 29.8 billion fewer miles in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, a 2.4% drop. The dip continues a seven-month trend beginning in November. Americans have driven 40.5 billion fewer miles from November through May compared with the same period a year earlier.

I believe we must start drilling in America if we want to see oil prices really decline. (Domestic drilling would also keep  billions of US $ at home, but that is another subject!) We are on a hair trigger as it stands now, where any natural or man-made disaster could push prices up. 

Unrest in non-OPEC countries, such as Nigeria, could push prices higher. Militants in that country sabotaged two oil pipelines Monday, driving crude prices for September delivery up $1.47 a barrel. A major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico also could send oil prices higher.

"We could always have a spike to $150 a barrel," Smith says.

For right now, we can relax just a tiny bit and enjoy the typical price decrease of .40 to .50 cents/gallon in August. Too bad it is still .70 cents a gallon more ($1.19 nationwide) than last year!

*In 1979 gas prices were under 50 cents a gallon in the early summer! (Good thing.This was our 5 1/2 week, 8,000 mile Way Out West camping trip.)

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Links: 

If you are a child, 4 years old through 6th grade, you are invited to Brookside Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School next week.

The theme this summer is Medieval Mayhem. (I think it is based on an Armor of God theme--same topic as our recent Sunday sermons.)

The Medieval Mayhem fun runs from Monday, July 14th through Friday, July 18th, 5:45 pm - 8:30pm.

On Friday, there will be a carnival night for all families and ages.

Oh, did I mention it is free?

Brookside is located on Pilgrim Road, just south of Lisbon. Address: 4470 N. Pilgrim Road, Brookfield, WI 53005, 262-783-6180

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here is now over the 1.3 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions. 

Links:  

I just spent a delightful 4 days with 7 of my high school girlfriends over the 4th of July holiday. You could call it a mini-class reunion. I highly recommended it!

It has been 39 years since we graduated from Shorewood High School. I have kept in touch with 6 of the old gang, be it just an annual Christmas letter for some, emails, phone calls, and the occasional lunch out for others.

We thought it was pretty good to get 8 of us together at one time. Two friends still live in Shorewood, the rest came from Green Bay, Rockford, Florida, Colorado, and Oregon. The time span between visits ranged from a few months to 39 years ago! It did not take us long to get reacquainted.

I happened to stumble onto one of our high school English teachers while looking at Franklinnow.com. There she was on the blogger list: Marjorie Pagel (Miss Johnson, then after she married, Mrs. Pagel to us.) I emailed her and she filled in a few blanks for some of the other English teachers at Shorewood. 

In high school, we were not part of the popular group, nor did we really want to be. We were happy and secure in our friendships with each other. Literally, we were Sweet 16 and never been kissed. Believe it or not, only 1 out of our total group numbers (17 or so?) dated in high school!

Our current mini-reunion marital status is: 5 out of 8 still married to their first husband, 1 widow, 1 divorced, and 1 single. I think that statistic bucks the national average. Perhaps it was our early non-dating status that contributed to our marriage's longevity? (Those who favor courtship over dating would agree with that theory.)

For entertainment, mostly we talked, showed photos of family, looked at our old yearbooks, and did I mention we talked? Our hostess prepared cute little SHS emblemed journals for each of us to write in--just like we wrote in each other's yearbooks.

We did venture out of my friend's Shorewood home for a few outings and field trips. Thursday night we showed the out-of-towners the new Bay Shore and had dinner at Bravo on the patio (while listening to the free plaza concert--brr, it was cold!) The reaction to the New Bay Shore was not very positive.

Friday, lots of talking and getting caught up on everyone's lives. After a cookout, we went to Atwater Beach for their fireworks. The view was the only difference from our usual Elm Grove fireworks display--fireworks gatherings are rather universal I think. At Atwater, the viewers sit on top of a bluff and the fireworks are shot off from the lake shore below. It gives a different perspective.

Saturday, we went on a auto tour past everyone's childhood home in Shorewood, took a brief walk through the high school campus, and had a delightful lunch at a tearoom on Capitol Drive. After a trek to Cedarburg we returned to Shorewood for more catching up on everyone in our yearbooks.

On Sunday, we went out for breakfast before some had to head for the airport and home. After that, I took a nap!

I have not giggled that much in a long time, however, life's road is never all laughs. There have been tragedies too: the death of a husband, siblings, and parents, and serious illnesses for some of us or our children. It makes you realize how precious life is.

Good friends are precious too. The old saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed  and the Girl Scout song, Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. certainly hold true for me. Last summer, when I needed to sell my dad's Shorewood home, my 2 Shorewood friends pitched right in to help me hold the estate sale. They were there for me.

Although we may be of differing religions, political parties, and economic status, the same good, solid core beliefs that brought us together in grade school and high school are still there. 

We are already talking about the next reunion...where should we meet?

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here is now over the 1.29 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions. 

Links: 

Meet our kitchen dynamic duo: Silvia, on the left, and Rocky, on the right. They both make our day begin! (They were named by their manufacturer, Rancilio, not us. We do refer to them by name though.)

I have introduced them to many of my coffee drinking friends, and my duo have always left a very good impression.

We purchased Silvia, the espresso maker, from Wholelattelove 6 years ago to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary*.

It sells now for $595.00. That seems steep for a frugal gal like me, but when you consider the small Krups or Braun type machines are around $100 and they don't last or make a great cup, this price is not so bad. Plus, remember what my mother taught me: skimp on what doesn't matter so you can splurge on the important.

Same with the gri