June 16, 2006

Walks, Playgrounds and History

Happy Friday Everyone!

Last night I took Dawson and Murphy (our boston terrier) for a long walk. It felt good to sweat out all the yuckies in my body. You know what I’m talking about– the stress, the headache, the back ache and all the other “Mommy Ailment” I seem to be suffering. Even my mind felt clear during our jaunt.

We walked down our block first and saw the neighbor out side with her two American Water Spaniels. They were so cute with their curly black fur. Immediately upon seeing these little canines, Dawson shouted, “Mumma! Sa Puppy!” Yes. That is a puppy. Two puppies.

We then walked toward the public library and I dropped off an over due book I was reading. It was a boring book. I don’t even remember the name of it now. And it certainly wasn’t worth the 4 day late fees of $0.50 per day I’ll be receiving, but hey, the library needs to make money, too.

After our short stop we continued walking down Roosevelt Drive. Memories of walking home from school down the sidewalk on this road came flooding back. My brother and I would race to see who could get home faster. It was not a short run — at least 3/4 of a mile. I know that’s nothing but as kids it was quite the workout.

We passed the “high class” neighborhood of Shadow Haven where all the gigantic mansions were built 15 years ago. I remember all the snotty, bratty kids who lived in that subdivision and thought they were king of the world because their parents bought homes there. I have to laugh because some of them had such high mortgages and had foreclosures for non-payment. Heh. Who’s high and mighty now?

We walked all the way to Roosevelt Elementary and Dawson played on the toddler playground. He adores going down the slide and crawling through the tunnel. It’s so funny to see all this brand new equipment. When I went to school there, it was all wood with a tire swing and lots of miscellaneous monkey bars and jungle gym things. Those are gone now. Man, how time flies.

We then walked down Washington Avenue to the Heritage Park. Heritage Park is a neat little project of the Portage County Historical Society. They relocated the old train depot building, the old post office, an old church, and a few historical homes to this neat little block in “downtown” Plover. Dawson loves to see the train car.

If the weather is nice after work, I’m going to take him back there and take some pictures. I think that would be fun!

Well, off to work for me! Have a great weekend!

May 4, 2006

Blossoms

 

Your dear blogger, Dana, did something really dumb. I forgot to pay the cable bill. But it wasn’t my fault. Charter Cable has been screwing with me for months. I paid online one time and they stopped sending me my ‘paper statement’. Needless to say the cable was turned off for two days because of this mess.

Anyway, I don’t miss television. I’m tempted to call the jerks and tell them to disconnect it because my husband and I actually spent time as a family yesterday with NO DISTURBING TELEVISION NOISE.

You’d think I discovered a new invention the way I’m carrying on about this. When I got home from work last night, Doug had the house in the same form as when I left– CLEAN! And he had dinner in the oven, Dawson was playing nicely in the hallway and Murphy was chewing on his dog bone.

Doug even agreed to go for a walk with us to the LPR park (this is our favorite thing to do). He never likes to go for walks. I was so happy to have him along, not only so that I didn’t have to tackle the stroller and hold Murphy’s leash at the same time, but because my husband was actually spending time with me!

For dinner he made BBQ Ribs. This isn’t a surprise, he does most of the cooking (he was a cook for many years at a restaurant). What surprised me was that we actually ate dinner — are you ready for this? AT THE TABLE!

I couldn’t believe it. Usually we grab our plates and eat near the TV to watch the news and other junk. But this…this was new, THIS was wonderful.

See what I mean about no TV? I thought I’d miss my favorite shows, but I didn’t. I’m sure Doug was a little irked about missing the news and Seinfeld, but I couldn’t be happier.

Our little family is blossoming. Just like the pretty white flowers we saw on our walk. After dinner Doug took us to get ice cream at the little shop down the road. I almost had a heart attack. This is something he’d never do.

I think I should not pay the cable bill more often.

May 2, 2006

A Visit With Mr. Owl

It rained again yesterday, but when it stopped for a bit, I bundled up the Doodlebug and grabbed the stroller and umbrella and took him for another walk in the woods near our home.

We both love to be outside when the weather is nice, and even after a misty rain it was still warm. When we got to the path by the river, we heard several 4-wheelers on the trails. The Village of Plover was lining the river with dead trees. I asked one of the workers why and he explained this allows beavers and other animals to make homes and nests in these areas.

There were several pine and evergreen trees that were freshly cut however, because it smelled just like a Christmas tree. Visions of my childhood and helping decorate a REAL tree came flooding back. We always have an artificial tree as my husband dislikes needles in the carpet. I don’t blame him. It’s a real pain to vacuum those off the floor.

Doodlebug and I saw the owl again and he was fascinating. His wingspan seemed enormous. When Mr. Owl called out, “whooo” my little Bug was listening intently and pointing his finger at the ginat bird. “Lisat, mumma!” he said. I think that translates to “listen” or “what’s that” (I’m not quite sure) and I smiled, listened and enjoyed the moment.

After Mr. Owl relocated to another part of the woods, we decided to head for home. Just when we got to the paved path it began to rain again. Good thing I brought that umbrella and rain hood for the Bug.

I just love spending time with that boy. I have a tear in my eye thinking about all the fun things we can do this summer.

April 30, 2006

Rain, rain, go away!

It’s a rainy, windy and cold Sunday here in Wisconsin. I wish it didn’t have to rain today, even though my husband says we really need it. Yes, we need the rain, but can’t Mother Nature choose a day when I’m working? I really wanted to enjoy my day off, not worry about getting rained on when I go run my errands.

Oh well…soon it will be summer and hot and I’ll be begging for rain. I shouldn’t complain.