Important message:  There has been an update to the dating requirements post of April 12, 2012.   The reasons for the addition of this requirement will not be expanded upon but rest assured, there are legitimate reasons for the changes to the basic list.  Note that I have also included a requirement taken from Jody's extremely detailed expansion of the initial list because it appears that being financially responsible is more rare than expected.

The updated baseline requirements, the things that need to exist prior to a second date (first date is allowed as an information gathering opportunity) are:

1. Single
2. Employed
3. Straight
4. Not an alcoholic
5. Not a felon
6. Not DSM diagnosable (successfully treated ADHD and caffeine addiction excepted, others may be permitted after much discussion with friends)
7. Not a whack-job [negotiable]
8. Not afraid to eat cheese
9. Person and abode capable of being presentable upon reasonable notice and neither smell at any time.
10. Credit score of 700+

Sam's poetry

Fourth grade poetry segment brought this new classic....

My Family on a Bookshelf

My family
is a bookshelf
And all the books on it
Old books
and new books.
My dad
is the action story
Filled with excitement
and adventure.
My mom
is a romance novel
Long and always boring
Always giving lectures
about things
I'm not interested in.
My dogs
one of them
is an old classic
Mellow, old
and sleepy.
My other dog
There is no book
to describe him best.
His craziness
and most things about him.
My cat
he is the adult book
with things
kids would not be interested in.
And me
I am a book
with a lot of those things in me.
I am an action book
a classic book
and things that can't be best described.
And I also
am the one
holding the family
together.

Hope some of those lectures stick kid!

Scary, very scary

Hobbies

Doesn't every kid need a 6 plus pound rubber band ball?  Taking rubber band donations now.

The night sky

On the night my Dad died I was crying on the phone to a friend.  He told me to go outside and look to the northwest and when I did, I saw a bright light moving swiftly and steadily across the night sky.  I knew it had nothing to do with my Dad but it gave me comfort to see the lights, a feeling that I wasn't alone.

The light was no mystery though, it was the international space station which has been visible for awhile now.  Sam has gotten a quick glimpse; Beth and Lisa had a longer viewing.  You can find out if it will be in your neck of the woods on the NASA Human Space Flight website.   Alas, our next sighting possibility is not until September 14 at 5:25am.

Naptime, Apparently

Phinney learns to swim!

In the quest for stick, he went from a somewhat panicked splashing dog paddle to a smooth determined dog paddle in less than an hour. 

Sam's crazy wild summer

It was the summer of camps for Sam, lots of fun and interesting new things such as sailing, spelunking, kayaking, rope courses, rock climbing, Aikido, and overnight camp.  It ended with a bang with his grandmother, Susu, at Audubon camp on Hog Island, Maine.  Sam loved this trip!   He learned so much about birds, conservation, and boats while he was there.  

As I drove back from dropping them off, I saw this striking corrugated cloud sky. 

And then there were three

Golden doodles!  That writhing mass has Phinney, Bonny, and an escapee doodle named Bruno. 

Goodbye Dad

Peter (Pete), 71, Oneida, WI, passed away at home surrounded by family on June 16 after a short illness. He was born in Green Bay, WI to Clarence and Myrtle.

Pete was a long time employee of Paper Converting Machine Company as well as a custom sign painter. Many of the signs he created still hang in the Green Bay area. Pete spent a lifetime creating artwork out of seemingly nothing. His talents included carving, painting, and model creating, which he enjoyed sharing with family and friends. Pete was a quiet, compassionate man who put other's needs before his own, and worked hard to provide for his family.

Survivors include his wife, Kathie; children; Joe (Lorie), Anne, Lisa (Chip), Scott (Shellie) and Brett (Jennifer); nine grandchildren, Kevin, Sam, Lukas, Abigail, and Quintin, Amanda, Shannon, Emily, Johnathan; he is also survived by his sister, Linda, along with several nieces and nephews.

Pete was preceded in death by his parents; son, Chad; sister, Carol; and brother, Dale.

Services will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Oneida at a date yet to be determined. Malcore (WEST) Funeral Home assisted the family.

The family would like to thank Unity Hospice for their genuine care and support of Pete and family.

Published in Green Bay Press-Gazette on June 19, 2012

Changing the focus

It's been more than a year and a half since Ben moved out; the divorce has been final for more than six months. It's been challenging, I've learned a lot and now it's time to move on. What does that mean? It means it's time to think about dating! But I'm not alone in debating the value of dating and what I want in a man, Beth is doing the same. So we put our heads together and developed a very low bar for dating deal breakers - All Potential Dates MUST be:

1. Single
2. Employed
3. Straight
4. Not an alcoholic
5. Not a felon
6. Not diagnosable under the DSM-IV (successfully treated ADHD and caffeine addiction excepted)
7. Not a whack- job [negotiable]
8. Not afraid to eat cheese

We pictured this as the "refrigerator list." You know, post it and NEVER EVER break the rules. We agreed we would NOT judge ourselves for our past mistakes.

But a list like this must also be shared with our other single female friends for feedback and modification. So now there is a top 50! Sorry guys! (As though any guys read my blog!)

1. single. If divorced, divorce must be final. "Separated" does not count.
2. GAINFULLY employed
3 (a). straight but not obnoxiously homophobic
3 (b). straight but willing to hire a gay decorator or let you hire one.
3 (c). straight but does not hit on waitresses in order to prove it
3 (d). straight and NEVER wears Speedo style bikini swimwear no matter HOW straight he otherwise is or seems to be
3 (e). straight but knows how to mix a good Cosmopolitan
3 (f). gay, but who cares? You'll have more fun, no pressure for unwanted sex, and someone who will commiserate when you undergo liposuction
4 (a). not an alcoholic
4 (b). not an alcoholic but HAS consumed alcohol (i.e. not a weird Mormon type who has never touched alcohol and might be an as-yet untested potential future alcoholic)
5. not a felon [multiple misdemeanor convictions will equal a felon because they demonstrate lack of judgment and/or lack of impulse control]
6. not diagnosable under the DSM-IV (exceptions: ADHD and caffeine addiction, and mild OCD if it means a clean house and good organization of files and papers)
7. not a whack- job
8. not afraid to eat cheese [exception: Japanese. They will not eat cheese and I would forgive them. More cheese for me!]
9. credit rating of at least 700. (this is the Tom Lycis radio personality criterion for an acceptable opposite sex partner and I see the wisdom in it)
10. takes good care of teeth
11. possesses decent grammar awareness
12. has a back-up credit card for emergencies
13. 10 extra bonus points for long George Clooney-like eyelashes
14. has thighs bigger than yours so you never feel fat but is otherwise not fat
15. knows how to roll a joint (even if not currently interested in doing so. Shows a youth that was not overly sheltered and probably a healthy skepticism of law enforcement)
16. has decent (not minimal) level of auto insurance in case he drives your car
17. is willing to see films with sub-titles
18. is not a sports fanatic to the exclusion of other life activities (OK if they have one favored sport, or one favored team, and engage sporadically, as long as they don't care if you don't accompany them to games or to Superbowl parties)
19. knows how to use basic tools like screwdrivers, hammers, saws, drills, wrenches (See "straight" above...)
20. . if he has a really geeky or boring career/occupation, he knows enough not to torture people with the details of it in social situations.
21. if he has children, then they are either grown up and living on their own, or if minor children, they are living full time with his ex-wife and her new hubby (she must have new hubby or the guy will end up taking up too much man slack)
22. he does not weird out over guns (too obsessed/macho or too timid/fearful)
23. not a drug addict
24. not a gambling addict
25. not a sex addict
26. not a cigarette addict
27. not a computer / video game addict
28. does not go to massage parlors
29. uses condoms without issues or weird attitude
30. has health insurance
31. smokes cigars either never, or once in a blue moon for some odd occasion.
32. does not say "Maine - is that a state? Never heard of it" unless he is a foreign national
33. does not expect you to run marathons
34. does not resent you if you make more money than he does (See above - he still must be gainfully employed)
35. is not a mama's boy
36. Is not astrologically incompatible, and does not believe in astrology because otherwise he'd be a whack-job
37. 10 extra bonus points if he can sing really well.
38. 10 extra bonus points if he can play a musical instrument
39. No spray tans
40. does not trim pubic hair into weird formations
41. does not expect you to trim pubic hair into weird formations
42. remains confused about what a "Brazilian" wax job looks like
43. does not speak with an accent that has an unendurable meter, lilt, or other affectation
44. 10 extra bonus points if he does not snore
45. 20 extra bonus points if he does not care if YOU snore
46. his dwelling is not overrun with smelly or annoying pets of any kind
47. knows the difference between Chablis and chardonnay
48. if vegetarian, does not preach it to everybody
49. has a valid driver's license
50. has a plan for his life

Step right up! I'm taking applications NOW.

Fat Lip

Turns out it's very hard to use a T-bar with a snowboard. Sam fell off and the bar came back and hit him in the face. Cuts in his mouth and out, a bit of a fat lip on top of that.

He had lunch and got back on the T-bar! One more lesson tomorrow.

Winter break

Cold weather, no cash for a trip to warmer climes, must make the most of what we've got here.

Sam will be taking four snowboarding lessons in four days and it's amazing how much better he is after just one day. I'm so proud of him, not because of what he can do but because he's so persistent. That trait will take him far.

Joy, Phinney Style

Boy and Dog

Oh Phinney!

At least it's his own bed and not mine.

Pooch torture

We are amused. Phinney? Not so much.

In case you need a little help with your Thanksgiving plans

Sometimes you just have to party!

And we partied here...birthday partied to be specific, for my very good friend and neighbor. She and her husband helped me through this last difficult year and I'm so glad I was able to help her celebrate her birthday. Since I was expecting lots of people, I made two cakes. Behold!

The cake for the adults - chocolate interior:


The kiddie cake - vanilla confetti interior:


Little vultures circled the cakes and stripped them bare before they left. The sad remains? They still taste good.

Boo!

We had pumpkins!



We had costumes. Frodo from "Lord of the Rings" with his loot.

The other costume required a peanut butter bribe.

And resulted in Count Dogula!

Count Dogula proved to be a bit of a thief.

Sam collected about three pounds of candy. Sugar buzz, here he comes!

A perfect fall project

This reminds me of when I was a kid. We built a two-room fort in the backyard and slept out there. The boys fully expect to sleep outside but given that last night it sleeted, perhaps it won't be happening in the near future.

The materials are from a house being built on our street. They're building a net-zero green house and the walls are made of this material which is very nice for building since the panels stand up on their own so the boys can nail them together. They're very proud of their accomplishment so far and expect to make this a four room fort.

The hammers are flying.

Windows are apparently optional.

A door is not.

I've discovered it's best to not watch what they're doing too closely.


Prior to making the fort, they found another use for the building materials. I give you the Empire State Building with an airplane on top.

I love that they're doing this. It seems as though kids do very little of this sort of thing now with all the organized sports, after school care and such. They've been busy with this project all weekend long and Sam is so excited about it he wanted me to wake him up when I got up this morning...at 6am. I'm glad projects such as these still have the ability to keep kids enthralled.

Now, I'm hoping he doesn't decide he needs to run power to the fort. And that the city doesn't give me trouble about the lack of a building permit....

Cone of Shame

My boy is a little less male than he was before.

Poor Phinney.

Clearing the cameras

I have two cameras and haven't been downloading things on a regular basis. This rainy weekend allowed me a little unexpected computer time and I decided to be somewhat productive since several of you have given me trouble about my lack of posts over the summer.

Way back in April, Sam and I went to Long Island to visit some friends. We went to an aquarium and fed stingrays.



Contemplated giant calamari.

Acted silly.

Visited our fair lady.

Provided an unpaid promotional spot to one of America's purveyors of junk food.

Made a beach fashion statement.

Slaved away at a lighthouse.

Threatened Sam that if he wasn't good he'd go down with the anchor.

Changing directions entirely, we shipped Sam off to overnight camp. Check out his luxury digs. This picture shows 25% of the entire cabin which wasn't quite as spacious (or fuzzy) as it appears.

See? It's tiny!

Sam loved overnight camp and we thank Susan very much for making it possible.

We made our annual pilgrimage to Wisconsin. Stopped at Potawatami Park to relive my childhood. The rocks at "our" picnic area.

The fire tower that wasn't very accessible with a broken foot.

The Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach; modeled after Elvis Presley's favorite roller coaster.

Phinney looking cute in August.

Phinney with his stuffed friends. Finally the perfect use for Garfield.

Sam's first day of second grade! That really deserved a post of its own.

Phinney in September, still fond of Garfield.

And finally, Sam eating a popcorn cupcake.

Consider yourself up to date.