May 2, 1992

The weekend's top-grossing new release. Finished in 4th place overall. Gone, forgotten.



I work.  Kelly babysits.  It's a slow Saturday, certainly not much to do in the way of reference, but time passes quickly since there are plenty of other tasks to tackle.  JoAnna's back from Oshkosh once I return home.  I play a little baseball with Andy, his favorite activity of late.  Eddie wanders around the back yard, swinging the yellow wiffle bat, getting into his patented crouch, making me laugh hysterically.  JoAnna and I don't make love.  I thought it would be a natural thing for us to do after her absence, but she's tired, and I'm feeling rather blah myself.

April 4, 1992

Three days before the election, JoAnna's not sure what to do.  There's not need to make a pest of herself, but at the same time, why let up now when the self-appointed Mr. Middleton could come up with a major sleaze move.

While Kelly watches the boys, JoAnna and I attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Milwaukee.  She's sure it's at the Hyatt Recency, but we find no sign of Democratic life there.  The concierge is some apolitical bimbo wannabe.  It's the person to whom she is recommending restaurants that points us in the right direction.

We sit with Bill and Cindy and endure an overdose of Democratic cheerleading.  The previously advertised stars of the show, Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown, are too busy fighting over New York State's delegation to attend.  Hillary stands in for her husband and makes me wonder why she's not running for President herself.  We leave after her rousing remarks.  Supposedly Jerry's 83-year-old mom is standing in for him.

March 27, 1992

The weekend's top-grossing new movie.

Andy wants Eddie to stay home with him (and Kelly) but I don't want our babysitter to have her hands too full.  I veto the idea, and JoAnna doesn't argue in Andy's defense.

I spend a large portion of the morning with Sheila, reviewing her position description and discussing her performance evaluation.  She heartily seconds my suggestion of a halftime administrative assistant with no public service duties who would be responsible for bookkeeping, staff records, meeting room schedule, bulletin board.  Before the end of the workday, I share the idea with Liz and Chris, and they, too react enthusiastically.  All of a sudden, I have a major focus for this summer's budget preparations.

I leave the library at 4 and walk to Dunn's.

March 26, 1992

The TV show that ruled its Thursday evening time slot for 8 years.

At first, I plan to work with Eve in the evening, but with school out and business at that time of day on the slow side, I decide that the following week will be better for reference instruction.  With Liz working all day and practicum student Bev at the reference desk all day, I'm able to spend the day working as as library administrator exclusively.  No wonder I feel curiously unproductive.

Andy is at home spending the day with Kelly.  Instead of taking a long afternoon break to eat lunch at Pasqual's and go shopping for clothes, I walk to what used to be Arneson's and chow down on a 1/3-pound cheeseburger and a mega-plate of done-to-perfection onion rings.  After work, I first stop at the house and then Andy and I drive to Steppingstone to pick up MundoPie.

Sunday, March 1, 1992

Photo credit:  everystockphoto

There will probably be worse days in my life to experience, but not too many I hope.  While JoAnna is doing doors and I'm sitting at the computer, the boys play with the crib mattress.  I hear a thump and then Eddie starts wailing.  It takes me 15 minutes to calm him down.  His crying resumes whenever he starts to use his right leg.  I get mad at Andy and then demand he tell me what happened.  He jumped on his little brother.  JoAnna and I decide to keep to our afternoon schedule. We attend a fundraiser at Fashion Fittings and stop at Shopko to buy a lunchbox for Andy.  My concern for Eddie leads us back home at this time. Kelly reports that he's been crying for the 15 minutes since he's been up from his nap.  I decide a visit to the Dean Clinic is in order.  The xrays are negative, but it's obvious that Eddie's right ankle is giving him some pain.  When we return home, Andy is howling.  While climbing around the kitchen, he manages to turn on one of the stove's heating elements -- and guess where he places his right hand?  Even after JoAnna's leaves to attend Russ Feingold's birthday party, Andy continues to scream in pain for an hour.  He finally lets me know that he wants someone to be with him, so Eddie (still in his high chair) and I join him in the TV room.  At bedtime, Eddie is still only crawling and Andy is still sniveling.  I sleep in the guest room.