Tuesday, July 31, 2012
July 31, 1991
Today is getaway day for the rest of the family and Barb. The upcoming weekend is the Richard family reunion, and I've scheduled myself to work on Saturday. Not on purpose, mind you. I thought last year was a special case, switching from the second to the first weekend in August, Am I complaining? To be honest, no. I have it all committed to memory: the Friday night fish fry, the Saturday afternoon picnic, the Saturday evening talent show, the Sunday morning breakfast. What I'm forgetting about is participating in family camaraderie, and more importantly, being there to soak in some daddy pride while my two handsome boys garner rave reviews from the Richard clan. Then there's Mr. Solitary Man, still able to find a place in my psyche.
Monday, July 30, 2012
July 30, 1991
My first thought is to go into work early, maybe take part of the afternoon off, enough to take in a movie. Instead, I stay home and do some taping, still building to achieve the ideal audiocassette library. DAT? I have too much invested in the present tape format. Day 2 after vacation continues a productivity binge started yesterday. Long-range plan revisions flow out of my brain.
I take a 4:30 to 5:30 dinner break, early, too early to see Andy, but I get to interact with the little Eddie guy. After work, the evening reference desk shift, I'm surprised to find that JoAnna and Eddie are out.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
July 29, 1991
I get a very early start to the work week, feeling refreshed after a relaxing week off. I walk into the library shortly after 7, and after fixing a pot of coffee, I plow through the mail. With Liz on vacation and Alice finishing up her practicum, I spent most of my time at the reference desk. Even so, I am productive, finishing the revision of the collection development policy and adding some important language to the long-range plan. I stay at the library until 6 and help myself to some leftovers when I get home. Later on, while JoAnna gets ready for the upcoming trip to Two Rivers, Andy and I go grocery shopping.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
July 28, 1991
An antsy kinda day, but the weather won't cooperate. It rains most of the day, a gentle, steady sprinkling that is much appreciated. After pissing away most of the day myself, I take Andy with me to run a few errands. The hardware store has only one of my frames left. We also stop at Sentry to pick up a couple of items for dinner, which I start preparing once I return home. After supper, JoAnna gives the boys baths and I watch baseball on TV.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Greetings from Rawley Point Lighthouse, Point Beach State Beach
Just 5 miles north of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, along a "Rustic Road" stretch of County Highway O.
July 27, 1991
JoAnna gets into some major housecleaning. She cleans the full bathroom from ceiling to floor and even buys some new accessories. I spend most of my time with the boys, though I do find an opportunity to clean the kitchen floor. JoAnna continues her bathroom work in the afternoon. She paints the small one -- for the third time in the past two years -- and does it right this time. The previous two were rush jobs. After all this, she even has the energy to fix supper. It's nearly dark when we leave the house, but we do take a drive to Michael's Frozen Custard, at Andy's request.
Tiedeman Pond Turning to Pea Soup
Have never seen the pond this green--not in the environmentally good sense of the word.
Bowling @Tippy's in Two Rivers
Tippy's is a neighborhood bar on the east side of Two Rivers. Its decor is thoroughly Green Bay Packers, which caused a few eyebrows to raise when Andy walked in sporting a Washington Redskins cap.
The bar's most unique feature is two "miniature" bowling lanes -- 12 feet in length and requiring manual pinsetting.
A great way to kick off the Richard family reunion!
The bar's most unique feature is two "miniature" bowling lanes -- 12 feet in length and requiring manual pinsetting.
A great way to kick off the Richard family reunion!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
July 26, 1991
JoAnna takes only one day off this week -- yesterday. I go back to what I did on Monday, taping tunes from 1968, and make a concerted effort to reach December. JoAnna takes the afternoon off, and we shop for carpeting for our old and new bedrooms. We check out Sears, Carpetland, and Coyle but make no purchase decision.
Andy's in a strange mood when we pick him up at Kid's Play. Some offhanded remark he makes to David has his little friend almost in tears. I take the boys to JoAnna's softball game, though we spend most of our time at the playground. After the game, it's too late for Eddie to go out, but the rest of us spend a couple of hours at the Club eating Mooseburgers and playing volleyball.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
July 25, 1991
Everyone's on vacation today, and this family outing even includes Barb. As we are leaving Middleton, though, her road construction comment makes me wonder if it's going to be a long day. We stop for breakfast in Prairie du Sac (Eagle's Nest) and arrive at Circus World Museum around 10:30, in time for the 11 o'clock Big Top show. We wander around the grounds a bit before going to Devil's Lake. We see very little of the sun and, consequently, spend little time in the water. After a round of miniature golf, we head for home. The boys sleep for most of the trip, and there's hardly a peep out of the rest of us. I do chores once we get home.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Wallace Sterling Silver: The Choice of Young America
National Geographic, 1950
Grand Baroque (top left). Available, 62 years later, at Bloomingdale's, a 5-piece place setting for $892.
July 24, 1991
Andy's ready for a vacation, too. We get a late start due to the fact that I don't have a key to the van. JoAnna makes a special delivery. While we're waiting, Andy sits on my lap at the kitchen table and we play "War" and "Candyland". I know I won't be able to stomach Barb today, so the boys and I leave her behind. I think she was expecting to accompany us. Why? She got dressed for a change. Andy and I play miniature golf and then we join Mom for a picnic on the Capitol lawn. Andy takes me on a walk to the pet store on State Street, giving me a thorough guided tour inside. We stop at JoAnna's office to pick up Eddie to return home, as I had planned it, but Andy insists that we go to the zoo. We have a great time there; both boys are angels. By the time we return home, they are sound asleep. Later in the evening, we cook hamburgers on the grill.
Zenith's Trans-Oceanic Portable Radio
From National Geographic, 1950
Monday, July 23, 2012
July 23, 1991
I'm up early and leave the house by 7:30, stopping at the library to see if there's anything of interest on my desk. It does seem that the library is in unusual disarray. Monday must have been a killer circ day.
I eat breakfast -- French toast, no appetite for eggs and potatoes -- at Olde Town Inn, then get my hair cut. I spend the rest of the morning doing yard work: trimming the shrubs and mulching a weedy area under the forsythia. After feeding Eddie lunch, I spend nearly two hours on the bedroom floor with him, oftentimes content to watch him interact with anything he comes in contact with. He's so animated and alert.
Once he takes a nap, I think about taking a bike ride, but only get as far as washing the bike. When Eddie wakes up, we play on the hammock until JoAnna and Andy return home. We go to Nautigal for supper, then after dropping off, the Club for volleyball, my first team appearance. I play terribly but then so does everyone else on the team. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Where is my reserve of self-esteem?
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Stouffer's Cream of the Crop: 1975 and 2012
In 2012, all but one accounted for.
Still available
