Since I’m working on Sunday, I decided to take the afternoon. On the way home, I stopped at Pasqual’s and ordered a Fiesta Quesadilla to go, one of my favorite entrees. I planned to sit at the kitchen table and savor every mouthful while watching the NCAA matchup of Wisconsin vs. Southwest Missouri State. By the time I tuned in, the first half was already half over and the score was only 6-4, Wisconsin trailing. Things only got worse from this point. The Badgers must have left their offense in Madison. It took them most of the first half to score ten points. They made only 3 of 19 field goals, 0 of 9 three-point attempts. It was too painful to watch. I turned off the TV and started to tidy up the house, put a load of whites into the washer, cleaned the dirty dishes left over from breakfast, and made a mental list of what I need to do to clear the clutter off my desk.
The boys just returned home from school. Andy immediately tuned in the Badger game, even though I told him he wasn’t going to like what he saw. Eddie probably tuned in the Cartoon Network on the kitchen TV.
Andy and I had a conference with his teacher after school on Wednesday. He’s been slackin’ off, not writing down his homework in his assignment notebook, bringing home mediocre grades on tests – very similar to what happened last year at this time. His teacher is especially concerned because the last quarter of 5th grade focuses on getting her students ready for middle school, accepting responsibility, not always having to be told what to do. I see Andy starting to wander down the road I chose, where the destination is whatever you can get away with, not reaching your full potential. I’m not overly concerned, though. In spite of all the detours I took in my life, I’m very happy with where I am now. I certainly have taken it to the limit in Wisconsin as far as my career is concerned: Librarian of the Year, Wisconsin Library Association President, teaching as a second career. Of course, my accomplishments don’t even come close to what JoAnna has done. The main reason JoAnna was offered the position of Department of Justice Legislative Liaison was that the current Attorney General, Jim Doyle, plans to run for governor in 2002 and wants one of the state’s most astute political operatives on his staff.
Funny thing. After ten weekends of basketball, I was looking forward to this activity-free weekend. At least that’s what I thought. Now, believe it or not, I almost wish Andy was playing in another tournament. His game improved so much over the last few weeks of the season. It was so much fun to watch him play.
JoAnna and I attended the world premiere of the movie The Deep End of the Ocean on Tuesday evening. The author, Jacquelyn Mitchard is from Madison. The book was Oprah Winfrey’s first book club selection. The premiere was a benefit for the Dane County public libraries and probably raised more than $20,000. A reception and silent auction was held at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Unitarian Church from 5 to 7, followed by a showing of the movie at a nearby theater at 8. We gave the movie a thumbs-up. JoAnna had read the book and I had listened to the book on tape version. We both thought that the movie was very true to the book. No Hollywood liberties taken here. You might want to give the book a try, Mom. I can’t guarantee you’ll like it, though. The subject matter, three-year-old kidnapped son who is “rediscovered” nine years later, is not for readers who like their fiction light and easy to digest.
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Letter not completed and sent as Dad died on Sunday, March 14th.]
I spent an hour on Tuesday morning shoveling six inches of snow off the driveway and, thanks to a speeding snowplow that threw up a big spray of white, more than ten inches off the sidewalk. Wouldn’t you have loved to join me? Don’t you miss Wisconsin in the wintertime?
Due to the late-night/early-morning timing of the storm, the boys got a bonus holiday. School was canceled as high winds blew the snow all over the place. At first, a two-hour delay was announced, but that was changed when some of the snowplows in the rural areas of the school district couldn’t clear the roads. Since the streets were passable, both JoAnna and I went to work, as the boys can be trusted to stay home alone. But not all day. At one o’clock, I returned home, where I planned to stay for the rest of the afternoon, but the boys, feeling a bit bored – even playing in the snow wasn’t enough to keep them interested – wanted to go to the library. As a result, I lost only two hours of the workday.
Tuesday evening, JoAnna and I attended a reception at the Unitarian Church for Madison author Jacquelyn Mitchard and the world premiere of the movie The Deep End of the Ocean, which is based on her best-selling novel. The two events were packaged as a fundraiser for Dane County libraries. For JoAnna and me, this was our first “date” since Christmas vacation, when we saw You’ve Got Mail during our visit in Warren. Andy’s basketball season really steamrolled over our weekends.
We both enjoyed the movie very much. It was very true to the book, well acted (with the glamourous Michelle Pfeiffer believable in the role of an everyday suburban Mom), and nicely paced. I would venture to say that the majority of the 500 people in the theater gave the movie a thumbs up, even though, as reported in the Capital Times today, Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs down. But then he’s probably still grieving over his partner’s death and not seeing or thinking straight.
So if I had decided to work all day and then attend the evening festivities, the boys would have been on their own from 8 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. Can you imagine what the house would have looked like?! As it turned out, he boys were still up when we returned, empty cans of Mountain Dew on the kitchen counter. No wonder they had trouble settling down. They were chattering like squirrels during their first five minutes in bed. Both JoAnna and I had to bellow a “Quiet!” before they finally piped down.
According to the letter I received from my mom yesterday, Dad is now getting hospice care. In order to be eligible for this service, a doctor has to certify that the person has less than six months to live. Mom indicated that Dad has taken a significant turn for the worse over the past few weeks, to the point where it was getting too much for her to handle. He can’t eat solid foods anymore. He’s completely bedridden, unable to support or balance himself, even with the assistance of a walker. Now at least there will be someone visiting the house who can give Dad a bath and closely monitor his condition.
My brother Lar called earlier this evening with a medical update, so to speak. Dad’s condition is so precarious right now he could die at any time. Mom and Lar have purchased a casket and consulted with a funeral home director. It’s very likely he won’t survive to the end of the month, when the boys and I plan to visit. This month, there are probably two trips to Pennsylvania in our future.
While JoAnna is in Tamaqua for Julianna’s christening, the boys and I will be whooping it up in Chicago. We have tickets for the Bulls (April 2nd) and the Blackhawks (April 3rd). Also on our itinerary are the Art Institute, Adler Planetarium, the top of the Sears Tower, the Museum of Broadcast Communications, a trip on the double-decker buses that traverse the loop, and who knows what else. Andy is so excited about this trip that he has started to collect a notebook of information he printed from the Internet: pictures, maps, historical information, descriptions of various sites.
Last December you got JoAnna hooked on Law & Order. Four months later, I find myself addicted. We just watched an episode on NBC at 9 o’clock, and the opening credits of a rerun on A&E just concluded. In fact, we’ve developed a new bedtime ritual. Instead of watching the news and Seinfeld, we usually sack out in bed and watch Law & Order, followed by Golden Girls on Lifetime.
Just wanted to get a quick letter out to tell you about my dad. According to Larry, Mom is taking things in stride. The past two years have been very difficult for her, watching her husband of more than 50 years waste away. His death will be a blessing in a way.
