On This Date in 1999 (January 2, Part 2)

We’ve been home almost 24 hours and still don’t have all of our suitcases unpacked. At least the van has been emptied and cleaned out. Our focus last night was the Rose Bowl game. Plus JoAnna was eager to get our kitchen cupboards and drawers reorganized as a result of our Christmas bonanza: new dishes, silverware, glasses, plasticware, etc. This morning Andy played his first basketball game of the season, giving us another reason to postpone putting our clothes away. This afternoon, JoAnna cleaned out and rearranged the rest of the kitchen cupboards, and I wrote a letter to my parents after going grocery shopping, something -- the shopping -- I wanted to do last night, but none of the local grocery stores were opened after 5:00. Since I didn’t want to make sandwiches out of a two-and-a-half-week-old loaf of bread (no mold in evidence), I ended up calling Pizza Hut. They could have doubled their prices last night and still done a land-office business. I was surprised they were able to deliver in less than 40 minutes.

Right now Andy and Eddie are with the Johnson boys, Alex and Rex. Both Meaghan and Matt were busy, a situation that Andy didn’t seem to mind as soon as I hooked up his Playstation unit to the family room TV. In a way, I was surprised he accepted Rex’s invitation to play. Real people, real activity are still an important part of his life. I would have been concerned if the video game had caused him to tune everything else out all afternoon.

During his basketball game, Andy didn’t look like he spent most of his Christmas vacation in a reclining position watching TV. He scored 2 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, contributing to a convincing 40-19 victory over a smaller Verona team. His team plays again tomorrow at 3:30. Isn’t that during the Packer game?

We had a wonderful visit in Pennsylvania, even though my dad really wasn’t a part of it. As a cousin of mine who visited my parents in October wrote on her Christmas card, “Parkinson’s is a cruel disease.” Not so much for the victim but for the family that has to watch this inexorably slow physical and mental deterioration. It breaks my heart to see my dad slumped in a chair, unconscious (I’m not sure if I can call it sleep), all day long, as he was this past Wednesday. Thursday he was more alert, which meant that he stayed awake for most of the day and even seemed to be following the storyline of The Glenn Miller Story, the movie JoAnna and I were watching on TV. At least his eyes were open and his face looked as though he was aware of his surroundings. After dinner, he spent an hour studying a pair of Andy’s wind pants that he had found on the living room carpet. Maybe the smooth, cool feel of the fabric fascinated him. He even attempted to put them on. JoAnna, Kim, Larry, Dale, Mom, and I were sitting around the dining room table and couldn’t help but laugh. Not out of cruelty. More to mask the pain of what has happened to this once vital and intelligent man. When we left the house Thursday night, our final departure, I had the sense that Dad didn’t know who I was as I bent down to kiss his cheek and squeeze his shoulder. Mom does her best to take care of him. Her biggest frustration and loss is not being able to communicate with her husband anymore. I wish I could remember just how she phrased it to me one day during our visit. His contributions to a conversation are surreal. One night he seemed to be counseling someone about the appropriateness of a home funeral. It had nothing to do with the lively chatter that the rest of us made It’s very likely he was repeating the exact words he spoke 30 or 40 years ago. During the week we spent in Warren, I made a note to myself to investigate the effects of the advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease. I want to get a better understanding of what is happening to Dad. At the same time, I hope to find some information that will make things easier for Mom. God forbid if anything happened to her, because I don’t think that Larry, Barb, and Dale, not individually, but all three of them together, are willing to provide the kind of care and attention that Dad requires. Mom look like she’s lost at least ten pounds since the summer. Both JoAnna and I couldn’t help but notice now baggy her slacks were when we arrived in Warren late Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, her energy level remains as high as ever. In that regard, she doesn’t skip a beat. She’s a very youthful 78 year old. 



Tara returned Boxer last night. You should have seen that cat when she opened the grapefruit box in which he was transported. He raced through the kitchen and bounded across the living room as if celebrating a major event in his life. He was obviously so happy to be home. The boys felt likewise, practically smothering him with affection. He joined JoAnna and me in bed during the Sugar Bowl game and padded up my right leg to my sternum at five o’clock this morning, tapping his right paw three times on my chest as if to say, “Time to get up, Daddy. I need my strokes.” I, too, missed Boxer, but not that much. I rolled over onto my stomach and slept until 7:00, when I returned to the Walkfit for the first time in two weeks.

I suppose you’re getting organized for your Arizona departure. When I look out the window right now, I can’t help but think, “They probably wish they left yesterday.” We are getting dumped on big time. And the wind is blowing the snow into tsunami drifts, which we haven’t bothered to shovel yet. Why bother? It’s still snowing. Watching the Weather Channel earlier today, I noted that the only warm places is the U.S. are southern Florida and a southwest arc of Arizona that looks like it includes Buckeye.

By the way, we have your address, don’t we? Otherwise I won’t know where to mail all the letters I plan to write to you. And I’m sure you want to stay up-to-date on all the events taking place in our lives, especially those of your grandchildren.

Stay tuned for Tri-County Basketball League updates, new artistic endeavors, the big job hunt, and expanded services at the Middleton Public Library. Thanks again for sharing such a wonderful Christmas with us.

We enjoyed our stay in Two Rivers and just the opportunity to do nothing if we were so inclined. Our busy family schedule requires putting life on hold every once in awhile.

On This Date in 1998

The past four days could almost be viewed as a mini-vacation. JoAnna and I took Thursday off, and I worked only a half day on Friday. Wednesday was the last day of school for the boys.

The boys and I went to a Brewers game Wednesday evening. This was supposed to be a family outing, but JoAnna had to attend a meeting of the Dane County Airport Commission, of which she is a member, at 5:30. The game was scheduled to begin at 6:35, a half hour earlier than usual since the game was being televised on ESPN. JoAnna couldn’t afford to miss this meeting as her appointment to the Airport Commission had been controversial, the former chair of the county board of supervisors, a Republicans, speaking out against her selection. So Meaghan came with us in JoAnna’s place.

Sitting in the back seat, Andy and Meaghan kept up a steady chatter of conversation on the drive to Milwaukee. They get along so well. At Eddie’s request, we listened to a Beatles tape. Getting to the huge parking lot surrounding County Stadium was not the chore I expected. I picked up our tickets at the “will call” window, and we found our seats after a stop at on e of many souvenir stands. Meaghan bought one of those oversize foam hands, index finger pointing skyward in a “we’re number 1” gesture. Andy bought a miniature wood bat with the Brewers logo on it (why he felt he needed some worthless thing like this I don’t know), and I bought a hat for Eddie. He was the only one without his own spending money. We quickly found our seats in the family section, 20 rows behind home plate. Very good seats, actually. Most of the people in this section were older adults. I didn’t see many parents with younger children. No drinking or smoking is allowed, so choosing seats here is one way people avoid dealing with belligerent, obnoxious drunks (known to be a fixture at baseball games) and polluted air.

The Braves were in town, for the first time in 33 years, when the team deserted Milwaukee for Atlanta. We saw the final of a three-game series, the Brewers getting swept 5-2. The home team staged a rally in the bottom of the ninth, which got the remaining fans revved up. It looked as though at least 30% of the 19,000+ in attendance headed for the exits at the end of the 8th inning. Gotta beat the traffic.

We waited for the crowds to thin before leaving our seats. The worst of the parking lot gridlock was over by the time we reached the car. Andy and Meaghan resumed their chattering – they never seem to be at a loss for things to talk about—but the two of them and Eddie had fallen asleep by the halfway point of our trip home. It was 11:30when we dropped Meaghan off.

JoAnna and I painted Andy’s room on Thursday. What an improvement. The walls were dirty and pocked with nail holes. We had to use a scraper to remove all of the two-sided tape we sued to display the boys’ sports team banners. I had never really liked the color we had chosen the last time we painted this room. A beige with too much of an orange tint. I stopped at Mautz paint store last week and picked out more than a dozen “neutral” color samples. Side by side we were able to determine which one were actually more green or blue or orange than tan. We selected a “Silver Mink”, which looks great. It’s a very neutral color, exactly what we wanted for this room, even though it can’t be classified as tan.

Outside of the baseball game and the painting project, it was a relatively lowkey weekend. Andy spent most of his time playing with Meaghan and Nick. They went swimming at the indoor pool on Friday evening and at the new outdoor pool on Sunday, Eddie accompanying them both times. The outdoor pool was scheduled to open on Thursday, but the weather was too cold. Ditto Friday. After last Monday’s beautiful introduction to June, we experienced an extended cool spell, weather more suitable for the end of April than the start of the kids’ summer vacation. A couple mornings I was tempted to run on the furnace.

Both JoAnna and I have been dealing with summer colds this past week. Nothing major, just a slight runny nose, slight congestion, slight cough. It’s more of an irritation that ailment. Unfortunately, it just won’t go away. JoAnna felt extremely rundown Friday after work, spending most of her evening sacked out on the couch in the family room. That’s when I did some more reseeding in the back yard and swept al the maple “droppings” off the patio.

JoAnna and I went grocery shopping Saturday morning, while Andy was at Nick’s and Eddie was at his baseball practice. Whenever my wife accompanies me on these trips, we end up spending a small fortune on food. Not so bad this time. She wanted to select some items for her lunches and easy meals at home. The boy’s baseball schedules will make a regular suppertime a challenge. But then that goal has always been a challenge. She doesn’t always want us falling back on high-calorie, high-fact options like McDonald’s, which, of course, the boys would choose every time.



We had to change our Saturday evening plans when we learned that the movie we wanted to see, The Truman Show with Jim Carrey, was sold out. We ended up renting a video, Trains, Planes, & Automobiles, a rather silly comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy. The humor was very broad, something I wasn’t particularly in the mood for. I divided my attention between the TV screen and computer screen, where a game of Hearts completed with the movie.

On Sunday afternoon, more than a month after its delivery, I reduced the pile of shredded bark to nothing. I trimmed the evergreens in the back yard, creating a cozy little outdoor picnic nook. We have this beautiful yard (notice how I’m now singing a much more upbeat tune) that we don’t take the time to enjoy. After completing the yardwork chores Friday evening, I sat on the patio and just enjoyed the view.

Boxer is at least twice the size as when we first got him. He’s a very affectionate, playful kitten, sometimes too much so. We are trying to get him not to scratch and bite so much. Not that we’re all covered with scars. When Boxer get over-exuberant, we just put him down. The boys are very good with him and know how to deal with his friskiness.

He comes into our bedroom, purring and ready to play, at 5 each morning. Saying “no” or “go away, Boxer” doesn’t get results, so one of us, usually JoAnna, as I seem to have better luck tuning out Boxer, will take the cat out of the room and close the door so we can sleep undisturbed for another hour.

This is all I have time for right now. We send our love.

April 11, 1992

Bombed this weekend in 1223 theaters

For the first weekend in months, JoAnna doesn't have to campaign.  Somehow, though, the day can't measure up to my high expectations.  The weather is the biggest culprit.  We had planned to attend the Muskies home opener, but not when the sky is overcast and the temperature struggles to reach 40.  We decide to go shopping, first stopping at the credit union to deposit my Nuts and Bolts check and then at Larry and Martha's to attempt to formulate some plans for the evening.  We stay for a half hour, leave after making very tentative plans for dinner at our place.  On the drive to West Towne, we take a brief detour to look at the house Larry and Martha just bought.  Andy and JoAnna are hungry so lunch precedes shopping.  We consider burgers at the Village Green, but that's too far out of our way.  We settle for Upstairs Downstairs Deli.  I order a reuben and am served a very soggy, tasteless creation.  Andy's a bit hyper and spills so much ketchup on the front of his sweats we decide to go home after we eat.  He pleads with Mom to go shopping with her and promises to be good.  JoAnna relents.  Later in the afternoon, I take the boys grocery shopping.  Larry and Martha (with Michel in tow) and Barb and Chuck join us for dinner, Michael's frozen custard, and games.

Thursday, March 5, 1992

My day off arrives a day early.  Eddie's had a rough night and with all his various health problems over the past week -- diarrhea, coughing, congestion, runny nose -- JoAnna and I decide that the guy needs a check-up.  Turns out that I'm the one with the flexible schedule (and loving it!).  I'm able to schedule a 9:30 appointment with Dr. Ellis.  It's ear infection time again.  After this visit, Eddie and I go food shopping -- at Woodman's for a change of pace.  The mammoth size and extensive inventory never cease to amaze me.  Too many choices.  Way too many choices.  And what happens when I'm ready to move to the checkout line?  I have to wait about 5 minutes to snail my cart to the cash register.  At Woodman's, it doesn't matter what time of day it is.  There is always a wait.

While Eddie sleeps, I type up more calendar squares.  I have an over-and-out argument with the demon. There will be no indulgence today, not when I have to be presentable for a 5-9 shift at the reference desk.  Even after work, I turn down a chance to go berserk.  Everyone's in bed when I get home, but I settle for an alcohol-free viewing of House Party.  Only milk and graham crackers are served.

Saturday, January 25, 1992

JoAnna leave for Portage around 10.  I plan to go grocery shopping in the morning but need to walk around a fussy Eddie guy.  He has another ear infection, and this time the antibiotic seems to be taking longer to kick in.  As it turns out, I'm not able to get out of the house until after JoAnna returns home.  Then Andy and I go to Cub Foods.  That's pretty much the highlight of the day   I start to feel the need to do something special with Andy.  I also need to do something to shake these winter blahs.

Thursday, January 16, 1992

By the time I stop at the library to pick up my meeting files, I'm already a little behind schedule.  Ilene mentions that the printer isn't working, and I can't figure out how to get the message to print onscreen.  Nonetheless, I get to Oregon for the LINK meeting at one minute after nine, and everyone is still milling around drinking coffee and eating donuts.  We breeze through the agenda, and after a stop at the credit union to learn why my TYME card won't work, I'm only an hour late for the WLA finance committee meeting.

Back at Middleton, I and other city department heads meet with the mayor.  Naturally, he has news of a crisis.  Why else would we be all be together?  The city's health insurance premiums have increased 36%.

JoAnna meets with her campaign staff during the evening while Andy and I go grocery shopping.

Tuesday, December 31, 1991

JoAnna works, I take the day off, and until 3 o'clock I'm doing chores and keeping an eye on the boys.  Andy is especially rambunctious.  We do grocery shopping in the morning, and I take an hour's break to watch Perry Mason.  After the last of the laundry is folded, I fix myself a martini and return to the TV room.  JoAnna returns home at 3:30.

Jess watches the boys, and JoAnna and I spend New Year's Eve at Larry and Martha's with Chuck and Barb.  Martha prepares a great turkey dinner.  Afterwards, we sit around and talk and, after Chuck and Barb leave, play Trivial Pursuit.  Larry and I win both games.

JoAnna and I drive home at 2:00 on surprisingly deserted streets.

Sunday, December 15, 1991

How wonderful to wake up on a weekend morning without Barb's family-circle intrusions, her constant presence.  She spent 11 months with us and never ventured anywhere -- outside of Walgreen's and West Towne -- by herself.  Never checked out State Street, never re-explored Oshkosh.  What is wrong with her?  Why is she so inward?  Where did she obtain this fear of life?

I take the boys grocery shopping so JoAnna can take a shower and work on her fundraising letter.  The day is very lowkey.  I do some chores, tape some music, watch a little TV.  Mostly, though, I play with the boys.

Eddie starts daycare tomorrow.  I almost want to accompany JoAnna to see how he will adjust but that is making a big production of a simple step forward in life.

November 30, 1991

JoAnna has a meeting in the morning. I start the chore.  We buy a Christmas tree in the afternoon and have a little bit of trouble getting it erect.  I go food shopping   JoAnna makes supper.  Barb joins us when we trim the tree.

November 27, 1991

I take the day off from work, needing an extra day away from what is becoming an increasingly less satisfying job environment.  After driving Andy to daycare and cashing my Green Bay workshop check, I treat myself to breakfast at Original Pancake House.  I buy JoAnna and book and calendar for her birthday but can't think of a special present to buy her.  Before returning home, I splurge on myself, buying some used records and books at Half Price Books.  At stop at Westgate is a bust.

During the afternoon, I tape music, letting Eddie spend the time with Barb.  I go grocery shopping then fix supper.

November 22, 1991

The LINK meeting takes less than an hour.  I'm not sure what that means.  It's certainly no reason for optimism.  Before the start of the meeting, Alicia Ashman, Madison board president, congratulates me on my recent WLA award and then hints not too subtly that I would make a great replacement for Peter Niemi.

After the meeting, I drive into Madison to cash my paycheck, drop off an updated floppy disk at Jane Pearlmutter's office, and pick up some reading matter at Pic-a-Book.  I want to spend some time browsing for books and music, but the only temptation I yield to here is a quick browse of the architecture titles at Paul's Bookstore.  I find  nothing of interest.

As we did last week, Andy and I go grocery shopping before we return home.  JoAnna skips the fundraiser for Gary George in Milwaukee as her Madison meeting runs late and the weather forecast predicts a major snowfall.

November 15, 1991

Andy runs into the bedroom at 6:30 to watch Ninja Turtles.  We leave the house before 8, which means that I get to the library before 9.  I reprogram our voice-mail message to stress the point that we are if they have called during our regular hours, which are stated at the beginning of the message.  I continue to work on my Nuts and Bolts notes.  During the afternoon, I think about slacking off, but the upcoming magazine project requires my initial attention.

Andy and I go grocery shopping after a visit to the brown store.  Supper is pretty casual for the two of us.  Andy insists on sleeping in my bed, his privilege whenever JoAnna is not home.

November 8, 1991

The Nissan is due for a tune-up, brake job, new tires, so the first order of the day is to take it to Dunn's.  

I spend most of the day at the reference desk, expecting a busy day with students out of school, but the rush never materializes.

A lotta stuff didn't materialize this week.

Sharon gives me a ride to Dunn's, and with 45 minute remaining to the daycare pickup deadline, the car is not ready.  The mechanic finishes up what he can and then I begin my race against time and greet Andy with no time to spare.

After supper, Andy and I go grocery shopping.  We also make a visit to Kohl's so I can buy a replacement stash of blank tapes.  Andy disappears into the toy section and has to be coerced into the front of the store.

Andy joint his mom and dad in bed for awhile.  JoAnna suggests that he go to bed but that's not what he wants to hear.  I tell him "When I was a little boy, I could always stay up later on the weekend."  Andy immediately relays this observation to his mom.

"He said I could stay up longer."

Andy can be such a charmer.

November 1, 1991

The slow leak in the left rear tire of the Nissan has picked up the pace this week.  I found it deflated Wednesday afternoon and again today.  Both times I pump it back up to normal pressure and drive to where I need to be.  Today I have a WAPL spring conference planning meeting at the WLA office.  I'm not sure if we ever agreed on the them, but how does "Hug a Book, Spin a Disk" grab you?  It's the goofiest shit I've heard in weeks.

After the meeting I stop at the East Towne Mall location of Half Price Books.  No copy of Jackson Browne's first release there either.  I stop at Pasqual's for lunch and savor every mouthful of a chicken burrito.  Before returning to the library, I drop the car off at Fred's Standard for what turns out to be a very minor repair.  The cost:  $6.33.

Andy and I do the grocery shopping after supper.  When we leave the store, it looks as though a blizzard is brewing, but by morning we end up with only a dusting.

October 19, 1991

There's work to do.  I start the laundry, then , around midmorning, go food shopping with Andy. Barb comes along; she announced earlier that she has to buy some bras at Penney's.

During the afternoon, I finish installing the storm windows, a three-hour chunk of time.  While JoAnna and Andy are pulling up flowers, I pour myself a martini and chuckle my way through the last third of Native Tongue.

A delicious supper (pork chops and sauerkraut, boiled potatoes and steamed carrots) interrupts my progress.

Shortly after midnight, Andy starts to cry inconsolably.  I ignore the intrusion but end up moving to the TV room when Andy joins us in bed.  At first I just sack out on the couch, but then after a couple of hours of very broken sleep, I open the hideabed so I can stretch out my body without any impediments. 

October 5, 1991

Andy sleeps in the middle of the bed for the most part, which doesn't do too much to cramp my sleeping style, fortunately.  Eddie wakes up early so there is no opportunity to sleep in.  I fix pancakes for breakfast and hope that Barb will keep herself holed up in the guest room -- I really do emphasize that word nowadays -- until we three boys clear ourselves out of the kitchen.  It's not to be, but I put on a happy face anyway.

At 10:30 we go grocery shopping.  Barb accompanies us, taking advantage of a (rare) opportunity to get out of the house.  And so her rotting life goes.

I try to spend some time with Rabbit at Rest during the afternoon.  I also make a special trip alone to Brennan's to buy a sirloin tip roast (dinner) and a pound of shrimp for a possible appetizer.  I try to call JoAnna on her car phone to see if a deluxe dinner without guests is warranted.  She is either out of range or the power button is off.  I go ahead with my plans.  Dinner is superb.  The roast is done more medium than medium-rare -- but I was only following the Time-Life cookbook instruction.  Along with the meat course, I prepare boiled red potatoes, spaghetti squash and broccoli.  Am I a catch or what!  I even clean up afterwards.  JoAnna is very tired, but I manage to read 30 pages of my favorite author's latest book before dozing off.

August 23, 1991

Since I'm working tomorrow and business at the library is slow, I depart early, about midafternoon.  This change of schedule gives me some extra time to tidy up the house and do some taping.  I stop at Middleton Floral and buy a plant for Barb, my peace offering to her.  She mentions that she'd like to go shopping so I offer her the use of the car.  Later in the day, Andy and I go grocery shopping.  JoAnna's folks and Angela arrive shortly after 9.  JoAnna and I sleep in our old bedroom on the fold-out couch.

August 5, 1991

I go to bed about 9 on Sunday but experience a very restless night.  I keep imagining a prowler lurking on the patio.  All this news about the Dahmer case has me thinking about the Hillside Strangler's modus operandi.  Even after I close and lock the sliding-glass door -- and check to make sure the garage door is closed -- I still can't sleep peacefully.  And what bizarre dreams.  A small parking garage turns into an auto demolition factory.  Andy screams out to me for help and shrinks to Tiny-Time size proportions in the process.

I am able to achieve a sustained level of energy during the workday.  I even stay past six to complete the first phase of my 1992 budget deliberations.  The highlight of the day is having the boys greet me when I return home for lunch.

That evening Andy and I do the weekly grocery shopping.  JoAnna's in bed and asleep when we return home, so husband and wife, after a 5-day separation, have no chance to talk.

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.

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.