On This Date in 1998

It’s five o’clock in the afternoon, and JoAnna just returned home from a workshop in Milwaukee. That means she was gone all day, of course. Andy was at a friend’s house from 9:30 until 2:00, so Eddie and I kept Boxer company. 

What did I do today? Not much. A couple loads of laundry. A quick trip to the post office to mail some bills. I started to read a book that I quickly lost interest in, When the Bough Breaks by James Patterson, an author of best-selling mysteries. I had a bad feeling about this book from the start. A 300-page novel with more than 100 chapters? The author must suffer from attention deficit disorder, I figured. Actually, as I quickly discovered, the author can’t write. It was a chore reading the first 20 pages. Disgustedly, I tossed it aside and watched the UCLA-Miami football game for awhile. 

Earlier in the week, I had promised Andy I’d take him to see The Waterboy, a comedy starring Adam Sandler, Hollywood’s current box-office draw. We went to the 3 o’clock showing this afternoon. I’d call it a perfect movie for 11 year olds, a variation of the 3 Stooges kind of humor. Eddie enjoyed it, too. As for Dad, it wasn’t nearly as bad as any of the Mighty Ducks movies. I actually found it mildly amusing. 

Andy plays his first basketball game at 9 a.m. on January 2nd. That means we’ll have to leave Warren on New Year’s Day and miss watching the Rose Bowl. That was JoAnna’s first reaction when I showed her the schedule. His team plays two games every weekend for eight weeks, usually on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. Then they play in a tournament in early March. It’ll be more than twice the number of games he played last year. 

Yesterday was JoAnna’s last day in her current job. It’s hard to get a sense of whether she’s relieved about this part of her career being over or concerned over what she does next. Bill Broydrick, for whom JoAnna used to work as a lobbyist, called her yesterday, so there’s a chance she could go back to her previous job. 

Our warm spell is into its second week. JoAnna went golfing on Wednesday, and I just heard the weatherman on one of the local TV stations say that he was out on the link today. (JoAnna’s surfing right now, unable to find anything good on TV.) One day this week Wisconsin had the warmest temperature ever for December. Looks like we’re going to see a return to normal sometime tomorrow, as a cold front is predicted to move in. 

We all went to a Christmas party last night at Ron and Julie’s,friends of our who live on the east side of Madison. JoAnna and Eddie left the house at 6:30, not wanting to wait around for Andy’s basketball practice to end. It was my turn to pick up the boys. Even though their practice was over at 7:30, we didn’t leave the school until 8:00 since half the team stayed around to play a game of “Lightning”. Andy and I didn’t arrive at the party until 9:00. Outside of a 10-month-old, Andy and Eddie were the only kids in attendance, but they watched videos in one of the upstairs bedrooms. We left at 10:30, at Andy’s insistence. Neither JoAnna nor I minded since it wasn’t much of a party. Just people standing around talking and drinking and eating. 

Tonight JoAnna and I are attending a dinner party hosted by the previous president of the library board and her husband. Andy will earn $9 as our “built-in” babysitter, $3 an hour. 

The city council passed the budget Tuesday night with the library requests intact. As a result, we’ll be able to add Sunday hours to the schedule beginning March 7. The library will be open from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m . during the school year, i.e., from the Sunday after Labor Day to the Sunday before Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be hiring a ¾-time Young Adult Services Librarian, the first new professional position during my tenure as library director, and a ½-time Library Assistant II, as well as more page hours. Overall, the library budget will increase by 10%, to about $750,000. 

Andy wasn’t too happy with his mom and dad earlier this week. He wanted to be able to play with his friend Tim after school in Wednesday, but we both told him that he had to come home directly. JoAnna called me at work around 4 o’clock to tell me that Andy hadn’t returned home yet. (She got home early after playing 18 holes of golf.) Although JoAnna didn’t ask me to do anything, I left the library to conduct a search. I didn’t see Andy’s bike at Tim’s house, but I did spot it near the playground equipment at Elm Lawn School. Andy was close to defying me when I told him he had to go home. Tim betrayed a confidence. “Andy said he doesn’t care if he gets grounded,” a remark Andy denied making. JoAnna was very upset with Andy, but I told her his behavior wasn’t at all unusual. In fact, he and Tim were talking on the phone a couple times Tuesday evening, and it was then when Andy first asked me if he could go to Tim’s house after school. He didn’t like my negative response and ended up doing something about it the next day. I could see myself, as an 11 year old in the same situation, doing the exact same thing. And the start of the teenage experience is still two years away!

On This Date in 1998

I’m using a different approach in this letter. These “news reports” are written in the third person, as if I’m some unbiased observer.

Andy & Eddie Headline News 

“Missing” Son Worries Forgetful Father
Middleton resident and library director Paul Nelson returned home with his younger son Eddie late Thursday afternoon. He was puzzled to find the house dark. He expected that his older son would be home from school.

Figuring that his son was at a friend’s house, Nelson didn’t make any immediate efforts to locate his son’s whereabouts. He unloaded seven bags of groceries from the car and then proceeded to fix Eddie something to eat before the boy’s 6:15 Cub Scout meeting.

“In spite of the fact that the cupboards were replenished with food,” Nelson said in a conversation with his wife later that evening, “Eddie still settled for a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. But then I, too, fixed something I eat almost every day – a turkey-and-cheese sandwich.”

As six o’clock approached, Nelson started to become increasingly worried. His worry then started to transform itself into anger.

“Andy is going to be grounded big time,” he barked. The comment was made in Eddie’s presence but not specifically addressed to him. “If he thinks he can still have a sleepover at Tim’s house this weekend, he is sadly mistaken.”

Nelson had checked voice mail, hoping to be reassured by the sound of Andy’s voice, but there were no messages waiting to be played. The phone rang twice between quarter of six and six. Both times the slight pause after his saying “Hello” told Nelson that is was only another pesky telemarketer. He stayed on the line just in case.

“Is Miss JoAnna Marie there?” the first voice, a woman’s’, asked.

“No one here by that name,” Nelson answered sharply and slapped the phone back into its cradle.

“Is Mr. Nelson there?” asked a young man’s voice ten minutes later.

“No,” he lied and abruptly cut the connection.

The phone rang again five minutes later.

This time it better be Andy, Nelson thought.

It was.

“Andy, where are you?” his dad asked, wavering between a reprimand and a plea.

“I’m at bowling,” he answered. “I’m here with Ross Parks and we need a ride home.”

Duh, that’s right, Nelson thought. Andy bowls on Thursday afternoons after school, and usually he’s done at four-thirty or five o’clock.

“What have you been doing the past hour? Why didn’t you call me?” “I called the library. Pat said you went grocery shopping and would pick me up afterwards.”

And, of course, one of Nelson’s staff members at the library wouldn’t assume that his boss would abandon his kid at a bowling alley.

Luckily, Nelson was able to pick up Andy and Ross and drop off Eddie at his Cub Scout meeting by the 6:15 deadline.

Nelson blamed his forgetfulness on a hectic week. He had left the house on Thursday morning at an unusually early time – 6:45 – to attend a city department heads meeting with the newly hired city administrator, Mike Davis. Both boys were still asleep when he left the house.

“I was out of town on Thursday of last week and this week I was much too focused on my own Thursday schedule. I was lucky to remember to pick up Eddie at After School,” he confessed.

(Editor’s note: The following headline is a good example of the use of hyperbole, i.e., extravagant exaggeration.)

Son of Prominent Middleton Couple Involved in Schoolyard Brawl 
Eddie Nelson, Elm Lawn second grader and son of library director Paul Nelson and well-known political operative JoAnna Richard, was involved in a case of inappropriate behavior on the school playground on Thursday. According to an eyewitness account, which was verified in a letter from principle George Mavrolis, Eddie threw a hard plastic paddle mitt at another student and struck him just above the eye.

“It was an accident,” Eddie is reported to have said to his skeptical dad on the drive home from school.

“The other student suffered a cut and swelling. The paddle narrowly missed the eye itself. He came very close to needing stitches,” Marvolis said, indirectly discounting the possibility of this incident being an accident.

This is Eddie’s third infraction of the year. As a result, he will lose all of his recess privileges for an entire week.

When hearing of the news, Ms. Richard put some of the blame on herself.

“I forgot to give him his medicine this morning.”

According to school records, Eddie has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and takes methylphenidate twice daily. 

News Extra 

Former Warren Resident Gets Chuckle Out of Rep’s Math Even though he lives almost 700 miles west of here, former Warren resident Paul Nelson, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Carl Nelson, keeps in touch with Warren activities with a subscription to the Times Observer.

“My mom used to clip certain article and picture and enclose them in her letters, but now I can make sure that I don’t miss anything,” he explained.

A recent front-page article about the 75th anniversary of the Allegheny National Forest caught Nelson’s eye. After reading it, Nelson wonders if U.S. Representative John Peterson needs to take a remedial math course. The representative was quoted as saying, “As we celebrate, we need to be diligent that in 100 years, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary.”

Nelson notes that the 100th anniversary of the Allegheny National Forest will be celebrated in 2023, or 25 year from now.

“I hope Peterson is not on the House Appropriations Committee,” Nelson quipped.

Late-breaking news briefs 

City budget proposal includes funds for Sunday hours
Last Tuesday, the City of Middleton finance committee made a final recommendation on the 1999 operating budget. The Middleton common council will vote on the budget at its December 1st meeting following a public hearing.

Included in next year’s budget are funds requested by the Middleton Public Library board to open the library on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The new service is scheduled to begin on March 7 and will be offered during the school year, from the Sunday after Labor Day through the Sunday before Memorial Day weekend.

“I won’t be surprised if these four hours turn out to be the busiest time of the week,” Library Director Paul Nelson predicted. “Participants in a series of focus group discussions the library held last year told us that Sunday hours are the number one service improvement that we could offer. I’m pleased that the city has seen fit to honor this request.”

Middleton schools close for teacher in-service 
Last week all Wisconsin public school students enjoyed a four-day weekend as a result of a two-day state teachers’ conference. This week, students in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District get a bonus: a three-day weekend. Some parents questioned the scheduling of a teacher in-service so close to the annual conference. On the other hand, some families have taken advantage of these two shortened schoolweeks to insert a fall break into their vacation schedule. Some children knew of friends who were out of school for the entire week, spending time in Florida and other warmer regions of the U.S. To add insult to injury, temperatures in Wisconsin rarely climbed above 40 degrees for the past week. Cloudy skies and windy conditions have given the air a wintry chill.

“We now return to our regularly schedule programming….”

On This Date in 1998

JoAnna went to bed at 7 o’clock this evening, a much-deserved early-to-bed time for her. When I returned home from a city finance committee meeting at 6:30, she was swaddled in a blanket, sacked out on the family room couch, not at all in tune with her surroundings. The TV was on for background noise, not for watching. She was out until 4 this morning, celebrating the Democrats’ good fortune and ending up at the Marriott Hotel for Russ Feingold’s acceptance speech at 1:45 a.m. Later Russ treated a small group of his supporters to breakfast at Denny’s.

I stayed up until 12:30 watching the election returns, getting a little nervous as Neumann started slicing away at Feingold’s early lead. Fortunately, all the money that the Republican National Committee poured into Wisconsin was not enough to buy a seat in the Senate – or in the House, for that matter. We were getting flyers in the mail on an almost daily basis on the “issue” of term limits, praising Jo Musser for her stand and exhorting the addressee to call Tammy Baldwin and tell her blah blah blah. I wish now I had saved one of these flyers, because I feel like writing some unknown and certainly disappointed folks a thank-you note – for all the money they wasted, for all the people they got fire dup to go to the polls to vote for the better candidate.

JoAnna went 3 for 3, the Senate Dems taking all three open seats. Jon Erpenbach here, Judy Robson in the Beloit area, and Jim Baumgart in your neck of the woods. The Assembly Dems actually lost 2 seats, thanks to an unfocused, late starting effort by their caucus staff. What a difference it makes when you have some vision and talent and spunk in the caucus director’s chair.

I watched Nightline last night. Ted Koppel’s guests included Orrin Hatch, Barney Frank, and Dick Armey. Hatch was actually somewhat complimentary of the Democrat’s efforts. He talked about the Republicans need to move on and pointed to the Bush brothers successful efforts in reaching out to women and minorities in their campaigns as a future model. Frank didn’t have much to rebut, but he did point out the growing schism within the ranks of the G.O.P. Armey’s appearance provided the perfect illustration of what Frank was describing. Armey acted as though the election had never happened. He said something to the effect, “We just have to hold our noses and proceed with the impeachment proceedings.” He rambled, he made outrageous claims, he contradicted himself, he irgnored Koppel’s efforts to get him focused on the election results. He got himself all worked up, on the verge of a Texas-sized hissy fit. At that moment, he became the ideal poster boy for everything that is wrong with the Republican party, its dishonesty, deceptiveness, and demagoguery. He was petulantly unrepentant for all of the Republican’s recent excesses. He obviously wants Clinton’s ass on a platter, and he wants it now. An earlier commentator on Nightline, a current or former White House staffer whose name I can’t recall, suggested that the Republicans might want to consider a change in leadership. After viewing Armey’s pathetic performance, which had me chuckling smugly from start to finish, I can see his point. What makes people so crabby and vindictive?

At today’s meeting, the finance committee approved a preliminary budget for 1999, which includes the library’s request for Sunday hours. The final hurdle will be a public hearing and council vote on the first Tuesday in December, a pro forma matter. Nobody appeared at least year’s budget hearing, (the only people in the audience were the city department heads), and this year no council member has expressed any reservation about the cost of opening the library on Sunday. We’ll probably be able to initiate this service on March 7. We’ll need the first two months of the year to hire additional staff and reconfigure our work space. I’ll be moving into what is now the conference room. Two other staff members will then share my current office, a move that will free up some much needed space in our staff workroom.

I had to miss Eddie’s teacher conference as a result of my meeting today. Since she wasn’t in a very communicative mood when I returned home, JoAnna gave me only the briefest of reports. I did learn, to my great pleasure, that Eddie has made great strides in the development of his learning and social skills since the beginning of the school year. This positive result is a combination of his special education reading classes, parents who work very closely with him on h is homework assignments every night, and the medication he’s been taking for the past six weeks. Eddie’s reading comprehension improves a little bit each week. What’s even more satisfying is his increased ability to deal with the occasional frustrations that occur when he encounters an unfamiliar or difficult word. This week, for example, I’ve noticed he has a lot of trouble with words that begin with “th”. This. That. There. Think. Thing. Every time he comes across these words, he has to stop and use a “pounding” technique he learned at school to sound out the words. I need to ask his reading teacher why that is. I would think they’d be part of his sight vocabulary by now. At least he doesn’t shut down and give up like he used to do.

I just checked on the boys, 15 minutes before their usual 9 o’clock bedtime. Andy was already asleep, his room dark but his portable stereo groovin’ to the sounds of the Will Smith CD I bought him a couple weeks ago. (He likes falling asleep while listening to music.) Eddie wanted me to tuck him in and turn off his light. I didn’t even have to tell him, “Time for bed.”

I’m looking forward to the remainder of the year. There’s going to be more time for family activities.

On This Date in 1998

Thank God it’s Wednesday! That exclamation will give you an indication of how busy this week has been already. A year ago, JoAnna and I would have been at our wit’s end trying to juggle our schedules, as if we were trying to keep balls and plates and flaming batons in the air at the same time. At least now we can leave the boys on their own, if necessary.

With two weeks left before election day, it’s crunch time for JoAnna. She keeps telling her guys, “You won’t see much of me between now and November 3rd.” Late October is also a hectic time of the year for me with city budget deliberations and preparation for the annual library conference.

Middleton’s personnel committee met on Monday at 5:30, which meant I had to pick up Eddie and bring him to the library since no one was at home. Andy was at football practice. JoAnna had to make a trip to Janesville. I knew Eddie would be hungry so I stopped at the house to fix him a sandwich, grab a container of yogurt and a handful of Oreo cookies. Earlier in the day, I had signed him up for a half hour of computer time so he’d have something to do other than page through books. (Not that he objects to doing that.) He attends a religion class on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30, and St. Bernard’s is only two blocks from the library. Not sure when the committee meeting would end, I asked a staff member to remind Eddie when he needed to leave. She volunteered to give him a ride, since a busy University Avenue separates the library and the church. And, during this time of year, it’s dark by 6:15. As much as I want the boys to develop a sense of independence and responsibility, there are times when the overly protective parent in me takes over.

At 7:15, the library request had still not been discussed. The committee stalled while going through the Public Works part of the agenda. I left the room to call the library from a pay phone in the lobby of city hall and asked Liz if she would pick up Eddie and drive him home. I figured that Andy would be back from football practice by this time.

Fifteen minutes later I was on the way home, very pleased with myself. The personnel committee had approved all of the library’s personnel requests to open the library on Sundays during the school year. Of course, that’s not the final verdict. I still have two more hurdles to jump over: the finance committee and the full council.

I was surprised to find the house dark as I pulled into the driveway. Andy should certainly be home by now, I thought. The phone rang within 5 minutes of my return. I expected to hear Andy’s voice. It was Liz, calling from the library, which momentarily confused me. She and Eddie couldn’t get into the house. I told her (and Eddie) that I’d leave the patio door to the laundry room open. (She had attended our Bastille Day party this year so I figured she knew what I was talking about.) They only tried the two front doors. Eddie did not want to venture into the darkness of the back yard. So I drove to the library to pick up Eddie, swinging by St. Bernard’s to see if Andy had decided to attend his religion class. Last week he attended in his football gear, minus the pads. One of his best buddies is also in the class. For that reason, I don’t think our Lord Jesus was the main draw.

Once Eddie was back home, I decided to check voice mail. Sure enough, there was a message from Andy. “I’m at Riley’s house,” he informed me. I grabbed my car keys and made one final taxi run. Kathy Farrell, one of the football practice carpool parents, had waited to make sure that Andy could get into the house when she dropped him off. Andy tried the two front doors, both locked of course, and he, too, was afraid of the dark. We leave the back door open so he doesn’t have to worry about keeping track of a house key. He usually forgets to bring it to school with him and has been known to misplace a key every once in awhile. (What was that remark about developing responsibility?) Anyway, when Andy found himself locked out, Riley invited him over to his house.

At 8:30, I tried to get Eddie to focus on his homework. Each week he receives a sheet with 6-8 vocabulary words and 12-15 sentences from his special reading teacher. Each night he is supposed to review this assignment for 15 minutes. After an unusually hectic day, Eddie was unable to focus and became a little ornery. I knew if I pushed the issue, I might observe a full-blown tantrum. We found some time Tuesday morning during breakfast.

Tuesday’s finance committee meeting was scheduled at a time when I was supposed to be driving Andy to Cross Plains for a “non-conference” football game, the St. Francis 5th graders against the Middleton 5th graders. With some critical budget requests on the line, I couldn’t miss this meeting. Fortunately, Andy had good news when he called me after school. Kathy Farrell, one of the carpool parents and a teacher’s aide at Elm Lawn, volunteered to pick up Andy at 5:15. I was just about to contact her when Andy called. Whew! I thought. One less thing to worry about.

Since I usually work on Tuesday evenings, JoAnna had already agreed to follow her usual schedule and pick up Eddie. If I hadn’t been saddled with any commitments, though, she would have taken advantage of another opportunity to work late. The finance committee last an hour; I expected that we’d go until 7:00. More good news. Although the committee didn’t take a vote, the preliminary discussion indicates that the library’s two most important capital budget requests (a library materials theft detection system replacement and a divider for the lower level meeting room) will remain intact.

Due to the earlier than anticipated adjournment, I drove to Cross Plains and arrived in time for the kickoff of Andy’s game, his first game under the lights. With his team down 8-0 at halftime, I returned, as planned, to Middleton for the council meeting, since a resolution to exempt the city from the county library tax was on the agenda. Routine business. I didn’t expect any problems, but always like to be in the audience just in case a question arises. I walked into the council chambers five minutes after the start of the meeting. I sat down next to the police chief, who leaned towards me and whispered, “Don’t get too comfortable. We’re almost done.” The council had already voted to approve the county library tax resolution, no questions asked, as the library board had recommended. I could have stayed at Andy’s game, and watched the Orioles go on to a 24-7 defeat. They’re still without a victory, and their last game of the season is this Saturday.

Although JoAnna won’t be home until late tonight, my schedule for today and the rest of the week is a breeze. No more agonizing over how to get the boys from here to there and back home again. I can relax this evening, help Eddie with his homework, then put up my feet and read a book in the solitude of the family room after the boys go to bed. I’ve been able to complete all my conference preparations – board meeting outline on Tuesday, keynote speaker introduction on Wednesday, President’s report for the WLA business meeting on Thursday, and Presidents’ luncheon remarks on Friday – at the library. I keep all my notes and other papers organized in a three-ring binder. I’m ready for business.

We’ll be seeing you soon. Actually the boys and JoAnna will see you sooner. I’ll be in Lake Geneva by the time you arrive on Tuesday. Guess I’ll see you on Friday afternoon. How about if we celebrate my 49th birthday that evening?

By the way, I was very impressed with the Manitowoc Public Library, although I probably would have arranged some of the shelving and displays a little differently. When I first walked along the mezzanine, I was struck by a sense of déjà vu. As far as the interior is concerned, there is a slight resemblance to the older library. I mentioned that to a staff member who had invited me to present the workshop, and she said the same feeling struck her.

JoAnna and I certainly appreciate your willingness to help us out next week. I know the boys are looking forward to Grandma and Grandpa’s visit.